Ottawa confirmed Saturday that a group of Canadians had been detained in Ethiopia after a humanitarian organization reported that 15 volunteers and workers, including 13 Canadian nationals, had been apprehended.

Global Affairs Canada, the foreign ministry, said it had "raised this case directly with the government of Ethiopia and officials are in contact with local authorities to gather further information."



The charity, Canadian Humanitarian, said that the 15 detained individuals were medical professional volunteers, general volunteers and staff members.

All were Canadians except for two Ethiopian staff members, it said.

Canada's foreign ministry said it was "aware that Canadian citizens are detained in Ethiopia." According to Canadian Humanitarian the detained "are being investigated on the allegations that they were practicing medicine without permission and had dispensed expired medication."



"While we cannot comment on the specifics of the expiry of the medication, we can with confidence say that all medicine and care offered by our team was safe," it said.

The organization added that all protocols had been followed to be properly permitted to provide medical support.

Canadian Humanitarian describes itself as a "non-political organization" that has worked in the country for 15 years providing educational, medical, dental and social-emotional support to youths.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Though he did not deliver any speech and sat in the third row, Mr Mishra appeared to be the main attraction of the TV channels and the participants.

NEW DELHI: Is the controversial BJP leader Kapil Mishra, accused of instigating the Delhi riots, emerging as the Hindutva face of the national capital? Amidst chants of Jai Shri Ram and Bharat Mata ki Jai, Mr Mishra participated in a peace march organised by an RSS-backed NGO, Delhi Peace Forum, at Jantar Mantar on Saturday.

Giving a communal overtone to the march, participants held placards that read, Delhi against jihadi violence. To drum up support of the majority community, huge posters of the slain constable Ratan Lal, the IB staffer Ankti Sharma and Dinesh Khatik, a Dalit who was killed in the riots, were put up on the stage.

Though he did not deliver any speech and sat in the third row, Mr Mishra appeared to be the main attraction of the TV channels and the participants.

The organisers of the peace march did not seem to be too pleased with Mr Mishra's presence. Some claimed that he was not invited and came on his own. However, Mr Mishra stole the thunder by requesting the people over Twitter to reach Jantar Mantar to participate in the peace march

His supporters shouted, Dekho dekho kaun aaya, sher aaya, sher aaya (see who has come, it is the tiger) as soon Mr Mishra reached Jantar Mantar.

Mr Mishra, a former AAP MLA who contested unsuccessfully from the Model Town Assembly constituency on a BJP ticket, was first seen seated in the front row below the stage but later moved to the third row. He did not address the gathering nor try to go on the stage.

According to sources, after seeing Mr Mishra in the front row the organisers contacted the BJP city unit to request it to ask him to move back. We messaged Mr Mishra to move back by a few rows. After our request he was seen sitting in the third row," said a Delhi BJP office-bearer.

Later in the evening, Mr Mishra tweeted a video of the march waving the Tricolour and said, Look at the crowd today at Jantar Mantar, tum kitna bhi jhooth phailao, ye public hai sab janti hai (No matter how much you lie, the people know everything).

According to the organisers, the people whose family members were killed or houses and shops were burnt during the riots participated in the peace march.

Mr Suresh Khatik said that his brother Dinesh was shot dead when he went out on February 24 to Shiv Vihar to buy milk for his one-and-a-half-year-old son.

Mr Kamal Sharma said his two restaurants in Bhajapura were burnt by mobs. Those who used to eat at my restaurants for the last three years set them on fire, he added.

The speakers, who included some retired Army officers, said that the Citizenship Amendment Act was not against any Indian citizen irrespective of their religion. Before the march began, homage was paid to those killed in the riots. Afterwards, those in the march raised slogans against the rioters and demanded their arrest. Thousands of people marched from Jantar Mantar to Connaught Place shouting slogans.
Beijing Chunlizhengda Medical Instruments (HKG:1858) shares have continued recent momentum with a 39% gain in the last month alone. Zooming out, the stock's 444% gain in the last year is certainly splendiferous.

All else being equal, a sharp share price increase should make a stock less attractive to potential investors. In the long term, share prices tend to follow earnings per share, but in the short term prices bounce around in response to short term factors (which are not always obvious). So some would prefer to hold off buying when there is a lot of optimism towards a stock. One way to gauge market expectations of a stock is to look at its Price to Earnings Ratio (PE Ratio). A high P/E ratio means that investors have a high expectation about future growth, while a low P/E ratio means they have low expectations about future growth.

See our latest analysis for Beijing Chunlizhengda Medical Instruments

Does Beijing Chunlizhengda Medical Instruments Have A Relatively High Or Low P/E For Its Industry?

Beijing Chunlizhengda Medical Instruments's P/E of 58.48 indicates some degree of optimism towards the stock. The image below shows that Beijing Chunlizhengda Medical Instruments has a significantly higher P/E than the average (17.3) P/E for companies in the medical equipment industry.

SEHK:1858 Price Estimation Relative to Market, March 1st 2020

That means that the market expects Beijing Chunlizhengda Medical Instruments will outperform other companies in its industry. The market is optimistic about the future, but that doesn't guarantee future growth. So further research is always essential. I often monitor director buying and selling.

How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios

Generally speaking the rate of earnings growth has a profound impact on a company's P/E multiple. Earnings growth means that in the future the 'E' will be higher. That means even if the current P/E is high, it will reduce over time if the share price stays flat. Then, a lower P/E should attract more buyers, pushing the share price up.

Story continues

Beijing Chunlizhengda Medical Instruments's 99% EPS improvement over the last year was like bamboo growth after rain; rapid and impressive. The sweetener is that the annual five year growth rate of 26% is also impressive. So I'd be surprised if the P/E ratio was not above average.

Don't Forget: The P/E Does Not Account For Debt or Bank Deposits

It's important to note that the P/E ratio considers the market capitalization, not the enterprise value. That means it doesn't take debt or cash into account. The exact same company would hypothetically deserve a higher P/E ratio if it had a strong balance sheet, than if it had a weak one with lots of debt, because a cashed up company can spend on growth.

Spending on growth might be good or bad a few years later, but the point is that the P/E ratio does not account for the option (or lack thereof).

So What Does Beijing Chunlizhengda Medical Instruments's Balance Sheet Tell Us?

The extra options and safety that comes with Beijing Chunlizhengda Medical Instruments's CN399m net cash position means that it deserves a higher P/E than it would if it had a lot of net debt.

The Verdict On Beijing Chunlizhengda Medical Instruments's P/E Ratio

Beijing Chunlizhengda Medical Instruments's P/E is 58.5 which suggests the market is more focussed on the future opportunity rather than the current level of earnings. Its net cash position is the cherry on top of its superb EPS growth. So based on this analysis we'd expect Beijing Chunlizhengda Medical Instruments to have a high P/E ratio. What we know for sure is that investors have become much more excited about Beijing Chunlizhengda Medical Instruments recently, since they have pushed its P/E ratio from 42.2 to 58.5 over the last month. For those who prefer to invest with the flow of momentum, that might mean it's time to put the stock on a watchlist, or research it. But the contrarian may see it as a missed opportunity.

Investors have an opportunity when market expectations about a stock are wrong. As value investor Benjamin Graham famously said, 'In the short run, the market is a voting machine but in the long run, it is a weighing machine. So this free visual report on analyst forecasts could hold the key to an excellent investment decision.

You might be able to find a better buy than Beijing Chunlizhengda Medical Instruments. If you want a selection of possible winners, check out this free list of interesting companies that trade on a P/E below 20 (but have proven they can grow earnings).

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 18:23:00|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

DAMASCUS, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian army announced on Sunday imposing a no-fly-zone over the country's battlefield Idlib Province, saying any hostile aircraft will be targeted, according to the state news agency SANA.

The airspace over northwestern Syria, particularly Idlib, is closed to any flight or drones and any aircraft violating the airspace will be dealt with as a hostile target and will be shot down, said the statement.

The new decision comes on the heels of the current tension with Turkey, which is backing the rebel groups in Idlib.

A day earlier, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said tens of Syrian soldiers had been killed within 24 hours in Idlib by Turkish drone attacks.

In its statement Sunday, the Syrian army said the "repetitive aggressive acts of Turkey" will not succeed in protecting the "terrorist groups" from the strikes of the Syrian army.

It said the Turkish forces continue to carry out acts of aggression against the Syrian troops in Idlib and its surroundings by targeting the positions of the Syrian army that is fighting the terrorist groups.

Meanwhile, the SANA said the Syrian forces shot down a Turkish drone over Idlib on Sunday.

Since December, the Syrian forces have been on a wide-scale offensive against the ultra-radical rebels in Idlib province, the country's last rebel stronghold, which borders Turkey.

It's worth noting that thousands of Turkish soldiers are deployed inside rebel-held areas of Idlib.

On Thursday, at least 33 Turkish soldiers were killed in airstrikes in Idlib, which Turkey blamed on the Syrian government.

The incident marked a serious escalation between the Turkish and Syrian forces and raised the prospect of an all-out confrontation between both sides.
Bob Geldof opened up about his sex life during an interview on Saturday - claiming his partner of 25 years, Jeanne Marine, still 'electrifies' him.

The 68-year-old rocker - who has been with French actress Jeanne, 54, since 1996, eventually marrying her in 2015 - told The Tommy Tiernan Show on Ireland's RTE One: 'That laser-driven [sex] drive of a 16-year-old clearly isn't there. As you age it tempers...'

'By 68, it doesn't always need chemical assistance, but it f**king helps!'

In love: Bob Geldof opened up about his sex life during an interview on Saturday - claiming his partner of 25 years, Jeanne Marine, still 'electrifies' him [pictured last month]

He went on to add: 'You must be very careful, because the beauty of a long-married wife hides in plain sight.

'You must always look to that woman who animates you, so that once again she electrifies you.'

He said of Jeanne: 'It's very easy with my missus who I've been with for 25 years. I'm sort of a one-woman geezer.'

The pair announced their engagement on 1 May 2014, and they were married in France on 28 April 2015.

Long-standing love: The 68-year-old rocker has been with French actress Jeanne, 54, since 1996 [pictured], eventually marrying her in 2015

He told The Tommy Tiernan Show on Ireland's RTE One: 'That laser-driven [sex] drive of a 16-year-old clearly isn't there. As you age it tempers. By 68, it doesn't always need chemical assistance, but it f**king helps'

The couple's engagement announcement came just weeks after Bob's daughter Peaches died at the age of 25.

Bob referred to the grief of losing her, nearly six years ago, as 'bottomless' and 'ever-present'.

The musician recently attended the funeral of a friend's son, forcing him to reflect on Peaches' - who died of a heroin overdose in April 2014 - death.

Bob said: 'Last week I went to the funeral of my mate's son, and he didn't want me to come for fear that I'd relive it but I had to be there for him cause it is unbearable.

Reflection: Bob referred to the grief of losing his daughter Peaches, nearly six years ago, as 'bottomless' and 'ever-present'

'Time doesn't heal, time accommodates, it's ever-present.'

He went on to add: 'You're driving along and you're at the traffic lights and for no reason whatsoever the person in question inhabits you.

'And I'll cry and then I'll look around to make sure the people around don't see me or are posting a photo or whatever - but that happens and that happens to everyone.

'You just do it, you cry to the maximum and then you go, the grief is bottomless and intimate. I didn't understand why I lost everything I thought to be true.'

Tragic: Peaches died of a heroin overdose at age 25 in April 2014

Evoking memories: Bob recently attended the funeral of a friend's son, forcing him to reflect on Peaches' death [pictured in 2003]

Bob - who also has daughters Fifi, 36, Pixie, 29, and Heavenly, 23 - added: 'It's all extremely public, but that's the nature of my life and job.'

In 2015, Bob revealed in a heart-breaking interview that he had 'half-expected' his daughter's death - which was a haunting reflection of that of her own mother Paula Yates, who died from a heroin overdose in 2000 at the age of 41.

He said his daughter is 'with him every second of the day' and that she is 'very present'.

Speaking to Miriam O'Callaghan on Irish radio station RTE Radio 1, the Boomtown Rats frontman said: 'With Peaches... I was half-expecting it. The way she was carrying on, there's nothing you can do about it.

Debts: The mother-of-two's 884,274 estate was used to pay off her debts, and less than half went to her musician husband, Thomas Cohen, and their two sons Astala and Phaedra, who were just three and two-years-old respectively when their mother died [pictured in 2012]

History repeating: In 2015, Bob revealed in a heart-breaking interview that he had 'half-expected' his daughter's death - which was a haunting reflection of that of her own mother Paula Yates [pictured], who died from a heroin overdose in 2000 at the age of 41

'This thing of being forever 25, in my head, that's unbearable, simply because of that cliche  you're not supposed to see your children die.

'But she is the one who is with me every second of the day and she is the one who bangs into my consciousness at any moment, especially in any down moment... where I'm not doing something. She's very present.'

He added: 'Time does not heal, it accommodates. But it is not accommodating this.'

Peaches had debts worth some 450,000 at the time of her death, it was reported soon afterwards.
In 1929 in an edict that seemed both impossibly savage and self-destructive, Stalin announced the "liquidation of the kulaks as a class. The people he called kulaks were the relatively wealthy peasants in the countryside.

For much of the eighteenth, nineteenth and into the early twentieth century, they were the most important single economic sector of the Russian empire. They were also the cultural center. They preserved Russian traditions and honored religious faith. They grew more than enough food to feed the nation. The excess they produced created more wealth in international trade and hard currency for Russia than any other group.

That is why it seems, at first thought, that it was counter to his own interests when Stalin enlisted 25,000 urban factory workers to go and dispossess the agrarian peasants. He trained them, gave them revolvers and ordered them to drive the kulak families off their land, outright murder many of them, send more of them off to prison camps, and enslave the rest. The resulting famine killed tens of millions of kulaks and others in the most painful and pitiless way.

Poster showing the kulak as fat and greedy (source: researchgate.net)

The atrocity of the de-kulakization -- the heartless butchery and wanton waste of life, the inhumane genocide of a culture, the destruction of the productive economic heart of Russia -- seems a brutal insanity unless you understand the real motivation behind it. As Stephen Kotkin has revealed in his biography of the man, Stalin was tough and cold, but he was not a madman. He did what he did, as Kotkin, proves, not out of murderous insanity but, even more chillingly, simply because he was a communist.

Stalin had studied and subscribed to Marxist theory and would now apply that theory, by force, to the entire Russian Empire. He saw with clarity, more so than any of his Soviet contemporaries, that the farmers as a class within Russian society were the most formidable obstacle (both economic and cultural) to his efforts to "build socialism" and pave the way to the communist utopia he believed in. Stalin was right; their interests, their traditions, their hearts and their independence were bulwarks against socialism and collectivization.

Their knowledge of how to farm the land seemed to guarantee them exemption from collectivization. Stalins answer was brutal and direct. His goal was communism, so the kulaks had to go no matter the cost.

The only thing Stalin was mistaken about was that he did not understand that the kulaks were not just a stubborn problem, they were the embodiment of human nature in its immutable unsuitability for socialism. He could not see that even though he could murder them he could not change human nature and that he and the socialist/communist project was (and is!) destined always to fail. It must fail because its promise of utopian equality of results is not just opposed to human nature, it defies the laws of nature and God. The tens of millions of people tortured, lives wasted, and the vast suffering were a great, horrible futility.

Why do I dwell on this now? Because it has become clear to me that the project of globalization by the Progressive administrative/political/intellectual elite, is, if not a twin brother, at least a blood relation to the Stalinist project. Globalization is a collectivist ideological movement, as is communism. It manifests itself as incremental (we might as well say progressive) socialism. Solzhenitsyn, who saw it first hand, said this about socialism: Socialism of any type leads to a total destruction of the human spirit and to a leveling of mankind into death.. Still, various national and international elites have been pushing it along for several decades. It is the goal for most of the powerful, intellectual and political leaders in the world. It is the raison d'etre for the European Union and the underlying rationale behind multiculturalism, the rise of pan-national corporations and open borders. Like Stalinism it is a secular ideology callous to the well-being, liberty, and even, when necessary, the life of anyone who stands in its way.

When Barack Obama promised his fundamental transformation of America, he was acknowledging the undeclared war on Americas kulaks. Not that Obama was globalizations, leader, he was just its least subtle, most prominent ideologue. If that war appears more benign here than Stalins de-kulakization, at least at the present stage, it poses comparable dangers if allowed to progress. The only mystery about why the progressive gun control efforts alarm many people is why it does not alarm everyone.

The damage it has already done is easy to see once you know what to look for. Think back to the original NAFTA, when the nation started to hemorrhage manufacturing jobs. All the while we were lulled by promises that the new economy would require adjustment but everything would be great. Exactly what new economy that was, was never made entirely clear. It had something to do with knowledge work, financial services and technology. Real jobs went to Mexico, China, Indonesia, anywhere but Illinois. China began taking our technology away. It wasnt difficult theft, it was like taking candy from a baby because corporate leaders and Republicans and Democrats alike in national office got rich from facilitating it. The industrial workforce decayed until the only ones left to object to the socialization and globalization were the trades people (remember Joe the Plumber?) and the farmers. Just like the Kulaks.

And they are so arrogant they dont bother to disguise their animosity and cold disdain. Hillary Clinton, campaigning in Pennsylvania, promised to their faces to make coal miners jobs disappear. Joe Biden told miners to learn to code. Mike Bloomberg despises farmers and factory workers. What did he say?

I can teach anybody  even people in this room, so no offense intended  to be a farmer. Its a process. You dig a hole, you put a seed in, you put dirt on top, you add water, up comes corn. You can learn that. Then you had 300 years of the industrial society. You put the piece of metal on the lathe, you turn the crank in direction of arrow and you can have a job. And we created a lot of jobs. At one point, 98% of the world worked in agriculture. Today its 2% of the United States.

This is the attitude of our elite. Bernie Sanders has been even more blunt. In Peter Schweitzers book, Profiles in Corruption, he is quoted as calling working class jobs moron work, monotonous work. The progressive elite who claim to be the champions of the workers are really an incipient aristocracy intent on slamming the doorway to wealth and position behind them so that only their children and those of their friends will rule in perpetuity. This is not yet the brutal fist of communism, but it is wholly analogous, it's a collectivist impulse that dignified independent people will not support.

President Donald Trump stands out among our political leaders as a man who has made his wealth out of the hard world of building buildings and trading real estate, not manipulating financial instruments, feeding at the public trough, or spinning theories. It is he who truly respects work and the self-reliant people who live independently outside of corporate, academic and government sinecures.

Candidate Obama could see early on that the people in working class America whom he would later demean as tea-baggers would not accept his stated contentions that the country must change, that their jobs are going away and theyre not coming back, and that open borders (not protecting our own citizens) was, in his words who we are as a people. Obama the candidate opined at one point, "And it's not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations. This is truly the American version of de-kulakization. Not as obvious and dramatic as the Stalinist one (yet) but it is no less Machiavellian. Urban hipsters and university intellectuals sneer at the heartland now, while the opioid epidemic rages and suicide rates are climbing. When an elite class is no longer interested in being the steward of the public it serves and the public no longer feels cared for by its elites, trouble is not far away.

It is axiomatic that it is easier for a public to rid itself of its elite and recruit another more suitable one than it is for an elite to find another public to rule over. But then, the establishment politicians of both parties and the chamber of commerce want open borders -- not just for cheap labor but in order to import a more pliable and socialist public. This is the tripwire of American de-kulakization -- the replacement by immigration of the working public, trades and farmers. Not with murder and labor camps but with ill-will, condescension, loss of occupations and ultimately, replacement. It is murder, really -- just a slow and indirect kind. They just intend to make us sink and then to hold us under the economic waterline until we stop squirming. In it, I hear the echo of a story from Stalinist times. In a video on YouTube, Anton Antonov Ovseyenko tells the story of how Stalins friend and publisher of Isvestia, Ivan Mikailovich Gronsky, was traveling with Stalin by train through the countryside surrounded on all sides by starving Kulak families. Gronsky said to Stalin, You know, Iosif Vissarionovich, our farmers are dying here -- millions of them.

Stalin replied, Let them die, theyre just trying to sabotage us.

Think of that the next time you see Maxine Waters, Eric Swalwell, Adam Schiff, Don Lemon, Rachel Maddow or any of the other demagogues, miscreants, windbags and lickspittles of Progressivism calling for Donald Trump to be brought down and destroyed. Is it any wonder they hate President Trump with such relentless venom? He is our best, perhaps even our last, hope to sabotage them. The Progressives appear crazy but are not mad -- they are just Progressives.

Yaacov ben Moshe is the pen name of a blogger at Breath of the Beast and conservative writer who also guest moderates on Blazing Cat Fur
There and Back Again

For a Chinese couple, all roads led home.

by Tim Athan

From the February, 2020 issue

Jiaqi traveled halfway around the world to pursue a master's degree in biostatistics at the U-M. Xuzhou travelled just as far to pursue a PhD in mechanical engineering. (We're not using their last names to preserve some privacy.) They met in a North Campus library, discovered they were both new arrivals from China, and soon fell in love.



China is big, so they were astonished to discover that they were from the same city, Taiyuan, in northern Shanxi province. Taiyuan has more than four million people, so it was even more astonishing when they discovered they had attended the same high school and graduated in the same class.



They now plan to marry, so over winter break they returned to Taiyuan to meet each other's families. Getting everyone together wasn't hard: It turns out they grew up just five blocks apart. "It's cute!" Xuzhou says. "It's romantic!"



[Originally published in February, 2020.]








Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-02 04:34:50|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

MOSCOW, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The fight against terrorists in Syria will continue, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with Rossiya-1 television channel, TASS news agency reported on Sunday.

Peskov noted that Russian military facilities in Syria come under shelling by terrorists, so "fight against these terrorist elements will be continued against all the odds."

According to Peskov, Turkey was supposed to ensure inaction of these elements under the Sochi agreements.

"Unfortunately, Turkey failed to fulfill its obligations and the terrorists went over to the offensive against the Syrian armed forces," he added.

Peskov recalled that Russia is the only country to have its soldiers in Syria at the request from the Syrian legitimate government.

On Thursday, at least 34 Turkish soldiers were killed in airstrikes in Syria's Idlib, which Turkey blamed on the Syrian government.

The incident marked a serious escalation between the Turkish and Syrian forces and raised the prospect of an all-out confrontation between both sides.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, agreed Friday to examine the possibility of meeting in the near future to discuss the situation in Idlib.
Bagalavan Perier B By

Express News Service

PUDUCHERRY: Chief Minister V Narayanasamy said on Saturday that an expressway will be laid soon in Puducherry city to ease traffic jams. He also informed that the first-ever ferry service between Sri Lanka and Karaikal too will be launched soon.

The Chief Minister on Saturday met media persons in Puducherry Assembly. "As per the Central government's statement, the country's GDP growth has fallen from 5 per cent to 4.7 per cent in the last four months. This is the first time growth has slowed down to this extent in the last 20 years," he said, adding, "This is because of wrong economic policies, unemployment, closure of industries, halt in foreign investments, 20 per cent fall in automotive industries and decline in construction works. The Central government hasn't fulfilled any of its promises."

He also spoke on a variety of topics.

On CAA

The CM said, "They have brought in CAA to divert people's attention from the aforementioned issues. And due to that, riots are taking place in many states. It's unfortunate that even women were attacked for being involved in protests in Delhi. More than 40 persons were killed in the riots in Northeast Delhi. RSS and BJP members attacked people with rods and scythes. But police did nothing to stop them. The riots in the national capital has created fear."

On Reservation

"During Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu's visit for the Pondicherry University convocation, I gave a letter to him seeking 25 per cent reservation for Puducherry students in all departments since he is the Chancellor of the university. He promised to fulfill the demand and I thank him for that."

On ferry service & tourism

"The Central minister for shipping, Mansukh Mandaviya visited Puducherry, and sought my support for a ferry service between Karaikal to Jaffna port in Sri Lanka. I gave my assurance because this will increase the number of tourists to Puducherry. With this service, people can go from Karaikal to Sri Lanka in three hours and works have been initiated for this. I also met Central tourism minister, Prahlad Singh Patel, when he came to Puducherry a few days ago and informed him about the works that have been undertaken for the Rs 700 crore allotted by the Centre for tourism development in Puducherry, Karaikal, Mane and Yanam. I've asked for Rs 200 crore for second phase of works. Similarly, Central minister for highways Nitin Gadkari had a meeting with officials at Puducherry Secretariat. He had discussed about works to be undertaken by National highways department. I requested him to begin the four-lane highway project between Nagapattinam and Villupuram, which was approved during Congress rule and Rs 9,026 crore was allotted for it. He assured me that he will get permission from the environment ministry as per court guidelines and start works soon."

On highway projects

"Centre has approved the upgrading of highway into four lanes between Mahabalipuram and Puducherry and Rs 800 crore has been allotted for it. Since it will affect houses in Puducherry if it runs through the city, we have suggested to make it a ring road through Auroville, Ariyapalayam and connect the road to the proposed Villupuram to Nagapattinam highway. The minister has accepted our proposal. We have also planned a four-lane road from Madagadipattu to Puducherry city, and the Central government has allotted Rs 130 crore for it, which includes a bridge on Sankarabarani river at Ariyapalayam. Works have already started and this will ease traffic. Particularly, due to traffic jams, it takes more than 40 minutes to travel from Murungapakkam to the Sivaji statue in Karuvadikuppam. The expressway will cover those nine kilometres. Since it will cost Rs 300 crore, the Central minister suggested building of overbridges in required areas and widening of roads in other places."
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 03:54:46|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

The director of U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) Robert Redfield (R) testifies before the House Foreign Affairs Committee during a hearing on Coronavirus Disease 2019: The U.S. and International Response, on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., the United States, on Feb. 27, 2020. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)

First coronavirus death in the United States has been confirmed in Washington state -- a woman in her later 50s.

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Washington State Department of Health confirmed the first death in connection with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Saturday as more cases of unknown origin were reported in western U.S. states.

One person has died from COVID-19 in King County, Washington, making his/her death the first such case in the United States, health officials said.

The department made no further details about how the victim contracted the virus. President Donald Trump said later in a press briefing Saturday afternoon that the victim is a woman in her late 50s.

Washington Governor Jay Inslee said "it is a sad day in our state as we learn that a Washingtonian has died from COVID-19."

"In partnership with the Washington State Department of Health, the Washington State Department of Emergency Management and local and community health partners, we are strengthening our preparedness and response efforts," he said.

Washington health officials announced two new cases of COVID-19 in the state Friday night. The two patients are a student at Jackson High School in Mill Creek and a King County woman in her 50s, who recently traveled to Daegu, South Korea.

Washington reported the first COVID-19 case of the United States last month after a man in his 30s from Snohomish County tested COVID-19 positive following his return from China's Wuhan city.

As the number of COVID-19 cases increased globally, more cases of the coronavirus disease of unknown origin have been reported in U.S. western states, triggering concern about local person-to-person spread of the infectious disease.

The Santa Clara County of California reported a second COVID-19 case of unknown origin in the United States on Friday, while Oregon Health Authority said an elementary school employee tested coronavirus positive, though the person had no travel history nor close contact with infected individuals.The Oregon patient is the state's first "presumptive" COVID-19 case ever reported.

Trump said the United States currently has 22 confirmed COVID-19 cases, while data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that there have been three cases of person-to-person transmission. There are also 47 infected people who evacuated from either Wuhan city or the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked in Japan. 
The Voyager of the Seas cruise ship has docked in Tauranga this morning after being diverted from Vanuatu.

The diversion is due to seven people on board falling ill. But the Ministry of Health believes there is no risk of COVID-19 on the vessel.

We are aware that there are seven people on board the cruise ship Voyager of the Seas due to dock in Tauranga tomorrow that are ill with typical influenza or gastroenteritis, says a written statement issued by the ministry.

Our current assessment is that there is no risk from COVID-19.

The Voyager of the Seas cruise ship has a maximum capacity of 4369 passengers and crew.

Bay of Plenty chief executive Kristin Dunne says cruise ships docking in Tauranga are visiting under strict health and safety protocols, and host communities should feel at ease about welcoming them as always.

Both Toi Te Ora Public Health Unit and the Ministry of Health have determined that there is no risk of COVID-19 (coronavirus) on board the vessel.

I would like to reassure the community that the cruise industry has extensive experience and protocols for managing the health and wellbeing of their guests, and the host communities."

She says for many aboard the Voyager of the Seas this cruise is a holiday of a lifetime and through no fault of their own the ship has had to divert.

Their time in our care could leave a lasting positive impression and it is my hope that we all rally to extend the manaakitanga we are known for.

I would like to reassure the community that the cruise industry has extensive experience and protocols for managing the health and wellbeing of their guests, and the host communities.

Tourism Bay of Plenty reiterates a statement from February 21 confirming that the majority of more than 270 cruise ships globally continue to sail unaffected, including within New Zealand  but with strict precautions in place.
Police in Kazakhstan have blocked access to main squares and detained dozens of people on March 1 amid opposition calls for protests to demand a thorough investigation into the recent death in custody of a prominent civil rights activist.



Organizers are also calling for the exit from politics of ex-President Nursultan Nazarbaev, who stepped down last year as head of state but remains influential through his chairmanship of an increasingly powerful Kazakh Security Council and other channels.



Police cordons, detentions, and reported call-ins for questioning kept would-be protesters from gathering at central locations in the capital, Nur-Sultan, and other cities.

WATCH: Protesters Bundled Into Police Vans



Mobile Internet also appeared to be blocked at some of the planned sites.



Forty-three-year-old activist Dulat Aghadil, a father of six, died within hours of his detention on February 24 of what officials later said was "heart failure with no traces of violence."



Protesters blame the current government and other officials -- including Nazarbaev and the system he built during nearly three decades in power -- for Aghadil's death.



RFE/RL correspondents witnessed the detentions of at least 14 people in Nur-Sultan, at least 36 people in Almaty, 15 people in Shykment, and about a dozen people in Aqtobe.



Some of the detainees shouted "Old man, go away!" as they were being taken away by police.



Police also escorted several people wearing "Press" vests away from an area near one square where a rally was planned.

WATCH: Kazakh Police Detain 20 After Funeral Of Civil Rights Activist Who Died In Custody

Journalists and activists reported a handful of detentions of activists from their homes or far from expected rally points, and others reported being called for questioning or surveilled early on March 1 by security officials.



Activists intensified demands for a probe into Aghadil's last hours when a video emerged showing what appeared to be wounds on the dead man's hands and feet and bruise-like discolored areas scattered across his shoulders, back, upper arms, and other areas of the body.



Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev broke his public silence on Aghadil's death in an interview on February 29, saying, "Given the public outcry, I carefully examined this matter [and] I can confidently say that, unfortunately, activist Aghadil died as a result of heart failure. To say the opposite is to deny the truth."



Aghadil had spent a combined two months in jail since his arrest in August 2019 for taking part in unsanctioned rallies, and had made headlines with an escape one day before his planned release in November 2019 in what he said was a "protest [of] my illegal arrest."



He was buried on February 27.



Friends and fellow rights defenders have questioned the official account of Aghadil's latest detention alleging he was intoxicated, saying he did not drink due to a medical condition.



They also say he had no history of heart issues.



Kazakhstan's Prosecutor-General's Office warned on February 28 against participating in "illegal protests."
New Delhi, March 1 : The Congress has made it clear that it will not be sitting quietly in the Parliament session which will start from Monday after the recess. The party has said it will raise the issue of Delhi riots and will demand the resignation of Home Minister Amit Shah.

A Congress source said, "The inaction by the Delhi police is deliberate and we have sought the removal of the Home Minister and will raise the issue in both houses of Parliament." The Congress will submit the adjournment motion on Monday.

The Congress stepped up its attack on the issue of Delhi riots against the Home Minister. The Congress Working Committee passed a resolution and the Congress delegation had met the President demanding the removal of the Home Minister.

The Congress delegation on Thursday (February 27) met President Ram Nath Kovind and urged him to direct the government, both central and the state, to act. The party alleged that instead of taking active steps to ease the situation, the Central Government, as also the newly elected Delhi Government, remained mute spectators, as completely mindless rage, designed violence and organised looting of property, continued unabated.

At least 41 persons were killed in northeast Delhi since Sunday afternoon after clashes broke out between pro and anti CAA groups on February 24. While 38 deaths were reported at the GTB Hospital, three dfeaths were reported at Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital.
SELMA, Ala.  Presidential candidates and prominent social justice activists descended on Alabama on Sunday to commemorate the anniversary of the brutal attack on civil rights marchers here in 1965, one of the most violent episodes in the struggle for black participation in democracy.

A whos who of political figures, including five Democratic presidential candidates, were marking the occasion, nearly 55 years after the day that became known as Bloody Sunday. And Representative John Lewis of Georgia, 80, who announced in December that he had advanced pancreatic cancer, joined the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

Mr. Lewis, who was 25 when his skull was fractured in the 1965 attack, told a crowd thronging him that they could help redeem the soul of America.

We were beaten, we were tear-gassed. I thought I was going to die on this bridge. But somehow and some way, God almighty helped me here, Mr. Lewis said. We cannot give up now. We cannot give in. We must keep the faith, keep our eyes on the prize. We must go out and vote like we never, ever voted before.
In a shockingly communal remark, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar on Sunday alleged that a Delhi school in the recent riots was attacked because some of its teachers belonged to a minority community. Slamming the Centre for the riots, he also claimed that as the ruling party did not get Delhi's backing in the recent polls, people resort to communal tensions. The Delhi violence has claimed 45 lives and leftover 200 injured as of date.

Sharad Pawar communalises attack on school

"Yesterday a school was attacked. The furniture and other things in the school were thrown out of the building. An attack has happened on an educational institution too. Why? Because some of the teachers in that institute did not belong to a community preferred by those in power," said Pawar.

Maharashtra Cyber Cell transfers complaint against WSJ's riot reporting to Delhi Police

Slamming PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for the Delhi riots, he added," The ruling party did not see getting any people's backing in the Delhi polls. It has been so that when you don't have people's backing, they resort to communal tensions. These Delhi elections saw PM, HM resorting to disturbing social and religious sentiments of the country".

Rickshaw puller's family untraceable following Delhi riots; teary-eyed man narrates plight

Schools vandalised in Delhi violence

On Tuesday, as tensions ran high in the nationals capital, Arun Modern Senior Secondary School situated in North East Delhi's Brijpuri area was burned down by a mob - fortunately, no students or staff were present at the premises. Similarly, Rajdhani Public School and DPR school in Shiv Vihar met with the same fate, where gates have been damaged, furniture burned, school books and bags burned, windows and doors damaged. CBSE has postponed board exams in the area scheduled till February 29.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar visits riot-hit areas in north-east Delhi, speaks to victims

Delhi violence

Clashes began between pro-CAA and anti-CAA groups as both camps resorted to stone-pelting on Sunday after Shaheen Bagh-like protests started in Jaffrabad and Chand Bagh. The situation deteriorated even as Delhi Police was present at the spot as houses, shops, and buses were burnt. While the Home Minister reviewed the situation on Monday and Tuesday, the violence increased killing 45 and injuring over 200. Delhi CM Kejriwal has offered monetary, medical and home relief to the injured and deceased, while the police have filed 167 FIRs cases and have arrested or detained 885 people till date. Jaffrabad, Maujpur, Babarpur, Yamuna Vihar, Bhajanpura, Chand Bagh and Shiv Vihar are among the areas mainly affected by the riots.

Abhishek Banerjee hits back at Shah's 'Annay' attack: 'WB better off without your hatred'
Fears swirling around coronavirus has led to the cancellation of CERAWeek and sent a small group of Rice University staff members and students into self-quarantine.

The organizers of CERAWeek by IHS Markit, an oil and gas industry conference set to bring thousands of international visitors to Houston the week of March 9-13, announced Sunday morning it was cancelling the week-long event.

While travel restrictions prevented delegates from China, where the virus originated, from attending, attendees from up to 80 nations were expected to attend the conference.

"Our number one concern is the health and safety of delegates and speakers, our partners, our colleagues and vendors," IHS Markit said in a statement.

There are no confirmed cases of coronavirus in Harris County, according to Harris County Public Health.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Coronavirus affecting U.S. churches, missionaries

Rice University asked staff members and students to self-quarantine Saturday night after a research staff member was possibly exposed to the coronavirus while traveling abroad, the university said.

The staffer was briefly on campus on Feb. 24 and 25. A group of people including research scientists, postdoctoral fellows and doctoral-level graduate students has been asked to self-isolate as a preventive measure, said Jeff Falk, a Rice University spokesperson.

More Information What are the symptoms of coronavirus? Novel coronavirus is a pneumonia-like respiratory illness that was first reported in Wuhan, China. Experts with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believe the illness is spread person-to-person when an infected person coughs or sneezes within six feet of another. Symptoms can appear 2-14 days after exposure, health officials said. They include: Fever Cough Difficulty breathing CDC guidance advises people who are experiencing those symptoms and have recently traveled to a country with a coronavirus outbreak, or who have been in close contact with one of those people, to call their doctors. The CDC is the only health agency that can test for symptoms of coronavirus. Officials emphasize that people should practice good hygiene and avoid people who show symptoms of illness. They can also: Avoid touching their face Avoid close contact with people who are sick Stay home when sick Frequently wash hands Clean and disinfect objects and surfaces with household cleaning supplies Wear a face mask only if they show symptoms of coronavirus See More Collapse

Those people are staying off the main campus, Falk said.

School officials said the employee traveled overseas to a country that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have not issued travel restrictions for, but did not specify where.

In a statement Sunday morning, Harris County Public Health said it was conducting an infectious disease investigation.

The threat of COVID-19 to Houston and Harris County remains low and there is no need for the public to take additional precautionary actions at this time, the county said.

The CDC has issued warnings related to coronavirus outbreaks in China, Iran, South Korea, Italy, Japan and Hong Kong.

The university is not canceling classes or operations as of Saturday night. However, Rice students and employees are being asked to register any upcoming international travel plans on a campus website.

Your safety and security during your time abroad is important to us, an advisory at the top of the travel registry said.  All departments are responsible for ensuring faculty, staff and students document their international travel plans with the travel registry.

There are 11 known cases of coronavirus in Texas; none of the patients contracted the virus in Texas. All of the patients are in quarantine and are being treated at facilities in San Antonio.

Staff writer Sergio Chapa contributed to this story.

gwendolyn.wu@chron.com

Twitter: @gwendolynawu
Children who had well-connected brain hubs had either very specific cognitive difficulties, such as poor listening skills, or had no cognitive difficulties at all.

Source: Eurekalert

Advertisement

A new study has revealed different learning difficulties do not correspond to specific regions of the brain. The findings of the study were conducted by University of Cambridge researchers. Poor connectivity between 'hubs' within the brain is much more strongly related to children's difficulties. Between 14-30% of children and adolescents worldwide have learning difficulties severe enough to require additional support. These difficulties are often associated with cognitive and/or behavioral problems. In some cases, children who are struggling at school receive a formal diagnosis of a specific learning difficulty or disability, such as dyslexia, dyscalculia or developmental language disorder, or of a developmental disorder such as attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dyspraxia, or autism spectrum disorder. Scientists have struggled to identify specific areas of the brain that might give rise to these difficulties, with studies implicating myriad brain regions. ADHD, for example, has been linked to the anterior cingulate cortex, caudate nucleus, pallidum, striatum, cerebellum, prefrontal cortex, the premotor cortex and most parts of the parietal lobe. One potential explanation is that each diagnosis differs so much between one individual and the next, that each involves different combinations of brain regions. However, a more provocative explanation has been proposed by a team of scientists at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge: there are, in fact, no specific brain areas that cause these difficulties. To test their hypothesis, the researchers used machine learning to map the brain differences across a group of almost 479 children, 337 of whom had been referred with learning-related cognitive problems and 142 from a comparison sample. The algorithm interpreted data taken from a large battery of cognitive, learning, and behavioural measures, as well as from brain scans taken using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The results are published today in Current Biology. The researchers found that the brain differences did not map onto any labels the children had been given - in other words, there were no brain regions that predicted having ASD or ADHD, for example. More surprisingly, they found that the different brain regions did not even predict specific cognitive difficulties - there was no specific brain deficit for language problems or memory difficulties, for example. Instead, the team found that the children's brains were organised around hubs, like an efficient traffic system or social network. By contrast, children with poorly connected hubs - like a train station with few or poor connections - had widespread and severe cognitive problems. "Scientists have argued for decades that there are specific brain regions that predict having a particular learning disorder or difficulty, but we've shown that this isn't the case," said Dr Duncan Astle, senior author on the study. "In fact, it's much more important to consider how these brain areas are connected - specifically, whether they are connected via hubs. The severity of learning difficulties was strongly associated with the connectedness of these hubs, we think because these hubs play a key role in sharing information between brain areas." Dr Astle said that one implication of their work is that it suggests that interventions should be less reliant on diagnostic labels. "Receiving a diagnosis is important for families. It can give professional recognition for a child's difficulties and open the door to specialist support. But in terms of specific interventions, for example from the child's teachers, they can be a distraction. "It's better to look at their areas of cognitive difficulties and how these can be supported, for example using specific interventions to improve listening skills or language competencies, or at interventions that would be good for the whole class, like how to how to reduce working memory demands during learning." The findings may explain why drugs treatments have not proven effective for developmental disorders. Methylphenidate (Ritalin), for example, which is used to treat ADHD, appears to reduce hyperactivity, but does not remediate cognitive difficulties or improve educational progress. Drugs tend to target specific types of nerve cells, but would have little impact on a 'hub-based' organisation that has emerged over many years. While this is the first time that hubs and their connections have been shown to play a key role in learning difficulties and developmental disorders, their importance in brain disorders is becoming increasingly clear in recent years. Cambridge researchers have previously shown that they also play an important role in mental health disorders that begin to emerge during adolescence, such as schizophrenia.
Secretary Michael R. Pompeo At Afghanistan Signing Ceremony

Remarks

Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State

Sheraton Hotel

Doha, Qatar

February 29, 2020



SECRETARY POMPEO: Good afternoon. I want to start by thanking His Highness Sheikh Tamim for Qatar's invaluable role as host of these historic talks. His unstinting support, and yours foreign minister, have supported both sides and allowed them to reach this momentous day.

The United States and the Taliban have endured decades of hostility and mistrust. Previous talks have faltered. This effort only became real for the United States when the Taliban signaled interest in pursuing peace and ending their relationship with al-Qaida and other foreign terrorist groups. They also recognized that military victory was impossible. I then asked Ambassador Khalilzad to serve as our lead negotiator to gauge the Taliban's sincerity.

The agreement that we will sign today is the true test of this effort. We will closely watch the Taliban's compliance with their commitments and calibrate the pace of our withdrawal to their actions. This is how we will ensure that Afghanistan never again serves as a base for international terrorists.

The negotiation process in Doha, with all of its twists and turns, has shown it is possible for us to take this step together. Over the past seven days, violence levels have reached their lowest point in the last four years. U.S. and Afghan forces responded to the reduced enemy attacks by also respecting peace. It was not perfect, but the Taliban demonstrated, even if only for a week, that when they have the will to be peaceful, they can be.

The Afghan people have rejoiced. They are moving freely about the country to visit family and friends. They're trading. They're even dancing in the streets. But we're just at the beginning. Furthering the cause of peace will require serious work and sacrifice by all sides  the United States, the coalition, the Taliban, the Afghan Government, other Afghan leaders, and the Afghan people themselves  to maintain the momentum needed to reach a comprehensive, inclusive, and durable peace.

This agreement will mean nothing, and today's good feelings will not last, if we don't take concrete actions on commitments and promises that have been made. When it comes down to it, the future of Afghanistan is for Afghans to determine. The U.S.-Taliban deal creates the conditions for Afghans to do just that.

Here's our take. Here's our take on what steps by the Taliban will make this agreement a success.

First, keep your promises to cut ties with al-Qaida and other terrorists. Keep up the fight to defeat ISIS. Welcome the profound relief of all Afghan citizens  men and women, urban and rural  as a result of this past week's massive reduction in violence and dedicate yourselves to continued reductions. It is this significant de-escalation of violence that will create the conditions for peace, and the absence of it, the conditions and cause for failure. All Afghans deserve to live and prosper without fear.

Sit down with the Afghan Government, other Afghan political leaders, and civil society, and start the difficult conversations on a political roadmap for your country. Exercise patience, even when there is frustration. Honor the rich diversity of your country and make room for all views. Afghan governments have failed because they weren't sufficiently inclusive. The Afghan Government of 2020, and indeed the Afghanistan of 2020, is not the same as in 2001. Embrace the historic progress obtained for women and girls and build on it for the benefit of all Afghans. The future of Afghanistan ought to draw on the God-given potential of every single person.

If you take these steps, if you stay the course and remain committed to negotiations with the Afghan Government and other Afghan partners, we and the rest of the international community assembled here today stand ready to reciprocate.

I know there will be a temptation to declare victory. But victory  victory for Afghans  will only be achieved when they can live in peace and prosper. Victory for the United States will only be achieved when Americans and our allies no longer have to fear a terrorist threat from Afghanistan, and we will do whatever it takes to protect our people. The United States will press all sides to stay focused on the goal of a peaceful, prosperous, and sovereign Afghanistan and an Afghanistan free of malign foreign interference where all voices and communities are heard and are represented. This is the only way  this is the only way  a sustainable peace can be achieved. And for all of us here, and most importantly for the security of the American and Afghan people, this must happen.

Thank you. (Applause.)

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






KYODO NEWS - Mar 1, 2020 - 20:10 | All, Coronavirus, World, Japan

Japan and China are considering postponing Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit this spring, Japanese government sources said Sunday, as the two countries have recognized the need to focus on containing the spread of the new coronavirus.

Xi was slated to make the trip to Tokyo in early April, in what would be the first state visit by a Chinese president since Hu Jintao in May 2008.

A new schedule has yet to be determined. Japanese officials have suggested that the visit could be delayed until fall or later, after the country hosts the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.

"Xi's visit in April has become difficult," said a senior official in Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration.

(World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (L) and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands in Beijing on Jan. 28, 2020, ahead of their meeting to discuss how to curb the spread of the new coronavirus)

The Japanese government has already told China that it is not the right time to go ahead with Xi's visit, according to the sources.

The likelihood is high that Japan and China will make the final decision this week about whether to put off Xi's visit.

A state visit would include a meeting with Emperor Naruhito and a banquet at the Imperial Palace. Normally, when to meet with the Japanese emperor must be finalized a month in advance.

On Saturday, Abe told a press conference there was no change to the schedule for Xi's visit, adding, "It will be the first visit by a Chinese president in a decade so we need to be able to show solid outcomes. From that perspective, Japan and China will closely communicate with each other."

But stronger opposition to the visit has been emerging within the government and Abe's Liberal Democratic Party, especially among conservative lawmakers who have argued that major issues ranging from China's maritime assertiveness to the human rights situation in Hong Kong are outstanding.

When China's top diplomat Yang Jiechi came to Tokyo in late February, Japan told him that preparations for the visit were behind schedule due to the virus outbreak, according to the sources.

A number of preparatory meetings between Japanese and Chinese officials have been called off as the pneumonia-causing virus spreads globally from its epicenter in Wuhan, central China.

The officials have not worked out the details yet of a political document on the future of the countries' relations to be issued by Abe and Xi, and so Japan told Yang that it was becoming difficult to secure concrete results from a meeting between the leaders, the sources said.

Yang told Japanese officials that he would convey their views to Beijing, according to the sources.

Related coverage:

Thailand reports 1st coronavirus death

Japanese man in Hokkaido dies after being infected with coronavirus

U.S. to ban entry of travelers from Iran, raises S. Korea alert level
BURLINGAME (BCN)

An 18-year-old San Mateo man was arrested Saturday night on suspicion of felony hit and run and attempted homicide, with Burlingame police investigators asserting the man allegedly drove onto the sidewalk and intentionally hit four teenagers, seriously injuring them.

Police said they arrested Omeed Adibi after he drove away from the scene, near Howard Avenue and Clarendon Road, where four pedestrians -- all young teenagers -- were hit by an SUV at about 5:15 p.m. Saturday, police said. This is about a half mile south of U.S. Highway 101.

Two of the victims sustained major injuries and were taken to Stanford Hospital, and the two others were taken to San Francisco General Hospital with moderate injuries. The victims are San Mateo residents.

The SUV driver, meanwhile, fled the scene, but was tracked by witnesses to the 800 block of Burlingame Avenue, about three blocks from the accident scene, police said Saturday night. Adibi was then arrested and taken into custody, police said.

Burlingame officers' preliminary investigation indicates Adibi deliberately drove onto the sidewalk and intentionally hit the four youths. Officers said they don't yet know why.

Burlingame police are asking anyone with information regarding this incident to contact the Burlingame PD Investigations Division at (650) 777-4100.

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.
More than a dozen crew members of a cargo ship are missing after it collided with a fishing boat in waters off northern Japan, a coast guard official said Sunday.

The 1,989-tonne Belize-flagged cargo ship Guoxing 1 was carrying some 3,000 tonnes of iron scrap and rapidly took in water after the hit, Japan Coast Guard spokesman Tomoyuki Hanzawa told AFP.

The collision between the Guoxing 1 and a 138-tonne Japanese fishing boat happened around 10 pm (1300) GMT Saturday and the cause is unknown, he added.

The Guoxing 1 had a crew of 14 Chinese and Vietnamese nationals, of which 13 are still missing and the coast guard is searching for them, Hanzawa said.

One Vietnamese crew member was rescued by a nearby ship, while the 15 Japanese crew members of the fishing boat are safe.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Not Everyone Rejoiced at Weinstein Verdict

Commentary

The verdict in the Harvey Weinstein sex crimes case was described as both a disappointment and a victory. Some court watchers felt the shamed movie mogul should have been found guilty on all counts. Others said the decision ushered in a new era for survivors of sexual assault and tamped down, once and for all, defense attorneys tactics of blaming the victim.

For Denise Conroy of Chicago, none of those things was the point.

Watching that trial, she told me, I just kept getting madder. Why didnt (those women) report it when it happened? I thought, What the hell took you so long?

Conroy was 23 years old in 1982 when she was dragged between two houses while walking home from her waitressing job early one morning. Her voice still cracks when she speaks about what happened when two Hispanic men put a gun in her mouth and took turns violently beating and raping her.

They kicked me and stabbed me. I was sodomized. And that gun. Ill never forget that gun. I said, Oh, God, please stop, and he said, God is not here. At the hospital, doctors nicknamed her the murder victim who refused to die. The crime was reported to police immediately.

Watching coverage of the Weinstein trial triggered Conroys panic memory. She admits to yelling at the screen as Court TV recounted the womens testimony against Weinstein. Each witness conceded that she had delayed reporting Weinsteins sexual attack. In the case of actress Annabella Sciorra, it took more than two decades before she told authorities Weinstein had forcibly raped her.

Since the first revelations about Weinsteins criminal behavior surfaced, more than 90 women have come forward to say the once high-powered Hollywood mogul sexually victimized them. (Weinstein still faces similar sex assault charges in California.) It does beg the question how so many women stayed silent for so long about such an obvious predator. Their fear of being erased from Hollywood outweighed their desire to report Weinsteins criminal behavior.

Whats the price of your soul? Conroy asked as she recounted the agony of feeling like the guilty party, post-rape, when detectives first questions were about what she had been wearing and why she was out so late. She earnestly wonders why the Weinstein women werent able to stand up for themselves at the time of the attacks, as she did so many years ago. Just facing her attackers and pointing them out in court was torture, she said. But it was also empowering.

I dont want to victim-bash, she said to me in an urgent tone. But if it happened, then report it! We wont get anywhere if people dont report. I know its a double-edged sword, she said. I know how hard it is. Its embarrassing and humiliating, but it must be done.

Today, Conroy, now 60, volunteers as an advocate for women at risk. She worries that the star-studded #MeToo and #TimesUp movements have lost focus on the countless noncelebrity women who are victims of sexual assaults and domestic violence. And the media, she says, seems transfixed on only the super sensational sex crime cases like Bill Cosby, Jeffrey Epstein and, yes, Harvey Weinstein.

Conroy is also troubled by another thing: those who seem to equate all sexual harassment and assault with the same outrage and gravitas. Complaining about a co-worker who makes suggestive comments or has wandering eyes is nowhere near as serious as a forcible sex act, and she believes more public support needs to be aimed toward actual crime victims.

While the Weinstein verdict gave her some hope, What about the co-conspirators at Miramax? Conroy asked, referring to top executives at Weinsteins now defunct company, including his brother, Bob. They had Harvey sign contracts agreeing to stay away from women. They need to be held responsible. This didnt happen in a vacuum.

Conroy sounded a bit bitter when she spoke about the pedestal on which Weinsteins victims have been placed. Theyre glorifying these women who didnt come forward for years. Calling them heroes. What about people like me, women who have lived through unspeakable things? It sort of feels like a slap in the face.

While taking nothing away from the Weinstein victims, Conroy has a point.

Diane Dimond is an author and investigative journalist. Her latest book is Thinking Outside the Crime and Justice Box.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
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.
I placed David Garrows biography of the young Barack Obama (now available in paperback) in my top 10 books of 2017. Forgive me for quoting myself. This is what I wrote:

Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama, by David J. Garrow. This staggeringly researched book covers 1078 pages of text supported by 300 pages of footnotes  even though Garrow relegates his comments on Obamas presidency to a 50-page epilogue in which he criticizes Obama from the left. I have not read this book from cover to cover, but I have dipped into it to explore the periods of Obamas pre-presidential life that most interest me. I have been surprised by the substantial discoveries Garrow has made as well as the level of detail that Garrow has achieved. I have learned from what I have read and intend to return to the book for more. The historian David Greenberg suggests the riches on offer here in Why so many critics hate the new Obama biography. Working on the book, Garrow secured a total of eight hours of off the record interviews with Obama. Oh, to have been a fly on the wall for those.

Professor Garrow covers Obamas writing of Dreams from My Father near the midpoint of the books text. Without resolving all mysteries, his scholarship belies the notion that the book was ghostwritten by Bill Ayers or other such collaborator. Jack Cashill had pursued this theme in his book Deconstructing Obama and elsewhere. I was open to the thought and wrote (too much) about it in years past.

I was mostly troubled by the literary quality to which Andrew Ferguson had paid tribute (I quoted him here): I dont think anyone who reads it could doubt that Dreams from My Father is the work of a real writer; a young writer, its true, with a young writers mannerisms. The story as he tells it is a bit overstuffed with epiphanies; one event after another sends waves of significance through the narrators vast reservoir of sensibility. Ferguson had second thoughts about his praise of the author as a memoirist, but didnt modulate the regard he had expressed for the level of the writing.

Everywhere else in Obamas writings and speeches, however, I was struck by the utterly pedestrian and cliched quality of the prose. Can one find a sentence under Obamas name outside the covers of Dreams that isnt dead or leaden? It is a difficult and mind-numbing task to search for one, to say the least. I nevertheless thought Cashill took his case beyond where the evidence could go.

In Rising Star Professor Garrow credited Obamas Harvard Law School classmate and friend Rob Fisher with editorial advice and assistance on Obamas drafts of Dreams. Professor Garrows account otherwise shows the author  Obama  at work on the book.

Professor Garrow now returns to Dreams through an examination of the books original typescript in the The Critic essay Obamas airbrushed dreams. If you have any curiosity in the issues around the book, Professor Garrows essay is intensely interesting in its own right and an important contribution. For me, the mystery abides.

I emailed Professor Garrow yesterday to follow up on his essay and raise my own question with him. He kindly responded this morning: I dont recall exactly where the Bill Ayers [stuff] got started, but it, like the Frank-Davis-as-father notion, is just beyond loony, cause Dreams is already *in galleys* when Barack and Bill first get to know each other. Rob Fisher put in LOTS of work on it, but not in *composing*. When one reads the ca. 200 pages of their joint 1991 unpublished book manuscript, its fairly easy to tell whats by Barack & whats by Rob, who was a PhD. economist.
By Kazeem Ugbodaga

Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Nigerias mega city State of Lagos hits by deadly Coronavirus, is angry that unscrupulous people have capitalised on outbreak of the disease in the state to hike prices of face masks, sanitizers, among others.

Sanwo-Olu visited the Public Health Emergency Operations Centre Epidemiology Division, Yaba, Lagos on Sunday where the index case, an Italian is currently being isolated, monitored and treated.

The Italian was in Lagos last week and later went to Lafarge in Ogun State where he was diagnosed of Coronavirus and brought to Lagos for isolation and treatment.

Sanwo-Olu, who was at the centre with his deputy governor, Dr. Olatunji Hamzat said he was satisified with the level of professional commitment by professionals working at the centre, saying that We are hoping that all of these will get behind us very quickly, but we have all the machinery to deal with it.

According to the governor, Well continue to scale up advocacy with the various stakeholders that needs to be aware and members of the public would be informed adequately. Various medical professionals, both national, international, regional and security operatives are here communicating with one another and exchanging information.

The governor said the power security lab is also good, it is done in collaboration with Canadian government, it is a facility that has four levels of power. There is 60KVA solar panel with an inverter, generator and the power security lab is also on the grid. The level of research going on there is comparable with anyone in the world. The environment is safe and secured.

Sanwo-Olu stated that Lagosians must take both personal and environmental hygiene very seriously, saying it must become part of our lives not when we have incidences like this that we begin to learn how to wash our hands or how to secure our environment and how to live healthy.

People that developed immunity against this type of diseases are people that eat well, sleep well, and live in safe and secured environment. Well continue to do everything that is expected of us as government and well continue to provide resources needed by the professionals here, to make this place as comfortable as possible.

In the event that there are other victims, there are other containment centers. We are collaborating with the federal government, National Disease Control Centre, WHO, UNICEF and African Union.

The governor lamented that some Nigerians are taking advantage of the crisis at hand to make money by hiking prices of preventive items.

This is not the means to enrich yourselves, people are abusing a rare opportunity, this is not laughable and not what anybody wishes for, people hoarding things and selling 500 percent above the normal price, we should ask ourselves what kind of people are we? We should be our brothers keepers.
On Sunday, a Tamil Nadu delegation Jamathul Ulama Sabai met superstar Rajinikanth at his residence in Chennai. According to reports, a member of the delegation said that our delegation met Rajinikanth and discussed issues related to NPR. We told about the difficulties being faced by Muslims due to NPR. He understood our point and assured that he will do whatever is necessary to remove fear among Muslims.

Bengaluru court extended judicial custody of amulya who raised Pakistan zindabad slogan

South Superstar Rajinikanth had targeted the Central Government for the violence in Delhi. He had said that the miscreants in Delhi carried out such violence in which 20 people including the head constable of Delhi Police were killed. Questioning the government, he said that the riots should have been dealt with vigorously. Rajinikanth said that this is definitely a failure of the central government. Condemning the central government, he also expressed grief over a section of media linking him to the BJP.

High court orders ban on employment assistant recruitment

Rajinikanth did not stop here, he also said that somewhere there is a shortage of central government in it. He said in clear terms that if power is not being handled by you, then you should give up the power. During this time he did not take any name. gave. He said that Delhi Police personnel, IB personnel, and common people have died, it is not a small thing.

Kishan Reddy speaks on Delhi violence, says, "Truth to unveil conspiracy"
WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 29th February, 2020) A new case of the coronavirus with evidence of community transmission has been confirmed in California's Santa Clara County, a public health official said.

"This new case indicates that there is evidence of community transmission but the extent is still not clear," Dr.

Sara Cody, a county health official said in a statement quoted by CBS local news outlet on Friday

The recipient was described as being 65 years old and the case was reported 90 miles away from where another case was confirmed in a woman Solano County Wednesday, the Washington Post reported earlier.

According to Johns Hopkins University online tracker, there have been a total of 63 coronavirus cases in the United States, including seven recoveries.
Tammy Hembrow has sparked fierce debate among her fans by posting a raunchy bikini photo to Instagram on Sunday.

The mother-of-two, 25, is pictured posing by the pool of her Gold Coast mansion, wearing noting but a skimpy Dior swimsuit.

She appeared to be wearing her bikini top upside down, a trend that recently swept social media.

Did you notice it? Tammy Hembrow, 25, sparked fierce debate among her fans by posting a raunchy Instagram photo of herself wearing a Dior bikini upside down on Sunday

Rather than wearing the halter straps around her neck, Tammy decided to wrap the straps around her waist.

The risque style allowed Tammy to reveal a generous glimpse of underboob.

Despite doing this intentionally, many fans commented that the influencer's bikini looked 'too tight' and should just be worn 'correctly'.

Debate: Despite doing this intentionally, many fans commented that the influencer's bikini looked 'too tight' and should just be worn 'correctly'

Daring to bare! It's not the first time the influencer has raised eyebrows with her fashion choices

Some questioned whether Tammy had realised she'd worn the bikini the 'wrong' way before posing for the photo.

It's not the first time the influencer has raised eyebrows with her fashion choices.

Earlier this month, Tammy an outrageous outfit while heading out for dinner at the Nobu restaurant in New York.

Tammy's daring dress revealed a generous glimpse of side boob, and barely covered her mid-section, derriere and legs.

'It was very windy!' Tammy revently confirmed she wasn't wearing any underwear while wearing THAT revealing dress in New York City

Speaking on her podcast, Hanging with the Hembrows the blonde revealed that she had to strategically hold the dress down when she went outside because it was so windy.

'Yeah, I was wearing no underwear,' Tammy said. 'And it was also very windy! So when we went outside, I had to literally hold the dress.'

'Lucky you didn't get a pap shot of your whole privates!' Tammy's sister Emilee pointed out.

'It was like... out!' Tammy replied, before adding that she didn't suffer any major wardrobe malfunctions.
U.S., Taliban Sign Deal To End War In Afghanistan

By RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan February 29, 2020

The United States has signed a historic agreement with the Taliban that could lead to the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Afghanistan and an end to the countrys 18-year conflict.

The agreement signed in Doha in Qatar on February 29 lays out a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in return for various security commitments from the insurgents and a pledge to hold talks with the government in Kabul.

U.S. President Donald Trump hailed the deal and said he would meet soon with Taliban leaders.

According to a joint declaration published by the U.S. and Afghan governments on February 29, the United States and NATO would withdraw all troops in Afghanistan within 14 months if the Taliban upheld the commitments made in the agreement.

The deal was signed by U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, leader of the political wing of the group.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Taliban leaders attended the signing ceremony. Representatives from over two dozen countries and international organizations, among them the foreign ministers of Pakistan and Turkey, were also present at the event.

"We are just at the beginning," Pompeo said ahead of the signing. "A significant reduction in violence will create conditions for peace, and the absence of it the conditions for failure," he added.

Pompeo said that Afghans need to live in peace and prosperity with respect for the rights of women, while the United States must be assured there will not be a terrorist threat from the country.

Speaking in Kabul, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said that the United States would not hesitate to nullify the deal if the Taliban did not uphold its end.

"If the Taliban upholds the agreement the United States will begin a conditions-based, and I repeat a conditions-based, reduction in forces," Esper said, calling this a "pivotal moment in the peace process."

Esper and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani signed a joint statement committing the Afghan government to support the U.S.-Taliban deal, which is viewed with skepticism by many war-weary Afghans.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg heralded the agreement as a "first step to lasting peace."

"The way to peace is long and hard. We have to be prepared for setbacks, spoilers, there is no easy way to peace but this is an important first step," the former Norwegian prime minister told reporters in Kabul.

The European Union welcomed the peace agreement by the Taliban and the United States and the joint Afghan-U.S. joint declaration as "important first steps" toward a lasting resolution of the country's decades-long conflict.

"The current opportunity to move towards peace should not be missed," EU foreign-policy chief Josep Borrell says in a statement, adding that negotiations talks should start "without delay" and include all political factions and groups of society.

"The conflict needs a political solution in which human rights, including women's rights, are respected and common grievances are addressed," the statement said.

Under the agreement, the United States would draw its forces down to 8,600 from 13,000 in the next three to four months, with the remaining U.S. forces withdrawing in 14 months. The complete pullout, however, would depend on the Taliban meeting their commitments to prevent terrorism.

NATO pledged to adjust the coalition troop levels in the first phase too, bringing down NATO's numbers to about 12,000 from roughly 16,000 troops at present.

The signing comes after a week in which both U.S.-led forces and the Taliban committed to a reduction in violence.

The Taliban has so far refused to talk directly to the Afghan government, calling it a puppet of the West.

Talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban could still prove difficult, with many in Kabul doubting the extremists' sincerity or their ability to control all of the group's militants.

At a press conference at the White House later on February 29, Trump said he will "be meeting personally with Taliban leaders in the not-so-distant future." Trump also said he thought negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government would be successful because "everyone is tired of war."

Robert Malley, president and CEO of the International Crisis Group, welcomed the deal. "No agreement is perfect, and the U.S.-Taliban deal is no exception. But it represents the most hopeful step to end a war that has lasted two decades and taken countless American and especially Afghan lives. It ought to be celebrated, bolstered and built upon to reach a genuine intra-Afghan peace."

A U.S.-led coalition of forces invaded Afghanistan in 2001 to drive the Taliban from power after the group refused to hand over Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Since then, about 2,400 U.S. soldiers have been killed in fighting, along with tens of thousands of Afghan soldiers, extremist fighters, and civilians.

Trump campaigned on a pledge of pulling U.S. forces out of "endless wars." On February 28, he urged the warring sides to seize the opportunity to make peace.

"Soon, at my direction, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will witness the signing of an agreement with representatives of the Taliban, while Secretary of Defense Mark Esper will issue a joint declaration with the government of Afghanistan," Trump said in a statement.

"If the Taliban and the government of Afghanistan live up to these commitments, we will have a powerful path forward to end the war in Afghanistan and bring our troops home," Trump said.

"These commitments represent an important step to a lasting peace in a new Afghanistan, free from Al-Qaeda, [Islamic State], and any other terrorist group that would seek to bring us harm," Trump said.

He added, however, that "ultimately it will be up to the people of Afghanistan to work out their future."

"We, therefore, urge the Afghan people to seize this opportunity for peace and a new future for their country," he added.

In September 2019, Trump suddenly called off a planned signing ceremony with the Taliban at Camp David, Maryland, after a series of Taliban attacks.

But talks eventually resumed, led by U.S. special envoy Khalilzad, in Qatar, where the Taliban has a representative office.

With reporting by RFE/RLs Radio Mashaal, AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters, The New York Times, and the BBC

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/us-pompeo- taliban-poised-sign-afghan-peace -deal/30460977.html

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

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






HARTFORD  The Connecticut Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce will hold a Business Networking Breakfast from 8-9:30 a.m. March 5 at the Hartford Gay & Lesbian Health Collective, 1841 Broad St. To register, visit https://members.ctglc.org/events.

Housatonic River Job Network to meet

ORANGE  The Housatonic River Job Network will meet at 6:30 p.m. March 12 at the High Plans Community Center, 525 Orange Center Road.

Guest speaker will be Liz Dederer, founder and CEO of Selling With Service, and topic will be 10 Tips to Maximize the Value of Your Job Search. Presentation will include and interactive workshop for job seekers.

For information, email alexy56@hotmail.com.

Page Taft Guilford office named Employer of the Year

GUILFORD  Page Taft Christies International Real Estates Guilford office has been named the 2019 Employer of the Year by the Shoreline Chamber of Commerce, according to a release.

The award was presented at an event held at The Woodwinds in Branford.

We are honored to be recognized as employer of the year by the Shoreline Chamber of Commerce, Chairperson Camille Murphy, and the chambers members, Karen Stephens, executive vice president and broker with the Guilford office, said in the release. We work extremely hard to be an employer of choice on the shoreline, offering our brokers and agents the best tools in the industry to provide the best client service available.

As well, the release said, Page Taft offers its employees opportunities for community involvement, with local organizations including The Sarah Foundation, The Women and Family Center, The Song Strong Foundation, Guilford Center for Children, Guilford Community Fund, Guilford Fund for Education, Guilford Civic Women, Guilford Foundation, Guilford Rotary and Guilford Keeping Society.

Page Taft Guilford has clearly demonstrated that its a business thats created a positive, fair and supportive environment for all its employees, and we are happy to see them receive this honor, Camille Murphy, Shoreline Chamber of Commerce board chairwoman, said in the release.
"Freezing temps are no match for our team and community," said John Reagan, KNR managing partner. "Each year we come out to support the work the great organizations are doing in our community, and have a blast doing it."

Participating in the Polar Bear Jump is a part of KNR's year-long campaign, KNR Cares About You, which is focused on helping those in the communities KNR works in and beyond.

"We're thrilled to receive support from KNR this year through the Polar Bear Jump," said Pamela Kiltau, president of the Rotary Camp board. "This event provides support for our campership fund, allowing children and adults with disabilities who may not have the financial resources to attend camp to do so. Last year Rotary Camp provided over $170,000 in direct financial assistance."

The Polar Bear Jump began with 70 people jumping into the lake in 2004 and continues to grow each year. It was created by Portage Lakes Polar Bear Club members Kelly and Heather Pariso and Jeff and Debbie Fulkman as a fun activity to raise money for charity.

The Portage Lakes Polar Bear Club set a goal to raise $150,000 for the Rotary Camp and the Ronald McDonald House of Akron.

"It's always wonderful to see everyone come out and support the Polar Bear Jump despite the frigid temperatures each year," said Craig Wilson, interim executive director of the Ronald McDonald House of Akron. "We're thankful for all the support this event provides for the families staying with us."

KNR has been a proud sponsor of the Portage Lakes Polar Bear Jump throughout the years raising nearly $169,129 to support local organizations.

The plunge took place Saturday, Feb. 29 at from noon to 5 p.m. at 5031 Manchester Road in Akron.

For more information, visit the Kisling, Nestico & Redick website or call 1-800-HURT-NOW.

About Kisling, Nestico & Redick: Kisling, Nestico & Redick provides sophisticated injury law representation to clients throughout Ohio. The firm has gained a reputation as one of the state's leading personal injury firms due to a combination of personal service, inside knowledge of the insurance industry, and extensive legal experience. Founded in 2005, the firm has 11 locations, 35+ attorneys and 100+ support staff dedicated to seeking justice for victims injured in accidents.

SOURCE Kisling, Nestico & Redick

Related Links

https://www.knrlegal.com/


Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

COLUMBIA, South CarolinaFour years ago, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) went into South Carolinas primary with unexpected momentumand marched right into oblivion. Hillary Clinton beat him in the primary by 50 points, a blowout that exposed the serious limitations of his candidacy thanks to the states status as the Democratic primarys de facto barometer of support from black voters.

This time around, Sanders is facing similar questions about his ability to put together a winning coalition that could power him to victory over President Trump in November. And getting through the first-in-the-South primary and on to Super Tuesday with a respectable result had long been toward the higher end of expectations for the Vermont senator.

But after racking up wins in the early New Hampshire and Nevada contests, Sanders is coming into South Carolina hot. Several polls have shown him, and the billionaire investor Tom Steyer, eating into the declining support for former Vice President Joe Biden, the long-established frontrunner here.

At a rally in a downtown Columbia park on a brisk, windy Friday afternoon, the crowdsizable, but modest by Sanders standardscheered when their candidate thundered that they would be victorious in South Carolina on Saturday.

Even Sanders most die-hard supporters arent so sure thatll come to pass. They are, however, increasingly hopeful that he could do more than simply survive Saturday, but exceed expectations and prove that his coalition of support is broader than his detractors say it is. A close result, they believe, would slam the door shut on any Biden comeback, and bring Sanders a big step closer to being the partys presumptive nominee.

If Sanders does pull it off, a big reason why could be support from younger, black votersmany of whom liked the democratic socialist in 2016 but werent yet old enough to cast a vote for him.

One of them, Roosevelt Perry, was in the crowd for Sanders Columbia rally. A student at South Carolina State University, a historically black institution, Perry became a Sanders fan in 2016 because of his advocacy of Medicare for All and canceling student loan debt.

Story continues

Several younger, black voters described their efforts to get their parents and other relatives on the Sanders trainbut their success has proven spotty. Perry, who was wearing a light-blue Bernie T-shirt with the outline of his home state, lamented that his parents were squarely in Bidens camp, despite his best efforts to convince them otherwise. Theyre older, he told The Daily Beast. They support what they know.

Mike Gee, a South Carolina native who lives in Washington, D.C., said after lots of effort, he persuaded his parents to back Sanders in Saturdays primary. After long conversations, they came around, said Gee. To be frank, Biden has huge black supportfor what reason, I cant pinpoint.

And some older black voters have come to the Sanders camp on their own because of the impact of Trumps presidency on their lives. A 72-year old retired professor who introduced himself as Tom said that he didnt support Sanders in the 2016 primarybut found himself volunteering for Sanders South Carolina campaign because of how bad the last three years have been.

Things have changed for me because of Trump, said Tom. Sanders, he added, can go toe-to-toe with him.

There are Democrats, however, who remain doubtful that this kind of movement will translate into a meaningful boost for Sanders prospects to win over South Carolinaor the national black vote more generally.

The states Democratic primary electorate is 60 percent black; in 2016, Sanders pulled 26 percent of the primary vote share compared to Clintons 74 percent. The county with the highest share of black residents also happened to be the county with Clintons largest margin of victory82 points.

Surveys of the Democratic primary in South Carolina had, for months, found Biden with a commanding lead. The earliest polls in spring 2019 found the former veep leading by as much as 61 points, and while hes still ahead in the poll averages, recent surveys show Sanders has made it much closer. A Marist College poll from Feb. 24 found Sanders trailing Biden here by one point.

Any serious cutting of Bidens margin when the results come in Saturday night would be a huge statement of Sanders support, said Michael Wukela, the communications director for Sanders South Carolina campaign.

Thats a statement because four years ago, the narrative was Sen. Sanders does not resonate with black and brown voters. A strong performance in South Carolina, coupled with the win in Nevada, and that narratives done. Done.

I want to pretend that were gonna blow everyone away, or that were necessarily going to win, continued Wukela, but were gonna surprise a whole lot of people.

But Sanders hasnt really grown his coalition since then, according to one Democratic operative in the state, and his prospects to increase his vote share are complicated by the fact that hes competing with several viable candidates, not one.

The people who supported Bernie then are the people who support Bernie now, the operative, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly about the race, told The Daily Beast. They've been working hard, they've knocked on a lot of doors and all, but I think his floor and his ceiling are very close.

If it comes out that every time he goes into the states with large black populationsnot only do you need to get a chunk of black votes, you actually need to win the black vote, in some state, the operative continued. That's a necessity to be a front-runner that has a shot at becoming the president.

The Sanders campaign has been making a greater effort to win over voters in South Carolina this year, several longtime supporters said, describing what they perceived as a more concerted and strategic effort in the state. He has visited frequently and, as of mid-January, had the second-largest paid staff in South Carolina, trailing only Steyer.

On Thursday, The Daily Beast joined two volunteer canvassers for the Sanders campaign as they knocked doors in a quiet neighborhood north of Columbia home to mostly black residents. One of the volunteers, an Arizona software industry worker named Matt Cordes, took vacation time to fly out to South Carolina and help the campaign because he felt Sanders had a real shot to win the stateand possibly cement his dominance of the primary field.

Their door-knocking efforts yielded several Sanders supporters, one Biden supporter, and many undecided voters who said they were making their minds up between the two. One of the Sanders backers, a 68-year old retiree named Marion Harrison, said she believed Sanders was the candidate to defeat Trump and was working hard to compete in South Carolina. Bernie is doing all he can do, said Harrison.

For Fridays rallySanders last in South Carolina before primary daySanders was introduced by the campaigns most high-profile black supporters: former Ohio state senator Nina Turner, the actor Danny Glover, the rapper Killer Mike, and several state lawmakers.

However it shakes out, the South Carolina voters who did support Sanders in 2016 do feel like they have something new on their side: company.

The overall movement is so much bigger this time, said Mary Dahm, a nurse in her fifties who described herself as a 25-year fan of Sandersa self-described old-time Bernie Brobefore his Columbia rally.

The us is there this time.

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.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 13:05:31|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- China's major securities firms raked in 360.48 billion yuan (about 51.57 billion U.S. dollars) of total revenue in 2019, latest data from an industry association showed.

Net profits of the country's 133 listed securities brokers stood at 123.1 billion yuan, and 120 of them were profitable last year, according to the Securities Association of China (SAC).

The total assets of the 133 firms totaled 7.26 trillion yuan by the end of last year, with their net assets and net capital at 2.02 trillion yuan and 1.62 trillion yuan, respectively, SAC data showed.
A man was arrested in Kathmandu for hurling a shoe at Nepal Communist Party (NCP) co-chairperson and country's former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal during the latter's address at an event in Kathmandu on Sunday.

The shoe fell a few metres away from the podium on which Dahal was making an address at an event marking the death anniversary of Communist Leader Bharat Mohan Adhikari.

The person, identified as Ratan Tiruwa, told police he hurled the shoe at the leader as he could not tolerate his statement on 'class struggle'.

"I was listening to his (Dahal) address. He talked about the class struggle which I didn't like and hurled shoes at him in twinge," Tiruwa told the Police in custody.

Tiruwa, who hails from Jumla district, is preparing for the examination of the Public Service Commission (PSC) in capital Kathmandu. He has identified himself to be the son of a slain Maoist rebel.

"Tiruwa, son of former rebel combatant is kept in custody after he hurled a shoe at Pushpa Kamal Dahal at City Hall this afternoon. Further investigation of the case is underway," Superintendent of Police, Kathmandu, Somendra Singh Rathore, told ANI.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Blog Archive Apr 2010 (22) May 2010 (25) Jun 2010 (8) Jul 2010 (12) Aug 2010 (18) Sep 2010 (19) Oct 2010 (29) Nov 2010 (30) Dec 2010 (18) Jan 2011 (13) Feb 2011 (21) Mar 2011 (23) Apr 2011 (19) May 2011 (31) Jun 2011 (36) Jul 2011 (46) Aug 2011 (26) Sep 2011 (12) Oct 2011 (15) Nov 2011 (17) Dec 2011 (7) Jan 2012 (18) Feb 2012 (4) Mar 2012 (12) Apr 2012 (18) May 2012 (10) Jun 2012 (21) Jul 2012 (8) Aug 2012 (15) Sep 2012 (7) Oct 2012 (17) Nov 2012 (20) Dec 2012 (10) Jan 2013 (58) Feb 2013 (59) Mar 2013 (60) Apr 2013 (98) May 2013 (135) Jun 2013 (204) Jul 2013 (293) Aug 2013 (351) Sep 2013 (363) Oct 2013 (348) Nov 2013 (374) Dec 2013 (442) Jan 2014 (547) Feb 2014 (476) Mar 2014 (526) Apr 2014 (527) May 2014 (469) Jun 2014 (408) Jul 2014 (472) Aug 2014 (522) Sep 2014 (443) Oct 2014 (472) Nov 2014 (497) Dec 2014 (536) Jan 2015 (539) Feb 2015 (520) Mar 2015 (582) Apr 2015 (658) May 2015 (679) Jun 2015 (673) Jul 2015 (728) Aug 2015 (803) Sep 2015 (923) Oct 2015 (924) Nov 2015 (802) Dec 2015 (791) Jan 2016 (782) Feb 2016 (835) Mar 2016 (929) Apr 2016 (866) May 2016 (947) Jun 2016 (1044) Jul 2016 (882) Aug 2016 (1035) Sep 2016 (967) Oct 2016 (918) Nov 2016 (854) Dec 2016 (885) Jan 2017 (879) Feb 2017 (777) Mar 2017 (896) Apr 2017 (872) May 2017 (850) Jun 2017 (851) Jul 2017 (971) Aug 2017 (1040) Sep 2017 (998) Oct 2017 (1144) Nov 2017 (1046) Dec 2017 (838) Jan 2018 (873) Feb 2018 (769) Mar 2018 (885) Apr 2018 (809) May 2018 (827) Jun 2018 (820) Jul 2018 (840) Aug 2018 (854) Sep 2018 (844) Oct 2018 (851) Nov 2018 (870) Dec 2018 (912) Jan 2019 (919) Feb 2019 (827) Mar 2019 (957) Apr 2019 (913) May 2019 (1007) Jun 2019 (935) Jul 2019 (950) Aug 2019 (936) Sep 2019 (910) Oct 2019 (920) Nov 2019 (874) Dec 2019 (908) Jan 2020 (941) Feb 2020 (849) Mar 2020 (898) Apr 2020 (848) May 2020 (822) Jun 2020 (789) Jul 2020 (819) Aug 2020 (858) Sep 2020 (841) Oct 2020 (873) Nov 2020 (812) Dec 2020 (780) Jan 2021 (765) Feb 2021 (716) Mar 2021 (819) Apr 2021 (805) May 2021 (815) Jun 2021 (824) Jul 2021 (830) Aug 2021 (832) Sep 2021 (791) Oct 2021 (754) Nov 2021 (683) Dec 2021 (693) Jan 2022 (233)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 12:05:25|Editor: Wang Yamei

Video Player Close

TOKYO, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Thirteen crew members including seven Chinese nationals onboard a Belize-flagged cargo ship are missing after the ship collided with a fishing boat off Japan's northeastern prefecture of Aomori late Saturday, the Chinese consulate general in Sapporo said Sunday.

Guo Xing 1, the 1,989-ton cargo ship with 14 crew onboard, informed the Japanese side after it suffered a collision at around 10:17 p.m. local time Saturday about 12 km off the coast of Rokkasho.

The collision caused water to enter the ship which sank at about 10:35 p.m. local time.

The 13 missing crew also included five Vietnamese and one Filipino. One Vietnamese crewmember was rescued.

The Chinese consulate general said it immediately activated the emergency response mechanism and contacted relevant Japanese departments to obtain information, asking the Japan Coast Guard and other relevant units to carry out search and rescue.

By 10:45 a.m. Sunday, Japan had dispatched six aircraft, six patrol ships and dozens of rescuers to carry out rescue operations, the consulate general said.

At present, some floating objects have been found in the sea area of the collision, but it is not yet known whether they were related to the sunken ship, and no further progress has been made in personnel search, the consulate general said.

All 15 crew of the fishing boat were unharmed.
Though Mr. Biden had led in every poll of South Carolina, Mr. Sanders, after winning in a landslide in Nevada, decided to try to deliver a finishing blow against Mr. Biden. Mr. Sanders increased his television advertising in the state and intensified his campaign schedule, with the goal of denying Mr. Biden the chance to reignite his candidacy and perhaps wrapping up the nomination fight by the middle of March.

Addressing supporters in Virginia, Mr. Sanders, 78, acknowledged Mr. Bidens success in South Carolina and advised his audience to prepare for the ups and downs of a long campaign. That will not be the only defeat, Mr. Sanders said of South Carolina. There are a lot of states in this country, nobody wins them all.

But ticking off his victories so far, Mr. Sanders also pointed in a confident tone toward Tuesdays primaries as the next frontier.

Ms. Warren, at a rally in Houston, also looked ahead to those contests. Ill be the first to say that the first four contests havent gone exactly as Id hoped, she told supporters. But Super Tuesday is three days away and were looking forward to gaining as many delegates to the convention as we can.

Having carried South Carolina as a kind of favorite-son candidate, Mr. Biden is counting on that result to ripple throughout the region and help him recover some of the support from black voters elsewhere that he lost in recent months, largely to Mr. Bloomberg. He needs voters to shift back in his direction quickly if he is to edge ahead of Mr. Sanders in enough states to deliver a strong showing on Super Tuesday.

But absent an overwhelming wave of new support for Mr. Biden, the best-case scenario for his campaign may still be a daunting one: a monthslong battle against a tireless opponent with superior financial and organizational resources at his disposal, and a formidable well of support from the Democratic Partys left wing.

Mr. Sanders has had a weekslong head start in a number of key Super Tuesday states where early voting has long been underway, including California, which on its own could give Mr. Sanders a sizable lead in the national delegate count.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president J P Nadda on Sunday held a brain storming session with the party leadership here to prepare the strategy for the upcoming civic polls in the state.

The meeting, which started at 6.30 pm, is still underway and is expected to continue past midnight.

During the closed-door meeting, Shah asked the state leaders to highlight the drawbacks of the state government and its policies, state BJP sources said.

"We have been told that as we are not in power, we have to go to polls by highlighting the drawbacks of the state government and its policies. We were told not to depend only on Saradha and Narada scam investigation and decide our line of movement based on it," a senior state BJP leader said.

"We have been told to highlight the financial scams of the state government but not to solely depend on it, rather prepare a separate line of action to politically corner the TMC in the state," another BJP leader said.

During the meeting, the state leadership has been asked to further increase the momentum of the pro-Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) campaign in the state, he said.

Since last year, the new citizenship law has emerged as the latest flashpoint in the state, with the Trinamool Congress opposing the legislation tooth and nail, and the BJP pressing for its implementation.

Shah and Nadda will leave Kolkata in the night after the meeting.

Earlier in the day while addressing a rally here, Shah asserted that the Centre would not stop until all refugees in the country are granted citizenship under the CAA and accused the opposition, including the TMC, of misguiding refugees and minorities over the new law.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
If I will die, let it ...
Highlights of Spring Break on Oregon Coast: Whales, Magic, Even Ghosts

Published 03/01/2020 at 4:48 AM PDT

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff





(Oregon Coast)  Oregons beaches are the big deal when it comes to spring break, which takes place the last week in March for most Oregon schools. The sands and rocky structures are, of course, the main attraction, but much goes on for the kids and kidlets  and even the grownups. From helping out the environment with the beach cleanup to whales, a magic fest and even ghosts, the highlights of spring break are nothing short of a kick in the pants.

Spring Whale Watch Week dominates spring break all over the region, from the south Oregon coast up to the southern Washington coast. It happens March 21  29, where they migrate past these shores with their newborns in tow, heading northward towards feeding grounds in Alaska. Every day, there are volunteers posted at over 20 high vantage points from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., helping you spot the gray whales. Some areas can see as much as 30 a day in that three-hour stretch that include the whale guides.

Gray whales are not the only coveted sight that week: you may get to see Orcas and Humpbacks marauding around the waters.





Whale Watch volunteers are posted at Cape Disappointment on the southern Washington coast, and the next spot south of that would normally be Ecola State Park in Cannon Beach, however that is closed this year. This makes the next whale watch site at Neahkahnie Mountain overlooks near Manzanita. Southward there are spots near Oceanside and at Pacific City.

In Lincoln County numerous sites are found, including Lincoln City, Depoe Bay, Newport and near Yachats. On the southern Oregon coast, the Whale Watch sites are near Florence, Coos Bay, the Bandon area and near Brookings.

See WhaleSpoken.Wordpress.com. 541-765-3304.





Oh, oh, oh its Magic! Magic on the central Oregon coast, that is. Lincoln City comes alive with the sparkly stuff from March 23 through 27, giving kids of all ages a few thrills and laughs for spring break with the Festival of Illusions. It all takes place at the Lincoln City Cultural Center.

Among the performers are Matt Baker Comedy + Stunt Show, the Amazing Bubble Man, Presto the Magician, Professor DR Schreiber The Historical Conjurer, Shawn Farquhar and comedic magician Kevin Allen. Ticket prices vary.

Round out the fun with the Abracadabra Art Workshop, where you make all sorts of wacky and amusing things such as magic hats, pompom rabbits, beading and more. These are drop-in stations where four are featured each day throughout the festival. Kids seven or under need an adult present; $5 per youth, all materials provided. 540 NE Hwy 101. Lincoln City, Oregon. LincolnCity-CulturalCenter.org or 541-994-9994.





In Seaside, March 27  29 brings the Oregon Ghost Conference. Its among the Northwests largest paranormal conventions, conjuring visitors from all across the west coast and beyond. Each year theres something new, but always its crammed with speakers, courses, parties, and tours to ...well, die for. It brings some of the biggest personalities in the paranormal world, where attendees learn from them about all things ectoplasmic. Their top attractions are the various ghost tours, this time covering the downtown Seaside area and another covering the beachfront and Prom. All of it takes place at the Seaside Civic and Convention Center. Ticket prices vary. 415 1st Ave. Seaside, Oregon. 503-738-8585. http://www.oregonghostconference.com/.

The last day of spring break, SOLVEs Oregon Coast Beach Cleanup date has been set for March 28. The down n dirty fun takes place along all 364 miles of coastline, with 45 locations from Brookings to Warrenton needing people to give them a good scrub.

Tens of thousands of pounds of litter and marine debris typically get removed during these twice-yearly gatherings. This years event is presented by AAA, with SOLVE asking for the help of individuals, families, schools, business groups, and volunteers of all ages. (503) 844-9571. solve.org.

Oregon Coast Hotels for these events - Where to eat - Map - Virtual Tour









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
Quarantining the cruise ship Diamond Princess, some of whose passengers were infected with the novel coronavirus, may have resulted in more cases of the viral infection than if they would have disembarked immediately, according to a study.

The ship, which was docked at the Yokohama port in Japan, has seen more than 600 infected patients during the quarantine, according to a study, published in the Journal of Travel Medicine.

"The infection rate onboard the vessel was about four times higher than what can be seen on land in the worst infected areas of China. A probable cause is how close people stay to one another onboard a vessel," said Joacim Rocklov, study co-author from Umea University in Sweden.

The researchers said after a person travelling with the cruise ship disembarked in Hong Kong, and was tested positive for the coronavirus, Japanese authorities decided to disallow the 3,700 passengers onboard to leave the ship when it reached Yokohama.

Put in quarantine until 19 February, passengers onboard the ship who showed signs of illness were, as far as possible, separated from other passengers onboard, the scientists noted.

"If the ship had been immediately evacuated upon arrival in Yokohama, and the passengers who tested positive for the coronavirus and potential others in the risk zone had been taken care of, the scenario would have looked quite different," Rocklov said.

"Our calculations show that only around 70 passengers would have been infected. A number that greatly falls short of the over 600 passengers the quarantine resulted in," he added.

According to the researchers, due to the high risk of transmission on the ship, the precautionary measure of putting the entire ship under quarantine is questionable.

But they added that if the precautionary measures of isolating potential carriers had not been carried out onboard, another 2,300 people may have been infected.

"The cruise ship conditions clearly amplified an already highly transmissible disease. The public health measures prevented more than 2,000 additional cases compared to no interventions," the researchers wrote in the study.

"However, evacuating all passengers and crew early on in the outbreak would have prevented many more passengers and crew from infection," they added.
One of death row convicts in Nirbhaya case, Pawan Gupta, has moved the Supreme Court on Sunday seeking a direction that his curative petition should be heard in an open court as the matter is related to the death penalty, said AP Singh, convict's lawyer.

"The apex court had on Saturday fixed the curative petition for a hearing on Monday at 10.25 am in a chamber by a five-judge bench, headed by Justice N V Ramana. Pawan had filed the curative petition before the top court on Friday, seeking its direction to commute his death sentence to life imprisonment," Singh told ANI.

The five-judge Constitution bench headed by Justice NV Ramana will also consist of Justice Arun Mishra, Justice RF Nariman, Justice R Banumathi and Justice Ashok Bhushan.

Gupta had on Friday filed a curative petition before the apex court seeking commutation of his death sentence to life imprisonment. He is the fourth convict in the case to file a curative petition. The Supreme Court has already rejected the curative petitions of the rest three.

This comes as a fresh death warrant has been issued for the four convicts -- Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta and Mukesh Singh, which orders their hanging at 6 am on March 3 at Delhi's Tihar Jail.

Meanwhile, the apex court has also slated for March 5 hearing on a petition filed by Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), seeking directions to separately execute the convicts.

The case pertains to the brutal gang rape and killing 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.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
People wait in line outside Haengbok department store in Yangcheon District in Seoul to buy masks, Sunday. /Yonhap





By Kim Se-jeong







Consumers can purchase masks from all post offices from Monday, according to the government, to help prevent transmission of the new coronavirus.







On Sunday, Korea Post said it will distribute 650,000 masks through the nation's 1,406 post offices starting from Monday. Each customer can buy up to five masks at a time at a price of 1,000 won per mask.







Nonghyup stores are also selling masks.







The new coronavirus outbreak has caused an unprecedented shortage of masks. To keep supply and prices under control, the government has begun to regulate production, distribution and exports.







On Saturday, the government said it supplied nearly 4.5 million masks via public organizations. Among them, 1.54 million went to the southern cities of Daegu and Cheongdo, North Gyeongsang Province. About 2.1 million were in the Seoul metropolitan area.







Despite the increased supply, people are still having difficulty finding masks. People have been lining up en masse in front of stores waiting for a chance to buy masks and stocks have quickly depleted.







"I gave up my weekend to buy a few masks. It's like it is more difficult to buy masks than a gold ring," a 30-year-old citizen in Daejeon was quoted as saying by Yonhap News Agency.







Earlier last week, the government decided to allow no more than of 10 percent of daily total output for export and to distribute 50 percent through government and public organizations.







The rule took effect Wednesday, but post offices and Nonghyup Bank branches didn't have the masks ready, drawing public criticism.







Police, meanwhile, intensified their crackdown on illegal hoarding of face masks as some distributors bought the masks bulk in an attempt to sell for higher prices.







The Seoul Geumcheon Police Station booked two men who allegedly attempted to smuggle out around 20,000 face masks.







Police in Incheon also are investigating two merchants over the suspected hoarding of 29,000 masks.














In 2018, California Democrats grabbed seven Republican-held House seats. Now they have to hold onto them.

Tuesdays primaries will only set the two-person fields for the November elections in House races. But they will provide an early hint at whether those Democratic wins in 2018 in some of the states traditionally Republican districts were an aberration or a sign of permanent change.

For Republicans, the congressional elections are as much about pride as politics. The Democratic blitz left the party with only seven of Californias 53 congressional seats, and for the first time in decades saw them without a single member of Congress from Orange County, the GOPs longtime stronghold.

It was all about President Trump in 2018, even though he wasnt on the ballot, said Tony Quinn, a former Republican consultant who is now senior editor of the nonpartisan California Target Book, which tracks state political races.

Every one of those districts that flipped supported Democrat Hillary Clinton over Trump in the 2016 presidential race. Trump did nothing to win them back for the party two years later.

Trump was consistently a drag on the congressional races, Quinn said. And now hes on the ballot.

But while Republicans lost in 2018, they didnt lose by much. In four of those seven districts, the Democrats won with 52% or less. In the 25th District, straddling Los Angeles and Ventura counties, Democrat Katie Hill, who easily defeated a GOP incumbent in the midterms, isnt on the ballot this year. She resigned from Congress in November amid a scandal over her relationship with a campaign staffer.

Republicans scored in their recruiting efforts, bringing back three of the 2018 candidates for another try and attracting well-known local officeholders in other districts.

Democrats dont believe that will be enough.

Republicans are looking to claw their way back to the majority by recruiting candidates that Californians have already rejected, Andy Orellana, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said in a statement.

Democrats argue that all those contested districts, like much of the rest of California, are only getting bluer as Republican registration shrinks. In the four districts flipped in 2018 where Democrats held a registration edge, they have widened the margin. In the three Orange County districts where Republicans still outnumber Democrats, the gap has shrunk.

But Democrats shouldnt be too confident that they can keep seats with such a long GOP history, said David McCuan, a political science professor at Sonoma State University.

In 2018, the Democrats drew an inside straight, and they cant depend on that happening again, he said. And while their registration is up, their participation numbers arent, meaning not all of those newly forged Democrats are showing up at the polls.

That might lead to problems for the Democrats on Tuesday, because history shows Republicans are more likely to vote in primary elections than Democrats and independents. While Democrats are confident their numbers will surge in November, a strong GOP showing in the primary could provide the party with a much-needed boost of confidence heading into the general election.

Heres a look at some of Tuesdays top congressional primaries, in which the top two finishers advance to November, regardless of party:

 10th District: Rep. Josh Harder of Turlock (Stanislaus County) is matched up with Republicans Ted Howze, a former Turlock city councilman, and San Joaquin County Supervisor Bob Elliott.

 21st District: In a Central Valley rematch, Republican David Valadao of Hanford (Kings County) is the lone challenger to Fresno Democratic Rep. TJ Cox, who beat three-term incumbent Valadao in a 2018 race that wasnt decided until a month after election day.

 25th District: Voters will be picking the top two for November and also deciding who will complete Hills term. The Democrats are Assemblywoman Christy Smith of Santa Clarita (Los Angeles County) and political commentator Cenk Uygur. On the GOP side are former Rep. Steve Knight of Palmdale (Los Angeles County) and businessman Mike Garcia of Santa Clarita. If no one collects a majority of votes in the contest for the unexpired term, there will be a May 12 runoff election.

 39th District: The Orange County race will feature a rematch between Rep. Gil Cisneros of Yorba Linda and Republican Young Kim of Fullerton, a former assemblywoman who lost to Cisneros in 2018.

 45th District: In this Orange County district, Rep. Katie Porter of Irvine is facing three Republicans: Laguna Hills Mayor Don Sedgwick; Lisa Sparks, a member of the Orange County Board of Education; and Mission Viejo Councilman Greg Raths.

 48th District: Rep. Harley Rouda of Laguna Beach (Orange County) squares off against Republican Michelle Steel, an Orange County supervisor.

 49th District: Rep. Mike Levin of San Juan Capistrano (Orange County) will face Republican Brian Maryott, a San Juan Capistrano councilman.

In San Francisco, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi faces long-shot challenges not only from Republicans John Dennis and Deanna Lorraine, but also from Democrat Shahid Buttar, an attorney who says Pelosi is not progressive enough to represent the city.

John Wildermuth is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jwildermuth@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jfwildermuth
Hundreds of farmers and small businesses have been left in limbo as bushfire relief payments slow to a crawl, with the Commonwealth and Berejiklian governments blaming each other for the delays.

Figures provided to the National Bushfire Recovery Agency, and obtained by The Sydney Morning Herald, show 108 small business grants  totalling $1.87 million  have been approved since the start of September despite there being 654 applications for a combined $16.89 million.

The clean-up of debris left by this summer's bushfires is expected to take until the end of June. Credit:James Brickwood

Less than half of the 1117 applications made by fire-affected farms for primary producer grants  a total of $70.9 million  have been approved to date, according to the figures. The grants are being funded by the federal government but administered by state agencies.

The delays come just a month after senior Berejiklian government minister Andrew Constance took aim at the Red Cross, Salvation Army and St Vincent de Paul for taking too long to distribute donations meant to be flowing to affected communities.
By Jonathan Landay WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Friday he again was tapping Republican Representative John Ratcliffe to be the nation's top spy, a loyalist whose first nomination he dropped last year amid questions about a lack of experience and possible resume embellishment.

By Jonathan Landay

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Friday he again was tapping Republican Representative John Ratcliffe to be the nation's top spy, a loyalist whose first nomination he dropped last year amid questions about a lack of experience and possible resume embellishment.

Trump announced the move on Twitter. It would allow him to extend in an acting capacity as director of national intelligence another staunch supporter, Richard Grenell, the U.S. ambassador to Germany, while the Senate considers Ratcliffe's nomination.

The announcement comes as the U.S. intelligence community confronts an array of challenges, including foreign interference in this year's presidential election campaign, tensions with Russia, Iran and China, and tracking the global spread of the coronavirus.

"I am pleased to announce the nomination of @RepRattcliffe (Congressman John Ratcliffe) to be Director National Intelligence," Trump said in the tweet. "Would have completed the process earlier, but John wanted to wait until after IG Report was finished."

It was unclear to which report Trump was referring. Ratcliffe's office did not immediate respond to a request for comment.

"John is an outstanding man of great talent," Trump tweeted.

His announcement drew a lukewarm response from Richard Burr, the Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, who said he looked forward to "receiving Congressman Ratcliffe's official nomination and ushering it through the Senate's regular order."

Democrats almost immediately objected, with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer calling for swift bipartisan rejection of Ratcliffe as overseer of the 17 agencies comprising the U.S. intelligence community.

"The last time this nomination was unsuccessfully put forward, serious bipartisan questions were raised about Rep. Ratcliffe's background and qualifications," Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement. "It's hard for me to see that anything new has happened to change that."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the president was ignoring "many serious outstanding concerns" about Ratcliffe, and that intelligence should never be guided by partisanship or politics.

"Unfortunately, Congressman Ratcliffe has shown an unacceptable embrace of conspiracy theories and a clear disrespect and distrust of our law enforcement and intelligence patriots that disqualify him from leading America's intelligence community," Pelosi said in a statement.

OUTSPOKEN DEFENDER

Ratcliffe, who has represented a Texas congressional district since 2015 and is a member of the House intelligence and judiciary committees, was an outspoken defender of the president during the Democratic-led proceedings that resulted in Trump's impeachment last year on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

The Republican-controlled Senate acquitted Trump this month.

Trump first nominated Ratcliffe to be Director National Intelligence (DNI) on July 28 to succeed Dan Coats, a former Republican senator with whom Trump clashed over assessments involving Russia, North Korea and Iran.

The nomination drew fire from Democrats and some former senior U.S. intelligence officials who said Ratcliffe lacked experience. Some also expressed fears he would warp intelligence to support Trump's views.

News outlets, including Reuters, also reported on concerns that Ratcliffe exaggerated his counter-terrorism experience as a federal prosecutor in Texas.

In a Feb. 25, 2015, press release Ratcliffe said he had "convicted individuals" in the prosecution of a charity that funnelled money to Hamas, the Palestinian militant group on the U.S. list of foreign terrorist organizations.

Three defence attorneys said they had no recollection of his involvement in the case.

Trump dropped the nomination on Aug. 2, with Ratcliffe saying that he did not want a partisan "national security and intelligence debate surrounding my nomination, however untrue."

The revival of his nomination lets Grenell remain as acting DNI while the Senate considers Ratcliffe. Grenell was limited to serving until March 11 in a temporary capacity unless Trump tapped a full-time replacement.

The president named Grenell this month to replace Joseph Mcguire, who also served in an acting capacity, after an aide to the former Navy admiral and intelligence veteran briefed the House Intelligence Committee on Russian attempts to interfere in the 2020 presidential race.

The panel is chaired by Democrat Adam Schiff, who led the House impeachment proceeding against Trump.

Reacting to Ratcliffe's revived nomination, Schiff said on Twitter, "We now have an intelligence chief who should not have been fired, an unqualified nominee who should not be confirmed, and an acting director who is patently unfit."

(Reporting by Jonathan Landay; Additional reporting by Eric Beech and Mark Hosenball; Editing by Mohammad Zargham, Leslie Adler and Daniel Wallis)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Applying modern technology to turn time back, an RMIT University student has created a unique 3D visual museum.

Tran Trong Nghia, 18, a student at RMIT University, said that in Singapore he saw a smart zoo that allowed him to see animals and interact with them.

Tran Trong Nghia





The smart zoo made an impression on Nghia and he set to work on a smart zoo of his own after returning home.



You cant buy time, even though you have a lot of money. I want to preserve the things and memories of my grandpa, he said.



Nghias grandfather was a Saigon Ranger, Hero of the Peoples Armed Force who silently dug dozens of secret bunkers to transport documents, hid weapons and organized them for Saigon Rangers to attack the Independence Palace in 1968.

Believing that traditional museums dont attract youth and everything depends on narrators, Nghia decided to build a smart museum, utilizing modern technology and 3D images.

Believing that traditional museums dont attract youth and everything depends on narrators, Nghia decided to build a smart museum, utilizing modern technology and 3D images.



As society develops, people tend to want higher living quality. They come to visit the museum not just to read the words written on artifacts, but they need to interact with the things that interest them, Nghia said.



He believes that with the support of technology, the museum not only attracts young people but also foreign visitors.



Nghias smart museum is operated on smartphones. Visitors can download the smart museum app to their smartphones. After that, they can choose artifacts and languages they want, and 3D images will appear, together with the voice-over.



The biggest advantage of the smart museum lies in the amount of information. Besides, the app also allows visitors to book transport, hotel rooms, restaurants and air tickets.



The 18-year-old student had to travel a lot to learn about the origin and chronology of each artifact in the museum and interviewed historical witnesses.



In some cases, witnesses had just passed away before his scheduled visit.



There are some things you must do today, because you wont have the opportunity to do it tomorrow, he said, adding that this is the impetus for him to build the museum quickly.



Doan Xuan Nhung, a literature teacher at Vo Truong Toan Secondary School, was impressed, saying that the museum is a wonderful idea.



It is expected that the smart museum will become operational this year end. It is believed to become an attractive destination points for travelers, helping develop cultural heritages in urban areas, an issue of great concern for tourism experts.

Chi Mai

Hanoi student wins scholarships to five US high schools A Vietnamese student has just won scholarships to five high schools in the US.
Furloughs. Sick leave. Working from home.

You could experience any of these measures as businesses try to prevent their employees from being exposed to the coronavirus outbreak that health officials warn is almost inevitable in the United States.

Some companies have already taken precautions like limiting travel to affected countries or big international conferences. Others have asked employees to stay home because they visited a country with a more serious outbreak.

But with new unexplained cases being reported in the United States  and the first domestic death from the illness reported on Saturday  a growing number of American workers could soon be asked to alter their routines, or just stay home.

Exactly how that affects you will depend on many factors, including the generosity of your employers benefits and where you live. Heres what labor lawyers and business groups say could potentially unfold in your workplace  and what rights workers have.
Chilean writer Luis Sepulveda, who lives in northern Spain, has contracted the new coronavirus, according to the health authorities in Portugal where the best-selling author recently visited.

The 70-year-old author started showing symptoms of the virus on February 25 after he had returned to his home in Spain's Asturias region from a literary festival in neighbouring Portugal.

The regional Asturias government announced on Saturday that it had detected the first coronavirus case in the region, without identifying him.

"The patient is stable. His wife, a 66-year-old woman is also displaying the symptoms and is being tested," and both have been admitted to hospital, it added.

The Portuguese authorities called on all those who had been in contact with Sepulveda during last month's Correntes d'Escritas literary festival in Porto to make themselves known.

So far Portugal hasn't registered a single confirmed case of the COVID-19 outbreak while Spain has had 73 cases.

Sepulveda was exiled from Chile in 1975 because of his political activities.

His works, which are known for their simple humour and depictions of life in South America, include "The Old Man Who Read Love Stories" and "The Story of a Seagull and the Cat Who Taught Her to Fly".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
WASHINGTON  Former Vice President Joe Biden had staked his presidential campaign on South Carolina, a state with a high share of black voters President Barack Obama won twelve years ago by a better than two-to-one margin.

Seconds before polls closed in the state on Saturday, it was clear the strategy paid off.

The 77-year-old, three-time presidential candidate emerged from South Carolina with such a convincing lead in exit polls that cable networks projected his victory before a single vote had been counted. The blowout was Biden's first win in a presidential primary, and though it was expected it couldn't have come at a more important moment.

"All those of you whove been knocked down, counted out, left behind, this is your campaign, Biden told his supporters. "We are very much alive!"

"This campaign has taken off," he added.

Biden turns to Super Tuesday in three days with a convincing enough win to quell questions  for now  about his electability after disappointing finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire. He still faces a daunting challenge next week, where Sen. Bernie Sanders has a sizable lead in California and Texas, the states with the most delegates at play.

Democratic analysts described Biden's victory as having the potential to reshape the race for the nomination. It complicated former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's bid, several said, and had the potential to winnow the race to a battle between Biden, competing for the center lane of the party, and Sanders, pushing for the progressives.

"If this momentum holds and Biden can get his message out there, it could be a two-person race after Super Tuesday, predicted Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute.

Biden's South Carolina win was built on support of African American voters, just as the former vice president predicted. He captured a stunning 60% of the black vote in the Palmetto State, exit polls showed. Not surprisingly, Biden focused his travel in coming days on Alabama, Virginia and Texas  states with sizable black populations.

Story continues

Murray said the test of Biden's ability to rise as the main threat to Sanders will come on Tuesday. If the former vice president can hold down Sanders lead in California and pick up some delegates there, remain competitive in Texas, and perform well in southern states where some 300 delegates are at stake, it could change the course of the race.

"You cannot win em all," Sanders told supporters in South Carolina, after noting his strong finishes in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.

Former Vice President Joe Biden, left, embraces Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., during a Democratic presidential primary debate, Friday, Feb. 7, 2020, hosted by ABC News, Apple News, and WMUR-TV at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Bidens emphatic win also spells trouble for Bloomberg, Murray said, noting that the billionaire has built a campaign on doubts about whether Biden could beat Sanders for the nomination.

"If Bloomberg's argument was 'I was getting into this race to act as a savior because there wasn't a moderate who could carry the ball,' Joe Biden has made a clear statement that he can carry the ball," Murray said.

Sanders' campaign knew first-hand that South Carolina would be a challenge. The Vermont senator had campaigned in the Palmetto State against Hillary Clinton four years ago, and got badly beaten. Still, Sanders had spent considerable time on the ground in the state working to shore up his support, particularly with African Americans.

As his campaign faltered in Iowa, where he placed fourth, and in New Hampshire, where he came in a distant fifth, Biden took to dismissing the results because of the lack of diversity in those states. South Carolina, he said as he left New Hampshire this month, would be the chance to "hear from the diverse voters whose voices must be heard."

After aggressive campaigning from Biden, Sanders and several of the candidates for African American voters, exit polls found that just over half of the state's voters were black. That represents a decline from 2016, when African Americans made up 61% of voters in the state.

Bidens fortunes were boosted Wednesday when Democratic South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C. endorsed the former vice president. Clyburn, the House majority whip and the highest-ranking African American in Congress, is a landmark figure in a state.

Exit polls indicated that nearly half of Democratic primary voters in South Carolina said Clyburns endorsement was an "important" factor in their vote. For nearly a quarter of the state's voters, Clyburns backing was the most important factor for Biden.

Saturday's outcome had the potential to upend a narrative of a candidate who has struggled to raise money when he needed it and to deliver votes whenever polls opened. In other words, several analysts said, Biden needed a big win in South Carolina to have any chance of keeping his campaign alive after Super Tuesday.

He got it.

"It keeps his candidacy alive. He lives to battle on," said Terry Madonna, director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania. "But there isnt a lot of time. The voting comes out on Tuesday, for gosh sakes."

Contributing: David Jackson

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at a campaign event in Conway, S.C., Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) ORG XMIT: SCGH119

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Joe Biden: South Carolina blowout win could reshape nomination fight
Each year, NQC LIVE - a DVD/CD package - captures the concerts and events of the National Quartet Convention, a gathering of fans, artists and industry personnel that celebrates the long and colorful history of Southern Gospel music.

Crossroads and NQC have again partnered for the release of NQC LIVE Vol. 19, which serves as a benefit album for the Southern Gospel Music Association Hall Of Fame, now available everywhere Christian music is streamed or sold.

Proceeds from purchasing this album go to support the hall, operated by SGMA, and its mission of recognizing distinguished individuals in the field and permanently enshrining them with a plaque bearing their picture and list of accomplishments. The museum, located just inside the Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, welcomes more than one million visitors annually to read and observe displays and memorabilia from a century of gospel music.

Southern Gospel music is built on the talent and dedication of many individuals who helped create a unique sound of harmonious melodies and uplifting words. Originally, Southern Gospel music was sung only by quartets, utilizing a style known as four-part harmony from books where musical notes were identified by their shape. Many singing schools sprung up around the country teaching this "shape note" method, later training more serious students for performance careers.

James D. Vaughan of Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, is credited with establishing the first Southern Gospel music quartet in 1910. Then, quartets were hired by music publishing companies to travel, entertaining, teaching and selling song books. By the 1930s and early 40s, most quartets were independent and Southern Gospel music became as we know it today.

NQC LIVE Vol. 19 features performances from some of today's top Southern Gospel groups, such as The Mark Trammell Quartet, The Perrys, The Old Paths, Three Bridges, The Kingsmen, Endless Highway, The Kingdom Heirs, Mark Bishop, The Down East Boys, The Talleys, The Guardians, 11th Hour, Signature Sound, The Inspirations, The Jordan Family Band, Master's Voice, The Whisnants, The Triumphant Quartet, The Erwins, The Tribute Quartet and Goodman Revival.

Listen to NQC LIVE Vol. 19 HERE.

Tags : NQC LIVE Vol. 19 nqc NATIONAL QUARTET CONvention goodman revival The Jordan Family Band endless highway The Mark Trammell Quartet The Tribute Quartet The Old Paths Three Bridges the erwins Ernie Haase & Signature Sound
SOUTH African Ambassador to the Philippines Radebe Netshitenzhe has invited Cebu business owners to explore doing business with their counterparts in the southernmost African nation.

The lady envoy met with officials of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020.

Netshitenzhe discussed with CCCI officials the economy of South Africa and its booming industries.

In response, CCCI president Virgilio Espeleta also raised the need for Cebu to diversify its markets to as far as Africa, for instance.

This is a good start, Espeleta said of the Thursday meeting, which should pave the way for prospective collaborations moving forward.

CCCI officials also raised that unfavorable trade route is one challenging factor in doing business with the African market.

We also see the need to be able to diversify our markets and see the other parts of the world, like Africa, Espeleta said.

South Africa continues to be the top foreign direct investment destination in sub-Saharan Africa and is ranked 25th globally.

It also ranked fourth most attractive investment destination in Africa based on the economic growth and ease of doing business.

In Cebu, Espeleta said South African investors may also look into the booming industries in Cebu province such as tourism, furniture manufacturing and outsourcing.

Philippine exports to South Africa are base metals, minerals, paper, pulp, spirits and beverages while the countrys imports from the African country are fish products, footwear, electrical appliances, tobacco, spirits and beverages.

Before meeting with CCCI officials, the ambassador, who assumed office just two months ago, also met with Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, with whom she spoke on the potential in tourism cooperation.

The envoy also expressed interest in accepting the invitation for her to join the Suroy-Suroy Sugbo Enchanting Camotes Tour on April 25 and 26.

This is seen as a good beginning of a vibrant exchange of tourists between Cebu and her country, she said.

Story continues

Untapped market

Meanwhile, a report said the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will tap the huge and open African market starting this year given the regions growing consumer spending as part of efforts to open new frontiers in non-traditional markets to give more push for the countrys exports.

It added that the agency though does not have figures yet about the current size of the market in Africa but initial studies showed potentials for the countrys products such as personal care, food, basic industrial items, processed meats and canned tuna, among others.

In 2018, the DTI conducted an information session on Doing Business with South Africa, Mozambique and Zambia.

South Africa was the largest trading partner of the Philippines among African countries and the 44th in the world in 2017.

The Philippiness total trade with South Africa in 2017 amounted to US$171.2 million, with the Philippines as a net exporter, with export receipts valued at $117.5 million, and imports valued at $53.7 million.

Zambia and Mozambique were the Philippiness 159th and 150th trading partners, respectively, in 2017. Unlike in South Africa, the Philippines was a net importer of these two African countries, with imports valued at $0.7 million for Mozambique and $0.3 million for Zambia.

The Philippines exported $100,000 worth of goods to Zambia and only $6,543 to Mozambique. (WITH KOC)
T he number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the UK has continued to climb, shooting up from 23 to 35 on Sunday.

As new cases crop up across the country, here is a timeline of all patients who have tested positive for the virus so far.

Londoners wear Coronavirus masks - In pictures 1 /61 Londoners wear Coronavirus masks - In pictures A man wearing a protective mask travels on the underground tube Reuters A woman wearing a protective face mask Jeremy Selwyn A man and woman wearing protective face masks on a bus PA A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask in Victoria Jeremy Selwyn A woman shopper wears a protective mask as she walks down an aisle in a supermarket in London AFP via Getty Images A man wearing a face mask waits to board an underground train on the Central Line at Bank station in London AP A woman with a plastic box over her head on the London Underground. PA A woman wearing a protective face mask walking down Oxford Street in London PA A woman wearing a mask walks by the Emirates Stadium Action Images via Reuters A man is seen wearing a protective face mask at Waterloo station Reuters A woman wears a surgical mask as she walks through Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport Reuters A fan in the stands wears a mask during the Premier League match at Stamford Bridg PA A man wearing a protective face mask walking down Oxford Street PA Commuters with masks on during the Coronavirus outbreak Jeremy Selwyn A person wears a mask in a display of street style outside the BFC Show Space show in London PA Commuters with masks on during the Coronavirus outbreak Jeremy Selwyn Commuters with masks on during the Coronavirus outbreak Jeremy Selwyn Commuters with masks on during the Coronavirus outbreak Jeremy Selwyn A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask in Victoria Jeremy Selwyn Commuters with masks on during the Coronavirus outbreak Jeremy Selwyn A commuter on the tube wearing a face mask Jeremy Selwyn A woman wears a mask while crossing London Bridge Getty Images People wear masks at Holborn underground Station Jeremy Selwyn A man wearing a face mask walks past an entrance sign for Bank underground train station AP The coronavirus outbreak will unlikely lead to a Tube ban PA People wear masks at Holborn underground Station Jeremy Selwyn People wear masks at Holborn underground Station Jeremy Selwyn A woman wearing a face mask on the London Underground. PA People wear masks at Holborn underground Station Jeremy Selwyn A pedestrian wears a face mask whilst walking along High Holborn PA A pedestrian wears a face mask whilst walking along High Holborn PA A man wears a mask as he takes a photograph in China Town AP A man in a hazmat suit and face mask cleans the Ritchie Street Health Centre, Islington PA A commuter at Euston wearing a mask Jeremy Selwyn A commuter at Euston wearing a mask Jeremy Selwyn A man arrives at Euston Underground wearing a mask Jeremy Selwyn A commuter arrives at St Pancras wearing a mask Jeremy Selwyn St Pancras Jeremy Selwyn A commuter arrives at St Pancras wearing a mask Jeremy Selwyn Jeremy Selwyn Staff in suits at St Thomas's Hospital today Jeremy Selwyn A commuter arrives at St Pancras wearing a mask Jeremy Selwyn A commuter arrives at St Pancras wearing a mask Jeremy Selwyn A man wears a face mask as he stands near an electronic arrivals board at Terminal 4 of London Heathrow Airport AFP via Getty Images A man wears a face mask as he walks along the Thames embankment AFP via Getty Images A woman wearing a protective face mask is seen on London Bridg Reuters

January 31

The first cases are reported in the UK when two members of the same family  a University of York student and a relative  test positive for the virus.

They had recently travelled to the UK from China and were staying at the Staycity apartment-hotel in York when they fell ill.

They are taken to Newcastle Royal Victoria Infirmary for treatment.

Two women wearing face masks leave the Staycity Hotel in the centre of York, after the apartment-hotel was put on lockdown on Wednesday night / PA

February 6

A third person in the UK is diagnosed in Brighton and transferred to Guys and St Thomas in London.

It later emerges that the patient, businessman Steve Walsh, contracted the virus at a conference in Singapore.

On his way back to the UK, he stopped off for several days at a French ski chalet, where five Britons were subsequently infected with the virus.

Mr Walsh is believed to have caught the virus in Singapore (PA)

February 9

Chief Medical Officer for England Professor Chris Whitty says a fourth person has been diagnosed in the UK, who is believed to be a contact of Mr Walsh.

It is later confirmed that the virus was passed on in France.

February 10

Four more patients in England test positive for coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases in the UK to eight.

Those infected are all contacts of Mr Walsh and Public Health England (PHE) confirms two are healthcare workers.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) says the four newly-diagnosed people had contracted the virus in France.

Coronavirus: Confirmed cases around the world

February 13

A woman in London becomes the ninth person to test positive for the illness in the UK  the first confirmed case in the capital.

The patient, moved to a specialist NHS centre at Guys and St Thomas for treatment, contracted the virus in China, Prof Whitty says.

As with previously confirmed cases, officials work to identify people who had been in recent contact with the woman.

Londoners wear Coronavirus masks - In pictures 1 /61 Londoners wear Coronavirus masks - In pictures A man wearing a protective mask travels on the underground tube Reuters A woman wearing a protective face mask Jeremy Selwyn A man and woman wearing protective face masks on a bus PA A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask in Victoria Jeremy Selwyn A woman shopper wears a protective mask as she walks down an aisle in a supermarket in London AFP via Getty Images A man wearing a face mask waits to board an underground train on the Central Line at Bank station in London AP A woman with a plastic box over her head on the London Underground. PA A woman wearing a protective face mask walking down Oxford Street in London PA A woman wearing a mask walks by the Emirates Stadium Action Images via Reuters A man is seen wearing a protective face mask at Waterloo station Reuters A woman wears a surgical mask as she walks through Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport Reuters A fan in the stands wears a mask during the Premier League match at Stamford Bridg PA A man wearing a protective face mask walking down Oxford Street PA Commuters with masks on during the Coronavirus outbreak Jeremy Selwyn A person wears a mask in a display of street style outside the BFC Show Space show in London PA Commuters with masks on during the Coronavirus outbreak Jeremy Selwyn Commuters with masks on during the Coronavirus outbreak Jeremy Selwyn Commuters with masks on during the Coronavirus outbreak Jeremy Selwyn A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask in Victoria Jeremy Selwyn Commuters with masks on during the Coronavirus outbreak Jeremy Selwyn A commuter on the tube wearing a face mask Jeremy Selwyn A woman wears a mask while crossing London Bridge Getty Images People wear masks at Holborn underground Station Jeremy Selwyn A man wearing a face mask walks past an entrance sign for Bank underground train station AP The coronavirus outbreak will unlikely lead to a Tube ban PA People wear masks at Holborn underground Station Jeremy Selwyn People wear masks at Holborn underground Station Jeremy Selwyn A woman wearing a face mask on the London Underground. PA People wear masks at Holborn underground Station Jeremy Selwyn A pedestrian wears a face mask whilst walking along High Holborn PA A pedestrian wears a face mask whilst walking along High Holborn PA A man wears a mask as he takes a photograph in China Town AP A man in a hazmat suit and face mask cleans the Ritchie Street Health Centre, Islington PA A commuter at Euston wearing a mask Jeremy Selwyn A commuter at Euston wearing a mask Jeremy Selwyn A man arrives at Euston Underground wearing a mask Jeremy Selwyn A commuter arrives at St Pancras wearing a mask Jeremy Selwyn St Pancras Jeremy Selwyn A commuter arrives at St Pancras wearing a mask Jeremy Selwyn Jeremy Selwyn Staff in suits at St Thomas's Hospital today Jeremy Selwyn A commuter arrives at St Pancras wearing a mask Jeremy Selwyn A commuter arrives at St Pancras wearing a mask Jeremy Selwyn A man wears a face mask as he stands near an electronic arrivals board at Terminal 4 of London Heathrow Airport AFP via Getty Images A man wears a face mask as he walks along the Thames embankment AFP via Getty Images A woman wearing a protective face mask is seen on London Bridg Reuters

February 23

Four Britons rescued from the Diamond Princess cruise ship test positive for the illness in the UK, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 13.

They were among a group of 30 Britons and two Irish citizens who arrived at a quarantine block at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside a day earlier.

Prof Whitty said the virus was passed on when all four were on board the vessel.

February 27

The first case of Covid-19 is diagnosed in Northern Ireland, while two more people tested positive across the rest of the UK  bringing the total number to 16.

The patient in Belfast had recently returned from northern Italy and had previously been in Dublin.

Another of the new cases, a parent at a Buxton primary school in Derbyshire, contracted the virus in Tenerife.

The third patient also contracted the virus in Italy, the worst affected country in Europe.

February 28

The number of confirmed UK cases jumps to 20 after Wales reports its first patient and three more are identified in England.

Chief Medical Officer for Wales Dr Frank Atherton confirmed a man had been diagnosed with the virus after travelling back to Wales from Italy.

Two of the new cases identified in England had recently travelled back from Iran, Prof Whitty says.

Prof Whitty says it is not clear if the patient had contracted the virus "directly or indirectly" from somebody who had recently travelled abroad.

February 29

Two of the patients had recently travelled back from Italy while the other had returned from Asia, according to Prof Whitty.

The cases are from Gloucestershire, Hertfordshire and Berkshire.

March 1

Three of the patients were close contacts of a known Covid-19 case that was transmitted within the UK.

Another new patient, from Essex, had no relevant travel to an affected area, according to Prof Whitty, and it was unclear whether the patient had contracted it "directly or indirectly" from somebody who had recently travelled abroad.

Of the eight remaining cases, six had recently travelled from Italy, while two had been in Iran.
Bangladesh's foreign ministry on Sunday said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to make a one-day visit to Dhaka on March 17, coinciding with the beginning of the 'Mujib Year' to mark the birth centenary of the country's founder Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The main focus of Prime Minister Modi's visit would be on Mujib Year's inauguration with grand celebration, but he is also scheduled to have bilateral talks with his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina, the Bangabandhu's daughter, Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen told a media briefing here.

"The date of his (Modi) arrival in Dhaka is yet to be finalised, but he is likely to be here on March 17," he said.

The Bangladesh government will observe 'Mujib Borsho (year)' from March 2020 to March 2021 across the globe.

Meanwhile, officials of the Indian High Commission here and the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry said India's External Affairs Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla would arrive in Dhaka on Monday to finalise the programmes of Modi's upcoming visit.

During his visit, Shringla, who previously served as India's high commissioner in Dhaka, would meet Prime Minister Hasina and Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen, they said.

Shringla would also visit his Bangladeshi counterpart, they said, adding that he would deliver a keynote speech at a seminar jointly organised by the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) and the Indian High Commission in Dhaka.

Gowher Rizvi, International Affairs adviser to the prime minister of Bangladesh, would also address the seminar titled 'Bangladesh and India: A Promising Future' as the chief guest, the officials said.

According to the officials, Dhaka will also invite former Indian president Pranab Mukherjee and Nepalese President Bidhya Devi Bhandari to address a special Parliament session slated for March 22 and 23 to celebrate the 'Mujib Year'.

A parliament secretariat spokesman earlier said it would be the third such instance when foreign dignitaries would address Bangladesh Parliament since 1972 and 1974 when the then Indian president VV Giri and erstwhile Yugoslavia's president Josip Broz Tito spoke in the House.

Bangladesh has taken a series of initiatives to celebrate the 'Mujib Year', including to make a film on the Bangabandhu by noted Indian filmmaker Shyam Benegal.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Rhode Island Confirms First Coronavirus Case in Patient Who Went to Italy

The Rhode Island Department of Health has announced the first positive case of the COVID-19 coronavirus in the state, saying that a person who had traveled to Italy in mid-February contracted the illness.

The patient, who is in their 40s, had limited travel in Rhode Island and hasnt returned back to work since arriving in the United States, according to state health officials on Sunday.

Northern Italy is the site of a COVID-19 outbreak. Officials there have placed the northern regions of Lombardy and Veneto under quarantine and implemented other strict controls.

The Rhode Island Department of Health has been preparing for weeks to ensure that we have a structure in place to, to the best of our ability, limit or prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Rhode Island. We fully anticipated having a first case of COVID-19, said Nicole Alexander-Scott, director of the Rhode Island Department of Health, in a statement.

State health workers are currently not observing community transmission of the virus in Rhode Islands, said Alexander-Scott, who said that the general risk to locals is still low.

However, everyone in Rhode Island has a role to play in helping us prevent the spread of viruses, just like the flu. It is very important that people wash their hands regularly, cover their coughs and sneezes, and stay home if they are sick, she said.

State health officials are now investigating who has been in direct contact with the patient, and these people will have to undergo a 14-day quarantine period at home with public health supervision, according to Alexander-Scott. Passengers who were on the same U.S.-bound flight as the person are also going to be contacted, she said.

As long as anyone exposed to the individual does not have symptoms outside of their home setting, the virus cannot spread to other people in the community. This individuals immediate family members have been self-quarantining at home since it was determined that, based on this persons travel history and symptoms, the individual met the criteria to be evaluated for COVID-19, she said.

Her statement added that people who have traveled to an area where there is widespread transmission of the new coronavirus should talk to their healthcare provider and call ahead before going to a medical facility if they experience symptoms such as shortness of breath, a cough, or a fever.

Federal officials on Saturday announced the first U.S. death of COVID-19, the disease the new coronavirus causes, in Washington state, identifying the casualty as a male in his 50s with underlying health problems. More than 70 virus cases have been confirmed in the United States.
A view of the Dixie Red Rock at Pioneer Park, above the city of St. George, Utah. (Mikayla Whitmore for The Post)

The name abounds here, but that is slowly changing in the city of St. George  though not without resistance.
ISTANBUL, Feb 29 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that he had asked President Vladimir Putin for Russia to step aside in Syria and leave Turkey to deal with Syrian government forces alone.

After the death of its soldiers in a Syrian government air strike on Thursday, Turkey said it would allow migrants it hosts to freely pass to Europe.

Erdogan said in Istanbul on Saturday that 18,000 migrants has crossed the border, without immediately providing evidence, adding that the number would rise. (Reporting by Ali Kucukgocmen; Editing by Alexander Smith)
Bernie Sanders is a messianic sort of character, in the sense that his followers will accept his words as received wisdom. They do not question, do not differ, do not equivocate. Bernie is a minor god in the political galaxy known as these United States.

In some ways he is similar to Donald Trump, who has more often been compared to a cult leader. He himself once noted, partially in gest and partially in recognition of a certain segment of his most fervent followers that he could shoot someone in Times Square and theyd support him.

Hyperbole aside, both men have passionate acolytes, more devoted at a granular level than the followers of Hillary, Obama, or any of the other Democratic candidates running for the nomination this cycle. Trumpers and what I like to call Sandernistas believe that their fellow really sees them, feels their pain (sorry, Bill) and will carry them personally on his back.

And both men seem to have a fascination with authoritarian types, although only Trump has gotten flak for his tentative courting of Putin, Kim, Duterte, Erdogan and now Modi. Old news, recycled on a loop by CNN and MSNBC.

But now Bernie is getting some justifiable attention for his bizarre attraction to Fidel Castro, a man who imprisoned the relatives of some of my asylum clients, killed others, tortured political dissidents and forced Catholics and other people of faith to either flee, or tremble before their creeds and crucifixes in the dark recesses of their homes.

Castro was an evil man, a crude man, a man who was either born without a soul or traded that eternal commodity to the devil in exchange for eight decades of venal, brutal power. I was outraged when Pope Francis did his Who Am I To Judge schtick and offered prayers for whatever remained of that shredded soul when Castro died (or, as I like to say, when Satan sucked him back home.)

But Bernie has always had good things to say about Castro. In a 1985 interview, given at a time when the dictator was at the height of his power and tyrannical authority, Sanders praised the Cuban despot for health care reform and the educational opportunities he was making available to his people. Years later, before a Hispanic audience (you gotta give the guy credit for guts) he praised Hugo Chavez, himself a Castro acolyte, for his reforms, which have resulted in a mass exodus from the once richest country in South America. I personally represent in their asylum proceedings a number of these self-exiled Venezuelans who have been preyed upon by a government that followed, to the letter, the Castro model.

I asked some of those clients, including a few from Cuba, what they thought of Bernies repeated insistence that the health care reforms in their native countries balanced out the horrors they had experienced. I wanted to know if a free education and free health care made up for the fact that they had lost their homes, that their fathers had been jailed for decades, that they were prevented from practicing their professions unless they belonged to the Communist Party. To a person, they said that free health care meant nothing if they were healthy, but enslaved. To a person, they said that a free education was useless if it meant they had to follow the dictates of Hermano Grande, Big Brother.

It is difficult for anyone who has not actually been in contact with a refugee from a totalitarian regime to grasp the magnitude of the dehumanizing impact on the soul. My friend Dasha Pruett who is running for Mary Gay Scanlons seat in Congress, spent the first decade of her life in Soviet Russia, and told me that the socialist vision of government controlling every aspect of our lives is not only upsetting, but disturbing. I was grateful that Dasha used the phrase socialism as a synonym for totalitarianism, because Bernie is trying to put a shiny bow on a truly dangerous concept, socialism with a human face, as the Communists in Czechoslovakia said right before they started imprisoning and killing dissidents like Vaclav Havel.

Bernie Sanders followers might dismiss as hyperbole and exaggeration the idea that their dear leader is an acolyte of tyrannical beliefs. They will continue to drone on about how free health care and free educations are the birthright of all human beings, that the government is our friend, that capitalism is evil and that anyone who attacks Bernie wants sick children to die and young people to live crushed under a burden of insurmountable debt. They poo poo the suggestion that he has warmed up to despots.

The truth is actually more troubling. Bernie Sanders does not believe in gulags, in torture, in jailing those with dissenting opinions. Some conservatives have tried to argue the contrary, which is ridiculous in its own way. Bernie is not Fidel.

But we have been privy to interview after interview, instance after instance, example after example of a man who has been able to cull from the sulfurous depths of horror a few pearls of pleasure and virtue, a few instances where people were actually able to get free dental care or a doctoral degree (and then make $30 a month practicing their profession.) The fact that he persists in trying to find the human face of socialism should be proof enough that we do not want, nor do we need, to see his own face anywhere near the White House.
A week after deadly communal violence erupted in northeast Delhi, the situation in affected areas was peaceful but tense on Sunday as four more bodies were fished out from drains in Gokalpuri and Shiv Vihar and heavy police deployment continued.

In parts of northeast Delhi, people complained of cash crunch as several bank branches and ATMs have remained closed in the aftermath of the riots.

The Delhi Police said it has registered 254 FIRs and arrested or detained 903 persons in connection with the violence so far. Forty-one of the cases were registered under the Arms Act.

No untoward incident has been reported from the northeast district over the past three days, an official said, adding police are urging residents to not pay attention to rumours and report them to authorities.

Three bodies were fished out from two drains in Gokalpuri on Sunday while one body was pulled out out from a drain in Shiv Vihar, police said. However, it is yet to be ascertained if they are linked to the riots and authorities have not updated the death toll figure.

Several bodies of riot victims have been found in drains since Wednesday including of IB staffer Ankit Sharma after violence ebbed.

Panic spread across several parts of west Delhi on Sunday evening following false rumours of violence. Delhi Metro also shut down entry and exits of seven stations without giving any reason. However, Delhi Police swiftly denied any incident and appealed to all to remain calm.

Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar visited some of the riot-hit areas, including Brahmapuri, and consoled the people affected by the worst violence in three decades in Delhi.

"It is very disturbing to see that so many people are badly affected. We have to relieve them of trauma and bring their lives back on track. Everyone should come together to do this," he told reporters.

Schools are closed in Northeast district till March 7.

On Sunday, the CBSE said any further delay in conducting board exams in violence-affected areas may hamper chances of students in admission to professional courses like medical and engineering, but added that it is ready to conduct fresh exams for students who will not be able to appear as per schedule.

Aadil Khan, a resident of Jafradbad, said that several bank branches and ATMs located at B Block of Yamuna Vihar, were closed since the deadly communal violence erupted on February 23.

Mohammad Alam, 27, a mobile recharge shop owner in Shiv Vihar --- one of worst violence-affected areas --- said his shop remained shut for the last four days.

"The business has been hit badly due to closure of banks and ATMs. People don't have cash," Alam told PTI.

Kailash Kumar, who lives in Mustafabad, said his family would leave the city for their hometown in Uttar Pradesh's Ghazipur, but he could not draw cash for travel.

Kumar said that apart from banks and ATMs, most of grocery shops remained shut due to which there is shortage of essential commodities.

The violence in Jaffrabad, Maujpur, Babarpur, Chand Bagh, Shiv Vihar, Bhajan Pura, Yamuna Vihar and Mustafabad areas of northeast Delhi claimed at least 42 lives and left over 200 injured.

A large number of properties have been damaged. Frenzied mobs had torched houses, shops, vehicles, a petrol pump and pelted stones at locals and police personnel.

Police said they are conducting flag marches in violence-affected areas. However, there was an eerie silence in the narrow bylanes that were teeming with people and hawkers barely a week back.

In Shiv Vihar, among the worst hit areas, the roads were deserted and almost all the houses locked. In Mustafabad, people were wary of stepping out of their homes.

"Though there is police presence, tension is lingering. We celebrated Eid, Holi, Diwali together. I have never faced such a situation in my life. There is grief, mistrust, disbelief. Those who indulged in violence did not belong to the area, they came from outside," said Mohammad Yunus, 45.

Yunus, who owns a garment store in Shiv Vihar, said he was saved by his Hindu neighbours during the violence and they tore the shop's name-board to protect the business from rioters.

Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the AAP government is putting in best efforts to provide relief to the people affected by the riots.

Taking to Twitter, Kejriwal said he is personally trying to ensure that relief reaches each person in need, asserting that the government wants people to return to their homes and be welcomed by their neighbours.

Anxious relatives of people missing during the violence continued to queue up at the GTB hospital mortuary, where bodies of riot victims were kept.

With a photograph of her youngest brother, Salman (25), in her hand, Nabi Jan frantically went around the mortuary hoping that he was not among those killed.

"Salman worked as a labourer and had gone to Gokalpuri on February 26. He kept a phone, but it is switched off and there is no clue of what happened to him," Jan said.

None of the bodies in the mortuary was of his brother, he said.

A woman, whose 19-year-old son has been missing from northeast Delhi's Mustafabad area, fell unconscious after seeing a corpse at the mortuary. Her family later confirmed that her son's body was not in there.

Sources said till Saturday six bodies were unidentified at the mortuary, out of which two were later identified and claimed. One of the bodies was charred.

Lawyer Mamtesh Sharma and paralegal volunteer Asha Mittal, manning the Shahdara District Legal Services Authority (SDLSA) help desk, said they were coordinating with hospital authorities and police to provide assistance to people seeking information about their missing family members.

"So far, around 35 families contacted us. Some have identified bodies, while others were directed by us to look into the wards where injured are admitted. Also, we are coordinating with police to find out if anyone missing was detained by them," Sharma said.

Meanwhile, human rights activists wrote to the Delhi Police Commissioner demanding that the names and addresses of those arrested in connection with the violence in the national capital be publicised as mandated by the law.

In a letter, signed by activists Anjali Bharadwaj, co-convenor of the National Campaign for People's Right to Information, advocate Prashant Bhushan, CPI leader Annie Raja, Amrita Johri among others, said Section 41-C of the CrPC mandatorily requires that a police control room be established in all districts and section 41-C(2) demands that the names and addresses of all persons arrested be displayed on the notice board outside the control room.

Acting Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava visited DCP Amit Sharma who is undergoing treatment after suffering serious injuries in the clashes.

Shrivastava has been given the additional charge of Delhi Police Commissioner, following Amulya Patnaik's retirement on Saturday.

Shrivastava visited Max Hospital in Patparganj and inquired about the health of Sharma, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara), who suffered injuries to his head and hand in violence in Gokulpuri on February 24.

"His health has improved and he was likely to be shifted to the ward later today. He has undergone the surgery. He is having his meals now and recovering from the serious injuries," a family friend told PTI.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Port producer teams up with Denomination for packaging makeover

A white port producer has joined forces with drinks design specialist Denomination to give the beverage a 2020 makeover.

Quinta da Pedra Alta is hoping to capitalise on a renewed and growing consumer interest in port and other fortified wine with the launch of its white port Pedra No. 3.

The Portuguese producer challenged Denomination to make the drink attractive to all port consumers, from lifelong fans to the new Instagram-savvy generation which is waking up to fortified wines.

The label has been embossed with an illustration of botanicals typically found on Quinta da Pedra Alta's estate in the Douro Valley, while the producer says the heavy frosted glass bottle, glass stopper and copper foiled elements on the label act as indications of a premium product.

Isabella Caprano, owner and director of Quinta da Pedra Alta, said the new product would "encourage people to think differently about port".

"We approached Denomination because the team has a strong track record in taking legacy drinks and making them work in a modern premium context," she said.

"I love the interpretation of our three feitoria into a distinctive brand icon. I also love that they use the latest production and print innovations, coupled with a strong understanding of market trends."

1 March 2020 - Bethany Whymark
Partners in resilience

Training up

Getting engaged

The bottom line

With ongoing workforce shortages in the technology sector, much has been said about the need for government to get more creative in its IT recruiting efforts. But theres a second half of the equation that often gets overlooked. As recruiting gets ever more competitive, theres a growing need for enhanced IT resiliency.CIOs need to look at workforce planning for the long term. Its no longer enough for IT to just keep the lights on, maintaining a functional and secure infrastructure. In a successful IT team, skilled professionals need defined pathways, continuous training opportunities and a sense that government offers them a place to build a career within a positive work culture.In a sense, demographic changes work in favor of state and local efforts to promote IT longevity. For a generation of workers who saw their parents work lives disrupted by the recession, a long-term career in government may look tempting. In government agencies, you dont get fired easily. They also have defined benefits: You have a timeline to retirement, you have safety over time, said David K. Johnson, a Forrester principal analyst serving chief information officers. Two big sources of uncertainty are wiped off the table.In order to leverage that advantage, government CIOs need to work hand-in-glove with human resource professionals. They must emphasize ongoing training and build a strong workplace culture. They also need to meet emerging demands for a flexible workplace. And then theres the money: When corporate dollars lure top talent away, government has to raise the stakes, without busting the budget.All this may sound like a tall order, but workforce resiliency is an IT imperative. With state and local government spending more than $107 billion a year on technology according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, a stable workforce is a must-have, and it starts with a solid relationship between IT and HR.In Fulton County, Ga., the top HR executive considers himself a lead partner in promoting IT resilience.We try to have conversations on a monthly basis to figure out what their needs are, said Kenneth L. Hermon Jr., chief human resources officer. When we hear that they are losing a database administrator to Dekalb County for $2,000, HR can scour all our counterparts and develop a retention policy. Then if we hear an employee is leaving for another entity, IT has the ability to counter that offer.When such relationships dont emerge organically, experts say the burden falls to IT leadership to initiate stronger ties. Its the role of the CIO to build a more proactive and consistent relationship with HR, so that they fully understand the challenges that IT is facing, said Gartner analyst Alia Mendonsa. When the two are working in sync, a powerful synergy can occur. IT can provide HR with modernized management tools, and HR in turn can provide key market information to help make compensation packages more competitive.When IT and HR are teaming effectively, one of the first areas they will likely address is training  a key component in the overall formula for IT resilience.Because IT is a moving target, most technology professionals rank ongoing training among their top professional concerns. Some 63 percent of government entities devote funds to employee development, according to the Center for State and Local Government Excellence (SLGE) 2019 workforce survey.On the flip side, a lack of skills enhancement will undermine team longevity. When government employees are frustrated, its because they dont have the basic tools they need to do their job, Johnson said.In Cabarrus County, N.C., CIO Todd Shanley offers a range of online training opportunities, and he backs up those classes with a comprehensive training plan developed in collaboration with supervisors and staff members. What does the county need, what are you interested in? Then we build the plan around the places where those come together, he said.Hermon said that Fulton County has been focused more acutely on employee development lately, specifically as a part of its IT employee retention efforts. You might have been here for five or 10 years, and weve never sent you to a formal certification program or a training program, he said. It was obvious to us that employees were clamoring for those kinds of things. They wanted us to show that we believe in them and that we would invest in them.In Tennessee, Chief Learning Officer Antonio Meeks oversees a four-tier certificate program, a pyramid of learning that includes both nontechnical and technical skills. For IT professionals, it is a strategic methodology for developing employees and ensuring they can be successful in their roles, he said.People arent required to follow the path, but for those seeking advancement within the department, it helps to have a well-defined avenue for training opportunities. Its a way of letting employees know that you are invested in them, you are invested in their growth and invested in their development, Meeks said. We know that 90 percent of millennials think learning and development opportunities are a reason to stick with an organization, so this is a driver for retention.He noted that while practical skills factor high on the states training regimen, IT leaders also need to put a heavy emphasis on the soft side. We are shoring up their people skills: working with others, team building, he said. Theres nothing worse than having to go to the mean IT person in order to get things done, or the IT person who makes you feel like you are dumb for asking the question.In addition to training and certification, HR and IT have another area of common interest: They can work collaboratively on job classifications in order to ensure the right people are in the right places, and are receiving appropriate compensation.The duties for a person in technology can change pretty frequently, and we need to refresh those duties so that when we look at the market, the job description truly aligns with the work that person is performing, Shanley said.In addition to ensuring accurate salaries, job reclassification can be used as a means to hang on to rising talent. We grew someone off our help desk to support our physical security systems, Shanley said. We saw what he was interested in, and were able to pull him in that direction. To retain that individual long term, we reclassified a position in order to give him those additional responsibilities.This kind of strategic use around job classification can be a boon to long-term personnel management.When people have a sense that they are working outside their classification, they can get frustrated if they feel like they are being asked to do things that were never part of the job description, said Gerald Young, senior research associate at the Center for State and Local Government Excellence. If you can reclassify a position and bring it up to date, there can be recognition and perhaps even compensation for those additional tasks.These specific areas of overlap between HR and IT, areas such as training and job classification, can also be seen in a broader context. They are part of the cultural fabric of the institution. That fabric  not just what we do, but who we are and how we work  forms the backbone of any IT resiliency effort. In order for people to stay around long term, they need to feel personally invested in the enterprise.To that end, its worth taking a deeper look at the ways in which that culture gets communicated. The ins and outs of employee engagement are another key element in the overall retention effort.For Joe Cudby, engagement begins with the work itself.The language I use with my team is play, said Cudby, Indianas chief technology officer. When you can find something that is really interesting and engaging, then you can deal with the other things  a challenging culture or lower compensation. If the work is engaging and you can see the impact of what you do, that can compensate for a lot.He says the best way to foster that sense of engagement is to give people choices in their work. Hell define the big job, the major task at hand, and then invite his team members to carve out for themselves the bits that seem most interesting. When I give people the opportunity to have some selection in what they would do, they tend to be more engaged in it, he said.Across state and local government, the most successful employee engagement efforts are those that start with the employees themselves. Rather than pushing information from the top down, successful agencies invite workers to take the lead.This is a participatory model, one that listens and encourages ideas to be explored and implemented, Young said. Those employees are more likely to feel valued within the organization.This approach goes beyond empowering employees to try out new approaches or take on new tasks. Its about letting them voice their ideas and concerns, their satisfactions and dissatisfactions along the way, Young said. You need an organizational culture that can hear from them and grow as a result.In Fulton County, Ga., Hermon makes that tangible with an employee engagement survey, conducted annually for each of the past four years. Hes not alone: 29 percent of respondents in the SLGE report said they use such tools.Hermon said the key to success is not just listening, but also acting on what he hears. We try to fix the things that can be fixed quickly and we put plans in place to tackle the others, he said. Responsiveness in turn drives engagement: People feel empowered when those above respond to their concerns.Its about developing trust between myself and the IT people, Hermon said. We also have chat sessions where we invite employees from the IT department, with no managers in the room, so that they can speak freely and can tell us what is on their minds.Others look to drive engagement through transparency. When people have a solid understanding of whats going on across the IT shop, the theory goes, they are more likely to be personally invested in the outcomes.In Cabarrus County, for example, Shanley uses wellness dashboards to track the progress of a wide range of projects. When people have a better understanding of what is going on in the entire environment, it improves the mood across the entire department, he said.State and local IT leaders can listen thoughtfully and create a supportive culture. They can offer training and partner with HR to shape career paths. But lets get down to brass tacks: Can they let you work from home, or pay you more? These are arguably harder questions, but some are finding practical answers.We have a good cross-section of IT people who telecommute, Hermon said. But weve learned from the mistakes of industry. We set a maximum of three straight days of telecommuting, so you still get that level of accountability and those interactions with colleagues.Cudby has been working from home for years and he encourages his staff to do the same. But he admits it is a balancing act. When its all in the cloud and nothings on prem, I dont need you to be physically here to do your work, he said. But we need to teach managers new ideas about accountability  how to work in that kind of environment and how to manage in that kind of environment.Striking that balance is critical to long-term success. While just 56 percent of government workers say their pay is competitive, 88 percent say their benefits are on par with industry, Young said. Flexible work, including work-from-home and flexible scheduling, helps to drive that stat.Money can be trickier  theres only so much  but some have found creative ways to close the gap. For example, some 40 percent of state and local entities encourage retention with merit-based salary increases, according to the SLGE survey.Fulton County has implemented raises of up to 3 percent every three years based on departmental performance. We wanted to incentivize the entire workforce to work as a team, so every department had to tie their specific goals to the countys broader goals, Hermon said. The compensation piece is important. Our salaries will never be private-sector levels, but we need them to be competitive.In Cabarrus County, HR conducts a salary survey every two years and adjusts pay rates accordingly. In Tennessee, the average employee salary has gone up $5,000 over the past five years. We are really working on that, including looking at IT and reclassifying positions, which has led to salary increases, Meeks said.Money fixes a lot of things, but its not the only factor on the table. Even when salaries are stuck, there is much that IT leaders can do to position state and local government as an employer of choice.Government is constrained financially, but pay is only one dimension of satisfaction, Johnson said. You can provide training and growth opportunities that people couldnt get in the private sector. You can give them the chance to build their skills and to find something meaningful in their work.All that together can add up to an IT team that is resilient over the long haul.
Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister



and senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar on Sunday said the new citizenship law, the proposed NRC and the NPR will not take away anybody's citizenship and flagged "misinformation" on the issue.

Addressing the convention of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) here, he also ruled out any need to bring a resolution against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Population Register (NPR) in the state Legislative Assembly.

"The CAA, NRC and NPR will not take away anyone's citizenship," he said.

"It is unnecessary to pass a resolution against the CAA and the NPR in the Maharashtra Assembly," the deputy CM said.

He said some people were spreading "false information" about the CAA, NRC and NPR by referring to a resolution passed in Bihar, and called for more awareness on this issue.

The Bihar Legislative Assembly last month unanimously resolved that there was no need of NRC in the state and that the NPR exercise be done strictly according to the 2010 format.

Notably, NCP chief Sharad Pawar had said in last December that like eight other states, Maharashtra should also refuse implementation of the new citizenship law, which he feared would hurt the religious and social harmony of India.

NCP leader and state minister Nawab Malik had last month said the NRC will not be implemented in Maharashtra.

The Congress, another constituent in the Shiv Sena-led government, had demanded that a resolution against the NPR and the CAA be brought in the Assembly.

After meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi last month, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had said that no one needs to fear about the CAA. He had also said that the NPR was not going to throw anyone out of the country.

Earlier, Thackeray had said that his government will not allow the proposed NRC to be implemented as it would impact people of all religions.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A British diving instructor whose three-year-old son drowned at a water park has claimed that the lifeguards were distracted by a slide competition at the time of his death.

William Watson, 35, took his family to the Blue Tree Water Park in Phuket, Thailand, on February 23.

But just hours later his son, Bobby, waded from knee-deep water and fell into a plunge pool just a few metres away, where he drowned.

Mr Watson, originally from Bridport, Dorset, claims that there were a raft of safety failings and says that lifeguards did not immediately go to his son's aid because they were distracted by a competition at the time.

Bobby's family is now considering legal action against the park which re-opened just hours after his death.

But just hours later his three-year-old son, Bobby, (pictured) waded from knee-deep water and fell into a plunge pool just a few metres away where he drowned

Mr Watson and his Thai wife May run a diving school in Phuket and had been invited for a free tour of the park in the hope that they would tell their customers about it.

They took Bobby, along with their seven-year-old son, Billy, to the THB1.3 billion (32 million), 55-acre park which had first opened its doors last summer.

The family had been having a picnic with friends as the two boys played in the shallow water.

Mrs Watson said that Billy came over and spoke to her which caused her to take her eyes off Bobby for '10 or 20 seconds'.

But when she looked back she could no longer see her youngest son in the pool.

She spotted a red monster truck toy that he had been playing with floating in the plunge pool and shouted at the lifeguards to get her son out of the water.

Bobby was given CPR before an ambulance turned up 15 minutes later to be taken to the nearest hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Mr Watson has disputed the official version of events and says that the attraction has since offered him money.

Mr Watson claims that there were a raft of safety failings and says that lifeguards did not immediately go to his son's aid because they were distracted by a competition at the time. Pictured: Divide between the shallow water and the plunge pool

Mr Watson said: 'There is no barrier, no railing, nothing to prevent any child going from waist-deep water into a deep pool'

Speaking to the Telegraph, Mr Watson said: 'I will always blame myself. My son drowned in a swimming pool and I am a diving instructor and I should have been there to scoop him up...

'They want me to take money and shut my mouth but if I do that and another child dies then I have got two children to grieve. I have two deaths on my conscience.

'I need the world to know that Blue Tree is an unsafe water park.'

Mr Watson, who has lived on Phuket for nine years, said that many attractions on the island have an on site doctor due to the long wait time for ambulances - but claims that there was no such professional available at the water park that day.

Mr Watson added: 'When I look back there are so many things that are wrong with the safety...

'There is no barrier, no railing, nothing to prevent any child going from waist-deep water into a deep pool.

'There are a lot of lifeguards at the pool. But at the time that Bobby fell in and drowned there was a sliding competition and they were all watching that. Nobody was watching the pool, their eyes were all fixed on the big slide.'

Blue Tree Water Park released a statement on the day of Bobby's death stating that it was 'deeply distressed' by the 'tragic accident'.

It added that Bobby had stumbled and fallen into the water before being spotted by a lifeguard who 'came to his immediate assistance'.

The park has since said that it cannot comment further as a police investigation is still ongoing.

The family went back to the park on Tuesday with a Buddhist Monk to carry out a ritual for Bobby's funeral and he will be cremated next week.
A 26-year-old man was arrested on



Sunday from suburban Vikhroli in Mumbai for allegedly sexually harassing a 20-year-old college student and her friend, police said.

According to a police official, the accused Sachin Bhoye and his friends have been harassing the complainant, who is pursuing B.Com course at a night college, and her friends.

The latest incident occurred on February 27, when Bhoye rode his motorcycle close to the woman and her friend near the college, he said.

"As the women asked him to behave, Bhoye threatened and abused them," the official added.

A case has been registered under section 354 (Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Plateau State Commissioner of Health, Dr Nimkong Ndam on Sunday said 43 people have been quarantined in Wase Local Government Area of the state for investigations to forestall the spread of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the state.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the 43 people were those, who had contact with four Chinese miners, who recently returned to the state from China en-route Addis Ababa.

The Commissioner stated this during a press briefing on Sunday in Jos, saying the isolation was for a period of 14 days, to check if they would manifest symptoms of the virus.

He said that Governor Simon Lalong was informed by the Nigerian Immigration Services (NIS) of three Chinese nationals, who arrived Nigeria and were heading to Jos, which led to the setting up of a team comprising of health officials and security agencies to monitor them.

One Chinese national, arrived on Tuesday 25th while the three others arrived on Wednesday, they came from China through Addis Ababa Airport to Abuja airport, where they were screened by health officials, he said.

He said the Chinese who arrived on Tuesday is the leader of the mining team who reside in Wase town while the other two live in Bakin Kaya, a mining site outside Wase town.

The commissioner explained that the leader had been offering social services of water supply to members of the community, where he resides but was asked to suspend the services pending investigations, saying a total of 25 persons who had contact with him had been isolated.

The other three Chinese live in a compound with 13 Nigerians, who also have been isolated pending investigations, making a total of 18 persons isolated in Bakin Kaya, he said.

The commissioner said the travel documents of the Chinese persons were valid, saying the state had isolation units in Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) and Plateau Specialist Hospitals in the case of an outbreak of the disease in the state.

He said the Ministry was working with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, for the supply of commodities and other support in the case the suspects turned positive of the virus.

He urged Plateau residents to remain calm and go about their normal activities, as there was no Coronavirus in the state.

Ndam said its health officials and World Health Organization (WHO) officials, were enlightening members of Wase community on preventive measures and symptoms of the disease.

He said the ministry would distribute Information Education Communication (IEC) materials, to the public and produce more jingles for enlightenment of the disease, while urging the media to support it in its enlightenment campaigns.
The song's Chicago segment -- which was shot in Toronto -- find Drake talking about touring life and how difficult it is to connect with his girlfriends in Chicago. "What numbers do I still have? / Who do I know from the past? / Hit one, she say she got a man / Hit another one, it goes green / Must've changed phones on the team / 'Member when you lead me in between?"
8 out-of-the-ordinary watches 8 out-of-the-ordinary watches

The editorial team has picked eight off-the-beaten-track watches, any one of which would make a perfect end to the year

The editorial team has picked eight...
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.
Three hospitality experts with a combined F&B experience of almost 50 years have joined The St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort, Abu Dhabi with the aim of strengthening its position as a leading dining destination for residents and tourists in the capital.



Sat at the helm of the kitchen operations for the resort, Michael Gremer brings with him more than two decades of culinary expertise and will be responsible for boosting the gastronomic experiences currently available at its restaurants.



Hailing from Germany, the 51-year-old executive chef has a solid background in top management roles in luxury and international hotels across Asia, including countries such as China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Taiwan, in addition to wide experience with large-scale launches and renovations in the US and Australia.



Hamza Ghazi Al Durdang is the second to join the team as their newest pastry chef. With almost 15 years experience in creating culinary masterpieces in Jordan, UAE and most recently India, he is an extremely talented and innovative pastry chef who specialises in chocolate creations and sugar arts.



Themis Kouris has been welcomed as the venue manager of Mazi Abu Dhabi. Equipped with more than 15 years of international experience in the F&B industry, Kouris has co-owned a bakery and catering business and managed restaurants worldwide, including London, Beijing, Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong.



With a passion for wine, Kouris has attended several courses over the past decade to help customers choose the best option to compliment their culinary experience. This knowledge and his likeable personality will be a welcome addition to Mazi Abu Dhabi that has won multiple awards in just four months since its launch.



Gremer said: I am honoured to be working with a kitchen team that have such an impressive skill set and experience working with some of the biggest names in the industry. We are thrilled to continue the legacy of the St. Regis brand while creating new and innovative menus and culinary experiences.



Spread across the expansive resort are seven dining venues, including the world-renowned Buddha-Bar Beach Abu Dhabi, Mazi Abu Dhabi serving modern Greek cuisine, Mediterranean-inspired Olea, an award-winning Southeast-Asian restaurant Sontaya, The Manhattan Lounge, an onsite pastry shop  The Drawing Room, and the casual pool and beach setting. - TradeArabia News Service
Supporters cheer as Democratic presidential hopeful former Vice President Joe Biden arrives to speak at a rally in Conway, South Carolina, on February 27, 2020.

Joe Biden won South Carolina's primary, and he is about to score some new donors as a result.

Bundlers backing the former vice president's campaign told CNBC that they are seeing a surge in big money commitments in the wake of Saturday's apparent blowout victory in the Palmetto State.

Fundraisers looking to help Biden secure resources for Tuesday, when 14 states hold primaries, got what they were looking for in the buildup to South Carolina and throughout Saturday. According to people with direct knowledge of the matter, Biden's bundlers lured donors who had been backing Sen. Amy Klobuchar and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg. They also grabbed support from donors who had been uncommitted, these people added.

These wealthy donors are now willing to give up to the max amount of $2,800 to Biden's campaign, which has struggled at times to raise cash.

"Money has been pouring in. And now it will really pour. Voters now understand that a vote for anyone other than Biden is a vote for Bernie Sanders," Florida-based businessman John Morgan, a Biden bundler, told CNBC after his candidate's big win. "I have been inundated with emails today."

Sanders became the Democratic primary race's front-runner after winning in Nevada and New Hampshire. Biden's dominant victory in South Carolina will give him enough delegates to at least be in second place behind Sanders. Fifty-four delegates were at stake in the state.

Meanwhile, former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg has been investing millions in delegate-rich Super Tuesday states, making Biden's fundraising boost even more necessary if he wants to continue this momentum into the most pivotal week of the campaign so far.

"Tonight I have heard from many friends who have been supporting other candidates and now want to do everything they can to nominate Joe Biden," said Rufus Gifford, the architect of President Barack Obama's fundraising operation and now a Biden supporter. "I've been sending my fundraising link out to lots and lots of people who have not yet given."

Another Biden bundler, who declined to be named, said he is on track to pick up dozens of new donors by the end of the weekend. Many of these people had committed to becoming surrogates for Bloomberg before the former vice president's win in the Palmetto State. These people who are shifting to Biden, this bundler said, now hope that Bloomberg drops out in order to help the former vice president stop Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist.

Alan Patricof, the founder of Greycroft Partners and a Biden fundraiser, said Saturday's win is raising spirits among the former vice president's backers.

"No one is complacent, but all of Joe's supporters are feeling very much encouraged tonight based on early results," Patricof told CNBC.

The Biden campaign itself appeared to confirm what bundlers were already seeing in the wake of the South Carolina triumph.

"48 mins in and this is the best hour of fundraising the campaign has EVER had," Elana Firsht, Biden's director of online fundraising, said in a tweet.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Gemma Holliani Cahya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, March 1, 2020 14:14 680 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20678bf4e 1 National west-sumatra,Extremists,radical-group,IPAC,sidney-jones Free

A new report from the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) found that Islamic State (IS) supporters who were deported while trying to join the extremist group played a major role in radicalizing neighborhood religious study groups in West Sumatra.

The report, titled Learning From Extremists in West Sumatra, followed two groups in Padang and Bukit Tinggi in West Sumatra that grew from branches of pro-sharia advocacy groups into pro-ISIS cells.

Both of the groups had members who had businesses in Tanah Abang market, Jakarta. In the market, the members came in touch with leading extremist clerics and invited them back to Sumatra.

Through these Jakarta-based friends, the groups were introduced to some of the highest-profile preachers in the extremist community, the report said.

The Padang group in particular was largely influenced by pro-IS deportees who were forced to return to Indonesia.

Saifullah, a Padang native, had met an Acehnese man named Muhammad Aulia while stuck in a safehouse in Turkey waiting for the chance to cross over to Syria in 2015. The two men were deported in 2016.

Saifullah left for Afghanistan in 2017 and acted as a communications hub between pro-IS extremist groups in Indonesia and the IS province in Khorasan. He was later implicated in the 2019 Jolo Cathedral bombings, which were conducted by an Indonesian couple who were in contact with him.

Aulia, meanwhile, led a group of 11 Indonesians in an attempt to leave for Afghanistan in 2019 but was stopped in the Bangkok airport in Thailand and was deported again. He and his followers were arrested upon their return to Indonesia.

The combination of frustration at not achieving their goal, undiminished zeal with lack of exposure to the realities of the situation in Syria  not only constant bombing but also corruption and in some cases, discrimination against non-Arabs  and the difficulties of having to start life again with no resources all become reasons for returning to extremist activities, the report said.

The West Sumatra study calls into question the wisdom of the Indonesian governments approach of treating radicalism as a problem of insufficient nationalism, curable by indoctrination in the state ideology, Pancasila, IPAC director Sidney Jones said in a press release about the report on Friday.

The problems here were more concrete: a mosque that hosted extremist discussions for more than a decade without any attention from local authorities and deportees from Turkey who returned home without sufficient monitoring.

She added that the government still lacked an effective rehabilitation, reintegration and monitoring program for deportees and should take steps to remedy that.

Knowing how deportees have fared even several years after their return could help in the development of programs for future returnees, she said.

The government has said that radicalism is one of the biggest existential threats to the state and has recently announced that it will not repatriate the nearly 700 Indonesian citizens who joined the IS movement.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Margareth S. Ariton (The Jakarta Post)  Mon, March 2 2020

Taking the lead: Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions president Andi Gani Nena Wea (center) addresses a rally of union members on Feb. 12, rejecting the government-initiated omnibus bill on job creation. They threatened to stage a mass strike if the House of Representatives passed the bill into law.(JP/Dhoni Setiawan)

Kerja! Kerja! Kerja! President Joko Jokowi Widodo introduced this slogan to the public in 2014, when he was elected president for the first time. The motto inspired him to name his first-term Cabinet Kabinet Kerja (Working Cabinet) to characterize the spirit of his government: Hardworking. He has since amplified that ambition, pushing his administration to work not only hard, but harder, and also faster, when he was reelected in 2019.

Quality human resources are crucial to translate this ambition into reality. To do so, the Jokowi administration has prepared two policies that are expected to bolster investment to reach the 6-percent economic growth target: a preemployment card and a sweeping bill on job creation.

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
WASHINGTON>> President Donald Trump asserted anew on Saturday that Mexico is paying for his border wall, even as his administration shifts billions from the Pentagon to cover some construction costs and Mexico pitches in nothing.

A look at some of his claims from his speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference:

TRUMP, on Mexico and his border wall: Yes they are. Theyre paying for it. And theyre OK with it. Mexicos paying for it.

THE FACTS: Thats false. Mexico is not paying for the wall. And far from being OK with it, Mexican leaders flatly rejected the idea when Trump pressed them early on.

NO, Enrique Pena Nieto, then Mexicos president, tweeted in May 2018. Mexico will NEVER pay for a wall. Not now, not ever. Sincerely, Mexico (all of us).

The money is coming from todays U.S. taxpayers and the future ones who will inherit the federal debt. In February, the Pentagon announced that it was slashing billions of dollars for Navy and Air Force aircraft and other military programs to divert money to the construction of the wall. More such military cuts are coming, officials said.

The president has come up with several creative formulations to argue that Mexico is in some way paying.

Among them: He has projected that his updated trade agreement with Mexico and Canada will stimulate enough extra growth over the years to cover the cost. Even if that happens, which analysts widely doubt, the wall will have cost the U.S. money that it could have used for something else. Its not a payment from Mexico. Hes talked about taxing or blocking money that immigrants in the U.S. send to their countries of origin, often to family members. But that is not happening.

Trump has also credited Mexico with stepped-up enforcement against migrants and asylum seekers who come from other countries and try to get to the U.S. from Mexican soil.

___

TRUMP: America has declared energy independence. I declared it.

THE FACTS: He may have declared it but he hasnt earned it.

The U.S. still needs plenty of oil from around the world. It imported a daily average of roughly 6.5 million barrels of crude oil last year, according to the Census Bureau. That is down from the 2018 average, though it does not mean independence.

Technological advances like fracking and horizontal drilling have allowed the U.S. to greatly increase production, but the country still imports millions of barrels of oil from Saudi Arabia, Canada, Iraq and other countries. Moreover, much of what the U.S. produces is hard for domestic refiners to convert to practical use. So the U.S. exports that production and imports oil that is more suitable for American refineries to handle.

On energy more broadly, the U.S. is indeed close to parity on how much energy it produces and how much it consumes. In some months, it produces more than it consumes. But it has not achieved self-sufficiency. In the first nine months of last year, it imported about as much energy as it exported.

___

TRUMP, on the situation before he became president: American energy was under siege.

THE FACTS: Thats a stretch, given how energy production was unleashed in past administrations, particularly Barack Obamas.

As he has repeatedly, Trump took credit for a U.S. oil and gas production boom that he inherited and has continued under his watch. The U.S. Energy Information Administration says the U.S. has been the worlds top natural gas producer since 2009, top petroleum hydrocarbon producer since 2013, and top crude oil producer since 2018.
Kathmandu, March 1

Inspector Devi Prasad Paudel, who was seen charging batons on a woman holding a child in a viral video, has been transferred on Sunday.

The chief of Metropolitan Police Range, Lalitpur, SSP Tek Prasad Rai, informs that Paudel has been shifted to Jawalakhel after the incident. A newly appointed Inspector Sujit Ojha has been appointed for the Metropolitan Police Circle, Bhaisepati.

Paudel had baton-charged Hema Shrestha, who had reached the residence of dismissed Nepali Army Major General Hem Khatri on Thursday, demanding justice for Mala Sah. Paudel had entered the house with force and started vandalising instead of using minimal force.

Rai also informs, We have formed a probe committee led by SP Durga Singh that is looking into the incident. The Committee will submit its report on Tuesday and based on that, further actions will be taken, Rai adds.
What if you get stuck on the highway in a storm? Here are some tips
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
Joe Biden topped a crowded field in South Carolina on Saturday in a decisive victory the former vice president hopes will springboard him back into contention in the fight to face President Donald Trump in November.

Long the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination before a surging Sen. Bernie Sanders gained momentum, Bidens win, projected by Associated Press and CNN just as polls closed at 7 p.m., comes three days before voters in 14 states head to the polls on Super Tuesday.

It not only marks Bidens first primary win in 2020, but his first state victory in three White House bids dating back to the late 1980s.

Thank you, South Carolina! the Biden campaign tweeted after the race was called. To all those who have been knocked down, counted out, and left behind  this is your campaign. Together, we will win this nomination and beat Donald Trump.

Speaking to supporters in South Carolina, a thankful and fiery Biden said This campaign is taking off.

With about 55% of precincts reporting just after 9 p.m., Biden had garnered more than 50% support with at least 138,000 votes.

Sanders was the only other candidate passing the 15% support threshold to earn delegates in the state, at nearly 19% support. Tom Steyer, who campaigned heavily in the state, earned slightly less than 12% support, followed by former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg at 7.7% and Sen. Elizabeth Warren at 6.6%. Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard earned 3% and 1%, respectively.

CNN projected that Biden would pick up 19 delegates out of South Carolinas available 54. Sanders will likely pick up three delegates in the state.

Sanders currently leads several national polls, and the delegate count, on the heels of strong performances in each of the first three voting contests in 2020, including wins in Nevada and New Hampshire.

But Bidens South Carolina win was buoyed by strong backing from African Americans despite the efforts of Steyer, who had flooded the airwaves and billboards with advertising to put a dent in Bidens standing.

CNN exit polls showed Biden gained 60% support from African American voters, with Sanders and Steyer trailing significantly behind at 17% and 14%, respectively.

The former Delaware senator this week gained a key endorsement from South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn, who said voters in the Palmetto State know Joe Biden" and can look to a series of accomplishments through four decades of public service as proof of what he could do as president.

Biden has frequently reminded voters, as well as critics and opponents, that he helped advance the agenda and signature efforts of the first black president, Barack Obama, including the Affordable Care Act.

We need to build on the legacy of the most successful president of our lifetime, Biden told supporters in South Carolina on Saturday night. The days of Donald Trumps divisiveness are over.

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on his campaign, has focused on Super Tuesday and was not on the ballot in South Carolina.
The compound of Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul remains almost empty, Saturday, as people avoid crowded places due to fears of the COVID-19 outbreak. / Yonhap



By Kim Rahn



An entrepreneur has called on the government to provide every citizen with 500,000 won ($413) in "basic income in case of disaster," saying many people have been suffering from severe financial strain due to the month-long COVIC-19 epidemic.



He claimed such emergency monetary support would be more effective than planned government countermeasures such as tax cuts for vehicle purchases.





Lee Jae-woong, CEO of SoCar / Yonhap
Dear Editor,

I just realized the similarity between Fred Nagels anti-Semitic rants against Israel and Donald Trumps rants: Both operate from a base of lies and rely on the premise (pushed by propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels during the Nazi regime) that if you tell a lie often enough, people will soon accept it as fact.

I would contend that the American public has been sold a pack of lies by the supporters of BDS (Boycott/Divestment/Sanctions) about the plight of the Palestinians. Nagel and Trump do not encourage Americans to view facts in the light of the historical facts, in this case, that the Palestinians are in their current position because of their own philosophy and their manipulation by their Arab brothers.

Hence, Nagels constant reference to the Jewish lobby controlling the actions of our Congress and Trump, and Nagels slur that the Jewish lobby is the hidden enemy of progressive reform makes me want to laugh at his latest letter. However, I am responding with this letter and calling him (and his cohorts in the Democratic Partys progressive wing) as being potentially responsible for replacing the common American good (and Israels survival) due to their hatred of Jews (which they hide behind criticism of Israel).

Yes, Fred Nagel, repeat the lie often enough and one day the uninformed might assume that it is fact!

Susan Puretz

Saugerties, N.Y.
With Super Tuesday fast approaching and coronavirus commanding the headlines, "Saturday Night Live" combined the two in a bloated but often funny cold open.

It begins with Beck Bennett's Vice President Mike Pence addressing the nation about the disease's outbreak, which he freely admits "has been quite a test of my faith, much like dinosaur bones or Timothee Chalamet." Even so, he's confident things will be OK as the administration has "assembled a very experienced team of some of the best people left in government."

One of those people turns out to be Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, played by Kenan Thompson. (Since Thompson offers such an amusing impersonation of the man, he tends to pop up in many cold opens, regardless of their topic.) After reminding the American people that he's "the brain surgeon that they put in charge of house development," he happily announces that the coronavirus "is something I actually do know about, and rest assured, in my expert opinion, it's gonna be baaaaaaad." He then shows a photo of the Disney cartoon character Stitch, which he has confused with the virus.

To prevent contracting the disease, Bennett's Pence suggests "covering your mouth when you cough and, as always, closing your eyes during intercourse" while Carson recommends some "Make American Great Again masks from the White House website" which are "made in Wuhan, China."

It's a clever start to a relatively simple cold open, until Fred Armisen's Mike Bloomberg pops up in the audience as a reporter who got in by "coughing and everyone just got out of my way." He begins a campaign pitch for a president "who is competent and capable, even if that candidate lacks charisma or ability to connect with human beings" before speaking some fake Spanish.

Suddenly, the cold open becomes a mash-up of a Democratic debate spoof and a White House news conference spoof, though without a clear throughline. Before long, the stage filled with several celebrity guests offering their now-familiar impressions of the candidates - and one new one.

Up pops Kate McKinnon's Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., telling Bloomberg she's "No. 1 in your nightmares" and, beginning with the truth before moving onto increasingly absurd claims, says he "supported George W. Bush. He supported Lindsey Graham. He funded SARS. He invented traffic. He was responsible for McDonald's serving spaghetti. He wrote and directed the movie 'Cats.' He dumped your bags in the ocean from cargo holds on Spirit Airlines. This is a bad man."

Then there's Colin Jost's former South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg and Rachel Dratch's Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., getting in an argument over who should be the Midwestern centrist in this race. "I'm from Minnesota and will cut you ... in line at Target, son," she tells him.

Meanwhile, Larry David reprises his Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who says he doesn't trust Buttigieg because he's "a hand-cougher. He coughs right into the hand, not the elbow!" and rants against Purell because "on the label, it says it kills 99.99% of germs. What happens to the top .01% Why are we protecting them? I say enough with the potions!"

In a clever meta joke, this week's host John Mulaney appears as former vice president Joe Biden, making him at least the third guest to portray on him "SNL" after Jason Sudeikis and Woody Harrelson, which doesn't go unnoticed. "You look different," the show's Pence notes.

Then Mulaney's Biden offers a long, ramblingly "honest-to-goodness true story based loosely on fake events" about him and former South African president "Nelson Mandela palling around South Africa 'Green Book'-style" and beating up an "ebola monkey."

The show has access to wonderful guest stars, so it's no surprise that it wants to use them as often as possible. And each individual impression is funny, much more so when it has room to breathe. But much like the Democratic debates, having so many people onstage at once can become overwhelming.

This setup can work, and it has bore fruit many times this season. Key to success is a strong concept, such remaining the impeachment hearings as an absurd daytime soap opera or a Judge Mathis-style reality courtroom drama or taking a short trip to hell with attorney Alan Dershowitz (Jon Lovitz).

But simply throwing all these characters together and having them recite similar riffs each week can begin to feel stale. The jokes themselves might be sharp, but the setup's growing dull.
The 'never-before-seen' manuscripts of Adolf Hitler's opera, entitled 'Wieland der Schmied' will reportedly go on display in Austria this coming weekend. According to international media reports, Hitler's sketch of music hall and other items from his favourite years will also go on display. It is further hoped that the objects which will be displayed in Sank Poelten, outside Vienna, as part of its exhibition 'Young Hitler: the Formative Years of a Dictator', will shed light on how the dictator's past shaped his thinking.

According to the exhibition's curators, the never-before-seen manuscripts was apparently written after Hitler had only a few months of piano lessons. The manuscripts also clearly demonstrate Hitler's 'inflated sense of his own abilities'. While speaking to an international news agency, the exhibition curators said that the single sheet is believed to be only surviving page of an ambitious project based on Germanic mythology that closely apes an unfinished work of the same name by Richard Wagner, one of Hitler's favourite composer.

READ: Adolf Hitler's Birthplace To Transform Into Police Station To Prevent Neo-nazi Site

As per reports, the range of products belonging to Hitler, which will be exhibited, was collected by Hitler's friends, August Kubizek between 1907 and 1920. Kubizek initially kept them as mementoes, however, he later realised that they might be of historical importance. The collection includes letter and postcards written by Hitler to Kubizek, as well as paintings and architectural sketched by Hitler himself.

READ: Taika Waititi Opens Up On Why He Played Adolf Hitler In 'Jojo Rabit'

Police station at birthplace

Back in 2019, Austrias interior ministry announced that Adolf Hitlers birthplace in Braunau am Inn will be turned into a police station. The ministry, in a statement, said the handling of the birthplace has been a challenge for the authorities for more than 70 years, considering the connection with the history of Third Reich. The house in Braunau am Inn, near the German border, will be redesigned following an international architectural competition.

The property located at the address Salzburger Vorstadt 15, Braunau am Inn was expropriated by the officials in January 2017 with the help of special legal authorisation and a compensation amount of 8,12,000 euros was paid to the former owner. The Austrian legislature also gave orders to ensure that the property is used in such a way that any form of neo-Nazi activities is prevented. The basic idea was to use the place as a deterrent for those who would make it a neo-nazi shrine.

READ: Meghan Markle Will Not Bring Son Archie To UK, Leaves Queen 'very Sad': Reports

READ: UK PM Boris Johnson And Girlfriend Carrie Symonds Engaged, Expecting Baby
A cult church leader claiming to be the Messiah could face murder charges in connection with the worst coronavirus outbreak outside of mainland China.

The majority of cases in South Korea  where the virus has killed at least 18 people and infected more than 3,700  are thought to be members of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus.

Officials have accused the church of exacerbating the outbreak by deliberately failing to provide an accurate list of its more than 200,000 worshippers and thus interfering with government attempts to curb the virus spread.

Amid growing public outrage, Seoul city government has filed a criminal complaint to prosecutors against the churchs leader Lee Man-hee  who himself is awaiting the result of a coronavirus test  and 11 other senior members.

Seouls mayor Park Won-soon alleged the churchs actions amounted to murder through to willful negligence in a widely shared Facebook post on Sunday, translated by the Korea Herald.

The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea Show all 11 1 /11 The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea Visitors with suspected symptoms of the new coronavirus, inside of a car, bottom right, get virus test by members of medical team as others queue in their cars at a "drive-through" test facility at Yeungnam University Medical Center in Daegu on 27 February 2020 AP The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea Workers move equipment into containers set up as a makeshift medical facility to accommodate COVID-19 patients at a hospital's grounds in Daegu, South Korea on Friday 28 February 2020 AP The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea People wait in line to buy face masks in front of a store at Dongseongro shopping district in Daegu on 27 February 2020 AFP via Getty Images The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea Medical workers wearing protective gears comfort each other outside a hospital in Daegu, South Korea, on 28 February 2020 REUTERS The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea Medical staff in protective gears arrive for a duty shift at Dongsan Hospital in Daegu South Korea on Friday 28 February 2020 AP The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea A South Korean health worker sprays disinfectant as part of preventive measures against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, at a residential area near the Daegu branch of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Daegu on 27 February 2020 AFP via Getty Images The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea A man wears a mask and goggles as he waits in line to buy face masks from a post office near the Daegu branch of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Daegu on 27 February 2020 AFP via Getty The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea South Korean medical workers wearing protective gear visit a residence of people with suspected symptoms of the COVID-19 coronavirus to take samples, near the Daegu branch of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Daegu on 27 February 2020 AFP via Getty Images The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea A South Korean health worker sprays disinfectant as part of preventive measures against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, at a residential area near the Daegu branch of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Daegu on 27 February 2020 AFP via Getty Images The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea A South Korean army vehicle sprays disinfectant on a road to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 in Daegu, South Korea on Thursday 27 February 2020. AP The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea Troops set up makeshift partitions and beds at the Armed Forces Hospital in Daegu South Korea 28 February 2020 EPA

The legal complaint accuses the church leaders of homicide, causing harm and violating the Infectious Disease and Control Act, according to the BBC.

South Korean law follows the principle of dolus eventualis, meaning a person can be convicted of murder if they foresaw the possibility of their actions resulting in the death of someone but continued regardless.

The church  which teaches that only Mr Lee can interpret the Bibles true meaning  strenuously denies all accusations and insists it is the victim of a witch hunt.

While followers believe Mr Lee is immortal and will take 144,000 people to heaven with him on Judgement Day, some former members have now turned on him.

This week, a group of former worshippers visited district prosecutors and alleged that by submitting fake documents, he has impeded the government in its epidemiological efforts against the new coronavirus, the Korea Times reported.

The church is also accused of lying about its missionary work in Wuhan, regarded as the outbreaks epicentre.

South Koreas justice ministry said on Saturday that 42 members of the church had entered the country from China since July, with some visiting Wuhan in January. The church had repeatedly denied making new converts in the Hubei city until last week.

The virus was first discovered to have infected a 61-year-old woman dubbed Patient 31 who had attended services at the churchs Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony branch in the countrys fourth largest city, Daegu.

The city of 2.5 million people was swiflty put on lockdown, and was likened to a zombie apocalypse by one resident. While cases have been identified around the country, it remains the most affected city.

A second outbreak was then discovered at a hospital in Cheongdo county. It soon emerged that several of the churchs followers visited the hospital to attend a funeral for Mr Lees brother.

Shortly afterwards, the church said it had closed all of its 74 sanctuaries in South Korea and told followers to instead watch its services on YouTube.

We are deeply sorry that because of one of our members, who thought of her condition as a cold because she had not travelled abroad, led to many in our church being infected and thereby caused concern to the local community, it said in a statement.

At Shincheonji, attending church-related gatherings isnt an option, but a requirement, Ji-il Tark, a professor of religion at Busan Presbyterian University in South Korea, previously told the Associated Press.

Mr Tark said Shincheonji followers are more vulnerable to virus infections as they often sit very closely together on the floor during services.

 Matt Hancock reveals coronavirus going endemic 'inevitable'

While all of the churchs members have now been interviewed by officials, according to the BBC, roughly 9,000 of them are displaying symptoms.

While the church now acknowledges the virus, a recording emerged of one leader having previously said: No Shincheonji member in Wuhan has contracted the virus thanks to their faith.

As public anger over the outbreak grows, some members have said they fear being outed as Shincheonji followers.

Were being treated like criminals. We had a bad image before and now I think Id be lynched if passers-by knew I belonged to Shincheonji, 26-year-old Ji-yeon Park told The Guardian.

Our church didnt invent the virus. This is just an excuse to shift blame. Throughout history, minority groups have always been blamed for bad things happening in society. The same is happening to us.
Veterans of America's longest war are finding themselves torn as the U.S. signs a potentially historic peace accord with the Taliban in Afghanistan.

For many, the U.S. is long overdue in withdrawing its forces after more than 18 years of fighting. Others question the trustworthiness of the Taliban, whose hard-line government the U.S.-led forces overthrew in 2001. Skeptics worry the Taliban's re-integration could cause Afghanistan to backslide on such issues as human rights.

'I know the Taliban, and I never thought they could be trustworthy,' said Cmdr. Tom Porter of the U.S. Navy Reserve, who oversaw media operations in Afghanistan during the U.S.-led troop surge that began in 2010. 'I know they have a different view of time and history than we do.'

Porter said he's concerned the Taliban could abide by the accord long enough to see American forces leave, then try to wrest control of Afghanistan under an assumption the U.S. won't be willing to return for another fight.

Cmdr. Tom Porter of the U.S. Navy Reserve oversaw media operations in Afghanistan during the U.S.-led troop surge that began in 2010

US envoy Khalilzad (left) and Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar shake hands after signing the peace agreement

'If youre the Taliban, people have come and gone and invaded that place for thousands of years,' said Porter, head of government affairs in Washington for the group Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. 'Genghis Khan has come and gone. Theyve got a long view of things.'

The United States and the Taliban signed a peace agreement aimed at ending the 18-year war in Afghanistan, potentially helping President Donald Trump fulfill a key campaign promise to extract America from its 'endless wars.'

The deal was signed on Saturday in the Qatari capital Doha by U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban political chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was on hand to witness the ceremony.

US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar sign the US-Taliban peace agreement during a ceremony in the Qatari capital Doha today

One veteran expressed his concern that the deal would leave the country back in the hands of extremists.

'If they sign a peace treaty and Afghanistan goes back to the Taliban or Sharia law, then its all been for nothing,' said former Army Staff Sgt. Will Blackburn of Hinesville, Georgia.

Though doubtful the Taliban will abide by the peace deal, Blackburn said he's ready for hostilities to end. He first deployed to Afghanistan in 2004 with an infantry unit of the Army's 10th Mountain Division. A decade later, his son headed overseas for the same fight.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the leader of the Taliban delegation, both gave remarks

'Anything that would get us out of that country, I will support fully,' said Blackburn, 58, who left the Army in 2010.

The peace plan calls for the Trump administration to initially draw down U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan from 13,000 to 8,600, with the remaining American forces withdrawing in 14 months.

In return, the Taliban promise not to let extremists use the country to stage attacks on the U.S. or its allies. The Taliban and representatives from Kabul must negotiate a framework for a postwar Afghanistan.

Pompeo says the U.S. is 'realistic' about the peace deal it signed with the Taliban, but is 'seizing the best opportunity for peace in a generation.'

Speaking after the signing ceremony in Qatar, Pompeo said he was still angry about the 9/11 attacks that were planned by al-Qaeda under Taliban protection in Afghanistan.

Pompeo said the U.S. will not 'squander' what its soldiers 'have won through blood, sweat and tears.'

He said the U.S. will do whatever is necessary for its security if the Taliban do not comply with the agreement.

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper meanwhile traveled to Kabul on a visit that officials and experts said was aimed at reassuring the Afghan government about the United States' commitment to the country.

For Trump, the deal represents a chance to make good on his promise to bring U.S. troops home. But security experts have also called it a foreign policy gamble that would give the Taliban international legitimacy.

'Today is a monumental day for Afghanistan,' the U.S. Embassy in Kabul said on Twitter. 'It is about making peace and crafting a common brighter future. We stand with Afghanistan.'

Hours before the deal, the Taliban ordered all its fighters in Afghanistan 'to refrain from any kind of attack ... for the happiness of the nation.'

'The biggest thing is that we hope the U.S. remain committed to their promises during the negotiation and peace deal,' said Zabiullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the hardline Islamist group.

Afghanistan veterans said that, while the peace deal may not be perfect, it's time to end the war that began weeks after the 9/11 terror attacks.

The toll has been heavy. More than 2,300 U.S. service members have been killed and more than 20,600 others wounded in Afghanistan since the war began in October 2001.

Former Sgt. Michael Carrasquillo served as an infantrymen in the Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade when his unit was ambushed in Afghanistan in 2005. Shot five times while dragging a wounded comrade to safety, Carrasquillo spent the next two years in the hospital and underwent dozens of surgeries.

'Peace in any way, shape or form is a good thing,' said Carrasquillo, 36, of Monrovia, Maryland, who leads a support group for wounded veterans through the Wounded Warrior Project. 'We dont want more guys to die or to get injured.'

Former Army Capt. Emily Miller's job focused on communicating with Afghan women and children on deployments in 2011 and 2012 to assist U.S. special operations forces. She said protecting women's rights and human rights overall needs to be a priority.

'Peace in any way, shape or form is a good thing,' said Former Sgt. Michael Carrasquillo, 36, of Monrovia, Maryland, who leads a support group for wounded veterans through the Wounded Warrior Project

In this August 2011 file photo, a U.S. Marine fires a heavy machine gun to counter Taliban fire in Helmand province

Overall, Miller said, she's thrilled to see a chance for Afghanistan to break from its long history of perpetual war.

'There is this new generation and I think its really time to unlock that hope and optimism of Afghans that are really open to peace,' she said. 'Whats the alternative to peace? This endless cycle of violence doesnt really lead anywhere.'

At Fort Stewart in southeast Georgia, Army Staff Sgt. Phillip Wright thinks of himself as 'one of the older guys' at age 33. He deployed to Kabul in 2010 with a field artillery unit to help train Afghanistan's army.

Nowadays, Wright works alongside many young American soldiers who've never been overseas. He thinks it's time for Afghanistan's military to stand on its own after years of U.S. mentoring.

More than 2,300 U.S. service members have been killed and more than 20,600 others wounded in Afghanistan since the war began in October 2001. In this December 25, 2019, photo, an Army carry team moves a transfer case containing the remains of U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael Goble who died in Afghanistan

'We were able to train an army for another country. So I do believe there has been a lot of good thats come out of it,' he said.

There's no hesitation from Chris Collins, a former Army Reservist, when asked if it's time for a U.S. exit.

'Its not worth one more American life,' said Collins, 38. 'Enough is enough.'

Collins' unit from Missouri deployed to neighboring Uzbekistan in 2004 to run a supply warehouse for U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Returning as a civilian contractor five years later, he concluded little had changed.

'Lets go home,' said Collins, now training to be a nurse. 'We cant stay there forever. They dont want us there. Its no different today than it was 18 years ago, essentially.'
US President Donald Trump said he would be personally meeting leaders of the Taliban in the near future and rejected criticism of a deal that the United States signed with Taliban insurgents

Washington: US President Donald Trump on Saturday said he would be personally meeting leaders of the Taliban in the near future and rejected criticism of a deal that the United States signed with Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan.

He spoke hours after US and Taliban representatives signed a deal that could pave the way toward a full withdrawal of foreign soldiers and move closer to ending the 18-year war in Afghanistan.

Trump said the agreement should allow the United States to draw down troops from 13,000 to 8,600. He held out the possibility of withdrawals beyond that number, but said the United States could quickly move forces back into the country if needed.

Trump has frequently expressed a desire to put a halt to endless wars and has said he has been personally struck by meeting wounded soldiers who are missing limbs on his visits to Walter Reed Medical Center.

The president came under sharp criticism for the deal from his former national security adviser, John Bolton, who said in a tweet that signing this agreement with Taliban is an unacceptable risk to Americas civilian population". This is an Obama-style deal. Legitimising Taliban sends the wrong signal to ISIS and al Qaeda terrorists, and to Americas enemies generally, he said, referring to former President Barack Obama, Trumps Democratic predecessor.

Trumps willingness to meet Taliban leaders at the presidential retreat in Camp David, Maryland, last year was a factor in Boltons exit from the White House. Taliban violence in Afghanistan prompted Trump to cancel that meeting.

Trump rejected the criticism from his former aide. Nobody should be criticising this deal after 19 years. He had his chance, he didnt do it, Trump said of Bolton.

Trump did not say where he would be meeting leaders of the group that has fought the American presence in Afghanistan since war broke out following the 11 September, 2001, attacks. At a White House news conference, Trump said Afghanistans neighbors should help maintain stability following the agreement.

Many expect the forthcoming talks between the Afghan sides to be more complicated than the initial deal. But Trump said he thought the negotiations would be successful because everyone is tired of war.
Her eco credentials may be beyond reproach. But Greta Thunberg has annoyed the residents of one British city  after crowds of her supporters ruined their historic green.

On Friday, an estimated 30,000 people gathered on Bristols College Green  a sacred site throughout the Middle Ages  to listen to the teenage activist deliver a rousing speech about the need to reduce the worlds carbon footprint and save the environment.

The teenager has been on a tour of the UK and met Pakistan-born womens rights activist Malala Yousafzai, 22, the youngest ever Nobel Peace Prize winner, in Oxford last week. She is pictured above in Bristol

However her supporters footprints did little to preserve the citys famous lawn  in fact, they turned it into a muddy eyesore.

Yesterday, social media users were quick to criticise the destruction and a Bristol resident, Jon Usher, has even started an appeal to raise funds to repair the Green.

Bristol City Council have supported the money-raising effort and pledged that any left-over funds will be used for wildflower areas.

The 17-year-old Swede, who came to speak at the Bristol Youth Strike 4 Climate event, told her supporters, including thousands of children who skipped school: We are being betrayed by those in power I will not be silenced while the world is on fire.

But some people were less than impressed, with one Twitter user saying: Thanks kids. Destroying green spaces. What a gift to the people of Bristol

Another added: Greta and her mates have literally destroyed College Green.

Susan Hall, leader of the Conservatives on the Greater London Assembly, tweeted: This is an utter disgrace, children being bussed in from all over the country  great for emissions.

On Friday, an estimated 30,000 people gathered on Bristols College Green

Not to mention that these children should be at school where they are safe, not encouraged to skip their education.

However Thunbergs supporters were quick to spring to her defence with one posting: Grass will grow back. Our ozone layer, icecaps, coral reefs, Australian bush and the Amazon Rainforest will not.

The teenager has been on a tour of the UK and met Pakistan-born womens rights activist Malala Yousafzai, 22, the youngest ever Nobel Peace Prize winner, in Oxford last week.
Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State has warned members of the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, that he will now deploy the ...





Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State has warned members of the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, that he will now deploy the full weight of the law if they refuse to accept his olive branch.





The Governor, who said the opposition party must realise that he is now on the seat of power, also donated the N40 million awarded to him and his deputy Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, by the Supreme Court to the church.





The Supreme Court had on Wednesday, while dismissing the application filed by the APC for the review of its earlier judgement that sacked David Lyon as the governor-elect of the State, fined Afe Babalola (SAN) and Wole Olanipekun (SAN) lawyers to the applicants and ordered them to pay the respondents.





Governor Diri, during a special thanksgiving service at the King of Glory Chapel, Government House, Yenagoa, said he and his deputy are donating the money, amounting to N40 million to the church.





Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Daniel Alabrah, in a statement, said that the well attended service tagged: Victory thanksgiving was put together to appreciate God for His intervention.





Diri added, What has happened only proves the fact that there is a God that rules in the affairs of men. His decisions are final and supreme.





There is no Supreme Court greater than the supreme court of God. He gave that judgment through the learned justices and some people felt they had to question Him.





And God spoke through that woman that delivered the judgment. According to her, who are you to question the supremacy of the Supreme Court?





And so for desecrating the temple of justice, a cost of N10 million each was imposed on two of the senior lawyers that represented the other party to be paid to three of the respondents, which included me and my deputy.





Without even consulting my deputy, I have decided that both of us will surrender our N20 million each, that is N40 million, to the work of God in the church.





The Governor underscored the need for APC members in the state to embrace the olive branch extended to them for the sake of peace and sustainable development.





He said some opposition elements in the State were still bent on fomenting trouble over the victory of the PDP at the Supreme Court.





As a people, let us learn to move ourselves upward. We need to build on the prevailing peace in this state so that investors can come in and we can also create employment for our young ones who want to work, Diri said.





That is why we have offered the olive branch and we expect them all to accept it. But for those who refuse to accept it, but rather are planning evil, they should realize that we are now on the seat of power. We have every information at our disposal.
Ethiopians are bleeding from their noses and mouths before dropping dead in a mystery sickness - which has been blamed on toxic waste from Chinese oil drilling.

The sickness, which has allegedly spread through villages near a gas project in Somali, is also reported to turn its victims' eyes yellow, before causing a fever, swelling across the body and ultimately death.

Other symptoms of the unidentified illness include yellowing palms, a lack of appetite and sleeplessness.

Officials in Addis Ababa have denied allegations of a health and environmental crisis in the region, the Guardian reported.

Villagers in Ethiopia are bleeding from their noses and mouths before dropping dead in a mystery sickness - which has been blamed on toxic waste from Chinese oil drilling (Pictured: an oil exploration project in Ethiopia)

It is also unclear what is causing the sickness, though many are suspicious it is caused by apparent chemical waste which has poisoned the region's water supply.

'It is the toxins that flow in the rainfall from Calub [gas field] that are responsible for this epidemic,' victim Khadar Abdi Abdullahi said.

Mr Abdullahi, 23, from Jigjiga, was discharged from hospital when doctors told him there was nothing more they could do when he fell ill. He later died.

An adviser to the Somali regional government claimed there 'are new diseases that have never been seen before in this area.'

'Without any public health protection, it is very clear that POLY-GCL uses chemicals that are detrimental to human health,' they added.

China's POLY-GCL Petroleum Investments last year confirmed plans to build a 767-km Ethiopia to Djibouti natural gas pipeline to transport Ethiopian gas to an export terminal in the Red Sea state.

Pictured: The Somali region in Ethiopia, where the mystery illness has allegedly been spreading

The East African country found extensive gas deposits in its eastern Ogaden Basin in the 1970s.

POLY-GCL has been developing the Calub and Hilala fields there since signing a production sharing deal with Ethiopia in 2013. Calub, south-east of Jigjiga, is reportedly due to begin commercial gas production shortly.

One former engineer from the Chinese firm alleged there had been regular spillages of drilling fluids including sulphuric acid over the three years he worked onsite in Calub.

Another said 'those indigenous to the land die from raw toxins spilled out of sheer carelessness. Operational companies in Calub have forfeited their duty to protect local people'.

But it is possible these chemical spillages may be historical, or may have been caused by the likes of Ethiopian transport firms.

Ketsela Tadesse, director of licensing at the federal ministry of mines and petroleum, said 'all the gas wells at Calub and elsewhere in the Ogaden Basin, are sealed, safe and secured  according to international standards'.

The sickness is reported to turn its victims' eyes yellow, before causing a fever, swelling across the body and ultimately death (stock image)

Recently, POLY-GCL signed a memorandum of understanding with Djibouti to invest 3.1 billion ($4 billion) to build the natural gas pipeline, a liquefaction plant and an export terminal to be located in Damerjog, near the country's border with Somalia.

It was envisaged that production would start in 2018, but the Ethiopian government said that was now likely to happen in 2020.

Djibouti's Energy Minister Yonis Ali Guedi said last year the deal hammered out 'key terms that will serve as a basis' for related concession contracts.

'It is the most expensive project ever built in the Horn of Africa region,' he said. 'The two parties have reached an agreement in principle to allow them to benefit from the project in an equitable manner.'

POLY-GCL is a joint venture between state-owned China POLY Group Corporation and privately owned Hong Kong-based Golden Concord Group.

Africa's eastern seaboard could soon become a major global producer of liquefied natural gas, with other planned projects based on big gas finds made in Tanzania and Mozambique.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 23:09:29|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

TEHRAN, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Ministry on Sunday said that the so-called peace deal between the Taliban and the United States is an attempt by Washington to justify its illegal presence in Afghanistan.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran considers the U.S. measures as an attempt to legitimize the presence of its forces in Afghanistan ... The United States has no legal status to sign a peace deal or decide on the future of Afghanistan," the ministry said in a statement.

"We believe that the United Nations has appropriate capacities to facilitate the intra-Afghan negotiations and also to oversee and guarantee the implementation of the achieved agreements," it said.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran believes that a sustainable peace agreement in Afghanistan will be achieved only through the talks among Afghan political groups, including the Taliban," it added.

The neighboring countries of Afghanistan should also be taken into consideration in the peace talks for Afghanistan, it said.

The United States and the Taliban signed on Saturday the long-awaited deal in the Qatari capital city of Doha, calling for a gradual withdrawal of the U.S. troops if the Taliban negotiates with the Afghan government and cuts ties with terrorist groups.

According to the deal, the United States is going to reduce its troops to 8,600 in Afghanistan within 135 days, and will, together with its NATO allies, completely pull out the remaining troops in the following 14 months if the Taliban sticks to its commitments.
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

WHO excludes emergence of deltacron strain

In Karabakh Azerbaijanis shelled tractor

Indian Defense Minister tests positive for COVID-19

US-Russia talks on security guarantees lasting for seven hours already

NEWS.am daily digest: 10.01.22

Pashinyan appoints Hayk Mkrtchyan as Deputy Governor of Kotayk province

Blast in eastern Afghanistan kills nine children

Pashinyan: One of key priorities of Armenia presidency at CSTO is strengthening of crisis response mechanisms

Internet cut off in Kazakhstan

Armenia, Kazakhstan ombudspersons confer on Armenian communitys rights

Armenia, Russia defense ministers discuss Kazakhstan

Turkey defense minister meets with their envoy in process of normalization of Armenia relations

Iranian Foreign Ministry reports progress in Vienna negotiations

Dollar continues going up in Armenia

New attempt by migrants in Belarus to storm Poland border

Skat Airlines resumes Yerevan-Aktau and Aktau-Yerevan flights

New Covid-related restrictions to be introduced in Armenia

Karabakh police: Firefighters also targeted by Azerbaijan shooting (PHOTOS)

Artsakh Defense Army has not fired on Azerbaijan positions

Azerbaijani military are protesting amid military awards deprivation

Azerbaijanis open fire in Nagorno-Karabakh

Karabakh MFA: Events in Kazakhstan are result of actions planned by Turkey

Armenia army General Staff has new deputy chief

Australia to buy US $ 2.5 billion of armored vehicles

Artsakh emergency service: Search for soldiers remains continued during holidays

Kazakh Colonel Nazanov dies after heart attack

Australia begins to vaccinate children aged 5-11 with COVID-19 vaccine

Putin: Peacekeeping contingent to stay in Kazakhstan for a limited period

Armenia 2nd-President Kocharyan v. premier Pashinyan lawsuit court session is closed

Azerbaijan commandos conduct military exercises

Part of the Great Wall of China collapsed due to earthquake

Armenia MP: Turkey, Azerbaijans regional calculations have mixed up

Copper prices decline

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan v. PM Pashinyan lawsuit trial resumes

Gold is getting cheaper

EU is ready to support in addressing Karabakh crisis

126 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Fire in residential building in New York leaves 19 people killed

National Center for Infectious Diseases Yerevan branch employees protesting outside center

Karabakh President: Radical Pan-Turkic circles are actively involved in process in Kazakhstan

Oil is getting more expensive

Mars helicopter Ingenuity preparing for difficult 19th flight

Interior ministry: About 8,000 people detained in Kazakhstan

Earthquake hits Armenia-Azerbaijan border zone

Researchers create substitute for egg whites from fungus

Kazakhstan official information channel removes message about 164 casualties

EC says construction of new nuclear power plants in Europe will require  500 billion in investment

Ghost ship that sank 343 years ago discovered in US

Post-COVID-19 antibodies may attack healthy cells, scientists say

Pope says he was praying for Kazakhstan

Media: 164 people die in Kazakhstan during riots

Peskov: CSTO session does not plan to sign documents yet

Criminal cases launched after bomb threat in Armenian, Belarus embassies in Moscow

Norwegian military surrender panties before demobilization

Iranian MFA says Tehran is ready for talks on downed plane of UIA Ukraine

Russian defense minister says information war is on all fronts

Several strategic objects in Kazakhstan transferred to CSTO contingent under protection

David Minasyan elected head of Armenia's Parakar community

Bloomberg: US is considering issue of limiting supply of high-tech products to Russia

Armenia reports 142 COVID-19 new cases

Council of Elders meeting continues in Armenia's Parakar

White House speaks on Blinken statement on Russian peacekeeping troops

Armed people detained at border in Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan talks stabilization of situation in all regions of country

Azerbaijanis demand Armenian soldier change his faith by taking away his cross, Ombudsman says

Armenian painter Mher Mansurian dies in France

At least 17 killed in Egypt road accident

NATO chief announces Russia forces continued buildup in Ukraine

Armenian militarys transfer to Kazakhstan is completed

Azerbaijan opens fire on military positions near Armenia village

Unidentified persons report threat of explosion at Armenia, Belarus embassies in Moscow

Putin confers with Pashinyan, Lukashenko on situation in Kazakhstan

Zakharova: OSCE has not provided real assistance to reporters who were attacked in Kazakhstan

Lukashenko, Putin discuss situation in CSTO member countries

Russia's Putin has telephonic conversation with Kazakhstan's Tokayev

Quake hits waters off Chile

President Tokayev declares national mourning in Kazakhstan on January 10

US diplomats do not leave Kazakhstans Almaty yet

1 more person dies of coronavirus in Karabakh

Artsakh resident, 91 found dead near village

Russia MFA reacts to Blinken's words about Russian military in Kazakhstan

195 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Kazakhstan security committee ex-chief detained

Kazakhstan interior ministry: There are foreigners among those detained in Almaty region

Russia continues transporting its peacekeepers to Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan launches investigation into 180 retailers of liquefied petroleum gas

BMW introduces concept vehicle that can change colors

Shootings continue in Kazakhstans Almaty

Lenovo reveals Legion Y90 gaming smartphone

Germany to impose tougher rules for visiting restaurants, bars

10 bodies found inside SUV left in front of Mexico state governors office

France fines Google and Facebook EUR 210 million

NATO Secretary-General calls on Russia to de-escalate, withdraw its forces

French journalist names regions where military conflicts may erupt in 2022
Although Athens is not necessarily known for its progressive jazz, the genre still creeps into the city. On Saturday, Feb. 29, guests gathered
Hana Bank dealers wearing face masks pass by a monitor in the bank's dealing room in Seoul, Friday. The benchmark KOSPI closed at 1987.01 that day, showing a 3.3 percent drop from a day earlier. / Yonhap



Calls for temporary ban on short selling mounting



By Park Jae-hyuk



Retail investors are calling for a temporary ban on short selling on the Seoul bourse, expressing anger at foreign and institutional investors that are believed to have taken advantage of fears arising from the coronavirus outbreak here to make profits.



Rep. Kim Byung-wook of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea said Friday the Financial Services Commission (FSC) should consider forbidding the investment method, which refers to the sale of borrowed shares in the hopes of making a profit from a price fall by buying the shares back at a lower price.



"Since it raised the coronavirus alert level to the highest, the government has pushed forward various measures to minimize the impact of the virus on the economy," the lawmaker said. "However, the government should take account of the fact that all the measures could be invalidated, unless the stock market is stabilized."



The Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice issued a statement the same day to demand a temporary ban on short selling.



"Our country's short selling rule is unfair, as it was designed in favor of foreign and institutional investors, since its enactment," the progressive civic group said. "If the financial authorities are truly willing to stabilize the stock market, they should immediately carry out a temporary ban on short selling."



The Korea Stockholders Alliance comprised of 3,000 retail investors also urged the financial authorities to prohibit short selling temporarily and carry out transparent and fair regulation of the investment method.



The organization especially requested the prevention of naked short selling.



Naked short selling, which refers to the practice of conducting short selling without actually borrowing the stocks first, is prohibited in Korea.



But the illegal method has been prevalent on the Seoul bourse as financial companies can input the number of borrowed stocks into the system without prior approval from lenders.



According to the Korea Exchange, the volume of short selling on the KOSPI and Kosdaq markets in February stood at 664.6 billion won ($553 million) on a daily average, up from 340 billion won in December.



The daily average during the last week of February was 776.8 billion won.



When the benchmark KOSPI closed at 1,987.01, Friday, after a 3 percent drop, the daily volume of short selling reached 835.6 billion won.



The main targets of short sellers were stocks related to China, such as tourism and cosmetics.



Against this backdrop, the financial authorities have still maintained a cautious stance.



The FSC said it would continue to monitor the market in line with a contingency plan.



This includes the imposition of stricter regulations on short selling.



The financial authorities, however, have never banned the investment method, except during the European debt crisis in 2011 and the global financial crisis in 2008.



The National Assembly will suggest a temporary ban during a three-day interpellation session starting today.



China, the origin of the coronavirus outbreak, has limited short selling activities since its financial market reopened Feb. 3 after the Lunar New Year holidays.


The Canadian owner of Canary Wharf is weighing a sale of one of Britain's oldest port companies for up to 1.6billion.

City sources said Brookfield has been talking to financial advisers with a view to appointing one to run a 'strategic review' of PD Ports.

PD Ports owns 13 UK shipping terminals, including those at Hull and Felixstowe.

The company traces its origins to a coal mining company founded by entrepreneur Thomas Powell in South Wales in the 19th Century.

PD Ports owns 13 UK shipping terminals, including those at Hull and Felixstowe (pictured)

It was originally called Powell Duffryn and was eventually amalgamated into the business empire of Sir George Elliot, a self-made coal mining businessman and engineer from Gateshead in Durham.

Brookfield  which bought Canary Wharf with the Qatar sovereign wealth fund for 2.6billion in 2015  took control of PD Ports 11 years ago after it was bought and sold by several other financial investors including Babcock & Brown.

Bankers said PD Ports generates between 50million and 60million of operating profits so it could change hands for between 1.2billion and 1.6billion.

Despite uncertainty around Brexit, foreign pension funds and infrastructure, investors say they are interested in British port businesses as they represent stable long-term investments.

The move to offload PD Ports follows several other port company deals. The Public Sector Pension Investment Board, another Canadian fund, sold stakes in Forth Ports  owner of Grangemouth in the Firth of Forth  in 2018 to a group of pension funds.

Last month, Peel Ports  controlled by John Whittaker, the tycoon behind Manchester's Trafford Centre  sold a 25 per cent shareholding to Australian Super, one of the country's biggest pension funds.

Brookfield bought Canary Wharf with the Qatar sovereign wealth fund for 2.6billion in 2015

Whittaker is looking to raise cash as one of the other companies in which he is a large shareholder  shopping centre group Intu Properties  is looking to tap shareholders for 1.3billion to shore up its finances.

He owns about a quarter of Intu and will have to support the emergency equity fundraising to alleviate the company's 4.7billion debt burden.

Intu has faced difficulties due to the move to online shopping and weaker consumer spending.

Some of its biggest tenants  including retail chains Debenhams and House of Fraser, and Topshop owner Arcadia  have closed stores, requested rent reductions or gone through emergency restructurings.

Brookfield declined to comment.
Huntington's disease (HD) is a rare disease characterized by abnormal chorea movement and caused by Huntingtin (Htt) gene mutation and neurodegeneration in a brain area called striatum. A research group led by Dr. Gong Chen, a former professor at Penn State University and now leading a brain repair center at Jinan University in China, has developed a novel gene therapy to regenerate functional new neurons in mouse models of HD. The work has been published in Nature Communications on February 27, 2020.

We are developing a series of NeuroD1-based gene therapies to reprogram brain internal glial cells directly into functional new neurons to treat a variety of brain disorders including Huntington's Disease, Alzheimer's disease, stroke, ALS, and many more," said Dr. Chen. Because every single neuron in our brain is surrounded by supporting glial cells, such direct glia-to-neuron conversion technology offers great advantages over stem cell transplantation therapy in terms of high efficiency of neuroregeneration and no worries about immunorejection," Dr. Chen added.

Dr. Chen is one of the early pioneers making use of brain internal glial cells to regenerate functional new neurons by overexpressing neural transcription factors in the mouse brain. NeuroD1 (neurogenic differentiation 1) is one such factor that promotes neuronal generation during normal brain development. Chen's team has previously demonstrated that expression of NeuroD1 in the mouse brain can directly convert cortical astrocytes (one subtype of glial cells) into functional neurons (Guo et al., Cell Stem Cell, 2014; Chen et al., Molecular Therapy, 2019; Zhang et al., BioRxiv, 2018). Recently, Chen's group further reported, for the first time, that such direct astrocyte-to-neuron conversion can be successfully reproduced in non-human primate brains (Ge et al., BioRxiv, 2019).

Chen's team has previously found that NeuroD1-generated neurons are mainly glutamatergic neurons, which account for more than 80% of the total neurons in the human brain and are the major driving force of brain activity. However, HD is caused by degeneration of GABAergic neurons, which is a type of inhibitory neurons that account for more than 90% of the neurons in the striatum region. In order to generate GABAergic neurons, we combined NeuroD1 together with another transcription factor Dlx2, which is known to generate GABAergic neurons during early brain development, and successfully converted striatal astrocytes into GABAergic neurons in HD mice," said the first author of this article Dr. Zheng Wu. Importantly, here we used the adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors, which have been approved by FDA as a common gene therapy vector in many clinical trials, to develop a novel gene therapy for the treatment of HD," Dr. Wu emphasized on the AAV gene therapy approach.

In this HD mouse study, Dr. Chen and colleagues reported that 80% of the AAV-infected striatal astrocytes were directly converted into GABAergic neurons and the remaining astrocytes can proliferate to replenish themselves. Essentially all of the newly generated neurons are electrophysiologically functional, forming synaptic connections with other neurons. They further demonstrated that the newly generated neurons can project their axons to the right target areas, suggesting that they have integrated into global brain circuits. The most exciting findings of this HD study are the significant motor functional recovery and remarkable extension of life span among the gene therapy-treated HD mice," Chen said.

Our regenerative gene therapy approach is different from conventional gene therapy that typically aims at the mutant genes by either correcting the gene mutations or reducing the mutant gene product, such as reducing mHtt aggregates in HD patients," Dr. Chen said. Obviously, reducing mHtt aggregates at early stage might slowdown the disease progression but it cannot regenerate new neurons for the late stage patients. An ideal approach may be to combine our neuroregenerative approach together with gene correction technology to generate healthy new neurons in future studies," concluded Dr. Chen.

###

In addition to Dr. Gong Chen and Dr. Zheng Wu, the research team includes Matthew Parry, Xiaoyi Hou, Hui Wang, Rachel Cain, Zifei Pei, Yuchen Chen, Ziyuan Guo and Sambangi Abhijeet at Pennsylvania State University, USA; as well as Minhui Liu at Jinan University, China; Hui Wang was a visiting scholar from Southeast University, China. The research was mainly supported by the Charles H. "Skip" Smith Endowment Fund to Dr. Chen at Penn State, and partially by a grant from NIH. Dr. Chen is a co-founder of NeuExcell Therapeutics, Inc. (http://www.neuexcell.com).

For more information, please contact:

Gong Chen, Ph.D.

GHM Institute of CNS Regeneration

Jinan University

Email: gongchen@jnu.edu.cn

References:

Wu et al., Nature Communications, 2020. Gene therapy conversion of striatal astrocytes into GABAergic neurons in mouse models of Huntington's disease.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-14855-3

Chen et al., Molecular Therapy, 2019. A NeuroD1 AAV-Based Gene Therapy for Functional Brain Repair after Ischemic Injury through In Vivo Astrocyte-to-Neuron Conversion.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ymthe.2019.09.003

Ge et al., BioRxiv, 2019. In Vivo Neuroregeneration to Treat Ischemic Stroke in Adult Non-Human Primate Brains through NeuroD1 AAV-based Gene Therapy.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1101/816066

Zhang et al., BioRxiv, 2018. Reversing Glial Scar Back To Neural Tissue Through NeuroD1-Mediated Astrocyte-To-Neuron Conversion.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1101/261438

Guo et al., Cell Stem Cell, 2014. In Vivo Direct Reprogramming of Reactive Glial Cells into Functional Neurons after Brain Injury and in an Alzheimer's Disease Model.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stem.2013.12.001
Naperville may have opted out of allowing sales, but all city residents have to do is go one town over to purchase it, she said. As a result, the sales tax Naperville could be collecting is going to another community, she said.
Brisbane City councillor Kate Richards has been cut from the LNP altogether after announcing she would run as an independent candidate at this month's election, in the wake of a preselection snub and corruption watchdog referral from her former party.

Party president David Hutchinson said Cr Richards' decision meant the immediate expulsion of the Pullenvale ward representative from the LNP.

Pullenvale ward councillor Kate Richards has said a faction in her own party had been trying to vilify her for years. Credit:Tammy Law

"By enrolling to contest the council election against the LNP's nominated candidate, Kate Richards is automatically expelled from the party," he said in a statement.

The councillor had made an emotional speech declaring herself "blue through and through" at a February meeting, insisting from the LNP administration's seats and position as party whip that she still represented the ward.
Second coronavirus death reported in the U.S.

A second person has died of the novel coronavirus in the Seattle area and more confirmed cases of the illness have emerged in Washington State, officials said Sunday evening. Public health leaders in King County, Wash., said a man in his 70s with underlying health conditions died on Saturday at EvergreenHealth hospital in Kirkland. Thats the same facility where officials identified the nations first coronavirus death on Saturday  a man in his 50s with underlying health conditions.

Officials also announced three other confirmed coronavirus cases in the county, all at EvergreenHealth. They include a woman in her 80s, a woman in her 90s and a man in his 70s. All were in critical condition with underlying health issues. All four new cases were residents of a nursing facility in Kirkland where two other people  a resident and a worker  had previously tested positive.

Also on Sunday, the county had previously reported two other patients, unrelated to the nursing facility, who were in critical condition at hospitals in Renton and Seattle.

As of Sunday night, 88 cases of coronavirus had been identified in the United States.

The first of those cases was announced on Jan. 21, but this weekend saw a marked uptick in the pace of diagnoses. Twenty-three U.S. cases were announced on Saturday and Sunday, including the countrys first two deaths, both in Washington State.
Innovative Chief Scientific Officer with a passion residing at the interface of business and life sciences, where cutting edge d

https://youtu.be/AIjU6VtpVO4

To book media appearances contact Frank at 858.405.5653

Confirmed cases of Coronavirus infection eclipsed 85,000 worldwide over the weekend. Many people and companies are asking how this latest global infection may impact their lives and businesses. The actual facts are very different from what you may have heard on the news or at the local coffee shop. Questions that may have arisen in the minds of the employee and employer over the past several weeks and months include:

"Will a surgical mask protect my employees from contracting the virus?"

"How do I best tell fact from fiction surrounding the coronavirus?"

"How do I handle employees who have the flu-like symptoms and perhaps a respiratory infection?"

"What precautions should I take as a concerned citizen or business owner?"

"What precautions can I take with my otherwise healthy employees?"

"How do I decide when to ask my employees to come into the office or telecommute?"

"What plan can I put in place to better address the risks of infections to my business?"

"How do I handle international employees and or business contacts?"

Dr. Dave Vigerust has the answers to these questions and more related to epidemic and pandemic preparedness for your company and your employees.

He can explain the reality of this infection and future infections to your employees and you as a concerned business owner.

The benefits of booking Dr. Vigerust center around a better understanding of the risks to business and the welfare of employees. Dr. Vigerust provides a clear and rational explanation of the risks from these infections, the benefits of having a defined preparedness plan now and how to gauge the threat from future potential epidemic and pandemic emergencies.

He can define a preparedness plan that your company can follow to mitigate any business disruption but also can help inform your employees about what concerns are valid and which are overblown.

Dr. Vigerust began his career in virology and immunology 25 years ago investigating the interaction between bacterial infections and the human body. He continued studies on the interaction of HIV and influenza with the human immune system followed by additional training in respiratory infectious disease at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and also at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Dr. Vigerust received a bachelor's degree in Biology and Chemistry from the University of Texas at El Paso, a master's degree in Microbiology and Immunology from Texas Tech University and a Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Pathology from Vanderbilt University.

He conducted post-doctoral research at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital on the effects of influenza and secondary bacterial infection on the human body.

Dr. Vigerust completed a second post-doctoral fellowship at Vanderbilt University Medical School in the Department of Pediatric Infectious Disease in the molecular biology of respiratory infections like influenza, respiratory syncytial virus and metapneumovirus.

Dr. Vigerust was a faculty member in the Pathology, Immunology and Microbiology Department at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and a Health Research Scientist in the U.S. Department of Veteran's Affairs.

Most recently, Dr. Vigerust is the President and Chief Scientific Officer of several diagnostics laboratories focused around precision medicine, genomics and infectious disease.

Dr. Vigerust has published extensively in international journals, presented his research at national and international conferences and is an active editor and reviewer for several prominent journals.

Dr. Vigerust has developed several novel molecular diagnostic assays for the prediction of cardiovascular risk in patients with diabetes, infectious disease and cancer.

Dr. Vigerust speaks often on the subject of precision medicine and was selected as a TEDx speaker in 2016.

Dr. Vigerust currently maintains an Adjunct Assistant Professor position at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in the Department of Neurological Surgery and a Clinical Assistant Professor position with the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore School of Pharmacy.
While the Black Rural South has much higher unemployment rates and poverty rates and lower earnings than most of the nation (including rural areas outside the South), much of this stems from racial inequality. For example, 19% of white children live in poverty in the Black Rural South, compared to 52% of black children. Indeed, whites seem to do better in the Black Rural South than whites in rural areas with few African Americans. On average, whites living in the Black Rural South enjoy lower unemployment rates and lower poverty rates than whites who live in Southern rural counties that are over 90% white.

Presidential candidates rightly point out that the lack of broadband hinders rural entrepreneurship, education, training and remote work  but they dont prioritize the region with the greatest need  the Black Rural South. According to American Community Survey data, outside of the South, 22% of all rural residents lack home broadband. In the Black Rural South, 28% of whites and 46% of African Americans lack home broadband.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says travel restrictions won't be extended to South Korea and Italy, but advice may be given to people in specific regions to self-isolate if they travel here.

She will bring the issue up at today's Cabinet meeting which is expected to be dominated with discussions about New Zealand's preparedness for more cases of Covid-19.

The government announced on Friday travel restrictions would be extended to Iran, after a man who'd travelled through there was diagnosed with the virus in Auckland.

Today, she told Morning Report there's very clear criteria for why the travel restrictions are for China and Iran only.

"The vast majority of cases are still coming out of there," she says.

There are also hotspot areas, such as Seoul in South Korea and northern Italy, but she says it's not possible to differentiate if someone has been in a particular region, rather than country.

"What we'll be considering today and talking about at Cabinet, and we've really been pushing health officials on this, is whether we should have specific advice for people in those regions to self-isolate.

"The advice to date has been from health officials, but we're really leaning on them on this one because we think there might be more we can be doing."

She says that with specific advise, people looking at travelling to New Zealand from hotspots in South Korea and Italy might reconsider their plans.

Jacinda says our health system has been at a heightened state for some time now.

"Our pandemic plan always sits at the ready, but we've really operationalised in response to Covid-19 at the beginning of January."

She says that while it's a significant event for New Zealand, and the world, we do need to remain calm.

"We need to add that layer of reassurance that this is the kind of situation that New Zealand is well prepared for and that we have an excellent health system."

"SARS was an eight-month period many will have forgotten which New Zealand, like others, was having to address and the memory of that still sits with our public health officials and informs our pandemic plans."

"I would also point out that other countries experiencing cases have contained and managed to stop wider community outbreak. That is the focus for New Zealand, and we've done very well to date."

RNZ.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 15:53:48|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

WASHINGTON, Feb. 29 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden declared victory in the party's primary in the state of South Carolina on Saturday, as incoming results consistently indicated his overwhelming lead.

With 93 percent of the precincts having reported results, Biden, the former vice president, gained 49 percent of the votes as of press time, trailed by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, with 19.8 percent.

"This campaign is taking off," Biden told a cheering crowd as he declared victory.

Having finished previous nominating contests in three states disappointingly, Biden is counting on a projected win in South Carolina, where he has an appeal especially for African American voters, to shore up momentum.

"We need you, we want you, there's a place for you in this campaign," Biden said. "If Democrats nominate me, I believe we can beat Donald Trump."

After winning 28 delegates in South Carolina as of press time, Biden's delegate total now amounts to 43, second only to Sanders' 52 among all Democrats remaining in the race. The delegate votes in caucuses and primaries resemble the electoral college in the general election.

Sanders, who lost by a slight margin to former South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg in the Iowa caucuses but won the back-to-back races in New Hampshire and Nevada, conceded defeat in South Carolina, stressing no one will win all the states while congratulating Biden on his victory.

"We did not win in South Carolina. That will not be the only defeat. There are a lot of states in this country and nobody can win them all," Sanders said.

"I want to congratulate Joe Biden on his victory tonight," he added. "And now we're on to Super Tuesday in Virginia."

Billionaire hedge fund manager Tom Steyer, Buttigieg, and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren ranked third through fifth, respectively, current results showed.

Steyer later announced his exit from the presidential race. "I said if I didn't see a path to winning that I'd suspend my campaign," he said. "And honestly, I can't see a path where I can win the presidency."

While congratulating Biden on his victory, Warren said in Houston, Texas, "I'll be the first to say that the first four contests haven't gone exactly as I'd hoped."

Immediately following the South Carolina primary is "Super Tuesday" next week, when 14 states and the U.S. territory of American Samoa, plus Democrats abroad, will cast their ballots.

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has campaigned using his own money and who skipped the four contests as of now, will participate in the Super Tuesday races.

"Mike is the only candidate to campaign in all 14 Super Tuesday states over the last two months and we look forward to Tuesday," Bloomberg's campaign manager Kevin Sheekey said in a statement.

"Mike's record of successfully leading and managing through crises and challenges is exactly what Americans are looking for in a new president," he added.

President Donald Trump, who has constantly engaged in a tug of war ever since Bloomberg announced his bid for the presidency in November 2019, took to Twitter, predicting that Biden's victory in South Carolina heralds a doom for Bloomberg, who, like Biden, is a moderate.

"Sleepy Joe Biden's victory in the South Carolina Democrat Primary should be the end of Mini Mike Bloomberg's Joke of a campaign. After the worst debate performance in the history of presidential debates, Mini Mike now has Biden split up his very few voters, taking many away!" read a tweet from the president.
International Womens Day on March 8 is a chance to highlight the challenges and opportunities of women entrepreneurs in Ireland.

While women account for only one-fifth of entrepreneurs but the numbers are growing thanks to initiatives such as Acorns for rural-based early-stage female entrepreneurs and other State-backed programmes that focus on encouraging female business leaders.

However, women entrepreneurs still struggle to access venture capital funding.

A recent report from Enterprise Ireland found that less than 10% of venture capital funding is secured by companies with women founders.

The 2020 Action Plan for Women in Business also found that only 3% of angel investors are women.

That represents a drawback for women entrepreneurs who are pitching for funds for their start-up businesses.

Vanessa Tierney, who founded Abodoo with husband Ben Wainwright, says although she hasnt experienced discrimination because shes a woman, she recognises that there is a different style of pitching.

You realise you probably really need to up your confidence and your projections and be a bit bolder, she says.

Abodoo, a technology platform that matches workers with companies that support smart ways of working, has worked with companies such as Shopify, Vodafone, Citibank, Automattic, and Deloitte.

It has also expanded its services, partnering with the public sector to map talent across the country.

To date, Abodoo has raised a total of 1.1m.

It has drawn support from the Local Enterprise Office in Wexford, Enterprise Ireland High Potential Start-Up funding and angel investment, as well as a hugely successful Crowdcube campaign in October 2019.

Ms Tierney says that Abodoo was the first female-led technology company from Ireland to tap Crowdcube in London.

Hitting its goal of 100,000 in 48 hours, by the end of the campaign they had got the backing of more than 400 investors.

Meanwhile, food entrepreneurs Eliza and Evie Ward tapped the power of sisterhood in their own food business.

Eliza Ward sees International Womens Day as an opportunity for women entrepreneurs to get together and support one another.

The sisters have found a strong element of community across all types of businesses in Ireland with fellow female entrepreneurs offering advice and support.

Their company Nutshed is an all-female team.

It has a production unit at Stafford Street Enterprise Centre in Nenagh in Co Tipperary and runs a Saturday stall at the Milk Market in Limerick.

Ms Ward says the business run by an all-female team came about by chance and was not based on a conscious decision.

She appreciates the collaborative energy in the team which involves everyone pitching in.

Theres a strong element of teamwork and of respecting one another. Theres no particular hierarchy, she says.

The sisters grew up helping out at the family business, called Country Choice in Nenagh.

Nutshed evolved from a festival food stall, and the sisters have recently expanded their premises and have launched a new website and an online shop.

Our parents have a speciality food shop in Nenagh since 1982, so weve been around makers and producers and business owners our whole life. Ive looked up to and admired both men and women in the sector who are doing interesting things, she says.

Commenting on how the food business has changed, she says its always attracted both women and men, but she thinks that there are now more women in farming and producing agri-produce.

There have always been incredible producers, bakers, jam makers and cheesemakers, involving men and women of all ages, from all walks of life, she says.

Nutsheds butters are handmade with peanuts roasted on-site and the product range which comprises plant-based treats, raw energy balls.

Its products are sold at coffee shops and independent specialty shops around the country and through the Nutshed website.

As a mother of three children, Ms Tierney recognises the unique challenges of juggling a business with parenting.

However, she disagrees with the view that having a family can be a disadvantage to setting up in business.

I think when youre at the point of having a family, a lot of people think you cant start a company. I feel the opposite. Yes, theres the stress to make sure it works. But equally, it just gives you so much flexibility to be with them when needed, she says.
Twenty-two people  including some of Indian origin  have been sentenced at the Leicester Crown Court to more than 100 years in jail for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs in four counties, which enabled many of them to lead a lavish lifestyle.

They include Sukhpal Dhariwal, 34, who pleaded guilty to allowing premises to be used for distribution of drugs and was sentenced to eight months in prison. He was also ordered to complete 120 hours of unpaid work within 12 months.

Pardeep Dehal, 30, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A and B drugs; he was sentenced to three years and 10 months in prison. Kassim Sarang, 28, pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and was sentenced to five years and four months.

Dipak Modvadia, 37, pleaded guilty to two counts conspiracy to supply Class A and B drugs. He was sentenced to six years and nine months. Kevin Duncalf of Liverpool, another member of the gang, was jailed for 16 years.

The police said they recovered cocaine, cannabis, cannabis plants, cash and designer items including customised watches.

Detective Inspector Lee Hunt said: Between them these individuals will now serve more than 100 years behind bars. The conviction and subsequent sentences show how seriously we and the courts take these crimes.

These criminals were part of an organised network who operated not just in Leicestershire but Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and Liverpool. During the enforcement we executed more than 50 warrants across those counties and cities.

This was a significant operation for us but our work doesnt end here. We know there is always someone waiting to the fill the gap left by others and we will continue in our efforts to stop the misuse of drugs and carry out further operations of the nature to disrupt the criminal activity.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The estate of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein has been officially valued at $636.1 million, according to a new, verified inventory filed Friday in his probate case in the Virgin Islands.

Epsteins finances, once the subject of mystery and speculation, are being laid bare as various parties, including those who were sexually abused by the multimillionaire, stake their claims to a portion of his assets.

The 100-page document from Epsteins estate included a listing of 15 wholly owned limited liability companies, which are designed to disclose little public information and were valued at $201.5 million.

These LLCs include Southern Financial, LLC, valued at just under $180 million. The company was not described and does not appear to have been referred to in any prior documents. A footnote said the entity will be appraised, and an updated value will be provided upon completion.

It was not clear if the company was connected to Southern Country International, a similarly named Epstein company whose existence was first revealed by McClatchy/Miami Herald.

A subsequent New York Times story determined that Southern Country International was a new, one-of-a-kind bank in the Virgin Islands that could do business only with offshore clients. Although Epstein owned the bank, it did not appear in the public-facing online licensing registries in the Virgin Islands.

Concern about how Epstein funds were being documented has led to Virgin Islands Attorney General Denise George placing liens on the estate. Just last week, the executors of the estate complained in a court filing that checks to those maintaining his properties were beginning to bounce because of the liens.

Epsteins estate includes 10 corporate entities that were wholly owned by him, valued at $426.2 million. The most valuable of these was Southern Trust Company Inc. at $233.6 million. This was the Virgin Islands entity that received lucrative tax breaks for 10 years in exchange for creating a purported data-mining company.

Attorney General George brought a civil enforcement action last month in the Virgin Islands against the Epstein estate, expanding the action to include Southern Trust, claiming the executors of his will and his businesses were part of a criminal enterprise.

Through his corporations, Epstein owned two neighboring private islands in the Virgin Islands. Little St. James and Great St. James are respectively valued at $63.2 million and $23.4 million. George has placed a lien on them, hoping to claw back ownership to redress alleged crimes as well as misrepresentations to tax authorities in the territory.

The estate has blacked out some information in the documents, including a portion dealing with a person associated with the company used to facilitate Epsteins purchase of Great St. James. The reason for the redaction is unclear. A story by McClatchy/Miami Herald last October documented irregularities associated with Epsteins acquisition of the island.

Epstein was found dead on Aug. 10 in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, where he was awaiting trial after a series of events that followed the Miami Heralds Perversion of Justice investigative series.

The death was ruled a suicide.

Epsteins property in France  among his homes in Palm Beach, Manhattan and New Mexico as well as the Virgin Islands  was valued at around $9.8 million and included cash on hand there. French authorities are looking into his business associates.

The inventory did not place a value on the 50% stake in American Yacht Harbor held by an Epstein entity, leaving that to a future appraisal. The other 50% stake in the Virgin Islands business belongs to a company controlled by New York-based Island Capital, whose chairman and CEO is mega developer Andrew L. Farkas. The companys senior managing director, Mark P. Lande, appears in the 2019 annual reporting document provided by the estate.

Another LLC called Plan D holds title to Epsteins 2007 Gulfstream jet, which had an insurable value of $17 million.

The sum of Epsteins cash, said lawyers in the Virgin Islands and the United States in their verified inventory, was almost $7.6 million. The estate listed three vehicles worth $53,000, including a 1964 dune buggy.

Not on the list was a late-model Bentley that the estate said in its preliminary filing had been sold but did not indicate to whom or where. A similar make and model Bentley had been available for sale on the popular website Carmax at the time.

A footnote in Fridays report said a 2018 Mercedes Maybach located in Paris was sold for approximately $133,000, with proceeds placed in the estates checking account.

The estates filing noted that Epsteins artwork, collectibles, jewelry and watches had not yet been valued by appraisers.



Kevin G. Hall of the Miami Herald wrote this story.

2020 Miami Herald

Visit Miami Herald at www.miamiherald.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Two Nepali nationals, who returned from China and South Korea, have been kept in an isolation ward of a government hospital in Nepal after they showed flu-like symptoms, officials said on Sunday.

Officials of the Shukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital in Teku said swabs of throat and nose of the duo were sent to the National Public Health Laboratory to test for COVID-19.

The person who returned from China was kept in isolation since Saturday, while the one who came from Korea was kept in the isolation ward on Sunday, they said.

Both the persons came back to Nepal less than 14 days ago.

They came to the hospital after they suffered from fever and developed flu-like symptoms, the officials said.

Nepal has only one confirmed case of coronavirus so far.

Last month, Nepal evacuated 175 of its nationals from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of a coronavirus outbreak that has so far infected over 86,000 people globally.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
T wo school workers and several holidaymakers who travelled to Italy are among the 16 British coronavirus cases confirmed in the last two days.

St Mary's School in Tetbury, Gloucestershire, said that an employee had tested positive for Covid-19.

Another member of staff at Willow Bank Infant School in Berkshire also tested positive.

The two patients were among three new cases confirmed on Saturday. The third was based in Hertfordshire.

Willow Bank Infant School in Reading, Berkshire, which has been shut after a staff member tested positive for coronavirus. / PA

Of the 13, three were said to be close contacts of a known case transmitted in the UK, believed to be the man diagnosed in Surrey on Friday.

Scotland confirmed its first case of coronavirus on Sunday, after a Tayside resident, who recently travelled to Italy, was diagnosed with the pathogen.

The person, who has not been named, has been admitted to hospital and is currently receiving treatment in isolation.

Another case involved a patient from Essex, who has not travelled to an affected area. Investigations were ongoing as to whether the patient had contracted it directly or indirectly from an individual who had recently travelled abroad.

Seven of the 13 new patients contracted the virus while in Italy, the worst-hit country in Europe. These included the one in Scotland, another person from Bury in Greater Manchester and one from Bradford.

Two further patients, from Leeds, became infected while in Iran, health officials said.

Another two cases confirmed in Gloucestershire are linked and include the member of staff from Tetbury after they both travelled to Italy.

A woman wearing a face mask on a bus in London, as the first case of coronavirus has been confirmed in Wales and two more were identified in England / PA

And there were two further cases confirmed in Hertfordshire.

The details of the other new cases were not clear, but Public Health England said there were also more patients in London and Gloucestershire.

A statement from Professor Chris Whitty, chief medical officer for England, said: As of 9am this morning 12 further patients in England have tested positive for COVID-19.

Three patients were close contacts of a known case, transmitted in the UK, identified as part of contact tracing.

One patient, resident in Essex, had no relevant travel and it is not yet clear whether they contracted it directly or indirectly from an individual who had recently returned from abroad; investigations are ongoing.

Of the remaining eight cases, six had recently travelled from Italy and two from Iran.

The patients who have recently travelled are from London, West Yorkshire, Greater Manchester, Hertfordshire and Gloucestershire. All are being investigated and contact tracing has begun.

In a letter to parents, St Mary's School headteacher Mrs Jo Woolley said that while it was not necessary to close the school from a health perspective, it will close until at least Wednesday due to operational difficulties with staff members.

People wearing face masks ahead of the St David's Day Parade in Cardiff / PA

She said: Whilst I fully understand this will cause anxiety amongst the school community, I can assure you all necessary steps are being taken to minimise risk to others."

Meanwhile, Bury Council and Public Health England confirmed a resident of Bury, Greater Manchester, was infected while in Italy.

Dr Will Welfare, interim deputy director of health protection for Public Health England North West, said: The case is a resident of Bury and became infected whilst in Italy. They are receiving care at an NHS specialist centre.

Close contacts will be given health advice about symptoms and emergency contact details to use if they become unwell in the 14 days after contact with the confirmed case."

Director of public health for Bury Council Lesley Jones said: Id like to reassure people that the risk to the general public remains low and Bury Council is working with health colleagues to do everything we can to stop the virus spreading and ensure the people of Bury are protected.

Londoners wear Coronavirus masks - In pictures 1 /61 Londoners wear Coronavirus masks - In pictures A man wearing a protective mask travels on the underground tube Reuters A woman wearing a protective face mask Jeremy Selwyn A man and woman wearing protective face masks on a bus PA A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask in Victoria Jeremy Selwyn A woman shopper wears a protective mask as she walks down an aisle in a supermarket in London AFP via Getty Images A man wearing a face mask waits to board an underground train on the Central Line at Bank station in London AP A woman with a plastic box over her head on the London Underground. PA A woman wearing a protective face mask walking down Oxford Street in London PA A woman wearing a mask walks by the Emirates Stadium Action Images via Reuters A man is seen wearing a protective face mask at Waterloo station Reuters A woman wears a surgical mask as she walks through Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport Reuters A fan in the stands wears a mask during the Premier League match at Stamford Bridg PA A man wearing a protective face mask walking down Oxford Street PA Commuters with masks on during the Coronavirus outbreak Jeremy Selwyn A person wears a mask in a display of street style outside the BFC Show Space show in London PA Commuters with masks on during the Coronavirus outbreak Jeremy Selwyn Commuters with masks on during the Coronavirus outbreak Jeremy Selwyn Commuters with masks on during the Coronavirus outbreak Jeremy Selwyn A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask in Victoria Jeremy Selwyn Commuters with masks on during the Coronavirus outbreak Jeremy Selwyn A commuter on the tube wearing a face mask Jeremy Selwyn A woman wears a mask while crossing London Bridge Getty Images People wear masks at Holborn underground Station Jeremy Selwyn A man wearing a face mask walks past an entrance sign for Bank underground train station AP The coronavirus outbreak will unlikely lead to a Tube ban PA People wear masks at Holborn underground Station Jeremy Selwyn People wear masks at Holborn underground Station Jeremy Selwyn A woman wearing a face mask on the London Underground. PA People wear masks at Holborn underground Station Jeremy Selwyn A pedestrian wears a face mask whilst walking along High Holborn PA A pedestrian wears a face mask whilst walking along High Holborn PA A man wears a mask as he takes a photograph in China Town AP A man in a hazmat suit and face mask cleans the Ritchie Street Health Centre, Islington PA A commuter at Euston wearing a mask Jeremy Selwyn A commuter at Euston wearing a mask Jeremy Selwyn A man arrives at Euston Underground wearing a mask Jeremy Selwyn A commuter arrives at St Pancras wearing a mask Jeremy Selwyn St Pancras Jeremy Selwyn A commuter arrives at St Pancras wearing a mask Jeremy Selwyn Jeremy Selwyn Staff in suits at St Thomas's Hospital today Jeremy Selwyn A commuter arrives at St Pancras wearing a mask Jeremy Selwyn A commuter arrives at St Pancras wearing a mask Jeremy Selwyn A man wears a face mask as he stands near an electronic arrivals board at Terminal 4 of London Heathrow Airport AFP via Getty Images A man wears a face mask as he walks along the Thames embankment AFP via Getty Images A woman wearing a protective face mask is seen on London Bridg Reuters

Hertfordshire County Councils director of public health Jim McManus said two of the cases confirmed on Sunday were in Hertfordshire.

In a statement, he said: These new cases of coronavirus are nothing unexpected.

We fully anticipate an increase in numbers which is why our services have planned for, and are ready for, this situation.

Dr Simon Padfield, consultant in communicable disease control for Public Health England Yorkshire and the Humber, added: Public Health England is contacting people who had close contact with three cases of Covid-19 confirmed in West Yorkshire.

One of the cases is a resident of Bradford who became infected whilst in Italy and the other two cases are residents of Leeds who both became infected whilst in Iran.

In a joint statement, directors of public health for Leeds City Council and Bradford Council, Victoria Eaton and Sarah Muckle, said: We would like to send our best wishes to those affected as they continue their recovery.

Leeds and Bradford have robust infection control arrangements in place and strong partnership arrangements across the health and care system.

The councils are working closely with Public Health England, the NHS and all our health and care partners to prevent further spread of the virus.

As such, the risk to people living, working, studying and visiting Leeds and Bradford remains low and the cities are very much open for business.

A statement on two confirmed cases in Gloucestershire from Debra Lapthorne, centre director for Public Health England South West, said: Public Health England is contacting people who had close contact with the two confirmed cases of Covid-19.

The two cases are linked and both became infected whilst in northern Italy.

Staff from PHE have continued to support St Marys Primary School, Tetbury, where one of the cases works.
Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) is working with all stakeholders to harmonise preventive measures taken against the coronavirus at the countrys airports.

Musa Nuhu, the newly appointed Director-General, NCAA, revealed this in a statement in Lagos on Sunday.

Mr Nuhu explained that this is to contain the spread following the confirmed case of an Italian that came in through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos on Monday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that health ministry, the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Lagos State Ministry of Health and Ogun State Ministry of Health have responded to ensure no further spread of the disease.

Mr Nuhu explained that the preventive measures were to ensure all travellers coming into the country are adequately screened while causing minimal disruption to them.

He noted that all contingency plans for public health events in aviation had been activated including airport-specific Public Health Emergency Contingency Plans (PHECPs).

Nuhu said NCAA had ensured that all measures adopted at Nigerian airports were in accordance with ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) and WHO International Health Regulations (IHR 2005).

This measures is in line with the guidelines of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Collaborative Arrangement for the Prevention and Management of Public Health Events in Civil Aviation (CAPSCA).

We have been working with the Federal Ministry of Health, and other stakeholders in the aviation industry to ensure all travellers coming into the country are adequately screened while causing minimum disruption to facilitation of travel.

NCAA will continue to ensure that airlines assist with the tracking of passengers who may have come in contact with suspect or ill persons as well as other measures the National Surveillance Systems requires.

Airlines and other airport users are advised to heed the guidance of Port Health Services (a division of the Federal Ministry of Health and Competent Public Health Authority at Point of Entry) on the use of screening forms.

Others are on the assessment of suspected or ill travellers and any other measures they may adopt, he said.

Mr Nuhu advised airlines, airport operators, security agencies and other aviation industry stakeholders to take appropriate precaution to protect their staff.

He also advised the travelling public to remain calm but alert and take necessary precaution in protecting themselves while traveling.

The director-general said this include alerting crew members and airport facilitation staff of travellers that might look ill or showing signs and symptoms of the disease.

Mr Nuhu said travellers returning from countries experiencing community transmission of the COVID-19 should present themselves to Port Health Services on arrival at the Point of Entry  International Airport.

He said travellers who develop signs and symptoms of the disease after returning from a trip abroad were to seek immediate medical attention at the nearest Health facility or call the NCDC on 0800-970000-10. (NAN)
Many private investors say they want to develop railway projects but have given up because of certain policies.

The policy on diversifying capital sources by selling railroad cars and making concession to exploit rail sections to private investors was first put forward 10 years ago.





In 2009, HaLong Express, the 6-car passenger train developed by South Korean Dongrim, began running on the Hanoi  Ha Long route.



At that time, local newspapers compared the train with Boeing railway as the railroad cars were imported from South Korea and equipped with LCD stereo sound, air-conditioner and luxury mini bars.



However, the train only ran for two months because of the lack of passengers.

Analysts said that railway projects have potential, especially short-distance routes that serve tourism, and long-distance routes that serve cargo transportation. However, they said to turn the potential into reality, the state needs reasonable policies.

In the context of dilapidated trains and the degradation of the railway, the Ministry of Transport (MOT) in 2014 approved a plan to call for investment capital from different sources to develop the railways. Sixteen projects were introduced, calling for private capital.



Many big corporations, including Sun Group, T&T, Vingroup and Bach Dang Trade & Hotel Service, showed their interest in the projects. They hoped that when calling for investment in these huge projects, the State would remove barriers to investors. They put high hopes on the amended Railway Law which took effect on July 1, 2018, offering incentives to investors.



However, the investors finally decided not to develop the projects because many problems were not removed.



Five years after the 16 projects were introduced, only the logistics center project at Yen Vien Station in Hanoi was assigned to a private investor and it became operational on September 2016.



Asked why investors turned their back to railway projects, MOT said both investors and management agencies did not know which investment modes they had to follow to fit the states regulations.



Many investors left after conducting field research because they heard that assets such as land and infrastructure items would still belong to the state.



Vu Anh Minh, chair of the Vietnam Railways Corporation, commented that the current unreasonable mechanism hinders the development of the railway.



He said Song Luy Station needs VND30 billion of investment capital to be upgraded and to obtain turnover of VND200 billion. However, the project cannot be implemented. The State still controls the railway sector, but it doesnt have capital for investment, while enterprises have capital, but they cannot get the projects.



Analysts said that railway projects have potential, especially short-distance routes that serve tourism, and long-distance routes that serve cargo transportation. However, they said to turn the potential into reality, the state needs reasonable policies.

Linh Ha

Railway companies temporarily suspend train routes The Hanoi Railway Transport Joint Stock Company has temporarily suspended the operation of several routes due to a shortage of passengers as of Monday.
An unidentified person, who traveled to Zimbabwe from a Chinese region hard-hit by the coronavirus, is currently undergoing some tests at a Harare hospital.

In a tweet, the Ministry of Information said Sunday that full protocols laid down by the World Health Organization (WHO) were deployed in assessing the person before being taken to isolation hospital facilities in Harare. There were no further details provided by the Ministry of Information.

Health Minister Obadiah Moyo was not available for comment as he was not responding to calls on his mobile phone.

An individual, who once worked in Wuhan, was tested for the disease at Wilkins Hospital in Harare soon after arriving in the country. The person tested negative to the coronavirus.
GUANICA, P.R.  Nearly two months after an earthquake sent the population of southwest Puerto Rico rushing into the streets, thousands of people are still slumbering each night under camping tents, on cots, in their cars and in enormous open tents that serve as government shelters.

Long after a 6.4-magnitude earthquake sent powerful shock waves across the island on Jan. 7, the ground continues to shake. Over the past week, 43 earthquakes classified as significant have struck, according to the Puerto Rico Seismic Network, part of a prolonged and terrifying series of seismic events not seen on the island since 1918. A house in the town of Guanica recently collapsed after a fresh 3.8 magnitude temblor.

And while most of the recent aftershocks have been relatively mild  only five over the past week exceeded 3.5 in magnitude  the cumulative damage and constant rattling have left many Puerto Ricans with their confidence deeply shaken.

Hundreds of families are unable to pay for repairs to their ravaged homes. Others are unwilling to trust government inspectors assurances that their houses are safe.
By Chang Se-moon





The word parasite usually refers to an animal that lives in or on another type of animal. Parasite may also mean a person who makes a living by stealing money or food from other people.



Who exactly the parasites are in the movie "Parasite" is subject to opinion. Before discussing further, let us first give credit to those who deserve praise for making the international, award-winning movie.



"Parasite" was directed by Bong Joon-ho and produced by Kwak Sin-ae, Moon Yang-kwon, Bong Yok-cho, and Jang Young-hwan. The movie was first shown on May 21, 2019 at the Cannes Film Festival, and was released in Korea on May 30 that year.



The film's plot revolves around members of a poor family making elaborate plans to become employed by a wealthy family. The poor family pretend not to be related and pose as two highly-qualified tutors, a driver, and a housekeeper. The movie has been applauded as one of the greatest films to come from Korea, and its numerous awards certainly seem to support this claim.



"Parasite" won the Palme d'Or award at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival and, at the 77th Golden Globe Awards, it won the award for best foreign language film.



It went on to win the best film not in the English language and best original screenplay awards at the 73rd British Academy Film Awards, and the American Screen Actors Guild Award for outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture.



The 92nd American Academy Awards bestowed the movie with the much coveted awards for best picture, best director, best original screenplay and best international feature film. "Parasite" is the first non-English language film to win the best picture award in the history of the Academy Awards.



With its domination of global award ceremonies and glowing reviews by movie critics in prestigious publications, including the New York Times, what else is there to say about 'Parasite,' other than to sing its praises?



The director of "Parasite," Bong Joon-ho, is undoubtedly a genius. His attention to detail resulted in a movie that proved worthy of the best awards in the international film industry. Such meticulous insight is exhibited even in the film's minor scenes, such as one, where a simple Korean noodle dish is depicted so that class disparity is again brought into focus in the film.



In addition, "Parasite" was created in a way that allows different people to hold different interpretations of the messages conveyed.



Families across three levels of income are introduced in the movie. Depending on how the movie is interpreted, each one of the three  or all of the three  can be interpreted as "parasites," each taking advantage of one another.



Virtually everyone who has seen "Parasite" has an opinion on the film. Those who see the movie as one depicting a classic class conflict, and thus promoting the overthrow of the established Korean economy  if not Korea itself  however, are likely reading too much into its message.



My observation of South Koreans, including myself, is that we are a hard-working people with no thought of violence. The "Miracle on the Han River" would not have been possible with a violent approach. Instead, Korea's economic miracle was achieved through hard-work and a positive attitude.



There is no question that the living standards of all Koreans have improved greatly since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. There is also no question that there are significant differences in wealth between the rich and the poor in capitalist societies, including Korea.



An article by Christopher Ingraham, posted on the Washington Post website and accessed Feb. 14, quotes data from the World Inequality Database (WID) which states that "the top 1 percent of South Koreans own about 25 percent of the nation's wealth, while the bottom half of the population owns just under 2 percent."



This reflection of capitalism illustrates how difficult it is for the poor to attain a decent standard of living in the modern world. As the movie draws to its conclusion, we see the contained but simmering class-rage take over, resulting in a violent burst that puts an abrupt end to the lifestyles of all characters and takes the lives of several of the families' members.



If we truly want to pursue fairer distribution of wealth in Korea, the U.S. and other democratic countries where average incomes have been rising, it has to be achieved through improved education, enabling people to make better judgments, and democratic ballots, which will lead to a fairer society.



Fairer distribution of income and wealth can and should be achieved  not through violence, nor through hostile policies toward businesses, but through creative economic policies in taxation and expenditure.



If we really want to identify social parasites, we should look no further than the powerful politicians in Korea and around the world who amass wealth to themselves and their friends with no thought to the greater good.



My personal opinion about "Parasite" is to just enjoy the movie as it is. If we wish to go a step further, we should appreciate the movie for giving us another opportunity to discuss how we can make our society a better place to live.





Chang Se-moon (changsemoon@yahoo.com) is the director of the Gulf Coast Center for Impact Studies.


Two of my paramount guiding principles as your senator are respect for science and respect for those who have served our nation. We owe all of our veterans who put their lives on the line to defend us the best possible medical care, based on the best available science.

Thats why I was so appalled to learn that tens of thousands of Vietnam veterans suffering from diseases related to Agent Orange exposure have been given short shrift by President Trumps Department of Veterans Affairs. That includes New Mexico veterans whom my office has worked with who have suffered and died from Agent Orange-related diseases the Trump administration is not allowing the VA to treat.

That is because the VA has been slow-walking adding four diseases linked by scientific studies to Agent Orange exposure  bladder cancer, Parkinsons-like symptoms, hypertension and hypothyroidism  to its Agent Orange presumptive conditions list. Recognizing these as service-connected illnesses would allow veterans to use their VA benefits to help with treatment.

In 2017, following a comprehensive report from the National Academies of Science directly linking these conditions to Agent Orange exposure, President Trumps then-VA Secretary David Shulkin moved to make them eligible for benefits. In the years since, however, the Trump administrations Office of Management and Budget has rejected this recommendation over cost.

The Trump administrations callous efforts to deny these veterans the care they need are outrageous. Ive been leading the effort in New Mexico to secure critical benefits for Vietnam veterans suffering from health conditions associated with their exposure to Agent Orange. And I have called on the Trump administration to stop denying scientific evidence and expand the VAs list of medical conditions associated with exposure to Agent Orange.

Unfortunately, this unfair and unscientific treatment of our veterans is not an isolated incident. President Trump has repeatedly and publicly dismissed the seriousness of traumatic brain injuries that are one of the leading causes of depression, suicidal ideation and addiction among veterans. He has placed unqualified political appointees in key positions at the VA, leading to a parade of infighting, sexual harassment and ethics scandals that have gotten in the way of the implementation of important reforms passed by Congress.

It is one thing to say that you support and care about our veterans. It is quite another to go past simple words of gratitude and do the hard work of ensuring they have the care and benefits they have earned. They deserve so much better than this.
Former vice president Joe Biden won the South Carolina primary on Saturday, in the last of four early contests before Super Tuesday this coming week.

Below are some takeaways based on the results we've seen so far.

- - -

1. Joe Biden has a real shot at this

You could have been forgiven for thinking the former vice president was done and dusted after the New Hampshire primary. He finished fourth in Iowa and fifth in the Granite State, behind former South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg in both and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., in the latter. To the extent this race has a lane for a more moderate, "electability" candidate, he wasn't looking like that candidate. Then came a distant second in Nevada, and it seemed like South Carolina - his firewall state - might suddenly get away from him too.

The opposite happened on Saturday. South Carolina voters responded to Bernie Sanders', I-Vt., third-straight popular-vote win in Nevada by rallying to the guy they want to be the Sanders alternative moving forward. And it gave Biden a real shot at being just that.

It wasn't just the big win; it was also a couple other coinciding dynamics in this race. The first is that Buttigieg and Klobuchar were spectators for the second straight state, with both of those states having been the only really diverse ones in the contest thus far. That's not a great omen for what lay ahead on Super Tuesday or for their electability arguments.

The other is that the other potential Sanders alternative in this race - former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg - is increasingly struggling with poor debate performances and a problematic paper trail. We still have yet to see what his hundreds of millions in spending might draw on Super Tuesday, but the sheen is off, to some degree. And now that Biden has won a state, you have to wonder if that might help him steal some Bloomberg-curious voters who migrated to the former New York mayor when Biden was struggling.

This comes with a caveat, and that's that Biden's win was hardly surprising in the broader context of the race. He dipped a little in the polls after Nevada and looked to be in some trouble, but otherwise his win was in line with his big margins in the state throughout the race. Still, he has to be happy that he was able to make it happen despite his atrocious start this month, and he has to be even happier because of what has happened with some other candidates in the race.

FiveThirtyEight's delegate forecast now has Biden as the only non-Sanders candidate with more than a 1 percent shot at winning a delegate majority. That seems about right.

- - -

2. The delegate race begins in earnest

Had Sanders somehow won South Carolina, it would be difficult to argue that he hadn't all but sewn up the nomination. And had the result been a little less resounding for Biden, the non-Sanders lane would have remained more muddled and perhaps Sanders would have had a shot at running away with this on Super Tuesday.

The result Saturday, though, suggests we now officially have a delegate race on our hands. Winning the early states matters for momentum and fundraising; starting Tuesday, it will be much more about accumulating delegates.

And Biden's big win Saturday means that delegate race will actually be very close coming out of the first four states, despite Sanders having done much better in the first three (smaller) states. Winning states now will help, but clearing the 15 percent thresholds for delegates will also be hugely important. And competing in every kind of state will also matter. Sanders' opponents are struggling to hit 15 percent in the all-important California primary, for instance, and falling short of that percentage could lead to big shifts.

Also keep in mind: between Tuesday and March 17 two weeks later, more than half the delegates in this race will be handed out. That means the delegate race will come into focus in a hurry.

- - -

3. The dropout question

The big question now is who drops out moving forward. Super Tuesday is literally this Tuesday, and among Sanders's opponents there is an increasing premium on consolidating the non-Sanders vote (though it may not be quite as simple as shrinking the field).

Klobuchar seems likely to come under pressure for a few reasons. First, she finished a surprisingly strong third in New Hampshire, but otherwise she has been a nonentity. She was fifth in Iowa, sixth in Nevada and now is very far off the pace in South Carolina. Second, she's the most ideologically similar to Biden, meaning her exit would most apparently accrue to his benefit. And lastly, Buttigieg has a better argument for staying in the race, given he notched a delegate win in Iowa and polls much better than her nationally.

At the same time, given she is far back in the polls, it's not clear how much Biden might gain by her dropping out. And Biden's campaign is reportedly encouraging her to stay in, perhaps in hopes that she prevents Sanders from a significant delegate win in her home state of Minnesota on Tuesday.

There will certainly be questions about whether others should stay in, including Buttigieg. But he's still in the double digits nationwide, and he notched a delegate win in Iowa. What's more, his support spans both wings of the party, so it wouldn't so obviously help Biden if he dropped out.

As for Sanders, his supporters will want Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., to drop out, and she like Klobuchar is at risk of losing her home state to Sanders on Tuesday. But she has more of a pulse in this race right now, and just Saturday she got the endorsement of the head of the American Federation of Teachers.

- - -

4. The Clyburn bump?

The big early exit poll finding on Saturday night was that nearly half of South Carolina voters said that House Majority Whip James Clyburn's, D-S.C., endorsement of Biden this week was important to their vote.

That might have had as much to do with Biden's large margin as anything - why wouldn't his voters approvingly nod to Clyburn's endorsement, after all - but generally people don't admit endorsements actually have an impact on their votes. And Biden's ultimate margin looks like it might be even bigger than the late polling in the race suggested. There were a fairly large number of moderate, black voters who were undecided heading into primary day this week; it seems possible Clyburn helped nudge them to Biden.
In this year's edition of the traditional Humidors Auction five humidors from some of the most prestigious Habanos brands were auctioned, together with a special humidor donated by Simon Chase family to Habanos. The auction has raised the historic amount of 4.270.000  with all proceeds going entirely to the Cuban Public Health System. For the first time in this traditional auction a humidor from the Cohiba brand reached 2.400.000 .

The Gala Evening paid tribute to the 145th Anniversary of the Romeo y Julieta brand, presenting its three new vitolas in a new line, Linea de Oro. Attendees had the chance to taste, exclusively, the three new vitolas that make up the brand's most Premium line: Hidalgos (57 ring gauge x 125 mm length), Nobles (56 ring gauge x 135 mm length) and Dianas (52 ring gauge x 145 mm length).

Throughout the evening, held in Pabexpo in the city of Havana, over 1,200 guests enjoyed an outstanding musical line-up headed by the famous international artist and pop icon, Gloria Gaynor, as well as other performances including Camerata Guido Lopez and the Maestro Patterson Orchestra, Director of the Cuban Radio and Television Orchestra. In addition, there were artistic performances including the Company led by Santiago Alfonso, winner of the 2006 Cuban National Dance Award, and the great Vengsay Valdes, Director and first dancer of the Cuban National Ballet.

The closing ceremony also hosted the Habanos Awards with Alexander Avellar receiving the prize in the Communication category, Jean Claude Reichling winning the award in the Business category and Servilio Jesus Cordova Torres in the Production category, respectively.

Also, the winning couple of aficionados of the III Habanos World Challenge International Contest were Tarek Gamaye and Fabi Hammad, from the United Arab Emirates.

*(P.A.O.) Protected Appellations of Origin

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1097465/Gloria_Gaynor.jpg

Contacts:

BCW:

[email protected]

Izaskun Martinez: Tel: +34-670-09-40-74

Carla Llado: Tel: +34-669-54-69-09

SOURCE HABANOS SA

Related Links

https://www.habanoscigares.com/


Mulaney returned with an opening monologue that compared the founding fathers to the 1992 Chicago Bulls and questioned the wisdom of the priorities of the Bill of Rights. But what may linger longest from the night was his role leading a gleefully bizarre mid-episode sketch that took familiar comedy tropes about the frustrations of airline travel and fed them through a celebrity-studded musical review.
Argentine President Alberto Fernandez said he will send a motion to the parliament in the coming days to legalise abortions.

"Within the next 10 days, I will introduce a bill on the voluntary termination of pregnancies," he said at the opening of the parliamentary session, adding he was seeking the support of women.

Argentina allows pregnancies to be terminated only in cases of rape or a risk to a mother's life, Sputnik reported.

A handful of Latin American countries permit selective abortions, while most have banned them or set strict medical criteria for obtaining permits.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In the Renaissance, Italy was made up of many small territorial states, and travel between them was regularly curtailed because of outbreaks of plague. Travelers moving between regions during these times had to carry health passes issued by local governments testifying that they were traveling from places free of plague.

In the opening to The Decameron, the 14th-century poet and scholar Giovanni Boccaccio described reactions in his native Florence to an outbreak. He lamented that the reverend authority of the laws, both human and divine, was all in a manner dissolved and fallen into decay. We should take Boccaccios account as a warning. Despite Machiavellis call in 1513 for Italian unification in the final pages of The Prince, Italy only became a single nation in 1861; its deep regional divisions are still felt politically, linguistically, gastronomically and in the infrastructure of its transit systems.

In this time of coronavirus, Italys national identity  and that of Europe more broadly  is showing signs of strain. In addition to closing off certain towns with clusters of infections, regional governments are working to isolate themselves from the rest of the country. Most notably, the province of Basilicata has imposed a 14-day quarantine on all citizens entering from Piedmont, Lombardy, the Veneto, Emilia-Romagna and Liguria. These measures are about much more than health controls. They highlight regional identities and emphasize the tensions between local and national actions being taken to contain Italys outbreak.

Beyond the exacerbation of regionalism in Italian society, we should be on guard against the ways that outbreaks of disease have historically led to the persecutions of marginalized people. One of the best documented social outcomes of the plague in late-medieval Europe was the violence, often directed at Jews, who were accused of causing plague by poisoning wells.

Since the eruption of the coronavirus, we have witnessed widespread anti-Asian discrimination and numerous acts of violence against Asians. We should learn from the past, identify these violent attacks as the scapegoating they are, and condemn them swiftly and harshly.
The HSE has issued guidance for religious services throughout Leitrim this weekend and for the foreseeable future with regard to Coronavirus (COVID-19).

The guidelines say people who are ill or feeling unwell with symptoms of COVID-19 and who have travelled to Ireland from an area with presumed ongoing transmission of COVID-19 within the last 14 days or been in contact with someone who has, or have attended or work in a healthcare facility where patients with COVID-19 were being treated should not attend Mass or other religious services.



Parishes are asked to supply tissues and alcohol-based hand gel at Masses and other gatherings and to ensure that all hard surfaces that are frequently touched (door handles, hand-rails, taps and pews) are cleaned regularly with a household detergent.



Holy Water Fonts should not be used.



Ministers of Holy Communion should wash their hands or use alcohol-based gel before distribution of Holy Communion.



Holy Communion should be administered into the hands only and NOT on the tongue while this current situation continues.

The full HSE advice is as follows:



Settings where religious services take place, including churches, should take the following actions

- Advise religiousleaders/clergy and congregation not to attend if they are ill.

- Have a plan for dealing with religious leaders or members of the congregation who become ill with symptoms of COVID-19 during a service,including isolating them from other people and seeking medical advice without delay(e.g. phone a GP/ Emergency Services).

- Supply tissues and alcohol based hand gel at religious services/gatherings.

- Provide bins for disposal of tissues at religiousgatherings.

- Ensure hand-washing facilities, including soap and disposable towels, are well maintained.

- Ensure all hard surfaces that are frequently touched,such as door handles,handrails, taps and pews arecleaned regularly with a household detergent.

- Have a plan for how the church will continue or suspend its activities in the event ofreligiousleaders/clergy becoming ill with COVID-19.

Religious leader/clergy administrations to sick laity should be carefully managed.

To date, there have been no cases of COVID-19 in Ireland. If there is a case, it is highly likely that the patient will be treated in a hospital and their pastoral carecan be provided in the hospital according to established protocols and with full compliance with infection prevention and control guidance and inclose consultation with their treating doctor.

People at increased risk of getting COVID-19, including people who have been in close contact with aperson with COVID-19, may be asked to limit their social interactions for 14 days, including staying athome and not attending work or religious services.

In order to reduce the possible spread of infection,these people should not be visited by religious leaders/members of the clergy while they are in self isolation.

Pastoral care can be provided over the telephone/skype if resources permit.

Physical interaction during religious services, e.g. Sign of Peace.

Most physical interaction during religious services,e.g. shaking hands while exchanging the Sign of Peace in Christian religious services,involves a low risk of spreading the virus especially if members of the congregation who are unwell do not attend religious services while they are ill.

However,because COVID-19 is a new disease that has not been seen in people before, we need to exercise extreme caution to limit the spread of the virus.

Current information suggests that COVID-19 can spread easily between people and could be spread from an infected person even before they develop any symptoms.

For these reasons we suggest that physical interaction during religious services, including the Sign of Peace,should be suspended.

For Christian religious services, the priest may choose to give the congregation permission to carry out an alternative Sign of Peace that does not involve hand contact(such as smile/nod/bow)if so wished.

The practice of shaking hands on greeting and departure at religious services/gatherings should be suspended for both religious leaders/clergyandlaity.

Holy water fonts

Because COVID-19 is a new diseaseand appears to spread easily between people, we advise that holy water fonts should not be used

Holy Communion

Everyone administering Holy Communion should wash their hands or use alcohol based hand gel before beginning. Holy Communion should be administered into the hands only and NOT onto the tongue.

Using communal vessels for food and drink during religious services, e.g. drinking from the Chalice during Holy Communion in Christian services

To minimise the risk of spread of infection, the use of communal vessels should be suspended. For example, during Holy Communion in Christian religious services only the celebrant should drink from the Chalice.

No one else should drink from the chalicethis includes other priests, ministers of the Eucharist and members of the congregation.

Alternatives to direct sharing of the chalice should also be AVOIDED including:

1. Intinction, i.e.:the Communion wafer is dipped in the chalice and administered into the hand;the Communion wafer is administered into the communicants hand and they dip it into the chalice

2. Distribution of Communion wine through individual small cups

Arrangements for parochial activities/social religious gatherings

Parochial activities/social religious gatherings on church premises should follow sensible practices,including hand hygiene and respiratory hygiene as described in this guidance.

Posters/noticesformally stating any guidance or changes in practice should be clearly displayed and appropriate leafletsshould be circulated.

Further sources of information

Further information on COVID-19 is available on the HSE website at: https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/coronavirus/coronavirus.html

and the HPSC website:

https://www.hpsc.ie/az/respiratory/coronavirus/novelcoronavirus/
Here are todays top news, analysis and opinion curated for you at this hour. Know all about the latest news and other news updates from Hindustan Times.

Right under your nose: TMC raises Delhi riots deaths to hit back at Amit Shah

West Bengals ruling party Trinamool Congress (TMC) hit back at union home minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Amit Shah after he stung the Mamata Banerjee government on a range of issues and called for its toppling in the 2021 Assembly elections. Read more

You are lying: Anurag Thakur reacts to goli maaro slogan allegation

Union minister Anurag Thakur on Sunday accused reporters of lying when he was asked whether he shouted an inflammatory slogan during the election campaign for the assembly polls in Delhi. Read more

Only Modi can make Sonar Bangla, Shah tells voters, launches BJP campaign

Amit Shah accused the Bengal government of depriving the people by disallowing the Centre from implementing its pro-people projects. Read more

Nitish Kumar targets at least 200 seats for NDA in Bihar assembly polls

The JD (U) and the BJP between them have 124 seats in the 243-member House. The JD(U) has 70 members while the BJP has 54 MLAs in the outgoing assembly. Let us resolve to ensure NDA will win more than 200 seats in Bihar assembly polls, Nitish Kumar said at JD(U) workers rally in Patna. Read more

Average of 9.50: Virat Kohlis miserable series ends with another failure

Kohli has put under tremendous pressure by the Kiwi seamers and has now recorded his second-worst figures in a Test series (min 2 matches). Kohli has scored only 38 runs in four innings in New Zealand. Read more

Akshay Kumar donates Rs 1.5 crores for first transgender home in India

Filmmaker Raghava Lawrence took to Facebook on Sunday to announce that he is building a transgender home in Chennai, claiming it to be the first time in India, for which Akshay has donated Rs 1.5 crores. Raghava wrote in the post that it was during their film Laxmmi Bombs shoot that Akshay got to know about his initiative to help the community. Read more

Priyanka Chopra, Anushka Sharma, Sara Ali Khan: Best and Worst dressed celebrities this week

Bollywood celebrities were pretty quiet this past week on their social media with very few posting updates, however they still went out and about town running errands, promoting their upcoming projects, being featured on fashion magazines and much more.
By PTI

WASHINGTON: Like many Americans, bartender Danjale Williams is worried about the growing threat of the novel coronavirus.

What makes the 22-year-old in Washington even more frightened: The thought of medical bills she just can't afford, as one of almost 27.5 million people in the United States who don't have health insurance.

"I definitely would second guess before going to the doctor, because the doctor's bill is crazy," she said.

"If it did come down to that, I don't have enough savings to keep me healthy."

As the virus begins spreading in the west of the country, where the first death was reported Saturday, public health experts warned the US has several characteristics unique among wealthy nations that make it vulnerable.

These include a large and growing population without medical insurance, the 11 million or so undocumented migrants afraid to come into contact with authorities, and a culture of "powering through" when sick for fear of losing one's job.

"These are all things that can perpetuate the spread of a virus," said Brandon Brown, an epidemiologist at UC Riverside.

The number of Americans without health insurance began falling from a high of 46.7 million in 2010 following the passage of Obamacare (the Affordable Care Act), but has risen again over the past two years.

The current figure is about 8.5 per cent of the population.

Public health experts often worry about the destructive potential of a pandemic in poorer parts of the world like sub-Saharan Africa or South Asia.



ALSO READ | Coronavirus outbreak: How it has impacted the world and what you must do

These poverty-plagued regions have hospitals that are ill-equipped to stop the spread of infectious diseases, or to adequately care for patients needing breathing assistance, which the most severe cases of COVID-19 require.

By contrast, the US has some of the world's best hospitals and medical staff, but those not lucky enough to have good insurance through their employer, and not poor enough to qualify for state insurance, often opt out of the system entirely.

A routine doctor's visit can run into hundreds of dollars for those without coverage.

"I think that it's possible if this has the sustained spread, that might highlight some of those health care disparities that we already know about and are trying to work on, but haven't figured out a way to solve," said Brian Garibaldi, the medical director of Johns Hopkins Hospital's biocontainment unit.

That's not to say uninsured people have no recourse if they fall seriously ill.

US law requires that people who are truly sick get the care they need, regardless of ability to pay.



ALSO READ: Man returned from Italy becomes Ireland's first coronavirus case

Abigail Hansmeyer, a Minnesota resident who along with her husband is uninsured, said that if she did fall ill, "we may seek out the emergency room for treatment."

But being treated doesn't mean the visit was free and the uninsured can be lumped with huge bills after.

"So we have to very carefully consider costs in every situation," the 29-year-old said.

One of the key messages the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has put out about the coronavirus is to stay home if you have mild respiratory symptoms, except to go to the doctor once you have called in and if they think you need to.

"But a lot of people, depending on their jobs, their position and their privilege, are not able to do that," said Brown.

The US is alone among advanced countries in not offering any federally mandated paid sick leave.

Though private companies offer an average of eight days per year, only 30 per cent of the lowest-paid workers are able to earn sick days, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

For many of these people, missing even a day's work can make a painful financial dent.

An October 2019 nationwide survey of 2,800 workers by the accounting firm Robert Half found that 57 per cent sometimes go to work while sick and 33 per cent always go when sick.

As the global death toll from the virus approaches 3,000 and the US braces for a wider outbreak, the race is on to develop vaccines and treatments.

Current timeline estimates for the leading vaccine candidate are 12-18 months, but will it be affordable for all? That question was put to Health Secretary Alex Azar in Congress last week.

His response: "We would want to ensure that we work to make it affordable, but we can't control that price because we need the private sector to invest."

Ed Silverman, a columnist for industry news site Pharmalot, panned the comment as "outrageous."

"No one said profits are verboten," he wrote.

"But should we let some Americans who may contract the coronavirus die because the price is out of reach?"
United States President Donald Trump on Saturday announced restrictions on travel from Iran and advised fellow citizens not to travel to certain areas of South Korea and Italy.

Photograph: Edward Wang via Reuters

The announcement came as the first death from coronavirus was reported in the US from the Washington state.

"Unfortunately, one person passed away overnight. She was a wonderful woman, a medically high-risk patient in her late 50s," Trump told reporters at the White House.

"Additional cases in the United States are likely, but healthy individuals should be able to fully recover. If you are healthy, you will probably go through a process and you will be fine," he said and urged people not to panic.

As many as 15 people have recovered from the virus so far in the US.

"There is no reason to panic at all. Our country is prepared for any circumstance," the President said at his second press conference in the White House briefing room on his return from India on Wednesday.

Joining the press conference, Vice President Mike Pence said Trump had authorised a ban on entry of foreign nationals who travelled to Iran in the last 14 days.

The United States also advised its citizens not to travel to parts of South Korea and Italy, from where reports of coronavirus have appeared.

The vice president has been tasked by Trump to lead the administration's efforts in the fight against the coronavirus.

According to Center for Disease Control Director Robert Redfield, 22 cases of coronavirus have been reported in the US so far.

Trump said various wings of the US government were working on the coronavirus round the clock.

"It is a tough one, but a lot of progress has been made," the President said, adding that his administration had taken the most aggressive action in modern history to confront the disease.

In a statement, Washington State Governor Jay Inslee announced the death of an individual from the coronavirus.

"It is a sad day in our state as we learn that a Washingtonian has died from COVID-19. Our hearts go out to their family and friends. We will continue to work toward a day where no one dies from this virus," he said.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said there was an outbreak of a respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus that was first detected in the Wuhan city of China's Hubei province and has now been detected in 50 locations internationally, including cases in the United States.

It said the potential public health threat posed by the coronavirus was high, both globally and to the US, adding that to effectively respond to the coronavirus outbreak, rapid detection of cases and contacts, appropriate clinical management and infection control, and implementation of community mitigation efforts were critical.

This could best be achieved with wide availability of testing capabilities in healthcare settings, reference and commercial laboratories, and at the point of care, the FDA said.

It added that it would allow some 300 to 400 academic-hospital laboratories to begin testing for the virus, allowing for checks of thousands of people rather than the few hundred already tested.

"We believe this policy strikes the right balance during this public health emergency.

"We will continue to help to ensure sound science prior to clinical testing and follow-up with the critical independent review from the FDA, while quickly expanding testing capabilities in the US. We are not changing our standards for issuing Emergency Use Authorisations.

"This action today reflects our commitment to addressing critical public health needs and rapidly responding and adapting to this dynamic and evolving situation," FDA Commissioner Stephen M Hahn said.

The FDA guidance provides recommendations for test developers, including information regarding test validation, FDA notifications and interim confirmatory clinical testing.

Responding to a question, Trump said he was considering closing the southern border to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

"We are looking also at (the) southern border. We have received a lot of power on the southern border over the last couple years from the courts, but we are looking at that very strongly," he said.

In a letter on Friday, several senators, including Ted Cruz, Martha McSally and John Cornyn, called for closing the coronavirus.

"As southern border Senators, we are concerned about the possible spread of the coronavirus across our borders," they said in the letter to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Acting Commissioner Mark Morgan.

"We are similarly concerned about recent reports that the virus is spreading in Europe. Border shortcomings by the European Union have resulted in the spread of the virus across a number of nations, and it is essential that the United States not repeat these mistakes.

"We write to ask how your agency is prepared to address the threat presented by the coronavirus at US borders," the senators said.
SENECA FALLS, N.Y. -- A press conference held near where the Cayuga Nation Council seized and demolished property last week turned violent and resulted in three arrests, according to the council.

The press conference, which Seneca Falls police say was intended to be peaceful, was held by the Cayuga Nation Chiefs of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy on Route 89, next to the property seized by the council.

Before the seizure, it had been controlled by the traditional Cayuga Nation Chiefs and Clan Mothers since 2014. The traditional faction does not recognize the council, which is led by Clint Halftown. He is also the Cayuga Nations federal representative.

In October 2019, a New York State Court of Appeals declined to force the traditional faction from the land after Halftowns faction had filed a lawsuit. On Feb. 22, Halftowns faction seized and razed the properties, claiming to have found guns and drugs there.

A lawyer who represents the traditional fraction, Joe Heath, called the seizure viciously unlawful at the time.

Federal prosectors plan to investigate the dispute, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Western District of New York said earlier this week.

After the press conference on Saturday, members of the Cayuga Nation Chiefs crossed yellow caution tape that blocked off the area where the property had been razed, according to The Citizen, of Auburn. When Cayuga Nation police, hired by Halftowns faction, confronted the members of the Cayuga Nation Chiefs, the two sides fought, The Citizen reported.

At 10:55 a.m., police received reports about the factions fight, according to Seneca Falls police. In anticipation of the press conference, New York State Police, the Seneca County Sheriffs Office and Seneca Falls police set up a command post, according to Seneca Falls police.

Officers from the command post responded to the scene and did not arrest anyone, police said. According to The Citizen those officers did not try to intervene. Seneca Falls police say they tried to diffuse the fights.

The crowd only dispersed when council officers used pepper spray, The Citizen reported.

The Cayuga Nation Council says it arrested three men and charged them with the following:

Austin Glass, of the Oneida Nation, and charged him with damaging a Cayuga Nation Council police car.

Hajenhne Brown, of the Onondaga Nation, and charged him with criminal trespass and assaulting a Cayuga Nation Council police officer.

Travis John, a member of the Seneca Nation, and charged him with criminal trespass and assault on a Cayuga Nation police officer.

Those men will be taken to a Pennsylvania jail with which the council has a contract to hold defendants, The Citizen reported.

Charles Bowman, a non-indigenous person, was arrested for assaulting a Cayuga Nation police officer and the Cayuga Nation Council referred his case to Seneca Falls police.

Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact Chris Libonati anytime: 585-290-0718 | Email | Twitter

Thanks for visiting Syracuse.com. Quality local journalism has never been more important, and your subscription matters. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.
The havoc of Corona is increasing day by day and is becoming deadly in every area. Kyrgyzstan's capital Bishkek will no longer have an Asian Olympic qualifying wrestling next month. Bishkek has decided to withdraw from the host in view of the possibility of the deadly coronavirus spreading. United World Wrestling (UWW) has informed all Asian wrestling associations that Bishkek will no longer host the tournament. This qualifying was earlier scheduled to be held in Xian, China from March 27 to 29, but due to the outbreak of Coronavirus there, it was decided to do it in Bishkek instead.

According to reports, more than a few thousand people worldwide are reported to have lost their lives due to this dangerous virus. The Kyrgyzstan government has decided to postpone all sporting events to be held in the country until further notice.

For the information, UWW be informed by the Kyrgyzstan government that in order to take steps against the spread of coronavirus in their country, it has also decided to cancel the Asian Olympic qualifier in Bishkek. UWW has now indicated to continue discussions with the International Olympic Committee next week on other options to find a solution.

Also Read:

South Africa defeats Australia in first ODI

Another Poor Performance Of Rishabh Pant, Once Again He Is On Target

IND Vs NZ: This cricketer became Superman on field, video went viral

PAK vs BAN: This cricketer refused request of the chairman of the board
Shiv Sena has raised the issue of Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri's mysterious death in Tashkent wat back in 1966. In its official mouthpiece Saamana, an editorial questioned the incident and also was curious over the over the declaration signed between our PM and Pakistan's President Ayub Khan.

Shastri was the one who started the slogan "Jai Jawan Jai Kisan" (Hail the soldier, Hail the farmer). He was in power when we were at war with Pakistan in 1965 and had taken over the post after the death of Jawaharlal Nehru in 1964.



The Cold War rivalry between the US and the Soviet Union also shaped and affected South Asian countries.



PTI/Reuters

While Pakistan joined SEATO and CENTO to receive US-made weapons and arms, India on the other decided to support the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and remain neutral.



This move irked the US as it had the potential of altering the balance of power in the region.



The Soviets saw India as a tool to counter the West and its imperialist designs. The 1960 U-2 spy plane incident was a serious cause of concern for the Soviet as the Americans were using Pakistans territory against them. Therefore, India was crucial to the Soviets to contain the West.

Operation Gibraltar was the spark which started the 1965 war between the two neighbours. The plan was to incite the Kashmiris and fuel a rebellion against India

In August 1965, disguised as locals, Pakistan Army's Azad Kashmir Regular Force troops entered J&K from Pakistan but the plan could not be materialised due to poor coordination and lack of support from the locals.

This insurgency sparked the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965  the first major engagement between the two countries since 1947.

Indias response was swift with a full-scale attack on Pakistan. The war lasted for 17 days and ended after the UN declared ceasefire followed by a diplomatic intervention by the Soviet Union and the US and Tashkent Declaration.



Reuters

After signing the Tashkent accord on January 10, Shastri reached his villa. After having a light meal he went to bed and woke up in the mid-night coughing severely.



By the time his personal doctor arrived, Shastri was dying and according to Dr RN Chugh the symptoms were of a heart attack.



Shastris body arrived in India on January 11 and as per the reports, an attempt was made to prevent his family members from taking a look at the body.



According to his wife, Shastris face and body had turned blue as if he was poisoned and there were cut marks in the stomach area and on the back of his neck.



When his followers and family members approached the government with a request of postmortem it was flatly denied with the Centre saying it would adversely affect international relations.



All the classified records pertaining to Shastris death remains non-accessible till now.

Till today his death remains shrouded in mystery as many questions remain unanswered.






In another development, two CBI teams landed in Raipur from Delhi in the wake of reports that the tax raids had unearthed non-political funding.

Bhopal: Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel on Saturday turned the tax raids on his close aides, including his deputy secretary Soumya Chourasia, a Centre vs state issue.

Mr Baghel, who rushed to Delhi to consult legal experts and brief the Congress high command on the whole development, took strong exception to how raids were conducted on some party leaders and bureaucrats in the state without prior information. The IT raids were conducted in Chhattisgarh without informing the state government. This is unethical and against the spirit of federalism, Mr Baghel said reacting to the tax raids.

He further said that an atmosphere of fear has been created in the state following the tax raids at several places in Chhattisgarh, which continued for the third day on Saturday. He appeared particularly upset with tax authorities for targeting his deputy secretary dubbing it political revenge and an attempt to destabilise his government.

We have never stopped IT raids because the state had prior information about it. However, this time the state government was not taken into confidence by the tax authorities before conducting raids, he added.

The IT sleuths were forced to wait at Ms Chourasias residence in Bhilai, nearly 30 km from Raipur in Chhattisgarh, for around 50 hours for not being able to find her and later sealed her home on Saturday. The Congress staged a demonstration at the IT office in Raipur to protest the raids.

Meanwhile, Mr Baghel cancelled his cabinet meeting, scheduled to be held at Raipur on Saturday afternoon, and rushed to Delhi brief to the Congress high command and get a legal opinion on the issue.

However, his flight force landed at Jeypore in Rajasthan owing to bad weather, Chhattisgarh PCC media wing chief S.N. Trivedy told this newspaper.

Mr Baghel was scheduled to meet Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi in Delhi at six in the evening on Saturday. But, his flight landed at Jeypore due to inclement weather. His flight will resume its journey to Delhi after being cleared by air traffic control, he added.

In another development, two CBI teams landed in Raipur from Delhi in the wake of reports that the tax raids had unearthed non-political funding.

Interestingly, the Chhattisgarh government has earlier announced to bar CBI from entering the state.

The raids were also conducted on houses of senior Congress leader and Raipur mayor Ejaj Dhebar, former chief secretary of the state and chairman of Chhattisgarh unit of Rera Vivek Dhand, kin of IAS officer Anil Tuteja, liquor baron Pappu Bhati and local TV channel promoter Guru Charan Singh Hora.
Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, right, and Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo, both wearing masks, talk to each other during a ceremony to mark the 1919 March 1 Independence Movement at Paiwha Girls' High School in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Yonhap



By Yi Whan-woo



Concerns are growing that the fast spread of the coronavirus in Korea is not only threatening public health but also affecting the country's diplomacy and defense postures.



Korean citizens have been being restricted from entry or have to undergo rigorous quarantine procedures in nearly 80 countries, while regular joint military exercises with the U.S. have been postponed. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha is facing the cold shoulder among her counterparts, with her planned meeting with British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab last week being abruptly canceled.



Critics say the Moon Jae-in administration's diplomacy is being bungled.



As of Sunday morning, 78 countries were banning the entry of visitors from Korea or placing tight quarantine measures on them, as a result of the rising number of people infected with COVID-19 (2019-nCoV) here. The government has made efforts to prevent more countries from doing so by explaining Korea's virus response, but the number of countries is only growing, including some key allies such as the U.S.



"The coronavirus case is revealing our diplomatic incompetence," said Park Won-gon, an international relations professor at Handong Global University.



He pointed out the 78 countries account for about one-third of the U.N. members. Among them are Singapore, Vietnam, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria and Uzbekistan.



"This is more problematic as not only tourists but also businesspeople can't fly back and forth as they want," Park said. "It means failing to lift entry restrictions will eventually leads to shrinking business abroad."



Shin Yul, a political science professor at Myongji University, said "diplomatic bungling" was evident when the Moon Jae-in administration did not restrict Chinese nationals from entering here when the coronavirus was spreading in Wuhan in January.



"Not matter how close diplomatic and economic partners they are with Korea, the 78 countries are imposing entry restrictions for the lives of their people," Shin said. "This is what Korea should have taken toward China and it did not do so because of its low-key diplomacy."



Last week, Foreign Minister Kang was scheduled to meet her British counterpart during her visit to London. But the talks were canceled at the last minute, and she instead met with Health Minister Matt Hancock.



Regarding the canceled foreign ministerial talks, the British Embassy in Seoul explained it was due to "unforeseen circumstances."



Shin said he is "highly doubtful" about such an explanation.



"I'd rather say Minister Kang was not important enough for the British foreign secretary to meet. The cancelation of the talks may not be related to the coronavirus, but it certainly suggests Korean diplomacy, under Kang, is not being very respected."



The militaries of Korea and the U.S. announced last week they were postponing their regular springtime joint exercises. This is the first time a combined exercise has been postponed due to a public health emergency since they began in 1954.



The computer-simulated exercise was scheduled to begin March 9.



As the two sides did not say until when the drill has been postponed, some military sources even speculate the March exercise is "virtually scrapped."



The analysts said the postponement of the joint drill is "worrisome for our defense posture."



"We're clearly witnessing how the virus can disrupt the decades-old exercises. Who knows if the next scheduled drills this year will be called off as well?" Shin said.



Park said concerns over the defense posture will escalate if the U.S. imposes entry restriction on Koreans.



The U.S. announced travel restrictions on Koreans, but has not banned citizens from visiting.


DR Congo's president has ordered a probe into the death of a disgraced general, who was under European Union sanctions for human rights violations committed during the previous regime.

Delphin Kahimbi, 50, the deputy chief of staff of military intelligence and a close associate of former president Joseph Kabila, died of a heart attack on Friday in hospital, his wife told AFP.

But rumours have abounded that he was killed or committed suicide.

In recent days, he was barred from foreign travel, stripped of his functions and questioned by the national security council, sources said.

President Felix Tshisekedi, who took over from Kabila, chaired a cabinet meeting on Friday and called for "an investigation to determine the exact circumstances of his death," according to a statement.

"All measures have been taken to determine the circumstances of this heavy loss," a military spokesman said in a video message, adding that the conclusions would then be made public.

Kahimbi, who was retained after Tshisekedi took over from Kabila last year, was accused of wiretapping officials, a military source told AFP.

A diplomatic source said he was also accused of spying on Tshisekedi.

A day before his death, the United States hailed Kahimbi's destitution.

Tshisekedi, a former opposition leader, rules the Democratic Republic of Congo in a coalition with Kabila's supporters who have a majority in parliament and in other state institutions.

However, several pro-Kabila figures have been given the boot or seen their powers considerably whittled.

Kahimbi wielded enormous power and influence during Kabila's long rule from 2001 to 2019.
A man has died in Washington state of COVID-19, state health officials said Saturday, marking the first such reported death in the United States. State officials issued a terse news release announcing the death, gave no details and scheduled a news conference.

A spokesperson for EvergreenHealth Medical Center, Kayse Dahl, said the person died in the facility in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland, but gave no other details.

State and King County health officials said new people (have been) identified with the infection, one of whom died. They did not say how many new cases there are.

Amy Reynolds of the Washington state health department said in a brief telephone interview: We are dealing with an emergency evolving situation.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said the person who died was a man from Washington state.

It is a sad day in our state as we learn that a Washingtonian has died from COVID-19. Our hearts go out to his family and friends, Inslee said.

"We will continue to work toward a day where no one dies from this virus.

The number of coronavirus cases in the United States is considered small. Worldwide, the number of people sickened by the virus hovered Friday around 83,000, and there were more than 2,800 deaths, most of them in China.

Most infections result in mild symptoms, including coughing and fever, though some can become more serious and lead to pneumonia.

Older people, especially those with chronic illnesses such as heart or lung disease, are especially vulnerable. Health officials think it spreads mainly from droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes, similar to how the flu spreads.

Health officials in California, Oregon and Washington state worried about the novel coronavirus spreading through West Coast communities after confirming three patients were infected by unknown means.

READ | Italy Scrambles To Check Spread Of New Virus

The patients  an older Northern California woman with chronic health conditions, a high school student in Everett, Washington and an employee at a Portland, Oregon-area school  hadn't recently travelled overseas or had any known close contact with a traveller or an infected person, authorities said.

Earlier US cases include three people who were evacuated from the central China city of Wuhan, epicenter of the outbreak; 14 people who returned from China, or their spouses; and 42 American passengers on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, who were flown to US military bases in California and Texas for quarantining.

Convinced that the number of cases will grow but determined to keep them from exploding, health agencies were ramping up efforts to identify patients.

The California Department of Public Health said Friday that the state will receive enough kits from the US Centers for Disease Control to test up to 1,200 people a day for the COVID-19 virus  a day after Gov. Gavin Newsom complained to federal health officials that the state had already exhausted its initial 200 test kits.

Santa Clara County in the San Francisco Bay Area reported two cases where the source of infection wasn't known. The older woman was hospitalised for a respiratory illness, and rapid local testing confirmed in one day that she had the virus, health officials said.

This case represents some degree of community spread, some degree of circulation, said Dr. Sara Cody, health officer for Santa Clara County and director of the County of Santa Clara Public Health Department.

But we don't know to what extent, Cody said. It could be a little, it could be a lot.

READ | Trump Urges Calm Even As US Reports Worrisome New Virus Case

We need to begin taking important additional measures to at least slow it down as much as possible, she said.

Cody said the newly confirmed case in Santa Clara County is not linked to two previous cases in that county, nor to others in the state.

The Santa Clara County resident was treated at a local hospital and is not known to have travelled to Solano County, where another woman was identified Wednesday as having contracted the virus from an unknown source.

Dozens of people had close contact with the Solano County woman. They were urged to quarantine themselves at home, while a few who showed symptoms of illness were in isolation, officials said.

At UC Davis Medical Center at least 124 registered nurses and other health care workers were sent home for self-quarantine" after the Solano County woman with the virus was admitted, National Nurses United, a nationwide union representing RNs, said Friday.

The case highlights the vulnerability of the nation's hospitals to this virus," the union said.

Earlier Friday, Oregon confirmed its first coronavirus case, a person who works at an elementary school in the Portland area, which will be temporarily closed.

The Lake Oswego School District sent a robocall to parents saying that Forest Hills Elementary will be closed until Wednesday so it can be deep-cleaned by maintenance workers.

Washington state health officials announced two new coronavirus cases Friday night, including a high school student who attends Jackson High School in Everett, said Dr. Chris Spitters of the Snohomish County Health District.

The other case in Washington was a woman in in King County in her 50s who had recently travelled to South Korea, authorities said.

Both patients weren't seriously ill.

But health officials aren't taking any chances. Some communities, including San Francisco, already have declared local emergencies in case they need to obtain government funding.

READ | Donald Trump Urges Calm Even As US Reports Worrisome New Virus Case

READ | New Virus Has Infected 82,000 Globally, Caused 2,800 Deaths
Penangfon.com scored 45 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 18 Jan 2013, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.

This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared, liked or recommended the penangfon homepage on Facebook + the total number of page likes (if penangfon has a Facebook fan page). The total number of people who shared the penangfon homepage on StumbleUpon. The total number of people who shared the penangfon homepage on Google Plus by a google +1 button. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared the penangfon homepage on Twitter + the total number of penangfon followers (if penangfon has a Twitter account). The total number of people who shared the penangfon homepage on Delicious.

Basic Information

PAGE TITLE PenangFON - Fiber Speed Internet Broadband DESCRIPTION KEYWORDS OTHER KEYWORDS service, network, require, to our, broadband, ethernet, system



The URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address of the site. The title found in the head section of the homepage. CoolSocial advanced keyword analysis tool is able to detect and analyze every keyword on each page of a site. The keywords meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. The description meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage.

Domain and Server

DOCTYPE HTML 4.01 Transitional CHARSET AND LANGUAGE English (Malaysia) UTF-8English (Malaysia) DETECTED LANGUAGE English English SERVER Apache/2.2.3 (CentOS) OPERATIVE SYSTEM Linux Linux

Represents HTML declared type (e.g.: XHTML 1.1, HTML 4.0, the new HTML 5.0) Character set and language of the site. The language of penangfon.com as detected by CoolSocial algorithms. Operative System running on the server. Type of server and offered services.

Site Traffic trend during the last year. Only available for sites ranked <= 100000 in the world.

Referring domains for penangfon.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 description of the Facebook page describes website and its services to the social media users. The type of Facebook page. Facebook Timeline is the new layout of Facebook pages. 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
Schools and universities in Iraq will remain closed throughout next week as part of government measures to combat the spread of coronavirus from neighboring Iran.

Iraq's five-months-old protest movement which has been demanding overhaul of the political elite also faces a major scale-down following a new government call to stop all kinds of congregations which risk the outbreak of coronavirus disease.

The ministry of health and environment said in a statement on Sunday, March 1, "We appeal to the Iraqi people to adhere to the recommendations issued to prevent congregating for any reason, including religious occasions, gatherings, demonstrations, wedding events, funeral ceremonies, etc. to protect everyone from the risk of an outbreak of the coronavirus disease." It added that "at a time when the various ministries staff carried out their duties to provide all treatment services for the wounded demonstrators and security forces since the beginning of the protests", it now appeals to the public "to refrain from gathering anywhere so as to protect society."

No immediate statements have yet been issued by the protesters on social media to indicate if the demonstrators would heed the ban on congregations and gatherings, particularly in the main protest hub at Baghdad's downtown Tahrir Square.

On February 29, Iraq announced the detection of five new cases of coronavirus, four in Baghdad and one in Babel province, bringing the total number of cases nationwide to 13. The patients who traveled recently to Iran were placed in quarantine. The first positive case was detected last week in an Iranian religious student in the Shi'ite holy city of Najaf and was transferred back to Iran.

A separate statement issued by the health ministry clarified that tests were being conducted on more than eight thousand Iraqis who visited Iran during the recent period, following the spread of the coronavirus there.

On February 27, the government announced a ban on gatherings in public places such as cinemas, cafes and social clubs for ten days and barred entry by travelers from Kuwait and Bahrain in addition to prohibiting travel to or from a total of nine countries.

Anti-corona measures have been stepped up since last week when Iraq closed its borders to Iranian nationals.

Iraq has cultural and religious ties with Iran and annually receives millions of Iranian pilgrims. The New York Times reported on February 24 that governors of Iraqi provinces bordering Iran were taking the potential for contagion seriously and at least two were personally inspecting the border crossings to ensure that they were being policed and that Iranians were barred from crossing into Iraq.

The report said Qutaybah al-Jubouri, the head of the Iraqi Parliaments Health Affairs Committee, called the coronavirus "a plague" and added his committee was demanding a far more complete closure of all "land, sea and air" borders with Iran "until the disease is completely controlled."

The Associated Press reported on February 27 that in Iraq, where anti-government demonstrators have also been protesting Irans influence in their country, many people have expressed open resentment at Tehrans handling of the crisis as well as the performance of their own Iran-allied caretaker government.

Muhammad Baqir, a 22-year-old protester from Najaf, was quoted as saying, "We sympathize with the Iranian people from a humanitarian point of view, but we will not sympathize with the Iranian government no matter what." He added, "Iran did not offer anything to Iraq. All it did is steal and support militias and now it is exporting viruses", pointing out that the outbreak is sure to blunt the momentum of Iraqs protest movement over contagion fears.

Political analyst Ihsan al-Shammari said the outbreak came at a time when Iraqis already were demonstrating against Iranian interference in their country. He added, "The appearance of the coronavirus and its arrival in Iraq via Iran exacerbates this anger and serves as yet another catalyst against Iran."

Iraqs vital religious tourism sector was already suffering after months of protests and political turmoil before the novel coronavirus arrived from across the border. Agence France-Presse reports that in the southern Shi'ite holy city of Karbala, hotels have closed and face masks are more common on the street than the full-length black veils worn by female pilgrims.

Haidar, who sells rosaries and holy soil from the shrine of Imam Hussein, grandson of Prophet Mohammed, was quoted as saying his business had already been hit hard since mass anti-government protests broke out in October.

Millions of Shi'ite pilgrims, many from neighboring Iran, visit shrines in Karbala and nearby Najaf every year.

Writing in the 'The National Interest', Middle East expert Michael Rubin expressed the opinion that "Iranians may be victims of their governments corruption and opacity but, in the long run, it will be the Iraqis who suffer."

Referring to the economic benefits of religious tourism which is a vital source of national income after oil, he explains that "restaurants, hotels, and malls all rely on the constant flow of Iranian pilgrims. Iran is also Iraqs largest trading partner, and Iranian businessmen are a frequent sight in Iraqi four- and five-star hotels, some of which are the result of Iranian investment."

Rubin adds, "As the Iranian economy has descended into recession and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-owned businesses have also suffered, the Iranian-backed militias in Iraq have shifted their role: rather than receive Iranian largesse, increasingly they utilize their own business interests in Iraq to subsidize their Iranian sponsors."
REUTERS

A middle-aged patient in Washington state became the first person to die from the 2019 novel coronavirus inside the United States, officials said on Saturday as they announced additional cases, including a nursing home that could become the next hot zone.

At least 69 people on American soil have had confirmed cases of the novel 2019 coronavirus, which is believed to have originated in a large seafood and live animal market in Wuhan, Chinawhere it killed thousands before spreading to dozens of other countries. One American also died in China earlier this month.

The U.S. outbreak seemed to reach a new stage over the weekend, with the number of confirmed patients who contracted it locallynot from traveling abroadcreeping up. California announced Saturday that it had recorded a third such community spread case, a patient who was apparently infected by a Santa Clara County woman diagnosed a day earlier.

The person who died in Washington state overnight was a man in his 50s considered at high risk, said Dr. Jeff Duchin, health officer for Seattle and King County.

Dr. Robert Redfield, director of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said there was currently no evidence that the person who died had traveled recently to China or had any contact with someone who hadmaking it another case of community spread or unknown origin.

Its a tough one, but a lot of progress has been made, President Trump said at a press conference Saturday, stressing that the risk to the general population remained low. Were doing really well, he added, under incredibly adverse circumstances... Were prepared.

I want to assure this family that they are in the hearts of every American, said Vice President Mike Pence, who was named this week as czar of the presidents coronavirus task force despite a public-health track record that has come under harsh scrutiny. Pence called Trumps actions in response to the outbreak unprecedented.

Story continues

Pence announced additional travel restrictions on Iran and specific regions in Italy and South Korea. Trump also said he was very strongly considering imposing restrictions on the U.S. border with Mexico.

Pence added that the government had contracted the company 3M to make an extra 30 million face masks, on top of 40 million already available. Let me be very clear: The average American does not need to go out and buy a mask, he said.

The death came amid a surge in cases in Washington overnight. Officials announced three new caseson top of one announced late Fridayincluding the first healthcare worker to test positive in the U.S., and also discussed the first possible outbreak in a longterm care nursing facility.

Duchin said the facility in question was Life Care in Kirkland, Washington. One patient was a woman in her 70s, a resident in serious condition; another patient in the state was said to be a healthcare worker in her 40s who had no known travel outside the U.S. Duchin said the facility had 108 residents and 180 staff, and there were dozens of people in both groups who had experienced symptoms and would be tested.

Italy Shows Just How Crazy Coronavirus Panic Can Get

I would like to say that while there is some spread in some communities, there is not national spread of COVID-19, Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC, said.

Shortly after Duchin announced the outbreak at Life Care, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced he had declared a state of emergency, directing agencies to use all resources necessary to prepare for and respond to the outbreak. This will allow us to get the resources we need, Inslee said. This is a time to take common sense, proactive measures to ensure the health and safety of those who live in Washington state.

Those updates on Saturday bring the total number of cases detected in the American public health system to 22 and the total in the U.S.including repatriated people from Wuhan and the Diamond Princess cruiseto 69.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said more cases were to be expected on American soil but that any single death for us is a real tragedy.

The reported illnesses have ranged from mild symptoms to severe respiratory illness and death and can include symptoms like fever, coughing, and shortness of breath. Symptoms are believed to typically appear between two and 14 days after exposure. Authorities have worked to reassure Americans that the U.S. health system has the capacity to handle a surge of the deadly illness, which has previously had about a two percent fatality rate globally among confirmed cases.

Over the course of several hours on Friday afternoon, officials in California, Washington state and Oregon all announced that residents with no known risk factors had tested positive. In Washington, officials said a high-school student who had been on campus just that morning had the virus. They did not say anything then about the now-deceased patient. In Oregon, a school employee had tested positive and may have exposed an untold number of elementary school staff and students.

Coronavirus Spreads in Oregon, California, Washington. How Many Are Already Infected?

A Washington state student fell sick Monday with fever, body aches, and a headache, and was seen at two clinics in Snohomish County. The teen felt better by Friday morning and returned to Jackson High Schoolonly to be notified soon after that they tested positive, authorities said.

The few students they were in contact with have been notified and will remain home for 14 days with symptom monitoring by the Snohomish Health District, the school district said in a letter to parents.

The Food and Drug Administration on Saturday took new steps to expand testing of novel 2019 coronavirus in hospitals following complaints from labs that the previous requirements for in-house testing development were too onerous.

Under the policy announced Saturday by the FDAs commissioner, Stephen Hahn, due to critical public health needs during this dynamic and evolving situation, labs can begin using their own tests after validating thembut before the FDA has finished reviewing their request for emergency use authorization.

In January, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern and the HHS Secretary Azar declared a public health emergency for the United States to aid the nations health system in responding to the outbreak. Cases have been confirmed in Oregon, Wisconsin, Illinois, Massachusetts, Texas, California, Arizona, and Washington state.

Several major companies have begun to cancel conferences and travel plans within the U.S. over fears of an outbreak, which some have warned could have cascading effects on the travel industry and larger economy. Already, the U.S. stock market had its worst week since the 2008 financial crisis.

The CDC has, in various statements, described its response to the virus so far as both aggressive and unprecedented, even as experts have criticized the agencys ability to quickly provide working diagnostic tests to identify the illness. Both a potential vaccine and drug treatment option are expected to enter clinical trials in April andif successfultranslate to the public market within 12 to 18 months.

Trump Identifies the Real Coronavirus Victim: His Presidency

Meanwhile, around the globe, the viral outbreak that began in Wuhan, China has now infected more than 85,000 people in 40 countries.

Italys Civil Protection Agency announced that it had a total of 1,128 cases on Saturday. South Koreawhich has the largest outbreak outside of mainland Chinaconfirmed more than 800 new cases overnight, as Iran saw a 205-case jump and France banned public gatherings of more than 5,000 people in an effort to slow the spread of its 73 cases on Saturday. Also on Saturday, Ecuador and Qatar confirmed their first cases of the virus.

In North Korea, Kim Jong Un held a high-level meeting in which he ordered all-out efforts to fight the virus and threatened serious consequences if it finds its way into our country.

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.
Caroline Flack's best friend Mollie Grosberg has shared a touching previously-unseen video to Instagram of the late Love Island host.

The clip sees Caroline being filmed by Mollie from across a restaurant table, as the presenter chats animatedly to her friend, clearly trying to cheer her up.

The meet-up happened shortly after Caroline had got off a flight from somewhere, and she is heard jokingly saying: 'First of all, how good a friend am I?'

Memories: Caroline Flack's best friend Mollie Grosberg has shared a touching previously-unseen video to Instagram of the late Love Island host. The clip sees Caroline being filmed by Mollie from across a restaurant table, as the presenter chats animatedly to her friend

Mollie, off-camera, replies: 'Thank you for coming to visit me when I'm sad.'

Caroline went on: 'When I've just landed!'

'Yes, three seconds ago!' Mollie adds, in agreement.

Mollie captioned the Instagram story 'The Bestest', clearly missing Caroline over the weekend, which marks the two-week anniversary of her suicide.

The video ends with the pair jovially talking about the giant spicy brussel sprout on the plate in front of them.

Mollie had been with Caroline the day before her death. She was found the next day by her father at her London home, having hanged herself.

Happier times: Mollie captioned the Instagram story 'The Bestest', clearly missing Caroline over the weekend, which marks the two-week anniversary of her suicide

Missing her: The meet-up happened shortly after Caroline had got off a flight from somewhere, and she is heard jokingly saying - 'First of all, how good a friend am I?' Mollie, off-camera, replies - 'Thank you for coming to visit me when I'm sad'

Last week, Mollie revealed that the late star's dog Ruby is settling into her new home.

The TV producer has been looking after the French Bulldog in the wake of the Love Island host's tragic death on February 15.

On Wednesday, Mollie updated fans on the pooch's progress as she shared a sweet snap of Ruby cuddled up to her fiance.

Sweet: Mollie has revealed that the late star's dog Ruby is settling into her new home, sharing a picture of the dog on Wednesday with her fiance

Alongside the snap she penned: 'These two,' with a series of heart emojis.

Ruby was Caroline's beloved dog, and just one day before she died, she posted her last Instagram photo with the pet pooch that she captioned with a love heart.

Mollie had also posted a picture of Caroline on Valentines Day, the day before she died, which showed her adjusting a television set, apparently in the North London flat where she was staying with another friend, Lou Teasdale.

Tragic: Ruby was Caroline's beloved dog, who Mollie adopted after the Love Island star tragically took her own life earlier this month (pictured with her pet dog in January 2019)

Mollie posted the picture on Instagram, saying: Our funny valentine brought us cookies and oat milk this year.

Following Caroline's tragic death, she said she was now looking after Ruby, saying: Having Ruby is the only thing making us smile right now.

In a heartwrenching photo taken in the days following, Mollie showed Ruby fast asleep on a bed.

She posted the clip accompanied by the words, 'I never want this snoring to stop.'

Last post: Just one day before she died, the former Love Island presenter posted her last Instagram photo, which showed her cuddling her beloved pet, captioned with a love heart

Final picture: Mollie had also posted a picture of Caroline on Valentines Day, the day before she died, which showed her adjusting a television set

Caring: Following Caroline's tragic death, Mollie said she was now looking after Ruby, saying, Having Ruby is the only thing making us smile right now.

TV star Caroline passed away a day after she had been told that the CPS was pursuing the court case against her following an arrest at her home over a row with Lewis Burton in December.

She had pleaded not guilty to assault by beating at Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court in North London on December 23 and was due to go on trial at March 4.

Her management company have criticised the CPS for pressing ahead with what it called her 'show trial' even after Lewis said he did not support it.

The ITV veteran fronted the much-loved show since its revival series in 2015, before handing over her role to pal Laura Whitmore in late 2019.

For confidential help and support please call the Samaritans on 116 123 or visit www.samaritans.org
YEREVAN, MARCH 1, ARMENPRESS. Armenia is not constrained in imposing travel restrictions over the novel coronavirus outbreak, Healthcare Minister Arsen Torosyan told a news conference when asked if the government is considering suspending flights from Italy amid the outbreak in the country.

The outbreak in Italy is in two areas and it is very localized. In big cities, where even many cases are confirmed, these are localized. As of today, we do not see the necessity to suspend flights with Italy, however this doesnt mean that any other decision cant take place later. By the way, these restrictions dont only concern external processes, but also domestic. They concern public events, schools, kindergartens and others. What matters for us is public health, he said.

Torosyan noted that the decisions must be substantiated and proven, and not demanded.

We are not constrained in making decisions around restrictions, as we did it regarding the visa-free regime with China and in case of Iran, he said, referring to Armenias partial closure of the border with Iran and the suspension of the visa waiver with China in an effort to prevent the COVID-2019 from entering Armenia.

At the same time, Torosyan noted that he doesnt think shutting down schools is necessary at this time.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
Kolkata, March 1 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah is visiting Kolkata on Sunday to kickstart the BJP's campaign for local body elections in West Bengal, a precursor to the Assembly polls to be held next year.

Shah will address a rally at Shahid Minar ground here, as he will launch the BJP's campaign song attacking Trinamool Congress. BJP national president J.P. Nadda is also accompanying Shah.

The rally is being organised in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act and Shah is likely to dispel people's fears on this issue. However, whether Shah speaks on the Delhi violence or not remains to be seen.

Shah will participate in various programmes including a party event being organised at Shahid Minar ground. He will also visit Kalighat temple around 4 p.m. and will perform special puja there.

Late in the evening, Shah and Nadda will hold closed door meeting with party legislators to discuss municipal elections to be held in April across the state. The local body polls are seen a big test for the BJP after the Centre passed the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act last year.

Left parties led by the CPI-M have have announced plans to mobilize the students and youths in a big way on the streets of Kolkata to protest against the violence in Delhi,during Shah's visit.
By now, you might think that Gov. Phil Murphy and his team would treat women with respect after they complain about toxic masculinity, that they would admit their mistakes, and be honest about their conduct.

But Brendan Gill, the governors campaign manager and now senior advisor, just plowed through all that. In an interview published Friday, he attacks Julie Roginsky, a senior consultant who was fired days after she complained to Murphy about rank misogyny on the campaign.

Gill dismisses her claims as a fabrication, even though the governor has apologized for the work environment on the campaign. He charges that Roginsky had conflicts of interests he cant define. And he said that her gag order never prevented her from speaking out, a claim that amounts to Trump-level dishonesty.

This, folks, is retaliation. Its an attempt to slime her, and that sends a powerful message to other women who might want to step forward.

So far, Ive spoken with seven women who have complained, and three of them insisted I hide their names because they are afraid of exactly this treatment. How many more women are out there, I can only guess.

Sadly, he knows exactly what he is doing, Roginsky says. Younger, less professionally secure women will read his lies and think twice about coming forward for fear that they will also be lied about and maligned by a man the governor continues to empower.

One of the three campaign workers who spoke to me anonymously said a male staffer ran his hand along her bare thigh during a meeting and cracked, Oh, you shaved today. She described a frat-boy culture, a lot of dick jokes, talking about going to strip clubs during meetings. And she says she didnt complain because I knewI would suffer for it.

Gills interview confirmed that for her. She noted that Gill refers only to Roginskys complaints, when many other women echoed her story. I wish he would be willing to do the hard work of self-reflection to examine why he continues to defame women who speak up, rather than choosing to examine why he allows toxic environments to exist within organizations he manages, the woman said.

For now, shes going to stay in the closet. Who can argue?

Gills statements were published in ROI-NJ, an online news site. The piece quoted Gill extensively, but included not a single word from Roginsky, which leaves her understandably furious.

Give Gill this much: He has a perfect right to deny Roginskys most explosive charge against him, that he screamed the C-word at her during a furious argument over the phone in July of 2017. No one else heard the call, so its a classic he-said, she-said. And given the damage that charge could do to Gills reputation, its understandable that he would repeat his adamant denials.

But he goes well beyond that. He charges that Roginsky had a conflict of interest, hinting that she was working on behalf of others without saying whom. Its McCarthyism, a classic cheap shot.

Thats incredibly damaging to my career, Roginsky says.

In fact, Roginsky, a consultant, shed all her clients but one during the campaign, the Middlesex County Democratic Organization. She told Murphy about it at the start, and he had no objection. What conflict?

Gill also claims Roginsky has always been free to discuss workplace issues, a claim the governor has made as well.

Please. The governors campaign lawyer, Paul Josephson, sent Roginsky a threatening e-mail in May 2019 warning her that the gag order she signed prohibits her from discussing any knowledge or information of any type whatsoever gained during her work on the campaign. Its in writing.

The governor recently apologized to those we failed and promised that any future campaign hes part of will do better. He didnt name any women, or apologize to them directly, and he didnt say what behavior was out of line, so it wasnt the most sincere apology of all time.

But hes miles ahead of Gill, who denies outright that the campaign work environment was toxic for women.

She is entitled to her opinion on what she maybe thought was the environment, he told ROI-NJ, referring to Roginsky. But I just strongly disagree.

That means he strongly disagrees with the governor, too. At a time when Murphy is no doubt hoping his apology will put an end to this discussion, Gill is contradicting him, picking the fight anew to protect his own reputation. Hes gone rogue.

For now, Gill remains a senior political advisor to Murphy. But Im starting to wonder how long that can last.

More: Tom Moran columns

Tom Moran may be reached at tmoran@starledger.com or call (973) 836-4909. Follow him on Twitter @tomamoran. Find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.
Addressing a public meeting on AIMIM's 62nd foundation day, the Hyderabad MP reiterated his charge that the violence happened due to the speeches made by BJP leaders

Hyderabad: Calling the Delhi riots as "targeted structural violence," AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday said the responsibility lies at the doorstep of the BJP government and appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit the affected areas.

Addressing a public meeting on AIMIM's 62nd foundation day, the Hyderabad MP reiterated his charge that the violence happened due to the speeches made by BJP leaders.

"This communal riot happened with full planning and preparation. An atmosphere of hatred was created. It cannot be called a communal riot but it is pogrom," he alleged.

"We were hopeful that you (Prime Minister) might have taken some lesson from 2002 (Gujarat riots) and ensure such thing would not recur...," Owaisi said.

Referring to slogans raised by some youths in Metro stations in Delhi, he said, ".. who are these people telling 'goli maaro desh ke gaddaron ko' (shoot the traitors). Prime Minister this riot happened with planning. This is targetted structural violence and its responsibility is on you."

The responsibility of Delhi violence lies at the doorstep of the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre, he said.

Appleaing to Modi to visit the riot-hit areas in the National Capital, Owaisi wondered whether the Prime Minister would "narrate our pain in monthly radio programme, Mann ki Baat."

He said the Prime Minister did not make a mention of the Delhi violence in his speech in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday though he dwelt on 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas'.

Lashing out at Delhi police, Owaisi charged them with not responding to the calls of Muslims affected by the violence, which rocked parts of northeast Delhi last week claiming at least 42 lives and leaving over 200 injured.

Owaisi further said elected representatives of AIMIM would donate one month salary to the families of those killed in Delhi violence.

He said AIMIM would urge Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao not to allow NPR exercise in the state.
After recently spending N3.6 billion on new cars for its officials, Bauchi State Government said it could not sponsor all the candidates from the state for the Senior Secondary School (WAEC) examinations, because of lack of funds.

In a statement on Friday, the chief of staff to the governor, Ladan Salihu, said the government will sponsor only about 13,000 candidates out of 21,000 available students.

Mr Salihu said the state has pleaded with WAEC to allow parents of the remaining 8,000 candidates to pay for their wards who did not make it on the government sponsored list.

This development is coming days after the state governor, Bala Mohammed, awarded contract to a company in which he has a stake, for the supply of a whopping 105 official vehicles worth N3.6 billion for the use of the governor and other government officials.

Premium Times reports that on Friday, thousands of students from Bauchi public schools protested the governments plan to select some students to benefit from the WAEC sponsorship.

The protesters who barricaded major roads and government buildings, said the plan was against the practice of previous administrations in the state.

But Mr. Salihu said the protesters were sponsored by some elements in the states ministry of education, alleging that the officials are against the governments ongoing reform in the educational sector.

The government is not unaware that some elements in the education sector whose corrupt and lazy activities were stopped by the ongoing reforms are working hard to cause trouble in order to force government to rescind its stand and return to the corrupt practices of the past, he said. They instigated the protesting students and accompanied them to the street. This is unbecoming of any public servant.

He said corruption in WAEC sponsorship is one of the issues that could not be solved by past governments until now.

Mr Salihu further added that many candidates were enrolled for sponsorship which the last two governments found it difficult to settle.

Corrupt officials committed the last government to the tune of N612 million for the 2019 WASSCE alone, of which it failed to settle even a kobo, Mr Salihu said.

He said the state has conducted an aptitude test in all public schools for this purpose. Out of 21,000 students tested, 12,000 have been found eligible.

This figure, in addition to that of special schools, is what made the 13,011 candidate who the government will sponsor this year, Mr Salihu said in the statement.
Nike, Apple and a major manufacturer building trains in Australia are among the dozens of global brands implicated in a new report on forced labour in China, amid growing international concern over the treatment of the Uighur people.

The report, by the US State Department-funded Australian Strategic Policy Institute, alleges some factories that supply the brands appear to be using Uighur workers sent directly from re-education camps.

Nike said it strives to conduct business ethically. Credit:Bloomberg

The Chinese government maintains the camps, which it describes as vocational education facilities, are needed to combat terrorism in the Xinjiang region and to "ensure its smooth economic transition".

It has dismissed claims that up to a million members of the Uighur muslim minority have been detained in the camps as "fake news".
A Perth man has become the first Australian fatality of coronavirus as health authorities reconsider advice for travel to Italy following the growing number of confirmed cases in Europe.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said on Sunday he had asked deputy chief medical officer, Professor Paul Kelly to consider the appropriate level of travel advice for Italy.

The number of confirmed cases in Italy rose overnight from 821 to 1128. Eight more people died from the illness, bringing the death toll to 29 in what is the worst COVID-19 cluster outside Asia.

In Perth, a 78-year-old, who has not been named, died at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Former Vice President Joe Biden smiles as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) (L) looks on during the Democratic presidential primary debate at the Charleston Gaillard Center in Charleston, South Carolina, on Feb. 25, 2020. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Bidens South Carolina Victory Fuels Momentum for Super Tuesday

Sanders leads Democratic field in delegates, fundraising

Former Vice President Joe Biden scored a resounding victory in the South Carolina Democratic presidential primary election on Feb. 29.

The victory breathed life into his campaign after lackluster performances in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada, setting the stage for a high-stakes showdown on Super Tuesday.

With 100 percent of the precincts reporting, 48.4 percent of South Carolina residents voted for Biden. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) came in a distant second with 19.9 percent.

Biden and Sanders earned 33 and 11 South Carolina delegates to the national convention, respectively. Sanders still leads the field in total delegates with 56. Biden is in second place with 48 delegates.

Billionaire Tom Steyer, who came in third in South Carolina and earned no delegates after four state primary contests, dropped out of the race after spending more than $191 million on his bid.

The victory in South Carolina was essential for Biden after he lost the primary contest in three states and dropped to second place in national polling to a surging Sanders.

News from South Carolina will still be fresh as voters in 14 states head to polling places to cast their votes on March 3, Super Tuesday.

More than 34 percent of the total delegates1,357 of the 3,979are up for grabs on the decisive day in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Virginia.

Average polling data by Real Clear Politics as of March 1 showed Sanders in first place in six of the eight most populous Super Tuesday states, including California, Texas, and North Carolina. Biden was in the lead in North Carolina, and no recent polls were conducted in Tennessee.

No candidate held a clear second place in terms of polling across the board in Super Tuesday states, setting up for a potential major victory for Sanders and a mixed bag of outcomes for the rest of the field.

On the heels of the South Carolina victory, Biden vowed he would improve his campaign operation, his fundraising haul, and his own performance and made the case that hes the candidate who can win up and down the ballot and in states beyond those voting on Super Tuesday.

I feel good, Biden said on ABCs This Week. I can win, and I can bring along Democratic victories.

Sanders led in fundraising hauls announced March 1 with an eye-popping $46.5 million for February, his campaign said. The self-described democratic socialist said its not the total amount that should impress, but the enthusiasm of working people digging into their pockets for his candidacy.

No campaign out there has a stronger grassroots movement than we do, Sanders said on CBSs Face the Nation. Thats how you beat Trump.

Fellow progressive Elizabeth Warren brought in $29 million last month, and Biden trailed with $18 million, but he said he raised $5 million in the previous 24 hours, which is more than any previous day in his campaign.

Billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who is financing his own campaign and has poured over $500 million into advertising, will appear on the ballots for the first time on Super Tuesday.

Seven candidates remain in the Democrats quest to find the strongest possible nominee to take on President Donald Trump in November.

Pressure is mounting on the trailing candidates to justify their campaigns or step aside so Biden can engage in a more direct match-up against Sanders.

Its not for me to tell another candidate to get out of the race, Biden said on Fox News Sunday.

Biden made his own direct attack on Sanders, saying, The people arent looking for revolution. Theyre looking for results.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Celine Dion has long been known for her limitless vocal range and earth-shattering songs.

But the Perfect Goodbye artist has also given fans some visual treats with her eccentric sense of style.

The French-Canadian crooner cut a cool look Saturday in Balenciaga streetwear after her concert in New York City.

Streetwear look: Celine Dion cut a cool look in Balenciaga streetwear after her concert in New York City Saturday

The 51-year-old donned an oversized navy blue and neon green windbreaker with the brand's name printed across the middle.

The jacket was zipped to the top and paired with navy blue joggers, featuring white stripes down the sides.

She finished the ensemble with diamond stud earrings and a pair of chunky white trainers.

Dion struck a few poses outside Barclays Center in Brooklyn after her concert as she headed back to her hotel.

Neon chic: The 51-year-old donned an oversized navy blue and neon green windbreaker with the brand's name printed across the middle

Casual cool: The jacket was zipped to the top and paired with navy blue joggers, featuring white stripes down the sides

Strike a pose: She finished the ensemble with diamond stud earrings and a pair of chunky white trainers. Dion struck a few poses outside Barclays Center in Brooklyn after her concert as she headed back to her hotel

The Canadian national treasure is currently in the middle of the North American leg of her Courage World Tour.

She recently released an Apple Music short Behind Celine Dions Courage, a documentary about her latest album.

In the film, she discusses moving on from husband Rene Angelil, who died in 2016 of throat cancer at age 73.

Dion told People: 'I feel good these days. Its no secret that Ive gone through some tough times, obviously losing my husband and my brother a few years ago, and my mother very recently.

Healing wounds: She recently released an Apple Music short Behind Celine Dions Courage, in which she opens up about the death of husband Rene Angelil

Beloved mother: She announced the death of her mother Therese last month

Paying tribute: She paid tribute at her Miami show the next night with a performance of Over the Rainbow

'Life presents challenges to us and we try to find ways to move on. Music can be a healing force, and the songs on my new album have helped me find new strength in my life.'

She announced the death of her mother Therese last month, paying tribute at her Miami show the next night with a performance of Over the Rainbow.

The Power of Love artist recently took to Instagram to thank her fans for their support after her loss.

She wrote: 'On behalf of my entire family, I would like to thank all of you for your expressions of sympathy, which have touched us very deeply.'
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.
Ministers are to launch a public information blitz in the coming days, as Boris Johnson prepares emergency measures to respond to a potential outbreak of coronavirus in the UK.

Ahead of a meeting of the governments emergency committee Cobra on Monday, the prime minister admitted the virus may very well be challenging in the weeks and months ahead.

It comes after a further three patients in England tested positive for coronavirus, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the UK to 23. So far, more than 10,000 people have been tested for the virus, also known as Covid-19.

On Friday, Mr Johnson was urged to get a grip of the situation, as Labour described him a part-time prime minister for failing to show leadership and inform UK citizens of action being taken by the government.

Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty Show all 10 1 /10 Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty A man wearing a face mask crosses a road in Wuhan, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus outbreak. Reuters Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty A view of the empty entrance to the UniversitA Cattolica (Catholic University) in Milan, northern Italy, on 24 February, 2020. EPA Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty Empty streets in Daegu, South Korea, on 23 February, 2020. EPA Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty Empty streets in Daegu, South Korea, on 23 February 2020. EPA Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty A lone sanitation worker sits near the closed Hankou Railway Station in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, on February 24, 2020. Reuters Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty A view of a deserted street in Codogno, northern Italy, on February 23, 2020. EPA Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty Italian police officers set a road block in Codogno, Northern Italy, on Monday, Feb. 24, 2020. AP Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty A supermarket closed in Codogno, one the northern Italian towns placed under lockdown, on February 23, 2020. EPA Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty A lone cyclist wearing sanitary masks pedals in the center of Codogno, Northern Italy. LaPresse via AP Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty An empty road at the entrance of the small Italian town of Codogno on February 23, 2020. AFP via Getty

Downing Street said the governments pandemic preparation will now include a public awareness campaign, featuring posters and social media adverts highlighting the importance of hand-washing to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Next week the government and devolved administrations will publish a joint document that will outline the steps government will take to manage coronavirus if there is a sustained UK epidemic, No 10 added.

If the virus spreads, emergency measures could be introduced, such as the the registration of health professionals who have retired in order to relieve pressure on the NHS, and the relaxation of rules around staff and pupil ratios in schools.

Speaking on Saturday, the prime minister said: Coronavirus may very well be challenging in he weeks and months ahead. But I have no doubt that with the help of the NHS and its incomparable staff this country will get through it  and beat it.

The health secretary Matt Hancock added: Public safety is our top priority. Our battle plan will ensure that as this escalates every part of the government is working together to share the responsibility of tackling the health, economic and social impacts of Covid-19.

The government and the NHS are working 24/7 to fight this virus, but cannot do this alone. Every single person has a role to play in helping to manage the spread of the virus  whether thats washing your hands more often, catching your sneezes, and following clinical advice by calling NHS 111, not going to A&E, if you develop symptoms.

More than 85,000 people worldwide have been infected with coronavirus. Most of the 2,850 deaths have been in China, where the outbreak began last year.
Stanley Lifestyles, a Bengaluru-based maker of premium furniture and home decor products, has diversified into premium leather bags and shoes as part of its derisking strategy.

The automobile industry slowdown has impacted our car upholstery business severely resulting in 30% decline in revenues this year. So, we decided to expand our product portfolio and launched leather bags and shoes, the companys chairman and managing director Sunil Suresh told DH.

He said the company has just opened its first new-gen retail outlet in Bengaluru under the brand Stanley Level Next. It plans to retail leather bags and shoes through Stanley Level Next outlets, while other products like sofas and mattresses will be retailed through Sofas & More stores, he said.

The company plans to open five more Stanley Level Next outlets with an investment of Rs 20 crore during the next fiscal. It also plans to expand its omnichannel mid-segment furniture outlets branded as Sofas & More, from the present 7 stores to 60 stores with an investment of Rs 50 crore in the next two years.

As part of its expansion strategy, Stanley Lifestyles is also entering overseas markets through Swedish retail giant Ikea. We are currently supplying 100,000 sofa seaters to Ikea annually. We will increase it to 300,000 sofa seaters per annum by 2021. Going forward our exports will be expanded from West Asia and Eastern Europe to many other countries, Suresh said.

Currently, the company is exporting Rs 40 crore worth of furniture and aims to increase it to Rs 110 crore by end of FY21. It will mainly export fabric and imitation leather sofas to Ikea.

Stanley Lifestyles, which started operations in 1996 with contracts to supply car seat covers to General Motors, has now expanded to complete home solutions starting from kitchen cabinets to bedroom solutions like mattresses, wardrobes and living room solutions like sofas and recliners among others.

Our aim is to provide complete home solutions. Anyone investing more than Rs 1 crore on a new house can get the home solutions starting from kitchen to bedroom and living rooms from us. We have products for the entire house from Rs 30 lakh to Rs 70 lakh, Suresh said.

Expansion of capacity

Committed to the Make in India initiative, Stanley plans to expand its 3.5 lakh sq. feet manufacturing facility in Bengaluru, with an additional 2 lakh sq. feet to meet the growing demand and looks to increase its employee base from 1,200 to 5,000 in the next five years. The company has commissioned two new factories in 2019, one for kitchen and wardrobes and the other for premium mattress and bedding, with an investment of Rs 15 crore, he said.

Stanley is present across 20 exclusive stores and 30 sales points in 10 Indian cities, which include Delhi, Mumbai, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Kochi. It plans to grow further into major metros this year. Once the expansion into domestic and export markets is completed, Stanley aims to achieve a turnover of Rs 700 crore by FY25 from its current sales of Rs 360 crore, he added.

A pioneer in premium leather sofas in India, Stanley Lifestyles has also opened the countrys largest multi-brand anchor store  Global Living Emporio.

It is spread across an area of 1,00,000 sq. feet with 5 floors and houses over 40 internationally renowned furniture brands. It offers premium luxury furniture designs, kitchens, and wardrobes for every aspect of the home. Stanleys wide portfolio also includes  Stanley Boutique, its legacy stores that primarily sell sofas and recliners.

Overseas acquisition

Stanley Lifestyles is also looking at acquiring retail and wholesale outlets in countries like Germany, the UK, Canada and America for expanding its overseas operations. It plans to manufacture products in Bengaluru and export to these countries.

The current market opportunity in these countries is in excess of $100 billion and they are dependent on China for manufacturing. We want to acquire some of those premium retail outlets and supply our products made in Bengaluru, Suresh added.
Ashraf Ghani, the Afghan president, has rejected a Taliban demand for the release of 5,000 prisoners as a condition for talks with the Afghan government and civilians.

His remarks come against the backdrop of the difficulties US negotiators face in shepherding the Afghan government and Taliban towards intra-Afghan negotiations, according to western diplomats.

The government of Afghanistan has made no commitment to free 5,000 Taliban prisoners, Mr Ghani said on Sunday, the day after a US-Taliban deal was signed in Qatar to start a political settlement aimed at ending Americas longest war.

The accord said the US and the Taliban were committed to work quickly to release combat and political prisoners as a confidence-building measure, with the coordination and approval of all relevant sides.

It said that up to 5,000 jailed Taliban members would be released in exchange for up to 1,000 Afghan government captives by 10 March.

Afghanistan conflict: When War Comes Home  photo exhibition Show all 10 1 /10 Afghanistan conflict: When War Comes Home  photo exhibition Afghanistan conflict: When War Comes Home  photo exhibition Zakhem | Wounds: When War Comes Home Walas Bibi, 10 (left), was wounded in her arm and stomach by two bullets during a shoot-out between the army and the Taliban. Zubaida, 8 (right), was wounded in her legs by shrapnel from a bomb as she went to fetch water Giulio Piscitelli Afghanistan conflict: When War Comes Home  photo exhibition Zakhem | Wounds: When War Comes Home Jawidullah Muhamad Khan, 12, from Ghazni, wounded during a bombing near his home as he came back from school with some friends. He lost four fingers and was injured in his leg in multiple places during the raid, which hit everyone in the area Giulio Piscitelli Afghanistan conflict: When War Comes Home  photo exhibition Zakhem | Wounds: When War Comes Home Ambulance transport for two young wounded men Giulio Piscitelli Afghanistan conflict: When War Comes Home  photo exhibition Zakhem | Wounds: When War Comes Home Noorahad, 12, from the Marjah area, hit by a bullet while he was simply sleeping in his bed at home Giulio Piscitelli Afghanistan conflict: When War Comes Home  photo exhibition Zakhem | Wounds: When War Comes Home Anahita, 18, hit by a bullet while her husband was cleaning his gun. She risked losing her right leg, as her thigh bone was broken Giulio Piscitelli Afghanistan conflict: When War Comes Home  photo exhibition Zakhem | Wounds: When War Comes Home A rehabilitation session for Mujahid, 10, wounded in a shoot-out between the Taliban and Afghan army near his home in the Nad Ali area Giulio Piscitelli Afghanistan conflict: When War Comes Home  photo exhibition Zakhem | Wounds: When War Comes Home Mafton, 5, wounded in a clash between the Afghan army and Taliban militias in Tagab district, in Kapisa province. When a rocket exploded, he lost his left eye and his chest was wounded all over Giulio Piscitelli Afghanistan conflict: When War Comes Home  photo exhibition Zakhem | Wounds: When War Comes Home A father speaks with first aid staff looking after his son, wounded by an explosive device Giulio Piscitelli Afghanistan conflict: When War Comes Home  photo exhibition Zakhem | Wounds: When War Comes Home Nurses in Kabul take care of Somaya, 1, who had surgery on her right foot, wounded by shrapnel from an explosive device Giulio Piscitelli Afghanistan conflict: When War Comes Home  photo exhibition Zakhem | Wounds: When War Comes Home A patient left wounded by the explosion of a car bomb is treated in Kabul Giulio Piscitelli

However, on the issue of the prisoner swap, Mr Ghani said: It is not in the authority of United States to decide, they are only a facilitator.

Saturdays accord was signed by US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban political chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, witnessed by Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state.

After the ceremony, Mr Baradar met foreign ministers from Norway, Turkey and Uzbekistan in Doha along with diplomats from Russia, Indonesia and neighbouring nations, the Taliban said, a move that signalled the groups determination to secure international legitimacy.

The dignitaries who met Mullah Baradar expressed their commitments towards Afghanistans reconstruction and development ... the US-Taliban agreement is historical, said Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid.

Donald Trump, the US president, rejected criticism around the deal and said he would meet Taliban leaders in the near future.

Mr Ghanis aides said Mr Trumps decision to meet the Taliban could pose a challenge to the government at a time when the US troop withdrawal becomes imminent.

Under the agreement, Washington is committed to reducing the number of its troops in Afghanistan to 8,600 from 13,000 within 135 days of signing.

It will also work with allies to proportionally reduce the number of coalition forces in Afghanistan over that period.

A full withdrawal of all US and coalition forces would occur within 14 months, the joint statement said.

The withdrawal, however, depends on security guarantees by the Taliban, who ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 and imposed many restrictions on women and activities it deemed un-Islamic.

After being ousted from power in 2001, the Taliban has led a violent insurgency.

The Afghan war has been a stalemate for more than 18 years, with the Taliban increasingly controlling or contesting more territory, yet unable to capture and hold major urban centres.

Reuters
A fourth Victorian passenger who was on the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan has tested positive for coronavirus.

A Victorian patient diagnosed with coronavirus arrives at Essendon Airport from Darwin Credit:Nine News

Victorian health minister Jenny Mikakos said the passenger, a man in his 70s, was evacuated from a Northern Territory-based quarantine camp to a metropolitan Melbourne hospital on Sunday morning. He arrived at Essendon Airport in Melbourne's north-west on Sunday afternoon.

A Perth man who had been on the Diamond Princess became the first Australian victim of coronavirus in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The 78-year-old, who has not been named, died at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital after he was evacuated from Darwin earlier this month with his wife, who has also tested positive to the virus.
Oxford English dictionary in its January 2020 update and added 29 words of Nigerian origin to acknowledge the unique ways in which they use English and their contribution to the language as a global medium of communication. While many Nigerians expressed a great sense of pride, some are debating about what constitutes proper English. The words taken into the oxford English dictionary is from Pidgin, a mix of local languages and English, which many fundamentalists in the country consider 'street words'.

Read: Aadhaar, Dabba, Hartal, Shaadi Make It To Oxford Dictionary

29 Nigerian words in OED

According to reports, Nigeria has the largest population in the African continent with over 250 million people residing in the country. There are about 250 different languages spoken in Nigeria with English as their official state language and is also used in schools. However, over the century, the former British colony has developed its own form of English, which is known as Nigerian English. As per reports, many authors in the country have raised objection to the adding of Pidgin words in the Oxford English dictionary as they believe it is tampering with the colonial language.

Read: India Requests UK Museum At Oxford For Ancient Idol Stolen From Tamil Nadu Temple

One such word added in the Oxford English dictionary is Sef, which according to a release by the OED, is an adverb borrowed from Pidgin, which itself could have been an adverbial use of either the English adjective safe or the pronoun self. The word was first used by Nigerian author Ben Okris novel Flowers and Shadows, published in 1980. According to the Oxford English dictionary, "By taking ownership of English and using it as their own medium of expression, Nigerians have made, and are continuing to make, a unique and distinctive contribution to English as a global language."

Read: Oxford Union Staff Drags Out Blind Student By His Ankles During Debate

Another addition of Nigerian English word to the OED is Kannywood, which is the youngest of the words in the recent batch. Kannywood was first used in 2002, which is the name for the Hausa-language film industry based in the city of Kano. It is a play on Hollywood, following the model of Nollywood, the more general term for the Nigerian film industry that was added to the OED in 2018. Other Nigerian English words that were added recently are agric, barbing, buka, bukateria, chop, chop-chop, danfo, to eat money, in eat, ember months, flag-off, to flag off in flag, gist, guber, K-leg, mama put, next tomorrow, non-indigene, okada, to put to bed, in put, qualitative, to rub minds (together) in rub, sef, send-forth, severally, tokunbo, zoning.

Read: Oxford Dictionary Gets Hep; Adds 'Chillax', 'sumfin', 'Whatevs' & More

Lead Image Credit: AP


Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2020 > The Litmus Test

From N.C.s Writings

The menace of communalism looms large in this country today perhaps more than at any time before. With all the dire warnings being sounded repeatedly against the danger of destabilisation, the government so far has done very little to halt the advance of vicious communal hatred leading to orgies of violence in different parts of the country. It is amazing that while the Prime Minister concedes that there has been a deterioration in the communal situationas he did at the meeting of the Standing Committee of the National Integration Council on June 23the problem has not yet been taken up with a sense of urgency that it deserves.

While the rathayatra procession in Gujarat a few days ago passed off without any recrudescence of largescale violencethanks of the massive arrangements involving even the Armythe situation in Meerut continues to be grave. Despite all the big talks against communalism that one hears from Ministers and political party leaders, there is no sign on their part to take up Meerut as a test case to demonstrate, by all of them, their secular bonafides.

In this context, it is astounding that the Home Minister of India should allow himself to be misled by the UP Government into claiming that most of the missing persons from the village of Maliana have now returned to their homes, thereby trying to disprove the charge of independent journalists about cold-blooded killings in that village by the PAC. It is known that the UP Chief Minister in his anxiety to placate the strong Hindu elements in Meerutmany of whom were enraged by the failure of the UP Police to protect their propertygave a free rein to the PAC to commit the ghastly crime against the Muslim minority in the nearby Maliana. And when the Maliana massacre attracted widespread public condemnation, the same Chief Minister has been cooking up reports that most of the missing persons have returneda patent lie.

When a Chief Minister resorts to such fiendish tactics for furthering his political game, one can imagine how hollow is the governments assurance that the Babri mosque-Ram Janmabhoomi dispute would be seriously taken up soon for settlement.

The guilty PAC has been magnified into a prestige issue: if the government takes action against it, then it would be considered as a surrender to Muslim clamour. It is in this context that one has to understand why the Prime Minister is dodging the demand for the overhaul of the force and the representation of the Muslim-minority in its composition.

This brings one to the more serious lapse on the part of the authorities in the matter of enforcement of the existing laws and regulations to combat communalism. The report of the Haksar group of the National Integration Council, which its Standing Committee discussed on June 23, has revealed that all laws in this respect are systematically flouted: it has recommended that the existing laws, both of Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code, should be impartially and strictly enforced in order to reinforce the faith of every citizen that the State or States of India are actuated not only by law but by a sense of justice. It has gone further and insisted that even a token enforcement of one single issue of communal sensitivity, which the authorities are supposed to enforce, would bring a sense of credibility to the debates of the National Integration Council. The obvious conclusion is that such credibility is seriously lacking today.

The litmus test for the Rajiv Government in this matter of grave national concern lies in its handling of the explosive situation in Uttar Pradesh. If the Centre has to get back its credibility on this score, there can be no other option but to overhaul the UP Government, if necessary, to bring it under Presidents Rule. The utter failure, if not abetment and complicity, of the State Government in the handling of the mounting communal tension in this far-flung State can hardly be ignored. Unless and until Rajiv Gandhi, both in his capacity as the Prime Minister and as the President of the Congress-I, intervenes in the mess in UP, his and his governments commitment to secularism would be gravely compromised apart from the fact that such inaction will lead to a dangerous upsurge of communalism which threatens to disintegrate the nation.

(Mainstream,July 4, 1987)
DETROIT  A career-criminal-turned-informant who police say killed six people in a crime spree that ended with him shooting himself in the head has died.

Detroit police said Kenyel Brown died Friday, four days after officers chased him down in a backyark in suburban Oak Park, where Brown had hopped fences to elude officers before ultimately turning a gun on himself.

Officers heard a single gunshot, which ended their massive manhunt for Brown, whom police had linked to six deaths in six weeks. Police said the killings, which happened in January and February, were not random and involved drugs, money or both.

Brown also was wanted for two carjackings in Detroit, which occurred 19 minutes apart on Feb. 21. The next day, the crime spree ended with a sixth person killed.

Brown's case has triggered controversy and finger-pointing as he allegedly carried out these crimes weeks after a federal judge released him back into society following a probation violation, rather than locking him back up.

Cold case: After 36 years, DNA evidence and genealogy help to ID a murder victim and her killer

The same day U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman set Brown free and ended his supervised release Oct. 29  a move that was requested by a federal law enforcement agency  the ex-convict was hired as an informant for a Detroit police and Drug Enforcement Administration task force.

Nine weeks later, police said, he claimed his first victim in River Rouge. Less than a month later, he killed two more people in River Route on the same day, police said.

At the time of the double-homicide on Feb. 2, Brown was still an informant for the Detroit police. The next day, after learning that Brown was tied to the two killings, police said they ended Brown's job as an informant.

But the killings continued.

Two weeks after his informant job was terminated, police said, Brown was linked to three more killings: one in Highland Park and two in Detroit.

The first Detroit death happened Feb. 20.

Story continues

The next day, Brown pulled off two carjackings in Detroit, within 19 minutes of each other, police said.

Twenty-four hours later, another death happened in Detroit. Police believe it was Brown's sixth and final victim as they closed in on him two days later. On Monday, after a clerk at an adult bookstore on 8 Mile Road spotted Brown from news reports, officers chased him down in Oak Park, where Brown fired his final shot that ended his reign of terror.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Kenyel Brown, suspected of 6 Detroit-area killings, dies after chase
Editors note: The Journal-Courier has been working with a group of business and community leaders to shine a light on the importance of the sometimes behind-the-scenes work taking place to improve the present and build for the future of our hometown.



Last week, the Jacksonville Regional Economic Development Corp. hosted our annual meeting with investors and allies as our invited guests. The event allowed our organization the opportunity to recognize two Jacksonville businesses that are actively increasing the economic strength of our region: Reynolds Consumer Products and Cedarhurst Senior Living of Jacksonville.

It is forward-thinking businesses like these that provide good-paying jobs for our region and increase the tax base to maintain and improve infrastructure at the local and county levels.

While my tenure at the JREDC has been relatively short, the annual meeting gave me the opportunity to reflect on recent achievements. I am especially grateful to my colleague, Bonni Waters, who has shared with me her institutional knowledge and provided valuable direction. Together, with the JREDC executive board, Bonni and I identified our 2019 goals.

One year later, I am encouraged by the progress we achieved.

Our efforts were guided by JREDCs five-year regional plan, adopted by the board of directors in 2018. In addition, the executive board outlined three areas in which our work was to be directed: achieve greater visibility of our organization, explore ways to develop the regions workforce and build retention strategies to maintain and expand our relationships with current industry leaders and investors.

Local and regional media  including the Journal-Courier  have been extremely welcoming to me in my new role, helping me communicate the work of JREDC to the public. To date, I have written more than 40 newspaper columns, conducted a dozen media interviews and recorded a handful of public service announcements  all with the intent of making JREDC more visible with the greater goal of strengthening this regions economy. In addition, authoring quarterly newsletters and increasing the JREDCs social media presence have renewed the credibility of our organization with the Jacksonville region.

But perhaps the most important effort in this realm is an updated, vibrant JREDC website.

We are confident our new website, which you can access at www.jredc.org, will serve as a powerful tool for site selectors and entrepreneurs interested in developing business in the region. Our new, robust web presence also includes information about our regions quality of life that will, potentially, attract new residents to our area and strengthen our workforce. In addition, we have included an employment opportunities page that we anticipate will serve as a hub for manufacturers, commercial industry and investors to post job openings.

In addition to increasing our communication efforts among various channels, building relationships has been a key aspect of our work this year for JREDC. Bonni and I continued to develop the valuable relationships forged over the years with JREDC allies and partners, including the Jacksonville Area Chamber of Commerce, Jacksonville Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, Jacksonville Main Street, Scott County Development Corp. and Two Rivers Economic Development District. Additionally, we have had valuable discussions with entities that greatly impact our areas economy, including Illinois College, Jacksonville Center for the Arts, Jacksonville Promise, Jacksonville School District 117, Lincoln Land Community College, MacMurray College, Morgan-Scott CEO, Passavant Area Hospital and many more.

Maintaining a skilled workforce is critical in continuing the tradition of manufacturing excellence in our region. Leaders from Reynolds Consumer Products and CCK Automations have assisted me in understanding their need for a pipeline of skilled workers to ensure future success. While communities across the nation are experiencing the same problem, we realize we must act now to build mitigate the shortage of skilled workers in this area.

To that end, I have been working closely with Jacksonville Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Lisa Musch to develop a program that will educate area high school students about the types of jobs available in this region after graduation. This program has the potential to allow students to begin college-level coursework in the manufacturing field during their high school years that will serve as an introduction to the many skilled positions industries in our region offer.

Maintaining and increasing relationships with our existing industries and investors is critical to the success of our organization. To that end, last spring Bonni and I organized a public tour of Eastgate Industrial Park to celebrate the approximate 250 people Eastgate businesses employ. We are in the early stages of planning a similar effort this summer to showcase the work of Winchester Civic Group.

JREDC also partnered with the chamber to wage a media campaign during the first week in October in observance of National Manufacturing Day. The campaign allowed us the opportunity to thank our manufacturers in Morgan and Scott counties for the 2,200 careers they provide and applaud their commitment to our communities.

I am proud of last years meaningful work, but I also am excited at the prospect of increased opportunities in 2020. Bonni has been working directly with contractors and developers to explain incentives available through the new Jacksonville Regional Enterprise Zone, and we aspire to facilitate federal Opportunity Zone benefits. We also look forward to making announcements of new businesses that want to locate in this region. Workforce development and retention of existing industries will remain at the top of our to do list.

Thank you for joining with the Jacksonville Regional Economic Development Corp.in our effort to move the Jacksonville region forward.

.

Kristin Jamison is president of the Jacksonville Regional Economic Development Corp.
Travellers from across the globe, representing all generations, now have a common interest in activities and experiences that are now influencing, indeed in many cases driving their travel decisions, according to new research from Expedia Group Media Solutions.



The research underscores the notion that cultural and once-in-a-lifetime experiences, exploring new destinations and interactive activities, are ranked by all generations significantly higher than value or a discounted price.



Arabian Travel Market 2020, which takes place at Dubai World Trade Centre from April 19-22, will bring together travel and tourism experts from across the globe to discuss the burgeoning global tours and activities market, which according to New York-based Skift Research, is estimated to be worth $183 billion this year, a 35 per cent increase since 2016.



Although all generations are now looking for activities and experiences, above all else, what makes this market more complex, is the individual preferences and demands of each generation and of course ultimately, the challenge facing marketers trying to engage with them, said Danielle Curtis, exhibition director ME, Arabian Travel Market 2020.



ATM is holding a series of seminars on its Global Stage identifying the latest in hospitality concepts as well as the most recent trends in cultural tourism to future developments in the wellness economy and responsible tourism. And addressing these issues, ATM has recruited industry experts from Kerten Hospitality, Accor, as well as representatives from Abu Dhabi and Ajman tourism boards.



Boomers, born between 1946 and 1964 are the least concerned about budget and are especially interested in sightseeing and in the case of American tourists, 40 per cent will plan their holiday around food and drink. They want safety, security and service and the so-called Platinum Pensioners are a much sought-after demographic  they want to relax and generally avoid long haul trips.



Gen X travellers, who are now typically aged between 40 and 56 years, travel least out of the generations, due to corporate careers, 50 per cent of all leadership roles worldwide are occupied by Gen Xers. As such, they value work-life balance and prefer relaxing holidays to de-stress. Interestingly, 25 per cent of Gen X will accept word of mouth during their decision-making process and are especially drawn towards cultural experiences. Expedia research found that 70 per cent enjoy museums, historical sites and art galleries.



Generation Y or Millennials, who are today aged between 25 and 39, are the most talked about generation and are the undisputed champions of the frequent traveller title, technically adept and the great disrupters. More than anything, Millennials crave adventure and experiential variety and although they are careful with their budget, in gross terms it is the largest submarket by revenue, generated through sheer volume.



Ipsos research in September 2018 concluded that 25 per cent of the Mena regions population is made up of Millennials; 97 per cent are online; 94 per cent are present on at least one social platform; 78 per cent share content weekly; 74 per cent have interacted online with a brand and 64 per cent are always looking for best offers and deals available. This may have something to do with the fact that 41 per cent of Menas Millennials feel overwhelmed by financial burden, and only 70 per cent of those of working age, are actually employed.



One emerging trend travel and tourism experts will be watching is Generation Alpha - the children of the Millennials. According to Skift these kids, born after 2010, will start making their own travel arrangements well before the end of this decade and there is a belief that they are expected to be even more disruptive than their parents, added Curtis.



Finally, Generation Z, those born between 1996 and 2010, aged between 10 and 24 years, spend 11 per cent of their travel budget on activities and tours - the highest of any generation according to Expedia research. What sets this open-minded, interactive generation apart from the others, is that 90 per cent are inspired by peers on social networks and 70 per cent are open to creative ideas. As true digital natives, they are comfortable researching, planning and booking their travel from their mobile phone and yearn for new, unique and authentic experiences.



So, in response, apart from the challenges of marketing to these disjointed generations, the ATM seminars will also be examining how hotels, destinations, attractions, tours and other activities are created, packaged and priced, to meet demand. We will also be launching the Middle Easts first edition of Arival Dubai @ ATM, showcasing the next generation of in-destination trends and innovation, as well as exploring the various opportunities that sector presents, said Curtis.



ATM, considered by industry professionals as a barometer for the Middle East and North Africa tourism sector, welcomed almost 40,000 people to its 2019 event with representation from 150 countries. With over 100 exhibitors making their debut, ATM 2019 showcased the largest ever exhibition from Asia. - TradeArabia News Service
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has liaised with relevant agencies of the Republic of Korea (RoK) and asked for effective treatment of a Vietnamese citizen contracting COVID-19 in Daegu city.

Providing information about the Vietnamese patient, Spokeswoman of the Foreign Ministry Le Thi Thu Hang said on February 29 that the ministry and the Vietnamese Embassy in the RoK have liaised with relevant agencies of the RoK and the RoK Embassy in Hanoi to ask for coordination, information sharing and effective treatment of the patient in Daegu city, one of the two epicenters of the COVID-19 outbreak in the RoK, in accordance with the consensus between the two countries leaders.

The RoK side informed this case to the Health Ministry of Vietnam in line with the International Health Regulations and affirmed that they will ensure health care for this patient, she noted.

Earlier, the RoK government said it will offer free treatment to Vietnamese nationals living in the country if they contract COVID-19.

Also on February 29, two Korean nationals and their Vietnamese interpreter quarantined in the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum were tested negative for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

However, according to regulations, they will stay at the provinces concentrated quarantine facility for 14 days, starting from February 23, since the three had epidemiologic factors related to the acute respiratory disease.

All of them are in stable health condition and havent shown any symptoms of COVID-19. VNA

Major airports suspend receiving passenger flights from South Korea amid COVID-19 The Hanoi-based Noi Bai Airport and Tan Son Nhat Airport in HCM City has suspended receiving flights carrying passengers from the Republic of Korea due to the complicated developments of coronavirus as from March 1.
Minister Tawfik is in Tunis to participate in the 37th session of the Council of Arab Interior Ministers, which kicks off 1 March

Egypt's Interior Minister Mahmoud Tawfik underlined Saturday the need to activate bilateral and multilateral security coordination mechanisms among Arab security services in light of growing security challenges facing Arab countries.

The minister explained that cooperation is needed to confront threats associated with the spread of extremist ideologies.

Tawfik's statement came upon his arrival in Tunisia late Saturday to participate in the 37th session of the Council of Arab Interior Ministers, which kicks off 1 March in Tunis.

The session will be attended by Arab interior ministers, high-level security delegations, as well as representatives from the European Union, Arab League, International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL), the UN Counter-Terrorism Office, and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, among others.

The session is set to discuss a number of issues, including the criteria for listing and delisting on the Arab blacklist of terrorist perpetrators, masterminds and funders, and establishing a working force to monitor terrorist threats and analyse terrorist acts.

The Egyptian interior minister was received at Tunis airport by his Tunisian counterpart.

Minister Tawfik praised "the tireless efforts made by the Tunisian Ministry of Interior and the General Secretariat of the Council of Arab Interior Ministers for the success of the annual ministerial session."

Search Keywords:

Short link:


TOKYO  The coronavirus claimed its first victim in the U.S. Saturday as the number of cases shot up in Iran, Italy and South Korea and the spreading outbreak continued to shake the global economy.

The virus altered daily life around the world as governments moved to combat the contagion. Islams holiest sites were closed to foreign pilgrims, while professional baseball teams played in deserted stadiums in Japan and officials in France advised residents to forgo customary greeting kisses.

The list of countries touched by the virus climbed to nearly 60, with Ireland and Ecuador among the countries reporting their first cases Saturday. More than 85,000 people worldwide have contracted the virus, with deaths topping 2,900.

A man in his 50s with underlying health conditions became the first coronavirus death on U.S. soil. Officials say they arent sure how the man in suburban Seattle acquired the virus, as he had not traveled to any affected areas.

Additional cases in the United States are likely, but healthy individuals should be able to fully recover, President Donald Trump said at a Saturday briefing, where officials announced heightened warnings about travel to certain regions of Italy and South Korea as well as a ban on travel to Iran.

Many cases of the virus have been relatively mild, and some of those infected are believed to show no symptoms at all. But that can allow for easier spread, and concern is mounting that prolonged quarantines, supply chain disruptions and a sharp reduction in tourism and business travel could weaken the global economy or even cause a recession.

South Korea, the second hardest hit country after China, reported 813 new cases Saturday  the highest daily jump since confirming its first patient in late January and raising its total to 3,150.

Italian authorities say the country now has more than 1,100 coronavirus cases, with 29 deaths so far.

Iran is preparing for the possibility of tens of thousands of people getting tested for the virus as the number of confirmed cases spiked again Saturday, an official said. So far, the virus and the COVID-19 illness it causes have killed 43 people out of 593 confirmed cases in Iran.

As governments scrambled to control the spread and businesses wrestled with interruptions, researchers working to better understand the disease reported that the death rate may be lower than initially feared as more mild cases are counted.

A study by Chinese researchers published Friday in the New England Journal of Medicine analyzing 1,099 patients at more than 500 hospitals throughout China calculated a death rate of 1.4%, substantially lower than earlier studies that focused on patients in Wuhan, where it started and has been most severe.

Assuming there are many more cases with no or very mild symptoms, the case fatality rate may be considerably less than 1%, U.S. health officials wrote in an editorial in the journal.

That would make the new virus more like a severe seasonal flu than a disease similar to its genetic cousins SARS, severe acute respiratory syndrome, or MERS, Middle East respiratory syndrome.

Evidence of the virus economic toll continued to mount Saturday, with a new report showing a sharp decline in Chinese manufacturing in February after efforts to contain the virus shut down much of the worlds second-largest economy.

The survey, coming as global stock markets fall sharply on fears that the virus will spread abroad, adds to mounting evidence of the vast cost of the disease that emerged in central China in December and its economic impact worldwide.

The monthly purchasing managers index issued by the Chinese statistics agency and an industry group fell to 35.7 from Januarys 50 on a 100-point scale on which numbers below 50 indicate activity contracting.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced a 270 billion yen ($2.5 billion) emergency economic package to help fight the virus. Abe said at a news conference that Japan is at critical juncture to determine whether the country can keep the outbreak under control ahead of the Tokyo summer Olympics.

Abe, whose announcement this past week of a plan to close all schools for more than a month through the end of the Japanese academic year sparked public criticism, said the emergency package includes financial support for parents and their employers affected by the closures.

Frankly speaking, this battle cannot be won solely by the efforts of the government, Abe said Saturday. We cannot do it without understanding and cooperation from every one of you, including medical institutions, families, companies and local governments.

Even in isolated, sanctions-hit North Korea, leader Kim Jong Un called for stronger anti-virus efforts to guard against COVID-19, saying there will be serious consequences if the illness spreads to the country.

China has seen a slowdown in new infections and on Saturday morning reported 427 new cases over the past 24 hours along with 47 additional deaths. The city at the epicenter of the outbreak, Wuhan, accounted for the bulk of both. The ruling party is striving to restore public and business confidence and avert a deeper economic downturn and politically risky job losses after weeks of disruptions due to the viral outbreak.

In other areas caught up in the outbreak, eerie scenes met those who ventured outside.

Streets were deserted in the city of Sapporo on Japans northernmost main island of Hokkaido, where a state of emergency was issued until mid-March. Tokyo Disneyland and Universal Studios Japan announced they would close, and big events were canceled, including a concert series by the K-pop group BTS.

In France, the archbishop of Paris advised parish priests not to administer communion by placing the sacramental bread in worshippers mouths. Instead, priests were told to place the bread in their hands. The French government cancelled large indoor events.

Saudi Arabia closed off Islams holiest sites in Mecca and Medina to foreign pilgrims, disrupting travel for thousands of Muslims already headed to the kingdom and potentially affecting plans later this year for millions more ahead of the fasting month of Ramadan and the annual hajj pilgrimage.

Tourist arrivals in Thailand are down 50% compared with a year ago, and in Italy  which has the most reported cases of any country outside of Asia  hotel bookings are falling and Premier Giuseppe Conte raised the specter of recession.

The head of the World Health Organization on Friday announced that the risk of the virus spreading worldwide was very high, while U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the window of opportunity for containing the virus was narrowing.

Economists have forecast global growth will slip to 2.4% this year, the slowest since the Great Recession in 2009, and down from earlier expectations closer to 3%. For the United States, estimates are falling to as low as 1.7% growth this year, down from 2.3% in 2019.

Despite anxieties about a wider outbreak in the U.S., Trump has defended measures taken and lashed out at Democrats who have questioned his handling of the threat.

At a political rally Friday night in North Charleston, South Carolina, Trump asserted that Democratic complaints about his handling of the virus threat are their new hoax, echoing similar past complaints by the president about the Russia investigation and his impeachment.

Trump accused Democrats of politicizing the coronavirus threat and boasted about preventive steps hes ordered in an attempt to keep the virus from spreading across the United States.

___

Klepper reported from Providence, R.I. Associated Press writers Joe McDonald in Beijing, Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, John Leicester in Paris, Deb Riechmann and Darlene Superville in Washington, Adam Geller, Joseph Pisani and Edith M. Lederer in New York, Hyung-jin Kim and Tong-hyung Kim in Seoul, South Korea, Renata Brito and Giada Zampano in Venice, Italy, Frances DEmilio in Rome, Paul Wiseman, Christopher Rugaber in Washington, Marilynn Marchione in Milwuakee and Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed to this report.
With the aim of exploring new markets for the Omani industries, the Omani Products Exhibition (OPEX 2020) kicked off on February 29 in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, under the patronage of Soraya Hakuziyaremye, Rwandas Minister of Trade and Industry.



The inaugural event, which runs till March 3, was attended by Ahmed bin Hassan Al Dheeb, undersecretary of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and a number of officials and businessmen from Oman and Rwanda.

Held at the Kigali Convention Centre, the exhibition is featuring more than 80 Omani businesses of various industries including food and beverage, plastics, textiles, metals and minerals, construction, logistics, among others.



The major four-day event aspires to boost trade relations between Oman and Rwanda as B2B meetings between the Omani business representatives and their Rwandan counterparts are scheduled to be held alongside the exhibition.



Agreements

Two business agreements were signed during the inaugural event. The first agreement was signed between Titronic Middle East Technical Services, which is based at Suhar Industrial City, and Al Rashdi International General Trading to export products to the Rwandan market.



The second agreement was signed between the National Pharmaceutical Industries Company (NPI), which is based at Al Rusayl Industrial City, and the Rwandan company Sun Enterprises. As per the agreement, NPI products will be registered, promoted and distributed in the Rwandan market and hospitals.



Business relations

Speaking at the event, Soraya Hakuziyaremye, Rwandas Minister of Trade and Industry stated that the B2B meetings that will take place on the sidelines of the exhibition will present an opportunity to enhance the business relations between Rwanda and Oman.



Al Dheeb commented on the key role played by OPEX 2020 in boosting business ties between Oman and Rwanda. Al Dheeb noted that there are successful Omani investments in Rwanda in the tourism and education sectors.



On his part, Ayman bin Abdullah Al Hasani, chairman of OPEX Organising Committee, pointed out that Africa is offering promising markets for the Omani products and there is a growing demand for these high-end products in the African markets.



Organised by a committee formed by the Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (Madayn), Public Authority for Investment Promotion and Export Development (Ithraa), and Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI); the Omani Products Exhibition in Rwanda aspires to enhance the sultanates presence on the global trade map, explore new markets for the Omani products in Rwanda and the neighbouring African countries, observe promising trade opportunities and deals, and strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries. - TradeArabia News Service
"Serving in the military changes you. The shades and degrees of change vary for everyone, but no one is ever the same as...
Upon reading the business article (Grabbing and going, Feb. 27) regarding the Amazon grocery store without checkout lines, I cried "oh no again. The Elk Grove Village Walmart has only one register that is manned by a living, breathing person. So, too, at the Home Depot. PBS host Mr. Rogers must be rolling in his grave. There are fewer and fewer people in my neighborhood. I, for one, enjoy speaking to the person at the register. Its important to me to make eye contact and sincerely thank someone for doing his or her job.
STATEN ISLAND -- After pageant winners were barred from the Staten Island St. Patricks Parade due to safety concerns, the Islands district attorney and top cop questioned parade organizers assessment.

The New York City Police Department is in charge of the safety of the people here marching at the parade. I trust them. I would leave that for them to decide, and I dont think thats really a very valid argument, said District Attorney Michael McMahon of the parade organizers decision to ban Miss Staten Island 2020 Madison LInsalata and other pageant winners from marching in the parade.

Over the last two weeks, Island and citywide politicians vowed to protest Sundays annual St. Patricks Parade after the Staten Island Pride Center was prevented from marching with its banner by Larry Cummings, head parade organizer.

Before the annual parade, the whos who in politics gather at Jodys Club Forest off Forest Avenue along the parade route. This year, hundreds of people, including local politicians and civic leaders, packed into Jodys before the march.

MISS STATEN ISLAND BANNED

On Saturday, Miss Staten Island 2020 Madison LInsalata, announced publicly she was bisexual and planned on to wear a rainbow-colored scarf while waving from the back of a convertible along the parade route in West Brighton.

But hours after her announcement made headlines, Parade Organizer Larry Cummings called pageant director Jim Smith to inform him all pageant winners, the cars they were set to ride in and the drivers, were banned from the parade for safety reasons, Smith confirmed.

Cummings did not respond to Advance requests for comment over the weekend.

In terms of the safety of the parade, thats our job, Staten Islands top cop Assistant Chief Kenneth Corey, told the Advance. Thats what were here for, to keep people safe.

Corey said there were hundreds of police officers, both in uniform and plain clothes, along Forest Avenue parade route and that the NYPD had brought in a K-9 unit, heavy weapons team, and set up a special camera system feeding into a livestream as reinforcement along the route.

I think that was an excuse; it was blatant discrimination, said Carol Bullock, Pride Center executive director.

Cummings previously told The Irish Voice newspaper: Gays can march, but not under a banner, indicating that representatives from the Pride Center could march as individuals, just not with its banner.

But McMahon said Cummings decision to bar LInsalata from marching altogether appeared to stand in contrast from his parade organizers previous position.

On Sunday, parade organizers also prevented Councilman Joe Borelli (R-South Shore) from marching in the parade. He was wearing a small rainbow flag lapel pin on his jacket and said parade marshals physically blocked him from marching.

She is Miss Staten Island, and I think she wanted to wear her scarf as I understood it, which for her is a personal identification, and in fact, I think that contradicts some of their statements earlier where they said that people can march expressing their pride, just not under a banner, McMahon said. Now they seem to be saying something different.

Though parade-goers march along Forest Avenue, a public street, cops patrol the event, and Sanitation workers are required to clean up afterward. The police and Sanitation workers are technically only considered city resources designed to benefit parade organizers, but are there to protect the public and community, according to New York American Civil Liberty Union (ACLU).

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1995 that private groups can, in fact, determine who can and cannot march in parades if the group wishing to march runs contrary to the message the private group wants to deliver.

Because of that ruling, the city cant tell parade organizers who can and cannot march in a parade because it would violate parade organizers First Amendment rights.

AT JODYS CLUB FOREST

McMahon and a number of Island elected officials, including Rep. Max Rose, Assemblyman Michael Cusick, went to Jodys before the parade, but did not march.

McMahon and others, including LInsalata, told the Advance they plan to try to talk to parade organizers over the course of the next year to get them to be more inclusive next year.

Im really just disappointed more than anything else, LInsalata said Sunday of Cummings decision. I was really looking forward to there being discussion and there being talk about change and it really seems like, they [Cummings] just wants to shut people out and I dont think thats any way to be. Even if we disagree, I was still willing to be in the march and I was willing to talk about it.

FOLLOW SYDNEY KASHIWAGI IN TWITTER.
The Plateau State Government said on Sunday that it has quarantined three Chinese and 39 Nigerians working in the state.

The Plateau State Commissioner of Health, Nimkong Ndam, said the 43 people are being quarantined in Bakin Kaya village of Wase Local Government Area of the state.

The commissioner said the people are being kept in isolation based on suspicion they may be infected with the coronavirus.

None of the Chinese reported sick, but they were detained and isolated for precautionary reasons, the commissioner said.

Mr Ndam said, during a press conference in Jos, the state capital, that none of the persons exhibited symptoms of the viral disease.

He said the 39 individuals quarantined alongside the Chinese are those working with them on a mining site and in their residence.

He said the Chinese arrived Nigeria through Abuja last Wednesday before travelling to Plateau State.

The three of them came in through Abuja and once we heard that; the commissioner for health had to take a proactive measure to send a medical team to Wase to go and investigate.

As far as Plateau State is concerned, there has been no known case of this virus on the Plateau; we just took proactive measures to make sure that we place them (the Chinese nationals) under investigation and that will take 14 days, Mr Ndam said.

He, however, urged the general public in the state not to panic as adequate measures had been put in place to detect the infection and ensure that if it exists, it does not spread.

Nigeria has so far confirmed only one case of coronavirus, which has killed almost 3,000 people, mostly in China where it originated from.

The Nigerian victim is an Italian who arrived in Nigeria last week.

The Italian has since been quarantined at a medical facility in Lagos while those who had contact with him are being identified and kept in isolation.

Nigerian health officials have been advising citizens on steps to take to prevent the spread of the virus and if they suspect they may have the virus. The steps are mainly to prevent human to human spread of the disease. They include regular washing of hands with soap, use of hand gloves, hand sanitizer, and coverage of the nose while sneezing.
Police have launched a murder probe after a 16-year-old boy was stabbed to death in Coventry after a 'house party got out of hand'.

Emergency services received a call at around 10:30pm last night from a member of the public who found Ramani Morgan, from Birmingham, collapsed on Clay Lane in the Stoke area of the city.

He had stab injuries and was taken to hospital where sadly, despite the best efforts of the medical staff he died.

Two teenage boys, both aged 17, have been arrested on suspicion of murder and are currently in custody.

Emergency services received a call at around 10:30pm last night from a member of the public who found Ramani Morgan, from Birmingham (pictured), collapsed on Clay Lane in the Stoke area of the city

Police and forensic officers at Clay Lane in Coventry after a 16-year-old boy was fatally stabbed

Police sealed off both scenes for a fingertip search and forensic examination. They are pictured on Clay Lane

Police have said: 'We believe the stabbing happened as a result of the party getting out of hand.' They added that they do not believe it is gang related.

The house party was taking place nearby in Chandos Street.

Police sealed off both scenes for a fingertip search and forensic examination.

Enquiries are underway to determine what happened and who is responsible.

Speaking at the force's headquarters at Lloyd House, Birmingham, today, Chief Superintendent Mike O'Hara, responsible for policing in Coventry, said: 'It seems that what has happened is there has been quite a large house party in Chandos Street in the Stoke area of Coventry.

Enquiries are underway to determine what happened and who is responsible. Pictured: forensic officers gathering evidence at the scene

'It seems to have been very well-attended and effectively got out of hand.

'We then had an altercation between some of the young people at the party and that has spilled out onto the street.

'As a direct result, a young man called Ramani Morgan from Birmingham who is 16 was stabbed several times.

'Unfortunately, paramedics and police weren't able to save him and he passed away last night.'

Detective Inspector Michelle Allen from the West Midlands Police homicide team, said: 'This is a tragedy, another young man has lost his life.

The young boy had stab injuries and was taken to hospital where sadly, despite the best efforts of the medical staff he died

'We're doing all we can to progress our investigation which is in the very early stages.

'I'd like to hear from anyone who was at the party or anyone with any information about what has happened this evening to get in touch as soon as they can.'

Anyone with information can contact us via 101 or message us on Live Chat via the website quoting log number 2816 of 29 February.

Or information can be passed to the charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111, tell them what you know, not who you are.

It is the second knife death in Coventry in the last month following the fatal stabbing of former Birmingham schoolboy Babacar Diagne, 15, in Wood End, in February.

Three teenagers, two aged 15 and one aged 17, have been charged with Babacar's murder.

Staff at Babacar's former school, John Willmott School in Sutton Coldfield, paid tribute to their former pupil.

'Our school community is shocked and deeply saddened by this news and our thoughts are with Babacar's family and friends. We are helping and supporting students and staff during this difficult time.'
More than three-quarters of prosecutions for rape and attempted rape in Northern Ireland do not result in convictions, new figures have shown.

For out of 345 cases issued by the Public Prosecutions Office over a four-year period, there were 81 convictions - less than a quarter.

The latest statistics presented in the Assembly show that between March 2015 and March 2019, the Public Prosecution Service received a total of 1,941 files including alleged offences of rape or attempted rape.

And further figures from the Police Service of Northern Ireland show a total of 5,290 offences of rape, including attempted rape, which were reported to police during the 2014-2019 period.

DUP MLA David Hilditch has said the up-to-date figures have confirmed the low conviction rate which has caused worry.

"There is a lot of concern about the process and the figures out there. What steps are being taken to increase the low conviction rate?" he asked Justice Minister Naomi Long.

Mrs Long, the Alliance Party leader, said that she is committed to improving the experience of complainants, following the review by Sir John Gillen into how the criminal justice system in the province deals with cases of serious sexual assault.

The appointment of additional case progression officers in both the PSNI and PPS is a priority, along with a new evidence centre in Belfast allowing alleged victims to give evidence without having to appear in court.

Reform of the committal process in the legal system should also ensure that complainants only have to give oral evidence in court once.

"We want to prioritise those areas which can have the greatest impact on complainants going through that system in the first phase of implementation," Mrs Long said.

The report by Sir John made a total of more than 250 recommendations. It was set up in the aftermath of concerns about a number of alleged rape cases.

Last week local woman Lucy Monaghan gave up her right to anonymity to complain about how police and the prosecution service "let her down". The 31-year-old said she was disappointed and dumbfounded when her complaint of alleged rape did not lead to a prosecution.

The Police Ombudsman found that her interview with police, copies of social media messages with her alleged attacker and medical reports had not been sent to police - and an investigating officer did not make arrangements to obtain witness statements.

Ms Monaghan especially objected to a letter from a senior prosecutor within the PPS which said the court would take note "that before sexual intercourse took place, there was evidence that you were flirting with him and that immediately afterwards you were in very good form".

The PPS said, however, the reference was not intended to assert that flirting before, or after, a sexual act indicates likely or actual consent to that act.

A separate statement added that the number of offences resulting in charges or summons is only provisional. "Investigations for rape offences recorded since 2014 will be ongoing and may result in a charge or summons at a future date," it said.
It is now quite clear why Boris Johnson has been so distracted of late.

Finalising his divorce, preparing the press release that he will become a father for the umpteenth time and the announcement that he has become engaged to his girlfriend, Carrie Symonds.

How will he find the time to run the country, become a new father and a new husband, a simultaneous challenge of gargantuan proportions?

Perhaps Sir Philip Rutnam and Sajid Javid will be able to offer their assistance with the wedding invitations.

Christopher Learmont-Hughes

Caldy

Im delighted to hear from a spokesperson that the prime minister is working flat out. I wouldnt have guessed it if I hadnt been told.

Ian Hurdley

Ferndown

Carrie Symonds tells her friends via Instagram that she and Boris Johnson have been engaged since late last year and that their baby is due early summer, which I assume makes her around four or five months pregnant.

Its possible that since Mr Johnsons divorce from his second wife was only recently declared he has been waiting for a sensitive time to make the birth announcement. However, my more cynical self believes that he needed to distract people from the furore over Priti Patels alleged behaviour and his own failure to get a grip of issues such as UK flooding and the coronavirus. I guess its his way of attempting to bury bad news.

Jane Mogford

Cirencester

Locust action

Up to a dozen countries in east Africa are facing food shortages following the latest devastating crisis caused by climate change to hit the region.

Last week, Uganda deployed its military to support efforts to combat desert locusts that have been destroying crops across vast areas of east Africa for more than a month.

Its the latest country in the region to mount a defence against the invading swarms, which have devastated crops and pasture lands in Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya and Sudan since hatching during unexpected rainfall in Saudi Arabia at the start of the year.

A locust cloud of a square kilometre is capable of eating the same amount of food in a single day as 35,000 people, according to the United Nations. One swarm in Kenya has been measured at around 2,400sq km  roughly the size of Luxembourg  and was estimated to contain up to 200 billion insects.

There is mounting concern that the fast-breeding locusts could grow by up to 500 times in the coming weeks, as the eggs they have been laying hatch in the rains that have arrived to the region in the past month.

Climate change has been blamed for creating the conditions for these vast swarms, not seen on this scale in living memory. Desert locusts now pose a new threat to food production in a region that is already reeling from three years of droughts and flooding. A substantial and sustained response from the international community is already overdue.

Ray Jordan

CEO, Self Help Africa

Welfare help

The Lancet produced a report on the level of stress, and mental health problems caused by the welfare system. A lot of people think benefits are a way to an easy life: try telling that to the disabled!

Homelessness, debt and poverty have increased. So, when will government, pause, scrap, and then reform the welfare system and universal credit?

Due to low wages, and high housing costs, we have an explosion of the working poor. Evictions have also increased, as landlords struggle with the debts caused by UC.

As a benefits adviser (unemployed) I still support people with claims and appeals, who knows when you might be next?

Gary Martin

London

Labours direction

The past few months has shown that sovereignty is manifestly in the hands of the people, and that those who bang the drum loudest rarely represent more than a very small percentage of the people.

For the Conservative Party to succeed in dyed-in-the-wool Labour constituencies is surely something for that party to take note of.

At present it would be very hard to know just what Labours objectives are, more especially as the party has become enshrouded in ideology subtly promoted by its present leader, who was, and may still be, under the illusion that his policies are most appealing and attractive to the public.

Unfortunately for him, and maybe for his party unless it is prepared to realign its direction, you can fool some of the people all of the time, and all the people some of the time, but you cant fool all the people all the time.

William Lewis

Coulsdon
Direct: Ana Botin contacted The Mail on Sunday to dispel City speculation

Santander's Spanish boss Ana Botin has given the bank's UK arm a huge vote of confidence after a string of high-profile managers quit.

In a highly unusual move, Botin contacted The Mail on Sunday to quash rumours of disquiet after Santander lost its mortgage chief Miguel Sard to NatWest and chief risk officer Patricia Halliday and head of HR Vicky Wallis both resigned.

Botin, one of the most powerful women in banking, said she had 'never considered' offloading the UK bank, even after it suffered a 1.3billion writedown last year.

Santander has been shutting branches, slashing savings rates and suffered a blow to profits in 2019, leading to speculation in the City about the bank's future in Britain.

But Botin said: 'Santander UK is a critical part of the group and we have never considered selling it.

'One of the strengths of Santander's model is our geographic diversification. It has allowed us to deliver the least volatile earnings among our peers consistently over the past 20 years, while still increasing profit fivefold over the same period.

'Our UK business is an important part of that diversification and is central to our long-term strategy, as well as being a hub for innovation, talent and development.'

Santander closed 140 branches in 2019 and was forced in January to slash the rate on its popular 123 current account.

The UK's third largest mortgage lender has been hit by a fierce price war in the mortgage market, and hefty payouts for the PPI scandals. Profits fell 37 per cent to 981million in 2019.
The New Jersey Department of Health on Saturday said the sole person in the state under investigation for having the COVID-19 coronavirus has tested negative.

No one else in the state is awaiting results.

The patient was treated by Hackensack Meridian Health in North Jersey, according to the release.

Support Local Journalism Your subscription makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}}

Most New Jersey residents are at low risk for the novel coronavirus, Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said in a news release. If individuals are having symptoms, the illness is much more likely to be caused by common respiratory viruses such as flu or the common cold.

Hand washing and stopping the spread of infection: Dr. Nina One very simple way to cut the odds of getting sick is to wash your hands.

The Health Department has been working since early January to share federal guidelines on the coronavirus with local officials, hospitals, schools and businesses.

Testing for the virus is not being done on people with mild illness and low risk for exposure to the disease, the Health Department said. People who have traveled to China or been exposed to people known to have the virus within the past 14 days and have a fever and cough should seek medical attention.

The department continues to remind residents to take necessary precautions to protect themselves from all respiratory viruses, such as washing their hands frequently, covering coughs and sneezes, and staying home when sick, Persichilli said.

Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Taiwan records first COVID-19 hospital cluster cases

ROC Central News Agency

02/29/2020 05:03 PM

Taipei, Feb. 29 (CNA) Taiwan has confirmed five new cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus, including four who are believed to have been infected in a hospital, bringing the country's total number of cases to 39, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Saturday.

Four of the new cases, including three nurses and one janitor, likely caught the virus through contact with the 34th case, who spent time in the hospital before being diagnosed, the CECC said.

According to the CECC, the 34th case is a northern Taiwan woman in her 50s who suffers from diabetes and cardiovascular disease, and has no recent history of travel abroad. The source of infection for her case is currently unknown.

On Feb. 14, the woman sought medical attention for fatigue and was admitted to the hospital. However, she did not manifest any symptoms of the virus until Feb. 21, when she developed a cough and fever, leading to her diagnosis, the command center said.

Regarding the new cases, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung () said the 35th case is a janitor who was in contact with the woman during her time in the emergency room, while cases 36-38 are nurses who treated the woman after she was moved into the hospital's general ward.

All four of the cases developed symptoms of the virus, including a cough, runny nose and fever, between Feb. 18-25, and were tested for the virus following the woman's diagnosis, Chen said.

On Saturday, lab results showed that the four had tested positive, he added.

Regarding the hospital where the transmission occurred, Chen said the rooms occupied by the 34th case have been closed for sanitation and that all hospital staff, patients and other confirmed contacts with the woman prior to her diagnosis have been placed under quarantine while they are tested for the virus.

Those who test negative for the virus twice will be placed under home isolation for 14 days, and then tested a final time upon completion of the quarantine period, Chen said.

The patients who shared hospital rooms with the woman, meanwhile, have been quarantined at designated medical facilities, Chen said.

As of Saturday, the CECC has identified 270 people who came into contact with cases 34-38.

From that group, 186 people have been tested for the virus, of whom 183 tested negative and the remaining three are still awaiting results.

In light of the hospital cluster, the health minister urged people to visit local clinics for non-emergency medical treatment in order to prevent the over-burdening of hospital resources.

Meanwhile, the CECC announced Taiwan's 39th case of the virus Saturday in a northern Taiwan woman in her 60s who was part of a 37-member tour group to Dubai and Egypt between Jan. 29 and Feb. 21.

According to the command center, the woman developed a sore throat and cough while in Egypt Feb. 20, and sought medical attention after returning to Taiwan the following day.

On Wednesday, her cough became more severe, and she began suffering from other symptoms, including abdominal pain, vomiting and breathing difficulties.

The woman was tested for the virus on Friday and moved to a negative-pressure isolation room for treatment after her diagnosis was confirmed on Saturday, the CECC said.

Based on the timing of her case, Taiwan's medical authorities believe the woman likely contracted the virus abroad, and are currently investigating whether other members of the tour group or their family members have been infected.

The two countries visited by the woman -- the United Arab Emirates and Egypt -- had 19 and one reported case of the virus, respectively, as of Saturday.

(By Chang Ming-hsuang and Matthew Mazzetta)

Enditem/J

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






The Canadian Multiculturalism Act was passed in 1988, aiming to preserve and enhance multiculturalism in Canada. The Canadian Parliament in Ottawa on Sept. 24, 2013. (Saffron Blaze via Mackenzie.co)

The Multiculture Mess: Attacking the Nation-State

Commentary

In my last article for The Epoch Times, I proposed an essential distinction between a deep culture, such as manifested in political systems, theology, language, art, literature, and common moral beliefs, and a skin-deep culture, such as we experience everywhere in the West these days, in things such as the enjoyment of Japanese sushi, French perfumes, German cars, Italian shoes, and American digital gadgetry.

Skin-deep cultures are a matter of consumption, and are enjoyed as such. We purchase bits of them, enjoy them, try new ones, switch tastes, and move on. But deep cultures are profoundly different. We live in them, and they in us, for life.

Its almost impossible to get rid of your deep culture, because its not like a T-shirt, changeable at will. The special customs, laws, traditional beliefs, and ways of life of all deep cultures form an indelible, and indelibly particular, identity for those raised in their grip, producing in every citizen what D.H. Lawrence described as an indelible spirit of place that lasts for life.

You can take the trunk and branches of your deep culture elsewhere, but the roots remain where they grew. Even for those who have left their deep culture to assimilate another, this goes very deep. Psycholinguistic studies of seniors who have learned and lived in a second language all their adult lives but are losing memory, show that the last thing to goand sometimes the last words they will ever speakare spoken in their first language.

Skin-deep culture is something we enjoy but can live without. Deep culture is something we will die defending, if we must.

However, despite the crossover things they may share, many deep cultures of the world are profoundly incompatible. They have incompatible notions of God, of family, of law, of political systems, and of correct moral behavior.

Because of this particularitywhich the international system of nation-states was created to protect with national borders, rights, international law, and treatiesthe political and moral principles of many deep cultures do not sit well with those of another. In this sense, diversity divides.

With the globalist weakening of the modern nation-state ideal, we are seeing more of what political scientist Samuel Huntington described as the clash of civilizations. The traumatic sight of people jumping to their death from the Twin Towers was and remains a terrifying symbol of this fact.

The Rising and Declining of Civilizations

Civilizations are never stable. Theyre always either rising or declining. Rising civilizations defend and celebrate themselves, while declining ones are mostly self-critical, laying down their cultural arms to ignore, demean, or even shame their own history. At this point, the public square is dominated by people the late philosopher Roger Scruton aptly described as oikophobes (people who hate their own national home).

But civilizations that strip themselves of their own deep culture to embrace a skin-deep one do so at precisely the point when dying for their own deep culture becomes unthinkable. Then they are vulnerable to a bully culture in their midst raising itself to dominance.

This laying down of cultural arms in the West is most easily seen in our ubiquitous multicultural policy, something invented by globalizing progressives in a desperate ploy to raise up what they themselves have been lowering.

It rests on the unexamined belief that conflict within and between the nations of the world can be eradicated by persuading citizens to switch loyalty to an international skin-deep culture in which all can share, but which belongs to no one. The ideological linchpin sustaining this belief is the demonstrably false assumption that all cultures of the world are of equal value, and therefore, that a skin-deep mixturea kind of sampling menu of the weekwill do as loyalty-bait.

The weakness of that belief is that it renders declining cultures more defenseless when faced with rising ones, because if all cultures are officially deemed equal, a bully-culture is not easily challenged. And of course, lowering ones culture (to make it equal to all other cultures) amounts to surrendering the idea that it was ever something unique, moving, formative, and worth celebrating, preserving, dying for, and therefore (oh, the shame of it!), privileging over other cultures.

In short, the transition from a deep to a skin-deep affiliation with ones own civilization is also the moment of the loss of privileging, and so of the will to die for it.

Embracing Multiculturalism

Canada was first in this peculiarly Western race to the bottom in 1988, with a blaring, if logically self-contradictory, national campaign advertising the worlds first Multicultural Act. It was a policy created in response to looming problems common to most democracies then, and now.

With the advent of the pill, and of abortion as a form of contraception, they almost overnight became contraceptive nations, failing to replace themselves naturally. But the very first sign of a declining civilization is when fornication replaces procreation as the dominant sexual interest of a people.

Accordingly, all the Western democracies were soon faced with aging workers, a shrinking tax harvest from fewer young, and higher health care costs for a burgeoning cohort of seniors. To survive and thrive, if they were not simply to plunder each other for new citizens, they would need massive immigration from  non-traditional sources.

But as a direct consequence of importing so many culturally alien immigrants, they began struggling with extreme dislocations (such as foreign gangs, terrorist bombings, and the growth in their midst of urban no-go zones), on top of the considerable added costs of cultural, moral, language, and religious adaptations in hospitals, schools, and public spaces. These are clashes between civilizations within nations states, rather than between them.

Multiculturalism was supposed to end that. Canonize the concept, and pass off this new, tolerant, but embarrassingly skin-deep mixture as a universal replacement culture. Give up, to join up, was the plan. But it was a cover-up. I was going to say that no one was fooled. But in fact, most were. Because no one was asking: What might be the downside of citizens abandoning a lifelong love of their own deep culture for a frivolous attachment to a global, skin-deep one?

Heres just one: Multicultural policy has consigned to forgetting and oblivion, nay, has all but shamed, the unifying deep culture that made Western civilizationChristendom, as it used to be calledso remarkably open and tolerant in the first place. Which is to say, with some irony, tolerant enough to make possible the multicultural policy that is presently undermining the West by trivializing our deepest motives for living together.

But a people that neglects to be vigilant, to remember, privilege, and teach the deepest sources of its own tradition and history, will soon be vulnerable to bullying by those who have made no such mistake. One example will do.

Culture Raising

There is a famous, centuries-old cry that gave root to modern democracy: Vox Populi, Vox Dei (The voice of the people is the voice of God). Its rooted in the Christian belief that as we are all made in the image of God, truth will eventually emerge from the authentically expressed voice of the people.

But radical Islamists, drawing strength from their own deep culture, believe there is no such thing, nor should there be. Islam means submissionto the truth. But only Allah knows the truth, and it was handed down to Muhammad who wrote it up in the Quran. This is a rigidly explicit, written truth without possibility of nuance or change. So forget your Charters and Bills of Rights. Only God has rights. Humans have duties. Thats why, for committed Islamists, the democratic ideal is an outrageous blasphemy, and they have been, and remain quite willing, to die, if they must, to end it.

Democracy? When they are more numerous than us (wait for it), they will only need one man, one vote  once, to end democracy and govern by Islamic law.

France, which has had an obligation to take in millions of Arabs loyal to it since the disaster of the Algerian war, has an especially acute problem. The wearing of face-coverings in public has been prohibited in France since 2011. But Valerie Pecresse, head of the multicultural Ile-de-France region surrounding Paris (which is now a no-go zone for French police, ambulances, and government officialsand where you are unlikely to see a Muslim woman except in traditional garb), says that Islamism does not just have separatism as its objective, as French President Macron has said. It has an objective of taking power.

The long-term strategy? They simply continue to have more babies than us, and to convert thousands of our churches into mosques. Diversity? Only for multicultural suckers.

For the fundamentalist Muslims wandering around Paris, Toronto, or New Yorkso distinct from the ordinary nominal Muslims, content, even proud, to westernize or assimilateconversion out of Islam for another faith is a capital offense. Death for the infidel. No pluralism there. These folks are not fooling around. I am not picking on Muslims. The fundamentalist Islamist variant just happens to be the deep culture in our midst doing the most aggressive rising.

Postnational State

How do we think all this gels with our patsy multiculturalism? It doesnt take a rocket scientist to see that the West has been busy dumping its own deep culture for the accommodating liberal pleasantries of its happy-face multicultural ideal. But some of the deep cultures now sharing our spacesome of those more than 250 visible minority communities the government tells us are now rooted in Canadaare not necessarily following suit.

The Islamic enclave of 260 homes in Vaughan, Ontario, for example, built exclusively for Ahmadi Muslims, is of interest. Ahmadis happen to believe in a post-Muhammad prophet named Ahmad, whom they worship. I happen to know a few Ahmadi who came to Canada from Pakistan where, like Christians and other infidels, they were persecuted and many killed for blasphemy. Im happy we have given them refuge. But the much larger question is this: After coming here, why have they banded together to take refuge from us in a Muslims-only home away from home on Canadian soil?

Historian David McCullough warned, A nation that forgets its past can function no better than an individual with amnesia. And passive forgetting is bad enough. But active rejection? The lowering of ones own deep culture? Thats another matter altogether, and I submit, a shameful one.

Just so, on Oct. 8, 1977, it was a distressing shock for patriotic Canadians to hear Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau declare to our House of Commons: There are no official cultures in Canada. Well, the apple does not fall far from the tree. His son, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told The New York Times magazine in October 2015 that there is no core identity, no mainstream in Canada, because diversity is our strength. But what about our unity? Oh well, Canada, he announced excitedly, is the worlds first postnational state. What?

Everyone knows that a state is a nation, and a nation is a state, dont they? So how can there be a postnational state? Then, I realized what he was saying. He was saying that you can ignore all the deep cultures on Earth, let them die a slow death, and live instead in what amounts to an administrative state with all the trappings of global bureaucracy (run by sweet folks like me).

A postnational state, he believes, does not need a particular people, a nation, or a culture, to define it. It will be administratively defined as a multicultural, skin-deep holding-tank for  whoever wants to live there. It wont matter whoever. There will be no who any longer.

So in one sentence, Canadas self-satisfied, cheeky prime minister breezily dismissed two or three centuries of Canadian culture and history. Yet both father and son held forth knowing they have been direct personal and political beneficiaries of the Wests deep culture as expressed and protected in their own  nation-state.

Beneficiaries, that is, of Canadas long struggle to create responsible democratic government, of our English Common Law and Parliamentary tradition, of the habeas corpus right, of an independent judicial system, of our long-cherished and defended system of private property rights, of ordered free-enterprise, and of the right to free speech (where even a PM can say things in public that are not true), and of so many more traditions of our uniquely Western way of life. Indeed, there has never been any other system that has reliably produced such things. Nothing like it at all, nor, despite its faults, as good. Ever.

But Trudeau the Elders statement was an archly clever move. He was determined to weaken the thrust of French separatism in Canada and the dominance of English culture at the same time by throwing both of them under the multicultural bus. Multicultural immigration would stabilize Quebecs falling population, weaken its French culture, dilute the separatist cause, and make the concept of nation meaningless. Eventually, who would care? He was confident that, eventually, all Canadians would be unified as skin-deepers to whom it would mean very little, to whom culture would soon be but a bauble or a trinket.

But there was immediate blowback. Pur Laine (pure wool) Quebecers despised Trudeaus attack on their nationalist ambitions, and so have never promoted multiculturalism. Instead, Quebec promotes inter-culturalism, which is to say, diversity is tolerated there, but only as subservient to a dominant French nationalist framework defended by language and culture police who control the unquestioned supremacy of French and the unique deep culture of Quebec with draconian laws made necessary to fight off the threat of English cultural domination.

To live in Quebec, is to live in French, is their motto.

So in effect, Canada officially dismisses its Anglophone deep culture to appease Quebec, while Quebec celebrates and defends its Francophone deep culture to dismiss Canada. Quebec is a proud bully culture fighting the Anglo multicultural diversity machine by standing its cultural ground. Anglos ought to do the same.

As mentioned, it was precisely because the various deep cultures of the world are so obviously not the same, and because many are legally, morally, and theologically incompatible, that the concept of self-defending nation-states was invented in the first place. So we cant go on pretending that blending them in a skin-deep mixture amounts to a real culture, for it doesnt, and it wont ever.

As I say, that clever but deeply false notion was invented by globalists to subdue patriotic national feeling in the West. And it has worked on the sleepy pretty well, producing deep-culture forgetting on a massive scale (ask any history teacher). But is it the best thing for Western civilization? I dont think so.

The antidote to forgetting is reminding. So leaving aside the easy litany of weaknesses and historical missteps, what will follow in my next article will be one mans unabashed effort to revive a deep culture awareness of at least a few of the glories of Western civilization. Maybe not the best deep culture possiblewhatever that might mean. But on balance, one of the best the world has ever seen, and in many respects getting better all the timewhich is why most of the immigrant traffic of the modern world is heading West, not East.

William Gairdner is an author who lives near Toronto. His latest book is The Great Divide: Why Liberals and Conservatives Will Never, Ever Agree (2015). His website is WilliamGairdner.ca

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
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
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday appealed to the External Affairs Minister to take necessary steps and arrange for safe return of hundreds of fishermen, including Keralites, trapped in Iran following coronavirus scare.

In a letter to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, he said the state government has received information that more than hundred people, including around 60 from Kerala, were trapped in Azalur in Iran.

"When contacted by state government officials, it has been stated by the persons trapped in Azalur that more than hundred persons are there out of which around 60 are reported to be from Kerala," Vijayan said in the letter.

He said it was learnt that they were unable to return to India on account of the COVIT19 spread.

"...I request you to direct the (Indian) Embassy officials (in Iran) to take necessary steps and arrange for the safe return of these persons," Vijayan wrote.

Earlier, the Fisheries Minister J Mercykutty Amma had said the state government will take all necessary steps to bring fishermen from the state stranded in Iran.

She said the state government will collect details of Keralites trapped in Iran and coordinate with the Indian embassy there through NoRKA (Department of Non-Resident Keralite Affairs).

A video of the Kerala fishermen seeking help was forwarded to the families of the fishermen and media houses in the state.

One of them is heard saying in the video that they were unable to move out of their rooms due to the restrictions imposed by the Iran government due to the coronavirus scare.

"Like us many people are from India are stranded here. We are short of food. We tried to contact our sponsor. But he asked us to contact the government authorities," the man said.

The fishermen were in Iran, working for a fishing company for last many months.

Most of the Keralites are from Pozhiyur and Vizhinjam areas in Thiruvananthapuram.

The Tamil Nadu government had on Friday taken up with the Centre the issue of over 300 stranded fishermen from the state in Iran and sought steps for their immediate evacuation.

According to Chief Minister K Palaniswami, 450-odd Indians including fishermen from Tamil Nadu were working in various fishing vessels berthed and operating in Iranian ports.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. and ROSTOCK, Germany and BERLIN, Feb. 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CENTOGENE (CNTG), a commercial-stage company focused on rare diseases that transforms real-world clinical and genetic data into actionable information for patients, physicians and pharmaceutical companies, will be raising awareness and building community for all those affected by rare genetic diseases with simultaneous events in Berlin, Germany, Lahore, Pakistan, and Mexico City, Mexico on Rare Disease Day 2020. CENTOGENEs Rare Disease Day events will bring together patients, advocacy groups, policy makers, researchers, health professionals, and the wider community  focused on improving the overall knowledge and identifying solutions to the challenges that rare diseases pose to patients and their families.



"Rare Disease Day is extremely important for people everywhere and from all backgrounds to come together and increase awareness of rare diseases. While rare diseases are often overlooked due to the very nature of the term, in reality, rare diseases affect roughly 350 million individuals around the world  having an immense impact on not only the patients, but also our communities. Our mission is to shorten the diagnostic odyssey of all rare patients, and with these global events we want to emphasize the vital collaboration that will make life-changing impacts," said Prof. Arndt Rolfs, Founder and CEO of CENTOGENE.

CENTOGENEs Rare Disease Day 2020 activities will kick off in Lahore, Pakistan. The Company together with the Childrens Hospital of Lahore, will hold a special Rare Disease Day 2020 celebration spotlighting the diagnostic and everyday challenges patients and their families face. The event will include presentations, talks, and a panel discussion reflecting the perspectives of patients and patient organizations.

The rare disease spotlight will then be passed to Berlin, where policy makers, public authorities, researchers, health professionals, and community members will come together under one roof to discuss innovative approaches to shorten the diagnostic odyssey of rare disease patients. Throughout the day, there will be presentations, musical performances, and short films featuring rare disease patients and their families. As part of the event, CENTOGENE will kick-off the inaugural Rare Disease Film Festival 2021.

Story continues

CENTOGENE, the Iberoamerican Alliance of Rare Diseases (ALIBER), and the Mexican Organization of Rare Diseases (OMER) will then wrap-up Rare Disease Day alongside patients, patient organizations, physicians, politicians, and community members from all over Latin America. The event will emphasize the vital role of patient organizations, and serve as an opportunity for all sides to discuss a collaborative approach and modern technologies to create life-changing solutions for rare disease patients and their families



As part of the global events, CENTOGENE will provide details on the film competition that will immediately commence following the 2020 events. We are excited to have whet the creative appetite of artists for the film competition, said Arndt Rolfs. "This will help the topic of rare diseases gain the attention it deserves - after all, it affects over 350 million people worldwide."



More information can be found online:

www.rdd2020.eu

Media contact:

CENTOGENE

press@centogene.com

MC Services AG

Anne Hennecke

anne.hennecke@mc-services.eu

About CENTOGENE

CENTOGENE engages in diagnosis and research around rare diseases transforming real-world clinical and genetic data into actionable information for patients, physicians, and pharmaceutical companies. Our goal is to bring rationality to treatment decisions and to accelerate the development of new orphan drugs by using our extensive rare disease knowledge, including epidemiological and clinical data and innovative biomarkers. CENTOGENE has developed a global proprietary rare disease platform based on our real-world data repository with approximately 2.1 billion weighted data points from approximately 500,000 patients representing over 120 different countries as of December 31, 2019, or an average of approximately 600 data points per patient.

The Companys platform includes epidemiologic, phenotypic and genetic data that reflects a global population, and also a biobank of these patients blood samples. CENTOGENE believes this represents the only platform that comprehensively analyzes multi-level data to improve the understanding of rare hereditary diseases, which can aid in the identification of patients and improve our pharmaceutical partners ability to bring orphan drugs to the market. As of December 31, 2019, the Company collaborated with over 35 pharmaceutical partners for over 40 different rare diseases.
A man driving home from a night out has busted a tourist defecating on the grass verge near his house.

New Zealand man Pacey Grooby, 18, was a door down from his home in Motueka, west of Nelson, on Friday around 9.40pm when he came across an overseas camper squatting by the road.

Disturbed by the sight, Mr Grooby turned his car back around and pulled out his phone to video the incident before posting it to Facebook.

Pacey Grooby, 18, busted a German tourist relieving his bowels near his Motueka home on Friday night

The video shows a man perched on the strip of grass next to a driveway with his pants completely off.

'What are you doing mate?' Mr Grooby can be heard calling out to the man as he pulls up next to him.

'Just s***ing,' the man replies, as he unravels a wad of toilet paper.

'That's disgusting!' Mr Grooby shouts back.

Mr Grooby told Daily Mail Australia the German tourist left his mess and scraps of toilet paper and drove away.

Outraged, Mr Grooby spent the next day hunting through camp zones to find him, with no luck.

Mr Grooby came across the man (pictured) in the front lawn of his neighbour's house as he returned home from visiting friends

But on Sunday morning, Mr Grooby found the man had returned to his street.

'As weird as it is I woke up this morning and looked out my window and there he was. Parked up, camping on my street directly outside my house,' he said.

'He then got out and started urinating on the footpath.'

Mr Grooby called local council member Brent Maru, who arrived on the scene with a Control Services Officer and made the man clean up his mess.

The man was ordered to collect the poo (pictured) with a bag he had in his car

He was fined $200 for freedom camping in a street and $200 for defecating public and ordered to collect the faeces and put it in his car.

Mr Grooby said when officials arrived, the man and his girlfriend were laughing about the situation, and that he did not pick up the toilet paper.

The video has since gone viral, racking up more than 2000 views and over 400 comments.

Mr Grooby said the town has grown tired of freedom campers disrespecting the area, and that although the man said he was embarrassed, he did not seem fazed by his actions.

'Our community is absolutely fed up with freedom campers taking over this town and leaving their rubbish behind,' he said.

'There has a been a massive amount of them in our town the past few weeks.

'We have public toilets and rubbish bins everywhere in our town and they still do this.'

In recent years, Motueka, a town with a population of almost 8000, has become a base for tourists visiting nearby attraction Abel Tasman National Park.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, March 1, 2020 16:52 680 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2067942d4 1 News Garuda-Indonesia,citilink,Airlines,travel Free

National flag carrier Garuda Indonesia and its low-cost subsidiary Citilink began cutting their airfares for several domestic routes on Sunday, following the issuance of a government incentive policy to lower the price of tickets to 10 priority tourist destinations.

In a statement, Garuda Indonesia president director Irfan Setiaputra said the group supported the policy and remained committed to helping boost the recovery of the country's tourism amid a deadly coronavirus outbreak.

The policy allows airlines to offer discounts of up to 50 percent for plane tickets to 10 tourist destinations from March 1 to May 31. These destinations include Batam and Tanjung Pinang in Riau Islands, Bali, Yogyakarta, Labuan Bajo in East Nusa Tenggara, Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara, Malang in East Java, Manado in North Sulawesi, Lake Toba in North Sumatra and Tanjung Pandan in Bangka Belitung Islands.

Both airlines have flights to all 10 destinations and are said to offer discounted fares to 25 percent of their total passengers for these routes, which translates to around 65,000 seats per month for Garuda Indonesia.

"Passengers can access this discounted fares on all channels of Garuda Indonesia Group," the statement continued, which includes both carriers' 24-hour call centers, websites, mobile apps and partner travel agencies.

The outbreak has affected the operations and financial performances of many airlines, including Garuda Indonesia, which has been forced to cancel flights to and from China, as well as reduce services to several Southeast Asian destinations, such as Singapore and Hong Kong.

The incentive is part of the government's Rp 10.3 trillion ($742 million) stimulus package, which was announced on Tuesday and aims to boost consumer spending and tourism. (kes)
Brown-Forman Corporation (NYSE:BF.B) stock is about to trade ex-dividend in 4 days time. Ex-dividend means that investors that purchase the stock on or after the 6th of March will not receive this dividend, which will be paid on the 1st of April.

Brown-Forman's next dividend payment will be US$0.17 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of US$0.70 per share. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Brown-Forman stock has a trailing yield of around 1.1% on the current share price of $61.41. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. As a result, readers should always check whether Brown-Forman has been able to grow its dividends, or if the dividend might be cut.

Check out our latest analysis for Brown-Forman

Dividends are typically paid from company earnings. If a company pays more in dividends than it earned in profit, then the dividend could be unsustainable. Fortunately Brown-Forman's payout ratio is modest, at just 37% of profit. Yet cash flows are even more important than profits for assessing a dividend, so we need to see if the company generated enough cash to pay its distribution. Over the last year it paid out 53% of its free cash flow as dividends, within the usual range for most companies.

It's positive to see that Brown-Forman's dividend is covered by both profits and cash flow, since this is generally a sign that the dividend is sustainable, and a lower payout ratio usually suggests a greater margin of safety before the dividend gets cut.

Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.

NYSE:BF.B Historical Dividend Yield, March 1st 2020

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Companies with consistently growing earnings per share generally make the best dividend stocks, as they usually find it easier to grow dividends per share. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. This is why it's a relief to see Brown-Forman earnings per share are up 7.7% per annum over the last five years. Decent historical earnings per share growth suggests Brown-Forman has been effectively growing value for shareholders. However, it's now paying out more than half its earnings as dividends. If management lifts the payout ratio further, we'd take this as a tacit signal that the company's growth prospects are slowing.

Story continues

Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. Since the start of our data, ten years ago, Brown-Forman has lifted its dividend by approximately 8.6% a year on average. We're glad to see dividends rising alongside earnings over a number of years, which may be a sign the company intends to share the growth with shareholders.

The Bottom Line

Has Brown-Forman got what it takes to maintain its dividend payments? Earnings per share have been growing at a steady rate, and Brown-Forman paid out less than half its profits and more than half its free cash flow as dividends over the last year. To summarise, Brown-Forman looks okay on this analysis, although it doesn't appear a stand-out opportunity.

Wondering what the future holds for Brown-Forman? See what the 13 analysts we track are forecasting, with this visualisation of its historical and future estimated earnings and cash flow

A common investment mistake is buying the first interesting stock you see. Here you can find a list of promising dividend stocks with a greater than 2% yield and an upcoming dividend.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
Two members of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Gombe State have been detained in prison following their arraignment in court for allegedly insulting Governor Inuwa Yahaya.

Gombe is the latest state to join in the harassment of social media and opposition voices over criticism of their governors.

PREMIUM TIMES has reported how governors across the country are increasingly targeting opponents and social media users for allegedly insulting them.

Atiku Boza-Boza and Adamu Babale are being detained on the orders of an area court following their arraignment on allegations of conspiracy and intentional insult, according to court papers seen by PREMIUM TIMES.

The police at Pantami Division of the metropolis arrested and detained Mr Boza-Boza on Wednesday over undisclosed complaints.

Mr Boza-Boza was a personal assistant to erstwhile Gombe State governor, Ibrahim Dankwambo.

An associate of Mr Boza-Boza, Adamu Babale, who went to the police station to secure the bail of his fellow party man was also detained.

The two were then taken before the Area Court in Pantami in handcuffs on Thursday on charges of conspiring to abuse Mr Yanaya.

The police accused the two PDP stalwarts of calling the governor leader of promise breakers according to the Polices First Information Report (FIR).

The alleged offence, according to the charge sheet, is contrary to Section 96 & 155 of the Penal Code Law.

Hurried to jail

The two politicians were docked before the court on Thursday, a day declared as work-free for all courts in the state.

A circular dated February 24, 2020, by the states acting chief judge, Muazu Pindiga, had issued a directive on all courts in the state to close down on February 26th and 27th.

The holiday, according to the circular seen by PREMIUM TIMES, was to enable smooth running of the commissioning exercise of the new Court of Appeal Gombe Division.

But despite the holiday, the two suspects were taken before the court in what the opposition leaders in the state said was a premeditated action.

Governor disowns case

Speaking to PREMIUM TIMES by telephone, a spokesperson for Mr Yahaya said the governor was not behind the travail of the two PDP members.

This is not true. The governor did not order the arrest of anybody. If they have issues, it must be with another person, not the governor, Abdullahi Misilli said Sunday morning.

Mr Misilli described the alleged role of the governor as antics of the opposition.
A New Jersey-based pharmaceutical company has agreed to pay nearly $12 million in fines to settle an allegation that it used a non-profit organization to funnel money to Medicare patients using a multiple sclerosis drug called Lemtrada that cost as much as $100,000 a year per patient.

Sanofi-Aventis U.S., LLC was charged with violating The False Claims Act, a federal law, to pay money to drug users to cover Medicare copay requirements for the expensive treatment, according to U.S. Attorney Andrew Lellings office.

The drug is covered under Medicare, Part B, but with a co-pay that could cost patients thousands of dollars a year. Apart from the copays, the bulk of the cost for Lemtrada is paid for by Medicare.

Sanofi-Aventis sought to circumvent the Medicare copays, and thus increase usage of their expensive drug, by donating money to an organization called TAF. However, the donations were heavily targeted for Lemtrada patients. Those payments to TAF, and passed on to Lemtrada users, violated the Anti-Kickback Statute, Lelling said.

According to the allegations in todays settlement agreement, Sanofi used a supposed charity as a conduit to funnel money to patients taking Sanofis very expensive drug, all at the expense of the Medicare program, Lelling said of the settlement.

In addition to paying $11.85 million, Sanofi agreed to a corporate integrity agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General, that monitors arrangements the company makes with third-party patient assistance programs as well as reviews and compliance certification by independent review organizations.
From wartime chance encounters to modern day 'meetings' on an app, these real-life stories are sure to restore your faith in love.

The romantic tales, spanning the last 90 years, were all shared by biography-writing service StoryTerrace, which works with people to record their stories - or those of their loved ones - in a book to keep forever.

Below is just a small collection of the heart-warming British stories heard by the company, which uses questionnaires and interviews to help piece together the twists and turns that make up a lifetime.

They serve to show just how much romantic relationships have changed since the Second World War.

Star-crossed lovers whose romance survived WWII

British Army officer Stanley Green met his German wife Anneliese while he was serving during the Second World War. The couple, pictured together, eventually settled in the UK

The couple overcame the Russian occupation - and the social taboo - to wed and settle in London. Pictured, German-born Anneliese (left) and British-born Stanley (right) in their youth

Anneliese and Stanley, who later settled in Kent, had two children and remained married until their deaths in 2008 and 2009, respectively. Pictured, Stanley as an officer during the war

British Army officer Stanley Green met his German wife Anneliese while he was serving during the Second World War. The couple overcame the Russian occupation - and the social taboo - to wed and settle in London. Here is their story.

Born and raised in London, Stanley volunteered for the territorial Army at the outbreak of the Second World War.

Then just 15 years old, Stanley served in the 60th Anti-Aircraft Regiment (TA) of the Royal Artillery. Their regiment answered to RAF Fighter Command, and their mission was to help protect British cities and RAF airfields from air attack.

His firsthand experience made him all the more determined to join the Army when he was old enough.

Stanley, who rose to the rank of an officer in the Horse Guards, served with the British Forces in Egypt, Palestine, Israel and Syria before advancing towards the European front.

In April 1945 Stanley, then in his early 20s, was part of the Allied Forces who liberated the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

It was in Germany that he first saw Anneliese, swimming in a nearby river. Little did he know that the young German woman would one day be his wife.

The pair were inseparable but Stanley had to return to the UK, leaving Anneliese behind in Soviet-controlled Berlin.

However he worked to help his love escape and eventually she followed him to Britain, where they married in a small ceremony in Lewisham, east London.

Anneliese and Stanley, who later settled in Kent, had two children and remained married until their deaths in 2008 and 2009, respectively. They were both 85.

Married for 73 years

True love: Joe and Florence Glaister tied the knot the day before the Second World War was declared and remained married for 73 years. The pair met in 1931

Family first: The couple, pictured, welcomed a daughter, Marjorie, and a granddaughter, Dawn. They remained married until their deaths. Florrie died in 2012 and Joe in 2013

Joe and Florence Glaister tied the knot the day before the Second World War was declared and remained married for 72 years.

Joe Glaister and his wife Florence (nee Thompson) were both born in tiny hamlets in the Lake District in the 1910s.

Their paths crossed in 1931 when Joe, on leave from his role as a Radio Officer in the Royal Navy, visited the Thompson family farm with his brother.

The Glaister brothers, whose family were the local blacksmiths, were on hand to help mend a horse-driven mowing machine. However it was young Florence, affectionately known as Florrie, who caught his eye.

The couple wed on 2 September 1939, the day before the Second World War was declared. Joe spent the war travelling the world before returning to the UK.

The couple welcomed a daughter, Marjorie, and a granddaughter, Dawn.

They remained married until their deaths. Florrie died in 2012 and Joe in 2013.

Their great-grandson Rory added: 'Such is the importance of their 72 year marriage, that my parents decided to arrange their wedding on my great-grandparent's wedding anniversary.

'With our family defined by the relationships that brought us together, it gives me hope that the key to happiness does indeed run in the family.'

Love letters and a life in Peru

Adventurers: Not long after the Second World War, Alfie and Isabelle travelled separately to Peru as missionaries. The couple met and tied the knot in Lima in 1951, pictured

Love letters: Alfie and Isabelle became acquainted in 1950 after the two groups met for tea. Alfie was working in the coastal town of Tarma, while Isabelle was based in the capital of Lima, more than six hours drive away today. Pictured, the couple on their wedding day in 1951

United in faith: The couple remained in Peru until 1952, where they raised their children and carryied out valuable work setting up at schools, farms and health centres across the country

Lifelong love: The couple, pictured on their 50th wedding anniversary, later returned to the UK

Brits Alfie and Isabelle Douglas met while they were both working as missionaries in Peru in the 1950s. The pair exchanged love letters across the country before tying the knot and making the country their home.

Shortly after the Second World War, Alfie Douglas left his home in Dollingstown, Northern Ireland and boarded the Reina del Pacifico passenger ship for a fresh start in Peru.

At around the same time a young woman named Isabelle, from Edinburgh, travelled the same route and headed for the South American country.

The pair did not know each other but were both Christian missionaries, working with different groups. Alfie and Isabelle became acquainted in 1950 after the two groups met for tea.

Alfie was working in the coastal town of Tarma, while Isabelle was based in the capital of Lima, more than six hours drive away today.

To stay in touch, the loved-up couple exchanged romantic letters in which they declared their feelings for each other.

The couple married in Lima in 1952 and remained in Peru for another 20 years, where they raised their children and carryied out valuable work setting up at schools, farms and health centres across the country.

The couple returned to the UK in 1972.

Isabelle carried her husband's love letters with her in her handbag until her family filed them away for safekeeping. Alfie died in 2004 and Isabelle in 2016.

A dating app success story

Brought together by work: Kestell Duxbury, 27, first spotted his wife-to-be Sally when he was volunteering in Cambridge in 2015. Pictured, the couple on their wedding day last year

Breaking the ice: Kestell was later 'lucky' enough to come across Sally on Tinder and said it was the 'push he needed' to make contact. The couple tied the knot last year, pictured

Kestell Duxbury and his wife Sally were brought together by work but only spoke for the first time after he spotted her on Tinder. They married last year.

Kestell Duxbury, 27, first spotted his wife-to-be Sally in 2015, when the pair were both volunteering at the Citizen's Advice Bureau in Cambridge.

Kestell, a social media coordinator, said he noticed a 'gorgeous' girl on the same trainee course as him, but 'never said anything to her' because he 'didn't know what to say'.

But months later Kestell, who travelled in from Bedfordshire, was 'lucky enough' to stumble across Cambridge-based Sally, a volunteer advisor, on Tinder.

He said: 'I was lucky enough to come across her down the line on one of the dating apps, and it was the push I needed to make contact and break the ice.'

The pair exchanged messages on the app before arranging to go for a drink at All Bar One, Cambridge, in March 2016. 'The rest is history,' Kestell said.

'We got married in December and are now happily married in our flat with our cat and dog. Without the help of dating apps, I don't know if I ever would've found myself in this position.'

For more information visit www.storyterrace.com
El-Aaiun (Occupied Territories), 1 March 2020 (SPS) - The Moroccan occupation authorities prevented on Friday a delegation consisting of eight deputies from the Spanish Catalan Parliament from conducting a field fact-finding visit on the grave violations of human rights in Western Sahara.



The Catalan deputies were detained at the so-called Al-Hassan I airport in the occupied city of El-Aaiun, under the pretext that the elected representatives refuse their visit to the city and that they are not welcomed, to be forced to leave for Las Palmas, in the Canary Islands.



The parliamentary delegation was trying to conduct a field visit to support the family and children of Sahrawi political prisoner and human rights activist, Mahfouda Bamba Lefkir, who is in prison in the occupied city of El-Aaiun.



The delegation was also trying to hold meetings with Sahrawi human rights organizations in order to get a closer look at the deplorable human rights situation, the suffering of the Sahrawi people, the conditions of detention, the media embargo, and the military cordon imposed on the region for more than four decades.



The parliamentary delegation consisted of Ms. Susana Segovia, Mr. Ferran Civit, Mr. Vidal Aragones, Ms. Guadalupe Moreno, Mr. Oriol Puig, Mr. David Minoves, Ms. Gemma Aristoy, and Mr. Toni Royo. (SPS)



062/SPS/T
United Airlines is postponing start dates for some new pilots this month and warned about further flight reductions, the carrier confirmed Sunday.

A 23-person class of pilots that was supposed to start training this week has been postponed. CNBC had reported the schedule change earlier on Sunday. The delay comes as the COVID-19 outbreak spreads, prompting United and its competitors to scale back some international routes. Pilot training can take several months before aviators start flying for the airline.

The coronavirus is a new challenge for airlines that have been dealing with slower-than-expected growth because of the nearly yearlong grounding of the Boeing 737 Max after two fatal crashes.

In a note to employees sent Saturday, United CEO Oscar Munoz praised employees for how they've handled the abrupt changes and outlined additional materials, such as gloves and cleaning materials, sent to crews and vendors in areas that have been hit with the outbreak.

"I am confident that our deeply embedded safety practices and commitment to health and safety puts us a step ahead in terms of keeping our aircraft and workspaces clean and sanitary," wrote Munoz, who is handing the reins over to United's president, Scott Kirby, in May.

Munoz told employees that "we are strategically managing our Atlantic and domestic service, mindful of travel directives from the federal government, fluctuating demand and of course, the advice of public health experts," Munoz wrote. "Based on current trends, it is likely that additional schedule reductions will be necessary."

United is also offering some pilots who fly the widebody aircraft used on trans-Pacific routes a month off at reduced pay after the airline cut some of its Asia flights, according to a memo sent Friday by the United pilots' union. United has "worked with our union partners to offer pilots associated with those changes the opportunity to voluntarily adjust their near-term schedules, as we do whenever business needs allow," a spokeswoman said. "Moving forward, we will continue to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 and work closely with our labor partners to help manage our business to minimize the operational and financial disruption of the outbreak."

Airlines have ramped up their pilot hiring in recent years as they faced increasing demand and more pilots near the federally mandated retirement age of 65. Earlier this month, United announced the purchase of a flight-training academy, which is called the United Aviate Academy, to train its future pilots.

"We are on track to open the United Aviate Academy later this year and our plan to hire more than 10,000 pilots by 2029 remains unchanged," the United spokeswoman said.

Airlines around the world have been reassessing their routes as the new coronavirus spreads beyond China, where most of the more than 87,000 cases have been reported. A series of new travel advisories and restrictions and the spread of the virus itself to other countries, including South Korea and Italy, has driven down demand to those destinations.

On Sunday, Delta Air Lines said it will suspend this week its service between New York and Milan until early May. The move came hours after American Airlines said it would suspend its flights from New York and Miami to Milan until April 25. "American continues to review the airline's flight schedule to ensure that customers' needs are accommodated and will make additional refinements as necessary," the airline said in a statement.

United on Friday reduced its service throughout Asia. Delta Air Lines took a similar step, cutting its weekly flights to South Korea to 15 a week from 28. U.S. airlines have all suspended their flights to Hong Kong and mainland China.

United on Friday announced it would postpone its investor day, which was scheduled for next Thursday because it "does not believe it is practical to expect that it can have a productive conversation focused on its long-term strategy next week."

U.S. airline stocks tumbled more sharply than the broader market's rout as investors fretted about a broad drop in travel demand.
By PTI

LONDON: A large group of students, human rights activists and diaspora group representatives gathered outside the Indian High Commission here on Saturday for an "emergency protest" against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the associated violence in Delhi.

The India Society at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), South Asian Students Against Fascism and South Asia Solidarity Group were among the groups behind the protest.

The London protest was called alongside similar demonstrations in around 17 cities across Europe, including Paris, Berlin, Brussels and Geneva, with the central message of: "We stand in solidarity with the victims of communal violence in Delhi".

"If the world does not take note and react urgently, the consequences will be disastrous," SOAS India Society said in a statement.

The protesters chanted slogans and demanded the resignation of Home Minister Amit Shah, for alleged "gross failure" to maintain peace, and the arrest of BJP politicians accused of instigating violence in Delhi.

They also called on the UK government to issue a "strong condemnation" of the Narendra Modi government for the violence on the streets of the Indian capital.

The protestors also sought to highlight the many "heartening instances" of Hindus, Dalits and Sikhs protecting their Muslim neighbours, and Sikh gurdwaras opening their doors for victims fleeing violence in Delhi.

Over the past week, parts of the Indian capital have witnessed sectarian violence in reaction to CAA, an act passed by the Indian Parliament last December to grant citizenship rights to persecuted minorities from neighbouring countries.

Critics fear the act, and a proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC), would discriminate against the country's Muslims.

The government has sought to allay fears by stressing that no Indian Muslim would be impacted by the act and Home Minister Amit Shah has blamed the Opposition for stirring up the violence by spreading misinformation.
Annette Carlson still has nightmares. Sometimes her screams startle her awake. The trauma from the violence she suffered 46 years ago wont go away.

At age 24, she was a victim in one of San Franciscos most notorious crimes: a horrifying torture-killing and rape in 1974 that forever shattered her and her family.

Moving past the ordeal has been impossible, and as her rapist and husbands killer, Angelo Pavageau, prepares to go before the state parole board in April, the anguish has come flooding back.

I am terrified, Carlson told The Chronicle in her first interview about the ordeal in decades. Right now, its just hit me. Im in a state of disbelief. Its very difficult.

Pavageau was condemned to die in San Quentins gas chamber, but his sentence was reduced to life in prison in 1976, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the death penalty unconstitutional. In 1980, Pavageau became eligible for parole and began going before the board almost every year through the early 1990s.

Every time he has a hearing, Carlson said, shes forced to relive her trauma as she petitions the board to keep him behind bars. Pavageau has had 15 scheduled parole hearings.

A 2008 law called the California Victims Bill of Rights Act, or Marsys Law, was supposed to provide some relief. It allowed the state parole board to extend the time between parole hearings for people with life sentences up to 15 years. Pavageau has dodged any such long-term denials by waiving his recent hearings at the last minute.

The whole point of Marsys Law was to improve the system for everybody, so victims were not coming (back for hearings) year after year, and also, to provide adequate time for the inmate to actually get involved in programs and have that time to truly rehabilitate, said Christine Ward, executive director of Crime Victims Alliance, a state victims rights group.

Carlson hopes the April 15 hearing will be different, and for the first time since the savagery that left her husband, Frank Carlson, dead, she is hoping for some relief.

But Pavageau, now 71, could be granted parole. Hes currently incarcerated at California Medical Facility in Vacaville.

Pavageaus attorneys have argued for his release, saying he is remorseful and has been rehabilitated. For years, he denied committing the crime before eventually conceding he did it.

Carlson wants him to stay in prison forever.

I feel like I am entering the last part of my life, and I would like to be able to live with some closure, she said. She has asked that her privacy be protected, including her appearance and any details about her life since the crime occurred.

Around midnight on April 19, 1974, Carlson was asleep in her Victorian home on Kansas Street on Potrero Hill when Pavageau climbed up a trellis and through a second-story window.

Hearing her screams, Frank Carlson, then 25, ran upstairs. Pavageau held the couple at knifepoint, ordered them into the kitchen and demanded money.

He tied Frank Carlson to a chair with an electrical cord and began beating him as Annette Carlson watched in horror. Pavageau bludgeoned her husband with a hammer and then a wooden chopping block  breaking both on Frank Carlsons head  before continuing to beat him with a vase and a jar of change.

Annette Carlson said the scene still plays over and over in her head like a nonstop film.

Seeing me pinned against the refrigerator, paralyzed, screaming  I could not stop my screaming and yelling, she said. He would run over to me and put his knife against me and say, Shut up or Ill kill you. All I could do was put both hands over my mouth. I could not stop screaming. I could not save my husband.

After crushing Frank Carlsons skull, Pavageau took Annette Carlson upstairs to the bedroom and continued his ruthless attack. He raped her and beat her, smashing her head with a rocking chair and a glass paperweight wrapped in a towel. He slashed her wrists and left her for dead, wiping his fingerprints from the crime scene and dousing the room in paint thinner before setting it ablaze.

I knew he was going to kill me, Carlson said.

After Pavageau left, Carlson remarkably found her way out through the bedroom window and onto a lower roof where neighbors came to her rescue. She survived with major wounds, including broken arms and fingers, and a fractured jaw and shoulder.

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.

Her husband did not survive.

I relive those moments when Franks life was pouring out of him and Annette was in total immovable shock and paralysis, his mother, Betty Carlson, said in a recorded statement before her death in 2010. How I wish I could have been there to hold him in my arms, to comfort him and to let him know how much we love him, knowing full well the end of the story.

Homicide Inspectors Jack Cleary and Frank Falzon were assigned the case, and eventually caught a break when they found Annette Carlsons stolen ring at a pawnshop and traced it back to Pavageau, a postal employee from New Orleans who lived down the block from the Carlsons.

In my time in homicide, I received some terrible cases. That was the worst one I ever worked, Cleary said in a recent interview.

With bandages on her head and casts on her wrists, Annette Carlson picked Pavageau out of a police lineup without hearing his voice. When Cleary had each man say, I want your money, Pavageaus French-Creole pronunciation of mon-ay was unmistakable.

A jury found Pavageau guilty in August 1974 and he was sentenced to death. Seven years later, the string of parole hearings began. Betty Carlson attended every one of them until her death at age 93. In 2006, she recorded her statement urging the parole board to keep evil incarnate where it belongs.

Frank Carlsons younger brother, Eric, has taken up the mantle in the fight to keep Pavageau behind bars. He said his brother was an aspiring journalist and musician but, more importantly, a role model.

He was looking out for me and taking care of me, said Eric Carlson, who was 16 when his brother was killed. My life has never been the same since that day.

He created a website, justiceforfrank.org, to tell his story and encourage the public to write letters in support of the family. Eric Carlson plans to make a public statement on the case Sunday.

Its unfortunate that we have a system that requires this to be dredged up over and over again, Eric Carlson said. Its painful for us and its painful for the people that have to hear it.

Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky
Volunteers Help a Couple Stranded in Wuhan

Location: Wuhan, Hubei

February 26, 2020

While driving across the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge on the night of Feb. 26 volunteer Zheng Nengliang and his friend Hu Hengbing came across a middle-aged homeless couple. The couple when asked said they traveled from Xianning, Hubei, before the Chinese Lunar New Year, to see a doctor in Wuhan. Now they are not allowed to leave Wuhan as the city is in lockdown. After spending all their money, they became homelessunable to afford any food or accommodation.

Due to years of chronic tuberculosis, the wife was unemployed. Her husband worked in Yiwu (a city famous for wholesale commodity markets). They came to Wuhan to get treatment for her disease before Chinese Lunar New Year, but never expected the coronavirus outbreak that swept the whole city. After the sudden lockdown announced by the government, they couldnt return home and had to stay in Wuhan.

Mr. Zheng asked how they managed to get food. In the beginning of this month, we paid for ourselves, and we paid for the house. Now we have run out of money. The husband said, adding, We resorted to the community but were denied help.

The couple can neither leave Wuhan nor find a place to stay now. They have no choice but to live on the streets and scavenge for food.

Mr. Zheng smelled a strong sour scent from the couple. Apparently, they had not bathed or changed clothes for a long time. His wife looked weak and shivered with cold.

Mr. Zheng offered to find some quilts for the poor couple, while Hu Hengbing took off his jacket for the wife and gave them the last three biscuits in the car.

Conversation:

Zheng Nengliang: Today is February 26, 2020. How long have you been here?

Husband: We came before the Lunar New Year.

Zheng Nengliang: Youve been here since last year?

The couple: Yes.

Zheng Nengliang: Where did you eat every day?

Husband: In the beginning of this month, we paid for ourselves, and we paid for the house. Now we have run out of money.

Wife: We picked up food from the streets.

Zheng Nengliang: You picked up food to eat?

Husband: There are no other options.

Hu Hengbing: What disease are you seeking treatment for? Do you have a medical record?

Zheng Nengliang: What did you do? What were your jobs?

Husband: My wife has tuberculosis, chronic tuberculosis.

Zheng Nengliang: Oh, that is infectious. Just put on the face mask.

The couple: Its been years.

Zheng Nengliang: What were your jobs?

Husband: I worked in Yiwu.

Zheng Nengliang: In Yiwu. What about your wife?

Wife: I stayed at home for treatment.

Husband: She didnt have a job. She had been receiving treatment at home for years.

Zheng Nengliang: That is to say, you have been here before the new year, and you cant go back now but to live on food found on the streets?

Husband: We resorted to the community but were denied help.

Zheng Nengliang: I give you all the biscuits we have in our car.

Husband: We will keep looking for communities.

Zheng Nengliang: How many homeless people have you seen up to now?

Husband: I dont know that. I dont know anything from the community.

Wife: Usually they dont let us go out.

Zheng Nengliang: We will find some quilts for you.

Hu Hengbing: voice lost

The couple: Thank you! Thank you!
Just before Christmas last year, Jill Biden figuratively stepped over the huddled masses of homeless on the streets of America, and headed across the border for a high-profile campaign photo-op. Her destination was a camp for migrants who had entered the US illegally and were awaiting adjudication of their cases in Mexico.

Twelve thousand children are homeless here in California, and our homeless population has risen to 151,000. Last year, California was single-handedly responsible for the national increase in homelessness.

Homeless camp on a street in front of a school in Los Angeles (YouTube screen grab)

Adjusted for cost of living, Census Bureau data show that California is also by far the highest-poverty state in the nation.

But it was not to the tired and poor in California that the Biden campaign sent its emissary for a high-profile Christmas-season media event.

As a private citizen, Jill Biden unquestionably has the right to choose the beneficiaries of her charity. But this was no private outing, this was a campaign event. Clearly, the Biden campaign had calculated that bypassing Americas needy in favor of a Lady Bountiful appearance across the border would be a winning campaign strategy.

In the same vein, Californias legislature recently imposed a state penalty on residents who cannot afford the Affordable Care Acts sky-high premiums, while approving free health care for young adult immigrants who lack legal status. My home county of Santa Clara has set aside millions for legal services for unauthorized immigrants, while the homeless shiver under our freeway underpasses, and food banks send out pleas for donations.

What does it say about our leaders, and our nation, that a closed fist for struggling Americans and an open hand for those who break our immigration laws is a winning political strategy?

In the four decades since I immigrated to the US from India, I have often observed that we immigrants think more deeply about the meaning of citizenship than our native-born peers. This is not surprising - we are here by conscious choice, not by chance. As part of our oath of citizenship we explicitly renounce all allegiance to the land of our birth and enter into community with a new people and a new nation. When we take that oath, we recognize that we are entering into a solemn compact of duty and loyalty to Americas Constitution and laws, as well as to the well-being of the American people, with whom we are now joined in nationhood.

Civil rights leader and Texas Democrat Barbara Jordan eloquently expressed this ethos: A nation is formed by the willingness of each of us to share in the responsibility for upholding the common good a spirit of harmony will survive in America only if each of us remembers that we share a common destiny.

This has never been a partisan position. It should not be one now.

Another core truth that we immigrants have reason to understand better than most is that this nation of immigrants cannot absorb all who wish to gain entry -- 150 million people, by Gallups recent analysis. That being the case, our adopted country has a clear moral responsibility to put the well-being of its own citizens front and center when deciding who should be admitted, and the indisputable right to ensure that admittance is in accordance with its laws.

This, too, has never previously been partisan or controversial. Barack Obama and Bill Clinton were both forthright about the importance of an immigration policy grounded in adherence to the law. Yet today, presidential candidates are engaged in a bidding war for votes by promising de facto uncontrolled admission to the US, coupled with commitments to extensive government services for those who enter illegally.

Given the chaos at our southern border, and the enormous number of visa overstays, a serious review of immigration policy and enforcement is clearly required. Unfortunately, what we are getting instead is divisive demagoguery about nativism and xenophobia, and a menu of false choices with heavily loaded framing: inclusive vs exclusive, pro-immigrant vs anti-immigrant, welcoming vs unwelcoming.

But as the Biden vignette illustrates, this rhetoric skirts the core moral question: do we welcome and include struggling Americans, and make their advancement and well-being our first concern, or do we callously pass them over in favor of unauthorized immigrants, who are in direct competition with Americans for already inadequate resources? At the national level, services for unauthorized immigrants impose a net fiscal burden of over $50B on taxpayers.

The moral problem does not end with government services. There is strikingly little attention paid to the inconvenient truth that uncontrolled entry of low-skill immigrants most impacts the wages of the poorest working Americans. As Harvards George Borjas has shown, unauthorized immigration reduces the wages of American workers by more than $100 billion a year. The poorest American workers, and those with the least education, are the most affected.

Tellingly, American immigrants and minorities hold views that are sharply at variance with those of their self-appointed spokespeople. Immigrants in Maryland strongly opposed state sanctuary policies. Zogbys survey found that Hispanics and blacks overwhelmingly feel that there are plenty of Americans available to fill unskilled jobs. They are also strongly in favor of immigration enforcement. That is unsurprising -- they are directly impacted by the negative consequences of large-scale unauthorized immigration, unlike elite progressives living in gated communities and doorman apartments.

When trouble strikes Americans abroad, our nation comes together as a community, and exerts extraordinary efforts to bring our citizens home to safety. With the Wuhan epidemic and quarantine making headlines, we read that the US government has evacuated Americans from the affected areas by special charter. We cheer the sustained high-level efforts by the State Department that have successfully brought Americans home from North Korea, Iran, and other trouble spots.

We can and should harness the same spirit of national solidarity, national community and national priority to address the needs of Americans here at home. Americas workers, as well as its tired and poor, deserve no less.

Paulette was a senior tech executive responsible for billion-dollar high-tech businesses in leading Silicon Valley companies. She immigrated to the US from India in 1978. Linkedin
American Airlines reportedly said on February 29 that it will be suspending all their US flights to Milan, Italy in order to take precautionary measures against coronavirus. This comes hours after the US State Department announced that it was raising its travel warnings for parts of Italy due to COVID-19 outbreak. According to the reports, Italy is facing the worst outbreak of the infectious disease in Europe that took 29 lives and has 1,100 confirmed cases. The virus outbreak in the country took place around last week in a city which is 40 miles (60 km) from Milan, the financial capital situated in the country's north.

READ: US Confirms First Death From Coronavirus In Washington State

As per the reports, American Airlines said that it will suspend flights from New York-John F. Kennedy International Airport and Miami till April 24 witnessing a reduction in the demand. The Trump administration on Saturday raised its travel advisory alert to "Level 4 - Do Not Travel" to Lombardo and Veneto in Italy due to the increase in virus transmission cases and imposition of local quarantine procedures. The airline reportedly said that its final flight will return from Milan on Sunday. As per the reports, the airline said that it will be operating a daily flight to Italy between Philadelphia and Rome from both the places. The airline is scheduled to resume its seasonal service to Venice in May.

READ: California: Health Officials Unveil New Coronavirus Test Kits

'No reason to panic'

US President Donald Trump on Saturday held a press conference where he said there is 'no reason to panic' after one citizen died of the novel coronavirus earlier in the day. Trump at the briefing said, "We respectfully ask the media and politicians and everybody else involved not to do anything to incite the panic because there's no reason to panic at all." Trump further insisted that the criticism of his administrations handling of the virus outbreak was a hoax. Trump administration also announced additional travel restrictions affecting Iran, Italy, and South Korea in response to the coronavirus outbreak.



READ: Donald Trump Mulls Travel Ban On Italy, South Korea As Coronavirus Cases Rise

READ: 'No Reason To Panic': Donald Trump On 1st Death From Coronavirus In US
ORESTIADA, Greece  Greece took a raft of tough measures Sunday as it tried to repel thousands of migrants amassed at its border with Turkey.

It deployed major military forces to the border, seeking to fortify the area after Turkey allowed migrants to pass through to the European Union over the weekend. The Greek government also said it would suspend asylum applications for a month and summarily deport migrants entering illegally.

The developments were increasing tensions between the two countries, leaving thousands of people exposed to winter weather and caught in an increasingly volatile situation.

Neither move announced by Greece is permitted by European Union law, but the Greek government said it would request special dispensation from the bloc. International protocols on the protection of refugees, of which Greece is a signatory, also prohibit such policies.
South Korea directed Churches to shut down on Sunday, with many holding online services instead, as authorities fought to rein in public gatherings, with 586 new coronavirus infections taking the tally to 3,736 cases.



This came a day after the biggest daily jump of 813 cases in South Koreas battle with the largest virus outbreak outside China, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said. The death toll rose to 18.

AFP

In Seoul, the capital, about a dozen worshippers were turned away from the Yoido Full Gospel Church, which put a sermon for its 560,000 followers on YouTube, filmed with a small choir instead of all 200 members and 60-strong orchestra.

I had heard there would be no service, but just came to check as I live nearby, but yes, it is so empty, said one of them, Song Young-koo, as he left South Koreas biggest church.

Its a wise decision to do it online, since the virus would easily spread at mass gatherings and churches can be no exception.

Authorities have warned of a critical moment in the battle on the virus, urging people to refrain from attending religious services and political events and stay home this weekend.

AFP

For the first time in its 236-year history, South Koreas Catholic church decided to halt masses at more than 1,700 locations nationwide. Buddhist temples also called off events, while major Christian churches held online services.

Of the new cases, 333 were from the southeastern city of Daegu, the location of a church at the centre of the outbreak, and 26 from the nearby province of North Gyeongsang, KCDC said.

The agency said some church members in January visited the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the disease emerged late last year, adding that it was investigating to determine if the trip played a role in the outbreak.

AFP

Were tracing back how many members had gone to China, its deputy director, Kwon Jun-wook, told a briefing.

Our top priority is to find out how the coronavirus has been transmitted so widely among the Shincheonji followers, he added, in a reference to the church involved.

The numbers of cases was likely to continue growing in early March, he added, pledging greater efforts to rein-in key infection sources.

At a news conference in Seoul, a group of doctors and chiefs of public hospitals urged the government to combat a shortage of beds by assigning them to the critically ill, after two patients died in self-quarantine at home.

Help for North Korea

President Moon Jae-in called for unity and vowed greater efforts, including an extra budget, to fight the outbreak, in a speech.

The outbreak can threaten our lives temporarily, but it cannot break our unity and hope, he said.

Moon proposed joint efforts with North Korea to prevent an outbreak in the neighbour and improve healthcare.

North Korea has not confirmed cases, but has ordered a month in quarantine for those with symptoms, while state media said leader Kim Jong Un held a meeting on tougher measures.

The crisis spooked trade and financial markets, leading Samsung Electronics (005930.KS), Hyundai Motor (005380.KS) and LG Display (034220.KS) to temporarily shut down a plant each, and prompting boy band BTS to cancel a world tour set for April.

More neighbours suspended flights and banned visitors from South Korea.

In a statement, the foreign ministry said Foreign Minister, Kang Kyung-wha, asked Washington to avoid excessive action that could needlessly shrink exchanges between both countries, during a telephone call with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun on Sunday.

The request came after the United States advised Americans not to travel to hard-hit regions, such as Daegu.
Katie Holmes returned home to daughter Suri Cruise after taking in Paris Fashion Week.

The actress wasted little time reconnecting with daughter, seen taking an early evening stroll with her 13-year-old.

Walking side-by-side, the pair appeared to be in great spirits as they chatted down the bustling streets of Manhattan on another brisk and chilly winter night.

Quality time: Katie Holmes, 41, returned to New York after attending Paris fashion Week and spend some time with daughter Suri Cruise, 13

The Dawson's Creek alum, 41, dressed down for the occasion in flared blue jeans and a black overcoat over a red and white sweater.

She also donned white sneakers, dark sunglasses and pulled her dark brown tresses into a top bun.

Suri, who's father is superstar actor Tom Cruise, also donned denim jeans and white sneakers.

For warmth she wore a stylish bright yellow jacket and styled her brown locks long with a part on the slight right.

Casual: The Dawson's Creek alum dressed down for the stroll in flared blue jeans and a black overcoat over a red and white sweater

Holmes has been a stale at fashion shows all over the world for more than two decades.

The actress had been out promoting two new films: the drama film Coda with Patrick Stewart and the supernatural horror flick, Brahms: The Boy II, which both premiered in February.

She also has a new drama film -- The Secret: Dare To Dream -- co-starring Josh Lucas, Jerry O'Connell and Celia Weston slated to drop on April 17.

Youthful: Suri wore blue jeans, a stylish bright yellow jacket and styled her brown locks long with a part on the slight right

The actress first achieved fame as Joey Potter on the hit television series Dawson's Creek (1998-2003).

Her film resume includes roles in Teaching Mrs. Tingle (1999), Go (1999), The Gift (2000), Wonder Boys (2000), Batman Begins (2005), Thank You For Not Smoking (2005), and the TV mini series The Kennedys (2011) and The Kennedys: After Camelot (2017).
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Aurelie Mayembo and Kit Holden (Agence France-Presse) Berlin  Sun, March 1, 2020 11:00 680 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206783662 2 Entertainment Movie,Iran,Berlin-film-festival,Mohammad-Rasoulof Free

Dissident Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof on Saturday won the top prize at the Berlin film festival for "There Is No Evil", a searingly critical work about the death penalty in his country.

Rasoulof, 48, is currently banned from leaving Iran and was unable to accept the Golden Bear in person.

Accepting the award on his behalf, producer Farzad Pak thanked "the amazing cast and crew who, put their lives in danger to be on this film."

The film tells four loosely related individual stories about the death penalty in Iran, from the executioner to the families of the victims.

Industry magazine "Variety" called it Rasoulof's "most openly critical statement yet".

Rasoulof was sentenced to a year in prison last year for "attacking the security of the state", and banned from making films for life.

Speaking to a news conference via mobile phone, the director said his latest film was about "taking responsibility" under despotism.

"You can try to put aside your own responsibility and pass the buck to the government... but (people) can say no," he said.

Teenage abortion drama

The runner-up jury prize went to Eliza Hittman's teenage abortion drama "Never Rarely Sometimes Always", which had been a favorite among critics.

Sidney Flanigan plays a 17-year-old from Pennsylvania forced to travel to New York in order to abort an unplanned pregnancy.

Hailed for its empathy and emotion, female solidarity is at the heart of the film, in which male characters are marginalized and often predatory.

Audiences and critics were particularly enthralled by an intense, single-shot scene in which Flanigan's character answers personal questions at a clinic.

"While I was researching this film, I spent a tremendous amount of time inside planned parenthood and other clinics," said Hittman.

She added that she had been "humbled" by that experience, before addressing the nurses and social workers who work in such clinics.

"I want to thank them for their incredible service to our countries, for protecting the lives and rights of all people with uteruses."

Hittman's success came in the wake of a controversy earlier in the festival over jury president Jeremy Irons' past comments on abortion and women's rights.

In a 2016 interview with the Guardian, Irons had said abortion "harms a woman" and that the church was "right to say it was a sin".

At his opening press conference, the jury head was forced to clarify that he supported "wholeheartedly the right of women to have an abortion should they so decide".

The debate over women's representation and the #MeToo movement continued throughout the festival, fueled in part by news Monday of Harvey Weinstein's conviction for rape and sexual assault.

New festival directors Carlo Chatrian and Mariette Rissenbeek also came under fire for picking one fewer female-directed film than in the previous year.

And there was widespread outrage over the Russian film "DAU: Natasha", whose cinematographer Juergen Juerges won the Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution on Saturday.

Part of the sprawling, controversial Russian art project "DAU", it was widely slammed for an interrogation scene which included a graphic sexual assault.

The makers of the film were also forced to deny rumors of abuse on set.

Ahead of the awards ceremony, a handful of protesters outside the venue held up a banner reading "DAU = violence and abuse".

Yet Juerges disputed those claims, saying that director Ilya Khrzhanovsky "may push boundaries professionally, but he does not cross them".

Nazi past scandal

Another German, Paula Beer, won Best Actress for her role in Christian Petzold's water-themed romance "Undine".

The award for Best Actor went to Italy's Elio Germano for his portrayal of the mental and physical struggles of painter Antonio Ligabue in "Hidden Away".

"I dedicate this prize to all the outcasts, all the people who are a little bit strange," said the 39-year-old.

Germano also featured in "Bad Tales" by Italian brothers Fabio and Damiano D'Innocenzo, which won Best Screenplay.

The award for Best Director went to South Korea's Hong Sangsoo for "The Woman Who Ran", a minimalistic film about a woman whose husband is away on a business trip.

Industry magazine IndieWire described the film as a "charming look at smart women dealing with annoying men".

"Delete History", a French comedy about society in the age of the internet, won the "70th anniversary Silver Bear".

The prize replaced the traditional "Alfred Bauer Prize", which was removed from the list of "Silver Bears" after it emerged that Berlinale founding director Bauer was a high-ranking Nazi.
He's been linked to some of the world's most beautiful women.

And Jordan Barrett stepped out with yet another stunner on Sunday as he went for a stroll around New York City.

The Australian catwalk star and one of his very attractive gal pals went to lunch in the upscale neighbourhood of Soho.

Baby, it's called outside! Model Jordan Barrett rugged up in a massive doona-style puffer jacket and a beanie as he stepped out with a female friend in New York on Saturday night

The 23-year-old male supermodel rugged up from the cold in a doona-style puffer jacket and a beanie that brought out his blue eyes.

Meanwhile, his female friend looked chic in black trousers, a fur coat and a pair of chunky boots.

Aside from modelling, Jordan is now trying his luck at acting.

How chic: The Australian catwalk star and one of his very attractive model friends went to lunch in the upscale neighbourhood of Soho

A source told Daily Mail Australia earlier this month that the handsome star is 'transitioning into film this year', and it is understood he has just landed a role in a major Hollywood flick.

Filming is said to be starting in September, with the name of the movie remaining under wraps.

Jordan has just signed with leading Hollywood talent powerhouse, Creative Artists Agency (CAA), and is also represented by Kate Moss Agency for modelling.

Catwalk star: Jordan - who hails from the idyllic Byron Bay - has had huge success overseas. The chiseled blond has modelled for the likes of Versace and Balmain, and his art project Sedated will soon be releasing merchandise and sustainable clothing

'Jordan has been the most successful male model consecutively for the last four years since moving to New York,' the source told Daily Mail Australia this week.

'It is believed he is transitioning into film this year, with an upcoming project filming in September.'

Jordan - who hails from the idyllic Byron Bay - has had huge success overseas.

The chiseled blond has modelled for the likes of Versace and Balmain, and his art project Sedated will soon be releasing merchandise and sustainable clothing.

This week, WHO magazine reported that Jordan's net worth is around $2.9million (AUD).
The National Commission for Women (NCW) on Sunday organised a "power walk" to promote gender equality and build awareness about crimes against girls and women at public spaces.

The walk from India Gate to Janpath, which was led by NCW chief Rekha Sharma, saw the participation of hundreds of people, including students and activists.

Speaking at the event, High Commissioner of Canada to India Nadir Patel said, "It is incumbent on all of us to help create an environment all over the world where women can thrive and prosper."



Participants were seen holding placards reading "I have nothing to be ashamed of" and "Don't tell me the time, tell them about the crime".

"Women are equal contributors to prosperity both economic and social. I am particularly pleased to see so many men here because it is a collective responsibility that we all have to ensure that women are safe," Patel said.

Sharma said the walk is a drive to instill, with a belief that, the only way to make public spaces safe is to occupy in large numbers and put out the message clearly, whether day or night, women have equal right to claim her spaces everywhere and anywhere.

"We must advocate for change as collective citizens and build impact in terms of physical safety for women for their social, physical, cognitive and economic growth. She said the walk is being simultaneously organised in 15 states," she said.

A nukkad natak was also held by a group of students from the Delhi University. Through the street play, the NCW said it intends to highlight the gender based discrimination and inform citizens behind the cause of the power walk.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chancellor Rishi Sunak is planning to mount a 3 billion tax raid in this month's Budget by targeting entrepreneurs, The Mail on Sunday has learned.

The plan to abolish entrepreneurs' relief is part of a 'tax and spend' statement which is likely to cause unease among the more fiscally hawkish Tory backbenchers. They have already signalled that they will rebel against any measures in the Budget which single out higher earners.

Lobbying by the backbenchers has already forced the Treasury to ditch plans to cut pension tax relief from 40 to 20 per cent for high earners, while the possibility of a mansion tax on expensive homes was strangled at birth in Downing Street amid fury from MPs.

A number of Tories have also indicated they will rebel if the Budget is used to raise fuel duty.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak is planning to abolish entrepreneurs' relief as part of a 'tax and spend' Budget statement

But the Treasury is determined to press ahead in the March 11 Budget with plans to abolish entrepreneurs' relief, which taxes people who sell their businesses at a reduced rate of 10 per cent up to a threshold of 10 million.

The Resolution Foundation called it 'the UK's worst tax break', and argued that scrapping the 'expensive, regressive and ineffective' tax would generate 2.7 billion that could be spent on the public sector.

Mr Sunak's team have also been canvassing business reaction to introducing a range of new green taxes as part of a drive to tackle climate change.

The Chancellor needs to tap into new revenue streams to fund Boris Johnson's ambitious programme of big-ticket spending plans, including an investment splurge on the NHS, HS2, and even a bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland.

But despite the Prime Minister's 80-seat majority, No 10 has been alarmed by the level of disquiet on the Tory backbenches: in the coming days alone, they are expecting pushback in the Commons from Tory MPs opposed to HS2 and the decision to allow the Chinese giant Huawei to help build the UK's 5G telecoms network.

The former Chancellor Sajid Javid claimed in an interview yesterday that he had wanted to cut taxes in the Budget

The former Chancellor Sajid Javid  who was replaced by Mr Sunak after resisting a move by No 10 to sack his aides  claimed in an interview yesterday that he had wanted to cut taxes in the Budget, including 2p from the basic rate of income tax.

The 2p reduction, which No 10 denies was under serious consideration, would have cost the Treasury 10 billion a year. Mr Javid also said Mr Johnson's plans would cost 100 billion in extra day-to-day spending over the next five years, in addition to a further 100 billion in capital spending.

It came as a survey of small businesses found that while more than a half wanted Mr Sunak to announce a review of business rates, which have been blamed for the number of firms in financial difficulty, there was less enthusiasm for Mr Johnson's flagship infrastructure spending.

The survey by iwoca, the small business lender, found that just 21 per cent thought the projects should be a priority. The Treasury declined to comment.








Web Toolbar by Wibiya

With the recent developments in Artificial Intelligence, humans have reached higher level of sophistication. However, some experts warn about the dangers of giving unspecific commands to intelligent machines, which could cause catastrophic consequences.

In a recent article published on tech online magazine QuantaMagazine, researcher Natalie Wolchover explains that the danger of having artificially intelligent machines do our bidding is that we might not be careful enough about what we wish for.

The lines of code that animate these machines will inevitably lack nuance, forget to spell out caveats, and end up giving AI systems goals and incentives that dont align with our true preferences, she affirms. A major aspect of the problem is that humans often dont know what goals to give our AI systems, because we dont know what we really want, she expresses.

However, some scientists have suggested that the solution is programming intelligent machines to understand human preferences instead of achieving a specific task. Instead of machines pursuing goals of their own, the new thinking goes, they should seek to satisfy human preferences; their only goal should be to learn more about what our preferences are, Ms Wolchover says. With standard inverse reinforcement learning, a machine tries to learn a reward function that a human is pursuing. But in real life, we might be willing to actively help it learn about us, she adds.

Like the robots, were also trying to figure out our preferences, both what they are and what we want them to be, and how to handle the ambiguities and contradictions, the journalist writes. Like the best possible AI, were also striving  at least some of us, some of the time  to understand the form of the good, as Plato called the object of knowledge. Like us, AI systems may be stuck forever asking questions  or waiting in the off position, too uncertain to help, she mentions.

Draw your own conclusions

For more information: https://www.quantamagazine.org/artificial-intelligence-will-do-what-we-ask-thats-a-problem-20200130/
Mobiles Spring Hill College will shut down its campus in Bologna, Italy, and bring its students home out of concerns about the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in the region.

The school announced Saturday that it made the decision following a U.S. State Department advisory Friday about travel in Italy due to concerns about the spread of the virus. Reports of coronavirus spread in Italy began last week.

The school reports travel arrangements are being made for the students to return to the U.S.

Our highest commitment is to our students health and safety, Spring Hill President E. Joseph Lee II said in a news release. Our priority right now is ensuring that students return home safely.

No Spring Hill student has tested positive for coronavirus, according to the school. Students will be quarantined in Alabama for a two week period before returning to class with a doctors note. Spring Hill says the students will be able to study remotely to keep up with their classes.

RELATED: Complete coverage of coronavirus
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 1/3/2020 (680 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Environmental art expressions

See art created by Winnipeg Art Gallery Studio students at their annual celebration of childrens creativity. The "Through the Eyes of a Child" exhibition is on display at the Assiniboine Park Pavilion now through April 13. This year, students created pieces that express their thoughts and feelings on the environment and climate change. Entry is free.

Get Crafty at Torque

Torque Brewing Co. (330-830 King Edward St.) is offering you a chance Monday to make a craft as you enjoy its craft beer. DIY Craft Bar will be on hand to teach you how to make a one-of-a-kind magnetic bottle opener thatll be perfect for your man cave or cottage. Tickets are $35, available through Eventbrite.

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.

Exit Stage Left

In honour of Rushs legendary drummer and lyricist Neal Peart, who died earlier this year of brain cancer, The Park Theatre (698 Osborne St.) is holding a tribute night in his honour that raises money for cancer research. Beginning at 7:30 p.m., the theatre will show two Rush concerts on their big screen. Tickets are $20, available through Eventbrite.

Beer & Beethoven

The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra wants to introduce you to the basics of Beethoven. Perhaps a beer at Nonsuch Brewing Co. (125 Pacific) will lure you into discussion? WSO members will be there Thursday at 7 p.m. to chat about the famous German composer. Tickets are $10 through wso.ca and include a snack item and beverage.

Explore the Exchange

Experience the best the Exchange District has to offer after your work week is over. "First Fridays in the Exchange" offers special programming at galleries, stores, bars, and restaurants  such as concerts, open houses, and art exhibits  throughout the area from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. The participants are different every time, so visit firstfridayswinnipeg.org for more details.

Eat and drink Manitoba

Enjoy a bevy of food and drink made right here in Manitoba at the seventh-annual Love Local Manitoba event on Saturday. Running from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Victoria Inn Hotel & Conference Centre, the do features plenty of nibbles and noshes  both savoury and sweet  and quality quaffs from local distilleries and breweries. Visit lovelocalmb.com for tickets and a full list of vendors.

Psychedelic Star Wars shindig

Don your Stormtrooper or Luke Skywalker garb and make your way down to X-Cues Cafe and Lounge (551 Sargent Ave.) for a late-night EDM techno show completely themed around the epic sci-fi franchise. Five performers will provide psychedelic, techno, and trance tunes from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m.; tickets are $15 at the door.
Boris Johnson's refusal to back Heathrow's third runway threatens to leave the taxpayer on the hook in a 500million court case, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

In a move that dismayed businesses last week, the Prime Minister decided not to appeal when the Government's official policy of expanding Heathrow was rejected on environmental grounds by judges in the High Court.

Now the MoS can disclose that documents signed off by Heathrow and the former Transport Secretary Chris Grayling in 2016 show the airport has the right to sue the Government if it pulls the plug on the project.

Boris Johnson's refusal to back Heathrow's third runway threatens to leave the taxpayer on the hook in a 500million court case

Heathrow is understood to have invested 520million so far on planning the expansion  and could seek to recoup this from the taxpayer if the third runway is axed entirely.

Sources told this newspaper that a permanent block on enlarging Heathrow would also threaten the Prime Minister's own plans to build hospitals and the HS2 rail link, as well as making all future infrastructure projects up to 20 per cent more expensive as firms factor in the risk of legal complaints on environmental grounds.

Industry sources said it could become almost impossible to launch big building schemes in Britain  including expanding regional airports instead of Heathrow  without taking into account the effect on climate change.

Mark Reynolds, chief executive of 2billion construction firm Mace which has worked on Heathrow and HS2, said: 'If projects like Heathrow, and then potentially High Speed Rail or Highways England programmes, become toxic because of the environmental impact, then what are we as a nation going to do? Are we just going to stop and say we don't do anything?'

The defeat in the High Court last week  and the Government's refusal to appeal  has forced Heathrow and its backers to take their case to the Supreme Court, adding at least 12 months to the project and jeopardising Parliament's 2030 deadline for completion.

The Government's refusal to launch its own appeal fuelled speculation that Johnson, who previously pledged to 'lie down in front of the bulldozers' to stop the project, was using the ruling as a convenient way to allow it to die.

Sources warned that if the Supreme Court also blocks the third runway over climate concerns, it would set an 'extraordinary precedent'

But sources warned that if the Supreme Court also blocks the third runway over climate concerns, it would set an 'extraordinary precedent'.

This is because the highest court in the land would be siding with judges who rejected Heathrow's plans on the grounds that they 'unlawfully' failed to take into account the Paris climate change agreement, under which countries pledge to hit a 'net zero' carbon emissions target by 2050.

It is understood the HS2 plans, given the go-ahead by Johnson last month, do not take into account stringent climate objectives and so could hit a similar block if challenged in court.

Heathrow insists its plans do now meet the Paris climate target, meaning the Government would have no trouble satisfying the court's order.

A Heathrow spokeswoman explained that Ministers simply needed to update the National Policy Statement on Heathrow expansion, which was overwhelmingly backed by MPs in 2018, to reflect this.

It is understood the HS2 plans, given the go-ahead by Johnson last month, do not take into account stringent climate objectives and so could hit a similar block if challenged in court

But a collapse of the project could usher in costly legal proceedings.

According to the 2016 agreement between Heathrow and the Department of Transport, the project's ultimate failure could activate a clause allowing the airport's owners 'to pursue any and all legal and equitable remedies (including cost recovery)' on the basis that the Government switches to an 'alter native scheme being preferred by the Secretary of State or Government and/or the withdrawal of the Government's support for aviation expansion for Heathrow Airport'.

The Government also faces claims it has failed to grasp the opportunity to throw open the doors to international business and visitors as the UK begins its post-Brexit era.

Last night, Bill Galvin, group chief executive at the 75billion Universities Superannuation Scheme  Britain's biggest pension fund which owns 10 per cent of Heathrow  said the court decision was 'disappointing'.

Bill Galvin, the boss of Britain's biggest pension fund which owns 10% of Heathrow, said the court decision was 'disappointing'

He added: 'This is happening at exactly the same time as the Government has placed infrastructure development as a key policy initiative.

'The expansion would bring jobs and help grow the economy around the country. Heathrow, with our support, has already promised to boost the UK economy by over 200billion, as well as create around 180,000 jobs.'

Arora Holdings, which has an alternative plan to build the runway, is joining Heathrow in appealing the judgment in the Supreme Court. Carlton Brown, its chief financial officer, said: 'The Paris agreement isn't binding on the UK so its ironic this is now having this impact on the UK.'

Heathrow's spokeswoman said: 'Last week's ruling has meant there will be a delay in realising the benefits of Heathrow expansion until the Government remedies an eminently fixable issue.

'Failure to fix it rules out airport growth anywhere in the country and casts doubt on other infrastructure projects, including roads and housing pledges made by the Government.'

She said Heathrow has taken a lead in meeting climate targets and is ready to work with the Government to 'level up' Britain.
Ex-Boston Red Sox pitcher David Price is enjoying life with the Dodgers and a less demanding Los Angeles media.

Its such a big difference from Boston to here, Price told USA Todays Bob Nightengale. Really, its night and day."

The Red Sox traded Price and Mookie Betts to the Dodgers on Feb. 10 for Alex Verdugo and prospects Jeter Downs and Connor Wong.

Price signed a seven-year, $217-million contract with Boston in December 2015. He helped deliver Boston a World Series in 2018. He posted a 2.59 ERA in five outings (four starts) during the 2018 ALCS and World Series. He earned victories in both series clinchers.

He had some confrontations with media members, including lashing out at NESN analyst Dennis Eckersley on a team flight to Toronto in 2017. He admitted he could have made a bunch of better decisions" in Boston.

But he also put his 2017 feud with Boston reporters behind him during spring training 2018. He was willing to do one-on-one interviews with local reporters and often was the most accessible Red Sox player. He almost always sat in front of his locker, available, during clubhouse media availability.

Price told Nightengale he couldnt be happier. Price told a story about how no reporters approached him for an interview after the first time he threw to hitters in Dodgers camp.

I came in, got undressed, showered, came back to my locker, and stood there for 10 or 15 minutes," Price told Nightengale. "There were maybe two or three (reporters) hanging out, talking to other guys, and nobody came over to talk to be about my day. I couldnt believe it.

It was like after me and Mookie had our introductory press conference at Dodger Stadium, we walk off the field when it was all done, and Mookie says, Thats it? Is this a joke?'"
The Left Front and the Congress organised rallies in protest against the visit of the Union home minister Amit Shahs visit to Kolkata on Sunday, with the supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) allegedly raising the controversial shoot the traitors slogan, police said, stirring a fresh row.

Soon after the Union minister landed in Kolkata around 11 am, protesters, standing outside gate 1 of the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata, shouted Amit Shah Go Back slogans . Throughout the day. protest rallies continued across the city as anti-BJP supporters can be seen carrying black flags, shouting slogans and releasing black coloured hot air balloons.

Dozens of BJP supporters, who were heading towards the Shahid Minar ground, where Shah was addressing the public rally, raised slogans --- Desh ke gaddaro ko, Goli Maro salon ko (shoot the traitors).

While the Congress demanded that the BJP supporters should be immediately arrested, the Left parties threatened to move court if the police doesnt take any action. Senior leaders of the BJP could not be reached as they were holding closed-door meetings with Shah till reports last came in. The ruling Trinamool Congresss (TMC) top brass refused to comment saying the party would come up with a statement. No statement, however, was issued by the TMC till late on Sunday.

We will be taking action, said Sudheer Kumar Neelakantam, deputy commissioner (central division) of Kolkata Police. He, however, refused to divulge any details on the kind of action that will be taken.

We know what damage the slogan has caused to Delhi. We will wait for the police to take action. If they dont act we will move court, said Md Salim, CPI(M) politburo member.

Senior Congress legislator, Manoj Chakraborty, demanded immediate arrest of the BJP supporters. After Delhi, Shah has now targeted Kolkata to spread violence..., said Adhir Chowdhury, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha.

BJP leaders were not available for comments.

The controversial Goli Maro slogan was also raised by Union minister of state for finance Anurag Thakur in January during an election rally in Delhi.
A Deputy Communications Director of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Mame Yaa Aboagye is accusing the National Democratic Congress (NDC) of double standards for replacing the late David Adakudugu, Parliamentary Candidate for the Tempane Constituency in the Upper East Region, with the grieving widow as the Partys candidate for the 2020 elections.



According to her, the "hypocrisy and double standard of the opposition party is legendary" after their earlier "criticisms of Madam Lydia Seyram Alhassan and the unnecessary name-calling" when the latter was handpicked to be the NPP's Parliamentary Candidate in the Ayawaso West Wuogon constituency by-election held on January 31, 2019, following the sudden death of the husband, Hon Emmanuel Kyeremanteng Agyarko.



Recall



The Minority in Parliament in February 2019, boycotted the swearing in of Madam Alhassan, in order not to give credence or legitimacy to her election and subsequent swearing-in.



Dressed in black and red attires, the Minority MPs held placards in the House with the inscription "Bloody Widow" to demonstrate their description of her election as bloody.



The conduct of the polls was marred by a shooting incident at the residence of one of the aspirants, Mr Kwasi Delali Brempong, the NDC candidate, which resulted in injuries to 18 peOPLEand an assault on an observer at one of the polling stations.



Immediately after the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr Joseph Osei-Owusu, had read a communique' from the Electoral Commission (EC) informing the house of the election of Madam Alhassan and that, she was being ushered in to the chamber to be sworn-in, Alhaji Muntaka indicated that the Minority members could not participate in the swearing-in because her election was characterised by violence.



Wife Replaces Deceased Husband



Meanwhile, the widow of the late David Adakudugu, the NDC Parliamentary Candidate for the Tempane Constituency in the Upper East Region has been elected to replace the deceased.



Lydia Akanvariba Adakudugu, on Friday February 27, 2020 beat off competition from Cletus Azaabi and one Dr. Anawart to clinch the slot to represent the NDC in the Tempane Constituency.



David Adakudugu, a former Member of Parliament for the Garu-Tempane Constituency passed on in September 2019 after a short illness.



Glass House, No Stone-Throwing



Mame Yaa Aboagye in an interview with peacefmonline.com hit hard at the opposition NDC saying; Never throw a stone if you live in a glass house because what goes around always come aroundIt was sad how the NDC criticized and insulted Maa Lydia Alhassan even from the moment she made her intention to contest her husbands seat, but today, this same people are here supporting what they chastised the woman for. If this is not double standards then I dont know what I should call it, she fumed.



She therefore called on the NDC to render an unqualified apology to the MP for Ayawaso West Wuogon, Hon Lydia Seyram Alhassan for their actions.



















Source: Josephine Acheampomaa/[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
Porn stars in California have blasted a bill proposed by two state Democrats which would require adult entertainers to be fingerprinted and obtain a work license before stripping off in front of the camera.

AB 2389 was introduced by Assembly Members Cristina Garcia and Lorena Gonzalez to the California Legislature last Tuesday in a bid to increase education and regulation in the X-rated industry.

An initial draft of the bill proposed that each performer would pay for and complete training every three years, educating them on 'reporting workplace injuries', 'how to avoid sexually transmitted diseases' and 'resources for assistance'.

The draft also declared that each performer would be required to have their fingerprints taken as part of initial training and would need to obtain a valid business license prior to work. The measures would pertain to amateur webcam performers, as well as professional porn stars.

AB 2389 was introduced by Assembly Members Cristina Garcia and Lorena Gonzalez to the California Legislature last Tuesday in a bid to increase education and regulation in the X-rated industry. Pictured: the 2017 AdultCon in Los Angeles

Assemblywomen Cristina Garcia and Lorena Gonzalez introduced the bill last week

Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia said in a statement: 'My goal is that the training required by AB 2389 will result in a certification process similar to that of other industries.

'For example, the food service industry requires a food handlers training course, in which workers complete a training course and at the end take a quiz. Upon passing the quiz, they are then certified food handlers in this state.'

But the bill was slammed by both professors and porn stars.

Riley Reyes is one of the porn stars who has spoken out against AB 2389

'The industry simply isn't comparable to other jobs which require permitting,' one Washington University academic told The Los Angeles Times.

'AB2389 is a bill that... is dressed to look like it seeks to protect adult entertainers, when in fact, it seeks to further criminalize them,' Antonia Crane, the founder and director of stripper labor movement, Soldiers of the Pole, stated.

Meanwhile, others claim that the bill does not address the current reality of a gig economy, where many workers - particularly webcam performers - do porn on the side.

'This isn't just the porn stars in the [San Fernando] Valley anymore, this is your neighbors,' Jennifer Allbaugh, vice president of the Adult Performers Actors Guild, stated.

Porn star Riley Reyes says she was left shocked by news that two Democrat Assemblywomen had introduced the bill to the state legislature

The initial draft declared that each performer would be required to have their fingerprints taken as part of initial training

Porn star Riley Reyes agreed.

'People's work is so varied, you start to wonder if you can standardize an education packet ... and if that is something that should be state mandated,' she told The Times.

Meanwhile, Reyes stated that she was 'completely shocked' by the bill, which made it made it difficult for her to shoot a hardcore scene later that day.

'It was weird to have to go to work and act sexy and normal after finding out,' she stated.

The bill has since been amended in light of the outrage, and requirements for fingerprinting and a work license have been removed.

However, the tri-annual training is still a core component of AB2389.

Adult entertainers would obtain a certificate of training completion that would allow them to start work.

It remains to be seen whether the bill will be passed into law.
Against the backdrop of a growing global virus and the South Carolina Democratic primary, Trump delivered a 90-minute speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in which he crowed about his political success in 2016, lashed out at his preferred targets  Democrats and the news media  and polled the audience on which of his rivals would be easier to beat in November.
Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday launched Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)s 2021 Bengal Assembly elections campaign, seeking an end to the misrule of the Mamata Banerjee government, and stung the states ruling party on a range of issues, including for opposing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).

BJP is launching a campaign called Aar Noy Annay (no more injustices) to defeat the dictatorial government. The key point is that we wouldnt tolerate TMCs injustice any more. This campaign will be carried out across the state. Its a difficult battle. But we have to fight it out. We, the central leadership stand by you with our fullest support, Shah said.

Accusing the state government of depriving the people by disallowing the Centre from implementing its pro-people projects, Shah said, Mamata Banerjee is obstructing PM Modi from developing Bengal. Give Modi five years and we will change it.

We will create Sonar Bangla (golden Bengal). We will send every corrupt and criminal behind the bars, he added.

Shah also launched a phone number (9727294294) and said, I am launching a phone number. Ring the number and you will become part of the Aar Noy Annay campaign. This number will free you from the atrocities of the regime, help refugees get citizenship and drive out infiltrators.

Shahs attack on the TMC government came on a day when protests erupted across the city with the Left, the Congress and various other organisations hitting the streets with black flags and slogans like Amit Shah Go Back.

BJP supporters also brought out counter-rallies where slogans like Desh ke gaddar-o ko, goli maro ko salo ko were raised.

From the rally at Shahid Minar ground in the heart of the city, Shah said, If you are against TMCs corruption, extortion, violence, politics of appeasement, infiltration, dynasty politics and terrorism, join the campaign Aar Noy Annay. This slogan is the one to topple the state government and take Bengal to the path of development, said Shah.

Bengal BJP leaders presented Shah a photo of Godess Kali. Shah launched two books on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Jana Sanghs founder president Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee. A song and a video were also launched criticising the Trinamool Congress government as part of the BJP campaign.

In his first rally in the state since the CAA was enacted, Shah stung TMC, Left and the Congress for opposing the legislation.

The Congress, the Left and Mamata are all creating panic among minorities saying CAA will take away their citizenship. I am assuring everyone that CAA is not for taking away anyones citizenship. We are committed to granting citizenship to the persecuted minorities from the neighbouring countries, he said.

He alleged that by opposing a central law, the India Constitution was being opposed. Mamata Banerjee who earlier demanded the end of infiltration has taken to politics of appeasement since coming to power and is in all-out opposition to the CAA due to her vote-bank politics, Shah said.

Referring to Mamata Banerjees public outreach campaign called Didike Bolo (tell Didi), Shah said, Whenever TMC people tell you to use the Didike Bolo platform, tell Didi, Aar Not Annay.
As Delhi is recovering from one of the worst cases of sectarian violence that the capital has seen for decades, author and video satirist Akash Banerjee has caused outrage with a tweet that many have considered insensitive and tone deaf.

Taking to the microblogging site Twitter on Saturday, Banerjee wrote, "What's the pogrom for the weekend Bhai?"

What's the pogrom for the weekend Bhai? Akash Banerjee (@TheDeshBhakt) February 29, 2020

The tweet followed nearly four days of exacerbated violence starting last Sunday that caused the death of at least 43 people. Last Sunday, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kapil Mishra gave a call to supporters of the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 to gather in large numbers in Maujpur in North East Delhi. The area was close to several other Hindu and muslim neighbourhoods that has ongoing anti-CAA protests.

The resulting chaos led to clashes and subsequent rioting that continued well into Wednesday in areas like Mustafabad and Shiv Vihar. The violence also resulted in the death of at least one police constable and an Information Bureau staffer.

A pogrom is a riot that is aimed specifically at the persecution of a particular ethnic or religious group. Coming in the backdrop of the communally charged riots, many found Banerje's tweet, set to the tune of the popular weekend mantra "Where's the party tonight", rather "insensitive" and humourless.

Humour: vulture class. PS: No disrespect implied to vultures. They scavenge for suvival, not for fun. Discourse Hacker (@Shudraism) February 29, 2020

Sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me Sutirtha Misra (@SutirthaMisra) February 29, 2020

Nauseating subhashini ali (@SubhashiniAli) February 29, 2020

Persecution of Muslims is not fun.....please. I stand with Shaheen Bagh (@GulRose_views) February 29, 2020

AB, no Swati Chaturvedi (@bainjal) February 29, 2020

Who will explain the humour in this to me? Serious question. Somya Lakhani (@somyalakhani) February 29, 2020

Tone-deaf. Please delete. You don't crack jokes at tragedies. Chirpy Says (@IndianPrism) February 29, 2020

Apparently, much of this handle does is to lap it up on every hot take! He wudnt delete this. And what's disheartening is the 1900 likes for this insensitive comment. The Solitary Shrink (@UrbanShrink) February 29, 2020

The satirist Banerjee is often in the news for his commentary on several policies passed by the BJP government as well as other socio-cultural phenomenon. In the aftermath of the elections in Delhi, his video titled "6 Reasons Why BJP's Campaign Backfired' went viral on YouTube and other social media platforms.
JD(U) will contest Bihar elections with NDA, win more than 200 seats: Nitish Kumar

India

oi-Deepika S

Patna, March 01: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday said the JD(U) would contest the polls with NDA and win more than 200 seats.

Kumar also hit out at the Opposition, saying that RJD and Congress only sought votes of the minorities while JD(U) worked for their upliftment.

"We will contest Bihar Assembly Elections with NDA and win more than 200 seats. Law and order has improved and the ratio of crimes to population is among the lowest in the country in Bihar," he said.

Kumar also highlighted that the JD(U)-BJP government in the state ensured justice for Bhagalpur riot victims by bringing the guilty to book.

The JD(U) has come up with the slogan "2020 (Do hazaar bees), phir se Nitish", an obvious response to the RJD's slogan "2020, finish Nitish."

The JD (U) and the BJP between them have 124 seats in the 243-member House. The JD(U) has 70 members while the BJP has 54 MLAs in the outgoing assembly.

The Bihar elections will be an acid test for the two parties after the debacle in Delhi and Jharkhand polls.
Panic gripped the residents of several parts of Delhi on Sunday evening following false rumours of violence, even as the Delhi Police and AAP leaders denied any incident and appealed people to remain calm.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said it had shut down the entry and exit gates of seven metro stations but did not give any reason. The stations were later reopened.

"A rumour has been noticed that there is some tension in Khyala-Raghubir Nagar area of West District. There is no truth behind it. All are requested to keep calm as the situation is absolutely normal & peaceful," Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) West Deepak Purohit said.

"There are some rumours regarding some communal tension in Tilak Nagar and Khyala areas. It is intimated that there is no tension in Tilak Nagar and Khyala and the whole west district area. Nothing to worry about," he added.

Police said some "unsubstantiated reports" of tension in southeast and west districts were circulated on social media.

"It is to reiterate that these are all rumours. Don't pay attention to such rumours. Delhi Police is closely monitoring accounts spreading rumours and taking action," they said, adding that rumours about tension in Dwarka and Badarpur areas were also "unsubstantiated".

The DCPs of some police districts and station house officers (SHOs) of police stations took to Twitter to assure people that their areas were peaceful and normal.

However, shopkeepers downed shutters and vendors closed weekly markets as people rushed home early in several areas, including Subhash Nagar, Tilak Nagar, Janakpuri and Khyala areas in west Delhi.

Tilak Nagar MLA Jarnail Singh too urged people to remain calm.

"I reached at the site as soon as I heard of the rumour of riots, shops were shut people were in a state of panic but no one saw any riots happening. It was a conspiracy to spread rumours and spoil the atmosphere. I appeal to people to maintain peace and brotherhood and do not believe the rumours," he said.

Rajesh Sharma, a resident of Subhash Nagar, said he had gone to a mall in west Delhi when at around 7:45 pm, he witnessed sudden commotion.

"The outlets inside the mall began shutting down and the situation remained tense for nearly 20 minutes before police arrived and assured everyone that the situation was normal," he said.

Meanwhile, the metro stations which were briefly shut down included Tilak Nagar, Nangloi, Surajmal Stadium, Badarpur, Tughlakabad, Uttam Nagar west and Nawada.

AAP leader Sanjay Singh said he spoke to acting Delhi Police chief S N Shrivastava on the rumours of fresh violence in the national capital and was ensured that the situation was under control.

Anxious people also took to Twitter asking if the rumours were true.

Police said that they were talking to people to assure that nothing untoward has happened and they should remain calm.

The AAP MP, in a tweet, requested people not to pay heed to any rumours.

"Rumours of violence are being spread in Delhi. In this regard I spoke to Delhi CP (commissioner of police) and he said that reports of violence are rumours and the law and order situation of the national capital is completely under control," he tweeted.

He also posted a video of AAP leader Amanatullah Khan saying there are rumours being spread that fights have broken out in Madanpur Khadar, Jaitpur and Okhla areas.

"These are all rumours senior officers are present there. Please don't listen to rumours. If anyone says that violence has broken out, ask them for evidence. Don't get frightened. We all have to fight these rumours. Rumours spread panic and that in turn leads to violence. Believe that we are all with you," he said in the video.

AAP leader Atishi also took to Twitter and said she received WhatsApp messages about mobs in Govindpuri and Kalkaji areas.

"These rumours are all false. Situation is peaceful. Police is patrolling the area," she said asking people to remain calm.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Thousands of refugees and migrants surged from Turkeys western frontier on Sunday, attempting to enter Greece by land and sea after Turkey said its borders were open to those wanting to reach Europe.

Turkeys decision to ease border restrictions came amid deadly fighting during a Russia-backed Syrian government offensive into Syrias northwestern Idlib province.

Dozens of Turkish troops have been killed and nearly one million Syrian civilians have fled the fighting towards Turkey.

Turkeyish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans decision to open his countrys borders with Europe made good on a longstanding threat to let refugees into the continent.

His announcement marked a dramatic departure from the previous policy of containment, an apparent attempt to pressure Europe into offering Turkey more support in dealing with the fallout from the Syrian war to its south.
- A lady recently took to social media to share a video of her car gift

- According to the lady identified as @motaraa, an anonymous admirer got the car for her

- The video which has since gone viral has left social media buzzing with mixed reactions

It is a common thing to hear about people on social media who receive gifts from secret admirers who choose to keep their identity hidden. While some people believe this to be true acts of kindness by strangers, there are some who don't think so.

Twitter user, @motaraa, left social media in awe after she took to the micro-blogging platform to share a video of her new car. According to her, the Toyota Rav 4, was gifted to her by an anonymous person with everything in her name.

Sharing a video of the Toyota car, she wrote: "ANON has done it again!!! I woke up to this!!!! This is heaven yeah? Cos This cant be on earth."

PAY ATTENTION: Do you have news to share? Contact Legit.ng instantly

The video which has since gone viral with over 2,000 likes and over 35,000 views, left many people on social media talking.

While it is common to see people receive food gifts, accessories, perfumes and sometimes, gadgets as gifts from their anonymous, the idea that one would gift someone a car registered in her name without any strings attached, has given social media users reasons to doubt her claims.

Many people have reacted humorously to the post with some posting jokes about what they also got from their 'anon'.

See some reactions below:

PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News on Legit.ng News App

Meanwhile, when it comes to relationships and the drama that follows, there often is no limit to how crazy heartbreak stories often are. While some are pretty okay to live with, others are simply devastating.

Such is the case of a Nigerian man who got his heart ripped apart by his girlfriend whom he showered with love, attention and his finances.

According to a Twitter user, Dr Maxvayshia, the man sponsored her way through school. He also rented an apartment for her and even got her a car to keep her comfortable.

The girlfriend, however, had other plans. According to the gist, she lied to him about traveling to the village to see her parents.

Top 3 Nollywood Stars: Who Earns More Than Others? | Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng
Intimate and timeless, these three striking new portraits show sides of the Duchess of Cambridge usually hidden from the public. Released to mark Kate's 40th birthday tomorrow, the stylish photographs mark a dramatic departure from images we are more used to seeing of the Duchess in formal poses or surrounded by her family. A Palace source said: 'From the three photographs, you can see the three aspects of Kate's personality. 'There is the regal side to her - as you can see in the classic shot where she is looking off into the distance (left); there is the more informal image in the red dress (centre) as a modern woman at 40; and then there is the close-up (right), which offers a more intimate perspective. There is the regal side to her - as you can see in the classic shot where she is looking off into the distance; there is the more informal image in the red dress as a modern woman at 40; and then there is the close-up, which offers a more intimate perspective.' The pictures were taken by Italian fashion photographer Paolo Roversi in Kew Gardens. In the eye-catching colour shot, Kate looks into the camera, her hand elegantly resting in the pocket of a one-shoulder red dress while her hair billows out over her shoulder. As in all the images, her jewellery is limited to just one pair of earrings - in this case diamonds borrowed from the Queen's private collection - so her expression is the focus. In the black-and-white pictures, Kate wears Princess Diana's Collingwood pearl and diamond earrings, while in the side-on portrait her engagement ring, also previously belonging to Prince William's late mother, is prominent.
Kate Langbroek certainly has a knack for spotting quirky details in seemingly ordinary situations.

And on Saturday, the radio presenter, 54, shared another bizarre tidbit on Instagram while she was enjoying a family trip to the Italian Alps.

Kate uploaded an photograph of a painting depicting flowers in a vase, along with the caption: 'This is the old painting in the chalet we are staying in in the alps.'

Did you notice it? Kate Langbroek, 54, found an unsettling detail of a painting hanging inside her chalet during family trip to the Italian Alps on Saturday

'Pretty sure someone drew a face on the vase with texta [marker pen]. Thoughts?' she added.

The painted vase, which featured swirling green lines and several unusual red squiggles, left many of Kate's fans perplexed.

'Eek. Is this one of those things you look at and see so many things? Because that's happening to me right now,' one follower commented.

'Pretty sure someone drew a face on the vase with texta': The painted vase, which featured swirling green lines and several unusual red squiggles, left many of Kate's fans perplexed

Perplexed: Just last week, Kate, who moved to Italy with her family early last year, was left baffled by a collection of personalised mugs on sale in Venice

'It's a chicken bird type thing... but could be mistaken for a face,' another added.

Meanwhile, one follower surmised that the lines were actually 'Quasimodo's nose'.

Just last week, Kate, who moved to Italy with her family early last year, was left baffled by a collection of personalised mugs on sale in Venice.

Hmm! There were more than 50 mugs on display, with names including Fabio, Franco, Ernesto and Eugenio. But it was the one that read 'Kevin' (circled) that had Kate scratching her head

She shared a photo of the display to Instagram last Wednesday, telling her followers that 'all the names are European... except for one'.

There were more than 50 mugs for sale, with names including Ernesto, Eugenio, Fabio, Franco and Gabrielle.

But it was the one that read 'Kevin' that had Kate scratching her head.

'Things are a bit quieter than normal': It comes after Kate revealed she had been stranded in Venice over the weekend after a coronavirus scare left the island city in lockdown. Pictured with her husband, Peter

While the other mugs featured names from continental Europe, Kevin is of Anglo-Irish descent.

There was also a mug with the name David, which Kate didn't mention. David is of Biblical Hebrew origin.

It comes after Kate revealed she had been stranded in Venice over the weekend after a coronavirus scare left the island city in lockdown.

Ghost town: Speaking to Hughesy and Ed on Monday, Kate said that the streets and canals of Venice were 'like a ghost town' amid the health crisis

The comedian, who lives with her family in Bologna, had travelled to Venice on Friday with her husband, Peter, for the weekend's Carnival festivities.

Speaking to Hughesy and Ed on Monday, Kate said that the streets and canals of Venice were 'like a ghost town' amid the health crisis.

'The news broke yesterday that they were cancelling Carnival today and tomorrow. That's huge news,' she added.

Kate made light of the situation by joking that the lockdown was a good excuse to extend her Venetian holiday, before later revealing she and Peter had secured a train passage to safety.

The couple relocated to Italy with their four children - Lewis, Sunday, Artie and Jan - in January 2019 for what was supposed to be a 'gap year.' They have since extended their stay for another 12 months.
In January 2020 the U.S. Navy decided to retire four of its troublesome LCS (Littoral Combat Ship) frigates. One of these ships is only six years old and the oldest one has been in service for twelve years. Congress has to approve the decision and that will probably raise the issue of navy efforts to expand the fleet to over 300 combat ships. This expansion has been criticized as unrealistic given the amount of money required and the fact that the navy does not, and will not likely have, the money to pay for it or the ability to control the shipbuilding project's schedule, quality and costs.

Meanwhile, the Americans have been having lots of problems with the LCS vessel. A few problems were purely cosmetic. For example in early 2015 the U.S. Navy decided to reclassify the LCS as frigates. This was not unexpected as in size and function the LCS ships were very comparable to frigates. This type of ship was created during World War II as Destroyer Escorts (or DE, versus DD for destroyer). These were basically destroyers that were slower (smaller engines), smaller (fewer weapons) and meant for escorting convoys and patrolling areas where major air attacks were not expected. The DEs proved more useful than expected and were retained after the war and eventually renamed as frigates (FF) type ships. The LCS was meant to be much more than a frigate and used a very innovative design to achieve that. This did not work out as expected. Eventually, the navy decided to develop a new, more conventional Guided Missile Frigate design for the new FFG(X) type ship. The final FFG(X) design will be selected in mid-2020 and the navy wants to produce these quickly, at a rate of four to six ships a year.

As of early 2020, there were four existing frigate designs under consideration as the new FFG(X). Each proposed design must provide the ability to detect enemy ships over the horizon and attack them. That means carrying a helicopter plus UAVs as well as the new Naval Strike Missile. The frigate must be able to detect submarines with onboard sonar plus a sonar equipped helicopter. There must be 32 VLS (Vertical Launch System) cells for anti-aircraft/submarine/ship or land target missiles. There must be active and passive EW (electronic warfare) equipment. The ship must be able to deal with attacks by swarming (multiple) small boats and the ability to do convoy escort to protect transports from submarine or surface ship attack. The frigate does not have to be as fast as the LCS, which had a top speed of 80 kilometers an hour. The frigate needs only to do about 45-55 kilometers an hour.

One proposal, from Austal, is an enlarged version of the trimaran LCS (Independence class). That means 139 meters versus 127. Crew size would be about 180 and displacement close to 4,000 tons. Armament would still consist of the 57mm gun plus 32 VLS and eight Navy Strike Missiles plus a 21 cell RAM (Rolling Airframe Missile) for defense against aircraft and anti-ship missiles. RAM uses the rocket motor and warhead from the Sidewinder air-to-air missile and the guidance system from the Stinger shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile. The RAM missiles cost about a million dollars each and are shipped in a sealed container that is slid into the launcher. Since the 1990s the RAM software was upgraded to enable it to attack aircraft, helicopters and cruise missiles. There are also six 12.7 mm machine-guns plus four NUKLA decoy launchers, each with six decoys that confuse incoming anti-ship missile guidance systems. There will also be sonar and torpedo countermeasures and the 32 VLS cells. This ship can carry one or two large helicopters that can have dipping sonar and anti-sub torpedoes.

The second candidate is the Italian FREMM frigate which would be built by an American firm under license. This design has been in service since 2007 and is currently used by four nations. FREMM was designed to be adapted to various user specifications. Basically it is a 6,000 ton ship that varies in length from 132 to 142 meters. Top speed varies from 50-56 kilometers an hour. Crew size is from 145 to 199. FREMM is armed with a 76mm cannon plus anti-submarine torpedoes and all the other equipment carried by the Austal design.

The third candidate is the Spanish F100 frigate, which would be built by an American firm under license. This design has been in service since 1998 and is also a 6,000 ton ship with a crew of 250 and can carry the same weapons and electronics as the first two candidates. The F100 can also be equipped with the AEGIS air defense system which the FFG(X) does not need, if only because of the expense.

The fourth candidate is a militarized version of the U.S. Coast Guard's new Legend-class cutter (seagoing patrol ship). This is a 4,500 ton, 127 meter long ship with a crew of 113 (bunks for 148) and top speed of 52 kilometers an hour. Legends are only armed with a 57mm gun and a Phalanx 20mm anti-ship autocannon plus some 12.7mm machine-guns. There are eight Legends in service (since 2008) but it would have to be enlarged a bit to handle all the weapons the FFG(X) has to carry. These types of cutters are designed to accommodate more weapons because in wartime the Coast Guard becomes part of the navy and some ships are deployed overseas.

The FREMM and F100 are the most likely candidates because the design is already in service as a frigate and both ships are designed to easily accept different weapons systems as well as the types FFG(X) requires.

All four candidates would cost nearly a billion dollars each but the FREMM and F100 could go into production sooner than the others.

There is also a fifth candidate that is already being built and is based on the LCS design. This is the MMSC (Multi-Mission Surface Combatant). In late 2019 the U.S. Navy ordered four MMSC warships to be built in the United States for Saudi Arabia. This comes after four years of negotiations with the Saudis who first expressed interest in buying customized versions of the American LCS years earlier. Saudi Arabia is now the first, and probably only, export customer for the LCS type vessels. From the beginning, the Saudis wanted four modified LCS ships and were willing to spend $2 billion for the ships plus another $4 billion more for basing facilities, training and support as well as extensive modifications to the basic LCS design. The four MMSC ships are part of a larger, $20 billion Saudi naval modernization program.

The Saudi ships are heavily modified Freedom (single hull) type LCS ships. The Saudis have been considering this purchase since 2005 but did not approach the U.S. with the proposal until 2015. The MMSC is heavier (3,600 tons) than the LCS and will have communications and fire control systems compatible with those on NATO ships. The Saudi MMSC armament will be heavier, including eight VLS (Vertical Launch System) cells carrying Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles (ESSM). These are anti-aircraft weapons with a range of 50 kilometers. There will also be a 57mm gun, Harpoon anti-ship missiles, several anti-submarine torpedo tubes, two 20mm remotely controlled autocannon, ten 12.7mm machine-guns and more extensive electronics and defensive systems than the LCS. This includes sonar, a torpedo defense system as well as a more powerful radar and fire control system. An SH-60 helicopter will also be carried. The heavier armament means the MMSC will not be able to use the mission modules the LCS was designed to carry. MMSC will probably have a crew of 100-150.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy continues having problems with the original LCS weapons and mission modules. There have been development delays, largely due to poor management, of three unique weapons systems developed for the LCS. The simplest weapon involved is a surface launched Hellfire missile. This missile was designed to be launched from aircraft but it has been long suggested that it be adapted for use from the surface, specifically from warships. The LCS Hellfire has been named the SSMM (Surface-to-Surface Missile Module) and was supposed to be ready for service by 2017 but was two years late. This module includes 24 Hellfire missiles.

The SSMM difficulties were minor compared to what happened with the other two problematic modules. One was for mine hunting and other for ASW (anti-submarine warfare) system. The MCM (Mine Countermeasures) module has no major problems with any of its sensors or mine destroying systems. The problems are with the integration of the hardware and software created to get all components of the MCM module to work efficiently together. The MCM module was supposed to be operational several years ago but additional debugging and testing will delay deployment this until 2021. There were not as many problems as anticipated with the ASW module. All the components worked well and integration was fine but, in getting all this done someone lost track of module weight, which was not supposed to exceed 105 tons. The excess weight had to be removed before the LCS could safely and reliably use the ASW module. This proved expensive since most of the ASW components involved had been around for a while and were not easily or cheaply modified. Changes had to be made the LCS ships as well but this was nothing major. The ASW module will apparently be fully functional in 2020.

The LCS began development in 2002 and in 2012 the U.S. Navy put it into mass production. Then in 2013 one of the three LCSs in service got its first tour in a combat zone (counter-piracy duty around the Straits of Malacca). There LCSs took turns serving six month tours of counter-piracy duty and be based in Singapore. Currently, the plan is to have six LCS ships based in the Western Pacific, including three in Singapore. Another seven will be based in the Persian Gulf (Bahrain).

All these problems, both the new ones and many old ones, caused the navy to decide in early 2014 to cut the number to be built from 52 to 32. Mostly this was about shrinking budgets, but theres also the fact that the LCS has been, for many admirals and politicians, much more troublesome than expected. This was not surprising because the LCS was a radical new warship design and these always have a lot of problems at first. LCS was basically a replacement for the older frigates as well as several jobs frigates did not handle. The LCS has gone through the usual debugging process for a new design and that has attracted a lot of unwelcome media attention. But it was clear the end was near when the navy has decided to study the possibility of developing a new frigate design, which would incorporate some of the lessons learned with the LCS. Because of the money shortage that is also stalled.

Despite all the problems many in the navy still believe that the LCS is worth the effort, if it would only work reliably. Costing less than a quarter what a 9,000 ton destroyer goes for and with only a third of the crew, there were many tasks where the LCS could do a job that would otherwise require a destroyer or frigate. The navy could have originally built a new class of frigates, but the LCS design seemed a lot more flexible, making it possible for different mission packages to be quickly installed so that LCS could do what the navy needed (like assembling a lot of mine-clearing ships or anti-submarine vessels) in an emergency. This did not work out as well as expected.

The LCS has many novel features that required a lot of tweaking to get working properly. One much resisted latest tweak was to crew size, with ten personnel being added. That made a big difference because all LCSs have accommodations for only 75 personnel. Normally, a ship of this size would have a crew of about 200. The basic LCS crew was 40, with the other 35 berths occupied by operators of special equipment or special personnel (SEALs or technical specialists). In practice, the original crew was usually 55. That was 40 for running the ship and about 15 for the mission package. From now on the number of personnel running the ship increases to 50.

The navy surprised everyone in 2010 by choosing both LCS hull designs and requesting that the fifty or so LCS ships be split between the two very different looking ships. While both ships look quite different because one is a traditional monohull while the other is a broader trimaran, they both share many common elements. One of the most important of these is the highly automated design and a smaller crew. The two different LCS designs are from Lockheed-Martin (monohull) and General Dynamics (trimaran). The first LCS, the monohull USS Freedom, completed its sea trials and acceptance inspections in 2009. The ship did very well, with far fewer (about 90 percent fewer) problems (or "material deficiencies") than is usual with the first warship in a class. USS Independence (LCS-2) was laid down by General Dynamics in late 2005 and commissioned in January 2010.

Both LCS designs were supposed to be for ships displacing 2,500 tons, with a full load draft of under 3.3 meters (ten feet), permitting access to very shallow "green" and even "brown" coastal and riverine waters where most naval operations have taken place in the past generation. The top speed was expected to be over 80 kilometers with a range of 2,700 kilometers. Basic endurance is 21 days and final displacement was closer to 3,000 tons. For long deployments, the LCS has to resupply at sea or return to port for more fuel, food and other items.

The navy originally sought to have between 50 and 60 LCSs by 2014-18, at a cost of $460 million (after the first five) each. The USS Freedom ended up costing nearly $600 million, about twice what the first ship in the class was supposed to have cost. The navy believes it has the cost down to under $500 million each as mass production begins. At this point it looks like the navy will only have, at most, 30 LCS ships but most will probably be retired after about a decade of service and replaced by the new frigate. The navy is still unsure about exactly what it can use LCS ships for. The navy decision to retire four LCS ships indicates that the others would be retired as the FFG(X) came into service. Doing that will be a major test for the navy. The LCS is not the only recent failed new ship concept. The new Ford class nuclear aircraft carrier is crippled by bad design decisions and manufacturing problems. Before that there was the DDG-1000 class stealth destroyers that proved too expensive to mass-produce. Only three were built and their main weapon does not work. Similar problems inflicted the Seawolf SSN (nuclear attack sub). All these failed projects indicate that the navy has not yet fixed its fundamental inability to design and build new ships. The navy plays down how serious this problem is but that only made it look worse because of the Chinese success at building new ship classes much more quickly and on budget. The U.S. Navy used to be able to do this and the loss of that capability continues to be the most serious threat the navy faces and the one too many navy leaders are willing to take on. The FFG(X) is an opportunity for the navy to demonstrate that they can do it right. Unfortunately, its an opportunity, not a sure thing.
Air New Zealand has partnered with the Department of Conservation (DOC) to support biodiversity projects around our Great Walks. Our native birds are facing a crisis. New Zealand is one of the richest areas of biodiversity on earth, yet over 4,000 native species are classied as "at risk" around the country. Of these, 900 face extinction if immediate action is not taken.

We know and love Air New Zealand for their creative safety videos and the colourful lollies they hand out on board, but our national carrier is also doing some important work to save our endangered wildlife. The airline has been DOC's National Partner for Conservation since 2012. Since then, a shared vision to bring birdsong back to our Great Walks has seen investment in new technology and innovation to create a safe haven for native birds threatened by introduced predators. Traps placed along the Great Walks are reducing the number of threats to these fragile species, and takahe, whio and pateke are being reintroduced to areas around the Great Walks, making it more likely these birds will continue to be seen and heard by future generations of outdoor-loving New Zealanders.

BRINGING BIRDSONG BACK TO OUR GREAT WALKS

New Zealand's Great Walks are iconic multi-day tramps that showcase the rich biodiversity and diversity of landscapes around our beautiful country. But many of these walks are now silent. Where once the calls of native birds was deafening, most of the native birdlife has fallen victim to predators such as rats and stoats. That's why Air New Zealand is supporting 38,000 hectares of pest control trapping and restoration projects across the following six Great Walks:

ABEL TASMAN

The conservation of threatened species throughout 3,330 hectares of lush forests and golden bays is a key focus for the partnership in the northern area of Abel Tasman National Park.



The conservation of threatened species throughout 3,330 hectares of lush forests and golden bays is a key focus for the partnership in the northern area of Abel Tasman National Park. HEAPHY

Takahe, weka, tui, kereru, kea and kaka can all be spotted along this tramp through the diverse environments of Kahurangi National Park. Air New Zealand is helping to ensure generations to come will continue to hear their calls along the walk by supporting 6,400 hectares of sustained predator control.



Takahe, weka, tui, kereru, kea and kaka can all be spotted along this tramp through the diverse environments of Kahurangi National Park. Air New Zealand is helping to ensure generations to come will continue to hear their calls along the walk by supporting 6,400 hectares of sustained predator control. MILFORD

A predator trapping network across 9,344 hectares is being supported by Air New Zealand to ensure native bird calls will still be heard by trampers undertaking "the nest walk in the world."



A predator trapping network across 9,344 hectares is being supported by Air New Zealand to ensure native bird calls will still be heard by trampers undertaking "the nest walk in the world." ROUTEBURN

Birdlife including tititipounamu (tiny rieman), mohua (rare yellowhead), whio (blue duck), paradise shelducks and kea call the area around this splendid alpine walk home. Air New Zealand is supporting trapping efforts across 7,000 hectares to protect these species from predation.



Birdlife including tititipounamu (tiny rieman), mohua (rare yellowhead), whio (blue duck), paradise shelducks and kea call the area around this splendid alpine walk home. Air New Zealand is supporting trapping efforts across 7,000 hectares to protect these species from predation. WHANGANUI

Air New Zealand is supporting predator control efforts across 64 hectares and restoration projects across 1,200 hectares around this scenic river journey in the southwest North Island.



Air New Zealand is supporting predator control efforts across 64 hectares and restoration projects across 1,200 hectares around this scenic river journey in the southwest North Island. PAPAROA

$400K over four years has been committed towards providing a safe haven for native birds including whio, kiwi and robin around New Zealand's newest Great Walk.

It takes a village to save our taonga, and that's why Air New Zealand's partnership with DOC is working with, and alongside, a number of community groups, conservationists, scientists, tourism operators, iwi and locals to bring birdsong back to the Great Walks.

Join Air New Zealand in doing your bit to protect our threatened species and bring birdsong back to our Great Walks. Because nature needs us.

Find out more about the partnership at www.airnz.co.nz/doc .
A petition calling for the cancellation of SXSW has gained nearly 10,000 signatures.

Ketner Group

A petition calling for the cancellation of South by Southwest (SXSW), an annual media festival in Austin, Texas, over COVID-19 fear has received nearly 15,000 signatures.

SXSW officials said on Friday the event, which last year brought in more than 73,000 attendees, would go on as scheduled, citing guidance from the World Health Organization (WHO).

The fight to stop the spread of coronavirus has led to cancelations of conferences, concerts, and major events across the globe.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

A Change.org petition on Sunday calling for the cancellation of South by Southwest, an annual media festival scheduled to take place March 13-22, is rapidly growing in signatures amid increasing fear of the spread of COVID-19.

"I'm concerned about the hundreds of thousands of people who will be traveling to austin Texas[sic] in march for the SXSW festival," the Change.org petition author, Shayla Lee, wrote in the petition addressed to SXSW, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, the Austin Department of Public Health, and the Centers for Disease Control. "I believe that having an event like this is irresponsible amid an outbreak."

The petition received nearly 15,000 signatures by Monday morning.

On February 28, SXSW posted an update to its website that told people the event would go on as planned, citing guidance from the World Health Organization.

"The SXSW 2020 event is proceeding as planned," a statement posted to the website on Friday said. "The World Health Organization's recommendation is that travelers practice usual precautions, and we are increasing our efforts to help prevent the spread of disease per Austin Public Health's recommendations. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and will provide updates as necessary.

A SXSW spokesperson Sunday night confirmed the event would go on as scheduled.

"There is a lot about COVID-19 that is still unknown, but what we do know is that personal hygiene is of critical importance. We hope that people follow the science, implement the recommendations of public health agencies, and continue to participate in the activities that make our world connected. That's our plan," the spokesperson told Business Insider.

Story continues

In a statement, the Austin Department of Public Health said it had not requested any event cancellations, adding "current risk of person-to-person spread in their jurisdiction remains low."

"Historically, March is not a peak international travel month in Austin, but we will continue to monitor. Information and practices are changing during this rapidly evolving situation and we will continue to follow national guidelines," Austin Public Health said in a statement.

There are 11 cases of the coronavirus reported in San Antonio, Texas, according to Click2Houston. All of the cases are evacuees from locations that experienced outbreaks, including nine passengers from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, one from a group of quarantined passengers from Wuhan, China, and one who was transferred from the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, California.

According to the Texas Department of Health and Human Services, no cases have been reported in the state beyond the evacuees at the military facility. A total of 145 people are under quarantine at the Joint Base San Antonio Lackland, according to Click2Houston.

The CDC reported the first coronavirus-related death in the US on Saturday: a Washington state man in his 50s who had other health issues that complicated the infection. There are also reports of "community spread," meaning infected individuals contacted the virus without visiting an area with an outbreak, like China.

According to data released by SXSW, more than 73,000 people attended the 2019 conference.

The coronavirus has resulted in the cancelations of conferences, concerts, and events across the globe and cancellations are only likely to grow as the disease spreads worldwide. As Business Insider previously reported, Facebook canceled F8 on Thursday, its largest annual conference, which was scheduled for May.

"In light of the growing concerns around COVID-19, we've made the difficult decision to cancel the in-person component of F8 this year, in order to prioritize the health and safety of our developer partners, employees and everyone who helps put F8 on," a Facebook statement said.

As Deadline reported, the annual Game Developers Conference, Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, are just some major events canceled over worries surrounding COVID-19. Productions of movies and television shows have been suspended, and a decision over the 2020 Olympics in Japan could be made in May, according to the Deadline report.

Read more:

The World Health Organization joined TikTok to post 'reliable' advice about the coronavirus amid a stream of memes and misinformation

WHO director says there's a need to prepare for a 'pandemic' but global markets should 'calm down' as coronavirus wreaks havoc on the global economy

We don't have any good treatments for the novel coronavirus right now, but scientists are racing to change that

Trump's efforts to muzzle health officials and downplay coronavirus mirror the tactics of an authoritarian regime, experts say

Read the original article on Business Insider
Catholic priest, Robin Vadakkumchery, who had served Syro Malabar Church in Kerala has been expelled from priesthood by the Vatican, media cell of Archdiocese of Mananthavady in Wayanad district said on Sunday.

The decision has come after Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court in Thalassery last year sentenced him to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for raping and impregnating a minor girl in Kannur.

The media cell of Archdiocese had received a notice from the Vatican stating that Robin, Catholic priest of the Syro Malabar Church has been suspended from the priesthood after being convicted under the POCSO Act.

In February last year, the court held Robin Vadakkumchery guilty of three charges -- two under POCSO (The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act 2012 and one under Section 376 (2) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

POCSO court in Thalassery, Kannur district sentenced him to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 3 lakhs for raping a minor.

The priest was accused of raping a minor girl in May 2016 at Neendunoki near Kottiyoor. She gave birth to a child at the church-managed Christu Raj Hospital in Koothuparamba on February 7, 2017.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
RTHK: Australia reports first Covid-19 death

A 78-year-old man evacuated from the coronavirus-stricken Diamond Princess cruise liner in Japan died at a Perth hospital on Sunday, becoming Australia's first fatality from the disease, officials said.

His 79-year-old wife was also infected with the disease during the cruise and remains in a Perth hospital, a spokeswoman for the Western Australian state health department told AFP.

The couple were among about 160 Australians evacuated from the Diamond Princess last month and they tested positive for the coronavirus during their flight home.

They were immediately transferred to isolation units in the Perth hospital on February 21 while the rest of the evacuees were quarantined in a former miners' camp near the northern city of Darwin.

Andrew Robertson, Western Australia's chief medical officer, said the couple initially seemed to have only a mild version of the illness, but that the man's condition subsequently deteriorated.

He insisted both had been isolated early and that their cases posed "no risk to the general community or (medical) staff".

Earlier on Sunday, health authorities in New South Wales state confirmed a 26th case of coronavirus in Australia after a man in his 40s who had travelled from Iran was diagnosed with the disease.

He was the second Australian infected in Iran. All other cases of the disease in Australia other than the Perth couple involved people who had come from China's Hubei province, where the virus was first reported. (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2020-03-01. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
President Donald Trump said Saturday that his 'journey' in the nation's highest office would have been a failure had he not be able to rid the government of people he says are 'bad.'

Trump came into office railing against what he and his allies call the 'deep state' - career government employees and political appointees held over from prior administrations - claiming it was out to undermine him.

He said he has been replacing them with 'people who love our country.'

'We have such bad people and they're not people who love our country,' Trump told several thousand cheering and chanting supporters at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference. 'We're getting people who really love our country and it's so important,' he said.

President Donald Trump greets the crowd after speaking at Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC 2020, at the National Harbor, in Oxon Hill, Md., Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

'And if I wasn't able to fulfill that, no matter what other things we've done, I would not consider this journey to be a success,' he said. 'So just remember that.'

Trump didn't call anyone out by name in his remarks, but he has spoken negatively about the previous FBI leaders during other public appearances.

Since being acquitted on two articles of impeachment and being allowed to stay in office, he has reassigned individuals who testified against him during the proceedings or whom he perceives as disloyal to him.

He also has brought back to the White House trusted aides who had departed earlier in the administration.

The Republican president, who is seeking reelection, sought to fire up his audience during the wide-ranging, nearly 90-minute speech with talk against state and local policies that shield undocumented immigrants, the number of conservative federal judges who've been confirmed by the Senate, his increased spending on the U.S. military and creation of a new branch of the military known as the Space Force.

President Donald Trump kisses the American flag after speaking at Conservative Political Action Conference

Trump also touched on an agreement signed Saturday between the U.S. and the Taliban aimed at ending war in Afghanistan, and he pledged to protect the health and safety of Americans 'with vigor' amid an outbreak of coronavirus, which overnight had claimed its first victim in the U.S.

Trump flew to a Maryland hotel to address the annual gathering of conservatives after he called a news conference at the White House to announce a ban on travel to Iran in response to the virus outbreak. He also announced elevated U.S. travel warnings to affected regions of Italy and South Korea.

The president closed with a promise to his fawning supporters to 'be here next year, OK?'

In a reprise of his appearance at last year's conservative conference, Trump then hugged and kissed an American flag before he left the stage.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 29)  Another Filipino in Singapore has tested positive for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the Singapore Ministry of Health reported Saturday.

The latest patient is a 41-year-old female domestic worker with no recent travel history to China or Daegu and Cheongdo in South Korea, the ministry said. She was confirmed to be infected Saturday morning and is currently staying in an isolation room at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital. She is one of the four new confirmed cases in Singapore on Saturday and the second case involving a Filipino in the country.

The Filipina's employer, a 61-year-old male Singapore Citizen, has also been infected. He is staying in the same hospital, the ministry noted.

This comes six days after the Foreign Affairs Department confirmed the first Filipino who tested positive for COVID-19 in Singapore. The DFA has yet to issue a statement on this recent case.
The budget session of the state legislature begins on Monday. It will be the first session after the 15th Finance Commission reduced the states share of central taxes by around 9,000 crore per year, under the new devolution formula. The session will be held up to March 31, with chief minister B S Yediyurappa presenting the budget on March 5.

While all eyes will be on Yediyurappas budget, controversial remarks by BJP legislators targeting freedom fighter Doreswamy are expected to rock both the Houses. During the session, the government will also reply to the debate on the Governors address. Governor Vajubhai Vala had addressed a joint session of the two Houses on February 17.

Complaints of irregularities in farm-loan waiver scheme, including charges that a lions share of funds allocated for the project was diverted for other works, are also likely to be raised.

Doreswamy, a centenarian freedom fighter, was accused of being a Pakistan agent by BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal. The latter found support from other BJP legislators in their criticism against Doreswamy. The Opposition parties, apart from seeking an apology from Yatnal, are also likely to demand the annulment of Yatnals Assembly membership.

Yediyurappa also faces a major challenge in presenting a budget and indications are that not many new schemes will be announced. Apart from reduced revenue from departments such as Transport, and Stamps and Registration, Yediyurappa will have to come up with means to compensate for the reduction in the states share of central funds, as Karnatakas share went down by around Rs 9,000 crore.

Several bills such as Karnataka Municipal Corporations Bill, Karnataka Shops and Establishments Bill and Karnataka Innovation Authority Bill will be debated.

A two-day discussion on the Indian Constitution will be held on March 3 and 4.

There are indications that a no-confidence motion will be moved against deputy speaker Krishna Reddy of the JD(S). BJP leadership, according to sources, is trying to accommodate one of the disgruntled MLAs as deputy speaker.
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.
BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on



Sunday expressed confidence that his party would return to power in Maharashtra.

He said that despite a good mandate the BJP got in the last year's assembly election, it could not form the government due to some reasons.

The former chief minister was speaking in Thane at the valedictory session of a workshop on self-redevelopment of housing societies.

"In the last election, the people had given a good mandate to the BJP. We were close to power, but could not get it due to some reasons. Even people realised it," he said.

"I am confident if we do good work, then the 'janata court' (people's court) would once again give us a good mandate in the coming period- maybe four days, 10 days, two months, two years or four years. I don't know. But people will vote us back to power," the Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly said.

"But till then, the BJP would work as an effective opposition and play the role of advocates of citizens to solve their issues by taking them with the government. I am sure we will get a good mandate in the next elections," he said.

The BJP and the Shiv Sena, which had fought the October 2019 assembly polls in alliance, had secured a comfortable majority by winning 105 and 56 seats respectively.

The Sena, however, broke its three-decade-long ties with the BJP after the latter declined to share the chief minister's post. The Sena finally joined hands with the NCP and Congress to form the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government with Sena president Uddhav Thackeray as the chief minister.

On the issue of self-redevelopment of societies, Fadnavis said, "The rules and regulations on this issue were finalised by our government and the present dispensation would publish them soon."



"The new dispensation has stayed several decisions taken by our government, but this one has been spared. I believe they won't stay this one," he said.

"The issue of self-redevelopment is an important one. It is absolutely essential as the people who were seeking re- development from builders had been going through hardships for years," he said.

Talking about those who create hurdles in the housing society's functioning by making complaints, he said all members should work like a family and maintain cordial relations with one another so that everyone gets the benefits.

On the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), Fadnavis said that one lakh houses would be made available in Thane region and its policy is in the final stages.

"I am confident that the present government, which has stayed many decisions taken by us, would not stay this one," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Amit Shah in Kolkata: Home Minister Amit Shah targeted Mamata Banerjee for opposing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). In a rally in Kolkata, Shah said BJP is set to form government in West Bengal and will turn state into Sonaar Bangla.

Union Homw Minister ans senior BJP leader, Amit Shah on Sunday kicked off partys run in West Bengal for the upcoming assembly elections. Addressing a rally Kolkata, Shah launched a scathing attack against West Bangalore Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Home Minister accused Chief Minister of triggering riots and burning trains in the state. Mamata didi cant stop it, said Amit Shah accusing Trinamool of provoking people against the CAA.

In a similar protest claimed 43 lives last week in Delhi after clash happened between people against and supporting the CAA.

Also read: Coronavirus in India: How to make hand sanitizers at home?

Also read: Coronavirus in India: KKR co-owner Shah Rukh Khan says players, spectators health first

Shah asked Mamata Banerjee that why she is hurting the interests and sentiments of refugees? Adding she only cares about infiltrators and her vote bank.

Amit Shah said the bill would help Refugees who were misled and scared till now to get an identity. Recalling the past persecution on the basis of religion, Shah said Hindus were raped and threatened and killed, why they should not get citizenship?

BJP leader said time is up for Mamata Banerjee and the saffron front would form a government in the state this time with a clear majority.

He also promised to turn state into Sonaar Bangla (a golden state).

For all the latest National News, download NewsX App
ALBANY  A judicial challenge of the constitutionality of the state's new bail-reform rules ended abruptly last month when a 35-year-old Cohoes man pleaded guilty to a traffic violation, settling low-level criminal charges of driving without a license that had briefly become a highly watched test case for the statute that removes the discretion of judges to set bail.

The order issued earlier this month by Cohoes City Court Judge Thomas Marcelle had raised a separation-of-powers' issue, challenging whether the Legislature had "exceeded its authority by mandating that a court may never impose cash bail in non-qualifying offenses even when it determines  based upon an individual assessment  that it is the least restrictive method to ensure a defendant's appearance."

Attorneys with the Albany County Public Defenders Office, who represented the defendant, pushed back on Marcelle's arguments and responded by filing a motion urging him to recuse himself from the case due to a part-time policy analyst job he has with the office of Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple, who, along with many law enforcement officials across New York, has raised concerns about the sweeping criminal justice reforms adopted last year by the state Legislature and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.

If the public defender's office had appealed Marcelle's order, it would have put the legal argument on course to be adjudicated in Albany County Court, leading to the potential for state appellate courts to address the matter. Instead, with the defendant pleading guilty to a traffic violation to settle two misdemeanor charges, including aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, the case is over.

The new law prohibits judges from setting bail in many felony and misdemeanor cases. Marcelle defied the law, though, when he set bail at $100 for the man who has a long history of failing to show up for his court appearances. But the judge immediately stayed that order after acknowledging that it was part of a larger legal battle over the constitutionality of the new bail statutes, and allowed the defendant to go free pending the outcome.

Marcelle set bail days after he issued a 12-page decision questioning whether the state Legislature and Cuomo had exceeded their authority by passing a law mandating that judges can never set bail in certain "non-qualifying offenses," ranging from misdemeanors to felony drug trafficking.

Marcelle's 12-page decision was shared with the 120 members of the state's Association of City Court Judges, raising the prospect that other judges may also seek to test the validity of the new statute, which has rankled judges, law enforcers and critics who contend it will result in the mandated release of potentially dangerous individuals or those who have a pattern of failing to make court appearances.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

The public defender's office had also questioned whether Marcelle was improperly inserting himself in the case as "a litigant" because neither their office nor the Albany County district attorney's office, which is prosecuting the case, had raised the issue.

The defendant pleaded guilty to the reduced charge last week in front of City Court Judge Eric Galarneau, who normally handles criminal cases there.

Judges still have discretion under the revised law to set bail for defendants who "persistently and willfully" fail to appear in court. The law also gives judges discretion to consider other, less restrictive measures to help assure someone appears for a court proceeding, including requiring a defendant to restrict their travel or to wear an ankle-monitoring bracelet.

"So the question came up in my mind ... by prohibiting a judge from setting bail when the judge believes it's the least restrictive means, did the Legislature violate the separation of powers?" Marcelle said from the bench during a Feb. 3 conference in the case. "It seems to me that if I'm convinced that it's the least restrictive means to set bail, how can the Legislature tell me not to? ... Part of me thinks that it's a greater intrusion on his liberty to make him wear an ankle bracelet, as opposed to posting $100."
It was an ordinary day, with he and a co-worker returning to Clinton on the county's back roads. They were looking around, taking in the countryside as they usually did, when they spotted something they had never seen before.

They slammed on the brakes.

In the distance, they saw a field  a former pasture  that was growing with little bluestem, a native prairie grass.

"Here was this area we had always seen grazed to the nub with cattle and it was full of prairie," Bryant said, the awe coming through in his voice even after 40 years.

Apparently, the landowner had stopped grazing and without that disturbance, the prairie reasserted itself.

Bryant and his co-worker turned down another road to investigate, and there was a sign: "For sale by auction" in two weeks. Their hearts dropped.

Recognizing how special this bit of virgin limestone prairie was, Bryant immediately began asking what it would take to save it.

Initially, it looked hopeless, especially with the tight deadline.
Briefing With Senior Administration Officials On Next Steps Toward an Agreement on Bringing Peace to Afghanistan

Special Briefing

Office of the Spokesperson

Washington, D.C.

February 29, 2020



MODERATOR: Okay, we're going to try to give everybody as much time as possible. Let's talk about ground rules up front. This is going to be on background, SAO, okay? This is going to be embargoed until  I don't have an exact time on Saturday, but I'm working this out with DOD because they're doing their own stuff as well, and the White House.

What I'm thinking is now  and Ruben or Cale or I, you will hear from us. We will definitively confirm. I'm thinking that the embargo is going to be lifted around the time that the Secretary does his press conference. Christina and Francesco will be with us. I will give you guys a heads-up ahead of time so you know exactly the hour and the minute that the embargo is lifted. So for now, this is very roughly until Saturday morning, but you'll know hours ahead of time before. I just don't  we're still, as you can imagine, throwing this together and working on scheduling.

So everybody agrees to the ground rules?

(Chorus of yeses.)

MODERATOR: So still completely on background, what's happening logistically that we're all working on, the reason why a lot of this is still up in the air, is Secretary Pompeo and Secretary Esper will be at the White House tomorrow to meet with the President, then they will both depart. We go to Doha; they go to Kabul. So your DOD colleagues will be able to brief you on more  [Senior Administration Official Two] can obviously give an overview of everything that's going on in Kabul. But that's the logistical dance that's going on, and I've got the White House and DOD and us, everybody has equities in this, so just trust me that the embargo will be lifted, I promise, but let's keep it on background SAO now.

Go ahead.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: Hi, everybody. So we are in day five of what was announced last Saturday. Day six? Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: I never know  I don't know what day it is.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: Thursday. No, it's day five.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: Saturday. We started on Saturday.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: Yeah. So Sunday to Monday to Tuesday to Wednesday to Thursday 

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: Okay, I can't count.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE:  to Friday to Saturday.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: Okay.

MODERATOR: We're near the end of the RIV.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: Okay, we're on  we're five days into a reduction in violence agreement that was announced last Saturday. The United States, the Taliban, and the Afghan Government agreed to this and to hold this in place for seven days in advance of announcing the start of talks to seek a political settlement for the conflict in Afghanistan.

During this reduction in violence period, the Taliban have pledged to not undertake major attacks of any sort, including car bomb attacks, suicide bombings, rocket attacks, IEDs. The United States, for its part, has pledged to hold off on any air strikes and also raids on Taliban facilities, including other major military actions with the exception of the ISIS forces located on the Afghan border. And the Afghan National Army has likewise committed to withhold any major military activities.

Over the five  soon to be six  days in Afghanistan, if you are going by their time, we have seen a substantial reduction in violence. In addition to the substantial reduction of violence, we've also seen a level of commitment by all the parties, including the Taliban, to enforce the reduction in violence upon their various constituencies. We have established a communications channel between us and the Taliban that works in Doha for notifications, or questions, or concerns, and we have seen that used not only to  for us to raise concerns, but also for us to receive information from Taliban officials regarding their efforts or disavowing some of the acts of violence that we still have seen happen in Afghanistan.

So generally, it's a level of both ability and political will that we hoped to have seen from the Taliban, and as we progress towards Saturday, we are expecting at this point that we will be able to confirm that it met our expectations to get us to the signing that will happen on that day. As [Moderator] alluded to, Secretary of State Pompeo will be traveling to Doha on Saturday 

MODERATOR: Tomorrow, Friday.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: Well, he'll be 

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: The time change thing.

MODERATOR: Oh. That, too.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: Yeah. On Saturday  let me say it more clearly. On Saturday, Secretary of State Pompeo will be in Doha to sign an agreement that will commit the United States and the Taliban to the launch of a political  a negotiation towards a political solution, political settlement, to the war in Afghanistan. At the same time in Kabul, Secretary of Defense Esper will be releasing a joint statement with the Afghan president likewise committing the Afghan Government to this process and welcoming the start of these negotiations towards what will hopefully be a permanent end to the conflict in Afghanistan.

As part of that kickoff, the United States will be committed to make an initial reduction in our forces in Afghanistan to a level that General Miller has identified as necessary to fulfill his mission. I think many of you have heard General Scott Miller on this issue, but he has spoken of 8,600 troops as being the necessary contingent to meet his mission, although he is much less focused on numbers and more focused on achieving the mission that the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs have given him here as well as with his  our coalition partners in the fight.

That will then be in place during the course of this negotiations, and the reduction in violence will continue, and also it will be our very early objective to try to gain a complete ceasefire in Afghanistan once all the parties are at the table.

The parties will be meeting in Oslo. That negotiation will kick off as soon as each of the various components of that can get their negotiators to Oslo. Our estimate is probably  we certainly expect it to be in the first half of March. It may take a week, a week and a half, for all the parties to travel there. Throughout this period, the reduction in violence remains in place, so it will give us a good opportunity to test the durability of the reduction in violence and also perhaps set a better stage for us to move towards a permanent ceasefire once all the parties are at the table.

The parties at the table will be, of course, the Afghan Government and opposition; it will be the Taliban; it will be Afghan civil society, and especially and including women's groups will all be parties for this negotiation at the table. The United States will be present, but this will be an intra-Afghan negotiation.

I have with me here [Senior Administration Official Two] working closely, hand-in-glove, with Zal Khalilzad. Throughout the past year [Senior Administration Official Two] has been holed up in Doha with Zal, where, as some of you may know, the negotiations resumed late in the fall after the President had suspended them last year after the car bomb that happened in Kabul. Well, actually, the car bomb wasn't in Kabul, was it?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: There was. There were several incidents, but one in Kabul.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: Yes, several incidents. The President authorized Zal and [Senior Administration Official Two] to resume those negotiations late in the fall, and the agreement that we have in place right now for reduction in violence and the structure of these negotiations going forward were very much driven by the great work of Zal and [Senior Administration Official Two] and their team.

So that's what I wanted to say to start with. That catches you up as to where we are today. I'm going to ask [Senior Administration Official Two] if [Senior Administration Official Two] wants to add anything, and then perhaps we'll open it up to some questions. I've got about 10 minutes I can stay down here, and then we'll leave [Senior Administration Official Two] here until you exhaust [Senior Administration Official Two]. And trust me, [Senior Administration Official Two] knows a lot more about this than I do.

MODERATOR: [Senior Administration Official Two], do you have an opening?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: No. Great opening, unless there are questions.

MODERATOR: Okay, we're going to  I know everybody has questions. Please, let's try to get as many people in as possible. Let's try to keep it to one question and then we'll try to come back to everybody, because I know that there's a ton, so  okay. Carol, I saw your hand first.

QUESTION: Why do you  I'll keep it short. Why do you believe that women will be protected under this agreement?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: Well, they'll have a seat at the table during the negotiations. I can't prejudge the outcome of this agreement, but a very high priority for us will be absolutely the protection of women's rights, and we aren't without influence in the process going forward. The United States is still a major presence in Afghanistan, and as this process plays out there's going to continue to be an international aid and reconstruction effort that's going to be necessary. There's all sorts of ways that we and others will be able to help defend the rights of women in Afghanistan, and certainly that would be very much in the interests of the United States of America.

MODERATOR: Jessica.

QUESTION: How closely is the withdrawal of U.S. troops tied into an actual resolution between the two Afghan sides? If, say, in a year the Afghans have not come to an agreement on how to govern themselves, is the U.S. going to continue to withdraw? Is that written into the agreement?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: So the withdrawal of troops and the agreement itself move in parallel processes. Our withdrawal is in  aligned with this agreement and is conditions-based. There is  if the political settlement fails, if the talks fail, there is nothing that obliges the United States to withdraw troops. That's not to say that the President doesn't have prerogatives as Commander-in-Chief of the United States of America to make any decision that he feels appropriate as our President, but there is no obligation for the United States to withdraw troops if the Afghan  if the Afghan parties are unable to reach agreement or if the Taliban show bad faith in the course of this negotiation.

MODERATOR: Michele.

QUESTION: Are there any secret annexes in this plan that's being signed? Members of Congress have written a letter to the Secretary about that, and whether or not there's any kind of plans to share intelligence with the Taliban.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: So there are parts of this agreement that aren't going to be public, but those parts don't contain any additional commitments by the United States whatsoever, nor are they intended to. What we will have in place are some confidential procedures for implementation and verification of the agreement itself, but we don't have any additional commitments that we are making that won't be in the agreement that the leaders will be signing on Saturday.

MODERATOR: Jonathan.

QUESTION: You have a political crisis ongoing in Kabul over the election results, and you're going to this agreement without having resolved that crisis. How does the United States intend to proceed in trying to deal with that crisis, which is holding up the appointment of the Afghan  I don't know what you want to call it, the Kabul delegation, the Afghanistan delegation? And are you trying to use that as a way of settling this dispute, i.e. giving Abdullah Abdullah and/or his team leadership roles in the negotiations in exchange for them accepting Ghani's election?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: So regarding the negotiations, this has to be a multiparty representation. We have to have all interests in Afghanistan represented in an intra-Afghan process. As far as the formation of a government, the Afghan Government is doing that according to  the Afghan people are doing that according to their own constitutional procedures.

I recognize what you're saying, but we are certainly prepared to work with the president, President Ghani, as we go forward in this. And the government is certainly aware of the necessity to have all voices represented in this negotiation in Oslo if a lasting and durable political settlement's going to be reached.

[Senior Administration Official Two], do you want to say anything more about Afghan politics here, or  I mean, it's  you're closer to it than me, but this is for the Afghan people to decide.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: Yeah, I mean, the goal is for there to be a national team, right? So it's important for the Taliban to sit with the government, but the government doesn't represent all of the Afghan political system. So that's our objective. And we're focusing a lot on the U.S.-Taliban agreement, but also on Saturday, as [Moderator] has alluded, Secretary Esper will be in Kabul.

And we already have a bilateral security agreement with the Afghan Government. We already have a strategic policy framework. So those arrangements, which are designed to support and define our relationship with the Afghan Government, remain in place. So the joint declaration will reaffirm those arrangements. We're not abandoning the Afghan Government; we're not abandoning our investment in Afghanistan. But we'll also, as [Senior Administration Official One] said, elicit Afghan Government support for the way forward and specifically establishing this national team to get into the negotiations with the Taliban.

MODERATOR: Matt.

QUESTION: Can I  the withdrawal or reduction to 8,600, when exactly does that happen? Is that spelled out in this  in the agreement? And then beyond the 8,600, is there anything in the agreement to be signed on Saturday that commits, albeit conditions-based, the U.S. to withdrawing completely? And when?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: Mm-hmm. So the 8,600, which you probably are aware, the initial component of reduction from about 13,000 to about 8,600, is something that General Scott Miller has long ago identified as the right-sizing of the force in order to achieve his mission set. That's been out there for some time, Matt. But the  during the course of this negotiations, the President gained the confidence to take that first step provided that we were able to get to the starting point. And also, so that 8,600 will be part of the initial agreement and it will play out over several months. It doesn't happen immediately. It takes a while to get out. It's not going to happen overnight. But that is the commander on the ground's recommendation, that is the President's intention, and that's in the agreement.

As far as the longer-term goal, the President's aspiration, of course, remains ultimately to bring a political settlement here, end the war, and end the U.S. military commitment to Afghanistan. The President does not seek a permanent commitment of U.S. forces to a war in Afghanistan. There are a lot of ways that we can and will continue to work with the Afghan Government in the aftermath of a political settlement, and there's many venues of cooperation between us and them, but it is the President's ambition to reach a political settlement and have the United States forces leave and end the fight. That is his goal.

Now, in the course of the agreement, it requires us to reach a political settlement that will create the conditions under which we do that. And if we're unable to reach a political settlement, if for any reason this process doesn't work, there's nothing that obligates the President to take that course.

QUESTION: Right. But if everything goes according to plan  and I realize it's a hypothetical  is there something in the agreement to be signed Saturday that gives a time or a period, time period for which the U.S. would 

MODERATOR: You mean the withdrawal timetable?

QUESTION: Yes, exactly, to go to zero.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: So Matt, if everything goes according to plan, Afghanistan 

QUESTION: Yeah, recognizing that's 

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE:  Afghanistan will be at peace, aid agencies and international donors will have free movement around the entire country of Afghanistan to be able to finally bring economic opportunity to people who've suffered through 18 years of war, the Taliban and the Afghan civil authorities will have reached a political settlement that is a durable settlement that will allow them to exist and coexist in the same country without fighting, and you will see also at that point an end to support for terrorism and an end for any compelling need for American military forces to be deployed in a war-fighting capacity in Afghanistan.

And so in the event that all this works  and there is a lot of work to do between now and then  yeah.

MODERATOR: World peace. Lara.

QUESTION: Thanks. You had mentioned that 

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: This will be my last question. I apologize, but I've got to run.

MODERATOR: And then we'll go  okay, in the back.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: Go ahead.

QUESTION: Sure. So just very quickly, is there a metric or a redline for a level of violence that would nullify this peace deal? You mentioned car bombings, suicide bombings, that kind of thing. And also, why was it that it was determined that seven days was long enough for this reduction in violence to  as a faith-based measure?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: So the reduction in violence is being closely monitored by General Miller. I'm going to refer to you this  on the specifics to the Pentagon on that one, because he is actually the one who's both been maintaining the metric on violence, violent activities and activity  violence initiated by the Taliban for a very long time, not since  even since the beginning of this reduction in violence, but also he is the one who has developed the metrics to measure the reduction. But we have seen a substantial reduction, and what we expect is a positive trend to continue that reduction.

Of course, our goal very early is to actually get to a complete ceasefire. Now, that doesn't mean there will be a complete absence of violence. There's no society in the world that could aspire to that level, and Afghanistan is a place that has been wracked by conflict for 18 years. The Taliban are showing, in our estimation, both the commitment and the capability to enforce the reduction in violence on the forces that are under their control. But Afghanistan isn't a place that is under anyone's singular control, and we recognize that, and there will continue to very likely be in  a campaign against ISIS forces in Afghanistan even as this proceeds.

As far as the one week versus one month versus whatever, first of all, this is an incremental development since the agreement was first broached in September of last year. The idea of the reduction in violence in previous iterations was to have commenced with the signing of the agreement. And one of the lessons, or perhaps even salutary benefits, was putting a premium on creating that period of calm in advance of the signing.

So now this reduction of violence that precedes the signing for a week is a first test, but it's not the end of the test, because, as I said, it'll still take a week, maybe up to two weeks, for the parties to gather in Oslo, at which point the reduction in violence will remain in place.

And upon reaching Oslo, there will be commitments that the parties will be making that will further reduce the level of violence. And also, as I've said a couple of times, our aspiration is very early on, once we have all the parties at the table, to reach a real ceasefire, which will require a lot more effort and will require all voices in Afghanistan to be represented at the table, because it would  everyone will need to be committed to that for it to hold. And keep in mind, the Afghan Government and the Taliban are not yet actually meeting and negotiating face to face. That will not happen until we get to Oslo.

QUESTION: They are on prisoners.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: Not on the ending of  or the political settlement to end the war.

I'm going to wrap it there and leave  I'll leave you with [Senior Administration Official Two]. [Senior Administration Official Two] will get into a lot more granularity with you. And [Senior Administration Official Two], I'm going to turn this over to you.

MODERATOR: Thank you, [Senior Administration Official One].

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: Thanks. Thanks, folks.

MODERATOR: See you.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MODERATOR: And [Senior Administration Official Two] and I are both getting pinged by the Secretary, so we'll stay as long as we can until I get the hook. I promised you next. Sorry, go ahead. No, no, behind you.

QUESTION: Oh.

QUESTION: Thank you. Joel Gehrke here from the Examiner. Thanks for doing this. I wonder, just following up on what he said there, what's the difference between a reduction of  between the reduction of violence we're doing right now and the total ceasefire that you envision, and then in that  if everything goes to plan and we get complete peace in the country, how does this aspirational processes account for ISIS-Khorasan?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: Sure. Well, what  not to get pedantic about words, but what we're experiencing what now is what we negotiate  we negotiated an understanding with the Taliban in coordination with the Afghan Government because all parties this past week have essentially ceased defensive operations, so the Afghan Security Forces, we and the coalition, and the Talban.

So we did that to meet  the President decided last September to suspend our talks. He felt that the continued levels of violence were inconsistent with sort of nine rounds of a serious agreement which was designed to move them off the battlefield into a political process. So the continued use of suicide bombs and other attacks he felt just wasn't realistic. No peace process could survive that kind of violence. We were also taking it to them very hard as well at that time and have continued to do that throughout the past year.

So he set up this test, and it took us some months to get going and it wasn't until December that they finally understood that we were serious about it. And then they went and had very extensive consultations with their leadership, with the military commanders, with the religious leadership, with the political leadership and came back with a backing for the plan that you see this week, which is going quite well  knock on wood. And I think we are at day six. It is confusing. I have no idea what day it is. I had to look at the  on my phone to see what day of the week it is.

But so that's new. That's different from what was in the agreement. The  what  one positive outcome is we hope that we've sort of reset the baseline, right, by bringing down the violence substantially that all parties can see the value to it. You can see how well people are reacting in Afghanistan. I think you saw the great photos yesterday of General Miller and the Afghan defense minister. But perhaps more important than them are ordinary Afghans who have had a great week, and including the Taliban have stopped their restrictions on the telecom towers, so everybody's been able to have cellphone coverage 24/7.

Signing  once we sign the agreement, then there are commitments that we had previously negotiated for additional efforts to reduce violence. The agreement explicitly calls on the Taliban to sit down with the other Afghans in the intra-Afghan negotiations, and where they will discuss the modalities and the timing of a comprehensive and a permanent ceasefire.

In a lot of civil wars, it's not uncommon  you can't get a ceasefire upfront, although everybody wants a ceasefire upfront. It's an outcome of a process where insurgents feel that their political objectives have been met. Right now we don't have an existing political process. They want a little bit more confidence that that will come into being before they're willing to give up all of their leverage.

So we're going to continue to push them, their commitments in the agreement in that regard. So in our minds we're thinking it of it as a stairstep, right, where we're pushing everybody down towards a reduction of violence. But ISIS is still there. There were some events this week that are likely attributable to ISIS. There are other militant groups active in Afghanistan. There are criminal groups. It is not Switzerland. So everybody should have I think realistic expectations that it's not going to be 100 percent zero overnight. It's a process, and everybody's going to have to keep working. There's a lot of mistrust, decades of fighting, so it's not going to be easy. And I just want to set expectations so everybody's realistic about what's coming.

QUESTION: Not even Switzerland is Switzerland.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: Yes, yes.

MODERATOR: Go ahead. I promised you. Yeah.

QUESTION: Thank you. I wanted to ask you about Pakistan's role, what kind of assurance or commitment you have received from Pakistan and if they have a place at the  seat at the table.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: Pakistan has been an important partner to us in this effort, given Pakistan's history in this conflict, which is well known to everybody. They're an important player. So it's been useful to us to have a productive working relationship with the Government of Afghanistan [i] on this issue. They originally  when Zal started this process  were cooperative in releasing Mullah Baradar, who has been the lead of the negotiating team. He was Mullah Omar's named successor. He's played an important role in this process.

Most recently they have been helpful in supporting our effort to press for the reduction of violence that we've achieved this past week. So  but nothing is easy between those two countries. There's a long and difficult history. No one thinks it's perfect, and we're going to need continued support and effort by Pakistan to help move forward on implementation of the agreement.

MODERATOR: Francesco.

QUESTION: Thank you. I wanted to follow up on the withdrawal of troops. The initial phase will take several months, said [Senior Administration Official One]. But will it start immediately, or immediately after Oslo starts? And is it a clear timeline for the condition-based withdrawal written in the agreement? Even if you can share it, is it written in the agreement?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: So I'm so glad you said conditions-based, which means [Moderator] is successful at her job in getting that line out.

MODERATOR: For once. (Laughter.)

QUESTION: Just to get an answer.

MODERATOR: Thank you. I owe you a drink on the plane, Francesco. (Laughter.)

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: Let me explain a little bit about what the [Senior Administration Official One] said. It's so explicit in the agreement that our commitments with regard to drawdown of troops are based on our assessment of whether or not the Taliban are abiding by their commitments on CT. We went into Afghanistan with NATO after 9/11 because of the threat to the United States and our allies. We are still there because we are concerned about the terrorist threat, although we have made enormous progress over the course of this war, including against ISIS and including against AQ.

So assuming the Taliban  and that's a big assumption  assuming the Taliban live up to their commitments, that will effect the pace of our withdrawal, after the initial stage, which is the drop to 8,600. So that is very explicit and prominent in the agreement. The agreement also calls for the Taliban, as we've said, to enter into these negotiations where the one topic that we've identified because it's in our interest is reaching a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire. The other agenda items are for Afghans to decide and determine. Of course, as [Senior Administration Official One] said, we'll use our voice to the be an advocate for things such as women's rights. But it's up to the Afghans to determine that agenda about how  and to determine a roadmap. That's what we're calling it  a roadmap for the future of their country.

MODERATOR: But I do think it was important point that you made, that the withdrawal  and DOD will be speaking to this, to your colleagues I'm sure  that the withdrawal timeline is related to counterterrorism, not political outcomes. Okay.

QUESTION: But will it start immediately?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: Oh, yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MODERATOR: Jennifer.

QUESTION: Could you clarify that one more time? You said that the timeline is related to military 

MODERATOR: Counterterrorism, right.

QUESTION: Counterterrorism and not related to whether or not the Afghans themselves come up with an agreement?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: So the timeline is determined by our judgment explicitly if the Afghans are meeting their  or I'm sorry  if the Taliban are meeting their commitments in the agreement, okay. The core trait, if you will, is action on CT for drawdown. But the agreement also calls on them to enter into negotiations, be serious about those negotiations, including pushing for the comprehensive and permanent ceasefire. So our obligation  I can't use the word obligation  our commitment to act on the drawdown is tied to Taliban action on their commitments in the agreement, which include in detail these CT commitments, because that was our priority concern, but as well their engagement in these negotiations.

QUESTION: But it is not dependent, I'm hearing 

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: On an outcome.

QUESTION:  on an outcome?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: Right. Explicitly. It's not explicitly dependent on an outcome.

QUESTION: On a permanent peace agreement.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: And there's a reason. There's a reason why. Look at the past week in Kabul, okay. So we are going to push for an outcome as quickly as possible. We have mobilized the entire international community to push with us, to push the parties for peace. It's not going to be easy. We all recognize that. But there's also a strong desire among Afghans to get out of this conflict, which is the reason we're doing this in the first place, because everybody recognized that it's a military stalemate and a political solution is the only way forward.

So there's flexibility in how we interpret Taliban action on the commitments.

MODERATOR: Jennifer.

QUESTION: Can you get into specifics about those counterterrorism commitments? Do they include joint counterterrorism operations with the U.S.? Is there going to be intel sharing? And then 

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: No, there's not  I don't know where that came from.

MODERATOR: I think there were  I haven't seen it yet, but they put a letter out.

QUESTION: There was a letter.

QUESTION: They put a letter out.

QUESTION: So Liz Cheney's nightmare.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: Yeah, but I don't know where she got  I genuinely don't know where she got that. No, we are not entering into a cooperative partnership with the Taliban. That said, those of you who follow this 

QUESTION: But you are opening a lemonade stand?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO:  Nangarhar last year, Nangarhar province in northeastern Afghanistan, where there was a large ISIS presence, there was an effective deconfliction, right. The Taliban were taking it to ISIS with their ground forces; we and Afghan forces were using our airpower. We were trying not to get into  it wasn't a  we weren't cooperating. We were trying not to get in each other's ways against a common enemy.

During this reduction in violence that we have been experiencing, this understanding over the past week, both sides agreed to continue operations against ISIS. So I would consider them as parallel efforts, ideally not bumping into one another, which achieves everybody's objective. But there's no cooperation.

MODERATOR: Christina.

QUESTION: And quickly, is there an explicit timetable for the negotiations to start?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: Yes.

QUESTION: How many days?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: Right. Ideally  it says March 10th in the agreement, but as the [Senior Administration Official One] said, we're realistic. This is Afghanistan and nothing happens on schedule. Yeah.

MODERATOR: But I think you made me think of a good point, Jennifer, which is for all of you on Saturday, when this stuff is released, it's really important to pay equal attention to what's released  the joint declaration that's released out of Kabul as much as it is what's released in Doha, because obviously, essentially, the spirit of the joint declaration is that the Afghanistan  the Government of Afghanistan is understanding and in line and agreement with the goals that we've set out in the agreement with the Taliban.

Go ahead.

QUESTION: I think  I think you answered my question a little bit, but just to clarify, because [Senior Administration Official One] said a couple times if it  if the negotiations fail, we're not bound to our withdrawal and we're not bound to our agreements. We've heard that from the Secretary as well. That what is the metric for considering a success or a failure coming out of these talks? Where is that bar and who is determining whether or not what happens in Oslo is enough of a success or there's enough progress to keep in this or if you want to get out?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: Well, I don't mean to give you, like, a bureaucratic answer, but it is genuinely hard to predict how this is going to unfold, given the complexity of the situation and the various positions of the parties. Ideally, what would happen is that they would come to an early conclusion on an approach, right. They need to identify the many, many different  difficult types of issues. For example, security forces, how are they  how do they begin consolidation; reconciliation, how do they do that; sort of what their governance structure should be. So they don't have to actually agree to all those things, but they have to identify what are the things they have to tackle to set up a political roadmap for the country, and maybe put some timeline against it. So that would be an initial agreement, and then they would subsequently execute.

So that's sort of the approach. What we want to see is progress by all parties, right, so the non-Talib Afghans as well the Taliban to seriously start working this out. And again, our expectation is that it won't be easy, but possibly they can move more quickly on just identifying the  selecting the universe of tasks that they have to tackle.

QUESTION: And who is 

MODERATOR: Nick, go ahead. Sorry, we have just a couple minutes left. So 

QUESTION: One on the RIV and one on the peace 

MODERATOR: The "RIV," come on. It's a new acronym, buddy. You've got to use it.

QUESTION: The "RIV." Oh, sorry. One on the RIV and one on the peace talks. On RIV, the military has told me that attacks are down about 60 to 70 percent and there has been deconfliction between Scotty Miller and the Taliban. Can you provide any details on maybe what some of those conversations have been like? And then on the peace deal, to what Matt was getting to and what Jessica was getting to, it's clear obviously that you're saying that conditions are in the deal.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: Yeah.

QUESTION: Is there also numbers attached to those conditions and a timeline attached to those conditions for a U.S. withdrawal?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: So there are very specific actions that the Taliban have agreed to take with regard to CT. So we will be able to measure those. We've set up a monitoring and verification process, which will include our military and other asset presence on the ground to feed back into us, as well as all the assets we have back here in Washington. So we will be the ones who look at what the Taliban do and determine whether or not they're meeting their commitments, and that, again, will determine the pace of drawdown subsequent to the first initial phase of 8,600.

Yeah.

QUESTION: So just let me make sure I understand. So in that agreement there's no dates and there's no numbers of withdrawal associated with those conditions that we're going to judge?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: Let me try it another way. There is an initial drawdown, where there is a date and there is a number, right. Although General Miller hates talking about the number, he likes to talk about capabilities, okay? There is also an aspirational timeline for a withdrawal. That is entirely conditions-based and it will depend on their performance as we judge their performance.

QUESTION: What's the timeline? Do you mind?

MODERATOR: You'll see Saturday.

Okay. Michel.

QUESTION: And, sorry, on the RIV?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: Well, let me just tell you that the timeline is based on sort of a rational assessment in a perfect world, what would  how can you successfully and safely begin moving troops out. But it's not a perfect world so we'll see what happens.

MODERATOR: The operative word is 

QUESTION: But the dates will be public? Just to 

MODERATOR: Uh-uh. The operative word is "aspirational."

Michel.

QUESTION: Yeah, two questions. One, news reports say that Iran is providing the Taliban with MANPADS and trying to undermine the agreement with the U.S. Are you taking this into consideration? Are they accurate? And second, who will be attending this signing ceremony in Doha from the international community, from the Arab world or NATO or European partners or allies?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: Sure. I'm glad you brought that point up, because it allow me to make a broader point, if you'll indulge me. What's helpful about this foreign policy challenge is that most governments in the world, even those we don't get along with very well, have the same objectives in Afghanistan. Nobody wants to see the return of the Taliban Islamic Emirate. Nobody wants to see Afghanistan be a base for terrorists to thrive and attack others, including in the region. Nobody wants to see a vacuum, either a security or a political vacuum that creates more instability, more refugees, more vulnerabilities, right. Most want to see the gains of the past 18, 19 years preserved. Most would like to see Afghanistan become a productive country  a productive country in terms of being able to take care of its own people so that it's not so reliant on international assistance and that it's playing a stable role in the difficult neighborhood.

So based on those sort of core common interests, which apply to Iran, we have been able to mobilize, like, U.S.-European group support for what we're doing; we have a U.S.-Russia-China group which Pakistan joined, mobilizing support for what we're doing. So that's been very positive, and we want to keep that going.

On the issue of Iran, historically speaking, since 9/11, Afghanistan had really not been an arena for U.S.-Iranian tensions. We would like to restore that status quo ante. We've also made very clear to the Taliban  very clear to the Taliban  that this is not going to work if the kinds of threats you've identified take place. They have that message 100 percent.

MODERATOR: I'm really sorry, the Secretary is pinging you.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: Oh.

MODERATOR: You've got to go.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: Okay.

MODERATOR: Sorry, guys.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: Sorry.

QUESTION: How many 

MODERATOR: I can try to  I can try to answer some questions.

QUESTION: Are we going to see the document?

MODERATOR: You really  you've got to go.

QUESTION: Thank you.

QUESTION: Thank you so much.

MODERATOR: I held [Senior Administration Official Two] for about 10 minutes and the front office is freaking out at me.

QUESTION: [Moderator], can you answer a logistical question?

MODERATOR: Yeah, I will try  do you  wait. Just wait two seconds. Do you guys feel like you still need more? Because we leave tomorrow.

QUESTION: Yeah.

MODERATOR: I'll try my best to get her back down here, but this was  yeah. I'll try my  I'll try my best. I don't know that I can.

QUESTION: Can I ask 

QUESTION: But will al-Qaeda be publicly repudiating the agreement?

MODERATOR: Yes, yes.

QUESTION: Okay.

MODERATOR: And ISIS and  yeah.

QUESTION: [Moderator]

QUESTION: [Moderator], is there any discussion of the  of prisoner release in the agreement? Or how does the timing of the prisoner release fit in?

MODERATOR: Yeah, and this is embargoed until Saturday. Yes, that will be in the agreement. Most of the stuff you guys are  I mean, this will be  when you get  when you put both documents side by side and read them, it's very  it's very clarifying, it's very  I just yesterday read the final, final, final, which will probably not actually be the final, but it's the final. Other than the Pashtu and English and the one in Doha, it's very straightforward.

Thank you.

QUESTION: [Moderator], two  two  is the 

QUESTION: (Off-mike) the Taliban?

MODERATOR: Who's signing?

QUESTION: For the Taliban and for the United States.

QUESTION: Yeah, is it correct that Pompeo is signing?

MODERATOR: No, Zal is signing.

QUESTION: Okay.

MODERATOR: Zal is signing. Let me  there has been so much that's been changing back and forth. Let me get back to you on who the final signatory is for them.

QUESTION: Because I've heard that there may be Taliban who are going to Doha who aren't there right now.

MODERATOR: Probably. That wouldn't surprise me. There's a lot 

QUESTION: So does that include 

MODERATOR: It's a party.

QUESTION:  a more senior person than  I mean, Baradar is harder to get 

MODERATOR: I don't think so.

QUESTION: It's harder to get more senior than Baradar.

MODERATOR: I don't want to say definitively because everything's been changing. I think it's going to be him, but let me get  but let me  I would  listen, this is not a promise because things are crazed, and [Senior Administration Official Two] really was  it wasn't bullshit, [Senior Administration Official Two] really was being called by the Secretary and I kept her for 10 minutes longer. So now he's going to kill me. But we  I'll try my best to bring her back down. I don't know that I can before we get on the plane, but I promise I'll try my best.

QUESTION: On the intra-Afghan talks, what do they  when do they begin, where will they take place, and who's involved?

MODERATOR: [Senior Administration Official Two] addressed that. Yeah, we'll get  we'll get the transcript to you. [Senior Administration Official Two] addressed that.

QUESTION: So 

QUESTION: And could  can you give us a sense of how long this agreement is? I mean, is it, like, lots of pages? Is it short? Is it 

MODERATOR: No, oh, it's very brief. I think maybe four pages max.

QUESTION: And it includes numbers of prisoners exchanged, like that kind of detail?

MODERATOR: Mm-hmm.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

[i] Pakistan

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






HAMDEN  Four police officers and a civilian were injured as officers tried to take a violent felon with five active warrants into custody Saturday morning, officials said.

Officers were dispatched to 125 Putnam Avenue  Davenport Dunbar Residence  at 10:40 a.m. for a report of an unwanted person.

According to Capt. Ronald Smith, responding officers were told a man by the name of John Sullo was allegedly on the premises, operating an unregistered tow truck. The officers were also told Sullo had five active warrants on file for his arrest, Smith said.

Police said Sullo lives in an apartment at Davenport Dunbar Residence.

Responding officers Steven Teague and Derick Manning spotted Sullo in the area and pulled him over near the intersection of Clifford Street and Ralston Avenue.

But, Smith said, as officers tried to arrest Sullo, he aggressively resisted. Smith said Sullo escaped, got into the tow truck and fled toward Treadwell Street.

Moments later, he drove into a Marne Street driveway and put his vehicle in reverse while lowering the boom on the tow truck, according to Smith.

He then attempted to strike an occupied police vehicle, Smith said. Officers quick actions avoided a collision.

From there, Smith said, Sullo drove toward Haig Street before continuing on Dixwell Avenue.

While on Dixwell Avenue, Smith Said, officers saw Sullo drive the tow truck north at a high rate of speed. Smith said Sullo hit another vehicle, a utility pole and two traffic signs.

After that, Smith said, Sullo got out of his vehicle and fled toward Route 15 on foot.

Teague and Manning gave chase and were able to take Sullo into custody after he violently resisted, Smith said.

The driver of the vehicle that Sullo hit reported neck and back injuries, Smith said. He said the driver was taken to Yale New Haven Hospital to be treated.

Four Hamden police officers were also injured during the incident, Smith said. The extent of their injuries were not immediately provided.

Sullo, 42, was charged with two counts of assault on a police officer, interfering with a police officer, first-degree failure to appear, four counts of second-degree failure to appear, reckless driving, operating a motor vehicle without insurance, operating an unregistered motor vehicle, evading responsibility and engaging police in a pursuit.

Smith said Sullo was detained on bonds that totaled $139,500. Hes scheduled to appear in Meriden Superior Court on March 12.

Hamden police arrested a violent felon that was wanted on five active arrest warrants, Smith said. Four police officers and a civilian suffered injuries during the incident.

Smith said the incident will be closely reviewed to determine if officers complied with department policy, per department protocol.
Canadian Dollar (CAD) Exchange Rates Sink as Oil Prices Plunge on Coronavirus

The Canadian Dollar (CAD) suffered in trade last week, with the oil sensitive currency facing some significant headwinds as concerns over the coronavirus prompted a sharp slump in crude prices.

WIT crude fell as low as $44 a barrel during the selling, falling to its lowest value in over a year as markets fear the disruption caused by a potential coronavirus pandemic could see a sharp drop in global demand for oil.

Norway-based Rystad said:: As Chinas coronavirus epidemic continues to expand and more countries are affected, the slowdown in global oil and gas consumption this year will hit suppliers who will see average prices fall below previous expectations. Crude has come under renewed downwards pressure this week as news of rising numbers of coronavirus cases across the world have spooked market participants. The epidemics net impact on oil demand could create almost the same amount of surplus crude barrels during the second quarter of 2020 as it will in first quarter of the year.

Keeping the pressure on the Loonie in the tail end of the session was also the publication of Canadas latest GDP figures, which revealed domestic growth slowed from 0.3% to 0.1% in the last quarter of 2019.

Pound (GBP) Undermined by No-Deal Jitters

Meanwhile, the Pounds (GBP) gains last week were trimmed somewhat by renewed fear that the UK could face a no-deal Brexit at the end of 2020.

This was mostly revolved around concerns that diverging aims between the UK and EU make the chances of the two sides reached a trade deal this year quite unlikely.

Both the EU and UK published their mandate for trade negotiations last week.

First up was the EU on Tuesday who stated that they wished to build a close, ambitious partnership with the UK but that this must be based on maintaining a level playing field and that the bloc would not agree a deal at any price.

However it was the publication of the UKs position on the trade negotiations which proved most worrying for GBP investors.

Outlining the governments aims for the talks Michael Gove said the UK would look to strike a comprehensive free trade agreement by the end of 2020, but that it would not be willing to alignment with EU regulations to do so.

The document read: Whatever happens, the government will not negotiate any arrangement in which the UK does not have control of its own laws and political life. That means that we will not agree to any obligations for our laws to be aligned with the EUs, or for the EUs institutions, including the court of justice, to have any jurisdiction in the UK.

On top of this the UK government warned that it would be willing to walk away from trade talks in June and revert to WTO trade terms with the EU unless there a broad outline of a deal is already in place.

GBP/CAD Exchange Rate Forecast: UK-EU Trade Talks to Infuse Volatility in Sterling?

Looking ahead, we expect main catalyst of movement in the Pound to Canadian Dollar (GBP/CAD) exchange rate this week to be the official start to trade negotiations between the UK and EU on Monday.

This may inject significant volatility into Sterling as it seems likely to highlight the clear divisions between the UK and EU over their future trade relationship and leading to a drop in the GBP/CAD exchange rates.

On the data front, the Pound may be offered some modest support if the UKs latest PMI figures confirm the private sector returned to growth last month.

Meanwhile, we expect the Loonie to remain under fire this week if coronavirus fears see oil prices continue to drift lower.

This will be particularly true if concerns over the slump in oil and the impact of the coronavirus sees the Bank of Canada (BoC) respond in its latest policy meeting on Wednesday that it may need to accelerate plans to ease its monetary policy.
A man (L) holds a Taiwan flag as passengers disembark from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, in quarantine due to fears of new COVID-19 coronavirus, at the Daikoku pier cruise terminal in Yokohama on Feb. 21, 2020. (Philip Fong/AFP via Getty Images)

US Pushing Back Against Beijing Excluding Taiwan From WHO Amid Global Effort to Contain Virus: Official

As the coronavirus outbreak hastens its global spread, the United States has reiterated its support for Taiwan participating in the World Health Organization (WHO).

Taiwan for years has been barred from obtaining observer-status at the WHO because of the Chinese regimes objections. Since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, the self-ruled island has further protested its exclusion from the U.N.s health agency, saying this was hampering global efforts to contain the disease.

This COVID-19 outbreak only further underlines the unacceptability of Taiwan being excluded from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World Health Assembly because the Peoples Republic of China blocks every attempt to do so, Jonathan Fritz, deputy assistant secretary at the U.S. State Departments Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, said during a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Feb. 27.

We continue to push back very, very hard against that with as many of our like-minded partners as possible, and I think our argument is only bolstered now by the outbreak, Fritz added. The Chinese regime considers Taiwan as part of its territory and has worked to block the islands membership in many international bodies. Democratically-governed Taiwan says that it is separate from the communist regime and should thus have separate representation in international fora. Taiwan, which has 34 confirmed cases of the virus, has been excluded from taking part in meetings about the outbreak held by the WHO Emergency Committee. But in a small diplomatic breakthrough, it was recently allowed to participate in an online technical meeting on the virus. The WHO also groups Taiwans virus cases with Chinas, so the island is thus classified by the agency as very high risk. As a result, some countries have imposed travel curbs for arrivals who have visited the island, prompting protests from Taiwan. Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has also previously called out the Chinese regime for reporting incorrect information to the WHO about the number of cases on the island.

Fritz said the Chinese regimes isolation of Taiwan has impeded international efforts to stem the spread of the outbreak. To the extent that they are unable to get timely information from the WHO that impacts public health on Taiwan, he said. On the other hand, Taiwan has a lot of expertise  they have their own epidemiological track record now dealing with COVID-19, and to the extent that that is not being shared in a complete and timely fashion with other WTO members, clearly, that doesnt do anything for the public health of the rest of the international community, Fritz added. Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) at the same hearing urged the Chinese regime to do the right thing and allow for Taiwan to become a full member of the WHO. Its a shame that the PRC  allows its intransigence with respect to Taiwan to put not only the people of Taiwan, and its own people, but the rest of the world more at risk than we ought to be. Andrew Bremberg, U.S. ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, had urged the WHO Executive Board in Geneva on Feb. 6 to allow Taiwans participation in meetings related to the coronavirus outbreak. For the rapidly evolving coronavirus, it is a technical imperative that WHO present visible public health data on Taiwan as an affected area, and engage directly with Taiwan public health authorities on actions, Bremberg said.
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Its finally upon us. The week when ministers from the oil producing countries of OPEC and their allies meet to decide on the future of their latest round of output cuts. Having failed to persuade Russia to bring the meeting forward, Saudi Arabia will now hope to convince its biggest non-OPEC ally of the need to make deeper cuts in the face of a demand slump triggered by the Covid-19 virus. Success is not a foregone conclusion and failure will be costly.

The looming pandemic has already made its mark on oil markets. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude is now firmly below $50 a barrel and global benchmark Brent briefly followed it on Friday. That is uncomfortable territory for producers everywhere and, without a clear indication of deeper output cuts from this weeks meetings, prices will fall further.

As the virus spreads, locking down Italys industrial heartland and prompting Switzerland to ban large gatherings, producers appear to be clinging to overly optimistic demand assessments. OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo, speaking at a conference in Saudi Arabia last week, said that in spite of the new coronavirus, the worlds thirst for energy will continue to grow. While that may be true for energy as a whole, it may not be for oil demand this year if there isnt a quick rebound.

Assessments from the three main forecasting agencies still show 2020 oil demand growth running close to a million barrels a day, but that now looks very optimistic. By contrast, veteran energy consultants FGE cut their forecast for growth this year to almost zero.

They base their pessimism on the ripple effects of the virus beyond China, where traffic volumes in affected cities have already slumped, according to data from the TomTom Traffic Index. Measured in terms of how much longer journeys take than they would on empty roads, live data show that traffic volumes in Beijing are still well below normal levels, even as the city is reportedly returning to work.

Story continues

In Wuhan, center of the epidemic in China, there is no such uptick; economic activity remains severely curtailed.

But this is no longer just a Chinese problem. The economic impact of the spread of the virus to other parts of the world is clear. Four-week average jet fuel demand in the U.S. has dropped by 18% in the past 10 weeks. Airlines are cutting flight schedules and passenger numbers have collapsed. An acquaintance of mine flew back from Australia last weekend on a plane he reckons was only about one-third full. As people have second thoughts about getting on flights if theres no guarantee those around them arent infected, flight schedules will almost certainly be cut further, with obvious implications for fuel demand. Consultants JBC Energy have cut global demand growth for the fuel to just 50,000 barrels a day this year, little more than a third of what they saw a month ago.

And those TomTom figures show the impact of the virus on traffic in Milan after its discovery in northern Italy. Morning rush-hour journey times have been cut by a quarter, as fewer cars clog the roads.

A similar pattern is emerging in OPEC nation Kuwait, where the virus has spread from neighboring Iran.

Any hopes that demand will rebound last this year in a robust enough way to offset the first-half slump are built on shaky foundations. The flights that have been cancelled are gone, not postponed. The road trips not made this week wont be made up in future weeks. Traffic may return to normal levels once the virus is brought under control, but there wont be a surge beyond that from pent-up demand.

This is the situation that will face the oil ministers of the 23 nations in OPEC+ later this week. They need a credible plan that will take actual barrels off the market, even if Russia balks at making further cuts. Its compliance has been poor, but Saudi Arabia seems willing to accept that in return for the perception of added clout that it thinks Russias presence at the table brings.

I have no doubt that an agreement will be hammered out in Vienna  or via a virtual meeting if the gathering is cancelled. (There are no signs yet that it will be, though OPEC continues to monitor the situation in Vienna). The cost of failure is too great. It would leave the market vulnerable to a short-term swing below $30 a barrel, analysts Emily Ashford and Paul Horsnell from Standard Chartered said in a report.

Oil traders will remain hard to convince that producers are doing enough, or reacting quickly enough. Saudi Arabias oil supplies to China are set to fall by a third in March as demand withers. The kingdom is pressing OPEC+ producers to agree to collective production cut of an additional 1 million barrels a day  even that may no longer be enough.

To contact the author of this story: Julian Lee at jlee1627@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Melissa Pozsgay at mpozsgay@bloomberg.net

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Julian Lee is an oil strategist for Bloomberg. Previously he worked as a senior analyst at the Centre for Global Energy Studies.

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.
Home Minister Amit Shah arrived in Kolkata on Sunday to take part in a series of events, including a public rally from which he will launch the BJPs campaign seeking an end to what it calls the Trinamool Congress (TMC) governments misrule in West Bengal.

Demonstrators belonging to Left parties and student organisations hit the streets to protest his visit to the state capital.

While 100,000 BJP supporters are expected to gather for Shahs public rally in Shahid Minar ground, workers belonging to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and other Left organisations protested, alleging Shah was complicit in the recent clashes in New Delhi.

CPI(M) legislator Sujan Chakraborty led a protest rally in Jadavpur area in the southern part of the city and a group of party supporters gathered outside the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in the northern outskirts of Kolkata to show black flags to Shah.

There were black balloons, too.

Protesters also gathered at Moulali, Entally and Park Circus areas in central Kolkata.

Amit Shah, who has his hands soaked in the blood in the Delhi clashes, is unwelcome in Bengal. Mamata Banerjee, by allowing him to address a rally, has revealed the hidden understanding between the BJP and TMC, Sujan Chakraborty said.

The BJPs national secretary Rahul Sinha and state unit general secretary Sayantan Basu have warned protesters against daring to reach near their venue.

If they try to block roads through which our supporters are coming, we know how to lift blockades. If they try to reach near our venue, we know how to retaliate, Sinha said.

The police have made elaborate security arrangements, including surveillance using drones, to avoid untoward incidents. Protesters were not allowed to reach the airport gate through which Shah came out. The police have also cordoned off the venue of the BJPs rally.

Shah will launch his partys West Bengal campaign, branded as Aar Noy Annay (no more injustices), targeting the Mamata Banerjee regime. BJP president Jagat Prakash Nadda is also slated to attend the rally.

March 1 will mark the beginning of a renaissance in Bengal when Amit Shah launches our Aar Noy Annay campaign, which will eventually go on for six months, BJP state unit president Dilip Ghosh said.

We plan to connect with five crore people with this campaign to hold Trinamool Congress accountable for its misrule. We will place a chargesheet against the Mamata Banerjee regime, Ghosh added.

Incidentally, TMC has not scheduled any event on Sunday.

Shah, after taking part in a government programme, will address the public rally, before offering puja at the famous Kalighat temple and then attend two indoor meetings to devise the BJPs organisational strategy for Bengal.

The state is heading for the municipal elections in more than 100 civic bodies in April-May and the assembly elections are due next year.

The BJP has emerged as West Bengals second-most-powerful party, bagging 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats, against 22 won by the TMC.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
GLEN CARBON  The Glen Carbon Police Department is in a strong and capable state of readiness, according to Chief Todd Link as he delivered his annual state of the department report to the mayor and village trustees last week.

Incident totals continue to trend upward overall  39,424 in 2019 versus 33,182 last year and 27,264 in 2015, the earliest year in Links report. Seventy percent of the incidents is comprised of Links officers engaged in proactive, self-initiated officer activity.

Our officers are engaged in being a visible presence in our village, Link said.

Conversely, uniform crime reporting, which covers violent and property crimes, continues to plummet from last year despite the rise in incident numbers. There were 102 property crimes and six violent crimes tallied last year as opposed to 158 property crimes and 10 violent crimes in 2018. In 2016, there were 179 property crimes and 37 violent crimes. Last years totals are the lowest since 2015, Link said.

Each time I talk about arrest totals, I point out that we dont arrest our way out of crime, Link told everyone. Arrest totals were 371 felonies and 745 misdemeanors last year versus 295 felonies and 690 misdemeanors in 2018. In 2015, there were 197 felonies and 750 misdemeanors.

I think that is an indication to me that our detectives and our officers are doing a great job of being effective and clearing felony cases, Link said.

The departments three detectives handled 324 new cases last year and closed 364 cases, though some of those 364 were overlapping cases from 2018. They received 176 felony warrants and received 33 misdemeanor warrants. Fifty-seven percent of cases closed by obtaining warrants and an 88 percent new case clearance rate.

I want to point out that our detective division is made up of three, front-line investigators; thats three detectives doing all that work, Link said.

More Information 2019 GCPD Key Case Highlights  In January, a St. Louis City helicopter pilot advised Illinois agencies that it was following a stolen Dodge Charger sedan on Interstate 270. Nuisance Abatement Officer (NAO) Jeremy Coppotelli arrested two men who had a violent criminal history; they had active felony warrants, stolen firearms, 75 heroin buttons, 20 bars of Xanax and $3,500 in cash  In March, Glen Carbon Police responded to a report of a man who carjacked a vehicle after committing retail theft from the Sam's Club store and fired shots at those pursuing him. Glen Carbon, Maryville, Edwardsville, the Madison County Sheriff and the Illinois State Police all combined to pursue the subject north on Interstate 55. He got into a shootout with an Illinois State Trooper, who killed the suspect. A second suspect was later identified and charged in the same incident  In April, following about 20 reported burglaries from a Glen Carbon storage facility, Sgt. Jeff Blind and Coppotelli located a burglary in progress, arresting one man  In June, after a Glen Carbon residence was burglarized and numerous items taken from the home, Coppotelli and Det. Deist found one of the stolen items, a sewing machine, on an Internet garage sale site using a "controlled buy"  In December, Coppotelli was able to arrange several controlled buys of methamphetamine and developed probable cause for a search warrant of the home. It subsequently led to the arrest of the identified suspect for delivering meth See More Collapse

Glen Carbon has a pair of seized asset and escrow accounts, one local and state, the other federal. Link asked for permission to open these accounts in 2015. Using monies from these funds means the department does not need to tap into the villages general fund. Last year, the department spent $2,780 from the local account on drone equipment and a Night Sight tool while from the federal account, the department spent $25,277 on two drones and 15 Glock handguns. The on-duty firearms were nearing end-of-life and several had malfunctioned, Link said.

We saved from the general fund $23,031 that we spent on training and equipment by trying to be self-reliant and avoid hitting the taxpayers with those costs, Link said. Over the past five years, weve diverted $117,290 in training and equipment costs away from the general fund by using these seized asset accounts.

The department had a list of projects and achievements last year, including a new fire alarm system at the departments building behind village hall; a Chevrolet Tahoe for their K9 officer, Griff; replaced 15 in-car and 28 portable radios; and upgraded the evidence vault, which Link said sorely needed it. Staff-wise, the department experienced one retirement, two promotions and hired three patrolmen.

Lt. Ned Miller discussed the departments drone program. They serve a wide variety of purposes and the department has two certified drone pilots who know Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) regulations.

Last September the department reached out to its neighboring first responder groups in the village, Maryville and Troy to ask if they were interested in collaborating in a drone program with GCPD. All of them agreed to join and in the four months since September, Glen Carbon has helped in such situations as search-and-rescue, finding a deceased person underwater in a creek, accident reconstruction and surveillance during a search warrant execution.

When it comes to dispatch services, Glen Carbon is quite the communications hub of activity. Total calls for service last year were 51,593 for 2019, or just over 6,000 calls higher than in 2018.

Fourteen percent of calls coming in are 9-1-1 calls, said Coleen Schaller, administrative supervisor.

With the jump in call volume comes a matching rise in new people hired. The department added a sixth, full-time dispatcher last year followed by a seventh one last month.

When I was hired in 2006, there were four of us, Schaller said. We were in the basement of this building and we worked by ourselves. We have grown by leaps and bounds. All dispatchers work 12-hour shifts. Glen Carbon Police totaled 39,374 calls last year while the village fire protection district ran 1,705 calls.

Reach reporter Charles Bolinger at (618) 659-5735
India's fastest woman Dutee Chand won her second gold of the Khelo India University Games after she bagged the top honours in the 200m final here on Sunday.

The 24-year-old, who is representing Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, clinched the gold medal with a timing of 23.66 seconds.

Kirti Vijay Bhoite from the University of Mumbai settled for silver with a timing of 24.98 seconds while Deepali Mahapatra from Utkal University won the bronze, clocking 25.19 seconds.

"It feels very good to win the 200m gold. In 100m, it's difficult to gauge when to run in full throttle and when to relax a little bit, but in 200m, it's easier to understand when to run in full speed and when to ease out. However, a runner has to exert much more in a 200m race," said Dutee after her win.

She also lauded the way the competition has been organised in Odisha.

"The Khelo India University Games has been a good tournament for our state - Odisha. It was organised like an Asian Games, where the athletes were provided with accommodation, food and training facilities."



"The schedule of all events was strictly followed and the athletes were given ample rest as well. So, the competition was conducted very well and I would like to thank the Indian government and state government for organising the event," she said.

However, Dutee stressed on the need to have more tournaments in India.

"I think there should be two competitions per month in India. The more competitions take place, the better we will do. Only training will not help, one needs to keep taking part in tournaments as well.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
If theres one Bollywood actor who doesnt shy away from doing whatever he can to uplift the society, its Akshay Kumar. Right from supporting Bharat Ke Veer, to even taking care of his Mission Mangal director Jagan Shaktis medical bills during an emergency, hes always there. And yet again, hes come out to support another good initiative.

Filmmaker Raghava Lawrence took to Facebook on Sunday to announce that he is building a transgender home in Chennai, claiming it to be the first time in India, for which Akshay has donated Rs 1.5 crores. Raghava wrote in the post that it was during their film Laxmmi Bombs shoot that Akshay got to know about his initiative to help the community.

Raghava told HT, During the making of my film Kanchana, I had met transgenders, and listened to their painful stories, how they were suddenly orphaned, even when its how God made them. They would have to sleep at railway stations, (and other such random places). Thats when I thought about this shelter, for which I bought a land in my native place in Chennai, I was explaining it to Akshay sir one day, and he asked suddenly can I build this building? I was shocked, because we were planning to go to big people and ask them (for help), even doing a show through which we could collect funds, but here was Akshay sir. These kind of people are God. The place is yet to be ready.

This announcement and initiative have been welcomed by LGBTQI+ activists. Gauri Sawant tells us that Bollywood actors speaking up lends more awareness to things, Its a good initiative, if someone is donating money for the community. (Bollywood stars like Akshay) supporting this is the need of the society. We work for animal (welfare), why not transgenders? They are humans, only their sexual identity is different. Even I am building a house for kids of sex workers.

Equal rights activist Harish Iyer says, Its a welcome move and people should stand up for other people. At the same time, any kind of philanthropy has to be heartfelt and continuous. Indian filmmaker Sridhar Rangayan, who has made films with special focus on queer subjects further adds, Its a great initiative, what they should do is consult the transgender community, what are their needs. They should not be left out. Transgender people have a lot of problems in finding a home, for them, a commune like this is very welcome. There are communes abroad in United States and Europe. If something like this comes up, they can atleast live their lives peacefully without any obstruction and trying to run around to find homes.
All crew members from a coronavirus-stricken cruise ship off Japan have now disembarked, the country's health minister said. The crew began leaving the Diamond Princess on Thursday for quarantine ashore after the last of the passengers had departed. "Including the captain, all crew members disembarked," health minister Katsunobu Kato told reporters late Sunday. Around 130 people -- including the captain and 98 health ministry officials who were working aboard -- tested negative for the virus as they left the vessel, he said. They will spend 14 days at government-designated dormitories before being allowed to leave Japan, while the vessel will be disinfected before sailing again. At least six people who were hospitalised after being taken off the ship have died, including a British male passenger, the health ministry said. On Sunday a 78-year-old man evacuated from the vessel died at a Perth hospital, becoming Australia's first fatality from the disease. Japan quarantined the cruise ship after an 80-year-old passenger who disembarked on January 25 in Hong Kong tested positive for the deadly virus. The quarantine has been heavily criticised after more than 700 people on board tested positive for the virus. The ship carried about 3,700 passengers and crew members when it reached the port of Yokohama. Kato said the government "will have to review the whole process", but for now authorities were focusing on efforts to contain the spread of the virus.
KASTANIES, Greece - Thousands of migrants and refugees massed at Turkeys western frontier Sunday, trying to enter Greece by land and sea after Turkey said its borders were open to those hoping to head to Europe. In Syria, Turkish troops shot down two Syrian warplanes after the Syrian military downed a Turkish drone, a major escalation in the direct conflict between Syrian and Turkish forces.

Turkeys decision to ease border restrictions came amid a Russia-backed Syrian government offensive into Syrias northwestern Idlib province. That offensive has killed dozens of Turkish troops and led to a surge of nearly a million Syrian civilians fleeing the fighting toward Turkeys sealed border.

Turkey backs the Syrian rebels fighting in Idlib province, and has sent thousands of troops into the area. Idlib is the last opposition-held stronghold in Syria, and is dominated by al-Qaida linked fighters.

A Turkish official said the fighting in Idlib was directly linked to Turkeys decision to open the gates for refugees to Europe. He said Ankara had changed its focus to preparing for the possibility of new arrivals from Syria instead of preventing refugees who intend to migrate to Europe.

Europe and others must take robust action to address this monumental challenge, said Fahrettin Altun, the communications director for Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. We cant be expected to do this on our own.

Erdogans decision open his countrys borders with Europe made good on a longstanding threat to let refugees into the continent. His announcement marked a dramatic departure from a previous policy of containment, an apparent attempt to pressure Europe into offering Turkey more support in dealing with the fallout from the Syrian war to its south.

Under a 6 billion euro deal in 2016, Turkey agreed to stem the tide of refugees to Europe in return for financial aid, after more than a million people entered Europe in 2015. Turkey has since accused the EU of failing to honour the agreement, and Erdogan has frequently threatened to allow refugees into Europe unless more international support was provided.

Turkey already hosts 3.6 million Syrian refugees, as well as many others from Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Turkey borders Greece and Bulgaria, both European Union members.

On the Greek-Turkish land border, Greek army and police patrols using tear gas and stun grenades to thwart attempts by thousands to push into the country overnight.

Officials said the situation was much calmer Sunday morning. But in the afternoon, authorities used tear gas and water cannons to push back another crowd attempting to cross. Migrants threw rocks and other objects, and one policeman was injured. Greek authorities said they stopped about 10,000 crossing attempts Saturday, and another 5,500 on Sunday.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis convened the defence and foreign affairs committee Sunday evening. Afterward, a government spokesman said Greece was starting a one-month freeze on accepting asylum applications from migrants who enter illegally.

Europes border agency Frontex said it was redeploying equipment and additional officers to Greece.

A Greek government official said the Turkish authorities also fired teargas at the Greek border, using drones flying close to the border. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasnt authorized to discuss the matter with the media.

Stavros Zamalides, the president of the Greek border community of Kastanies, said Turkish soldiers used wire cutters to actively help people cross.

The United Nations migration organization reported at least 13,000 people had massed on Turkeys land border by Saturday night, the vast majority apparently from Afghanistan.

In Istanbul, a steady stream of buses, taxis, cars and minibuses were ferrying hundreds more throughout Sunday to Edirne, a town near the border with Greece. The vehicles werent part of any regular bus route.

Those boarding the buses  the vast majority Afghans  said they were heading to Greece and eventually hoped to get to Germany.

On the Greek islands, more than 500 people had arrived from the nearby Turkish coast by Sunday evening, a clear increase in the usual number of people who arrive on eastern Aegean islands from Turkey.

Existing migrant camps on the islands are already dramatically overcrowded, and tensions there have mounted.

In a small harbour on Lesbos, angry local residents refused to allow migrants  including families with young children and babies  to disembark from a dinghy that had just arrived. Groups who arrived on other parts of the island remained there for hours because locals prevented buses from reaching them to transport them to the main camp.

On Sunday night, a former staging area used for new arrivals on Lesbos was set on fire.

More than 19,300 people already live in and around islands migrant camp, which has a capacity of 2,840. Protests by island residents last week over the situation degenerated into clashes with riot police on Lesbos and Chios.

Greece said it was using all available means to tell migrants that the countrys borders were closed, including text messages to foreign mobile phones in the border area.

In Syria, fighting escalated on the ground and in the skies between Turkish and Syrian troops. Russia, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar Assads government, remained largely on the sidelines through the weekend even as a Turkish-led counter offensive blunted and in some cases reversed Syrian government advances.

But the head of the Russian militarys Reconciliation Center in Syria, Rear Adm. Oleg Zhuravlev,, warned Turkey that its aircraft could be in danger if they fly over Syria.

In view of the sharp exacerbation of tensions in the air space over Idlib, the Syrian government was forced to declare it closed, Zhuravlev said in a statement released late Sunday. In this situation, the Russian troops command cant guarantee security of flights of Turkish aircraft in the skies over Syria.

Syrias official news agency SANA said the four pilots in the two jets shot down Sunday had ejected and landed safely. Turkeys Defence Ministry said it had hit the two SU-24 aircraft as well as Syrian air defence systems after one of its aerial drones was downed.

Earlier Sunday, Syria said northwestern airspace was closed and any aircraft or drone that entered will be treated as hostile and shot down.

The Syrian announcement followed two days of Turkish drone strikes in Idlib province. Syrian activists said the strikes killed more than 50 Syrian government forces and allied fighters. Turkey has lost 54 soldiers in February, including 33 killed Thursday in a single airstrike. Outraged, Erdogan announced his countrys European borders were open Saturday.

The crisis in Idlib stems from a Syrian government offensive with Russian military support, which began Dec. 1. Turkey is worried it might come under renewed international pressure to open its now-sealed border with Syria and offer refuge to hundreds of thousands more Syrian civilians.

Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar, speaking from a military headquarters near the Syrian border, said Turkey aimed to confront Syrian government forces rather than Russian troops. He called on Moscow to persuade Assad to withdraw to 2018 cease-fire lines on the edges of Idlib.

Referring to losses inflicted on Syria, he said Turkey had neutralized more than 2,200 Syrian troops, 103 tanks and eight helicopters. The operation is Turkeys fourth in the war-torn country since 2016.

Altun, the Turkish communications director, claimed 80,888 migrants had left Turkey for Europe in the past several days. There was no evidence to support his claim. Greeces Foreign Ministry tweeted that these numbers were false and misleading.

___

Wilks reported from Ankara, Turkey. Robert Badendieck in Istanbul, Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, Elena Becatoros in Athens and Zeina Karam in Beirut contributed to this report.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Sunday met Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and held a discussion regarding the development of Himachal Pradesh.

"Met Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas in Delhi today. I discussed with him the topics related to the development of Himachal and looked forward to the cooperation. He has assured all possible help from the Centre," Thakur tweeted earlier today (roughly translated from Hindi).

Pradhan also took to Twitter and wrote that both of them held talks regarding various ongoing oil and gas projects in Himachal Pradesh.

"I have assured Chief Minister of all possible efforts towards the all-round development of Himachal Pradesh on behalf of the Centre and Ministery of Petroleum and Steel," Pradhan tweeted in Hindi.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday asserted that the ruling NDA is and will remain united in the state, dispelling "confusions" that had arisen in the wake of his recent meeting with RJD's Tejashwi Yadav followed by some opposition Grand Alliance leaders beckoning him to cross over.

Addressing a 'karyakarta sammelan' of the Janata Dal (United), of which he is the national president, Kumar exhorted party workers to strive towards ensuring the NDA's win in "more than 200 seats" when elections to the 243-member Bihar assembly are held this year.

Disapproving of political "controversies" around the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), which his party had supported in Parliament, Kumar called for "patience" as the matter was sub judice.

Anxieties in some sections of society, particularly among the minorities, have been addressed with a resolution passed by the Bihar assembly against the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and insertion of contentious clauses in National Population Register (NPR) forms, he said.

The JD(U) chief also reiterated his commitment towards ensuring justice and welfare of all, including minorities, and slammed the opposition Congress-RJD combine, which keeps attacking him over his alliance with the BJP, by recalling the Bhagalpur riots of 1989 that had claimed over 1,000 lives.

"It is well known who was in power when the riots took place and how justice eluded the victims for 15 years thereafter. We brought the guilty to book and justice was ensured to the victims. I am more concerned about working for the minorities than getting their votes," said Kumar as he highlighted the various schemes being run by his government for minority communities.

The chief minister, who spoke for close to an hour and a half, also dwelt at length on his government's accomplishments with regard to improving law and order, and bringing in all round development.

Kumar asked party workers to apprise the common people about the same and debunk the opposition's propaganda.

On allegations of deterioration in law and order levelled by opposition parties and the concern expressed of late by ally Chirag Paswan, who heads the Lok Janshakti Party, the chief minister quoted National Crime Records Bureau statistics to suggest that the crime rate in Bihar, when taken into account in proportion to the population, was among the lowest in the country.

Sore over widespread criticism of the poor health and education scenario in the state, Kumar highlighted his government's success in reducing school dropout rates and mentioned the adulation from Microsoft founder Bill Gates who, during his visit to Patna last year, had praised the state's efforts towards "fighting poverty and disease".

The chief minister, who will aim at a fourth consecutive term in power in the assembly elections due by November, urged his party's workers to draw inspiration from the NDA's stupendous performance in the Lok Sabha polls last year when the BJP, the JD(U) and the LJP had together won 39 out of the 40 seats in Bihar.

Indirectly referring to his one-to-one meeting with Tejashwi Yadav inside his chamber at the Bihar assembly complex, which had prompted Grand Alliance leaders like former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi to "welcome" him to the opposition formation, Kumar said, "There is no scope for confusions. We met over the NPR and the NRC debate, and the matter has been settled with a unanimous resolution passed by the assembly".

"Now there should be dhairya (patience) as the CAA is before the court. Stirring a controversy is not proper," said the JD(U) chief in a veiled admonition to the opposition.

He also pointed out that the law providing for citizenship to refugees fleeing adjoining countries out of religious persecution was conceptualised when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the prime minister.

Flaying the RJD-Congress combine for their agitations over the citizenship law, Kumar said, "I was a member of Parliament then. And, what I am saying can be verified from the records of the proceedings of the time. Leaders like Pranab Mukherjee, Manmohan Singh and Lalu Prasad all were in favour of such a legislation back then."



He also spoke of the "Jal Jeevan Hariyali" campaign which aims at combating climate change through environment preservation and expressed delight over the enthusiastic public participation in the human chain that was formed in its support in January.

Kumar also asserted that prohibition, brought in force four years ago, has had many positive social and economic efforts and reiterated his commitment to securing special category status for Bihar which, he holds, is necessary for accelerated development of a state that has been historically backward.

The chief minister paid tributes to Valmiki Nagar MP Baidya Nath Prasad Mahto, who died in Delhi earlier this week. Condoling his death before he commenced his speech, Kumar winded up his address by making the crowds observe silence in the memory of the departed leader.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Express News Service

BENGALURU: When a bunch of travel enthusiasts was waiting for a talk by biker Vasudeva Acharya at Urban Solace on Saturday, most of them thought they would be hearing stories of struggles of riding a bike on rough terrains. But a lean 70-year-old Acharya made it sound like a piece of cake. There is no struggle if you are passionate about what you do.

If you exclaim about my age, then thats just a number, says Acharya, who got a 2019 RE Interceptor as a present from his children for his 70th birthday in 2019. Although he has always been passionate about riding, Acharya has been pursuing his passion since 2011. I always loved riding. I didnt want to live in regret that I couldnt pursue that one thing that I love the most. So at the age of 60, I started riding and made a trip to Leh from Bengaluru along with my family, says Acharya, who made the Limca Record for being the oldest man to ride to Khardung La.

Till now, he has covered a distance of over 7 lakh km. People just make it sound like it is difficult if one is pursing a passion, but on the contrary, it is one of the simple things in life, he says. People get carried away with so many distractions in their lives that they layer their passion with superficial things. For me, I dont shop or like going to fancy places. I love riding and reading, says Acharya, who also acknowledges that he has full support from his family.

Out of many of his expeditions, Acharya has been on Bengaluru-Bhutan, Bengaluru-Gujarat & Rajasthan and Kanyakumari-Ladakh rides on his bike. Many think food is a major problem for me since I am a vegetarian but thats the least of my issues, adds Acharya, who always carries two bags with him while riding  one for his necessary items and second for some dry snacks, which he pairs with tea along the way. Acharya, a former business man, could be absolutely free-spirited and full of enthusiasm, but he does agree that age and heath play an important role at times.

Earlier, I used to ride all by myself but after my fourth stroke, someone accompanies me for my long rides. Once I was riding to Kerala with my son-in-law and had a minor stroke. Initially, I thought I would hide it but I had to tell him because I had to visit the hospital, says Acharya, who has stopped travelling through rough terrains due to health reasons. I want to do a road trip from Bangalore Palace to Buckingham Palace. I am aiming for it this year, once the finances for the trips are in place, he adds.
Students were out of their seats and collaborating on school work. Their desks were not in straight rows, but rather in semi-circles. The lights were dim in many of the classrooms, but the windows brought in plenty of natural sunlight. The teachers, two or three in each room, were walking around, helping students with school work, organizing small group discussions and all-in-all engaging the students in the lesson.

This was a day in the life of Montessori. And, on this particular day, it was spent at East Cooper Montessori Charter School, located on Rifle Range Road in Mount Pleasant.

There was a buzz in the air walking the halls of ECMCS. Children were eager to participate in their classes, and it was almost as if you could feel learning taking place. Younger children worked with older children (but only by a few years) in the same classroom, and there was a sense of camaraderie, or teamwork, if you will.

Engagement is certainly a theme at this school. There were even windows separating some of the classrooms and if you are into an open concept, come to ECMCS.

The furniture all moves around, explains Principal Judy Swanigan as she showed me how even some of the book shelves could be moved. The environment is actually another teacher, as we say with Montessori education.

The Montessori method is defined as educating the child, who is the one who is naturally eager for knowledge and capable of initiating learning, in a supportive, thoughtful and prepared learning environment.

By that definition, ECMCS fits the bill.

Swanigan, who is not just the principal, but also the founder of ECMCS, is a passionate supporter of the Montessori method.

She serves on the South Carolina Montessori Alliance Board of Directors and, since opening the school in 2003, has won a South Carolina Department of Education Palmetto Gold or Silver Award every year since.

Swanigan taught Montessori elementary students for 10 years before opening the school. She holds a bachelors degree and S.C. state certification in elementary education, Montessori certification at both the primary and elementary levels, plus a masters degree and state certification in elementary school administration.

But, ECMCS comes from humble beginnings. She opened the school in a trailer back in 2003 with just 44 students in the IOn neighborhood.

We had no office or copy machine, Swanigan remembers. But we quickly grew and needed another trailer.

And, the growth kept on going. In 2007, they occupied a building in IOn and at that time had about 250 students in first through eighth grades. As the desire among parents for their children to experience a Montessori education grew, and as ECMCSs waiting list lengthened, Swanigan knew that she needed even more space.

Finally in 2014, ECMCS was approved to occupy the space of the former Whitesides Elementary School on Rifle Range Road.

This move allowed them to accept 450 to 500 students.

Now completely renovated, ECMCS successfully occupies the space and Swanigan says, there isnt one spot in this school that we dont utilize, as she beams with pride with how far they have come.

The "charter" aspect of ECMCS means that it is a public school created by a group of parents, teachers or community members. It is a school of choice authorized by the Charleston County School District.

That means that ECMCS is accountable under CCSD, the South Carolina Department of Education and to the community it serves. Since it is a public school, no tuition is charged and it is open to anyone in the Charleston County area as a school choice option. There is a waiting list, and the selection is lottery-based.

Parents are an integral component of the school. There is a governing board with many parent members and all parents are required to complete volunteer hours.

They currently serve 450 students in classes of mixed ages from pre-k through eighth grade. There are 23 total teachers, and all classrooms have at least two teachers. This allows for a 1:13 student/teacher ratio.

Nikki Hollander, assistant principal, explains, We operate on an ability-based structure. We have first-, second- and third-graders together; fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders together and then seventh- and eighth-graders together.

She went on to say that this structure garners better peer-to-peer interaction.

You can watch the older students really light up and shine when they are helping some of the younger students, Hollander says. And it is great for the younger students, too, because they experience a positive peer relationship with children older than them. It really helps their confidence.

Virginia Taxt, who teaches students in fourth through sixth grade at ECMCS, has been working with Swanigan since the days in the trailer. She says, We have come a long way. I one hundred percent believe in the Montessori education experience and how it builds social skills and challenges these students in so many ways. It gives them a window as to what is coming in life when they get older and are in the real world.

Taxt adds, We teach them valuable time management skills and we recognize the importance of community involvement, among many other preparations for life in general.

Abby Kazley has two children at ECMCS, Connor in third grade and Campbell in second grade. She says, It is hands-on education, meeting the individual with where they are at. I wholeheartedly believe in the great education my children are getting here.

Kazly, who also serves on the board, says she personally loves the community involvement aspect of the school.

My children have come to really enjoy giving to others and now want to do many of the projects they did at school in our own home. It warms my heart, she says.

Chase Sutcliffe is an eighth-grader at ECMCS, and he admits that the school has helped him in so many ways.

Academically and socially, this school has been great for me. It has opened me to up to many new opportunities, he said.

He participates in the schools store, student council, the gift donation drive for the Florence Crittenton Home and My Sisters House, and he is on the schools archery team.

He also said he enjoys the middle school internship program, which exposes students to careers at an early age.

He will be entering high school in the fall, and when asked if he is nervous about the transition, he answered with an emphatic "no," as he feels well-prepared to tackle the road ahead.

Hollander explains that they realize that many of the public high schools will not practice the Montessori ways.

We introduce more structured practices to our seventh- and eighth-graders so that they can get a feel for what it will be like, she explains, adding that they have quizzes and utilize more textbooks at those grade levels.

Swanigan concludes saying that she keeps in touch with many of her former students, one of which works for her now as a teacher.

A student of ours just came in last week. She is studying to join the FBI. We also have a former student that goes to Princeton, another one works for The Colbert Show and another one that lives in France now.

She adds, We teach them self-discipline, conflict resolution, how to plan and manage their time and countless other valuable tools. Once our students leave to go to high school, they are more than ready.

For more information on ECMCS, visit www.ccsdschools.com/eastcooper or call them at 843-216-2883.
I am an Irish Catholic gay man, born and raised in West Brighton. Catholic school educated. In the first grades the nuns taught me from the Baltimore catechism, that God loves me and he wants me to be happy. I was an altar boy and embraced my Catholic religion. I considered becoming a priest and won the religion medal at graduation.

I went to a Catholic high school where I developed feelings I did not fully understand. I always enjoyed talking with the girls but I never had the fantasies the other boys had about girls. I had to look up the word homosexual in a dictionary and there I was.

I was a senior in high school and I was all alone. Ten years before Stonewall Revolution. Could not talk to my parents, my classmates, and I did not know any one else like myself. I talked to a priest he told me to take cold showers, to pray and the feelings would go away. I was seeing a girl at the time and I prayed The only thing that went away was the girl.

What I learned in the first grades now had an appendage, God love everyone, except me." There is no worse feeling than thinking that God did not love me, there was no one to pray to.

The loneliness, the emotional emptiness, with no one to talk with. Awful! I am glad the Verrazzano Bridge had not been completely built back then so I could not jump to kill the pain.

When I was 21, I was faced with a problem, military service. I did not want to admit it, I did not want to move to Canada, I did not want to leave my family. I bit the bullet and joined, knowing that if my secret got out I could be thrown out, disgraced, humiliated and tarnished for life.

I am proud to say that when I pass on I will have a flag on my coffin

When I returned home I found other gay men. We had a core group. I was not alone. We partied, drank in Manhattan and laughed together. Over time, they passed on. AIDS took some, some drank themselves to death. A few years ago there was only two of us left. He committed suicide. In 1984 Lambda Associates of Staten Island was founded, the first gay and lesbian organization on the Island. I joined and found new friends and solace.

With names like Meehan, Walsh and Grandmother Molly Farley in my heritage I joined the Ancient Order of Hibernians, proud of my Irish roots. I became active. When the AOH was trying to attract the younger generation I founded the Miss Hibernian Pageant in 1979. Still, Miss Hibernian is the Queen of the parade down Forest Avenue.

I organized a 25th anniversary memorial mass on November 22, 1988 for President John F. Kennedy. JFK was the first Irish Catholic president and was my Commander in Chief while in the service. Bishop Patrick Ahearn presided over the Mass in St. Peters R.C. Church.

A few years later a controversy began in Manhattan when a gay Irish group wanted to march in the St. Patricks Parade. As the annual controversy heightened, my interest in the AOH lessened. I have marched with the John F. Kennedy division of the islands AOH up Fifth Ave. and marched on Forest Avenue with the Knights of Columbus. I love the parade. Our family looks forward to it every March. At times it falls on my March 4th birthday and that is a double treat for me.

As our island controversy grows I want to speak out for the young Irish lads and lassies who may be struggling with their sexual identity. To the timid fair colleens, confused being different and feel regulated to the curb, to watch the parade pass them by, dont feel ashamed. The shame is that the AOH wont recognize the diversity of our islands population.

I recall many gay and lesbian youth who have been disowned by their own family. Many move into Manhattan to be who they are. Sadly, some cant cope and kill themselves. Anyone struggling with their sexual identity can call the Pride Center. You will not find them in the parades line of march, banned, but online at www.PrideCenterSI.org.

No one should feel the traumatic pain of isolation.

James Smith is a St. George resident.

Editors note: The following is a statement from Neil F. Cosgrove, National Irish American Heritage Month and Political Education Chairman of the Ancient Order of Hibernians: Recent news reports have incorrectly reported that the AOH administers the Staten Island St. Patricks Day Parade. This is factually incorrect, the parade in question is administered by the Richmond County St. Patricks Day Parade Committee, Inc. which per its corporate filing has been in existence for 27 years.
Amy's Drive-Thru, a vegetarian fast-food restaurant, could get its basic final approval Tuesday night if the Walnut Creek City Council overturns an earlier rejection of the project by the city's Planning Commission.

At issue is the restaurant's drive-up window, and the traffic some fear it would create near the intersection of North Main Street and Second Avenue, on the city's north end.

The City Council on Tuesday will be hearing an appeal by Amy's, based in Petaluma, of the Planning Commission's 4-3 vote on Jan. 23 to deny the Amy's conditional use permit for drive-up service at the planned 3,773 square-foot restaurant.

Supporters of Amy's say that project has more ingress and egress than does the Chick-Fil-A restaurant.

Amy's Drive-Thru is associated with Amy's Kitchen, which produces a popular line of frozen vegetarian dinners available in grocery stores.

An 18-year-old San Mateo man was arrested Saturday night on suspicion of felony hit and run and attempted homicide, with Burlingame police investigators asserting the man allegedly drove onto the sidewalk and intentionally hit four teenagers, seriously injuring them.

Police said they arrested Omeed Adibi after he drove away from the scene, near Howard Avenue and Clarendon Road, where four pedestrians -- all young teenagers -- were hit by an SUV at about 5:15 p.m. Saturday, police said. This is about a half mile south of U.S. Highway 101.

Two of the victims sustained major injuries and were taken to Stanford Hospital, and the two others were taken to San Francisco General Hospital with moderate injuries. The victims are San Mateo residents.

The SUV driver, meanwhile, fled the scene, but was tracked by witnesses to the 800 block of Burlingame Avenue, about three blocks from the accident scene, police said Saturday night. Adibi was then arrested and taken into custody, police said.

Burlingame officers' preliminary investigation indicates Adibi deliberately drove onto the sidewalk and intentionally hit the four youths. Officers said they don't yet know why.

San Francisco firefighters have contained a four-alarm blaze that has destroyed a towing warehouse, the adjoining Bonanza restaurant and an upstairs residential unit near the intersection of Toland Street and Evans Avenue, firefighters said.

The blaze was contained at about 11:35 p.m. Saturday after being first reported at 8:49 p.m., according to Lt. Jonathan Baxter, in a light-industrial area near the India Basin area.

The main warehouse there collapsed, but Baxter said nobody was hurt and the fire is under investigation. Two people who lived in the residential unit were displaced and are receiving assistance from the American Red Cross and city services.

The owner of the restaurant was able to escape the blaze but it isn't clear if he was one of the residents of the upstairs unit. Baxter said crews will remain on the scene overnight and through the morning.

A 44-year-old man from Fremont died Saturday afternoon from injuries suffered in a solo-vehicle accident near the Interstate Highway 80/state Highway 4 interchange in Hercules, the California Highway Patrol said.

The man, whose name was not immediately released, was headed east on I-80 at about 12:40 p.m. Saturday when, at the split onto eastbound Highway 4 his Dodge Dakota pickup veered right across several traffic lanes and into a field near the interchange, the CHP said. The driver was the only occupant of the pickup.

CPR and lifesaving procedures were administered at the accident scene before the victim was taken to John Muir hospital in Walnut Creek, where he died.

It hadn't been determined by Saturday afternoon why the pickup veered off the roadway, the CHP said, and the crash remains under investigation.

Key services at more than two dozen libraries in Contra Costa County are working again after they were shuttered by a network outage this week, library officials said Saturday.

The outage was the result of ongoing work to secure the Contra Costa County Library network, which was the target of a Jan. 3 cyber attack.

"We know this recovery has been frustrating," said County Librarian Melinda Cervantes. "We appreciate how understanding everyone has been and want to reassure library users that we have made restoring services to the public the first priority."

Internet, WiFi and online account access are up and running along with some digital resources at the 26 libraries affected by the outage this week.

Library services like Link+ and some of the other online resources and databases will take a little longer to be restored, officials said Saturday.

The library will update ccclib.org as additional services are restored.

Oakland firefighters put out a fire Saturday morning at a two-story apartment in the city's Highland Terrace neighborhood, the Oakland Fire Department said.

The fire in the 1900 block of East 24th Street was reported about 11 a.m. Saturday. It took firefighters approximately an hour to put out the flames.

While the building sustained serious damage, there were no reports of injuries. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Fremont police on Friday night arrested a 36-year-old Oakland man who faces several charges related to an armed robbery in which a 69-year-old man was punched and stabbed as his wallet was being taken, officers said.

Police were called at 9:34 p.m. Friday to the intersection of Osgood Road and Prune Avenue, where the 69-year-old man told police he had been punched in the face, and his wallet taken. He told police there were two suspects.

Fremont police said officers then "flooded the area" and found a man matching one of the assailants in the parking lot of BART's Warm Springs station. The victim identified him a short time later and, while still on scene, realized he was bleeding and had also been stabbed, said police, adding officers found "evidence on the suspect which linked him to the stabbing and robbery."

David Carrasquillo of Oakland was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, armed robbery, elder abuse, possession of burglary tools and possession of a controlled substance for sales.

Officers on Saturday were still searching for the second suspect.

A fourth case of the novel coronavirus has been confirmed in Santa Clara County on Saturday, according to county health officials.

The new COVID-19 case is a woman who is a household contact of the third Santa Clara County case, county health officials said in a statement.

Despite having the coronavirus, health officials said she is not hospitalized or ill. She hasn't been identified due to medical privacy requirements and the need to protect her identity.

County health officials advised the public to follow their Twitter account @HealthySCC for further updates this weekend.

The third confirmed case of coronavirus in the county was confirmed Friday. The patient is an older woman who differs from two previously identified cases from early February because she "does not have a travel history nor any known contact with a traveler or infected person", officials said Friday. She has chronic health conditions and had been hospitalized with a respiratory illness, county health officials said.

Sunday will be partly cloudy. Highs will be in the mid 50s to lower 60s. North winds will be 10 to 20 mph.

Sunday night will be clear and breezy. Lows will be near 50. North winds will be 20 to 30 mph.

Monday will be sunny and breezy. Highs will be in the 60s to lower 70s. North winds will be 20 to 30 mph, decreasing to 10 to 20 mph in the afternoon.

Copyright  2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
Global energy major Total is expected to take a final investment decision on its plans for an LNG bunkering hub at Sohar Port - the first such facility in the Middle East - before the end of this year, a report said.

The project will add considerable value to Omans gas sources, a senior executive of the energy giant was quoted as saying by an Oman Daily Observer report.

This project is intended to establish Oman as a regional LNG bunkering hub capable of supplying LNG as a fuel to marine vessels. The Sohar project is part of a fully integrated project from upstream to downstream, said Sophie Nasser, Business Development & Asset Management, Total. On the upstream side, we are partnering with Shell and (Oman Oil Company Exploration & Production  part of OQ Group) to produce gas from a concession  basically two blocks (Blocks 10 and 11) which were (carved out) from PDOs assets. The gas is from the Barik and Amin reservoirs, which are unconventional tight gas resources.

Nasser said Total is working hard to finalise all of the agreements with the respective partners concerned. Hopefully, from our side, we will take an FID before the end of this year, she noted.

Total, said Nasser, is also working closely with Sohar Port which will host the LNG project on a piece of land that is proposed to be reclaimed from the sea.

The Sohar South Zone, she said, will have to be built first before construction commences on the LNG project.
ROME, N.Y. --- Out of caution, the Oneida County Health Department as well as Rome Memorial Hospital are partnering to provide Hepatitis A. vaccinations to those who think they were exposed.

This comes after the health department announced that an employee at Cianfroccos in Rome tested positive for Hepatitis A. Management at the restaurant has urged that the health department has checked the property and their customers have nothing to be worried about.

But health officials arent taking any chances, so far this weekend, over 130 people have participated in the vaccinations.

"Once its been recognized that there has been a potential exposure, we try and warn people to come in to prevent the spread," said Amy Carissimo Harris.

Hospital officials want to stress that there has been no outbreak of the virus. But encourage anyone who thinks they may have been exposed during a certain period of time, to take advantage of the vaccination.

"Well the vaccine itself is actually a 2 part series. Vaccine number one is given at the initial time of exposure. then the recipient will come back in 6 months or so and receive part 2. The window of exposure that we have identified seems to be between February 12th and 23rd. But if you have any questions or concerns that you may have been exposed please come in take advantage of the vaccine," said Harris.

Vaccines will be available at the E. Chestnut Commons from 8 am to 4 pm on Sunday, March 1st.
First there was the television series starring British actor Edward Woodward as an ex-intel officer who spends his later years helping innocent people caught in overwhelming dangerous situations usually not of their own making. In 2014, Denzel Washington starred in the film loosely based on the series. It was a huge hit, followed by a sequel.

Washington plays a widowed ex-intel officer who takes on the Russian mobsters that traffic young European girls. He is bothering the biggest of the bad guys. They have paid off countless members of Congress and other persons in power. But the bad guys, of course, underestimate him because they are congenitally dumb, and because it is an action thriller, he kills them all, puts them out of business and saves the young girl he sought to rescue. The sequel to the 2014 film is almost as good; satisfying because the good guy wins again.

Trump is our good guy, the man who has taken on the deep corruption that has infected the entire bureaucracy of our government with the cooperation of the Obama administration and his weaponized law enforcement agencies. It is sickening how many of those swamp dwellers were so easily co-opted, how willing they were to betray the American people, the Constitution, their own families and friends and their country. But Trump won to be our equalizer, to rid the government of its traitors, to set things right. He has been doing just that.

The American left is still terminally deranged by Donald Trumps 2016 electoral victory. They are so stupefied by their rage and anger that they continue to make moronic mistakes, like trying to impeach him over a perfectly normal and acceptable phone conversation with the new president of Ukraine. Their Russia hoax, which was in truth a cover-up operation, failed miserably; the Mueller Report made utter fools of Adam Schiff, Jerald Nadler and Nancy Pelosi. But they never learn from their failures. They just double down and make even bigger mistakes. They are like the Russian mobsters and pimps of the Equalizer films in which Denzel Washington makes mincemeat out of the bad guys because they are so dimwitted and, at the same time, as evil as we can imagine human beings can be.

The films are Hollywood fiction of course and are chock full of all the cruelty and violence weve come to expect from such action thrillers. But there is a beautiful symmetry to such tales of good versus evil. Most of the time the good guys win. They win because the bad guys are really dumb. It is a cliche, but its true in nearly all Hollywood films. Quentin Tarantinos Once Upon a Time in Hollywood invented a very satisfying ending to the true and horrific tale of the Manson murders of 1969 in Los Angeles. If only.

Evil exists in almost every walk of life and so must be repelled, resisted and beaten back by good people. What the intel agencies of the Obama administration embarked upon once Donald Trump became a presidential candidate comes under the category of pure evil. Without the remotest sense of honor, this faction among the highest echelons of our FBI, CIA and DOJ set out to destroy the candidate and all those in his sphere of friends and advisers at the time. They created a scenario, set up their targets and put their diabolical plan in action.

They never doubted for a minute that it would work; the ridiculous dossier, the Clinton money, the Clintons bevy of loyalists willing to go to any length to ruin Trump, the posse of unscrupulous agents in the FBI, CIA and DOJ, the carefully chosen but unprincipled lawyers that became the Mueller team  they had it all planned and set in motion. They all colluded in the most corrupt scheme in American history to bring down a candidate, then President they could not have messing about in their swamp.

The Mueller probe was never a legitimate investigation, it was always a cover-up. That these scoundrels are still walking around guilty as hell, free as birds (Bill Ayers), collecting their taxpayer-funded salaries and pensions is too much to bear for most law-abiding, America-loving citizens. Somethings got to give! Even analysts like Gregg Jarrett are losing hope, predicting that they will all skate, as McCabe apparently has while Roger Stone, an ardent outsider, has been tried and convicted of what? Virtually nothing. Stone certainly committed no crime as nefarious as Comey, Clapper, Brennan, and all their little ruthless helpers.

Will AG Barr and John Durham get the goods on all these conspirators and indict them, or will they be let off as those with political power usually are? One thing is clear: If those responsible for the attempted coup are not brought to justice, Americans will never trust the FBI, the CIA or the DOJ ever again. We will have become just another failed state, socialist in that those in positions of power in the government can get away with literal and figurative murder. See Angelo Codevillas column on Socialisms Inequalities.

President Trump has effected more positive outcomes for the American people in a briefer amount of time than any president in US history. But he is an outsider; hes not one of them, the self-appointed elites who not very elite at all. Hes a man who builds things, gets things done, cares about the people for whom they have not ever given a second thought.

Have Pelosi or Schiff done a single thing for their districts in the past three years or ever? No. They care only about getting and keeping power because that power has enriched them beyond belief. So, it was time that we the people got our own equalizer and we did! He has a hard road to hoe, but with the Democrat candidates all promising to raise taxes, take away our health insurance, do away with fossil fuels, abolish the Second Amendment, open our borders to migrants from all over the world without vetting, to transform us into a socialist, globalist non-nation, it was indeed time for an equalizer to rescue us from certain destruction. Trump is not only our equalizer, he is our knight in shining armor who stood up to take on the cesspool that is our bloated government and two-tiered system of justice. Let us all pray for his re-election and continued success. The alternatives are untenable.
Drivers caught using their mobile phones will be fined $344 and docked five demerit points as the states high-tech mobile phone detection cameras zero in on culprits.

The cameras have been on warning mode since December 1 and in that time more than

31,000 drivers have been sent warning letters.

From March 1, drivers caught using their phones wont be granted such leniency, and wont be able to hide from the cameras by using their phones on their laps or under the steering wheel.
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.
Mohammed Rasoulof won the Berlin Film Festivals highest honor for his film There Is No Evil, which is about the death penalty in Iran  and for which he was imprisoned and banned for life from making films. Accepting the award on his behalf, producer Farzad Pak thanked the amazing cast and crew who, put their lives in danger to be on this film.' The Guardian (UK)
Swiss people should consider dropping the everyday greeting of kissing each other on the cheeks, to avoid spreading the coronavirus, Switzerland's Health Minister Alain Berset said in remarks published on Sunday.

In Switzerland, as in neighbouring France, it is common for women and people of opposite sexes to greet each other with alternating kisses on both cheeks. The Swiss version generally involves an asymmetrical three in total, in contrast to the two more usual for 'la bise' (the kiss) across the border.

"We know that keeping one's distance socially is the best way to slow the spread of the virus. That is why renouncing greeting kisses is a measure that should be seriously taken into consideration," Berset told the SonntagsZeitung newspaper, when asked if he was advising against the greeting.

French Health Minister Olivier Veran advised on Friday against shaking hands because of the coronavirus outbreak, though he stopped short of saying the same of la bise. Switzerland and France border northern Italy, where Europe's worst outbreak has occurred.

Regularly washing or disinfecting your hands is central to the advice issued by the World Health Organization and other authorities on how to prevent the spread of the disease.

"One will be to immediately stop shaking hands," Daniel Koch, head of the communicable diseases unit at the Swiss Federal Department of Health, told the newspaper.

Switzerland has already introduced a ban on events expected to draw 1,000 people or more until March 15 in an effort to combat the coronavirus. It has fewer than 20 confirmed cases, in contrast to the hundreds in Italy, though that number is rising.
Turkish armed forces shot down two Syrian planes in the northwestern Idlib province on Sunday, a state Syrian news agency said.

The pilots used emergency parachutes to escape the aircraft and landed safely, Sana reported.

The shooting comes shortly after Syrian troops downed a Turkish military drone over the city of Saraqib in Idlib, close to the Turkish border.

The Syrian army command has announced that airspace over the restive region will be closed and any aircraft that enters it will be considered a hostile target.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
WING, N.D. | After 10 years in education, Wing Public School District Superintendent David Goetz began to notice a trend.

Students and teachers would begin the school year in August feeling refreshed and motivated to learn. But by the end of the school year, everyone felt burned out, and it was a slog to get through the remaining curriculum. He noticed this pattern recur as a teacher and as an administrator, in Kidder County, Gwinner and now in Wing.

"The first semester, the kids are learning. They really seem to be receptive of things. Then you take your second semester and it's just an extensive, long, drawn-out block," Goetz said. "This time of year is always such a dread."

He thinks North Dakota's long winters, combined with a lack of holiday breaks during the spring semester, contributes to low morale and results in student-teacher burnout. And while the weather is out of his control, he could do something about the schedule.

Wing Public School District is the latest district in the state to convert to a four-day school week, a concept common in Montana and South Dakota but something that is just starting to catch on in North Dakota. In South Dakota, 34 school districts, or 23%, utilize a four-day week, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. In Montana, 62 school districts, or 13%, are on a four-day week.

In the last year, the number of North Dakota schools on a four-day week for at least part of the year has doubled, from six to 12, 11 of which are public schools.

The provision in state law allowing for four-day weeks has been around since at least 1999. But it wasn't until 2014 that East Fairview and Dunseith became the first school districts in the state to adopt it. A move by the 2019 Legislature made it easier for schools to implement a four-day week by shifting how yearly minimum instruction time is tracked, to hours rather than days. That gave schools more flexibility.

Proponents of the four-day school week claim it improves attendance, appeals to teachers who may not otherwise choose to work in that district, and can help cut costs. Opponents argue that longer school days may be harmful to students, and that finding child care for younger children on weekdays is difficult on families.

Wing transitions

Wing transitioned to a four-day week in February, with Valentine's Day as the first Friday off.

"We're just trying to dabble into this, and we're trying to explore with it," Goetz said. "We'll see how it turns out here in the next couple of weeks."

The tricky part is balancing how to take days off without lessening instructional time too much, he said. He used a combination of new days off and existing holidays to cobble together Wing's first, mostly four-day-week semester. The last week of February will have five school days and the last two full weeks of school in May will have five days, too.

Because the change is only partial, Wing didn't have to lengthen its school day to accommodate for the days off. The twist is that students who are failing any classes are required to come in for individual study time on Friday morning. Teachers have to come in for that time, as well. Goetz is hoping that the three-hour block of individual study time will enable students to get the one-on-one instructional time they need to improve their grades. He also hopes it will motivate students to keep up their grades, so that they can have the entire day off.

Students Dustin Wintermeyer, 15, and Tristan Heimark-Leedom, 17, are excited about the change. They both plan to come in for extra help on some Fridays.

About a quarter of Wing's 75 students showed up to school on the first Friday the schedule went into effect, Goetz said.

Some teachers are excited, Goetz said, while some who live in Bismarck and commute to work every day are disappointed that they still have to come in on Fridays.

Sarah Sjursen, a 28-year-old social studies teacher at Wing, sees both pros and cons. She was concerned about how she was going to teach all of her curriculum with fewer days to do so, but also said she deals with anxiety and depression and already feels the burnout that Goetz talks about.

"It's hard to decide if I support it or if I'm against it," she said.

Parents are split, with some more used to a traditional five-day week and others desiring a whole year of four-day weeks. One issue that has been brought up is child care for elementary kids.

"I think all in all, it'll be good for everybody," Casey Quale said. Quale's wife teaches kindergarten at Wing, and his second-grade daughter and kindergarten-age son attend school there. "Parents, if the kids got to have a dentist or a doctor's appointment, they can get it done on a Friday, and the kids maybe won't fall behind," he said.

He isn't worried about child care, saying that "there's always someone at the farm" that he lives and works at about 13 miles southeast of Wing. Goetz also addressed that concern, and said that many high schoolers would be available to babysit on Fridays, and that school organizations could use Friday babysitting as a fundraiser opportunity.

Other districts

Goetz modeled Wing's schedule somewhat after the Alexander Public School District, which is on its second year of the four-day school week. That district has 286 students from prekindergarten to grade 12. Like Wing, Alexander utilizes Friday as optional study time for students, Superintendent Leslie Bieber said, but its four-day schedule is for the whole school year. The daily schedule had to be lengthened to do that, she said.

Alexander historically has struggled to attract teachers due to its location between Williston and Watford City, but Bieber said she's noticed a larger applicant pool when the district posts job openings.

Hazelton-Moffit-Braddock School District in Emmons County also is trying out the four-day week during the spring semester, but unlike Wing, the district plans to use the modified schedule for the entire semester. The district has 138 students from prekindergarten to grade 12. Their first Friday off was Jan. 17.

Superintendent Tracy Hanzal said he had to lengthen each class period during the week by six minutes, or 42 minutes each day, to make it work for the whole semester. It seems to be successful so far, he said, but he wants to see more data  perhaps two or three years' worth  before committing to it long term.

However, he has noticed tangible benefits with teacher retention. Hanzal said he "got an amazing teacher to stay" and also has noticed a larger job applicant pool.

The Billings County School District transitioned to a four-day week after its first six weeks of school last fall, adding 30 minutes a day in its new schedule. The district has 93 students enrolled at its schools in Medora and Fairfield, which are prekindergarten through eighth grade.

Assistant Principal Danielle O'Brien said the shorter week has coincided with more applicants for staff openings and has reduced travel days for students, some of whom spend as much as three hours a day on a bus in the rural, sparsely populated county.

The Billings County School Board this month approved its 2020-21 school calendar and will reapply with the state Department of Public Instruction to continue the four-day week next year, O'Brien said.

"And along with that is the proof and documentation that we've been keeping all year to show our students' academics aren't taking a hit or that they're not backsliding at all by the change in days," she said. Parent and staff surveys have so far indicated success, she said.

'Mindset shift'

North Dakota State Superintendent Kirsten Baesler said her department hasn't conducted surveys on four-day schools to collect specific statistical information. But anecdotally, she has seen a "mindset shift" in education coinciding with encouragement from her and Gov. Doug Burgum's administrations for schools to innovate and improve.

"I think the mindset of people thinking outside of the box and shifting is agreeable to what families want," Baesler said. "They want a well-rounded experience for their students."

Four-day school weeks have become increasingly common throughout the past decade, especially in large Western states. Of the approximately 560 school districts in 25 states that have schools on a four-day schedule, more than half are in four states  Colorado, Montana, Oklahoma and Oregon, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. No large-scale research has been done on the effects of the four-day school week on students, and smaller-scale reports on other states are inconclusive, so it's unclear if students receive an educational benefit from having a shortened week, according to the organization.

North Dakota school districts opting for a four-day week must apply by March 1 for a waiver from the state Department of Public Instruction, which Baesler oversees. The three-page application asks for goals and objectives, documentation of community input, a cost-benefit study and a plan for reconfiguring school hours, among other items.

"There's expectations of teacher support, community support, final school board approval, and the evidence that they have to provide in that report is intended to, again, take them through the process to make sure that they are doing it for the right reasons," Baesler said. "What are their student outcomes that they want, that they believe that a four-day school week would help them deliver?"

After their first year, four-day school districts can reapply for an initial 1-year extension by July 1. Afterward, they can apply for an additional 5-year extension.

Four-day school districts still have to provide a fifth day of support and services to students and meet time requirements for focused instruction. Billings County School District holds optional, monthly "discovery days" on Fridays for students to participate in STEM-focused activities. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and math.

For example, EMTs, firefighters and police held "safety days" with students. Two chefs from Minneapolis came out and held a cooking competition, O'Brien said.

"The kids really liked that one. They thought that was really cool," she said, adding that about 80-85% of students have participated in the "discovery days."

Baesler said the division of her department that manages the waiver process has fielded an "uptick" in inquiry calls. Education associations also have held more sessions at conferences for sharing and learning about the four-day structure, she said.

"There's definitely an interest in it," Baesler said. "Time will tell."

She is planning to gather data on four-day schools' student performance in the 2020-21 school year. North Dakota in previous years had too few schools for a study, and the small number of students could result in "personally identifiable information," she said.

The next school year will have a large enough pool of students to study, but "seeing any trending results will take time," Baesler said.

Trial run

Goetz hopes to discover more benefits to the four-day week as the semester goes along. Whether Wing will have a four-day week next year will depend on feedback from parents, students, community members and the school board, he said.

"It's kind of scary because you are taking a risk, especially in my role. My head is on the chopping block," he said with a laugh. "I do have great support from the community, but at the same time, you're always sticking your neck out on the line when you're doing these type of changes."

You must be logged in to react.

Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
CAIRO - Yemens Houthi rebels wrested control of the strategic northern city of Hazm, officials on both sides of the conflict said Sunday, a major blow to the internationally recognized government backed by Saudi Arabia.

Capturing the capital of Jawf province after weeks of fighting could pave the way for the rebels to move toward the central province of Marib, one of the shrinking safe spots for those opposing the Houthis in northern Yemen. It also could cause a new wave of displacement in the war-torn country.

Yemen, the Arab worlds poorest nation, has been convulsed by civil war since 2014. Thats when the Iran-backed Houtis took control of the countrys north including the capital, Sanaa. A Saudi-led military coalition intervened against the Houthis the following year. Despite relentless Saudi airstrikes and a blockade of Yemen, the war has ground to a stalemate.

The conflict has killed over 10,000 people and created the worlds worst humanitarian crisis, leaving millions suffering from food and medical care shortages and pushing the country to the brink of famine last year.

A Houthi official said Sunday that the Shiite group had pushed government forces out of Hazm and were now chasing them in its outskirts.

Two government officials confirmed the city had fallen, but said government forces aided by Saudi coalition airstrikes were attempting to push back.

All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

The coalition spokesmans office said their operations in Jawf are still ongoing, but did not elaborate.

The Houthi-run al-Masirah satellite TV reported that the coalition carried out at least three airstrikes in Jawf on Sunday.

The rebels earlier this year seized a key supply line linking Marib with Jawf provinces, located along the border with Saudi Arabia. They also took control of the strategic district of Nehm, some 60 kilometres (37 miles) northeast of the rebel-held capital Sanaa.

With the seizure of Hazm, the entire Jawf (province) is now considered in their hands, and this would enable them to expand to Marib and even try to take over the south, said Fatima al-Asrar, a non-resident scholar at the Washington-based Middle East Institute.

She said Houthi advances would increase the vulnerability of both civilians, including tribes, allied with the Saudi-backed government of Yemens president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.

At least 1,400 families, who were displaced into the district of Gail in Jawf province had moved to Hazm earlier this month. Now thousands more are expected to leave their homes because of the Houthi advance, she said.

Oil-rich Jawf province is where the Houthis shot down a coalition warplane last month, raising alarm among the Saudi-led camp that the rebels are acquiring advanced weaponry apparently from Iran, which has long denied arming the Houthis.

The U.S. and the Saudi-led coalition have for years said Iran supplies weapons to the Houthis, ranging from assault rifles to the ballistic missiles fired into the kingdom.

The U.N. Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths on Friday condemned the recent military escalation in Jawf, saying it was seriously undermining the prospects of peace.

He warned that the warring parties have no alternative to a negotiated political settlement for ending the drawn-out conflict.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 1

Trend:

In connection with the temporary closure of the border between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan on February 29, appropriate measures are being taken to ensure the return of Azerbaijani citizens, who are currently in Iran, the Operational Headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan told Trend.

For this purpose, a flight from Iran to Azerbaijan will be organized on March 4 and, through a special corridor, citizens will be returned to the country.

Citizens wishing to return from Iran to Azerbaijan must register at Azerbaijans embassy in Tehran and the Consulate General in Tabriz.

Azerbaijani citizens evacuated from Iran will be quarantined. According to the World Health Organization, the quarantine for the detection of coronavirus infection is 14-29 days.

All citizens must comply with the quarantine regime to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Address of the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the Islamic Republic of Iran:

Tehran, Neyistan 3, Rastovana St., 16

Phone: (+98 910) 559 56 10 (+9821) 22 55 82 99 (+9821) 22 55 42 55

Address of the Consulate General of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Tabriz:

Tabriz, Veliasr, Arif St., 9

Phone: (+98 902) 095 13 83 (+98413) 333 48 02/04
Union Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur on Sunday said the Central government is determined to make India the third-largest economy by 2025.

"The economy is constantly improving. We have also announced the corporate tax rate cut. The most attractive tax rate worldwide is to pay only 15 per cent tax for new manufacturing units instead of 30 per cent," said Thakur at a press conference here.

The minister said that that this rate cut would lead to new manufacturing units, and employment will increase. "The country's income will increase. What we envision to create a $ 5 trillion economy and the goal we have set, we will achieve it by 2025," he said.

The recently launched initiative 'Vivaad Se Vishwas' scheme of the government aims at substantially reducing the litigation in the Income Tax Department.

The minister also had an interaction with members from the trade and industries fraternity.

"Various representatives shared their views on the issues regarding GST return filing and other related issues. Minister of State for Finance patiently heard the representatives for nearly two hours from each and every sector and segment of the industry," an official release said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The world is yet to find a solution to the coronavirus outbreak which has now been reported in every continent except Antarctica.

Last week, Nigeria and about 15 other countries reported their first cases of the disease which as at Saturday has reached about 50 countries.

Meanwhile, Nigeria is still battling a Lassa fever outbreak with death toll climbing to 118 last week.

Here is a round-up of some of the major health stories last week

Nigeria records first Coronavirus case

Nigeria has recorded its first case of coronavirus after an Italian who arrived the country tested positive to the virus, the Federal Ministry of Health has said

The case was confirmed on Thursday.

The case is an Italian citizen who entered Nigeria on the 25th of February from Milan, Italy for a brief business visit. He fell ill on the 26th February and was transferred to Lagos State Biosecurity Facilities for isolation and testing, the Lagos State Ministry of Health also said in a statement.

Coronavirus: 20 vaccines under development globally  WHO

Scientists are intensifying their efforts at developing vaccines to contain the wide-spreading disease.

The World Health Organisation on Friday said more than 20 vaccines are at the development stage globally, and several therapeutics are in clinical trials.

The disease is a novel virus, and has no known treatment or vaccine to combat it. This has seen it spread to over 49 countries with over 2000 deaths recorded.

Coronavirus: Why infected Italian was not detected at Lagos airport  Minister

The Italian infected with coronavirus arrived in Nigeria on Tuesday but the disease was not detected at the Lagos international airport, his point of entry, because it was still at the incubation stage, Nigerias health minister, Osagie Ehanire, has said.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how the Lagos and federal governments, early Friday, confirmed the coronavirus case, the first in Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Mr Ehanire explained that the Italian got into the country without being detected at the airport because he was asymptomatic (disease was still at the incubation stage) at the time of entry.

Coronavirus: US confirms first death

The U.S. has reported the first death from the new coronavirus in the country, in the state of Washington.

Officials said the patient was a man in his 50s with underlying health conditions.

President Donald Trump said more cases were likely but added that the country was prepared for any circumstance.

On Sunday, Australia and Thailand also recorded their first fatalities from the disease.

Coronavirus miracle? Vietnam says all its infected patients cured

Amid the rapid spread of the coronavirus outbreak around the world, Vietnam has announced that all 16 infected patients in the country were discharged from hospital and declared cured.

Advertisements



As of Wednesday, all 16 patients, including the oldest who is 73, had been cured and discharged from the hospital.

For the past 15 days, including on Friday, the government also detected no new cases of infections, the last one having been reported on February 13, even as a village north of Hanoi remains under a 20-day lock down.

Nigerias death toll from Lassa fever hits 118  NCDC

Deaths from the Lassa fever outbreak in Nigeria has reached 118, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has disclosed.

From January 1 to February 23, 2633 suspected cases, with 689 confirmed and 118 deaths, have been recorded in the country.

The number of cases has significantly increased compared to the same period in 2019.

In 2019, 1249 suspected cases with 381 confirmed and 83 deaths were recorded in the same period.

COVID-19: FCCPC warned against increase In prices of hygiene products

The Federal Competition & Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has warned suppliers and retailers not to take undue advantage of citizens by hiking the prices of basic safety and protective apparel such as face masks, latex gloves, sanitisers and anti-bacterial wipes, in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

According to the commission, such products are necessary in preventing infections or the further spread of the virus. It said the indiscriminate rise in the prices violates both moral codes and extant laws which prohibit obnoxious trade practices.

Nigeria loses $1.5bn in GDP annually to micro-nutrient deficiencies

Nigeria loses 1.5 billion dollars in Gross Domestic Products (GDP) annually to micro-nutrient deficiencies (MND), the World Bank, said.

MND causes an increased financial burden on the healthcare system and an indirect loss of productivity, the report states.

A similar report by UNICEF had also declared malnutrition as the underlying cause of most under-five childrens death in the country.

WHO chief on coronavirus: Global markets should calm down and try to see the reality

Market panic over the fast-spreading new coronavirus is uncalled for, the World Health Organisations director-general said Sunday as governments around the world struggle to contain its spread.

Global markets  should calm down and try to see the reality, Tedros Ghebreyesus told CNBCs Hadley Gamble during a panel discussion at the King Salman Humanitarian Aid Centers International Humanitarian Forum in Riyadh.

We need to continue to be rational. Irrationality doesnt help. We need to deal with the facts, he said.
In different circles at different points over the past year, it has been fashionable to hate Pete Buttigieg: Hes too clearly full of himself. Hes too far ahead of himself. What business does the 38-year-old former mayor of a relatively small city have running for president? What real claim to the job?

How about this: He has drawn closer to it than prominent senators who came out of the gate with much more heat on them and were gone even before Iowans caucused. He outpaced and outlasted seasoned governors whose popularity across a broad section of the political spectrum was supposed to be electoral magic. Before hitting a snag in Nevada, he had more delegates from Iowa and New Hampshire than any of his rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination, including Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden, who began building their political bases and growing their political careers before Buttigieg was born. His surname is a nearly impenetrable thicket of consonants (BOOT-edge-edge), and yet tens of millions of Americans can now pronounce it just fine.

You cannot chalk that up to novelty. You cannot call it a fluke. Its a powerful testament to his knack for fashioning a message that resonates with Americans, delivering it clearly, avoiding unnecessary trouble and mobilizing support. Those talents are precisely the ones that the person sitting at the Resolute Desk needs most. Buttigiegs campaign is his credential, and its a compelling one.
The citizen of Armenia infected with coronavirus is isolated in a hospital, and there is no medical intervention. This is what Minister of Healthcare Arsen Torosyan said during a press conference devoted to the first case of coronavirus recorded in Armenia.

Yesterday, Armenia reported the first confirmed case of coronavirus after checking a citizen of Armenia who returned from the Islamic Republic of Iran on February 28. Based on the latest information, the citizen has no symptom, even though he had a fever (38o), and this is why he went to a hospital. He is here with his wife, who also doesnt have any symptom and who has been tested negative. As you may recall, on February 24, the government convened a special session and decided to restrict the circulation of passengers with the Islamic Republic of Iran, with certain exceptions for citizens of Armenia returning to Armenia and Iranian citizens returning to Iran. I am placing emphasis on this because I often hear people ask why Armenia didnt close the border with Iran. In response, I say that even by the Constitution of Armenia, the entry of citizens of Armenia cant be restricted. However, since we were told about the number of citizens wishing to return to Armenia via airplane, we organized two flights on Wednesday and Friday, and our specialist escorted the passengers from Tehran, he said.

According to Torosyan, the specialist checked all the passengers and provided face masks to everyone on the spot.

When asked why quarantine wasnt declared for all passengers, the minister said there is no proof that quarantine is an instrument that can be used in all cases and there is no recommendation from any health organization.

What happened yesterday was a classic way of detecting the virus. All the passengers from Tehran were wearing face masks, and there was a special route for them in Armenia. They didnt have any interaction with anyone. We have isolated the passengers, and the process is drawing to an end. The Prime Ministers Facebook post is based on the information that I provided. When I provided the information, it wasnt complete, and the National Security Service clarified in a couple of hours. The same goes for going to the hospital (the citizen went to the hospital in an ambulance truck, and the personnel has isolated him), he said.

Torosyan said Armenias actions allow to prevent local cases and that this case of coronavirus doesnt pose a serious risk to the public.
FINAL: Ohio State 77, Michigan 63

The Wolverines dropped their second straight game to fall to 18-11 and 9-9 in the Big Ten. The Buckeyes improve to 20-9 and 10-8 while sweeping the season series against Michigan.

SECOND HALF

0:00 -- Ohio State 77, Michigan 63

The difference Sunday was the 3-ball, as OSU was 11 of 21 from beyond the arc. Michigan was just 7 of 26.

The Buckeyes finished the game on a 23-9 run. Duane Washington Jr., starting for the injured Kyle Young, had a game-high 20 points for the Buckeyes, including five triples. Franz Wagner had 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Wolverines, while Zavier Simpson had 12 points and seven assists.

2:18 -- Ohio State 70, Michigan 60

The Buckeyes are on a 16-6 run to give them some breathing room.

Michigan has shot 53.8 percent in the half but OSU has been even better at 56.5 percent. The Buckeyes have used just seven players today.

3:35 -- Ohio State 64, Michigan 58

The Buckeyes have been on the mark from 3 all game. Kaleb and Andre Wesson each made one since the last media timeout to help extend the lead. The team is 10 of 20 from deep. Austin Davis had a dunk at the 3:55 mark to pull Michigan back to within six. He has eight points on 4-of-4 shooting. Franz Wagner is up to 13 points and 10 rebounds. Jon Teske and Isaiah Livers both have four fouls. Livers has struggled today with just six points on 2-of-11 shooting.

7:42 -- Ohio State 54, Michigan 52

Back-to-back triples from Franz Wagner briefly tied the game, but CJ Walker responded with a deep 2 for the Buckeyes. Wagner is up to 11 points, including three triples.

9:49 -- Ohio State 52, Michigan 46

The Buckeyes answered Michigan's early 9-0 run with an 18-8 run in the past eight minutes. Duane Washington Jr., starting for the injured Kyle Young hit two more triples to give him five for the game. He has a game-high 20 points. Zavier Simpson is having another strong game for Michigan with 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting. He also has four assists and four rebounds.

The Buckeyes are already in the bonus.

15:57 -- Michigan 38, Ohio State 37

A 3-point play from CJ Walker has pulled the Buckeyes to within one. OSU has attempted just five shots in the half, making two.

The Wolverines continue to struggle from beyond the arc, making just 4 of 17 from deep.

17:32 -- Michigan 38, Ohio State 34

The Wolverines are on a 9-0 run to take the lead. They are 4 of 5 from the floor in the half, with Zavier Simpson making two of the baskets. He is up to a team-high 10 points.

FIRST HALF

0:00 -- Ohio State 32, Michigan 29

The Wolverines were 10 of 26 from the floor in the half but did not grab any offensive rebounds. They also were just 3 of 13 from deep.

No Michigan player has more than six points. Meanwhile, Duane Washington Jr. has 12 for OSU and Andre Wesson has nine.

The Buckeyes are shooting 40.6 percent and are 5 of 12 from beyond the arc.

1:05 -- Ohio State 32, Michigan 29

Colin Castleton made both of his free throws and then had a block at the other end that led to a Zavier Simpson basket.

Isaiah Livers hit a triple at the 1:50 mark to pull the Wolverines to within three.

3:53 -- Ohio State 30, Michigan 22

The Wolverines have zero field goals in the past 4:55 and are down to 38.1 percent shooting. They are 2 of 10 from deep.

Kaleb Wesson, OSU's leading scorer heading into Sunday, hit a 3 for his first points of the game at the 5:24 mark.

Michigans Colin Castleton, who entered for Brandon Johns Jr. at the 5:12 mark, will shoot free throws coming out of the media timeout.

6:45 -- Ohio State 25, Michigan 18

Two Duane Washington Jr. triples extended the Buckeyes run to 10-0. Washington is now 3 for 3 from deep and has a game-high 10 points.

7:48 -- Ohio State 19, Michigan 18

There's been five lead changes in the half as the teams go back and forth. Zavier Simpson had a steal and a breakaway layup for a 16-15 Michigan lead. Austin Davis followed with his first basket but the game, but Andre Wesson and Luther Muhammad had the next two baskets to regain the lead for the Buckeyes.

Wesson is up to nine points, while Jon Teske and Simpson each have four to lead the Wolverines.

Michigan is just 2 of 8 from deep.

11:58 -- Ohio State 13, Michigan 11

Andre Wesson has had the hot hand early for OSU, making his third field goal to retake the lead for OSU. He has seven a game-high seven points. Eli Brooks had a nice layup for his first basket of the game.

Each team has just two fouls so far.

13:51 -- Ohio State 11, Michigan 9

The Wolverines had a strong start defensively, but the Buckeyes are starting to heat up. Back-to-back 3s from Duane Washington Jr. and Andre Wesson have put OSU in the lead. Jon Teske already has five shot attempts for Michigan as it looks to get him the ball inside. He has made two for four points.

The Buckeyes are 4 of 8 from the floor and 2 of 4 from deep. Michigan is 4 of 10 and 1 of 4 from beyond the arc.

20:00 -- Michigan 0, Ohio State 0

Starting for the Wolverines: Eli Brooks, Jon Teske, Zavier Simpson, Isaiah Livers and Franz Wagner.

****

PREGAME UPDATE - Michigan guard Eli Brooks is back in the starting lineup. He missed Thursdays game against Wisconsin with a broken nose.

*****

No. 19 Michigan and No. 23 Ohio State will tip off in a pivotal Big Ten game at 4 p.m. Sunday in Columbus.

The two teams are tied for seventh in the Big Ten, but the Buckeyes (19-9, 9-8) currently hold the tiebreaker after winning the first meeting this season in Ann Arbor.

Michigan basketball gameday: important road trip to Ohio State

Michigan (18-10, 9-8) hasn't won in Columbus since 2014. It would receive a major boost if starting guard Eli Brooks is able to return from a broken nose. He is a game-time decision after missing Thursday's game against Wisconsin.

The Buckeyes have won four of their past five, including a victory over No. 9 Maryland last Sunday. Forward Kaleb Wesson, who scored 23 points in the team's 61-58 win at Michigan on Feb. 4, leads OSU in scoring (14 points per game) and rebounding (9.6 per game).

Follow along as MLive will be providing live updates throughout.

MORE: Michigans seniors have won everywhere in the Big Ten except their home state

Juwan Howard explains his lineup choices after Michigans loss to Wisconsin

Michigan wastes Zavier Simpsons monster game in home loss to Wisconsin

The latest on Eli Brooks injury

How a 25-year friendship helped shape Juwan Howard and Michigan basketball
The British Museum is set to defy a veto by Downing Street as it plans to make a pro-EU scholar a trustee.

Mary Beard, who is arguably Britain's best-known classicist, was rejected as a board member at the British Museum by Number 10 last year.

The 65-year-old has frequently expressed her pro-Remain views on social media which prompted the decision to turn her down for the role, according to Whitehall sources.

But the museum is now thought to be planning to bypass the official process and appoint Beard anyway.

Mary Beard (pictured), who is arguably Britain's best-known classicist, was rejected as a board member at the British Museum by Number 10 last year

Downing Street currently has a say over the appointment of the museum's 25 trustees - with the museum only able to elect five members of its own choosing.

Speaking to the Observer, Sir John Tusa, another former trustee, said: 'This is an absolute scandal.

'The trustees of the British Museum exist to protect its intellectual, academic and political independence.

'Government interference in putting in placemen or placewomen is a corruption of public life. Will any Remainer now expect to be punished by the government?'

Beard previously fulfilled 'a lifetime's ambition' by working for a day as a visitor attendant at the museum (pictured) and when asked recently about her thoughts on being appointed she said that 'if asked' she would 'do [her] duty'

Beard previously fulfilled 'a lifetime's ambition' by working for a day as a visitor attendant at the museum and when asked recently about her thoughts on being appointed she said that 'if asked' she would 'do [her] duty'.

She was also quizzed about the initial rejection and said: 'There are cock-ups and conspiracies.

'I'm not, however, going to diss Boris Johnson or the Department of Culture.'

She would not, however, be the only trustee to have made political public statements.

Artist and broadcaster Grayson Perry, who has been on the board since 2015, has previously expressed his support for both the Labour party and Remain campaigns.

A spokeswoman for the British Museum confirmed that Mary Beard was on a list of potential trustees submitted for Prime Minister approval back in spring 2019.

But added that the Museum would not make any further comment on the matter.

Downing Street has also been contacted for comment.
Paramedics tend to the wounds of Mehfooz Umar, left, and Mohammad Afzal, right, at Al-Hind hospital in Old Mustafabad neighbourhood of New Delhi. AP photo

The wounded came in waves. First in ones and twos, limping up the steps and staggering through the aluminum doors, and then in wheelbarrows, with bleeding skulls and stabbed necks. Finally, the motorcycles and auto-rickshaws arrived, their seats stained with the blood of as many as they could hold.

As the Mustafabad neighbourhood of Indias capital was ravaged by communal riots for three days this week, the Al-Hind Hospital turned from a community clinic into a trauma ward.

Doctors like M.A. Anwar were for the first time dealing with injuries such as gunshot wounds, crushed skulls and torn genitals.

I wanted to cry and scream, he recalled. Something inside of me died during those three days.

Almost a week after the clashes between Hindus and Muslims began, a clearer picture of the horrors inflicted during New Delhis worst communal riots in decades has begun to emerge.

On the eve of President Donald Trumps first state visit to India last Sunday, Hindus and Muslims in Delhi charged at each other with homemade guns and crude weapons, leaving the streets where the rioting occurred resembling a war zone, with houses, shops, mosques, schools and vehicles up in flames. At least 42 people were killed and hundreds more wounded.

Authorities have struggled to identify some of the bodies because of the gruesomeness of the injuries.

While both sides behaved brutally, most of the victims were Muslim.

Authorities havent given an official account of what sparked the riots, though the violence appeared to be a culmination of growing tensions that followed the passage of a new citizenship law in December.

The law fast-tracks naturalisation for some religious minorities from neighbouring countries but not Muslims. Opponents say it violates Indias secular constitution, and further marginalises the 200 million Muslims in this Hindu-majority nation of 1.4 billion people.

The law spurred massive protests across India that left at least 23 dead.

But what unfolded in Mustafabad this week was far more brutal, with mobs hacking individuals with swords, burning people alive and bludgeoning people to death.

A Hindu intelligence bureau officer was repeatedly stabbed and his dead body thrown into a sewage drain that divides Hindu and Muslim residential areas. A Muslim man had his legs spread so far apart that the lower half of his body tore. His condition remained critical.

Questions have been raised about the role of the New Delhi police and whether they stood by while the violence raged or even aided the Hindu mobs.

A New Delhi police spokesman, Anil Mittal, denied that police had aided rioters.

Al-Hind hospitals doctors said authorities kept ambulances from reaching certain riot-hit places.

A little after midnight on Wednesday  more than 72 hours after the violence began  a New Delhi High Court passed an extraordinary order directing the police to provide safe passage for ambulances.

It was too late for many victims.

With streets taken over by the mobs and no way through for ambulances, Anwar knew early on that his clinic would soon be overcome with wounded.

Some slumped in plastic chairs as they draped gunshot-riddled arms and legs over tables.

Others just lay on the floor, bleeding.

Those who were there described the blood and chaos, but also shared oddly uplifting stories of teamwork and grit.

We didnt sleep. We didnt eat anything. All we wanted to do was save lives. And we did, said Aanis Mohammad, a volunteer at the clinic. No patient of any religion was turned away.

By mid-afternoon Wednesday as the violence came to an end, Anwar and his overwhelmed colleagues had treated more than 400 people and referred almost 100 to larger hospitals. Dozens, however, remained at the clinic in critical condition.

The hospital also gave refuge to those fleeing the violence, providing more than 50 people with food, bedding and safety.

Clean-up efforts in Mustafabad are underway but the scars are still visible.

At Guru Teg Bahadur hospital along New Delhis eastern border, 18-year-old Salman Ansari waited for his fathers body to be handed over.

Ansaris father had gone out to collect scrap for money as there was no food in the house. After seeing police assurances on the news, he thought it would be safe. It wasnt.

Ansari said he was sleeping when two strangers dumped his father outside their home early Wednesday.

He carted his father 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) on the familys rickshaw to a private clinic. The doctors demanded 5,000 rupees ($69). His pockets were empty.

By the time Ansari managed to reach a public hospital, his father was dead.

For Anwar, the doctor, he said he eventually grew numb to the carnage. Yet hes still coming to grips with how fellow Indians could do what they did to one another.

Its as if evil had pervaded and housed itself in the hearts of the mob, he said.
The Arab League said it will suspend its summit due late March in Algeria over fears of coronavirus.

The Arab Leagues secretary general Ahmed Abul Gheit said the meeting may be postponed to the end of June as the virus continues to spread to new countries.

Gheit said the exact date would be determined in coordination with Algeria as the host country.

The virus known as COVID-19 has spread to more than 45 countries with Qatar becoming the latest Middle Eastern country to report its first case of coronavirus.

In Europe, Italy has reported more than 1,000 coronavirus cases and 29 deaths, the most in Europe.

On Friday, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the spread of the virus is getting bigger. More than 87,690 people have been infected worldwide and nearly 3000 died of the infection.

China, the epicenter of the deadly disease, reported on Saturday at least 47 new deaths, bringing to 2,835 the number of fatalities nationwide among 79,251 confirmed cases.
(CNN)  The coronavirus outbreak has reached the highest level of risk for the world, the World Health Organization announced Saturday.

This thing can go in any direction. Were not undermining the risk, its there. Thats why today we said the global risk is very high. We increased it from high to very high, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, said during a press briefing in Geneva on Friday.

Remember: That risk assessment makes no legal difference in how countries should prepare for the outbreak, Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHOs Health Emergencies Programme, said during today's press briefing.

Rather, raising the risk to very high is essentially reflecting whats actually happening at a global level, Ryan said, adding that this is a reality check for governments to prepare.

We are on the highest level of alert, on the highest level of risk assessment in terms of spread and in terms of impact, but that is not in order to alarm or scare people, Ryan said. We can avoid the worst of this but our level of concern is at its highest.

This story was first published on CNN.com "CNN.com"
The choir boys waited until the crescendo to enact their revenge on Kate O'Connell. Or was it the decrescendo? The Fine Gael selection process for Seanad nominations is the political equivalent of the FAI League of Ireland Cup fourth round, with less talent.

Yet, the decision to exclude O'Connell from the party's list of nominees for the forthcoming upper chamber election is being seen by many in the party as the ultimate act of political vindictiveness.

Senior Fine Gael figures say O'Connell's intervention in the Fine Gael leader contest almost three years ago has festered with Leo Varadkar's inner circle.

The Dublin Bay South TD, who backed Simon Coveney, described Varadkar's supporters as "choirboys" who were "singing for their suppers".

It didn't go down well among the Taoiseach's key lieutenants such as Eoghan Murphy, John Paul Phelan and Michael D'Arcy.

She has been less than supportive of Murphy, her now former constituency colleague, in some of her public comments. She also didn't do the party a lot of favours when she said she was "embarrassed" by the state of the Children's Hospital in Crumlin.

But she is recognised in Fine Gael as one of their strongest performers in the Dail, at committee hearings and in the media. The Kilbeggan woman narrowly lost out on a seat in the General Election while her running mate Murphy was re-elected.

She was naturally disappointed and resigned to leaving public life. The pharmacy business she runs with her husband, Morgan, paid the bills, so money was not an issue.

After a gruelling General Election campaign, she had little interest in putting her name forward for the Seanad and told supporters she would not be running. However, party sources say significant pressure was put on O'Connell to put her name forward for an inside party nomination.

She got calls from everyone - Leo Varadkar, Simon Coveney, Frances Fitzgerald and Fine Gael general secretary Tom Curran, who encouraged her to seek a nomination.

O'Connell and her team believed the party wanted her to run for the Seanad, so she reconsidered and put her name forward.

"She was inundated with calls from people asking her to run and she was told she was guaranteed a nomination," a party source said.

She decided to hold off on seeking an outside nomination, which are 10 a penny, because she was given the impression she did not need one.

There was some objection to her candidacy in her constituency but she was still selected. But last Thursday evening, she got a call from Fine Gael HQ telling her she was not among the 13 nominations picked for the Seanad.

The party chose just three women - none ever elected to the Dail and one was Varadkar's running mate Emer Currie who got just over 1,800 first preference votes in the election.

O'Connell was taken aback by her exclusion and so were former parliamentary party colleagues, who believe she was "strung along".

"The pettiness and vindictiveness of this decision was extraordinary," one TD said.

"The message is clear - Fine Gael don't want strong women in the party," another said. A source involved in choosing the Seanad candidates was told "go for it is not the same as getting".

The source said O'Connell was the "author of her own misfortune" and added that the Fine Gael base believes Varadkar has been "too soft" on her and other TDs who caused him difficulties.
The Army has set up smart classrooms in a higher secondary school in Bagga village of Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi under its Operation Goodwill initiative, a defence spokesperson said on Sunday.

The school was identified for renovation and technology-aided learning as part of the Army's effort to revive standard in the far-flung areas, he said.

The spokesperson said the initiative include complete renovation of two classrooms into smart classrooms, improvement of aesthetic layout of the school, procurement of books, stationery and a printer.

The inauguration event of the renovated school on Sunday was attended by Army officials, the principal, teachers and students, the spokesperson said adding a total of 268 students and locals attended the event.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Sunday said that his party will continue to press for the resignation of Home Minister Amit Shah during the second half of parliament's Budget Session, beginning Monday and will also unmask them over the violence in Delhi, which left 42 people dead and over 200 injured.

"We will raise all the important issues and unmask them. We will not spare them (BJP). We are asking for Amit Shah's resignation. We will continue to do so in parliament as well," Chowdhury told ANI.

"Delhi violence took place under their watch. Now the same thing is happening in West Bengal. They are creating the same atmosphere. 'Goli Maro Saalo Ko' slogan is being raised here in West Bengal," he added.

The Congress leader also accused the BJP of dividing the country along the communal lines.

"They are one who is trying to divide the nation. The BJP is the real leader of 'Tukde Tukde' gang. From North-East to Delhi, from Delhi to Karnataka, everywhere they are dividing the people," he added.

"The whole country is slowly getting embroiled in communal violence. Wherever they (BJP) go, they will only spew venom," said Chowdhury.

The second half of the Budget Session of Parliament is expected to be stormy.

The government is expected to push its legislative agenda that includes Bills relating to surrogacy and resolution of disputed tax.

The Congress has accused the Central and Delhi governments of failing to contain the violence that erupted in parts of northeast Delhi.

Sources said a meeting was held at the residence of party chief Sonia Gandhi on Saturday which discussed party's strategy to corner the government in Parliament on Delhi violence.

The BJP has accused the Congress of "politicising" the violence and said there was "instigation" by opposition leaders to protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act.

Congress has also accused the BJP-led government of ruining the Indian economy by its "monumental mismanagement."

Congress leader Anand Sharma said on Saturday the GDP for the third quarter was at 4.7 per cent and it was the seventh consecutive quarter when the GDP has fallen.

The first half of the Budget Session of Parliament, which began on January 31 with an address by President Ram Nath Kovind to the joint sitting of two houses, saw protests over the CAA.

Apart from Finance Bill 2020, Aircraft (Amendment) Bill and The Direct Tax Vivad Se Vishwas Bill were among the legislation introduced in the first half that concluded on February 11.

The government's legislative agenda for the Budget Session of Parliament includes nearly 45 Bills and seven financial items.

It includes replacing Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019 and the Mineral Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 with Bills during the session.

The Budget Session is slated to conclude on April 3.

The Union Budget was presented on February 1 and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman replied to the debate on the budget.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
With opposition leaders sending notices in Parliament demanding discussion on the communal riots in northeast Delhi, Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Sunday said the priority should be given to the Union Budget as it is a constitutional responsibility.

However, the Parliamentary Affairs minister said the opposition should not politicise the violence and rather deliberate upon how it can be stopped from happening again.

"We are ready for discussion on any issue as per the rules of the house and provided the speaker gives permission for it.

"But first we all should ensure the passage of the budget which is constitutional responsibility for all of us," Meghwal told PTI.

Opposition parties, including the Congress, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India, Trinamool Congress, are set to raise the issue of the northeast Delhi communal riots during the second part of the Budget Session in Parliament starting on Monday and demand Home Minister Amit Shah's resignation over alleged police lapses.

The Budget Session of Parliament commenced on January 31 and continued till February 11.

After a break, it will again start on March 2 and continue till April 3.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Waiting for the body of her brother Musharaff near a mortuary, young Fareen narrated her brush with death, which is a story of both hope and despair at the same time. Her husband Asif was brutally beaten up by a mob of around 50 people in their house in Mustafabad while Musharaff was dragged out and killed. Theirs was only one of two Muslim families in the locality. Scared, they wanted to flee to a place of safety.

But their Hindu neighbours were apprehensive about them leaving the locality, as they knew a mob, including women, was waiting in nearby area. As the scared family insisted on moving out, their caring neighbours found a way out and asked Fareen, her mother and sisters to change their hijab, put on sindoor and lipstick to pose as Hindus. The women neighbours accompanied them, but seeing the mob, Asif was sent back. The women and Fareens young son moved forward.

The mob was suspicious about a group of Hindus moving out. A neighbour told the rioters that they were Hindus but the mob was not convinced.Are you Hindus? You will be killed if you are not, one among the mob told Fareen and the others while instructing his men to check whether the boy was circumcised. Fareen and family escaped just because the young boy had not been circumcised yet!

There are several instances of people giving shelter to other community members as well as standing guard for religious structures and other buildings, depicting that many people even in the riot-hit areas had not contracted the communal virus that spread through north-east Delhi. While there are numerous stories of hope in times of despair, the riots gave more worrying signs by the way it spread, the inaction of police and authorities. Children as young as 12-15 years were armed with rods and sticks and were seen being part of the mobs in several areas, while women also joined some as the violence spread. All appeared prepared for the violence as many of them wore helmets, too! Threats were hurled. In some instances, Muslims could not enter Hindu majority localities and vice versa.

Ambulances were stopped to ascertain the religion of the injured while the outnumbered policemen stood helpless. Food supply was running out and several people who went out to buy milk and food articles did not return home but ended up in the grave. An 85-year-old woman, Akbari, was suffocated to death in her house when a mob of at least 100 people set ablaze a five-storeyed building while her son was out buying milk. One of the most worrying things was the extent of use of guns in the Delhi riots. Earlier riots and violence saw rods, swords, pick-axes and petrol bombs being used. This time, the additions to the hate armoury were acid and firearms on a large scale. Hospital authorities say almost half of the at least 42 people killed in the violence that started on February 23 evening had been shot dead. Almost 30-35% of the injured too suffered bullet injuries, indicating the planning that went into engineering the violence. That illegal firearms are easily available in the National Capital Region (NCR) may not be a good sign for the security establishment. Adding to the worries, WhatsApp was used to mobilise rioters as well as provide information about targets.

As in any riots, there was an exodus  authorities may argue as to the numbers  besides an impact on the local economy. The riot-hit areas had a lot of families involved in small-scale home-based industries like handicrafts, garment and toy-making. The 1984 anti-Sikh riots saw the attackers breaking the economic backbone of a large number of affected families, the 2020 riots in north-east Delhi is also having an impact. With several losing their houses and manufacturing units being burnt down by the rioters, it may be difficult for them to re-invent their lives in times of economic slowdown. Besides, a number of migrants from Bihar and UP who worked in these small units will be left without jobs at a time employment even in government mandated schemes like MNREGA is decreasing. Social and economic infrastructure was also targeted. Schools, petrol pumps and shops bore the brunt. A fellow journalist who covered the riots summed up, some areas looked like Syria, with big holes in the walls of houses. They bore the impact of cylinder blasts. These areas resemble a war zone, and thats no exaggeration.
Cong accuses BJP of using Tek Fog app to propagate agenda on SM, seeks intervention by SC

Congress to strongly raise Delhi riots in Parliament, demand Amit Shah''s resignation

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Mar 01: The Congress will strongly raise the issue of communal riots in Delhi during the second part of the Budget Session in Parliament starting on Monday and demand Home Minister Amit Shah''s resignation over alleged police lapses.

The Congress is likely to submit adjournment motion notices in both Houses of Parliament on Monday, demanding a debate over the violence in Delhi, sources said.

Congress'' leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the party will strongly raise the issue of riot-torn Delhi and ask why the violence happened.

People who want to divide nation, disrupt peace must fear NSG: Amit Shah in Kolkata

"The government has miserably failed to maintain law and order. I think there must be some sort of a nexus between the rioters and a section of police officials which resulted in gruesome killings and arson that has tarnished our image across the globe. This is a matter of serious concern for us," he told PTI.

"We will continue to raise the demand of Home Minister Amit Shah''s resignation on the floor of the House," Chowdhury said.

Congress'' senior spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Abhishek Singhvi also said the Congress will take up in Parliament in the strongest possible terms the "wanton destruction of democratic values" in this country with the "active approbation" and, frequently, the selective "Nelsonian blind eye" of the government.

"The manner and form of protest inside or out of Parliament is a matter of coordinated strategy and not an issue to be publicly aired. But the country is assured that we will discharge our responsibilities vigorously and without fear, despite extreme and illegal intrusion and harassment," he told PTI.

The Congress and other opposition parties have accused the police of bias and inaction in the Delhi violence.

A Congress delegation, including party chief Sonia Gandhi, urged President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday to call for Home Minister Shah''s resignation over his alleged "abdication of duty" during the communal violence in Delhi and remind the Centre of its "raj dharma".

The Congress Working Committee (CWC), the highest decision-making body of the party, had also deliberated on the issue last week and passed a resolution, demanding answers from both the central and Delhi governments, while also urging the people of Delhi to "reject the politics of hate".

The Congress president on Friday had deputed a five-member team to visit the riot-affected areas in northeast Delhi and submit a report to her after assessing the situation there.

The delegation comprised All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Mukul Wasnik, AICC in-charge for Delhi Shaktisinh Gohil, Haryana Congress chief Kumari Selja, former MP Tariq Anwar and Mahila Congress chief Sushmita Dev.

At least 42 people have been killed and over 200 injured in the communal riots that broke out in northeast Delhi on Monday after clashes between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control.

The Budget Session of Parliament commenced on January 31 and continued till February 11.

After a break, it will again commence on March 2 and continue till April 3.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Sunday, March 1, 2020, 16:17 [IST]
There are numerous scenes in The Cave, an extraordinary documentary film about an overwhelmed hospital operating under military siege during the civil war in Syria, that are harrowing to watch. A row of bandaged toddlers sitting in shocked silence; bloodied victims of a missile strike rushed in on stretchers; the deadly aftermath of a chemical attack carried out by a government on its own people. The horror being unleashed is systematic.

But if it's difficult to view what happens at the frontline of atrocities against a civilian population, consider what it took to try and treat these desperate patients day in and day out for years. That's the burden carried by Dr Amani Ballour, the young female paediatrician whose resolute care for the hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped in the Al-Ghouta district on the edge of Damascus shapes the film's story.

Dr Amani Ballour Credit:National Geographic

"I wanted to be a doctor to help people," says Ballour. "Of course I wanted to stay with them. This is my goal in the life, to help other people when they need. There were few doctors, and people need doctors. Too many doctors decided to flee, unfortunately. And I feel that people need me and I have to stay, of course. And after the siege, it was not our choice to leave."

Ballour was speaking via satellite at a Los Angeles press conference in January, where it was announced that having won numerous film festival awards and been nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the Academy Awards, The Cave would be broadcast around the world by National Geographic channel. While Feras Fayyad's film has raised awareness of the plight facing Syria's population, Ballour is one of five million Syrians displaced by the conflict, and is currently applying for asylum in Canada after two years living in Turkey.
Dominican Republic on Sunday reported its first case of coronavirus.

"Laboratory tests have confirmed the first case of COVID-19 virus brought from abroad," health minister Rafael Sanchez Cardenas said at a televised press conference.

According to Cardenas, the first carrier of coronavirus in the country is a 62-year-old Italian national, who arrived in the Dominican Republic on February 22 without showing symptoms of the disease. The patient is stable in the military hospital in San Isidro Airbase.

The official also reported a second possible case of the disease -- a patient from France, who is now waiting for test results in a hospital.

The novel coronavirus was first detected in China in late December and has since spread to more than 50 countries, prompting the Health Organization (WHO) to declare a global health emergency.

So far, the virus has infected nearly 80,000 people in mainland China. While over 2,800 people have died, nearly 40,000 have recovered there.

According to the latest WHO data, the number of those infected outside China has exceeded 7,000, while over 100 people have died.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Kastanies, Greece: Greek police fired tear gas to push back hundreds of stone-throwing migrants trying to cross the border from Turkey on Saturday, as a crisis over Syria shifted onto the European Union's doorstep.

Greece, which has tense relations with Turkey, accused Ankara of sending the migrants to the border post in an organised "onslaught" and said it would keep them out.

Refugees and migrants shelter from tear gas fired from Greek border guards at the Pazarkule border as they attempt to enter Greece from Turkey. Credit:Getty Images

Turkey said on Thursday it would stop keeping hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers in its territory after an air strike on Idlib in neighbouring Syria killed 33 Turkish soldiers.

Convoys of people appeared heading towards the land and sea borders of Greece, which was a gateway for hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers into Europe in 2015 and 2016.
Open source

The International Monetary Fund said that the organization has achieved success in negotiations with the Ukrainian authorities and that discussions would continue in the coming days, as the Reuters reports.

The IMF staff team that visited Kyiv made very good progress in discussions on legislation to support growth and ensure stability, and discussions will continue in the coming days, the statement reads.

An IMF expert group has been working in Kyiv since February 20. As previously reported in the fund, it aimed at "conducting technical discussions on policies aimed at achieving more powerful growth and ensuring stability."

We are talking about a new three-year program of expanded financing for Ukraine totaling more than 5.5 billion dollars. It should replace the previous stand-by program with $ 3.9 billion, which Kyiv has not yet fulfilled - Ukraine was able to receive only its only tranche of $ 1.4 billion in December 2018.

The IMF tentatively supported a new lending program for Ukraine, but its provision is conditional on Kyivs progress in reforms.

The timing of the agreement on the new program remains uncertain. In the meantime, Kyiv hoped to conclude it and receive the first 2 billion dollars back in 2019.

As we reported before, The International Monetary Fund informed it had made good progress in talks with the Ukrainian authorities and that the discussions would continue in the coming days
Christchurch : , March 1 (IANS) Indian captain Virat Kohli was fired up on Day 2 of the second Test in Christchurch, animatedly celebrating the fall of New Zealand wickets during the first two sessions of the day. Another lower order fightback from the Kiwis led by Kyle Jamieson, who missed out on a fifty by just one run helped the hosts cut India's lead down to seven runs.

One particular instance of Kohli celebrating a wicket however seems to have stoked controversy on social media with users pointing out that the 31-year-old used an expletive towards the crowd.

The incident happened in the 44th over of the New Zealand innings when Shami dismissed Tom Latham, who had just crossed his half century. Latham decided to leave the ball that swung in to the left hander and took his off-stump.

In the replays, Kohli could be seen putting his finger to his lips in a motion to silence the crowd and saying something that social media users said included an expletive. There is yet to be any official word on the incident.

Kohli has been going through a rare lean patch with the bat in the series and in the tour in general. He has managed to score 50 just once in the tour and in the two-match Test series, he put up scores of 2,19, 3 and Sunday's score of 14.

Indian batsmen found it just as difficult to bat on the Christchurch pitch as their opponents and were reduced to 90/6 at the end of the day. Kohli, vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara were all dismissed for 3, 9 and 24 respectively. They lead by 97 runs with Hanuma Vihari and Rishabh Pant in the middle.
Of the 125 people quarantined in Maharashtra so far for possible exposure to novel coronavirus, 121 have tested negative and test reports of four are awaited, the state health department said.

Mumbai: Of the 125 people quarantined in Maharashtra so far for possible exposure to novel coronavirus, 121 have tested negative and test reports of four are awaited, the state health department said on Sunday.

It said that so far as many as 61,939 travellers have been screened for the infection at the Mumbai international airport.

Passengers arriving from 12 Covid-19 affected countries/regions  China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Nepal, Indonesia, Vietnam, Italy, Iran and Malaysia- are being screened at the Mumbai airport. As many as 125 travellers who had arrived from Covid-19-affected areas were quarantined in hospitals across the state, but 121 of them tested negative for the virus as per the National Institute of Virology (NIV) reports, it said in a statement.

Those who are suspected to have contracted the deadly infection are sent to isolation facilities for treatment. However, no case of coronavirus infection has come to light in the state so far, it added.

At present, seven persons have been quarantined- five in Mumbai and one each at Pune and Nashik. Reports of swab samples of four of these passengers were awaited from the NIV, it added.

According to officials, a man who was quarantined in Nashik for possible infection after his return from Italy, has tested negative. The man, who hails from Chandrapur district, had returned to India on February 26 from Italy, where he had gone for studies, an official said.

"He was quarantined as a precautionary measure as he showed symptoms of coronavirus. His samples were sent to Pune for testing. However, he was found negative for the infection," the official said.

The department said that all travellers from Wuhan city of China- the epicentre of the outbreak of epidemic- are being isolated and tested, irrespective of whether they show any symptoms or not. Follow-up at home is conducted for the travellers from Covid-19-affected countries who do not show any symptoms during the screening at the airport.

"Till date, out of the 370 travellers, 241 have completed their follow-up of 14 days," the department said.

It said that there are 170 travellers, who have come to India from Iran after 1 February. All of them have been advised home isolation for 14 days from their date of departure from Iran.

"Local health authorities will daily contact them for their health status. If any of them develop symptoms like fever, cough, cold will be admitted at identified isolation wards and will be tested for COVID-19," an officer said.

The department also appealed all such travellers from Iran are appealed to self report to local health authorities if for any reason they have yet not been contacted by local health authority.

The state COVID-19 control room number is 020-26127394, the department said in the statement.
The CBI has arrested and detained some suspects in connection with the killing of BJP worker Yogesh Gowda in Karnataka's Dharwad in 2016, officials said on Sunday.

These are the first arrests in the case, they said.

The agency sources said that its operation of further rounding up of suspects based on questioning of detained and arrested persons is spread across various states and is likely to continue during the night, hence the details cannot be shared.

Gowda, a BJP zilla panchayat member, was killed in his gym on June 15, 2016 by unidentified men, they said.

The agency took over the probe on the recommendation of the Karnataka government, they said.

It is alleged that Gowda was running a gym at Sapthapura in Dharwad. He was a friend of Basavaraj Shivappa Muttagi, the prime accused, for the last 10 years with different political inclinations.

Gowda came to know about a land purchase deal by Muttagi. Gowda had threatened Muttagi that he should not purchase the land as it was under the former's custody and if he still proceeded, he would kill him.

The Karnataka police had already completed the probe and filed a charge sheet against six accused on September 9, 2016.

It is alleged that Muttagi hatched a criminal conspiracy to kill Gowda.

When Gowda came to his gym on June 15, 2016, accomplices of Muttagi sprinkled chilli powder on his face and hacked him to death.

The killers escaped on three two-wheelers. The case is under trial in the District and Sessions Court, Dharwad.

After the change in the Karnataka government, the matter was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
YouTube can censor conservative content, not bound by First Amendment: Appeals court

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

A three judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has unanimously ruled that YouTube can censor conservative content, as it is not compelled by the First Amendment to allow all viewpoints.

The popular conservative YouTube channel PragerU filed a lawsuit against YouTube and Google, accusing the entities of wrongfully censoring their videos.

However, in a decision released Wednesday, the Ninth Circuit panel affirmed a lower court ruling dismissing Pragers lawsuit against the video-sharing website.

Circuit Judge M. Margaret McKeown authored the panel's opinion, arguing that despite its large-scale use and viewership, YouTube remains a private forum rather than a public forum.

Despite YouTubes ubiquity and its role as a publicfacing platform, it remains a private forum, not a public forum subject to judicial scrutiny under the First Amendment, wrote McKeown.

PragerU runs headfirst into two insurmountable barriersthe First Amendment and Supreme Court precedent. Just last year, the Court held that merely hosting speech by others is not a traditional, exclusive public function and does not alone transform private entities into state actors subject to First Amendment constraints.

PragerU CEO Marissa Streit said in a statement released in response to the panel's decision that they will continue to resist having their content restricted.

As we feared, the Ninth Circuit got this one wrong, and the important issue of online censorship did not get a fair shake in court, Streit said.

Sadly, it appears as if even the Ninth Circuit is afraid of Goliath  Google. Were not done fighting for free speech and we will keep pushing forward.

A YouTube channel with over 1 million subscribers and headed by conservative radio host Dennis Prager, PragerU has alleged that YouTube and its parent company Google have been wrongfully censoring their content.

This has included YouTube either blocking or restricting the content of the PragerU channel to be seen only by "mature" audiences.

In October 2017, PragerU filed a lawsuit against Google and YouTube in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, accusing them of ideologically-driven discrimination.

In March 2018, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh dismissed the lawsuit, arguing that Google and YouTube were private entities and thus had the right to remove videos as they saw fit.

"PragerUs videos werent excluded from Restricted Mode because of politics or ideology, as we demonstrated in our filings, a YouTube spokesperson said in a statement, as reported by The Hill at the time.

PragerUs allegations were meritless, both factually and legally, and the courts ruling vindicates important legal principles that allow us to provide different choices and settings to users."

In addition to the federal lawsuit that was rejected by the Ninth Circuit, PragerU has also filed a state lawsuit in California against YouTube and Google.

However, in November, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Brian Walsh denied a preliminary injunction request by PragerU, arguing that it did not show a reasonable probability of success."
President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday sent messages to Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano State, as well as the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sunusi II, extending condolences over the death of Dan Iyan Kano, Ambassador Ado Sanusi.

President Buhari said he was shocked to learn about the death of the Ambassador.

In separate letters to the Governor and the Emir delivered by a delegation led by the Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, President Buhari said, I received the sad news of the death of Ambassador Ado Sanusi, an astute career diplomat. Sanusi was a dedicated public servant who served very creditably as Nigerias Foreign Service Officer. He was a conscientious, competent, distinguished, patriotic and remarkable diplomat who served his country and immediate community with distinction. His great contributions will be remembered for many years to come.

Governor Ganduje extended profound gratitude to the President for sending the delegation.

He gave assurances of support and loyalty to the President on behalf of the people of the State.

Receiving the delegation, the Emir expressed appreciation to the President for supporting the treatment of the late Ambassador before his end came.

Emir Sanusi described the late Ado Sanusi, his uncle, as the most outstanding descendant of Dabo, the Kano ruling family and his death, an irreparable loss: A pillar has collapsed. He loved everyone. He was kind, generous and very religious.

At the family house of the deceased, the Galadima of Kano, Abbas Sanusi, his younger brother who received the presidential delegation, commended the President for his support in their moment of grief.

In addition to Abba Kyari, the delegation was made up of the Minister of Defence, Maj. General Bashir Magashi; Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Alhaji Sabo Nanono; Permanent Secretary, State House, Jalal Arabi; Senior Special Assistants to the President, Sarki Abba and Garba Shehu, and the State Chief of Protocol, Ambassador Lawal Kazaure.
Excavation is the single greatest threat to pipeline safety, said Mike Loeffler, the companys senior director of external affairs. Having personnel on hand lowers the risk of a line being hit and the time needed to respond in the event of a leak.

We know where our line is and we can take measures to protect our pipeline, he said.

Commissioners pointed to what they see as another shortcoming of the law: Muscatine Utility Services did not respond to any of the PSCs requests for information or show up for the hearing before an administrative law judge.

I find it frustrating at best, said PSC Chair Rebecca Valcq.

This isnt the first (case) where the respondent has basically blown us off, said Commissioner Ellen Nowak. To me, that is dangerous to the citizens and the homeowners.

In an email to the State Journal, James Thye of Muscatine Utility Services said as soon as he realized his mistake he reported it to Northern Natural Gas and thought that was the end of it.

Other cases
With the help of a cane, and a friend at her side, Elizabeth Gallant carefully navigated her way to the deputation table at Fridays Peel Police Services Board meeting to express her familys frustration.

It has now been about a year and a half since the provincial Office of the Independent Police Review Director launched its probe into Peel police investigations of the deaths of Gallants brother Bill Harrison, his wife Bridget, and their son Caleb. They died at the same Mississauga house between 2009 and 2013.

We are deeply concerned about the time that has lapsed, and the fact that we still have no answers, Gallant said in her deputation. Our patience with this process has been exhausted.

On behalf of the extended Harrison family, Gallant had two asks: that the board commit to implementing all recommendations from that much-anticipated police watchdog review, and hold any recommended disciplinary hearings.

These two recommendations are actually my bucket list, Gallant told the board in closing her brief, powerful deputation. I have nothing else I would like to see completed more by the time I pass. I would feel greatly appreciative if we can just speed this process up and get something accomplished. I just feel that maybe I wont live long enough if we keep going at this pace.

In response, Peel police Chief Nishan Duraiappah told Gallant you need to know with certainty, any recommendations from the OIPRD, our willingness to adopt them, is foremost. And secondly, of course, as it pertains to any disciplinary matters, theres a commitment to see that through, too.

Board member and Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie told Gallant she had no idea why the OIPRD investigation into officer conduct is taking so long, but if there are any recommendations that are valuable to implement, we will. You have our commitment.

The OIPRD review is in addition to a completed internal Peel police review, which left everyone with more questions than answers, Gallant had said in her deputation. The family was asked to sign a confidentiality agreement before seeing a copy of the Peel review.

Gallant said the family received a letter from Duraiappah in December that said he is also waiting for the OIPRD report, and that some of the recommendations from the internal review have been implemented.

He expressed his commitment to working with the family and with the OIPRD to implement any further action that the Peel Regional Police can determine will assist them in future death investigations, said Gallant.

The internal Peel report will be released publicly only after the OIPRD report is released, to preserve the integrity of that investigation, Const. Sarah Patten, a police spokesperson, said in an email to the Star.

Patten added that the purpose of the review was not disciplinary in nature. That said, if the OIPRD investigation substantiates any conduct issues, we will assess those issues and ensure that those findings are addressed, said Patten.

An OIPRD spokesperson said Friday only that the Harrison complaint investigation remains active.

The OIPRD endeavours to complete complaint investigations as soon as possible, the spokesperson said. In this case, although there is only one complaint, its complexity required the OIPRD to undertake four separate investigations.

Once the OIPRD completes a complaint investigation, the report remains confidential and is only released to the complainant, the respondent officers, and their Chief. The next steps, which are taken by the Chief, depend on the nature of the findings: unsubstantiated, or substantiated; if substantiated, the matter may proceed to a disciplinary hearing.

At the heart of the reviews is how police missed two homicides, before a third happened in the same house at 3635 Pitch Pine Cres. In 2010, three years before Caleb was killed, Bridget was found dead at the bottom of the stairs of the family home, steps from the powder room where, in 2009, she had discovered Bills body.

Following Star stories about the case, Ontarios Chief Coroner also announced an internal review of the Harrison death investigations and concealed homicides  deaths going back decades that were written off as natural, accidental, suicidal or undetermined but were later revealed to be criminally suspicious.

Police did not treat the deaths of Bill and Bridget as homicides until their son was murdered in 2013.

The death of Caleb, 40, who was found strangled in his bed in August 2013, finally led police to take a closer look at the family history, including an acrimonious relationship with his former spouse, Melissa Merritt, mother to his two children.

Merritt and her new partner, Christopher Fattore, with whom she had four younger children, were charged in the deaths of all three Harrisons.

In a criminal trial that concluded in January 2018, prosecutors alleged that Merritt and Fattore conspired to murder her former spouse and his mother, while Fattore committed the acts. Fattore alone was charged with the second-degree murder of Bill.

Prosecutors argued the Harrisons were murdered at key moments in a bitter custody battle over Merritt and Calebs two children. Bill died the same day Merritt and Fattore fled Ontario with the Harrison children in contravention of a court order that gave the grandparents their sons share of custody while he was incarcerated for an impaired driving death.

Bridget died the day before she was to give a victim impact statement at Merritts parental abduction trial, at a time when Bridget had sole interim custody of the children. Three years later, Caleb died the night before a 50-50 summer custody split with Merritt was to revert to sole custody for him.

In January 2018, Merritt and Fattore were convicted of first-degree murder in Calebs death. Fattore was also found guilty of murdering Bridget while Merritts charge in her former mother-in-laws death resulted in a mistrial after the jury could not reach a verdict. Fattore was found not guilty of murdering Bill. Merritt and Fattore have both filed appeals.

After the verdicts, relatives of the Harrison family called for an independent public inquiry, alleging that police and coroners failed to adequately investigate the first two deaths. No inquiry has been called.

The only independent probe so far  the OIPRD police conduct investigation  has dragged on for far longer than the four- to six-month wait the family had anticipated.

The Death Investigation Oversight Council, which oversees the work of the provinces coroners and forensic pathologists, conducted its own review and has recommended that the Office of the Chief Coroner call an inquest, chief coroner Dr. Dirk Huyer said Friday.

The recommendation is something that Ive been thinking long and hard about, said Huyer, who added he wants to speak to the family and consider more factors before making a final decision.
Express News Service By

NEW DELHI: A week after violence rocked the national capitals northeast district, an uneasy calm prevailed in the area on Saturday as municipal workers began clearing the remnants of the brutalities from the areas streets.

Several shops opened for business after days and customers flocked to them buying daily wares and groceries, even as security personnel conducted flag marches.

They also urged residents to not pay attention to rumours on social media and report them to the police.

It is only the smaller shops that have opened today. The bigger shops and showrooms have still not opened and their owners are being cautious, a showroom owner, whose property was attacked during the riots, said Shakib, a resident of Noor-e-Ilahi, said people selling vegetables on carts made rounds of colonies.

Not many, only a couple of them could be seen. The rates are still a little high than the usual, but at least they have resumed sale, he said.

Residents who took shelter at Al-Hind hospital have lunch on Saturday.

The Public Works Department (PWD) and the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) on Saturday deployed several big cranes and bulldozers to clear the streets in Jaffarabad, Bhajanpura, Chand Bagh, Khajuri Khas, Brijpuri, Shiv Vihar, Maujpur and Karawal Nagar.



The EDMC and PWD workers were also seen cleaning the roads as at a number of places the bricks, shattered glasses and furnitures were strewn on the streets. Water sprinkler vehicles were deployed to settle down the dust and ashes on the violence-hit streets.



ALSO READ | Delhi riots: Communal frenzy leaves orphaned children scarred for life

Meanwhile, state health minister Satyendar Jain visited GTB hospital to take stock of situation and the arrangements made for the injured.



We are monitoring the medical condition of all the victims and are committed to take every possible step to ensure their speedy recovery, said Jain.



A delegation from National Minority Commission including Chairman Syed Gayoor ul Hasan Rizvi visited the riot-affected areas.

The commission met the people affected by the riots, and also appealed to them to maintain mutual brotherhood and harmony, the commissions delegation also inspected the burnt shops and houses during the riots and Hindus and Muslims expressed their deep condolences to all the victims. During this time, the police administration was also instructed that there should be no justice with any victim, whoever has suffered any kind of loss the Commission said in a statement.
Oprah Winfrey has taken a tumble on stage.

The media mogul, 66, quipped wrong shoes after her dramatic fall.

The moment was captured on film by the Los Angeles Times.

Winfrey is currently on her 2020 Vision speaking tour and the fall happened as she was talking about wellness at The Forum in Los Angeles.

Special guests on various dates include Michelle Obama, Lady Gaga, Dwayne Johnson and Jennifer Lopez.

Say goodbye to procrastination, denial, feeling stuck and wishing for a better life, Winfrey has said of the event.

This is going to be a day-long party for everyone, celebrating all that you are, and all that youre meant to be.
Director Homi Adajania has come out a better person after working with Irrfan Khan on "Angrezi Medium", as the time he spent with the actor gave him a new perspective on life.

Irrfan was diagnosed with neuroendocrine tumour in 2018. The actor stayed away from the public eye as he underwent treatment in the UK. He started filming for "Angrezi Medium" in April last year.

"'Angrezi Medium' has changed me as a person. It has made me a better, lighter person. The way I would approach a film before, I was finicky about the actor not giving me right pitch and things that are not in your control. All that has gone out of the window.

"I will probably make films more often now as I have realised that there is a light way of making films. One should chill, have fun, enjoy while making a movie and it will all come through. This is the way one should be. I am not going to take these characters home and cry, fret and shout, it is not necessary. As a life lesson I learnt why do we make things complicated and fret about it," Homi told PTI in an interview.

The filmmaker, best known for films "Being Cyrus", "Cocktail" and "Finding Fanny", believes Irrfan has played a huge part in his transformation.

"That is the only reason to change. The resilience, strength and spirit that guy has, considering he was under treatment and to be able to see that, who are you to complain about anything? Bizarrely we were feeding off his strength rather than him feeding off ours. It was a different experience for everyone who was involved. It was a magical journey."



Homi said the team of film never "tip-toed" around the actor's health issues.

"We never lied about it. Irrfan didn't want pity or sympathy from us, he just wanted love and support. Suddenly when everyone was being like that, it gave us a glimpse that the world can be like this. And there was never tip-toeing about the matter.

"He loved the fact that we could cry, laugh about him being sick and sometimes get frustrated about him being sick but there was never any filter."



The director said Irrfan has seen the rough cut of "Angrezi Medium" and he thoroughly enjoyed it.

"When I went and showed him the trailer, he chuckled like a baby. It was so good to see it. He enjoyed the rough cut of the movie and more than that it brought back the memories of the shoot. At some level, it was an experience which we didn't want it to get over. When it got over there was so much to take away."



"Angrezi Medium" is a sequel to 2017's sleeper hit "Hindi Medium", which talked about the class divide. The new film, Homi said, explores parent-child relationship.

The film focuses on a father (Irrfan) and his daughter (Radhika Madan), who wishes to study abroad. It chronicles the difficulties he faces in order to fulfil her dream.

Produced by Dinesh Vijan's Maddock Films, "Angrezi Medium", also features Deepak Dobriyal, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranvir Shorey, Dimple Kapadia, Zakir Hussain, and Pankaj Tripathi.

It is scheduled to be released on March 13.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The stabbing of a couple in Amesbury Saturday left a woman dead and her husband seriously injured.

Authorities from the office of Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett said 27-year-old John Brittan is now facing a murder charge in the attack.

Brittan, of Amesbury, is expected to be arraigned Monday in Newburyport District Court. Authorities did not discuss a motive in the killing and did not publicly disclose the victims names.

The husband and wife who were stabbed are both 65 years old.

Officers were called to Chester Street Saturday around 4:05 p.m. for a report of a stabbing. Police found the husband and wife with injuries.

The woman died at a Boston hospital Saturday night. Her husband is recovering at a New Hampshire hospital.
It is about being fair, just and reasonable and allowing gender equality in the spirit and purport, she said.

New Delhi: Women officers seeking permanent commission (PC) in the Indian Navy have submitted before Supreme Court that their plea for PC is not to seek a welfare measure but equal opportunity in nation-building roles. Supreme Court is now in the final stage of delivering judgment on the petition of women officers seeking the permanent commission in the Indian Navy retrospectively.

In a written submission in Supreme Court, Commander Seema Chaudhary said that women officers should be allowed a fair chance to serve as proud officers, in service to the nation.

It is submitted that the plea of Women Officers of the Indian Navy to serve as Permanent Commission Officers of the Indian Navy, with fairness, and in a just and reasonable manner, is not a welfare measure being sought by the women officers, she said. She said that the issue is about allowing women, who are competent and capable, equal opportunity in nation-building roles.

It is about being fair, just and reasonable and allowing gender equality in the spirit and purport, she said.

In 2008, the Indian Navy had allowed PC to women officers from the Short Service Commission. However, it was not given to officers who were already serving in the Indian Navy before the provision of PC for SSC. Women Officers were inducted for the first time in the Indian Navy in 1991.

Cdr Seema Chaudhary was commissioned in the Indian Navy in August 2007 in JAG Branch.

Last month Supreme Court had said that women officers in the Indian army from the Short Service Commission (SSC) will be eligible for PC and holding of command in non-combat. The SC order had said the provision of PC will be applied retrospectively and for all women officers in 10 branches where Army had allowed PC in 2019 will be eligible for it.

The Supreme Court order had also said that some 255 women officers in Indian army who are in service for 14-20 years and some 77 women officers who have above 20 years service would be given an option of PC within three months.
Welcome to Money Diaries, where were tackling what might be the last taboo facing modern working women: money. Were asking women how they spend their hard-earned money during a seven-day period  and were tracking every last dollar.



Today: a Communications Director who makes $76,000 per year and spends some of her money this week on collagen powder.

Occupation: Communications Director

Industry: Non-Profit

Age: 30

Location: Los Angeles

Salary: $76,000 + ~$4,000 bonus and ~$1,200 side hustle

Paycheck Amount (Biweekly): $2,019

Gender: Cis Woman



Monthly Expenses

Rent: $1,263 (I live with my plants)

Student Loans: $569 (Im on an IBR plan and owe $80,000. I have 60 payments remaining before I can apply for PSLF.)

Savings: ~$400 (I have $17,500 in a high yield savings account)

401(k): $148.60 pre-tax, I contribute 5% and my company contributes 16% (balance is $40,000)

Health/Vision/Dental: $26.39 pre-tax (my company covers about 95% of my insurance costs)

ClassPass/Roller Derby Dues: $124

Car Insurance: $123

Cell Phone: $102

Internet: $75

Gas/Electricity: $50-$70

Hulu: $11.99 (I share with my friend who shares with me) Netflix/Spotify/HBO/Disney+: $0 (friends accounts)

Medium: $5

Day One

7 a.m.  My boyfriend, R., wakes me up with a goodbye kiss. Im off for Presidents Day, but R. has to work. He tells me I can sleep at his house for as long as I want to, but Im ready to get the day started too. Theres a Costco on my way home so I stop to fill up my tank ($38). I also stop at Ralphs to get groceries for the week ($47.87). I prefer supporting local coffee shops but I dont want to make a third stop and the Starbucks drive-thru is so convenient. I get a medium Americano ($3.25). $89.12

11:30 a.m.  I make egg and avocado breakfast tacos when I get home and spend the morning doing some light cleaning. I head to a class I signed up for through ClassPass, but it doesnt cost me any credits thanks to a promotion. I usually have to feed the parking meter when I take this class but its free today because of the holiday. Its a full-body workout with a focus on back and shoulders.

Story continues

2 p.m.  I eat a homemade acai bowl with muesli from Trader Joes for lunch. I dont get the texture quite right but it tastes good. I make a fresh batch of dry shampoo since Im almost out and I also make more deodorizing spray for my roller derby gear. Derby funk is real but the rose petal witch hazel I use is antibacterial and helps with the smell in between washes. I water my plants and park in front of my TV for a few hours.

7 p.m.  I eat an apple with a heaping tablespoon of crunchy peanut butter for dinner since Im not very hungry. I start responding to several text messages Ive been ignoring all day. Ive grown to dislike texting and find it so taxing. Everyone starts texting me back right away. I knew this was a dangerous game. I wrap things up within an hour, shower again, and jump into bed. I fall asleep to the sweet, sweet sound of The Real Housewives of Atlanta.

Daily Total: $89.12

Day Two

5:30 a.m.  I wake up and get ready for work. Most mornings, getting ready for work involves some form of meal prep. Today, I hard boil eggs for the week and gather my salad ingredients for lunch. I water a plant or two and run out the door at 6:30 a.m.

8 a.m.  I have a hard-boiled egg and a banana for breakfast while I respond to emails.

11:30 a.m.  The workday drags on. A lot of my work is project-based and my major projects for the year have not launched yet. I prep my salad for lunch  spinach, yellow bell pepper, garbanzo beans, salami, avocado, and an egg.

5 p.m.  I get home and try to take a quick nap before my 6:30 p.m. workout class. I do not succeed but do watch a little TV.

7:45 p.m.  Whew that class was hard. Beyonces 7/11 came on at exactly the halfway point of the class while I was struggling on the ladder machine and it gave me the second wind I needed to not quit. I am Beyonce, always. I make a protein shake when I get home and cook some chicken breasts that Ill eat later this week. I finally jump in the shower and get ready for bed. Lights out at 10.

Daily Total: $0

Day Three

5:30 a.m.  I wake up feeling sore. Its been three days of workout classes (including Sunday) and Im excited for this rest day. I make coffee at home and get ready for work. I leave at 6:45.

12 p.m.  I have a salad for lunch. Its the same one as yesterday except this time I remember to bring feta cheese from home so I throw that in.

6 p.m.  After another day that dragged on, Im excited to see R. He picks me up and we go to a new taco spot. I try a keto taco, which basically means that the tortilla is replaced by hard, melted cheese, and Im here for it. Im also here for the guac that tastes very much like Tijuana guac. I get a Jarritos brand mineral water. Its the undisputed best fizzy water out there, fight me. I pay for the meal. $22.68

7:30 p.m.  R. drinks a glass of wine and I have a beer when we get to my place. I get a little buzzed from the beer but have enough willpower to wash my makeup off and I manage to slather on some rosehip oil before bed. We watch trashy reality TV from Mexico before we fall asleep around 10:30 p.m.

Daily Total: $22.68

Day Four

5:30 a.m.  We wake up and R. rushes home to get ready for work. I shower, make coffee, get ready, and run out the door at 6:50.

8:30 a.m.  A banana and a hard-boiled egg for breakfast once again! I spend my morning mapping out my projects for the year and review my 2020 goals in our performance tracker. I also narrow down the conferences I want to attend and update my work calendar.

1 p.m.  My afternoon meetings run late so I have a late lunch. Id planned to pack my lunch last night but that beer had me acting a fool. I pick up chicken tikka masala and garlic naan from a nearby cafe. $9.57

5:30 p.m.  Im home and have time to kill before roller derby practice. I spend a few hours watching Ericka Harts IG stories. Shes doing a series on Black History Month and theres so, so much to learn. Ive Venmod her in the past and make a note to send her some more when I get my next paycheck. I also want to support some of the folks shes featured in her posts.

10 p.m.  Im home from practice! I wanted to push myself more but my knee felt wonky. Ive had to stop skating in the past due to injuries so I know how far I can push myself. I wish wed done more hitting drills but we focus more on speed and I need the endurance practice since Im not running as much anymore. I eat an apple with crunchy peanut butter for dinner. It makes no sense but I find it hard to eat before or after I skate. Im slacking on my skincare game this week, but I throw on my A313 retinol and call it a day.

Daily Total: $9.57

Day Five

6:30 a.m.  I wake up, throw some workout clothes on and head out to a class at yet another studio. Im short two credits from my monthly pass so I purchase them for the class. $5

7:45 a.m.  I pick up an Americano at my favorite local coffee shop after class. I always do this when I work from home, even if I dont do a morning workout. I love routines. I love coffee. $4.25

8:30 a.m.  Already on email after showering and eating some breakfast tacos I made. I throw on some tinted lip balm since I have two video conference calls scheduled later. Im vain. This is who I am.

12:45 p.m.  I decide to do two loads of laundry. Thankfully, both machines in my complex are available. At this point in my life, I kind of dont care if I never own a home. Read my lips: In. Unit. Washer. Dryer. I shred the chicken breast I cooked earlier in the week and make chicken salad. Its a healthier version because I use a bit of greek yogurt and a whole avocado as the cream. I quickly make it unhealthy when I throw it on top of a tostada.

7 p.m.  I log off work and lounge. R. has dinner plans with his mom. He invites me over but I pass because I have work stuff through my side hustle in the morning. I mess around on my phone while I watch TV. I remember that Im out of protein powder so I order that along with collagen powder and Amlactin body lotion from Costco. $75.52

Daily Total: $84.77

Day Six

6:15 a.m.  Why did I agree to do this again? I get up and start getting ready for the day. Thankfully, I have one hard-boiled egg left and Im thankful for the protein. I know I said Im not a huge Starbucks fan, but the drive-thru is CLUTCH. Another medium Americano. $3.25

1 p.m.  Im finally home after a very stressful morning/afternoon. I presented two workshops in a low-income neighborhood on the importance of the census through my side hustle. Everything that could go wrong, did. First, I couldnt find my materials then I couldnt find the workshop location. I managed to get it together, but all the hiccups resulted in me listening to my favorite emo songs on full volume during my drive home.

2:40 p.m.  R. picks me up and drives us to one of our favorite steakhouses. Hes excited about the food, but all I want is a Moscow Mule. Theirs is my absolute favorite and after the morning I had, this is much needed. We order appetizers, split a rib plate, and order a second round of drinks. The total is $93 and R. hands over his card, so I pay for the tip. I like to tip with cold hard cash and R. never has cash. $17

5 p.m.  R. and I both lose our buzz since we wait a while before leaving the restaurant. We stop by a liquor store and get two bottles of cheap wine and a bag of Lays. I pay. $13.71

7 p.m.  Jojo Rabbit is finally available to rent. Its a cute movie and we both enjoy it. We both drink two glasses of wine and this plus the heavy food from earlier knocks both of us out by 9:30. Wild Saturday night! $5.99

Daily Total: $39.95

Day Seven

7 a.m.  R. and I wake up and cuddle in bed for a while. I make coffee and then we both start getting ready.

9:30 a.m.  We drive to a local donut shop for breakfast. We order two bagels with cream cheese, donut holes, a coffee for me, and an orange juice for R. I pay. $12.15

10:30 a.m.  Plant shopping time! I dont find anything I want to buy, but R. picks up a new plant. Its okay, Im used to this now. I have finite space so I have to be selective with my plant purchases.

12 p.m.  We drive to the Grove to have lunch at the Original Farmers Market. When we arrive we discover that theres live music in celebration of Mardi Gras. Whoa, okay, this changes everything! Im stoked because I love live music and there are beads for goodness sake. R. also loves to stumble into adventures. Our moods are at 150% and R. immediately buys us beer. I pay for our cheeseburgers. After we eat, R. gets us a pitcher of a blood orange hefeweizen. We bop around for a few hours, collecting beads and then take a few laps around the Grove before we head to the car. R. pays $6 for parking. $27.75

5:30 p.m.  R. drops me off, but since were having such a good time, I decide to meet him back at his place. Normally I would stay home on a Sunday night, but Im off tomorrow and can afford to continue having fun.

7 p.m.  R. and I walk his adorable dog around the block and were all ready for bed when we get home. The dog snores peacefully while R. and I throw on a sheet mask and watch The Wonder Years. We turn the lights off and I end my week the way I wish I ended every week  cuddling next to R. under a weighted blanket knowing I dont have to confront Monday until Tuesday.

Daily Total: $39.90

We want to know: Do you keep up with your exes online? What about your current partners? Ever accidentally liked your ex-boyfriends new girlfriends tweet from 2011? Sound off here about stalking and scrolling through years of Instagrams posted by your exes, current partners, ex-partners of current partners, and current partners of exes for a chance to be featured on the site.

Money Diaries are meant to reflect individual womens experiences and do not necessarily reflect Refinery29s point of view. Refinery29 in no way encourages illegal activity or harmful behavior.



The first step to getting your financial life in order is tracking what you spend  to try on your own, check out our guide to managing your money every day. For more money diaries, click here.



Do you have a Money Diary youd like to share? Submit it with us here.



Have questions about how to submit or our publishing process? Read our Money Diaries FAQ doc here: r29.co/mdfaqs

Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?

A Week In Dallas, TX, On A $120,000 Salary

A Week In Pittsburgh, PA, On A $51,292 Salary

A Week In Morris County, NJ, On A $50,000 Salary
A 37-year-old man died after being attacked by three "unknown miscreants" in Meghalaya's East Khasi Hills district at around 2.45 am on Sunday while violence continued in Shillong and elsewhere.

This took the death toll to three in the violence that the state witnessed since Friday following a conflict over an anti-CAA rally.

Police said unknknown miscreants hurled a petrol bomb at 9.30 pm on Saturday at the residence of Lakshmi Bareh at Pynthorbah in Shillong. But no one was injured in the attack.

Several "non-tribals" who work as carpenters fled their homes at Umtrew in Ri-Bhoi district and took shelter in the jungles after some youths went to their area in a bus at around 3:15 am. They were brought back to their homes by police.

Parts of Meghalaya witnessed violence since a member of the influential Khasi Students' Union (KSU) was killed on Friday afternoon under Shylla police station in East Khasi Hills district. The violence broke out soon after an anti-CAA public meeting organised by KSU. Police said a scuffle broke out between Khasi students and some "non-locals" after the meeting at Ichamati. The angry Khasi students' union members burnt a haystack and pelted stones at the residence of "non-locals" and when they retaliated a member of the Khasi students' union died.

This spilled the violence to the state capital Shillong in which at least seven "non-local" persons were stabbed by a youth on Saturday in which one died.

The administration clamped curfew and imposed restriction on use of mobile internet and SMS service in at least six districts in order to contain the violence.

Tourists stranded:

The state government opened a toll-free number (1800-345-3846) for tourists stranded in Cherapunjee (Sohra), Shillong or any other places nearby, who will be provided free transportation. Two buses will be made available to carry the tourists out of the state. Meghalaya, including Shillong, a hills station is a tourists' attraction

Why the violence?

The KSU is opposed to the CAA and demands introduction of Inner Line Permit (ILP) system in Meghalaya in order to check "adverse impact" of the CAA on the state's tribal population. But sources said some persons, who support CAA got into an argument with the KSU members at Ichamati leading to the violence.

The Centre decided to keep the states having ILP and the areas administered under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution (autonomous) out of the CAA's ambit. Most parts of Meghalaya are under the Sixth Schedule but KSU and other organisations demands ILP in Meghalaya too like in Nagaland, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur. Visitors from rest of the country are required to have a permit under the ILP.
Sorry!

This content is not available in your region
Delhis chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday urged people displaced by riots in north-east Delhi to return to their homes, assuring them governments support in bringing back normalcy.

We r putting best efforts. I am personally trying to ensure that relief reaches each person in need. Our aim is to bring their life back on track. We want people to return to their homes and be welcome by their neighbours, Kejriwal tweeted, a week after communal riots erupted in parts of north-east Delhi from February 23 to 25, killing 42 and injuring over 450.

We r putting best efforts. I am personally trying to ensure that relief reaches each person in need. Our aim is to bring their life back on track. We want people to return to their homes and be welcome by their neighbours. https://t.co/Ge2TVHLU5C  Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) March 1, 2020

Also read: As the dust in Delhi riots settles, scale of tragedy starts to unfold

Areas like Jaffrabad, Maujpur, Babarpur, Chand Bagh, Shiv Vihar, Bhajan Pura and Yamuna Vihar were worst-hit, displacing hundreds of families and resulting in large-scale damage to public properties like schools, hospitals, shops, petrol pump and vehicles.

According to the Delhi police, no fresh deaths were reported on Saturday from riot-affected areas but a shop was set on fire in the Welcome neighbourhood.

The Delhi police has also registered 203 cases, out of which 24 account for murder, and 36 others were under various sections of the Arms Act. The remaining cases were of rioting, attacking police personnel, arson and damaging properties, the police said.

Two special investigation teams (SITs) probing the communal violence had arrested 39 people, some of them having a criminal background. The police seized 39 firearms, 36 of which were country-made pistols, after raids in various parts of Delhi and adjoining states. 46 cartridges were recovered from the arrested suspects, who, police say, were involved in the communal clashes and were identified with the help of video clips.

Also read | Delhi riots: Battered Capital counts its dead
Sir Philip Rutnam has quit the Home Office with a broadside at Priti Patel (Danny Lawson/PA)

The top civil servant at the Home Office has resigned and launched a stinging attack on Home Secretary Priti Patel.

After persistent reports of a major rift between them, Sir Philip Rutnam walked out with all guns blazing, accusing Ms Patel of orchestrating a vicious campaign against him, of lying about her involvement in it and of creating a climate of fear in her department.

His bombshell resignation led to calls from opposition MPs and the senior public servants trade union for the Prime Minister to put a stop to what they claim is a campaign by his chief adviser Dominic Cummings to undermine the civil service.

It comes two weeks after Sajid Javid quit as Boris Johnsons Chancellor after the PM ordered him to fire his team of aides.

In his statement, Sir Philip said the campaign against him included false claims that he had briefed the media against the Home Secretary.

He said: The Home Secretary categorically denied any involvement in this campaign to the Cabinet Office.

I regret I do not believe her. She has not made the effort I would expect to dissociate herself from the comments.

Even despite this campaign I was willing to effect a reconciliation with the Home Secretary.

But despite my efforts to engage with her, Priti Patel has made no effort to engage with me to discuss this.

I believe these events give me very strong grounds to claim constructive, unfair dismissal and I will be pursuing that claim in the courts.

I have received allegations that her conduct has included shouting and swearing, belittling people, making unreasonable and repeated demands  behaviour that created fear and that needed some bravery to call outSir Philip Rutnam on Priti Patel

Sir Philip said his experience has been extreme but I consider there is evidence it was part of a wider pattern of behaviour.

One of my duties as Permanent Secretary was to protect the health, safety and well-being of our 35,000 people.

This created tension with the Home Secretary, and I have encouraged her to change her behaviours.

I have received allegations that her conduct has included shouting and swearing, belittling people, making unreasonable and repeated demands  behaviour that created fear and that needed some bravery to call out.

I know that resigning in this way will have serious implications for me personally  the Cabinet Office offered me a financial settlement that would have avoided this outcome.

I am aware that there will continue to be briefing against me now I have made this decision, but I am hopeful that at least it may not now be directed towards my colleagues or the department.

This has been a very difficult decision but I hope that my stand may help in maintaining the quality of Government in our country  which includes hundreds of thousands of civil servants, loyally dedicated to delivering this Governments agenda.

The resignation comes after simmering tensions between Ms Patel and her Permanent Secretary boiled to the surface last weekend with various reports about a rift between the two.

Sir Philip had a choice to resign & go quietly with financial compensation,instead he has chosen to speak out against the attacks on public servants. I know many thousands of his colleagues will recognise the courage & integrity he is showing in doing so. https://t.co/gGMoUtOr51]  Dave Penman (@FDAGenSec) February 29, 2020

Those reports prompted the head of the civil service Cabinet Secretary Sir Mark Sedwill to tell all civil servants on Monday that advice they give ministers and any debates around it should remain private.

But amid growing concern within Whitehall about the treatment of civil servants, that move went down among staff like a cup of cold sick, according to one source who spoke to the PA news agency about it.

Various reports last weekend suggested Ms Patel had clashed with senior officials, belittled colleagues and was distrusted by intelligence chiefs.

One report suggested Ms Patel had tried to move Sir Philip from her department after they had a series of rows.

Ms Patel expressed concern at the false claims while allies described her as a demanding boss but not a bully.

The Government also denied claims that MI5 chiefs do not trust Ms Patel and were limiting intelligence sharing as a result.

The swirl of reports about turmoil in the Home Office prompted Downing Street to insist on Monday that the Prime Minister has full confidence in Ms Patel.

I regret I do not believe her - utterly explosive. Chaos at the @ukhomeoffice when its supposed to be delivering highly controversial policies. Vital @patel4witham comes to explain herself at @CommonsHomeAffs ASAP. https://t.co/xc3P3fT3Ga  Stephen Doughty MP (@SDoughtyMP) February 29, 2020

But the resignation of Sir Philip is likely to intensify criticism of the Home Secretary and put renewed focus on the drive by Mr Cummings to shake up the civil service.

There was no immediate reaction to Sir Philips statement from either Downing Street or the Home Office.

But opposition MPs and civil service unions claimed it exposed a major crisis within the Government machine.

Dave Penman, general secretary of the FDA, the senior public servants union, said Sir Philips treatment demonstrates once again the destructive consequences of anonymous briefings against public servants who are unable to publicly defend themselves.

He added: This cowardly practice is not only ruining lives and careers, but at a time when the Home Office is being tasked with delivering a demanding Government agenda on immigration, and preparing for a public health emergency, it has diverted energy and resource in to responding to unfounded accusations from sources claiming to be allies of the Home Secretary.

He said Sir Philip had a choice to resign and go quietly with financial compensation. Instead he has chosen to speak out against the attacks on public servants.

And he added: Only the Prime Minister can put a stop to this behaviour and unless he does so, he will have to accept his own responsibility for the consequences.

A spokesman for the Public and Commercial Services Union said: We worked closely with Philip Rutman on issues around bullying and harassment in the department.

We hope his replacement continues with this important work. It is deeply concerning to hear of repeated allegations of bullying by the Home Secretary and this should be investigated thoroughly.

Labours Yvette Cooper, chairwoman of the Commons home affairs committee, said it was appalling that the situation at the Home Office was allowed to deteriorate to such a level that the permanent secretary chose to publicly resign and pursue legal action against the Government.

The former cabinet minister said: The allegations made by Sir Philip Rutnam are very serious and this reflects extremely badly on the Government, not just the Home Office.

To end up with one of the most senior public servants in the country taking court action against one of the great offices of state shows a shocking level of breakdown in the normal functioning of government.

For the Home Secretary and Prime Minister to have allowed things to reach this point is appalling, especially at a time when the Home Office faces crucial challenges with rising violent crime, forthcoming counter-terror legislation, new immigration laws, and sensitive negotiations on post-Brexit security co-operation.

Driving out of office a professional career civil servant is the clearest sign yet of the underlying right wing authoritarian but incompetent nature of the Johnson Government. They will not tolerate dissent yet cant cope with flooding or a poss pandemic  Jon Trickett MP (@jon_trickett) February 29, 2020

Labour shadow Cabinet Office minister Jon Trickett tweeted: Driving out of office a professional career civil servant is the clearest sign yet of the underlying right wing authoritarian but incompetent nature of the Johnson Government.

They will not tolerate dissent yet cant cope with flooding or a poss pandemic.

SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford tweeted: This should set alarm bells ringing not just about @patel4witham and her conduct as Home Sec but how the UK Govt is functioning under @BorisJohnson and the immense influence that Cummings has.

There has to be effective stewardship by the civil service, it cannot be emasculated.

Sir Mark Sedwill issued a brief statement about two hours after Sir Philip quit saying he had accepted his resignation with great regret and adding: I thank him for his long and dedicated career of public service.

Shona Dunn, the Second Permanent Secretary at the Home Office responsible for borders, immigration and citizenship, will become Acting Permanent Secretary with immediate effect.

The Home Offices vital work to keep our citizens safe and our country secure continues uninterrupted.
New Delhi: A boat carrying mostly labourers capsized in Ganga river near Mahuji village in Chanduali in Uttar Pradesh. The incident took place on Saturday (March 01) when several residents were returning home from Ghazipur.

According to reports, the mishap took place due to overloading in the boat. At the time of the incident, there were almost 40 people on the boat, much more than the 20-people capacity of the boat. Most of the passengers were women and children.

Locals then alerted the district administration after which a rescue team arrived at the spot.

Visuals: Chandauli: Search and rescue operation underway for 5 persons including two women and three girls who went missing after their boat capsized in the river in Mahuji village last night.

Chandauli: Search and rescue operation underway for 5 persons including two women and three girls who went missing after their boat capsized in the river in Mahuji village last night. https://t.co/q26QcTfUbg pic.twitter.com/D288xLiiFN  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 1, 2020

A team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) was also rushed to the spot from Varanasi and heavy police deployment was being seen in the district. The District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police were also at the spot to oversee the rescue operations.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also took note of the situation and ordered senior officials to act swiftly and initiate rescue operations without wasting precious time.

Here's a list of missing women in Chandauli boat tragedy:

1.Phoolwasi (56), wife of Dudhnath, Murlipur

2.Urmila (30), wife of Veerbahadur, Mahuji

3.Kavita (15), Murlipur

4.Jyoti (10), Mahuji

5. Jyoti (14), Kusumhi
Member of Parliament for Adansi Asokwa, Kwabena Tahiru Hammond, is demanding the payment of US$500 million dollars in tax revenue by petroleum firm Anardarko before it exits the country.

The Energy Ministry is set to approve the sale of the Ghana operations of Anadarko Petroleum Corporation to one of the country's oil production partners, French oil giant, TOTAL SA.

This comes after Anadarko sold its four operations in Africa  Algeria, South Africa, Mozambique and Ghana  to TOTAL SA, an upstream exploration and production company, for $8.8 billion last year.

But according to Mr. Hammond, the firm is adamant in settling what is due Ghana in terms of outstanding taxes. KT Hammond insists Anadarko must pay the amount.

What the government is saying is very simple, pay our taxes and you can go. The asking price is small (US$500m), pay up and you can go; but they (Anadarko) say they will not pay. I have their letters indicating that they will not pay.

I think in one of the African countries they paid them the taxes they owed and paid Chevron too. By our calculations they benefited to the tune of US$4.4bn over the period that they have been here, Mr. Hammond said.

Anadarko has been making one million dollars per day since they came into this country about thirteen years ago. They have made so much and now they going out, give us one year out of the thirteen years; is that a very bad deal? They are complaining. They said they won't pay, he added.

The estimated value of US$4.4 billion translated into a daily gain of about US$1 million for the period that Anadarko had been in operation in Ghana.

Anadarko has been operating in the country since 2006, and until the sale of its operations last year, it owned 24.077 percent of the Jubilee Field, which is Ghana's first oil field, and 17 percent of the Tweneboah-Enyera-Ntomme (TEN) project, an integrated oil and gas project.

citinewsroom
Statement by the Secretary General after Article 4 consultations

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

28 Feb. 2020

Press Release (2020) 029

Issued on 28 Feb. 2020



The North Atlantic Council has just met, following a request by Turkey to hold consultations under Article 4 of NATO's founding Washington Treaty on the situation in Syria.

Under Article 4 of the Treaty, any Ally can request consultations whenever, in the opinion of any of them, their territorial integrity, political independence or security is threatened.

I spoke to the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu last night about the situation in Syria, and he requested these consultations.

Allies offer their deepest condolences for the death of Turkish soldiers in last night's bombing near Idlib.

Allies condemn the continued indiscriminate air strikes by the Syrian regime and its backer Russia in Idlib province.

We call on them to stop their offensive.

To respect international law.

And to back UN efforts for a peaceful solution.

This dangerous situation must be deescalated to avoid further worsening of the horrendous humanitarian situation in the region, and to allow urgent humanitarian access for those trapped in Idlib. We urge an immediate return to the 2018 ceasefire.

Today's meeting is a sign of solidarity with Turkey.

Turkey is the NATO Ally most affected by the terrible conflict in Syria, which has suffered the most terrorist attacks, and which hosts millions of refugees.

NATO continues to support Turkey with a range of measures, including by augmenting its air defences, which helps Turkey against the threat of missile attacks from Syria.

I thank Turkey for briefing Allies regularly on the situation in Syria.

Allies will continue to follow developments on the South-eastern border of NATO very closely.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Ruling out any fissures in the



Shiv Sena-led coalition government in Maharashtra, senior NCP leader and deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Sunday invoked a popular television commercial on unbreakable wall to underline the unity of the ruling constituents.

Pawar's comments at the convention of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) here came against the backdrop of statements by some BJP leaders that the ruling dispensation comprising the Sena, the NCP and the Congress might not last long owing to contrasting view points of the member parties.

Recently, senior RSS leader Suresh 'Bhaiyyaji' Joshi caused a flutter saying that former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis of BJP will not remain in opposition for long.

"Some people are talking about when the wall of the Maha Vikas Aghadi will develop cracks. But that wall is unbreakable due to the strongly cemented bonds (among the three parties).

"Yeh Diwar Tutati kyu NahiYe Mahavikas Aghadi ki Diwar tutegi kaise? Ambuja..Narmada...ACC cement se jo bani hai. ('Why this wall of the Maha Vikas Aghadi is not breaking'. How will it break because it is made up of Ambuja, ACC and Birla cement..," Pawar said while mimicking the television commercial.

The Sharad Pawar-led NCP shares power with the Sena and the Congress in the state.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar had repeatedly asserted that the state government will last its full term.

The Sena, a former ally of the BJP, joined hands with the two ideologically opposite parties after the state assembly elections in 2019 to form a government.

At the convention, the NCP flagged off its "Mission BMC 2022" in view of the upcoming elections to the Mumbai civic body.

The party has put banners across the metropolis highlighting the "Mission 2022".

On the occasion, Pawar put the target for his party to win 50-60 seats in the 227-member Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in the elections. The NCP has 8 corporators in the civic body.

The BMC has been ruled by the Sena.

He also said the NCP should win at least 10 seats from Mumbai in the next assembly elections.

Hinting at the NCP's plans to expand its base in Mumbai, which the Sena considers as its backyard, Pawar said he will dedicate a day every month for resolving the issues related to the metropolis.

Listing various welfare projects launched by the state government after coming to power, the deputy CM said the MVA government has made learning of the Marathi language compulsory in all schools up to class 10 and launched 'Shiv Bhojan' subsidised lunch plate scheme for the poor.

During his speech, Pawar refuted reports that the state government stopped any development-related works in the state out of a political vendetta.

"Only doubtful works and the works not meant for the welfare of the society were stopped," he said.

The opposition BJP had accused the state government of either reversing or putting brakes on the projects launched by it during 2014-19.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The most senior civil servant at the Home Office quit yesterday and launched an astonishing broadside against Priti Patel.

After months of Whitehall warfare spilled over into a lurid public briefing war, Sir Philip Rutnam  dubbed 'Sir Calamity'  dramatically summoned the BBC to announce his walkout and vowed to sue the Government.

He accused the Home Secretary of orchestrating a 'vicious' campaign against him and claimed Civil Service chiefs had tried to buy him off in return for his silence.

He went on to directly accuse Ms Patel of involvement in plots to oust him and of creating a climate of fear in her department by 'shouting and swearing'.

But critics hit back to brand Sir Philip's Whitehall career a 'litany of failure'.

And allies of the Home Secretary declared victory last night, claiming the former banker 'knew he was toast' and had 'jumped before he was pushed'.

One source claimed Sir Philip's public civil war with the Home Secretary was 'the only way to save face' after his position became untenable.

The explosive resignation came after simmering tensions between Ms Patel and her Permanent Secretary boiled to the surface last weekend, with various reports about a rift between the two.

And it comes amid growing tension between Boris Johnson's Government and the Civil Service machine.

Sir Philip vowed to sue the Government for constructive dismissal after his name appeared on a 'hitlist' of senior civil servants that Downing Street wanted to sack that was leaked to the media.

It is understood that tensions in the Home Office came to a head in September after Sir Philip blocked a pre-Election announcement that Ms Patel wanted to roll out Tasers for police.

It was also felt at the top of Government that Sir Philip had been 'a roadblock to change' and has consistently tried to stymie reforms needed to get Britain ready for Brexit.

One source claimed Sir Philip's public civil war with the Home Secretary was 'the only way to save face' after his position became untenable

Allies of the Home Secretary declared victory last night, claiming the former banker 'knew he was toast' and had 'jumped before he was pushed'

Other insiders say the pair had been engaged in a vicious turf war since the moment Ms Patel was appointed.

When two of Ms Patel's praetorian guard of special advisers left the department last month, a slew of negative media stories about the Home Secretary began to appear.

A source said: 'This is what happens when you remove a Minister's political protection. The haters declared open season on her and there was no one there to fight her corner.'

Sir Philip Rutnam's statement in full 'I have this morning resigned as Permanent Secretary of the Home Office. 'I take this decision with great regret after a career of 33 years. 'I am making this statement now because I will be issuing a claim against the Home Office for constructive dismissal. 'In the last 10 days I have been the target of a vicious and orchestrated briefing campaign. 'It has been alleged that I have briefed the media against the Home Secretary. 'This, along with many other claims, is completely false. 'The Home Secretary categorically denied any involvement in this campaign to the Cabinet Office. I regret I do not believe her. She has not made the efforts I would expect to dissociate herself from the comments. 'Even despite this campaign, I was willing to effect a reconciliation with the Home Secretary - as requested by the Cabinet Secretary on behalf of the Prime Minister. But despite my efforts to engage with her, Priti Patel has made no effort to engage with me to discuss this. 'I believe that these events give me very strong grounds to claim constructive unfair dismissal, and I will be pursuing that claim in the courts. 'My experience has been extreme but I consider there is evidence it was part of a wider pattern of behaviour. 'One of my duties as Permanent Secretary was to protect the health, safety and well-being of our 35,000 people. 'This created tension with the Home Secretary, and I have encouraged her to change her behaviours. 'I have received allegations that her conduct has included shouting and swearing, belittling people, making unreasonable and repeated demands - behaviour that created fear and that needed some bravery to call out. 'I know that resigning in this way will have serious implications for me personally - the Cabinet Office offered me a financial settlement that would have avoided this outcome. 'I am aware that there will continue to be briefing against me now I have made this decision, but I am hopeful that at least it may not now be directed towards my colleagues or the department. 'This has been a very difficult decision but I hope that my stand may help in maintaining the quality of Government in our country - which includes hundreds of thousands of civil servants, loyally dedicated to delivering this Government's agenda. 'I will make no further comment at this stage.' Advertisement

Further stories appeared in the media claiming Ms Patel had clashed with senior officials, belittled colleagues and was 'a bully'.

Those reports prompted the head of the Civil Service, Cabinet Secretary Sir Mark Sedwill, to tell all civil servants that advice they give Ministers and 'any debates' around it should remain 'private'.

It culminated with a wickedly false claim that Ms Patel was distrusted by intelligence chiefs that sparked an unprecedented public denial from MI5.

Last night, Sir Mark was also under pressure after it emerged he was on a family holiday during the stand-off and had also been out of the country on security visits to Europe in previous critical days in his other role as National Security Adviser.

A Government source said: 'There is going to be a big row about Sir Mark Sedwill's job sharing. He can't be Cabinet Secretary and on some security jolly every time the Civil Service needs leadership.

Sir Philip has never been short of controversy after admitting fault in a series of high-profile blunders when he was the most senior politician at the Department for Transport. A No 10 source said he was a 'poster boy for failure'.

Many Ministers were also shocked he kept his job after the Windrush scandal that saw Home Secretary Amber Rudd fall on her sword. A probe found that Ms Rudd had been badly advised by her officials, but Sir Philip survived the row by allegedly going 'missing'.

In his incendiary resignation statement, Sir Philip said the campaign against him included 'false' claims that he had briefed the media against Ms Patel.

He added: 'The Home Secretary categorically denied any involvement in this campaign to the Cabinet Office. I regret I do not believe her. I believe these events give me very strong grounds to claim constructive, unfair dismissal and I will be pursuing that claim in the courts.

'I know that resigning in this way will have serious implications for me personally  the Cabinet Office offered me a financial settlement that would have avoided this outcome.

I hope that my stand may help in maintaining the quality of Government in our country  which includes hundreds of thousands of civil servants, loyally dedicated to delivering this Government's agenda.'

Critics of the Government leapt on the row to accuse Boris Johnson of declaring war on the Civil Service. Dave Penman, of the FDA public servants' union, said Sir Philip's treatment 'demonstrates once again the destructive consequences of anonymous briefings against public servants who are unable to publicly defend themselves'.

Labour's Yvette Cooper, who heads up the Commons Home Affairs Committee, said it was 'appalling' that the situation at the Home Office was allowed to deteriorate to such a level.

One, of many, Cabinet Ministers sprang to Ms Patel's defence  praising her determination in 'tackling incompetence in the Home Office'. He also said she was the victim of 'snobbery from Oxbridge intellectuals'.

Paid more than the PM, it was a miracle he was still in his job: How Sir Philip Rutnam's name has become a byword for bungled advice and toxic clashes with Ministers

Most people would have never heard of Sir Philip Rutnam, 54, before his highly unusual resignation yesterday morning.

Critics of Boris Johnson's Government and his sweeping reforms to the troubled immigration system will have a new hero following the incendiary walkout, but they will be choosing an unlikely champion in the man paid more than the Prime Minister, yet lucky not to have been axed on numerous occasions.

For those who have kept a keen eye on Whitehall over the past decade, the name Rutnam is a byword for bungled advice and toxic clashes with Ministers.

Dubbed 'Sir Calamity' by exasperated Downing Street officials, Rutnam  who was paid 175,000 with a gold-plated pension as Home Office Permanent Secretary  always seemed to be 'missing' when his neck was on the line.

Home Secretary Priti Patel's permanent secretary Sir Philip Rutnam resigned today with an extraordinary blast at his former boss over a 'vicious and orchestrated' campaign against him

In the rare times he has been under pressure, in a classic mandarin style he had always been able to brazen his involvement out, often leaving MPs gobsmacked by his excuses.

In the wake of the Windrush immigration scandal that ousted former Home Secretary Amber Rudd, Rutnam was hauled before the Commons to explain his role in the affair. 'I've been in the department for a year  I'm not an expert on the immigration system,' was his curt reply.

That 2018 appearance before the Home Affairs Select Committee has become something of parliamentary folklore after Rutnam twice scolded his political interrogators for not providing him with their questions before he appeared.

A former Home Office insider said Rutnam, whose Who's Who entry says his hobby is 'taking family up mountains', had been 'nowhere to be seen' during the scandal and two more junior officials were moved on instead.

They blasted: 'Then, just like now, he oversaw a culture of politicised leaks and egotistical briefing from the department and has managed to avoid taking any responsibility or face any consequence for the Windrush scandal, instead staying in the role he gets paid more than the Prime Minister for, and throwing his deputy and others under the bus.'

But after the Tories' Election victory in December, Rutnam must have realised he was on thin ice. Senior figures in the Tory party had previously called for his head, including Johnson ally Shaun Bailey.

The candidate for London Mayor said Rutnam had to go to 'restore confidence in the Home Office'.

Born in South London, Rutnam attended Dulwich College, the same school as Nigel Farage. His career path was that of a consummate mandarin. Public school, Cambridge and a spell at the Treasury.

He briefly worked in finance for Morgan Stanley before becoming a quango-crat and a senior official at the Business department.

Earlier in his career, he had been humble enough to admit when he was wrong. During the 2012 West Coast rail fiasco, he was forced to admit 'deeply regrettable and completely unacceptable mistakes', adding that 'more important than the role of Ministers is the role of senior officials, starting with me'.

However, in true Whitehall fashion, such remarkable disasters did not stop him climbing the greasy pole.
A senior Irish health official has urged the public not to panic about coronavirus, insisting the risk level remained low in the country.

Deputy chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn said the first confirmed case of Covid-19 in the Irish Republic, coming two days after the first case in Northern Ireland, did not change the risk status on the island.

The authorities are working to identify those who have had contact with the male patient who lives in the east of the country  a process Dr Glynn described as complex.

Like the woman who is being treated for Coronavirus north of the border, he contracted it in an affected area in northern Italy.

The patient, who self-identified his symptoms, is reportedly being treated in a Dublin hospital.

A case of COVID-19 has now been identified in the Rep of Ireland. The person is receiving treatment in hospital, with appropriate infection prevention measures. The risk to the general public is still low. This risk may change. People may continue to go to work, school, as usual.  HSE Ireland (@HSELive) March 1, 2020

Dr Glynn said the state was prepared if the outbreak worsened. He said in such circumstances the Government may be forced to take measures including school closures.

The ECDC, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, has been clear that the situation that weve seen evolve in Italy, theres a moderate to high likelihood that that will occur in other countries such as Ireland, he told RTE Radio One.

We are preparing for that here, but that notwithstanding, we still remain in a containment phase here.

Weve had one case, there is no evidence of community transmission so far in Ireland.

It wont be surprising if we have more cases. But the confirmation of the case here, and the case in Northern Ireland in the past number of days, does not change our risk status and does not change our approach.

Story continues

He added: I would reiterate again, that the risk to an individual in Ireland at the moment remains low, people should not panic, but they should certainly appraise themselves of the measures that they themselves can take to protect themselves, and first and foremost thats about following the correct information and using basic hand hygiene and taking those measures regularly and appropriately.

Dr Ronan Glynn said advice on whether events like St Patricks Day parades should go ahead would be issued within days (Brian Lawless/PA)

The deputy chief medical officer said it was possible that school closures would be required if the risk status changed.

So its possible that measures like that will need to be taken and well need to continue to monitor the situation clearly as it evolves, he said.

But again I reiterate that, at the moment, were in containment phase. Thats not something (school closures) we envisage in the near future.

But obviously, were monitoring developments and if measures like that need to be taken, they will be taken and the reasoning behind those measures will be communicated to the public.

Asked about whether large gatherings such as this months St Patricks Day events will need to be cancelled, Dr Glynn said officials were still working on criteria, which would be made public in the coming days.

Clearly there will be events of major or national significance that will require input from public health doctors and medical expertise, he said.

STATEMENT: @SimonHarrisTD a confirmed case "is not unexpected. We have been preparing for this since January." "I would strongly encourage people to follow the guidance of the National Public Health Emergency Team, led by the Chief Medical Officer."https://t.co/s1F4AoYUqQ  Department of Health (@roinnslainte) February 29, 2020

The medical expert said people would not currently be exposing themselves to an increased risk if they attended large public gatherings.

He also ruled out entry testing for the virus at airports  potentially by taking passenger temperatures  insisting such measures did not work.

Dr Glynn provided an update on efforts to reach those who had been in contact with the male patient.

The process of contact tracing is a complex one, it only started less than 24 hours ago and is ongoing, he said on Sunday.

There is a whole range of risk assessments that underpin that contact tracing process. Public health doctors commenced it last night  its ongoing.

He added: What I can say is that the people, in the first instance the doctors who need to have this information, have this information.

And they will be contacting the contacts who need to have more information.

Hours before the confirmed case was announced on Saturday, Government ministers on both sides of the Irish border held talks on how to co-ordinate their response to the coronavirus spread.

Statement by Health Minister on confirmed coronavirus case in Republic of Ireland https://t.co/g5a7jL6btm  Department of Health (@healthdpt) March 1, 2020

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Health Minister Simon Harris held a conference call with Stormont First Minister Arlene Foster, Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill and Health Minister Robin Swann.

Senior health officials from both jurisdictions were also involved in the discussions, which focused on north-south co-operation.

Mr Swann said: We will continue to co-operate on contact tracing and other vital steps as we work relentlessly to mitigate the spread of Covid-19.

He added: Positive test results had been anticipated on both sides of the border and we have repeatedly made clear it was a question of when, not if.

I have full confidence in the expertise and commitment of our public health professionals and pay tribute to everyone working hard to contain the spread of this virus and keep us well.
Jeffrey Epstein's massive fortune has been laid bare in new inventory papers filed on Friday for his estate in the Virgin Islands

Jeffrey Epstein's massive fortune has been laid bare in new inventory papers for his estate, revealing the dead pedophile owned 15 companies valued at $426 million, had two US Virgin Islands worth $86 million and held onto a 1964 dune buggy.

However, his sizable art collection still needs to be appraised, as well as his jewelry, watches and furnishings, which could increase the overall value of his estate.

The inventory was filed on Friday as part of Epstein's probate court case in the Virgin Islands, where he owned neighboring islands Little St. James and Great St. James.

The judge has been tasked with assessing Epstein's assets and possibly creating a victims' fund for the dozens of women he assaulted.

The 100-page document covered Epstein's cars, islands, collectibles and various companies he owned, including 15 wholly owned LLCs that amounted to $201 million.

LLCs are companies designed to disclose limited public information.

ISLANDS: The inventory was filed on Friday as part of Epstein's probate court case in the Virgin Islands, where he owned neighboring islands Little St. James (pictured) and Great St. James, combined worth $64 million. Epstein's high-security islands were a hub for his illegal activities, prosecutors claim

RANCH: Epstein's Zorro Ranch in Stanley, New Mexico, is worth $17.7 million. The 100-page document covered Epstein's cars, islands, collectibles and various companies he owned

BIZARRE ART: Epstein's sizable art collection still needs to be appraised, as well as his jewelry, watches and furnishings, which could increase the overall value of his estate. Pictured: A painting of Bill Clinton hangs in a room of Epstein's NYC mansion

The Miami Herald reported that among the LLCs was Southern Financial, LLC, which was valued at $176.9 million. The outlet notes it doesn't appear to have been mentioned in any previous filings.

The papers note that five of the LLCs still need to be further assessed, potentially increasing the estate's value.

The reason is because some of the LLCs hold titles to various aircraft that Epstein owned, including his 2007 Gulfstream G-550 that has a value of $17 million; a 2001 Bell helicopter worth $1.2 million; and a 2008 Sikorsky S76C helicopter worth $3 million.

Not mentioned in the papers is Epstein's infamous Boeing 727, which he dubbed the Lolita Express and where he allegedly ferried underage girls to his home in Palm Beach, Florida, his ranch in Mexico and other destinations.

Epstein also wholly owned 10 corporate entities, which have a combined value of $426.2 million. Several of these entities hold Epstein's properties around the world.

His island Great St. James is valued at nearly $23 million, based off the property's most recent tax assessed value in 2019, while his neighboring island Little St. James is valued at $63 million.

Epstein's high-security islands were a hub for his illegal activities, prosecutors claim.

HELICOPTER: The papers note that five of the LLCs still need to be further assessed, potentially increasing the estate's value. The reason is because some of the LLCs hold titles to various aircraft that Epstein owned, including his 2008 Sikorsky S76C helicopter worth $3m (pictured)

PRIVATE PLANES: Epstein owned a 2007 Gulfstream G-550 (pictured) that has a value of $17 million

PRIVATE PLANES: Not mentioned in the papers is Epstein's infamous Boeing 727 (pictured), which he dubbed the Lolita Express and where he allegedly ferried underage girls to his home in Palm Beach, Florida, his ranch in Mexico and other destinations

He is said to have bought Little Saint James in 1998, importing 200 workers, building a stone mansion, two guest houses, a helipad and a bizarre gold-domed structure that resembles a temple.

Known by locals as 'pedophile island', Epstein is accused of bringing underage girls to the island to rape them and perform forcible sex acts on them.

It was also on the islands that most prominent accuser Virginia Roberts said in sworn evidence to a Florida court that she and Prince Andrew and around eight other young girls had sex together. These claims were later struck from the record and are strenuously denied by the duke.

Epstein's Zorro Ranch in Stanley, New Mexico, is worth $17.7 million, his Palm Beach residence is worth $13.6 million, his massive Upper East Side townhouse in New York City is worth $55.8 million and his Paris apartment is worth around $9.6 million.

Altogether, Epstein's property portfolio is worth around $182 million.

The inventory also lists various vehicles Epstein owned, such as a $38k Chevy Suburban, a 2017 Maverick ATV worth $8k and a $7k 1964 Dune Buggy.

In the seven months since he died, Epstein's executors have liquidated four bank accounts and sold off his fleet of luxury cars to bolster the worth of his estate.

Little St. James Island, one of the properties of financier Jeffrey Epstein, is seen in an aerial view. Probate matters are for his estate being handled in the Virgin Islands

Epstein's massive Upper East Side townhouse in New York City is worth $55.8m

Altogether, Epstein's property portfolio is worth around $182m. Pictured: Epstein's Palm Beach residence that is worth $13.6m

The papers note that Epstein's 2018 Mercedes Maybach, which stayed at his Paris residence, was sold for $133,200 after his death and the money went into his escrow account. He also had a Bentley that was sold for an unknown amount.

Epstein's overwhelming number of assets are being looked at in order to determine how much he was actually worth. It was previously thought his net worth hovered around $577 million.

Judge Carolyn Hermon-Purcell placed a legal hold on Epstein's accounts on January 31 as part of a civil enforcement action.

This has recently prompted his lawyers to complain that his estate is bouncing checks to pay for basic upkeep at his various properties.

The lawyers asked the court to strike down the liens, or at least make exceptions to pay bills such as utilities and caretaker wages at the various properties in the estate.

The filing stated that the estate's lawyers have 'had returned for 'insufficient funds' multiple payments for upkeep of the Estate's properties (including electric bills and pest-control services).'

The judge has been tasked with assessing Epstein's assets and possibly creating a victims' fund for the dozens of women he assaulted. The papers note that Epstein's 2018 Mercedes Maybach, which stayed at his Paris residence, was sold for $133,200 after his death and the money went into his escrow account. He also had a Bentley that was sold for an unknown amount

Epstein wholly owned 15 LLCs that amounted to $201 million

Epstein also wholly owned 10 corporate entities, which have a combined value of $426.2 million. Several of these entities hold Epstein's properties around the world

Epstein's overwhelming number of assets are being looked at in order to determine how much he was actually worth. It was previously thought his net worth hovered around $577 million

But earlier in February, millions of dollars that were sent from Epstein's estate into a bank he owned - but appeared to never have operated as a business, which raised questions from the judge.

Millions of dollars that were sent from the estate of disgraced billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein into a bank he owned - but appeared to never have operated as a business in the months leading up Epstein's death - has raised questions from a judge overseeing a court case over his remaining assets.

In a hearing yesterday in the Virgin Islands over the disgraced financier's remaining assets, Judge Hermon-Purcell told his estate lawyers she wasn't satisfied with their account of large sums being sent to a bank first set up by the pedophile in 2014.

In documents presented to the judge, transactions show a series of multi-million dollar payments from Epstein's estate to his bank, Southern County International, after his death.

Despite the territory approving the bank's operation in 2014, the bank showed no signs of having been operational in the years before Epstein's death.

The bank - which was specifically opened to manage offshore payments and investments - had just $693,157 in assets.
FOOD and non-alcoholic beverages increased by 7.6 per cent between October 2020 and October 2021, the Central Statistical Office (CSO) reported yesterday.

In a memorandum on the Index of Retail Prices (RPI) published for general information yesterday, attributed to the acting director of statistics, Andre Blanchard, the CSO noted that the All Items Index of Retail Prices increased by 3.9 per cent between October 2020 and last October.
Married At First Sight's Hayley Vernon walked away from a $150,000-per-year job as a finance broker to film Nine's social experiment last year.

But her dreams of reality TV stardom were cut short when producers kicked her off the show around mid-October - in scenes that aired on Sunday night - and she was forced to work as a labourer to make ends meet.

In the last two months of 2019, Hayley, 32, was mixing concrete on a Melbourne building site as MAFS continued production without her.

Sacrifice: Married At First Sight's Hayley Vernon (pictured) walked away from a $150,000-per-year job as a finance broker to film Nine's social experiment last year

Life goes on! In the last two months of 2019, Hayley was mixing concrete on a Melbourne building site as MAFS continued production without her. Pictured on November 3

Married At First Sight was filmed in Sydney between September and December. Hayley's departure came just six weeks into the three-month production period.

But despite leaving the experiment early, she didn't mind getting her hands dirty and enjoyed the routine of daily work, according to a source.

A friend of Hayley's told Daily Mail Australia: 'After she finished filming in October, Hayley took a quick holiday and was then bored just sitting around all day. So a friend gave her a job on a construction site.

'She loved it and loved the banter with all the boys. She was in her element.'

Keeping busy: MAFS was filmed in Sydney between September and December. Hayley's departure - which aired on Sunday night - came just six weeks into the three-month production period. Pictured during filming in October

On November 3, Hayley shared a photo to Instagram of herself in high-vis workwear.

'Have I told you the story of the girl that fell in love with being a trady [sic] and is considering getting in the tools full time!?' she wrote at the time.

Daily Mail Australia understands Hayley held down the job until around late January, and had quit by the time MAFS began airing on February 3.

Job: Daily Mail Australia understands Hayley held down the job until around late January, and had quit by the time MAFS began airing on February 3. Pictured during filming on October 15

Meanwhile, she recently signed with celebrity agent Max Markson, and is set to make a fortune through sponsored Instagram posts and personal appearances.

Max has signed several MAFS participants to his agency, Markson Sparks, and Hayley is proving to be the most controversial - and marketable - so far.

'From a financial point of view, I tell them, "Your income is going to be from Instagram posts and it's going to happen for you immediately for only a couple of months,"' Max recently said of working with reality stars.

Cashing in! Hayley recently signed with celebrity agent Max Markson, and is set to make a fortune through sponsored Instagram posts and personal appearances

According to Max, a MAFS bride can earn between $5,000 and $9,000 a week from sponsored posts and personal appearances, totalling a yearly salary of $300,000.

In a Married At First Sight first, Hayley was kicked off the show on Sunday's episode, despite choosing to stay another week with 'husband' David Cannon out of spite.

She had voted stay just to punish David, after he had scrubbed a dirty toilet with her toothbrush in revenge for her cheating with another groom, Michael Goonan.

Married At First Sight continues Monday at 7:30pm on Channel Nine
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Made Anthony Iswara (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, March 2 2020

Indonesia has expressed interest in developing railway infrastructure in Bangladesh by joining a tender for the export of 1,050 train cars to the South Asian country.

State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister Erick Thohir welcomed Bangladeshi Railways Minister Md. Nurul Islam Sujon in Jakarta on Thursday to discuss opportunities for Indonesia to join the railway project.

The president directors of state-owned firms likely to be involved in such a project also attended the meeting. They represented electronic equipment maker PT Len Industri, train manufacturer PT Industri Kereta Api (Inka) and railway operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI).

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
KABUL, Afghanistan  The Afghan government objected Sunday to parts of the historic peace deal between the United States and the Taliban, showing the difficulties that lie ahead for the country as the 18-year conflict enters a new phrase.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, speaking at a news conference less than 24 hours after the agreement was signed, questioned several elements of the deal, including the timeline for a prisoner exchange and the conditions surrounding the start of talks between the Taliban and his government.

The U.S.-Taliban deal, the result of talks from which the Afghan government was excluded, charts a path for the full withdrawal of all U.S. troops from the country it invaded after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. It stipulates that talks between the Taliban and Ghani's government must begin by March 10  at which point the sides must have completed a prisoner exchange.

The Taliban has long demanded the release of 5,000 of its fighters held by the Afghan government. But officials in Kabul see the prisoners as a key piece of leverage to be used during their talks with the militants.

"Freeing Taliban prisoners is not [under] the authority of America, but the authority of the Afghan government," Ghani told reporters in Kabul on Sunday. "There has been no commitment for the release of 5,000 prisoners." He said the prisoner swap could be discussed during talks with the Taliban but could not be a precondition.

The text of the U.S.-Taliban deal released by the State Department says the exchange of 5,000 Taliban prisoners for 1,000 people held by the Taliban would occur "by March 10, 2020, the first day of intra-Afghan negotiations."

The agreement has been a critical foreign policy goal for President Donald Trump, who campaigned on ending the war. But it came under renewed criticism from his fellow Republicans back home.

Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., chairwoman of the House Republican Conference, said the deal included concessions "that could threaten the security of the United States."

"Releasing thousands of Taliban fighters, lifting sanctions on international terrorists, and agreeing to withdraw all U.S. forces in exchange for promises from the Taliban, with no disclosed mechanism to verify Taliban compliance, would be reminiscent of the worst aspects of the Obama Iran nuclear deal," she said in a statement Saturday.

Pompeo defended the deal Sunday.

"No one is under any illusion that this will be straightforward," he told CBS News' "Face the Nation." "We have built an important base where we can begin to bring American soldiers home, reduce the risk of the loss of life of any American in Afghanistan, and hopefully set the conditions so the Afghan people can build out a peaceful resolution to their now, what for them, is a 40-year struggle."

Asked about the Afghan government's refusal to commit to releasing 5,000 prisoners before talks with the Taliban, Pompeo said "we will work with all relevant parties . . . to create confidence-building measures amongst all of the parties."

Asked whether releasing 5,000 Taliban fighters would jeopardize the prospects for peace, he said there have been prisoner exchanges in the past.

"We have managed to figure our path forward," he said. "We'll know who these people are."

Outside the palace walls in Kabul, Afghans expressed apprehension and elation.

"I'm not optimistic," said Qasima Khuram, a 22-year-old student working in a cafe in the Afghan capital. Khuram, who said she has dreams of being a business owner after completing her master's degree, said she was most concerned about women's rights if the Taliban assumes a formal role in any future Afghan government.

"We know their background, we know their history," she said. "So looking back at this, we know what they would do in the future."

Across the street, a 57-year-old man selling almonds said he would have danced when the peace deal was signed  "if I knew how to dance."

"This government guides people to hell," said the man, who declined to give his name for fear of reprisals. He lived through Taliban rule in Kabul, he said, and never witnessed the levels of corruption, petty theft and crime he has seen under the current administration.

"Hearing about the peace deal, it energized me," he said.

What the peace deal signed in Doha on Saturday did not mention is the future of the period of reduced violence that preceded the deal's signing. After the signing ceremony, Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said the week-long period of reduced violence has "ended."

Ghani said the reduction in violence would extend and eventually transform into a cease-fire.

The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan "has made it clear to the Taliban that this is part of the [peace] deal," Ghani said. "If they back away from it, then [the Taliban are] openly violating the condition set for them."

Gen. Scott Miller, responding to a question from The Washington Post, said "the expectation is Taliban violence continues to stay down and does not go back up."

Pompeo said the Taliban has made "a detailed set of commitments . . . about the levels of violence that can occur, the nature of what's got to take place."

"We've asked everyone there to reduce the levels of violence," he said.

Massoud Andarabi, Afghanistan's acting interior minister, said the reduction of violence has mostly held.

But Andarabi said he has received four reports of the Taliban abducting Afghan police officers in the past two days. A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said he believes the new kidnappings are intended to bolster Taliban leverage in the upcoming prisoner exchange.

"Prisoners are going to matter going forward, and how those cards are played is going to matter," the official said.

A deepening political crisis in Kabul also had the potential to complicate the next steps. Ghani's main rival, Abdullah Abdullah, called the deal signing a "historic event," and he expressed hope for "an inclusive, national and countrywide delegation to take part" in talks with the Taliban.

Abdullah who lost the 2019 presidential election, has declared the recently announced result invalid and threatened to set up a parallel government. If these divisions persist, they could undermine Ghani's ability to form a representative team to negotiate with the Taliban.

In the year leading up to the signing of the peace deal, the conflict here intensified, resulting in record high civilian casualties. The conflict has cost over $2 trillion and killed tens of thousands since 2001.

- - -

The Washington Post's Sayed Salahuddin and Sharif Hassan contributed to this report.
New Delhi, March 1 : The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), here on Sunday, said it had rescued a minor girl, working as a domestic help in Rohtak, Haryana, and reunited her with mother after three years.

According to the DCW, the 12-year-old girl had been kidnapped by a woman from Jharkhand. The woman had approached the girl's mother with the promise to get the minor suitably employed in Delhi. When the mother refused the offer, the woman kidnapped the girl along with four other children and brought them to Delhi.

Later, the minor was sold to a Delhi placement agency, which forced her to work as domestic help. The girl did all kinds of work, unsuitable for a child. She was not even paid, the DCW said.

On receiving the complaint, Firdaus Khan, a DCW member, called the SHO of Maidangarhi police station and informed him about the incident and details of the placement agency.

When the police questioned the placement agency's owner, it was found that the girl was employed at a house in Rohtak. The Rohatak Superintendent of Police (SP) also investigated the case. On this, her employer got scared, dropped the girl at the DCW office in Delhi and escaped.

The DCW informed the girl's family and called them to its office where she met her mother after three years. The DCW is working for rehabilitation and schooling of the girl.

The girl's statement has been recorded with the police. According to the DCW, the placement agent had details of several other minors in his phone, which have been confiscated by the police.
As the US and the Taliban reach an agreement, questions loom over fate of womens rights in Afghanistan.

Moments after United States and Taliban negotiators struck a deal to end Americas longest war fought in Afghanistan, Marwa Khan, a Kabul resident, called his mother and said: They have signed the deal, the war is over.

This war has brought so much sorrow. I cry looking at people who lost their loved ones. This is a step forward for us, Khan told Al Jazeera.

On Saturday, the two sides signed a deal in Qatars capital, Doha, that outlines the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan.

It also includes a Taliban guarantee that Afghan soil will not be used by foreign armed groups that would threaten the security of the US and its allies.

The deal promises peace in the country but Maryam Hussaini, 27, is still mourning the loss of her sister, Najiba.

In 2017, the Taliban attacked a bus in Kabul carrying government employees. The attack killed 23 people, mainly workers of the Afghan Ministry of Mines and Petroleum. Among those killed was Najiba.

I will never forget what the Taliban have done to my family. Peace cannot come overnight by just signing a paper. This peace deal disrespects the one I lost, my sister, Hussaini told Al Jazeera.

Najiba was 28 when she was killed. She had won a scholarship to study computer science in India and then earned her Masters degree in Japan.

Upon her return to Afghanistan, she was offered a job at the database unit in Afghanistans mining ministry. Almost a year into her job, she was killed.

The Taliban have not shown regret for killing hundreds of innocent people, Hussaini said.

In a report released in February, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said the number of civilian casualties surpassed 100,000 after more than a decade of documenting the impact of war.

Almost no civilian in Afghanistan has escaped being personally affected in some way by the ongoing violence, Tadamichi Yamamoto, the UN Special Representative for Afghanistan and UNAMA head said last week.

Victory

US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban cofounder and political chief, Abdul Ghani Baradar, shared the stage in Doha against a backdrop that said Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan.

Taliban fighters in Afghanistan celebrated the signing, hailing a victory as the Taliban statement released soon after called the deal a termination of the foreign occupation.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on the Taliban to focus its attention on achieving peace in the country.





I know there will be a temptation to declare victory, but victory for Afghans will only be achieved when they can live in peace and prosper, Pompeo said in Doha.

It took 18 months for the deal to reach an agreement on both sides.

US officials and Taliban representatives have long wrangled over the US demand for a ceasefire before the signing of the final peace agreement which took 18 months to reach.

The agreement has four points: A 14-month timeline for withdrawal of all US and NATO troops from Afghanistan; a Taliban guarantee that Afghan soil will not be used as a launchpad that would threaten the security of the US; the launch of intra-Afghan negotiations by March 10; and a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire.

Restrictions on women

When the Taliban was in power in 1996, women were banned from working or studying in the country. After the toppling of the Taliban five years later, three million girls returned to school, according to the Afghan education ministry.

But while the agreement was signed in Doha, women remained apprehensive.

They committed many mistakes during their time in power. I hope they give women their rights, they were not following Islam either in order to give women their rights, Bibi Saadat, 55, told Al Jazeera.

In earlier statements, the Taliban has said it was committed to guaranteeing women their rights under Islamic law in a way that neither their legitimate rights are violated nor their human dignity and Afghan values are threatened.

At the intra-Afghan talks scheduled for March 10, Afghan leaders and activists, including women, will sit face-to-face with the Taliban and decide the future of the country, including key issues related to women rights, governance and rights of minorities.

But Hussaini remains sceptical and echoes the concerns about the education of women and their empowerment in the country

If the Taliban come back, Afghan women lose everything: Their 18 years of achievement and even their identities, she said.

The Afghan women will be the main victims if the Taliban have not changed their mentality from when they were in power.
The front should then weaken as it moves north onto the North Island late Tuesday and during Wednesday.

There is high confidence of warning amounts of rain in Fiordland overnight Monday and Tuesday morning, and in Westland during Tuesday.

On Thursday, the front continues to weaken as it moves over northern New Zealand , while a ridge of high pressure builds across southern and central New Zealand.

Weatherwatch report that we are now seeing some breaks with the huge highs that have led to drought in parts of New Zealand.

As we head through March we start to see some 'gaps' between the highs - or put another way, areas of possible rain and showers between the long stretches of dry, says a WeatherWatch spokesperson.

For January and February much of the high pressure linked together over the North Island in particular, leading to drought which continues to expand.

With forecasting what to look for in March, WeatherWatch advise that the best chance for rain is when one high departs but before the next high rolls in.

This brings a period of departing humid sub-tropical northerlies and then incoming cooler drier southerlies - this can then start to spin a low in between these highs and generate some rain.

The best chances for this appear to be around March 3 and 4, then again around March 9, 10 and 11 and March 13 or 14.

These are "wet weather opportunities" for both main islands of New Zealand, giving some better optimism that we can see now. Not locked in - but showing up in the data at least.

Extra long range, to the very end of the month, there are some signs that weeks three and four of March could see another tropical depression or cyclone to NZ's north - we are, after-all, heading into the peak of the cyclone season now as sea surface temperatures reach their peak. So nothing locked in - but 'watch this space' for late March, says a WeatherWatch spokesperson.

In a nutshell nothing jumps out as a "drought reverser" but unlike our last update in February we have slightly more optimism for wet weather.

February was strongly about "droughts will get worse before they get better", but March looks more like the start of a balancing act - while still drier than average in many places we do see at least three chances of wet weather for many dry zones. Rainfall totals may not be huge but it's still a silver lining.

A warning still exists around droughts.

Drought zones may still increase, or local conditions may not improve a great deal in March for everyone. Fifteen day rainfall data suggests Northland may benefit from the more showery, humid, easterly but Waikato may not.

In the South Island the hints of autumn may encourage more west to north west winds, encouraging a dry pattern to continue in Canterbury. As we're so used to, it's hit and miss relief - but hopefully a bit more hit and little less 'miss' in March.

Overall, we are entering a drier than average month again but the difference is we have some rainmaker opportunities. It will still be a bit hit and miss and there will be still areas that get drier still.

WeatherWatch say that NZ has some better chances of rainfall than in February with possibly three opportunities over the next four weeks.

Not all opportunities will bring a soaking deluge to your property - but the chance of rain in the region is lifting slowly.

Based on feedback from our past three climate reports we're making a bigger focus on dates around potential rainmakers in the NZ area and a more detailed rainfall forecast over 14 days.

Temperatures can be a little more predictable than rain when it comes to long term, with up to 65 per cent accuracy that far out. The trend for March isn't surprising - with temperatures looking likely to continue to lean above average overall, due to no real southerly changes to clear the air - plus additional sub-tropical flows helping keep the humidity up.
Its not only that the United States would be pulling out just at the moment when jihadists are surging. By doing so, it would disable the French and other international forces that are carrying most of the burden. France has had about 4,500 troops in Mali since 2013 and now is sending 600 more. But they depend heavily on U.S.-supplied intelligence, aeriel refueling and other logistical support. The French say they are working to fill the gaps in their own capabilities but are unlikely to do so soon; French President Emmanuel Macron has called the U.S. support irreplaceable.
Istanbul, March 1 : Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that 18,000 migrants have crossed his country's borders into Europe after Ankara "opened the doors" for them to travel, it was reported.

Turkey is hosting 3.7 million Syrian refugees, as well as migrants from other countries such as Afghanistan. It had previously stopped them from leaving for Europe under an aid-linked deal with the European Union (EU), the BBC reported.

But Erdogan accused the EU of breaking promises.

"We said months ago that if it goes on like this, we will have to open the doors. They did not believe us, but we opened the doors yesterday (Friday)," the BBC quoted Erdogan as saying here on Saturday.

He said that some 18,000 refugees had "pressed on the gates and crossed" into Europe by Saturday morning.

The number was expected to hit 25,000 to 30,000 in the coming days, he said but did not provide any evidence to support the figures.

"We will not close these doors in the coming period and this will continue. Why? The EU needs to keep its promises. We don't have to take care of this many refugees, to feed them," he said.

Meanwhile, the Greek government said that it had averted more than 4,000 attempts to cross into the country.

"The government will do whatever it takes to protect its borders," the BBC quoted government spokesman Stelios Petsas as saying on Saturday.

There were further clashes between migrants and Greek police on Saturday.

Greek authorities fired tear gas to attempt to disperse the crowds.
Businessman and former federal MP Clive Palmer has linked fresh charges brought against him by the corporate watchdog to his company Mineralogy's dispute with then business partner Citic, claiming they hold "no merit".

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission commissioner John Price on Friday told a joint parliamentary committee Mr Palmer had been charged with four offences relating to alleged misconduct in 2013, the year he was elected to Parliament.

Clive Palmer has hit out at Australia's corporate watchdog over fresh charges laid against him this month. Credit:AAP

The charges - of dishonestly gaining a benefit and misusing his position as a director - are due to be heard in Brisbane's Magistrates Court on March 20.

In a statement Sunday, Mr Palmer said the matters related to his company at a stage when it was dealing with his funds alone and there was no alleged victim.
By Liz Lee and Krishna N. Das

KUALA LUMPUR, March 1 (Reuters) - Malaysia and India will work on improving ties that soured under former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and badly affected palm oil trade between the countries, officials from both nations said on Sunday.

India is the world's biggest palm oil importer but its purchases from Malaysia, the second-biggest palm exporter behind Indonesia, dropped drastically in recent months after attacks on India's policies by Mahathir.

Malaysia swore in a new prime minister on Sunday after last week's resignation by the outspoken Mahathir, 94, after a power battle in his coalition government.

Wee Ka Siong, a lawmaker expected to gain a ministerial post, said that mending ties is a priority because Malaysian palm oil producers have been suffering because of India's effective ban on purchases.

"Can we just renegotiate? Its for my country as well as for my people," Wee told Reuters. "Since we are a new government, let the PM, the new government deal with it. We treasure the friendship with India."

An Indian official with knowledge of the matter said that New Delhi is also keen to improve bilateral ties, including palm oil trading, provided that Malaysia keeps out of India's domestic affairs.

India could also invite the new Malaysian prime minister, Muhyiddin Yassin, for a visit this year, the official said on the condition of anonymity.

India put refined palm oil and palmolein on its list of restricted items on Jan. 8, a move sources said was in response to Mahathir's criticism of its actions in Kashmir and a new citizenship law.

Malaysia's January palm shipments to India tanked 85% from a year earlier to 46,876 tonnes, the lowest since 2011.

India accounted for nearly a quarter of Malaysia's total palm oil exports last year and has been the biggest buyer of Malaysian palm oil for five years.

India's curbs on Malaysian imports disrupted global edible oil trade flows, with Indonesia diverting supplies to India, Malaysia rushing to tap markets left behind by Indonesia and India substituting palm with other oils. (Reporting by Krishna N. Das Editing by David Goodman)
Putin, Erdogan Look To Ease Soaring Tensions After Deadly Syrian Air Strike

By RFE/RL February 29, 2020

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have held crisis talks amid rising tensions after 33 Turkish soldiers died in an air strike by Moscow-backed Syrian government warplanes.

At the same time, U.S. President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo restated Washington's support for NATO ally Turkey, saying they were "reviewing options to assist" Ankara against Syrian and Russian "brutality."

And at the United Nations, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the fighting that cost the lives of the Turkish soldiers in Syria as "one of the most alarming moments" of the nine-year civil war. He called for an immediate cease-fire.

The increased fighting in Idlib Province raised new concerns for civilians caught up in the long conflict. The UN said nearly a million people, about half of them children, have been displaced since December by the fighting amid the bitter winter weather.

The leaders of Turkey and Russia appeared to make an effort to ramp down tensions between their countries following the deadly incident, with the Kremlin saying the two expressed "serious concern" about the situation.

"There is always room for dialogue," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

He said the leaders spoke of "the necessity to do everything" to implement a 2018 cease-fire in Idlib brokered by the two countries that has since collapsed.

Although Russian warplanes generally back Syrian forces, Erdogan put the blame for the deadly attack directly on the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Erdogan may travel to Moscow for talks next week.

Separately, Trump "reaffirmed" U.S. support for Turkey in an earlier call with Erdogan while he demanded that Assad, Russia, and Iran halt their offensive in Idlib Province -- the last rebel-held area in the region.

Trump "reaffirmed his support for Turkey's efforts to de-escalate the situation in northwest Syria and avoid a humanitarian catastrophe," the White House said, without giving specifics about the support.

Meanwhile, the Turkish presidency said Erdogan and Trump agreed on measures to avoid a "humanitarian tragedy" in Idlib.

"The two leaders agreed on additional steps without delay in order to avert a big humanitarian tragedy unfolding in the Idlib region," it said in a statement.

Secretary of State Pompeo echoed Trump's comments in a statement on February 28, saying, "We stand by our NATO ally Turkey in the aftermath of the despicable and brazen February 27 attack on Turkish forces in Idlib."

"The actions of the Assad regime, Russia, the Iranian regime, and Hizballah are directly preventing the establishment of a cease-fire in northern Syria," Pompeo added.

A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, noted that Turkey had blamed the Assad government for the deadly air strike, but he said that Russia closely planned all operations with Syria.

"Russia is responsible for this offensive -- period," the official said in a briefing.

The idea of the "pathetic, keelhauled, draftee Assad military forces fighting the Turks and some of the opposition forces...is laughable," he said.

The fighting has raised concerns that NATO member Turkey could come into direct combat against Russian forces in Syria.

Russia, along with Iran, has provided crucial political, military, and financial support to Assad during the country's civil war, which has killed more than 400,000 people and displaced millions since it began with a crackdown on anti-government protesters in March 2011.

More than 400,000 people have been killed and millions displaced since the conflict began.

The United States and Turkey have backed differing rebel groups, while extremists linked to Al-Qaeda and Islamic State also entered the conflict, although they have mostly been driven from their strongholds.

With reporting by AFP, Reuters, AP, and dpa

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/putin-erdogan- talk-turkish-soldiers-killed-syrian- russia-trump-pompeo/30461012.html

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

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Hundreds have gathered to hear Elizabeth Warren's town hall at Discovery Green Saturday, just days before a Texas presidential primary on Tuesday.

A mixture of people gathered outside on the lawn to wait for the gates to open hours before the Democratic hopeful was set to take the stage.

Nykeisha Bryer decided to come because shes still unsure who to vote for Tuesday. The 30-year-old middle school assistant principal said Warrens educational background stands out to her.

The fact that shes an educator is important to me (and) one of the reasons why Im drawn towards her.and making sure we have someone nationally that can really advocate for the issues that teachers experience, students experience, all the stakeholders experience, said Bryer.

Bryer, who also has two master's degrees, said her potential presidential candidates position on student loan debt is an issue thats on her mind.

Warren has been outspoken about canceling student loan debt.

Wes Garner was just visiting his cousin in Texas for the last three weeks but has wanted to see Warren in person at a rally. However, the 70-year-old from Massachusetts said he was worried about Warren's odds.

Im concerned about electability across the country, said Garner. Theres still a big stigma about women, which is crazy.

Garner said he relates to Warren on her stance concerning womens rights, gun control and the environment. He thinks Bernie Sanders should team up with Warren on the Democratic ticket.

I still think before it goes any further she and Bernie should team up and just do it, said Garner. Shes got the smarts, hes got the votes so far.

AJ Albaaj, a nuclear engineer, had already voted but came out to the town hall anyway with a couple friends to show support for Warren.

My issue is the concentration of power and wealth that is happening in America, said the 24-year-old. We have a billionaire who decides to just run last minute for a presidential campaign, and this is a problem and a gaping hole in American society. I think Elizabeth Warren is the best at cohesively explaining the issues we have with power and wealth in this country. 

Warren, who has deep Texas roots, started her day in South Carolina during that states presidential primary.

Warren graduated with a teaching degree from the University of Houston in 1970. She taught at both University of Houstons law school and at the University of Texas at Austin.

The last time Warren campaigned in Houston was during the Democratic debate in September.

The presidential primary in Texas could play a pivotal role in deciding who will be the Democratic nominee against President Donald Trump. Texas has 228 delegates, which is more than the other early voting states, Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina combined.

Last Sunday, Bernie Sanders held a rally at University of Houston, which was one of four Texas rallies held by the Democratic presidential candidate last weekend. Joe Biden plans to campaign in Houston on Monday. Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg made a stop in Houston this past Thursday.
Even a couple of other hits in Britain, and perhaps one or two in the United States, have failed to provoke much reaction. Thats partly because of their craft: While some assassinations have been by shooting (as in Berlin) or even car bomb, the majority have relied on the use of exotic poisons, a Russian technique that dates back to the Cold War. The KGB tried to kill writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn with ricin; more recently, its successor agency, the FSB, and the military GRU have been caught using dioxin, gelsemium, cadmium, polonium and the nerve agents sarin and Novichok.
Saturday Night Live eviscerated New York Mayor Bill de Blasio in a hilarious skit skewering LaGuardia Airport this week.

On Saturday the show featured a eight-minute skit attacking the third busiest airport in New York City, slamming it for it's suspicious food, outdated facilities, lack of organization, and long taxi wait times.

The actors hashed out their complaints in the form of musical hits.

The skit begins with Pete Davidson trying to buy sushi from an airport store only to have Kenan Thompson dressed as Phantom of the Opera swoop in and warn him of the grave dangers of eating the meal.

'You'd honestly be so much better off eating a Wuhan snake,' the sushi chef in the skit played by Cecily Strong joked, citing the epicenter of the coronavirus in China.

Scroll down for video

Saturday Night Live eviscerated New York Mayor Bill de Blasio in a hilarious skit skewering LaGuardia Airport this week

The skit begins with Pete Davidson trying to buy sushi from an airport store only to have Kenan Thompson dressed as Phantom of the Opera swoop in and warn him of the grave dangers of eating the meal

At one point in the skit Kate McKinnon dressed as Annie the Orphan from the eponymous play while also wearing an Auntie Anne's apron appears and blames the airport's problems on the Mayor singing: 'When anything's bad - de Blasio! Throw your hands up and say, de Blasio'

'Baggage claim carousel click clang/ Outlets are there for a cool prank, haha! Loose wires hang from the ceiling/ gives you a skanky old feeling/ I like to be with La Guardia/ It's hard to breath in La Guardia/ Who can we blame for La Guardia?' a group of cast members sing together to the tune of West Side Story's America.

At one point in the skit Kate McKinnon dressed as Annie the Orphan from the eponymous play while also wearing an Auntie Anne's apron appears and blames the airport's problems on de Blasio.

'I can tell you who you can blame!' she said singing to the tune of Annie's best-known song 'Tomorrow'. 'When anything's bad - de Blasio! Throw your hands up and say, de Blasio.'

'I know some of it was Mike Bloomberg, but it still feels like de Blasio is to blame,' she added.

She then complained about 'bike lanes on the tarmac' and how 'taxis must stay three miles away' from the airport'.

For the chorus she was joined by Cecily Strong, Thompson and host comedian John Mulaney as they sang: 'De Blasio! De Blasio! The cops hate de Blasio!'

Guest Jake Gyllenhaal also made an appearance in the skit as an odd guy who 'travels in pajamas' and enjoys being frisked by TSA agents and sings to the tune of Wicked's Defying Gravity

The cast further poked fun at the coronavirus outbreak wreaking havoc across the globe by featuring comedian Bowen Yang dressed in a face mask who says: 'Relax. I'm not sick - I'm just a profiled Asian'

Rock legend Byrne emerged in the sketch as a 'baggage handler who tosses everyone's suitcases into Long Island Sound'

It was a reference to the beef between de Blasio and the NYPD.

NYPD's Sergeants Benevolent Association (SBA) even declared 'war' with the beleaguered Mayor on Sunday after a cop was shot in what the mayor called an assassination attempt.

The SBA said that the Mayor was not welcome to visit any wounded officers in the hospital, saying that cops have no 'respect' for him.

They blame de Blasio for police-targeted crimes claiming that his 'anti cop' tone is 'infecting our city and state and is causing bloodshed'.

The skit poked fun at travelers' woes with LaGuardia Airport located in Queens, New York

An aerial view of LaGuardia Airport pictured above

Guest Jake Gyllenhaal also made an appearance in the skit as an odd guy who 'travels in pajamas' and enjoys being frisked by TSA agents, while singing to the tune of Wicked's Defying Gravity.

The cast further poked fun at the coronavirus outbreak wreaking havoc across the globe by featuring comedian Bowen Yang dressed in a face mask who said: 'Relax. I'm not sick - I'm just a profiled Asian'.

Rock legend Byrne emerged in the sketch as a 'baggage handler who tosses everyone's suitcases into Long Island Sound.'

'If you stay here long enough you will learn the mysteries of LaGuardia,' Byrne said singing a rendition of his hit 'Road to Nowhere' but changing the words to 'Plane to nowhere'.
The Oregon Health Authority plans to release new test results Sunday for people potentially exposed to coronavirus.

The state lab is collecting samples between 10 a.m. and noon, with results expected to be publicly released in later in the day.

Its unclear how many tests will be analyzed, said Robb Cowie, a state spokesman. But as of Saturday, the state had eight people under investigation and was awaiting results from seven tests.

CORONAVIRUS IN OREGON: FULL COVERAGE

People being tested would include those with close contact to the existing Washington County patient confirmed by state testing to have COVID-19, people who traveled from a country with coronavirus, or those hospitalized with severe respiratory illness and no other known diagnosis.

Eighty-eight people without symptoms were being monitored.

Somebody who has aches and a cough cant go to their doctor and ask to be tested, Cowie said.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has yet to officially confirm the Oregon case, Cowie said. State officials have subsequently been working to identify and monitor people who the Washington County patient came into close contact with.

The patient works at Forest Hills elementary in Lake Oswego, but was believed to have little contact with students. The state announced that case Friday evening.

I know they were able to successfully contact a number of people yesterday, said Cowie, who was unable to provide a total count.

It not immediately clear how many total tests Oregon has on-hand for current and future coronavirus testing.

Cowie said the state has sufficient test kits to meet current demand, based on federal guidance. But state officials are also contacting the CDC about longer-term testing capacity.

MORE CORONAVIRUS NEWS:

Portland-area schools step up cleaning, urge parents to keep sick children home

Coronavirus confirmed in 2 more Seattle residents

Fact-checking some of the crazier claims

-- Brad Schmidt; bschmidt@oregonian.com; 503-294-7628; @_brad_schmidt
Chennai, March 1 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami on Sunday said that the state will admit 1,650 more students to its medical colleges from academic year 2021-22 in addition to 3,250 seats filled at present.

He said Rs 1,200 crore has been allocated in the 2020-21 budget in this regard.

He said that the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) government will protect the minorities and urged them not to believe rumours spread for political purposes.

Laying the foundation stone of a proposed government medical college in Ramanathapuram, Palaniswami said the state government had secured permission to build 11 more medical colleges with an outlay of Rs 4,500 crore to Rs 5,000 crore.

Palaniswami thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for sanctioning 11 new medical colleges.

Speaking at the function, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said that Rs 23 crore has already been released for building the Ramanathapuram Government Medical College as the first installment of the central government's share.

He said the Centre has decided to revise the teacher-student ratio and increase postgraduate seats in medical education in the country. During the last five years, more than 14,500 postgraduate seats have been created.

According to him, the medical education is moving towards competence-based learning and there should be sharing of the best practices between various medical colleges and states for overall improvement in the area.
Islamabad, March 1 : Pakistan has confirmed two more cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of the infected people in the country to four, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Zafar Mirza has said.

Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, Mirza said that one of the new cases emerged in south Sindh province while the other one is being treated in Islamabad, Xinhua reported.

The infected man in Karachi of Sindh province has been shifted to the isolation ward of a hospital and his medical treatment is underway, Meeran Yousuf, media coordinator to health minister of Sindh told Xinhua on Saturday, adding that the infected patient is stable.

Talking to Xinhua on condition of anonymity, an official in the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad confirmed that a man has been tested positive of the disease in the hospital, bringing the total number of the coronavirus infected people in their isolation ward to two.

The official said that the newly infected man is in stable condition and his family members have also been put in quarantine. However, he refused to share more details about the age and travelling history of the patient.

Pakistan started taking measures to avoid penetration of the disease from Iran on Sunday after the situation of the disease turned serious in the country, by closing its border with Iran. Later, the direct flight service was also suspended between the two countries.

The Pakistani government is now launching an awareness campaign by activating a telephone helpline and establishing a web portal to encourage people to report about their condition if they are suffering from fever and flu, enabling the government to trace them and conduct necessary lab tests.
The number of coronavirus cases in Malaga province rose to six on Saturday with two further cases in Fuengirola added to the three in Marbella and one in Fuengirola confirmed on Friday.

The two latest victims, two men aged 59 and 62, are related to the other case in the town - a 55-year-old woman who recently travelled to Emilia-Romagna (Italy). They too travelled to Italy.

After presenting symptoms and testing positive, the patients are being monitored at home.

This is also the case with the three people who contracted the virus in Marbella. SUR has confirmed that the two men who tested positive, aged 42 and 53 respectively, work in the same banking company as the first confirmed patient in Andalucia, who remains in the Virgen del Rocio Hospital in Seville. The 62-year-old, who has been in the hospital since Wednesday, is making good progress and hasn't experienced any respiratory problems.

Investigations carried out by the regional Health ministry have tracked down the moment of contagion to a congress held in Marbella at the end of January, attended by several people of Asian origin.

The bank, which has a branch in Marbella, has been carrying out tests on its employees but no new cases have been detected as yet.

The third case in Marbella is of an 81-year-old woman who is related to one of the two aforementioned men, resident in the town. She, like the two men, is being closely monitored at home despite being advised to remain in hospital.

Ten cases in the region

Elsewhere in Andalucia, in Almeria a 28-year-old man is another confirmed case. A resident of Milan, he went to the Hospital Mediterraneo in the city after reporting a fever. Once there, tests for COVID-19 showed positive and he was admitted.

Later on Friday night, another two cases were confirmed: that of a doctor from Seville, 58, who had contact with the first victim; and a 25-year-old nurse from Arjonilla (Jaen) who attended someone with coronavirus in a hospital in Torrejon de Ardoz (Madrid).

These nine new cases this weekend bring the number of diagnosed cases in Andalucia to ten.

The Junta has confirmed that all cases so far have been imported from elsewhere.

The Regional Ministry of Health has a page devoted to information about coronavirus [in Spanish]. Likewise, a 24-hour hotline is available to those with any doubts or questions (955 54 50 60).
Ranking high among the President's powers and responsibilities is the job of communicator in chief. In times of triumph and clear and present dangers, the public looks to the President for cues on how to act, what they should feel and what they should do.

In the aftermath of the Challenger explosion in 1986, people shared grief and were reassured by President Ronald Reagan's address to the nation. George W. Bush grabbing the bullhorn at ground zero in 2001 reminded the country that together we would all get through this tragedy. For Bill Clinton, it was the Oklahoma City bombing response, and for Barack Obama, his powerful speech and song in Charleston, South Carolina, in the aftermath of the shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church.

And yet for every powerful moment, there are as many misses. George W. Bush's 'Mission Accomplished' in Iraq and in 2005 his quote to the embattled FEMA director after Hurricane Katrina, 'Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job,' created a political hole that Bush 43 never quite climbed out of. And in the midst of a serious economic crisis in the late 1970's, Jimmy Carter's 'malaise' speech hit all the wrong notes for rebuilding confidence in America's economy.

The point is that communicating matters. Words and optics make a big difference, not only politically, but in solving whatever crisis faces the country. President Donald Trump faces one of those moments right now with the spread of the coronavirus. To date, he's done almost everything wrong. He has consistently underplayed the potential for a serious public health crisis here at home. Worse, he has made a series of off-the-cuff remarks on a complicated scientific problem that has undermined the work being done both at the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Compounding the problem is his apparent emphasis -- too often -- on the economy and the stock market instead of the public health issues. Is there anyone who really doubts by now that for Trump his own political fortunes, which are tied to economic and market performance, take precedence over protecting the health of all Americans? But that approach has failed spectacularly because the markets are looking for the same thing the public wants and needs -- reassurance that there is a plan in place to deal with the potential pandemic.

Making matters even worse, Trump has made this a political football by going after the Democratic leaders in Congress and not contradicting conservative commentators who are making outrageous claims about Democrats rooting for the virus to spread to gain political advantage. Trump went as far as to say Friday night at a rally in South Carolina that coronavirus is the Democrats' 'new hoax.'

Like all Presidents before him, his ability to govern (and in Trump's case, be reelected) will be judged by his performance during crisis in the next weeks and months. There are several steps he should take immediately that will both help solve the problem and boost his political standing.

First, he must stop speaking off the cuff. His comments have ranged from uninformed to the ridiculous. Saying things like, 'A lot of people think that (the virus) goes away in April ... as the heat comes in,' undermines his ability to be the communicator in chief.

Since we know he won't stop tweeting, he should use that platform to put out sound and vetted advice on what average Americans can do, what they should worry about and what they shouldn't. In any crisis, the person or organization that consistently delivers accurate and useful information controls the narrative. The President is uniquely positioned to fill that role.

Second, it's right to coordinate all information through a central source, with the White House being the logical place. But to be effective, you have to provide information through briefings on a regular basis.

A communications team drawn from the medical community needs to brief the press every day. Flood the zone with information, become the trusted source of what people need. Let the political and legislative people be involved where appropriate, but let the experts drive the information flow. Information, not spin, is the way forward. It's not a zero-sum game. You don't win by proving you're better than your political opponents. You win by winning the public's trust to solve the problem

Third, Trump should suspend or scale back the political activities of the administration. It was a terrible look this week as the President simultaneously sought to calm the country and markets while meeting with social media personalities Diamond and Silk and other right-wing leaders as part of the CPAC conference. The Vice President putting off his first task force meeting until after the same divisive political conference also didn't help.

The President should not be running around the country holding rallies and should not be using the bully pulpit to castigate Democrats on this important issue. Bring the Democrats in, make them part of the solution. In the end, it's the President who will get the lion's share of the credit -- and the blame.

Fourth, optics matter, optics reassure. The President needs to be seen directing the massive resources of the federal government that are arrayed against the spread of coronavirus. It's not enough to be solving the problem, the President needs to provide evidence that the government is doing everything it can, and he is the force driving the process. And it's not just optics.

The President, through his public actions, has a unique ability to actually activate and drive the response. Put simply, when the President says we are going to do something, the government responds.

Fifth, he needs to be straight with the American public. People want to know how serious the problem is, what is being done and what they can do about it themselves. They don't want platitudes and will severely penalize any politician who pretends there is no real problem when everyone knows there is.

It runs against all elements of Trump's makeup, but a little humility, honesty and rolling up of the sleeves -- doing the work of government and being seen doing it -- would go a long way. These are not the times for self-congratulation and claiming that only one man can solve the problem. It's a potential crisis that will force Trump to act differently if he hopes to survive politically.

Finally, the economy is based on fundamentals and perception and emotions. Trump needs to level with the American people about the impact of the virus. Bragging about how strong we are runs counter to what people are seeing. Acknowledge the pain this virus will cause, and be clear about what the government can and can't do. Remember what Bush 43 said in the aftermath of 9/11: We will need to change the way we fight terrorism, but if everyone stays home and doesn't go out and spend and live, the terrorists have already won.

It is unlikely the President can grow into this model overnight. But his reelection may depend on it, given the far-ranging impacts of a possible pandemic. President Clinton had a simple credo that he followed consistently: Good policy always makes good politics. President Trump would be wise to follow that advice.
New Delhi, March 1 : To avoid replication of scams such as the one at PMC Bank in the cooperative banks sector, the Parliament session beginning on Monday is likely to clear a bill bringing these banks under the regulation of Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The Bill seeks to amend the Banking Regulation Act to bring multi-state co-operative banks under effective regulation of RBI during the Budget session.

The proposed legislation seeks to prevent recurrence of scams seen in banks such as Punjab and Maharashtra cooperative banks, among others.

It is estimated that there are 1,540 co-operative banks with a depositor base of 86 million having total savings of about Rs 5 lakh crore.

The Bill comes on the heels of a Cabinet decision in February which gave approval to amend the Banking Regulation Act.

The Bill in this regard is likely to be passed during the second leg of Budget session starting Monday. The session ends on April 3.

The Cabinet decision seeks to create a framework where cooperative banks follow the regulatory ambit under which the scheduled commercial banks fall.

A government spokesperson had said that the move will ensure greater accountability and transparency in the functioning of cooperative banks.

Under this new dispensation, the cooperative banks need to fulfil regulatory requirements set for scheduled commercial banks.

The provisions would give Reserve Bank of India the power to take control of weak co-operative banks. As per the new proposals, cooperative banks will need to take RBI approval for the appointment of CEO and do audits as per RBI guidelines.
Donald Trump labeled the Democratic race a 'clown show' in overnight tweets Saturday, taking aim at 'mini' Mike Bloomberg and Tom Steyer who he says were 'ate up and spat out by real politicians'.

The president tweeted after billionaire Steyer decided to drop out of the battle, following Joe Biden's win in South Carolina.

Trump told the businessman to 'go away and save whatever little money you have left'. He said Steyer along with Bloomberg had been 'laughed at & mocked' by the party.

He added: 'I would find it hard to believe that failed presidential candidates Tom Steyer, or Mini Mike Bloombeg, would contribute to the Democrat Party, even against me, after the way they have been treated - laughed at & mocked. The real politicians ate them up and spit them out!'

Trump had earlier tweeted: 'Tom Steyer who, other than Mini Mike Bloomberg, spent more dollars for NOTHING than any candidate in history, quit the race today proclaiming how thrilled he was to be a part of the the Democrat Clown Show. Go away Tom and save whatever little money you have left!'

He followed up the tweet with: 'I would find it hard to believe that failed presidential candidates Tom Steyer, or Mini Mike Bloombeg, would contribute to the Democrat Party, even against me, after the way they have been treated - laughed at & mocked. The real politicians ate them up and spit them out!'

Donald Trump labeled the Democratic race a 'clown show' in overnight tweets Saturday

Trump tweeted after billionaire Steyer decided to drop out of the democtratic battle

Joe Biden, long considered the Democrats' frontrunner, finally won a state, as South Carolina was called for the former vice president the minute polls closed.

'Just days ago the press and the pundits had declared this candidacy dead,' Biden said. 'Now, thanks to you - the heart of the Democratic Party - we havent just won. We won big, and we are very much alive.'

Biden used his speech at his Columbia, South Carolina headquarters Saturday night to knock around Bernie Sanders, who was trailing him by around 30 points with about three-quarters of the vote in.

'If Democrats want a nominee who's a Democrat, a life-long Democrat, a proud Democrat, an Obama-Biden Democrat, join us,' he told his crowd.

He said with a Biden nomination the Democrats could take the White House from President Trump, keep the House in Nancy Pelosi's hands and grab the Senate from the Republicans. 'We have the option to win it big or lose it big,' he said of the November 2020 election.

'Most Americans don't want the promise of revolution. They want more than promises - they want results,' he said. 'False promises are deceptive. And talk of a revolution isnt changing anyones life,' Biden stated, knocking Sanders.

Tom Steyer, the billionaire who funded the 'Need to Impeach' effort against President Trump and never held elected office, was in third place when he decided to exit the race, making the announcement after Biden finished his remarks

President Trump floated that Joe Biden's win in South Carolina essentially ended the campaign of Mike Bloomberg, another 2020 Democrat trying to attract the support of moderates and independents

Biden also suggested in his speech that with this one win, he was starting to lock the Democratic nomination up.

'The moment to choose the path forward for our party has arrived. Maybe sooner than anyone guessed or wanted. But its here,' he told the crowd.

'And the decisions Democrats make all across America in the next few days will determine what this party stands for, what we believe, and what we will get done,' he added.

At Biden's headquarters in Columbia, South Carolina supporters screamed when Biden was called the winner the minute polls closed, as MSNBC played on the jumbotron at University of South Carolina's volleyball center.

Directly after, Jazzy Trinity, the band playing the event, started performing 'I Gotta Feeling' by the Black Eyes Peas.

Biden's win was called with 0 per cent reporting because exit polls had signaled such good news for the former vice president.

President Trump's campaign manager Brad Parscale responded to the news of Biden trouncing Sanders by saying, 'Once again, President Trump is the clear winner because not one of these candidates has a chance at beating him in November.'

Joe Biden, long considered the Democrats' frontrunner, finally won a state, as South Carolina was called for the former vice president the minute polls closed.

President Trump took it a step further, suggesting Biden's win essentially snuffed out any hope for Mike Bloomberg winning the Democratic primary.

'Sleepy Joe Bidens victory in the South Carolina Democrat Primary should be the end of Mini Mike Bloombergs Joke of a campaign,' the president tweeted. 'After the worst debate performance in the history of presidential debates, Mini Mike now has Biden split up his very few voters, taking many away!'

In protest, Bloomberg's campaign manager Kevin Sheekey sent out a statement that began, 'Mike Bloomberg has not been on the ballot yet.'

Biden had been trying to recover from his fourth place finish in Iowa and his fifth place loss in New Hampshire, as the Real Clear Politics polling average has Bernie Sanders nationally more than 10 points ahead of the former vice president.

Pete Buttigieg, the 38-year-old openly gay former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, was in fourth place, followed by Elizabeth Warren in fifth and Amy Klobuchar in sixth.

Warren had memorable debate performances in both Nevada and South Carolina, going after billionaire candidate Bloomberg, who decided to skip the first four states, instead laying the groundwork for a 'Super Tuesday' delegate haul.

'Super Tuesday' is this Tuesday and Democratic voters from 14 states will select their candidates of choice.
Mumbai: Filmmaker Dinesh Vijan said the plot of "Go Goa Gone 2" will centre around aliens, unlike its predecessor which was a comedy about zombies.

Eros International and Maddock Films recently announced the sequel to the 2013 film, which featured an ensemble cast of Saif Ali Khan, Kunal Kemmu, Vir Das, Anand Tiwari and Puja Gupta.

The movie followed three men whose holiday to Goa turns out to be a zombie nightmare. Saif played the role of Boris, a Russian mobster-turned-zombie hunter, in the Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK-directed film.

"The team of 'Roohi Afzana' is writing the sequel. The writer came up with the idea and I loved it and then we developed it. Eros said let's announce it and we did. We just need to give every actor, who was there in the first part, a little more like a 2.0 version and bring something new.

"Zombie element won't be there, we are doing it with aliens. The world will be similar like same emotion, same comic timing, like stoner comedy, but a new journey," Dinesh told PTI.

Though the producer hasn't approached the cast for the sequel, he hopes to get the whole team back.

"We haven't approached the actors yet. The intend is to get everybody. They should be happy and like the role. There will be two new additions to the cast - one male and female. It will start by the end of the year," Vijan said.

The sequel has a release date of March 2021.

Besides "Go Goa Gone 2", the producer is looking forward to "Roohi Afzana", which is a follow-up to Vijan's 2018 horror comedy "Stree".

The filmmaker intends to make a third film in the series "Munjha", which will be set in the same genre.

"When 'Stree' was ready, the script of 'Roohi Afzana' was being worked on. Now 'Roohi Afzana' will come and script of 'Munjha' is getting ready and then there is one more. Then we will do the second part of everything and then they will all merge. That's the idea. Each one of them is bigger than the previous one."

"Stree", featuring Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor and Pankaj Tripathi, was set in small town of Chanderi, Madhya Pradesh, where an evil spirit named 'Stree' abducts men in the night during festival season.

It was based on the urban legend of "Nale Ba" that went viral in Karnataka in the 1990s.

"Roohi Afzana", which will also feature Rajkummar alongside Janhvi Kapoor and Varun Sharma, tells the story of a ghost who abducts brides on their honeymoons. It will release on June 5 this year.

Talking about "Munjha", Vijan said, "It is like a legend, it is a naughty ghost and he is looking for his bride. It is based on a true legend."

The producer said he enjoys exploring the space of horror that is laced with comedy.

"In horror-comedy, you are afraid but you laugh too. It is fun. Horror-comedy universe is the only thing I have for Maddock's future right now. Then I will built one more universe," he added.

Vijan is currently awaiting the release of his next production "Angrezi Medium" with Irrfan Khan. The film, directed by Homi Adajania, will come out on March 13.
The man appointed interim president of Guinea-Bissau by the side beaten in the December presidential election has stepped down because of death threats, less than two days after being nominated.

Given the death threats against me and my bodyguards, I have decided to give up the role of interim president for which I was nominated, to avoid a bloodbath in Guinea-Bissau, said Cipriano Cassama.

I fear for my physical integrity, he said in a press statement, less than 48 hours after he was appointed by the countrys historic ruling party, the PAIGC.

My life and that of my family is in danger. I have no security, he said, adding that soldiers had come for his bodyguards on Friday.

But he said he would stay on as leader of the National Assembly.

The PAIGC has dominated political life since the former Portuguese colony won independence in 1974, and on Friday 54 of its deputies, out of the 102 parliamentary seats, appointed Cassama interim president.

Two rival contenders for the presidency have been battling to assume power since the December 29 run-off vote.

Opposition leader Umaro Sissoco Embalo 47, won 53.55 per cent of the votes in the second-round vote, according to the National Electoral Commission.

Domingos Simoes Pereira, 56, also from PAIGC, won 46.45 per cent but denounced the result as fraudulent.

Follow Us on Facebook  @LadunLiadi; Instagram  @LadunLiadi; Twitter  @LadunLiadi; Youtube  @LadunLiadiTV for updates
Ten people were arrested after they were found writing on answer sheets of the UP class 10 board science exam at the home of an exam centre peon in Deoria district of eastern Uttar Pradesh, the police said.

The arrests were made on Friday during a joint raid by district magistrate Amit Kishore and superintendent of police Shripat Mishra.

After the crackdown, the exam centre, Karmayogi Shripati Babu Ucchtar Madhyamik Vidyalaya, a self-financed school located in Bhatni area of the district, was blacklisted, the district magistrate said.

Raids were conducted at 8.30am on Friday after the police received a tip-off about the high school science paper being solved illegally by some people at the house of the peon close to the exam centre. Ten people, including five women and the centre administrator, have been arrested, the DM said.

The police also recovered partially solved answer-sheets bearing roll numbers of students, two unwritten sheets, notes, solved papers and the stamp of the centre from the spot.

The development came even as deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma conducted surprise inspections of three exam centres in the neighbouring Basti district following media reports about question papers being leaked on the social media, including the high school social science paper on February 27.

The deputy CM said 29 centers had been blacklisted following complaints about the use of unfair means.
Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], Mar 1 (ANI): A 36-year-old patient, who was admitted to the Government Medical College in Ernakulam upon his return from Malaysia, did not die of novel coronavirus, Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja said on Sunday, citing test reports.



"The second test result for COVID-19 (coronavirus) from the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune is also negative. The first test result of the deceased was negative," Shailaja said.

Thirty-six-year-old Jainesh, who had arrived from Malaysia, was kept on a ventilator following pneumonia. He had landed at Kochi airport on February 28 and thereafter, he was taken to the medical college.

Jainesh, who hails from Kannur district passed away on Friday midnight. The Hospital Medical team had cited acute pneumonia and respiratory failure as the cause of death on Friday night.

Currently, in Kerala, 206 people are under observation for coronavirus in various districts of the state. Of these, 193 are under home quarantine and 13 in hospitals.

A total of 488 samples of suspected cases have been sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) for examination. Of these, 471 samples tested were negative.

"There is no concern for the health of anyone currently admitted to hospital," said Health Department. (ANI)


SMITHERS, B.C. - Bonnie George walked out of the Office of the Wet'suwet'en holding her hands up in the air in a triumphant gesture.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 1/3/2020 (680 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Wet'suwet'en member Bonnie George raises her arms as she leave talks with Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relation, Carolyn Bennett and the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs in Smithers, B.C., on February 27, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

SMITHERS, B.C. - Bonnie George walked out of the Office of the Wet'suwet'en holding her hands up in the air in a triumphant gesture.

Just hours earlier, the Wet'suwet'en matriarch and former Coastal GasLink employee had complained about being locked out of the office and her voice not being heard.

Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs were meeting with senior government ministers over a pipeline dispute that's sparked national protests and led to railways and roads being shut down.

The talks began Thursday afternoon with Federal Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett and British Columbia Indigenous Relations Minister Scott Fraser. The meetings have continued over the weekend.

The hereditary chiefs who oppose the natural gas pipeline cutting through their traditional territory have seen shows of support across the country, but Wet'suwet'en members are divided on the project.

George is among those who support the pipeline and showed up with more than a dozen people at the Office of the Wet'suwet'en looking for a chance to speak.

"It shouldn't be like that," she said, pointing at a locked door. "We need to work together as one."

George said she wasn't invited to the meeting. Still, she went into the room on Thursday with others and made a statement, telling the gathering that the entire nation needs to be represented.

Hereditary Chief Na'moks, one of those opposed to the pipeline who has been sitting in meetings with ministers, said the Wet'suwet'en people who want the pipeline built have a "right to express themselves."

"That's one thing about our nation. We are very democratic. We didn't chase them away," he said Saturday.

"We listened to them."

The Wet'suwet'en of northern British Columbia are governed by both a traditional hereditary chief system and six elected band councils.

The elected councils administer reserves, including one named the Wet'suwet'en First Nation, while the hereditary chiefs assert jurisdiction over the broader community they call the Wet'suwet'en Nation.

Five of the councils are among 20 elected First Nations that have approved the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline. But the hereditary chiefs maintain the band councils only have authority over reserve lands created under the Indian Act, and cannot approve the pipeline route through 22,000 square kilometres of traditional territory over which they assert authority.

A sixth Wet'suwet'en elected council, the Hagwilget, declined to sign an agreement, deferring to hereditary leadership because the pipeline did not cross the village boundaries.

The dispute over the pipeline also encompasses other unsettled land rights and title issues, including who has the right to negotiate with governments and corporations, the fact that the land is not covered by a treaty and remains unceded, and a 1997 court case that recognized the hereditary chiefs' authority and the exclusive right of the Wet'suwet'en peoples to the land but did not specify the boundaries.

Solidarity protests and blockades have broken out across the country since the RCMP moved in on Feb. 6 to enforce an injunction to stop a blockade erected by those opposed to the pipeline that prevented Coastal GasLink workers from entering the site.

While George is in favour of the pipeline now, she said that wasn't always the case.

She asked questions and did research before making her decision. She said she wants others to do the same.

"It's going to bring in resources," George said.

"It's not a strange thing to have a pipeline in our territory. We have had a pipeline in our area since the mid-'60s and it hasn't caused any harm to our environment."

Revenue from the pipeline will help pay for programs that benefit people living on and off the reserve, she said.

"It's really disheartening to see protests all across Canada," George said.

"I don't agree with the protests. I think there is an easier way for us to sort this out."

Elaine Morris-Stevens of the Tsayu clan also wants the pipeline built and complained that some voices in the Wet'suwet'en Nation are not being heard.

"Right now, they have three people in there who are spokespersons for us," Morris-Stevens said.

"They don't speak for us."

She said the pipeline will create jobs.

"I'm 45 years old now and I still don't have a job."

Gary Naziel, a Wet'suwet'en hereditary subchief, said the only way to "fix things" is to have a feast with all the chiefs.

Although he met with the federal and provincial ministers, he waited outside the locked doors of the Office of the Wet'suwet'en with the others.

He said the pipeline will help the economy in the region.

"The truth is most of our members are for the pipeline."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 1, 2020.
The surface inspection market is expected to grow from USD 3. 7 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach USD 5. 3 billion by 2025; it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7. 4% during the forecast period.

New York, Feb. 28, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Surface Inspection Market by Component, Surface Type, System, Deployment Type, Vertical And Geography - Global Forecast to 2025" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p03912469/?utm_source=GNW

The main driver for this market is the growing demand for quality assurance and automation. This is because labor wages are increasing, and companies are reducing the cost through automation. Also, human error is reduced by automation and speed is increased. The main restraint for the surface inspection market is the dearth of technically skilled individuals creating the problem of proper integration of these systems in the various industries. The customer needs in this market keep changing, requiring workers to be trained to handle the new systems. Highly skilled individuals are a key requirement to handle surface inspection systems with high end and frequently changing features. The workers need to understand machine signals and work for hand in hand with collaborative robots, where surface inspection systems are mounted on robots.



Robotic cells are expected to grow at a higher CAGR than traditional surface inspection systems during the forecast period.

Robotic cells are expected to grow at a higher CAGR than traditional inspection systems during the forecast period.Robotic cells offer various advantages such as higher flexibility, accuracy, ease of handling several inspection points and ability to inspect difficult to reach inspection points.



The main advantage of robotic cells is the ability to handle various product variants. The robotic cell inspects the work item from 360-degrees like a human being, making inspection independent of the shape and size of the work item.



Camera systems are expected to grow at higher CAGR than computer systems.



A smart camera-based system has an integration of imager to capture images, intelligent processor to process and analyze the images, lighting, and cables for input & output capabilities.This integration makes camera systems more cost-effective and compact than computer systems.



Fewer moving components and rare high temperatures make the camera system more reliable and reduce maintenance costs by preventing downtime. Camera systems come with pre-packaged algorithms that are not required to be developed further, thereby providing quicker setup.



The market in the US held the largest share of the surface inspection market by 2020.

The United States is the premier market for industries due to an open investment policy, a large consumer market, a highly skilled workforce, availability of infrastructure, and local and state government incentives.The automotive and semiconductor industries are the largest beneficiaries of surface inspection systems.



According to SIA, the US semiconductor industry is the worldwide leader with a global market share of nearly 45%. According to the International Trade Administration, total foreign direct investment in the US automotive industry reached USD 114.6 billion in 2018, and the US has become the worlds second-largest market for vehicle sales and production. Healthcare is another prominent industry in the US. The country is also a hub for the IT industry, providing good support to surface inspection companies for the integration of artificial intelligence.

In the process of determining and verifying the market size for several segments and subsegments gathered through secondary research, extensive primary interviews have been conducted with key industry experts in the surface inspection marketspace. The break-up of primary participants for the report has been shown below:

 By Company Type: Tier 1  40%, Tier 2  40%, and Tier 3  20%

 By Designation: C-level Executives  40%, Directors  30%, and Others  30%

 By Region: Americas 40, APAC 30%, Europe  20%, and RoW  10%



The report profiles key players in the surface inspection market with their respective market ranking analysis. Prominent players profiled in this report are ISRA Vision (Germany), Ametek (US), Omron (Japan), Teledyne Technologies (US), Panasonic (Japan), Keyence (Japan), Datalogic SpA (Italy), FLIR Systems (US), Sony Corporation (Japan), Basler (Germany), National Instruments (US), Matrox Electronic System (Canada), IMS Messsysteme (Germany), Vitronic (Germany), Sick (Germany), Industrial Vision System (UK), Allied Vision Technologies (Germany), Baumer (Switzerland), In-core Systemes (France) and Dark Field Technologies (US).



Research Coverage:

This research report categorizes the global surface inspection market based on Component, deployment type, surface type, system, vertical and geography.The report describes the major drivers, restraints, challenges, and opportunities pertaining to the surface inspection market and forecasts the same till 2025.



Apart from these, the report also consists of leadership mapping and analysis of all the companies included in the surface inspection ecosystem.



Key Benefits of Buying the Report



The report would help leaders/new entrants in this market in the following ways:

1. This report segments the surface inspection market comprehensively and provides the closest market size projection for all subsegments across different regions.

2. The report helps stakeholders understand the pulse of the market and provides them with information on key drivers, restraints, challenges, and opportunities for market growth.

3. This report would help stakeholders understand their competitors better and gain more insights to improve their position in the business. The competitive landscape section includes competitor ecosystem, product developments and launches, partnerships, and mergers and acquisitions.

4. The analysis of the top 25 companies, based on the strength of the product portfolio as well as the business strategy, will help stakeholders visualize the market positioning of these key players.

5. Stakeholders can get gist of use cases for automotive, semiconductor, and food & packaging industry.

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p03912469/?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.



__________________________

Clare: clare@reportlinker.com

US: (339)-368-6001

Intl: +1 339-368-6001
Armed robbers who held a female employee hostage during a hold-up at a pub in Melbourne's north are believed to have made their getaway before police set up a cordon and spent hours searching for them inside the venue.

Police were called to the Westmeadows Tavern on Ardlie Street about 5am on Monday after a 45-year-old woman was confronted by two offenders as she arrived for work and held for "some time" against her will.

Another female employee arrived and saw what was happening inside, before calling police.

The victim was able to escape and ran out just as police arrived at the scene. A cordon was established and officers from the elite special operations group were called in to try to negotiate with the offenders.
A Nigerian womans four-night hotel reservation was cancelled by an Abuja hotel due to global threat corona virus, she has claimed.

Mitchelle Iannone said the Italian who tested positive to the virus in Nigeria was the reason her reservation was cancelled by Casalinda Hotel and Gallery Resort.

The reservation was done by her husband Fabio through Bookings.com and a total of $308.33 was paid. A confirmation email was sent to Mitchelle on February 26 acknowledging the receipt of the payment and the duration of the reservation.

Mitchelle and Fabio are moving to Italy and had already disposed of their personal effects in their house in Nigeria. Hence, the need for the reservation until her fight out of Nigeria on Wednesday night.



Although her reservation was to start on March 1, Mitchelle said she called the hotel to tell them she would come in on Saturday and would pay cash for the extra one night.

That was when she was told the reservation her husband made in her name had been cancelled. Her husband has already left for Italy from Angola.

I told the manager that I have not been outside Nigeria in the last six months when we travelled to Angola, Mitchelle said. I even told him that I can bring my passport for him to see.

The discrimination was painful, especially that Im a Nigerian and we made that reservation over a week ago.

Her explanation that she had packed out of her house and had five boxes containing her personal effects proved worthless. She had to return to her empty house until Sunday when she can get another hotel.

Despite the hotel claims that it cancelled Mitchelle Iannones reservation because of coronavirus, an official of the hotel was willing to take a reservation when The Guardian reporter called on Saturday night.

Another official told guardian correspondent that the decision to cancel such a reservation can only be made by the director of the hotel since reservation had been paid for.

Follow Us on Facebook  @LadunLiadi; Instagram  @LadunLiadi; Twitter  @LadunLiadi; Youtube  @LadunLiadiTV for updates
Welcome Guest! You Are Here:
All Australian troops could be out of Afghanistan within 14 months after the US and the Taliban signed a historic peace agreement.

Australia, along with other coalition forces, will follow the US in any troop withdrawal from the country, but there are still further negotiations to come that could derail the deal.

An Australian Special Operations Task Group soldier in Afghanistan.

US President Donald Trump said it was "time to bring our people back home" after the US signed the deal with the Taliban, which sets into motion the potential for a full withdrawal of coalition troops.

The US and NATO allies have agreed to withdraw all troops within 14 months if the Taliban upholds its side of the deal, which includes a "a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire".
Ghanaian Kumawood actor, Abraham Kofi Davis popularly known as Salinko has told Lil Win and Funny Face to stop beefing about who should be Ghana's favourite actor among the two.

Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in

According to Salinko both Lil Win and Funny Face do not qualify to be called Ghana's favourite actor.

READ ALSO: Kuami Eugene tells Medikal to marry Fella Makafui

In an interview with Zionfelix and monitored by YEN.com.gh, Salinko stated that he is currently the favourite actor in Ghana and not Lil Win or Funny Face.

To prove the point he was making Salinko dashed GHC 50 Ghana each to Quappiah and Komfo Kolege who were present during the interview and said he has exceeded what Lil Win and Funny did by giving money to some individuals.

READ ALSO: Charterhouse to announce nominees for this year's VGMAs on Saturday; details surface online

Lilwin and Funny Face have been seriously beefing and jabbing each other after the Weezy Empire Boss said it was a cheat for the organizers of Ghana Movie Awards to crown Funny Face as the favourite actor at the 2019 edition.

READ ALSO: Efya agrees to do 1st collabo with Shatta Wale after fan makes humble request

YEN.com.gh earlier reported that Former Togo captain, Emmanuel Adebayor, has advised Funny Face to end his ongoing beef with Kumawood star Kwadwo Nkansah Lil Win.

Adebayor replied and advised his friend, Funny Face, to put a stop to the back and forth.

"Please Funny Face you don't need this negativity in your life. They are slowing you down for nothing. Please lets focus on positivity man I love you," Adebayor wrote.

Funny Face replied Adebayor indicating he would have exposed Lil Win and his girlfriend big time if not that he intervened.

READ ALSO: King Promise releases video for 'Sisa' hit song

"Once the KING talks is final .. cos Ebi u Dey dash car make ei turn matter .. youve set record bro .. RANGE ROVER and a PORCHE CAYENNE .. no wonder they coming for my head .. oboooooiiiiiiiii but ur heart strong ooooo herrrh .. I no see some before .. if like am ADEBAYOR and you are FUNNY FACE .. like bro aswear .. like I no go mind u again .. anytime I will dash u something den ei turn matter .. I dont think u are a Human being Bro .. I said am good and help people . Urs is out of dis world .. I SALUTE U bro .. GOD BLESS YOU ADEBAYOR @e_adebayor .. herrrh #FUNNYFANS make da love Over ADEBAYOR A

Star Gist: Up-close with Ghana's Hottest Rapper- Ablekuma Nanalace | #Yencomgh

Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition? Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page.

Enjoyed reading our story? Download YEN's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Ghana news!

Source: YEN.com.gh
Bhopal, March 1 : The Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh is facing the music for patronising political 'Babas' for trying to wean away the Hindutva constituency nurtured by preceding Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Ruling Congress MLAs and ministers are questioning the credentials of Namdev Tyagi aka Computer Baba, who has, with ample support from the government, become the Chairman of Narmada Sewa Trust and has been carrying out raids to check unauthorised sand mining in state riverbeds.

Mineral Minister Pradeep Jaiswal on Saturday questioned the Computer Baba's authority to carry out the raids while the Mineral Department has authorised mining in some areas.

The Baba is obviously encroaching upon the minister's domain and Jaiswal said that he is pressurising the officers and employees of the Department in the name of stopping illegal mining.

He also said the Baba has no knowledge of scientific factors involved in sand mining. He is criminalising a legally sanctioned activity as mining contracts given by the panchayats are valid and his actions are causing confusion in the department, he added.

Jaiswal said a new mineral policy will come into force in the state from April 1 and will cover sand mining too.

Illegal mining of sand and other minerals has never been a secret in the state. It prospered through the 15 years of the BJP government and has continued unabated under the Kamal Nath government for more than a year.

Barring a few unproductive raids, the Baba and his Trust have little to show by way of improving the state of the Narmada. He claims to have handed a list of unauthorised miners of sand and minerals to the Chief Minister and says vested interests in the government and mining business are opposing his actions.

Asked about the scientific basis of his claims on environmental protection, the Baba says he doesn't have enough funds for his campaign to protect the river, but has tried to ensure some plantation along the riverbanks to bring about a positive change.

Computer Baba, a school teacher who gave up his job to move to the greener pasture of "Babadom", was let into the political circuit by Chouhan when questioned over his tall claims of plantation along the banks of Narmada and the BJP government's steps to check illegal mining.

Computer Baba got a statutory status with the rank of a minister of state.

But he sensed BJP's poor show in the assembly two years ago and moved to the Congress apparently at the instance of former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh, who was countering Chouhan's political moves on the Narmada with his own yatra.

Baba took a U-turn and began targeting Chouhan and BJP. Digvijaya Singh sought to exploit Baba's influence for electoral optics during the Lok Sabha elections, but he failed to convince both the Hindu constituents and his traditional Muslim supporters and lost the elections heavily.

However, the Baba rode Singh's influence to stay put in corridors of power and has become an embarrassment to the government. Incidentally, Digvijaya Singh's brother Laxman Singh, who has also been in the BJP for some time, has been warning the Congress against patronising Babas. It will only harm the party, he had said.

BJP state spokesperson Rajpal Singh Sisodia says the entire focus of the Kamal Nath government and the people in power is only on collective exploitation of mineral resources and sand. "Congress MLAs accept their helplessness against the sand mafia. The Chief Minister owes an explanation about who is backing Computer Baba," he said.
The Queensland government is calling on everyone to help give the local tourism industry a shot in the arm by holidaying locally, with the sector taking a hit from the coronavirus.

The federal government has put in place travel bans for anyone travelling from or through China and Iran to Australia, and globally international tourism has seen a big drop in numbers due to disease concerns.

The local industry has not been immune to the downturn, but the state government is trying to get ahead of the issue by rushing out a $2 million ad campaign ahead of the Easter break, encouraging Queenslanders and people from interstate to holiday in the Sunshine State.

Queenslanders are being urged to holiday at home as coronavirus fears imp[act the local tourism sector. Credit:AAP

"We know theres two types of Australians - Queenslanders and people who want to be Queenslanders," Tourism Minister Kate Jones said.
Model Rosanna Davison has been "overwhelmed" by the response to her emotional interview on last Friday's The Late Late Show where she opened up about her miscarriages and surrogacy journey.

Speaking to the Sunday Independent after the hugely positive reaction to her appearance, Rosanna said: "I'm feeling extremely grateful, and overwhelmed, by the amazing response and the love, support and positivity shown towards Wes, Sophia and me."

She continued: "We hope that by sharing the heartache and challenges on our journey to parenthood, that we'll give hope and inspiration to others in a similar situation and empower anyone going through the pain and trauma of infertility to open up to a trusted friend or relative because speaking to others really does help the healing process."

The former Miss World spoke honestly about her and husband's experience of welcoming a baby through surrogacy and their numerous miscarriages.

Rosanna and Wes Quirke, welcomed their first child, Sophia Rose Quirke, by gestational surrogacy on November 22 last year.

Their surrogate gave birth to their baby in Kiev, Ukraine, before the couple returned home to Ireland with Sophia two weeks later.

Rosanna spoke of the difficult journey she and Wes navigated before deciding to have a child via surrogate, revealing that the pair have suffered 14 miscarriages since first beginning to try for a baby at the end of 2015, a year after they wed.

"It got to the end of about 2015 and we were keen to start a family," she told Ryan Tubridy. "We went for it, and it happened very quickly, I got pregnant. And, you know, it was all very exciting. I got it confirmed at the GP. I got my bloods done, all was good.

"I had my eight-week scan booked, I told my family at five weeks, and everyone was just thrilled for us, and then, kind of abruptly and quite painfully at six-and-a-half weeks, it all came crashing to an end and I had a miscarriage. I was told by the doctor it was probably due to a genetic anomaly with the embryo and to try again. Tried again, got pregnant quickly again.

"Same thing happened again around six-and-a-half weeks, we lost the baby again to a miscarriage.

Video of the Day

"We tried for a third time and I remember going for the blood test, and being told that my HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) was low and that the pregnancy would probably fail, and it did fail. This continued. In total, we had 14 of these early miscarriages."

She said she felt as though she was "dying inside" whenever she was questioned about starting a family.

"It was very frustrating at the time but... I think things are a little bit different now, people are more aware of being sensitive about pregnancy and pregnancy loss, but at the time I remember being asked all the time of, you know, 'Would you ever stop working and ever settle down and have a family?...'

"Towards the end, I got pretty ballsy and started saying, 'Well, actually, I just had a miscarriage and it didn't work out'."

You can watch the full interview on the RTE Player
New Delhi: The Karnataka Congress here on Saturday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of colluding with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi in instigating riots.

Stating that the BJP and the AAP are hand in glove and playing the hide & seek game to fool people, the party asked why hadn`t cops booked Tahir Hussain and Kapil Mishra? "What`s stopping them from taking action against these motormouths, mainly responsible for instigating violence?" tweeted the Congress.

It was referring to AAP leader Hussain and BJP member Mishra for their alleged involvement in the riots.

Though 123 FIRs had been filed by the Delhi Police, but the BJP leaders who made provocative speeches were not included in them, the Congress said.

"Is this impartial? Who is the Delhi Police working for? 42 dead, 200 injured. Incompetence of the police shows up, which will be road-blocks to justice. Crime scene not sanitised. Yet to make seizure list. No conclusive evidence of gun use," Congress said.

According to the Congress, complicity between the AAP and the BJP political elements has been exposed through these riots, with the victims being let down by the police and the judicial delay.

It also raised the issue of bail to Pulwama attack accused Yusuf Chopan. In the blast, 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers were killed.

"The NIA failed to file charge-sheet. How can a Jaish terrorist get bail? Either the government is incompetent or guilty of lying. Home Minister Amit Shah and the NIA chief should resign immediately," Congress said.

On the markets crash, the Congress said the Narendra Modi government was not prepared to handle it. "Tumbling of markets in one week shows how unprepared the Modi government is when it comes to handling small concerns. The Sensex sank wiping out Rs 5 lakh crore hard-earned money."

The country had moved from the extreme confidence in markets to the extreme panic, the Congress said calling it an economic collapse.

"The third quarter GDP growth dipped to 7-year low of 4.7 per cent, with continuing slump in manufacturing and fresh challenges arising out of coronavirus outbreak stifling global growth. Going by the government`s failed record in handling eventualities, is Modi prepared to handle bigger challenges" it said.

Castigating the Gujarat model of governance, the party said 3.8 lakh children in the state were malnourished, rising by 2.4 lakh since July 2019.
The head of a green dragon bobbed and weaved through a crowd of hundreds of people as they marched through San Francisco's Chinatown on Saturday.

"Fight for science, not rumors, the demonstrators cried out, bearing signs with messages uplifting their community while condemning anti-Chinese discrimination as misinformation and fear around the coronavirus continue to fester throughout the city.

Though local storefronts have seen a significant drop in foot traffic as a result of rumors arising from the recent outbreak, bold red banners reminded spectators Chinatown was open for business" while urging them to reject fear and racism." Handheld signs brandished with hearts implored observers to fight the disease, love the people.

Local officials also showed their support at the march  among those in attendance were California State Senator Scott Wiener and San Francisco Assemblyman David Chiu.

"As coronavirus fears have intensified, incidents of violence & discrimination against Chinese Americans have increased," Chiu tweeted on the afternoon of the parade, announcing he had joined hundreds of San Franciscans that day in a protest against prejudice and racial profiling.

MORE: Video of San Francisco street assault prompts police probe

Standing in solidarity with our Chinese American community & against racism & xenophobia, wrote Wiener. Coronavirus is a serious public health threat. Its not an invitation to racial stereotyping."

ALSO: Has coronavirus scared people away from SF's Chinatown?

Organized by Chinese Americans for Peace, the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association and the ANSWER Coalition, the 20-minute rally began at Portsmouth Square, continued along Grant Avenue and eventually culminated at Union Square, where public officials delivered speeches. As part of the demonstration, a martial artist smashed a board with a single kick that had "sick man of East Asia" written on it.

According to a statement released by the San Francisco Department of Public Health's Grant Colfax, there are no recommendations to cancel social gatherings or avoid restaurants at this time.

To combat Chinatown's still-declining clientele, Facebook recently donated $20,000 to the Chinese Newcomers Service Center in an effort to bolster ad funding for local businesses. A Facebook spokesperson told the San Francisco Business Times they are donating another $5,000 in ad credits for shops to promote themselves on the social media platform if they so choose.

As of Sunday afternoon, there are 60 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the U.S. For updates and resources, visit our complete coronavirus section here.

Amanda Bartlett is an SFGATE associate digital reporter. Email: amanda.bartlett@sfgate.com | Twitter: @byabartlett
By David Tizzard





It shouldn't really be news but a simple glance at YouTube will show you just how hot "reaction" videos are right now. Whether it's pop, toys, games, or Star Wars, people go online and lose their proverbial pants over the web's latest visual and audio offerings.



Few, if any of the reaction videos, however, seem to be negative. Whether it's classical musicians gushing over Mike Patton's vocals in Faith No More or ballet dancers vibing on choreography in a hip-hop video, everything seems to be about telling people just how god-damn amazing something is.



I wonder if these videos are so popular because they help impressionable people make up their minds about things and then give them phrases and soundbites that they can drop in conversation elsewhere: "The chorus is heavier than anything I've ever heard." "It simply insists on itself."



Normally said when watching a pop song. Lol.



The latest video to get the "reaction" treatment has been BTS' music video "On". The near-6 minute video has broken a slew of records in its digital wake.



According to the YouTube platform, the video broke the record for the most people watching an online premiere at the same time: 1.45 million viewers. At the time of writing it had 33,000,000 views in 13 hours.



Incredible figures. Unbelievable even.



Of course, those are not entirely organic. A search of Twitter demonstrates how dearly the fans feel about such numbers and the lengths they will go to ensure the group reaches them.



"Army" members implore each other to stream, take frequent breaks, hydrate, and  of course  stream again. Another shared post laid out much more detailed guidelines for anyone wishing to view the latest video.



The Do's include: Log-in, search, and watch the full video. Share the video on social media. Watch 2-3 other BTS videos while taking a break. If streaming on different devices, use different accounts.



The Don't's: Do not use a playlist in the first 24 hours. Do not use incognito mode. Do not refresh the page or change the video speed. Do not mute the video  use earphones if you want no sound.



There is literally an army out there sharing tips on how to break algorithms and maximise viewer counts so as to ensure that the video gets as many views as possible  because that's what the music industry has become to some people. Sadly. .



Many of the fans complain loudly and passionately that their views are being deleted and it's a conspiracy by the companies and gatekeepers to keep the group down. A conspiracy laced with both racism and jealousy.



It's probably just trying to stop one person racking up 10 views a minute by running it on lots of different internet sites and devicesbecause who wouldn't?



Nevertheless, undaunted by the rules and regulations, I sat down with my niece (12), nephew (15), and daughter (3) to watch the latest video from the septet. My son wasn't interested and preferred to read his book in the living room.



As many will attest, the video looks like a combination of Game of Thrones, the Lion King, Maze Runner, and Bird Box. A smorgasbord of images, references, and Easter eggs.



So much so that it didn't seem there was an original idea in there. But that kinda happens with a lot of things when you get old. It's all just a revisiting of that what has gone before. New Kids on the Block become NSYNC, become the next thing.



The King is dead. Long live the King.



The fans will tell you there is a story deep inside the video, however. Just like the Marvel Universe, the Elder Scrolls, and Lost, there is a legion that will look into anything from a NPC to a piece of background scenery for symbolism and imagery so as to create another Wiki link,.



Jungkook represents Christ (as you do), his hands tied with thorns that require baptism. RM is Noah, flanked by animals and an arc. J-Hope and Suga have pastoral church settings to inhabit.



They help the blind see. They open the door to a new world. They climb to the top of a mountain. And then they change their clothes and have a little dance at the end.



It's all amazingly polished and the cinematography is top notch. The colours, the costumes, the cast, all look the part.



Butthat's it. Really.



Not every video is a huge event. Nor does it have to be. Some are just, you know, alright.



Michael Jackson's Thriller was a "thing". His performance of Billy Jean was a "thing".



But I can recall being woken up in the middle of the night for the debut of his Remember the Time video featuring Eddie Murphy and Magic Johnson.



That too was a costume clad 9-minute epic. And yet I remember just thinking, "It's finished." Those "member berries" aren't kicking like they used to.



My niece did the same with the latest BTS video.



The music itself is very of its generation. You can normally place a song chronologically immediately by its production and the effects used.



The song has the near omnipresent trap beat one hears on any mainstream pop song made in the last few years. It's also drenched in auto-tune.



It has the quasi military drum rolls and chanting that BLACKPINK used in Kill This Love and is laced with mumble rap verses that have become the sound du jour for many.



It doesn't have a banging chorus though. It doesn't have any particular standout lyrics. It's not breaking a mold nor is it particularly daring.



Most disappointingly, it sounds kinda one-paced: slow.



Nevertheless, it is what it is.



Good luck to the seven members and here's hoping they stay healthy having cancelled their upcoming concert in Seoul because of the Coronavirus.



But for me, On wasn't so much a "Big Hit", rather another song you hear on the radio waiting for the next fresh thing.





David Tizzard (datizzard@swu.ac.kr) is an assistant professor at Seoul Women's University and lectures in politics and history and Hanyang University. He presents economic and cultural issues on "Business Now" on TBS eFM (101.3FM) live every Wednesday from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.


Indian Oil Corporation, equity partner in the proposed mega West coast refinery, has held many rounds of talks with the new Maharashtra government and is hopeful of the project coming on-stream, a top company official said.

The statement from Indian Oil Chairman Sanjiv Singh comes amidst local media reports that people in the Nanar region, where the USD 60 billion-plus project was originally planned and then shelved following opposition from the Shiv Sena when it was part of the previous BJP government, are demanding the refinery come up in their area now.

Shiv Sena leader and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has shelved many large projects announced by the last BJP-Sena government.

Thackeray has put on hold Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet bullet train project, and has also not given the go-ahead for the world's first Hyperloop project that seeks to connect Mumbai with Pune and reduce travel time to flat 20 minutes from over 3 hours now.

Following the objection by the Sena, the last Devendra Fadnavis government had proposed an alternative location for the refinery at Roha, off the east coast of the megapolis.

"As we are on course to finalise the technical configuration for the refinery (both Engineers India Ltd and American engineering consultancy Jacobs have submitted their final proposals), we are also engaging the state in the right earnest. We met them a number of times since December and we are confident that the project will go ahead," Singh told reporters over the weekend.

On the finalisation of the configuration for the project, he said from over 100 configurations it is down to a couple of them now.

However, Singh was quick to add that unless there is finality on the location, the company cannot go ahead as identifying the land is crucial, considering it needs around 15,000 acres.

"Barring this, we are really in advanced stage of moving ahead," he said and emphasised that he is very positive about the project.

A joint venture company called Ratnagiri Refinery has been set up, with IOC as the single largest domestic shareholder along with HPCL and BPCL which have marginal stakes, while Saudi Aramco has picked up 51 per cent along with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company.

Meanwhile, Singh also said of the 35,000 new petrol pumps announced by IOC last year, as many as 11,000 are operational now.

On whether IOC, which controls more than half of the fuel market in the country, will be interested in taking over the state-run BPCL which government is keen to exit, Singh said, "Let's see. But even the bid documents are not out yet.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Thailand has reportedly confirmed its first death in the country due to the novel Coronavirus. A 35-year-old Thai National contracted COVID-19 due to declining immunity after he suffered from dengue, the Director-General of the Department of Disease Control Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoenchai told Thai media.

According to news reports, the patient - a retail worker - was detected with soaring temperature due to dengue fever and incurred multiple organ failure. He was isolated and was being medically treated at a hospital for nearly a month. The health ministry, however, is yet to investigate the role Coronavirus played in the fatality.

Tawee Chotpitayasunondh, the Adviser to the Department of Disease Control, Thailand, told international media that the damage was already done to the patients body when he contracted the strain of the malignant virus. He further continued that organ failure was the cause of death. The Chief of the Emerging Disease Center at Chulalongkorn Hospital, where the patient was admitted, shared the news of the patient's demise Sunday morning, March 1, on a Facebook post.

Read: Coronavirus Outbreak: Death Toll In China Climbs To 2,870 With 35 More Fatalities

Read: Mike Pence Says 'US Could See More Deaths' Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

Another patient critical

The Department of Disease Control, Thailand, reportedly said in media reports that another patient infected with Coronavirus was in critical condition and was under medical supervision at the Bamrasnaradura Infectious Disease Institute. It further added that the health professionals were closely monitoring the patient. The department also urged Thai nationals to contact health officials immediately in case any individual was suspected of contracting the COVID-19 virus.

Thailand has thus far detected a total of 42 confirmed cases of the deadly Coronavirus, and at least 30 have been discharged from the hospital after recovery. Meanwhile, countries like Kuwait have scrambled to suspend the flights to and from Thailand, imposing travel restrictions as a containment effort from the nationwide spread of the disease, as per the reports.

Over 86,000 people have been infected with the deadly virus globally. China, being the epicentre of the virus, has the most infections. Large clusters of infections have also emerged in South Korea, and Italy. The virus has also claimed close to 3000 lives all over the world.

Read: Coronavirus Time Bomb: America's Uninsured And Brutal Work Culture

Read: Coronavirus Outbreak: Kuwait Health Ministry Confirms 45 Cases Of Epidemic

(With Agency Inputs)
SANTA CLARA, Calif.  Since last spring, workers at Intel who turned on their corporate laptops or wall displays inside the companys more than 1,000 conference rooms have seen a new tagline: One Intel.

A plea for unity might seem surprising at a company that has long had a singular mission of making semiconductors. But Intel had a hidden problem, said Robert Swan, its chief executive: Its culture badly needed an overhaul, and its 110,000 employees needed to confront issues more openly.

If you have a problem, put it on the table, said Mr. Swan, 59, who was promoted to the top job a year ago and has since embarked on a campaign to shake up the Silicon Valley giant.

His efforts remain a work in progress. But the changes  some of which lean on the precepts of Andrew S. Grove, the former Intel chief executive who coined the credo Only the paranoid survive  are Intels biggest attitude adjustment in decades.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin (The Jakarta Post)  Mon, March 2 2020

Stef Blok (AFP/Kenzo Tribouillard)

Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima are to visit Indonesia from March 10 to 13 at the invitation of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo. In the lead-up to the state visit, the Dutch Foreign Ministry recently invited The Jakarta Posts Yuliasri Perdani and several other Indonesian journalists to the Netherlands to talk with Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Stef Blok about the two countries relations and future cooperation. The following are excerpts from the interview:

Question: Starting this year, the Netherlands has stopped sending development aid to several countries, including Indonesia. What is your hope for this new chapter of bilateral relationship?

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 Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Saturday announced the publication of the credentials of candidates contesting the by-elections in four states for public scrutiny, verification or litigation.

INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, in a statement on Saturday, declared: the commission wishes to draw attention to the provision of Section 31(5) of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) which entitles any person who has reasonable grounds to believe that any information given by a candidate in the affidavit or any document submitted by that candidate is false to file a suit at the Federal High Court, High Court of a state or FCT against such person seeking a declaration that the information contained I the affidavit is false,

The publication of the credentials was done two weeks to the March 14 by-elections holding in Niger, Kwara, Sokoto and Jigawa states.

The by-elections will be conducted in Magama/Rijau (Niger) and Babura/Garki (Jigawa) federal constituencies, as well as Patigi (Kwara) and Kebbe (Sokoto) state constituencies.

It was indicated that 10 political parties may be participating in the election. INEC identified the parties to include: Accord, African Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Democratic Party (ADP), All Progressives Congress (APC), All Peoples Party (APP), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), African Action Congress (AAC), Allied Peoples Movement (APM), and New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).

Okoye stated that the commission is determined to conduct free and fair elections in accordance with extant laws, adding that, however, INEC will work with critical stakeholders to ensure the peaceful conduct of the elections.

The national commissioner also appealed to all eligible voters in the respective constituencies to go out and exercise their franchise on the day of the elections.

On the publication of the credentials, INEC counseled any individual or group that has reasons to challenge the credibility of the documents submitted by the candidates to proceed to court.

PV: 0
01.03.2020 LISTEN

To every patriotic citizen out there, the above subject may trigger a line of thought. President Akufo-Addo in December 2019, made a passionate call for the patronage of Made-In-Ghana products to boost the economy and serve as a drive for local industries in our quest for self-sufficiency, culminating in a Ghana Beyond Aid.

Hitherto, the Ministry of Agriculture stated at a Meet-The-Press session that a target of 700,000 tonnes in rice production had been set for 2022. In view of the aforementioned, I hasten to ask; where are we?

With Citi Fm/TVs Christmas Made-in-Ghana fair, the discussions on Radio and TV platforms, and the social media hashtags caused a significant increase in the sale of Made-In-Ghana products, especially local rice brands. Post-December 2019, the frenzy seems to have taken a nosedive.

The over-reliance on the taste for foreign goods is what has largely made Ghana an import-driven economy. The adverse effect of this situation is that every single import is equivalent to shipping jobs, promoting the growth of other economies and weakening the value of the Cedi. In 2018, Ghana spent $1.1 billion on rice importation, $374 million on the importation of chicken and a further $203 million on the importation of sugar. Interestingly, the $2 billion estimated annual revenue of cocoa is almost equal to Ghanas food import.

Until an effective operationalization of industrialization on the back of a commensurate local demand and an opportunity for export is attained, the strength of the Cedi may continue to be volatile over time.

We all have our parts to play in this conundrum. Successive governments must make the necessary investments in key sectors of the economy while leveraging on the African Continental Free Trade Area, hosted by Ghana. The fourth estate of government must, as a matter of urgency, engage the citizenry on the above-mentioned subject. Above all else, Ghanaians must make frantic efforts in supporting the Ghana brand by any means necessary.

If we ever have the privilege to make a choice between an import-driven economy and a self-reliant one, I pray we choose the latter.

George Sarpong

(Author, The Ballot Bag)
Alabama voters will decide Tuesday whether to keep electing state school board members or let the governor appoint them.

A yes vote puts Alabama in line with states across the Southeast and a no vote keeps Alabama standing apart.

Opponents of Amendment One argue the people shouldnt give up their vote. Supporters say its time to get in line with other states where state school board members are appointed.

Theres no question that Alabama lags behind other states in education rankings nationwide, and while who sits on the school board and how they got there isnt the only thing that matters, it does impact the direction of education initiatives and the resources states allocate for education.

AL.com has looked at what Amendment One calls for, whether theres any chance an appointed state school board could raise Alabamas national standing in education, and how we got the elected board we currently have. Now well look at how other states choose their state school board.

Alabama is one of seven states that elects its state school board members.

The shift toward more centralized control

Since 1969, Alabama voters have elected eight state school board members by district. There were eight Congressional districts until 1970, when the number dropped to seven. The loss of the Congressional district did not affect the number of school board members.

From 1854 until 1969, we had either no school board or an appointed one.

Over the past 50 years, states have increasingly moved away from electing state school boards and toward more centralized control over public education, giving the governor more control over who sits on the state school board.

A few states have dropped their state school board altogether.

In a review of available historical documents, the farthest back and closest to Alabamas 1969 change we could find was a review conducted in 1974 entitled State Policy Making for the Public Schools: A Comparative Analysis, posted on the U.S. Department of Education website.

Then and now

In 1972, in 31 states, the governor appointed all of part of the state school board. In 2019, its up to 36.

In 1972, 12 states voted to elect their entire state school board, but the number now is seven. Six hold partisan elections, one holds a nonpartisan election.

These are the states that elect state school board members in partisan elections.

There are currently three states that have a combination of elected and appointed state school board members, where there were none in 1972.

In 1972, there were five states whose state school boards were composed of people either selected by someone other than the governor or who were elected to some other position which in turn gave them a seat on the board. In 2019, there are none.

The number of states without a governing state school board was two in 1972, and its doubled to four in 2019.

Now its up to Alabama voters.

Will Alabama remain an island in a sea of appointed state school boards? Or will Alabama trust the governor to choose those who will pave the path for education?

Regardless of what voters choose on Tuesday, Alabamas children will still depend on those at the top of the rung to set the stage for their success, and Alabama will still compete for business and industries to locate here.

Polls open at 7 a.m. on Tuesday.

Alabama Amendment One coverage

Alabama to vote on whether to fire the state school board. Here are the facts.

Can appointed state school board raise Alabamas national standing in education?

How Alabama got an elected school board

Alabama school board member threatens lawsuit if Amendment One passes

Some big Alabama businesses back appointed state school board
Boris Johnson visited Public Health England's infection control HQ after hailing frontline NHS staff as the UK's 'greatest asset' in the face of the coronavirus outbreak.

Speaking during a visit to PHE's National Infection Service in Colindale, London, the Prime Minister said the killer disease is likely to 'spread a bit more'.

He said: 'We've found about 35 people in this country have, or have had, the illness and clearly there may be more. That is likely now to spread a bit more.'

Earlier today - speaking after he visited Kettering General Hospital in Northamptonshire - Mr Johnson urged people to wash their hands with soap for 20 seconds to stop the spread of infection.

With 23 cases now confirmed in the UK and fears that up to 80 per cent of the population could be infected, the Prime Minister says he has no doubt that Covid-19 will be beaten.

This morning he tweeted: 'Coronavirus may very well be a challenge in the weeks and months ahead. But I have no doubt that with the help of the NHS and its incomparable staff, this country will get through it  and beat it.'

Boris Johnson visited Public Health England's infection control HQ in Colindale, London

Earlier today, he hailed frontline NHS staff as the UK's 'greatest asset' in the face of the coronavirus outbreak. Pictured: Mr Johnson during a visit to a laboratory in PHE's National Infection Service

Earlier today Mr Johnson urged people to was their hands with soap for 20 seconds to stop the spread of infection. Pictured: Mr Johnson at the command centre at the Public Health England National Infection Service

During the visit to PHE's National Infection Service (pictured) he said: 'We've found about 35 people in this country have, or have had, the illness and clearly there may be more. That is likely now to spread a bit more'

With 23 cases now confirmed in the UK and fears that up to 80 per cent of the population could be infected, the Prime Minister says he has no doubt that Covid-19 will be beaten. Pictured: Mr Johnson at PHE's infection control HQ today

Boris Johnson is pictured meeting with staff at Kettering General Hospital which he said left him 100 per cent confident that the UK will beat the coronavirus crisis

Pictured: A woman wears a protective mask while waiting or the Tube in central London following the confirmation of 23 cases of coronavirus in the UK

Writing in The Sun, he said: 'In the early hours of Friday I was walking the corridors of Kettering General Hospital, talking to the NHS professionals who may well be in the front line.

'I saw some of the extraordinary steps they have already taken in case the illness spreads further in this country.

'They showed me a new coronavirus pod, a special sterile cabin outside the hospital, where people can come to be checked.'

He said that during his visit he met with patients who were also full of praise for the NHS workers.

But he admitted that the social care system needs to be fixed in order to help care for people in their own homes.

The Prime Minister urged people to pay special attention when washing their hands, saying it should be done for at least 20 seconds using soap to help halt the virus.

His article comes as health officials are desperately trying to track down a coronavirus super-spreader who could have unwittingly passed the disease on to two people in Surrey.

Those hunting for the county's so-called 'patient zero' believe that the person in question may be an acquaintance of an infected GP's partner.

One patient, from Surrey, is understood to be a man who was treated at Haslemere Health Centre before being transferred to Guy's and St Thomas' hospital in London. The health centre has opened today following a deep clean

The three new cases - one in Gloucestershire, one in Hertfordshire and another in Berkshire - are being investigated and any individuals who had contact with the patients are now being traced.

The victim is understood to be a man who was treated at Haslemere Health Centre before being transferred to Guy's and St Thomas' hospital in London.

He was the first case to be identified in Britain and his partner, who has also developed symptoms, works with at least one person who recently returned to the UK from Italy, Europe's worst-hit country in the crisis.

Schools in the area were closed after pupils and staff begun showing mild flu-like symptoms. Authorities are now racing to track down the spreader to avoid them contaminating more people.

Nobody in the UK has so far died from coronavirus, but a British man quarantined aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship passed away in Japan. This first British fatality is understood to be a man in his 70s who did not live in the UK.

Johnson has insisted he has a grip on the health crisis and said preventing a major British outbreak was the government's 'top priority'.

The government has drawn up a 'worst case scenario' strategy blueprint, which involves deploying military medics to hospitals.

And emergency laws include the ability to suspend maximum class sizes to allow teachers to take on pupils when colleagues are off sick.

Retired doctors and nurses could be asked to return to the NHS while millions of workers may be ordered to work from home under the government's 'battle plan'.

Extra Cobra meetings will be held in Whitehall, with scientists and media experts working side-by-side in the Cabinet Office's so-called 'war room', BBC reports.

Posters and social media adverts will warn people to wash their hands for 20 seconds or more with soap and water and cemeteries are drawing up plans to cope with a rise in bodies, according to The Sunday Times. The paper reports that up to 500,000 people could die from the virus.
People raise shoot the traitor slogans during Kapil Mishra rally

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 01: BJP leader Kapil Mishra, who is facing flak for allegedly making provocative statements before communal riots broke out in northeast Delhi, and families of some of the victims of the violence participated in a "march against jihadi terrorism" taken out in Connaught Place on Saturday during which some people raised slogans of 'shoot the traitors'.

Mishra did not join the sloganeering or address the gathering during the 'peace march' organised by NGO Delhi Peace Forum from Jantar Mantar to Parliament Street police station.

885 arrested, 167 FIRs and counting in riot hit Delhi

At Jantar Mantar, slogans of 'Jai Shri Ram' and 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' were raised as hundreds of people gathered holding the tricolour. Some of the victims and families of those who lost their lives in the violence in northeast Delhi narrated their ordeal.

When the march passed through Connaught Place, slogans of 'shoot the traitors' were raised.

The organisers paid tributes to Head Constable Ratan Lal and IB staffer Ankit Sharma, who were killed during the violence that has claimed 42 lives till now.

NEWS AT NOON, MARCH 1st, 2020

Suresh Kumar said his brother Dinesh Kumar Khatik was shot when he had gone to see whether shops were open on February 25.

"He was shot near Shiv Vihar puliya where petrol bombs were also used. I found him at GTB Hospital where he was on ventilator support. The next day he succumbed to injuries. He is survived by two children, a one-year-old and a seven-year-old," he said.

Alok Tiwari was shot in the head while he was returning home on Tuesday from the Karawal Nagar factory where he worked, his brother-in-law Sumit said.

"His fault was that he had just stopped to see whether he could buy fruits for children. My sister got to know that he had been attacked and with the help of neighbours he was taken to hospital where he succumbed to injuries the next day.

In Delhi, hopelessness and desperation takes over in riot hit areas

"He leaves behind a four-year-old son and a nine-year-old daughter. The children keep asking about their father but we do not know how to face them," he said.

Other speakers at the event alleged that the communal violence was "well-planned" and was aimed to "target the Hindus".

Lt General Kohli, one of the speakers, said, "This is being done to discredit police and down their morale. We have made police punching bags. We have to be alert citizens and expose those amid us who are responsible for such attacks."

BJP leader Mishra did not address the gathering though he earlier posted a tweet asking the people to join the protest at Jantar Mantar.

He also posted videos of the march and said: "No matter how much falsehood you spread, the people know the truth".

Facing allegations of making provocative speeches, Mishra has maintained that he did nothing wrong and had only demanded that the roads be cleared of anti-CAA protesters.

Lt Gen Vijay Chaturvedi also termed the violence as a "well-planned" conspiracy and said those who were involved were well-trained and equipped to use molotov cocktails.

Delhi violence: Team of BSF officials visit Mohammad Anees' residence; Assures financial support

"This was specially carried out during US President Donald Trump's visit," he said.

Earlier in the day, pro-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) sloganeering and incendiary chants of "shoot the traitors" were made inside a train on Delhi Metro's Blue Line and also at the Rajiv Chowk metro station here on Saturday by a group of young men.

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), responsible for the security of the Delhi Metro, said it had detained six people and handed them over to the Delhi Police.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Sunday, March 1, 2020, 10:02 [IST]
Frank Wucinski and his 3-year-old daughter, Annabel, are among the dozens of Americans that the government has flown back to the country from Wuhan, China, and put under quarantine to check for signs of coronavirus.

Now they are among what could become a growing number of families hit with surprise medical bills related to government-mandated actions.

Wucinski, a Pennsylvania native who has lived in China for years, accepted the U.S. governments offer to evacuate from Wuhan with Annabel in early February as the new coronavirus spread. His wife, who is not a U.S. citizen and remains in China, developed pneumonia that doctors think resulted from COVID-19, the disease caused by the respiratory virus. Her father, whom she helped care for, was infected and recently died.

The first stop for Wucinski and Annabel was a two-week quarantine at Marine Corps Station Miramar near San Diego. During that time, they had two mandatory stays in an isolation unit at a nearby childrens hospital. The first started upon arrival in the United States, and the second was a few days later after an official heard Annabel coughing.

The hospital staff were very nice; they brought us a lot of toys, Wucinski said. Each time it was three or four days. I love my daughter to death, but being in the same room that long, she is not a great conversationalist.

Both have repeatedly tested negative for the virus.

After their release from quarantine, Wucinski and his daughter went to stay with his mother in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Thats where they found a pile of medical bills waiting: $3,918 in charges from hospital doctors, radiologists and an ambulance company.

I assumed it was all being paid for, Wucinski said. We didnt have a choice. When the bills showed up, it was just a pit in my stomach, like, how do I pay for this?

Wucinskis employer, a standardized testing company, did provide health benefits when he lived in China but does not offer coverage in the United States.

Patients in the United States regularly confront surprise medical bills that are hard to decode. Wucinskis case suggests that those held in mandatory isolation for suspected coronavirus may be no exception.

The federal government does have the authority to quarantine and isolate patients whom officials believe to be a public health threat. These powers, which date back to cholera outbreaks among ship passengers in the late 19th century, are rarely used. They dont say anything about who pays when the isolation happens in a nongovernmental medical facility  or when theyre brought there by a private ambulance company.

There is no uniform practice, said Lawrence Gostin, a professor of global health law at Georgetown University. They do have the powers, but theyve almost never used them in modern times.

While the number of patients held in mandatory isolation is currently small, it is likely to grow if the coronavirus continues to spread across the United States. Eleven cases were confirmed in San Antonio on Friday evening. Earlier in the day, public health authorities identified a second case in California and a first in Oregon where patients who had not traveled to an affected country became infected.

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spokesman declined to comment on whether it would pay the bills of patients kept in mandatory isolation.

Gostin worries that high charges for mandatory isolation could make patients wary of seeking needed medical treatment.

The most important rule of public health is to gain the cooperation of the population, he said. There are legal, moral and public health reasons not to charge the patients.

These hospital stays could prove expensive. The International Federation of Health Plans estimates that the average day in a U.S. hospital costs $4,293, compared with $1,308 in Australia and $481 in Spain. They may be especially costly for patients without health insurance or those who have large deductibles, which they must pay before their health benefits kick in.

Wucinski recalls other patients asking questions about how medical bills would be handled during daily town hall meetings for those quarantined at the Marine Corps station. He felt the answers werent clear.

He did receive a document upon leaving quarantine directing him to contact a government email address with any medical bills. He sent an email Feb. 24 detailing the charges and asking what would be done.

My question is, why are we being charged for these stays, if they were mandatory and we had no choice in the matter? Wucinski wrote in his message.

His email has not yet received a response, he said. When contacted by The New York Times, a Rady Childrens Hospital spokesman said that the bill from their physicians had been sent in error and that the family would not be held responsible for the charges.

Were in the process of assessing how the error occurred, the spokesman, Benjamin Metcalf, said. We are working with government agencies regarding billing for these cases.

But the hospital bill only represented a fraction of those the family received.

The ambulance company that transported the Wucinskis, American Medical Response, charged the family $2,598 for taking them to the hospital. A company representative declined to comment on the bill due to patient privacy concerns but said the company would look into the case.

An additional $90 in charges came from radiologists who read the patients X-ray scans and do not work for the hospital. Having such doctors, who may be outside a patients insurance networks, provide services to hospital patients is one of the major causes of surprise medical bills.

The radiologists employer, San Diego Medical Imaging Group, did not respond to a request for comment.

Wucinski is looking into whether he or his daughter might qualify for Medicaid, the public insurance program that covers low-income Americans. Some news outlets have seized on the fact that he coughed enough on a recent television interview to require water.

Wucinski recently noticed that his daughter is blinking a lot and hopes to get the issue examined by a doctor but is worried about the charges they may face. He has wondered whether the stress of the past month and the separation from her mother has played a role.

I should take her to the doctor this week for a checkup, but we dont have insurance, so its just going to have to be cash, he said.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) waves as he arrives onstage for a campaign rally at Vic Mathias Shores Park on February 23, 2020 in Austin, Texas.

Bernie Sanders holds a comfortable lead in Tuesday's Texas Democratic primary, one of the biggest troves of delegates up for grabs in the race for the 2020 presidential nomination, according to an NBC News/Marist poll released Sunday.

The Vermont senator has the support of 34% of likely Democratic primary voters in the Lone Star State, the survey found. He has a comfortable cushion over former Vice President Joe Biden, who 19% of respondents picked as their first choice.

Former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., follow at 15% and 10%, respectively.

Here's where the full eight-person field stands in the Texas primary:

Sanders: 34%

Biden: 19%

Bloomberg: 15%

Warren: 10%

Former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg: 8%

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.: 3%

Billionaire activist Tom Steyer: 1% (Steyer dropped out of the race Saturday after the poll was taken)

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii: 1%

Undecided: 9%

Contenders for the nomination have devoted considerable time and resources to Texas, which will help to shape the delegate race. The state will award 228 pledged national delegates, the second most of any state voting Tuesday, after California's 415.

Sanders, who leads Biden in the delegate count after the former vice president's win in the South Carolina primary Saturday, could need big wins in both California and Texas to accumulate the delegate majority required to win the nomination.

Both states are tests of Sanders' push to mobilize younger Latino voters, a key piece of his strategy this year.

The NBC/Marist poll also surveyed the general election in Texas, a changing state that Democrats have put more effort into winning in recent years. In a hypothetical matchup between President Donald Trump and Sanders, 49% of registered voters choose the incumbent, while 45% pick the senator.

Trump leads Biden by the same margin.
Thank you for reading!

Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading.
Police in Odishas Jajpur district have arrested a leader of the youth wing of the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on charges of a raping an 11-year-old girl after kidnapping her, officials said on Sunday.

Subhas Khuntia, president of Rasulpur block Biju Yuva Janata Dal, was arrested and produced in a court on Saturday evening after the victim and her father lodged a complaint against him with the local police.

Vyasanagar sub-divisional police officer Chinmay Nayak said Khuntia allegedly abducted the girl while she was collecting cow dung on February 23.

The crime came to light after the survivor managed to escape from the house where Khuntia had confined her on February 26. In her complaint to the police, the girl alleged that she was sexually assaulted by the BJD leader between February 23 and February 26.

We have arrested the accused based on the complaint filed against him. There is prima facie evidence, Nayak said.

Violent crimes against children have been on the rise in Odisha.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau data, the state recorded 1427 cases of child rape cases under Sections 4 and 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, 2012 and section 376 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The NCRB data said Odisha was among the top five states which recorded such crimes in 2018.

A 16-year-old girl delivered a baby while working in a Bangalore household in November last year. Subsequent investigations revealed that she was gang-raped in early 2019.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Afghanistan's weakened government protested Sunday against a key component of a deal between the US and the Taliban, setting the scene for fractious talks when Kabul and the insurgents meet to strike a separate agreement. President Ashraf Ghani, who faces a political crisis following claims of fraud in his recent re-election, said he would not commit to a clause in the US-Taliban deal that calls for a massive prisoner exchange, something the militants have been demanding for years. The swap is one part of the accord, fleshed out over more than a year of talks between the US and the Taliban, that was signed Saturday in Doha and lays out a 14-month withdrawal timetable for all foreign forces -- provided the militants fulfil various pledges and open talks with Kabul. Ghani committed to continue honouring a partial truce that has seen violence plummet in Afghanistan, but he pushed back against the requirement for the Taliban to release up to 1,000 prisoners and for the Afghan government to release around 5,000 insurgent captives by March 10, when talks are supposed to start. The agreement says the "United States commits to completing this goal" of releasing the Taliban prisoners, but it is unclear how that would happen if Kabul is not on board. "There is no commitment to releasing 5,000 prisoners," Ghani told a rare press conference, noting that any release is "not in the authority of the US, it is in the authority of the Afghan government". "It could be included in the agenda of the intra-Afghan talks, but cannot be a prerequisite for talks," he said. - 'Biggest challenge' - While supporters of Saturday's accord say it marks a critical first step toward peace, many Afghans fear it amounts to little more than a dressed-up US surrender that will ultimately see the Taliban return to power. The extent to which that happens hinges on the coming "intra-Afghan" dialogue between the Taliban, the Ghani administration, and other Afghan political players. But critics say Ghani has prioritised his re-election over making a deal with the Taliban, and has struggled to finalise who will negotiate with the Islamic militants. "The biggest challenge right now is the lack of preparedness of the Afghan government to negotiate, even though they knew for several years ... that this was going to happen and that these would be the parameters of the deal," Vanda Felbab-Brown, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told AFP. "It would be an extremely lucky situation if in 14 months there was a deal signed with the Taliban," she added, referring to the timeline under which all foreign forces are supposed to quit Afghanistan. After Ghani's re-election was confirmed last month, his bitter rival Abdullah Abdullah immediately rejected the result and vowed to set up a rival administration. Washington has pointedly not congratulated Ghani. Political deal-making is notoriously difficult in Afghanistan, a country still riven by tribal and ethnic rivalries, and where squabbling leaders and warlords struggle to find common ground on important issues. The Taliban had, until now, refused to negotiate with Ghani's government -- which they considered a US puppet regime. - 'Clear message' to jihadists - The deal says all foreign troops will leave if the Taliban stop jihadist groups such as Al-Qaeda and Islamic State using the country as a base to plot attacks against Washington and its allies. But even that requirement is loosely-worded, with the deal stating only that the Taliban must send a "clear message" that those threatening the West "have no place in Afghanistan". Laurel Miller, director of the Crisis Group's Asia Program, called the deal the "first concrete milestone in an Afghan peace process". "Whether it actually sticks and whether it produces actual peace in Afghanistan remains to be seen," she said. In the week before Saturday's deal signing, a partial truce dubbed a "reduction in violence" saw jubilant Afghans dancing in the street as hopes rose that the 18-year-old war might finally come to an end. With the deal now signed, and despite lingering uncertainty about what it means for Afghanistan, Kabul residents said they were relieved to walk the streets without fear of Taliban attacks. "I feel much more at peace today after the deal, more relaxed," one policeman told AFP on condition of anonymity. In Jalalabad, capital of the eastern province of Nangarhar, more than a dozen Taliban fighters handed weapons over to the authorities in a ceremony. "We came here to join the government peace and reconciliation process," Taliban fighter Atiqullah Jan told reporters. "We are happy the security forces accepted us, I call on others to (join the process)."
Home Minister Amit Shah greets West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during 24th Eastern Zonal Council meeting, in Bhubaneswar on Friday. PTI photo

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday arrived in the city on a day-long visit, as opposition parties protested against the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act and raised 'Go Back' slogans outside the airport.

Shah was greeted by the West Bengal BJP leadership, led by state party president Dilip Ghosh.

Hundreds of protesters of the Left Front and Congress, holding black flags and anti-CAA posters, demonstrated outside gate number 1 of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport.

Police had put up a barricade to prevent them from crossing over to the entrance of the airport.

Shah is scheduled to address a rally at the Shaheed Minar Ground, where the state BJP will felicitate him for the passage of the amended citizenship law in Parliament. BJP national president J P Nadda will also attend the public meeting.

This apart, the home minister will inaugurate a new building of National Security Guards at Rajarhat, and hold closed-door meetings with the state BJP leadership along with Nadda.

Shah will also visit the Kalighat Temple in south Kolkata
People wear surgical masks in fear of the coronavirus in Flushing, a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens on Feb. 3, 2020. (Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images)

High School in Washington State Closed Monday Over Coronavirus Concerns

Renton Hazen High School in Washington state announced it will close Monday after one of its students and a parent reported flu-like symptomsone of the first schools in the United States to shut down over concerns of the new virus.

In a statement on Sunday, the Renton School District wrote that it learned from the parent of a Hazen student that the parent and their student are experiencing flu-like symptoms and were tested yesterday for COVID-19. The student and parent are now in self-quarantine at home while they wait for a result from the test, said the district.

Renton is located near Seattle in King County, which reported a spike in COVID-19 coronavirus cases, as well as the first U.S. death, over the weekend.

The parent works in the healthcare industry and became sick last Sunday, according to the statement. The student became sick Wednesday afternoon and did not attend school on Thursday or Friday.

The school said that it contacted King County health officials before making a decision to shut down Hazen High School on Monday, March 2.

People buy face masks at a department store in Seoul, South Korea, on Feb. 28, 2020. (Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

We have mobilized our custodial staff to begin thoroughly cleaning and disinfecting Hazen, the statement read. Additionally, we will contact the families of those students and staff that the student may have come into contact with last week.

King County health officials on Sunday confirmed two additional coronavirus cases, bringing the total in the county to six and eight in Washington state. The patient who died was identified as a man in his 50s with underlying health problems.

Bothell High School, which was closed Thursday and Friday, is planning to re-open on Monday, officials told KING5. The closure was prompted after a sick family member of a high school employee traveled internationally, but that family member later tested negative for COVID-19, the disease the new coronavirus causes.

County health officials also confirmed to local news outlets that dozens of residents and employees at LifeCare, a nursing home, have reported symptoms that could suggest they contracted the new coronavirus

Dr. Jeff Duchin with King County Public Health said that more than 50 additional residents and staff members have shown illness symptoms, including respiratory symptoms and pneumonia. Additional positive cases are expected, they said.

LifeCare confirmed that a staffer and a resident were diagnosed with COVID-19 while receiving care in local hospitals, reported KIRO7. Current residents and associates are being monitored closely, and any with symptoms or who were potentially exposed are quarantined. As precaution, all visits to the facility from families, volunteers or vendors are not allowed.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that Americans avoid contact with sick people; avoid touching eyes, nose, and mouth; covering your sneeze or cough; cleaning and disinfecting common household items; and washing your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after eating, coughing, sneezing, or blowing your nose.

The virus is believed to have originated in Wuhan, China, in late 2019, triggering mass lockdowns and quarantines across the country.
New Delhi: Almost five days after violent clashes rocked the northeast district of Delhi over the Citizenship Amendment Act, another body was recovered from a drain in the Gokulpuri area of the national capital on Sunday (March 1). This is the fifth body that has been recovered from the Ganga Vihar drain in Gokulpuri till now.

Earlier, Intelligence Bureau staffer Ankit Sharma's body was recovered from the drain in a similar way, after he was brutally assaulted and stabbed by an irate mob during the recent riots.

Meanwhile, the identity of the deceased is yet to be ascertained.

At least 43 people including a Delhi Police Head Constable were killed while over 250 people sustained serious injuries in the violence that started with stone-pelting at Maujpur Chowk in Jafarabad area between pro and anti-ACC protesters on Sunday and later escalated to communal clashes in several parts of the northeast Delhi constituency. However, the number of people who are stilling missing remains unclear.

Two Special Investigation Teams (SIT) have been constituted under the Delhi Police's Crime Branch to investigate the violence. 73 companies of additional forces were deployed in the riot-hit areas on February 24.

A total of 167 FIRs have registered and 885 persons have been either detained or arrested so far. Additionally, 36 cases of arms act have been registered.

Schools in the violence-affected areas of northeast Delhi will remain closed till March 7 as the situation is not conducive for conduction annual examinations, the Directorate of Education (DoE) announced on February 29. The CBSE, which had also postponed classes 10 and 12 board exams in North East Delhi and parts of East Delhi till February 29, said that class 10-12 board exams will be conducted as per schedule from March 2.

The DoE has written to the Delhi Police seeking adequate force deployment in and around exam centres.

Frenzied mobs torched houses, shops, vehicles, a petrol pump and pelted stones at locals and police personnel. Jaffrabad, Maujpur, Babarpur, Yamuna Vihar, Bhajanpura, Chand Bagh and Shiv Vihar are among the areas severely affected by the riots.
Delhi Police made a heavy deployment of security personnel in southeast Delhi's Shaheen Bagh area, where several women have been leading a protest on the road against the new citizenship law for more than two months

Security presence has been increased and Section 144 imposed in the Shaheen Bagh area on Sunday even though the Hindu Sena had yesterday called off a protest calling for clearing the blocked road.

People have been advised not to assemble, even as Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) has been imposed in the area. "People are informed that Section 144 of CrPC has been imposed here and it is requested that permission for any gathering is not allowed. Violation of this may invite legal proceedings," the Delhi Police directive stated, as reported by ANI.

Twelve companies, including two of female forces, have been deployed in Shaheen Bagh, 100 men each from four police districts have also been deployed along with the local police, the official said. "The proposed protest call was cancelled with timely intervention. But as a precautionary measure, we have made heavy police deployment here," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast) RP Meena told PTI.

"We have personnel from the Central Reserve Police Force and the Delhi Police. We want peace to prevail in the area," Srivastava told ANI. The senior police officer said the aim is to maintain law and order and prevent any untoward incident from occurring.

The police deployment has come after a fringe right-wing group, Hindu Sena, gave a call to clear the Shaheen Bagh road on 1 March. However on Saturday, with the intervention of police, they called off their proposed protest against the anti-CAA agitation in Shaheen Bagh.

The Hindu Sena said in a statement police pressured them to call off their protest on Sunday against the Shaheen Bagh agitation.

Shaheen Bagh, near Jamia Millia Islamia, has been a protest venue for a section of people opposed to the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens since 15 December last year.
[March 01, 2020] Canada Drives Forward on Mining Vision for 21st Century

TORONTO, March 1, 2020 /CNW/ - The Canadian Minerals and Metals Plan (CMMP) is a milestone in our mining history, outlining a new vision for mining that will help Canada seize the generational opportunities of this clean-growth century. Today, Canada's Minister of Natural Resources, the Honourable Seamus O'Regan, along with provincial and territorial ministers, industry and Indigenous business leaders, introduced the first Action Plan under the CMMP, to bolster the competiveness of Canadian mining in the 21st century. The Minister made the announcement at the 2020 Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) Convention in Toronto. Declaring that "mining's moment is now," Minister O'Regan explained that the Action Plan includes specific measures that government and its partners are taking to establish Canada as the leading mining nation in the 21st century. That includes seizing the opportunities presented by the global economy's clean energy transition. Canada's Ministers responsible for mining agreed to pan-Canadian initiatives under each of the six strategic directions identified in the CMMP: Economic Development and Competitiveness: A new pan-Canadian public geoscience strategy to responsibly develop our geological resources, including critical minerals.

A new pan-Canadian public geoscience strategy to responsibly develop our geological resources, including critical minerals. Advancing the participation of Indigenous Peoples: Indigenous procurement conferences and other measures to support Indigenous business devlopment and help deliver long-term benefits for communities.

Indigenous procurement conferences and other measures to support Indigenous business devlopment and help deliver long-term benefits for communities. The Environment: A new mandate for the multi-stakeholder National Orphaned/Abandoned Mines Initiative with a greater focus on climate-related risks, remediating legacy mines, improving financial assurances at new mines, and more.

A new mandate for the multi-stakeholder National Orphaned/Abandoned Mines Initiative with a greater focus on climate-related risks, remediating legacy mines, improving financial assurances at new mines, and more. Science, Technology and Innovation: Innovation prize challenges to help develop made-in- Canada solutions to global mining challenges and improve Canada's innovation outcomes.

Innovation prize challenges to help develop made-in- solutions to global mining challenges and improve innovation outcomes. Communities: A mineral literacy hub and a "Canadians of Mining" campaign to build community support for sustainable mineral development and attract underrepresented groups to this high-tech sector that is key to a green economy.

A mineral literacy hub and a "Canadians of Mining" campaign to build community support for sustainable mineral development and attract underrepresented groups to this high-tech sector that is key to a green economy. Global Leadership: A "Canada Brand for Mining" to translate Canadian leadership and best-in-class products into more foreign direct investment, driving more jobs and growth in Canadian communities



Canada to adjust its approach and respond to future opportunities. Canada's minerals and metals industry is a key contributor to the Canadian economy, accounting for 626,000 direct and indirect jobsincluding 16,500 jobs for Indigenous Peoples19 percent of Canada's total domestic exports, and approximately $47 billion in mineral production from mines and quarries across all regions.

Quotes "Mining's moment is now. The world needs more of Canada's valuable, sustainably produced minerals and metals. This Action Plan begins our work to put Canadian mining on a track to benefit from the global shift to a cleaner and more digitalized economy."

The Honourable Seamus O'Regan

Canada's Minister of Natural Resources Related Information Canadian Minerals and Metals Plan

Action Plan 2020 Follow us on Twitter: @NRCan (http://twitter.com/nrcan)

SOURCE Natural Resources Canada

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
(Refiles to add dropped words in headline, first par)

By Michelle Nichols

WASHINGTON, Feb 28 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has recommended that ministers and diplomats skip travelling to a meeting in New York of the Commission on the Status of Women due to the coronavirus outbreak, according to a letter seen by Reuters on Friday.

More than 7,000 people usually attend the annual meeting, officials said, which is dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. It is due to be held from March 9 to 20.

However, in a letter to U.N. member states from the chair of the commission, Armenias U.N. Ambassador Mher Margaryan said Guterres had recommended that member states "shorten and scale down the session" and cancel dozens of side events.

"He also strongly recommended that capital-based representatives refrain from traveling to headquarters for the session," Margaryan wrote.

The bureau of the Commission on the Status of Women proposed that member states agree to Guterres recommendations at a meeting on Monday.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Guterres made the recommendations given the "fast-evolving situation" with the coronavirus and the need to "balance the UNs critical work and public health concerns.

"The advice given by the secretary-general is based on inputs from the Senior Emergency Policy Team and very close consultations between the U.N. Medical Services and the World Health Organization, Dujarric said.

The flu-like virus that emerged from central China late last year has spread to about 60 countries, infected more than 85,000 people and killed almost 3,000, mostly in China.

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols in Washington; Editing by Stephen Coates)
Open source

A statement by the Prime Minister of Ukraine Oleksiy Honcharuk on his resignation to the Rada has not been received. Parliament Speaker Dmytro Razumkov stated this, Interfax-Ukraine reports.

"As of today (March 1), no statements have been received in the Verkhovna Rada," - Razumkov said.

He did not answer the question of whether personnel issues would be considered at an extraordinary plenary meeting of the Rada on March 4, in particular, whether the issue of the resignation of the entire government or changes in the part of its composition would be considered.

As we reported before, March 4, the Verkhovna Rada would gather for an extraordinary meeting at the request of President Volodymyr Zelensky.

"According to the decree of the head of the Verkhovna Rada of February 28, 2020, the meeting is convened in connection with the demand of the President of Ukraine to convene an extraordinary plenary meeting of the Verkhovna Rada of the ninth convocation and in accordance with part 8 of article 19 of the Verkhovna Radas rules," it was reported.

Related: Rally in support of independence of Catalonia held in south of France

It is noted that an extraordinary plenary meeting of the parliament is convened at 4 pm on March 4, 2020.
WASHINGTONThe Trump administrations peace deal with the Taliban opens the door for an initial American troop withdrawal that Defence Secretary Mark Esper sees as a step toward the broader goal of preparing for potential future war with China.

Esper has his eye on great power competition, which means staying a step ahead of China and Russia on battlefields of the future, including in space and in next-generation strategic weapons like hypersonic missiles and advanced nuclear weapons. He sees China in particular as a rising threat to American predominance on the world stage.

To do more to prepare for the China challenge, Esper wants to do less in Afghanistan, Iraq and other places. Its less about moving troops directly to Asia from elsewhere in the world, and more about reducing commitments in lower-priority regions so that more military units can train together at home on skills related to conventional warfare. Predecessors in the Pentagon have had similar hopes, only to be drawn back to crises in the greater Middle East. In the past year alone, the U.S. has sent an extra 20,000 troops to the Middle East, mainly due to worries about Iran.

With President Donald Trumps emphasis on ending Americas wars against extremists and insurgents, including in Afghanistan, Esper wants to bring home as many troops as he thinks he prudently can so they can prepare for high end warfare.

Stephen Biddle, a policy analyst and a Columbia University professor of international and public affairs, is skeptical that the Pentagon will be able to fully shift away from Afghanistan and other regional hot spots like Iraq, recalling that the Obama administration tried the same thing  also with Chinas rise in mind  in the 2011-2014 period.

The trouble was the Islamic State burst onto the scene, in Iraq and Syria, Biddle said in an interview, and lo and behold it was right back to a focus on the Middle East and small wars.

In remarks Saturday in Kabul, Esper kept the focus on prospects for a complete U.S. withdrawal, while cautioning that the United States will not hesitate to strike what he called terrorist threats in Afghanistan if the Taliban falters in its promise to prevent extremist groups to use Afghan soil to launch attacks on the homelands of the U.S. or its allies.

We still have a long way to go, Esper said.

Reducing U.S. troops levels in Afghanistan to zero is our ultimate objective, he said, but added that it will take many months.

Late last year, Esper said he would be willing to reduce troop levels even if no deal could be made with the Taliban.

I would like to do that because what I want to do is reallocate forces to the Asia-Pacific region, he said at the Ronald Reagan National Defence Forum in December. He said he wants to do the same thing in the Mideast, Africa and Europe.

All of these places where I can free up troops where I could either bring them home to allow them to rest and refit and retrain or/and then reallocate them (to the Asia-Pacific region) to compete with the Chinese, to reassure our allies, to conduct exercises and training, he said.

The Pentagon has not publicly spelled out a precise timetable for troop reductions in Afghanistan, but Esper has said the peace deal signed Saturday in Doha, Qatar by American officials and Taliban representatives triggers the start of a drawdown from the current total of nearly 13,000 to about 8,600, similar to the number Trump inherited when he entered the White House three years ago. The reduction wont happen immediately; it will be carried out over a period of several months and could be slowed, stopped or even reversed if peace prospects turn sour.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday said the U.S. will hold the Taliban and Afghan national security forces to their commitments to reduce the level of violence and predicted a rocky and bumpy path ahead. Its not about trust, its about what happens on the ground not only yesterday, which was an important day, but in the days to follow, he told CBS Face the Nation.

Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a former commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, told a House committee on Wednesday, The whole thing is dependent upon conditions and dependent upon Taliban behaviour.

A U.S. withdrawal, while conditioned on Taliban compliance, raises questions not just about the countrys stability but also the prospects for continuing to combat non-Taliban extremists such as al-Qaida and the Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan. Some in Congress, including Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, are pressing Pentagon officials for assurances that they will not co-operate or co-ordinate with the Taliban as a counterterror partner.

It would be lunacy, Cheney said Wednesday, to trust the Taliban, which was running Afghanistan and harbouring al-Qaida when U.S. forces invaded in October 2001. As part of the negotiated deal with Washington, the Taliban promised not to let al-Qaida use the country as a staging ground for attacking the United States or its allies.

If the peace process succeeds and the U.S. ends up withdrawing entirely, it might opt for an over-the-horizon counterterrorism force. In that case, U.S. special operations troops would be stationed in one or more nearby countries such as Uzbekistan and slip in and out of Afghanistan when necessary to monitor or to attack al-Qaida or IS fighters.

It was the Talibans close association with al-Qaida, after the terrorist group led by Osama bin Laden carried out the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, that prompted President George W. Bush to invade Afghanistan a month later.

U.S. force levels in Afghanistan ebbed and flowed over the years. Early on, the Americans hoped that a small force could keep a lid on al-Qaida and train an Afghan army. But from about 2,500 troops at the end of 2001, the force jumped to about 22,000 five years later. President Barack Obama ballooned the number from about 34,000 at the start of his first term to 100,000. By the time he left the White House the number had dropped to 8,400.

Trump entered office in January 2017 with no appetite for continuing the Afghan stalemate. He was persuaded, nonetheless, in August 2017 to add several thousand troops as part of what he called a new strategy for the region. That included designating Zalmay Khalilzad, a former U.S. ambassador to Kabul, to lead negotiations with the Taliban that eventually produced Saturdays deal and a chance for the United States to move beyond Afghanistan.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 06:12:57|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

Tunisian musician Mehdi Trabelsi (R) and Riadh Fehri are playing in the concert organized by Tunisia's Mediterranean Development Initiative (MDI) in Sadika Art Space in Tunis, Tunisia on Feb. 29. (Xinhua/Adele Ezzine)

In an art space in the northern suburbs of Tunisia's capital Tunis, a mini concert was staged as a way to express the Tunisian people's support for China's fighting against the novel coronavirus.

TUNIS, Feb. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Mediterranean Development Initiative (MDI), a non-profit organization in Tunisia, organized a mini concert on Saturday to express solidarity with China in the fight against the novel coronavirus.

The event took place in the Sadika Art Space, a prestigious cultural space located in the northern suburbs of the capital city of Tunis.

The mini concert was attended by the Chinese Ambassador to Tunisia Wang Wenbin, as well as Tunisian academics and intellectuals.

"Since the spread of the epidemic in China, Tunisian government and Tunisian people from all backgrounds expressed their support to us, which touched us deeply," Wang said.

For his part, MDI President Ghazi Ben Ahmed said he was confident in China's ability to combat this new virus.

"Everyone admires the courage, selflessness and nationalism of the Chinese people in their fight against COVID-19," Ben Ahmed told Xinhua.

The Tunisian artists performed four musical pieces called "Purity" ,"Worry", "Sidi Bou Said" and "Fehri Real's."

In order to show solidarity with the Chinese people, people attended the concert attached purple ribbons to a big tree. 
MARIGOT/ Basseterre:--- 3 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed as positive in the northern islands by the Pasteur laboratory in Guadeloupe, which is now able to carry out the analyses. He is a resident of Saint Barthelemy and his parents who came to visit.

The resident of Saint-Barthelemy is currently confined to his home with daily surveillance. His state of health is not worrying.

His parents are in solitary confinement at the Saint-Martin hospital and are closely followed. Their state of health is not worrying.

Samples from people who have been in contact are being analyzed or carried out. There are, in addition, two other possible cases with a couple of residents in Saint-Martin who returned from vacation in the Oise. Their samples are being processed.

To date, there are no possible or confirmed cases in Guadeloupe. However, as the Director-General of WHO has said, "the virus has no borders" and the potential risk of having cases worldwide is very high. It should be noted that the strongest possibility of entry of the virus into Guadeloupe is the arrival of asymptomatic people, either visiting or returning home, who will not declare the infection until a few days later.

This is the reason why the strategy to fight against this infection is information on the behaviors to adopt when the symptoms appear (call 15, isolate yourself, have as little contact as possible with your loved ones, wear a mask. when sick), sampling and analysis when the case is classified as possible by the SAMU and/or infectiologists; and finally, the care adapted to each case.

What favors the spread are contacts of less than one meter fifty for a period of at least ten minutes but above all contamination by the hands. In fact, the hands are brought to the face on average every minute and encourage the entry of the virus through the eyes, nose, and mouth.

So, to avoid the spread, you absolutely must avoid kissing to say hello, avoid shaking hands, wash your hands at least every hour, use hydro-alcoholic solutions, sneeze in your elbow, use disposable handkerchiefs. Wearing the mask in the absence of disease is not useful because it is mainly the hands that carry the virus. Masks are useful for sick people when they are in the presence of other people and for caregivers who are in close contact with the sick.

Bulletin n1

Information portant sur le coronavirus

Point de situation au 1er mars 2020

ARS (Agence de Sante)

3 cas de COVID-19 ont ete confirmes comme Positifs dans les iles du Nord par le laboratoire Pasteur de la Guadeloupe qui est a present en mesure de faire les analyses. Il sagit dun resident de Saint-Barthelemy et de ses parents venus en visite.

Le resident de Saint-Barthelemy se trouve actuellement confine a son domicile avec une surveillance quotidienne. Son etat de sante nest pas inquietant.

Ses parents se trouvent en isolement a lhopital de Saint-Martin et sont suivis de pres. Leur etat de sante nest pas inquietant.

Des prelevements sur les personnes ayant ete en contact sont en cours danalyse ou de realisation. Il existe, par ailleurs, deux autres cas possibles avec un couple de residents a Saint-Martin rentres de vacances dans lOise. Leurs prelevements sont en cours de traitement.

A ce jour, il ny a pas de cas possibles ou de cas confirmes en Guadeloupe. Cependant, comme la indique le directeur general de LOMS,  le virus na plus de frontieres  et le risque potentiel davoir des cas partout dans le monde est tres eleve. Il est a noter que la possibilite la plus forte dentree du virus en Guadeloupe est larrivee de personnes asymptomatiques, soit en visite, soit de retour a domicile et qui ne declareront linfection que quelques jours plus tard.

Cest la raison pour laquelle la strategie de lutte contre cette infection est linformation sur les comportements a adopter lorsque les symptomes se declarent (appeler le 15, sisoler, avoir le moins de contacts possibles avec ses proches, porter un masque lorsquon est malade), le prelevement et lanalyse lorsque le cas est classe comme possible par le SAMU et/ ou les infectiologues ; et enfin la prise en charge adapte a chaque cas.

Ce qui favorise la propagation, ce sont des contacts de moins dun metre cinquante pendant une duree dau moins dix minutes mais surtout la contamination par les mains. En effet, les mains sont portees au visage en moyenne toutes les minutes et favorisent lentree du virus par les yeux, le nez, la bouche.

Ainsi, pour eviter la propagation, il faut absolument eviter de sembrasser pour se dire bonjour, eviter de se serrer les mains, se laver les mains toutes les heures au moins, utiliser des solutions hydro-alcooliques, eternuer dans son coude, utiliser des mouchoirs en papier jetables. Le port du masque en labsence de maladie nest pas utile car ce sont surtout les mains qui sont porteuses du virus. Les masques sont utiles pour les personnes malades lorsquelles sont en presence dautres personnes et pour les personnels soignants qui sont en contact etroit avec les malades.

Un bulletin dinformation quotidien sera diffuse a la presse et aux elus pendant toute la duree de lepidemie.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Dian Septiari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, March 2, 2020

Indonesia hailed the signing of a peace deal between the United States and the Afghan Taliban in Qatar over the weekend, calling it a first step forward in the ongoing peace process.

The Taliban's political chief met with senior diplomats from countries including Russia, Indonesia and Norway, hours after signing the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) deal with Washington aimed at ending the Afghan war, the hard-line Islamist group said in a statement on Sunday.

Saturday's accord was signed in the Qatari capital Doha by US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban political chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on hand to witness the ceremony.

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
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Of the 125 people quarantined in Maharashtra so far for possible exposure to novel coronavirus, 121 have tested negative and test reports of four are awaited, the state health department said on Sunday.

It said that so far as many as 61,939 travellers have been screened for the infection at the Mumbai international airport.

Passengers arriving from 12 Covid-19 affected countries/regions- China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Nepal, Indonesia, Vietnam, Italy, Iran and Malaysia- are being screened at the Mumbai airport.

ALSO READ: Indian embassy in touch with Iranian authorities on Indians stuck there due to coronavirus: MEA

As many as 125 travellers who had arrived from Covid- 19-affected areas were quarantined in hospitals across the state, but 121 of them tested negative for the virus as per the National Institute of Virology (NIV) reports, it said in a statement.

Those who are suspected to have contracted the deadly infection are sent to isolation facilities for treatment.

However, no case of coronavirus infection has come to light in the state so far, it added. At present, seven persons have been quarantined- five in Mumbai and one each at Pune and Nashik.

Reports of swab samples of four of these passengers were awaited from the NIV, it added. According to officials, a man who was quarantined in Nashik for possible infection after his return from Italy has tested negative.

ALSO READ: 17 Kerala fishermen stranded in Iran as airports shutdown

The man, who hails from Chandrapur district, had returned to India on February 26 from Italy, where he had gone for studies, an official said.

"He was quarantined as a precautionary measure as he showed symptoms of coronavirus. His samples were sent to Pune for testing. However, he was found negative for the infection," the official said.

The department said that all travellers from Wuhan city of China- the epicentre of the outbreak of epidemic- are being isolated and tested, irrespective of whether they show any symptoms or not.

Follow-up at home is conducted for travellers from Covid-19-affected countries who do not show any symptoms during the screening at the airport.

ALSO READ: Patient with suspected coronavirus dies at Ernakulam hospital

"Till date, out of the 370 travellers, 241 have completed their follow-up of 14 days," the department said. It said that there are 170 travellers, who have come to India from Iran after February 1. All of them have been advised home isolation for 14 days from their date of departure from Iran.

"Local health authorities will daily contact them for their health status. If any of them develop symptoms like fever, cough, a cold will be admitted at identified isolation wards and will be tested for COVID-19," an officer said.

The department also appealed all such travellers from Iran are appealed to self-report to local health authorities if for any reason they have yet not been contacted by the local health authority.

The state COVID-19 control room number is 020- 26127394, the department said in the statement.
Vice President Mike Pence speaks during a news conference with President Donald Trump on coronavirus in the press briefing room at the White House, Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

The coronavirus may have been circulating for weeks undetected in Washington state, a preliminary finding that could mean hundreds of undiagnosed cases in the state that's also home to the nation's first confirmed infection and now the first death, researchers said Sunday after analyzing genetic samples of the pathogens.

State and local authorities stepped up testing for the illness as the number of new cases grew nationwide, with new infections announced in Illinois, Rhode Island and Washington state. Authorities in the Seattle area said two more people had been diagnosed with the COVID-19 virus, both men in their 60s who were in critical condition. Those cases brought the numbers to six in Seattle.

A man in his 50s died in Washington on Saturday and health officials said 50 more people in a nursing facility in Kirkland, Washington, are sick and being tested for the virus.

Elsewhere, authorities announced Sunday a third case in Illinois and Rhode Island's first case as worried Americans swarmed stores to stock up on basic goods such as bottled water, canned foods and toilet paper. The hospitalized patient in Rhode Island is a man in his 40s who had traveled to Italy in February.

As the fallout continued, Vice President Mike Pence and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar sought to reassure the American public that the federal government is working to make sure state and local authorities are able to test for COVID-19. Both said during a round of TV talk show appearances Sunday that thousands more testing kits had been distributed to state and local officials, with thousands more to come.

"They should know we have the best public health system in the world looking out for them," Azar said, adding that additional cases will be reported and the overall risk to Americans is low.

As Americans prepared, researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington on Sunday said they had evidence that COVID-19 may have been circulating in the state for up to six weeks undetecteda finding that, if true, could mean hundreds of undiagnosed cases in the area. The research was not published in a scientific journal or reviewed by other scientists.

Vice President Mike Pence, joined by President Donald Trump, pauses while speaking about coronavirus at the White House in Washington, Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020.(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Trevor Bedford, an associate professor who announced the preliminary findings on the virus in Washington state, said on Twitter late Saturday that genetic similarities between the state's first case on Jan. 20 and a case announced Friday indicated the newer case may have descended from the earlier one. The Jan. 20 case was the first known case in the U.S.

"I believe we're facing an already substantial outbreak in Washington State that was not detected until now due to narrow case definition requiring direct travel to China," he said on Twitter.

Bedford did not immediately reply to an e-mail requesting an interview Sunday.

Scientists not affiliated with the research said the results did not necessarily surprise them and pointed out that for many peopleespecially younger, healthier onesthe symptoms are not much worse than a flu or bad cold.

"We think that this has a pretty high rate of mild symptoms and can be asymptomatic. The symptoms are pretty non-specific and testing criteria has been pretty strict, so those combinations of factors means that it easily could have been circulating for a bit without us knowing," said Justin Lessler, an associated professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

"And that was what a lot of us was thinking was likely."

Pence, named by the president to be the point-person overseeing the government's response, said more than 15,000 virus testing kits had been released over the weekend. And, the administration is working with a commercial provider to distribute 50,000 more, he said.

Rhode Island Director of Health Nicole Alexander-Scott, left, and R.I. Gov. Gina Raimondo, right, face reporters during a news conference, Sunday, March 1, 2020, in Providence, R.I. Alexander-Scott took questions on what she described as the state's first presumptive positive case of coronavirus. Officials said the person is in their 40s and had traveled to Italy in February of 2020. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

The vice president said testing was among the first issues raised by governors he's spoken with so far. Several states have begun their own testing, including Washington state, Oregon and Illinois.

"We're leaning into it," Pence said.

Azar said more than 3,600 people already have been tested for coronavirus and the capability exists to test 75,000 people. He forecast a "radical expansion of that" in the coming weeks.

Pence and Azar spoke a day after President Donald Trump approved new restrictions on international travel to prevent the spread within the U.S. of the new virus, which originated in China. There are now more than 80,000 cases worldwide and about 3,000 deaths.

Two Americans are now known to have died of the virus, one in Washington state and one in China.

The new U.S. travel restrictions apply to Iran, although travel there by Americans already is severely limited, as well as heavily affected regions of Italy and South Korea. Trump tweeted Sunday that any travelers from those countries will be screened when they arrive in the U.S.

The number of known coronavirus cases in the U.S. had reached 70 as of Sunday.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar speaks during a press briefing with President Donald Trump about coronavirus in the press briefing room at the White House, Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Trump said Saturday at a White House news conference that he was thinking about closing the southern border with Mexico as a precaution. Azar said Sunday that Mexico has few coronavirus cases and that it would take a dramatic change in the circumstances there to prompt serious consideration of a border shutdown.

The president, Azar said, "was trying to say everything's on the table."

"We will take whatever measures are appropriate and necessary to protect the American people, but we don't forecast doing that any time soon," he said of closing the border.

Pence noted that an infectious disease expert is joining an existing White House coronavirus task force on Monday. Last week, Pence announced the addition of Debbie Birx, a State Department ambassador-at-large and medical doctor who is the administration's global HIV/AIDS response coordinator, to the virus panel.

Despite calls by Trump and Pence for political unity in the face of the viral threat, the issue has become mired in the partisan rancor in Washington, with both Republicans and Democrats accusing each other of mining the issue for political gain.

Trump, at a political rally last week, accused Democrats of "politicizing" the issue and said their criticism of his handling of the public health challenge was their new "hoax."

At the White House on Saturday, Trump said he was not trying to minimize the threat from the virus.

Travelers wear protective mask as they walk through in terminal 5 at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Sunday, March 1, 2020. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

"Again, the hoax was used in respect to Democrats and what they were saying," he said Saturday.

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, who emerged victorious Saturday night from South Carolina's primary, criticized the administration over the availability of testing kits.

Biden also panned the administration's decision to have political appointees Pence and Azar, neither of whom are scientists by training, appear on the Sunday shows, instead of an expert like Dr. Anthony Fauci, the National Institutes of Health infectious disease chief.

Biden claimed the administration doesn't have testing kits. Pence and Azar said thousands of kits had been distributed.

Azar said he didn't know what Biden was talking about when the former vice president said testing kits didn't exist. Azar said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had developed a lab test for coronavirus with "historic speed."

Pence was interviewed on CNN's "State of the Union" and Azar commented on "Fox News Sunday," CBS' "Face the Nation" and ABC's "This Week." Biden commented on CNN.

Explore further Pence tries to project calm as virus response coordinator

 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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
Kolkata, March 1 : Setting the BJP's line of campaign against the Trinamool Congress, Union Home Minister Amit Shan on Sunday targeted West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abishek Banerjee for indulging in "dynastic politics" while calling for an end to "the nephew's corruption" and sought to allay fears of the refugees and the Muslims about the CAA.

Addressing a huge public rally here on a day's trip to the city amidst protests by the Left and the Congress and some "political groups", Shah, however, kept mum about the recent Delhi violence, even as he accused Mamata Banerjee of instigating riots and torching of trains and railway stations in Bengal during the violent anti-CAA movement in the state in December.

With Banerjee having carried her campaign against the Citizenship Amendment Act to a shrill pitch, Shah hit back by alleging that she was "disrespecting" the founding fathers of the Constitution as also tribal and scheduled caste leaders by opposing and spreading fear about the law.

With the public rally - the first by Shah in the state since the Lok Sabha polls - being held ahead of the state-wide civic polls, which is considered a semi final before the all-important Assembly elections next year, Shah raised issues like 'syndicate raj' (cartels of muscle-flexing youth enjoying political patronage who force promoters and people to buy substandard building equipment), Banerjee's appeasement of minorities, poor law and order and the state government's refusal to let the people enjoy the fruits of Central schemes.

Shah dwelt at length on the CAA, which has generated much political acrimony in Bengal, with the Banerjee-led Trinamool, as also the Left and the Congress, going all out to oppose it.

In fact, one of the prime reasons for Shah's rally was to give a boost to his party's campaign backing the law.

Political observers feel the CAA could be a game-changer either way in the civic and assembly polls.

Shah said not a single member of any minority community would lose citizenship because of the legislation, which seeks to provide Indian nationality to Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Parsis, Jains and Buddhists who fled religious persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh till December 31, 2014.

"The opposition is terrorising minorities... I assure every person from the minority community that CAA only provides citizenship, doesn't take it away. It won't affect your citizenship.

"No minority community member from Kolkata or West Bengal will lose citizenship because of the CAA," Shah said, addressing the large rally at the Shahid Minar Maidan here.

He alleged that the refugees are being made to fear that they will have to produce documents. "Nothing of this sort will happen. Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains do not need any documents." "I want to ask Mamata didi -- why are you hurting the interests of our refugees?" he said.

Lashing out at Banerjee, he wondered why she always sided with infltrators.

"She opposed the CAA and instigated riots, torching of trains and railway stations in Bengal. Why are you only fond of infiltrators?" Shah said.

Shah said by opposing CAA, a law passed by parliament, Banerjee was disrespecting the commitments given to refugees by Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and showing scant regard for B.R. Ambedkar - the father of Indian Constitution - by opposing a law passed by parliament.

"You are also disrespecting the likes of Harichand Thakur, Guruchand Thakur (founders of Matua sect) and Panchannan Barma (a leader of Koch and Rajbanshi people)," Shah said during his aggressive speech.

He categorically said the centre would give citizenship to all refugees and "not stop until and unless all of them get it".

Targeting Banerjee and Abhishek, Shah said a son of the soil would become the Chief Minister after next year's assembly polls, in which the BJP would get a "two-thirds majority".

Taking on Banerjee for promoting 'parivarvad' (family rule) by 'trying to anoint' Abhishek - now a Trinamool MP and one its prominent leaders - as her successor, Shah said such things cannot be done in Bengal.

"No shehzada (prince) will become the next Bengal Chief Minister. A son of the soil will be the next Chief Minister," said Shah, without naming Abhishek.

In yet another indication of the party's campaign in the coming days, he called for an end to "the nephew's corruption". "Corruption has spread across the party - from the nephew to the sarpanch (chief of panchayat)." Shah also launched a new BJP mass outreach campaign 'Aar Noe Anyay' (No more injustice).

"It is a campaign to change the government in Bengal," he said, and made public a mobile number on which party supporters can give missed call to be a part of the programme.
Kaylen Smith demonstrates how to don the protective gear that must be worn when dealing with patients with an infectious disease.

Erin Clark/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

At least two dozen police departments in the US have shared misinformation on Facebook linking the coronavirus to illegal substances, like Methamphetamine, according to BuzzFeed News.

As first reported by The Washington Post, the posts urge individuals to bring their drugs into police stations so they can be tested for the virus, which has killed nearly 3,000 people thus far.

In addition to police departments, some local media outlets have echoed the misinformation on their Facebook pages.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Some US police departments have spread misinformation about the coronavirus on Facebook, claiming that COVID-19 is linked to methamphetamine in an attempt to get people to turn their illegal substances in to law enforcement, the Washington Post reported.

"WARNING: If you have recently purchased Meth, it may be contaminated with the Corona Virus," the Merill, Wisconsin, Police Department shared in a Facebook post on February 26. "Please take it to the Merrill Police Department and we will test it for free. If you're not comfortable going into an office setting, please request any officer and they'll test your Meth in the privacy of your home. Please spread the word! We are here for you!"

The next day, the Merill Police Department updated its post after almost instantly drawing the attention and criticism from individuals who either believed the post was legitimate or those who thought the department should not be joking about the virus.

"While other departments are creating substance use outreach programs, you're doing this. Substance use disorder is a public health crisis. Making a mockery of it is putting you further away from a solution. This is disgusting," one person commented on the Facebook post.

"We are a Law Enforcement Agency, not a recovery service," the department responded. "We address crime and the criminals who perpetrate it anywhere we can in our City and any way we lawfully can."

Story continues

"We have actually experienced people report their illegal drugs being stolen, being ripped off in a drug deal, being sold a look-a-like illegal substance, etc. We have even experienced drunk drivers coming to pick up arrested drunk drivers as their "sober responsible party," Merrill Police said on Facebook on Thursday. "So this attempt, although a long shot, still had some possibility behind it. We will take those easy grabs at removing poison[sic] from our community whenever we can. That is our role which we un-apologetically must fulfill."

To date, COVID-19, which originated in Wuhan, China, has killed more than 2,900 people and infected more than 85,000 others. While the disease had been primarily contained to China, the virus has spread to other parts of Asia and around the globe, including Italy and the US. At least 76 people have died outside of mainland China, according to a previous Business Insider report.

The misinformation was not limited to just police departments. In addition to two dozen US police departments, one candidate for a local sheriff's office, and 10 local journalists and radio stations also shared the inaccurate information on their Facebook pages, according to a BuzzFeed News report.

"Texas police say local meth is contaminated with coronavirus, offer to test it," the headline of the article, posted on Thursday. The same article was posted among websites of other Gray Media-owned television stations.

It's apparently not the first time police departments have used public fears about a global virus outbreak to target illegal drug use. As the Washington Post noted, a police department in Granite Shoals, Texas, in 2016 shared a similar warning linking heroin and meth to the Ebola virus.

"Giving mythological information and being tongue-in-cheek about something that's really serious, where there's been a lot of loss and a lot of deaths seems just problematic coming from a state agency," Jon Zibbell, a former CDC epidemiologist at RTI International, said, according to BuzzFeed News. "There's absolutely no evidence for this."

Social media websites, like Facebook, have faced questions over how they plan to handle coronavirus misinformation on their platforms. Earlier this week, the Menlo, Park, California-based company announced it would ban misleading advertisements that mentioned coronavirus.

Facebook did not immediately return a return Business Insider's request for comment.

Read more:

Stocks are fresh off their worst week since the financial crisis. Here are 3 reasons why the meltdown could just be getting started.

Companies around the world are telling their employees to work from home amid the coronavirus outbreak

How to lessen the chances of getting sick when traveling on planes in the age of coronavirus, according to experts

Several young doctors in China have died of the coronavirus. Medical workers are far more vulnerable to infection than the general population.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Little Big Shots: Melissa McCarthy takes over hosting duties for the showcase for exceptional kids. (8 p.m. Sunday, NBC; streams on fuboTV)

Dispatches From Elsewhere: Actor Jason Segel created and stars in this new series about a group of people who feel like theyre missing something, until they come together to take on a series of challenges. The cast includes Sally Field, Andre Benjamin, Richard E. Grant and Eve Lindley. (10 p.m. Sunday, AMC; streaming on fuboTV)

Breeders: Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard star as parents trying to cope with their children, their careers and their relationship. (10 p.m. Monday, FX; streams on FX on Hulu - subscribe to Hulu or Hulu + Live TV)

Empire: The musical drama returns for its final 10 episodes. (9 p.m. Tuesday, Fox; stream on Hulu or Hulu + Live TV and fuboTV)

Volcano Live! With Nik Wallenda: Chris Harrison hosts, as Nik Wallenda attempts a highwire walk over the Masaya volcano, in Nicaragua. (8 p.m. ABC, Wednesday; stream on Hulu + Live TV)

Dave: A new comedy inspired by rapper and comedian Dave Burds life and career. (10 p.m. Wednesday, FXX; stream on FX on Hulu - subscribe to Hulu or Hulu + Live TV)

Twenties: Lena Waithe (The Chi) created this new series about young African American women in Los Angeles. (10 p.m. Wednesday, BET; stream on fuboTV)

Better Things: Pamela Adlon returns for Season 4 of her clever comedy about a single mother juggling her acting career and her family. (10 p.m. Thursday, FX; stream on FX on Hulu - subscribe to Hulu or Hulu + Live TV)

RuPauls Drag Race: The new season and search for Americas Next Drag Superstar" continues. (8 p.m. Friday, VH1; stream on fuboTV)

Streaming

Devs: Alex Garland (Ex Machine) writes and directs his first TV series, an ominous, moody thriller about a mysterious high tech company and the deadly lengths the founder (Nick Offerman) will go to to protect its most amazing project. (Devs premieres its first two episodes on Thursday, March on FX on Hulu; after that, new episodes will premiere every Thursday; subscribe to Hulu or Hulu + Live TV)

Related: Alex Garlands Devs gets FX on Hulu off to an artistic, sometimes baffling start

-- Kristi Turnquist

kturnquist@oregonian.com 503-221-8227 @Kristiturnquist

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, March 1, 2020

Media groups have questioned the proposed revisions to the Press Law set out in the omnibus bill on job creation, fearing that the new provisions will lead to a setback in press freedom.

The Press Council said on Thursday that the government had not consulted them about the bill.

[The government] should have spoken with the Press Council and other stakeholders if they wanted to make a revision to the press law. But we have not been involved to date, Press Council member in charge of complaint and press ethics enforcement Arif Zulkifli told The Jakarta Post 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
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 19:16:04|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

KAMPALA, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The number of people who died in the Friday grisly head-on collision in the central Uganda district of Luwero has risen to 12, police said here on Sunday.

Abraham Tukundane, Luwero district police commander, told Xinhua by phone that four who were admitted at Bombo military hospital on Saturday succumbed to the injuries they sustained after a prisons truck collided with a passenger commuter taxi at Kibisi, along the Luwero-Kampala Highway.

"Some other people who were admitted at Bombo military hospital have died. The death toll now stands at 12," said Tukundane.

At least seven passengers aboard the taxi heading to the capital, Kampala and the driver of the truck travelling to the northern Ugandan town of Gulu died on the spot on Friday.

Uganda registers about 20,000 accidents each year, with some 2,000 deaths, making it one of the countries with the highest traffic death rates, according to police statistics.

The police attribute the high rates of road accidents to reckless driving, speeding, human error, drunk driving and overloading.
Assam Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday expressed hope that the delimitation exercise in the state will ensure the protection of the rights of the indigenous communities.

"We hope that this delimitation ensures that political rights of indigenous communities of Assam are protected. We want to see that we do not lose any seats when the delimitation report is published. Assam should be governed by indigenous people," Sarma told reporters here.

The long-overdue delimitation exercise to readjust the division of Assam into territorial constituencies for the purpose of elections to both state Assembly and Lok Sabha, on the basis of the 2001 Census, has received the go-ahead from President Ram Nath Kovind, according to an order from the Union Ministry of Law and Justice.

Speaking about the Inner Line Permit, he said, "Members of the Committee on Assam Accord's Clause 6 has informally clarified that they never directly recommended the introduction of Inner Line Permit (ILP) in Assam."

The ILP is a document that allows an Indian citizen to visit or stay in a state that is protected under the ILP system for a limited time period.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Yesterday, the Honourable Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Nigeria, H.E. Chief Timipre Sylva attended the closing ceremony of the 18th Nigeria Oil & Games Industry Games. He was joined by the Captains of the Oil and Gas Sector in Nigeria to witness the applaudable capacity to collaborate and win collectively.

The Agencies of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources that participated made impressive deliveries with a combined medal reward of 80 representing over 40% of the total number of medals won.

A further breakdown revealed that the four Agencies, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Department of Petroleum Resources, Nigerian Content Development & Monitoring Board and the Petroleum Training Institute, received 19 Gold, 25 Silver and 36 Bronze awards out of the total 199 medals won in the course of the tournament.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation emerged as the Overall Winner of the 18th Nigeria Oil Industry Games with a combined award of 48 Medals representing 13 Gold, 16 Silver and 19 Bronze ahead of eleven participants at the tournament.

*_#officialnogig_* *_#nogig2020_*


She has been ruling the runway during fashion week season.

And Kaia Gerber looked sensational as she enjoyed an evening of leisure in Paris on Friday.

The supermodel, 18, cut a chic figure in a black mini dress paired with knee-high boots as she walked along.

Strut: Kaia Gerber looked sensational as she enjoyed an evening of leisure in Paris on Friday

The stylish dress was teamed with black sheer tights and chunky heeled boots, with a black overcoat draped over her shoulders.

Her brunette bob was styled sleek and straight while her pretty features were enhanced with smoky shadow and rose gloss.

The star kept her accessories minimal, carrying a small leather handbag under one arm.

Before hitting Paris, Kaia was in Milan for Fashion Week where she walked for brands including Prada, Fendi, Moschino and Max Mara.

Strut: The supermodel, 18, cut a chic figure in a black mini dress paired with knee-high boots as she walked along

Smile: Kaia looked gorgeous as she walked along during a break in her hectic schedule

And just recently in Paris she led a slew of models at the Loewe show in front of a star-studded audience including Gwendoline Christie on Friday morning.

At the show, the model looked typically chic in a midnight blue ruched dress which featured a bold studded panel teamed with a pair of patent black shoes, decorated with a silver letter L on the front.

And on Thursday, the model - who is deemed one of the elite - joined Gigi Hadid for Chloe's Autumn/ Winter 2020/ 2021 showcase, where she demanded attention in a variety of fashionable pieces.

Despite being one of the most in demand models, the daughter of former supermodel Cindy Crawford, admitted she was 'skeptical' about becoming a model at first.

She also said that when her career started to take off, she would refuse 'special treatment' because of her family connections.
The Herald reports:

There are claims that at least 210 people in Iran have died as a result of the new coronavirus disease.

BBC Persian reported the figures on Friday, citing unnamed sources in the Islamic republics health system and pr

There are claims that at least 210 people in Iran have died as a result of the new coronavirus disease. 

If the BBC Persian figure of 210 deaths is accurate  with the total number of reported cases in Iran currently at 388  these most recent figures would push the diseases mortality rate to a shocking 54.12 per cent in Iran alone.

Alternatively, if Chinas data on the virus is to be believed and the mortality rate is indeed 2.3 per cent, Irans unusually high death rate could also suggest a huge number of cases remain unreported in the country. The number of cases should be closer to 9130 than the 388 currently being reported by Iranian government officials.
By PTI

KOLKATA: A Polish student of Jadavpur University has been asked by the Foreigner Regional Registration Office (FRRO) to leave the country after he participated in an anti-CAA rally in the West Bengal capital, varsity sources said on Sunday.

The incident comes close on the heels of a Bangladeshi student of Visva Bharati University being issued a similar directive by the FRRO after she posted photographs of an anti-CAA demonstration, held on the campus, on social media.

A JU source told PTI that Kamil Siedcynski, a Polish student of Comparative Literature, was asked by the FRRO to visit its Kolkata office, which he did on February 22.

"Siedcynski was served a notice by the FRRO asking him to leave the country within a fortnight on receipt of the notice for alleged conduct deemed inappropriate for a foreign national staying in India on a student visa," the source said.

The JU source said several teachers and Left-leaning students of the varsity were of the view that Siedcynski was paying the price for attending an anti-CAA rally at Moulali area in the city in December last year where he was interviewed by a Bengali daily and a brief report on him was published the next day.

ALSO READ | Bangladeshi student at Visva-Bharati University asked to leave India

"Some people probably forwarded a copy of the report to the FRRO. Siedcynski has no political leanings but his enthusiasm to attend the protest rally and click photographs landed him in trouble," the source said.

Siedcynski, who was supposed to write his third-semester examinations this year, could not be contacted.

JU vice-chancellor Suranjan Das and Registrar Snehamanju Basu also did not take calls.

The Polish student had earlier studied Bengali at the Visva Bharati University.

Recently Afsara Anika Meem, a first-year Bangladeshi undergraduate student in the Fine Arts department of the Visva-Bharati University was served an FRRO notice for reportedly engaging in "anti-government" activities.

Both the foreign nationals have requested the FRRO to reconsider its decision and promised not to get involved in any such protests in the future, sources said.

The FRRO, in turn, has said that a final decision will be taken in Delhi, the source said quoting the two students.
After successfully curbing the annual spurt of Japanese Encephalitis and Acute Encephalitis Syndrome among children during the last four years of his stint, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday launched a month-long, state-wide vaccination drive for children to prevent recurrence of the fatal malady.

Adityanath launched the vaccination campaign while inaugurating the fifth edition of the Mukhyamantri Arogya Mela at a Primary Health Center at Aurangabad in Sarojini Nagar area of Lucknow.

Recalling the deadly grip of the two diseases, largely in eastern Uttar Pradesh as an annual malady, Adityanath said, "From 1977-78 to 2016, around 500 to 1,500 children died of encephalitis within three to four months every year."



"But through massive campaigns conducted by our government, we have been successful in reducing the death toll by 90 per cent," the chief minister said, adding that other diseases like Dengue and Kalazar too can be controlled like this.

Under a UNICEF-aided vaccination campaign DASTAK, the entire state machinery last year and earlier went door to door in various districts affected by JE and acute encephalitis syndrome.

The communicable disease control, special Japanese Encephalitis vaccination campaign and 'DASTAK' campaign were linked to the Mukhyamantri Arogya Mela this year, an official statement said.

Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister also stressed upon the need not to get panicked over the spread of any disease, including flu, and to counter it instead by a systematic action plan.

"Flu is not a disease. When the weather changes, some people catch cold. It is flu in itself and the cause of its spread has been given names like swine flu and bird flu," the chief minister said, while seeking to caution people against panicking in face of the spread of any disease.

Emphasising upon the role of awareness in fighting the spread of any disease, Adityanath said, "There is a need to make people aware of it and alert the Health Department about the need to get the solution to fight the disease. The biggest solution to the flu is awareness."



"Even if it has spread, do not create panic over it. For this, the Health Department should prepare a better action plan. Hospitals should be made aware of this in advance and special wards should be made there, so that it can be stopped from spreading," he added.

He also cautioned media against spreading fear psychosis against spread of any disease.

"Our second effort should be to create awareness about cleanliness. To fight mosquito-borne diseases, constant fogging drives should be carried out," he said.

During the month-long vaccination campaign 'DASTAK', which will end on March 31, workers will visit all primary health centers and secondary schools and vaccinate those who have not been vaccinated.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
You are the owner of this article.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 1

Trend:

All necessary and urgent measures have been taken in Azerbaijan to prevent the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), Operational Headquarters under the Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers told Trend.

Hospitals have been allocated and quarantine zones have been established to detect the coronavirus cases. Moreover, special mobile laboratories have been set up along the border with the Islamic Republic of Iran to prevent and detect the virus, said the Operational Headquarters.

There was made a decision on Feb.29, at 16:00 to temporarily close the border with Iran in a limited mode to ensure the health and safety of the population.

Moreover, all necessary measures are taken for medical check-up of those who come to Azerbaijan from the countries suffering from coronavirus.

Specialized hospitals and laboratories are provided with appropriate equipment and medicines for the diagnosis and treatment of the disease. For this purpose, professional doctors have been sent to all hospitals in the regions.

Together with the World Health Organization (WHO), all necessary measures are being taken to treat the infected and to identify the circle of people with whom they were in contact. Intensive work is underway to prevent the spread of coronavirus and increase the effectiveness of relevant preventive measures.

In addition, as a result of negotiations with China, Germany and other countries, relevant agreements were reached on bringing the necessary equipment, medicines and specialists to Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan has taken all necessary measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the country, the sanitary and epidemiological situation is under strict control, the Operational Headquarters said.
A man is facing the prospect of the death penalty after allegedly kidnapping and killing a woman he led to believe was his girlfriend before later moving into her house.

John Matthew Chapman of Maryland has been charged with one count of kidnapping resulting in death after luring Jaime Feden to the Nevada desert, where he bound her to a signpost and duct taped her mouth and nose until she died from suffocation, according to a criminal complaint issued by federal prosecutors.

Mr Chapman, who is currently being held in state custody, will appear in federal court on Monday. If convicted, the 40-year-old faces the maximum penalty of life in prison or death.

After being first arrested by police in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania late last year, Mr Chapman admitted he drove Feden to Las Vegas in September under the guise of a holiday with the potential to move there together, prosecutors say.

Two days later he took her out to the desert in Lincoln County, Nevada to carry out a bondage-themed photo shoot. After allegedly tying up Feden and watching her die from asphyxiation, Mr Chapman stripped the deceased and left her body there.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

He later returned to Pennsylvania to live in Fedens home, passing it off as his own, and posed as her on social media, the criminal complaint says.

A family member of the victim told investigators she was communicating with the victims Facebook messenger account.

In November, the Bethel Park Police Department in Pennsylvania conducted a welfare check on the victim at the request of a friend.

Neighbours stated that they had not seen the victim or her van in approximately two months, but they had recently observed a person whom they believed to be her boyfriend (Chapman) entering and leaving the victims residence, the US Attorneys Office said.

Inside the victims residence, investigators found a fake CIA identification card with Mr Chapmans name and photograph, the victims phone, multiple zip ties and a roll of duct tape.

Mr Chapman told police he planned to kill the victim and had a kill kit ready before their departure to Nevada.

Fedens body was discovered in October after a family pulled over along a stretch of Route 93 in Lincoln County for a bathroom break.
Syria: Turkey using observation posts to back terrorists

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 29 February 2020 2:03 AM

Syria's ambassador to the United Nations tells an emergency UN Security Council meeting that Turkey uses the observation posts it has set up in the Arab country's northwest to level support for terrorists.

Speaking during the Friday session, Bashar al-Ja'afari strongly condemned the Turkish aggression against Syria, and urged the world body to put an end to Ankara's adventurism.

Turkey has 12 observation posts in Syria's Idlib Province, built as part of an agreement with Russia to de-escalate the situation near the Turkish border. Some of the posts, however, now lie in the territory that has been recaptured in joint Russo-Syrian efforts.

Ankara, which itself supports a number of anti-Damascus militant outfits in Idlib, claims that Syrian offensives there have killed dozens of its troops. It has threatened to attack the Syrian military unless government forces abandoned the liberated areas, and asked Moscow to "stop" Damascus.

Turkey has, meanwhile, sent thousands of troops and heavy military hardware into Idlib in an unprecedented incursion to back the militants.

Damascus, though, has vowed to liberate the entire Syria, including Idlib, which contains the largest remaining concentrations of Takfiri terrorists in the Arab country.

The meeting came after reports claimed that a Russia-backed Syrian operation had been followed by the death of 33 Turkish forces.

Russia's ambassador Vasily Nebenzya, however, noted that the troops had been killed outside their designated observation posts.

He said Turkish troops shared coordinates with Russia, which were then given to Syrian government forces, to avoid conflict on the ground. However, "the coordinates conveyed yesterday did not mention the areas where ultimately the Turkish soldiers died," the envoy said.

Russia: Fighting terrorism Syria's right

Nebenzya also emphasized that the Syrian army had a right to fight terrorists anywhere in the country, and regretted that terrorists in Syria were armed with the latest Western-made military equipment.

"In response to the ongoing violations of the ceasefire regime within the zone of Idlib, the Syrian army certainly has the right to respond and suppress terrorists," he stated. "We cannot forbid the Syrian army to fulfill requirements, stipulated by the UN Security Council resolutions on the unconditional fight against terrorism in all of its forms, particularly on its territory - the territory of sovereign Syria," Nebenzya added.

US Ambassador Kelly Craft, however, called on Russia "to immediately ground its warplanes" and demanded that "all Syrian forces and their Russian backers to withdraw."

Moscow began lending aerial support to Syria's counter-terrorism efforts in September 2016, five years after the Arab nation fell victim to widespread foreign-backed violence. The airpower, alongside military advisory support offered by Iran, helped Syria turn the tables on terrorists.

On February 20, Bloomberg cited a senior Turkish official as saying that Ankara had asked Washington to deploy two Patriot missile batteries on its southern border to be used against Russian-backed Syrian soldiers.

Speaking on Thursday, Ja'afari warned against attempts at turning the Security Council into a platform for provision of support for the Turkish aggression against Syria.



NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Salvador Dali used to say that Perpignan railway station was "the cosmic centre of the Universe", and it is where last Saturday the Catalan independence movement showed  to quote president Carles Puigdemont  its persistence, with the exiled leader looking to the past and citing Rovira and Virgili. Over one hundred thousand people gathered for a rally staged by the Council for the Republic. Though it may originally have been conceived as a cross-party affair, its timing and the presence of Puigdemont flanked by Toni Comin and Clara Ponsati served to make it the inaugural event in JxCats election campaign. While initially the decision to hold the rally in Perpignan was a non-partisan attempt to bring together the various factions who are sympathetic to the independence cause, the mass rally in Perpignans Exhibition Park became a pro-Puigdemont event. The presidents presence once again demonstrated the attraction of his leadership for a section of the pro-independence movement. They heard his call to "prepare for independence", though he did not go into details aside from urging civil society to organize itself. Clara Ponsati went further, however, by branding the talks with the Spanish government a "lie" and defending the decision to take to the streets, including the riots which took place following the trial of the political prisoners.

President Torra provided the surrealist touch, since he had taken his place opposite PM Pedro Sanchez at the negotiating table in Madrid only the week before.

Salvador Dali said that Perpignan railway station was "the cosmic centre of the Universe", and his painting which bears its name contains certain symbolic elements which make for some unsettling comparisons. The picture features a freight train on a track suspended in space, characteristic of surrealism, and two figures, one on the left and one on the right of the canvas. The figures are drawn from one of Dalis favourite works, The Angelus, Jean-Francois Millet's depiction of two pious peasants.

In his work El mito tragico del Angelus de Millet [The Tragic Myth of the Angelus by Millet], Dali wrote why The Angelus had become such a disturbing work. What for Millet was the depiction of a man and a woman praying in a field, for Dali it was a religious mantis. For Dali and his paranoiac-critical method, the position of the figures is that of a woman as a religious mantis together with a male engaged in intercourse, prior to the moment in which the female devours the man. The train on a track suspended in the air and the protagonists' engulfing one another are crying out for parallels to be drawn. Puigdemontism and ERC will stand in the election in a fight to the death, while the path to independence is currently on standby. The path to dialogue began this week full of uncertainty and Perpignan was apparently preparing for the day after its failure.

Puigdemonts battle plan is to keep up the pressure and to connect with a part of the independence movement which is hoping for a new opportunity after 27 October 2017 and the push that some hoped it would get after the Supreme Courts verdict. A push which never came. In his next book and during the election campaign Puigdemont will have to explain the how to his voters, who do exist and who are clearly willing to follow him, as shown by the crowd gathered in Perpignan.

The negotiating table

The week ended with the partly therapeutic, partly electoral rally held by the Puigdemontists in Perpignan, and began with the first meeting at the negotiating table in Madrid, which also serves as a form of group therapy for both sides in the conflict.

According to all sources, the meeting was a success, undoubtedly due to the low expectations following years of contempt, judicialization, and repression.

The Spanish side was surprised by the fluidity of the pro-independence positions. In fact, the representatives of the Catalan government had held a preparatory meeting at a lunch in the Catalan governments headquarters in Madrid, in order to agree upon their respective roles. They decided to reach an agreement on their interpretation of the situation as a means to resolve it.

It was made clear at the meeting that while the Spanish government wished to discuss the 44 grievances, the Catalan government wanted to talk about self-determination and amnesty. Spains Minister of Finance spoke about financial arrangements and population weighting before the Catalan government made it clear that there would be two tables with different items on the agenda. All the participants are well aware that it will be hard to reach an agreement and that there is no alternative to dialogue. They are also aware that their final positions are irreconcilable. The question is whether they will end up bogged down in a swamp with no way out.
CHAMBERSBURG  At Lance Walkers barbershop in Chambersburg, Americas red, blue and other come together under the clippers.

With homey plaid curtains and a sign that says No Profanity, the shop is a place where people with different politics and backgrounds mix. A Guns & Ammo magazine sits on the coffee table, not far from a copy of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by the coffee maker.

On a recent afternoon, in this corner of southcentral Pennsylvania, more than half of the people in the shop came just to listen.

I take responsibility for creating an atmosphere and being intentional about having conversations, hard conversations, Walker said. You see the divide thats going in the country right now. So, if we dont start talking and dialoguing and communicating, thats huge.

***

Walkers theory is rooted in an epiphany he had in 2016.

Hed been a Republican all his life and gotten swept up in the partisan frenzy that election year, often repeating the harsh rhetoric used by then-presidential candidate Donald Trump toward Hillary Clinton and other political opponents.

With Trump, he understood where the appeal came from for many voters. He saw a desire to upend the status quo and call out government institutions that can feel disconnected from peoples lives.

Left and right, were sick and tired of it, he said. So when a guy comes along and says, You make me sick, I cant stand it, theres a feeling of Oh, youre finally putting establishment in their place.

But something about Trumps approach began to feel off-putting.

Walker was raised in a devout Christian household, taught to treat everyone with grace and mercy. As a voter, hes been most motivated by his opposition to abortion and in previous years had supported George W. Bush and John McCain.

Trump caused him to search his soul.

One night during dinner, Walker realized he had lost his way  that he couldnt revel in us versus them hostility and also live the Christian values he holds dear.

This lightbulb clicked on and Im like, Lance, what are you doing, what are you doing? he remembered.

Since that moment, Walker has shifted his focus on national politics to things closer to home, joining local boards and avoiding easy answers and allegiances in his day-to-day life in order to connect, not divide.

***

Lance Walker with a customer at his shop in Chambersburg. (Dani Fresh / Keystone Crossroads)

Political dialogue in this polarized age can feel futile. Republicans and Democrats share less common ground now on key issues than they have in 20 years, according to surveys conducted by the Pew Research Center. At the same time, peoples beliefs have become more uniform; Americans are more likely to identify will all of the positions their party holds, rather than pick and choose. Close family members report drifting apart and receding into their respective media bubbles.

Walker, 53, who has run the barbershop out of his home for about 14 years, makes a point of pulling people out of their online echo chambers to talk about difficult subjects. Here, online memes deserve to be discussed in real life, and incendiary topics, unpacked.

On a given day, the audience might include anyone from a professor at Penn State Mont Alto to a financial advisor from Merrill Lynch to Rich Carbaugh, a local electrician.

Carbaugh, a camo hat-wearing Republican, arrived for his haircut at 11 a.m.

At 1:25 p.m., he was still standing in the shop, drawn into conversation with another regular, Bill Harris.

Harris, whos bald, is a fixture here even though he doesnt need a trim anymore, preferring instead to sit back and stir up conversation.

When somebody goes Christian, I go Muslim automatically, Harris said. When theres a lot of Muslims in here, I go Christian.

Across the room, Carbaugh shook his head and laughed. He had been ready to leave, but said he and Bill had been getting into it.

Im conservative, and hes not, Carbaugh said. But we get into some good conversations. We agree to disagree on most things and still walk out of here as friends.

That friendship allows them to touch on topics that would otherwise be too difficult to hash out, or too likely to result in a misunderstanding. Carbaugh, who is white, had been asking Walker and Harris, both Black, about a certain racial slur.

The n-word. I know its wrong on my end, but why can you all talk about it and it be alright? he said, gesturing toward Walker and Harris. Ive known Lance a long time and he can call me out on anything racial.

Their conversation wrapped, Walker thanked him for the discussion.

***

Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. (Jeffrey Stockbridge / Keystone Crossroads)

Chambersburg, the seat of Franklin County, is in a conservative, Christian area where 71% of voters went for Trump in 2016.

But this corner of so-called Red America is also home to people sometimes left out of that description. The area is 16.6% Latinx, with a growing immigrant population pulling in residents from Central America, Haiti and Korea, often via other parts of the U.S.; Chambersburg borough is 12% Black.

Walker himself is a transplant. He grew up in public housing outside of Pittsburgh and moved to central Pennsylvania after stints as an Army tanker and personal trainer. His wife is from the Chambersburg area, and the one-time competitive bodybuilder has raised his three kids here.

It hasnt always been easy.

In this area, as a Black man theres a certain way I have to hold myself, or I really feel like its going to be held against me, Walker said.

When he goes to the gym, he wonders did another patron move his bag to make space for him, or because he was suspicious of Walker? When a clerk follows his son around in a store, will he face backlash for complaining to management?

Honestly, its exhausting, Walker said.

But Walkers poured himself into tough conversations more, not less, since that moment in 2016.

Stephen Fugate, 16, gets a trim at Walkers Barber Shop in Chambersburg. (Dani Fresh / Keystone Crossroads)

Ultimately, that year, he voted for Trump, but now says he has buyers remorse.

Big picture, he said he doesnt feel at home in either political party now. His favored Democratic candidate, Andrew Yang, recently dropped out of the race. He isnt compelled by anyone else remaining.

As 16-year-old Stephen Fugate got a trim, the conversation moved from whether men should have a say in abortion, to the meaning of community.

If you have more people who care for each other, thats a community, Fugate said.

Its love, said customer Lemar Best. Like more than two thirds of Americans, Best has news fatigue, and usually doesnt engage in political discussions.

When news comes on at home, I dont want my daughter to hear what Trump did, so I change the channel, he said. This is the only place youll hear me talk about anything political.

For Bill Harris, the bald regular, as much as he likes to stir the pot, hes gotten into a lot out of challenging conversations here.

As you develop those relationships, you find that, well, maybe I can moderate on a few things. That Im not always right, he said.

As customers filtered in and out, Walker steered the discussion from mass incarceration, to military spending, to the treatment of Confederate civil war monuments.

Germany had the good sense to take the swastikas down, he said, then paused to check in with the client in his chair, Anthony Taylor. We doing the usual?

Yeah, the fade, Taylor said.

Walker nodded, and then launched back into conversation, all without missing a hair.

--

Keystone Crossroads is a statewide reporting collaborative of WITF, WPSU and WESA, led by WHYY. This story originally appeared at https://whyy.org/programs/keystone-crossroads.

PA Post is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom covering state government. For more, go to www.papost.org.
FILE PHOTO: An illustration, created at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), depicts the 2019 Novel Coronavirus

Reuters

A male in his 50s in Washington state has died from the coronavirus  the first death on US soil.

The virus has infected nearly 86,000 people, mostly in China.

At least 69 Americans have been diagnosed with the virus, the majority of whom are repatriated citizens from the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

A man in his 50s in Washington state has died of the coronavirus  the first coronavirus death on US soil, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed on Saturday.

The man had underlying health problems that put him at high risk of developing a severe case of the virus, according to state health officials. He died at EvergreenHealth, a regional healthcare network based in Seattle.

"It is a sad day in our state as we learn that a Washingtonian has died from COVID-19," Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said in a statement. "Our hearts go out to his family and friends. We will continue to work toward a day where no one dies from this virus."

The governor added that the Washington State Department of Health, Emergency Management Division, and "local community health partners" were working to strengthen the state's "preparedness and response efforts."

A letter sent by EvergreenHealth confirmed that the man was one of two people who'd been treated for "severe respiratory illness" there and tested positive for the coronavirus last night. The other is a woman in her 70s who's in serious condition and has been placed in isolation. Neither had a history of travel to China, according to the letter, which was obtained by KIRO.

The woman is a member of a long-term care facility in King County, Washington. On a Saturday press call, King County public health officer Jeffrey Duchin said that a healthcare worker at the facility had been infected as well. The worker had no known travel history to China.

Story continues

Approximately 27 out of 108 residents at the facility and 25 of the 180 staff members have shown symptoms of the virus, Duchin said.

Before Saturday, three cases had already been announced in Washington state: Two cases were reported on Friday  a woman in her 50s who was diagnosed after a trip to South Korea, and a high school student in Snohomish County who is believed to be yet another US case of community spread. Washington state also had the US' very first coronavirus case: a man in his 30s in Snohomish County who was diagnosed on January 21.

The man who died on Saturday was tested using a CDC kit that had recently been sent to the Washington state public health lab.

"If we had the ability to test earlier, I'm sure we would have identified patients earlier," Duchin said on the call.

The CDC said the risk to the US public remains low, but the agency may recommend canceling large public events in Washington state if the virus spreads further there.

In total, the US has at least 69 confirmed coronavirus cases, most among people who were repatriated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

Read more:

Mapping the coronavirus outbreak: Where in the world  and the US  the disease has spread

Chinese social-media platform WeChat saw spikes in the terms 'SARS,' 'coronavirus,' and 'shortness of breath,' weeks before the first cases were confirmed, a study suggests

Wife of first US service member to test positive for the coronavirus has also been infected

At least 4 of the dozens of US coronavirus cases are not linked to overseas travel but are likely the result of 'community spread'

Read the original article on Business Insider
Rep. Jennifer Wexton, D-Va., on Sunday endorsed former vice president Joe Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination, changing her decision to stay neutral in the race two days before the Virginia primary on Super Tuesday.

Wexton won her Northern Virginia district in 2018, turning the seat blue for the first time in 38 years and helping Democrats win control of the House.

"Throughout this campaign, Joe has proven that he is the steady, empathetic leader we need to unite our party and our country. I will proudly be casting my vote for Joe Biden this Tuesday," she said in a statement provided to The Washington Post by the Biden campaign.

Wexton previously planned not to endorse before Tuesday, but she changed her mind after Biden easily won the South Carolina primary Saturday. His campaign also provided thorough answers to her open letter to presidential candidates asking how they would protect federal employees, according to her campaign.

"Vice President Biden has dedicated his life to public service," Wexton said. "He has the vision and experience to deliver results on the issues that matter most to Virginians, including his commitment to strengthen and rebuild the federal workforce."

Wexton, who defeated Republican Barbara Comstock by 12 points in 2018, is in a stronger position to win a second term than other Democratic moderates nationwide, including Reps. Elaine Luria of Virginia Beach and Abigail Spanberger of the Richmond suburbs, but national Republican groups are still targeting Wexton's district.

Biden campaigned for Wexton, helped fund her campaign, and appeared in a video and recorded a call on her behalf. He was the first person to call her on election night, her campaign said at the time.

Since joining Congress, Wexton has introduced legislation for stricter gun regulations and advocated for LGBTQ causes.

"Donald Trump, through his corrosive rhetoric and destructive policies, threatens to fundamentally change who we are as a nation," Wexton said. "Whether it's his ongoing efforts to rip health care away from millions, his refusal to address the crisis of gun violence, or his relentless attacks on federal workers and our intelligence community - we're in a battle for the soul of America."

She does not plan to attend Biden's rally in Norfolk on Sunday because she has to be in Washington on Monday morning.

The 10th District includes all of Loudoun County and parts of Fairfax and Prince William counties, as well as all of Clarke and Frederick counties and the city of Winchester to the west.
SEATTLE  Health officials in Washington state said Sunday night that a second person had died from the coronavirus  a man in his 70s from a nursing facility near Seattle where dozens of people were sick and had been tested for the virus.

Researchers said earlier the virus may have been circulating for weeks undetected in the region.

In a statement, Public Health-Seattle & King County said the man died Saturday. On Friday, health officials said a man in his 50s died of coronavirus. Both had underlying health conditions, and both were being treated at a hospital in Kirkland, east of Seattle. Washington state now has 12 confirmed cases.

State and local authorities stepped up testing for the illness as the number of new cases grew nationwide, with new infections announced in California, Illinois, Rhode Island, New York and Washington state.

Authorities in the Seattle area reported four new cases Sunday night, including the man who died. All were from the LifeCare nursing facility in Kirkland, where health officials said 50 people are sick and being tested for the virus.

On Sunday night, the International Association of Fire Fighters said 25 members who responded to calls for help at the nursing facility are being quarantined.

The first U.S. infection was a Washington state man who had visited China, where the virus first emerged, but several recent cases in the U.S. have had no known connection to travelers.

As the fallout continued, Vice President Mike Pence and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar sought to reassure the American public that the federal government is working to make sure state and local authorities are able to test for the virus. Both said during a round of TV talk show appearances Sunday that thousands more testing kits had been distributed to state and local officials, with thousands more to come.

They should know we have the best public health system in the world looking out for them, Azar said, adding that additional cases will be reported and the overall risk to Americans is low.

Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington on Sunday said they had genetic evidence the virus may have been circulating in the state for up to six weeks undetected  a finding that, if true, could mean hundreds of undiagnosed cases in the area. They posted their research online, but it was not published in a scientific journal or reviewed by other scientists.

Dr. Adam Lauring of University of Michigan called the findings high-quality work from scientists whove done similar work with the flu virus for years.

Carla K. Johnson and Gillian Flaccus are Associated Press writers.
It was Sunday, Feb. 23, 2020, and I was packing my bags for an early morning flight from Detroit to San Francisco for another week at an RSA Conference covering all things related to cybersecurity. The conference theme this year was The Human Element, which became an ironic choice of words.While reading-up on the best sessions, pre-conference news and other hot cyber headlines, I noticed that several large companies had pulled out of the conference because of coronavirus fears.Heres an excerpt from the Business Insider article that grabbed my attention: Verizon pulled out of the RSA Conference on Friday, joining competitor AT&T and IBM as large sponsors with coronavirus concerns abandon the cybersecurity trade show that was expected to draw more than 40,000 to San Francisco next week. The RSA Conference website offered this webpage with coronavirus updates ; however, the information was sparse and seldom updated. No new updates were added after Feb. 25, which started with this less than comforting news, Today, the City of San Francisco declared a State of Emergency to begin preparations around any future coronavirus outbreaks. The City stated that residents and visitors remain at low risk for becoming infected with the coronavirus and that the number of cases within the City remains at zero. My Delta flight was overbooked, and the airport seemed packed on Monday morning as I traversed through TSA security lines in Detroit. Several TSA officials wore face masks, and most of them were wearing plastic gloves, which I had not seen before.Thankfully, my flight arrived early, and I was able to attend most of the RSA Public Sector Day at the San Francisco Hilton by Union Square. There was an excellent agenda of topics and federal, state and local government speakers on issues ranging from ransomware attacks to risk management practices.There were many excellent sessions and speakers throughout the week. While not the focus of this blog, I encourage you to visit the RSA Conference channel on YouTube to watch various keynote and breakout sessions. Here is one example (and you can see other presentations on the YouTube sidebar):As far as RSA Conference headlines, here are a few topics worth exploring (with lots of embedded links and related stories):Attendance wasdown at the 2020 RSA Conference, especially on the exhibitor floor where the vendor booths are located. Initial forecasts in January anticipated 45,000 attendees, which would have been an increase of 3,000 over last year.On Friday, Feb. 28, an RSAC press release reported 36,000 attendees were at the 2020 RSA Conference , but that number seems too high to me. I wonder: Did all the people who bought tickets actually show up? Also, what about attendees who came for one day or one hour and left early?What I can tell you from the perspective of show floor exhibitors, where I spent a large percentage of my time, is that foot traffic seemed to be mostly other exhibitors with far fewer blue-badge attendees than last year. I heard word-of-mouth estimates ranging from 30 to 50 percent fewer show floor attendees; however, those numbers came from about a dozen random exhibitors.Perhaps conference attendees did come to the presentations, but just avoided the expo booths to not shake hands or interact with solution providers?Meanwhile, the main topic on the floor among exhibitors (when not selling their products and services) was the coronavirus and not computer viruses (or malware or ransomware or other aspects of cybersecurity).People stood their distances, and when exhibitors did shake hands with attendees, most people immediately used hand sanitizers. Conversations were generally shorter and farther apart than in previous years. Some attendees walked around wearing masks (but that was rare). Headlines of confirmed cases in California that came via community spread were not encouraging. Heres an excerpt from Fox News: Jennifer Nuzzo, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, toldthat the virus is likely starting to spread throughout the state,I think theres a strong possibility that theres local transmission going in California, she said. In other words, the virus is spreading within California, and I think theres a possibility other states are in the same boat. They just havent recognized that yet."While the RSAC vendor parties seemed pretty crowded in the evenings, restaurants and bar staff said the traffic was slower than last year. Everyone was thinking, is the coronavirus being spread right here at RSAC events?One hotel worker told my boss, Thank you for coming to San Francisco, because the next three conferences have canceled. People will not be coming, and I may be out of work."This 2020 RSA Conference blog description is in no way intended to undermine the vital importance of the human element in cybersecurity. On the contrary, my readers know that building a culture of security and keeping security awareness training positive and engaging with fresh content have been top themes that constantly show up in my blogs. I work for a leading security awareness company , and I applaud the choice of the human element as this year's RSA Conference theme. The planning committee had no way of knowing that the coronavirus would strike when it did.Nevertheless, there are many lessons that the technology and cybersecurity industries must learn from this global coronavirus pandemic right now, and each of us needs to take a big step back and determine what actions we need to take for our families, our businesses, our governments and our communities. Bottom line, the coronavirus topic was the "elephant in the room" in San Francisco last week.On the way home, I read stories of technology and other business conferences being canceled all over the world. The stock market closed the week down a record 3,600 points. CNN and FoxNews were full of coronavirus impact stories on topics ranging from school closings to politics to how to wash your hands.I pondered what all this meant for the weeks and months ahead. Will we have a global recession? Will my upcoming conferences and travel be postponed? How will business interactions change in America? How long will this last? What should governments be doing now? What online scams and cyber tricks are coming next in this new world?As I was getting off the plane on Friday afternoon in Detroit, several people were taking longer than normal to get their bags from the overhead compartments. As I waited my turn to exit the plane, the stewardess was clearly frustrated with the delay and made the announcement, We have a very sick person on the back of the plane with emergency medical staff on the way. Can you quickly clear the aisle?Wow  thats encouraging, someone near me said (and everyone was thinking).The airport was much less crowded on Friday afternoon than on Monday morning. Baggage claim went fast, and it was wonderful to see my wife and kids and arrive home again in mid-Michigan.Looking back, I never thought the fear of a human virus infection would steal the show at RSAC. The conference organizers certainly got that right, but in an unexpected way.Right now, the coronavirus is THE HUMAN ELEMENT, for cybersecurity pros and everyone else.
Bank of America in the Chelsea neighborhood in Manhattan, New York, on July 7, 2015. (Samira Bouaou/Epoch Times)

Bank of America Already Seeing Evidence of Coronavirus Economic Impact

A senior Bank of America economist said early signs of an impact of coronavirus on the U.S. economy were already visible in some leading indicators.

Michelle Meyer, Bank of Americas head of U.S. economics, said in a note on Feb. 28 that it will take time for the hard economic data to show the impact but we are already seeing evidence in early economic indicators.

Major stock market indexes suffered their worst week since the financial crisis last week amid a virus-driven equities selloff and associated lurch towards safe-haven assets like bonds.

U.S. Treasuries absorbed major capital flows last week, with the yield on the 10-year note hitting a new record low. Bond yields move in the opposite direction to prices, with falling yields a sign of growing interest by investors, fearful that the economic impact of the outbreak could be greater than previously thought.

People flow, supply chains, trade volumes, and commodity prices are all up in the air, said David McAlvany, CEO of the McAlvany Financial Companies, in an emailed statement. The problem is unbound.

Still, much of the economic picture remains blurry.

Thus far the impacts reported have been macro in nature, said Jimmy Hinton, senior managing director at Transwestern, in an emailed statement. Even the largest, most sophisticated publicly listed logistics companies and retailers have only changed their guidance. They have not yet reported hard results or impacts. It is still too early to tell what the impacts are or will be.

Markets, which tend to front-run hard economic data, have struggled to digest the shifting landscape of virus-related news. Stock market volatility last Friday, as measured by the VIX fear gauge, spiked intraday to levels reminiscent of the 2008 financial crisis.

In a separate note, the Bank of America said automated trading systems may have contributed to the uptick in volatility.

One reason is the rise of automated investing systems that rely on machines and algorithms to capture short-term trends or rebalance portfolios, said Niladri Mukherjee, head of portfolio strategy, Chief Investment Office, Merrill and Bank of America Private Bank.

According to estimates cited in the note, as much as 90 percent of equity futures trades and 80 percent of cash equity trades take place without human involvement.

This makes modern markets more vulnerable to abrupt dislocations, Mukherjee added.

Derivatives trader Kevin Muir explained in an emailed statement that certain exotic options trading strategies were driving markets to whipsaw in what he called a vicious feedback loop.

With the decline in the stock market, we have flipped to the point where dealers are short gamma, Muir told The Epoch Times. When short gamma, dealers need to short more stocks as they head lower which leads to a reflexive downward spiral. On top of that, as the stock market decline increases in ferocity, dealers mark the volatility of their book higher. This action results in them having to hedge even more with more sales, he said.

All of this creates a vicious feedback loop, he said. The real question is where does it stop?

It Will Come Back

Vice President Mike Pence said Sunday he believes the economic impact of coronavirus will be short-lived.

Speaking on NBCs Meet the Press, Pence said the U.S. economy was resilient to withstand the outbreak-related turbulence that has rocked markets.

The fundamentals of this economy are strong, Pence said, according to reports. We just saw some new numbers come out in housing and consumer confidence and business optimism. Unemployments at a 50-year low. More Americans working than ever before. The fundamentals in this economy are strong.

This economy willand particularly the stock market that, that saw some downturns this weekit will come back. But our focus is going to remain on the health and well-being of the American people, the vice president added.

Last Wednesday, President Donald Trump put Pence in charge of efforts to coordinate U.S. agencies response to the coronavirus threat.
Philippines Working with US to Salvage Defense Ties, Ambassador Says

2020-02-28 -- Philippine and U.S. officials are working to salvage a defense pact after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the country to drop out of a bilateral visiting forces agreement, the country's envoy to Washington said Friday.

Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez told a security forum in Manila that a new agreement could take the form of a limited military engagement that could be similar to Philippine alliances with Australia and Japan.

"We are now in the process of thinking how we can come up with a similar agreement," Romualdez said.

"Needless to say, specifically the members of the U.S. Pentagon are extremely concerned about the VFA being terminated and how we will work," bilaterally on defense matters, he said, using the acronym for the Visiting Forces Agreement.

The U.S. "is a major country that no one can ignore including China," Romualdez said, underscoring that the VFA was not the "be all and end all" of bilateral defense cooperation.

His statement came a day after a Philippine military spokesman said the country can quell security threats without Washington's help.

The Feb. 11 announcement that the Philippines was leaving the VFA was in reaction to the U.S. government cancelling the visa of Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, Duterte's former national police chief who implemented the first phase of the nation's drug war that has left thousands dead.

U.S. President Donald Trump has downplayed the effects of the pact's termination, saying his country would save money in the long run. It was also the Philippines' loss, Trump said, emphasizing that U.S. troops helped drive militants linked to the Islamic State from the southern city of Marawi three years ago.

Romualdez said diplomats and defense officials of both countries would continue discussions and come up with recommendations to be given to Duterte, who earlier this week said that the Philippine military could stand up on its own.

The VFA will be terminated in August, 180 days after the Feb. 11 announcement. Romualdez did not say if negotiators would be ready with recommendations before then.

The VFA, adopted in 1999, allowed for large-scale joint military operations on Philippine soil years after the government decided to end the lease agreement on two major U.S. military bases a few years earlier. U.S. troops helped train Philippine forces against militants in the southern Mindanao region while assisting in blunting China's aggressive actions in the contested South China Sea region.

Reported by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.

Copyright  1998-2020, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content February not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






He was five years old when he saw his father hanging from a ceiling.

Adults explained to the uncomprehending boy that his father had suffered a heart attack.

Years later, the boy became a man and learned that his father, a German soldier, had committed suicide after leaving Vietnam and his Vietnamese family.

Today, he searches for answers and his half-Vietnamese sister.

The search has lasted 11 futile years so far, but Friedhelm Redlich remains hopeful.

Friedhelm has a fascinating, searing, unique story to tell.

Most, if not all the stories about relatives and lovers searching for each other that Vietnam has heard so far have to do with the American War, known to the world as the Vietnam War, which ended 45 years ago.

Redlich's story goes back much further to the earlier war Vietnam was forced to fight  the war that ended the second colonization of Vietnam by France, ending in the famous battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954.

His father was a German legionnaire, a foreigner who worked for the French army.

The first hint of his Vietnamese past came when Friedhelm's father, Wolfgang, insisted that his daughter be named Karin. But then, no one knew why, especially not Friedhelm.

Decades later, Friehelm discovered that his father had a daughter with a Vietnamese woman in Vietnam who was named Karin.

He yearns and searches for his half-sister now.

Wolfgang Redlich, a former German soldier of the French army in Vietnam, his Vietnamese wife and their daughter, Karin, then five years old, in Nha Trang, December 1960. Photo courtesy of Friedhelm Redlich.

Family mystery

In 2009, when Redlich and his wife went to Vietnam for their honeymoon, the urge to solve a family mystery kicked in.

"My father was in Vietnam a long time ago, maybe I should start to find out a bit about his life here," he remembers thinking to himself.

Since then, when the husband and father is not working at a chemical firm as a human resources manager, he spends hours digging into his father's mysterious story, in newspaper archives, talking to family members for tidbits of information and officials for documents, connecting the dots as he goes.

One glimmer of hope emerged this year.

When Vietnamese families were celebrating the Lunar New Year festival in January, Redlich, his daughter Lotta and his younger sister Karin were in the country, hoping to unite with his father Wolfgangs first family in the Mekong Delta.

With the help of local police in Rach Goi Town, about 30 km from the Mekong Delta capital of Can Tho, Friedhelm found the rice mill his father used to work and had registered as his address with the German embassy in Hanoi, according to the archives in Berlin.

It was an emotional visit for the family. "I was full of hope about finding out more and was deeply moved to see the place."

The family talked to many people in Rach Goi, mostly the elders, with whatever pictures they had of Wolfgang and his Vietnamese family, but drew a blank.

Seven decades ago

A picture of Wolfgang Redlich sent to his mother when he was serving the French military in Vietnam, age unknown. He also had a Vietnamese name, Nguyen Van Duc, meaning 'man from Germany'. Photo courtesy of Friedhelm Redlich.

Wolfgang had come to Vietnam when he was 23 to work for the Legion etrangere (French Foreign Legion) as a radio operator in 1952. The French Foreign Legion was a branch of the French Army open to foreign recruits. This was around the time that the French re-colonized Vietnam after the end of World War II. The anti-colonial resistance succeeded in overthrowing the colonialists with the Dien Bien Phu battle in 1954.

Two years later, Wolfgang deserted the legion and went to Rach Goi and lived there with his Vietnamese family.

"When I started this search, I wanted to understand why my father had committed suicide. But the journey now is of course to find my sister too," Friedhelm said.

As he dived deeper into the unknown, surprising pieces of the puzzle turned up.

Last August, he unearthed 130 letters his father had written to his grandmother, Agnes Redlich, for ten years starting in 1952, detailing his life in Vietnam. His cousin had found them hidden in his uncles basement after he died. The box didnt include his grandmothers responses.

Some of the letters and postcards that German legionnaire Wolfgang Redlich wrote to his mother, Agnes Redlich, between 1952 and 1962. Photo courtesy of Friedhelm Redlich.

"This was really a surprise to everyone. My uncle had hidden the letters on purpose from me. I had asked him several times and he said he had no information at all," Friedhelm said.

For years, his mother and grandmother had also hidden the truth about his father's past in Vietnam.

"Im still struggling with the fact that they didnt tell me the truth. This is something that is very emotional for me," Redlich said, his voice breaking and tears welling up in his eyes.

The letters

For years, the German legionnaire had jotted down the ups and downs of his personal life in Vietnam.

In December 1954, he wrote to his mother from Tourane (Da Nang today), that he had met and begun living with a Vietnamese girl from the northern city of Hai Phong who followed him wherever his legion went.

"Unfortunately, he never mentioned her name, but his writing was always full of love about her," Friedhelm said.

They got married in 1954. The half-Vietnamese, half-German Karin was born on January 7, 1955.

The letters mention that Wolfgangs wife became pregnant again but miscarried "because of the stress and hardships they faced after he deserted from the legion in January 1956."

That year, he was about to be sent to Algeria to fight another war. Wolfgang left the army without permission to live with his wife, daughter and the wife's family in the Mekong Delta where they believed they were safe.

In December, Wolfgangs mother received a Christmas card with greetings from him, his Vietnamese wife, and their then almost two-year-old daughter Karin.

Karin, believed to be between two and four years old at the time this photograph taken, and her father Wolfgang Redlich in a picture sent to Wolfgang's mother, date unknown. Photo courtesy of Friedhelm Redlich.

One of the anecdotes mentioned in the letters about the wife that captured Friedhelms attention is about a time she walked 17 kilometers to the next town to find a pharmacist for Wolfgang who was seriously ill and local medicines and herbs had not helped.

The pharmacist, who was also the owner of the rice mill in Rach Goi, gave Wolfgang a job as a machinist and later promoted him to be a manager. With the help of his wifes family, Wolfgang also bought some land to grow rice and generate a second income.

He later worked for a German import company as a sales representative for nearly two years, keeping the small farm in Rach Goi with the support of his brother in law until March 1959.

In January 1961, Wolfgang informed his mother that he was happily living in a tobacco farm near Nha Trang. According to his letter, Karin was going to a Catholic boarding school for girls and he could only see her every second Sunday.

There were no more letters until October 1962, when Wolfgang told his mother in a postcard that he was returning to Germany.

He didn't tell his mother why, only that he was "finished" with Vietnam, that he was trying to bring Karin with him but local authorities were not cooperative.

According to a letter sent to Wolfgang by the German embassy in 1960, Vietnamese authorities had requested him to leave the country as he didnt have an official residence permit.

"He didnt mention his wife in this letter. He only talked about the daughter and that he wanted her to follow him," Friedhelm said.

In another discovery, Friedhelm found letters Wolfgangs mother had sent to his sister, in which she mentioned that hed met a bishop who was visiting Munster from Can Tho in January 1963.

It turns out that the bishop, Philippe Nguyen Kim Dien, knew Wolfgang and his Vietnamese family and had agreed to help bring Karin to Germany.

The visit of bishop Philippe Nguyen Kim Dien of Can Tho to Munster was covered by a local reporter in Germany. Friedhelm found the article in newspaper archives. Photo courtesy of Friedhelm Redlich.

His grandmother also told her daughter in another letter the following month: "Wolfgang is very disappointed that his wife is not answering his letters," meaning Karins mother was still alive when he left Vietnam in 1962.

Sister, where art thou?

"My sister might not even live in Vietnam anymore and may have migrated to the U.S. or Australia after the reunification in 1975," Friedhelm said, recalling what locals had told him during his visits to Vietnam.

It is common knowledge that mothers of mixed kids fathered by Americans or Europeans in Vietnam were scared of their being discriminated against, especially in the immediate aftermath of the war.

Many such mothers gave up their kids for adoption under an infamous program called Operation Babylift launched by former U.S. President Gerald Ford as the Vietnam War wound down, and stories keep surfacing of mothers, lovers and children looking for loved ones decades later.

The search for clues to his fathers stay in Vietnam and his half-sisters whereabouts has taken a toll on Friedhelm, and he suffers a variety of stress-related health issues.

He also admitted that the intensity of his search has led to his wife being neglected.

"Friends have told me I have to be careful not to mix up my life and my fathers personal life. It is not your life, they say."

"But to have a sister, this story is part of my life. Im somehow connected to Vietnam. My heart is with Vietnam. I have a sister who I dont know," he said, pausing between sentences and words as he struggled to keep his emotions in check.

Karin Redlich, Wolfgang's daughter named after the missing sister, regards her brother's journey highly.

"If Friedhelm had not started in 2009, I would never had thought about starting it myself. If we find her, we will try to meet her in person and learn everything about her," she said.

As Friedhelm keeps piecing together the puzzle map that he hopes will lead him to his Vietnamese half-sister one day, he thinks that life might be tough for her too.

"She also experienced the things as I did. Her father also left her when she was little. She must miss him like I do.

"Shes a member of my family."
UCCs president has been accused of blaming the Government so he can cop out of his responsibility to students on his own campus.

Padraig O Se urged his 3,458 Twitter followers to call for Government action now on the current crisis in student accommodation.

His call came as the students occupation of the UCC quad in protest at plans by the college to hike campus accommodation by 3% entered its seventh day.

There appears to be no end in sight for the protest, which continued during Storm Jorge.

Well freeze until you freeze, said student leaders, who want the 3% increase scrapped and rent rises frozen for three years.

Posting from his Twitter account, Mr O Se stated: UCC offers the best value high-quality student accommodation in Cork, by keeping rent well below commercial operators. We receive zero State funding to operate, maintain & develop the housing our students so desperately need.

We call for a National response to a National issue.

In a later tweet, he said: There are over 40,000 third-level students in Cork City.

UCC Campus Accommodation has only 1,200 beds and CIT has none.

What will happen when many thousands of new students look for housing for next September and every September after that? Call for government action now.

However, almost immediately, he was blasted over his comments.

One Twitter user replied to him saying: Blaming the Government and the shortage of housing is a cop out.

UCC is responsible for rent hikes and is now worried about their reputation.

Another replied: Im embarrassed UCC  and seemingly yourself  are attempting to justify pricing students and potential students out of education with this spin.

Supposed high quality should not be the USP to justify this increase, it should be the norm.

More than 4,200 have now signed an online petition to get the college to ditch the 3% rent hike.

Additional reporting: Eoin English
The long-anticipated deal signed between the United States and the Taliban is a "withdrawal agreement" rather than a peace agreement, experts said on Sunday, further fearing that it is more or less a compulsion for President Donald Trump to secure a win in the 2020 presidential elections.

After 18 months of talks and nearly 20 years of war, the Taliban and the US have signed a deal aimed at paving the way for peace in Afghanistan and the departure of foreign troops.

"He wants to win the 2020 (elections) at all costs and this is a step that is taken in that direction. When he (Donald Trump) became the President in 2016, he had then said that he'll get the boys (American troops in Afghanistan) home and withdraw 5,000 troops out of 12,000 within a period of 14 months, provided that the Taliban does not infringe on the agreement," defence expert PK Sehgal told ANI.

Pointing out that America has spent more than a trillion dollars on the long-drawn war and has lost more than 2,500 people in Afghanistan, Sehgal added that both the Americans and the Taliban are fatigued by now.

"This is not the peace agreement but the withdrawal agreement. A peace agreement would have been there had there been a genuine expectation that there would be peace in Afghanistan. The Taliban haven't made any major concessions to America. Neither have they talked to the Afghan government. They have only promised they would talk to the government. However, nobody knows what the future holds," Sehgal said.

Former diplomat Dilip Sinha also reiterated that the Americans, after 18 years of war in Afghanistan, have got tired and they want to withdraw for their domestic reasons.

"It's not that they have lost the war but also they have not won the war as they are not able to decimate the Taliban completely," he said in an interview with ANI.

"We have to see what the agreement says on Taliban joining the Afghan government. Will the US force the Afghan government to make the Taliban as a partner in their government? Or will Taliban will become a political party and contest election to see if people support them?" Sinha said.

As per a joint declaration between Washington and the Afghan government, the US will withdraw all its forces from Afghanistan within 14 months. The plan is "subject to the Taliban's fulfilment of its commitments under the US-Taliban agreement".

Meanwhile, former diplomat Ashok Sajjanhar further noted that America has been quite desperate in taking its forces out of Afghanistan.

"They have spent trillions of dollars in the war-torn country and the US President has also called it an unnecessary war. The agreement means that out of the total 13,000 troops present there, around 4,500 troops will be withdrawn within 135 days. The remaining 8,600 forces will leave within some finite period of time which has not been discussed," he stated.

However, the diplomat said there are very many uncertainties in the process as well, the most important being that the democratically elected government in Kabul has not been involved in this process.

"One of the conditions now will be that the Taliban will have to undertake negotiations and talks with the Ashraf Ghani government in Kabul and with the other Afghan forces to ensure a long-term political settlement that is reached," he stated.

As per a joint declaration between Washington and the Afghan government, the US will withdraw all its forces from Afghanistan within 14 months. The plan is "subject to the Taliban's fulfilment of its commitments under the US-Taliban agreement".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
MANKATO  Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Minnesota Commissioner of Agriculture Thom Petersen were in Mankato Saturday to hear from farmers and members of the Land Stewardship Project on how they can help resolve the farm crisis.

According to the Land Stewardship Project, Minnesota farmers are looking at an economic crisis reaching its sixth year. Farms are unable to bring in enough income to cover the costs of planting crops and raising livestock.

The median farm income for U.S. farm households was negative $1,533 in 2018, and 70 percent of the total income of farm families comes from off-farm sources, according to LSP.

The root causes of the problem are that farmers are not getting a fair price for their goods; corporate monopolies and cooperatives are asserting power over their members; health care is unaffordable.

Statements from the farm

ADVERTISEMENT

The forum kicked off with statements from farmers across the state.

Jim Vanderpol, who grows crops and raises livestock at Pastures a Plenty Farm near Kerkhoven in western Minnesota, spoke on his memories from the 1980s farm crisis.

"We had people die in the mid-'80s, Vanderpool said. "We had farmers committing suicide and bankers getting ambushed.

"We don't need those kinds of things again."

Madonna Sellner, who farms dairy with her family in Sleepy Eye, said she hopes one of her three grandchildren will want to farm one day. Right now, that's looking to be unlikely.

"Our bills are killing us," said Sellner. "With the profit we make off the dairy, there's little left to raise our family."

She said that implement dealers are charging more than $100 an hour to fix farm equipment, and her husband and son work 15-hour days to make what works out to be around $8 an hour.

Sellner said that last year for the first time in their farm's history, a loan was taken out to put crops in the ground. This year, 10 percent interest will be added to the same type of loan.

ADVERTISEMENT

"Our talented young farmers are being driven out by big corporations, land investors and greedy neighbors who don't believe in sharing our resources with each other," Sellner said.

Commissioner with experience

"We would talk about it as an administration, and I would talk about it with legislators over the last year, if this is a crisis," said MDA Commissioner Petersen. "And I would always say, Yes, it is a crisis, for most and many people this past year."

Petersen became ag commissioner one year after state average farm income hit $26,000, its lowest point in 23 years. Farm income has since risen slightly, but Petersen said a lot of that is due to Market Facilitation Payments.

As someone who's in charge of the state's farm advocate program and who served as president on the board for The Farmers' Legal Action Group before becoming commissioner, nothing from Saturday's forum was a surprise to Petersen.

He said he comes to the situation after having "fought with the banks for many years to save our farm and lender mediation program, to save our advocate program and to grow those programs."

Growing the Farm Advocate Program is at the top of LSP's list for legislators.

Petersen said the Minnesota Legislature has increased funding for the program to specifically address the crisis.

ADVERTISEMENT

"But I'll warn you, there is a fatigue on that," he said of legislators who will likely say funding was already increased last year and the year before. "So it's important that people in this room visit with your legislators and tell them the need is there. You have to share that story with them."

Petersen said he is also keeping a close eye on farm bankruptcies.

"People will say, 'we only have 30 bankruptcies,' and have 68,000 farms in Minnesota," said Petersen. "But by the way, we went from 73,000 farms five years ago to 68,000 today."

He said Minnesota has moved into the top five states in the nation for farm bankruptcies, and attorneys have told Petersen the number of "close-to" bankruptcies is the "highest they've ever seen".

Ally in the state's AG

"I just think as Attorney General I need to be here, listening, learning and sharing my ideas so that we can make the most of our small and medium-sized farm economy," said Keith Ellison, who said it was his second or third meeting about the farm crisis in the last few weeks.

Ellison said his mother was raised on a farm in Louisiana, on land still being farmed today, so he had pride in the topic and identified with the people in Mankato on Saturday.

But the attorney general said since he's not an expert on the topic, his goal is to be in touch with people who are.

"It's good for me to be here," he said.

Action needs to be taken to halt the market concentration in agribusiness, Ellison said.

He said U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue's comments this past fall that American farms need to get bigger to survive were the "antithesis" of what the Sherman and Clayton Antitrust Acts, and "all of our antitrust law" say.

"Our antitrust law says are supposed to support competition and make sure there are a large number of buyers and sellers," Ellison said.

What can be done from his position is to "deconcentrate markets, stand against mergers, and push against things like price-fixing and uncompetitive product practices."

"Promote more competition and stop the monopolization," Ellison said.

When asked if he thinks the state is doing enough to help the cause right now, Ellison said, "I don't think we're doing enough.

"The will is there to do a lot more, but we need advocates and groups like the Land Stewardship Project to really help reset our priorities," Ellison said.

1) Strengthen the Minnesota Farm Advocates Program

2) Minnesota Attorney General use their authority to investigate farmer-owned cooperatives that aren't supporting farmers

3) Opportunities for farmers to restructure loans

4) Moratorium on massive dairies >1,000 animal units

5) Affordable healthcare for farmers and rural communities
Two straight hours of what has been aptly described as a food fight, circular firing squad, and WWF grudge match was what the Democrat candidates for president gave the watching world at their debate Tuesday night.

The constant shouting and talking over each other was the hallmark of an event where the silly hand-raising rule didnt work. It left an exasperated Joe Biden complaining that his Catholic school education didnt allow him to adequately participate in the melee.

For several candidates this may have been the last stop before their last hurrah so the constant quest to grab the spotlight by interrupting, interjecting and outshouting was partly understandable.

It was, nevertheless, another disastrous debate night for the Democrats, putting on full display just how far their march towards socialism has taken them.

which will be history by the time you read this, and the all-important Super Tuesday which is as close to a national primary as we get. Among the 15 jurisdictions voting that day are the nations two largest states, California and Texas.

The Democrats internal civil war has been boiling over for several weeks, especially with the ascendency of Bernie Sanders, a self-proclaimed socialist, who didnt mind being referred to as a communist once upon a time.

It wasnt the Republicans opposition research team that dug up the material Bernie Sanders has been hit with recently. It was Bloomberg and other Democrats who have unearthed some of the really goofy things Bernie Sanders has said and done over the years. His crazy and incredibly creepy musings about female rape fantasies and children running around naked may not make headlines yet, but they are now part of the debate.

The focus on Bernie right now is over comments he recently made regarding Cuban dictator and murderer Fidel Castro. His apologies for the brutal Castro regime were too much even for hard-core Democrats. Even Whoopi Goldberg expressed shock and dismay over sympathy for the dictator.

Yet old Bernie didnt back down. He continued to defend the Castro regime. Well have to wait to see how that plays out in Florida as well as the rest of the nation.

Bernie says he has always stood up to authoritarianism. He couples that with his attacks on corporate America. No doubt he doesnt have much time for capitalist corporations, but when it comes to Fidel Castro, Daniel Ortega, Hugo Chavez and his former friends in Moscow, that claim just doesnt stand up.

Joe Biden has to do well in South Carolina. In fact, he has to win. He has to win by a significant margin.

So, he tried to use Tuesdays debate to cement his shrinking lead and try to reverse his fortunes.

Among other things, he claimed that 150 million Americans have died because of gun violence since Bernie Sanders failed to vote for his gun control proposals. The truth is the number is around 400,000, most of which were self-inflicted, i.e. suicides. He was only off by 149,600,000.

Biden also claimed to have negotiated with a Chinese premier whod been dead for almost a quarter of a century, but those are just details.

Michael Bloomberg cleared the exceptionally low bar of better than last time and he came across as a capitalist defender of charter schools and economic growth. His nanny-statism was hit even by other Democrats, though.

Candidacies end not when the run out of enthusiasm, but when they run out of money. That will never be a problem for Bloomberg.

Nor will it be for the other billionaire on stage, Tom Steyer. Steyers vanity campaign has shrunk to his proposals to give reparations to all who have suffered from discrimination. Thats a mighty long list.

Steyer has banked a lot on South Carolina and his concentration there will likely give him enough to keep going through Super Tuesday.

Most of the candidates claimed that Bernie Sanders cannot beat Donald Trump. Some went further, claiming that a Sanders candidacy would drag down other Democrats, threatening their majority in the House and killing any chance for them to take the Senate.

Yet there wasnt much separation when it came to increasing government and bureaucratic control over everything, with exponentially higher taxes to pay for it all. From nationalization of health care to the Green New Deal to government control of the internet and beyond, their march to the left is unimpeded.

Thankfully the rest of the nation isnt marching in lockstep. While most of the Democratic presidential contenders appear to be hoping that the economy fails, the vast majority not only hope, but believe, thats its getting dramatically better.

Recent surveys show more than 60 percent of the American people say theyre passing the famous Ronald Reagan test: Are you better off now than you were four years ago?

Theyre also telling us they think the future is going to be even better. They have an optimism not seen on the Democrat debate stage.

Hope, growth and opportunity are the future. Bernies policies are the failed past.

Charlie Gerow leads strategy development Quantum Communications.
No respite is in sight following Storm Jorge's rampage across the country yesterday as wintry showers and thunderstorms look set to batter the nation tomorrow.

Make sure to wrap up warm as Met Eireann has issued a Status Yellow snow and ice warning for the entire country, which is expected to bring widespread frost and icy patches.

Temperatures are set to drop to -2C tonight, but will be a few degrees higher on Atlantic coasts.

The forecaster has predicted rain showers falling in the west, which will spread throughout the country by the afternoon.

The showers could turn wintry with a risk of isolated thunderstorms followed by long spells of rain, sleet and snow in northern parts while temperatures drop to around 0 or 1C.

Met Eireann forecaster Joan Blackburn said another snow and ice warning is likely to be tomorrow evening following a frosty day with unsettled conditions.

"Tomorrow will have a cold start but there will be frost, with icy patches to clear in the morning. There will be showers overnight in western areas and they will be there around the morning as well and the showers will be generally a mix of rain, hail, even some sleet and the odd snow shower during the night and early tomorrow morning.

"Then those showers become more widespread in the afternoon. They'll be mostly of rain or hail but there will be some snow showers. Then tomorrow evening, the showers which emerged give prolonged rain or sleet in northern counties," Ms Blackburn said.

"There's a risk of isolated thunderstorms today and tomorrow. Usually when you get very heavy showers the risk of isolated thunderstorms goes with that.

"There will be frost and icy patches over the next couple of nights, and while there's no bands of rain crossing the country there will be showers.

"There will be a snow and ice warning put in place for tonight again, probably for the western half of the country. It will be valid into tomorrow morning until it sort of warms up a little bit and there'll be another one for tomorrow evening and tomorrow night."

Meanwhile, the National Emergency Coordination Group met today to discuss the fall out left behind from Storm Jorge's mighty gusts.

The group determined that the West coast took the brunt of the storm, and confirmed that some areas are still experiencing flooding in the aftermath of heavy rainfall showers causing river catchments to overflow.

The NECG said while some houses and businesses impacted continue to face a further risk of flooding, most catchments have stabilised.

They added that no major incidents or injuries to members of the public or the emergency services were reported.

Minister Damien English said: "I would like to thank all Local Authorities and other agencies who continue to be active in their respective areas supporting the work of local communities in challenging conditions since late January.

"I would also like to thank all the State Bodies who once again came together to deliver a clear consistent public safety message which ensured that storm Jorge passed without significant incident.

The storm saw trees felled in several counties and localised flooding caused road closures yesterday.

ESB Networks worked throughout the day to restore power in many counties with Clare, Galway, and Mayo taking the brunt of the most violent gusts.

At one point, an estimated 5,000 homes were without power, with more than 2,000 of those in the area of Saggart, Co Dublin. Hundreds of homes in Wexford also lost power when Jorge arrived on the east coast.

Derek Hynes of ESB Networks said people can visit powercheck.ie to discover when power will be restored. He repeated warnings to stay clear of fallen powerlines.

Those in flooded homes without power should not go near electrical installations. The emergency number for fallen wires is 1850 372 999.

The red level warnings issued for Clare and Galway were borne out when the full storm hit. At noon, gusts of 133kmph amid winds in excess of 90kmph were recorded at Mace Head in Co Galway. Red level winds and violent gusts were recorded at Shannon Airport by mid-afternoon.

The Irish Coast Guard reissued a warning to avoid coasts after its Sligo-based coast guard helicopter was scrambled to rescue two surfers who ignored warnings to stay clear of coasts.

There was dramatic footage on social media of a wave that surged over a cliff to obliterate a hut near the lighthouse on Eagle Island in Co Mayo.

Flooding on the Galway- Limerick rail line continued to disrupt train services and there were no Bus Eireann services running in Clare or Galway before 3pm.

Several members of the National Emergency Co-ordination Group spoke to the media yesterday afternoon following their meeting in Dublin. Lieutenant Colonel Timothy O'Brien said soldiers would continue to assist flood relief sandbagging in Limerick, Clare and Westmeath today and tomorrow.

Marie McCarthy of the Health and Safety Authority warned the public of the danger of accidents when repairing storm damage. She urged people to avoid undertaking dangerous repair work while alone.

She said farmers are often injured repairing damage to buildings and only experienced persons should operate chainsaws to remove trees.

Temperatures had plummeted from Friday's 14C to 2C yesterday as the polar side of the jet stream took affect on Ireland. Met Eireann forecaster Liz Walsh said yesterday's storm conditions were "the main event". Sleet and snow hit a number of areas such as Cavan before rains hit.
The country has reported at least 70 cases of the virus

A coronavirus patient has died in the U.S, in the Seattle area. The case marks the first coronavirus death on North American soil, Businessinsider reports.

The US has reported at least 70 cases of the virus, which originated in Wuhan, China, in December.

The coronavirus causes a disease known as COVID-19. Nearly 3,000 people have died and more than 86,000 others have been infected globally, around 90% of whom are in China.

Officials have recorded several potential cases of "community spread" in the US  patients who had no known exposure to the virus or travel history in China.

Forty-four passengers who were quarantined on the Diamond Princess cruise ship were repatriated to the States after disembarking the vessel. Three evacuees from Wuhan also tested positive for the coronavirus.

March 1, Australia and Thailand officially confirmed the first deaths from the coronavirus CoVID-2019, as Reuters reported.

In Australia, the former passenger of the Diamond Princess cruise ship, who was transported from Japan and quarantined, died. He died in a hospital in Perth this early morning. The man was 78 years old.

His widow is also infected with the virus. Her condition is stable. According to the latest government data, the number of viral infections in Australia has grown to 26.

"We monitor and respond to the information that we receive every day. We are not insured, but we are prepared as much as possible for any country, and we can handle it," Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison wrote.

In Thailand, a 35-year-old man who also had dengue fever died of coronavirus. This was announced by Suwanchai Wattanayingcharoen, Director-General of the Department of Disease Control.

The deceased man worked in retail and often contacted tourists. Doctors and authorities suggest that he was infected with the virus.
Upcoming SpaceX CRS-20 launch

The spouse of ARISS Hardware team member Ed Krome, K9EK, pointed out that the ARISS next generation radio system, the InterOperable Radio System (IORS) is prominently described as a primary payload, not secondary, on the SpaceX CRS-20 mission which will be launched no earlier than March 6, 2020 (ET).

The ARISS Team wants to express our heartfelt thanks to everyone that has contributed to helping ARISS realize this major milestone.

It should be noted that the ARISS hardware team is still very busy on IORS development and final certification. While certified for launch and stowage on ISS, the team is still in deep into the final certification of the IORS for flight operations. Also, the build of the second flight unit is in progress in Florida and in San Diego.

While CRS-20 represents the launch of SN 1001, the first flight unit, it also represents the beginning of the "ARISS factory build" and certification of all ten units.

The ARISS team also notes that November 13, 2020 will represent the 20th year of ARISS continuous amateur radio operation on ISS!

Frank Bauer, KA3HDO

AMSAT Vice President, Human Space Flight
Int'l travellers who test COVID positive at the airport will not be allowed to go to their destinations

Who is Firhad Hakim? Know Kolkata's New Mayor Age, Education, Family and Other Details

People who want to divide nation, disrupt peace must fear NSG: Amit Shah in Kolkata

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Kolkata, Mar 01: Amid opposition parties contentious protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act and raised 'Go Back' slogans, Union Home Minister Amit Shah arrived in Kolkata on Sunday and inaugurated the Special Composite Group Complex of National Security Guard (NSG).

Addressing an event at NSG, he said, "We have zero tolerance towards terrorism and NSG takes the leading role in delivering upon it"

"It is the work of NSG to develop fear in people who think & work towards dividing & disrupting peace in our country. And if these people still don't stop, then NSG should retaliate," he added.

Opposition inciting communal riots over CAA: Amit Shah

Amit Shah asserted that India has now joined the league of countries like the US and Israel in carrying out surgical strikes.

Earlier in the day, Shah, who arrived at the Kolkata airport was greeted by the West Bengal BJP leadership, led by state party president Dilip Ghosh.

Hundreds of protesters of the Left Front and Congress, holding black flags and anti-CAA posters, demonstrated outside gate number 1 of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport.

Police had put up a barricade to prevent them from crossing over to the entrance of the airport.

Shah is scheduled to address a rally at the Shaheed Minar Ground, where the state BJP will felicitate him for the passage of the amended citizenship law in Parliament.

Centre deliberately unleashed violence on anti-CAA protesters in Delhi: Puducherry CM V Narayanasamy

This apart, the home minister will inaugurate a new building of National Security Guards at Rajarhat, and hold closed-door meetings with the state BJP leadership along with Nadda. Shah will also visit the Kalighat Temple in south Kolkata.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Sunday, March 1, 2020, 13:19 [IST]
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Trevor Hunnicutt and John Whitesides (Reuters) Columbia, United States  Sun, March 1, 2020 12:56 680 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2067861c9 2 World #USA,#Elections,Democratic-party,Joe-Biden,south-carolina,#USA,#Elections,Democratic-party,Joe-Biden,south-carolina Free

An outpouring of black voter support propelled Joe Biden to a convincing victory in South Carolinas Democratic primary on Saturday, resurrecting his faltering White House bid and giving the former vice president a chance to claim he is the moderate alternative to front-runner Bernie Sanders.

The decisive win gives Biden a burst of momentum in the Democratic race to challenge Republican President Donald Trump, which broadens quickly with Super Tuesday primaries in 14 states in three days that will award one-third of the available national delegates.

It was the first presidential primary win ever for Biden, who is making his third run at the White House.

He immediately took aim at Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont and self-described democratic socialist whose surging campaign and calls for a political revolution have rattled a Democratic establishment worried he is too far left to beat Trump in November.

"Democrats want a nominee who is a Democrat," Biden told cheering supporters in Columbia, South Carolina, in a jab at Sanders. "Win big or lose, that's the choice. Most Americans don't want the promise of a revolution. They want more than promises they want results."

Biden beat Sanders among a wide range of demographic and ideological groups, including those who said they were "very liberal," according to Edison Research exit polls. The polls showed Biden, vice president under former President Barack Obama, with 61% of African-American support to Sanders' 17%.

In the wake of his decisive victory, Biden was endorsed by Terry McAuliffe, a former governor of Virginia and ex-chair of the Democratic National Committee, and U.S. Representative Bobby Scott, an influential African-American lawmaker from Virginia  a possible sign the Democratic establishment was starting to coalesce around his candidacy.

Biden must now hope a flurry of media attention and his name recognition will help him in Super Tuesday states, where Sanders' prolific fundraising has helped him build bigger organizations and broadcast far more advertisements. Sanders leads opinion polls in delegate-rich California, where 3 million early votes have already been cast.

Biden and all of the other Democratic contenders also will face competition for the first time on Super Tuesday from billionaire former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has blanketed the country with half a billion dollars in advertising. Bloomberg skipped the first four state primaries.

But at least five states - Alabama, North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Virginia - have big blocs of African-American voters that could help Biden make a comeback.

Supporters listen to Democratic U.S. presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden at his South Carolina primary night rally in Columbia, South Carolina, U.S., February 29, 2020. (REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz)

Biden's dominance in South Carolina raised questions about the continued viability of most of the other contenders. Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar all were well behind in the state and have dwindling chances to mount a comeback.

With 99% of the precincts reporting, Biden had 49% of the vote and Sanders was a distant second with 20%, according to official state results. Billionaire activist Tom Steyer had 11% and all of the other contenders were well behind with single digits.

Edison Research estimated 530,000 votes were cast in the Democratic primary, well ahead of the 371,000 cast in 2016 and about the same number as 2008.

Democratic Presidential candidate entrepreneur Tom Steyer talks with supporters as he leaves following his announcement that he is suspending his campaign at his election night party on the day of the South Carolina Presidential Primary in Columbia, South Carolina, U.S., February 29, 2020. (REUTERS/Mark Makela)

STEYER DROPS OUT

As the vote count rolled in on Saturday night, Steyer, who had spent heavily in South Carolina to court African-American voters, ended his presidential bid as it emerged he was coming in a distant third.

Biden desperately needed a win after poor showings in the first two nominating contests in Iowa and New Hampshire and a second-place finish in Nevada. He had viewed South Carolina, where his popularity among the state's big bloc of black voters proved decisive, as his firewall against disaster.

The resounding margin could slow the momentum of Sanders, who had grown stronger with each contest, finishing in a virtual tie for first in Iowa with Buttigieg, before notching wins in New Hampshire and Nevada.

"You cannot win them all," Sanders told supporters in Virginia Beach, Virginia. "This will not be the only defeat. There are a lot of states in this country and nobody wins them all."

Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders greets supporters at his South Carolina primary night rally in Virginia Beach, Virginia, U.S., February 29, 2020. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)

Biden, a mainstream Democrat with decades of experience on the U.S. political stage, was powered in South Carolina by support from a broad range of voters, including men and women, black and white, middle-aged and old, those with and without college degrees, independent, liberal and conservative, exit polls showed.

The data showed Biden beating Sanders, who has touted his ability to bring out new voters, among those who were voting in a Democratic primary for the first time.

Exit polls found about six of 10 of South Carolina voters said influential black congressman James Clyburn's endorsement of Biden on Wednesday was a factor in their decision. Clyburn introduced Biden at his victory rally.

"My buddy Jim Clyburn, you brought me back!" Biden told the No. 3 House Democrat before addressing supporters.

Biden was projected to win at least 32 of the 54 pledged delegates in South Carolina and Sanders 11, with more to be allocated. No other candidate was projected to have won any delegates in the state. Heading into the primary, Sanders had 54 delegates, Buttigieg 26 and Biden 15.

A candidate needs at least 1,991 delegates to win the nomination outright at the party's convention in July.

Exit polls showed about half of voters wanted a candidate who would return to Obama's policies, a key argument of Biden. Nearly eight of 10 voters in South Carolina said they had a favorable view of Biden, compared with five of 10 who saw rival Sanders favorably.

The polls also showed Buttigieg and Klobuchar, who had done relatively well in predominantly white Iowa and New Hampshire, had low single-digit support among black voters, raising questions about their path forward as the race moves into more diverse states in March.

Warren, who finished fifth with 7%, congratulated Biden on his victory at a rally in Houston but made clear that she would go on fighting for delegates.

"Ill be the first to say that the first four contests havent gone exactly as Id hoped," she said, before urging supporters to donate to her campaign. "My campaign is built for the long haul and we are looking forward to these big contests."
In Doha on Saturday, US secretary of state Mike Pompeo hailed the historic talks which led to the signing of an agreement with the Taliban which will see the US begin to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan after more than 18 years of war.

Related: US and Taliban sign deal to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan

In Washington, however, the deal was not greeted with universal enthusiasm even by Trump allies such as Lindsey Graham or by former presidential aides, among them the former national security adviser John Bolton.

Photograph: Al Drago/EPA

Many observers counselled caution and pointed to a difficult road ahead.

Most pointed out that the deal leaves peace in Afghanistan to be negotiated between the Taliban and an Afghan government the militants have always denounced as a puppet.

Many voiced concerns about safeguarding human rights advances, particularly concerning the lives of Afghan women, made since the US invasion in 2001 which also denied al-Qaida terrorists their base for the 9/11 attacks.

US troops could be out by spring 2021 but that will depend on the Taliban refraining from violent action. In the US on Saturday a planned prisoner exchange was also criticised as a potential concession too far.

The White House said: President Trump promised to bring our troops home from overseas and is following through on that promise.

Opponents of the Trump administration emphasised the timing of the deal in an election year.

In a statement, Graham, a foreign policy hawk who appeared at a Trump campaign rally in his home state on Friday, said he would support any reasonable effort to negotiate an end to the war in Afghanistan.

However, any peace agreement must be sustainable, honorable and include protections for the American homeland against international terrorist organisations that are alive and well in Afghanistan.

The South Carolina Republican added: I am very suspect of the Taliban ever accepting the Afghan constitution and honouring the rights of religious minorities and women. Time will tell if reconciliation in Afghanistan can be accomplished with honour and security, but after more than 18 years of war, it is time to try.

Story continues

John Bolton, Trumps third national security adviser who was fired in September last year, was more damning.

Signing this agreement with Taliban is an unacceptable risk to Americas civilian population, he said in a tweet. This is an Obama-style deal. Legitimising Taliban sends the wrong signal to [Islamic State] and al-Qaida terrorists, and to Americas enemies generally.

The mention of Obama would have been particularly stinging to Trump, who has repeatedly sought to reverse his predecessors actions.

Bolton was also a key figure in Trumps impeachment, over his approaches to Ukraine, which the president survived. The former adviser has a book coming out  Trump is trying to block it.

At the White House on Saturday afternoon, at a press conference to discuss the coronavirus outbreak, Trump was asked about Boltons comment.

He had his chance, he didnt do it, he said, before seeming to refer to Boltons role in the administration of George W Bush, under which the US invaded Afghanistan.

He was very much in favour of going in, we should never have gone in in the first place. When they went into Iraq, when they went into the Middle East in such a fashion I was very much against it.

In fact, at the time Trump voiced his support for the Iraq war.

The candidates for the Democratic nomination to face Trump in November were campaigning on Saturday, mostly in South Carolina which was staging its primary.

A senior figure on Capitol Hill, the Connecticut senator Chris Murphy, said the agreement with the Taliban was a step in the right direction.

But, he added: Its critical that women and minorities are brought to the table in the coming negotiations  we must sustain our diplomatic engagement with the Afghan people as we also work to begin bringing our troops home, while leaving critical counterterrorism operations in place.

This is the longest war in our countrys history, and thats exactly why Congress must be consulted before any final agreement is reached. Thats why I am requesting Ambassador [Zalmay] Khalilzad  the peace envoy who signed the deal in Doha  come before the Senate foreign relations committee in the coming weeks.

Elliot Engel, the Democratic chair of the House foreign relations committe, said he was concerned that this negotiation was carried out without any meaningful input from Congress and with little transparency for the American people  a recurring problem with this administration. He also said he expected Khalilzad to appear before his committee.

Experts also advised caution.

Kate Clark, co-director of the Afghanistan Analysts Network, said: This is not yet a peace deal, its a withdrawal deal. You cant help hoping for something like a momentum being created by this reduction in violence but it didnt happen after the Eid ceasefire [in 2018].

Richard Haas, president of the Council on Foreign Relations thinktank, said: As welcome as peace in Afghanistan would be, it is hard to believe it is at hand. I see no mention of Taliban disarmament or closing its Pakistan sanctuary. The risk is the US removes capabilities in the long-shot hope the Taliban will change its ways.
Ajit Pawar said that nobody in Maharashtra should be worried about CAA NRC and NPR, as the party chief Sharad Pawar and the ruling government had already given their word to the people.

Mumbai: Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Sunday urged the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) workers to toil hard to come second in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections that are scheduled to be held in 2022.

"Shiv Sena is the number one party in BMC and they should remain there as they are our alliance partners but NCP should try come second in the upcoming BMC elections," Pawar said while addressing NCP's convention.

Clarifying that allies in Maharashtra's ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) are united, he further said, "NCP workers should not have misconceptions or misunderstandings about our partners because in the coming days we have to contest elections together," he further added.

The BMC election is expected to happen in 2022. As of now, Shiv Sena is the ruling party in BMC with 92 Corporaters while Congress has 30 Corporaters and 9 from NCP, in the house of a total 227 seats.

The NCP leader further said that nobody in Maharashtra should be worried about CAA NRC and NPR, as the party chief Sharad Pawar and the ruling government had already given their word to the people.

"People of Maharashtra should not get scared of this decision of CAA, NRP and NPR as even state's Home Minister Anil Deshmukh have also assured this. Some people are trying to create a debate on this but if anyone tries to create a misconception then NCP workers should tell them that Sharad Pawar and MVA ministers have given us word that because of this decision no one's citizenship in Maharashtra will be affected," the deputy chief minister said.
Edwin Ezeonu, the ex-husband of Nollywood actress Ngozi Ezeonu has accused her of marrying off their daughter without his consent. ...





Edwin Ezeonu, the ex-husband of Nollywood actress Ngozi Ezeonu has accused her of marrying off their daughter without his consent.





He also warned the actress to stop using his name since they are now divorced.





Edwin in an interview with The Sun accused his ex-wife of trampling on his right and honour as a man, describing his daughters traditional wedding in Delta State as an abomination as he was kept in the dark throughout the whole process.





The aggrieved ex-husband of the Nollywood actress said; Im a real son of the soil in Igboland, and I am knowledgeable enough about Igbo traditional marriage.





In Anambra State where I come from, a woman does not and has no right whatsoever to give out a fellow womans hand in marriage. It is abomination and taboo. As such, Ngozi Denis Ikpelue has no legitimate right and authority to give out my daughter, Ogechukwus hand in marriage. As long as I am concerned and also the entire family of Ezeonu and his kindred are concerned, Ogechukwu is not married.





What happened in Asaba, Delta State on February 15, 2020 was a movie shoot! he added.





Recalling how his marriage to Ngozi Ezeonu crashed in 2013, Edwin said; I came back home one day from work and met an empty house, without any prior notice. As I got home that fateful day, my landlady told me that Ngozi had packed out of the house, taking the children along with her.





Few weeks before that, I had insinuated that she was putting up a new apartment. I summoned her and warned her against dividing the family. But she never listened.





I gave Ngozi all the supports and encouragement she needed to boost her career as a seasoned actress, yet she never valued all my efforts. She also never contributed a dime to the upkeep of the house and well being of the children.





Even after they left, I still catered for my kids: school fees, foodstuff and all. Im devastated that my only daughter would do this to me. Ngozi should also desist from using my surname. We are divorced, he said.
Origin of novel coronavirus still hangs in the air

Global Times

By GT staff reporters Source:Global Times Published: 2020/2/29 0:38:40

Infection cases of unknown source complicate COVID-19 knowledge

More efforts are needed to uncover the mysterious nature of the novel coronavirus, experts say, as more cases showing no travel history to infected areas or contact with patients have been reported in countries such as the US, further complicating the discussions about the origin of the virus.

Given that the source of the virus has not been identified and scientists have not made major breakthroughs on relevant research, experts said countries should remain open-minded and work together by abandoning a political quagmire and conspiracy theories.

When it comes to the origin of the novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) outbreak, China is the first location that people would think of. However, the situation is getting worse in other countries. "Although the outbreak first occurred in China, it does not necessarily mean it originated here," Zhong Nanshan, a prestigious respiratory specialist, told a press conference on Thursday.

His remarks raised questions to scientists across the world while they race to learn more about the virus that has caused more than 82,000 infections globally, and pin down the sources to help prevent more outbreaks.

Although the World Health Organization confirmed that the virus' outbreak was first reported in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province, Zeng Guang, chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told the Global Times on Friday that there is no direct evidence to link the origin of the virus so far, especially as some patients reported outside China have never been to epidemic-stricken areas or contacted people with infections.

A patient in California diagnosed with coronavirus infection did not travel anywhere known to have the virus, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday night. The patient was also not exposed to anyone infected.

That patient was the first case of an unknown origin in the US, according to local health authorities. The US CDC on Thursday also revised the Criteria to Guide Evaluation of PUI for COVID-19, adding no source of exposure has been identified.

The mysterious nature of this case is significant, Dr. Dean Blumberg, an infectious disease specialist at UC Davis Medical Center, told CNN affiliate KCRA.

"And you have to realize that this virus is so new, that none of us have any immunity to it. So, anybody who's exposed is at high risk of getting infected with this," Blumberg said.

Japanese media TV Asahi previously reported that some patients in the US who died from the flu might have actually been killed by coronavirus. This has added more concerns about the virus' origin, which some said actually originated in the US rather than China, observers noted.

Although the US CDC refuted the report later, saying that there is no evidence to support the statement of TV Asahi, Zeng said the speculation still deserves attention, noting the unusual flu epidemic in 2019 in the US.

Some online posts also raised questions about whether the US had missed the opportunity of testing flu-like cases with nucleic acid kits in the flu epidemic, because if more tests are made, more cases would be identified, outlining the coronavirus epidemic situation in the country.

"The US CDC can conduct antibody tests [also known as serological tests] with recovered flu patients. If the test turns positive, it will be a direct clue of the virus' origin," Zeng said.

US CDC officials have warned of the possibility of a community spread in the US. Under such circumstance, Zeng called on the US to be more transparent in epidemic related information and more cooperative with the international community.

Singapore said it has successfully come up with the first use of an antibody test to track coronavirus infections, which can detect the source of clusters of infections in certain cases, media reported on Friday.

Limited understanding about the virus was also seen as a major challenge for the global community in handling the public health crisis, and countries were urged to stop using political conspiracies. They should instead work together to fight the disease, analysts said.

Globally, there have been 82,294 confirmed cases, with 3,664 of these cases outside of China. Nine new countries - Brazil, Denmark, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Norway, Pakistan, Romania, and North Macedonia - reported cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, WHO data shows.

Experts called for global cooperation to prevent the spread of the illness, with more infectious disease experts warning that the outbreak, without a known source of infection, could be just the tip of the iceberg.

After Zhong's remarks went viral, some Western media outlets said that he was trying to shield China from responsibility. But most people who listened carefully to him said the remarks are scientific and rigorous as what he really means is that the conclusion can only be made after scientific research.

When US politicians like Tom Cotton put forward a Chinese coronavirus conspiracy, suggesting the virus came from an infectious disease research lab, a group of 27 prominent public health scientists from outside China pushed back. "The rapid, open, and transparent sharing of data on this outbreak is now being threatened by rumors and misinformation about its origins," the scientists from nine countries said in a recent statement published online by The Lancet.

Cai Jiangnan, director of the Center for Healthcare Management at the China Europe International Business School, told the Global Times that the atypical symptoms of the COVID-19 make it difficult to trace the origin of the novel coronavirus and the first person who was infected with the virus.

About 80 percent of the patients only have slight symptoms. The first infected person also just showed slight or no symptoms and gradually recovered on his own, which makes it very difficult to trace, Cai said.

Identifying the virus' origin can help control the disease to some extent, but the disease's atypical symptoms increased transmission of the virus, he noted.

Several experts reached by the Global Times said the COVID-19 may have multiple origins co-existing around the world. Given the complexity of the disease and limited knowledge so far, experts said people should not rush to conclusions and should respect science.

It's not the time to say which country is the origin without accurate scientific basis and people should learn to respect science, Shen Yi, director of the Research Center for Cyberspace Governance at Fudan University, told the Global Times.

Shen said that politicizing the epidemic issue by the US is irresponsible as the virus has no borders.

Do more, speak less

The virus makes no distinction. Under the current situation, all countries should be alert and shoulder their responsibility, Shen noted.

However, the New York Times reported that the White House on Thursday moved to "tighten control of coronavirus messaging by government health officials and scientists, directing them to coordinate all statements and public appearances with the office of Vice President Mike Pence."

Shen said what the US government has done is irresponsible for the safety of its citizens and its move could lead to important messages not being conveyed. He urged the US government to set up a more transparent information disclosure mechanism.

He added that it's also necessary for the US to implement more effective measures, rather than setting up a high requirement for the diagnosis of COVID-19 cases, in a bid to curtail the virus spread.

The international community needs to cooperate to find the origin of the novel coronavirus and the WHO can take the lead, Zeng stressed.

"It's also time for China which has accumulated experience in combating the epidemic to share its experience and support other countries. This is what we should do as a responsible major country," he said.

"We should do more, say less. As you have noted, there is no anti-China wave due to the coronavirus. This is because most people understand what we are doing is for the safety of mankind."

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






She's had a traumatic few months after being stalked and tormented by Leo King, which culminated in her killing him in self-defence.

But Whitney Dean's nightmare is far from over as a new EastEnders trailer shows her crying out while covered in blood as she languishes in jail over Leo's murder.

The market trader, played by Shona McGarty, has been struggling to cope after handing herself into police amid the BBC soap's explosive 35th anniversary episodes.

Poor Whitney: Whitney Dean's nightmare is far from over as a new EastEnders trailer shows her crying out while covered in blood as she languishes in jail over Leo's murder

It's not known how Whitney ended up with blood on her hands, but it's clear to see that the pressure of an upcoming murder trial is getting to her as she cries out in distress and runs her hands through her hair.

Seemingly accepting a fate of a possible life behind bars, she proclaims: 'Nothing's gonna change what I did!'

Whitney's drama began on Valentine's Day when Leo, who had been hiding in the attic, attacked her with a knife.

Banged up: The market trader, played by Shona McGarty, has been struggling to cope after handing herself into police amid the BBC soap's explosive 35th anniversary episodes

Distraught: It's not known how Whitney ended up with blood on her hands, but it's clear to see that the pressure of an upcoming murder trial is getting to her as she cries out in distress and runs her hands through her hair

A struggled ensued and as the pair tumbled to the ground, Leo fell on his own knife.

A panicked Whitney called Mick Carter for help, who advised her to leave the body in her kitchen and attend the boat party to cover her tracks.

But Whitney was wracked with guilt over what happened and soon confessed to the police what occurred.

At her Whit's end: Seemingly accepting a fate of a possible life behind bars, she proclaims: 'Nothing's gonna change what I did!'

Shock: Whitney's drama began on Valentine's Day when Leo, who had been hiding in the attic, attacked her with a knife. A struggled ensued and as the pair tumbled to the ground, Leo fell on his own knife

Help: Meanwhile, the dramatic trailer sees Whitney's lawyer Gray Atkins urge Kat Slater to persuade her boyfriend Kush Kazemi change his plea

Leo had arrived in Albert Square last year determined to get revenge for his late father Tony, who was sexually abused Whitney as a teenager.

Meanwhile, the dramatic trailer sees Whitney's lawyer Gray Atkins urge Kat Slater to persuade her boyfriend Kush Kazemi change his plea.

He tells a worried Kat: 'If Kush changes his plea, it gives me a fighting chance of stopping Whit going to prison for murder.'

Injustice: The short clip also sees Tiffany Butcher cry out in distress as her husband Keegan Baker, who's has recently been victim of racial discrimination, is arrested by the police

Leave him be: As he's slammed to the ground and handcuffed, Tiff bellows: 'Get your hands off my husband!'

Kush has his own legal turmoils to deal with as an earlier scuffle with Leo saw stalker plummet off the Prince Albert balcony.

The short clip also sees Tiffany Butcher cry out in distress as her husband Keegan Baker, who's has recently been victim of racial discrimination, is arrested by the police.

As he's slammed to the ground and handcuffed, Tiff bellows: 'Get your hands off my husband!'

With plenty of drama teased in upcoming scenes, will Whitney be freed? Or is her nightmare only just beginning?

EastEnders continues Monday at 8pm on BBC One.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-02 06:30:01|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

COPENHAGEN, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Two more COVID-19 cases were confirmed in Denmark over the weekend, bringing the country's total cases to four.

A fourth case of infection by the new coronavirus was confirmed on Sunday evening and was directly linked to the second case of the infection, according to the Danish Patient Safety Authority.

"We have already carried out the infection detection and the contacts have been informed," said Anne-Marie Vangsted, Director of the Patient Safety Authority.

On Saturday, a third Dane was confirmed to be infected by COVID-19 following attendance at a medical conference in Germany where contact had been made with an infected Italian national, according to the Danish Patient Safety Authority.

The first COVID-19 case in Denmark was an employee of Denmark's TV2, who had returned from a family ski trip to an affected area in northern Italy.
United States President Donald Trump on Saturday said he planned to meet Taliban leaders in the 'not-too-distant future', asserting that it was time that the war against terrorism was fought by someone else, particularly the countries in the region.

IMAGE: US President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at the White House in Washington, on Saturday. Photograph: Joshua Roberts/Reuters

"I will be meeting personally with Taliban leaders in the not-too-distant future. And we will be very much hoping that they will be doing what they say they are going to be doing: they will be killing terrorists. They will be killing some very bad people. They will keep that fight going," Trump told reporters at a White House press conference.

"We have had tremendous success in Afghanistan in the killing of terrorists, but it is time, after all these years, to go and bring our people back home. We want to bring our people back home," the President said hours after the United States signed an agreement with the Taliban in Doha, under which it has committed to withdrawing all its troops from Afghanistan in 14 months' time.

"We just signed an agreement that puts us in a position to get it done, bring us down to in the vicinity of 8,000 troops. The United Nations was informed of everything," Trump said.

The US currently has some 13,000 troops in Afghanistan.

The President said it had been a long journey in Afghanistan.

"It's been a very long journey. It's been a hard journey for everybody. We are, very largely, a law enforcement group. And that is not what our soldiers are all about. They are fighters. They are the greatest fighters in the world," he said.

"As you know, we have destroyed, in Syria and Iraq, 100 per cent of the ISIS caliphate. One hundred per cent. We have thousands of prisoners.

"We have killed ISIS fighters by the thousands and, likewise, in Afghanistan. But now it is time for somebody else to do that work and that will be the Taliban and it could be the surrounding countries.

"There are many countries that surround Afghanistan that can help. We are 8,000 miles away," Trump said.

"So we will be bringing it down to 8,000 to approximately 8,600 -- in that vicinity -- and then we will make our final decision (at) some point in the fairly near future. But this was a very spirited agreement. There was a lot of talk.

"There was a lot of everything. They have been trying to get this for many years," he said.

The president said he really believed that the Taliban wanted to do something to show that they were not wasting time.

"If bad things happen, we will go back. I let the people know: we will go back and we will go back so fast, and we will go back with a force like nobody has ever seen. I do not think that will be necessary. I hope it is not necessary," he said.

Responding to a question, Trump said the Taliban wanted this to happen.

"The Taliban wanted it to happen. President (Ashraf) Ghani was very much involved in this, as you know. And he is now dealing with the Taliban," he said.

The Taliban, Trump said, had given a very strong pledge.

"We will see how that works out. We hope it is going to work out very well. I think they have big incentives to do it, but they have to take care of the terrorists and kill the terrorists.

"We will be working in a different kind of a fashion toward that end.

"But the job we have done has been a fantastic one in terms of terrorists and terrorism, and it is time for our people to start coming home," he added.
Ive seen a couple. My wi-fi has been down. The Dthritarashtra-Sanjaya Network is up for sale, as you know.

The heroines, I said. They get younger and younger and younger. Its brilliant. In fact, one hero, as we speak, has delayed his comeback project because he is waiting for his heroine to be born. I think they are going in for a C-section because the teasers are out. Hmmmm, said God.

It was after three gruelling days of prayer to Swami Nithyananda that God finally appeared before me. What boon do you seek? he said. And hurry up, I have this thing with Jaggi. Getting over my initial surprise that He wasnt a She, I replied without hesitation.

I want to be reborn a ... er ... South Hero, My ... er ... Lord.

You sure? God said. Dont be hasty. I am God. If I wish, you could be reborn as Mukesh Ambanis driver, the touch-up guy at Victorias Secret shows...

Im absolutely sure, Prabhu, I said. I have put years of thought into this.

Could you give me one reason? said the Almighty.

How about I give you 10? I said. In no particular order, though.

I am listening, said God, looking at his fake Rolex, a gift from a

devotee.

Well, for starters, Ive always fancied the idea of being bathed in milk by loving fans.

Seriously? said God. Its no big deal. Sticky, actually. And the *#*!s water it down.

Then, I have always wanted a family whose sole purpose is being the supporting cast to my life. Appearing en masse in the large living room of our mansion in the middle of verdant fields, standing approvingly in the background as my awesome life unfolds, and disappearing discreetly when Im singing with the heroine in Prague or Vienna as Western civilization looks on in bewilderment.

True, said God. That is a good one.

Actually, theres my next reason, I said. Under the current scenario of travel restrictions for us brown folk, who but a South Hero can go to exotic locations, dance on busy streets with east European background dancers, wear outrageous clothes, hold up traffic, without being shot in the patootie with a bazooka?

Good point, said God.

Then the retirement thing. The post of South Hero is the only one where one retires only when one dies. In fact, thanks to advances in the field of CGI and taxidermy, maybe even after. Rumour has it that one South superstar who had a Sankranti release actually died three years ago. They are hailing it as his best performance yet.

Next? said God.

The heroines. I said. They get younger and younger and younger. Its brilliant. In fact, one hero, as we speak, has delayed his comeback project because he is waiting for his heroine to be born. I think they are going in for a C-section because the teasers are out.

Hmmmm, said God.

Have you ever seen the bad guys that attack a South Hero in a fight sequence? I said.

Ive seen a couple. My wi-fi has been down. The Dthritarashtra-Sanjaya Network is up for sale, as you know.

They always come in a queue, Swami. I said. The South movie henchman, to my knowledge, is the only man in India who follows the queue system. The first guy comes, the hero dispatches him, then the second, repeat, then the third ... I tell you, its awesome.

You make a good case, said the Omnipotent. But hurry up, Amish just texted me.

Okay, I said. Then, the chief adversary. In my current life as writer, do you know how diabolical and ruthless my chief adversaries, my editor and my publisher, are? They make Goebbels look like Pandari Bai.

So what are you saying?

The main villain in every south film is a moron. He is completely clueless. A langur on downers could outwit the guy. The best part is, the idiot doesnt even know Telugu or Tamil because hes from Bombay. So the happy ending is a foregone conclusion for the South Hero.

True, said God. I do feel sorry for Kelly Dorji, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Jackie Shroff.

Well, here are three reasons in one shot, I said. When the going gets tough, South Heroes get to deliver alliterative punch dialogues that make no sense at all. They say things like I have great taste-u. You are bloody waste-u. If I hit you, you are paste-u. Also, they sport cool prefixes like Thunder & Lightning Hero or Young Rootless Intergalactic Star before their names. And, finally, when they are arthritic and toothless, they get a shot at being CM ... where are you going, God?

My Uber has arrived, son, said God.

So are we on? I said.

Yes, said God, waving. But let me give it a try first.
US Ups Travel Restrictions as Trump Says More Cases 'Likely'

February 29, 2020

The U.S. is banning travel to Iran in response to the outbreak of the new coronavirus and elevating travel warnings to regions of Italy and South Korea.

Vice President Mike Pence announced the new restrictions and warnings as President Donald Trump said 22 people in the U.S. have been stricken by the new coronavirus and that additional cases are "likely.''

"We want to lower the amount of travel to and from the most impacted areas"said Alex Azar, the secretary of health and human Services. ``This is a basic containment strategy."

Trump provided an update on the virus after the first reported U.S. death Saturday, of a woman he described as being in her late 50s and having a high medical risk. He said healthy Americans should be able to recover if they contract the new virus.

The virus threat has spooked global markets and the public at large. On Friday, health officials confirmed a second case of coronavirus in the U.S. in a person who didn't travel internationally or have close contact with anyone who had the virus. The U.S. has a total of about 60 confirmed cases.

But Trump encouraged Americans not to alter their daily routines, saying "there's no reason to panic at all.''

He added he wasn't altering his routine either. "You're talking about 22 people right now in this whole very vast country. I think we'll be in very good shape."

Trump spoke a day after he denounced criticism of his response to the threat as a "hoax" cooked up by his political enemies. Speaking at a rally in South Carolina he accused Democrats of ``politicizing'' the coronavirus threat and boasted about preventive steps he's ordered in an attempt to keep the virus that originated in China from spreading across the United States. Those steps include barring entry by most foreign nationals who had recently visited China.

"They tried the impeachment hoax. ... This is their new hoax,'' Trump said of Democratic denunciations of his administration's coronavirus response.

Trump said Saturday he was not trying to minimize the threat of the virus.

"Again, the hoax was used in respect to Democrats and what they were saying," he said.

Some Democrats have said Trump could have acted sooner to bolster the U.S. response to the virus. Democratic and Republican lawmakers also have said his request for an additional $2.5 billion to defend against the virus isn't enough. They've signaled they will provide substantially more funding.

Trump said Democrats want him to fail and argued that steps he's taken so far have kept cases to a minimum and prevented virus deaths in the U.S.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






New Delhi, March 1 : Parliament is reconvening on Monday after a recess of 19 days in the Budget session and is expected to be stormy with the Opposition set to corner the government on Delhi riots.

The Congress is likely to move an adjournment motion in the Lok Sabha and suspension of business under rule 267 in the Rajya Sabha.

Congress floor leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the party will press for the resignation of Home Minister Amit Shah.

A Congress delegation put forward the demand for Shah's resignation when it met the President.

While Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal has said that the Opposition has given notices on Delhi riots, he said the discussion should focus on avoiding such incidents anywhere in the country.

The Congress will also raise the issue of income tax raids in Chhattisgarh, which it says happened without the knowledge of the state government and under the CRPF protection. The Congress on Sunday alleged the government steps were "coercive".

"Over the last four days, multiple raids on various locations have been carried out by the Income Tax Department in Chhattisgarh. Unfortunately, for the Modi government, the clumsy method, manner and timing of these raids have exposed their mala fide intentions and designs," alleged Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala.

The party will also raise several economic issues such as the falling GDP in the third quarter. It has alleged that the government is not doing enough to control the economic decline. In a sarcastic way, the party alleged that the latest GDP numbers reflected "karo-na" (don't do anything) virus that has plagued the functioning of the government.

"The economy is in a shambles; stagflation is setting in as every economic indicator is showing a downward trend. But the government continues to function as an ostrich," said the party.
Several kinds of research have been undertaken in the mainstream sciences to investigate the level of difficulties associated with the study of concepts in biology, chemistry, physics, computer studies and a host of others. What has been lacking in literature have been researches related to the social sciences and humanities on concept difficulties related to the study of such course.

Funded by the World Bank Africa Centre of Excellence ( Lagos State University) and the Okebukola Science Foundation, a number of researches have been conducted on the science, with one in the humanities (public administration).

In a study of 650 students from five African universities (University of Professional Studies Accra, University of Ghana, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, Crawford University( Igbesa) and the Lagos State University, results of groundbreaking research found that the most difficult concepts in the study of public administration is politics. Using mean ranks, the study suggests the following results;

Table 1: Ranking of Difficult Concepts in the Study of Public Administration

Table 1 - Mean rank analysis of difficult concepts in Public Administration (N = 650)

S/N. Difficult concepts Mean Ranking B8 Politics 1.83 1st B1 Bureaucracy 1.81 2nd B7 Public Policy 1.77 3rd B6 Decentralization 1.74 4th B5 Governance 1.62 5th B9 Public Personnel Administration 1.58 6th B3 Corruption 1.49 7th Topic Arms of Government 1.48 8th B2 Ethics 1.42 9th B10 Defining Public Administration 1.39 10th

Source: Indigenous (Cultural) Knowledge Related To the Concept of Politics as a Difficult Topic in Public Administration

The table shows the ranking of the difficult concept in the study of Public Administration. The study shows that Politics with a mean of 1.83 is perceived the most difficult concept in the study of public administration. Public Policy, Decentralization, Governance, Public Personnel Administration, Corruption, Arms of Government, Ethics and Defining Public Administration followed in the order of difficulties in understanding by African university students studying public administration (Awaah, 20202).

[KO1]

The study suggests that, to make politics easy to understand, African university teachers should adopt the Cuturo-Techno- Conceptual Approach (Okebukola, 2015) in teaching the course. The study explained the approach as emphasizing on using examples and explanations that are related to the students cultural environment to aid understanding.

For instance, the study argued that, politics is not new to Africans. Before the advent of western political systems, Africans had their indigenous ways of getting into political office; majorly through the clan and chieftaincy systems. In West Africa just as it pertained in many parts of Africa, ascending to the positions of a chief or head of a kingdom had criterion that one had to meet just as it is with qualifications for being elected in modern day political office. For instance, among the Gurune speaking people of northern Ghana, some key qualifications included being whole bodied, not of a questionable character, must have a wife, not impotent, must be from the royal clan, be of sound mind, and not leprous amongst others. If one did not meet any of these criteria, such a person would be disqualified from being enskinned a chief. This aspect of indigenous criteria for qualifications into chieftaincy can be likened to modern day vetting on pre-established criterion for getting into political office like being a citizen, clean police records, declaration of assets amongst others (Awaah, 2020).

The paper further argues that, in modern day politics as taught in the classrooms, dispute is an integral part of the systems and such disputes take the wisdom of the courts to settle. This is not new to Africans. In time past, the elders and chiefs in Africa were repositories of traditional wisdom and would sit in the compounds of the chief to adjudicate matters relating to sub chiefs and other subjects. When the matter was higher than a given chief, the matter would be referred to the overlord of the given traditional area. It is common knowledge that, in matters pertaining to some tribes in the Upper East Region of Ghana, when disputes arose and the immediate chief of the locality lacked the jurisprudence to mediate the matter, the matter was sent to the Nayiri (overlord of Mampurrgu) for settlement. This practice is still prevalent with the Mole  Dagbani group of Ghana (bid).

The author further argues backs his script with narratives from oral tradition of one such dispute within the Dagbon kingdom - the people of Dagbon could not resolve the matter pertaining who became the next chief or overlord of Dagbon (Yaa  Naa) within a given period. It was agreed before the Dagbon state that, the matter be referred to the Nayiri for settlement. This reflects the dispute settlement systems of modern-day politics when matters begin from lower to higher courts depending on the magnitude of the dispute. Of particular interest in this narration is that, when the Dagbon state agreed to refer the matter to the Nayiri, the youngest contender for the skin knowing he is the least advantaged in the race went to Nayiri ahead of the appointed date. He enquired of the Nayiri what name would be one appropriate and impressive for the next chief of Dagbon (Yaa- Naa).

Oral traditions has it that, the Nayiri, not knowing his motive mention Nyo-u din galsi ni dei bobri transliterated as the chest that is big will get decorations. The phrase actually connotes the virtue of patience and unity as it really means one needs patience to get power or acclaim. Subsequently, the day for the real adjudication came and all contenders were seated before the Nayiri. Amongst another criterion, all contenders were asked to suggest their skin names, the youngest knowing the mindset of the Nayiri mentioned Nyo-u din galsi ni dei bobri.

He has crowned the chief of Dagbon. Oral tradition has it that, he was one of the key chiefs in the history of Dagbon to bring developments into the area. Apart from settling the dispute, this further reflects the concept of modern-day lobbying as pertains in politics, for Naa Zangina would have missed out on the chieftaincy if he did not lobby the Nayirri.

The full article is published in the book, Breaking Barriers to Learning: the Culturo-Techno-Conceptual Approach and would be available on Amazon for sale shortly.

[KO1] Move to findings after method of data analysis

Fred Awaah

.............................................................................................

Published 2020: Indigenous (Cultural) Knowledge Related to the Concept of Politics as a Difficult Topic in Public Administration

Under Review: Rating Lecturer Classroom Related Academically Corrupt Practices in Ghanaian Universities

.............................................................................................

Lecturer - University of Professional Studies - Accra

Visiting Fellow - UNESCO Institute of African Culture and International Understanding - Nigeria

Visiting Fellow - Centre for Human Security - Abeokuta, Nigeria

Member: Professor Peter Okebukola's Elite Research Team

Member (former) - European Union's Tuning Africa Policy Advisory Group

AAU/SIDA Scholar - Botho University, Botswana and Lesotho (2016)

AAU/ ECOWAS Scholar - Crawford University - Nigeria (2015)

Speaker - Millennium Campus Network at the UN, 2015

Panelist: Launch of the AU Agenda 2063 in Addis Ababa - May 2013

Secretary General ( former): All - Africa Students Union
New York, March 1 : Announcing the first coronavirus linked death in the country, US President Donald Trump has issued new travel restrictions to Iran, Italy and South Korea while maintaining that the overall risk to the US is low but can turn suddenly.

US is banning travel to Iran and urging Americans not to travel to Italy and South Korea.

"We advise all Americans not to travel to Italy and South Korea", Vice President Mike Pence said at a hastily convened White House briefing on Saturday afternoon.

Coronavirus has spread to nearly 60 countries, more than 85,000 people worldwide have contracted the virus and 2,900 have died.

Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the the first coronavirus victim in the US died in the state of Washington.

The Governor of Washington state has declared a state of emergency on Saturday.

Trump administration health experts leading the US response to coronavirus said there "will be more cases" although the highest risk is mainly to older people with underlying conditions like heart disease, diabetes and obesity, which heighten "respiratory distress" from the virus.

The US currently has more than 60 people who have been infected, most of them repatriated from Wuhan, China or evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

Anthony S. Fauci, Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, explained that normal, healthy Americans are at low risk and would typically recover after mild symptoms similar to the annual flu.

Fauci said outliers would always surface and that does not change the US assessment of "low risk" for now.

The first vaccine trials are expected to begin in about two months and it would take a further three months to determine safety and efficacy which means the fastest possible time frame would still be upwards of 6-8 months before a breakthrough, Fauci has said.
After Vishwa Hindu Parishad raised concerns over the reports that Maharashtra's ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government is planning to give reservation to Muslims, Shiv Sena on Sunday denied any such proposal for the same.

Shiv Sena's denial came in response to Vishwa Hindu Parishad's (VHP) remarks on the issue.

VHP had tweeted, "News of Maharashtra government's decision to grant religion-based reservation to Muslims is worrisome. The appeasement of Muslims should not be done by a government led by Shiv Sena. This is the Hindu society's expectation."

Earlier, Maharashtra's Minority Affairs Minister, Nawab Malik on February 28 announced that a law will be made to give reservation to Muslims in educational institutions in the state.

"High Court had given its nod to give five per cent reservation to Muslims in government educational institutions. The last government did not take any action on it. So we have announced that we will implement the High Court's order in the form of law as soon as possible," Malik said.

"We have announced that as per the High Court's order we will give reservation to the Muslim community in education soon by making a law," added Malik.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
TORONTO, March 01, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MiningWatch Canada is concerned about ongoing social, environmental and financial risks of Nouveau Monde Graphite (NOU; NMGRF; NM9) Matawinie Project near Saint-Michel-des-Saints, Quebec, Canada.



After a careful review of the projects documents, multiple onsite visits, and active participation to Quebecs environmental review and public panel hearings held recently, MiningWatch Canada is primarily concerned about the following risks:

Social division, no social licence: Contrary to the companys claim, the community remains profoundly divided over the proposed project. Recent company polls are misleading and do not account for the cottaging and recreational community, which represents 50% of the local population and 51% of the property value (assessed at $201.8 million in 2019). This community is largely opposed to the project and represents a significant social, legal, and financial risk to the company.



Contrary to the companys claim, the community remains profoundly divided over the proposed project. Recent company polls are misleading and do not account for the cottaging and recreational community, which represents 50% of the local population and 51% of the property value (assessed at $201.8 million in 2019). This community is largely opposed to the project and represents a significant social, legal, and financial risk to the company. Touristic and ecologically sensitive area : The proposed 2.6 km open pit mine project is located in the heart of an ecologically sensitive and touristic area, next to the world-renowned Mont Tremblant National Park and within the Lac Taureau Regional Parc watershedthe largest and closest recreational water body north of Montreal and the first inhabited park in the province. This area welcomes tens of thousands of visitors each year. It is also home to hundreds of birds, mammals and other animal species, including several vulnerable and threatened species.



: The proposed 2.6 km open pit mine project is located in the heart of an ecologically sensitive and touristic area, next to the world-renowned Mont Tremblant National Park and within the Lac Taureau Regional Parc watershedthe largest and closest recreational water body north of Montreal and the first inhabited park in the province. This area welcomes tens of thousands of visitors each year. It is also home to hundreds of birds, mammals and other animal species, including several vulnerable and threatened species. Millions of tons of acid generating wastes : The low-grade graphite project would produce over 100 million of tons of tailings and waste rocks, which contain significant quantities of acid generating sulphidic minerals, heavy metals, and other toxic substances. The company proposes a dry, co-disposition stacking method for the mine waste materials, covered with a soil barrier in a slope. While innovative, this exact method has not been field tested, nor yet proven to work on any site in the worldleast of all not at this scale and with this type of material in a northern, wet climate. If it fails, the site risks generating acid drainage for centuries to come. The primary proposed contingency measure is the building and operating of a water treatment plant, which has not been fully costed in the feasibility study.



: The low-grade graphite project would produce over 100 million of tons of tailings and waste rocks, which contain significant quantities of acid generating sulphidic minerals, heavy metals, and other toxic substances. The company proposes a dry, co-disposition stacking method for the mine waste materials, covered with a soil barrier in a slope. While innovative, this exact method has not been field tested, nor yet proven to work on any site in the worldleast of all not at this scale and with this type of material in a northern, wet climate. If it fails, the site risks generating acid drainage for centuries to come. The primary proposed contingency measure is the building and operating of a water treatment plant, which has not been fully costed in the feasibility study. Oversupply & shifting graphite market : The graphite market is currently saturated with enough known reserves to supply the demand for about 300 years at the current rate of productiona 323% increase over the last 10 years. In addition, a significantly increasing proportion of the electric vehicle battery market is shifting toward synthetic graphite produced from petroleum residues (part of a more efficient circular economy). Synthetic graphite provides a more stable and reliable source of graphite (quality/quantity) and avoids social, environmental, and financial risks associated with mining. Second and third-generation batteries are also shifting toward solid-state technologies with metal anodes as a substitute for graphite. Nouveau Mondes feasibility study does not account for this shifting market, overestimates certain revenues, and conversely, underestimates many risks and costs.



: The graphite market is currently saturated with enough known reserves to supply the demand for about 300 years at the current rate of productiona 323% increase over the last 10 years. In addition, a significantly increasing proportion of the electric vehicle battery market is shifting toward synthetic graphite produced from petroleum residues (part of a more efficient circular economy). Synthetic graphite provides a more stable and reliable source of graphite (quality/quantity) and avoids social, environmental, and financial risks associated with mining. Second and third-generation batteries are also shifting toward solid-state technologies with metal anodes as a substitute for graphite. Nouveau Mondes feasibility study does not account for this shifting market, overestimates certain revenues, and conversely, underestimates many risks and costs. An all-electric mine : The company aims to an all-electric mine by year 5 of operation if equipment is available and if costs are justifiable. The all electric scenario risks are not fully costed in the feasibility study. Currently, this objective appears to serve more as a public relation strategy than an actual operational goal.



: The company aims to an all-electric mine by year 5 of operation if equipment is available and if costs are justifiable. The all electric scenario risks are not fully costed in the feasibility study. Currently, this objective appears to serve more as a public relation strategy than an actual operational goal. Low ore grade : Nouveau Mondes project (4.35%) has among the lowest graphite ore grades in the world, three times lower than the Focus Graphite (15.1%) deposit in Quebec, Canada, four times lower than the Syrah Resources (16.2%) deposit in Mozambique, and nearly six times lower than the Mason Graphite (27.8 %) project, also in Quebec. Nouveau Mondes project would generate three to six times more mining wastes per unit of graphite produced as these other projects. In Quebec, Mason Graphite (LLG; MGPHF) has received strong community support, already has its permits, and yet struggles to complete its financing in the current market.



: Nouveau Mondes project (4.35%) has among the lowest graphite ore grades in the world, three times lower than the Focus Graphite (15.1%) deposit in Quebec, Canada, four times lower than the Syrah Resources (16.2%) deposit in Mozambique, and nearly six times lower than the Mason Graphite (27.8 %) project, also in Quebec. Nouveau Mondes project would generate three to six times more mining wastes per unit of graphite produced as these other projects. In Quebec, Mason Graphite (LLG; MGPHF) has received strong community support, already has its permits, and yet struggles to complete its financing in the current market. Indigenous rights: While the company has signed a pre-development agreement with the Atikamekw Council of Manawan, it has not yet signed an impact and benefit agreement for the mine itself. The Chief & Council recently cancelled the environmental review panel hearings that were supposed to be held in the community. It is not clear how and when these hearings will be reconvened.

MiningWatch Canada commissioned and produced four reports on the project, including two from Kuipers & Associates engineering (2019 & 2020), one from the engineer and researcher Philippe Marion (2020), and one with our regional partner Coalition Quebec Meilleure Mine (2020). While MiningWatch recognises efforts by the company to reduce impacts of its project, current measures remain insufficient to address all the above risks. Nouveau Monde will be participating to this weeks PDAC Convention in Toronto.
Dublin, Feb. 28, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture Market - Growth, Trends and Forecasts (2020 - 2025)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The global artificial intelligence in agriculture market is witnessing a CAGR of 26.2% during the forecast period (2019-2024).



Maximize crop yield using machine learning technique is driving the market. Species selection is a tedious process of searching for specific genes that determine the effectiveness of water and nutrients use, adaptation to climate change, disease resistance, as well as nutrients content or a better taste. Machine learning, in particular, deep learning algorithms, take decades of field data to analyze crops performance in various climates and based on this data one can build a probability model that would predict which genes will most likely contribute a beneficial trait to a plant.



Increase in the adoption of cattle face recognition technology is driving the market. Through the application of advanced metrics, including cattle facial recognition programs and image classification incorporated with body condition score and feeding patterns, dairy farms are now being able to individually monitor all behavioral aspects in a group of cattle.



However, lack of standardization is restraining the market growth as lack of standards in data collection, and lack of data sharing is high, and machine learning and artificial intelligence and advanced algorithm design have moved so fast, but the collection of well-tagged, meaningful agricultural data is way behind.



Key Market Trends



Labor Shortage and Increasing Costs of Labor to Drive the Artificial Intelligence Market



Across the world, a huge decline of the workforce is observed due to many reasons, like the lack of skilled labor, aging of farmers, and young farmers finding farming an unattractive profession, thus encouraging trends for automated farming operations. According to the International Labor Organization(ILO), agricultural labors in the percentage of the workforce declined from 81% to 48.2% in developing countries. Also, developed countries are not an exception in such a huge decline. Asia-Pacific, where agriculture occupies a major part of the economy, has a huge decline in workforce, which was nearly about 9% from 2015 to 2017. In Japan, the number of people working in farms witnessed a steep fall to 1.7 million in the year 2015, a 15% decline from the previous year.



The European agriculture sector has also faced such a huge decline in the workforce, which is nearly accounting to 12.8% for the corresponding period. The trend of decline in the agricultural workforce is encouraging government and private organizations to focus on automation operations by adopting artificial intelligence technologies in the agriculture sector. Owing to the above factors, the market for artificial intelligence in the agricultural sector is likely to boom in the years to come.



China's Technological Innovations to Accelerate the Agriculture Sector



The technological innovations pertaining to the Chinese market, are also accelerating the growth and transforming the global artificial intelligence market in the agriculture sector. For instance, McFly's Intelligent agricultural monitoring drone, GAGO's large scale application of AI technology in crop production and livestock farming, and UniStrong's "Huinong" Beidou navigation agricultural automatic driving system are few recent innovations prevailing in the Chinese Ai sector.



Additionally, few technological giants have also begun to make deployment in the agricultural sector. For instance in the year 2018, JD.com's "Jing Dong Farm" has made its debut, similarly in June 2018, Alibaba's Et agricultural brain has been launched. Thus, increasing innovation in the Chinese AI sector is likely to further boost the adoption of AI in the agriculture in the coming future.



Competitive Landscape



The AI market in agriculture is fragmented, as a number of players supplying the same product on lower-cost make market competition stiff. Also, technological advancements by players and the high presence of local and regional players pose a major threat in a price-sensitive market. Key players are Microsoft Corp., IBM Corp. (NITI Aayog), Agribotix LLC, etc.



May 2019 - XAG, a Chinese firm, presented its innovative solutions of combining drones with AI and IoT technology to achieve precision agriculture and induce transformational changes to the food system in 3rd AI for Good Global Summit, in Geneva. XAG is driving AI-powered intelligent devices such as drones and sensors to establish digital farming infrastructure in rural areas and enable precision agriculture which, for example, accurately targets pesticides, seeds, fertilizers, and water to wherever it is needed.



Key Topics Covered



1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Study Deliverables

1.2 Study Assumptions

1.3 Scope of the Study



2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY



3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY



4 MARKET DYNAMICS

4.1 Market Overview

4.2 Introduction to Market Drivers and Restraints

4.3 Market Drivers

4.4 Market Restraints

4.5 Industry Attractiveness - Porter's Five Force Analysis

4.5.1 Threat of New Entrants

4.5.2 Bargaining Power of Buyers/Consumers

4.5.3 Bargaining Power of Suppliers

4.5.4 Threat of Substitute Products

4.5.5 Intensity of Competitive Rivalry



5 MARKET SEGMENTATION

5.1 Application

5.1.1 Weather Tracking

5.1.2 Precision Farming

5.1.3 Drone Analytics

5.2 Deployment

5.2.1 Cloud

5.2.2 On-Premise

5.2.3 Hybrid

5.3 Geography

5.3.1 North America

5.3.1.1 US

5.3.1.2 Canada

5.3.1.3 Mexico

5.3.1.4 Rest of North America

5.3.2 Europe

5.3.2.1 Germany

5.3.2.2 UK

5.3.2.3 Italy

5.3.2.4 Spain

5.3.2.5 Rest of Europe

5.3.3 Asia Pacific

5.3.3.1 China

5.3.3.2 Japan

5.3.3.3 India

5.3.3.4 Australia

5.3.3.5 Rest of Asia-Pacific

5.3.4 South America

5.3.4.1 Brazil

5.3.4.2 Argentina

5.3.4.3 Rest of South America

5.3.5 Rest of the World



6 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

6.1 Vendor Market Share

6.2 Most Adopted Strategies

6.3 Company Profiles

6.3.1 Microsoft Corporation

6.3.2 IBM Corporation

6.3.3 Granular Inc.

6.3.4 aWhere Inc.

6.3.5 Prospera Technologies Ltd.

6.3.6 Gamaya S.A.

6.3.7 ec2ce

6.3.8 PrecisionHawk Inc.

6.3.9 Cainthus Corp.

6.3.10 Tule Technologies Inc.



7 MARKET OPPORTUNITIES AND FUTURE TRENDS



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/pfi0hb

Story continues

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.



CONTACT: ResearchAndMarkets.com

Laura Wood, Senior Press Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com

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


Hong Kong Police Fire Tear Gas as Protesters Return to the Streets

Hundreds of protesters took to the streets in Hong Kong on Feb. 29 in a rally to mark six months since local police stormed a subway station in an attempt to arrest demonstratorsone of the most violent days in the pro-democracy movement in 2019.

Dozens of protesters began to gather outside one of the exits of Prince Edward metro station in Mongkok, at around 5 p.m. local time on Feb. 29. They laid down flowers and turned the area into a makeshift memorial.

An hour later, riot police showed up to clear the flower memorial and cordoned off the area, claiming that protesters were taking part in an illegal assembly and were littering, according to local broadcaster RTHK.

On Aug. 31, 2019, riot police stormed Prince Edward metro station, and beat and pepper-sprayed unarmed passengers. Their actions sparked intense anger from protesters, who viewed it as another instance of police violence during pro-democracy demonstrations that rocked the city in the latter half of 2019.

On the evening of Feb. 29, clashes erupted between protesters and police at multiple locations in Mongkok, marking one of the most violent days after a period of relative quiet in the protest movement, with fears about the coronavirus keeping many residents indoors.

#NOW #HongKongProtestors symbolically stand off against #HongKongPolice during tonight's protest against the lack of independent inquiry for the 8/31 Prince Edwards Station attacks. Police arrived on scene firing tear gas to disperse protestors. pic.twitter.com/q3UQkmMqRa  The Epoch Times Hong Kong (@EpochTimesHK) February 29, 2020

Police officers waved their batons and fired pepper spray in an attempt to clear protesters and reporters outside of the Mongkok police station.

Protesters also set up roadblocks and set fire to makeshift barricades on Nathan Road, prompting police to fire multiple rounds of tear gas.

Hong Kong media HK01 reported that a police officer drew his gun without firing at Soy Street in Mongkok, as protesters threw plastic water bottles and umbrellas at him.

Police and #HongKongProtestor standoffs return to Mong Kok as #HongKongPolice use tear gas to disperse the 6 month anniversary protest of the Prince Edward station attacks. pic.twitter.com/dms3jysMaz  The Epoch Times Hong Kong (@EpochTimesHK) February 29, 2020

Protesters could be heard shouting slogans such as Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time and called for the police force to be disbanded, echoing chants from previous rallies.

The Hong Kong government, in a press release on March 1, stated that it used minimum necessary force to conduct dispersal and arrest operations against rioters who had carried out acts such as setting up roadblocks, hurling petrol bombs, and throwing objects at police officers.

Mong Kok MTR Station is currently shut down due to road blockades and street standoffs between #HongKongPolice and Protestors. Multiple rounds of tear gas have been fired on Nathan Rd. pic.twitter.com/cAquaZgWaw  The Epoch Times Hong Kong (@EpochTimesHK) February 29, 2020

Hong Kong police announced March 1 that it had arrested a total of 115 people, aged 15 to 54, for acts such as illegal assembly and setting fire, in MongKok on Feb. 29.

The Hong Kong Journalists Association, in a statement on March 1, condemned the police for its indiscriminate attack against reporters and citizens in MongKok the day before.

The association said that the police had used foul language and pepper spray to disperse reporters at the scene, in violation of press freedom.

Police actions during the Aug. 31 incident had drawn criticism from international observers and rights groups.

Tam Man-kei, director of Amnesty International Hong Kong, issued a statement a day after the incident, calling for an investigation against the police.

The horrifying scenes at Prince Edward metro station, which saw terrified bystanders caught up in the melee, fell far short of international policing standards, Tam stated.

Video footage shows police stormed into the train carriage and used batons to repeatedly beat people posing no threat whatsoever. Pepper spray was used in a carriage where people had no means to retreat, while medics were barred from entering the station.

6 months since 8.31 Hong Kong police terrorized civilians inside Prince Edward Station. Their partnering mobs did the same on 7.21 in Yuen Long Station. Revisit the video, refresh our memory. Never forget. They lockdowned the station for few hours, ppl suspected death in there. https://t.co/mK1mJkeBUg  LO Kin-hei  (@lokinhei) February 29, 2020

Police later said they were investigating the Aug. 31 incident, although no further details have since been released.

Arrests

The protest movement in the city had quietened down in recent months as residents deal with the COVID-19 outbreak. Hong Kong reported its first cases of the virus on Jan. 23, and now the city has 95 known cases of the disease and two fatalities.

The ongoing protests began in June 2019 over a now-withdrawn extradition bill, as locals feared it would threaten the citys autonomy. The protests later evolved into greater calls for democracy in the Chinese-ruled city.

Police have arrested over 7,000 people since June, according to local media.

The clashes on Feb. 29 came a day after three prominent supporters of the Hong Kong protests were arrested: Yeung Sum, former chairman of the Democratic Party; Lee Cheuk-yan, secretary-general of pro-democracy group The Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions; and Jimmy Lai, founder of Next Media, which owns pro-democracy paper Apple Daily.

Now released on bail, they were charged for participating in an illegal assembly on Aug. 31, 2019, and are required to appear in the Eastern Magistrates Courts on May 5.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) condemned Lais arrested, saying in a tweet: Instead of focusing on the #coronavirus, the HK government and Communist Chinese Party are exploiting this crisis to attack political opponents.

The U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) condemned the three arrests and said the Hong Kong government should be investigating police violence at Prince Edward Station on Aug 31st.

Outrageous actions like this only undermine public trust during #COVID19 epidemic, CECC stated.

Local activist group Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF), the organizer of some of the biggest marches since June 2019, said in a statement that the three arrests were planned by the police to suppress opposition.

CHRF was originally planning an assembly and parade on Aug. 31, 2019, but had to call off both events after its application was rejected by the police and its court appeal of the decision was turned down.

Despite the police ban, thousands of protesters marched from Wan Chai to Central in the afternoon, before the polices storming of Prince Edward station in the evening.

Their actions further ingrain the tragedy of 831 Protest into our memory and we will never forget police violence, CHRF stated.

Hong Kong Epoch Times and Reuters contributed to the article.
Despite of new car launches and a brand new marketing campaign, sales of Tata Motors continue to decline in India

Late in January 2020, Tata Motors pulled out an ace, and showcased its BSVI preparedness in full force. New Tata Altroz was launched alongside 2020 BS6 Tiago, Tigor, and Nexon. Earlier that month, Tata Motors also announced its new Altroz global NCAP safety rating. At the Auto Expo, Tata launched the BS6 Harrier, with more power, new features and an automatic transmission.

With its new, and renewed lineup, Tata Motors stepped into February 2020 with its strong foot forward. However, all of this isnt proving to be adequate just as yet. Passenger vehicle sales fell a whopping 31 percent down to 12,430 units, down from 18,110 units.

The months decline is a tad bit better than YTD sales decline. For the 11 months gone by in the current FY, sales is reported at 1,25,521 units. This equates to 35 percent sales decline, down from 1,92,333 units sold in the same 11 months in the previous fiscal. With just a month left in the financial calendar, theres nothing to be done to reverse the yearlong slowdown.

Category Feb 20 Feb 19 % change FY20 FY19 % Change Total Domestic Sales 38,002 57,221 -34% 4,31,040 6,10,108 -29% Category Feb 20 Feb 19 % change FY20 FY19 % Change M&HCV 6,739 12,437 -46% 73,884 1,35,778 -46% I & LCV 3,356 5,017 -33% 40,916 50,266 -19% SCV & Pick up 12,135 17,417 -30% 1,54,658 1,84,763 -16% Passenger Carriers 3,342 4,240 -21% 36,061 46,968 -23% Total Domestic 25,572 39,111 -35% 3,05,519 4,17,775 -27% CV Exports 2,514 2,771 -9% 28,058 45,466 -38% Total CV 28,086 41,882 -33% 3,33,577 4,63,241 -28% Category Feb 20 Feb 19 % change FY20 FY19 % Change Total PV 12,430 18,110 -31% 1,25,521 1,92,333 -35%

Mayank Pareek, President, Passenger Vehicles Business Unit, Tata Motors Ltd. said. Our new Altroz received an overwhelming response. Tata is yet to reveal Altroz booking numbers till date. Once a more detailed sales report for the month is available, itll be easy to see Altroz contribution to Tata Motors PV sales last month.

The company says it has built a strong order book since its multiple launches in January end. Outbreak of COVID-19 (corona virus) in China and a recent fire incident at a strategic vendor has impacted vehicle production and wholesale volume. Processes are in place to reduce impact. and provide transparency in regard to vehicle delivery.

BSVI emission norms are mandated from April 1, 2020. As such, processes are in place to ensure dealers are not left dealing with unsaleable stock at deadline. Tata Motors says its BSIV vehicle stock is well below target level. The company finds itself positioned well for smooth BSIV-BSVI transition. Customer interest in its product portfolio is strong. The manufacturer looks forward to market competitiveness and volume growth in the months to come.

Domestic CV sales fell 35 percent. Down to 25,572 units from 39,111 units. YTD sales decline fell 27 percent, down to 3,05,519 units from 4,17,775 units. CV exports fell by 9 percent, down to 2,514 units from 2,771 units. Exports for YTD are down 38 percent, down at 28,058 units from 45,466 units. Total domestic sales (PV plus CV) fell 34 percent in February 2020, down at 38,002 units from 57,221 units. YTD sales decline is reported at 29 percent, down to 4,31,040 units from 6,10,108 units.
The gross circulated images and video depicting a child of 3 years both on social and mainstream media platforms yesterday being subjected to possible abuse and resultantly torture and ill-treatment in Kira Municipality have warranted a discussion on the issue on my part. Torture is a form of child abuse and perpetrators of such should be brought to account for such abuses for a torture free environment in the dispensation of access to justice.

Article 24 of the 1995 Constitution of the Republic of Uganda guarantees ones right to freedom from  torture and cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment or punishment. It further guarantees the absoluteness of this enjoyment in Article 44, paragraph (a). Uganda enacted the Prevention and Prohibition of Torture Act No.3 of 2012 (PPTA 2012) which became effective in September 2012 thereby criminalizing the violation of Articles 24 and 44 (a) of the Constitution in Section 2 and spelling out the punishment for such commission or omission in Section 4 of the Act.

Torture has since been defined in Section 2 of the PPTA 2012 as any action or omission done by any person and causes severe pain or suffering on the mind or body of a person for a purpose. On 8th February 2018, while passing judgment, Honourable Justice Stephen Mubiru discussed the purposive element to satisfactory length in a child-related matter in Criminal Sessions Case No.0152 of 2015; Uganda versus Nansamba Robinah where a one Erima Ivan was murdered at Nawabango village, Zirobwe Sub-county in Luweero district. This High Court decision adds to the limited jurisprudence on cases decided under the Prevention and Prohibition of Torture Act No.3 of 2012.

Our 1995 Constitution, therefore, implies that Children have a right to enjoy this freedom from Torture and ill-treatment and the State owes children a duty in punishing those elements found to be in violation of this guaranteed freedom. Court has in several instances pronounced itself on the issue of child abuse regarding the illegality of corporal punishment for instance in the Constitutional Court of Uganda at Kampala reference No.10 of 2000, Simon Kyamanywa versus Uganda where corporal punishment was said to constitute cruel, inhumane, degrading treatment or punishment. Besides, Section 94 (9) of the Children Act condemns the same.

Talking about the PPTA 2012, it is encouraging to know that the Uganda Police has not relented when it comes to Torture and children. To illustrate this, they are once again investigating yesterdays incident under the Prevention and Prohibition of Torture Act 2012 as stated by the spokesperson of Kampala Metropolitan Police, Luke Oweyesigire yesterday. Police did not disappoint when it came to a one Peninah Kukunda, 29, a resident of Buwate, Kira Municipality in Wakiso district for allegedly torturing a 6-year-old boy for 3 months with an electric cable, a phone charger and at times depending on the mood would burn his body with unidentified metal object in September 2019. It will also be exciting to see how best the Office of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions utilise the High Court decision in Criminal Sessions Case No.0152 of 2015; Uganda versus Nansamba Robinah already at their disposal on torture, children and the Prevention and Prohibition of Torture Act No.3 of 2012.

In conclusion on this matter, Ugandas jurisprudence on Torture appears to be growing and we are visibly making steady progress ever since the Jolly Tumuhirwe child abuse case (monster maid case) which similarly was supposed to be tried under the Prevention and Prohibition of Torture Act 2012 but the charge of torture was substituted with that one of grievous bodily harm under the Penal Code Act Chapter 120.

=========================================================================

The writer, Kirya Mukalere Paul is a Human Rights advocate working with the African Centre for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture Victims (ACTV) in charge of Communications and Advocacy.

Related
Geneva, 1 March 2020 (SPS) - Sahrawi activist Aminatou Haidar called on the UN Human Rights Commission to send inquiry commissions to the occupied areas of Western Sahara and respond to the grave violations committed by the Moroccan occupation against the Sahrawi civilian population.



Attending the 43rd session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the 2019 alternative Nobel Prize winner expressed her deep "concern over the sufferings of Western Sahara people who have been militarily occupied by Morocco since 1975".



"Since that date, Morocco continues to systematically violate all our legitimate rights", denounced the icon of the Sahrawi peaceful resistance.



"Torture, cruel and degrading treatment, arbitrary detention, false accusations, expulsion from work, forced eviction from the Moroccan cities, defamation by the Moroccan press" are some of the methods used by the Moroccan regime against the Sahrawi citizens, cited by the Sahrawi human rights activist.



"These constant violations occur at a time when international observers cannot have access to the occupied territory," she said.



The "Sahrawi Gandhi" also warned that "to maintain this peaceful resistance" in Western Sahara, the UN "must take concrete measures to guarantee respect for fundamental rights and thus guarantee the Sahrawi people the exercise of their inalienable right to self-determination."



Haidar, human rights defender in Western Sahara, victim of torture, enforced disappearance and arbitrary detention, renewed her appeal to the international community to extend the mandate of the United Nations Mission for Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) and ensure the security of the population living in the Sahrawi areas occupied by Morocco. (SPS)



062/SPS
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 05:21:53|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

DAMASCUS, Feb. 29 (Xinhua) -- Turkish forces renewed drone attacks on Syrian forces' positions in the northwestern province of Idlib on Saturday, killing 26 Syrian soldiers, according to a war monitor.

The Turkish drones targeted the Syrian government forces and vehicles in Idlib on Saturday, a day after 48 Syrian soldiers were killed by similar attacks in Idlib.

The escalation in the Turkish attacks on Syrian forces come in light of an attack that killed 34 Turkish soldiers on Thursday, which was blamed on the Syrian government forces.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Turkish drones also destroyed 18 Syrian vehicles.

The Turkey-backed rebels have captured 14 villages and towns over the past four days, including the strategic city of Saraqeb.

The rebels captured Saraqeb from the Syrian forces, which launched a counter-offensive to retrieve the city without succeeding so far.

Meanwhile, the Observatory said the Turkish forces have brought in reinforcement into Syria.

Around 3,000 military vehicles and 8,000 Turkish soldiers have entered the Syrian territories since Feb. 2.

Over the past two days, several Turkish military vehicles and soldiers entered Syria as the Turkish deadline given to the Syrian soldiers to withdraw from Turkish observation points is Feb. 29.

The deadline was announced earlier by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who demanded the withdrawal of Syrian forces from Syrian areas where Turkish observation points are located.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday that Turkey is supporting terrorist groups in Idlib, which is largely dominated by al-Qaida-linked militants.

The statement said the Syrian Army will continue its war against terrorist groups.
Two homicide suspects sought in Los Angeles were caught following a chase that started with New Mexico State Police and ended in gunfire on Interstate 40 in northeastern Arizona, authorities said.

No one was injured in the shootout Friday that began when the suspects traveling westbound in a stolen pickup shot at pursuing Arizona state troopers, the Arizona DPS said in a statement.

Due to the immediate danger the suspects displayed, additional Arizona troopers deployed ahead of the pickup and fired at it, disabling the vehicle and allowing the suspects to be taken into custody, the DPS said.

Our state troopers should be commended for their fast thinking and bravery in stopping a lethal threat that entered into our state, said Lt. Colonel Heston Silbert, DPS deputy director.

The incident began when New Mexico State Police notified the Arizona DPS that New Mexico officers were pursuing heavily armed homicide suspects in a vehicle headed to Arizona from New Mexico, the DPS said.

New Mexico State Police spokesman Dusty Francisco said the Gallup Police Department asked State Police officers to assist in a pursuit around 3 a.m. He said GPD officers stopped pursuing at the Arizona state line.

We took over the pursuit at the state line, Francisco said. Our officers set up stop sticks at Gallup point of entry and disabled all four tires  the vehicle was on rims pretty much.

He said somewhere between the state line and Chambers, Arizona, Arizona state troopers took over, while New Mexico officers backed off and were not involved in the shootout.

The DPS identified the suspects only as a 37-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman who will be facing multiple felony charges in Arizona as a result of their actions.

The Arizona DPS directed inquiries about the homicide and related stolen weapons to the Los Angeles Police Department.

An LAPD spokesman, Officer Drake Madison, said Saturday he could not immediately provide any information about the suspects or related matters.

The incident closed a 53-mile stretch of westbound I-40 between Holbrook and Petrified National Forest for most of Friday morning as authorities conducted their investigation. The closure resulted in a 109-mile detour on secondary highways.

Journal staff writer Matthew Reisen contributed to this report.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his partner Carrie Symonds announced their engagement and said they are expecting a baby.

No further information is being provided by the Prime Minister's office at this stage, CNN reported.

Johnson and Symonds became the first unmarried couple to occupy Downing Street when they moved in last year.

It will be the third marriage for 55-year-old Johnson - who divorced his first wife and is now estranged from second wife Marina Wheeler. Johnson has four children from his second marriage.

Symonds, 31, worked as part of the campaign team that helped to get Johnson re-elected as mayor of London in 2012.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
QSI Phuket prepares to host the 4th Annual Culinary Competition

The 4th Annual Culinary Competition hosted by QSI Phuket is set to be the biggest and best yet. This years culinary competition will take place March 14th and will see budding young chefs go head to head in front of some of Phukets top chefs.

LifeEducation

By QSI

Sunday 1 March 2020, 10:00AM

UPDATE -

PAIS has decided to cancel ALL events, fixtures, trips and group activities between schools until after Songkran.

Sadly this also includes the 4th Annual Culinary Competition.

I will keep you posted on the rescheduled date, however, with current trends we are not sure it will happen this year.

Robert Peters - Director QSI Phuket

_________________________________________

Joining QSI this year will be Executive Chef Adam Goodman from Two Chefs, Executive Chef Pablo Blattmann from DeDos, Executive Chef Jonathan Bruell from Boathouse and Executive Chef Tony Wrigley from Sala who has created this years Chefs Dish.

The format for the senior competition for students aged 12  18 will see teams of up to five students prepare a signature dish using a predetermined ingredient, as well as replicate a dish prepared by one of the guest chefs.

The students will have an hour to prepare both dishes in what will surely be an exciting atmosphere filled with creative cuisine.

This years essential ingredient will be Quinoa, a cereal like seed-based crop essential to the ancient Incan empire and popularized by the modern health food industry.

Last year saw the addition of the junior division aged 8  11. Students will have one hour to prepare a dish of their choosing to show off their creative chops.

The aim of this competition has always been to offer a creative outlet for students who are interested in the culinary arts with the opportunity to learn from the islands top chefs.

Last years winners were fortunate enough to spend the day in one of Phukets top restaurants courtesy of Chef Pablo and his team at DeDos Restaurant. The winners were able to experience all operations throughout the day from sourcing ingredients from the local markets, food prep and cooking as well as service.

These kinds of prizes are invaluable to the young chefs, and QSI is very fortunate to have these guest chefs take time out of their busy schedules to participate.

This year we have Villa Market join our consistent supporters at Two Chefs and The Phuket News as sponsors for the event. The support of both the chefs and sponsors make this all possible, and QSI is very excited to see what this years contestants will be whipping up. A number of schools have already registered their teams and QSI is anticipating the biggest event yet.

Two Chefs and the QSI students will also be selling burgers at the event in preparation for their participation in Phukets Best Burger Competition. QSI is looking forward to seeing you all at QSI Phuket from 10 am on March 14th for a culinary spectacle not to be missed.
Stock image showing a police tape. A man shot and wounded by police during a standoff near Philadelphia last month has died, authorities said. Read more

A man shot and wounded by police during a standoff in Doylestown last month has died, authorities said.

The Bucks County district attorneys office said Thomas Edward Zeller, 61, was pronounced dead Sunday afternoon at Abington Hospital-Jefferson Health. The Montgomery County coroners office was scheduled to perform an autopsy Monday.

Zeller had been hospitalized since Feb. 20, when, police said, he was shot during a standoff.

Prosecutors said earlier that the shooting happened after police responded to a home on a report of an armed man upset and damaging property. Township police officers were called to a townhouse on Carriage Drive in the Olde Colonial Greene development at 8:12 that Thursday night.

At the time, authorities said that the man barricaded himself and police tried to negotiate his surrender, but that he was shot by police during the nearly hour-long standoff. A shelter-in-place advisory was issued about 9 p.m. for residents in the area of Shady Retreat and Limekiln Roads, but was lifted later that evening.

Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub is reviewing the shooting. The name of the officer involved in the shooting has not been released.
Queensland's Chief Health Officer has said there are no immediate concerns for the health of those who had contact with the state's sixth confirmed case of COVID-19, while attempting to ease fears of community transmission.

Dr Jeanette Young's comments came after efforts to contact up to 40 people who visited the Gold Coast beauty clinic where the woman  who had recently returned from Iran  had been working on Thursday, the day of her diagnosis.

Queensland's latest coronavirus case, a beautician who had recently returned from Iran, is in isolation at Gold Coast University Hospital. A number of clients she saw on the day of her diagnosis have been cleared of the illness. Credit:Robert Shakespeare

Health Minister Steven Miles on Sunday announced measures to address the state's ballooning elective surgery waiting list to ensure hospitals were prepared for what Dr Young said was now a likely community outbreak, as opposed to carriers bringing the illness in from overseas.

Asked what she envisioned over the next two or three months, Dr Young said: "I expect we will see an outbreak of the epidemic here in Queensland."
President Donald Trump targeted former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Saturday night, arguing former Vice President Joe Bidens win in the South Carolina primary should be the end of Mini Mike Bloombergs Joke of a campaign.

After the worst debate performance in the history of presidential debates, Mini Mike now has Biden split up his very few voters, taking many away! the president tweeted after the Associated Press called the South Carolina contest for Biden.

Full South Carolina results were not yet available, but with just 3% of precincts reporting as of 7:45 p.m., Biden had garnered more than 53% of support from voters. African American voters overwhelmingly backed Biden, CNN exit polls showed.

Trump also took the opportunity Saturday night to lambast Biden, whom hes often mocked with the moniker sleepy Joe.

Biden in previous debates has said he would beat Trump like a drum" in the general election.

Bloomberg plans to air a taped three-minute address to the nation on the coronavirus on CBS and NBC at 8:30 p.m. on Sunday. The former mayors campaign said in a statement Saturday that Trump was putting lives at risk by ignoring science and dismissing the spread of the virus as a hoax. Mike is an experienced crisis manager who will restore stable leadership and trust in the White House.

Trump did not have to worry about a primary on Saturday. South Carolina is one of several states where Republican Party leaders chose not to hold a primary, paving the way for Trump to secure the states delegates.
Newsfrom Japan

Seoul, March 1 (Jiji Press)--South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Sunday called on Japan to work together to overcome a crisis, apparently referring to the ongoing spread of the new coronavirus in the two East Asian countries and other parts of the world.

In a speech at a ceremony to mark the anniversary of the March 1, 1919, independence movement against Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, Moon also stressed that South Korea and Japan should make joint efforts to establish a future-oriented cooperative relationship.

The South Korean government scaled down this year's ceremony at a time when the number of people infected with the virus has been surging in the country. Under the circumstances, Moon's speech focused on seeking unity among the South Korean public and cooperation with neighboring countries in the fight against the virus, which originated in China, rather than putting weight on criticism of Japan.

On relations with Japan, Moon said that looking at the past squarely will heal the wounds and that South Korea will never forget the past.

At the same time, he said South Korea will not remain in the past, asking Japan to show such an attitude as well. Joining hands while learning lessons from history will lead to a path for peace and prosperity in East Asia, he said, seeking cooperation from Japan.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-02 06:26:00|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem (R) signs a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Libya's Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Abdul-Hadi al-Hawaij in Damascus, Syria, on March 1, 2020. The Syrian government and a visiting Libyan diplomatic delegation signed on Sunday a memorandum of understanding (MoU) regarding reactivating the diplomatic missions between both countries, according to the state news agency SANA. (Photo by Ammar Safarjalani/Xinhua)

DAMASCUS, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian government and a visiting Libyan diplomatic delegation signed on Sunday a memorandum of understanding (MoU) regarding reactivating the diplomatic missions between both countries, according to the state news agency SANA.

The MoU was signed following a meeting between Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem and a Libya delegation headed by Libya's Deputy Prime Minister Abdul-Rahman al-Ahiresh and Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Abdul-Hadi al-Hawaij.

Both sides discussed the challenges facing the two countries, mainly the Turkish involvement in the Syrian and Libya issues.

The two sides discussed the "Turkish aggression" on both countries and what it poses of threat against their sovereignty and against the Pan-Arab security.

Members of the Libyan delegation also stressed the determination of the Libyans to face the foreign interferences.

In a statement to journalists following the meeting, al-Moallem said diplomatic relations will be resumed temporarily in Damascus and Benghazi till opening the Syrian Embassy in Tripoli soon.

For his part, al-Hawaij affirmed the importance of resuming the diplomatic and economic relations between the two countries.

He indicated that the MoU includes 46 joint cooperation agreements between the two countries and it will be applied directly.
Recently, while promoting their film in Dubai, Tiger and Shraddha celebrated their birthday with the media.

Tiger and Shraddha will be turning a year older and their fans are gearing up for their birthday celebrations. Tiger will be ringing in his birthday on March 2 and Shraddhas special day falls on March 3.

Currently, Tiger Shroff and Shraddha Kapoor are in the news as their upcoming film Baaghi 3s release is around the corner. However, in just a few days, Tiger and Shraddha will be turning a year older and their fans are gearing up for their birthday celebrations. Tiger will be ringing in his birthday on March 2 and Shraddhas special day falls on March 3. With just a days gap in their birthdays, fans of the Baaghi 3 stars are all set for the same. Recently, while promoting their film in Dubai, Tiger and Shraddha celebrated their birthday with the media.

In a video that is shared on social media by fan clubs, Shraddha and Tiger are surprised on seeing a huge cake waiting for them at the press meet. Clad in a green pantsuit, Shraddha looked gorgeous as she sat next to her dapper co-star Tiger. The two stars can be seen making a wish and then proceeding to cut their early birthday cake in the video. As soon as the Baaghi 3 stars cut the cake, the people around them started singing Happy Birthday for the two stars.

 Pinkvilla.com
Azpiral is an Irish software company, located in Limerick, specialising in loyalty programme software. All aspects of Digital Customer Engagement are managed through Azpirals integrated loyalty platform, AzpiralPRO.

Founded in 2005 by Richard Gubbins, Kevin Nolan and John Ryan the company has grown from strength to strength working in the forecourt and convenience, pharmacy and B2B sector.

Recently the company has been successful in acquiring high-profile brands in the forecourt and convenience sector in European markets. Major fuel group AVIA Netherlands, which is part wider group AVIA International, is their latest client. AVIA Netherlands loyalty programme ViaAVIA launched in November and so far, has over 30,000 registered members.

As well as growing their impressive client list and continuing to develop the capabilities of their integrated loyalty platform, AzpiralPRO, Azpiral recently opened their new offices in The National Technology Park, Castletroy.

Azpiral has a vibrant workforce made up of software developers, quality assurance, marketing, sales, account management, admin and contact centre teams.

Azpirals move to their new office space is yet another sign of progress for the company. The new office space is a hub for collaborative thinking and innovation. Its open-plan layout leads to better communication within the company. The offices are designed in branded colours and the Azpiral logo is featured throughout the offices giving a strong branded message to employees and visitors to the offices.

Speaking about the new Azpiral offices Richard Gubbins, CEO of Azpiral said, Its a great honour to officially open our new offices. This is another milestone in our companys progression which is a result of the collaborative work which goes on every day between our great employees and great customers. This new space embodies our brand identity and ethos.

Ann Slattery, Senior Development Advisor, Enterprise Ireland said, Enterprise Irelands mission is to partner with innovative Irish businesses looking to scale internationally. Azpiral is a great example of an Irish internationally traded services company with global ambition, competing and winning sustained business in overseas markets. Enterprise Ireland looks forward to continuing to support Azpirals growth ambitions as they expand their footprint in the Eurozone and beyond, strengthening their customer base internationally and continuing to sustain and create jobs here in the Limerick region.
LOS ANGELESThe MyFreeCams model known as Forest Bonnie plays classical piano, teaches ceramics and shares her home with more than 100 plants.

An exotic beauty who grew up in the Dominican Republic and now resides in New York, Forest Bonnie studied Fine Art as an undergrad and now is eyeing a Masters Degree in Art Therapy.

Art is my passion, but I dont want to use it to make products to sell, Forest Bonnie tells AVN. I want to use it to help others.

Forest Bonnie already is doing just that, instructing adult beginners on both hand-building and wheel-throwing techniques at a local pottery studio. She even runs her own online Etsy shop called Single Leaf Ceramics that she started during her final year in college.

My specialty is actually being a jack of all trades; I have experience with all methods of building and different kinds of clay, from earthenware to stoneware, Bonnie says.

In this exclusive Q&A for CAMStar accompanied by 12 pages of photography by Keith Ryan, Forest Bonnie discusses her enthusiasm for nature, what she did for a living before MFC, how camming changed her life and how she developed her appreciation for music, among other things.

Click here to see the full digital issue.

For bonus questions, see below.

CS: How did you develop your camming routine?

FB: Through imitation, practice, and trial and error. I started watching other girls for research and tried a few things they did until I found what I was comfortable with. Then I found a way to make it my own.

What kind of music do you usually dance to?

Slow, sensual music with a downtempo beat, bluesy/jazzy/soulful tunes in 3/4, basically anything that makes me feel good. It spans from old jazz classics to contemporary genresfrom Nina Simone to Two Feet.

What inspired you to first sit on a pizza? When did you do that and what kind of pizza was it? What do you do after sitting on the pizza?

It was National Pizza Day and my viewers tend to enjoy ridiculous shows that are out of the norm. Often, cam models will sit on cakes for their birthdaysI have several timesso I figured, Hey, why not sit on a pizza, too?" It was a regular cheese pizza and after I sat on it, I ate a few slices in the tub (while still on cam of course) before throwing the rest away and giving my tub a thorough clean, haha.

What do you like most about camming?

Being my own boss, making my own rules. The independence it brings and my ability to have a flexible schedule allows me to pursue other things, like a degree and a fall-back vanilla career, both of which would be impossible without cam.

What were you doing on cam when Brassmonkey2u tipped you 20,000 tokens?

I was camming with my friend River! It was her first time camming and BrassMonkey is always one to leave big first impressions, haha.

What advice would you give a new cam model trying to establish herself?

Socialize within the community. Cam-girl friendships bring you not only companionship and advice, but viewers, too.

How challenging was it to earn your Bachelors degree and be consistent with cam, too?

It wasnt that challenging, actually. Because cam is so flexible, I was able to schedule my streams around class and change it up every semester. If I ever was too busy one week to work, I could always bust my ass the next week and catch up. Those are liberties only camming could give me. My social life definitely took a hit though!

Did anyone in your classes ever recognize you from cam?

I've never had anyone in real life recognize me from cam, and if they have, they've never brought it up.

What is something most people dont know about plants?

The best first plant for inexperienced green thumbs is Devil's Ivy (also known as Golden Pothos). They're nearly impossible to kill, which is where their common names comes from. They can survive both extreme under-watering and over-watering, and they can thrive in a variety of light conditionsfrom low light to full sun. I actually have one of these in my bathroom without windows growing just fine!

How did you become an expert with taking care of plants and the different kinds?

Trial and error, research, and a lot of practice. I learned the individual needs of different species, and how to diagnose issues. Like anyone else, some plants didnt make it under my care, but they were all learning experiences. I tried to figure out what I did wrong and tried again. After a while you get the hang of it!

On your Secret Menu for Secret Forest members, some of the menu items include Solve Rubix, Shoe on Head, 3 Min Spanish Only When did you first solve a Rubix Cube? What is Shoe on Head? Do you speak Spanish?

I first solved a Rubix Cube when I was 13 or so. Theres no mystery to it; you can just look up on YouTube how to solve it, and thats how I learned. All you have to do is memorize a series of algorithms and follow them in a specific order. First time took me about 30 minutes, but after about two weeks of practice I had it down to around 2 minutes. Shoe on head is exactly what it sounds like I balance a shoe on my head for as long as I can. Ive actually gotten pretty good at it, I can even dance with them on haha.

Also, yes, Spanish is my first language!

What was your very first tattoo and when did you get it?

A tiny symbol in my left ankle that means hakuna matata.



What are the meanings behind your favorite tattoos? What is the writing on your left arm?

My favorite tattoos represent things that are important to me, whether it be physical things like my mom (the virgin on my ribs) or my late pet rats (on my thigh), or abstract things like my personality (the two-headed bull on my right arm) or my heritage (the native Taino symbols on my left arm).

The writing on my left arm says like all good fruit the balance of life is in the ripe and ruined. I could go on for hours about all the things this phrase means to me but instead Ill let the readers make up their own interpretations.

What is your greatest achievement so far?

My whole life is my greatest achievement honestly haha.

Name two or three of your best strengths. What are you truly great at?



Learning, patience, and emotional intelligence.



Whats next for you?



Masters, moving to Europe? Who knows!

If you moved to Europe, where would you consider living?

Portugal or France. I want to move to a country where I'll be forced to speak another language besides English or Spanish. I can already speak a little of both languages so I'd be able to acclimate fairly quickly. Maybe after graduate school?

Photography by Keith Ryan
People near a machine measuring body temperature at a convention hall in Tokyo.

Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters

United Airlines said it would significantly reduce its capacity to Japan, Singapore, and South Korea because of the novel-coronavirus outbreak.

Japan has over just a few days become the latest hot spot of the virus.

Officials said this week that all schools would be closed for a month in an effort to contain the outbreak.

The outbreak  and its perceived severity  puts Japan's booming tourism industry and the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo at risk.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

United Airlines said on Friday that it was significantly reducing its capacity to Asia as the novel coronavirus continues to spread around the region and the rest of the world.

As part of the reduction, the airline suspended several routes to Japan through April 24, reduced frequency on several other Japan routes, and assigned smaller planes to the routes than normal, reflecting plummeting demand to the country.

United also reduced the frequency of flights to Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan, and extended its cancellation of all flights to mainland China and Hong Kong until April 30  a week later than previously planned.

"We will stay in close contact with the CDC and other health organizations as we continue to evaluate our schedule," a United spokesman said in an emailed statement.

The cancellations come as Japan has suddenly found itself as the latest major hot spot of the outbreak, with at least 933 cases reported as of Friday and 11 deaths. Critics have said officials have had a poor response to the looming outbreak. The infectious-diseases expert Kentaro Iwata also described the quarantine on the Diamond Princess cruise ship as "completely inadequate."

Earlier this week, Japanese officials announced that the country's schools would close for a month in an effort to halt the spread of the coronavirus.

Japanese officials are eager to contain the virus to accommodate the 2020 Summer Olympics, which Tokyo is slated to host in July.

Story continues

An uncontained outbreak in Japan would risk hurting the country's tourism industry, which saw the number of foreign tourists more than triple over the 2010s. About 31.8 million people visited the country in 2019.

United operates flights to Tokyo and Osaka from Houston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Newark, Washington, DC, and Honolulu. The airline also operates a joint venture with All Nippon Airways, or ANA, the largest airline in Japan by revenue and total passengers.

The coronavirus outbreak has forced airlines to suspend routes to China and Hong Kong as customer demand has plummeted. Outbreaks in South Korea and now Japan have forced similar moves.

Airline stocks have fallen dramatically over the past week of trading, and the International Air Transport Association, the principal industry trade group, warned that it could be the worst year for airlines since the Great Recession.

The full details of United's latest schedule cuts to Asia are below:

LAX/IAH-NRT canceled March 8 to April 24.

ORD-NRT canceled March 8 to March 27, then switches to ORD-HND on March 28.

HND schedule not affected (daily SFO-HND and starting March 28 daily ORD, LAX, IAD, EWR).

EWR-NRT reduction to five times weekly for April (from daily).

HNL-NRT changed from 777-200 to 787-8 for April.

SFO-KIX reduction to five times weekly in April (from daily).

SFO-SIN reduction to one time daily from March 8 to April 24 (from two times daily).

SFO-ICN reduction to three times weekly from March 8 to April 30 (from one time daily in March and two times daily in April).

SFO-TPE changed from 777-300 to 787-9 for March and April.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Boris Johnson and his partner Carrie Symonds are engaged and expecting a baby, it has been announced.

In a post shared on her private Instagram account on Saturday, the 31-year-old Ms Symonds said: Many of you already know but for my friends that still dont, we got engaged at the end of last year ... and weve got a baby hatching early summer. Feel incredibly blessed.

Reactions to the news of the prime minister and Ms Symonds engagement and first child together have been mixed, with some individuals congratulating the couple and others stating their belief the announcement was made as a means of distracting the general public from other news in politics.

Meanwhile, several people have taken the announcement as an opportunity to mock the supposed number of children the prime minister has, as it is rumoured the former London mayor may have fathered a child outside of marriage who he has yet to publicly acknowledge.

Here are 11 Twitter reactions to the news of Ms Symonds pregnancy and engagement to Mr Johnson:

Claims of distraction

On Saturday, it was reported that the most senior civil servant at the Home Office, Sir Philip Rutnam, had resigned from his position.

Sir Rutnam threatened to sue the government for constructive dismissal amid a row over alleged accusations of bullying made against Priti Patel.

In an explosive statement delivered to cameras, the outgoing Home Office permanent secretary said he had been the target of a vicious and orchestrated briefing campaign that left him no choice but to step down from his role in government.

Following the announcement that Mr Johnson and Ms Symonds are having a baby together and are due to get married, several people mused that the news was being used as a distraction from Sir Rutnams resignation.

Mad that this comes out the same day a leading civil servant announces theyre quitting and taking the government to court for constructive dismissal isnt it... one person tweeted.

Writer and Labour supporter Owen Jones said he has known of Ms Symonds pregnancy for a while, and that the couple chose a pretty convenient time to make their announcement.

Im sure our right wing press will not do No 10s bidding and use it to knock the main news off the front pages, Mr Jones added.

Messages of congratulations

A number of people congratulated Ms Symonds and Mr Johnson on their two-fold news, including several politicians.

Sajid Javid, who recently quit the prime ministers cabinet, tweeted: Congratulations @carriesymonds @BorisJohnson wonderful news!

Conservative MP for Stroud Siobhan Baillie, who announced on 1 February she was pregnant, wrote: Welcome to the magical bump gang!

Nadine Dorries, parliamentary under-secretary of state for health and social care, said she is thrilled for the couple, adding: Remember, Twitter, being pregnant can be daunting and overwhelming. #Bekind.

Ridiculing prime ministers supposed number of children

Prior to his relationship with Ms Symonds, Mr Johnson was married to lawyer and columnist Marina Wheeler.

Recommended Boris Johnson to join ranks of sitting PMs who have welcomed babies

The couple had four children together before divorcing in 2018.

Nine years before their separation, Mr Johnsons fifth child was born following an extramarital affair.

It is believed the prime minister may have fathered another child who he has not publicly acknowledge, with it even stating on his Wikipedia page that he has five or six children.

In response to the news of Ms Symonds pregnancy, several people poked fun at the supposed number of children Mr Johnson has.

Looking forward to the children number getting updated to six or seven later this year, one commentator tweeted with regards to the politicians Wikipedia page.

Well THAT withdrawal agreement didnt work, another person wrote, referencing the withdrawal agreement Mr Johnson signed in January to take the UK out of the European Union.

To read more about Ms Symonds, her career and when she and Mr Johnson first started dating, click here.
(Natural News) The coronavirus (covid-19) pandemic has now spread to 60 nations around the world and is exploding by the day, having killed the first U.S. patient earlier today in the State of Washington.

Now, reports indicate the biological weapon viral agent has found its way into Ecuador and the Republic of Ireland.

In both cases, the infected individuals first flew on commercial flights before being diagnosed.

Via The Epoch Times update page:

Health authorities in the Republic of Ireland on Saturday confirmed the countrys first case of coronavirus and said it was associated with travel from an affected area in northern Italy.

The Northern Irish patient who contracted the virus, the first confirmed case on the island, had traveled from Italy via Dublin Airport before returning to Belfast.

About the Ecuador patient:

Ecuador has confirmed the first case of a fast-spreading new coronavirus in the Andean country, its health minister said on Saturday.

The patient is an elderly female Ecuadorean residing in Spain, Catalina Andramuno, the health minister, told reporters. The patient arrived in Ecuador on Feb. 14 on a direct flight from Madrid without showing any symptoms, but soon felt ill and went to a hospital where she was diagnosed with the coronavirus.

The patient is currently in intensive care at one of the hospitals we had designated to attend to coronavirus, Andramuno said, adding that the government was monitoring people who may have come into contact with the patient.

The coronavirus broke containment weeks ago and is now set to proliferate around the world, impacting every major city on the planet

Perhaps this point is now becoming self-evident, but the coronavirus broke containment weeks ago. Theres no question it has already infected hundreds of thousands of people across the planet and is spreading exponentially through airports, airplanes, hospitals, cruise ships, quarantine centers, military bases and other similar enclosed spaces.

Anyone who thought this was going to be contained in China is living in a dreamworld of self-delusion.

Anyone still saying, this is no worse than the flu is mathematically illiterate and dangerously misinformed.

The exponential spread of this deadly virus is currently on track to kill millions around the world over the next year. And its not slowing down one bit, especially when nations like the United States failed to test anyone for nearly a month and now focus on covering up the truth rather than urging the public to get prepared.

This is not going to be pretty.

New coronavirus solutions website coming soon, focused on prevention and immunity

Weve already launched Pandemic.news as a hub of breaking news about the virus.

Soon well be launching a new site focused on coronavirus prevention solutions that can help slow the spread of this global pandemic and potentially help save millions of lives.

Right now, the best candidates for boosting immunity across the population at large include:

 Vitamin C (high dose)

 Spirulina

 Licorice root

 Selenium

 Elderberry

 Olive leaf

 Astragalus

 Colloidal silver (nanoparticles)

While nothing is yet proven to prevent or treat the covid-19 coronavirus, many candidates are starting to emerge from reliable research covering nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals and novel substances such as nanoparticle silver.

Read Pandemic.news to stay informed as we roll out more information on solutions in the days ahead.
For rooftop and small commercial customers, net metering has been a successful policy and has helped drive the growth of solar around the country. Used in more than 38 states and other jurisdictions, net metering is a billing mechanism that credits the owner of the solar energy system for the electricity they add to the grid.

New York state regulators, however, are proposing changes to this billing mechanism. Regulators are concerned that as more customers go solar, costs to maintain the grid will increase for ratepayers without solar.
AS officer Rajiv Ranjan was arrested by the CBI along with a retired senior bureaucrat, Itrit Hussain Rafiqi, in connection with the Jammu and Kashmir arms licences case, officials said on Sunday evening.

CBI is probing allegations that senior Jammu and Kashmir bureaucrats received bribes for illegally issuing arms licences in bulk to non-residents in violation of rules between 2012 and 2016.

During further investigation conducted by CBI, the alleged role of Sh. Itrit Hussain Rafiqi and Sh. Rajiv Ranjan, IAS, both posted then Distt. Magistrates Kupwara, J&K has surfaced during their tenure as Distt. Magistrates, Kupwara, J&K from the year 2013 to 2015 and from 2015 to 2016 respectively, said a CBI release.

In December, 2019, CBI registered two cases in alleged irregularities in the issuance of around two lakh arms licences from different districts of Jammu and Kashmir. The anti-corruption agency followed it up with raids on the premises of several top officials including Hussain Rafiqui, a retired IAS officer from Bandipora.

Premises of then deputy commissioners and district magistrates of Kupwara, Baramulla, Udhampur, Kishtwar, Shopian, Rajouri, Doda and Pulwama were also raided.

The agency confirmed arrests of Itrit Hussain Rafiqui and Rajiv Ranjan on Sunday.

Investigations is continuing, the official release added.

The case was handed over to the CBI on the basis of a recommendation from Rajasthan Director General of Police OP Galhotra after Rajasthans anti-terror squad (ATS) busted a related racket.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 07:24:03|Editor: Wang Yamei

Video Player Close

DUBLIN, Feb. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) of Ireland on Saturday confirmed the first case of novel coronavirus in the country.

"The patient, a male in the eastern part of Ireland, is currently receiving appropriate medical care," said the centre in a statement posted on the website of the Department of Health.

"The case is associated with travel from an affected area in northern Italy, rather than contact with another confirmed case," it said.

"The HSE is now working rapidly to identify any contacts the patient may have had, to provide them with information and advice to prevent further spread," said John Cuddihy, director of the HPSC in the statement.

The HSE is a state agency under the Department of Health, responsible for public health in Ireland.

Tony Holohan, chief medical officer with the Department of Health, said in the statement that "This is not unexpected. We have been preparing for this eventuality for many weeks now."

The report of the first confirmed case of coronavirus in Ireland came after a woman in Britain's Northern Ireland was confirmed to have been infected with the coronavirus on Thursday night, making her the first confirmed case on the island of Ireland.

The woman returned home to Northern Ireland from northern Italy via Dublin airport, said the Department of Health on Friday, adding that all the people who had close contact with her have been traced and notified.
She is a style maven who always pulls off effortlessly elegant looks.

And Olivia Palermo looked as sartorially chic as ever as she attended the Hermes Paris Fashion Week show on Saturday.

The beauty, 33, cut a stylish figure in a dove grey pinstripe blazer worn over a black rollneck sweater as she arrived.

Style: Olivia Palermo looked as sartorially chic as ever as she attended the Hermes Paris Fashion Week show on Saturday

The former reality star paired this with a crimped slate grey skirt and studded leather boots.

Keeping her accessories simple and chic, the star wore an electric blue watch and carried an emerald green leather handbag.

Her caramel flecked brunette tresses were styled sleek and straight while her gorgeous make-up look featured metallic shadow, peachy blush and rose gloss.

Olivia shot to fame when she appeared in MTV's The Hills spin-off, The City, which documented Whitney Port's move to New York to work for Diane von Furstenberg in 2008.

Chic: The beauty, 33, cut a stylish figure in a dove grey pinstripe blazer worn over a black rollneck sweater as she arrived

Fluffy:Earlier in the day Olivia opted for a white fluffy coat as she attended the Elie Saab show

FROW: The star looked gorgeous as she took her seat on the glitzy front row

The socialite appeared in both seasons of the reality show, as Whitney's workplace friend and later rival.

Since featuring on the series, Olivia has become one of the most established front-row regulars on the fashion circuit, attending the world's most prestigious events.

Olivia and Johannes met through mutual friends 12 years ago, before tying the knot in 2014 in a low-key ceremony in Bedford, upstate New York.

Back in June they celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary.

Discussing the secret to the couple's happy marriage, Olivia previously told Harper's Bazaar Australia: 'We try not to ever be separated more than seven days. Its just something we have always done.'
Not only is this regretful for investors but also painful for the entire seafood industry, as AGF was once a leading aquaculture business in the entire Mekong Delta Region, even awarded the title Hero of Labor by the Vietnamese government.

Once leading in aquaculture

AGF's precursor was the An Giang Frozen Factory, which was officially put into operation in March 1987. In November 1995, it was upgraded to An Giang Fisheries Import Export Joint Stock Company (Agifish Co.) and within a short time, by 2000, AGF was awarded the title "Hero of Labor" by the Vietnamese government and became one of the leading enterprises in the fisheries sector.

In the domestic market, AGF's Yellowtail catfish and Shutchi catfish products were voted as "Vietnamese high-quality products" from 2003 to 2013. In particular, AGF was the only enterprise in the seafood industry that had been awarded the title of Vietnam Value" in 2008, 2010 and 2012.

AGF's strength has been the international market and it has been a leading export company consecutively for several years. At its peak, AGF products were available in major export markets such as North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, Russia, the Middle East and South America. AGF was also a pioneer in applying quality control in its entire production process: HACCP, ISO 9001:2000, Safe Quality Food 1000 (SQF 1000); Safe Quality Food 2000 (SQF 2000), Global Standard for Food Safety (BRC), ISO 17025: 2005, ISO 14001:2004

AGF was the first enterprise to apply ASC standards for pangasius farming. Due to its ability to meet with international standards, AGF products were allowed to be exported to the EU market under four codes DL07, DL08, DL09 and DL360, and was granted an exclusive HALAL certificate to export to Islamic countries.

Not only did AGF make an impression in processing and export of Yellowtail catfish and Shutchi catfish, it also became a leading enterprise in farm activities, and for research and developing fingerling sources for supply. The development of AGF opened up opportunities for local people and farming households that were linked to the supply and value chain of the farming industry.

Victim of M&A

On 2 May 2002, AGF officially listed shares on HOSE at a closing price of VND 30,000 per share. With its unique strength and potential, AGF listing became like a bait for mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Many businesses in seafood processing and foreign investment funds expressed their intent to own AGF but had difficulty in collecting enough shares.

However, in 2008, AGF suddenly dropped when its net profit was only VND 12 bn for the whole year, down by 67% compared to the previous year in 2007. Seizing this opportunity, Hung Vuong JSC (HVG) proactively offered to buy shares in AGF, with the message that it would quickly revive the fortunes of the company back to leading position in the industry. By January 2010, HVG completed raising ownership of AGF to 51%.

After falling in the hands of HVG, AGF made positive changes. Revenue in 2011 and 2012 increased dramatically, at VND 2,762 bn and VND 2,811 bn, respectively. This was a sharp increase from VND 1,780 bn in 2010. By 2011 AGF was certified as one of the top three Pangasius exporters by Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

However, since 2013, AGF's position in seafood exports plummeted to 7th place with an export value of USD 112.7 mn. In 2014, AGF continued to downgrade to 14th place with export value decreasing by nearly 25% compared to 2013. Also in 2014, Xuyen Thai Binh JSC (PAN) sold out 5.2 million AGF shares, equivalent to 20.53% of charter capital. Meanwhile, HVG continued to buy more shares and raised ownership to around 20.3 million shares, equivalent to 79.58% of charter capital.

It is worth mentioning that, after gathering one term, AGF shares plummeted even faster. HVG itself is not brighter due to the burden of interest expense for corporate acquisitions (Saigon Investment has written a reflection on HVG in the previous issue). By 2015, AGF suddenly reported a loss in the first financial year. The peak was in the 2018 business results with negative profit of around VND 178 bn.

This was the second consecutive year that AGF reported losses, bringing the total accumulated losses to around VND 270 bn, while the charter capital was only VND 281 bn. AGF faced difficulties when banks tightened loans. This led to a shortage of capital for production, a shortage of food for farming areas, and a shortage of supply for processing plants.

Continued losses

On 16 February, HOSE suddenly announced a mandatory delisting of more than 28.1 million AGF shares from 17 February because of delay in submission of financial statements for three consecutive years. In fact, if not for this reason, AGF would have been delisted anyway due to continued losses for three consecutive years.

AGF was in its golden period in early 2007 with share price at VND 155,000. On 24 February 2020, after delisting from HOSE, AGF will list on UPCoM with reference price of VND 2,900 per share.

Earlier, AGF announced its audited financial statements of 2019 with revenue of more than VND 807 bn, down by 37.2%, at a negative profit of more than VND 255 bn, but sharply up compared to the loss of VND 178 bn in 2018. This was also the third consecutive year that AGF had suffered a loss with accumulated profits as of 30 September 2019 at minus VND 526 bn.

In the reviewed financial report of AGF, auditors emphasized that the accumulated losses and short-term liabilities exceeded short-term assets by more than VND 108 bn. These conditions indicated the existence of material uncertainty, which led to significant doubts about AGF's ability to continue operating.

Thus, after 18 years of listing on HOSE, AGF fell in the most disappointing way. The business was once a great inspiration, with the pangasius symbol, the pride of the people of An Giang and of the Mekong Delta Region. AGF's new journey on UPCoM will certainly not be easy because the business is facing many difficulties, especially at a time of the Covid-19 epidemic that is not showing any signs of being contained in China, one of the major export markets for AGF.

Translated by Kristine



Kim Giang
Oxygen

When a stage performance is going on, all eyes are on the stage. Could someone really disappear mid-show? It's exactly what happened to Helen Mintiks. It was the night of July 23, 1980. The Berlin Ballet was performing at the famous Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. At one point during the performance, recorded music was played instead of the orchestra, which was made up of talented freelance musicians. These musicians used this period as a break. But 45 minutes later, around 9:30 p.m.
When it comes to Fidel Castro, Bernie just cant quit him. The problem for Bernie is that Florida, with its 248 delegates for the Democrat primary and its 29 Electoral College votes, may be finding it increasingly easy to quit Bernie.

Bernie has a man-crush on Fidel Castro. Given the opportunity, he keeps lavishing love on a dictator who drove thousands of his country people to exile, slaughtered thousands more, imprisoned tens of thousands of his people, and drove his country into decades of poverty.

In 2016, Bernie defended Castro when Hillary attacked him for a 1985 video in which he talks about how wonderful it was that Castro gave kids literacy and healthcare. Bernie had a comeback ready:

"Cuba is, of course, an authoritarian, undemocratic country and I hope very much, as soon as possible, it becomes a democratic country," Sanders said. "But on the other hand it would be wrong not to state that in Cuba they have made some good advances in healthcare, they are sending doctors all over the world. "They have made some progress in education."

That set the template. Bernie has consistently repeated this shtick in the last couple of weeks. He did so in an interview with Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes. Later, during a CNN town hall, Bernie praised Castro again. And then he kept on going, over and over, in every forum, doggedly praising Castro.

For most people, there are some political systems or dictators so bad that you dont praise anything they did. No one says, Yeah, Hitler murdered 6 million Jews and started a war that left around $40 million dead, but you have to give him credit for building a very good army. Hitler, Mussolini, Mao, Pol Pot . . . all of them are too toxic to touch with praise, especially praise for things that flowed directly from their tyrannical rule.

Bernies stubbornness on this issue has cost him. While he once had a lead in Florida, home to the majority of refugees from Cuba, as well as their descendants, now Biden is in the lead. And heres something that may be related: Cubans are coming out strongly in support of Trump, a man who not only does not praise Castro but who reinstated the embargo that Obama, the last Democrat president, revoked.

Enthusiastic Miami Cubans, unhappy with the Democrats' love for and overtures to Cuba, had an impromptu parade on Saturday:

Perhaps Bernie shouldnt have made comments about Castro. Theres a mile long parade in Miami of Cubans for trump right now  pic.twitter.com/D0DFC7QINH  Meagan (@meag_rochelle) February 29, 2020

Miami calle 8 rally for Cuba and Trump pic.twitter.com/wIsnCRYEc6  JUAN C HERNANDEZ (@JUANCARLOS6928) February 29, 2020

Additional footage of the caravan going on in Miami right now in support of @realDonaldTrump. pic.twitter.com/F9u3NiaBUY  Giancarlo Sopo (@GiancarloSopo) February 29, 2020

It's not only Cuban Americans who should worry the Democrats if Bernie becomes their candidate for president. Florida has a sizable Jewish population: around 630,000 people and they vote.

Most of these Jews are old-fashioned Kennedy-style Democrats and some are still FDR Democrats. Even though the Democrat party associated with those presidents is long gone, Florida's Jews support the Democrat party out of a bone-deep revulsion to Republicans, whom they still associate with the old white-shoe anti-Semitism of the first half of the 20th century. (White-shoe refers to the time when Jews couldnt get into the Ivy Leagues or work for established banks, law firms, etc.)

No matter their sense of revulsion against Republicans and Trump, though, its difficult to imagine Floridas Jews willingly voting for Bernie Sanders, the man who pals around with some of the worst anti-Semites in America. Jews have been paying attention to Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Linda Sarsour, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and they are not happy that Bernie Sanders has chosen these women as his campaign proxies. Jews also understand that there is no anti-Semite worse than a self-loathing Jew.

Even if Bernie is able to win the Democrat primary without Florida, its questionable whether he can win the presidency without Floridas Cuban and Jewish communities giving him their support.
One Bollywood actor who is single-handedly defying and breaking the normcore with his sartorial sense of style, it has to be our Baba, Ranveer Singh. This man makes fashion look effortless and without a shadow of a doubt, strikes a chord with us, every damn time.

 Viral Bhayani

Ranveer went a bit low-key for a while but post his last appearance, we are sure that he is back again for good. He was spotted nailing animal printed pants with a zany T-shirt by Gucci. Having said that, this ensemble was one heck of a wild outfit we had seen in a while.



 Viral Bhayani

And it looks like the saga of Ranveer wearing such outrageous outfits has certainly started again as the latest instance establishes our claim.



Let's talk about this outfit in detail:

 Viral Bhayani

Ranveer was spotted wearing a colour-blocked jacket layered over a quirky T-shirt. With that, the joggers in bright neon colour make it a kitschy addition to his style. These are Adidas Alexander Wang pants that bring back the unconventional update to its silhouette. The classic look of these pants is further off-set with unexpected details like upside-down Trefoil and inside out stripes.



Given the fact that Ranveer is wearing them, it was certain that even these pants would have unpredicted details, which turned out to be true.

 adidas

On his feet, Ranveer decided to go complete berserk and wore a pair of sneakers that we have never spotted before. These sneakers are not chunky nor ugly dad sneakers, but an artistic pair revolutionised with advanced tech details to it.



 adidas

The Futurepacer sneakers by Adidas Originals have performance tracking toe-sensor. These sneakers are a stretchy version with a reflective upper and leather overlays on it. The cushioning adds to the energetic feel of this pair.



 Viral Bhayani

The futuristic pair easily dialled up Ranveer's style quotient to the T. If we talk about its price, these sneakers are a brand new version and are available at the moment for Rs 22,000. Mind you, this excludes customs and import duties that you would pay for it. And since, it's Ranveer, this one actually falls in budget as compared to all the outrageous statements he spends on.



 Viral Bhayani

That's not all. Even Ranveer's accessory game is unmatched. The way he has dovetailed his white cap with oversized blue sunglasses and a zany neckpiece add more style mileage to his overall garb, making it even statement-worthy.



Must say, Ranveer, this is outrageous fashion at its best!
Advertisement

Pete Buttigieg announced the suspension of his presidential campaign on Sunday night in South Bend, Indiana

Pete Buttigieg offered an uplifting message to his supporters as he announced the suspension of his presidential campaign on Sunday night in his hometown of South Bend, Indiana.

The impromptu event came hours after reports emerged that Buttigieg would be dropping out of the race following a disappointing fourth-place finish in the South Carolina primary.

The former South Bend mayor was met with cheers of 'We love you!' and 'Mayor Pete' chants as he took the stage following an emotional introduction by his husband Chasten.

'It's so good to be in South Bend. Sometimes the longest way around really is the shortest way home. Here we are,' Buttigieg told the crowd.

'We got into this race for a reason. We got into this race in order to defeat the current president and in order to usher in a new kind of politics.

'And that meant guiding our campaign by the values we like to call the rules of the road. One of those values is truth. And today is a moment of truth.

'After a year of going everywhere, meeting everyone, defying every expectation, seeking every vote, the truth is that the path has narrowed to a close. For our candidacy if not for our cause.

'We have a responsibility to consider the effect of remaining in this race any further. Our goal has always been to help unify Americans to defeat Donald Trump and to win the era for our values.

'And so we must recognize that at this point in the race the best way to keep faith with those goals and ideals is to step aside and help bring our party and our country together.

'So tonight I am making the difficult decision to suspend my campaign for the presidency. I will no longer seek to be the 2020 democratic nominee for president.

'But I will do everything in my power to ensure that we have a new Democratic president come January.'

The former South Bend mayor was met with cheers of 'We love you!' and 'Mayor Pete' chants as he took the stage

'Tonight I am making the difficult decision to suspend my campaign for the presidency,' Buttigieg told the cheering crowd. 'I will no longer seek to be the 2020 democratic nominee for president. But I will do everything in my power to ensure that we have a new Democratic president come January'

Buttigieg went on to urge his supporters to 'continue in the cause of ensuring that we bring change to the White House and working to win the absolutely critical ballot races playing out across the country this year'.

'There is simply too much at stake to retreat to the sidelines at a time like this,' he said.

'And as this contest gives way to the season of weekly elections and delegate math, it is more important than ever that we hold to what this is actually all about, politics is not about the horse race.

'It's not about the debate stage or a precinct count in a spreadsheet. It is about real people's lives. It is about our paychecks, our families, our futures.

'We can and must put the everyday lives of Americans who have been overlooked for so long back at the center of our politics.'

He then thanked all of the people who supported his bid for the White House, including his campaign staff, his family and his fans.

'I know that as this campaign ends, there comes disappointment that we won't continue,' Buttigieg said.

'But I hope that everyone who has been part of this in any way knows that the campaign that you have built and the community that you have created is only the beginning of the change that we are going to make together.'

'Today more than ever politics matters because leaders can call out either what is best in us or what is worst in us, can draw us either to our better or to our worst selves. Politics at its worst is ugly, but at its best politics can lift us up. It is not just policymaking, it is moral, it is soulcraft. That is why we are in this.'

Buttigieg's husband Chasten (left) opened Sunday's speech with heartfelt remarks about his husband

The pair shared an emotional embrace before Buttigieg addressed the crowd with his big announcement

Buttigieg described how hours earlier he visited Selma, Alabama, to commemorate the 55th anniversary of the 'Bloody Sunday' civil rights march and said he was 'humbled to walk in the symbolic and literal shadows of heroes who 55 years ago made America more of a democracy than it had ever been by their blood and by their courage'.

'Seeing those moral giants made me ask what we might achieve in the years now at hand, how we might live up to the greatest moral traditions of political change in this country,' he said.

'It made me wonder how the 2020s will be remembered when I am an old man. I firmly believe that in these years in our time we can and will make American life and politics not just more wise and more prosperous but more equitable and more just and more decent.

'Think of how proud we could be of our time if we really did act so that no one has to take to the streets in America for a decent wage because one job is enough in the United States of America, whether you went to college or not.

'Imagine how proud we would be to be the generation that saw the day when your race has no bearing on your health or your wealth or your relationship with law enforcement in the United States.

'What if we could be the ones to deliver the day when our teachers are honored a little more like soldiers and paid a little more like doctors.

'What if we were the ones who rallied this nation to see to it that climate would be no barrier to our children's opportunities in life.

'The chance to do that is in our hands. That is the hope in our hearts. That is the fire in our bellies. That is the future we believe in. A country that really does empower every American to thrive and a future where everyone belongs. Thank you for sharing that vision, thank you for helping us spread that hope. Thank you so much. Let's move on together.'

Buttigieg planned to withdraw hours after Democratic candidates commemorated the 55th anniversary of the 'Bloody Sunday' civil rights march in Selma, Alabama. He is seen crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge alongside Rev Al Sharpton (right)

Buttigieg (left) met with former President Jimmy Carter (center) in Plains, Georgia, earlier on Sunday. The pair are pictured with the candidate's husband Chasten Buttigieg (second right) and former first lady Rosalynn Carter (right) at Buffalo Cafe

An Afghanistan war veteran and the first openly gay candidate to seriously contend for the presidency, Buttigieg rose to the field's top tier as an eloquent, disciplined speaker with a promise to unite Democrats, independents, and moderate Republican voters.

His campaign picked up momentum early last month after a narrow win in the Iowa caucuses and a strong second-place finish in the New Hampshire primary.

But he struggled as the race moved to more diverse states, less dependent on college-educated voters - culminating in a harsh loss to fellow moderate Joe Biden in Saturday's South Carolina primary.

Buttigieg had been critical of Biden, charging that the 77-year-old lifelong politician was out of step with today's politics.

But his criticism had shifted in recent days more toward front-runner Bernie Sanders, a polarizing progressive who was benefiting from the sheer number of candidates dividing up the moderate vote.

President Donald Trump reacted to the news of Buttigieg's departure from the race on Twitter

Buttigieg had tried to make the case that his party thrived when it embraced candidates who offered generational change - but ended up being more successful at winning older voters while 78-year-old Sanders captured the energy of younger ones.

His departure from the race reflects the growing pressuring among more moderate Democrats to consolidate in an effort to blunt the rise of Sanders, who Buttigieg said was too liberal to be elected.

It came just two days before the 14-state Super Tuesday nominating contests that will offer the biggest electoral prize so far in the Democratic race to pick a candidate to take on Republican President Donald Trump in November's election.

Trump reacted to the news by tweeting: 'Pete Buttigieg is OUT. All of his SuperTuesday votes will go to Sleepy Joe Biden. Great timing. This is the REAL beginning of the Dems taking Bernie out of play - NO NOMINATION, AGAIN!'

Buttigieg did not endorse any of the remaining candidates during his Sunday speech, but sources say he and former vice president Joe Biden traded voicemails after the news broke.

Buttigieg rose to the field's top tier as an eloquent, disciplined speaker with a promise to unite Democrats, independents, and moderate Republican voters - but failed to secure enough wins in early states to maintain his White House bid

CNN obtained video of Buttigieg explaining his unexpected trip back to South Bend on Sunday

Insiders say Biden (pictured on Sunday) and Buttigieg have been trying to reach each other by phone since news of the latter candidate's departure broke

Despite robust organizations in Iowa and New Hampshire and supporters who included an influx of former independents and Republicans, Buttigieg failed to overcome daunting questions about his ability to draw African American support key to the Democratic base.

He earned just three percent of the nonwhite vote in South Carolina's Saturday primary, according to AP VoteCast, a a wide-ranging survey of the electorate.

As mayor of a city that is 25 percent black, Buttigieg faced criticism for firing the first African American police chief in the history of South Bend and for his handling of the case of a white police officer who fatally shot an armed black man in June.

After his unexpected rise to contention in Iowa and New Hampshire last fall, Buttigieg became the target of Massachusetts Sen Elizabeth Warren for the high-dollar fundraisers he was hosting, notably one in a wine cave in California.

Minnesota Sen Amy Klobuchar also went at Buttigieg in the months before the caucuses for lacking national experience.

She noted that he had lost his only statewide race as a candidate for Indiana treasurer in 2010, while she had won three statewide terms in Minnesota in part by carrying Republican-heavy regions.

Buttigieg presented a starkly different figure on the debate stage than the other leading candidates  all septuagenarians  and drew admirers for his calm, reasoned demeanor and rhetorical skills that reflected his Harvard-trained, Rhodes scholar background but that some voters and operatives described as 'robotic'.

He had modeled his campaign somewhat on that of former President Barack Obama, who won the 2008 Iowa caucuses largely based on a message of unity and by drawing in a healthy bloc of first-time caucus participants, often the key in a crowded, high-turnout contest.

Buttigieg meets with constituents at the Buffalo Cafe in Plains, Georgia, on Sunday

The former mayor was at the cafe to talk with former President Jimmy Carter

Buttigieg planned to withdraw hours after Democratic candidates commemorated a landmark civil rights march in Alabama on Sunday.

Some worshippers at the African-American church where the event was held turned their backs on his presidential rival Michael Bloomberg, a billionaire who will first appear on ballots on Tuesday after skipping the first four contests.

Bloomberg, a former New York mayor, received a chilly reception at the historic Brown Chapel AME Church in Selma after the pastor, the Rev Leodis Strong, told the gathering the billionaire businessman initially had turned down the invitation to speak.

'I was hurt, I was disappointed,' Strong said as Bloomberg looked on stonily. 'I think it's important that he came, and it shows a willingness on his part to change.'

About 10 people in the small church with a couple hundred in attendance stood up and turned their backs on Bloomberg as he spoke about racial inequality.

Biden and Bloomberg are trying to present themselves as the party's best choice to take on Trump, saying Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, is too far to the left to win the general election.

Black voters are a key Democratic constituency, and Bloomberg has been criticized for supporting the use of a policing practice called stop and frisk in New York City that encouraged police to stop and search pedestrians and disproportionately affected blacks and Latinos.

'It's just an insult for him to come here. It's the disrespect for the legacy of this place,' Lisa Brown, who traveled to Selma from Los Angeles, told Reuters after turning her back to Bloomberg.

She said the idea to protest Bloomberg's remarks had circulated but that she stood as an individual, not an organized group.

The quiet protest suggests Bloomberg faces an uphill climb with some African-American voters, who carried Biden to a resounding victory in South Carolina.

Biden praised his South Carolina success in an interview with Fox News on Sunday (pictured)

Biden, who was vice president to the first black US president, Barack Obama, was clearly the favorite at the Selma church. He was seated by the pastor, facing the pews where Bloomberg sat, and got a glowing introduction from US Representative Terri Sewell, a black Alabama lawmaker.

'He has earned the right to be in this pulpit and to address you now,' Sewell told the crowd.

The candidates were in Selma to mark the 55th anniversary of 'Bloody Sunday', when civil rights marchers were beaten by state troopers and local police while crossing a bridge.

Some Democratic Party officials expressed concerns last week about Sanders' early surge, worrying that his aggressive policy priorities including establishing a mandatory government-run healthcare system could turn off moderate voters badly needed to defend competitive seats in Congress.

'I think the Democratic Party is looking for a Democrat - not a socialist, not a former Republican, a Democrat - to be their nominee,' Biden told Fox News Sunday.

Biden's reference to a former Republican appears to have been aimed at Bloomberg, who switched parties multiple times in his career.

Sanders attacked Biden for taking contributions from political organizations called Super PACs and billionaires, at what he said was the expense of working-class, middle-class and low-income people.

'I don't go to rich people's homes like Joe Biden,' Sanders said on CBS' Face the Nation.

Biden lags Sanders in fundraising and organization in Super Tuesday states and beyond.

Sanders planned to campaign on Sunday in heavily Democratic California, where he leads opinion polls.

The Sanders campaign said overnight it raised $46.5million from more than 2.2 million donations in February, a huge sum dwarfing what any other Democratic candidate raised last year in any three-month period.

Bloomberg continues to spend. He purchased three minutes of commercial air time during on broadcast networks CBS and NBC on Sunday evening to address the coronavirus outbreak.
To the Times:

As a pro-life advocate, I oppose both the violence of legal abortion and capital punishment

On Feb. 26 the House of Representatives of Colorado voted to repeal the death penalty. I am a member of the Catholic Mobilizing Network, a group that opposes capital punishment.

According to an article on their website, in January a bipartisan death penalty repeal bill was introduced in the Colorado Senate, which passed. Im a registered moderate Republican (who was a registered Democrat for more than 30 years  Im 58). Im glad that three Republican senators both co-sponsored the repeal bill and voted for it. Its expected that Colorado Gov. Jared Polis will sign the death penalty bill into law, which will go into effect on July 1, 2020. Colorado will then be the 22nd state to abolish the death penalty.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), between 1973 and 2019, 173 death row prisoners were found to be innocent, and set free. I oppose the ACLUs staunch, extreme advocacy of the violence of legal abortion for any reason. Yet, I support their efforts to end capital punishment. The ACLU also has evidence that juries are much more likely to impose death sentences on black people who kill white people than on white people who kill black people. This suggests to me that there is serious bias against black prisoners.

Although I dont believe that what the majority of people believes is always right, a reputable polling group found another reason to oppose capital punishment. According to the Gallup poll (October 14-31, 2019), 60% of Americans surveyed favored life imprisonment to capital punishment.

I hope that Colorado will repeal capital punishment, and that more states will end the death penalty, and that the Supreme Court will repeal legal abortion as embodied in the unjust 1973 Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton decisions.
Former US vice president won the South Carolina primary on Saturday, giving a big boost to his presidential campaign.

Biden, 77, scored more than 50 per cent of the total votes counted in the crucial state of South Carolina, where the primaries for the Democratic party's presidential race were held on Saturday. Senator Bernie Sanders, 78, was a distant second with 17 per cent of the votes counted.

On the Republican side, President Donald Trump, who is seeking re-election, decisively won the GOP primary.

The first primary win in the 2020 presidential race gave Biden the much-needed boost to his White House ambition. He had lost the previous primaries and caucuses in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada. The last two were won by Sanders and Iowa was a tie between Sanders and Pete Buttigieg.

Now all eyes are on "Super Tuesday" or March 3 when presidential primaries would be held in as many as 15 states, including Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Virginia.

The results of "Super Tuesday" would allocate 1,357 of the 3,979 pledged delegates for the Democratic National Convention in Wisconsin later this summer, which would select its nominee for the presidential elections in November.

"We did it! We won South Carolina! We couldn't be more grateful for this incredible team. Last week, we said our comeback started in Nevada and you and the voters of South Carolina made it happen!" Biden said in an email to his supporters soon after winning the South Carolina primaries.

Sanders, however, is still ahead in the delegates count with 45 pledged delegates. Biden with 29 has jumped to the second spot with his decisive win in South Carolina. He is being followed by Buttigieg (26), Senator Elizabeth Warren (eight) and Amy Klobucher, who has seven pledged delegates in her kitty.

Biden, who served as the 47th vice president of the United States from 2009 to 2017 and was the Delaware senator from 1973 to 2009, is making his third shot at the White House. The previous ones being in 1988 and 2008.

Commenting on Biden's maiden electoral victory this season, Trump said this will end the presidential campaign of former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg.

"Sleepy Joe Biden's victory in the South Carolina Democrat Primary should be the end of Mini Mike Bloomberg's joke of a campaign. After the worst debate performance in the history of presidential debates, Mini Mike now has Biden split up his very few voters, taking many away!" the president said in a tweet.

After his decisive victory in South Carolina, former Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe announced that he was endorsing Biden for president.

"We cannot afford four more years of Donald Trump's hate-driven chaos and is the candidate with the character, experience and broad appeal to defeat him. Biden has been a friend of Virginia Democrats and my friend for decades and I am proud to endorse him for president of the United States," he said.

The Republican party said the South Carolina results had made the Democratic race a bit messy.

"After more than three decades of trying, finally won a presidential primary state, but this win does not equal momentum," Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said.

"Today's result all but guarantees that this primary process is not ending anytime soon. President Trump will beat whichever socialist the Democrats eventually nominate this November," she added.
Ongoing protests against the amended citizenship law, resistance to the National Population Register (NPR) and the construction of a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya will be among the key ideological issues that will come up for discussion at the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS), the top decision-making body of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), starting on March 15 in Bengaluru.

For the RSS, the ideological mentor of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), there is much to celebrate. Three of its long-pending demands--revocation of article 370 that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, a law that fast-tracks citizenship for persecuted Hindus and other non-Muslims from three Muslim-majority countries in Indias neighbourhood, and the right to build a Ram temple on the disputed site in Ayodhya -- have been met.

At the same time, the three-day meeting of the ABPS dovetails with a widening of the communal schism and criticism by the Sanghs critics of the role it has played in sharpening the divide.

According to the a person aware of the agenda for the Bengaluru meeting, the issues listed above, for which the Sangh has waged a decades-long campaign, are expected to figure at the discussions that will be attended by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and the top leadership.

A resolution or a special mention to the thank the government for initiating the process for abrogation of Article 370 and the citizenship amendment bill could be could be passed at the meeting. The Sangh is also happy with the favourable outcome of the Supreme Court verdict on the Ram Janmabhoomi issue that had been pending for decades, said the person quoted above.

Current social and political developments will dominate the meeting, which is attended by the BJP president and the heads of all Sangh affiliates. Among them is the resistance of some states to the NPR, a biometric database of residents of India, which they fear could be a precursor to the proposed National Register of Citizens, an exercise proposed to identify illegal citizens.

The Sangh, which describes itself as being an apolitical organisation that works for a Hindu cultural renaissance, has recently begun to redraw the boundaries separating its work from that of its political arm, the BJP.

Even though the Sangh does not openly endorse the BJP, it does make it known that a party which is in line with its ideology is more acceptable to it and deputes a senior functionary to the party to act as link or coordinator.

Concerned that the slew of defeats that the BJP has faced in state elections in recent months could have an impact on its organisational network, the Sangh sent out a reminder that its brand of Hindutva could not be conflated with the BJPs electoral performance.

In Goa, at a two-day conclave earlier this month, RSS general secretary, Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi said opposition to the BJP cannot be read as opposition to Hindutva.

While the Sangh was quick to defend the statement as an iteration of an established notion; the undertone betrayed concerns over fissures within the larger Hindu community. This was followed by a similarly nuanced comment by Bhagwat at a closed-door interaction with writers. Bhagwat also chose to underline the difference between the BJPs electoral performance and Hindutva. He told the attendees that governments may come and go, but the focus should be on changing society.

The Bengaluru meeting follows Hindu-Muslim rioting that rocked Delhi towards the end of February after pro- and anti-Ctitizenship (Amendment) Act protests took a communal turn, leaving at least 42 people dead in the national capitals north-east district.

On the Sanghs stance on the visible and increasing polarization, RSS commentator Dilip Deodhar said: The Sangh has been working tirelessly to unite Hindus, abolish caste divisions and largely mobilise political parties to work towards the idea of India. Particularly now when the CAA protests have shown a simmering discontent that led to the riots in Delhi, the Sangh feels there is an urgent need to address and acknowledge problems of radicalism and consolidate the forces that are nationalistic.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Police Chief Mike Cox

He pursued justice after being beaten by fellow officers in Boston. Now he's opening up the AAPD.

by James Leonard

From the February, 2020 issue

"Some of it I can't attest to, because I just flat-out don't remember," says Mike Cox of the beating by his fellow Boston cops that changed his life and his career.



Ann Arbor's new police chief knows it began in January 1995 with a shooting death followed by a long high-speed chase. More than twenty police cars pursued four men in a single vehicle until the suspects ditched their car and ran in different directions.



Cox was the first officer out of his car. "I was in the anti-gang violence unit," he says in a soft voice. "At some point I think I was mistaken for ... the people that I was chasing. They were black and they were in plain clothes, and I was black and I was in plain clothes.



"The last thing I remember is one of the people went over the fence and then I was on the fence," Cox says. He apparently fell, and the rest is hazy, except for the pain.



---



He doesn't know how many cops beat him "because, even looking up, I got hit.



"I had multiple injuries," Cox continues. "I had a pretty bad ... scar that my hair still doesn't grow over ... My kidneys were messed up, [and] the ligaments in my thumb [were torn]."



The beating stopped only when a cop recognized Cox. But instead of helping or calling for emergency medical treatment, they left him bleeding and kept their mouths shut afterwards.



Cox was out of work for six months recovering from his injuries. Despite multiple internal investigations, no officers were identified as taking part in the beating, and no one came forward to admit responsibility.



"I don't know if it was a cover-up," Cox says. "But the fact is [the officers involved] didn't get caught and [they] didn't come clean." He finally sued the department to get to the truth and "was able to prove a certain amount of people were involved."



He won a financial settlement and

...continued below...

three cops were fired--but the only conviction was overturned on appeal, and two officers were reinstated. It sounds like a case study for the Black Lives Matter movement. But asked if his experience is an example of bad policing or police violence against black men, Cox replies, "I hadn't thought of that."To him, it's a case study in management--a "reminder" that police departments have to police themselves. "We have a lot of regulations, [but] you have to make sure people are being held responsible for what they do."The incident forced Cox to reconsider the career he loved. "I thought I was doing God's work," he says sincerely. "I thought I was the police officer. My partner and I, we were very active, and I'd say very, very good officers."But the fact is I had a choice between walking away ... or digging in and fixing something."He didn't walk. "If I was going to be in policing, it was gonna get better, and I was gonna make sure of that."---Cox stayed with the Boston PD, rising through the ranks from sergeant detective to internal affairs division commander, and finally to superintendent in the police academy. When he retired after thirty years, he says, the department had "changed tremendously" for the better, with much more transparency and accountability.Most cops start young, and Cox was no exception. For him, as for many other officers, retirement didn't mean leaving policing. In September, he was sworn in as Ann Arbor's fourth police chief in seven years.The department had struggled to implement a community policing policy for years, but the need became urgent after the 2014 shooting death of a knife-wielding black woman by an Ann Arbor cop.The officer was determined to have acted in self-defense, but protests led city council to create a civilian police oversight commission. And when it was time to hire a new chief, the city specified that it wanted one who would make community policing standard operating procedure. Cox's Boston experiences made him the candidate most likely to lead the changes.To Cox, community policing starts with better communication. Police "have a rich tradition of not wanting to explain ourselves," he says. "That's part of the problem. We know we're right [and] don't need to explain."The new chief thinks otherwise. "We need to have a strong communication with the public," he says. City council already has approved his request for an officer to assist the oversight commission, and he's hoping that they'll let him add a public information officer in the next budget.With a dedicated communication liaison, Cox says, "we can make sure that the flow of information is happening quicker than what it currently does. And more importantly, it's a single source of information, so we're always on the same page."Cox says he's also working to "reinvigorate" the city's citizen crime-watch groups. "We had a meeting [with] thirty-something people representing all these different crime-watch groups," he says. "We've been trying to set up more meetings throughout the city to get them up and running again. City council is helping us find places to set up some of these watches."Some of that help is coming in his monthly meetings with each ward's councilmembers. They "talk about things," he says. "I explain our perspective, what we're seeing, what's going on, [and they tell me] any concerns they might have."---The creation of the oversight commission was highly acrimonious, but Cox seems satisfied with the result. As a "representative of the public," he sees the commission as an asset to community policing. "Their role is to come in, ask questions ... and look at the facts and circumstances" when the department's performance is questioned. He expects it to be a two-way communication, with members giving the department an independent view of its work but also explaining police work to folks with complaints, and, if appropriate, to the public in general.Cox says the initial reaction to his efforts within the department is "good," and he believes it'll get better--community policing, he points out, is "the fun part of the job."We're not locking people up. We're not wrestling. We're not fighting. It's a different form of policing, and most people tend to like it." He's already initiated more foot patrols in the malls and downtown to give officers a taste of it.Cox says he'd like to think that what happened to him in Boston "wouldn't ever happen in Ann Arbor. But I would never say that it couldn't happen here. I do know this: I will ... do everything possible to make sure that the conditions here won't make it likely."The AAPD's top job has recently been a revolving door, with successive chiefs retiring and moving on within a few years. But Cox wants to break that pattern--he says he'd like this to be his last police job."I'm fifty-four," he says. "I hope to work for ten more years, hopefully, if they'll have me." [Originally published in February, 2020.]
Dublin, Feb. 21, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Cell Therapy Manufacturing Market (3rd Edition), 2019 - 2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



Cell Therapy Manufacturing Market (3rd Edition), 2019-2030 features an extensive study of the current market landscape and future opportunities associated with cell therapy manufacturing. It focuses on both contract manufacturers, as well as developers with in-house manufacturing facilities, offering in-depth analyses of the various business entities that are engaged in this domain, across different global regions.

One of the key objectives of the report was to understand the primary growth drivers and estimate the future size of the cell therapy manufacturing market. Based on parameters, such as number of ongoing/planned clinical studies, cell therapy manufacturing costs, target patient population, and anticipated adoption of such products, we have provided an informed estimate of the likely evolution of the market in the short to mid-term and mid to long term, for the period 2019-2030.

In addition, to account for the uncertainties associated with the manufacturing of cell-based therapies and to add robustness to our model, we have provided three forecast scenarios, portraying the conservative, base and optimistic tracks of the market's evolution.



Market Insights



Till date, more than 20 cell-based therapies have been approved (recent examples include Zynteglo (2019), Alofisel (2018), YESCARTA (2017) and Kymriah (2017)), while over 500 product candidates are under development. In fact, there are over 1,000 active clinical studies of cell therapies, worldwide. Over the last few years, such therapies have garnered significant attention within the biopharmaceutical industry. Several companies and venture capital funds/investors have already invested a lot of capital towards the development and commercialization of this emerging class of therapeutics.

Despite the optimism, the growth in this domain is still hindered by various development and manufacturing related challenges, primarily due to the limited availability of expertise and infrastructure to produce cell-based therapies, such as CAR-T cell therapies.



Story continues

The growing number of product development initiatives in this domain, coupled to the fact that there are multiple marketed products, have led to a substantial rise in the overall cell therapy manufacturing demand. As a result, developers have turned to contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs) to fulfil their cell therapy development and production requirements.



A wide array of industry players, including well-established companies, mid-sized firms and start-ups, as well as academic institutes, are contributing towards fulfilling the aforementioned demand, offering GMP grade manufacturing services for cell therapies. In addition to cell therapy manufacturing companies, there are several other players that claim to have developed novel technology solutions, aimed at improving the existing cell therapy manufacturing process.

Many CMOs are also actively expanding their cell therapy manufacturing capacity either through collaborations or acquisitions, in order to offer a wide range of services to their respective clients. As a result of the ongoing efforts aimed at mitigating the existing challenges in this domain, the cell therapy manufacturing market is expected to witness significant growth in mid-long term.



Amongst other elements, the report includes:

A detailed review of the overall landscape of companies that are engaged in the manufacturing of cell-based therapies, including information on the type of cells manufactured (including immune cells (including T cells, dendritic cells, NK cells), stem cells (including adult stem cells, human embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells) and others), source of cells (autologous and allogeneic), scale of manufacturing, type of cell cultures (adherent and suspension), purpose of production (fulfilling in-house requirements and contract services), manufacturing capabilities/services offered (including R&D, cell culture development, quality testing, packaging, labelling, cell banking, cryopreservation, fill/finish services, and regulatory affairs management), location of headquarters and location of their respective manufacturing facilities.

An analysis of the various expansion initiatives undertaken by service providers, in order to augment their respective cell therapy manufacturing capabilities, over the period 2015-2019 (till October), taking into consideration parameters, such as year of expansion, type of cells, scale of operation, purpose of expansion (facility expansion and new facility), location of manufacturing facility, and most active players (in terms of number of expansion initiatives undertaken).

An analysis of the recent partnerships focused on the manufacturing of cell-based therapies, which have been established in the period 2014-2019 (till November), based on various relevant parameters, such as the year of agreement, type of partnership, type of cells, and scale of operation (preclinical, clinical and commercial).

Informed estimates of the annual commercial and clinical demand for cell therapies (in terms of number of cells produced and area dedicated to manufacturing), which were further analyzed based on type of cells.

An estimate of the overall, installed capacity for manufacturing cell-based therapies based on information reported by industry stakeholders in the public domain, highlighting the distribution of the available capacity on the basis of scale of operation (clinical and commercial), size of the organization (small, mid-sized and large firms) and key geographical regions (North America, EU and Asia Pacific).

An in-depth analysis of cell therapy manufacturers using three versatile representations, namely [A] a three-dimensional grid analysis, presenting the distribution of companies on the basis of type of cells manufactured, scale of operation and purpose of production, [B] a logo landscape based on the type of cells manufactured, geographical location of manufacturer (North America, Europe and Asia Pacific) and type and size of organization (non-industry players, and small, mid-sized and large companies), and [C] a schematic world map representation, highlighting the geographical locations of cell therapy manufacturing facilities of both industry and non-industry stakeholders.

A detailed analysis of the various factors that are likely to influence the pricing of cell-based therapies, featuring different models/approaches that may be adopted by manufacturers while deciding the prices of their proprietary offerings.

An elaborate discussion on the role of automation technologies in improving current manufacturing methods, along with a comparative (qualitative) analysis of cost differences between manual and automated processes.

A qualitative analysis, highlighting the various factors that need to be taken into consideration by cell therapy developers while deciding whether to manufacture their respective products in-house or engage the services of a CMO.

A discussion on cell therapy manufacturing regulations across various geographies, including the North America (focusing on the US), Europe and Asia (focusing on Japan), featuring an analysis of the diverse certifications/accreditations awarded to manufacturing facilities by important regulatory bodies across the globe.

Elaborate profiles of key players (industry and non-industry) that offer contract manufacturing services for cell-based therapies; each profile includes an overview of the company/organization, information on its manufacturing facilities, service portfolio details, recent partnerships and an informed future outlook.

A discussion on affiliated trends, key drivers and challenges, which are likely to impact the industry's evolution, under a comprehensive SWOT framework, which includes a Harvey ball analysis, highlighting the relative effect of each SWOT parameter on the overall market dynamics.

Insights generated in a market-wide survey, featuring inputs solicited from experts who are directly and indirectly involved in the development and/or manufacturing of cell-based therapies.

Key Topics Covered



1. PREFACE

1.1. Scope of the Report

1.2. Research Methodology

1.3. Chapter Outlines



2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY



3. INTRODUCTION

3.1. Context and Background

3.2. Introduction to Cell Therapies

3.2.1. Comparison of Cell Therapies and Other Biotechnology Products

3.2.2. Classification of Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs)

3.2.3. Current Market Landscape of ATMPs

3.3. Overview of Cell Therapy Manufacturing

3.4. Cell Therapy Manufacturing Models

3.4.1. Centralized Manufacturing

3.4.2. Decentralized Manufacturing

3.5. Scalability of Cell Therapy Manufacturing

3.5.1. Scale-up

3.5.2. Scale-out

3.6. Types of Cell Therapy Manufacturers

3.7. Key Manufacturing-related Challenges

3.8. Factors Influencing Cell Therapy Manufacturing

3.9. Automating Cell Therapy Manufacturing

3.10. Cell Therapy Manufacturing Supply Chain

3.11. Future Perspectives



4. MARKET OVERVIEW

4.1. Chapter Overview

4.2. Cell Therapy Manufacturers (Industry Players): Overall Market Landscape

4.2.1. Analysis by Location of Headquarters

4.2.2. Analysis by Location of Manufacturing Facility

4.2.3. Analysis by Type of Cells Manufactured

4.2.4. Analysis by Source of Cells

4.2.5. Analysis by Scale of Operation

4.2.6. Analysis by Type of Cell Culture

4.2.7. Analysis by Purpose of Production

4.2.8. Analysis by Manufacturing Capabilities/Services

4.3. Cell Therapy Manufacturers (Non-Industry Players): Overall Market Landscape

4.3.1. Analysis by Location of Headquarters

4.3.2. Analysis by Location of Manufacturing Facility

4.3.3. Analysis by Type of Cells Manufactured

4.3.4. Analysis by Source of Cells

4.3.5. Analysis by Scale of Operation

4.3.6. Analysis by Type of Cell Culture

4.3.7. Analysis by Purpose of Production

4.3.8. Analysis by Manufacturing Capabilities/Services

4.4. Cell Therapy Manufacturing: Role of Logistics Service Providers



5. REGULATORY LANDSCAPE

5.1. Chapter Overview

5.2. Current Scenario

5.2.1. Regulatory Guidelines in the US

5.2.2. Regulatory Guidelines in Europe

5.2.3. Regulatory Guidelines in Japan

5.2.4. Conditional Approvals

5.3. Regulatory Accreditations for Cell Therapy Manufacturing

5.3.1. Facilities Approved by Regulators to Manufacture Cell Therapies

5.4. Summary of Guidelines for Clinical-Stage Manufacturing of Cell Therapies

5.5. Existing Challenges to Clinical-Stage Manufacturing

5.5.1. Variability in Regulatory Guidelines across Different Geographies

5.6. Conclusion



6. ROADMAPS FOR OVERCOMING EXISTING CHALLENGES

6.1. Chapter Overview

6.2. Roadmap for the US

6.2.1. Cell Processing

6.2.2. Cell Preservation, Distribution and Handling

6.2.3. Process Automation and Data Analytics

6.2.4. Process Monitoring and Quality Control

6.2.5. Standardization and Regulatory Support

6.2.6. Workforce Development

6.2.7. Supply Chain and Logistics

6.3. Roadmaps for Other Geographies

6.3.1. Europe

6.3.2. Asia Pacific



7. AUTOMATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR CELL THERAPY MANUFACTURING

7.1. Chapter Overview

7.2. Automation of Cell Therapy Manufacturing Processes

7.2.1. Closed Systems

7.2.2. Single-use Systems

7.2.3. Modular Systems

7.3. Case Studies

7.3.1. Roadmap to Developing an Automated Cell Manufacturing/Processing Device

7.3.2. Automating Cell Therapy Manufacturing

7.4. GMP-in-a-Box

7.5. List of Automation Service Providers

7.6. Comparative Analysis of Manual and Automated Processes

7.7. Concluding Remarks



8. PROFILES: INDUSTRY PLAYERS

8.1. Chapter Overview

8.2. Service Providers in the US

8.2.1 Cognate BioServices

8.2.1.1. Company Overview

8.2.1.2. Service Portfolio

8.2.1.3. Manufacturing Capabilities

8.2.1.4. Partnerships

8.2.1.5. Future Outlook

8.2.2. FUJIFILM Cellular Dynamics

8.2.3. KBI Biopharma

8.2.4. Hitachi Chemical Advanced Therapeutics Solutions

8.2.5. Waisman Biomanufacturing

8.3. Service Providers in Europe

8.3.1. BioNTech Innovative Manufacturing Services

8.3.2. Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult

8.3.3. Lonza

8.3.4. MaSTherCell

8.3.5. Roslin Cell Therapies

8.4. Service Providers in Asia Pacific

8.4.1. Cell Therapies

8.4.2. Japan Tissue Engineering (J-TEC)

8.4.3. MEDINET

8.4.4. Nikon CeLL innovation

8.4.5. WuXi Advanced Therapies



9. PROFILES: NON-INDUSTRY PLAYERS

9.1. Chapter Overview

9.2. Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Baylor College of Medicine

9.2.1. Overview

9.2.2. Operating Segments

9.2.3. Service Portfolio

9.2.4. Manufacturing Facilities and Capabilities

9.3. Centre for Cell Manufacturing Ireland, National University of Ireland

9.4. Clinical Cell and Vaccine Production Facility, University of Pennsylvania

9.5. Guy's and St. Thomas' GMP Facility, Guy's Hospital

9.6. Laboratory for Cell and Gene Medicine, Stanford University

9.7. Molecular and Cellular Therapeutics, University of Minnesota

9.8. Newcastle Cellular Therapies Facility, Newcastle University

9.9. Rayne Cell Therapy Suite, King's College London

9.10. Scottish National Blood Transfusion Services Cellular Therapy Facility, Scottish Centre for Regenerative Medicine

9.11. Sydney Cell and Gene Therapy



10. ROLE OF NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS

10.1. Chapter Overview

10.2. Cell Therapy Manufacturing Service Providers: Non-Profit Organizations

10.2.1. CellCAN

10.2.2. Cell Therapy Manufacturing Cooperative Research Center (CTM CRC)

10.2.3. National Cell Manufacturing Consortium (NCMC)

10.2.4. California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM)

10.3. Cell Therapy Manufacturing: Affiliated International Societies



11. PARTNERSHIPS

11.1. Chapter Overview

11.2. Partnership Models

11.3. Cell Therapy Manufacturing: List of Partnerships

11.3.1. Analysis by Year of Partnership

11.3.2. Analysis by Type of Partnership Model

11.3.3. Analysis by Year and Type of Partnership Model

11.4. Analysis by Type of Cells

11.5. Analysis by Scale of Operation

11.6. Geographical Analysis

11.6.1. Continent-wise Distribution

11.6.2. Country-wise Distribution

11.7. Most Active Players: Analysis by Number of Partnerships

11.8. Cell Therapy Manufacturing: List of Acquisitions

11.8.1. Analysis by Year and Type of Cells

11.8.2. Geographical Analysis

11.8.3. Ownership Change Matrix



12. FACILITY EXPANSIONS

12.1. Chapter Overview

12.2. Cell Therapy Manufacturing: List of Expansions

12.2.1. Cumulative Year-wise Distribution

12.2.2. Analysis by Type of Cells

12.2.3. Analysis by Scale of Operation

12.2.3. Analysis by Purpose of Expansion

12.2.4. Analysis by Location of Manufacturing Facility

12.2.5. Analysis by Region and Purpose of Expansion



13. CAPACITY ANALYSIS

13.1. Chapter Overview

13.2. Key Assumptions and Methodology (Industry Players)

13.2.1 Cell Therapy Manufacturing: Installed Global Capacity (Number of Cleanrooms)

13.2.1.1. Analysis by Size of Manufacturer

13.2.1.2. Analysis by Scale of Operation

13.2.1.3. Analysis by Location of Manufacturing Facility

13.2.2. Cell Therapy Manufacturing: Installed Global Capacity (Cleanroom Area)

13.3. Key Assumptions and Methodology (Non-Industry Players)

13.3.1. Cell Therapy Manufacturing: Installed Global Capacity (Number of Cleanrooms)

13.3.1.1. Analysis by Scale of Operation

13.3.1.2. Analysis by Location of Manufacturing Facility

13.3.2. Cell Therapy Manufacturing: Installed Global Capacity (Cleanroom Area)

13.4 Concluding Remarks



14. DEMAND ANALYSIS

14.1 Chapter Overview

14.2 Key Assumptions and Methodology

14.3 Cell Therapy Manufacturing: Overall Annual Demand

14.3.1. Analysis by Type of Cells

14.3.2. Analysis by Scale of Operations

14.3.3. Analysis by Geography



15. COST PRICE ANALYSIS

15.1. Chapter Overview

15.2. Factors Contributing to the High Price of Cell Therapies

15.3. Pricing Models for Cell Therapies

15.3.1. Based on Associated Costs for T-cell Therapies

15.3.2. Based on Associated Costs for Stem Cell Therapies

15.3.3. Based on Availability of Competing Products

15.3.4. Based on Target Patient Segment

15.3.5. Based on Opinions of Industry Experts

15.4. Cell Therapy Cost Optimization

15.4.1. Role of Cost of Goods Sold

15.4.2. Role of Automation

15.4.3. Role of Cell Therapy Contract Manufacturing Organizations

15.5. Reimbursement-related Considerations for Cell Therapies

15.5.1. Case Study: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence's (NICE) Appraisal of CAR-T Therapies



16. MAKE VERSUS BUY DECISION MAKING FRAMEWORK

16.1. Chapter Overview

16.2. Make versus Buy Decision Making: Analytical Output



17. MARKET SIZING AND OPPORTUNITY ANALYSIS

17.1. Chapter Overview

17.2. Scope of the Forecast

17.3. Forecast Methodology

17.4. Input Tables and Key Assumptions

17.5. Overall Cell Therapy Manufacturing Market, 2019-2030

17.5.1. Cell Therapy Manufacturing Market, 2019-2030: Distribution by Type of Cell Therapy

17.5.2. Cell Therapy Manufacturing Market, 2019-2030: Distribution by Source of Cells

17.5.3. Cell Therapy Manufacturing Market, 2019-2030: Distribution by Scale of Operation

17.5.4. Cell Therapy Manufacturing Market, 2019-2030: Distribution by Purpose of Production

17.5.5. Cell Therapy Manufacturing Market, 2019-2030: Geographical Distribution

17.6. Market Opportunity in Commercial Scale Manufacturing of Cell-based Therapies

17.7. Market Opportunity in Clinical Scale Manufacturing of Cell-based Therapies



18. KEY INSIGHTS

18.1. Chapter Overview

18.2. Cell Therapy Manufacturers: Grid Analysis

18.3. Cell Therapy Manufacturers: Logo Landscape by Type of Cell Therapy

18.3.1. Logo Landscape: Immune Cell Manufacturers

18.3.2. Logo Landscape: Stem Cell Manufacturers

18.4. Cell Therapy Manufacturers: World Map Representation of Location of Manufacturing Facility

18.4.1. Industry Players

18.4.2. Non-Industry Players



19. SWOT ANALYSIS

19.1. Chapter Overview

19.2. Strengths

19.3. Weaknesses

19.4. Opportunities

19.5. Threats

19.6. Comparison of SWOT Factors

19.6.1. Concluding Remarks



20. CONCLUSION

20.1. Chapter Overview

20.2. Key Takeaways



21. SURVEY ANALYSIS

21.1. Chapter Overview

21.2. Seniority Level of Respondents

21.3. Type of Cell Therapy

21.4. Scale of Operation

21.5. Source of Cells

21.6. Type of Cell Culture System

21.7. Availability of Fill/Finish Services



22. INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS

22.1. Chapter Overview

22.2. Lion TCR

22.2.1. Company Overview

22.2.2. Interview Transcript: Victor Lietao Li, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer

22.3. Cell Therapies

22.4. CiMaas

22.5. Gracell Biotechnologies

22.6. Glycostem Therapeutics

22.7. Kadimastem

22.8. Bio Elpida

22.9. Center for Commercialization of Cancer Immunotherapy/C3i

22.10. Waisman Biomanufacturing

22.11. RoslinCT

22.12. Yposkesi

22.13. University of Minnesota



23. APPENDIX 1: TABULATED DATA



24. APPENDIX 2: LIST OF COMPANIES AND ORGANIZATIONS



3P Biopharmaceuticals

A2 Healthcare

Accellta

Acerta Pharma

Adaptimmune

Adva Biotechnology

Advanced Cell Therapy Laboratory, Yale School of Medicine

Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute

Advent Bioservices

Agios Pharmaceuticals

Ajinomoto

Akron Biotech

Alberta Cell Therapy Manufacturing, University of Alberta

Allele Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals

Alliance for Regenerative Medicine

AlloSource

Altor BioScience

American Productivity & Quality Center

American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy

American Society of Mechanical Engineers

Amgen

Amsterdam Biotherapeutics Unit

Andalusian Initiative for Advanced Therapies

Angiocrine Bioscience

Anterogen

Aokai (Suzhou) Biomedical

apceth Biopharma

Argos Therapeutics

ARIAD Pharmaceuticals

Asahi Glass Company

Asterias Biotherapeutics

AstraZeneca

Asymptote

Atara Biotherapeutics

Athersys

Atlantic Bio GMP

ATVIO Biotechnology

Australasian Gene and Cell Therapy Society

Austrian Network for Gene Therapy

Autolus

Azellon Cell Therapeutics

Bavarian Nordic

Bayer

Be The Match BioTherapies

Bellicum Pharmaceuticals

Berkeley Lights

Bio Elpida

BioCision

Bioinova

BioLife Solutions

Biological and Cellular GMP Manufacturing Facility, City of Hope

biologistex CCM

BioNTech Innovative Manufacturing Services

Biosafe Group

bluebird bio

Boehringer Ingelheim

Bone Therapeutics

Brammer Bio

Bristol-Myers Squibb

British Society for Gene and Cell Therapy

Caladrius Biosciences

California Institute of Regenerative Medicine

Cancer Research UK

Capricor Therapeutics

CardioCell

Celgene

Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult

Cell Manipulation Core, Dana-Farber / Harvard Cancer Center

Cell Medica

Cell Tech Pharmed

Cell Therapies

Cell Therapy and Regenerative Medicine, University of Utah

Cell Therapy Facility, UMC Utrecht

Cell Therapy Manufacturing Cooperative Research Center

Cell Therapy Suite, University of Birmingham

Cellab

CellCAN

Cellectis

CELLforCURE

Cellin Technologies

Cells Cure Foundation

Cells for Sight Stem Cell Therapy Research Unit, University College London

Cellular Biomedicine Group

Cellular Therapeutics

Cellular Therapy Core, University of Texas

Cellular Therapy Integrated Services, Case Western Reserve University

Celyad

Censo Biotechnologies

Center for Biomedical Engineering and Advanced Manufacturing, McMaster University

Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Baylor College of Medicine

Center for Gene and Cell Processing, Takara Bio

Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research

Centre for Biological Engineering, Loughborough University

Centre for Cell and Vector Production

Centre for Cell Manufacturing Ireland, NUI Galway

Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine

Centre for Stem Cell Research

Centre for Commercialization of Cancer Immunotherapy (C3i)

Centre multidisciplinaire de dveloppement du gnie tissulaire

Centre of Genomics and Policy, McGill University

Cesca Therapeutics

Chemometec

Chiesi Farmaceutici

Children's Medical Research Institute

Children's GMP, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

China Life Health Industry Group

China Regenerative Medicine International

CiMaas

City of Hope Alpha Clinic for Cell Therapy

Clinical Biomanufacturing Facility, University of Oxford

Clinical Cell and Vaccine Production Facility

Clinical Research Facility, South London and Maudsley

Closed Cell Systems

Cognate BioServices

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization

Cook MyoSite

CRISPR Therapeutics

Cryoport

Cryosite

CureCell

Cynata Therapeutics

Cytonome

Cytori Therapeutics

CyTuVax

DanDrit Biotech

DCPrime

Dendreon

DiscGenics

Eli Lilly

EMERCell

Emory Personalized Immunotherapy Core

European Bank for induced pluripotent Stem Cells

European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy

Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario

Ferrologix

Fibrocell

Finnish Gene Therapy Society

Fisher BioServices

FloDesign Sonics

Fortuna Fix

Fosun Pharma

Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy

Foundation of Croatian Association for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Therapy

Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology IZI

French Society of Cellular and Gene Therapy

Froceth

FUJIFILM Cellular Dynamics

Gamida Cell

Gates Biomanufacturing Facility

GC Cell

GE Healthcare

GenCure

Gene and Cell Therapy Lab, Institute of Translational Health Sciences

Genentech

Georgia Institute of Technology

Georgia Research Alliance

German Gene Therapy Society

Gilead Sciences

GlaxoSmithKline

Glycostem Therapeutics

GPB Scientific

Gradalis

Great Ormond Street Hospital Cellular Therapy Laboratories, University College London

Guy's and St Thomas' Facility

Haematological Sciences, Institute of Cellular Medicine

Harvard University Stem Cell Institute

Health Sciences Authority

Hielscher Ultrasonics

Histocell

Hitachi Chemical Advanced Therapeutics Solutions

Holostem Terapie Avanzate

Hospital of University of Pennsylvania

Houston Methodist Hospital Foundation

Houston Methodist Institute of Technology, Innovation and Education

Houston Methodist Research Institute

Human Islet and Cellular Transplant Facility

Human Stem Cells Institute

Immatics Biotechnologies

ImmunoCellular Therapeutics

Immunocore

Immunovative Therapies

IncoCell Tianjin

Innovate UK

Innovative Cellular Therapeutics

IntelliCell BioSciences

Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami

International Cellular Medicine Society

International Society for Cancer Gene Therapy

International Society for Cellular Therapy

International Society for Stem Cell Research

International Stem Cell Corporation

Invetech

Iovance Biotherapeutics

IQVIA Stem Cell Center

Irish Society for Gene and Cell Therapy

Irish Stem Cell Foundation

Israeli Society for Gene and Cell Therapy

Isto Biologics

Japan Society for Gene Therapy

Japan Tissue Engineering

Jazz Pharmaceuticals

JCR Pharmaceuticals

John Goldmann Centre for Cellular Therapy, Imperial College London

Juno Therapeutics

JW CreaGene

Kawasaki Heavy Industries

KBI Biopharma

Kiadis Pharma

Kids Research Institute

Kite Pharma

KMC Systems

Kolon TissueGene

Korean Society of Gene and Cell Therapy

Laboratory for Cell and Gene Medicine, University of Stanford

Lexicon Pharmaceuticals

Lion TCR

Lonza

Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital

Marken

MaSTherCell

Mayo Clinic Center for Regenerative Medicine

MedCision

Medigene

MEDINET

MEDIPOST

Medistem Panama (Stem Cell Institute)

MedPost

MedStar Georgetown University Hospital

Merck

Mesoblast

Michael Smith Laboratories, University of British Columbia

Millennium Pharmaceuticals

Millipore Sigma

Miltenyi Biotec

MNX Global Logistics

Moffitt Cancer Center

Molecular and Cellular Therapeutics, University of Minnesota

MolMed

Mustang Bio

Nantes University Hospital

National Cell Manufacturing Consortium

National Centre for Biomedical Engineering Sciences

National Eye Institute

National Gene Vector Laboratory

National Institute of Health Research

National Institute of Standards and Technologies

National Stem Cell Foundation

National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

Neon Therapeutics

Netherlands Cancer Institute

Networks of Centres of Excellence

Neuralstem

NewLink Genetics

NHSBT Blood and Transplant, Birmingham

Nikon

Nikon CeLL innovation

Nohla Therapeutics

Northwest Biotherapeutics

Norwegian Radium Hospital

Novadip

Novartis

NuVasive

Octane Medical Group

Oncobiomed

Ontario Institute of Regenerative Medicine

Onyx Pharmaceuticals

Opexa Therapeutics

Orchard Therapeutics

Orgenesis

Orthofix

Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Ges

Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, University of Ottawa

Oxford BioMedica

Oxford MEStar

Pall

PAREXEL

PCI Services

PCT Cell Therapy Services

The Peter Couche Foundation

Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre

Pfizer

PharmaBio

PharmaCell

Pharmicell

Pluristem Therapeutics

Praxis Pharmaceutical

Production Assistance for Cellular Therapies

Promethera Biosciences

Provia Laboratories

Puma Biotechnology

Q-GEN Cell Therapeutics, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute

Rayne Cell Therapy Suite, King's College London

Regenerative Medicine Foundation

Regenerative Medicine Institute

Regenesys

Regeneus

Reliance Life Sciences

ReNeuron

RepliCel

Research and Development Center for Cell Therapy, Foundation for Biomedical Research and Innovation

Riyadh Pharma

Robertson Clinical and Translational Cell Therapy, Duke University

Roche Diagnostics

RoosterBio

Roslin Cells

Roswell Park Cancer Institute

Royal Free Hospital, Centre for Cell and Gene Tissue Therapeutics

Royal Prince Alfred Hospital

Saint-Gobain

SanBio

Sartorius Stedim Biotech

SAVSU Technologies

Scinogy

Scottish Centre for Regenerative Medicine

Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service Cellular Therapy Facility

Servier

Shanghai Sunway Biotech

Shenzhen Sibiono GeneTech

SHIBUYA

Sistemic

Smilow Center for Translational Research

Smith & Nephew

SOTIO

Spanish Society for Gene and Cell Therapy

Spark Therapeutics

Stage Cell Therapeutics

Stanford Children's Health, Stanford Health Care

Stanford Medicine

Stemedica Cell Technologies

Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma

Swedish Society for Gene and Cell Therapy

Sydney Cell and Gene Therapy

Syngen Biotech

Takeda Pharmaceutical

TAP Biosystems

TargetAMD

TC BioPharm

T-Cell Factory

Terumo

Terumo BCT

TESARO

Texas Children's Hospital

Texas Medical Center

The Children's Hospital at Westmead

The Elisa Linton Center for Rare Disease Therapies

The Michael G. Harris Cell Therapy and Cell Engineering Facility, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

The Netherlands Society of Gene and Cell Therapy

The New York Stem Cell Foundation

The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute

The Philip S Orsino Facility for Cell Therapy, Princess Margaret Hospital

The University of Texas Health Science Center

Therapeutic Cell Production Core, Seattle Children's Hospital

Thermo Fisher Scientific

ThermoGenesis

TiGenix

Tokyo Electron

TrakCel

Trinity Partners

Turkish Society for Gene and Cell Therapy

TVAX Biomedical

TxCell

Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

UC Davis GMP Laboratory

UCLA Human Gene and Cell Therapy

UCLA-UCI Alpha Stem Cell Clinic

UK Stem Cell Foundation

University Hospital Basel

University Medical Center Groningen

University of California

University of Leeds

University of Manchester

University of Newcastle

University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center

University of Tennessee

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Upstate Stem Cell cGMP Facility, University of Rochester

Vaccinogen

Valeant Pharmaceuticals

Vecura, Karolinska University Hospital

Vericel

Vineti

Vitruvian Networks

VivaBioCell

Waisman Biomanufacturing

Westmead Hospital

Westmead Millennium Institute

World Courier

WuXi Advanced Therapies

WuXi AppTec

Wyeth

Xellbiogene

Yposkesi

Zelluna Immunotherapy

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/a475yb

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.



CONTACT: ResearchAndMarkets.com

Laura Wood, Senior Press Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com

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


Ill be meeting personally with Taliban leaders in the not-too-distant future and will be very much hoping that they will be doing what they say theyre going to be doing, the president said at a news conference in Washington hours after the agreement was signed. They will be killing terrorists. They will be killing some very bad people, they will keep that fight going.

He went on: As you know, we destroyed in Syria and Iraq 100 percent of the ISIS Caliphate, 100 percent. We have thousands of prisoners. Weve killed ISIS fighters by the thousands, and likewise in Afghanistan, but now its time for somebody else to do that work and thatll be the Taliban. And it could be surrounding countries. There are many countries that surround Afghanistan that can help.

I really believe the Taliban wants to do something to show that were not all wasting time, he added. If bad things happen, well go back. I let the people know well go back, and well go back so fast and well go back with a force like nobodys ever seen.

At the CPAC conference in Maryland on Saturday afternoon  a gathering of thousands of conservatives wholly devoted to the president  Mr. Trump picked up his theme of the Taliban as a potential ally.

Ill say this for the Taliban, he said. Theyre great fighters. You know that obviously. Theyre great fighters. All you have to do is ask the Soviet Union. Are they great fighters? They are great fighters. But theyre tired also. This is 19 years, 19 years.
The truck was en route to deliver foodstuffs to Ukrainian soldiers.

One Ukrainian serviceman was killed and four were injured as Russia-led forces struck a Ukrainian military truck, using an anti-tank guided missile on Sunday, March 1.

The truck was en route to deliver foodstuffs to Ukrainian soldiers deployed near the village of Nyzhnioteple, Luhansk region, the press center of the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) said on Facebook in an evening update on March 1.

Read alsoRussia-led forces' Feb casualties in Donbas include 38 dead and 44 wounded soldiers  Ukraine's JFO

"One member of the Joint Forces was killed, another four were injured. All injured Ukrainian servicemen were promptly taken to hospitals and provided qualified medical care," it said.

"Given that the distance to the Ukrainian military vehicle was about 3,500 meters, it is likely that the strike had been made by a trained Russian serviceman rather than by a civilian-turned operator who has undergone brief training," it said.

As UNIAN reported earlier, Russia-led forces in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, mounted 19 attacks on Ukrainian positions on February 29, as a result of which two members of Ukraine's Joint Forces (JFO) were wounded in action, and another one sustained combat-related injuries.
South Carolinas big day. Photo: Sean Rayford/Getty Images

South Carolina voters have handed a clear victory to former vice-president Joe Biden. As soon as the polls closed at 7 p.m., news outlets began calling the race in favor of Biden based on exit-polling data showing him with a large advantage. He had led every poll in the state for months  thanks in large part to his strength among black voters  and the victory will boost his chances of staying close with the Democratic front-runner, Bernie Sanders, when 14 states go to the polls on Super Tuesday this week. Were tracking the results as they come in, as well as providing commentary and analysis, via live updates below.

Outlets have called it

The win not only keeps Biden competitive entering Super Tuesday, its also his first-ever win in a presidential primary in three bids at the White House. With about 96 percent of precincts reporting, Biden leads with 48.7 percent of the vote, followed by Sanders with 20 percent, and Tom Steyer with 11.4 percent. No other candidate made it out of single digits.

ABC News projects that Joe Biden wins South Carolina.  Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) March 1, 2020

Decision Desk HQ projects @JoeBiden will win the #SCPrimary

We will be updating delegate projections throughout the course of the night.

Full results here: https://t.co/AOgwtoMxNF pic.twitter.com/qE1eVZbQ60  Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) March 1, 2020

Exit polls show a big night for Biden

The former vice-presidents focus on the Palmetto State certainly paid off, as his campaign resonated with older, African-American, and more conservative Democrats  all demographics friendly to Biden. According to exit-poll analysis provided by the Washington Post, Biden won 44 percent of voters over 65, 43 percent of black voters, and 38 percent of voters who attend religious services weekly. According to NBC News, 60 percent of black Democrats voted for Biden, far outpacing the next-closest candidate, Bernie Sanders, who won 17 percent. Over half of those who turned out were African-American.

Biden ran about even with Sanders among white S.C. voters according to preliminary exit polling, but black voters favored Biden by about 3-to-1. See more results --> https://t.co/0lhEJYDVEO pic.twitter.com/xmjm0r6EGV  Scott Clement (@sfcpoll) March 1, 2020

Voters/caucus participants under 45 years old, per exit polls:



IA: 45%

NH: 35%

NV: 36%

SC: 28%  Steve Kornacki (@SteveKornacki) February 29, 2020

SC exit poll, black voters

Biden 60%

Sanders 17%

Steyer 14%  Steve Kornacki (@SteveKornacki) March 1, 2020

42% of South Carolina Democratic primary voters said they go to church weekly  Peter Hamby (@PeterHamby) February 29, 2020

And he looks energized in his victory speech

Biden tells Democrats across the country that if they nominate him, he believes that they can beat Trump, keep Nancy Pelosi as Speaker, and take back the Senate. #SCprimary2020 pic.twitter.com/JqhnnorWvL  PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) March 1, 2020

To all of those who have been knocked down, counted out, and left behind, this is your campaign, Biden said to a crowd at his campaign headquarters in Columbia. The press and the pundits had declared this candidacy dead, [but] now, thanks to all of you, the heart of the Democratic Party, we won and we won big because of you.

Is a primary victory the best kept beauty secret? Joe Biden looks like five years younger than he did in New Hampshire right now.  Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) March 1, 2020

The delegate count

According to early projections, Joe Biden is expected to pick up 25 delegates from South Carolina, while Bernie Sanders will hang on to his lead with six. That would mean Sanders leads with 51 delegates, Biden trails with 40, Pete Buttigieg with 26, and Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar with eight and seven, respectively. Theres still a long way to go, however: On Super Tuesday, a total of 1,344 delegates are at stake.

Democratic primary election results in South Carolina so far:

Joe Biden winning (25 delegates)

Bernie Sanders second (6 delegates)#SouthCarolinaPrimary pic.twitter.com/OmFUQm4qL9  Negar Mortazavi   (@NegarMortazavi) March 1, 2020

Electability is a major concern in S.C.

A majority of voters in South Carolina today said they preferred a candidate who could beat Trump over one they agree with on issues, based on preliminary exit polls.



Biden won among both groups. Sanders did best with voters who prioritized issues.https://t.co/9X2PRLCemh pic.twitter.com/5DUlJLJnv4  FiveThirtyEight (@FiveThirtyEight) March 1, 2020

Tom Steyer drops out

Though the billionaire spent an estimated $22.5 million in the state on television ads alone, the payout did not reflect in the exit polls, where Steyer managed just 14 percent support from those who attend religious services weekly and just 6 percent of voters 17 to 29. After NBC projected that Steyer would miss the 15 percent statewide threshold to earn delegates, he announced he was dropping out of the race.

I said if I didnt see a path to winning, then Id suspend my campaign, Steyer said on Saturday. And honestly, I cant see a path where I can win the presidency.

And Pete Buttigieg takes a hit

As the New York Times Reid J. Epstein and Trip Gabriel note, Pete Buttigieg spent more days in South Carolina than any other candidate, and spent more on TV ads ($2.5 million) than anyone but Steyer. Despite the attention  and direct outreach to black voters  Buttigieg was not able to earn more than 2 percent of African-American support on Saturday.

And the people of South Carolina really dont like Bloomberg

The SC exit poll number that was maybe the most *eyes emoji* to me..



Favorability among Dem voters



Biden: 76  / 20 

Buttigieg: 50  / 42 

Klobuchar: 43  / 48 

Sanders: 53  / 41 

Steyer: 55  / 37 

Warren: 53  / 39 



and then...



 Bloomberg: 26  / 66   Carrie Dann (@CarrieNBCNews) March 1, 2020

Biden grabs another important Virginia endorsement

Shortly after the first projections came in calling Biden the winner in South Carolina, former Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe endorsed the former vice-president on CNN, saying that his decision came down to an electability issue, who has the best shot at beating Donald Trump. Polls show Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden competitive in the state, which votes on Super Thursday; Virginia senator Tim Kaine also endorsed Biden earlier this week.

And gets some potential good news for Super Tuesday

With 59% of SC in, Biden has now passed Sanders in the national popular vote: pic.twitter.com/G7QnYbQ2ZW  Steve Kornacki (@SteveKornacki) March 1, 2020

CNBC is reporting that bundlers supporting Bidens campaign are seeing a major uptick in fundraising following the win in South Carolina: According to people with direct knowledge of the matter, Bidens bundlers lured donors who had been backing Sen. Amy Klobuchar and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg. They also grabbed support from donors who had been uncommitted  These wealthy donors are now willing to give up to the max amount of $2,800 to Bidens campaign, which has struggled at times to raise cash.

The president weighs in

Between making fun of Democratic candidates and giving himself an A+++ rating for his handling of the coronavirus in a speech at CPAC, Trump managed to find time to analyze the impact of Bidens primary win.

Sleepy Joe Bidens victory in the South Carolina Democrat Primary should be the end of Mini Mike Bloombergs Joke of a campaign. After the worst debate performance in the history of presidential debates, Mini Mike now has Biden split up his very few voters, taking many away!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 1, 2020

Sign Up for the Intelligencer Newsletter Daily news about the politics, business, and technology shaping our world. Email This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Terms & Privacy Notice By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us.
British health authorities on Sunday announced 12 more confirmed cases of the new coronavirus, bringing the country's overall tally to 35.

The government's chief medical officer, Prof. Chris Whitty, said one of the new patients had no relevant travel and it is not yet clear whether they contracted it directly or indirectly from an individual who had recently returned from abroad.

Whitty said medical workers were still investigating the cause of that one infection.

Three of the new COVID-19 patients were contacts of an existing patient.

Of the remaining eight new cases, six infected people had recently traveled from Italy and two had arrived from Iran, both countries hard hit by the coronavirus that emerged late last year in central China.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The mensxp.com privacy policy has been updated to align with the new data regulations in European Union. Please review and accept these changes below to continue using the website. We use cookies to ensure the best experience for you on our website.
As Scott noted this post, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled yesterday that that Article III of the Constitution forbids federal courts from resolving the dispute between the House of Representatives and the executive branch over whether former White House Counsel Don McGahn must comply with a subpoena to testify before the House. The decision is, of course, a victory for President Trump. It means the House subpoena will not be enforced.

The vote was 2-1. Judge Thomas Griffith wrote the opinion for the court. Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson wrote a concurring opinion. Judge Judith Rogers dissented.

Judge Hendersons opinion is less sweeping than Judge Griffiths. Her opinion rejects the view that Article III of the Constitution precludes standing whenever the Congress, or a chamber thereof, asserts institutional injury in a dispute with the executive. It also rejects McGahns assertion of absolute testimonial immunity against compelled congressional process.

I listened to the oral argument of this case, and wrote about it here. My abiding impression is the brilliant job Hashim Mooppan, the Department of Justice lawyer, did in arguing the case.

As for the outcome, my impression is that the result is supported by the case law. However, I wonder whether this case law is leading to dubious results.

If its problematic from a policy/separation of powers standpoint for courts to rule in favor of one political branch in a dispute with another, why isnt it at least as problematic for courts to rule, in effect, against both political branches, as courts do when they strike down enacted laws? Personally, Im more comfortable with judges adjudicating disputes over subpoenas (even disputes between the two branches) than I am with judges striking down legislation passed by one branch and signed into law by the other (although judges must do so in some cases).

The majority points out that the political branches are capable of dealing with disputes like the one over the McGahn subpoena without court involvement. Congress can respond to the executives refusal to comply through measures like withholding appropriations, refusing to confirm the presidents nominees, delaying or derailing the presidents legislative agenda, or impeaching recalcitrant officers.

However, these remedies strike me as far more harmful to our Republic than having judges resolve a subpoena dispute. Moreover, in some cases the legislative body in question  the House or the Senate  will not be able to effectuate a particular remedial measure on its own.

To be clear, Im not arguing that the panel reached the incorrect legal result. Im not even sure that its result makes for bad policy. Im just expressing unease with the result as a matter of policy  unease that I suspect many conservatives would share if the case involved the effort of a Republican House to secure testimony from the former White House Counsel in a Democratic administration.

Adding to my unease is the fact that many, me included, criticized the Houses second article of impeachment against President Trump  alleged obstruction of justice based on refusing to produce documents and witnesses  arguing that the remedy for the non-cooperation is to seek enforcement of subpoenas in court, not to impeach the president. Yet, the D.C. Circuit, at the urging of the administration, has now ruled that the judiciary cant even consider whether to enforce the House subpoenas.

Theres no inconsistency between our argument against impeachment and the D.C. Circuits ruling. That ruling notwithstanding, it remains true that Trump ought not have been impeached for obstructing Congress before the House attempted to enforce the subpoenas in question.

I still dont think Trump should be impeached for obstruction. However, the opinion of the court lists impeachment as a possible remedy for not complying with House-issued subpoenas.

Thus, while theres no inconsistency here, theres plenty of irony.

UPDATE: I should add that liberals have a clear majority on the D.C. Circuit. Thus, if the House files a petition for rehearing of the McGahn case, as I expect it will, theres a fairly good chance the panels ruling will be overturned.
Ex-NFL player Jack Brewer calls Trump first black president as supporters bless him at White House

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

Former Vikings player-turned-ordained minister Jack Brewer called President Donald Trump Americas first black president and joined other black supporters in praying for him during a round table meeting at the White House Thursday during which Trump declared he will not stop until he has 100% support from the community.

Trump, at the meeting with black supporters, cited low unemployment rates for African Americans and the passage of a criminal justice bill providing early release for thousands of federal drug offenders as examples of how hes helping the black community, The Associated Press reported.

I will not stop. I will not give up until we have delivered equal and abundant opportunity to every neighborhood across our land, Trump said.

During the roundtable meeting, Brewer enthusiastically declared Trump Americas first black president despite the election of former President Barack Obama as the nations first African American president in 2008.

Mr. President, I dont mean to interrupt, but Ive got to say this because its Black History Month. Man, you are the first black president, Brewer said.

Fox News noted that before Obama's election, former President Bill Clinton was often referred to as the nation's first black president.

Jack Brewer: "Mr. President, I dont mean to interrupt, but Ive got to say this because its #BlackHistoryMonth -- man, you're the first black president." pic.twitter.com/AZf670rUfs  BernieisaCommie.357 (@ASimplePatriot) February 28, 2020

Ive been a Democrat all my life but Im not a Democrat now, he told Trump earlier. Youve changed me. You touched me. And you made my work go to another level. You inspire me. And every time I go into those prisons and I ask my guys how many of them had their sentences reduced and they raise their hands, I know Im doing Gods work and I thank you for that.

In a further statement on Twitter, Brewer noted: Blacks in America have listened to Presidents campaign on empty Promises for over 50 years, now @realDonaldTrump has delivered real Policies that are bringing people out of poverty and freeing our black sons and fathers from mass incarceration. The Black Awakening is happening.

Trump told the group, which included internet personalities Diamond and Silk, and Martin Luther King Jr.s niece, Alveda King, that we have a lot of great things in store and a lot of interesting times.

Youve been seeing the polls, the polls have been incredible.  I wont be satisfied until I get 100% because nobody is doing more for black people. Nobody has done more, he said to applause.

Comedian Terrence K. Williams, who sat next to Trump during the roundtable, called him, the greatest president since Abraham Lincoln.

The presidents spiritual adviser Paula White agreed, telling the president you are the greatest president and you will go down in history as you create history for all Americans.

Approval of Trump among black Americans has been consistent at about 1 in 10 over the course of his presidency, AP said. A Pew Research Center analysis of people who participated in its polls and were confirmed to have voted also showed Trump won just 6% of black voters in 2016, the news agency noted.

Trump, in addition to highlighting his administrations legislative victories on criminal justice reform, also pointed to an accounting of economic statistics and funding for historically black colleges during a reception, the New York Post reported.

I just want to congratulate the black community because what youve done in the progress youve made over the last three years, Trump said.

The African American poverty rate has plummeted to the lowest level in the history of our country. These are good numbers. I dont know. I mean, I should be at 100% I hate to tell you, right? said the president as the crowd repeatedly chanted, Four more years!

Gertrude Jane Holliday Stone, 89, a civil-rights icon with Houstons National African American Museum, also thanked Trump for all he has been doing for humanity during a reception to celebrate Black History Month at the White House Thursday.

I dont believe in abortions. He doesnt, either, she said.

You might be killing an Einstein. You might be killing a Nobel laureate. And you might be killing somebody thats going to find the cure for the coronavirus, she said as she thanked Trump even more.
(Newser)  About a week ago, Steven Spielberg's daughter said she's a porn star. Now Radar reports that Mikaela Spielberg has been arrested and charged with domestic violence in Nashville, Tennessee. An inmate report shows the 23-year-old was collared Saturday morning, booked soon after, and put under a routine "12-hour hold" even though her $1,000 bond was posted. Her fiance, Chuck Pankow, confirms the arrest to Fox News but calls it "a misunderstanding. No one is hurt." People recalls that Mikaela was adopted by Spielberg and his wife Kate Capshaw into a family that includes six other children. Anyone experiencing domestic violence is urged to call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or go to thehotline.org. (See how Mikaela's porn announcement went down.)
A racist yob who hurled vile anti-Semitic abuse at a Jewish family was found guilty after film footage of the confrontation went viral.

Adam Cassidy, 20, called the group 'dirty Jews' when they confronted him after he collided with a baby buggy outside a Costa in St Albans in August last year.

Cassidy claimed they called him a 'dirty Arab' first, but his defence was rejected by magistrates.

Adam Cassidy, 20, pictured at court Friday, called the group 'dirty Jews' when they confronted him after he collided with a baby buggy outside a Costa in St Albans in August last year

A video of the incident, filmed by victim Michael Mendelsohn, was played to the court and showed Cassidy using the anti-Semitic term three times before kicking a Costa hoarding in the family's direction.

Cassidy, who grew up in Egypt and is the son of an English mother and a Turkish father, had pleaded not guilty to racially aggravated assault and to using the slur when he appeared at St Albans Magistrates' Court.

But District Judge Margeret Dodd found Cassidy guilty of both charges

Cassidy is shown left arriving at St Albans Magistrates court in Hertfordshire as his victim (right) arrives separately

She told Cassidy: 'I don't accept your evidence. I don't accept that anybody called you anything.

'Whether it was an accident when you bumped into the buggy I don't know.

'That doesn't excuse what you did and doesn't excuse your response.

'I'm satisfied you used the language and you used it more than once. I don't accept it was mere abuse.

'There are plenty of words you could have used if you just wanted to be rude; this was motivated by a racial motive.

'It was obvious that they were Jewish because of their skull caps and for that reason you said 'dirty jew' three times.

Cassidy was seen in the ugly confrontation with his victims who were a young family having coffee on the high street when he called one of them a 'dirty Jew'

'I don't accept that you were fearing that you would be attacked when you kicked the barrier.

'I'm not sure what you were trying to do but Mr Mendelsohn would have been hit by the barrier that you agreed you kicked deliberately.'

Ali Hussain, defending Cassidy, claimed that the slur was not motivated by racial hatred but was used as an equivalent to what his client had been called before recording started.

Cassidy (pictured) was seen on camera unleashing the vile insults at his victim and his young family

He said: 'He has never disputed using those words and has been entirely consistent throughout about the reason he has said what he said.

'It's unfortunate that a little bit more wasn't caught on the video as that would have clarified the situation.

'He gives you a clear account as to why he used the words that he did and the reason, I would suggest, is that it's really him using vulgar language directed at somebody who is clearly Jewish but not, as required by the act, that he is demonstrating hostility based on the fact that they are Jewish and I would submit that there is a clear distinction between the two.

Cassidy claimed on social media to work as an air conditioning engineer with Stay Cool HVAC in St Albans - but the firm's boss said he no longer worked for the company

'The defendant has explained why he kicked the hoarding and I would submit that probably amounts to self defence.'

Speaking after the hearing, Mr Mendelsohn, who filmed the tirade of abuse which went vital last summer, said: 'Cassidy's defence added insult to injury.

'It's upsetting that this kind of behaviour happens in this day and age.'

Cassidy, of St Albans, Herts, was ordered to return to the same court for sentencing next month.
South Africa will evacuate 151 citizens from the coronavirus-hit Chinese city of Wuhan within days, the health minister said Sunday, as the death toll and number of infected worldwide mounted.

The virus has spread to more than 60 countries around the globe -- killing nearly 3,000 people and sickening 87,000 -- prompting the World Health Organization to raise its risk assessment to its highest level.

The decision to airlift the trapped South Africans came after President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday directed the repatriation of those who have asked to return home.

"We were asked by the president to start the process immediately -- (so) within seven to 10 days (the evacuation team) must have completed the task," Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said.

The minister told a conference at the country's main OR Tambo International airport that there were 201 South Africans in Wuhan -- the epicentre of the virus, and that "151 have indicated they want to be repatriated".

The group will be kept in quarantine for 21 days at a site authorities have refused to disclose.

"The people we are bringing in are South Africans who are healthy and as far as we are concerned, are not infected," Mkhize said.

The repatriation process will be executed by the military.

South Africa will be the latest country to extricate its nationals from Wuhan, where the deadly coronavirus outbreak first emerged in December.

Until Friday when a case was detected in Nigeria, sub-Saharan Africa had largely escaped the fast-spreading epidemic.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Coronavirus scare is having an impact on some weather infographics and maps at WeatherWatch.co.nz.

WeatherWatch.co.nz not only utilises extensive data from across NZ but also receives extra weather graphics to enhance some of the daily weather stories from a range of offshore providers.

Unfortunately due to the coronavirus scare some of the regular InfoGraphics we source from Japan, via The Weather Company, will be impacted in our free news services due their offices suddenly being closed in Tokyo, says WeatherWatch.co.nz Head Forecaster Philip Duncan.

The Weather Company in the UK and US will both step up to share responsibility, replacing and creating some InfoGraphics for the New Zealand and Australia areas.

It's unclear if any public Japanese Government satellite imagery, widely used by public and private forecasters around the world, will also be affected by the coronavirus outbreak.

Himawari satellite imagery and the Japanese Meteorological Agency - JMO are key public forecasters for the Pacific region.

The situation with The Weather Company - TWC office in Japan will be reassessed mid this week.

WeatherWatch.co.nz has access to many other resources, including additional IBM maps and graphics, so their services in New Zealand will not be impacted, but some of the regular daily weather graphics that the public are used to seeing may be replaced with different ones.

"While some of our infographics may not accompany our free public news stories, TWC is providing us with extra forecast content to help in other areas, specifically focusing on rainfall as parts of NZ continue to struggle through drought" says Philip.

"We speak daily to the meteorological team in Japan, they passionately love putting together these maps for New Zealand, so we wish them all the very best as they deal with the coronavirus situation in their nation.

Philip says that the Japan issues do not affect any of the forecast data at WeatherWatch.co.nz and RuralWeather.co.nz, or any of WeatherWatch.co.nzs commercial services.
Superstar Akshay Kumar has donated Rs 1.5 crore for building home for transgenders, an initiative started by his "Laxmmi Bomb" director Raghav Lawrence's charitable trust.

Lawrence took to Facebook to thank the 52-year-old Bollywood actor.

"Our trust is now entering into its 15th year. We wanted to celebrate this 15th year by initiating a new project for uplifting transgenders by providing shelter for them. Our trust has provided the land and we were looking forward to raise funds for the building, so during 'Laxmmi Bomb' shoot I was talking to Akshay sir about the trust projects and transgender's home, immediately after hearing this without even me asking he told he will donate 1.5 cores for building transgender's home.

"I consider everyone who helps as god, so now Akshay kumar sir is a god for us. I thank him for lending his huge support for this project. Our trust's next vision is to uplift transgenders and provide shelter for them all over India with Akshay Kumar's sir support. I thank him in behalf of all transgenders," the director posted on Facebook.

"Laxmmi Bomb" is a remake of 2011's Tamil horror comedy "Kanchana".

Produced by Cape of Good Films, Fox Star Studios, Tusshar Kapoor and Shabina Khan, the movie also features Kiara Advani.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Health Minister Hala Zayed said there is 'high probability" that Egypt will see more cases of the coronavirus but a ministry spokesman said there were no cases detected so far

Related French and Canadian cases showed no symptoms of coronavirus while in Egypt: WHO Egypt follows up on coronoavirus cases with France: Prime minister Egypts health ministry on Sunday denied reports that two new cases of the novel coronavirus had been detected in the country, a day after the health minister said that it is highly likely more cases of the virus will occur.

The ministry "denies once again the detection of any diagnosed or suspected cases of the coronavirus across all governorates," spokesman Khaled Megahed said, dismissing reports that two suspected cases have been transferred to a hospital in northern Egypt to be quarantined.

Health Minister Hala Zayed on Saturday said there is "a high probability we [Egypt] will get the coronavirus," stressing that such pandemics are "unavoidable."

Those pandemics "cannot be entirely prevented[but] their spread can be limited," she said in comments to satellite TV channel MBC Masr.

Egypt announced on Thursday that the person with the country's only detected case of the new virus had recovered and tested negative.

The outbreak has infected 86,000 people and killed about 3,000 since its outbreak in Wuhan, China in December.

Zayed said on Saturday that Egypt is prepared for three possible scenarios reviewed by WHO and the cabinet to face the deadly epidemic, based on the severity level of the outbreak, including "the worst possible scenario."

"It is not shameful for a country to have infections, the shame is in the inability to manage them," she said in a phone interview with MBC Masr.

Regarding the detection of cases in France, Canada, and Taiwan among people who had reportedly been in Egypt, the minister said that the possibility they got the virus in Egypt is very low, according to the WHO's standards.

"According to international standards, we can only say that those cases got their infection from Egypt if they stayed in the country for 14 continuous days and left on the fourteenth, then got diagnosed with the virus in the following 48 hours," she said

According to her, those two conditions do not apply to the cases.

Zayed said that the ministry has contacted France and Canada to find out the itinerary of the infected people while they were in Egypt.

By the time of Zayed's statement, Canada had not sent a response; France, however, had provided Egypt with the itineraries.

The minister has stressed that all necessary measures have been taken and all the people who engaged with the French cases have been examined, as have their lodgings.

The ministry will immediately announce any suspected cases once detected "with all transparency" and in coordination with the World Health Organization (WHO), the ministry spokesman said on Sunday.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


PUNE Days after the Pune traffic police opened Fergusson College (FC) road - from College of Agriculture till the Dnyaneshwar Paduka chowk - for two-wway traffic, traffic movement on the stretch has improved with commuters welcoming the changes.

On February 27, traffic police made the change after a decade of the road being one-way for traffic.

The new changes, according to additional commissioner of police (rraffic) Sanjay Shinde, is a temporary measure on experimental basis.

Rahul Wanjari, resident of Model Colony, welcomed the decision. We have been facing problems with no dedicated road going towards Fergussson College, except for the canal road, which has a lot of traffic during peak hours. By making Fergusson college two-way for vehicular traffic, it will help ease traffic flow, Wanjari said, adding, There are only single lanes on both sides, which infact can cause traffic jams.

HT was on site to witness the notification being implemented. There is a new signal at Lalit Mahal and information signboards regarding the changes prominently placed.

At the College of Agriculture chowk, there are atleast three traffic police directing traffic.

Another resident, Shaila Shah, who lives right above Hotel Shravan, feels that though the traffic police have taken this decision in good sense, traffic congestion is still a problem, as some motorists tend to double park.

Arvind Kelkar, owner of Sir Misal, a hotel near Lalit Mahal Chowk, said, I live in Aundh and I often come from Iyengar Institute lane, but recently, the traffic police have stopped traffic from using this turn during peak hours, which means I have to go all the way till Sancheti hospital to come towards Model colony.

Send in your views on the changes

This two-way is on a trial basis and we are appealing to the people to send their written suggestions or objections by March 12, to the additional commissioner of police, traffic branch office, near Yerwada post office, Airport road, Yerwada, said traffic inspector, Ashok Saikar, Shivajinagar traffic division.

.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP)  A long-awaited federal report out Friday rejected the idea of removing four hydroelectric dams on a major Pacific Northwest river in a last-ditch effort tosave threatened and endangered salmon, saying such a dramatic approach would destabilize the power grid, increase overall greenhouse emissions and more than double the risk of regional power outages.

The four dams on the lower Snake River are part of a vast and complex hydroelectric power system operated by the federal government in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. The massive dams, built in eastern Washington between 1961 and 1975, are at the center of a years-long battle that pits the fate of two iconic Pacific Northwest species  the salmon and the killer whale  against the need for plentiful, carbon-free power for the booming region.

Environmental groups that have pushed for years for the dams to come down immediately blasted the report. The three agencies in charge of overseeing the sprawling hydropower system recommended an alternative that doubles down on an approach that includes spilling more water over the dams when juvenile salmon are migrating  a tactic already being used.

Rather than seizing this opportunity to heed the publics call for working together for a solution that revives salmon populations, the draft plan is built on the same failed approach the courts have rejected time and again, said Todd True, an attorney for Earthjustice who has represented environmentalists and fishing groups in ongoing litigation over the dams.

Dam removal opponents, however, said the report presented a balanced solution that won't burden ratepayers or disrupt the region's power supply.

Once again, the science has determined that destroying the four Lower Snake River dams would have high environmental and economic costs, said Todd Myers, environmental director at the Washington Policy Center, a conservative think tank.

The 14 federal dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers together produce 40% of the region's power  enough electricity to power nearly 5 million homes, or eight cities roughly the size of Seattle. They also contain a system of locks that allows cities nearly 500 miles (800 kilometers) inland access to Asian markets via barges that float down the rivers to the Pacific Ocean. Roughly 50 million to 60 million tons of cargo navigate the Snake and Columbia river system annually.

Yet the towering dams have proven disastrous for salmon that struggle to navigate past them on their way to and from the Pacific Ocean. Salmon are rare in that they hatch in freshwater streams, then make their way hundreds of miles to the ocean, where they spend years before finding their way back to mate, lay eggs and die.

Story continues

Snake River sockeye were the first species in the Columbia River Basin listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1991. Now, 13 salmon runs are listed as federally endangered or threatened. Four of those runs return to the Snake River.

The Columbia River system dams cut off more than half of salmon spawning and rearing habitat, and many wild salmon runs in the region have 2% or less of their historic populations, said Meg Townsend, an attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity.

On the way to the ocean, juvenile salmon can get chewed up in the dams' turbines, she said. The adults returning from the ocean must navigate fish ladders  concrete chutes that bypass the dams  but they can become bottle-necked before reaching them and get picked off by predators, Townsend said.

Until recently, young salmon were sent by truck or barge around the dams or passed through the turbines or bypasses. An interim agreement that took effect last year prioritized the flex spill strategy of increasing the water in spillways to send more fish over the tops of the structures. This approach allows the U.S. government to adjust the spill level according to power demands.

The effect on the long-term survival of juvenile salmon won't be known for several years, when biologists can start counting the adult fish that return from the ocean.

Scientists also warn that southern resident orcas are starving to death because of a dearth of the chinook salmon that are their primary food source.

The Pacific Northwest population of orcas  also called killer whales  was placed on the endangered species list in 2005. A mother orca that carried her dead baby on her back for 17 days brought international attention in 2018 as their numbers have dwindled to 72 animals.

Opponents of dam removal say they want salmon to flourish, but they aren't sure breaching four major hydroelectric dams will help  and it could instead damage the regional economy and the stability of the power supply.

Reservoirs behind some of the dams allow the Bonneville Power Administration to even out the more erratic power supply from wind and solar by spilling water to generate electricity on short notice. And a move away from low-cost coal plants in the Pacific Northwest has some worried about what the future could hold for ratepayers if the Snake River dams are removed, said Kurt Miller, of Northwest River Partners, which represents community-owned utilities across Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana.

If worldwide salmon populations are doing poorly because of climate change and carbon, does it make sense to tear out 1,000 average megawatts of carbon-free electricity?" he said. For so many reasons, its bad public policy."

The report addressed those concerns, noting hydropower generation would decrease by 1,100 average megawatts under average water conditions, and 730 average megawatts under low water conditions. The risk of a regional power shortages would more than double and the lowest-cost replacement power would be $200 million a year, it said. Those adjustments would increase the wholesale power rate up to 9.6%, the authors wrote.

U.S. District Judge Michael Simon ordered the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Reclamation and the Bonneville Power Administration to revisit the impact of the hydroelectric system in 2016 while overseeing litigation over salmon.

In all, three federal judges have thrown out five plans for the system over the decades after finding they didn't do enough to protect salmon.

Friday's report is a draft and will be subject to 45 days of public comment. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will next analyze the proposal to determine if it does enough to protect salmon and orcas  a process that should be completed by June.

A final report is expected in September.

____

Follow Gillian Flaccus on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/gflaccus

___

This version has been corrected to reflect that the Nez Perce Tribe and state of Oregon were co-counsel with Earthjustice, not clients.
With a photograph of her youngest brother in her hand, Nabi Jan frantically went around the GTB Hospital mortuary on Sunday, hoping that he was not among those killed in the northeast Delhi communal violence.

A woman, whose 19-year-old son has been missing from northeast Delhi's Mustafabad area, fell unconscious after seeing a corpse at the mortuary. Her family later confirmed that her son's body was not in there.

Jan, whose younger brother Salman, 25, has been missing since the riots, was one among the devastated people looking for some clue about him.

"Salman worked as a labourer and had gone to Gokalpuri on February 26. He kept a phone, but it is switched off and there is no clue of what happened to him," Jan said.

None of the bodies in the mortuary was of his brother, he said.

Jan also spoke to a group of young lawyers and a team of the Shahdara District Legal Services Authority (SDLSA) at a help desk, providing information and other help to the relatives of the missing persons.

"God knows what will happen to Salman's two sons, aged eight and six years, as their mother is already dead. I have lodged a complaint with police but there is no information about my him," Jan said.

Sources said till Saturday six bodies were unidentified at the mortuary, out of which two were identified and claimed. One body was charred and three others were also unidentified.

Naeem, 45, a resident of Jafrabad who worked as a book binder, went missing during the riots on February 24.

"He had gone to old Delhi for some work. He told over phone that situation was not good and he was near Usmanpur, Pehla Pushta. I have searched in many other hospitals and now came here," said Naeem's brother Najmuddin.

Mumtaj, a high court lawyer, who is helping people along with her colleagues Farhan, Faraz and a team of volunteers, said record was being maintained by them to find about those missing.

"We are also helping people in the release of the identified bodies, besides arranging for immediate help needed by the families of the victims," Mumtaj said.

Mamtesh Sharma, lawyer and paralegal volunteer Asha Mittal, manning the SDLSA help desk, said they were coordinating with hospital authorities and police to provide assistance to people seeking information about their missing family members.

"So far, around 35 families contacted us. Some identified bodies, others were directed by us to look into the wards where injured are admitted. Also, we are coordinating with police to find out if anyone missing was detained by them," Sharma said.

The relatives of Mohsin Ali, 22, Mohammad Mohsin, Feroz Ahamad and Mohammad Arshad, who were missing since the riots, were also present at the mortuary to take a look at the unidentified bodies with a hope to find them.

The communal violence in Jaffrabad, Maujpur, Babarpur, Chand Bagh, Shiv Vihar, Bhajan Pura, Yamuna Vihar and Mustafabad areas of northeast Delhi claimed at least 42 lives and left over 200 injured.

A large number of properties have been damaged. Frenzied mobs torched houses, shops, vehicles, a petrol pump and pelted stones at locals and police personnel.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In Uttar Pradesh, witnesses said that police officers tortured Muslim boys and shot Muslim men. At a predominantly Muslim university in New Delhi, the police beat unarmed students. Much of this was caught on video and widely shared.

But few have been punished. The message that many people took away, just as they had from the impunity enjoyed by the lynch mobs, was that when it came to targeting Muslims, the state would look the other way or maybe even join in.

Mr. Modi usually tries to stay above the fray, but he slipped up in December when he said that arsonists could be identified by their clothes  widely seen as a dig at Indias Muslims, who sometimes dress differently from Hindus.

Other B.J.P. leaders took it further. They vilified the protesters as agents of Pakistan, Indias archrival. One minister, Anurag Thakur, even led a chant at a political rally in which the audience yelled, Shoot the traitors!

I honestly dont know how you go from Together for all, development for all, to chanting Shoot the traitors, said Alyssa Ayres, a senior South Asia fellow at the Council of Foreign Relations. A lot of Indians are wondering how this came to be.

In the working-class, religiously mixed neighborhoods of northeastern Delhi, the tensions became combustible. On Feb. 23, a member of Mr. Modis party lit the spark.

That afternoon, Kapil Mishra, a B.J.P. politician who had just lost a state Assembly election and seemed to be trying to rejuvenate his career, threatened to clear out a group of peaceful Muslim protesters, mostly women, who had been blocking a road. Hindus and Muslims then started throwing rocks at each other, and the unruly crowd grew.
Three Chinese have been quarantined in Wase local government area of Plateau state over concerns that they may have contracted coronavirus.

Nimkong Ndam, the state commissioner of health, who confirmed the development, said the men arrived the state from Ethiopia on Friday.

Ndam said they were in the state for mining activities.

Dan Manjang, Plateau commissioner for information, who also confirmed the news, said the Chinese arrived Abuja on Friday and headed for Jos, the state capital, on the same day.

Manjang said the trio have been quarantined and are being examined by medical experts deployed by the state ministry of health.

The first coronavirus patient in Nigeria, an Italian, is under quarantine and receiving treatment at the Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba, Lagos state.
I didn't know until last week that there had been three complaints to the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) about a column of mine that had been given the headline "Sinn Fein's rise akin to that of Nazis in 1930s and is a threat to democracy on this island".

It was written after the Irish general election, the results of which, I said, reminded many of us who know Sinn Fein as puppets of the IRA army council, of events in Germany in 1932 which led to Hitler becoming chancellor. There was lots of the usual Shinner abuse on Twitter and much self-righteous posturing about my use of the word Nazi.

One complainant told IPSO that the "slandering" comparison with the Nazis was "pure bigotry" and had breached the code on discrimination and accuracy, as it "insights (I guess the complainant meant 'incites') hatred and compounds fears towards a specific political party".

A second complainant added harassment for good measure and described me as "sectarian and indeed racist", stoking "hate, anger, resentment and further sectarianism on the basis of the twisted fantasy". The complainant demanded the redaction of the article, a full public apology and the classifying of it as the crime of hate speech.

They should all read a bit of history. The Sinn Fein leadership is very proud of an IRA past in which it allied itself with the Nazis as well as several other very nasty regimes.

In 1940, when Germany had already invaded and forcibly occupied five countries the IRA leadership announced that Hitler's Germany was "the energising force" of European politics and the "guardian" of national freedom.

If "German forces should land in Ireland, they will land  as friends and liberators of the Irish people".

Their chief of staff, Sean Russell, went off to Berlin where he was feted as a representative of the Irish Republic, met leading Nazis and advised on their military plans for the invasion of Britain.

The IRA's main publication, War News, was not just pro-Nazi, it was very pleased that the "cleansing fire" of the German armies was driving the Jews from Europe. Belfast, it claimed, was increasingly "in the hands of international Jewry" and the de Valera government was dominated by the "Jews and Freemasons" who were becoming the "new owners of Ireland".

Sean Russell died of a burst ulcer that summer on a U-boat without ever having the chance to demonstrate that if the Germans had won he would have been as assiduous in rounding up political opponents of the Nazis and Jews as were collaborators in other occupied nations.

With IRA leaders present, The National Graves Association unveiled a statue to Russell in 1951, years after the world knew the horrors of the concentration camps. We are still shamed by being the only city in Europe with a statue to Nazi collaborator. (If you want more detail on this, I recommend an excellent article by Dr Brian Hanley in History Ireland: https://www.historyireland.com/20th-century-contemporary-history/oh-heres-to-adolph-hitler-the-ira-and-the-nazis/).

The tweeters will claim this is nothing to do with modern Sinn Fein. Unfortunately, it has.

First, there's the awkward matter of Sinn Fein's attendance in Fairview Park in 2003, when senior IRA member Brian Keenan spoke of Russell never being far from Patrick Pearse's own position "as a patriot, preferring death to slavery".

Sinn Fein's president, Mary Lou McDonald, has done nothing to alter the party's constitution, which does not recognise the Irish state established in 1922, the 1937 constitution or the legitimacy of the garda and the defence forces.

Sinn Fein is redolent with anti-Semitism, peddles vicious Anglophobia and hatred of northern Protestants, worships its terrorists and demonstrates its innate fascism by having an armed wing directing it.

Its activists also abhor a free Press, sue for libel at every opportunity and, since the election, are demanding that anti-Sinn Fein opinion be suppressed. Sounds pretty threatening to me.

I'm pleased to say IPSO rejected all the complaints. We democrats fight on.
Morocco has expressed backing to Saudia Arabias temporary ban on Umrah pilgrims from a number of countries, describing the measure as judicious and responsible in view of the threats posed by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

Morocco considers the measures adopted by Saudi Arabia to curb the spread of the coronavirus epidemic as judicious and responsible, knowing that pilgrims converge on the Holy Places from different parts of the world, the ministry of Foreign Affairs said Sunday.

These measures have been taken in view of the continuing spread of the coronavirus epidemic, in accordance with the preventive measures recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), the ministry said in a statement, noting that all countries are called upon to take preventive measures at national levels.

Saudi Arabia announced its decision to temporarily suspend the Umrah pilgrimage to Mecca and the visits to the Prophets Mosque in Medina on Thursday, Feb.27.

The Saudi announcement is part of the measures put in place to ensure public safety in the face of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Moroccos Ministry of Foreign Affairs called in its statement on Moroccan citizens to respect these measures and to respond favorably to them.

Coronavirus is spreading to more countries globally, with Algeria, Nigeria, the Netherlands, Estonia, Ireland, and Denmark confirming first cases.

The COVID-19 is currently spreading more quickly in Europe, the Middle East and other parts of the world than in China where the virus first emerged in the central city of Wuhan at the end of last year, with Italy, Iran and South Korea emerging as new hotspots.

The virus has so far infected 87,694 people with a death casualty nearing 3000.
The body's immune response to fungal infections changes when a patient is also infected by a virus, according to new research which investigated the two types of infection together for the first time.

The study, carried out by researchers at the University of Birmingham, The Pirbright Institute and University College London, sheds fresh light on the immune system's ability to deal with co-infection.

Fungal infections are major killers of patients with impaired immunity, such as AIDS patients or transplant recipients, but they usually occur alongside a secondary, viral infection. Although clinicians understand how the immune system responds to each of these types of pathogen, much less is known about what happens when both occur together.

Typically, white blood cells will attack pathogens through a process called phagocytosis -- where a pathogen is engulfed by the white blood cell. In fungal infections, however, this process sometimes 'reverses' -- ejecting the fungus back out of the white blood cell via a process called vomocytosis.

In a new study, published in PLOS Pathogens, the researchers were able to show that this process of expulsion is rapidly accelerated when the white blood cell detects a virus.

The team used advanced microscopy techniques to study live white blood cells exposed to two different types of virus, HIV, and measles, alongside the fungal pathogen, Cryptococcus neoformans. This opportunistic pathogen is particularly deadly among HIV+ patients, where it causes around 200,000 deaths per year worldwide.

The researchers found that, instead of becoming simply less able to deal with the fungus, the white blood cells began expelling the fungal cells much more rapidly.

Lead author, Professor Robin May, Director of the Institute of Microbiology and Infection at the University of Birmingham, explains: "We found the macrophages ejected their prey -- the fungal cells -- much more quickly when the virus was present. This was very unexpected, but could be an attempt to 'free up' those white blood cells to deal with the new viral invaders."

Because the vomocytosis occurred with both viruses, the researchers concluded that the effect was likely to be a general response to viral co-infection.

Professor Robin May adds: "This is the first time that scientists have studied our immune system's response to fungal infection in the much more realistic setting of a secondary (viral) infection. We don't yet know whether this mechanism makes the white blood cells more or less effective in fighting off either infection. Although expelling the fungal cell will free up the macrophage to attack the virus, it also sets free the fungal cell to continue its spread through the body."

Dr Dalan Bailey, head of the Viral Glycoproteins group at Pirbright, comments: "This is another interesting example of transkingdom interactions between microbes, this time fungi and viruses. We are only beginning to understand the complexity of microbe interactions within the host, and this collaboration sheds new light on this exciting new area of research"

Investigating these processes in animal models will be the next step for the team, with a longer term goal of harnessing the mechanisms used to trigger the expulsion of fungi and use them to help clear these pathogens from the body.
Some significant changes are coming to Cortana. Starting this spring, Microsoft said it plans to make productivity the focus of the digital assistant. As part of the shift, Cortana will lose some of its more consumer-facing features, such as the ability to play music and control smart home devices. More significantly, the company plans to remove the digital assistant from its Launcher app on Android.

Microsoft says it will discontinue Cortana services in the application by the end of April. "This next step in Cortana's evolution will bring enhanced, seamless personal productivity assistance as a free update to the latest version of Windows 10 coming this spring," the company said.

It's not overly surprising to see Microsoft remove Cortana from its launcher app. While a lot of people like the launcher, the assistant was never its main appeal. What's more, we knew Cortana's days on Android were numbered when the Cortana app stopped working last month in countries like Canada, Australia and the UK. In those places, Microsoft has already removed the assistant from its launcher app as it tries to carve a different niche for the AI.
A man died in police custody after a Las Cruces police officer used a Taser on him following a foot chase early Saturday, according to New Mexico State Police.

State Police spokesman Dusty Francisco said the agency is investigating the use of force incident that ended in the death of 40-year-old Antonio Valenzuela.

The Office of the Medical Investigator has yet to determine the cause of Valenzuelas death.

He said around 2:30 a.m., a Las Cruces police officer pulled over a pickup truck near Alameda and 3 Crosses with Valenzuela and two women inside. Valenzuela was found to have a bench warrant and the officer asked him to step out of the truck. He fled on foot and a foot pursuit ensued, Francisco said. During the foot pursuit, one officer deployed his department issued Taser.

He said Valenzuela was being combative but officers were able to gain control and handcuff him. Soon after officers noticed Valenzuela was unresponsive.

Officers immediately called for emergency medical services, Francisco said. Valenzuela was pronounced deceased on scene.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-02 06:37:02|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

BAGHDAD, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi Prime Minister designate Mohammad Tawfiq Allawi on Sunday apologized for forming a new Iraqi government, hours after the parliament failed to hold a session to vote on his cabinet lineup.

In a letter sent to the Iraqi President Barham Salih, Allawi said that he apologized because he was "in front of an equation, the position of prime minister in exchange for lack of honesty with my people and continuing the position at the expense of their suffering."

He said that his choice was "simple and clear, which is to be with my people, especially when I saw that some political parties were not serious about reform that they promised the people with."

Earlier in the day, the Iraqi parliament postponed its scheduled session to vote on the cabinet proposed by Allawi to Monday due to a lack of quorum amid political disputes.

On Thursday, the parliament had failed to meet to vote on the new cabinet for similar reasons.

Before the postponement, the parliament witnessed heated debate among the political blocs over the candidates of Allawi's cabinet, which prompted some lawmakers to boycott the session again as they did on Thursday.

On Feb. 1, Iraqi President Barham Salih appointed Allawi as the prime minister-designate to form a new cabinet, and according to the Iraqi constitution, Allawi has 30 days to form a cabinet and present it to parliament for approval.
Metrolinx says it is using data from its Presto cards to identify passengers who were on the same GO Transit bus as a York Region woman later diagnosed with the novel coronavirus.

The 34-year-old woman, who just returned from Iran, took the eastbound GO bus No. 40 at about 3:55 p.m. on Feb. 26 from Pearson airport to Richmond Hill Centre.

She went to Mackenzie Health hospital in Richmond Hill the following day with a dry cough, runny nose, shortness of breath and a headache. She was later confirmed to have COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. Shes now recovering at home, in self-isolation.

GO Transit is also contacting passengers who boarded the bus on its following trip, said Metrolinx spokesperson Anne Marie Aikins.

Aikins estimates that 35 passengers were on the bus with the woman.

If the card is registered, we are reaching out by email and phone today, we are doing that now . . . if you got on that bus without using your registered card then were limited with how we can get in touch with you, she told the Star on Sunday.

Those on board the bus are being asked to contact York Region Public Health at 1-800-361-5653, Monday to Sunday between 8:30 a.m. and 8 p.m., for further assessment.

The bus has been removed from service now and has been thoroughly disinfected, said Anne Marie Aikins, spokesperson for Metrolinx.

Aikins said Metrolinx have been contacted by a lot of concerned GO riders who wanted more information.

With files from Jacob Lorinc

Margaryta Ignatenko is a breaking news reporter, working out of the Star's radio room in Toronto. Follow her on Twitter: @MargarytaIgnat1

Read more about:
Health authorities in Ireland on Saturday confirmed the countrys first case of coronavirus and said it was associated with travel from an affected area in northern Italy, Trend reports citing Reuters.

The patient, a man in the eastern part of the country, is receiving appropriate medical care, Irelands health department said in a statement.

The British region of Northern Ireland, which shares an open border with the Irish republic, confirmed its first and so far only case of the virus on Thursday.

This is not unexpected. We have been preparing for this eventuality for many weeks now. The health service has robust response measures in place, said Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer at the department of health.

Health authorities are working rapidly to identify any contacts the patient may have had, officials said.

The Northern Irish patient who contracted the virus, the first confirmed case on the island, had traveled from Italy via Dublin Airport before returning to Belfast.

The number of people infected with coronavirus in the United Kingdom rose to 23 on Saturday, after three more patients tested positive, Britains health department said.
A Boston mother and her daughter were speaking Spanish on their way home when authorities say two white women assaulted them because they thought they were making fun of them.

"As they beat us, they yelled 'This is America, speak English!'" the mother, who was only identified as Ms. Vasquez, told reporters earlier this week about the February 15 incident.

Vasquez, 46, and her 15-year-old daughter were walking near an East Boston train station after having dinner when they had an altercation with two women. The mother says they were punched, kicked and bitten.

On Thursday, the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office announced that two women were facing several charges in connection with the attack.

Jenny Leigh Ennamorati, 25, and Stephanie Armstrong, 25, were each charged with two counts of violating constitutional rights with bodily injury and two counts of assault and battery charges, the district attorney said.

Ennamorati was charged with an additional assault and battery with dangerous weapon for using a shod foot.

"There is no place for hatred or bigotry in Suffolk County. The sense of entitlement and privilege these defendants must have felt to utter these hateful and racist words, and then to physically attack a mother and her child for laughing and speaking Spanish is outrageous and reprehensible," Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins said in a statement.

CNN has attempted to reach Ennamorati and Armstrong for comment. They are scheduled to appear in East Boston District Court on March 9.

Mother and daughter say they were punched and bitten

Surveillance video shared by the Lawyers for Civil Rights Boston, a nonprofit group representing the Vasquezes, shows a woman crossing the street and shouting at another woman, who appears to be the mother. The pair then start shoving and hitting each other.

The scuffle continues with a few other women as some appear to try to separate them. By the end of the video, police officers arrive and speak with the two groups. The video does not show what happened before the altercation.

Ennamorati and Armstrong told police they heard the Vasquezes laughing and speaking Spanish and believed they were making fun of them, according to a police report.

First they had a "verbal argument," but later one of the Vasquezes punched one of the women in the face and she defended herself by fighting back, they told police, according to the report.

Ennamorati and Armstrong's names were redacted on the report but police said one of them had "multiple small scratches on her face and a small amount of blood around her fingernails," the report said. Police said the women noted they had been "drinking and acting belligerent."

But Vasquez and her daughter told police they were attacked by the other women, the report states.

Police saw that one of the Vasquezes had scratches on her face and a laceration to her right thumb, the report says, while the other Vasquez told them she was punched in the face multiple times and pulled by the hair.

All the women declined medical treatment, police said, but it appears that the teenager had been wearing a neck brace after the incident.

"We were attacked, punched, kicked, and bitten. I'm having nightmares. I'm afraid to take the train to work, and my family is afraid to speak Spanish in public. My daughter is still wearing a neck brace and she's having trouble sleeping. We are all very shaken," Vasquez said in a statement through her attorneys.

Janelle Dempsey, an attorney with Lawyers for Civil Rights applauded the district attorney's office actions. She had said the Vasquezes' incident was not an isolated event in East Boston.

"This prosecution will go a long way in setting a powerful precedent for addressing the wave of hate that has spiked in Massachusetts and across the country," the attorney said.

More than half of the residents in East Boston are Hispanic, according to the latest figures by the Boston Planning and Development Agency.
Kolkata: Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who arrived in Kolkata on a day-long visit on Sunday (March 1), inaugurated the 29 Special Composite Group Complex of National Security Guard (NSG) in Rajarhat. Without naming anyone, Shah said that people who want to create a divide in the country and disrupt peace must fear the NSG.

This is Shah's second visit to the state after assuming office as the Union Home Minister. In the meantime, Opposition parties hit the streets protesting Shah's visit to the state as they raised 'Go Back' slogans outside the airport today. According to ANI report, members of Students' Federation of India and Left parties, who has assembled outside the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in the northern outskirts of Kolkata, showed black flags and black baloons to Shah upon his arrival in the city.

Addressing a BJP rally at the Sahid Minar Maidan in the city, Amit Shah said, "We want peace in the entire world. In our history of 10,000 years, India has never attacked anyone. We would not allow anyone to disrupt our peace. And anyone who takes the lives of soldiers will have to pay dearly. People who want to divide the nation and disrupt its peace, they should fear the presence of NSG. If they still come, it is the responsibility of the NSG to fight them and defeat them."

"Under Prime Minister Modi, we are following the policy of zero-tolerance against terrorism and NSG takes the leading role in delivering upon it. After PM Modi came to power, a distinct differentiation has been made between India`s defence and foreign policy, which wasn`t like this in the past," he added.

The Union Minister arrived in Kolkata on a day-long visit amid protests and black flag demonstrations by Left parties and the Congress. He addressd a BJP rally at the Sahid Minar Maidan and also inaugurated the Special Composite Group Complex of National Security Guard (NSG).

The Home Minister also exuded confidence that the Centre will meet the expectations of its security organisations and added that "wars are won by the bravery and not equipment."

"Under the leadership of Modi ji, the government of India will definitely fulfill all the expectations that NSG has. We will try to fulfill it within a period of five years. We can provide you good accommodation, the government can take care of the needs of your families, we can provide you with modern equipment and technology, but wars are won by the bravery and not equipment," he added.

"This bravery wins wars, pieces of equipment just play a role. Equipment and technology can never replace this bravery."

Talking about the expansion of the NSG, the Union Home Minister said, "The nation decided to expand the network of NSG after the Mumbai attacks. NSG has finely proven its presence in the entire country gradually. After today's inauguration, the coordination will only get better."

In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the BJP emerged as West Bengal's second-most powerful party, bagging at least 18 of 42 seats, against 22 by Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress.
Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign said Sunday that it raised more than USD 46.5 million in February, a show of financial strength after the Vermont senator finished a distant second behind Joe Biden in South Carolina's primary.

Sanders' team also announced that it was making television ad buys in nine more states: Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri and Washington, which vote on March 10, and Arizona, Florida, Illinois and Ohio, which vote a week later. The campaign said it is "currently on the air in 12 out of the 14 states that are voting on Super Tuesday, in two days.

"The senator's multi-generational, multiracial working class coalition keeps fuelling his campaign for transformational change a few bucks at a time, Sanders' campaign manager Faiz Shakir said in a statement. He said that, of the more than 2 million donations received this month, more than 1.4 million were from voters in Super Tuesday states.

The eye-popping haul follows an already impressive January that raised more than 25 million. Sanders' campaign immediately said it would use the January funds to purchase USD 5.5 million in television and digital advertising in 10 Super Tuesday states.

That investment could still be paying off at a time when some rivals in a Democratic field that remains crowded may struggle to raise money after disappointing finishes in early states. Most other White House hopefuls haven't yet released updated fundraising totals, but Massachusetts Sen.

Elizabeth Warren announced Sunday that she collected USD 29 million in February potentially softening the blow of her fifth-place finish in South Carolina.

Both she and Sanders continue to demonstrate the formidable power of attracting small, online donations nationwide where contributors can give repeatedly without exceeding federal limits. It's a departure from traditional methods, where candidates organize high-dollar fundraisers or approach powerful supporters for big checks early in the campaign and then can't ask again without the intervention of an outside political group.

Warren hasn't placed better than third since Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucus.

But, in a memo to supporters, her campaign manager Roger Lau attempted to project confidence going forward. He said the campaign was spending more than USD 2.4 million on TV, digital and traditional media ads in Super Tuesday states, as well as more than USD 4.1 million in every state that votes later in March and in Wisconsin, which holds its primary April 7.

Lau said the field will greatly winnow after Super Tuesday, where his campaign's internal projections continue to show Warren winning delegates in nearly all of the 14 states voting.

But, in a dramatic departure from previous public pronouncements on strategy, Lau also made clear that, rather than heading to this summer's Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee clearly ahead of her rivals, Warren is hoping to earn enough delegates to simply stay in the hunt that long.

"As the dust settles after March 3rd, the reality of this race will be clear: no candidate will likely have a path to the majority of delegates needed to win an outright claim to the Democratic nomination, Lau wrote, betting on the jumbled early field keeping a clear front-runner from emerging.

Sanders, though, thinks he can get to the convention in first place. His campaign said the February totals came from more than 2.2 million donations, including contributions from 350,000-plus people who donated to the campaign for the first time.

It also said it raised USD 4.5 million on the final day of the month, as Sanders finished second in South Carolina, the best fundraising day since the campaign's launch a year prior.

Sanders' 2020 presidential bid has now surpassed the total number of individual contributions received by his unsuccessful challenge of Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primary.

Since launching in February 2019, Sanders' campaign says it has raised more than USD 167 million from over 8.7 million individual donations, with an average contribution of USD 19. To date, more than 1.9 million people have donated to Sanders.

After wins in New Hampshire and Nevada, Sanders appeared to be emerging as the Democratic primary's top candidate. But he finished well behind Biden in South Carolina, a state featuring heavy concentrations of African American Democrats and where Clinton trounced him in 2016. The former vice president's victory was decisive, with him claiming almost half of the votes cast in a six-way race.

"You can't win 'em all," Sanders told a crowd of 3,500 in a college gym at a rally in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on Saturday night.

That prompted boos, but Sanders continued: "That will not be the only defeat. There are a lot of states in this country and nobody wins them all. Sanders has nonetheless predicted for weeks that he will win California, the largest delegate prize among the Super Tuesday states.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
With the Chinese economy getting impacted due to the outbreak, can push its in the global to fill up the space vacated by the neighbouring country, industry body said on Sunday.

It said Indian exporters of electronics, pharmaceuticals, speciality chemicals and automobile segments depend on for raw material and are facing supply constraints, but there are several areas where there are increased opportunities for domestic traders.

"Barring a few segments, a large number of engineering from can fill up the market vacated by China; so is the case with products like leather and leather goods," Secretary General Deepak Sood said.

He said can also tap the opportunities in segments like agriculture and carpets.

"We also need to scale up several of our sectors to compete effectively with even when the Chinese exporters are able to normalise their global supply chain," Sood said.

He also said while the health emergency of the epidemic is a matter of grave concern for the entire world, it is incumbent on larger economies like India to fill up the gaps in the global market and there is a need to approach the issue with a clear strategy.

According to the latest (Purchasing Managers' Index) data, China's factory output level in February has plummeted to the lowest in about two decades, and the consequences are bound to be felt in the global market, said.

"While India's merchandise have contracted by 1.93 per cent between April-January period of the current fiscal, the coming few months can provide our exporters greater market access in the absence of usually aggressive and competitive Chinese suppliers," it added.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 18:43:01|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- China has called for creating a fair environment for all the candidates of the upcoming election of the director general of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

China has nominated Wang Binying, currently a deputy director general of WIPO, as a candidate for the election.

"The nomination of Ms. Wang Binying as a candidate for the WIPO director general election embodies China's desire to make greater contributions to international cooperation and development in the field of intellectual property," said Shen Changyu, commissioner of the National Intellectual Property Administration, during an exclusive interview with Xinhua.

China has always been a follower, participant and upholder of the international rules of intellectual property. China has always carried out cooperation and exchanges with WIPO and its members in strict accordance with the rules of WIPO, actively fulfilling its international obligations, seeking common development and promoting common progress, Shen said.

Wang Binying has worked for WIPO for nearly 30 years, and served as a deputy director general of WIPO for more than a decade, becoming an internationally recognized expert in the field of intellectual property.

She has rich experience in international intellectual property affairs and in promoting the reform and development of WIPO. She is capable of dealing with complex situations, bridging differences between all parties, coordinating the interests of all parties and promoting common development, Shen said.

Her outstanding leadership, professional accomplishments and enthusiasm for work, as well as her adherence to the goals of the United Nations and the principles of WIPO, have earned her a stellar reputation in the international intellectual property community and within WIPO, Shen said.

Wang has always adhered to the values of WIPO, followed the working rules of the organization, and actively promoted relevant work. Especially in her more than 10 years as a deputy director general of WIPO, Wang has worked hard to provide open, fair and effective services for each member of WIPO, winning wide recognition and trust in the international community.

The incumbent and former three directors general of WIPO are from Australia, Sudan, the United States and the Netherlands, respectively, and all of them are male.

"If Ms. Wang Binying, as a female candidate from a developing country, could be elected, the United Nations would have another outstanding female leader of an international organization. It would be the most vivid and persuasive embodiment of the idea of ability first and women first," Shen said.

As a specialized agency of the United Nations, WIPO has clear rules for the election of its leader. "We believe that the most appropriate leader will be elected as long as all parties abide by the rules and engage in fair competition," Shen said.

When talking about China's intellectual property protection, Shen quoted the saying that "facts speak louder than words."

Since its reform and opening-up, China has seen its intellectual property work advance rapidly. So far, China has established a relatively complete intellectual property legal system in line with prevailing international rules, and joined almost all major international treaties on intellectual property. It has been insisting on equal treatment and protection of the intellectual property rights of both domestic and foreign enterprises.

The government has attached even more importance to intellectual property work since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. The Chinese leadership has enunciated China's intellectual property protection principles and positions on many occasions, and made a series of important arrangements, including the establishment of specialized intellectual property courts, the reform of the intellectual property administrative system, the revision of relevant laws and regulations, such as the foreign investment Law, the trademark law and the patent law, as well as the strengthening of administrative law enforcement, he said.

At the end of last year, China issued a set of opinions on strengthening intellectual property protection, which contains 99 new measures to apply even stricter protection for intellectual property rights, he added.

Driven by the above policies and measures, China's intellectual property protection has kept progressing, with its patent and trademark applications taking the lead in the world for many years running.

The number of applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty from China ranks the second and the volume of its applications for international trademark registration under the Madrid System ranks the third in the world.

China's effective protection brings huge benefits to foreign intellectual property rights holders every year. In 2001, China paid only 1.9 billion U.S. dollars for intellectual property royalties, while the figure exceeded 34 billion U.S. dollars in 2019.

China's work in this field has also won acclaim in the international community. According to the 2019 Global Innovation Index released by WIPO, China's ranking increased from 35th in 2013 to 14th in 2019, one of the countries with the fastest progress in the world.

A survey on social satisfaction with China's intellectual property protection showed that the satisfaction of foreign-funded enterprises in China has remained higher than the average level for many years in a row.

The 2019 Member Survey by the US-China Business Council also showed that the number of U.S. enterprises sharing the view that China enhanced its intellectual property protection in 2018 reached a record high since the survey started in 2011.

"China has done substantial work on intellectual property protection and should be evaluated objectively and fairly," Shen said.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-02 05:42:55|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

A staff member sanitizes the facilities on a train at the Garibaldi train station in Milan, Italy, Feb. 28, 2020. (Photo by Alberto Lingria/Xinhua)

The number of Italians infected by the coronavirus "continues to accelerate," says Giovanni Rezza, head of the Italian High Institute of Health's Department of Infectious Diseases, adding that the country was at least a week away from seeing a peak in the outbreak.

ROME, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The number of Italians infected by the coronavirus "continues to accelerate," Giovanni Rezza, head of the Italian High Institute of Health's Department of Infectious Diseases, said Sunday, adding that the country was at least a week away from seeing a peak in the outbreak.

According to Angelo Borrelli, Civil Protection Department chief and Extraordinary Commissioner for the coronavirus emergency, the total number of COVID-19 cases in Italy reached 1,577 -- or 1,694 including those healed or died.

That is an increase from 1,128 a day earlier, or 1,049 excluding those who died or were cured. The death toll in Italy so far is 34, an increase of three over the past 24 hours.

Most of those infected are in the northern part of the country, with 984 cases in Lombardy, 285 in Emilia-Romagna, and 263 in Veneto. All told, 15 regions and one autonomous province have seen infections. But those three regions are the only ones with triple-digit infections.

A man wearing a face mask is seen outside the Allianz Stadium, after five Serie A matches were postponed because of the ongoing coronavirus epidemic, in Turin, Italy, Feb. 29, 2020. (Photo by Federico Tardito/Xinhua)

Borrelli stressed that the vast majority of the COVID-19 cases were not serious -- more than half of those infected are recovering at home with at the worst mild symptoms. Another 41 percent were recovering with symptoms.

Only 9 percent of those infected, or 140 people -- 106 of whom are in Lombardy -- are in intensive care, the Department of Civil Defense said.

The department also said that the number of Italian residents cured of COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus, reached 83, an increase of 33 compared to Saturday.

Among those cured, a 98-year-old woman, believed to be the oldest person in the world to have been infected and cured of COVID-19.

"The number of serious cases remains small in percentage terms, and that continues to be the case even as the total number of infections continues to accelerate," said Rezza.

Rezza added that since most containment measures were put into place in Italy only a week ago, and given that the incubation period for the virus appears to be 12 or 13 days, that peak acceleration in Italy was still several days away.

"The data implies we will likely see a slowdown starting in about one week or ten days," Rezza said.
A 37-year-old man was killed by three unidentified people at his home in Meghalaya's East Khasi Hills district in the early hours on Sunday, taking the toll in clashes between tribal and non-tribal groups in the state to three, police said.

The incident happened in Pyrkan village under the jurisdiction of Shella police station, Assistant Inspector General of Police Gabriel Iangrai said in a statement.

No one has been arrested so far in the killing of the man, identified as Uphas Uddin, Iangrai said.

The night curfew imposed here after violent clashes, was lifted at 8 am on Sunday, barring in areas under the jurisdiction of Lumdiengjri and Sadar police stations and Cantonment Beat House, where indefinite curfew continued to remain in effect, officials said.

The curfew was imposed since 9 pm on Saturday, following the death of two persons in separate attacks in Ichamati area in East Khasi Hills district on Friday and at Shillong's Iewduh market on Saturday, they said.

Iangrai said an employee of the Basin Development Authority was assaulted on Saturday night at Mawthabah and admitted to the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences.

The situation is tense following the three deaths, especially of a Khasi Students' Union (KSU) activist in a clash between members of the students' body and non-tribals during a rally in Ichamati area, which is close to the Indo-Bangladesh border.

East Khasi Hills district authorities said the curfew was extended in areas under the jurisdiction of Lumdiengjri and Sadar police stations, and Cantonment Beat House over fears that there might be a serious breakdown of law and order in those places.

"There is a likelihood of a serious breakdown of peace and tranquillity which may lead to loss of life and property... I do promulgate curfew in these areas from 8 am on March 1 until further orders," District Magistrate Matsiewdor W Nongbri said in an order.

Mobile internet and messaging services have been temporarily suspended in six districts of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills region to curtail rumours that could deteriorate law and order, the officials said.

Clashes broke out between KSU members and non-tribals during a rally organised against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and demanding implementation of the Inner Line Permit (ILP), at Ichamati on Friday, district Superintendent of Police Claudia Lyngwa said.

Eight people have been arrested in this case and a magisterial inquiry has been instituted to probe into the incident, she said.

One person was stabbed to death at the Iewduh market under Cantonment Beat House on Saturday when unidentified persons went on an attacking spree that left seven others seriously injured, the SP said, adding that no one has been arrested so far in this connection.

After the clashes, curfew was imposed at noon in the two police station areas in Shillong while night curfew was imposed in the entire city.

Three companies of central forces have been deployed in the sensitive areas of the district, including in the affected areas of the city, the officials said.

Governor Tathagata Roy and Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma have appealed to the citizens to maintain peace. Both had taken to social media to issue their appeals even as mobile internet services were suspended in the six districts.

Chief Minister Sangma reviewed the law and order situation in the state and appealed for peace.

"I appeal to all our citizens and people of the state to ensure that peace returns and urge upon different organisations to refrain from any violent activity. A magisterial inquiry has been set up. We have ensured that enough manpower is put in place in the affected areas," he had said.

He announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh for the family of the man killed in Friday's clash.

Meanwhile, a police officer told PTI that the state police, which has set up helpline number 1800 345 3846 for stranded tourists, has successfully escorted at least 16 tourists out of the hill town to Guwahati after receiving frantic calls for help from them.


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.
Jersey Shore-based smoothie bowl franchise Playa Bowls is set to open a spot in Manahawkin on March 15, according to a report by the Asbury Park Press.

The 1,000-square-foot shop will be located at 399 N. Main St, near Southern Regional High School, the report says. The space was formerly occupied by Smallcakes, a cupcake shop.

There are currently 47 Playa Bowls locations in New Jersey, according to the franchises website.

Playa Bowls menu staples are bowls that come in seven different bases: acai, banana, chia pudding, coconut, green, oatmeal and pitaya. A large variety of juices, smoothies, soup and poke bowls also are offered.

The Washington Post recently ranked Playa Bowls on its list of 5 spots for when you want something fast, healthful and good for lunch.

Playa Bowls was founded in 2014.

Nicolette Accardi can be reached at naccardi@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter: @N_Accardi. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips

MORE RETAIL AND SHOPPING COVERAGE:

Pier 1 Imports files for bankruptcy: Here are some of the best online deals right now

Hobbymasters in Red Bank closing after 45 years in business

Macys to close 125 stores over the next 3 years
KALAMAZOO, MI -- Police are searching for a shooting suspect after a 19-year-old man arrived at Bronson Methodist Hospital with a gunshot wound Saturday night.

The shooting victim was dropped off by a private car at the hospital at 9:00 p.m. Feb. 29, according to a Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety press release.

The victim stated he had been shot in the 1400 block of Portage Street. Several officers responded to that area to locate the scene of the crime, to identify potential witnesses and to recover any evidence, according to the press release.

The victim, a Kalamazoo resident, was treated and released for non-life-threatening injuries, according to the press release.

Police have not yet identified the suspect.

Based on the investigation, police know the suspect was seen fleeing the scene in a white mid-size SUV. The vehicle was last seen driving north on Portage Street, according to the press release.

Police are encouraging anyone with information to call Kalamazoo Public Safety at 269-488-8911 or Silent Observer at 269-343-2100 or www.kalamazoosilentobserver.com.

Also on MLive:

Children ejected from van hospitalized after I-96 rollover

Coronavirus Q&A, 15 things to know about COVID-19s spread

Michigan family sues Target after 12-year-old daughter stabbed by needle, lawsuit claims
- The photo of the sisters was shared by former Nigerian vice president, Atiku Abubakar

- He urged Nigerians to educate the entire society by simply educating the women

- Among the sisters, there is the first female neurosurgeon in West Africa, a plastic surgeon, an obstetrician, a family physician and a public health physician.

- An Instagram user, who first shared the photo, cautioned men against pressurising women to give birth to male children

Who said Black excellence cannot be achieved, Especially when it is all about women?

One of the beautiful things about women's rights movement and the anti-discriminatory laws is the opportunity they provide for them to be whatever they choose to be.

READ ALSO: Near stampede in Kakamega as thousands flock supermarket to scramble for 15 job vacancies

Among the sisters, there is the first female neurosurgeon in West Africa a plastic surgeon an obstetrician, a family physician and a public health physician. Photo; Atiku Abubakar

Source: Instagram

READ ALSO: Nairobi lawyer invites Kenyans to pray for end of Uhuru's leadership at Uhuru Park

While professions such as medicine was restricted to men in the past, it has long seized to be so and that is why the Aliu's family is trending on social media platforms.

The group of five sisters from northern Nigeria are gaining traction after they all emerged doctors, working in different fields of the medical profession.

It is in this light that the Aliu sisters have been earning admiration from technocrats, academics, political elites, as well as other social groups from around the country.

READ ALSO: Nairobi MCAs accuse Senator Sakaja of sabotaging Mike Sonko's impeachment motion

A photo of the sisters was shared by former Nigerian vice president, Atiku Abubakar, who urged Nigerians to educate the entire society by simply educating the women.

Awesome. If you educate a woman, you educate the family and the community, Atiku wrote.

Among the bevvy of five ladies is first female neurosurgeon in West Africa Salamat Aliu, Halima Aliu who is a plastic surgeon and Raliat Aliu an obstetrician and gynaecologist.

READ ALSO: Jesus carried their burden: Church clears KSh 4.6 billion medical bills for over 45k families

There is also Khadijah Aliu who is a family physician and Medinah Aliu, a public health physician.

I believe Africa is rising above gender inequality and with examples like this, we can create a more supportive environment for women, a Twitter user wrote while marveling at the sisters feat.

An Instagram user, who is said to have first shared the photo, also marvelled at the ladies while cautioning men against pressurising their women to give birth to male children.

READ ALSO: Moses Kuria na Kipchumba Murkomen waingia Meru kwa kishindo

Yet a miserable man will be crying for a son. Just look at these beautiful, intelligent girls. I rejoice with them, parents," he wrote

The sisters stand as living proof of the importance of educating all children irrespective of gender, something that most African fathers tend to neglect.

As it has been widely believed, female children get married and join their husbands family hence the reason the girl child had been marginalised.

READ ALSO: If China will just turn to Jesus, coronavirus crisis will end - US pastor

Academically brilliant girls have had their futures ruined because no one was willing to give them a chance as some are married off young or forced into careers they didn't like.

However, the landscape is changing across the world with old norms being discarded and women are proving that they too are as capable as their male counterparts.

Next time your wife gives birth to your third daughter and you wanted a son, dont despair just know that all children are equal, they will make you proud one day.

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
South Africa said on Sunday that it plans to repatriate 151 of its citizens from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of an edpidemic of a type of new coronavirus.

Speaking at a news conference in Johannesburg, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize told media that as of Sunday, 201 South African citizens were in Wuhan and that 16 citizens have indicated they don't wish to return at this stage.

He said one South African citizen elected to be repatriated alongside Indian citizens and had been cleared to do so by India's government.

Meanwhile the remaining 26 South Africans in Wuhan were unaccounted for, said Mkhize.

No South Africans have died from as a result of the COVID-19 illness.

The viral outbreak that began in China has infected more than 86,000 people globally.
Residents on the Greek island of Lesbos set fire Sunday to a disused migrant centre after blocking dozens of people from landing on a nearby beach, an AFP photographer reported.

Around 150 people gathered at the centre which was run by the UN refugee agency before some of them set it alight.

It came after local people stopped around 50 migrants from landing their boat and shouted insults at a UNHCR official, with some also attacking journalists and photographers.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Wyomings U.S. attorney said Friday that his office supports the goals a Wyoming tribe said it would work toward in the state of emergency it recently announced over a worsening methamphetamine crisis.

Mark Klaassen, U.S. Attorney for the District of Wyoming, said in a news release that his office is looking forward to working with a task force the Northern Arapaho Tribe said it would form as a result of the state of emergency declaration. The tribe said meth use has reached a crisis level and threatens to permanently damage the well-being of the Tribe.

Klaassens office is committed to doing our part and working with the Tribes to improve our collective efforts to combat drug crime, particularly methamphetamine, on the Wind River Indian Reservation, he said.

Methamphetamine distribution and abuse has been a problem in Wyoming and on the Wind River Reservation for a long time, and I understand the frustration, the concern and the sense of urgency on this issue, he said. Here in Wyoming, methamphetamine is by far our most significant drug issue. The production and trafficking of ever-purer forms of the drug from Mexico have lowered prices and made this addictive substance even more prevalent in our communities  with devastating consequences.

In declaring a state of emergency, the tribe said it would form a task force to look at factors causing the crisis on the reservation, resources needed to address the problem, recommendations on how to fight the crisis, and measurable goals and time frames for the tribe to work toward and gauge its progress in addressing the problem.

The tribe also directed tribal programs and agencies to prioritize addressing the crisis.

The Northern Arapaho Business Council unanimously approved the resolution on Wednesday, with leaders announcing the decision and what it meant in front of hundreds of community members at the Wind River Hotel & Casino on Thursday morning.

Tribal leaders first started calling for more aggressive and coordinated actions late last year to reduce the number of tribal citizens using the drug and the negative affects it has on users families and tribal services. The move also follows a similar declaration by the Oglala Sioux Tribe in South Dakota earlier this year.

As duly-elected representatives of the Northern Arapaho Tribe, were fully committed to ensuring the health, safety and well-being of our community, Business Council Chairman Lee Spoonhunter said in a press release after the tribe announced the declaration on Thursday. We will use every available resource and coordinate as appropriate with federal, state and local authorities to combat this epidemic and protect the Northern Arapaho people.

The crisis over methamphetamine use and distribution also affects the Eastern Shoshone Tribe, and the Northern Arapahos declaration isnt the first time the two tribes have attempted to confront drug abuse among tribal citizens. For example, both Wyoming tribes have sued opioid manufacturers for allegedly helping fuel a public health epidemic involving opioid abuse.

Klaassen, whose office prosecutes drug trafficking crimes on the reservation, said his office has recently convicted 10 defendants for felonies involving distribution of meth to people living on the reservation.

Still, he said combating the crisis will require more than prosecutions. Those solutions could include effective social services, access to mental health services and recovery programs in addition to healthy families, communities, schools and other social structures, he added.

We have had some recent success, but there is always more that can be done, Klaassen said. The reality is there are no quick and easy answers, and the methamphetamine problem will not be solved through law enforcement alone ... So many factors contribute to drug abuse and the demand it creates for these substances. We must address the problem from all sides and understand the root causes.

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.
Export-Import Bank of Korea (Eximbank) CEO Bang Moon-kyu, fourth from left, talks with branch managers about measures to support small- and medium-sized enterprises that have been impacted by COVID-19 in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, during a video conference at the bank's Suwon branch in Gyeonggi Province, Friday. They held the meeting at the Suwon branch as the Yeouido head office in Seoul was closed after an employee tested positive for the coronavirus. The disinfected head office will reopen Monday as the employee tested negative during second and third screenings. / Courtesy of Eximbank
In fresh violence reported from the state, a group of unidentified people went on a stabbing spree in Shillong's busiest market on February 28. The group attacked "non-indigenous" people, killing one and injuring nine. Read more

Here's more top news of the day:

1) Goons In Delhi's Riot-Hit Areas Are Snatching Relief Material, Threatening Those Trying To Help

As Delhi gets back on its feet after days of deadly violence that left close to 50 dead and more than 250 injured earlier this week, those providing relief are facing a rather grave challenge. Read more

2) In Fight Against Plastic Pollution, Sikkim Introduces Bamboo Water Bottles For Tourists

A quaint town of Sikkim is set to introduce bamboo water bottles for tourists in a bid to completely stop the use of plastic water bottles and littering. Read more

3) Polish Student Of Jadavpur University, Who Attended Ant-CAA Rally, Asked To Leave India

reuters

A Polish student of Jadavpur University has been asked by the Foreigner Regional Registration Office (FRRO) to leave the country after he participated in an anti-CAA rally in the West Bengal capital, varsity sources said on Sunday. Read more

4) Not Happy With Official Version, Shiv Sena Questions Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri's Mysterious Death Back In 1966

Shastri was the one who started the slogan "Jai Jawan Jai Kisan" (Hail the soldier, Hail the farmer). He was in power when we were at war with Pakistan in 1965 and had taken over the post after the death of Jawaharlal Nehru in 1964. Read more

5) In Largest Breakout Outside China, South Korea Coronavirus Tally Crosses 3,700; 18 Dead

AFP

South Korea directed Churches to shut down on Sunday, with many holding online services instead, as authorities fought to rein in public gatherings, with 586 new coronavirus infections taking the tally to 3,736 cases. Read more
I fell in love with the work of Donald Judd. No matter how ego-involved he was, he came off as a sweet man. His work seemed to have a different edge from what the others were doing, which seemed so cold and uninteresting.

The beauty for me as an artist was using Manhattan as my teacher. On weekends we would go to bars, galleries and happenings. Amiri Baraka [the poet and activist] came to my studio and wanted me to do more images of the movement. I told him Look at what Africans did with abstraction; talk about spirit! My black paintings also spoke to the issues of blackness.

I became friends with Sam Gilliam [the black Color Field painter]. He supported me and my ideas as I fought the others. They were contemporaries, and I had to fight them for my own space. Male painters got a different kind of respect than women artists did. Today I was amazed how much I learned as a young girl of 27, kicking and screaming to make my own place in a white male bastion.

Why did you leave New York?

Because it got scary. I was living at 116th Street and Seventh Avenue, and the junkies had taken over my block. There were a lot of changes going on in the movement. Our leaders were being killed in horrific ways. Harlem was on fire at one point.

Why San Francisco?

I got a job teaching at the San Francisco Institute of Art. I needed a studio. My husband divorced me. Wherever I lived, I worked. It was wonderful to set your own issues, problems, and the way you felt about them. I went to the aquarium once and saw whales mating. Then I saw them swimming in the bay. It was magic. Gods work. It was transformative. I painted it.
Vietnam reports an estimated trade deficit of 176 million USD in the first two months of the year. (Photo: vneconomy.vn)



The domestic economic sector posted a deficit of 3.94 billion USD while the foreign-invested sector (including crude oil) grossed a surplus of 3.76 billion USD.

The GSO said that total export revenue during January-February picked up 2.4 percent year-on-year to 36.92 billion USD despite the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, partly thanks to Samsung's export of its new mobile phone model S20.

Products with high export value included telephone and spare parts (6.9 billion USD, up 2.3 percent); electronic products, computers and components (5.4 billion USD, up 26.7 percent); machinery and equipment (3 billion USD, up 19.6 percent); and footwear (2.7 billion USD, up 3 percent).

Meanwhile, export revenue of several farm produce fell such as seafood (921 million USD, down 17.7 percent); coffee (497 million USD, decreasing 9.8 percent), vegetables and fruits (481 million USD, falling 17.4 percent); cashew nut (315 million USD, dwindling 19.3 percent); and pepper bean (81 million USD, dropping 18.8 percent). Rice is an exception, earning 372 million USD, up 20.5 percent.

The US remained the largest importer of Vietnam, splashing 9.8 billion USD on Vietnamese commodities, surging 19.6 percent from the same time last year.

Revenues from exports to China increased by 3.7 percent to 4.8 billion USD and to Japan by 8.9 percent to 3.2 billion USD) while the value of exports to the EU and ASEAN dropped by 7.7 percent to 5 billion USD), and 9.3 percent to 3.5 billion USD, respectively.

During the period, Vietnams import revenue inched up 2.4 percent to 37.1 billion USD, with high-value imports including electronic products, computers and spare parts (8.6 billion USD); equipment, tools and components (5.3 billion USD); and telephones and components (2.1 billion USD).

Vietnam imported 10 billion USD worth of products from China in the two months, falling 0.4 percent from a year ago. It spent 4.5 billion USD on goods from ASEAN, 2.8 billion USD on goods from Japan, 2.1 billion USD on EU products and 2.1 billion USD on US goods./.
He recently revealed that he lost an impressive 10kgs following his stint on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!

And on Saturday, Ryan Gallagher flaunted his washboard abs while rocking pink floral budgie smugglers as he was reunited with fellow contestant, Tom Williams.

Sharing a photo of the reunion on his Instagram page, the former Married At First Sight star, 31, appeared to be in good spirits as he put his arm over the TV presenter.

Reunited! I'm A Celebrity star Ryan Gallagher (left) flaunted his washboard abs in pink floral budgie smugglers as he was reunited with fellow contestant Tom Williams on Saturday

'It's Mardi Gras and getting fruity with everyone's favourite topless dancer', he cheekily captioned the snap.

The TV star appeared to be making the most of his time since returning from the jungle last month, keeping hydrated with a cold beverage in his hand.

Meanwhile, Tom, 49, showed off his eight kilo weight loss in blue shorts and a camouflaged hat for the occasion.

Reality: Ryan and Tom formed an unlikely friendship while competing against each other on I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! in the South African jungle

The duo formed an unlikely friendship while competing against each other in the South African jungle.

Last month Ryan revealed he had lost over 10kgs while in the jungle, after he showcased his weight loss on his Instagram account last month.

In the new image, Ryan's facial features looked razor sharp, after losing body fat from both his neck and cheeks in recent weeks.

Unrecognisable! Ryan Gallagher (left in 2018, right February) lost 10kg while filming I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! in South Africa

A picture of Ryan shirtless in the jungle also revealed how he had lost muscle mass and size compared to his stint on Married At First Sight in 2018.

The sighting comes after Ryan called it quits with his 'girlfriend' Charlotte Crosby, after the pair fell in love while competing on the series.

But Ryan proved to be okay he shared footage of him rescuing an injured kangaroo off the side of the road.
D octors and other health professionals could be brought out of retirement to help fight coronavirus as part of emergency Government planning for if the UK outbreak worsens.

Ministers have confirmed that broader measures will be considered to keep the public safe and ensure the NHS can handle the added strain, if the spread of coronavirus escalates into a pandemic.

The plans include a Dads Army-style emergency registration of health professionals who have retired, as well as relaxing rules around school class sizes in case teachers are off ill or forced to self-isolate.

Other proposals include introducing emergency indemnity coverage for healthcare workers to allow them to diagnose or care for those who contract the deadly illness.

Ministers are also considering whether to recommend more employees work from home and discourage unnecessary travel.

People wear face masks in Trafalger Square in London / PA

The so-called social distancing approach is part of a strategy designed to delay the peak of the outbreak until later in the year, potentially helping to combat the virus during warmer weather conditions when it will spread less easily.

The plan, due to be issued across all four nations of the UK, is based on the Governments existing contingency plans for responding to a pandemic flu outbreak, but adapted for Covid-19.

The UK currently has 23 confirmed cases of coronavirus but fears of a wider outbreak worsened after a man was diagnosed in Surrey on Friday. It was not clear if the patient had contracted the virus directly or indirectly from somebody who had recently travelled abroad.

The Prime Minister said: Coronavirus may very well be a challenge in the weeks and months ahead.

But I have no doubt that with the help of the NHS and its incomparable staff this country will get through it  and beat it.

Irish Minister for Health Simon Harris (centre) holds a leaflet which forms part of the public awareness campaign for COVID-19 (Coronavirus) in the baggage hall of Terminal 2 at Dublin Airport / PA

As part of the bid to step up Government preparations, Boris Johnson has announced he will establish a war room in the Cabinet Office featuring a cross-Whitehall team of communications experts who are responsible for rolling out a public information campaign.

A publicity campaign will be unveiled featuring posters and social media adverts to reinforce the importance of hand-washing for 20 seconds or more with water and soap in order to prevent the spread of the virus.

Other policies being brought in include designating a minister in every Whitehall department to be responsible for its response to coronavirus.

The PM, meanwhile, will chair his first emergency Cobra meeting about the outbreak on Monday. He has been criticised for not chairing the session earlier.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the Government is still hopeful of containing the disease.

Londoners wear Coronavirus masks - In pictures 1 /61 Londoners wear Coronavirus masks - In pictures A man wearing a protective mask travels on the underground tube Reuters A woman wearing a protective face mask Jeremy Selwyn A man and woman wearing protective face masks on a bus PA A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask in Victoria Jeremy Selwyn A woman shopper wears a protective mask as she walks down an aisle in a supermarket in London AFP via Getty Images A man wearing a face mask waits to board an underground train on the Central Line at Bank station in London AP A woman with a plastic box over her head on the London Underground. PA A woman wearing a protective face mask walking down Oxford Street in London PA A woman wearing a mask walks by the Emirates Stadium Action Images via Reuters A man is seen wearing a protective face mask at Waterloo station Reuters A woman wears a surgical mask as she walks through Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport Reuters A fan in the stands wears a mask during the Premier League match at Stamford Bridg PA A man wearing a protective face mask walking down Oxford Street PA Commuters with masks on during the Coronavirus outbreak Jeremy Selwyn A person wears a mask in a display of street style outside the BFC Show Space show in London PA Commuters with masks on during the Coronavirus outbreak Jeremy Selwyn Commuters with masks on during the Coronavirus outbreak Jeremy Selwyn Commuters with masks on during the Coronavirus outbreak Jeremy Selwyn A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask in Victoria Jeremy Selwyn Commuters with masks on during the Coronavirus outbreak Jeremy Selwyn A commuter on the tube wearing a face mask Jeremy Selwyn A woman wears a mask while crossing London Bridge Getty Images People wear masks at Holborn underground Station Jeremy Selwyn A man wearing a face mask walks past an entrance sign for Bank underground train station AP The coronavirus outbreak will unlikely lead to a Tube ban PA People wear masks at Holborn underground Station Jeremy Selwyn People wear masks at Holborn underground Station Jeremy Selwyn A woman wearing a face mask on the London Underground. PA People wear masks at Holborn underground Station Jeremy Selwyn A pedestrian wears a face mask whilst walking along High Holborn PA A pedestrian wears a face mask whilst walking along High Holborn PA A man wears a mask as he takes a photograph in China Town AP A man in a hazmat suit and face mask cleans the Ritchie Street Health Centre, Islington PA A commuter at Euston wearing a mask Jeremy Selwyn A commuter at Euston wearing a mask Jeremy Selwyn A man arrives at Euston Underground wearing a mask Jeremy Selwyn A commuter arrives at St Pancras wearing a mask Jeremy Selwyn St Pancras Jeremy Selwyn A commuter arrives at St Pancras wearing a mask Jeremy Selwyn Jeremy Selwyn Staff in suits at St Thomas's Hospital today Jeremy Selwyn A commuter arrives at St Pancras wearing a mask Jeremy Selwyn A commuter arrives at St Pancras wearing a mask Jeremy Selwyn A man wears a face mask as he stands near an electronic arrivals board at Terminal 4 of London Heathrow Airport AFP via Getty Images A man wears a face mask as he walks along the Thames embankment AFP via Getty Images A woman wearing a protective face mask is seen on London Bridg Reuters

He told Sky News Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme: The plan is very clear. Firstly, (it is) to contain this virus. Thats the stage were in now, we hope that we can succeed in doing that.

The Cabinet minister said the long-term strategy for ensuring Covid-19 was contained was attempting to delay its peak until the summer when the warmer weather means the virus will not spread so easily.

The Government is also putting 40 million into trying to find a vaccine and also aiming to improve treatments for patients who do have the disease, he said.

Willow Bank Infant School headteacher Michelle Masters informed parents that the worker had tested positive for the strain of coronavirus known as Covid-19.

US increases travel restrictions as Trump confirms first coronavirus death

In an email, Ms Masters urged parents to remain calm and follow the recommended hygiene procedures.

The school will be shut for some days to allow for a deep clean and to ensure that the risk of infection remain(s) low, she said.

Another case involved a patient from the Cotswolds area of Gloucestershire. Debra Lapthorne, centre director for Public Health England (PHE) South West, said the patient became infected whilst in Italy, the worst-affected country in Europe.

A third case was also identified in Hertfordshire.

Meanwhile, the Irish Republic reported its first case of the virus on Saturday , where a man in the eastern part of the island tested positive after travelling from an affected area in Italy.

Coronavirus: Costa Adeje Hotel lockdown in Tenerife 1 /32 Coronavirus: Costa Adeje Hotel lockdown in Tenerife A police officer stands by a barrier in front of the H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel where the number of coronavirus cases has doubled AP People stand on their balconies of the H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel AP General view of H10 Hotel, which is on lockdown after novel coronavirus has been confirmed in Adeje Reuters Tourists sunbath at the H10 Costa Adeje Palace Hotel in La Caleta AFP via Getty Images Police officers stand outside of H10 Hotel, which is on lockdown after novel coronavirus has been confirmed in Adeje, on the Spanish island of Tenerife Reuters Spanish police officers stand outside the H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel in Tenerife, Canary Island, Spain AP Emergency workers rest at a health control outside H10 Hotel, which is on lockdown after novel coronavirus has been confirmed in in Adeje, on the Spanish island of Tenerife REUTERS PA AP A woman looks from a terrace of H10 Hotel, which is on lockdown after novel coronavirus has been confirmed in Adeje, on the Spanish island of Tenerife, Reuters General view taken on February 25, 2020 of the H10 Costa Adeje Palace Hotel in La Caleta, where hundreds of people were confined to their rooms after an Italian tourist was hospitalised with a suspected case of coronavirus. - Tourists staying in a four-star hotel on the Spanish island of Tenerife AFP via Getty Images H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel in Tenerife, Canary Island, Spain, Google A police officer controls the road to the H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel in Tenerife, Canary Island AP via Reuters An employee wears a protective mask as he talks with guests inside a hotel under lockdown after a coronavirus case was identified in Adej via Reuters Tourists stand on the balcony of their rooms at the H10 Costa Adeje Palace Hotel in La Caleta AFP via Getty Images H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel in Tenerife, Canary Island, Spain Google AFP via Getty Images A Spanish police officer sets a barrier blocking the access to the H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel in Tenerife, Canary Island, Spain AP A Spanish National Police car is parked outside a hotel under lockdown after a coronavirus case was identified in Adeje, in the Spanish Canary Island of Tenerife via Reuters Spanish police officers patrol outside the H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel in Tenerife, Canary Island AP Employees wearing protective masks arrange water bottles in the lobby of a hotel under lockdown after a coronavirus case was identified in Adeje, in the Spanish Canary Island of Tenerife via Reuters H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel in Tenerife, Canary Island, Spain, Google H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel in Tenerife, Canary Island, Spain, Google StreetView

It comes as Donald Trump banned travel to Iran after America reported its first death from the virus. The US president added that he was considering additional restrictions, including closing the border with Mexico in response to the outbreak.

Richard Ratcliffe said his wife has repeatedly asked to be tested for the virus at the Evin prison in Tehran after suffering from a strange cold.

Guests at the four-star H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel were told they would be in quarantine until March 10, after at least four holidaymakers were diagnosed with Covid-19.

Spanish authorities have since said the risk of infection for any Britons staying at the hotel was low.

It comes amid reports that a fifth man at the hotel has tested positive for coronavirus.
Who does not know the famous Hollywood actor Jackie Chan in today's time. Jackie Chan, who has won everyone's heart with martial arts and judo, has also won the hearts of his fans due to his films. Not only this, they always remain in discussions. So far 2,835 people have died of coronavirus in China. This figure is constantly increasing. This virus is harming people not only in China but also in other countries. New cases of infections and deaths are also coming from the rest of the world. A news is getting viral on social media, in which it is being told that Chinese superstar Jackie Chan has also been caught in the virus.



According to media reports, Jackie Chan's fan followings are worldwide. He also has many fans in India. But ever since the news came out that Jackie Chan is also in the grip of Coronavirus, fans have been worried about him since then. But now Jackie Chan himself has reacted to this rumor spreading continuously. Jackie Chan has given a message to his fans through his Instagram account. He wrote, 'Thank you to everyone for such a worry. I am safe and healthy, I request you not to panic. I am not in Quarantine (a place to take care of the patient during rare diseases). I hope all of you will also be healthy.



For information, let us tell you that in view of the spread of coronavirus like epidemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) has raised its risk and danger level to the highest. Starting from China, the threat of the virus, which has spread to more than 50 countries of the world including South Africa, has been kept at the highest level ever.

Also Read:

Now Coronavirus makes victim to Hollywood

This Harry Porter artist made distance from films

Jonas Brothers Celebrate A Year of Comeback Song 'Sucker'

Robert Hoffman won hearts of children suffering from this deadly disease
THE FACTS: No vaccine is imminent for the coronavirus. A candidate vaccine for the virus causing COVID-19 is approaching first-step safety tests, but federal experts say anything widely usable is probably more than a year away. "We can't rely on a vaccine over the next several months," said Dr Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease chief at the National Institutes of Health. --- TRUMP: "The level of death with Ebola - you know, at the time, it was a virtual 100 per cent. ... There's a very good chance you're not going to die. It's very much the opposite. You're talking about 1 or 2 per cent, whereas in the other case, it was a virtual 100 per cent. Now they have it; they have studied it. They know very much. In fact, we're very close to a vaccine." - news conference Tuesday in New Delhi.

THE FACTS: "Close" is not correct. A vaccine has already been developed for Ebola. The FDA approved an Ebola vaccine in December. Even before its US approval, it was being used in Congo to help stem the current outbreak. --- TRUMP, on US coronavirus cases: "We're going down, not up. We're going very substantially down, not up." - news conference Wednesday. THE FACTS: That was false assurance. He was referring to the fact that most of the people he cited as having COVID-19 in the U.S. are getting better. But that is not indicative of the spread or containment of the disease since most victims, by far, recover. Cases in the US are almost certain to increase, his own officials have said repeatedly, and he acknowledged as much on Saturday.

--- TRUMP: "Unfortunately, one person passed away overnight. She was a wonderful woman, a medically high-risk patient in her late 50s." - news conference Saturday. THE FACTS: The patient who died of the disease was a man. Dr Robert Redfield, director of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said the CDC mistakenly told Trump and Vice-President Mike Pence that the victim was female. --- TRUMP: "The flu in our country kills from 25,000 people to 69,000 people a year; that was shocking to me. And so far, if you look at what we have with the 15 people, and they are recovering."

THE FACTS: His remarks on the coronavirus risks are misleading. Scientists don't know enough about how deadly the new virus actually is, and so far it hasn't infected nearly as many people as the flu. Of the cases cited by Trump, they are not "all recovering." One died and four others are "very ill," he said Saturday. Loading Flu deaths fluctuate depending on which strain is circulating and how well each year's vaccine is working, but Trump's cited range is in the ballpark. Two flu seasons ago, the CDC estimated there were 80,000 US deaths, the highest death toll in at least four decades. This year's flu season isn't as deadly; so far this season, the CDC estimates there have been 16,000 to 41,000 deaths from the flu. As to COVID-19, an illness characterised by fever and coughing and in serious cases shortness of breath or pneumonia, there are now at least 60 cases in the US. In addition to the ones Trump cited, 45 were among groups the US government evacuated and quarantined either from China or the Diamond Princess cruise ship. In the hardest-hit part of China, the death rate from the new coronavirus was between 2 per cent and 4 per cent, while in other parts of China it was 0.7 per cent. In contrast, the death rate from seasonal flu on average is about 0.1 per cent, said Fauci, of the US National Institutes of Health. That's far lower than what has been calculated so far for COVID-19. But millions of people get the flu every year around the world, leading to a global annual death toll in the hundreds of thousands.

--- MIKE BLOOMBERG: "There's nobody here to figure out what the hell we should be doing. And he's defunded - he's defunded Centres for Disease Control, CDC, so we don't have the organisation we need. This is a very serious thing." - Democratic presidential debate Tuesday. JOE BIDEN, comparing the Obama-Biden administration with now: "We increased the budget of the CDC. We increased the NIH budget. ... He's wiped all that out. ... He cut the funding for the entire effort." THE FACTS: They're both wrong to say the agencies have seen their money cut. Bloomberg is repeating the false allegation in a new ad that states the US is unprepared for the virus because of "reckless cuts" to the CDC. Trump's budgets have proposed cuts to public health, only to be overruled by Congress, where there's strong bipartisan support for agencies such as the CDC and NIH. Instead, financing has increased. Indeed, the money that government disease detectives first tapped to fight the latest outbreak was a congressional fund created for health emergencies.
The voters in South Carolina did more than give Biden his first victory in three campaigns for the White House. They gave him the kind of margin that only a week ago seemed out of reach, at least based on public polls. His share of the popular vote was by far the biggest any candidate has received in the first four contests. Meanwhile, Sanders was not able to show that he can win a major share of African American voters, capturing fewer than 1 in 5 black voters, according to network exit polls.
TUSCOLA COUNTY, MI  A man was arrested Saturday afternoon after a multi-county crime spree in southeast Michigan, police said.

Troopers with the Michigan State Police Caro Post were dispatched around 5:15 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 29 to the area of Kingston Road near Marlette Road in Tuscola Countys Koylton Township following a report of a home invasion in progress.

The troopers arrived and located a male suspect. He was taken into custody by police without incident.

A police investigation has revealed the suspect, whose name has not been released pending arraignment, stole a Dodge pickup truck earlier in the day in Wayne County and was involved in at least one robbery in Lapeer County.

He crashed the stolen truck in the area of Kingston Road near Marlette Road and proceeded to flee the scene on foot.

The suspect then stole a second pickup truck and crashed just down the road, police said.

He entered a home a short time later and demanded keys, but the suspect was run off by residents and a dog.

The homeowners called 911 and began to follow the suspect east on Marlette Road.

Police say the suspect entered a second home and threatened to kill a woman and demanded keys to her vehicle, but he was once again chased off.

As the suspect fled the second home, he attempted to stop vehicles to carjack one of them.

Troopers arrived and took the suspect into custody.

He is being held in the Tuscola County Jail, pending arraignment on felony charges which could occur as soon as Monday.

Deputies with the Lapeer County Sheriffs Office assisted Michigan State Police troopers with the incident.
MOSCOW, Feb 29 (Reuters) - Thousands of people gathered in Moscow on Saturday to mark five years since the murder of prominent Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov, joining a march that organisers said was also a protest against planned changes to Russia's constitution.

The annual march is the first major demonstration organised by Russia's political opposition since President Vladimir Putin proposed a raft of changes to the constitution last month.

The proposals, widely seen as a means to allow Putin to extend his grip on power after leaving the presidency, will be put to a national vote on April 22.

Over 22,000 people rallied for Saturday's march in a square around 2 kilometres (1.24 miles) from the Kremlin, according to White Counter, a monitoring organisation that tallies up participants at rallies using metal detector frames.

Demonstrators carried photos of Nemtsov and posters reading "No to eternal Putin" and "No to the usurpation of power".

Sergei Tsaplienko, an energy worker, said he was joining the march because he wanted freedom and democracy for the Russian people.

"I haven't got the strength to stand the government's abuses of power," he said. "The constitution is about to be transformed into some sort of comic strip."

Moscow city authorities granted official permission for the march to be held, unlike several unsanctioned protests in the capital last summer that, at their peak, drew around 60,000 people and led to thousands of detentions.

Organisers said that linking the commemorative march with a protest against constitutional reform was consistent with the ideas of Nemtsov, who was one of Putin's most vocal critics.

"This is exactly what Boris Nemtsov was fighting for, and he gave his life for it," organisers wrote on the event's web page.

Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister, was killed in 2015 as he walked home across a bridge near the Kremlin's walls. He had been working on a report examining Russia's role in the conflict in Ukraine.

Story continues

His allies have criticised the subsequent investigation for failing to identify who ordered the killing, though five men were given jail sentences.

Saturday's protest featured a banner calling on the authorities to find and prosecute those who orchestrated the killing.

The call was echoed by a representative of the U.S. embassy in Moscow earlier this week, during a visit by foreign diplomats to Nemtsov's memorial. (Writing by Polina Ivanova; Editing by Mike Harrison)
One of the six pillars of the Chester County Historic Courthouse on North High Street will shine in blue light on January nights beginning Tuesday evening in recognition of National Human Trafficking Awareness Day.
KALAMAZOO, MI -- Police and firefighters closed West Main Street for more than an hour Saturday because of a serious crash that caused multiple injuries.

The crash, involving at least two vehicles, happened about 4:15 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 29 on West Main Street near Monroe Avenue, just west of Douglas Avenue.

Firefighters needed to extricate at least one person from a vehicle.

Firefighters called for three ambulances to respond to the scene.

West Main Street was closed until about 5:20 p.m. Saturday.

More from MLive

Parts of Kalamazoo remain under boil water advisory after water main break

I thought I had it goin on, but I didnt really, Grand Rapids civic leader grapples with depression

Live performances of prominent African Americans in history witnessed at Grand Rapids mall
Doha: For the past several years, the issue of increasing violence in the world has spread throughout the human world today. On the occasion of the historic agreement by the US and Taliban in Qatar to restore peace in Afghanistan, US Secretary of State Mike Ponpio said, "This agreement with Afghanistan was achieved only when the Taliban tried for peace and their relationship with al Qaeda Have been eliminated. This agreement has been the true test of this effort.

For your information, let us tell you that he said that we will look closely at the Taliban for compliance with their commitments and check the speed of our return with their actions. In this way we will ensure that Afghanistan does not act as a base for international terrorists again. In Doha, US Secretary of State Michael Ponpio and Taliban's Mullah Baradar signed the MoU. Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi was also present on the occasion, while India was represented by Indian Ambassador to Qatar P Kumaran. According to the agreement, there will be a return of 14,000 US troops stationed in different areas of Afghanistan in the next 14 months.

It has been learned that 5,000 soldiers will be back in the first phase. In the meantime, a series of talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government will begin so that a consensus can be reached about the power partnership there. The US and Taliban have signed a historic agreement in Qatar to restore peace in Afghanistan. With this agreement, the longest American war in Afghanistan will end. A 31-member Taliban delegation has arrived in Qatar to sign the historic agreement with the US.

Also Read:

Now Coronavirus makes victim to Hollywood

Truth came out about Corona, China hid this important thing

Former Britain PM has large collection of dress, Know details

Indians will have to pay extra amount to live in America
The two suspects were arrested by state and Chicago police, but their identities had not yet been released as of Sunday afternoon.
The Cesars  which is basically the French Oscars  just gave its awards for Best Director and Best Adapted screenplay to filmmaker Roman Polanski, who is guilty of having sexually abused a 13-year-old. And French actress Adele Haenel was not going to have it.

On Friday, the Portrait of a Lady on Fire actress walked out when Polanski was announced as a winner. As she was leaving, she screamed, "Shame!" It was clear that it wasn't only she who felt that honoring an abuser was inappropriate. Others followed her out of the Salle Pleyel in Paris.

In an interview with The New York Times earlier this year, Haenel revealed that she was sexually abused at a young age by a director. And so the Cesars honoring Polanski seems to be quite a personal attack.

Related | Photographer Accuses Roman Polanski of 1975 Rape

Comedian Florence Foresti, who was hosting the awards show, also took a lot of jabs at Polanski. She also made sure to tell the audience not to applaud Polanski or his film An Officer and a Spy when it was mentioned for its nominations. Protesters also gathered outside the venue, and per Reuters, they clashed with police.

Still, some French actors came to Polanski's defense, including Fanny Ardant, who received the Cesar for best supporting actress.
A major oil and gas industry conference that brings thousands of international visitors to Houston every March has been canceled amid elevated fears related to the growing number of coronavirus cases around the world.

CERAWeek by IHS Markit organizers canceled the event Sunday with "deep disappointment."

"Over the last few days concern has mounted rapidly about the COVID-19 coronavirus," organizers said in a statement. "The World Health Organization raised the threat level on Friday, the U.S. government canceled a summit meeting scheduled in Las Vegas, an increasing number of companies are instituting travel bans and restrictions, border health checks are becoming more restrictive and there is growing concern about large conferences with people coming from different parts of the world."

Fuel Fix: Get daily energy news headlines in your inbox

With an audience that draws CEOs, Middle Eastern royalty and energy ministers from nations around the globe, the conference attracted 5,300 delegates last year. Although U.S. travel restrictions prevented Chinese delegates from attending this year's conference, organizers were expecting delegates from 80 nations to arrive in Houston from March 9 through 13.

CERAWeek is the latest global conference to cancel. Last month, Facebook canceled its 5,000-person Global Marketing Summit in San Francisco because of concerns about the virus. Organizers of Mobile World Congress in Barcelona did the same days earlier.

"Our number one concern is the health and safety of delegates and speakers, our partners, our colleagues and vendors," organizers reiterated in their statement canceling the conference.

Previously Reported: CERAWeek enacts precautions amid concerns about coronavirus






By William Schwartz | Published on 2020/02/29

The title of "Gabi" is a reference to the Russian word for coffee. Apparently, in the South Korean market, coffee originally appeared as a luxury good imported from Russia. It is, rather appropriately, frequently described in the movie as having a liquor-like taste. But anyway, Ilyich (played by Joo Jin-mo) and Tanya (played by Kim So-yeon) are a couple of gangsters in the 1890's who rob Russian military trains possibly for coffee or maybe for the gold that's being smuggled with the coffee the movie never really makes it clear.

Advertisement

I could describe nearly any plot point in "Gabi" with the same sort of ambiguous confusion. The plot is outrageously difficult to follow, mainly because screenwriter Kim Eun-jeong shoves in a lot of generally irrelevant backstory. It was hard to guess which parts I was actually supposed to remember for future reference and which ones are only in the movie because they were also in the book. Consequently, I was never quite sure if I was actually seeing plot holes or just stuff I'd forgotten about.

Genre-wise "Gabi" eventually manages to settle on being a spy thriller, albeit not a terribly coherent one. Ilyich and Tanya have Russian names, but a Korean background, and originally they were criminals, so whose side are they on? You'd think they could at least be reliably described as being on each other's side but no, their relationship is surprisingly ambivalent even as we're clearly led to believe that the two very profoundly love each other.

If the lead actors can't even much express their chemistry with each other very well you can probably guess how hard it is to tell whether they are siding with Korean, Japanese, or Russian interests at any given moment. This ends up making the coffee-guzzling King Gojong (played by Park Hee-soon) the main sympathetic character, because he's always reacting to people with bitter paranoid anger. With the Korean court in such a lousy state it's hard to blame him for getting addicted to coffee.

Even bearing in mind that part of the tension in "Gabi" is supposed to be about ambiguous loyalties, there's a fine line between moral, ethical conflict and just not being able to tell what's going on or what anyone wants. I misidentified one scene wherein a random background character expresses sudden suspicious fondness for Tanya as being a hint that she had an agenda. Actually her emotional outburst was totally sincere, it's just that everyone likes Tanya for...some reason.

Even the historical background is very poorly sketched out. Frequent references to the invasion of Taiwan and the assassination of Queen Min are the main ways with which the movie can be clearly dated. If you don't know the history there, and if you also don't understand why King Gojong's attempts to identify Korea as an international empire are important, "Gabi" will do you no help in trying to explain or contextualize these events. "Gabi" is a major disappointment in just about every way I can think of.

Review by William Schwartz

___________

"Gabi" is directed by Jang Yoon-hyeon, and features Joo Jin-mo, Kim So-yeon, Park Hee-soon, Yoo Sun, Jo Duk-hyun, Kim Eung-soo. Release date in Korea: 2012/03/15.
TORONTO, Feb. 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- INV Metals Inc. (INV Metals or the Company) (INV.TO) provides an update to its ongoing efforts on the Loma Larga gold-silver-copper project (Loma Larga), located in Ecuador.



INV Metals is continuing to actively advance Loma Larga towards development. The Company is currently focused on updating the original 2019 Feasibility Study (2019 FS) at Loma Larga and preparing the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for submission. Management is targeting the completion of the engineering related to the relocation of the plant and tailings facilities and the update of the 2019 FS, by the end of Q1/2020. The Loma Larga EIA is expected to be submitted following the completion of the revised 2019 FS. With the application of best practices in Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) the Company is focused on developing a socially and environmentally responsible mine which will provide opportunities for employment, training, business creation and sustainable development for our key stakeholders.

Ms. Candace MacGibbon, CEO, stated, We are pleased to report that the Constitutional Court of Ecuador has denied the application to hold a referendum related to mining activities in the Province of Azuay. Furthermore and importantly, the Constitutional Court indicated that the application regarding the cancellation of current mining concessions, which would retroactively affect concessions already granted by the Ecuadorian State, violated the concessionaires right to legal certainty. Therefore, the right of mining concession holders to legal security has been upheld and confirmed by the Constitutional Court as a right enshrined by the Constitution of Ecuador.

Azuay Referendum Application

On February 21, 2020, the Ecuadorian Constitutional Court (the Constitutional Court) denied the request to hold a referendum related to future and present mining activities within the Province of Azuay, which was presented for consideration to the Court on January 7, 2020. The Constitutional Court denied the request stating the standards and criteria previously established by the Constitutional Court to hold a referendum regarding mining activities were not met in either of two questions that were analyzed.

Story continues

The Constitutional Court reviewed the issue of holding referendums related to the cancellation of valid and legally granted mineral rights which would by extension impact the historical and future investment of concession holders in mining, development and exploration projects. The Constitutional Court ruled substantively that local referendums that would have retroactive effects on legally granted mining rights violate the rights of mining concessionaires. The conclusion reached by the Constitutional Court was based on the right of concession holders to legal certainty which is granted by the Constitution to Ecuador.

We have been advised by our legal counsel that this ruling will set a precedent that any future referendum requests related to mining activities will not impact our legally granted mining concessions within Ecuador, and the related potential future exploration, development and mining activities on such concessions. If future referendum requests which meet the criteria previously set by the Constitutional Court are allowed to proceed, the potential impact would be related to future mineral rights not yet granted based on legally valid laws, rules and regulations.

Loma Larga Update

The Company continues to progress with the re-engineering and cost estimation to update the 2019 FS at Loma Larga, incorporating the relocation of the processing and tailings facilities to its land surface rights in close proximity with the Loma Larga deposit. Our teams are working together with various Federal Government Ministries to advance our EIA, permitting efforts and other key milestones, supported by the Ministry of Energy and Non-renewable Resources, along with our business and community stakeholders. Responsible development continues to be a priority for INV Metals and our future efforts will remain concentrated on applying best practices in ESG, minimizing the impacted footprint of the operation, and the stewardship of water and the environment.

The 2019 FS confirms the Projects viability and demonstrates the strong profitability and economics of Loma Larga with an after-tax 30% IRR based on $1,450/oz gold. During the projected 12 year mine life, 2.6 million gold equivalent ounces are forecasted to be mined, with an average of 227,000 gold equivalent ounces mined per year and an average of 294,000 gold equivalent ounces mined during the first four full years. Loma Larga will be a low cost operation with expected life of mine cash costs of $550/oz, all-in sustaining costs of $619/oz, and all-in costs of $778/oz. Initial pre-production capital expenditures were estimated at $279 million, with sustaining capital of $62 million and closure costs of $22 million. The update to the 2019 FS will provide new economics, including capital and operating cost estimates, and will provide the basis for the submission of the EIA to obtain the relevant environment permits for Loma Larga. Preliminary work indicates that the update is not expected to have a material impact on the previously estimated costs. The 2019 FS, entitled Technical Report on the Loma Larga Project, Azuay Province, Ecuador is dated January 11, 2019, and is available under the Companys profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on the Companys web site at www.invmetals.com.

Qualified Person

All scientific and technical information contained in this press release has been reviewed, verified and approved by Bill Shaver, P. Eng., a mining engineer and the Companys Chief Operating Officer and Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101.

About INVTM Metals Inc.

INVTM Metals is an international mineral resource company focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of precious and base metal projects in Ecuador. Currently, INVTM Metals primary assets are: (1) its 100% interest in the Loma Larga gold exploration and development property in Ecuador, and (2) its 100% interests in exploration concessions in Ecuador, including the Las Penas, Tierras Coloradas, La Rebuscada and Carolina exploration projects.

For more information please contact either:

Candace MacGibbon

Chief Executive Officer

Phone: (416) 703-8416

E-mail: cmacgibbon@invmetals.com

Doug Flegg

Capital Markets Advisor

Phone: (416) 703-8416

E-mail: dflegg@invmetals.com

Forward Looking Statements
Relief groups say air raids, lack of resources and killing of aid workers is hampering their ability to help refugees.

Antakya, Turkey  As tens of thousands of Syrian civilians continue to flee their homes in northwest Idlib for the Turkish border, humanitarian and aid organisations are warning of an increasingly dire situation.

More than 950,000 Syrians have been forced from their homes since December, according to the United Nations, in the wake of an intensified military operation by Syrian government forces and their allies to retake the last rebel stronghold in the country.

The vast majority of the displaced  at least 81 percent  are women and children.

Since December, more than 200 refugee camps have been set up in Idlib, along the Turkish border, to accommodate some of the displaced civilians, known as internally displaced people (IDP), according to aid workers. But the camps lack basic sanitation and are far over their capacity, forcing tens of thousands to sleep outside in sub-zero temperatures, resulting in a number of children freezing to death.

Mark Lowcock, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), has described the situation in Idlib as the biggest humanitarian horror story of the 21st century and called for an immediate ceasefire.

Tents housing internally displaced people in Atma camp in Idlib governorate [Umit Bektas/Reuters]

Syrian forces, backed by Russian airpower, have rapidly advanced into Idlib and have retaken the strategic M5 highway since December, in violation of agreements signed in 2017 and 2018 between Turkey and Russia, which had designated the province as a de-escalation zone.

The operation first began in April last year but stuttered in August amid attempts to broker ceasefires.

Maarouf Semua, an aid worker at Turkeys IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation, said a total of 1.2 million Syrians have been displaced from their homes since April last year, at least half of them for the second and third time in Syrias nine-year war.

In the last six months, the humanitarian situation has intensified beyond imagination, he said.

We and other aid organisations are working round the clock to provide assistance to the IDPs but we simply do not have the capacity to cater to such a large number  its an impossible task, he said.

The biggest priority, according to aid workers, is providing adequate housing to refugees as temperatures plunge below zero.

IHH is building two-room houses made of cement blocks, measuring 25 square metres (269 square feet). Of the planned 10,000 structures, 650 have been built so far, Semua said.

Those who get such housing are among the lucky ones, as most camps face a dire lack of even simpler shelters such as tents, according to Kutaiba Sayed Issa, director of Syrian aid group Violet.

Whoever has one for just his family is considered to have a castle. I was in Idlib last week and saw with my own eyes 50 people living in one room, and four families to a tent, he told Al Jazeera from his office in Antakya, Turkey.

Three aid workers from Violet organisation killed three months ago [Linah Alsaafin/Al Jazeera]

Even when there were enough tents, the lack of infrastructure for basic needs such as water, sanitation and electricity remained a challenge, said Issa.

Out of the 200 or so new camps set up, not one of them has a working toilet, said Issa, who was in Idlib last week. Women are forced to wait until the middle of the night and go in groups just to relieve themselves out in the open.

I have seen many cases of nervous breakdowns, mostly afflicting women and children. They go from having a roof over their heads to living out in the open or in shoddy tents without any of their personal belongings, jobs and homes, begging for a bite to eat. Tens of thousands of children are suffering from panic attacks and bedwetting.

Issa said he was shocked at the lack of international attention to the situation in Idlib, which is home to almost four million people and under the control of armed opposition groups, including Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a former al-Qaeda affiliate. He said the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians must not be put at risk for the sake of defeating a few thousand HTS fighters.

Back when Aleppo was under siege in 2016 there was more worldwide awareness and attention, but regarding the situation in Idlib there has been little to no reaction, Issa said.

IHH supplies mattresses, food baskets and canvases for internally displaced Syrians in Idlib [Linah Alsaafin/Al Jazeera]

Aid workers said the main challenges they face in Idlib was the constant aerial bombardment by Syrian government forces and Russian warplanes, as well as a lack of resources.

Youve got a very fluid situation on the ground so it is incredibly difficult and complex environment to operate any kind of humanitarian response efforts, said David Swanson, spokesman for OCHA, calling for more resources to address the crisis.

Of the $3.3bn aid the UN had requested from the international community in 2019, only 65-68 percent was received, leaving a huge funding gap. For the current crisis, Swanson said the UN has put out a request for the international community to raise more than $500m to address the humanitarian needs of 1.2 million people over a six-month period.

A third challenge, Swanson said, is that aid organisations have to rely on Syrian aid workers to provide assistance to those in Idlib.

The UN has no formal presence on the ground in northwest Syria and the OCHA works with more than 15,000 Syrian aid workers  whom Swanson described as the unsung heroes  to assist vulnerable people.

200228085448988

But these workers are not immune to the unfolding reality in Idlib, and many of them have had their own families displaced, which Swanson said undermines the UNs ability to respond as effectively as it would like to.

Some Syrian aid workers have also been killed in the fighting.

Violets Issa said six of his 2,000-member strong organisation have been killed over the past year.

Three of them  young men under the age of 22  were medics and were killed three months ago in Maaret al-Numan after being targeted by the Syrian regime, he said.

The most recent death we suffered was four weeks ago, when our member Zahwan Tamma was killed in shelling in the hospital in the city of Ariha, before it was overtaken by Assad forces.

In Idlib, life is a constant state of horror, Issa said. I could not sleep during my last visit there, as there was nonstop shelling. I dont have the words any more to describe how bad the situation is.
Former vice president Joe Biden notched up a resounding win in the South Carolina primary on Saturday, reviving his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination and positioning him as the leading rival to frontrunner Bernie Sanders. The victory, powered by support from African-American voters, was the 77-year-old Biden's first in the race and may give him momentum going into "Super Tuesday" next week, when 14 states go to the polls. "Just days ago the press and the pundits had declared this candidacy dead," Biden told hundreds of supporters at a victory rally in the South Carolina capital Columbia. "You've launched our campaign on the path to defeating Donald Trump," he said. "We have the option of winning big or losing big," Biden added in a dig at Sanders' prospects against Trump in November's election. With 99 percent of the ballots counted, Biden had 48.4 percent to 20 percent for the 78-year-old Senator Sanders, a self-described "democratic socialist." Billionaire activist Tom Steyer, who spent a whopping $23 million on advertising in South Carolina, was next with 11.4 percent but announced he was quitting the race even before the final results were published. Former South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg, who has been challenging Biden for the centrist vote, had eight percent while Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren had seven percent. A victory in South Carolina, where African-Americans make up around 60 percent of the Democratic primary electorate, was seen as crucial to Biden's hopes of reviving his flagging campaign. Sanders has been the clear leader in the overall race, winning two of the first three contests and finishing in a virtual tie in Iowa with the 38-year-old Buttigieg. South Carolina was seen as a key test of Sanders' support among African-Americans -- crucial to a Democratic victory in November -- but he only received the backing of around 15 percent of black voters while Biden received 60 percent according to exit polls. - 'Slingshot' - Biden finished fourth in Iowa, fifth in New Hampshire and second in Nevada, and desperately needed a win in South Carolina ahead of Super Tuesday, which decides a third of the delegates who formally choose the Democratic nominee at the July party convention. "The biggest question is whether this will slingshot Joe Biden into victory in some Super Tuesday states," said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. Sabato said Biden's primary win -- his first in three attempts at securing the Democratic presidential nomination -- also increases the pressure on the other centrist candidates to leave the race. Buttigieg, Warren, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar and billionaire Michael Bloomberg have all made it clear they will stick around at least through Super Tuesday. "Super Tuesday is three days away and we're looking forward to these big contests," Warren, who has been challenging Sanders for the progressive vote, told supporters at a campaign rally in Texas. Sanders congratulated Biden on his victory at a campaign rally in Virginia but was confident of victory in the next primaries. "The people on Super Tuesday and after are going to support this campaign," he said. "We are a movement of millions of people." Sanders also dismissed Democratic establishment fears that he would lose against Trump, noting that dozens of polls have him beating the Republican incumbent. - 'I can't wait' - Trump also praised Biden's victory and called on Bloomberg to quit the race. "Sleepy Joe Biden's victory in the South Carolina Democrat Primary should be the end of Mini Mike Bloomberg's Joke of a campaign," the president tweeted. The Bloomberg campaign, which has invested heavily in the Super Tuesday races, noted that the former New York mayor was not on the ballot in South Carolina. Biden, who served for eight years as vice president to Barack Obama, was the favorite in South Carolina, the first state with a substantial African-American electorate to hold a primary contest. Real estate agent Betty Malone attended the Biden victory rally and said she expected his South Carolina win would be followed by more victories next week. "I can't wait for Super Tuesday to see him win all of those, every last one of those," Malone said. Despite his South Carolina win, Biden may well face a Sanders buzzsaw on Super Tuesday. Sanders, who narrowly lost the nomination to Hillary Clinton in 2016, is leading in nine of the 14 states to vote on Tuesday including California and Texas, the two biggest prizes.
MNS tells people to give details of infiltrators

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Aurangabad, Mar 01: The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena has opened a counter in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra for people to give information about 'infiltrators' and those whose tip-offs prove correct would be given a reward of Rs 5,000, a functionary of the Raj Thackeray-led party said on Friday. The MNS has started one counter in Akashwani area, manned by party workers, and five more are in the pipeline, MNS Aurangabad unit president Sumit Khambekar said.

"People can give information on infiltrators staying here and we will forward it to the police. If the police verification finds the information to be correct, we will give the person who gave us the tip-off a reward of Rs 5,000," said Khambekar.

FIR against MNS workers for harassing man of minority community

When contacted, Aurangabad police commissioner Chiranjeev Prasad refused to comment saying the news (of MNS setting up 'infiltrator information' counter) was being verified.

NEWS AT NOON, MARCH 1st, 2020

The MNS' move comes after Thackeray, in a rally in Mumbai on February 9, signalled a turn towards hardline Hindutva by claiming his party would work towards evicting illegal Pakistani and Bangladeshi migrants staying in Maharashtra.

In his speech, Thackeray appealed to the Central government to give a "free hand to the police for 48 hours to evict infiltrators from Mumbai, as it is useless to ask the state government".

"The issue of infiltrators is as important as that of drinking water, education and health. Pakistani and Bangladeshi infiltrators should be thrown out of the country, and there shouldn't be any compromise on the issue," he had told the gathering.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Sunday, March 1, 2020, 10:14 [IST]
Married At First Sight star Natasha Spencer has shot down rumours that she's an escort.

Speaking exclusively to Daily Mail Australia on Friday, the 26-year-old financial analyst said that while she 'doesn't have an issue with women's bodies,' it's 'just not her thing.'

It comes after Natasha hit back at false claims earlier this month, that she worked as a 'topless waitress' in Sydney and offered a 'full nude experience' for $250 an hour.

EXCLUSIVE: Married At First Sight's Natasha Spencer, 26, has shot down rumours she's an escort

'I have no issue, we have so much of a diverse range of girls on the show, we have a burlesque dancer, Hayley with her past, I don't have an issue with it,' Natasha said.

Natasha was adamant that while she has friends in the industry, she is not an escort.

'I have friends in that industry, I'm not an escort.'

'It's their body and their choice': Natasha was adamant that while she has friends in the industry, she is not an escort. Pictured being interviewed by Daily Mail Australia on Friday

Setting the record straight: The 26-year-old financial analyst and reality TV is pictured arriving at Daily Mail Australia's Sydney office on Friday

'I have done bikini promo waitressing, I have shot photos with my breasts out. I don't have an issue with women's bodies.'

She added that women should support women no matter what they do.

'It's not that I have an issue with it, it's just not my thing. But I support women in whatever their choices are, it's their body and their choice,' Natasha said.

Talking candidly: 'I have done bikini promo waitressing, I have shot photos with my breasts out,' Natasha said

Earlier this month, the brunette beauty hit back at false claims she worked as a 'topless waitress' in Sydney and offered a 'full nude experience' for $250 an hour.

After Woman's Day falsely reported that she had a secret side job under the alias 'Sienna', she strenuously denied the claims in a statement to Daily Mail Australia.

Natasha clarified things at the time, saying: 'I've done bikini waitressing, but nothing nude.'

Hitting back: Earlier this month, the brunette beauty hit back at false claims she worked as a 'topless waitress' in Sydney and offered a 'full nude experience' for $250 an hour

'I support all women that capitalise on the fact they're treated like sex objects. I think that in 2020 no one should be judged for jobs in which no one is being hurt,' she said.

While talking to Daily Mail Australia on Friday, Natasha also spoke about how she's doing after the 'revenge porn' attack.

'It's just a horrible thing. The week that that came out, I didn't get out of bed really. I was shell shocked,' Natasha said.

'It's just a horrible thing': While talking to Daily Mail Australia on Friday, Natasha also spoke about how she's doing after the 'revenge porn' attack

'And everyone says, "you should know this stuff is coming." And they call it "revenge porn" and it's just an intimate video. People with the escorting claims are like, "oh, she's escorting in the video."

Natasha said she feels like she's had to constantly 'defend' herself over the incident, adding that she's 'embarrassed'.

'And it's like, guy, he's clothed, I'm in my underwear. It's twisted and turned and I feel like I'm defending myself and it's like, "why am I defending myself?"

Raw: Natasha said she feels like she's had to constantly 'defend' herself over the incident, adding that she's 'embarrassed'

'This is something I'm embarrassed about now. It shouldn't be something that has happened and it shouldn't be that women get s**t-shamed because of it.'

Natasha warned people to 'stay away from cameras,' saying: 'It's a bad decision I made that I hope people can learn from. And stay away from cameras.'

The video is believed to have emerged on February 4, the day Natasha's wedding to Mikey Pembroke was watched by more than a million Australians. She reported the incident to police.

Making headlines: The video is believed to have emerged on February 4, the day Natasha's wedding to Mikey Pembroke (pictured) was watched by more than a million Australians. She reported the incident to police

The footage in question was apparently filmed last year and involves Natasha and an unidentified male.

Natasha said that while filming Married At First Sight last year, she saw a psychologist offered by Endemol Shine.

But she said she still struggled on the show and had 'dark times.'

'I don't regret the show, I've met great people off it. It is just so strange. In my darkest times on the show, I really became a shell of myself and an introvert,' Natasha said.

'I have learned so much about myself, triggers for me and taking care of yourself emotionally... I've learned a lot about myself and about people. I would do it again just for the learning curve,' she said.

She added: 'I am single at the moment, but it's my time to stay single... I've been starting up a business, a lip product.'
Hong Kong: Mong Kok vandalism condemned

The Government today condemned rioters' acts of vandalism in Mong Kok last night which breached public peace and seriously jeopardised the public's safety.

It said rioters gathered around Nathan Road and Prince Edward Road West, blocking roads, setting fires, vandalising public facilities, hurling petrol bombs and attacking police officers with bricks and hard objects. Several police officers were injured as a result.

Police used the minimum necessary force to conduct dispersal and arrest operations, and will seriously follow up on these acts which totally disregarded law and order. Police also vowed to bring the rioters to justice.

South Kwai Chung Jockey Club General Outpatient Clinic was attacked with petrol bombs early this morning. The Government strongly condemned the malicious behaviour of damaging medical facilities, which caused innocent patients to suffer.

It added that Hong Kong experienced a series of violent demonstrations last year, hitting hard the economy and people's livelihood. Coupled with the COVID-19 epidemic, the city is facing unprecedented challenges to the economy and well-being of the entire community.

To cope with the current difficulties, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government quickly set up a $30 billion Anti-epidemic Fund and announced $120 billion-worth of countercyclical measures in the newly released Budget Speech to stimulate economic development and relieve people's hardship.

The Government noted at this difficult juncture, a small number of radicals still conducted violent acts of vandalism which disregarded law and order. Their behaviour is outrageous.

It strongly believes that Hong Kong people will stay united and fight against the disease together, help the community to withstand the current difficulties and gear up for a brighter tomorrow.

This story has been published on: 2020-03-01. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, March 2 2020

Indonesia may obtain more sugar from India to gratify domestic needs as local supplies are unlikely to be sufficient to meet demand this year.

The Food Resilience Agency (BKP) has proposed to import 130,000 tons of white crystallized sugar to offset a delayed milling period due to severe drought in 2019, agency head Agung Hendriadi said on Thursday. The BKP is currently awaiting a coordination meeting at the Office of the Coordinating Economic Minister to approve the measure.

"The sugar milling season will start in late June or early July. Usually, it occurs in May, but the long drought last year has pushed back the [sugarcane] planting season, thereby delaying the milling process," Agung told reporters after a discussion with the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) in Jakarta.

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
Lapita Hotel Dubai in Dubai Parks and Resorts has joined forces with Motiongate Dubai and Adventure Inc. to create the ultimate team building experience with a Polynesian twist.



Forget boring brainstorms and boardroom meetings and experience something inspiring and engaging at Lapita, Dubai Parks and Resorts, Autograph Collection where you will be transported into another dimension with fantasy-like adventures and exciting challenges for the ideal Polynesian business escape.



Strengthen relationships, train or bond with colleagues in the calming surroundings of Lapita, Dubai Parks and Resorts, Autograph Collection with daily team building challenges such as the Survivor Game in Lapita with problem-solving puzzles, stimulating activities and survivor-style missions or the Amazing Race in Motiongate Dubai with Hunger Games themed tasks, activities in Smurf Village and exciting DreamWorks Animation challenges  inclusive of park access, coffee breaks, lunch and dinner options. Make the most of your business break and opt for an overnight stay with add-ons including buggy services, meal vouchers and retail vouchers to avail in Motiongate Dubai.



Lapita, Dubai Parks and Resorts, Autograph Collection provides the perfect tropical surroundings to motivate your team without the pressures of deadlines or daily tasks and will help to strengthen relationships and increase morale  let stress melt away with the ultimate Polynesian team retreat. - TradeArabia News Service
Did you ever wonder what it would be like to work for the railroad?

Thats what Paul Holland did for 39 years, first with Amtrak, later with Conrail and finally as a conductor on Metro-North. His self-published My Life As A Rear End pays tribute to his time in cabooses, but its his commuter rail stories that kept me laughing.

Like the colorful crowd from the psychiatric hospital on the Harlem line who would escape  often in their pajamas  and ride his trains, obviously unable to pay. Or the many times he was assaulted by knife-wielding thugs only to be rescued by his 6-foot-7-inch cross-dressing frequent rider Rocky.

Over the years, Holland collected his stories, often scribbling them on seat checks. Upon his retirement it took him less than a year to pen his memoirs, many of which are far too racy to mention in this column. Lets just say that the diminutive conductor was very popular with the ladies. It must have been the uniform.

Because he truly loved his job and had three kids bound for college, Holland worked six or seven days a week. Railroad conductors can work split shifts of up to 16 hours a day, and with his overtime, Holland averaged about 80 hours a week.

Some passengers would ask him the stupidest questions, like the riders who would congregate in the front car for a fast exit at Grand Central Terminal. A common query: Why cant you add more cars to the front of the train?

Occasionally, Holland would work the last train to depart Grand Central at 1 a.m., making all local stops to New Haven, affectionately known as The Vomit Comet. It was a quiet run, though getting inebriated passengers off at their correct stop was always a challenge.

He also tells the story of the German tourist who had parked his friends borrowed car at a remote station, returning late at night to find it had been stripped of all four wheels. He thought it was the local cops penalizing him for parking without a permit.

Enforcing the rules in the quiet car was a thankless job, like the time a passenger complained about another rider eating a smelly egg salad sandwich. Not a violation, ruled Holland.

Or the passenger angry about the woman in the quiet car talking, albeit quietly, on her cellphone.

Tell her to shut the F up, said the vigilante. As Holland approached the woman, he heard her say Have a blessed Easter before hanging up. Holland returned to the complainant and said, Shes a nun, but Ill relay your message.

As he turned to approach the woman again, the now-penitent passenger raced after him to say never mind. Holland said, He must have gone to Catholic school.

Holland insists all his stories are true. I have witnesses, he told me.

Retired and living New Milford, Holland obviously misses his job and his passengers, some of whom he still keeps in touch with. He says that over the years passengers have changed.

These days they dont seem to show any respect (for authority), especially the kids.

As the face of the railroad, Holland says he never minded facing angry passengers upset about delays.

I just always told them the truth and treated them the way Id want to be treated, he said.
Whenever Bernie is asked about his feelings towards Israel, hell start spouting off about his being Jewish and having spent three months in Israel. Its true that Bernie is genetically Jewish but he doesnt have a smidgen of affection for either Judaism or the Jewish state. This is beginning to frighten progressive Jews.

The Bernie con about Judaism and Israel starts with his stay in Israel. The kibbutz on which he lived in 1963 was no ordinary kibbutz. Instead, it was a hardcore Stalinist kibbutz that supported Soviet foreign policy against both America and Israel. Kibbutzniks were early adopters of the two-state solution that would have spelled the end of Israel as a Jewish state.

Bernies hatred for Netanyahu is also a giveaway to his attitudes about the worlds only Jewish state. He claims that he supports Israel, yet he demonizes its Prime Minister as a racist. Because Israel has repeatedly elected Netanyahu, that means hes calling Israel, the only open, pluralist democracy in the whole Middle East, a racist nation.

More Israel hatred leaked from Bernie when he not only skipped the annual conference held by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a bipartisan PAC supporting Israel, but did so with a gross insult:

As president, I will support the rights of both Israelis and Palestinians and do everything possible to bring peace and security to the region. 2/2  Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) February 23, 2020

When it comes to bigotry, look no further than Bernies surrogates:

Theres also Linda Sarsour who urged people to stop humanzing Jews (an idea that Hitler would have wholeheartedly supported).

Other campaign surrogates are Rashida Tlaib, who usually seems more concerned about representing Palestinians than Americans; and Ilhan Omar, who routinely spouts anti-Semitic tropes.

All of this has progressive Jews very nervous. On Democrat Jewish Facebook groups, people are likening him to Englands Jeremy Corbyn, only they're saying that hes more dangerous because his Jewish ancestry gives him cover for his open anti-Semitism.

Another theory that's making the rounds works of the fact that Bernie supporters ridicule Jewish concerns about anti-Semitism. Jews are worried that, if Bernie does not win either the primary or the general election, Bernie supporters will scapegoat the Jews by claiming that Bernie's loss resulted because paranoid Jews abandoned Bernie because of unfounded fears about anti-Semitism.

More and more Democrat-voting Jews on social media are linking to articles about Bernie's anti-Semitism that are being published in conservative Jewish outlets such as Commentary Magazine, Israelly Cool, or Algemeiner. The comments always begin, I know this is from a right wing magazine, but. Theyre worried. Very worried.

Currently, progressives Jews are pinning their hopes on Michael Bloomberg. While they wish he were more of an economic Leftist, they like his stands on abortion (unlimited), guns (seized), Trump (hatred), and Israel (support -- although Bloomberg, the coward, let Bernie get away unchallenged with his Netanyahu insult). Still, they are uncomfortable with the idea of someone buying an election and they doubt that Bloomberg can succeed anyway. His personality is uninspiring, to say the least.

So it is that Daniel Greenfield reports on polling showing that, in New York State,

A startling 61% of Jews have an unfavorable view of Sanders. Only 6% of Jews would vote for Bernie on Super Tuesday. [snip] And then we come to the real kicker. A majority of Jews and Catholics would pick Trump over Sanders in a general election.

Its true that New York state has more Orthodox Jews than, say, California, but the increased nervousness amongst all Jews, from Reform to Orthodox, hints that many of them, even if they cannot make themselves vote for Trump (despite his being the most pro-Israel president ever), will not have the stomach to vote for Bernie either.
01.03.2020 LISTEN

Those who serve Satan do not appreciate the harm they do to themselves, their children and the future generations. Yes, you may enjoy the so-called power, influence, wealth and protection now, but the end will surely be disastrous and full of regrets. You and your children will eventually pay for it.

Today, when I see people boast of all these things I weep for them because I know what their end will look like. Or better still, you can go and see the families that took from Satan.

So much pains, troubles, setbacks, strange sicknesses and mysterious things happening around them. Look at their children, their grandchildren, their families, their once flourishing empires, the demons are still hunting and trailing them. Spirits don't forget covenants and pledges. They meticulously remember and keep them to generations, unless a stronger hand breaks them off. Be careful!

The word of God says that those who serve idols will be like them and so many other punishments. You can go and read them in Leviticus Chapter twenty-six from verse one to the end. It is indeed fearful! It is from untimely death, failure, mishaps, disappointments, fear, defeats, miscarriages, sickness, diseases, sudden deaths, etc.

Those that serve these gods, idols, and demons have a lot to worry about. Then, to the pastors and the Christians, it is not enough to boast that the fire of God will come down. We must immediately begin to return to God. We are so far away from him.

Even with our mega-churches and endless programs we are still not making any serious impact. We are simply competing and building empires for ourselves. We must forsake our waywardness, worldliness, and wickedness. We must return to him in holiness and repentance or risk being run over by these rampaging agents of Satan.

We must learn from the mistakes of people like Samson; who did not know when the spirit and power of God left him because of his carelessness and immorality. You remember how this great man of destiny rose that day to do what he used to do and he didn't know that the presence and anointing have left him.

Then, we must also know that the power and fire of God answer only to holiness and dedication. Now how many of us boasting can actually call down the presence of God on that level - with all these materialism, boasting, pride and worldliness?? I am just asking. You know that talk is cheap.

I want to ask you now, are you sure that the fire of God will answer you with all these backbiting, selfishness, strive, jealousy, immorality and envy? I doubt. For me the most important thing is not to boast about calling fire, walking on the water and looking for the dead people to raise, but to go back and rebuild our relationship with God.

The Elijah you people are referring to did something before that fire flashed down at Mount Carmel. First, he was actually selflessly fighting to restore the fear of God in Israel. Then, he took time to rebuild the altar of God that was desecrated and destroyed.

Yes, he took the time to do that. He systematically, meticulously followed the divine pattern. Yes, God has a pattern. He cannot be worshipped anyhow like we do today. It is not about you, it is about him. We must search his words, discover and tendentiously follow his pattern if we truly want his fire of revival, presence, and judgment to come down. Till next week. God bless you!

Rev Gabriel Agbo is of the Assemblies of God and the author of the book Power of Midnight Prayer. Tel: 08037113283. E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.authorsden.com/pastorgabrielnagbo
YEREVAN, MARCH 1, ARMENPRESS. 32 direct contacts of the first coronavirus patient in Armenia have been quarantined, Healthcare Minister Arsen Torosyan told a news conference.

He said the contacts of the patient will undergo the quarantine period at the defunct Golden Palace Hotel in Tsakhkadzor, a resort town in Armenia.

According to the latest information the citizen who tested positive for the coronavirus doesnt have any symptoms now, despite having fever at the time of seeking medical assistance. The patients wife tested negative, the minister said.

Torosyan said all necessary countermeasures are being taken in the country.

He emphasized that it is the constitutional right of any citizen to return to their country, referring to the man having been flown in by the special flight from Iran on February 28.

He said there healthcare specialists accompanying the passengers of the flights, and everyone was provided with protective masks. None of the passengers had any symptoms upon screening and thus were sent home. Asked why all of the passengers werent quarantined at once, the minister said such actions arent proven to be effective.

Passengers who arrived from Tehran exited the airport through a special exit. If a coronavirus infection is confirmed on an airplane, the standard procedure is to quarantine passengers seated on the same row and two rows in front and in back, and we are doing just that. The man who drove the patient and his wife home from the airport is also quarantined. He wasnt a cab driver, as reported earlier, he said, adding that the man was hospitalized by an ambulance and the first responders are also quarantined.

He reminded that Armenia began countermeasures since January 22, and all actions have proven effective, with only this single imported cases being recorded so far.

Armenia announced a partial shutdown of the border with Iran on February 24 as the Islamic Republic reported an outbreak of the novel coronavirus. The Armenian government announced that the closure features some exceptions, such as freight transport and citizens of both countries willing to repatriate. Freight transports from Iran are being monitored on Armenian territory and drivers are being screened.

Two special flights were organized from Tehran to repatriate Armenian nationals from Iran, one on February 26 and the second on February 28. A total of 134 people were airlifted.

The 29-year-old man who tested positive for the virus had arrived on the second flight.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
Police are investigating whether homeless people trying to keep warm Sunday led to the third fire in a week at a makeshift camp near downtown Toronto streets.

Police said they received multiple calls for a fire and heavy smoke to Yonge Street and Lake Shore Boulevard West, with the earliest coming in shortly after 2 p.m., Const. Alex Li said.

There were also reports of explosions heard, possibly from propane tanks, Li told the Star.

The fire has been put out and Toronto Fire Services is conducting checks for hot spots, Li said.

No injuries have been reported.

A structural engineer from the city will inspect the damage on scene, police said.

This is the third homeless camp in downtown Toronto to catch fire in the past week. A fire near Bayview Avenue and Corktown Common Trail broke out on Feb. 23, and firefighters were called the next day to a camp near the Gardiner Expressway and Jameson Avenue.

Li said police are not investigating a criminal link between the incidents. He said people were likely trying to find heat sources because of the cold weather.

Whether it be utilizing a propane tank to conduct these heat sources or starting a fire . . . Obviously these tents are flammable, whatever theyre using is flammable and you know they are in small spaces, Li said.
. :              ,         .              .              ,   28 .        .   ...
Pete Buttigieg announced in a speech in his hometown of South Bend, Indiana, Sunday night that he is suspending his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The big picture: The 38-year-old, gay, former small-town mayor ran a historic campaign and shocked the political world by surging to the top of the Democratic field and winning the Iowa caucuses in January. But his inability to gain traction with black voters, as exemplified by his poor showing in Saturday's South Carolina primary, called into question the long-term viability of his campaign.

Buttigieg was third in the field in terms of pledged delegates, winning 26 across Iowa (14), New Hampshire (9) and Nevada (3). He did not finish above the necessary 15% threshold to win delegates in South Carolina.

What they're saying: "At this point in the race, the best way to keep faith with those goals and ideals is to step aside and help bring our party and our country together, so tonight I am making the difficult decision to suspend my campaign for the presidency," Buttigieg said in his South Bend speech.

"I will do everything in my power to ensure that we have a new Democratic president come January."

Between the lines: It's not yet clear which candidate will benefit from Buttigieg's exit. He was widely perceived as sharing a moderate ideological lane with Joe Biden, the winner of the South Carolina primary, but a recent Morning Consult poll showed a tight race for second-choice among Buttigieg supporters.

Bernie Sanders: 21%

Joe Biden/Elizabeth Warren: 19%

Michael Bloomberg: 17%

There is speculation that Buttigieg will make a formal endorsement now that he's out of the race. Buttigieg and Biden have "exchanged voicemails" since the news broke of him suspending his campaign, according to a source familiar with the situation.

On the night of the Nevada caucuses, Buttigieg criticized Sanders  who came in first  for what he characterized as exclusionary politics.

"I believe the best way to defeat Donald Trump ... is to broaden and galvanize the majority that supports us on critical issues," Buttigieg said. "Sen. Sanders believes in an inflexible, ideological revolution that leaves out most Democrats, not to mention most Americans."

The bottom line: Buttigieg was the first openly gay major presidential candidate in U.S. history, and he'll be a player in Democratic politics for a long time to come. With Sen. Bernie Sanders threatening to run away with the nomination on Super Tuesday, the former mayor's exit could significantly shake up the dynamics of the race.

This story is breaking news. Please check back for updates.
Amidst the levels of insecurity facing the country for over a decade, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), has clarified that its role in Nigeria does not involve taking part in the negotiation process between the federal government, its military and the insurgents neither does it take any side of the party, maintaining that its mandate is to bring succour to civilians in conflict.

The Communications Coordinator, ICRC Nigeria, Vincent Pouget, who spoke with PRNigeria, made these clarifications while clarifying on the processes that led to the release of some kidnapped Chibok and Dapchi girls in Borno and Yobe states respectively by the Boko Haram terrorists as well as the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP).

Mr Pouget said there was a lot of misunderstanding over the role ICRC played as the organisation was perceived to have taken part in the negotiation for the release of over a hundred students of Government Girls Technical College Dapchi and Government Girls Secondary School (GSS) Chibok.

He stated that the ICRC only provided logistics in terms of transportation after negotiations had been concluded. He also said the ICRC is independent and neutral.

He said: Let me explain to you our role, both parties agreed on the release of the girls on their own without us being involved. The ICRC was not at all part of the negotiation process. It was when they agreed for the release that they asked ICRC to provide logistics like the transport to go from one place to another thats only what we provided.

We have a bit problem with perception in the North-East because people thought that we have a specific connection (with insurgents), they thought we were involved in the negotiation, thats not the case.

We do not support any fighting parties at all, the misconception that we got is that people thought we were involved in the negotiation, but thats not our mandate, we only support civilians affected by the situation, he stressed.

Mr Pouget explained that the aim of the ICRC is to alleviate and prevent the suffering of civilians in armed violence, be it a situation of armed conflicts like the one in the North East or other situations of violence such as in the North Central, or South-South such as communal clashes.

So, in the North East, in particular, our aim is to provide succour for a civilian population that is being affected by the violence. One of our core mandates is to provide medical care, he noted.

On the achievements of the ICRC, Mr Pouget said in 2019 alone, it provided more than 745,000 people with either food items or food assistance in other ways and improved access to water for over 500,000 people including household and those living in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps.

He also noted that one of ICRCs core mandate is to provide medical care and it has provided more than 506,000 consultations in Primary Health Care centres where more than 22,000 children have been born.

Also, to highlight that in Maiduguri we have a surgical team at the state specialist hospital and in 2019, they treated over 7,700 patients. Providing surgical and medical care for civilians affected is only one area of focus for the ICRC. But, we are trying to address other needs in terms of water, shelter, food as much as we can.

When it comes to access to water, shelter, in Maiduguri we have supported the rehabilitation of the Almajiri Water Treatment Plant that is providing water for the time being to over 90,000 people, household residents and IDPs in camps. This is being done with the Ministry of Water Resources in charge of the sustainability of the project.

For people who have been displaced, in Monguno, Damboa, and Maiduguri, we built temporary shelters for over 34,000 people, Mr Pouget explained.

The coordinator pointed out that the ICRCs initiatives are not necessarily aimed at making people dependent on humanitarian assistance, but its target is also to build the resilience of people so that they can live independent of humanitarian aid.

We want people to build again their resilience, that is why during the same period in 2019, we have supported over 548,000 people with productive imports, seeds, tools to support their agricultural activities and at the same time others were supported with the treatment of their animals; cattle, goats, and sheep, so that their livestock could be maintaining good health, he added.

READ ALSO:

Mr Pouget, however, regrets that access to civilians is one of the biggest challenge the ICRC is facing, because of the dynamic nature of insecurity. He also said they are sometimes constrained to render help if there is no adequate security presence in order not to endanger the already suffering civilians.

On the treatment of insurgents, Mr Pouget restated the provisions of the international humanitarian law, stressing A wounded is wounded and it should be taken care by any party. Thats part of the law of war that is respected and applied to all situations of conflict including the one faced in the North East.

Speaking further, the Red Cross Communications Coordinator commended PRNigeria as a reliable and credible source for news and information especially on defence, security and conflict issues in Nigeria.

To this end, he assured of closer collaboration and cooperation between the ICRC and PRNigeria in the area of media and public relations as it relates to the thematic areas of focus in conflict and humanitarian crises.

He said: PRNigeria focuses on key security, defence and intelligence agencies working to manage information from these agencies for positive reportage. The medium publishes reliable and credible stories and statements.

Why PRNigeria is of great importance to us is because it focuses on military operations and where the military is active we also visit the detainees and attended to the wounded. Your medium is credible and one of the key sources we use. We use many sources but with your media being a specialist in this area is key to us.
A redback spider has slayed a deadly brown snake in a cut-throat battle in a suburban backyard.

An Adelaide woman was putting her washing out on Friday afternoon when she stumbled across the snake entangled in web with a spider on its back.

A video of the clash shows the serpent suspended in the web, desperately trying to break free.

But the spider swiftly wraps its silk up the snake's body and over its head until it is completely engulfed before scurrying away.

The Redback spider wound the web around the snake then repeatedly bit it around its head

Snake Catchers Adelaide owner Rolly Burrell said the spider showed great 'intelligence' fighting its opponent.

'The redback was winding more and more web around its head so the snake couldn't open its mouth,' Mr Burrell told Daily Mail Australia.

'The spider kept going back and biting around his head, and it bit so many times it immobilised it.'

'By the time we arrived it had already received lots of venom, it was really effective, especially biting around its head.'

Mr Burrell said he asked the woman to separate the animals with a stick but she was too terrified to intervene.

When the removalists arrived, the snake was still alive but it died a few hours later.

Mr Burell said his team took the snake when they arrived but it later died

Mr Burrell said the spider, a highly venomous species found throughout Australia, would have returned later to eat its prey.

'When we got there, the spider ran off. It's pretty intelligent. He knew what he was doing,' he said.

'He would of gone back for it after a rest. You think its a little insect but these things are much smarter than we give them credit for.'

Mr Burrell said it is not the first time he has seen the two species in a battle to death, and every time the arachnid has won.

'We've seen it quite a few times. It's like David and Goliath,' he said.

Brown snakes are responsible for around 50 per cent of all snake bite deaths in Australia.

Juvenile snakes are just as venomous as adults, although, as the creature matures the toxins in its venom change.




A motor racing fan who died after being attacked by a man wielding an axe has been described as "full of kindness" by his family.

Ryan Lowry, 36, was chased down the street in Partington, Greater Manchester, and attacked by an assailant with an axe shortly before midnight on Thursday.

Greater Manchester Police said a 31-year-old man who was arrested on suspicion of the murder had been detained under the Mental Health Act.

In a statement paying tribute to him, Mr Lowry's family asked for donations to a mental health charity to be made in his memory.

The family said: "It's hard to believe how something like this can happen to someone like Ryan, who did not have a bad bone in his body. All he ever did was to be there, in whatever way he could, for those that needed help.

"As a person full of kindness, strong principles and humour, he will be missed by so many.

"Ryan loved motor cars and motor racing and was co-founder of the Calm All Porsche Trophy series, raising awareness and money for mental health.

"So many people have asked if there is anything they can do at this time. We know Ryan would appreciate, should anyone want to, any donations to Calm."

Detective Chief Inspector Colin Larkin said: "Our thoughts remain with Ryan's family, who continue to be cared for by specialist officers at this dreadful time.

"I would like to reassure the community that, while our inquiries continue, we are not looking for anyone else in relation to this tragic incident.

"The arrested man and Ryan were known to one another and police are working hard to understand the reason for this horrific attack."
I cant say I had my heart in it, but I have served my sentence for disseminating what I believe to be the deleted Schumer tweet hoax. I sentenced myself to review last weeks developments in Trumplaw. Im not sure the punishment fit the crime, but here are my brief and not entirely serious notes on the three appellate decisions that addressed key Trump administration issues.

East Bay Sanctuary Covenant v. Trump.

The Ninth Circuit strikes again. The slip opinion lists three pages of lawyers and attorneys general attacking the Trump administration, including Minnesotas own Keith Ellison. Everyone who is anyone in the world of the #Resistance wants a piece of the action in this case.

The three-judge panel appears to be mightily impressed with its own handiwork. The 66-page slip opinion comes with an 8-page summary. The court formulates the question before it as whether the administration can strip asylum eligibility from every migrant who crosses into the United States along the southern border of Mexico between designated ports of entry. It holds that the administrations policy fails to comport with the Immigration and Nationality Act. Judge Paez may have been gilding the lily when he drew on principles of nonrefoulement to support the result. Reading the panel opinion preliminarily enjoining the administration from enforcing its policy, one cannot help but be struck by the courts devil-may-care attitude to the implicit national security issues.

New York v. Barr.

This is an interesting and important decision, holding that the administration can withhold federal law enforcement funds from jurisdictions whose sanctuary policies conflict with the enforcement of federal immigration law (we conclude that the plain language of the relevant statutes authorizes the Attorney General to impose the challenged conditions). The challenged conditions are basic: (1) compliance with federal law prohibiting any restrictions on the communication of citizenship and alien status information with federal immigration authorities; (2) the provision to federal authorities of the release dates of incarcerated illegal aliens upon request; and (3) affording federal immigration officers access to incarcerated illegal aliens.

This ruling has to be right. The court, however, acknowledges its divergence from other appellate court opinions that have upheld injunctions on the enforcement of some or all of the challenged conditions. See slip op. at page 8. Its the kind of split in authority that supports the exercise of the Supreme Courts power of discretionary review.

Committee on the Judiciary v. McGahn.

Paul Mirengoff pitched in to help me serve my sentence in his post House lacks standing to enforce McGahn subpoena, appeals court rules. The panels 2-1 opinion does not address the merits of the enforceability of the House Judiciary Committees subpoena of former White House counsel Don McGahn. Rather, the panel holds that the committee lacks standing to press the issue in court.

Without digging into the precedent that leads the court to this result, I can only say that I (like Paul, I think) am dubious about the outcome. The opinion seems to me to rest on a sort of discretionary reservation of authority based on a political question that inhibits judicial review. The concurring opinion by Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson seems to me to belie the gist of the result:

I emphasize that the applicability of specific privileges in this case is not yet susceptible to judicial resolution: none has been formally asserted and, in any event, we do not reach the merits because of the Committees lack of standing. I write separately, however, because I see qualified privileges as the preferred mechanism for resolving these interbranch informational disputes in the future. Even setting aside the shaky foundation of testimonial immunity, a categorical refusal to participate in congressional inquiries strikes a resounding blow to the system of compromise and accommodation that has governed these fights since the republic began. Political negotiations should be the firstand, it is hoped, onlyrecourse to resolve the competing and powerful interests of two coequal branches of government. And even if one is skeptical of this rosy projection, I believe the applicable privileges provide a narrower starting point and, should the parties reach an impasse, frame the issue in a manner more suitableand, indeed, more familiarto judicial resolution.

Jonathan Turley is beside himself with this result. His column on it appears under the headline Congress hits rock bottom in losing to the president in subpoena ruling. Professor Turley writes:

The D.C. Circuit Court sided with Trump in reversing a lower court and refusing to order the appearance before Congress of former White House counsel Donald McGahn. It is a huge victory for the White House in barring such testimony, and a devastating loss to the authority of Congress in future conflicts. I disagree with the decision and believe not only that Congress has a right to hear from McGahn but that federal courts should protect that right. The decision undermines not only congressional authority but half of the Houses case against Trump based on its second impeachment article, obstruction of justice.

To the extent that I understand his argument, Professor Turley comes at the issue that Paul Mirengoff raises from another direction.

PAUL ADDS: Liberals have a clear majority on the D.C. Circuit. Thus, if the House files a petition for rehearing of the McGahn case, as I expect it will, theres a fairly good chance the panels ruling will be overturned.
Aguilars organizing is part of a concerted, years-long effort by Sanders to gin up a decisive victory in Californias presidential primary. The states usually beside-the-point voters could play a key role in the Democratic nominating process this year. There are 415 delegates at stake here Tuesday, the largest haul on a day when 14 other states and territories will also go to the polls. Sanders is hoping that a big victory could help him run up a sizable delegate lead against his rivals.
Bill Galvin is group chief executive of the Universities Superannuation Scheme

The judiciary's decision to grant the appeal against the building of a third runway at Heathrow, announced earlier this week, was disappointing to say the least.

But we, as the largest private pension scheme in the UK and a major investor in the airport, do not believe that a vibrant, open UK economy enjoying all the benefits of a larger Heathrow, should sit at odds with looking after the climate.

After all, as a scheme with more than 400,000 members, taking long-term risks into account and balancing them against our investment decisions is what we do for a living.

In 2013, USS, which now has around 75billion in assets under management, took a 10 per cent stake in Heathrow on the basis that we were prepared to commit to a globally successful airport with one eye on expansion.

Anyone who has followed Heathrow will be aware that the airport has been operating at near capacity for many years, curbing the country's ability to compete on the world stage.

It is quite correct that the judicial process should listen to legitimate concerns and that environmental risk is a critical issue.

But the decision earlier this week was not a ruling on whether the third runway should go ahead, but on the content of the original Airports National Policy Statement, which was approved by a majority in Parliament in June 2018. This set out the terms needed to enable the development of the third runway.

The judiciary agreed that this policy statement did not take account of the obligations under the Paris Agreement, but it could be amended. This does not and should not mean that the idea is shelved for good.

We as a society cannot ignore the urgent need to look after our environment. Indeed, we did not enter into our investment without due consideration for the environment.

In 2013, Universities Superannuation Scheme took a 10 per cent stake in Heathrow

As responsible owners, USS was an early adopter of global initiatives by pension funds to do our part on this issue. We supported the Paris Agreement to keep global temperature rises to 2C or less, and we were a founder member of the Transition Pathway Initiative, which was set up to monitor progress on delivering this.

We have been strong supporters of Heathrow's own moves to reduce carbon emissions. Only last week it announced that it had become one of the world's first major aviation hubs to become carbon neutral for infrastructure, following 100million investment in energy efficiency schemes.

The UK aviation industry has also produced a comprehensive plan which sets out how they intend to meet Carbon Net Zero by 2050. We believe we can deliver both expansion, and the economic growth it brings, and meet our obligations towards reducing carbon emissions. It need not be an either/or situation.

But let us not forget why this debate all started. More than a decade ago the Government first started talking openly about a third runway with the idea to make the UK more connected globally. The expansion would bring jobs and help grow the economy around the country. Those arguments are more prescient than ever.

Heathrow, with our support, has already promised to boost the UK economy by over 200billion, as well as create around 180,000 jobs. That is aside from the benefit to consumers from having greater travel choice between airlines. We as investors have been busy getting on with preparing for expansion and shareholders have committed over 500million of funding to ensure we are ready.

The current Government has placed infrastructure development as a key policy initiative

Again, as a long-term investor, we are not looking to make a quick return and sell up at the first hurdle, but we are investing for decades into the future. We have to. Our reason for being is to pay the pensions of over 400,000 members as they fall due. What better investor for a company like Heathrow than a pension scheme which has a similarly very long-term outlook?

Yet, even though we should be the most ideal owners for complex infrastructure in the UK given we already invest around 40 per cent of our assets here, this latest decision will only strengthen the negative message that is being sent to global investors who want to put money to work in the UK.

And this is all happening at exactly the same time as the current Government has placed infrastructure development as a key policy initiative; in the 2019 Queen's Speech the Government confirmed plans to invest 100billion to transform the UK's infrastructure and its ambitions extend to all areas of economic infrastructure including transport.

A project that seemed hugely positive for the UK economy, creating jobs and trade links that the UK desperately needs, need not hang in the balance. With our members based here in the UK USS wants to invest more in our home market and Heathrow's expansion would be a great way to start.

Caring about our environment and economic progress can go hand in hand.

Bill Galvin is the group chief executive of the Universities Superannuation Scheme, which controls 75billion and serves 400,000 members.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Governor Mike DeWine was preparing to deliver a speech Wednesday in rural Holmes County, when he received a disturbing call from Columbus. The voice on his cellphone told him that another child from Dayton had died a violent death.

The Montgomery County Coroner had just determined that Gabriel Clouse, a two-month-old boy, died of injuries associated with blunt force. His injuries included skull and rib fractures. The infants death came on the heels of another highly publicized child fatality about which DeWine had also been briefed. Takoda Collins, a 10-year-old Dayton boy, is alleged to have been tortured, sexually abused, and routinely locked in an attic before he died last December.

The governor had heard enough. For him, the violent deaths represented a pattern. Both boys had been on the radar of the Montgomery County Children Service Agency. DeWine ordered his Department of Job and Family Services (DJFS) to begin an immediate review of all alternative response cases handled by that agency in the past six months.

Its our obligation to ensure that Ohios children have the best possible chance to grow up in a safe and healthy environment. We must ensure that our county children services agencies are keeping that promise. By initiating this review, we are working to ensure the safety of our children and that those charged with protecting them have the resources they need, DeWine said in a written statement after Gabriels death.

There are two ways county child protective agencies can proceed when responding to reports of child abuse or neglect. Caseworkers can use what is known as a traditional or alternative response. An alternative response is used when social workers determine that a report doesnt allege serious or imminent harm. This approach allows caseworkers to work with families to develop effective parenting strategies while requiring a safety and risk assessment to be completed. There is a danger, however. Profound misreading of a family situation can tragically cost lives.

The fact that DeWine has now inserted himself into the child abuse conversation comes as little surprise. While campaigning for governor in 2018, he said the core of his policy agenda was going to be Ohios children: educating them and keeping them safe. The pledge appears to have been more than a campaign slogan.

Last year, he created a policy requiring DJFS to inform him whenever it received notice of a child abuse fatality in any of Ohios 88 counties. He made it clear that he wanted to not only be briefed about the facts of the case as they emerged, but to remain informed throughout the review process. This policy commitment likely makes DeWine Ohios first governor ever to require formal briefing on the history and post-mortem reviews of Ohios most vulnerable children.

DeWine was in Cleveland Thursday to talk about the states response to the coronavirus. When I met with him over breakfast at the Inn On Coventry in Cleveland Heights, it was clear that COVID-19 wasnt the only pressing concern on his mind.

As a state, we must do better for at-risk children. We have to be constantly vigilant to ensure that we are driving policy that ensures that best practices are in place to keep children safe. If we determine that some counties dont have the resources to be an effective safety net, we must find them the resources, said DeWine.

Given the continued devastation of the opioid crisis and the tremendous stress that addiction has created on families and the foster care system, DeWines commitment to be a champion for vulnerable children is both necessary and reassuring.

Two Dayton boys recently died horribly painful deaths. Their deaths didnt go unnoticed by Ohios chief executive. DeWine, the father of 8 grown children and grandfather of 24 grandchildren, is keeping his commitment to fight for children. That is one silver lining in the midst of tragedy.

Recent columns by Phillip Morris:

America must stop being a Turkey and suffocating itself with cheap plastic bags: Phillip Morris

These $40 haircuts have the potential to save countless lives: Phillip Morris

What comes next for Collinwood High depends on creative ideas, cooperation: Phillip Morris

What lessons do the Buttigieg dogs have to offer America?: Phillip Morris
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that now the Panchayati Raj Institutions and Municipalities across the State will be able to carry out all development works for which Rs 80 crore will be released to every constituency and there is no shortage of funds for development.

The Chief Minister was addressing the gathering at the newly constructed community center of village Kachhwa in Karnal on Sunday.

He inaugurated the community centers of villages Pondark, Kachhwa and Dabri which are constructed at a cost of about Rs 3.52 crore.

According to a statement, Khattar said, "Haryana Government will release Rs 80 crore per year for development works to every constituency across the State. Out of the total released amount, the Panchayati Raj Institutions and Municipalities will have to plan the development works and decide which are to be done on priority basis."

The Chief Minister said that a budget will also be given by the government for the works of Education, Health, Agriculture, Public Works, and other Departments.

Khattar said that list of development works which are to be done on priority basis should be prepared and to start the work accordingly. The new development works, according to the budget, will be started from April 1, 2020.

"The Chief Minister said that Shiv-Dhams have been developed by the government across the state by spending Rs 750 crore on it. He said that if there is any further work to be done at Shivdham, then the budget will also be arranged for it," the statement said.

"He said that there is no shortage of funds for the development works. On the demand of the people of the area, the Chief Minister announced a grant of Rs 30 lakh for the repair of the building of animal husbandry hospital of the village," the statement added.

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

In late 2015, news broke that Volkswagen had falsified emissions data from some of their diesel vehicles. The ensuing scandal, dubbed Dieselgate, prompted the companys chief executive to resign. A new article from Sean OKane at The Verge notes that while Dieselgate may not be in the news nearly as much as it once was, its impact is still being felt in the automotive world.

In the last week, OKane writes, three distinct events help demonstrate the continuing effects of Dieselgate. On February 28, Porsches offices in Stuttgart were raided by law enforcement seeking evidence relating to diesel emission manipulation measures, according to journalist Greg Kable.
Warmowski Photography

Jacksonville entrepreneur and philanthropist Scotty DeWolf has been named the first recipient of the Tom Grojean Community Spirit Award for his efforts to improve and support the city.

DeWolf is restoring the 1857 Augustus Ayers Mansion on West State Street for a bed and breakfast. He has been a contributor to many Jacksonville groups and organizations since moving to the city several years ago, including buying the 1859-built Congregational United Church of Christ to turn into a home for a youth music school and orchestra.
MONTREALA Quebec couple who contracted the novel coronavirus aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan will soon be on their way home after testing negative for the virus, their daughter said Sunday.

Chantal Menard said she learned early in the morning that her mother was being discharged from hospital after a second test confirmed she no longer had the illness. Her father tested negative last Wednesday.

Diane and Bernard Menard, who are in their 70s, were among the more than 700 people who contracted COVID-19 aboard the ship, which has been docked in Yokohama since early February.

Their daughter said the news was welcome after weeks of worry and frantic calls to consular officials.

Were very happy because at one moment we lost hope, but you cant ever lose hope, she said in a phone interview.

Menard said her parents were on the last day of their month-long tour of Asia when they learned the boat was under quarantine.

The couple from Gatineau, Que. tested positive in mid-February and were transported to a Japanese military hospital with symptoms including coughing and fever.

Menard said the couple will spend the next day or two in a hotel while the family organizes their trip home, but she hopes theyll be back in Canada by Friday.

She said its unclear whether theyll have to face another quarantine when they return, on top of the two theyve already done in Japan. If so, she believes it will be at home.

For sure well go to the house to look at them through the curtains, she said with a laugh. Well set ourselves up on the outdoor patio and do a simultaneous toast.

She says consular services and and the Canadian Red Cross have been helping the family.

Despite the familys happiness, Menard said she still worries about other Canadians from the ship who remain in Japan.

I hope it will send them a message of hope, she said.
COLUMBIA, S.C.  Joe Biden is back.

The former vice president won the South Carolina Democratic primary in dominant fashion Saturday, establishing himself as the leading rival to the self-described democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders, and reshaping the presidential race by narrowing the path forward for other center-left candidates.

For all of those of you who have been knocked down, counted out, left behind, this is your campaign," Biden told supporters here. "Just days ago, the press and the pundits had declared this candidacy dead. Now, thanks to all of you, the heart of the Democratic Party, we just won and we won big.

The margin of victory  he had captured almost half of the votes counted as of late Saturday night  demonstrated the breadth of his appeal in the state and awarded him enough delegates toward the nomination to move him into second place behind Sanders in that critical tally.

It was Bidens first win in a nominating contest ever, across three White House campaigns spanning 33 years.

The victory, after dismal showings in Iowa and New Hampshire, vaulted Biden to the front of the pack among Democratic moderates heading into Super Tuesday, when 14 states will award more than one-third of the delegates needed to win the nomination.

In winning South Carolina, Biden demonstrated his strength with African American voters, a critical Democratic constituency, while opponents such as Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar struggled, pointing to the limits of their appeals. Several southern states with large black populations vote Tuesday.

Biden will hope for a repeat performance, when another slew of southern states are among those voting, and when he again hopes African American support will propel him. Biden doesnt have the resources or field operations of his leading competitors: Sanders, the front-runner, or billionaire former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who has spent millions on TV advertising across the next states to vote and will be appearing on the ballot for the first time after skipping the early contests.

The victory immediately added to the chorus of voices from moderate party figures calling for other candidates to get out of Bidens way. Many Democrats are desperate to find someone who can coalesce moderate voters and stop Sanders, who they fear is too liberal to defeat President Donald Trump and could cost the party hard-won gains in battleground districts.

"Clearly, this is now a two-person race, said Rep. Brendan Boyle, a Philadelphian who, like much of Pennsylvanias Democratic establishment, supports Biden.

If you do not have a pathway, lets not wait until Super Tuesday, said former Virgina Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who endorsed Biden on CNN right after the race was called for him. If you dont have a pathway, who is it that you think is the most electable and can help the Democratic Party from the top to the bottom in all the local races and the statewide races?

Shortly after the race was called, billionaire Tom Steyer, who had invested heavily in South Carolina, suspended his campaign.

Biden had also invested heavily in South Carolina, spending most of the last couple of weeks campaigning here, and he was one of the only candidates who stayed in the state for the results. Sanders had moved on to Virginia, while Bloomberg and Klobuchar were in North Carolina. Buttigieg, who finished fourth in South Carolina, was in Tennessee Saturday night and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who came in fifth, delivered an address in Houston.

There are a lot of states in this country. Nobody wins 'em all, Sanders said at a rally in Norfolk, Va. He touted his earlier wins in New Hampshire and Nevada, and popular-vote victory in Iowa.

With Biden declared the winner immediately after polls closed, the crowd at the University of South Carolinas volleyball center here broke into a dance party. MSNBC flashed results of Biden with a huge lead, and Lorenza Breedlove let out a Go Joe! Breedlove, 67, a retired insurance agent, said this was exactly what he needed. If he can carry this energy, hes got it.

Breedlove said a late endorsement by the influential Rep. Jim Clyburn provided a huge push for Biden, something exit polls confirmed. It moved a lot of people off the fence, hesaid, adding: "I was never on the fence. Joe was always my man.

In his introduction of Biden, Clyburn called him a real good man."

Clyburn said people were confusing goodness with weakness. ... You dont have to be bombastic in order to get your point across. You dont have to call people names in order to get your position understood.

Biden harkened back to that in his victory speech. This multiethnic country we call our democracy cant survive unless we focus on our goodness, he said. We can build a more perfect union. The American people have seen the alternative.

It was African American voters, who make up about 60% of the Democratic primary electorate in the state, who revived Bidens bid for the presidency at a critical moment.

I think there are people who underestimate what Joe Biden means to South Carolina and how people view him in South Carolina, said Fletcher Smith, a former state representative and Biden consultant. And I think it extends beyond South Carolina to Super Tuesdays southern states, where theres a strong rural presence but also the flirtation of urban and suburban-ness.

Smith predicted there will be fractures within the African American community  as there appeared to be in South Carolina, with older and younger black voters split on Biden. I think in the end Joe Biden is poised to do well [with black voters] and so will, in all honesty, Bernie Sanders and Michael Bloomberg, Smith said.

With several additional southern states set to vote just days later, many with similarly large African American populations, Bidens win could reorder the race by dooming rival moderates such as Klobuchar and former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., who have failed to gain much support from people of color, a key part of the Democratic coalition.

This thing could narrow down very quickly to a race between Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden, said David Axelrod, a former top strategist to President Barack Obama.

South Carolina could signal good things for Biden in states with similar electorates like Texas, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama, Oklahoma and Arkansas  all voting Tuesday.

Bloomberg campaign manager Kevin Sheekey signaled Saturday night that the Republican turned Democrat would remain in the race at least through Tuesdays coast-to-coast contests."Mike Bloomberg has not been on the ballot yet," Sheekey said in a statement.

At the polls Saturday in Columbia, Tonya Arthur, 49, said she voted for Biden because, We know him here. And I think he has the best chance about Trump, I hope so anyway.

I think he understands middle-class people," Arthur said. "I think hes got a pretty good chance if people get out and vote.

After Bidens victory party, Eddie Walker had to drive back to Georgia. Shell vote in her home state on March 24, but wanted to come to the party 130 miles away.

She thinks Georgia, and other southern Super Tuesday states, will follow South Carolinas lead.

No question, she said. Were claiming it now."
By IANS

SYDNEY: Experiencing chronic job insecurity can change your personality for the worse, say researchers, adding that those exposed to job insecurity over more than four years became less emotionally stable, less agreeable, and less conscientious.

The study, published in the Journal of Applied Psychology, built on a growing evidence base about the negative consequences of job insecurity.

"Traditionally, we've thought about the short-term consequences of job insecurity - that it hurts your well-being, physical health, sense of self-esteem," said study researcher Lena Wang from RMIT University in Australia.

"But now we are looking at how that actually changes who you are as a person over time, a long-term consequence that you may not even be aware of," Wang added.

The study used nationally representative data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey in relation to answers about job security and personality for 1,046 employees over a nine-year period.

It applied a well-established personality framework known as the Big Five, which categorises human personality into five broad traits: emotional stability, agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion and openness.

The study results showed that long-term job insecurity negatively affected the first three traits, which relate to a person's tendency to reliably achieve goals, get along with others, and cope with stress.

The researchers said the results went against some assumptions about job insecurity.

"Some might believe that insecure work increases productivity because workers will work harder to keep their jobs, but our research suggests this may not be the case if job insecurity persists," Wang said.

"We found that those chronically exposed to job insecurity are in fact more likely to withdraw their effort and shy away from building strong, positive working relationships, which can undermine their productivity in the long run," Wang added.

Previous research has shown that insecure work - including labour hire practices, contract and casual work, and underemployment - is on the rise in Australia and globally.

The HILDA data drew on responses from employees from a broad cross-section of professions and jobs, who were asked about how secure they perceived their jobs to be.

The researchers said that types of job insecurity might include short-term contracts or casual work, jobs threatened by automation, and positions that could be in line for a redundancy.
New Delhi: The Delhi Police on Sunday (March 1, 2020) detained a few people for spreading rumours about rekindling of violence in the city. They urged citizens to not pay attention to such rumours and requested people to not panic and appealed to maintain peace and calm.

Delhi Police PRO MS Randhawa informed media that some people have been detained for rumour-mongering. "Strict action will be taken against those who spread rumours and hate speech. Cases under relevant sections will be registered against them," he said.

Rumours of violence being reported from across different places in Delhi were spread on social media platforms on Sunday evening which instigated fear of riots among the citizens. Several people were seen closing their shops and rushing home.

READ STORIES RELATED TO DELHI VIOLENCE HERE

As per rumours, incidents of rioting has been reported from many areas like Rohini Avantika, Mangolpuri towards outer Delhi, Rajouri and Khyala in the west; Jaitpur, Jasola, Madanpur Khadar in South East Delhi.

Due to the closure of some metro stations, the rumours got a boost, however, within 20 minutes all the metro stations were reopened.

The Delhi Police has made it clear that no violence, stone-pelting or any untoward incident has taken place, and requested the people to ignore the rumours.

Special Cell of the Delhi Police also quashed the rumours and insisted that citizens can call 100/112 for clarification. The tweet said: "Concerted efforts were made over the evening by mischievous and anti-social elements to create panic in Delhi by spreading false rumours of rioting over various social media platforms. In truth, there was nothing. Please remember that such activities over internet leave digital footprints. Instigating a riot can have severe consequences... And severe criminal liability follows.. Please be responsible citizens.. Verify from trusted sources before forwarding any message... Check our social media handles or call 100/112 for clarifications."

Taking to microblogging site Twitter, Delhi Police wrote: "Some unsubstantiated reports of tense situation in SouthEast & West District are being circulated on social media. It is to reiterate that these are all rumours. Don't pay attention to such rumours. Delhi Police is closely monitoring accounts spreading rumours and taking action."

Some unsubstantiated reports of tense situation in SouthEast & West District are being circulated on social media. It is to reiterate that these are all rumours. Don't pay attention to such rumours. Delhi Police is closely monitoring accounts spreading rumours and taking action.  Delhi Police (@DelhiPolice) March 1, 2020

Delhi DCP Central Sanjay Bhatia said, "There is no violence at all in areas like Baljit Nagar, Patel Nagar, ignore these rumours there is peace in Central Delhi.

East Delhi MP Gautam Gambhir too made an appeal for people to remain calm and not to fall prey to rumours. He said, "I urge all Delhiites to not fall prey of any rumours around and maintain peace and harmony. Everything is normal."

Keeping the safety and security in mind, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) had closed some metro stations but as now the exit and entry gates have been reopened for public. Entry and exit gates of Tilak Nagar, Nangloi, Surajmal Stadium, Badarpur, Tughlakabad, Uttam Nagar west and Nawada which were closed earlier are now reopened.

Earlier today, two dead bodies were recovered from a drain in Gokulpuri, one of the riot-hit areas of the northeast district in Delhi, taking the total number of deaths in the violence to 44.

In Shaheen Bagh, section 144 was imposed in the wake of the violent incident and heavy security was deployed. At least 1,000 jawans and 12 companies of paramilitary forces have been posted in the area after the imposition of the prohibitory orders by the authorities.

The violent clashes that rocked the northeast district of Delhi has claimed the lives of 44 people and left more than 250 people injured. The riots started after reports of stone-pelting incidents at Maujpur Chowk in Jafarabad area between pro and anti-ACC protesters on Sunday (February 23, 2020). Later, the clashes escalated to several parts of the northeast Delhi constituency. However, there are still a large number of people missing in the violence.
A full-scale security operation is expected to begin tomorrow ahead of the visit of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

William and Kate are set to arrive in Ireland on Tuesday for a two day trip.
A possible outbreak of coronavirus at a long-term nursing facility in Washington state is under investigation after two people at the facility tested positive for the disease.

Officials from the Washington state and Seattle and King County health departments said more than 50 residents and staff at the Life Care Center in Kirkland are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19.

They are all being tested for the virus, authorities said.

Officials made the announcement Saturday, the same day they confirmed a man in his 50s from Washington state became the first reported death from the virus in the United States.

The man was not a resident at the facility in Kirkland and there is no evidence to show he contracted the virus through travel.

Two of the confirmed cases of the virus are associated with the Life Care facility.

One woman, a health care worker from Life Care in her 40s, is currently in satisfactory condition at a hospital and had no known travel outside of the United States.

The second case, a woman in her 70s, is a resident from the facility and is in serious condition at a hospital.

In addition, over 50 individuals associated with Life Care are reportedly ill with respiratory symptoms or hospitalized with pneumonia or other respiratory conditions of unknown cause and are being tested for COVID-19, health officials said in a news release. Additional positive cases are expected.

The facility said in a statement that it is no longer allowing visits from families, volunteers or vendors. Life Care also placed a hold on new admissions.

Current residents and associates are being monitored closely. As is normal this time of year, there are various cold and flu-like symptoms being exhibited from residents and associates, Life Care said in a statement. The health department has advised us to monitor for an elevated temperature, cough and shortness of breath. We're consulting with the health department and possibly sending patients to a local hospital for formal COVID-19 testing. That testing is not performed in our facility.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention said the source of the infections in Washington state is currently unknown, but the circumstances suggest the virus was spread person-to-person.

Along with Washington state seeing the first reported death, the state also saw the first reported case of a health care worker being infected and the first possible outbreak at a life care facility, the CDC said.

Health officials in Rhode Island also announced on Sunday that a person in their 40s who traveled to Italy in February is the states first presumptive positive case of the virus.

As of Sunday, there were 71 confirmed and presumptive positive cases of coronavirus in the United States.

The number included 44 people who were aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship. States with confirmed and presumptive positive cases of COVID-19 include Massachusetts, Illinois, Wisconsin, Arizona, California, Washington state and Oregon.

The CDC is sending a team of experts to Washington state. The governor declared a state of emergency Saturday.

Related Content:
PARIS  Coronavirus cases surged in Italy, and France closed the world-famous Louvre Museum on Sunday as the deadly outbreak that began in China sent fear rising across Western Europe, threatening its tourism industry.

The number of countries hit by the virus climbed past 60, and the death toll worldwide surpassed 3,000.

New fronts in the battle opened rapidly over the weekend, deepening the sense of crisis that has already sent financial markets plummeting, emptied the streets in many cities and rewritten the routines of millions of people. More than 88,500 around the globe have been infected, with the virus popping up on every continent but Antarctica.

Australia and Thailand reported their first deaths Sunday, while the Dominican Republic and the Czech Republic recorded their first infections.

Italian authorities announced that the number of people infected in the country soared 50% to more than 1,600 in just 24 hours, and five more had died, bringing the death toll there to 34.

The U.S. government advised Americans against traveling to the two northern Italian regions hit hardest, among them Lombardy, which includes Milan. Major American airlines began suspending flights to Milan.

The travel restrictions against Italy and the rising alarm in France could deal a heavy blow to the tourism industries. Spring, especially Easter, is a hugely popular time for schoolchildren to visit France and Italy.

We had already registered a slowdown of Americans coming to Italy in recent days, said Bernabo Bocca, president of Italys hotel association. Now, the final blow has arrived.

Iran, Iraq and South Korea, among other places, also saw the number of infections rise. Panic-buying of daily necessities emerged in Japan. Tourist attractions across Asia, Europe and the Mideast were deserted. Islams holiest sites have been closed to foreign pilgrims. And governments have closed schools and banned big gatherings.

The Louvre, home of the Mona Lisa and other priceless artworks, closed after workers expressed fear of being contaminated by the stream of visitors from around the world.

South Korea reported 210 additional cases and two more deaths, raising its totals to 3,736 cases and 20 fatalities. South Korea has the second-largest number of infections outside China.

John Leicester and Colleen Barry are Associated Press writers.
Calling the Delhi riots as



"targeted structural violence," AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday said the responsibility lies at the doorstep of the BJP government and appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit the affected areas.

Addressing a public meeting on AIMIM's 62nd foundation day here, the Hyderabad MP reiterated his charge that the violence happened due to the speeches made by BJP leaders.

"This communal riot happened with full planning and preparation. An atmosphere of hatred was created. It cannot be called a communal riot but it is pogrom," he alleged.

"We were hopeful that you (Prime Minister) might have taken some lesson from 2002 (Gujarat riots) and ensure such thing would not recur...," Owaisi said.

Referring to slogans raised by some youths in Metro stations in Delhi, he said, ".. who are these people telling 'goli maaro desh ke gaddaron ko' (shoot the traitors). Prime Minister this riot happened with planning. This is targetted structural violence and its responsibility is on you."



The responsibility of Delhi riots lies at the doorstep of the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre, he said.

Appleaing to Modi to visit the riot-hit areas in the natnional capital, Owaisi wondered whether the Prime Minister would "narrate our pain in monthly radio programme, Mann ki Baat."



He said the Prime Minister did not make a mention of the Delhi violence in his speech in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday though he dwelt on 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas'.

Lashing out at Delhi police, Owaisi charged them with not responding to the calls of Muslims affected by the violence, which rocked parts of northeast Delhi last week claiming at least 42 lives and leaving over 200 injured.

Owaisi further said elected representatives of AIMIM would donate one month salary to the families of those killed in Delhi violence.

He said AIMIM would urge Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao not to allow NPR exercise in the state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hunter-gatherer human ancestors from around 3,00,000 years ago may have facilitated a cultural revolution by developing ideas in small social networks, and regularly drawing on knowledge from their neighbouring camps, a new study says.

The research, published in the journal Science Advances, mapped close-range social interactions between individuals of Agta hunter-gatherers in the Philippines using radio sensor technology every hour for one month.

Anthropologists, including those from the University College London (UCL) in the UK, also observed inter-camp migrations and visits almost on a daily basis.

They found that the social structure of the hunter-gatherers, built around small family units linked by strong friendships and high in-between camp mobility, was key to the development of new cultural ideas.

According to the scientists, this is because the social structure allowed for the co-existence of multiple traditions or solutions to a similar problem in different parts of the network.

"It is fair to say that 'visits between camps' is the social media of current hunter-gatherers, and probably of our extinct hunter-gatherer ancestors," said study co-author and anthropologist Andrea Migliano from the University College London.

"When we need a new solution for a problem, we go online and use multiple sources to obtain information from a variety of people. Hunter-gatherers use their social network exactly in the same way," Migliano explained.

The researchers said these constant visits between camps are essential for information to be recombined and continuously generate cultural innovations.

In the study, the scientists selected pairs of individuals from the Agta hunter-gatherer community, based on the strength of their social ties, to combine different medicinal plants and share the discovery of any new super medicine with their close family ties.

They simulated this process over an artificial and fully connected network of a similar size, where all individuals were connected to each other and immediately transmitted any discoveries to all network members.

The findings revealed that the rates of cultural evolution were much higher across the real hunter-gatherer social networks.

While fully connected networks spread innovations more quickly, the real hunter-gatherer networks promoted the independent evolution of multiple medicines in different clusters of the network -- different camps, households, family clusters -- the study noted.

These independently developed medicines could be later recombined producing a more complex culture, the scientists said.

"Previous studies have shown that fluid social structures already characterised expanding Upper Palaeolithic human populations and that long-range cultural exchange in the Homo sapiens lineage dates back to at least 3,20,000 years ago," said study co-author Lucio Vinicius from UCL.

"However, the link we found between cultural evolution and the fluid sociality of hunter-gatherers indicates that as hunter-gatherers expanded within and then out of Africa, this social structure of small and interconnected bands may have facilitated the sequence of cultural and technological revolutions that characterises our species," he said.

According to the researchers, the study sheds light on the importance of the dynamics of social interactions in human cultural and technological innovation.

"Humans have a unique capacity to create and accumulate culture. From a simple pencil to the International Space Station, human culture is a product of multiple minds over many generations, and cannot be recreated from scratch by one single individual," said Mark Dyble, another co-author of the study from UCL.

"This capacity for cumulative culture is central to humanity's success, and evolved in our past hunter-gatherer ancestors. Our work shows that the kind of social organisation that is typical of contemporary hunter-gatherers serves to promote cultural evolution," Dyble said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A staff member at a Berkshire primary school is among Britain's three latest cases of coronavirus, sparking fears among parents.

The headteacher of Willow Bank Infant School in Reading sent out an email on Saturday urging families to remain calm and follow the recommended hygiene procedures.

In the message, Michelle Masters confirmed that one of the team had tested positive for the Covid-19 virus, adding: The school will be shut for some days to allow for a deep clean and to ensure that the risk of infection remain(s) low."

The identity and specific role of the infected person at the school have not yet been confirmed.

It is understood the patients partner, who has also developed symptoms, works with at least one person who recently returned to the UK from Italy  the country worst hit by the virus in Europe, The Times reported.

Authorities are urgently tracing anyone who has been in contact with him.

Health officials are also contacting anyone who had close contact with a patient from the Cotswolds area, while another was confirmed in Hertfordshire.

Two of the thee patients confirmed on Saturday had recently travelled back from Italy while the other had returned from Asia, Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty said.

Coronavirus passed on within UK for first time as 20th case confirmed

It comes the government draws up plans to cope with the outbreak and restrict its spread.

Ministers have confirmed, as part of contingency measures for if the spread of coronavirus escalates into a pandemic, that broader measures will be considered to keep the public safe and ensure the NHS can handle the added strain.

The plans include a Dads Army-style emergency registration of health professionals who have retired, as well as relaxing rules around school class sizes in case teachers are off ill or forced to self-isolate.

Other proposals include introducing emergency indemnity coverage for healthcare workers to allow them to diagnose or care for those who contract the deadly illness.

Ministers are also considering whether to recommend more employees work from home and discourage unnecessary travel.

The so-called social distancing approach is part of a strategy designed to delay the peak of the outbreak until later in the year, potentially helping to combat the virus during warmer weather conditions when it will spread less easily.

The Prime Minister said: Coronavirus may very well be a challenge in the weeks and months ahead.

But I have no doubt that with the help of the NHS and its incomparable staff this country will get through it  and beat it.

Londoners wear Coronavirus masks - In pictures 1 /61 Londoners wear Coronavirus masks - In pictures A man wearing a protective mask travels on the underground tube Reuters A woman wearing a protective face mask Jeremy Selwyn A man and woman wearing protective face masks on a bus PA A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask in Victoria Jeremy Selwyn A woman shopper wears a protective mask as she walks down an aisle in a supermarket in London AFP via Getty Images A man wearing a face mask waits to board an underground train on the Central Line at Bank station in London AP A woman with a plastic box over her head on the London Underground. PA A woman wearing a protective face mask walking down Oxford Street in London PA A woman wearing a mask walks by the Emirates Stadium Action Images via Reuters A man is seen wearing a protective face mask at Waterloo station Reuters A woman wears a surgical mask as she walks through Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport Reuters A fan in the stands wears a mask during the Premier League match at Stamford Bridg PA A man wearing a protective face mask walking down Oxford Street PA Commuters with masks on during the Coronavirus outbreak Jeremy Selwyn A person wears a mask in a display of street style outside the BFC Show Space show in London PA Commuters with masks on during the Coronavirus outbreak Jeremy Selwyn Commuters with masks on during the Coronavirus outbreak Jeremy Selwyn Commuters with masks on during the Coronavirus outbreak Jeremy Selwyn A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask in Victoria Jeremy Selwyn Commuters with masks on during the Coronavirus outbreak Jeremy Selwyn A commuter on the tube wearing a face mask Jeremy Selwyn A woman wears a mask while crossing London Bridge Getty Images People wear masks at Holborn underground Station Jeremy Selwyn A man wearing a face mask walks past an entrance sign for Bank underground train station AP The coronavirus outbreak will unlikely lead to a Tube ban PA People wear masks at Holborn underground Station Jeremy Selwyn People wear masks at Holborn underground Station Jeremy Selwyn A woman wearing a face mask on the London Underground. PA People wear masks at Holborn underground Station Jeremy Selwyn A pedestrian wears a face mask whilst walking along High Holborn PA A pedestrian wears a face mask whilst walking along High Holborn PA A man wears a mask as he takes a photograph in China Town AP A man in a hazmat suit and face mask cleans the Ritchie Street Health Centre, Islington PA A commuter at Euston wearing a mask Jeremy Selwyn A commuter at Euston wearing a mask Jeremy Selwyn A man arrives at Euston Underground wearing a mask Jeremy Selwyn A commuter arrives at St Pancras wearing a mask Jeremy Selwyn St Pancras Jeremy Selwyn A commuter arrives at St Pancras wearing a mask Jeremy Selwyn Jeremy Selwyn Staff in suits at St Thomas's Hospital today Jeremy Selwyn A commuter arrives at St Pancras wearing a mask Jeremy Selwyn A commuter arrives at St Pancras wearing a mask Jeremy Selwyn A man wears a face mask as he stands near an electronic arrivals board at Terminal 4 of London Heathrow Airport AFP via Getty Images A man wears a face mask as he walks along the Thames embankment AFP via Getty Images A woman wearing a protective face mask is seen on London Bridg Reuters

As part of the bid to step up Government preparations, Boris Johnson has announced he will establish a war room in the Cabinet Office featuring a cross-Whitehall team of communications experts who are responsible for rolling out a public information campaign.

A publicity campaign will be unveiled featuring posters and social media adverts to reinforce the importance of hand-washing for 20 seconds or more with water and soap in order to prevent the spread of the virus.
OTTAWA - When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stepped in front of cameras last week to declare that barricades on rail lines and other major transportation routes had to come down, the move had been decided almost two days before.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 1/3/2020 (680 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA - When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stepped in front of cameras last week to declare that barricades on rail lines and other major transportation routes had to come down, the move had been decided almost two days before.

He intended to send a signal to the police that attempts to negotiate an end to the national crisis were not working and the situation was now in their hands, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau holds a news conference to discuss the current rail blockades and other topics in Ottawa Friday, February 7, 2020 in Ottawa. When Trudeau stepped in front of cameras last week to declare that barricades on rail lines and other major transportation routes had to come down, the move had been decided almost two days before. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Chartrand

Trudeau had been urging patience in the hopes of seeing the rising crisis end through negotiation, but a final 36-hour clock had run out.

The Canadian Press spoke with three government officials, including in the prime minister's office and that of B.C. Premier John Horgan, to get a picture of what has been happening behind the scenes as the blockades rose to national attention and how the governments have seen the growing crisis.

The officials all spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss sensitive matters in public.

The blockades were sparked when the RCMP began enforcing a court order against Wet'suwet'en protesters and their supporters blocking construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline in northern British Columbia. Some hereditary chiefs of the Wet'suwet'en nation oppose the pipeline on their territorial land and have been trying to block the project for almost a decade.

Before the nationwide protests erupted, the opposition to the pipeline was seen as a matter for the B.C. government, which oversaw the project's planning and approvals.

The Wet'suwet'en had established a presence in the area of the pipeline construction, including on the only access road to a Coastal GasLink work site.

After the pipeline company was granted an injunction in early January ordering protesters to clear the road, Hereditary Chief Na'Moks, who also goes by John Ridsdale, called for a meeting with Trudeau and Horgan and some of their cabinet ministers via letter.

The sides could not agree on how any talks might happen, or even who should take part. But in the end, former NDP MP Nathan Cullen, hired by the B.C. government as a liaison between the hereditary chiefs and the province, negotiated an meeting called a "Wiggus table," named for a Wet'suwet'en term that translates roughly as "respect." British Columbia's delegation was led by Indigenous Relations Minister Scott Fraser.

It was supposed to mean seven days of discussions. Those ended after just two, on Feb. 4.

"Talks have broken down between the province and the Wet'suwet'en," Hereditary Chief Smogelgem (who also goes by Warner Naziel) tweeted at the time. "Efforts to de-escalate the situation on the territories were severed when the province refused to pull the permits they issued to CGL (Coastal GasLink). CGL felt that further talks with the province was not enough."

The RCMP began arresting people along the access road. As images of Indigenous land-defenders in handcuffs emerged, solidarity blockades began popping up along roads and railways across the country.

Trudeau was in Africa when the blockades began, on an eight-day effort to build support for a bid for the UN Security Council. His absence fed the perception that Ottawa was not on top of the situation, though Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland chaired a meeting of the cabinet's "incident response group." Trudeau dialled in, according to the two federal officials.

By the time the prime minister returned to Canada in the early hours of Feb. 15, it was clear to the Prime Minister's Office that a second international trip, to a summit in the Caribbean, would have to be cancelled, the senior member of Trudeau's staff said.

That day, Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller, a Montreal MP who has learned some Mohawk, was dispatched to Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory in Ontario to talk to protesters barricading a major rail line between Toronto and Montreal. He went to "polish the chain," he said then, a reference to a pre-Confederation treaty named for a silver chain because silver sometimes needs work to keep it shiny.

Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett went to British Columbia in hopes of talking to the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs at the heart of the protests, though that came to nothing.

Ontario's Ipperwash crisis and the resulting inquiry's findings have been in the minds of many involved in the current situation, one of the federal sources said.

In 1995, members of the Stony Point First Nation occupied Ipperwash Provincial Park over a claim for land expropriated by the federal government for a military training camp in the Second World War and never returned.

Two days later, Ontario Provincial Police officers in riot gear descended on a small group of protesters who had left the main encampment. In the melee, Indigenous man Dudley George was shot and killed by an OPP officer.

The inquiry report criticized the OPP for a lack of training for officers on Indigenous rights and for racism in the force. It also rapped police and the government for not trying to negotiate with the protesters or even communicate.

"Ipperwash is a cautionary tale about the difficulties of police/government relations in practice," says the report.

"Ipperwash demonstrates the need for a clearer understanding of the respective roles and responsibilities of the many parts of government that may have a legitimate role in resolving Aboriginal occupations or protests."

Some of Trudeau's top aides had been in the Ontario government when the Ipperwash report was released in 2007. They wanted to be careful.

Public Safety Minister Bill Blair, a former Toronto police chief, advised on how to prevent escalating tensions, the government source said.

But the number of protests grew. At one point, there were close to four dozen blockades of rail and highway traffic across the country. Workers were being laid off and trains had been halted in key corridors for two weeks. Rail companies had secured injunctions the police were not acting on.

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer laid into Trudeau for showing "the weakest response to a national crisis in Canadian history" on Feb. 18.

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney on Feb. 11 had denounced the protests as a form of "ecocolonialism" that isn't in Indigenous people's interests and called for the police to enforce the law. He repeated the call Feb. 19, objecting to the mockery being made of Canada's laws.

Trudeau did not engage Kenney. (In contrast, the official in Horgan's office said the federal and B.C. governments have been in near-constant contact.) But Trudeau did pointedly exclude Scheer from a meeting of federal party leaders on the crisis, saying Scheer's fiercer rhetoric had disqualified him from participating.

Afraid of the impacts of shortages, Trudeau pushed his staff and cabinet officials to find a way to get chlorine, propane and other crucial supplies into Quebec and provinces in the east, the senior PMO source said.

Transport Minister Marc Garneau negotiated a deal that saw goods normally shipped by Canadian National Railway sent instead on its competitor Canadian Pacific's lines. This was kept quiet: the railways feared protesters would set up new blockades to halt alternate routes, according to both federal sources.

Finally, it was clear that negotiations wouldn't bring the blockades down soon because there were none.

The RCMP in B.C. said they would leave an outpost on the disputed access road. The hereditary chiefs added requirements that the RCMP leave traditional Wet'suwet'en territory entirely and that Coastal GasLink cease work to their preconditions for a meeting.

Hereditary Chief Smogelgem tweeted Feb. 20 that even the promise to close the outpost was meaningless.

"(The RCMP's) harassment of our people and supporters continues," he wrote. "Now theyll simply base their Mounties out of the local town of Houston. They are trying to instruct us to continue letting CGL do their work and ignore the eviction that we served them with. OUR EVICTION STANDS! "

Trudeau's camp had already reached the conclusion that attempts at dialogue were at an impasse but had decided to wait 36 hours more to see whether anything would change. It didn't.

On Friday, Feb. 21, Trudeau donned a navy suit and stood at a lectern in the national press theatre, his face set, his tone stern.

"The situation as it currently stands is unacceptable and untenable," he said.

"Everyone involved is worried. Canadians have been patient, our government has been patient. But it has been two weeks and the barricades need to come down now."

Trudeau and his ministers, including Blair, had insisted they could not order the RCMP or other police to do anything. But sending a signal to police is not the same as directing them, one of the federal sources argues. Trudeau's public statement told the police that the work behind the scenes wasn't getting anywhere.

Police in Quebec immediately became more confrontational toward protesters on a commuter-rail line in suburban Montreal; the protesters dismantled their blockade that night. Ontario Provincial Police took down the Tyendinaga blockade three days later, arresting several protesters but with minimal force.

Since then, the situation has quieted. B.C.'s Bennett and Fraser spent Friday and Saturday meeting with the hereditary Wet'suwet'en chiefs in British Columbia. There remains one rail blockade at Kahnawake, a Mohawk territory in Quebec.

Renewed calls have been made by the hereditary chiefs for Trudeau to meet with them himself. He said in the House of Commons this week that such a meeting would inappropriately favour one group among the Wet'suewet'en, who need to determine amongst themselves who will speak for them.

But he still might, one of the federal sources said, depending on the progress of the current talks.

Trudeau will not become directly involved unless a significant progress is made towards a resolution, the source said, adding that Trudeau is the negotiator of last resort and should only be brought in if there is a good prospect of success.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 1, 2020.
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- There is something fascinating about reading Singapores government-supplied coronavirus outbreak information. The data is organized as an unfolding, public story tracing relevant details of the known cases of Covid-19 diagnosed there.

The website shares the age, sex and occupation of each person who has tested positive for the virus. It reveals where they travelled recently, and when they sought medical help. It explains when they were hospitalized and when they were discharged. Theres data on their local whereabouts, including whether they attended either of two large church services which appear to tie together two clusters of the disease.

In contrast, in the United States, there are disturbing revelations of online misinformation, including YouTubers advising people to drink bleach. The president has contradicted scientific consensus in offering reassurances that containment is likely and a vaccine is on the way; experts, including infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci of the NIH, say containment is unlikely and a vaccine could take more than a year to test, develop and deploy.

Now the Trump administration is trying to control the flow of information out of CDC, which is exactly backwards. The CDC or another scientific body should be vetting the statements coming out of the White House.

The freedom to get information about the disease in Singapore, of course, comes at the cost of patient privacy. The Singapore patients arent named, but theres enough information their identities might be inferred  something that would be scandalous in the United States. News reports also show that in Singapore and elsewhere in Asia, some governments are coercing citizens to disclose their movements in ways that would be unacceptable in a Western democracy.

But the American approach also has drawbacks: the freedom to disseminate information has allowed speculation and conspiracy theory to drown out responsible coverage of the disease, leaving citizens scared and confused.

Story continues

Some of this misinformation stems from the way scientists are exchanging information now  not through vetted, peer reviewed papers but through hastily posted data, including one paper that suggested that there were similarities between the new coronavirus and HIV. Some conspiracy theorists used that to promote the notion that the virus was bioengineered. The paper was criticized, and the rumor debunked, but scientists argue that the ability to disseminate information fast is worth the price of possible misinformation getting to the public.

The hodgepodge of information, speculation, conspiracy theory and disinformation is what Georgetown University law professor Lawrence Gostin calls an infodemic. The cure isnt to curb freedom of information and the press, but to supply trustworthy sources.

Where is the surgeon general? asks Columbia University medical ethicist Art Caplan. In his view, we would benefit from a single, trusted, accountable expert whose job is to keep the public updated. Other candidates could be the NIHs Fauci, the head of CDC or someone else with relevant expertise and some ability to explain science and its inherent uncertainty to the public.

The U.S. could also learn from Singapores approach to testing for Covid-19. Singapore has been working toward widespread testing using antibodies, which linger after an infection has cleared, and can therefore give information about who has been infected. That would be an improvement over most of the tests done so far, which rely on detecting genetic material from the virus itself, and therefore cant detect those who have harbored and later cleared an infection. Widespread testing of both current and past infections could help scientists understand the spread of the virus and predict who is most at risk.

In contrast, the United States has been slow to deploy any tests at all. It took more than a week for anyone to test a hospitalized women in California who represents the first case in the country of community spread  someone who hasnt been to China or in close contact with anyone who has.

This weeks New York Times has suggested that we Go Medieval against this new scourge  using such tactics as mandatory testing, as Cuba did for HIV, or quarantine, which has been used since the days of the Black Death.

Americans are unlikely to tolerate the kinds of mass quarantines imposed in China. However, even liberty-minded Americans should be willing to sacrifice some privacy in order to help experts trace the spread of the disease; and its not unreasonable to ask a few people likely to have been exposed to stay home for a while. Extensive voluntary testing, surveillance and contact tracing could work -- and avoid the sacrifice of freedom required to go Medieval.

A non-coercive, cooperative fight against the virus, however, might require public trust in the government, the press and scientists. In the United States, there was once a system in which the press held government accountable and communities held newspapers accountable. Now people get much of their information from social media. The president calls reporters enemies of the people and uses Twitter to send out misleading notions about vaccines and climate science.

Covid-19 will test democracies principles of freedom and commitment to human rights. We will have to walk a fine line between letting transparency and reason prevail, and taking sensible precautions to save lives.

To contact the author of this story: Faye Flam at fflam1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Sarah Green Carmichael at sgreencarmic@bloomberg.net

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Faye Flam is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. She has written for the Economist, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Psychology Today, Science and other publications. She has a degree in geophysics from the California Institute of Technology.

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.
The mother of Harry Dunn has accused Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab of 'effectively blackmailing' her into dropping a High Court quest for the truth about her son's death  with the threat of bankruptcy.

Harry, 19, died after former US spy Anne Sacoolas crashed into him as he rode his motorbike outside RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire last August.

The Foreign Office (FCO) has warned his family they will pursue them for legal costs if they try to overturn the Government's decision to grant Sacoolas diplomatic immunity after the crash.

Dunn's mother, Charlotte Charles, and his family want the courts to render unlawful advice given by the FCO to Northamptonshire Police in the wake of the crash that insisted Sacoolas had diplomatic immunity as the spouse of a diplomat.

But Harry's family say they risk financial ruin if their legal bid is unsuccessful and have today made a public appeal to 'crowdfund' their judicial review attempt against the Foreign Secretary that will be heard in the High Court in May.

Harry Dunn's family are trying to overturn the decision to grant Anna Sacoolas diplomatic immunity

They have hired leading human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson QC and his team to fight on their behalf. The Government has instructed leading silk Sir James Eadie QC to quash the action, risking costs of more than 100,000.

The astonishing 'blackmail' blast comes as the The Mail on Sunday can reveal for the first time the secret treaty drawn up in 1995 between Britain and the United States that Mr Raab admitted to MPs was an 'anomaly', yet puts Mrs Sacoolas above the law.

The treaty, a secret exchange of letters between FCO Ministers and US diplomats never before seen or scrutinised by Parliament, states that 'immunity from criminal jurisdiction' was not to be granted to employees at RAF Croughton  a secret US listening station.

The US government claimed Sacoolas's husband worked at the facility, so while he would have not had diplomatic immunity for the crash under this treaty, his spouse and families would because they are not mentioned in it.

Harry's family say they risk financial ruin if their legal bid is unsuccessful and have today made a public appeal to 'crowdfund' their judicial review attempt against the Foreign Secretary

Anne Sacoolas filmed by ITV News behind the wheel in the US

Leading lawyers question this interpretation of the treaty and Mr Raab admitted to MPs in October last year that it had never been tested by a judge.

Botched treaty that allowed the Americans to exploit a loophole An exchange of diplomatic pleasantries spanning 11 months and sent 26 years ago set in motion one of the most significant rifts between the US and Britain in modern times. The three short notes between the then US ambassador to the UK, William J Crowe Jr, and British Minister Sir Nicholas Cosmo Bonsor also offer an insight into how the so-called Special Relationship really works. Aristocratic Old Etonian barrister Bonsor had a short-lived career as a Foreign Office Minister in the dying years of John Major's government and had been tasked with dealing with the Americans. Washington wanted 200 of its agents and officials to be granted diplomatic immunity while they were posted to US listening station RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire, and Britain was writing to acquiesce. Only one caveat was inserted into the deal  the diplomats would not be beyond British criminal liability for anything outside their official duties at the base. In a one paragraph reply in August 1995, the US Government conceded the point that immunity was 'waived' for 'employees' of the base. Bonsor stands accused of botching the treaty as there is absolutely no mention of the spouses and families of these diplomats. And in 2001, when the US asked to deploy more staff at Croughton, the late Labour Foreign Secretary Robin Cook failed to close the loophole. What Dominic Raab now calls an 'anomaly' in the original treaty allowed Anne Sacoolas to flee the scene of the tragic death of Harry Dunn, claiming she is above the law. Advertisement

Human rights barrister Adam Wagner, who has been hired by the family as part of their legal team, says it is a flaw that destroys the Americans' and the Government's stance.

He said: 'The Government's position, that the families of diplomats have more immunities than the diplomats themselves, is absurd. Even Dominic Raab told Parliament it was an 'anomaly'.'

Ms Charles told The Mail on Sunday: 'After Harry died, we knew we could do nothing to turn the clock back. Our pain is unbearable. But we decided as a family to work positively to ensure that no one is killed or injured outside these bases with the suspect then fleeing. It is just wrong as the whole country now knows.'

She added: 'Dominic Raab said the issue of diplomatic immunity had never been challenged in the UK courts. We thought we could work together with the Government to sort this mess out.

'Instead we have been effectively blackmailed and threatened that unless we go away, they will make us bankrupt. This isn't our fight. It is the nation's.'

And Radd Seiger, spokesman for the wider family, added: 'Since the night we lost Harry, the governments of the UK and the USA have treated Anne Sacoolas as though she had diplomatic immunity and we believe that they are wrong.

'The parents want to test it for our benefit and yet the Foreign Office is doing everything within its power to not have it tested in the courts.'

One of the family's legal team's first goals is to have any costs they face capped by the court. They have asked the FCO to drop the pursuit of costs, but Government sources have insisted this is impossible. Mr Seiger hit out: 'The Foreign Office is threatening to pursue the parents for their legal costs if they lose this case. We have asked and asked the Foreign Office to remove that threat and it has not responded. They are threatening Harry's parents with bankruptcy to get them to back off. That is totally unacceptable. '

l The Harry Dunn Crowd Justice is seeking donations for the case at crowdjustice.com/case/harrydunn/
MEERUT In a gesture of communal harmony, Muslims returned Rs four lakh cheque for the proposed land donated by the Sikh Samaj for the construction of a mosque to end the land dispute between the two communities in Saharanpur, which also led to a fierce riot six years ago and claimed lives of three persons.

The Muslim community also declared to offer kar seva during the extension of the Gurudwara in Kutubsher area and in return, the Sikh Samaj will construct a building, preferably a langar, dispensary or something else in the name of the Muslim saint Baba Farid.

The Muslim community also declared to offer kar seva during the construction of Gurudwara and in return, the Sikh Samaj will construct a building, preferably a langar, dispensary or something else in the name of the Muslim saint Baba Farid.

On Wednesday, both the communities had resolved the issue and agreed on constructing the mosque at another place. The Singh Sabha offered to bear the cost of the land and gave a cheque of Rs four lakh to the Muslim community.

Members of the Muslim community, led by former councilor Moharram Ali aka Pappu, Mohammad Ali, chairman of the Muslim Foundation, convened a joint press conference on Sunday along with Jasbeer Singh Bagga, head of Gurudwara Singh Sabha and Gurpreet Singh Bagga, state president of Shiromani Akali Dal. The Muslim community declared to return the cheque and the proposed land offered by the Singh Sabha for the construction of mosque.

Moharram Ali said: After discussions with community members it was decided to return the cheque. The community will construct the mosque with its own money.

He said Muslims will do kar seva during the construction of gurudwara for strengthening harmony between the two communities.

We want that the money returned to the Sikh community should be used in construction of the gurudwara, he added.

Earlier, Mohammad Ali, chairman of the Muslim Foundation, criticized Moharram Ali over the compromise and accused him of striking a deal with the Sikh Samaj.

Mohammad Ali said earlier he was misled by some people, but now he was convinced and wanted to be a part of the joint press conference. He added: It is a fair compromise between the two communities, which is good for the society.

Appreciating the gesture of the Muslim community, Gurpreet Bagga said, They (Muslims) have set an example of harmony in the society. Teachings of Baba Farid are included in Gurbani, therefore to honour their gesture, Gurudwara Singh Sabha will name the building in the name of Baba Farid.

To recall, the Gurudwara Singh Sabha in Saharanpur had purchased a land adjacent Gurudwara in Kutubsher area. This land had a private mosque. When the Singh Sabha started construction for extending the gurudwara in July 2014, a group of Muslims objected and soon the clash turned into a riot between the two communities claiming lives of three and injuring 26 others.

The prime accused Moharram Ali was jailed along with his teenage son with 97 cases registered against him and four against his son. Members of both the communities also registered cases against each other.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Dont forget your reusable bags, Staten Island.

The statewide ban on single-use plastic bags goes into effect today, Sunday, March 1.

Retailers across Staten Island and New York state that collect state sales tax are no longer permitted to bag consumers merchandise in plastic bags under the new law, although the state announced Friday that it would delay enforcement until April 1 to give stores extra time to adjust.

Customers have the options of bringing a reusable bag of any material -- include plastic bags that customers may already have at home -- to bag their goods, or pay a 5-cent fee per paper bag. Of the 5 cents charged, 2 cents will go to local governments and 3 cents will go to the states Environmental Protection Fund.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo called the states decision to ban bags a bold action.

The campaign, as well as the ban, is being spearheaded by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

The ban has come under intense scrutiny from retailers, consumers, and bag manufacturers across the state stating the law was passed without enough time for customers to be informed and prepare for the change.

New York state didnt begin its #BYOBagNY campaign to alert customers of the change until nine days before the ban went into effect.

EXPERTS WARN OF A PAPER BAG SHORTAGE

Additionally, experts said they tried to warn the state, which they said passed the ban in the middle of the night, about a shortage of paper bags.

The ban was passed in April 2019 as part of the $175.5 billion state budget.

Phil Rozenski, spokesman for Novolex, a paper bag manufacturer that has seven facilities across the United States, told the Advance that New York is in serious trouble.

There isnt going to be a shortage -- there already is, Rozenski said.

Weve been trying to get the state to understand this, he said. In the U.S., in an average year, we use about 100 billion plastic bags -- so, by population, New York uses about 6.8 billion. If you took a store that used plastic and moved it to paper, the conversion would be 85 paper bags for every 100 plastic bags in New York. New York state needs somewhere around 5 billion paper bags -- but North Americas total capacity is about 7.7 billion -- and its already sold out, Rozenski explained.

The shortage became official at least a year ago and has steadily gotten worse.

New York is going to put this over the edge, he said.

ISLAND LEFT OUT OF BAG EVENTS; UPCOMING EVENTS

Staten Island was initially left out of citywide reusable bag distribution events held by the Department of Sanitation (DSNY). After being contacted by the Advance, the agency added several events during the month of February.

The boroughs city Council delegation also held bag distribution events in partnership with DSNY and local supermarkets in their respective districts.

DSNY has one upcoming bag distribution event scheduled for residents at the Mariners Harbor Civic Association meeting, located at 66 Spartan Avenue, on Monday, March 16 from 8 to 9 p.m.

You can check upcoming events here.

Full coverage of the plastic bag ban:
SANTA FE, N.M.  The New Mexico Forestry Division will be planting 1,200 trees across the state in celebration of Arbor Month.

Officials with the agency say the month of March often has the best conditions for tree planting as snow melt and soil moisture vary from south to north. The work is being organized through the Urban and Community Forestry Program in support of the New Mexico Climate Strategy and the National Association of State Foresters centennial celebration.

State Forester Laura McCarthy said planting trees is an important part of New Mexicos response to climate change.

Trees provide shade, help cool our communities and reduce our energy use, McCarthy said. Trees provide an especially significant benefit in areas that are dense with heat-absorbing roads and buildings where shade trees can provide as much as 10 degrees of cooling.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham also has signed a proclamation, marking the celebration of Arbor Month.

In Albuquerque, City Councilor Diane Gibson and residents on Saturday will be planting more than 100 trees in two neighborhoods as part of the NeighborWoods program.
SAN FRANCISCOJazz Aviation says an Air Canada Express flight bound for Vancouver had to make an unscheduled landing shortly after leaving San Francisco International Airport Sunday morning due to a smoke alarm.

Company spokesperson Manon Stuart says crew members on flight AC8839 say the rear lavatory smoke detector went off shortly after taking off at 8:18 a.m.

Half an hour later, the plane had landed back on the tarmac and Stuart says the crew performed an emergency evacuation as a precautionary measure.

He says 74 passengers and four crew members got off the plane safely and shuttle busses transported passengers back to the terminal, while emergency vehicles met and inspected the plane.

He says there was no smoke in the cockpit.

San Francisco airport duty manager Dennis Zamaria says the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the source of the smoke, while Stuart says Jazz Aviations maintenance team is also inspecting the plane in order to proceed with the necessary repairs.

Stuart says another aircraft and crew were dispatched to resume the flight to Vancouver.

Read more about:
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, March 1, 2020 16:51 680 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20679395b 1 Books Harry-Potter,jk-rowling,books,bookstore,events,pop-culture,Literature Free

The goblet remains ablaze as Harry Potter fans continue to relive every scene from the novels and films.

The crowd erupted in cheers and applause as the contestants from three big witchcraft and wizardry schools made their entrance at the Triwizard Tournament venue, all ready for the barrage of games and questions.

In a satisfying turn of events, top seeds Viktor Krum of Durmstrang, Fleur Delacour of Beauxbatons and Cedric Diggory of Hogwarts won nothing other than being named the best-dressed contestants.

But worry not, fans of wizardry saga Harry Potter, no one is attempting to rewrite JK Rowlings The Goblet of Fire, which was picked as the theme of this years Harry Potter Book Night party.

Celebrated globally on the first Thursday of every February since 2014, the event at Kinokuniya book store in Senayan, Central Jakarta, was attended by dozens of fans from Greater Jakarta.

Children and adults from different walks of life dressed up for the occasion, with this years event falling on the 20th anniversary of the release of the first book in the series in Indonesia, with some even cosplaying the main characters.

It feels like a reunion, said Dini Pandia, executive editor of the fiction department at publishing company Gramedia Pustaka Utama, which holds the publishing rights for Harry Potter from United Kingdom publisher Bloomsbury.

Since Indonesia joined the list of hosts in 2016, she said, the magical party had never failed to attract around 100 participants.

Fan reunion: Potterheads have a blast at the Harry Potter Book Night . (JP/Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak)

The decorations and itinerary for the event were all prepared by Bloomsbury, but the fan community and Kinokuniya made it merrier, she said on the sidelines of the event on Feb. 6.

The venue was decked out with dragon decorations to match the events of the book, in which the tournament contestants are required to retrieve a golden egg guarded by a dragon. A number of clips from The Goblet of Fire movie were also screened as the participants reenacted the scenes.

The stores merchandise manager Lilik Satrio said that while there were less participants than in 2016, those who attended were real fans, who had read all the books and could even reel off all the spells and memorable quotes.

This event helps our sales especially because the publishers continue releasing editions with new covers to entice the fans and new readers, added Lilik.

In conjunction with the event, Gramedia published a limited edition of the first book, Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone, with a gold slipcase embossed with a 20th anniversary seal.

The limited edition Indonesian version of "Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone". (Gramedia Pustaka Utama/-)

The book, of which only 3,000 copies were printed, comes with a map of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry illustrated by Levi Pinfold. The cover illustration was created by Indonesian artist Nicholas F. Chandrawienata.

Its a special gift for Indonesian Potterheads and it will not be reprinted, said Dini.

The Philosophers Stone is among the highest-selling translated books ever published by Gramedia and has been reprinted 30 times since 2001. The publisher used the original cover until 2017 before changing it to its Indonesian version.

To date, at least 105,000 copies of the first book have been sold nationwide. There are seven books in the series with three complementary books and the play script for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

Globally, the series has been translated into 80 languages since its first international release in 1998 and has sold 500 million copies in both print and digital formats.

Although the saga reached its conclusion with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows  Part 2 in 2011, the time frame of the universe has continued expanding and so has the number of fans.

The Fantastic Beasts movie series, set 70 years before the Harry Potter saga, and the two-part play Cursed Child have encouraged fans, both old and new alike, to revisit the previous books and films.

We could be the only active book fandom that still exists today, said Indo Harry Potter prefect Kismanto Hadi. Our members are increasing as the fans start to introduce Harry Potter to their children.

With over 8,000 followers of the fandoms Instagram and Twitter accounts, Indo Harry Potter has held gatherings every two months since its establishment in 2001 at which members discuss the books and trivia about the series.

The Harry Potter series is magical and has long-lasting appeal. The story is interesting and contains a lot of moral lessons that even young children can understand and relate to. I think with the new developments in the story, this fandom is here to stay, said Kismanto.
Last night, MSNBCs Chris Matthews was nowhere to be seen on that networks South Carolina primary coverage, lending substance to Don Surbers contention that he is being purged for being a counter-revolutionary and having impure thoughts.

Matthews, a former aide to Speaker Tip ONeill, triggered a cascade of denunciations from the Left after using an analogy to the Fall of France while commenting on Bernie Sanderss Nevada caucuses victory. Via Don Surber:

Matthews said on the air, "I'm reading last night about the fall of France in the summer of 1940. And the general calls up Churchill and says, Its over, and Churchill says, How can it be? You got the greatest army in Europe. How can it be over? He said, It's over.'"

I think it is pretty clear that he was referring to a sudden and unexpected victory leading to the unpleasant realization that an enemy was stronger than realized, and an ally was weaker. Surber notes that analogies to France under the Nazis have been rather prominent on the Left of late:

The network -- which has promoted a French Resistance against American President Donald John Trump for more than 3 years -- made Matthews beg forgiveness on television for a very remote reference to the Wehrmacht.

But Matthews was nonetheless pilloried as if he were calling Sanders or his supporters Nazis and were somehow trivializing the Holocaust. (Never mind that the Left freely has called the last 2 Republican presidents Hitler.) And Matthews apologized:

Matthews said, "Before getting into tonight's news, I want to say something quite important and personal. As I watched the one-sided results of Saturday's Democratic caucus in Nevada, I reached for a historical analogy -- and used a bad one. I was wrong to refer to event from the first days of World War II. "Senator Sanders, I'm sorry for comparing anything from that tragic era in which so many suffered, especially the Jewish people, to an electorate result in which you were the well-deserved winner. This is going to be a hard-fought, heated campaign of ideas. In the days and weeks and months ahead, I will strive to do a better job myself of elevating the political discussion. Congratulations, by the way, to you Senator Sanders and to your supporters on a tremendous win down in Nevada."

That was strike one.

With the scent of blood in the water, the sharks started a feeding frenzy leading to strike two. Fox News:

In an op-ed for GQ on Friday, journalist Laura Bassett claimed Matthews had used sexist language when she would visit the MSNBC studio to appear on his show as a guest. She recalled Matthews looking at her in an adjacent makeup chair before an appearance in 2016 and asking: 'Why havent I fallen in love with you yet?'" Bassett said she laughed nervously but Matthews kept making comments to the makeup artist. Keep putting makeup on her, Ill fall in love with her," Matthews allegedly said. She said he made another comment about her makeup during a separate appearance. "Make sure you wipe this off her face after the show, she wrote he said to the makeup artist. We dont make her up so some guy at a bar can look at her like this. Bassett said she decided to write the op-ed because of a sexist interview Matthews did with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., after the last debate in which he pressed her about her accusation that former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg has once told a woman at his company to kill her unborn baby. Bloomberg denies he said it. A feminist group has called for Matthews' firing over the interview. Bassett said she wrote a similar op-ed in 2017 without naming Matthews because she was afraid to publicly accuse him at the time, but wrote many women reached out to her saying they knew who she was talking about. She said while she didn't think Matthews' behavior rose to the level of criminal sexual harassment, it undermined her ability to do her job. In 2017, it was reported that NBC paid $40,000 to a producer on Matthews show who claimed he sexually harassed her. MSNBC has not confirmed the amount paid to the woman, nor has the network said whether the payment was made to settle a harassment claim. An MSNBC spokesperson said at the time that executives were told that Matthews made inappropriate jokes and comments about the woman in front of others, that the matter was reviewed and it was determined the comments were inappropriate and made in poor taste but were never meant as propositions.

Surber notes, caustically:

What drew my attention in the article was 2 years ago, Bassett was upset enough to write about his behavior, but willing to take one for the team to preserve a fellow traveler. His apology signaled he is disposable. And so the campaign to bring him down is on.

Matthewss strike 3 has so far been little noted on the Left, but is, if anything the most offensive.

Chris Matthews thought Jamie Harrison was hanging out w/ his opponent Lindsey Graham at a Trump rally. It was Tim Scott pic.twitter.com/QhbRl4AYvk  Christopher Cadelago (@ccadelago) February 29, 2020

Fox News:

Then during his "Hardball" broadcast Friday, Matthews mistook Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jaime Harrison, chalking it up as a case of "mistaken identity." Harrison was appearing on "Hardball" to discuss his campaign to unseat Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., but the interview went off the rails when Matthews ran a clip of Scott standing beside Graham at that evening's Trump rally in North Charleston and assumed it was Harrison. Both Scott and Harrison are African-American. "Jaime, I see you standing next to the guy you're going to beat right there, maybe," he said. "Maybe? Maybe, maybe? Lindsey Graham?" Soon Matthews realized his error and apologized to Harrison. "What am I saying? Big mistake. Mistaken identity, sir. Sorry," Matthews said. Harrison appeared to roll his eyes and looked shocked, but kept a smile on his face and answered Matthews' question.

Tim Scott has been a member of the United States Senate for almost 7 years, and has a rather distinctive appearance and persona. It should not be that hard to distinguish him from the Democrat candidate on Matthews's show.

Leftists are turning on each other as their ineffective rage against Trump fails to score any victories. Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit calls these circular firing squads Annals of Leftist autophagy. I think he has another item for his list.

Photo credit: Twitter video screen grab
Mohammed Anees, the BSF jawan whose house in Khajuri Khaas was torched on the afternoon of February 25 during the Delhi violence, said what happened was "terrible" and he feels fortunate to part of BSF as the force has assumed the responsibility for rebuilding his house.

"The situation is terrible here but everything will get alright. All my superiors are helping me. I am fortunate to be part of BSF," said Anees while talking to ANI.

"I was born and brought up here but I never saw such a thing in my life. Nothing of such sort should happen in future and I hope everyone will stay peacefully," he added.

Mohammed Yunus, Anees's father, who had witnessed the violence said: "The situation was terrible. For three hours I witnessed sheer violence from both sides. Properties were damaged, cars were torched."

"They set our house on fire after forcing us out of the house. Then force (police) came to our house to rescue us. BSF staff also came to offer help; officers too promised to get our house rebuild. Even Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has announced compensation for us," he added.

On Friday, Yunus had said: "I have been living in Delhi for the past 40 years and never thought we will see something like this. Anees told me to have some patience. Anees' marriage is scheduled. We have postponed the marriage due to this violence. The family had gone to the village. I ask them to not come here until there is peace restored."

At least 42 people, including a police head constable, have died while around 200 people have been injured in the communal violence that rocked North-East Delhi.

Two Special Investigative Teams (SITs) have been constituted under Crime Branch, Delhi Police to probe the violence.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
SELMA, Ala. - An emboldened Joe Biden tried to cast himself as the clear moderate alternative to progressive Bernie Sanders on Sunday as the Democrats' shrinking presidential field raced toward Super Tuesday.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 29/2/2020 (680 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during his primary election night rally in Columbia, S.C., Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020, after winning the South Carolina primary. (Tom Gralish/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)

SELMA, Ala. - An emboldened Joe Biden tried to cast himself as the clear moderate alternative to progressive Bernie Sanders on Sunday as the Democrats' shrinking presidential field raced toward Super Tuesday.

One of Biden's leading moderate rivals, former South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg, dropped out of the campaign just 24 hours after Biden scored a resounding victory in South Carolina, his first of the 2020 rollercoaster nomination fight.

While other rivals appeared undeterred, Biden pressed his case during a round of national television interviews that reflected a stark reality a day after his resounding primary victory in South Carolina: The former vice-president was forced to rely upon free media coverage because he was understaffed, underfunded and almost out of time as he fought to transform his sole win into a national movement.

Biden vowed to improve his campaign operation, his fundraising haul  and even his own performance  in an interview on ABC's This Week. He warned of a stark choice between him and Sanders, while making the case he was the candidate who could win up and down the ballot and in states beyond those voting next week.

Biden added a swipe at one of Sanders' signature lines during an appearance on Fox New Sunday: The people aren't looking for revolution. They're looking for results."

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at a primary night election rally in Columbia, S.C., Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

The newfound confidence came at a crossroads in the Democratic Party's turbulent primary season. Sanders remained the undisputed front-runner. But the rest of the field was decidedly unsettled, even after Biden's South Carolina blowout and Buttigieg's sudden departure.

Most notably, New York billionaire Mike Bloomberg could create problems for Biden as the race sped toward Super Tuesday, when 14 states from Maine to Alabama to California hold Democratic elections as the 2020 primary moved into a new phase. No longer would individual states hold primaries every week. Starting Tuesday, and most Tuesdays through early June, batches of states would vote at the same time in what had essentially become a national election.

Biden claimed a handful of new endorsements and fundraising successes on Sunday in his quest to project strength. Perhaps the most powerful endorsement would come from former President Barack Obama, who has a relationship with most of the candidates and has talked with several in recent weeks as primary voting has begun. He spoke with Biden after his South Carolina victory, but still has no plans to endorse in the primary at this point.

But a handful of high-profile political strategists with ties to the former president encouraged Biden's rivals  including Bloomberg  to quit the race to allow anti-Sanders' Democrats to unify behind Obama's former vice-president.

Most of them have seen the writing on the wall for at least the last week, said Rufus Gifford, who held top fundraising posts on both of Obamas campaigns and was part of Bidens fundraising operation. Its clear the Democratic alternative to Bernie Sanders is Joe Biden.

Text messages reviewed by The Associated Press revealed an outpouring of interest in Biden from donors supporting other candidates, including Buttigieg and Elizabeth Warren.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., addresses supporters during a town hall in San Antonio, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Biden announced he took in $5 million immediately after his South Carolina win, by far his best single day of fundraising over the last year. But in an example of Biden's challenge ahead, Sanders said Sunday he raised an eye-popping $46.5 million for February. That compared to $29 million for Warren and $18 million for Biden over the same period.

Sanders, who dominated the money race for much of the year even though he did not court wealthy donors, said it was not the overall fundraising haul that should impress but the enthusiasm of working people fueling his candidacy.

No campaign out there has a stronger grassroots movement than we do, Sanders said on CBSs Face the Nation. That's how you beat Trump.

Biden allies conceded that the post-South Carolina fundraising surge would have little impact on Super Tuesday.

Super Tuesday is too close, said former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a Biden supporter. Fortunately, Joe Biden has been on the national scene for 35 years. He has less need to advertise.

Barry Goodman, a top Biden donor in Michigan and a prominent member of the Democratic National Committee, said hed heard from about a dozen or so regular party donors who had been on the sidelines and now wanted to support Biden. He said he had personally targeting at least 20 Bloomberg supporters who had been sitting on their checkbooks at Bloomberg's request.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., addresses a campaign rally Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020, in Virginia Beach, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

If Mike had known what was going to happen last night in South Carolina, hed never have gotten in, Goodman said.

As he exited the race on Sunday, Buttigieg said he was acknowledging reality: The path has narrowed to a close for our candidacy."

Buttigieg didn't endorse any of the remaining candidates, though he and former Biden traded voicemails on Sunday. Buttigieg has spent the past several weeks warning that nominating progressive leader Bernie Sanders to take on President Donald Trump would be risky.Biden's other rivals showed no interest in getting out of the race. In fact, some vowed to keep fighting no matter what happened on Super Tuesday.

Warren campaign manager Roger Lau spoke brazenly of pushing into a floor battle at the Democratic National Convention this summer if no candidate emerged from the primary season with a clear majority, which was possible even if someone had a large delegate lead.

The convention in Milwaukee is the final play, Lau wrote in a Sunday memo.

And Bloomberg, who this week will be on the ballot for the first time, insisted that he was not going anywhere before Tuesdays primaries.

Im optimistic," he told voters in Selma, Alabama, where many of the White House hopefuls gathered for ceremonies commemorating civil rights heroism.

Yet Bloomberg received a mixed reception as he spoke from the pulpit of Selma's Brown Chapel AME Church. Multiple parishioners stood and turned their backs to the New York billionaire neared the end of his 10-minute speech. That was after the pastor told the congregation that Bloomberg initially said he was too busy to attend because he had to beat Donald Trump.

Biden declined to ask rivals to bow out when given the opportunity. Its not for me to tell another candidate to get out of the race, Biden said on Fox.

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.

Through four primary contests, the AP allocated at least 58 delegates to Sanders, including two added Sunday as South Carolina's remaining votes dribbled in. Biden vaulted past Buttigieg into second place with at least 50 delegates  shrinking Sanders' lead from what had been 30 delegates before South Carolina to eight. Buttigieg, Warren and Sen. Amy Klobuchar remained stuck at 26, eight and seven, respectively.

But the first four states were always more about momentum more than math. Super Tuesday states offer a trove of 1,344 new delegates based on how candidates finish. California alone offers 415, which is more than double the amount of delegates allocated through Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.

As Biden and Bloomberg courted African Americans in Alabama, Sanders spent his Sunday rallying thousands of supporters in California, the crown jewel of Super Tuesday. He predicted victory there and attacked Biden's record on foreign policy, trade and Social Security, among other issues.

My point here is not just to be negative about Joe," Sanders said. My point here is to ask you, What campaign is going to beat Donald Trump?"

___

Peoples reported from Washington and Barrow reported from Columbia, South Carolina. Associated Press writers Brian Slodysko, Will Weissert, Hope Yen, Julie Pace and Seth Borenstein in Washington contributed to this report.
Themes of fighting voter suppression, providing the poor with a way up and defeating President Donald Trump took center stage at events marking the 55th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, the day in 1965 white police attacked black marchers in Selma. This year's commemoration came two days before Alabama Democrats join voters in more than a dozen states in the Super Tuesday cluster of primary elections.
Communications Minister Paul Fletcher has warned current Australian regulations are condemning local film and TV to sharp decline and must be updated to help content producers hold their own in the era of global streaming services.

The government is considering the future of Australian content obligations and whether streaming platforms should be subject to the same rules, as free-to-air broadcasters including Seven West Media and Nine Entertainment Co threaten to stop creating programs that fall within current guidelines.

Communications Minister Paul Fletcher. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Mr Fletcher said the Australian film and TV sector had an opportunity to capture a share of the growing international market for content fuelled by the rise of Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime and other services. The platforms boast 500 million subscribers globally, with the number expected to double in the next five years.

Research from Media Partners Asia estimate Netflix Australia has 5.6 million subscribers and Disney+ has 1.2 million as of February. Last week Nine reported Stan had 1.8 million subscribers.
Phoenix Wounded Vets Run

They Fought We Ride, Support your Local Heroes

Benefiting Phoenix Wounded Vets

March 14th 12pm-5pm

PHOENIX, AZ)  Start your engines! Local community members are coming together and riding to show support for local wounded veterans, at the 7th Annual Phoenix Wounded Vets Run. The ride is starting the Harley Davidson of Scottsdale (15656 N Hayden Rd, Scottsdale, AZ 85260) and ending at the Roadhouse in Cave Creek (6900 E Cave Creek Rd, Cave Creek, AZ 85331).

The Phoenix Wounded Vets Run is an event put on by They Fought We Ride, which is a nonprofit organization raising money to support local combat veterans in Arizona. Coming up on the 7th year, the Wounded Vets Run brings people together to support those affected in combat, who have sacrificed their bodies and minds for our great country. * see more about project at https://www.theyfoughtweridenational.com/

This event is sponsored in part by Law Tigers, With A Twist Consulting, Harley Davidson of Scottsdale, Chuck Franklin Law, AMG and many other local businesses within the community.

This years honoree is Captain Dennis Chamberlin who grew up near the base of the Superstition Mountains in Arizona. Dennis joined the Army in 1995 at the age of 17, and attended Arizona State University where he later joined the Army National Guard in 2001. Dennis has been deployed three times to various locations, including Afghanistan and with the famed 158th Infantry Regiment "Bushmasters". Dennis is a decorated solider.

Whether you ride a motorcycle or drive a car, we hope that you will come out and enjoy a day at the Phoenix Wounded Vets Run. You will get a chance to hear and meet this years hand-picked honoree, as well as help raise money for those affected in combat.

Pre-Registration sign up is available at https://www.theyfoughtweridenational.com/events

$25.00 per rider and $10 per passenger. Registration starts at 9:00a.m. which includes breakfast and the National Anthem; with kickstands up at 12:00p.m. If you don't ride but want to be apart of this event you can join us at the Harley Davidson of Scottsdale or at the Roadhouse for food, fun, music, raffles and more!
It could be any motel in country Australia. But from her cabin in the Howard Springs coronavirus quarantine village, one Melbourne woman's experience is anything but stereotypical.

For more than a week, Vera Koslova-Fu has been drip-fed information via text message. On Sunday, there was a flurry: a person from Melbourne had tested positive; a West Australian man had died; another few had tested negative.

Health screening at the Manigurr-ma Village near Darwin. Credit:AAP

Ms Koslova-Fu is one of 164 Australians taken to the Darwin camp in February off the Diamond Princess cruise ship where 170 people contracted the virus.

On Sunday, a 78-year-old former passenger from Perth became Australia's first coronavirus fatality. He'd been taken back to his home state from the camp with his wife, who also tested positive, on February 21.
CAMBRIDGE  A 74-year-old pedestrian was seriously injured after she was struck by a pickup truck Sunday morning.

The woman is believed to have walked from between two cars into the travel lane on Memorial Drive, directly into the path of the truck. The 48-year-old Medford man who was driving the 2019 Ford F150 truck stopped and remained at the scene. He was not injured, Massachusetts State Police said.

When troopers from the Boston barracks arrived, they found the pedestrian trapped under a parked vehicle. She was extricated and brought to Massachusetts General Hospital by ambulance, police said.

Memorial Drive westbound, near the intersection of Adams Street, was closed to traffic for about two hours, police said.

The crash remains under investigation by state police troopers from Boston. State Police from Troop H, the Crime Scene Services Section, The Collision Analysis Reconstruction Section, detectives assigned to the Middlesex District Attorney and the Cambridge police and fire departments assisted at the scene.
The former Uber engineer who blew the whistle on the alleged sexual harassment and discrimination at the company has admitted it was 'hard' to revisit the experience for her new book.

Susan Fowler, 28, who now lives in New York, published a blog post in 2017 exposing Uber's alleged toxic work environment, making serious accusations surrounding sexual harassment and discrimination within the company.

The claims sparked an investigation, and less than four months later co-founder Travis Kalanick stepped down from his CEO position and was replaced by Dara Khosrowshahi.

She revisited her experiences in 'Whistleblower: My Journey to Silicon Valley and Fight For Justice at Uber' - however in an interview with The Observer's New Review, confessed she found it difficult to relive one of the most 'extreme and painful' times in her life.

Susan Fowler (pictured), 28, who now lives in New York, published a blog post in 2017 exposing Uber's alleged toxic work environment

The former Uber engineer admitted it was 'hard' to revisit the 'extreme and painful' experiences in her new book 'Whistleblower'

'It was hard to revisit, said Fowler, 'These were some of the most extreme and painful experiences of my life.'

She spoke of how the taxi service allegedly hired investigators to retrieve information about her from her friends and family, admitting she was 'terrified'.

Susan previously claimed on CBS This Morning she was stalked by private investigators and her family's social media accounts were hacked, after she published the expose three years ago.

'It was terrifying', said Susan, 'Because I didn't know what they were looking for or what their goal was, or what they wanted to do with the information. It was very very scary.'



In the lengthy blog post, the former Uber employee and best-selling author detailed a number of concerning incidents she experienced during her year with the company.

Kalanick Tweeted called the accusations 'abhorrent and against everything we believe in,' and said he's instructed a new chief human resources officer to conduct an 'urgent' investigation into Fowler's claims.

In new book, Whistleblower: My Journey to Silicon Valley and Fight For Justice at Uber, Fowler details her experiences

In Fowler's post, titled 'Reflecting on One Very Strange Year at Uber,' the author recounts being propositioned sexually by a manager on her first day at the office.

Using the company chat system, she said that the unnamed manager told her that he and his girlfriend had an open relationship, but that his girlfriend was having an easier time finding sexual partners than he was.

He continued, saying that he wanted to stay out of trouble at work, but that it was difficult because he was trying to find women to have sex with, Fowler said.

'It was clear that he was trying to get me to have sex with him, and it was so clearly out of line that I immediately took screenshots of these chat messages and reported him to HR,' she continued.

According to her account, she joined the company as a site reliability engineer in November 2015. At that time, she says, about 20 per cent of the employees in her field there were women - compared to just three per cent on her last day.

Despite her reporting the incident to management, the manager received no repercussions from his actions apart from a 'stern talking-to', she was told, because he was a 'high performer', meaning he had positive reviews from superiors.

She said that both HR and upper management officials didn't feel comfortable punishing him for what was 'probably just an innocent mistake on his part', and was a 'first offence'.

It was not, however, this manager's first offense, Fowler discovered after discussing the matter further with fellow female employees. She said many women had experienced similar sexual harassment in the office, and some even from the same manager.

In 2017 Kalanick stepped down as Uber's CEO after a slew of scandals however remained on the companies board until last year

In response to Fowler's report of the incident, Uber HR reportedly told her that she could choose to either move to another team and not have to interact with the problematic manager, or remain on the same team - but to be aware that the manager would probably rate her poorly when it came time for performance reviews.

Fowler said that one HR representative explicitly told her that a negative performance review 'wouldn't be retaliation' because she'd been given a choice whether to remain on the team.

Following another incident, in which she claims Uber reportedly refused to purchase leather jackets for the six women on the engineer team despite buying them for the over 100 men in the company, Fowler again found herself in a terse meeting with human resources.

Although she had at this point expressed countless concerns via chat and email to the HR team, the representative allegedly told her there was 'absolutely no record' of the incidents she claimed to have reported.

Susan Fowler appeared on CBS This Morning and opened up about how she believed Uber hired a private investigator to look into her past and follow her

A breaking point for Fowler came shortly after, during a one-on-one meeting with her new manager. She says he told her that she was on 'very thin ice' for her continued convergence with to human resources, and threatened to fire her if she did so again.

She alerted him that such action would be illegal - and again reported the threat to HR and upper management - though no action was taken, she later found out, because of her manager's status as a 'high performer'.

The ramifications for Fowler were substantial during her year with the company, and affected her professionally by having two transfer attempts blocked and rendering her ineligible for the Stanford University computer science graduate program she was enrolled in.

In the post, she claims to have overheard her manager bragging that although the company was losing women, he still had some on his team. The only explanation she says she received for having her transfer attempts blocked were that she was not showing signs of an 'upward career trajectory'.

In 2017 Kalanick stepped down as Uber's CEO after a slew of scandals surrounding sexual harassment, gender discrimination and toxic work culture at the firm, however remained on the companies board until last year.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on



Sunday said his government will look into how it can provide houses to every mill worker, while lauding their contribution towards the 'Samyukta Maharashtra' movement.

Thackeray also made an appeal to mill workers that they should not sell the houses allotted to them and shift out of Mumbai.

He was speaking at a lucky draw function for allotment of 3,894 houses to mill workers and their legal heirs, organised by the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) at its headquarters in suburban Bandra.

"Call me for tea once the new house is allotted to you. Stay happily in your houses. Don't sell these houses and shift out of Mumbai, losing right over it," Thackeray said while addressing the mill workers.

"The government will figure out how to provide houses to every mill worker, as they have contributed to the 'Samyukta Maharashtra' movement (movement for a united state in 1950s)," the chief minister said.

The MHADA has built 3,894 houses for mill workers on lands of the Bombay Dyeing, Spring Mill and Shrinivas Mill in central Mumbai.

On the occasion, Maharashtra Housing Minister Jitendra Awhad said the state government has taken a policy decision to provide houses to those who worked in city-based mills, which are now defunct.

Hence, MHADA has built 720 and 2,630 houses at the Wadala-based land of Bombay Dyeing and Spring Mill, respectively. Another 544 houses have been built on the land of Shrinivas Mill in Lower Parel.

Awhad said the 225 sqft one-BHK (bedroom-hall-kitchen) houses built under the housing project are equipped with modern amenities, and are also located in one of the upmarket areas in the city.

Total 1,74,036 mill workers or their legal heirs have applied for these houses.

Awhad said a 15-storey parking lot was also built on the Bombay Dyeing Mill land at Wadala, considering the future need of the city.

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

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court is scheduled to deliver on Monday its order on whether a batch of pleas, challenging the constitutional validity of the Centre's decision of August 5 last year to abrogate provisions of Article 370, would be referred to a larger seven-judge bench.

A five-judge constitution bench headed by Justice N V Ramana had on January 23 reserved its order on this issue.

Opposing the plea, the Centre had said that abrogation of provisions of Article 370, which granted special status to erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, has become a "fait accompli" leaving sole option to accept the change.

NGO People's Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL), Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association and an intervenor have sought referring the matter to a larger bench.

They have sought reference to a larger bench on the ground that two judgements of apex court -- Prem Nath Kaul versus Jammu and Kashmir in 1959 and Sampat Prakash versus Jammu and Kashmir in 1970 -- which dealt with the issue of Article 370 are in direct conflict each other and therefore the current bench of five judges could not hear the issue.

Attorney General K K Venugopal, appearing for the Centre, had told the bench -- also comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, R Subhash Reddy, B R Gavai and Surya Kant -- that "the abrogation of provisions of Article 370, has now become a "fait accompli" leaving sole option to accept the change".

Referring to the two earlier judgments, Venugopal had said that they were not related to each other and dealt with different issues.

He had said that the verdict in Prem Nath Kaul versus Jammu and Kashmir did not deal with Article 370 rather with the question whether the Maharaja had the legislative power or not.

While referring to the verdict in Sampat Prakash versus Jammu and Kashmir, Venugopal had said though it dealt with some aspects of Article 370, it was not in direct conflict with the verdict in the Kaul case and therefore the present issue should not be referred to a larger bench.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Jammu and Kashmir administration, had said he adopts the arguments of the Attorney General and favours no reference to larger bench.

Senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, appearing for Jammu and Kashmir People's Conference, had said that he is supporting Centre on the question that no reference is needed to a larger bench.

A number of petitions have been filed in the apex court including those of private individuals, lawyers, activists and political parties and they have also challenged the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, which splits J&K into two union territories -- Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
Beijing, March 1 : The Cupertino-based tech giant Apple has sent gift packages that include an iPad, face masks, hand sanitizer and more, to its employees stranded in Wenzhou and Hubei due to the coronavirus.

According to details shared on Chinese social network Weibo, the care packages also enclosed with a letter from the iPhone maker to the employee saying that the iPads are provided for children's online learning or to help pass the time during the prolonged stay at home, MacRumors reported on Saturday.

"We are sending our best wishes to you, on behalf of the entire Apple Team, together with another CareKit for you and your families. In the kit, you will find comfort items and an iPad which can be used to facilitate children's online learning or help pass the time during the prolonged stay at home. In addition, a series of counselling and consultation services have been prepared especially for you to help you through this time," the company added in the letter.

Optimistic that China is slowly bringing the coronavirus outbreak in control, Apple CEO Tim Cook has hinted factories in China that manufacture its devices may open soon.

"It feels to me that China is getting the coronavirus under control. I mean you look at the numbers, they're coming down day by day by day. And so I'm very optimistic there," Cook told Fox Business recently.

"On the supplier side, we have suppliers -- you know, iPhone is built everywhere in the world. We have key components coming from the United States, we have key parts that are in China, and so on and so forth," he was quoted as saying.

Apple has begun reopening its retail stores in China and according to the company's regional Chinese website, 29 out of 42 stores were open for business on Monday.

The company earlier warned that coronavirus outbreak will affect its business in the January-March quarter as worldwide iPhone supply will be temporarily constrained.
Screen captures via CSPAN Participants in the Democratic presidential primary debate held in Denver on Feb. 29, 1992. From left: Former California Gov. Jerry Brown, Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton, moderator KUSA-TV anchor Ed Sardella, and Sen. Paul Tsongas of Massachusetts. The debate was sponsored by KUSA-TV and The Rocky Mountain News.
London: Italy has recorded its largest one-day spike in coronavirus cases since an outbreak began one week ago as the worsening situation in Europe forces the closure of the world's most-visited museum.

Authorities announced the total number of cases in Italy had jumped from 1128 to 1694 - an increase of 50 per cent in just 24 hours. The total includes the 1577 people who are sick with the virus, as well as the 34 who have died and 83 listed as recovered.

The outbreak is also gathering steam in France, where workers at the Louvre in Paris refused to open the iconic museum on Sunday over fears visitors could infect staff with COVID-19. There are now more than 100 cases in France.

Union leader Christian Galani told the AFP news agency staff had met before the doors opened on Sunday and decided the risk was too severe given the French government had the day before announced a ban on indoor gatherings of 5000 or more people.
More than 2,000 people gathered to hear presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren at Discovery Green on Saturday, just days before they cast ballots in Texas primary.

Warren, who has deep ties to Texas, was among the flurry of candidates turning their attention to the Lone Star State ahead of Super Tuesday. Texas has 228 delegates, more than Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina combined.

Last Sunday, Sen. Bernie Sanders held a rally at University of Houston, one of four Texas rallies held by the Democratic presidential candidate last weekend. Former Vice President Joe Biden plans to campaign in Houston on Monday. Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg made a stop in Houston on Thursday.

During her speech Saturday, Warren delved into the coronavirus, calling it a public health crisis and a threat to the economy.

This moment is a reminder of what qualities we need in a president and what qualities are sorely lacking in the one we have, Warren said about the rising stakes of the coronavirus. Ultimately, thats what this election is all about.

Warren said she would be rolling out a plan on how to deal with the economic and health effects of the coronavirus, which includes allowing all Americans to receive testing and the future recommended vaccine for free. She also noted anyone who is showing symptoms should get full, paid off-time to get tested and treated.

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo introduced Warren, calling her an inspiration. If we had an ally in the White House, we could do so much more, said Hidalgo. Thats why Im standing here today.

At the start of her remarks, Warren congratulated Biden on his presidential primary victory in South Carolina, but emphasized that there were still more states that needed to vote.

She touched on her other key policy issues, including immigration, climate change and public education. She earned loud cheers when she noted that she would like to hire a secretary of education who had worked as a public school teacher.

Warren mentioned mass shootings, but said people being killed on the streets, suicides and domestic violence are also part of the gun violence problem. She noted that uniform background checks and getting weapons of war off the street would help, but that the problem that needs to be revisited repeatedly.

We have to treat gun violence as the public health emergency that it is, Warren said.

Warren acknowledged that theres fear in the air as President Donald Trump continues to reside in office and the pending election.

This has been a hard time, she said. Weve now been three years with Donald Trump as president. We boo, but Ill tell you there are a lot people out there who are afraid. Theyre afraid for their families. Theyre afraid for their neighbors. Theyre afraid for their friends.

But Warren offered Texas voters a different option instead of fear.

Me, Im fighting back, Warren said.

After she finished speaking, a long line stretched of people waiting to take a selfie with Warren.

Nykeisha Bryer was among those who turned out early to the downtown park to hear Warren speak. The 30-year-old middle school assistant principal said Warrens background in education stands out to her.

Warren graduated with a teaching degree from the University of Houston in 1970. She taught at both University of Houstons law school and at the University of Texas at Austin.

The fact that shes an educator is important to me (and) one of the reasons why Im drawn towards her.and making sure we have someone nationally that can really advocate for the issues that teachers experience, students experience, all the stakeholders experience, said Bryer.

Bryer, who also has two masters degrees, said her potential presidential candidates position on student loan debt is important.

Wes Garner was just visiting his cousin in Texas for the last three weeks but has wanted to see Warren in person at a rally. However, the 70-year-old from Massachusetts said hes worried about Warrens odds.

Im concerned about electability across the country, Garner said. Theres still a big stigma about women, which is crazy.

Garner said he relates to Warren on her stance concerning womens rights, gun control and the environment. He thinks Sanders should team up with Warren on the Democratic ticket.

I still think before it goes any further she and Bernie should team up and just do it, Garner said. Shes got the smarts, hes got the votes so far.

AJ Albaaj, a nuclear engineer, had already voted but came out to the town hall to show support for Warren.

My issue is the concentration of power and wealth that is happening in America, the 24-year-old said. We have a billionaire who decides to just run last minute for a presidential campaign, and this is a problem and a gaping hole in American society. I think Elizabeth Warren is the best at cohesively explaining the issues we have with power and wealth in this country.
As the crisis continues to worsen and spread through several nations, multiple European countries have reported new coronavirus cases. Some European Nations are also reporting their first positive cases of the deadly coronavirus. According to reports, the Swedish Public Health Authority on February 29 announced that the total number of cases in Sweden had risen to 12. The Health Authority added that the confirmed cases were not concentrated together but actually spread across four regions.

Crisis worsens in Europe

As per reports from the Robert Koch Institute, the number of cases in Germany is believed to be 66, with the infected spread across six states. On February 29, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health announced eight more confirmed cases of the virus, bringing to a total number of infected in Norway to 15. The report added that three of the 15 infected work in the Oslo University Hospital. According to reports, the National Civil Protection Authority in Croatia also announced a new case on February 29, the new case raised the number of confirmed cases in Croatia to six.

As per reports, the coronavirus outbreak in Europe largely began in Italy. Italy reported its first death because of coronavirus on February 22. At that time there were only 17 confirmed cases in the country. That number has skyrocketed in recent days, Italy now has 1,128 confirmed cases of the virus and 29 deaths.

Read: PM Johnson's Claims On Europe Played Part In Margaret Thatcher's Downfall: Documents

Read: Turkey Will Not Stop Migrants From Seeking Refuge In Europe: Official

Recently, countries like Luxembourg, Romania and Greece have also reported their first positive case of the coronavirus.

Mexico coronavirus cases linked to Italy

Mexico has confirmed its third case of the deadly novel coronavirus. The Health Ministry of Mexico said that a third patient is a 59-year-old man who returned to Mexico City from Italy and tested positive with the strain of COVID-19, confirmed reports. The third confirmed case emerging in Mexico makes it the second Latin American country where the malignant coronavirus has spread. Also, all three cases reported so far involve Mexicans who had a travel history to Italy, suggest reports.

Read: Europe And US Markets Slump As Coronavirus Fears Threaten Global Slowdown

Read: PSG Lead Clean Sheets Record In European Football, But Second Place Throws A Surprise

The other two cases of the coronavirus include a 35-year-old man from Mexico City who tested positive twice to the disease, and 41-year-old from the northern state of Sinaloa who returned from Bergamo, Italy, confirmed the Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell Ramirez in the international media reports.
The Congress on Sunday said the "cloak-and-dagger" I-T raids in Chhattisgarh in which the CRPF assisted the income tax department teams showed that the Centre was "scared" after the state government launched a probe into alleged corruption under the previous BJP government and claimed the central force was being used for "political vendetta" like other investigative agencies.

Over the last three days, the Income Tax department conducted searches at multiple locations linked to Chhattisgarh government officials and others. The searches are being conducted to probe charges of alleged tax evasion by these people who include the family of a senior IAS officer in Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government in the state.

The I-T teams were assisted by central paramilitary force to conduct the raids in Raipur and a few other locations.

"The Modi government's so called alliance with central investigative agencies in non-BJP states has now been extended to include the CRPF," Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala told reporters here.

He also said that the way in which I-T department and the CRPF carried out raids in the last four days, without informing the police and the democratic government in the state, shows that the Centre is running scared.

"A PDS scam worth Rs 36,000 crore broke out in Chhattisgarh earlier. The diary that came into police possession by chance, which gave information about the scam has been put forth in front of the media by Congress party leaders like Bhupesh Baghel, T S Singh Deo and myself," he said.

Surjewala said that the raids have been conducted in a clandestine, cloak-and -dagger manner without any information being provided to the state government or to the state police.

"This deployment of a central force to assist in motivated income tax raids undermines almost every line of Dr Ambedkar's caveat and the constitutional scheme laid out in List II of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution which places law and order under the state's exclusive remit," he said.

Senior Congress leader PL Punia said that the clumsy method, manner and timing of the raids has exposed the malintentions and designs of the Centre.

"All governments prior to this one have deemed the deployment of central forces to be limited to rare and exceptional circumstances and always in the interest of the general public.

"No Government in Indian history, prior to the Modi-Shah regime, can be accused of reducing the status of an elite force such as the CRPF to that of an accompanying party for an income tax raid. No political party, except the BJP, has ever used the CRPF to execute a political vendetta," said Punia.

He alleged that the 15 years of BJP government in the state were a "model of corruption", stating that it is not surprising that the raids began only after the economic offences wing of the state government launched an investigation into alleged acts of corruption that took place under the previous BJP government.

"The Congress Government of Chhattisgarh will take this as a sign of encouragement that their own investigations, into the alleged acts of corruption committed by the previous government in the state, are proceeding in the right direction," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Supreme Court this week will wade into its first big abortion case since Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined the bench.

Why it matters: It will give us the clearest indication yet of just how quickly and aggressively the newly expanded conservative majority is likely to move in curtailing abortion rights.

The case has the potential to revive a set of abortion restrictions once thought to be off limits and to energize conservatives to chip away further and faster at Roe v. Wade.

It could also make abortion rights  as well as the court itself  an even bigger issue in the 2020 campaign.

Driving the news: The court will hear arguments Wednesday over a Louisiana law that requires abortion providers to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital.

The state says those rules ensure womens safety in the event something goes wrong; challengers say they simply force clinics to close without providing any demonstrable benefit to women.

That may sound familiar. Louisianas law is nearly identical to one the court struck down just four years ago. The justices said in 2016 that Texas admitting-privileges requirements made abortion harder to access but not any safer, and were therefore an unconstitutional undue burden on abortion access.

Yes, but: Those were the Anthony Kennedy days.

The big question now is whether the courts 2016 decision is a controlling precedent for similar restrictions.

Thats largely how it was treated at the time. Some states gave up on their admitting-privileges rules, believing they would be unconstitutional, and lower courts struck down others, citing the Supreme Courts decision.

But Louisiana is arguing that the Texas decision was only about Texas and never purported to foreclose a different result on a different record in a different jurisdiction.

Between the lines: A win for Louisiana would have bigger implications than a loss.

If the court ultimately says its Texas decision controls this case, and invalidates the states admitting-privileges requirement on those grounds, that would largely preserve the status quo. There would still be every reason to expect a rightward shift  just an incremental one.

If the state wins, though, and the court rules that its Texas decision does not bind other states, then more states will quickly pursue new abortion restrictions and even revive rules they thought the Supreme Court had foreclosed.

It also could send a broader signal about the court's appetite for abortion cases.

What were watching: Kavanaugh matters here because he made the court more conservative by replacing Kennedy  not because hes seen as a likely swing vote.

Abortion-rights advocates hopes for a win, or at least a narrow ruling, probably lie with Chief Justice John Roberts, who does sometimes prefer incremental change but who voted to uphold Texas abortion restrictions in 2016.

This will, however, be the most significant abortion case of Kavanaughs entire career as a judge, so the nuances of how he approaches it  and whether he seems to shy away from an election-year battle over the Supreme Court and abortion  will still tell us a lot about where the court is headed.

A ruling is expected in late June.
City IT and police IT in Kansas City, Mo., are merging. As with any similar move, the arguments in favor are straightforward: save money by eliminating duplicative services and roles. But its perhaps harder than in any other case to convince a law enforcement agency to open up its systems and its processes to non-law enforcement staff. For this reason, its not a merger that often happens.Planning for this initiative, known as OneIT, started about five years ago, but city CIO Dave Evans said work on the ground began in 2017, the same year he was promoted from deputy CIO to his current position.The decision to consolidate the IT departments seemed natural: The police departments data center and the citys data center were already in the same building, and Evans agency has been assisting police IT for years. The benefits, in terms of cost savings and putting IT governance and operations under the same umbrella, would appear obvious even to an outsider.Whats less apparent to the average eye is the unique challenge of implementing OneIT. Like any IT consolidation, the project has been slow and hard. But to grasp what the process is really like, one must understand the distinct history of the Kansas City Police Department.KCPD reports to the state of Missouri through a governor-appointed board rather than to the city. State control of the department dates back to the 1930s, when corrupt political boss Tom Pendergast, with his grip on the police, turned Kansas City into the heartlands decadent home of Jazz Age gambling dens, brothels and all-night taverns, according to the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcements website. In response, Missouri passed legislation to take over the compromised police force.The KCPDs unusual status as a state-run city department has made OneIT probably one of the toughest mergers of IT services that you could imagine, Evans said. Although the first phase of OneIT, which involved uniting the two data centers, has been finished for a little more than a year, the staff migration phase has proven to be a more difficult component of the plan. Weve migrated staff into their [police ITs] area where it makes sense for the operational areas to be together, Evans indicated. Weve had very little movement the other way. A lot of that is due to, as you can imagine, staff reporting issues and just concerns by staff of possible retirement changes or reporting changes.Furthermore, Evans said even though city IT staff are certified to deal with criminal justice information systems, police IT employees have been working directly in criminal justice for so long that they perhaps feel like it is difficult to work with outside agencies.Completing the staff migration phase carries importance for multiple reasons. First, neither the city nor the police is fully staffed in IT, so combining staff efforts would minimize new hires and better ensure quality services. Second, the city has identified potential savings well beyond the initial expectation of $6.5 million over five years, but those additional savings will involve utilizing the necessary staff and resources, which will require a higher degree of cooperation between the agencies.Evans does see light at the end of the tunnel despite the lack of local jurisdiction over KCPD. His team maintains regular communication with the police, and the police chief has expressed many times that hes 100 percent on board with OneIT. For Evans, its simply a matter of continuing to build relationships with certain individuals on the force who see public safety as their ultimate priority. Its going to take time for people to feel comfortable with it, to realize its not a hostile takeover, [that] its all for the benefit of the city, Evans said.
(Natural News) With the coronavirus outbreak exploding around the world, with thousands of confirmed cases in over 40 different countries, international travelers are concerned about the safety measures being practiced to contain the virus and quell the aggressive spread. At the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, passengers looking to get through the immigration process as quickly as possible are appalled by the lack of proper screening conducted by airport employees, especially compared to the procedures done in the countries they had just left.

Emily Ferrara and Blair Haworth are two students returning from Florence, Italy, where their study program was canceled due to the virus outbreak. As reported by Natural News, Italy has about 896 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the second largest outbreak outside of China. However, CBS revealed that these students were never questioned about anything related to the virus once they landed in New York City.

We didnt even get checked. Like were used to being in Florence where you get your temperature checked. Here they didnt do anything, which is kind of crazy, Ferrara said. Considering, like, how much the cases have spread so fast, like, they should definitely be taking more precautions here.

Currently, only passengers arriving from Wuhan, China  ground zero of the coronavirus outbreak  are being screened at select airports around the United States, including JFK Airport, San Francisco International, OHare International in Chicago, and a number of other international airports. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar claimed that the Trump administration is expanding the number of airports conducting screening from five to 20. However, there is still no information as to whether LaGuardia and Newark airports  two of the closest international entry points to NYC  would be part of the additional 15.

Preparing for the coronavirus

As of writing, there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in NYC, although 27 people have been tested for the virus and 700 individuals have opted to self-quarantine as a safety precaution.

COVID-19 is a flu-like disease caused by a member of the coronavirus family that is closely related to the SARS and MERS viruses that have caused outbreaks in the past. The disease is caused by a virus designated as SARS-CoV-2 by the Coronavirus Study Group (CSG) of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. COVID, on the other hand, is short for coronavirus disease. Those with confirmed cases reported symptoms such as coughing, fever and shortness of breath. However, severe cases of COVID-19 can lead to pneumonia and death. (Related: Harvard Professor: As much as 70% of the global population will catch coronavirus.)

To prepare for a virus outbreak that the CDC claimed to be inevitable, NYC officials are scrambling to make plans to lessen the impact of the virus. NYC mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday that the city is working toward acquiring at least 1,200 brand new hospital beds to be available throughout the city specifically for affected patients.

Were in a state of high vigilance, high readiness all across city government to address this crisis, de Blasio said in a report by CBS.

De Blasio is also looking to acquire at least 300,000 more surgical masks after distributing about 1.5 million masks to hospitals, healthcare centers and first responders, including the New York Police Department (NYPD). Finally, de Blasio requested the CDC to expand its screening of travelers that arrive at international airports from Italy, South Korea and Japan, among others.

Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand. Anyone needs to be screened and if they have symptoms they need to be quarantined, de Blasio said.

Sources include:

NewYork.CBSLocal.com 1

NewYork.CBSLocal.com 2

NaturalNews.com

NY1.com

Silive.com

Pandemic.news

Khou.com

Symptoma.com

CBSNews.com

IBTimes.com
Armenia has recorded the first case of coronavirus. This is what Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan informed on his Facebook page.

Dear compatriots, unfortunately, the first confirmed case of coronavirus was recorded about two hours ago. The patient is a 29-year-old male citizen of Armenia who arrived from Tehran on February 28.

The man himself went to see a doctor and is in good condition. When he was going to the hospital, he had a fever, but now he doesnt. The result of the initial test was positive, and the results of the second test were announced at 3 a.m. Yerevan time.

It should be mentioned that the result of the test of the patients wife is negative, that is, she doesnt have the virus. The government will take necessary measures according to the rules prescribed by the World Health Organization.

People who are suspected of having had contact with the patient will be isolated. I must also mention that, as we had foreseen, there were citizens of Armenia aboard the plane flying from Tehran, and their inviolable right to return to their homeland was ensured.

All the passengers were wearing masks in Tehran and aboard the plane, were escorted from the plane and at the airport through a special procedure so that they dont have necessary contacts.

The name of the employee of the border guard service who formulated the documents for the entry of the patient and his wife is known. As a matter of fact, the border guards were also wearing masks and medical gloves.

The taxi drivers who transported the patient from the airport to the house and from the house to the hospital will be found and will also be isolated. We will ensure high-level conditions in the hotels for isolated citizens, but separated from each other. Overall, about 30 citizens will be isolated, he stated.

The Prime Minister also stated that he will suggest canceling the march that was scheduled for March 1, 2020.

The Board of the Civil Contract Party will consider the issue of canceling the march for March 1st in the morning. I will suggest canceling the march.

All the necessary measures are being taken to not let the virus spread. At 12:00, Minister of Healthcare Arsen Torosyan will give a press conference and report the information that will be known at that moment.

I call on everyone to stay calm, trust only the news spread by the government and official bodies, as well as apply the measures recommended by the Ministry of Healthcare that will present the spread of the virus.
Turkey has opened its borders with Greece to more than 100,000 migrants and refugees in an apparent attempt to pressure the EU over the crisis in Syria.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced he was allowing people through its crossing points on Friday following an escalation of fighting in Idlib province and the death of 33 Turkish soldiers in an airstrike.

Almost immediately thousands of people began massing in the border zone between the two countries, prompting Greek authorities to fire tear gas and stun grenades to push them back from the fences.

On Sunday evening, Turkish interior minister Suleyman Soylu announced that 100,577 people had left Turkey through the city of Edirne, more than double the number that had passed through by end of Saturday.

The huge increase in numbers has increased the pressure on Greek authorities at crossing points along the 212km border.

Monitors for the UNs International Organisation for Migration said at least 13,000 people had gathered at the formal border crossing points at Pazarkule and Ipsala as well as other informal crossings.

Syrian regime bombards Idlib Show all 23 1 /23 Syrian regime bombards Idlib Syrian regime bombards Idlib Members of the Syrian Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, recover a wounded boy from the rubble of a building following a regime air strike on a vegetable market in Syria's last major opposition bastion of Idlib AFP via Getty Syrian regime bombards Idlib The regime air strikes killed at least nine civilians, striking bustling areas of Idlib city AFP via Getty Syrian regime bombards Idlib An injured woman waits to receive treatment at a makeshift hospital AFP via Getty Syrian regime bombards Idlib Syrian Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, searching through the rubble of a building AFP via Getty Syrian regime bombards Idlib A Syrian boy is evacuated AFP via Getty Syrian regime bombards Idlib AFP via Getty Images Syrian regime bombards Idlib The wreckage of a car AFP via Getty Images Syrian regime bombards Idlib A Syrian boy cries as he is evacuated AFP via Getty Images Syrian regime bombards Idlib Rescuers search for survivors EPA Syrian regime bombards Idlib AFP via Getty Images Syrian regime bombards Idlib A Syrian boy grimaces in pain after he was wounded in the airstrikes AP Syrian regime bombards Idlib A Syrian youth stands at the site of a regime air strike in Ariha town AFP via Getty Syrian regime bombards Idlib Rescuers search for survivors under the rubble of a collapsed building EPA Syrian regime bombards Idlib AFP via Getty Syrian regime bombards Idlib Firefighters try to extinguish flames EPA Syrian regime bombards Idlib Emergency services look for survivors AP Syrian regime bombards Idlib AP Syrian regime bombards Idlib A boy wounded in airstrikes is treated in a hospital AP Syrian regime bombards Idlib Syrian White Helmet civil defense workers extinguish a burning car Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets via AP Syrian regime bombards Idlib A Syrian walks on the rubble of a building AFP via Getty Syrian regime bombards Idlib AP Syrian regime bombards Idlib AP Syrian regime bombards Idlib AP

Most of those on the move are men but we are also seeing many family groups travelling with young children, said IOM Turkey chief Lado Gvilava.

Were distributing meal boxes and other basic supplies in the city but the temperatures are dropping to nearly zero and the wind is quite bad so were concerned about these vulnerable people who are exposed to the elements.

Other migrants attempted to make the short sea crossing from the Turkish coast to the Greek islands. At least three dinghies carrying migrants arrived on the Greek island of Lesbos on Sunday morning.

Greek deputy defence minister Alkiviadis Stefanis said there were around 9,600 attempts to illegally cross Greeces border during the night.

Officials said they arrested 66 migrants on Friday and 70 on Saturday. Seventeen of those, all Afghans, were jailed for entering the country illegally, the first such sentences since 2014.

Under a 6bn (5bn) deal in 2016, Turkey agreed to stem the tide of refugees to Europe in return for financial aid.

However, nearly 950,000 displaced civilians have been pushed towards the Syrian-Turkish border amid a military escalation in Idlib province.

On Saturday, Mr Erdogan said Turkey would not stand in the way of refugees and migrants already in the country who hope to head to Europe.

We will not close the gates to refugees, he said. The European Union has to keep its promises. We are not obliged to look after and feed so many refugees.

Additional reporting by agencies
HARWINTON  Black ice likely played a role in multiple crashes in Harwinton on Saturday, including one that resulted in serious injuries and shut down a section of Route 118 for several hours, according to officials.

Crashes began in mid-afternoon and continued into the late afternoon hours.

Shortly before 4 p.m. Saturday, Harwinton First Selectman Michael Criss urged drivers to be careful on three of the towns state roads because of black ice conditions in a Facebook post.

Criss said the roads experiencing black ice were routes 118, 4 and 222. He said there were emergency crews out at accidents on those three state roads.

The state has been called and notified numerous times, about the black ice, Criss said. We are awaiting for them to show up to treat the roads.

A crash on Route 118 around 3:30 p.m. closed the roadway from Scoville Hill Road to Birch Hill Road, according to Connecticut State Police.

Initial dispatch reports indicated the crash involved two vehicles.

State police said troopers were investigating a crash with injuries and told drivers to seek alternate routes.

Criss said the incident on Route 118 was a serious injury accident that resulted in (a) car fire. He said the accident reconstruction unit had just arrived around 6 p.m. to begin investigating.

The road closure for that lasted hours, only reopening at 8:39 p.m.

As of 9 p.m., a crash on Route 222 continued to cause road closures.

The state Department of Transportation said Route 222 was closed between South Road and Minor Road because of a car that collided with a pole.

The incident, which happened around 4:20 p.m. and reportedly did not result in serious injuries, damaged a utility pole and left wires down in the area.

Although the DOT indicated that closure was still in effect as of 9:10 p.m., Criss indicated Route 222 was not closed as of 8:43 p.m. in a comment on an additional Facebook post about the crashes.
Opposition parties will strongly raise the issue of communal riots in Delhi during the second part of the Budget Session in Parliament starting on Monday and demand Home Minister Amit Shah's resignation over alleged police lapses.

The Congress is likely to submit adjournment motion notices in both Houses of Parliament on Monday, demanding a debate over the violence in Delhi, sources said.

Congress' leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the party will strongly raise the issue of riot-torn Delhi and ask why the violence happened.

"The government has miserably failed to maintain law and order. I think there must be some sort of a nexus between the rioters and a section of police officials which resulted in gruesome killings and arson that has tarnished our image across the globe. This is a matter of serious concern for us," he told PTI.

"We will continue to raise the demand of Home Minister Amit Shah's resignation on the floor of the House," Chowdhury said.

Sources said that the Trinamool Congress as well as the CPI and the CPI(M) will raise the issue in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, and demand answers from the home minister.

"Left parties will strengthen the voice of the Opposition in Parliament and raise the issue of Delhi violence in both the Houses. I have given a notice under Rule 267 to the Rajya Sabha chairman to discuss the issue in the House," CPI(M) MP K K Ragesh said.

CPI general secretary D Raja said his party will demand that Shah answer for the "inaction" of the Delhi Police, which comes under the ministry of home affairs.

"The violence in Delhi will be raised in Parliament by our party. We will also reach out to other parties on the issue. We will also raise the issue of hate speeches by BJP leaders and question why they have not been arrested. Also, Amit Shah needs to be held accountable," he said.

The Congress and other opposition parties have accused the police of bias and inaction in the Delhi violence.

A senior TMC leader said that the party's MPs will raise the issues strongly in Parliament and answers will be sought from the home minister.

Congress' senior spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Abhishek Singhvi also said the Congress will take up in Parliament in the strongest possible terms the "wanton destruction of democratic values" in this country with the "active approbation" and, frequently, the selective "Nelsonian blind eye" of the government.

"The manner and form of protest inside or out of Parliament is a matter of coordinated strategy and not an issue to be publicly aired. But the country is assured that we will discharge our responsibilities vigorously and without fear, despite extreme and illegal intrusion and harassment," he told PTI.

A Congress delegation, including party chief Sonia Gandhi, urged President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday to call for Home Minister Shah's resignation over his alleged "abdication of duty" during the communal violence in Delhi and remind the Centre of its "raj dharma".

The Congress Working Committee (CWC), the highest decision-making body of the party, had also deliberated on the issue last week and passed a resolution, demanding answers from both the central and Delhi governments, while also urging the people of Delhi to "reject the of hate".

The Congress president on Friday had deputed a five-member team to visit the riot-affected areas in northeast Delhi and submit a report to her after assessing the situation there.

The delegation comprised All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Mukul Wasnik, AICC in-charge for Delhi Shaktisinh Gohil, Haryana Congress chief Kumari Selja, former MP Tariq Anwar and Mahila Congress chief Sushmita Dev.

Several non-Congress opposition parties also wrote to President Ram Nath Kovind to direct authorities to ensure peace is restored in violence-hit northeast Delhi and action against those accused of making provocative speeches.

Leaders from parties like NCP, CPM, CPI, RJD, LJD, DMK and AAP also demanded the resignation of the home minster for failing to control the violence.

At least 42 people have been killed and over 200 injured in the communal riots that broke out in northeast Delhi on Monday after clashes between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control.

The Budget Session of Parliament commenced on January 31 and continued till February 11.

After a break, it will again commence on March 2 and continue till April 3.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The village of McAdam is doing something unexpected for small communities across the country  it's growing.

For decades this once vibrant rail town has been haemorrhaging residents and businesses, as the train traffic dried up and people moved to larger centres.

Now with a plan to clean up abandoned properties and a growing taste among urban dwellers for less expensive small town life, McAdam is attracting attention for more than its historic train station.

Mayor Ken Stannix said the village's population has grown by about 100 people over the past four years and is expected to hit 1,350 by the end of the summer.

McAdam had gone off the rails in the early 2000s. The station attracted tourists, but not much else. Abandoned and decaying homes were increasing in number until the council hit on a plan.

Joe McDonald/CBC

It took over or paid minimal amounts for 16 abandoned residential sites, tore down the homes and, by November 2018, was offering the properties for sale at $1 dollar a lot. The move created a buzz far beyond McAdam and, according to Stannix, 14 of the lots are sold while the last two sales are pending.

But it's not just the one-dollar lots that are driving growth in McAdam. Over the past three years, around 90 houses have been sold. Stannix said it's because people want something different.

"The main thing they were looking for was peace and quiet, getting out of the cities, a calmer place to raise their children, lower taxes, just a quieter lifestyle," he said.

'Still Standing' sparked interest

In 2016, comedian Jonny Harris took his television show Still Standing, which features hidden gems in small communities across Canada, to McAdam to do a segment on the railway station.

Stannix said people as far away as Australia decided to visit McAdam because of the show.

"It brought a lot of notoriety to the community. It was the thing that kind of started the interest in McAdam."

Real estate agent Ronda Cole said after Still Standing aired she sold a home to someone who made their decision to live in McAdam because of the show.

Story continues

"One gentleman came here and said, 'I want to buy a house and I don't want to live anywhere but McAdam, New Brunswick," Cole said.

Businesses on the rise

With the increase in population, businesses in McAdam are also increasing.

Recently, Masonic Hall was purchased and is being renovated. Stannix said the owner plans to bring in small shops and possibly reopen the bowling alley.

There is a planned expansion for the McAdam campground, as well as a glass works studio expected to open.

Joe McDonald/CBC

"New Brunswick has a lot to offer, McAdam has a lot to offer and we don't present that really well," said Stannix.

"When people come to your community, you take an interest in what they're doing, you make sure they feel welcome in your community."

Cole said she's sold nine properties in McAdam since January, including the Masonic Hall.

Joe McDonald/CBC

"People are coming from Ontario, Vancouver, Texas. They're just being drawn to this community," she said.

"I have never seen anything like this in McAdam and I grew up here."

She said she believes McAdam is going to see more growth and new life.

'What life should be'

Adam Bronson and his wife, Jess, moved to McAdam from Montreal after hearing about the town's initiatives.

Bronson said after reading about the one-dollar lots he felt the village was doing something remarkable. He did not purchase one of those lots, but within two days of hearing the news they put their house in Montreal up for sale.

"I liked the tone of what the town was saying," he said. "They seemed to be genuinely interested in doing something remarkable, and we love New Brunswick."

Joe McDonald/CBC

The Bronsons purchased their five-bedroom home for less than $50,000.

Bronson said they came for the lifestyle change.

"This is refreshing, this is what life should be," he said.

"When we first moved in, a few people came in and welcomed us. You never get that anywhere else, so it's really heartwarming."

He said what McAdam is doing is an accomplishment.

"This is an achievement and I don't think it's an achievement because they threw up some lots for a buck. It's an achievement because they knew how to speak to people."
Street protests are illegal in the former Soviet republic unless sanctioned by the authorities.

Police in Kazakhstan have arrested dozens of people in the Central Asian countrys largest city after an activists death in jail triggered diplomatic condemnation and calls for anti-government rallies.

In the capital Almaty, policemen cordoned off the citys main square and about 40 people were detained.

Elsewhere in the city, 26 members of Oyan Qazaqstan, one of the groups that called for a rally, were detained on Sunday before they had a chance to reach the protest site.

According to our information, they have not been released yet, Dimash Alzhanov, one of Oyan Qazaqstans founding members, told AFP news agency by telephone.

One man  who AFP correspondents saw bundled into a van full of detainees by black-clad police  appealed to the lawmakers in the European parliament, which sent a delegation to Kazakhstan last month.

My constitutional rights are being violated. This is the 21st century, the man cried out as he was shoved into the vehicle.

A few people shouted Wake up Kazakhstan and Old man, go away  an opposition slogan aimed at President Kassym-Jomart Tokayevs predecessor and patron, Nursultan Nazarbayev, who retains sweeping powers even after giving up the presidency a year ago.

Two journalists were also among those detained on Sunday.

Beaten in detention

Activist Dulat Agadil died in a jail cell on February 25, a day after police took him in on charges of contempt of court and insulting a judge.

People attend a meeting in memory of Kazakh anti-government activist Dulat Agadil [Pavel Mikheyev/Reuters]

The United States and the United Kingdom raised concern over his death this week and called for a thorough investigation.

The authorities  including President Tokayev  have said his death was caused by acute cardiovascular failure, ruling out any foul play.

Activists have cited video footage of Agadils corpse with bruises as evidence he was beaten in detention, rather than dying of heart failure, as police said on Tuesday.

The state prosecutors office on Friday called on citizens not to make hasty conclusions about the bruises, which the office said was common on corpses.

Kazakhstan regularly cracks down on citizens who attempt to hold rallies as street protests are illegal in the former Soviet republic unless sanctioned by the authorities.

The country is in the process of changing its legislation on public assemblies, and a draft of the new law has been released for public discussion.

But civil society groups in the Central Asian state have expressed dissatisfaction with the draft law, which they argue would introduce additional restrictions.


Jwaneng Diamond Mine Image credit: Google







Although the government of Botswana has refused to review its latest demands from the ongoing negotiations for a new sales and marketing deal with De Beers, it has indicated its desire to fully participate in research and development led by the diamond group.

Botswanas new minister of mineral resources Lefoko Maxwell Moagi cited DebTech as one of the firms owned by De Beers that they had an interest in.

DebTech, which is based in Johannesburg, South Africa is a division of De Beers Group and it was established in the 1950s to acquire, adapt or develop innovative technologies and services that have a significant impact on the efficiency and productivity of De Beers mining operations.

Moagi told Rough & Polisheds Mathew Nyaungwa on the sidelines of the Mining Indaba, in Cape Town that Gaborone wants DebTech and related firms owned by De Beers to have a presence in the country for Botswana to get the skills and benefit

Meanwhile, Moagi said Botswana has started diversifying away from its economic dependence on diamonds.

He cited copper as having a huge potential to contribute greatly to the countrys export receipts.

Below are excerpts from the interview.

How far have you gone with your negotiations for a new sales and marketing agreement with De Beers?

The negotiations are on-going and none of us can say anything about the negotiations. We believe that the negotiations in their nature  with De Beers having been our partner for so many years  must be and always be a win-win situation for all of us because we must [know] where the relationship comes from and how we want to benefit as a country, and how De Beers must also sustain itself as a company. So we believe all these must be done on a sustainability basis such that there is no harm to the relationship. We will of course haggle, but we will demand what we need to demand for, we demand to go higher in terms of other things. That is the nature of negotiations.

What are you demanding for?

Well (laughs) we are demanding for quite a number of things. Now you are pushing me into the negotiations, but certainly I can say that we look at how we have been benefiting from the relationship before and where we want to be this time around. We will put figures on the table, but I think for the justice of the negotiations am scared to say anything than what I have said.

What is the state of diamond beneficiation in Botswana?

You know that De Beers brought the Diamond Trading Company (DTC) to Botswana in 2013, we believe that we need to accelerate from that space in terms of the downstream market. We need to capacitate our people to be able to value our diamonds better, to be able to price our diamonds better, to polish them better, to cut them betterWe also need to be participatory fully in terms of all the research and development that is ongoing whether its (inaudible) or DebTech, all of those. We want these things to come into Botswana, to the country for the people to actually get the skills and benefit. Gone are the times now when things can sit elsewhere. So these are the sort of things that we continually engage with [De Beers].

Is there any appetite from the locals to participate in diamond beneficiation?

The locals have been hungry for a lot of time, they have got an appetite to do that and we just need to facilitate as a government and we will be found wanting if we cannot play in that space.

What are the factors affecting this sector from growing?

Well, traditionally diamond mining or business, let me put it that way, has been secretive. Possibly because any commercial arrangement is secretive. But then a lot of people, especially in Botswana, are quite educated, the people now know their rights and they know what they are supposed to get out of any agreement or deal. Also, things such as unemployment or underemployment catapult the urge to demand from whatever in their country, so these are the sort of conversations that are coming up from the general population and we need to be alive to those conversations.

What is the level of diamond exploration in Botswana?

Diamond exploration is continuing in Botswana and had been doing that for the past 40-50 years, and out of those years we have gotten like 12 dozen kimberlite clusters and altogether we have somewhere around 150 individual kimberlite pipes. So apart from the operating mines that are already there, we have other deposits that can be exploited, we just need to find the right investor and the right capital to do that.

What are you doing to diversify away from economic dependence on diamonds?

Like we said before, we are exploiting other minerals. Copper is huge on our plate, we have got the whole Kalahari copper belt, already we have Khoemacau Copper Mining that will have its first copper concentrate production in the first half of 2021. Apart from the base metals we also have other minerals that are being exploited, we have got industrial minerals and we want not just minerals space. We want to go to tourism, already we are into tourism, we want to develop our agricultural sector, especially the beef and small stock sector to export because the food will always be needed. So we have been inward bound in terms of thinking, producing for the country only but we can also look into export. That is what we are doing currently.

There were talks about Botswana assisting Zimbabwe to add value to its diamonds from Marange. Can you provide an update on this development?

Yes, we have always done that, we have bilateral relations with Zimbabwe, in fact, in the coming weeks, we will be having that meeting in Botswana to see how we can collaborate and exploit jointly, help each other in terms of capitalof human or resource capital and that is happening with other countries as well. We are assisting the Central African Republic (CAR) in terms of how they can develop their diamond business. We have done that for South Sudan in previous years whereby we assisted them from the legislative side to the technical side. So Botswana has always opened to assisting its neighbors wherever they are sitting because we believe that we can also learn from them.

Since the issue of energy is critical to the mining sector, can you shed some light on what Botswana is doing to ensure continued power supply to the mines and beyond?

Energy power is a big thing for any industry because if there is no power there is no industry. Everything grinds to a halt. It's topical that we are now talking about coal and green technologies and things like that. This has to be done in a phased approach, we know that because we have been talking about sustainable development goals, greener or cleaner technologies and things like that. The carbon footprint to be minimised so that is exactly what is happening, but people must understand also that a particular country would have, say for instance Botswana, coal as the main baseload approach to them whereas other countries are indulged with water, they can do hydroelectricity and other things. So what I am saying is that we are going push hard on the solar and wind turbines technology so that we can produce those power stations through those alternative sources to augment our coal-generated power without necessarily moving away from coal. We will seek cleaner technologies, will seek to bring our carbon footprint down, but it is not a shutter of our coal exploitation.

Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished




Drought

The rest of the ranchs history is a microcosm of the area. A portion of the land was later sold to the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway Co. as a right of way for its new railroad through the valley. In 1908, the National Register form says, a company official came up with the name for the town of Ryegate along the rail line after seeing a fine field of rye on the former Sims ranch.

The land was then sold to a North Dakota land corporation that subdivided the property for sale to emigrants. That attracted the Victor Schaff family, German immigrants from North Dakota, who arrived in 1910. Drought broke the Schaffs in the 1920s, and they lost the property to the bank in 1923.

Eventually Harry Henton, who moved to the region in 1911 from Minnesota, gained title to the property. His daughter, Emmy Lou, married Ford Garfield. Ford was almost 8 years old when his father Jesse Garfield, Golden Valley Countys first sheriff, was mortally wounded by a homesteader. Thats how Jess Garfield, named in honor of the grandfather he never knew, came to own one of the most history-filled properties in Golden Valley County.

Caretaker
Tony Abbott's daughter Frances has celebrated two years of marriage to her bodybuilder husband.

The 28-year-old posted a photo of her wedding day that highlighted how much her life has changed since she wed Sam Loch on Valentines Day 2018.

Ms Loch had long blonde hair in the wedding photo, but since October 2018 has sported a closely cropped head of black hair.

'Look at your hair! Hardly recognise you,' a friend commented on the snap, taken minutes after the couple signed the marriage register.

Frances Loch, 28, posted a photo of her wedding day that highlighted how much her life has changed since she wed Sam Loch on Valentines Day 2018

Ms Loch had long blonde hair in the wedding photo, but since October 2018 has sported a closely cropped head of black hair

They married after a three-month whirlwind romance, and the second anniversary was seen by friends as vindication against sceptical comments at the time.

A former competitive bodybuilder, she now teaches yoga in Portland, Oregon, after the couple moved from Sydney to the U.S. the same week as her new haircut.

Ms Loch on Saturday revealed she writes motivational notes to herself to fight against self-doubt, and uses them in her yoga classes.

'Let go of the idea that your (sic) failing just because your (sic) still figuring it out,' one read.

Ms Loch on Saturday revealed she writes motivational notes to herself to fight against self-doubt, and uses them in her yoga classes

Another read: 'The vision you have of your future self starts today. You are ready, you are enough. Start today'

Ms Loch said at the time of her haircut she worried about 'looking like a boy' and explained how she got past that feeling

'Celebrate your mistakes cheer yourself on when you stumble, and have faith in yourself and your journey. You are on the way there.'

Another read: 'The vision you have of your future self starts today. You are ready, you are enough. Start today.

'You are your own best teacher. Give yourself permission to take what you need, to receive, to breathe.'

In January she held a yoga class to raise funds for Australian bushfire relief, thanking everyone for their donations with a verse from My Country by Dorothea Mackellar.

Her father Mr Abbott is a 19-year NSW Rural Fire Service veteran who spent many weeks battling a dozen blazes during the bushfire crisis.

A former competitive bodybuilder, she now teaches yoga in Portland, Oregon, after the couple moved from Sydney to the U.S. the same week as her new haircut

Unlike her hair, Ms Loch's impressive abdominal muscles haven't changed

The super fit couple last year climbed the 10,358ft South Sister mountain in Oregon

Ms Loch said at the time of her haircut she worried about 'looking like a boy' and explained how she got past that feeling.

'Before I shaved my head I was a bit concerned that I would look like a boy. But I realised that I don't care if I look like a boy,' she wrote.

'There is nothing wrong with looking like a boy. I am all for looking like a boy, if myself or anyone wants to look like a boy. But there was, and sometimes still lingers, this funny feeling about looking like a boy.

Frances and Sam stroll to Sydney's famous Palm Beach in December 2017

'There are moments where I catch my reflection and think: "Girl, you definitely look like a boy today" and that is followed with "buy some eyeliner! Put some earrings on! Start wearing more colour!"

'But then I remind myself that I don't care if I look like a boy and really, I really don't want to do any of those eyeliner or earrings things.

'So I don't and I think "f**k it" and I move on.'
TUESDAY: Empire returns from its winter break and the countdown to the series finale begins. The Lyons world is turned upside down as they face a loss, which forces one family member to deal with an unresolved trauma. (9 p.m., Fox).

WEDNESDAY: You might find yourself gasping for breath during Volcano Live! with Nik Wallenda. Its a special in which the daredevil will attempt what is described as his most dangerous high-wire walk yet  over the active Masaya Volcano in Nicaragua. (8 p.m., ABC).

WEDNESDAY: Created by Lena Waithe, Twenties is a new comedy series that follows the adventures of a queer black girl named Hattie (Jonica T. Gibbs) and her two best friends, Marie (Christina Elmore) and Nia (Gabrielle Graham), as they chase their dreams in Los Angeles. (10 p.m., BET).

WEDNESDAY: Hoop fans have March Madness, and now foodies have their own bracket-style Tournament of Champions. Hosted and executive produced by Guy Fieri, its a culinary competition that has 16 celebrity chefs facing off in single-elimination challenges. (10 p.m., Food Network).
Prince Andrew dated the model Caprice and let her sit on the Queen's throne at Buckingham Palace during one of their dates, it has been claimed.

The Duke of York, 60, met the American lingerie designer 48, at a dinner party and the pair dated for two months in 2000, reports The Sun.

On one of the dates he took her to Buckingham Palace and let her take a decorative bowl without staff knowing, according to the paper.

The pair only went on a few dates before she introduced him to a friend of hers, an American masseuse named Denise Martell, who he was involved with for 10 years.

The date at Buckingham Palace is alleged to have happened just months before he is reported to have slept with Virginia Roberts Guiffre - when she was just 17.

Prince Andrew, 60, (pictured left) met American lingerie designer Caprice, 48, (right) at a dinner party and the pair dated for two months in 2000

Pictured: Buckingham Palace, where Andrew is alleged to have taken the Dancing On Ice Star on a date

A source close to Caprice told The Sun: 'As an American, she was thoroughly entertained at the notion he was a part of the Royal Family.

'He took her to Buckingham Palace twice, and on one occasion she sat on the Queen's throne.

'She spotted a bowl she liked and asked Andrew if she could steal it and post it to her mum. She claims that he let her, and her mum loved it!'

He let her into the Throne Room (pictured) where the 'chair of the estate of the Queen', the coronation chairs of her father King George VI, Queen Mary and Queen Victoria are kept

The pair were friends for two months and went on 'platonic' dates, including two at the Palace.

He let her into the Throne Room where the 'chair of the estate of the Queen', the coronation chairs of her father King George VI, Queen Mary and Queen Victoria are kept.

Members of the royal family are allowed to invite guests to the Palace, but it is protocol to notify staff before showing them round

Caprice, who is originally from California but lives in London, ended their friendship when she started being linked to the prince in the press.

She set him up with Ms Martell and the pair went on to have a 10-year relationship.

Prince Andrew is also believed to have told Caprice that his then 16-year-old nephew Prince Harry was jealous of their friendship.

Harry, now 35, had a soft spot for Caprice and had her calendar on his bedroom wall at Eton.

Caprice, who is currently on ITV's Dancing On Ice and dated Rod Stewart, stopped taking the royal's calls after she decided to end things with him.

Caprice (pictured on Dancing On Ice with skating partner Hamish Gaman), who is originally from California but lives in London, ended their friendship when she started being linked to the prince in the press

She did not have a romantic interest in him and was only interested in finding out more about the royal family, her friend claims.

Prince Andrew was forced to step down from royal life last year after his disastrous Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

Andrew and Epstein, who killed himself awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges aged 66 last year, became friends through Epstein's ex-girlfriend and 'madame' Ghislaine Maxwell.

Virginia Roberts Guiffre, who now lives in Australia, claims she had sex with Prince Andrew three times, including once when she was 17.

She says he was groomed by Maxwell and became paedophile Epstein's sex slave.

Andrew, a father-of-two, denies having any relationship with her whatsoever and claims a photograph of them together in London has been doctored.

MailOnline has contacted Buckingham Palace for comment.
A 36-year-old racing driver who was hacked to death with an axe by a man he knew has been pictured for the first time.

Ryan Lowry was chased down the street and attacked at around midnight in Partington, Greater Manchester. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

A 31-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder and detained under the Mental Health Act, police have said.

He had smashed the rear windscreen of a parked car moments before the attack and damaged a number of other parked cars. The attacker also called police to report the incident before fleeing the scene.

Mr Lowry was a motorcars enthusiast and co-founder of the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) all Porsche trophy series, which raises awareness and money for mental health. He had run a business selling used cars and light motor-vehicles in his hometown Marple, Stockport, since 2011.

Ryan Lowry, 36, was chased down the street and killed with an axe in Partington, Manchester. He is pictured holding an award that he won during a racing championship

Racing car driver Mr Lowry, pictured, was co-founder of the CALM All Porsche trophy series

The attacker later rang the police to report the incident before he fled the scene, Greater Manchester Police said

Mr Lowry's family have released a heartbreaking statement paying tribute to a man who 'didn't have a bad bone in his body'.

'We, as a family, would like to thank all those that have sent such kind and thoughtful messages so far. They are testament to how well-loved and respected Ryan is,' they said.

'It's hard to believe how something like this can happen to someone like Ryan, who did not have a bad bone in his body.

'All he ever did was to be there, in whatever way he could, for those that needed help.'

'As a person full of kindness, strong principles and humour, he will be missed by so many. Please respect our privacy at this difficult time.

'Ryan loved motor cars and motor racing and was co-founder of the CALM All Porsche Trophy series, raising awareness and money for mental health.

'So many people have asked if there is anything they can do at this time. We know Ryan would appreciate, should anyone want to, any donations to CALM.'

Mr Lowry pictured after winning an award at a championship with his driving partner

Mr Lowry, second left, pictured behind the wheel of a sports car on social media. His family have appealed for people to donate to Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM)

CALM All Porsche Trophy said in a statement on Friday that Mr Lowry 'died trying to help another near his home'.

'Ryan and his dad Andy were well-known around the race tracks of the UK and made many friends during Ryan's time as a racer and as race organiser.

'Please say a prayer for him, if you are a believer, or send him and his family kind thoughts if you are not.'

Shadowline Racing, which has a racing car previously owned by Mr Lowry, posted a picture of Mr Lowry with an award as they paid tribute.

'My good buddy Ryan was tragically murdered last night,' they said. 'On my first season of racing he was always there for advice and would often study my footage and give me tips.'

'We shared the seat three times last year on the mini endurance races with a fourth place at Silverstone and second place at Donnington Park and an amazing victory together at Brands Hatch GP circuit.

'We were in contact every day and only spoke yesterday about this season especially about Zandvoort and Thruxton... will miss you buddy and (your old racing car) and I will be driving for you mate.'

Mr Lowry, first right, at the SIM Track Driver Performance Centre after a partnership was announced between the track and CALM All Porsche Trophy on Sunday February 16

Friend Damian Cottrell paid tribute to Mr Lowry, saying: 'I'm absolutely shocked, and deeply saddened, at the news of the passing of my pal Ryan Lowry.

'Was only with him at Stoneleigh on Sunday... just don't know what to say, a great lad, always got on really well, fun to be around always happy... deepest condolences to his family, a tragic loss.'

Mr Lowry was attacked on Thursday night. A cordon was in place on the street on Friday as police launched a murder enquiry.

He started racing cars in 2012 and had competed in several championships including the 924 championship, Toyo Porsche Championship and the 750 Motor Club Classic Stock Hatch Championship.

Residents said they were woken by emergency services rushing to the scene, which remained in the area all night.

The man died after he was chased down the street and attacked by an assailant wielding an axe

A 31-year-old man has been detained under the Mental Health Act. Pictured is the scene yesterday

Detective Chief Inspector Colin Larkin, from Greater Manchester Police's major incident team, said: 'This a shocking incident in which a man has sadly lost his life.

'Our thoughts remain with his family, who continue to be cared for by specialist officers at this incredibly distressing time.'

'I would like to reassure the community that, while our enquiries continue, we are not looking for anyone else in relation to this tragic incident.

'The arrested man and Ryan were known to one another and police are working hard to understand th reason for this horrific attack.

'Residents will continue to see an increased police presence in the Partington area.'

Anyone with information can contact police on 0161 8566777, quoting incident number 3649 of 28/02/20. Reports can also be made anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Whats a normal gift, in your world  hundreds of dollars, thousands of dollars, or yet another pair of socks?

Apparently, this is a tough question for politicians in New Jersey. Start with the Legislature: They can get showered with $250 gifts, all year long.

Thats the limit per lobbyist, annually. But a politician can get wined and dined at fancy steakhouses by an endless line of influence peddlers. That could add up to a $250 dinner every week, if you know more than 50 lobbyists.

And theres no cap whatsoever on gifts to the governor. An old friend could hand him a check for $1 million, even someone with policy interests at stake.

We agree with Gov. Phil Murphys recent call to reset the limit for gifts to legislators at $0, as it currently is for executive branch staffers. Its about time that the Legislature demonstrated that its intent on protecting the public trust.

As Murphy says, lets all be on an equal footing. This should just be common sense.

But by that logic, a governor should be subject to the same standard himself.

After taking office, Murphy passed a well-intentioned executive order aimed at fixing this loophole, which his predecessor was notorious for abusing. Remember when Chris Christie accepted luxury gifts from personal friends like the King of Jordan or Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones?

Murphy redefined longtime personal friend as anyone the governor has known for at least three years before he first took public office. His order also says there cant be a forseeable financial benefit to this friend.

Yet there is still no limit to these gifts. What if an old friend wants a governor to do something on education policy, or climate, or immigration, and hands the governor a $100,000 check as he pushes that cause?

The giver is not benefitting financially, but that doesnt make it ok. We see no reason why we should have to wonder, and why any politician needs to accept large gifts.

Senate President Steve Sweeney says hes open to revising the Legislatures policy on gifts to $0, as Murphy advocates. I dont accept anything, he said. And Murphy should create a zero-tolerance policy on gifts for governors too.

Make no mistake: all parties can do better, and that includes the executive branch, he said when introducing his ethics reforms. We agree.

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.
Mumbai, March 1 : Megastar Amitabh Bachchan has wrapped up shooting for Ayan Mukerji's "Brahmastra".

Big B took to his blog on Saturday, where he shared a string of photographs from the sets of the film, which also stars Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt.

"So they tell me its a 'film wrap' for me on 'Brahmastra'. And, as is the norm the unit applauds and everyone embraces and the good byes are done. At times they set off some confetti guns... its the done thing they say... really? Sounds more like 'thank God, good riddance'. Good riddance of the actor... had enough of him," Amitabh wrote.

The megastar also shared a photograph of Ranbir gifting the thespian head phones.

"A gift of the Apple ear plugs that had been left unpacked was initiated by the young comp savvy mobile savvy young. As in Ranbir on set, who sets it up for me. The sound is really good. Had seen it on Abhishek and wondered. But it really is good. Thank you.

The 77-year-old star took to Twitter, where he wrote that Ranbir taught him and set up the sound ear plugs.

"Good riddance of the wires and cables," he wrote.

Big B on Instagram shared photograph of Alia and captioned it: "She breezed in... did her shot... a huddle and out. The effervescent, supremely talented, scintillating Alia." "Brahmastra: Part One" is set to release in five languages -- Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam -- on December 4. The film also stars Nagarjuna and Mouni Roy.
The housing market in the Cedar Valley has remained strong and steady over the last year, though a look at the statistics show some interesting anomalies.

Dick Robert, owner/broker with Cedar Falls Real Estate Co., has been analyzing and predicting housing market trends for decades. Last year, he predicted a 4% decrease in the number of detached single-family home sales in Cedar Falls. Instead, sales were up slightly. As for Waterloo, Robert expected a 3% decline. Instead sales were down 4.2%.

Roberts market survey, which does not include town homes or condos, showed 898 homes were sold in 2018 in Waterloo. The number in 2019 was 861. In Cedar Falls sales increased from 509 in 2018 to 514 in 2019.

The average sale price in Waterloo went from $122,817 in 2018 to $126,126 in 2019, a 2.69% increase. Cedar Falls recorded a 3.85% increase from $226,891 in 2018 to $235,621 in 2019.

In January 2019, there were 304 homes listed for sale in Waterloo, compared to 246 this January. Cedar Falls had 150 homes on the market this January, up from 139 a year ago.

Robert pointed out 10% of homes listed in Cedar Falls were former rental properties, suggesting a soft rental market.

According to Noel Anderson, community planning and development director for the city of Waterloo, 55 new residences, including multi-family, were built in fiscal year 2018 with a valuation of $104.7 million. That number jumped to 314 in FY 2019, with a valuation of $142.26 million.

That increase is mainly due to construction of multi-use buildings in and around downtown Waterloo, such as Grand Crossing (at Jefferson Street and Westfield Avenue), Anderson said. That is a trend nationwide. The younger generation tends to want to rent first before buying a home.

Grand Crossing plans to expand, and the Art Bloc and the Masonic Temple project are under construction, he said.

So far, in FY 2020, there are 26 new residences with a valuation of $31.73 million.

Anderson sees more development in the future.

New subdivisions are in development. You see a lot on the south side of town, and we are hoping for more on the north side. Friendship Village is continuing to expand, as well as Audubon Park subdivision.

Cedar Falls Community Development Director Stephanie Houk Sheetz said in Cedar Falls in fiscal year 2018, there were 115 new single-family homes built with a valuation of $28,949,644. In fiscal year 2019 there were 100 new homes with a value of $26,621,361. By the first half of fiscal year 2020, 56 new homes were slated at a valuation of $15,273,153.

We are seeing most of the residential growth occurring to the west and southwest, Sheetz said, including Arbors, Prairie Winds, Prairie West and Wild Horse. We also have continued to have permits for Autumn Ridge, Heritage Hills and Pinnacle Prairie.

Sheetz said the city so far this year has not received permit requests for mixed-use buildings like Waterloo has, but already has a fair share of its own in downtown and on College Hill, including River Place on State Street and Arabella on First and Washington streets.

I think what this type of development offers is opportunity for interactions of uses, Sheetz said. Lots of communities have talked about live, work, play, and when you have mixed-use you can have all of those in the same building or vicinity.

The year-end totals for Cedar Falls are very revealing, said Mary Shileny, chief executive officer for the Northeast Iowa Regional Board of Realtors.The same number of homes sold each year since 2016, an average of 525. The change in the median sale price was up $44,500 from 2016. The average sale price was up $31,936 from 2016.

Shileny said the days homes were on the market dropped from 58 to 49 for all sales and 53 to 43 in residential sales.

These listings sold at 98% of their list price consistently, Shileny said.

Buyers preferred three-bedroom homes, with 1,053 sold in 2019.

Shileny advised sellers to have a quick moving plan in mind.

Houses are selling (for higher prices) in less time, she said. If priced right, (a home) will be gone in less than 50 days. Your houses are selling higher, in less time, and if you are considering a move this is the time to sell. Have a quick moving plan in mind, if priced right it will be gone in less than 50 days.

The simple rule of supply and demand creates an excellent market for new construction, Shileny said. Fifty-five new homes were built in 2019 with 16 for sale today. The Cedar Falls market is in a great position to leap into 2020.

In Waterloo, the average sale price in 2019 was $130,667, with median sales at $118,450.

This is an increase of $21,128 over the past five years, Shileny said. The price increase is reflective of a lower number of homes sold, and fewer homes on the market. The average days on the market for all classes of properties is just 40 days. The favorite style of homes sold are three-bedroom, with 631 out of 1,264 residential homes sold in 2019 in Waterloo.

Three-bedroom homes are selling in an average of 36 days with an average of 97% of listing price.

Shileny said the market is hot in Waterloo.

Nothing on the market priced right stays on the market more than two months. Homes are selling for more at an average of $21,128 higher, and there are just 165 residential properties active today.

Nothing on the market priced right stays on

the market more than two months. Mary Shileny, chief executive officer for

the Northeast Iowa Regional Board of Realtors

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Two Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militants were arrested in Srinagar and arms and ammunition seized from their possession, police said on Sunday.

They have been identified as Vakeel Ahmed Bhat alias Abu Zarrar and Omar Ismail Das, both residents of Bijbehara, area of South Kashmir's Anantnag district.

On a credible input, security forces intercepted a car on Barzulla-Chanapora road on Saturday, a police spokesman said.

He said while checking the vehicle, officers recovered arms and ammunition from the two persons.

According to police records, the two are active militants affiliated with proscribed outfit LeT, the spokesman said, adding, both have been arrested and shifted to police station where they remain in custody.

Incriminating material has been seized from their possession and their complicity in other terror crimes will also be probed, he said.

However, police sources had on Saturday said Bhat was arrested along with three other persons, including two women, from a hospital here.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Mike Bloomberg has released a video in the style of a presidential address in a bid to prove that he is the right candidate to lead the U.S. through the coronavirus crisis.

In the commercial the 2020 presidential hopeful stands in front of a U.S. flag in a room that resembles the Oval Office as he delivers his message to the public.

The tape of the former New York City mayor seems deliberately produced to look like a presidential address.

The Democratic candidate, 78, speaks of his leadership skills in times of crisis, capitalizing on claims that President Donald Trump is falling short in his handling the coronavirus scare.

In the video Mike Bloomberg speaks of his leadership skills in times of crisis, capitalizing on claims that President Donald Trump is falling short in his handling the coronavirus scare

The former New York City mayor is seen standing in front of a U.S. flag in a room that resembles the Oval Office

His commercial comes as a patient described as 'medically high-risk' patient in their 50s died of coronavirus overnight on Friday near Seattle, Washington and the total number of cases in the U.S. rose above 60.

In the three-minute commercial, named 'Leadership in Crisis,' he references his election as mayor in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The billionaire head of Bloomberg News assumed office as New York City mayor at the beginning of 2002.

In the advertisement, which will air on CBS and NBC at about 8.30pm on Sunday night, he says: 'I was first elected just weeks after the attack on 9/11  a massive rebuilding, security and health challenge.'

Bloomberg's new commercial comes as President Trump addressed the media at a White House press conference on Saturday

He goes on to mention a number of crises he faced and how he dealt with them.

'In my 12 years in office, I dealt with a hurricane, a blackout, attempted terror attacks, the West Nile virus and swine flu.' he said.

'I know it is critical that the federal government work in close partnership with state and local leaders who administer services and deploy first responders.

'That requires putting politics and partisanship aside.'

He ends the video by telling the public: 'Each crisis is different but they all require steady leadership, team building and preparation.

'As Americans we've faced many challenges before and we have overcome them together by looking out for one another and I'm confident that is how we will get through this one as well.'

Worldwide, the deadly virus that began in Wuhan, China, has sickened at least 83,652 people and killed 2,862 in 54 countries

Bloomberg has put at least $500 million of his $62 billion fortune into campaign adverts.

His new commercial comes as President Trump addressed the media at a White House press conference on Saturday.

At the press conference Trump mistakenly said that the first patient to die from coronavirus was a woman. The patient was in fact a man, local officials said.

Trump called for calm in the wake of the outbreak of the deadly virus.

'Additional cases in the United States are likely, but healthy individuals should be able to fully recover,' he said.

'Healthy people  if you're healthy, you'll probably go through a process and you'll be fine.'

Shoppers in the U.S. have been panic buying cleaning products such as disinfectant wipes amid the coronavirus scare

Trump urged politicians and the media not to sensationalize the outbreak and provoke panic. 'There's no reason to panic at all,' he said.

Worldwide, the outbreak that began in Wuhan, China, has sickened at least 83,652 people and killed 2,862 in 54 countries

Trump spoke a day after he denounced criticism of his response to the threat as a 'hoax' cooked up by his political enemies.

'Hoax was referring to the action that they take to try and pin this on somebody,' Trump explained on Saturday when asked if he regretted his words.

'I'm not talking about what's happening here, I'm talking about what they're doing.'

The Trump administration has faced criticism over its handling of the outbreak.

On Friday Trump was criticized by Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders for leaving Washington D.C. to travel to hold a campaign rally in Charleston, South Carolina.

Sanders said the president should have been focusing on tackling the global coronavirus outbreak.

'He is here in South Carolina for one reason - to disrupt the Democratic primary,' Sanders said at his rally in Columbia.

'How petty, how pathetic is that?'
Democratic presidential hopefuls Former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg (L) and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders (R). Mark Ralston | AFP | Getty Images

Osman Baskaya, a senior data scientist at software maker Twilio, contributed $500 to Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign. The 34-year-old immigrant from Turkey supports the Vermont senator's positions on universal health care and raising taxes on the wealthy. Byron Deeter, a Twilio board member and investor at Bessemer Venture Partners, is a lifelong Republican and shares Baskaya's desire to get Donald Trump out of office  but not with Sanders. In Tuesday's Democratic California primary, Deeter is voting for Mike Bloomberg, who he says has the best chance at beating Trump while also pursuing a pro-business agenda. The fissure within the walls of San Francisco-based Twilio mimics the broader divide in the tech industry. While almost universally anti-Trump, Silicon Valley is throwing its weight behind two candidates who couldn't be further apart on the ideological spectrum. One is a self-described democratic socialist touting the need for a "political revolution" and the other is a businessman and ex-Republican who's worth close to $60 billion. For those in the Bloomberg camp, Bernie anxiety hit a fever pitch after the Nevada caucus on Feb. 22, which Sanders won to become the clear frontrunner and, some say, a clear and present danger to the future of the innovation economy. Sanders fanatics find it hard to imagine supporting Bloomberg, should he win the primary, and backers of the former New York mayor can be heard whispering about a contested Democratic convention in July if Sanders ends up with the most delegates. "It's inconceivable to me that we're seriously considering a Democratic nominee that's an admitted socialist and doesn't have a coherent strategy for leading America forward," said Deeter, who's spent 15 years at Bessemer and was one of the first investors in Twilio. "He doesn't stand a chance in the general election and we're missing a golden opportunity to elect a moderate who can actually get things done." In a Facebook post on Feb. 18, Deeter wrote that Bloomberg is the first Democratic presidential candidate he's been "hugely enthusiastic about," adding that he's on the Committee for Mike, which is aimed at raising "enthusiasm (not money!)" for the candidate. Bloomberg is self-funding his campaign and has thus far spent close to a half-billion dollars.

Baskaya can't vote because he moved to the U.S. from Turkey just before the 2016 election and isn't yet a citizen. Still, he and his wife, who works at Google, are preparing to take time off from their jobs to volunteer in competitive states if Sanders is the nominee, or if it's the similarly progressive Elizabeth Warren. They're not alone in their enthusiasm. Among tech employees, Sanders has received more money than any other candidate, topping Warren and Pete Buttigieg and way ahead of Joe Biden, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. President Trump is far behind all of them. Sanders is prepping for a rally on Sunday afternoon in San Jose, near many of the biggest tech companies in the world, and this week a group of DJs held a fundraiser for Sanders at a bar in San Francisco's Mission district. tweet It fits a broader theme for Sanders: he appeals to the youth. A January Quinnipiac poll showed that 53% of likely Democratic voters under age 35 are for Sanders, a demographic that only gives 2% of its support to Bloomberg. The same poll showed that for respondents age 65 and older, Bloomberg leads Sanders 14% to 7%. The tech industry has helped Sanders build a big polling lead in California. According to FiveThirtyEight's polling average as of Feb. 28, Sanders is favored by 33.5% of voters, followed by Warren at 13.9% and 13.3% for Biden, who scored a big victory in the South Carolina primary on Saturday. Bloomberg is fourth at 11.3%, though he picked up a key endorsement in January, when San Francisco Mayor London Breed told the San Francisco Chronicle that Bloomberg "has the ability to beat Donald Trump this November, and that is of the most concern to me." At stake in California are 415 delegates, the most of any state and a big portion of the 1,991 needed to capture a majority and win the nomination.

Sanders has been a staunch critic of tech's power

Sanders is not an obvious choice for tech. He regularly criticizes the industry for its excesses, and the biggest companies face the likelihood of greater regulation in a Sanders administration, namely with a Federal Trade Commission that will review big acquisitions. "Bernie has made it very clear that when he is in the White House he will reinvigorate the FTC and appoint an attorney general who will aggressively investigate and break up tech giants," said Anna Bahr, the Sanders campaign's communications director for California. "I don't think anyone is surprised that folks who might not benefit from those changes are concerned about him taking office, but he's focused on supporting the workers who have really suffered under a lot of these corporate practices and we will continue to stand with them and are grateful for their support." The Bloomberg campaign didn't respond to a request for comment. Baskaya recognizes that he would pay more in taxes if his candidate wins and that he could lose some health-care benefits if private insurance were eliminated under Medicare for All. But Baskaya says he's inspired by Sanders' effort to narrow the dramatic economic gap between the very rich and the poor while calling for higher pay for nurses, teachers and other critical but lower-paid professions. Meanwhile, there's a glaring gap within tech companies. Apple CEO Tim Cook made 200 times the amount of the median-salaried employee at the iPhone maker in the latest fiscal year, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella earned 249 times above the median salary at his company.

"We have short-sighted reasons for not supporting Bernie, but we need to address this pay gap," said Baskaya, who hopes to be eligible to vote in the next presidential election. "These are things that executives at tech companies and rich people don't want to hear." Alyssa Fetini, a senior human resources business partner at Dropbox, says she's donated about $1,000 to the Sanders campaign (the maximum amount allowed is $2,800) and also supported him in 2016 when Hillary Clinton won the primary. Fetini describes herself as historically "on the fringes when it came to voting," preferring left-wing candidates like Ralph Nader and Dennis Kucinich, who never had a shot of winning. "This is the first time that the candidate I'm most passionate about is also viable, and that's deeply, deeply exciting to me," Fetini said. "These issues are no longer fringe issues, they're really at the forefront." Fetini, 34, lives and works in San Francisco, where the homeless problem sits right at the doorstep of the very multibillion-dollar companies that are printing money for investors and top executives. Like Baskaya, she supports greater pay equity and universal health care so that people without insurance or with limited coverage don't have to choose between going to the doctor and putting food on the table. "We've been very fortunate to have what we have but I would rather everybody have health care instead of keeping everything at the status quo so I can keep getting acupuncture through my work," Fetini said. Thanks to employees like Fetini, Sanders has raised $6.8 million from communications and electronics companies and $1.6 million from internet companies, topping all other candidates, according to the CRP. He's the leading recipient of funds from employees at Microsoft, Apple, Amazon and Alphabet, and almost 22% of contributions have come from people in California.

They're largely undeterred by Sanders' promise for expanded regulation. As a candidate, he's taken on Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos for not doing enough to combat climate change and slammed the e-retailer for not paying enough in taxes. He also criticized Apple for paying too little to help fix California's housing crisis. The backdrop is a global economy that's increasingly dominated by Big Tech. The five most valuable companies in the U.S. are all in the tech industry and located between Seattle and Silicon Valley. "You really do need an external force, some sort of external watchdog that pushes back against these industries," said Andre Stackhouse, a software engineer at Microsoft who donated the maximum amount to Sanders. "I think a lot of what Sanders talks about would be good for the industry." Patrick Michaelsen, who works as a mid-level software engineer at Amazon in Arizona, was registered as a Republican in 2016. But he switched his affiliation this election cycle so he could vote for Sanders in his state's Democratic primary on March 17. Michaelsen donated more than $2,000 to the Sanders campaign after a friend encouraged him to take a deeper look at the candidate's positions, including on Amazon's taxes. "Amazon people believe that we're all leaders and we're all vocally critical of our leaders to make sure we make the right decisions," Michaelsen said. "So when Bernie calls out Amazon for their zero tax dollars, he's really calling on them to be a leader in the corporate space."

Democratic presidential candidate, former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg speaks to supporters at a rally on February 20, 2020 in Salt Lake City, Utah. George Frey | Getty Images

Bloomberg supporters worry about more divisiveness
Getty

Glenn Beck, a former Fox News pundit an an ally to Donald Trump, was cheered on by Republicans during a conference in which he claimed a Bernie Sanders presidency would lead to another Holocaust.

In an incendiary speech full of false claims and misinformation, delivered at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, Mr Beck compared Mr Sanders and his supporters to the Bolsheviks while warning of violent revolution should the democratic socialist assume office.

These are not grassroot groups of Democrats, they are Marxist revolutionaries who believe in nothing short of the complete overthrow of the United States and destruction of the Constitution and the free market system, Mr Beck told an audience of activists and White House officials at CPAC 2020.

And, please, let us stop calling them Bernie bros. Because they are not my brother. They are not something that is funny. They are Bernie Bolsheviks. They are Bernie Brownshirts. Thats what they are, he added, to cheers of support from the crowd.

And their revolution will result in death and misery. Another Holodomor. Or another Holocaust. Or whatever we call the next great socialist atrocity.

Related: Republicans Set for Operation Chaos in Dems S.C. Primary

Mr Beck also suggested that Mr Sanders followers  who he falsely claimed are armed with pipe bombs, Molotov cocktails, and guns  are worse than the Nazis.

Our fathers and grandfathers, they fought the socialists in Germany and the communists in Russia, he said. But in a way, they kind of had it easy. In their time, the bad guys wore black SS uniforms made by Hugo Boss and had little funny moustaches. But our bad guys come off just as crotchety humanity professors whining about class warfare and how crappy white people treated the Native Americans.

Mr Beck, whose comments lack any form of evidence and have been widely condemned, was one of a number of high-profile conservative commentators and White House officials, including Mr Trump, to speak at CPAC 2020.

Story continues

On Friday, the acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, accused journalists of exaggerating the threat of coronavirus because they think this will bring down the president  thats what this is all about.

The president, meanwhile, took aim at his political rivals during an animated 90-minute speech in which he also boasted of his administrations achievements, lauded the decision to fire James B Comey as the FBI director and mocked senator Mitt Romeny  the sole Republican to vote in favour of Mr Trumps impeachment.

Mr Trump, a regular speaker at the conference, has credited CPAC with providing him the platform needed to raise his profile long before he campaigned for the Oval Office.

He has been previously criticised by Mr Beck, who compared him to Adolf Hitler and warned that Mr Trump poses a possible extinction-level event for American democracy and capitalism.

But in May 2018, the conservative talk show host announced his support for Mr Trump while predicting a landslide victory for the president in the 2020 election.

Gladly, Ill vote for [Mr Trump] in 2020 and not really even on his record, which well talk about here in a second, is pretty damn amazing, he said at the time.

Read more

Pelosi calls out Trump for name-calling amid coronavirus crisis
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday said that the Janata Dal (United) will fight the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections in coalition with the Democratic Alliance (NDA) and will win more than 200 seats.

"We will contest the Bihar Assembly Elections in coalition with NDA ( Democratic Alliance) and win more than 200 seats," Kumar said at a meeting of the party workers in Patna.

Speaking about the Population Register (NPR) exercise, the Bihar CM once again reiterated his stand by saying, "As far as NPR is concerned, it will be on the basis of 2010 format and we have also passed the resolution in the State Legislative Assembly."

He further said that porn sites are a big reason behind the rising crimes against women, therefore, we are running a campaign to get them banned throughout the country.

"I have written a letter to the Prime Minister and am also running a campaign to get porn sites banned throughout the country. The rising instances of crime against women are happening because of these porn sites," Kumar said.

Speaking about the big changes which have come in his rule in the state, Kumar said that major improvements have been made in the healthcare sector in the state.

"Till 2005, just 18 per cent vaccinations were being done and now it has reached 86 per cent, and our goal is to make it complete and take Bihar to the top 5 states in the country in this aspect. The work done during the pulse polio campaign in Bihar led to the eradication of polio in the country," he said.

"We are also opening many new hospitals, medical colleges and are ensuring the presence of doctors in the existing ones," he added.

The Chief Minister also said that major work on improving the infrastructure has also been carried out in Bihar.

Bihar is scheduled to go for Assembly polls in the second half of this year for the 243 seats in the state Assembly.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The governor of Washington declared a state of emergency Saturday after a man died there of COVID-19, the first such reported death in the United States

Washington: The governor of Washington declared a state of emergency Saturday after a man died there of COVID-19, the first such reported death in the United States. More than 50 people in a nursing facility are sick and being tested for the virus.

Gov. Jay Inslee directed state agencies to use all resources necessary to prepare for and respond to the coronavirus outbreak. The declaration also allows the use of the Washington National Guard, if necessary. We will continue to work toward a day where no one dies from this virus," the governor vowed.

Health officials in California, Oregon and Washington state are worried about the novel coronavirus spreading through West Coast communities because a growing number of people are being infected despite not having visited an area where there was an outbreak, nor apparently been in contact with anyone who had.

The man who died was in his 50s, had underlying health conditions and no history of travel or contact with a known COVID-19 case, health officials in Washington state said at a news conference. A spokesperson for EvergreenHealth Medical Center, Kayse Dahl, said the person died in the facility in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland.

Dr. Frank Riedo, medical director of Infection Control at Evergreen, said local hospitals are seeing people with severe coronavirus symptoms but its probable that there are more cases in the community. This is the tip of the iceberg, he said.

The health officials reported two cases of COVID-19 virus connected to a long-term care facility in the same suburb, Life Care Center of Kirkland. One is a Life Care worker, a woman in her 40s who is in satisfactory condition at a hospital, and the other is a woman in her 70s and a resident at Life Care who is hospitalised in serious condition. Neither had traveled abroad.

In addition, over 50 individuals associated with Life Care are reportedly ill with respiratory symptoms or hospitalised with pneumonia or other respiratory conditions of unknown cause and are being tested for COVID-19, Seattle and King County officials said. Additional positive cases are expected.

Overlake Medical Center in Bellevue, Washington, said a health care worker from Life Care is a patient at the hospital. The woman, who is in her 40s, was admitted to the hospital Thursday and is in stable condition, the center said. Amy Reynolds of the Washington state health department said in a brief telephone interview: We are dealing with an emergency evolving situation.

No one answered the phone at Life Care, but Ellie Basham, its executive director, said in a statement that residents and employees are being monitored and those with symptoms or who were potentially exposed are quarantined. The facility has banned families, volunteers and vendors as a precaution, Basham said.

A growing number of cases in California, Washington state and Oregon are confounding authorities because the infected people hadn't recently traveled overseas or had any known close contact with a traveler or an infected person.

The Santa Clara County Public Health Department announced Saturday the case of a fourth person in the county infected with coronavirus, The case is of a woman who is a household contact" of a person who is hospitalised with the virus, the health department said in a news release. The woman has not been hospitalised and is not ill, the department said.

The US has about 60 confirmed cases. Worldwide, the number of people sickened by the virus hovered Friday around 83,000, and there were more than 2,800 deaths, most of them in China. A 60-year-old US citizen died in Wuhan in early February. Most infections result in mild symptoms, including coughing and fever, though some can become more serious and lead to pneumonia. Older people, especially those with chronic illnesses such as heart or lung disease, are especially vulnerable. Health officials think it spreads mainly from droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes, similar to how the flu spreads.

The number of coronavirus cases in the United States is considered small. But convinced that they will grow, health agencies are ramping up efforts to identify those who might be sick.

To achieve more rapid testing capacity, the US Food and Drug Administration issued an accelerated policy Saturday enabling laboratories to use tests they develop. FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn said his agency is "rapidly responding and adapting to this dynamic and evolving situation.

The California Department of Public Health said Friday that the state will receive enough kits from the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention to test up to 1,200 people a day for the COVID-19 virus  a day after Gov. Gavin Newsom complained to federal health officials that the state had already exhausted its initial 200 test kits.

Oregon was able to more quickly identify a case  an employee of an elementary school in Lake Oswego near Portland because it was able to test a sample locally. School district officials said Saturday the employee had been visited in the hospital by several people before he was diagnosed. Those individuals have been asked to observe a two-week quarantine and are being closely monitored.

Worried shoppers thronged a Costco box store near Lake Oswego, emptying shelves of items including toilet paper, paper towels, bottled water, frozen berries and black beans. Toilet paper is golden in an apocalypse, one Costco employee said. Employees said the store ran out of toilet paper for the first time in its history and that it was the busiest they had ever seen, including during Christmas Eve.

The district is deep-cleaning all its schools and all school buses with the goal of having students back in class Monday, said Superintendent Lora de la Cruz. But Forest Hills Elementary, where the man worked, is closed until Wednesday, marking two weeks since he was last at the school.

Earlier US cases include three people who were evacuated from the central China city of Wuhan, epicenter of the outbreak; 14 people who returned from China, or their spouses; and 42 American passengers on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, who were flown to U.S. military bases in California and Texas for quarantining.

The US government looked at sending dozens of Californians, several of whom tested positive for the virus, who had been aboard the cruise ship to a state-owned facility in Costa Mesa, California. Local officials objected, saying they weren't included in the planning and wanting to know what safeguards would be in place to prevent spread of the virus. The US government said it didn't need to use the facility after all.

At UC Davis Medical Center in California, at least 124 registered nurses and other health care workers were sent home for self-quarantine" after a Solano County woman with the virus was admitted, National Nurses United, a nationwide union representing registered nurses, said Friday. The case highlights the vulnerability of the nations hospitals to this virus," the union said.

Washington state health officials announced two other new coronavirus cases Friday night, including a high school student who attends Jackson High School in Everett, said Dr. Chris Spitters of the Snohomish County Health District. The other case in Washington was a woman in in King County in her 50s who had recently traveled to South Korea, authorities said. Neither patient was seriously ill.
AP

A disgraced former Houston Police Officer facing murder charges is suspected of having exploited his position to ensure the wrongful conviction of 69 people.

Gerald Goines was dismissed after he led a botched drug raid resulting in the death of a married couple in January 2019, ABC News reported.

Not only is the former officer facing murder charges as a result of the two deaths, but is now facing allegations that he has been framing individuals for more than a decade.

Houston District Attorney Kim Ogg said on Wednesday that a review of cases Mr Goines played a substantial role in, between 2008 and 2019, found 69 people who may have been convicted on false evidence presented by the then police officer, the report said.

Defence attorney Monique Sparks told ABC News she had maintained suspicions against the officer for a long time and alleged that she has received numerous complaints about Mr Goines behaviour.

I would say that at least for 10 years that I know of, hes kind of been terrorising the community, Ms Sparks said on Thursday.

So they would tell me this and Im like, OK, what you have to do is make a report and they wouldnt do it.

We would tell the prosecution this is what this cop did and it was just very hard to catch him or for people to want to take it up the chain.

Gerald Goines in a photo provided by the Houston Police Department (AP)

Ms Sparks alleged defendants were too scared to file official grievances, claiming most of the people Mr Goines targeted were low-income African Americans.

The 69 cases that Ms Ogg has called for a review of are those that rested solely on Mr Goines casework, according to Texas newspaper The Houston Chronicle.

The District Attorney filed a motion requesting judges appoint lawyers for the 69 individuals so they can begin the process of possibly having their convictions overturned.

We need to clear people convicted solely on the word of a police officer whom we can no longer trust, Ogg said in a statement, according to ABC News.

After Mr Goines was relieved of duty, prosecutors dismissed dozens of the cases he had worked on, and the investigation into Mr Goines casework has been ongoing.

Story continues

The Houston Chronicles report said Mr Goines defence attorney hit out at Oggs move to have Mr Goines convictions overturned.

She could care less about these defendants, Nicole DeBorde told the Chronicle. Theyre absolutely treating this differently [from other post-conviction writ cases], and theres only one reason  they are hard on their push to get people to the polls because she has some worthy opponents.

Mr Goines is understood to have been a Houston police officer for 25 years and was wounded in the line of duty three times, including on the night of the drug raid that left three other police drug-team members wounded.

The chief of Houston Police, Art Acevedo, speaking at a February 2019 news conference reported by KTRK, alleged Mr Goines lied in an affidavit that allowed him to carry out a no-knock raid of the couples home.

Authorities said Mr Goines is suspected to have falsely written in the sworn document that a confidential informant conducted two drug purchases of black tar heroin at the couples residence according to documents filed in Harris County District Court, ABC News said.

One of the former police officers colleagues, Steven Bryant, was also charged with tampering with a government document.

Mr Goines and Mr Bryant have both pleaded not guilty to the state and federal charges filed against them.

Read more

Drugs trade has never caused greater harm to society, report finds

Stolen hearse with body inside recovered after police chase

Court backs Trump as crackdown on sanctuary cities continues

Mother of missing toddler arrested after constantly changing stories
"It doesnt change anything for the status of coronavirus," he said. "We always knew it would be a serious virus, especially for the elderly." Dr Robertson told reporters on Sunday morning that the man's wife was currently in the negative pressure room and would be moved to ICU if necessary. He said the incubation period for the disease was usually between two and eight days. "I dont think it surprised anybody," he said. "Its the second week where it seems people get worse.

Loading "One of the things we are trying to do is contain the disease. We are strongly encouraging people to get the flu vaccine this year. "Weve been watching the development of the disease around the world and theres obviously community spread in a number of countries so it is likely well get community spread in the next three to six months." Dr Robertson confirmed on Friday the man's wife had also contracted the illness and had been isolated at a Perth hospital. He said there was no risk to the general community or hospital staff.

"Im concerned about people panicking," Dr Robertson said. "We need to make the point very clear there isnt community spread in Australia. "This very tragic case is related to the Diamond Princess, so the community shouldnt be panicking at this stage." On Friday the head of the Australian Medical Association's WA branch, Andrew Miller, warned "tens of thousands" could be hospitalised with the virus, just in Perth alone. Some of those are going to be critically ill," Dr Miller told 6PR's Gareth Parker on Friday morning.

About 10 per cent of [affected] people could need intensive care support. Loading If we dont make preparations now itll all be too late. Dr Miller warned against panic, and made assurances WA was very well prepared for the possible impact of coronavirus, but he did urge people to take personal responsibility for their own health and isolate themselves if they were sick. If this hits were going to have to think about closing schools and preventing mass gatherings, he said.

People just need to be aware that life could change. We need to make plans for those around us who are vulnerable. Its all about preparation, not panic. As of Saturday morning, the federal Department of Health had counted 25 confirmed cases of coronavirus across the nation, but a man returning from Iran had been confirmed in NSW raising that state's tally from four to five. Health authorities were reconsidering advice for travel to Italy following the growing number of confirmed cases in Europe, Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said on Sunday.

Mr Hunt said he had asked deputy chief medical officer, Professor Paul Kelly, to consider the appropriate level of travel advice for Italy. The number of confirmed cases in Italy rose overnight from 821 to 1128. Eight more people died from the illness, bringing the death toll to 29 in what is the worst COVID-19 cluster outside Asia. Mr Hunt said the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee was meeting daily and reviewing travel advisories. "I have asked them specifically today as part of their work to consider what the appropriate level of advice is for Italy," Mr Hunt said outside Frankston hospital in Melbourne.
This is the shamed beautician who fraudulently claimed housing benefit while running a dodgy Botox clinic.

Brazen Barbara Byne also lied about how much money she had so she could claim Jobseekers Allowance (JSA).

The 53-year-old fraudster is due to be sentenced at Belfast Crown Court tomorrow on seven benefit fraud charges. They range in date between May 2009 and January 2016 and all relate to Byne not declaring to the Social Security Agency and the Housing Executive that she had capital above the limit allowed for benefit claimants.

During the time covered by at least one of the charges, Byne was already running her Botox and beauty clinic, Skin Techniques Belfast.

Benefit fraudsters can face up to seven years in jail and or a fine when convicted at the Crown Court.

But her east Belfast-based business has already landed her in court when she was busted for illegally advertising and selling a powerful local anaesthetic.

In July 2017, Sunday Life revealed she had pleaded guilty to four charges under the Human Medicines Regulations at Belfast Departmental Magistrates Court.

Expand Close One of the certificates on display at her shop which has since closed / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp One of the certificates on display at her shop which has since closed

Byne admitted possessing, advertising and supplying or selling painkilling Lidocaine Epinephrine injections between November 2016 to November 2017. The prescription drug is used by qualified practitioners to numb tissue in a specific area.

Skin Techniques Belfast plugged its procedures on Facebook, including body and genital piercings, Botox and laser tattoo removal with the option to "numb your piercing if you prefer no pain".

Byne also specialised in lip fillers at 150 a go, recommending them as gifts for events like Christmas and Mother's Day.

Expand Close Fillers at the salon cost 150 / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Fillers at the salon cost 150

The Facebook page also contained photos of men and women who have undergone procedures at her shop, including bum lift treatments at a cost of 850. One post boasted of how the business was fully certified and approved by the city council with a certificate in her name for carrying out Botox injections.

She was landed in court after a probe by the Department of Health's Medicines Regulatory Group led to a search of her east Belfast home in February 2017.

During the search, unauthorised medicinal products of Asian origin were recovered. Byne was later given a two-year conditional discharge.

Sunday Life attempted to contact Byne through her business number but received no response.

Byne is understood to have closed the business sometime in 2018 with the last review of her work from April that year stating: "Got my lips done with Barbara on Friday, I'm delighted with the results."
The number of cases of harassment and bullying targeting local communities affected by the outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus and people involved in dealing with the situation has been on the rise in Japan.

The municipal government of Yuasa, Wakayama Prefecture, has been receiving a flurry of inquiries related to its return gifts given to people making donations to the town under the countryas furusato nAzei hometown tax donation program.

Such inquiries started to increase after suspicion of in-hospital infection with the virus at a medical institution in the town arose.

Some people who made donations under the program declined to accept a return gift of locally produced fruits out of concern about infection.

The Japanese Association for Disaster Medicine claimed in a statement issued on Feb. 22 that some medical workers who dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak on the Diamond Princess cruise ship suffered mistreatment, such as being called a agerma or being asked not to take their children to nursery schools. aThese are human rights issues, so we strongly protest,a it said.
National Youth Organizer of the National Democratic Congress, George Opare Addo has described National Youth Organizer of the New Patriotic Party Henry Nana Boakye as "funny".



To him, Nana B is just a political fly when it comes to the bigwigs in the ruling party, who should be the focus of his (Opare's) attention for maligning their presidential candidate John Dramini Mahama.



He was reacting to claims by the NPP Youth leader that his (Nana B's) "condemnation of the irresponsible and reckless comments by Ex President Mahama" of a possible "chaos in the country should the Electoral Commission go ahead with plans to compile a new register has devastated the NDC", hence the character assassination and vilification to demoralize him.



Speaking on Okay FMs Ade Akye Abia program, George Opare reiterated his call for the arrest of the NPP National Youth Organiser.



The Youth Wing of the NDC, last week, called for the investigation and prosecution of Henry Nana Boakye alias Nana B over his alleged involvement in illegal mining 'galamsey'.



This was after they took note of a video recording of Kennedy Agyapong MP for Assin North, accusing Nana B of being a galamsey kingpin.



In a release signed by George Opare Addo, the NDC said ordinarily we won't take the accusation very seriously because Hon. Kennedy Agyepong makes a lot of unsubstantiated allegations but because of the sensitive nature of these particular allegations and how excavators have gone missing it is worth looking into.



"If you have anything direct it to Hon. Kennedy Agyapong who informed us that you are heavily involved in galamsey. You are not able to hit back at Kennedy Agyapong who made those wild allegations, you are just finding a hanging foot.



"If Kennedy Agyapong feels that he has maligned you then he should apologize other than that you have no right to accuse us or the former President for your predicament.



"But we still insist that Henry Nana Boakye should be prosecuted if he is indeed involved in galamsey...The Akufo Addo Administration has failed in galamsey fight. Ghanaians should be bold and vote him out of power," the NDC stalwart stated.



He urged Ghanaians not to despair as incoming President John Mahama will fight the ongoing menace of galamsey with his blood to rid our water bodies of the filth.



Ghana has in the past few months seen a resurgence of illegal small scale mining, an activity which was curbed following a fierce campaign waged by the government in collaboration with the media and civil society organizations.



This has been worsened by some missing excavators seized by the Operation Vanguard as part of the clamp-down on illegal mining, triggering a probe by the Police Criminal Investigations Department.





Source: Isaac Kwame Owusu/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected]









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Here are todays top news, analysis and opinion curated for you at this hour. Know all about the latest news and other news updates from Hindustan Times.

Coronavirus in Iran: Kerala CM seeks evacuation of over 100 fishermen

Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan has requested the Centre to take steps to evacuate over 100 fishermen allegedly trapped in Iran due to restrictions imposed in the wake of coronovirus spread in the country. Vijayan, in his letter to external affairs minister S Jaishankar on Sunday, said around 60 of the trapped fishermen were from Kerala.

Read more.

Army officer dies in Jammu and Kashmirs Baramulla while trying to save his dog from fire

An army major and his dog died in a fire incident at Gulmarg in north Kashmirs Baramulla district on Sunday, an official said. Officials said Major Ankit Budhraja of Corps Signals, attached with SSTC Gulmarg, was trying to rescue the dog from the fire that broke out inside his hut.

Read more.

Want every Jawan to live with family for 100 days a year, says Shah

Home minister Amit Shah said the central government was working to ensure every armed forces personnel could spend at least 100 days in a year with family, while speaking at a function to inaugurate a building for the National Security Guards (NSG) in Kolkata on Saturday.

Read more.

Trinamool Congress leader allegedly abducted, murdered in Murshidabad

A Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader from south Bengals Birbhum district who was found dead on Saturday night was abducted and murdered, said family members and a party colleague.

Read more.

Capital is burning: Sharad Pawar slams Centre over northeast Delhi violence

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of attempting to divide the society by whipping up communal tensions and said the national capital was burning, in an apparent reference to the communal riots that took at least 42 lives in three days between February 23 to 25.

Read more.

Dr. Seuss 116th birth anniversary: Lesser-known facts and inspiring quotes from the bestselling author

Famous for writing some of the most loved childrens books and inspiring four generations of children, Dr Seuss created memorable characters like The Lorax, The Grinch, Horton, Whoville and more. On his 116th birth anniversary, here are lesser-known facts and beautiful quotes by the author.

Read more.

Raveena Tandon takes an auto to nieces mehendi ceremony, driver turns out to be a fan

Ditching the luxury of swanky cars, Bollywood actress Raveena Tandon jumped into an auto to attend her nieces mehendi ceremony. Raveena took an auto ride with her daughter Rasha. The actor, who is all set to make her comeback into in films with KGF: Chapter 2, took to Instagram to share a video of her journey.

Read more.

Video of Virat Kohli allegedly using expletives during 2nd Test gain steam

India vs New Zealand: In the replays, Virat Kohli could be seen putting his finger to his lips in a motion to silence the crowd and saying something that social media users said included an expletive. There is yet to be any official word on the incident.

Read more.
SEATTLE  The Teamsters union, with its 1.4 million truck drivers, warehouse workers and other transportation laborers, does not represent any Amazon workers, nor is it organizing them. But the union keeps butting into the e-commerce giant, which ships billions of packages a year.

The Teamsters joined several other major labor unions in filing a petition last week, asking the Federal Trade Commission to open a wide-ranging study into Amazons business practices. The unions, which represent more than 5 million U.S. workers, hope to sic the antitrust regulator on a company increasingly reaching into the industries they represent.

We wanted to demonstrate that there is a real desire to see them take this on, said Michael Zucker, director of Change to Win, a federation of labor unions that led the effort.

The petition asks the FTC to use its broad powers to gather nonpublic information about a companys or industrys effects on commerce. In a 28-page document with 149 footnotes, the unions lay out areas they think the FTC should explore, including whether Amazon requires companies to use more of its services to succeed on its marketplace.

The petition, which took several months to prepare, is a greatest hits of concerns reported in the media, but the unions said it should just be a starting point.

You could just say to the FTC, Look into this company, Zucker said. The reason why we laid out a detailed case for why was because we were trying to convince the FTC in the request that they look at the company in all of its manifestations and all of its systems.

Amazon said it had created more than 500,000 jobs domestically for people with various education, training and skills.

In a New York Times essay last month, Jay Carney, who runs the companys communications and policy teams, argued that Amazon uses its scale for good. Because Amazon is a large company with hundreds of thousands of employees, as well as contractual relationships with hundreds of thousands of other businesses of all sizes, what we do can generate positive ripple effects across the country, he wrote.

Carney said the companys minimum wage of $15 an hour had pushed other employers to increase pay, and in keeping with what political leaders say they want to see from companies, Amazon has plowed $270 billion into the domestic economy since 2010. That sum includes money Amazon has spent on payroll, buildings, equipment and other business investments.

Various liberal groups have gone after Amazon for its impact on workers, competition and communities around the country. Last year, many of the groups formed a coalition called Athena to coordinate their criticism of the company. Competitors like Walmart have funded research into negative impacts of Amazon.

Amazon has yet to disclose receiving requests for information from antitrust investigators at the Justice Department or FTC, and it has not been a target of action by state attorneys general, unlike Google and Facebook. The company has continued its push into even faster deliveries, and recently announced that it is building a warehouse dedicated to the kind of house-brand products that critics say push smaller competitors out of the market.

In their petition, the unions ask the FTC to study whether Amazon forces its third-party merchants to buy its delivery fulfillment services if they want to rank high and succeed on the site, a move that they say could harm competing shipping and logistics providers.

Amazon said its fulfillment services were optional, but that many sellers love them because it gives them peace of mind knowing that shipping logistics and customer service are taken care of 24/7, year-round, a spokesman, Jack Evans, said in a statement.

A spokeswoman for the FTC, Betsy Lordan, said the agency had received the labor groups petition.

In 2000, the Communications Workers of America tried to organize Amazons customer service workers, as an outgrowth of its work with the telecom industry. The company objected, and the unionization effort failed.

The union has since followed the way the company affects its industries. It represents workers in AT&Ts retail stores, which compete with Amazon for phone sales, for example, and the union announced plans in January to organize tech workers, starting with people in the gaming industry.

Tom Smith, head organizer at the communication workers union, said it turned to the FTC because much about Amazons business is still a mystery, even to a union that has followed it for two decades. We see a company that we know very little about, that is very secretive, that there are just tons of unknowns, Smith said.

Smith declined to comment on whether his union was trying to organize Amazons tech workers.

The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, which represents grocery workers at companies like Kroger and Safeway, began closely tracking Amazon after it bought Whole Foods for more than $13 billion in 2017. The move catapulted Amazon from the 17th-largest grocer in the country to the sixth-largest, according to the investment bank Cowen.

The grocery workers union was particularly interested in a question the petition asks the FTC to study: whether Amazon depresses wages in areas where it is a major employer. The petition estimated that half of all warehouse workers in Mercer County, N.J., were employed by Amazon. Federal data shows that warehouse wages in the county have fallen 18% since 2014, when Amazon opened its largest fulfillment center in the state there, according to the petition.

The Service Employees International Union, with 2 million members in health care, the public sector and other industries, also joined the petition.

The labor groups are making a novel use of the FTCs right to conduct research into how a market or industry works, using its legal authority to compel companies to provide private information. The results of these studies can influence policy changes at the agency or inform its efforts to police an industry.

Karen Weise and David McCabe are New York Times writers.
LOS ANGELES - Poor Mount Disappointment.

Located high in the San Gabriel Mountains, it's the only peak in the 60-mile-long range with such an unflattering name.

Nearby you might summit Josephine Peak, named for the wife of a federal surveyor, or savor the views from Mount Markham, named after a former governor.

But Mount Disappointment honors nobody. It's jarring. Petty. Mean-spirited.

"It's not a popular destination," said Nathan Judy, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service.

ADVERTISEMENT

And yet.

"When I first read there was a mountain called Mount Disappointment, my immediate reaction was I need to see this place," said Casey Schreiner, founder of the L.A.-based website ModernHiker.com. "And I don't think I was the only person who thought that."

By why Mount Disappointment?

The answer to that question lies in a little-known tale of ambition, adventure and, yes, disappointment, that would forever alter the nation's perception of the great American West.

The story begins 150 years ago when George Montague Wheeler, a 27-year-old Army lieutenant, proposed a bold plan to map the whole of the United States west of the 100th meridian - a north-south line that runs through Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and the Dakotas.

Wheeler estimated the epic survey would take 15 years to complete and cost no more than $2.5 million (equivalent to about $50 million today).

The proposal, though audacious, was readily accepted by the Army Corps of Engineers, which was eager to get into the land mapping business. Three other major surveys of the West were already underway, but these were led by geologists. Wheeler, a West Point graduate, envisioned a survey that would prioritize topography over geology.

"If you think about the 19th century overall, this is a time when the U.S. is rapidly expanding westward," said Susan Schulten, a historian at the University of Denver and author of "A History of America in 100 Maps." "The federal government wants to know what's out there."

ADVERTISEMENT

While Wheeler's primary goal was to accurately record the valleys, mountains, desert and other land features of the United States, a letter from Andrew A. Humphreys, chief of the Army Corps of Engineers, reveals additional objectives.

These included looking for mineral deposits, locating potential agricultural lands and scouting for sites that would prove useful for military operations.

Humphreys also instructed Wheeler and his men to take stock of the Native American populations they encountered, asking that they gather "numbers, habits and disposition of the Indians who may live in this section."

The message behind these orders is clear, said Skyler Reidy, a Ph.D. candidate studying California history at the University of Southern California.

"The incredibly grim side is that they are surveying this land to steal it from native people," he said. "This is an imperial exercise."

In 1871, Humphreys authorized Wheeler to employ 10 topographers, geologists, photographers and naturalists as well as up to 20 packers, guides and general laborers. The group was accompanied by more than 50 military men to serve as escorts.

That spring, Wheeler gathered his staff at Elko, Nev. They broke up into small teams to begin the grueling work of mapping more than 72,000 miles of wild terrain in Nevada, California, Utah and Arizona.

But the land wouldn't give up its secrets easily. Temperatures climbed as high as 118 degrees that summer and several men suffered from overexposure. Some were revived. Others were not so lucky.

ADVERTISEMENT

By the end of the first season, at least three of Wheeler's men had died.

Undeterred, Wheeler returned to the field next spring with an even larger group of men.

From 1871 to 1879, Wheeler's teams explored 21 lakes, followed 90 rivers, recorded the features of 143 mountain ranges and identified 50 thermal and mineral springs in the Southwest. They also discovered dozens of new species, including one bird, eight reptiles, 32 fish, 64 insects and one mollusk.

But back to Mount Disappointment.

Members of the Wheeler survey began measuring peaks in the San Gabriel Mountains in the summer of 1875.

While surveying the Santa Susana Mountains earlier that year, the group's leader, Lt. C.W. Whipple, noticed a prominent summit near the front of the San Gabriel range, a few miles northeast of what is now Altadena. Thinking it would make a good triangulation point, he sent his chief topographer and two assistants to set up a survey station on its peak in the dry heat of a July morning.

There was no trail to the top of the 5,963-foot summit and the ascent was brutal.

John Muir, writing for the San Francisco Evening Bulletin just a few years later, described the San Gabriel terrain as "Mother Nature at her most ruggedly, thornily savage."

Wheeler's men had the additional burden of dragging heavy surveying equipment through the dense chaparral.

When at last they reached the top they discovered that the view east was blocked by another peak that rose nearly 200 feet higher than the one they had just climbed.

They immortalized their disappointment by naming the smaller mountain Mount Disappointment. Then they promptly scrambled up the higher mountain, known today as San Gabriel Peak.

Reidy said he's not surprised the Disappointment name stuck.

"If you are the federal surveyor and you want to name it Mount Disappointment, I don't know who is going to stop you," he said.

Sadly for Wheeler and his team, their adventures in the San Gabriel Mountains only got worse.

After scaling the San Gabriel Peak, the team summited Mount Wilson, but on its way down the group's meteorologist, Douglas Joy, got lost. He was eventually discovered, and rescued, at the bottom of a deep gorge later named Joy's Ravine.

Joy's bad luck continued. Later that field season, he died of thirst and exhaustion while attempting to ascend another peak in the range.

Despite completing nine field seasons and cataloging 359,065 square miles of the West, the Wheeler Survey came to an abrupt end in 1879.

Scientists made the case that the mapping of America should not be carried out under the auspices of the War Department. At the same time, the country was suffering from a serious recession. In that milieu, it seemed reasonable to consolidate the four great surveys of the West into one.

In 1879, Congress voted to create the U.S. Geological Survey under the Department of the Interior. Clarence King, one of Wheeler's competitors, was put in charge of the new agency and Wheeler's work was sidelined.

Wheeler's disappointment was so profound he "broke down from defeat" and went on sick leave from 1880 to 1884, according to the late historian Richard Bartlett.

A few years later, in 1889, Wheeler published a seven-volume final report on his life's work, including 164 maps.

Although Wheeler's maps never made it into the official canon of the USGS, his teams named hundreds of mountains, valleys, streams and plateaus. Photographers and journalists accompanying the surveyors sent back pictures and vivid tales of a land of geysers, hot springs, mountains and deserts. Farmers, ranchers, miners and scientists relied on the maps created by Wheeler and the other surveyors of the 1870s.

"Not a textbook in geology or any of the natural sciences is published that does not embody the knowledge of the work of the men of the great surveys," Bartlett wrote.

Today, it takes just a few hours to reach the summit of Mount Disappointment. The trail is paved and gentle, lined with supersized pine cones and skittish little lizards.

The top of the mountain is flat - a remnant from the 1950s, when Mount Disappointment became one of 16 Nike missile launch sites in the L.A. area. There also is a cracked helicopter pad and a few humming radio towers.

But if you turn your back to all of that and stand on the edge of the peak, you can look out over the vast Los Angeles basin, hazy and dreamlike behind a thin veil of mist.

Birds dive below your feet.

The mountain range undulates behind you.

There's nothing disappointing about it at all.

---

(c)2020 Los Angeles Times

Visit the Los Angeles Times at www.latimes.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
A Wet'suwet'en hereditary chief and senior government ministers say they have reached a proposed arrangement to acknowledge land title rights established more than 20 years ago in a Supreme Court decision.

The parties agree the proposal is an important step in discussions related to a natural gas pipeline dispute that has prompted solidarity protests across Canada in recent weeks. But the parties still disagree on how to move forward with the controversial pipeline.

Federal Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett and British Columbia Indigenous Relations Minister Scott Fraser would not give details on the proposed arrangement, saying it first has to be reviewed by the Wet'suwet'en people.

Recognizing rights over traditional territory

Chief Woos, one of the Wet'suwet'en hereditary leaders, said the proposal represents an important milestone to recognize the rights of the hereditary leaders over their traditional territory.

"This is where it starts. The duty to consult as well as the rights and title," Woos said.

The announcement comes as talks between the hereditary chiefs and the ministers entered a fourth day.

WATCH | Chiefs and ministers announce an arrangement:

1997 landmark ruling

Fraser said "it was an interesting and powerful three days."

Protocol on how to work with the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs should have been developed 23 years ago, Fraser said, when the 1997 Delgamuukw decision acknowledged Aboriginal land title and set a precedent for how it is understood in Canadian courts.

The decision stemmed from a 1984 case launched by the leaders of the Gitxsan and Wet'suwet'en First Nations, who took the provincial government to court to establish jurisdiction over 58,000 square kilometres of land and water in northwest British Columbia.

Coastal GasLink, the company building the pipeline, did sign agreements with representatives from 20 First Nations for the pipeline, including Wet'suwet'en elected band councils. The project was subsequently approved by the provincial government.

Story continues

But Wet'suwet'en are governed by both a traditional hereditary chief system and elected band councils, and many of the hereditary leaders oppose the pipeline and say the company should not have been allowed to build it without their consent.

WATCH | Bennett discusses details behind the arrangement:

Still opposed to pipeline

Woos said the hereditary leaders remain opposed to the pipeline.

He warned developers that the hereditary leaders will continue to protect their waters, wildlife habitats and traditional sites with "everything we have."

"As Wet'suwet'en, we are the land and the land is ours," he said. "We're not going to look at any alternative ways."

Fraser said the tentative land and title arrangement would not be retroactive on the pipeline issue, and the parties remained in disagreement about how to move forward.

"The project that's in place, it has been permitted and it's underway," he said.

Coastal GasLink issued a statement Sunday to say it "appreciates" that Wet'suwet'en title and rights have been identified, but that the company has permits in place and it intends to resume construction activities on Monday.

Rights holders always 'at the table'

Bennett said the past few days of negotiations had been about learning, and humility.

"The rights holders will always be at the table. And that is the way through for Canada," Bennett said.

During the media scrum, Bennett referred more than once to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which B.C recently enshrined. It sets minimum standards for how nation states should deal with Indigenous peoples.

The federal government is also looking at tabling a bill to adopt the UN declaration.

Bennett said the proposed arrangement will honour the protocols of the Wet'suwet'en people and clans.

Lawyer Peter Grant, who represented the Wet'suwet'en and neighbouring Gitxsan First Nation, said the proposal is not a treaty. "It's a draft arrangement, but I think it's very powerful," he said.
Islamabad, March 1 : The border between Pakistan and Afghanistan at Chaman will be closed for an initial period of seven days starting from Monday aimed at preventing the spread of coronavirus in both the countries, the Interior Ministry here announced on Sunday.

According to a notification issued by the Ministry, the border closure was "in the best interest of the people of brotherly countries", reports Dawn news.

"During the period, necessary measures will be taken to safeguard the health of the people of both countries," the notification stated.

So far Pakistan has confirmed four cases of the deadly virus while Afghanistan has detected one case.

Pakistan has also closed it border with Iran and has also suspended direct flight services was between the two countries after Tehran reported 593 confirmed cases with 42 deaths due to the virus.

The Pakistani government is now launching an awareness campaign by activating a telephone helpline and establishing a web portal to encourage people to report about their condition if they are suffering from fever and flu, enabling the government to trace them and conduct necessary lab tests.
They joined forces in 1980 as members of the masked, black-clad SAS squad that stormed Londons Iranian Embassy in a jaw-dropping display of British courage.

The nation watched mesmerised as Rusty Firmin and Robin Horsfall, alongside their fearless Special Forces colleagues, set off explosives, burst through windows and shot dead hostage-holding terrorists in a hail of sub-machinegun bullets.

The terrifying operation, seen by a spellbound audience of millions on live television on a May Bank Holiday evening, made the SAS what they remain today  the worlds most celebrated military unit.

Rusty Firmin  wearing no gloves  is seen with SAS colleagues during the fabled 1980 Iranian embassy assault, in a jaw-dropping display of British courage

In a furious and widely shared online post, Firmin (left) suggested the fighting was finished when his Special Forces colleague Robin Horsfall (right) entered the embassy and that his role was to evacuate hostages rather than take on the heavily armed and deadly terrorists

Fame, if not fortune, followed. Firmin and Horsfall published memoirs recalling their heroics amid the clouds of CS gas, while celebrated actor Jamie Bell played Firmin in the 2015 feature film Six Days which retold the story of the famous siege.

But now, just weeks before the 40th anniversary of that era-defining mission, a bitter dispute between Firmin and Horsfall has shocked the SAS community.

It is usually considered sacrilege for soldiers to accuse each other of being a Walter Mitty  someone who exaggerates their role to the detriment of others. Yet Firmin has done just that.

In a furious and widely shared online post, Firmin suggested the fighting was finished when Horsfall entered the embassy and that his role was to evacuate hostages rather than take on the heavily armed and deadly terrorists.

Firmin said: [Horsfall] was a reserve team member during the siege and came in the rear entrance AFTER the assault. The only Robin that seen [sic] genuine action that day was the one nesting under the balcony of the embassy.

Youre not Mr SAS as you portray. Remove the S from the front of SAS and put it to the back. Thats what you are. Who dares shares!

Describing his feud with Horsfall, Firmin adds: He has been the aggressor, spouting nonsense about the film Six Days and making pathetic YouTube videos.

Ive never responded because I pitied him.

I found myself crossing paths with [Horsfall] not so long ago so this is why it is all coming to a head, because he needs to be confronted and questions need to be answered.

For his part, Horsfall has nicknamed Firmin Vermin and posted cartoons on Facebook depicting himself in a hammock and peacefully reading a book as Firmin, drawn as a baby sitting in a pram, throws toys, milk bottles and a dummy while shouting obscenities.

According to SAS insiders, the spat between the veterans is spoiling preparations for the 40th anniversary of the embassy siege, due to be marked in the regiments home city of Hereford in early May.

As one said last night: This is getting very, very bitter. Theyre both easily narked and age hasnt mellowed them when it comes to their feelings towards each other.

The acrimonious dispute also centres on the claim by both soldiers to have shot the same Arab terrorist during the siege. In his book, Firmin says that he killed Faisal, the second-in-command of the six-man terrorist group on the embassy stairs, and that moments later two other SAS men fired into his corpse to make sure he was dead.

He wrote: I saw he [Faisal] was holding a grenade. I fired two bursts into his centre of mass at point-blank range. He fell to the bottom of the stairs like a sack of potatoes and lay there as two more members of the team fired into him to make sure.

The acrimonious dispute also centres on the claim by both soldiers to have shot the same Arab terrorist during the siege. In his book, Firmin says that he killed Faisal, the second-in-command of the six-man terrorist group on the embassy stairs, and that moments later two other SAS men fired into his corpse to make sure he was dead

But in his book, Horsfall says: A terrorist stumbled around the corner of the stairwell and down the last few steps. It was Faisal and he held a grenade in his right hand. Without hesitation, I fired one short burst of three rounds at his chest. A soldier inches from him also opened fire. Faisal slumped to the floor like a bag of rags and died.

The terrorists from the Arabistan Peoples Political Organisation had taken over the embassy on April 30, demanding the release of political prisoners in Tehran.

Their hostages included embassy staff, policeman Trevor Lock and a BBC sound recordist.

The troops from the SASs B Squadron went in after the terrorists dumped the dead body of one hostage outside the embassy.

Firmin, now 70, is known in SAS circles as No Gloves as he forgot to wear those issued for the operation. Horsfall, now 62, later became Dodi Fayeds bodyguard before opening his own martial arts school.

Last night, Mr Firmin said: I was the team leader, I know who was where. The reserve team, including Horsfall, had not been sent in when I shot Faisal. But Mr Horsfall said: The forensic reports prove I also shot Faisal. Im trying to ignore Firmins sad drivel about me.
Turkish forces downed two Syrian war planes over northwest Syria Sunday, a war monitor said, after Ankara announced a cross-border military operation there.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said the two Sukhoi jets fell in regime-held territory, likely after being targeted by Turkish F-16 planes.

Syrian state agency SANA said Turkish forces "targeted" two of its planes over northwest Syria.

Since December, Russia-backed regime forces have led a military offensive against the last major rebel stronghold of Idlib, where Turkey supports some rebel groups.

Turkey's defence ministry also reported the downings Sunday, but did not confirm who was responsible.

"Two SU-24 regime planes that were attacking our aircraft have been downed," it said.

Youssef Hammoud, a spokesman for the National Syrian Army -- a pro-Turkish group -- said two Sukhoi 24 planes were brought down, also without saying who was responsible.

The downings come after Turkey announced a military operation in northwest Syria after regime air strikes on Thursday killed over 30 Turkish soldiers.

Retaliatory Turkish drone strikes and artillery fire have killed 74 Syrian soldiers and 14 allied fighters since Friday, the Observatory says.

Also on Sunday, Syria's army downed a Turkish drone over northwest Syria.

SANA said the unmanned aircraft was shot down near the town of Saraqeb, publishing footage of a plane tumbling down from the skies in flames.

The Observatory confirmed that downing.

The Syrian military had warned it would down any aircraft violating its air space over northwest Syria.

"Syrian military high command announces the closure of the airspace for planes and any drone above northwestern Syria and especially above the Idlib region," SANA reported a military source as saying.

"Any aircraft breaching our airspace will be treated as enemy aircraft that needs to be downed and prevented from carrying out its goals," the source said.

The regime offensive against jihadist-dominated Idlib has caused almost a million people -- mostly women and children -- to flee their homes and shelters, the United Nations says.

Neighbouring Turkey already hosts around 3.6 million Syrian refugees, and is reluctant to let more in.

Tensions have also spiked in recent weeks between Ankara and Moscow, whose relationship has been tested by violations of a 2018 deal to prevent a regime offensive on Idlib.

Turkey deployed troops to observation posts in northwest Syria under that deal.

Syria's war has killed more than 380,000 people and displaced millions since it started in 2011 with the repression of anti-government protests.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
PUNE At least eleven people are admitted at Pune Municipal Corporations (PMC) Nadiu hospital as of Sunday evening as suspected coronavirus (Covid-19) patients. Six out of which were admitted on Saturday and five on Sunday, according to officials of the hospital.

After the state health department issued an advisory to keep a close watch on those returning from Italy and Iran, there has been a sudden spike in the number of cases.

Dr Sudhir Patsute, acting chief of Naidu hospital said, Out of 11, ten returned from Italy. A total of 61 admissions have been reported at Naidu, out of which 51 samples tested negative and result for the remaining is awaited.

Dr Ramchandra Hanakre, chief health officer, said, As there is a close watch on people returning from several foreign countries there can be a spike in the number of suspected coronavirus patients.

The state health department has issued an advisory to travellers who have returned to India from Iran.

There are 170 travellers who have come to India from Iran after February 1, 2020. All these travellers have been advised for home isolation for 14 days from their date of departure from Iran. Local health authorities will daily contact them for their health status. If any of them develop symptoms like fever, cough, cold will be admitted at identified isolation wards and will be tested for Covid-19. All such travellers are appealed to self-report to local health authorities if for any reason they have yet not been contacted by the local health authority. for their convenience state Covid-19 control room number is 020 - 26127394, stated the advisory.
Lambert here: Nice to have a natural experiment concerning the Why dont they just move? argument beloved among liberal Democrat meritocrats.

By Sebastian Heise, Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and Tommaso Porzio, Assistant Professor of Economics, Columbia Business School. Originally published at VoxEU.

Thirty years after reunification, a stark and persistent wage gap between East Germany and West Germany remains. This column studies why East Germans do not migrate to the West to take advantage of the higher real wages there. Analysing data from more than 1 million establishments and almost 2 million individuals over 25 years, it suggests that moving people across space is difficult and costly. Reallocating workers to better jobs at their current location could be a more cost-effective avenue to increase aggregate wages, and even accelerate regional convergence.

Thirty years have passed since German reunification. Workers anywhere in Germany speak the same language, face the same legal system, and are free to accept jobs anywhere in the country. Nevertheless, a stark and persistent wage gap remains between East Germany (the former German Democratic Republic) and West Germany. Figure 1 plots the average wage, adjusted for cost of living differences, in each county in Germany. A 26% real wage gap persists between the two regions.

Figure 1 Average Wage in Germany by County

Notes: Average daily wages obtained from a 50% random sample of establishments via the Establishment History Panel (BHP) of the Institute for Employment Research (IAB). Real wages are expressed in 2007 euros valued in Bonn, the former capital of West Germany, using county-specific prices. EastWest border is drawn for clarification; there is no border today.

This persistent divide is puzzling because economic theory would predict that East German workers would migrate to the West until wages are equalised in the two regions. However, Germany is not unique in its experience of significant regional inequalities: wage differences across regions are present in many countries (Moretti 2011, Gollin et al. 2014). Understanding the sources of these wage gaps is crucial to inform labour market policy. Should governments try to encourage migration from low- to high-wage regions?

In a recent working paper (Heise and Porzio 2019), we study why East Germans do not migrate to the West to take advantage of the higher real wages there. We track up to 25 years data on more than 1 million establishments and almost 2 million individuals to obtain a detailed picture of their employment histories. When the data are not sufficient to provide an answer, we turn to economic theory.

We find that observable differences in workers demographics or industry composition do not explain the wage gap. Instead, we find that 60% of the gap is accounted for by establishment characteristics: establishments in the West pay a given worker a significantly higher real wage. To illustrate this point, Figure 2 shows how the wages of a typical East-born worker and a typical West-born worker change upon a move from East to West Germany (panel a) and from West to East (panel b). We find that the real wage of an East-born worker increases by a staggering 40% when moving to the West. Moreover, we document that East-born workers obtain significantly higher wage gains when moving to the West than West-born ones, and vice versa, suggesting that workers need to be compensated in order to leave their home region.

Figure 2 Changes in Wages of TTypical East-born and West-born Worker upon Moving across former EastWest German Border

Notes: The figures plot the point estimates of wage changes from an event study of a migration move across the former EastWest border, where the wage change is computed relative to the year of the move. East German workers are in grey, West Germans in black. The dotted lines represent the 95% confidence intervals.

Source: Linked EmployerEmployee Data (LIAB).

Why Dont All East-Born Workers Move to the West?

It would be tempting to conclude that large moving costs must be preventing migration. However, this argument is flawed because cross-regional movers are special in two ways: they must have received a job offer to move, and they must have decided to accept this job opportunity.

Figure 3 compares the wage gains of East-born workers moving to the West to their wage gains when switching jobs within the East (panel a), and similarly for West-born workers (panel b). Workers obtain substantial wage gains even when switching jobs within their region, and hence not all of the wage gains when moving across regions are due to the spatial component of the move.

Figure 3 Wage gains of East-born and West-born workers switching jobs within their region versus across the former EastWest border

Notes: The figures compare the wage changes of a move across the former EastWest border (dashed lines) to the wage changes from a job switch within region (solid lines).

Source: Linked EmployerEmployee Data (LIAB).

Workers are in fact remarkably mobile between East and West Germany: about one-third of workers born in the East have at some point been employed in the West. However, we find that workers have a high likelihood of returning to their home region.

Consider an East German worker currently employed in the West German city of Frankfurt who considers switching jobs. We find that the worker is about twice as likely to move to the city of Leipzig in her home region of East Germany than to Munich in the West, even after we control for the amenities of Munich and Leipzig and despite both cities being the same distance away from Frankfurt.

To fully account for workers selection and to unpack the spatial barriers into its components, we develop a model of worker reallocation across firms and across regions. Our estimated model shows that the moving costs faced by workers are relatively modest, equal to roughly 4% of lifetime income. This figure is significantly smaller than estimated in the previous literature (Kennan and Walker 2011).

Instead, we estimate that workers have a strong attachment to their birth region. An East-born worker is indifferent between 1 earned in the West and 95 cents earned in the East. Furthermore, we find that workers only rarely receive opportunities to move across regions: a typical East-born worker receives 20 times more job offers from the East than from the West. Finally, we estimate that individual skills are perfectly transferable across regions.

How Did We Reach These Results?

Our model infers them from data on wages and workers job-to-job flows both within and across regions. For example, we estimate workers strong home attachment from the relative wage increases when moving across regions (see Figure 2). East-born workers receive significantly higher wage increases when moving East to West than West-born workers, even though both types of workers face the same distribution of job opportunities. Our model justifies this behaviour with a strong home bias: East-born individuals need extra compensation to leave their home region.

Policy Implications

We simulate two alternative policies in our estimated model. First, we show that subsidising workers migration costs does not, in fact, improve aggregate welfare. While average GDP and wages rise slightly, these gains are completely offset by workers disutility of living away from their home region. Simply put, East German workers get higher wages when we subsidise their move to the West, but they are less happy.

We compare this result with an equally costly policy that subsidises firms hiring costs to make it easier for workers to match with a good job where they are. While this alternative policy delivers just slightly lower average wage and GDP gains, it generates significantly larger welfare gains for the average worker, who does not need to relocate to obtain a higher wage. Thus, policies that improve local labour markets can be more cost-effective than equally costly policies that promote migration to better-paying regions.

A key factor explaining our results is the workers attachment to their region of birth. We provide some evidence on its potential sources. Figure 4 analyses the likelihood that workers currently outside of their birth region return home after they become parents. We find a significant increase in that likelihood, possibly because workers seek family support.

We also show that workers attachment to their home is not specific to the East and West regions, but also holds at the state level. For example, workers born in Bavaria would rather live in Hesse (in the West) than in Saxony (in the East), but still firmly prefer Bavaria overall. This result shows that the home bias is a general phenomenon, not specific to the EastWest separation.

Figure 4 Likelihood that workers living outside of birth region return home after they become parents

Notes: The top panel shows the probability, around the event of the birth of a child (t=0), that an East-born worker that previously migrated to the West returns back to the East. The bottom panel shows the same for a West-born worker.

Source: German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).

Was German Reunification an Economic Failure?

Despite the significant wage gap between East and West Germany today, the gap is much smaller than it used to be. Dauth et al. (2020) study the process of reunification and document large initial wage improvements in the East. Figure 5 shows the wage gap between East and West Germany over time: as is well known, East German wages rose steeply in the first years after reunification, but then convergence essentially stopped.

Figure 5 Wage gap between East and West Germany, 19922014

Notes: The figure plots the wage gap (in log points) between East and West Germany over time from the first year from which data is available, 1992, to the last one, 2014. It shows that East wages caught up quickly in the first few years, after which convergence essentially stopped.

Source: Establishment History Panel (BHP).

Dauth et al. find that the initial wage convergence was not mainly driven by migration from East to West, but instead by the reallocation of labour within East Germany. Older birth cohorts, which were most exposed to the static labour market in the German Democratic Republic, were the most likely to switch jobs across firms within East Germany (Figure 6). This reallocation of labour within the East German labour market delivered significant aggregate wage gains.

Figure 6 Age at reunification and share of East-/West-born workers that change jobs between two years, 1992, 19931996, 19972003 and 20042013

Notes: Black: East-born workers; grey: West-born workers. For each cohort and each time period, and separately for East- and West-born individuals, we compute the share of workers that make a job-job move between two years. The top-left graph plots these computed probabilities as a function of age at reunification, for the first year for which we have data right after the reunification, 1992. The East-born workers, in black, are more likely to change firms. The differences between East- and West-born are more pronounced for relatively old individuals. The top-right graph plots the same probabilities averaged across the period 19931996. The bottom-left covers the period 19972003. The bottom-right the period 20042013. The young cohorts that enter the labour market after reunification behave the same, irrespective of their birthplace. Instead, the cohorts exposed to the German Democratic Republic labour market are more likely to change employer even 20 years after reunification.

Source: Universe of employees subject to social security from the IAB Employee History File.

Our work thus points to the following conclusion: moving people across space is difficult and costly. Reallocating workers to better jobs at their current location could be a more cost-effective avenue to increase aggregate wages, and even accelerate regional convergence.

Authors note: The views and opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily represent the views of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York or the Federal Reserve System. This study uses the weekly anonymous Establishment History Panel (Years 1975  2014) and the Linked Employer-Employee Data (LIAB) Longitudinal Model 1993-2014 (LIAB LM 9314). Data access was provided via onsite use at the Research Data Centre (FDZ) of the German Federal Employment Agency (BA) at the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) and remote data access. The study also uses data made available by the German Socio-Economic Panel Study at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), Berlin. Neither the original collectors of the data nor the archive bears any responsibility for the analyses or interpretations presented here.

References available at the original.
In 2020 we mark the 75th anniversary of the year World War II ended. A few weeks ago it was the 75th anniversary of the fire-bombing of Dresden, when at least 25,000 died. There was passing mention in the media, obligatory almost, as we all know about Dresden.

Today is Sunday, March 1 and if this article had appeared last weekend it would have been 75 years to the day since Pforzheim in southwestern Germany was bombed by a fleet of RAF Lancaster bombers.

Few outside Germany know anything about Pforzheim. On the evening of that day the raid lasted 22 minutes. In that time around 18,000 people were killed and at least the same number injured. The number of dead was around a third of the population. Two-thirds of the complete area of Pforzheim - from 80pc to 100pc of the inner city - were obliterated. The destruction was on a scale unmatched in the whole aerial destruction of the German cities. The town was of relatively little economic or military importance.

Most of the munitions dropped were incendiary bombs, so that in the crowded streets of the Altstadt, the inevitable fire storm resulted. Inevitable because this mass civilian death by fire was planned with the utmost technological precision. It worked, just as it had throughout the whole aerial war against German civilians that had preceded February and was to continue almost to the war's end with not far short of half a million dead. People were burned to death by the bombs in Pforzheim. They sought deliverance in the town's rivers but did not find it, for the rivers burned too, the phosphorus floating on the water.

How can we measure or understand this suffering (and this vengeance)? I turn to my own parents' experience of the bombing war in Britain to find some meaning, for the "remembrance" of anniversaries seems arbitrary and superficial. Anniversaries make us forget more than remember.

My father Johnny Joyce first left Ireland for England in 1929, my mother Kitty Bowe in 1932. There, in England, like as so many of his sort to fulfill again the ages-old task of the Irish labourer, "building England up", ironically my father was nearly killed in the tearing of Britain down. The irony was double, for he was injured by the German equivalent of the British bombers my mother helped make, when, during one of the Luftwaffe air raids on Portsmouth in 1941, he was buried alive for the best part of 24 hours. Several others were buried under the same pile of rubble. They died, he lived.

Portsmouth dockyards were a key German target. There, the earliest raids, in 1940-41, took most of the lives - 170 in January 1941, when 25,000 incendiary bombs were dropped, the water mains were fractured, and the city was a huge inferno, said to be visible from France.

In all the Portsmouth raids, up to 1944, 930 died and 2,837 were injured. One cannot help but notice the vast disparity between the British and German casualties. As many were killed in Pforzheim in one night as the whole of the air war dead in Britain outside London. By the end of the war Bomber Command, in one 24-hour period, had dropped more bombs on Germany than the tonnage dropped on London during all the months of the Blitz.

One of the tenets of the doctrine of just war is that violence be proportionate to the injuries suffered. The disproportion is obvious when the two air wars are compared. I am a British citizen and an Irish one. As the former I confess the shame of this.

Nonetheless, there were the 61,000 British dead of the German bombing, with 43,000 of them perishing between September 1940 and May 1941, the majority in the London Blitz. This my parents lived through, my father ignoring his father's injunctions to come home.

Before my birth, but not as far as I can work out my conception, my mother worked in the Handley Page factory in Cricklewood. There, in industrial north-west London, the immigrant Irish had clustered, drawn by the relatively high wartime wages in the factories, in her case wages in some excess of what was to be had as a domestic maid in the houses of the city's middle classes. She helped make the bombers that destroyed the German cities - the Halifax bomber though, not the Lancasters of the Pforzheim raid.

It has been estimated that perhaps over 15pc of the Republic's eligible population came to Britain to work in war production - my wife's parents among them, as well as mine. This was in Southampton, another obvious German target. And perhaps as many as 80,000 Irish fought for Britain, a good half from the South, mostly Catholics, and plenty of Catholics from the North, too.

If we scale this figure up with regards to population, it is quite astonishing. Most of the Southerners enlisting seem, however, to have been perfectly happy with official Irish neutrality, while themselves fighting on.

The first RAF bomber pilot to be shot down and killed in 1939 was Willie Murphy from Cork. The co-pilot of the last RAF bomber to be shot down over Germany, in May 1945, Sgt W Mackay, who was killed, was Irish, too. It was not until recent times that these people were recognised in Ireland, and even now the war workers and victims of the air war are little mentioned.

What meaning can I draw from these ironies and paradoxes? One conclusion is that the consequences of wars do not stop when the wars stop but that they go down through the generations, never-ending it seems at times. My generation grew up in the shadow of a war we did not directly experience but which cast a shadow over us, the shadow left by our parents' experiences and so many others like them, Irish and British (and all the other nationalities that crowded into London in those days). Even more "my generation" in Germany.

Our experiences were however nothing as compared with those of our parents. It is only recently in Germany that the children who had directly experienced the bombing themselves were remembered, innocents among the slaughter, the Kriegskinder so-called. As always, just as something is coming to an end it is remembered. Something to be thankful for but not much everything considered. In London there is not a single national monument to the civilian dead of the Blitz, never mind its children.

The silences of the war enveloped my childhood. My father never spoke of his ordeal, only of the doctor who saved his hands, the labourer's means of a livelihood. He died in my 17th year. The silent fathers of that generation: my bomber-injured father who "was never the same again" after Portsmouth. I realise now that he was probably suffering the mental as well as the physical effects of war, a soldier in the army of the silently afflicted.

One did not then have any understanding of "depression".

In Germany the medical profession rejected psychological interpretations of suffering for almost 20 years after the war ended. What was needed was "hardening" and blame was placed on the personality structure and the "intelligence" of the affected person. Mothers were blamed, the children themselves even, who were often held to be "abnormal". Only in 1960 did a German Federal Court allow compensation for psychological damage.

Things were little better in Britain. Until long after the war, too late for most when understanding arose, what had followed World War I - the imperative to "harden" - followed World War II, and if the numbers in Britain were fewer in that one, the suffering was the same, the forgetting the same. The silences still ring down the years.

'From Going To My Father's House: A History of My Times' (Verso, Spring 2021) by Patrick Joyce, Emeritus Professor of History at University of Manchester, www.patrickjoyce.info
A totally new feel and WOW as soon as you walk through the front doors awaits you! Guest reactions to the transformation is priceless. They cannot believe they walked into the same hotel from a year ago!

Guests of the Embassy Suites by Hilton Raleigh Durham Research Triangle

will now be able to experience a new sleek and modern feel during their stay. The 273-suite hotel in Cary, minutes from minutes from Research Triangle Park (RTP) and Raleigh Durham Int'l Airport, has completed a multi-million-dollar property renovation.

Enhancements have been made to the following areas:



Lobby: A complete transformation and contemporary feel greets you as you walk through the front door. Open design, offering a variety of seating areas, creating an intimate environment in a large, open, airy space. A new bar centric restaurant offers American fare and a variety of food and beverage options sure to satisfy your pallet.

Guest Rooms: Every suite has been completly redesigned. The new color scheme, carpeting, wall vinyl, tile, and furnishings are warm and welcoming. The new rooms are spacious and provide 49 and 55 wall mounted televisions, great work space, and numerous USB outlets throughout the suite. Ask us about our new suite, Five Feet to Fitness, a new Hilton design for the fitness conscious traveler.

Meeting Space: Over 29,000 sq. ft. of meeting space has all been renovated. The Carolina Ballroom totaling 12,800 sq. ft of meeting space has been updated with a new color palette of blues and greys with all new lighting. The Triangle Ballroom totaling 3,800 sq. ft. with three floor to ceiling windows is perfect for meetings and weddings of 150 or less.

Additional highlights of the hotel include complimentary made-to-order breakfast and evening refreshments, onsite business center, fitness center, and complimentary wireless internet access.

The hotel revealed the renovations on Wednesday, February 26, 2020 with a large contingency of meeting and event planners and their hotel guests.

Embassy Suites by Hilton Raleigh Durham Research Triangle is located at 201 Harrison Oaks Blvd, Cary, NC 27513. For more information, visit the Embassy Suites by Hilton Raleigh Durham Research Triangle website and connect on Facebook.

About Atrium Hospitality

Atrium Hospitality is ranked one of the nations largest hotel owners and operators. Headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia, the company oversees a portfolio of 85 hotels in 29 states, representing well-known brands such as Hilton, Marriott, and IHG, among others. With nearly 10,000 passionate associates, Atrium operates 21,595 guest rooms/suites and more than 3 million square feet of event space. Being a responsible community partner is a part of the Atrium culture, including supporting a range of civic and community activities. Atrium is proud to financially support the Clean the World initiative of shipping recycled hotel soap and plastic amenity bottles for distribution with humanitarian purposes in communities domestically and around the world. In addition, several Atrium properties nationwide participate in Project SEARCH, a nine-month school-to-work program for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. For more information about Atrium, visit http://www.atriumhospitality.com.

About Embassy Suites by Hilton

Embassy Suites by Hilton, one of Hiltons 14 market-leading brands, is dedicated to delivering what matters most to travelers. The full service, upscale brand offers two-room suites, free made-to-order breakfast, and a nightly two-hour reception with complimentary drinks and snacks. Both leisure and business travelers looking for a relaxed, yet sophisticated experience will feel right at home with brand-standard amenities like inviting atriums and complimentary 24-hour business and fitness centers. Embassy Suites by Hilton has 238 hotels with 48 in the pipeline. Hilton Honors members who book directly through preferred Hilton channels have access to instant benefits, including a flexible payment slider that allows members to choose nearly any combination of Points and money to book a stay, an exclusive member discount that cant be found anywhere else, free standard Wi-Fi, and digital amenities like digital check-in with room selection and Digital Key (select locations) available exclusively through the industry-leading Hilton Honors app. For more information, visit http://www.embassysuites.com or news.embassysuites.com. Connect online with Embassy Suites by Hilton on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
A tribal leader was arrested on Sunday after he allegedly referred to mythological sage Parashuram as a terrorist from Greece who tried to destroy local indigenous communities.

Ramkrishna Jalmi was arrested by Crime Branch officials after multiple complaints were filed accusing him of offending religious sentiments of Hindus in his speech at an anti-CAA rally held on Saturday in South Goa district.

He has been arrested and booked under Sections 295 (insulting religion) and 153A (promoting communal disharmony). He will be produced before the magistrate tomorrow morning, Pankaj Kumar Singh, the Superintendent of Police (Crime Branch) told reporters.

Nearly a dozen persons filed criminal complaints against Jalmi on Sunday one of whom was Satyavijay Naik, a local BJP leader.

In his complaint, Naik has demanded action against Jalmi for hurting my religious sentiments by portraying Parashuram as a terrorist in an anti-CAA meet at Benaulim on February 29, 2020.

Jalmi spoke to DH just before his arrest. He said that he stood by his words spoken at the rally. Parashuram came from outside and tormented the local indigenous people like us tribals, Jalmi said.

According to local legend, Parashurams arrow pushed the waters back into the Arabian Sea and created the land of Goa.
Authorities searching for Louis D. Coleman III used information from the OnStar vehicle tracking system inside the car he was using to find him in Delaware, days after investigators say he kidnapped 23-year-old Jassy Correia in Boston.

The use of the OnStar system is detailed in a motion filed by defense lawyers in Colemans criminal case as he remains in custody on a federal charge of kidnapping resulting in death.

Coleman is accused of killing Correia and is facing a sentence of death or life in prison. His case is ongoing in Boston federal court.

Correia went missing Feb. 24, 2019, after she celebrated her birthday at the Boston nightclub, Venu. Her father reported her missing to Boston police on Feb. 26.

Investigators reviewed surveillance video in Boston and discovered Correia left the area around the club with Coleman in his car in the morning hours of Feb. 24, 2019, according to authorities.

A few days later, on Feb. 28, 2019, authorities went to Colemans apartment in Providence. Coleman and Correia were not there when police arrived.

Federal investigators said they obtained surveillance footage showing Coleman dragging Correias limp body into the apartment building, onto an elevator and into his apartment on Feb. 24, 2019.

Law enforcement initiated an emergency request with OnStar to track Colemans car after they entered his apartment, Colemans lawyers wrote in a motion seeking records from OnStar and T-Mobile.

They (law enforcement) were provided location information for Colemans car from OnStar, the defense motion reads. That location information was provided to other officers. Based on the location information provided to law enforcement from OnStar, law enforcement was able to locate Colemans car in Delaware and initiated a motor vehicle stop.

Colemans car was stopped on Interstate 95 near Wilmington, Delaware on Feb. 28, 2019.

Authorities ordered him out of the car and then asked him if anyone else was inside.

Shes in the trunk, Coleman allegedly responded.

Correias body was in the cars truck, wrapped in a sofa cushion which was inside a black trash bag and inside a large suitcase.

Federal prosecutors said Correia died from strangulation and blunt force trauma. The mother of a young girl had been beaten and bound with duct tape. Her body was covered with what appeared to be baking soda.

Colemans lawyers want OnStar and T-Mobile to release information on how law enforcement gained warrantless access to real-time location data. Investigators also tried to obtain location information for Colemans cell phone while they search for him.

The two companies told Colemans lawyers a court order is needed to release any information. The defense lawyers are asking a federal judge to issue subpoenas to the companies.

During the investigation, authorities said Coleman was caught on video going inside his apartment on Feb. 26, 2019 with several shopping bags. He bought protective suits, duct tape, candles, a mask, surgical gloves, safety goggles and a bleach bath from a Providence Walmart, authorities said.

Coleman was then spotted on Feb. 27, 2019, leaving his apartment with a new suitcase.

Law enforcement found hooded coveralls and respirator masks inside Colemans apartment and also located more evidence in a dumpster outside Colemans apartment building, federal records said.

After the traffic stop, investigators said they found a duffle bag, a gas container, clothing and other items in the trunk.

DNA evidence was taken from Colemans fingernails after his arrest.

While in custody in Delaware, Coleman told investigators a bandage on the right side of his face was from the girl, records said.

Related content:
Former prime minister Margaret Thatcher toasting Julie Goodyear and the cast of Coronation Street (PA)

Margaret Thatcher kept a clothing diary in her latter years as prime minister and named many of her outfits after Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev and some after BBC broadcaster Terry Wogan, newly-released documents show.

She apparently began to keep a note of what she wore in 1988, and diary entries for 1990 record that she wore her Pink Chanel Gorbachev to Coronation Street and her Wogan Burgundy to the Bank of England.

Wogan, who interviewed Mrs Thatcher in January 1990, appeared to have several outfits named after him including a Wogan Long and a Wogan Short, though these may have been variations on a single outfit.

Soviet politician Mr Gorbachev had the most outfits named after him, followed by US President Ronald Reagan.

Its interesting that so many were named for their association with Gorbachev, said Chris Collins, from the Margaret Thatcher Archive Trust. She really was showing off on her Soviet trips  glamour was part of her approach to ending the Cold War.

Margaret Thatcher outside the Rovers Return with William Roache, who played Ken Barlow, on her visit to the Coronation Street set (PA)

Reagan was second in the naming stakes, while (US President George HW) Bush, (Chancellor of Germany Helmut) Kohl and (French President Francois) Mitterrand predictably got nothing at all.

In one 1990 diary entry, Mrs Thatcher is recorded as wearing her Black Dull Suit to meet President Bush.

When the prime minister formally tendered her resignation to the Queen on November 28 1990, her clothing diary states she wore her Burgundy New York W Velvet Collar.

Mr Collins said he believes Mrs Thatchers first clothing diary was in 1988 and she cranks up her whole clothing operation after the visit to Moscow in 1987, on her historic tour of the Soviet Union.

Shes suddenly, I think, aware of the power of clothes, he said. She was interested before and very keen on things like British Fashion Week.

She begins then to see that this is actual serious politics and shes got more clothes and shes monitoring what shes doing with them.

It comes together.

He described it as the new regime of Mrs Thatchers dress adviser, Margaret King, who was also a director of the British fashion house Aquascutum.

Possibly Margaret King said to her  You should keep a proper note of what you wore and then we can juggle it around and shift this and that, he said.

He continued: Its interesting that she chooses to name things after (Terry Wogan) but, for example, she chose to name a dress when she met President Mitterand at Waddesdon Park in May in 1990 but she named it Waddesdon.

Only certain men got the accolade of having a dress named after them.

He said clothes were a great joy for the prime minister.

She had them very carefully looked after and, in fact, in her office there was a huge room where her driver sat  this is after leaving Number 10, he said.

It was a very big room and it was full of clothing lines and all of the clothes had their own zipped-up bags with the names on.

There were maybe 200.

Huge numbers of these clothes, vast numbers, and she knew every one, no question.

They were lovingly looked after and they were a great joy to her. I mean, she loved clothes, they were a real pleasure in her day.
Gwyneth Paltrow sung her husband Brad Falchuk's praises in a heart-warming tribute to the birthday boy on Instagram on Sunday.

The 47-year-old Goop founder commended the Glee co-creator for being 'a man of infinite kindness, integrity and love' on his 'first day of 49' in a thoughtful caption of a photo of Falchuk smiling in front of beautiful, mountain landscape.

While finding just the right words to express her affectionate for his unique qualities, the Oscar winner spoke about his abundance of 'true rationality and patience.'

Birthday boy: Gwyneth Paltrow commended her husband Brad Falchuk for being 'a man of infinite kindness, integrity and love' on his 'first day of 49' in a lengthy caption of a photo of him smiling in front of beautiful landscape on Sunday

She added: 'I have never met anyone with his level of curiosity (especially about WWII) and interest in the world and in others.'

While she didn't tag the photo's location, the photo of him appears to be taken in front of the red rocks in Sedona, Arizona.

Before concluding the post, she wrote: 'I love him more today than I ever have, but not as much as I will tomorrow. Happy birthday my love.'

Blissful: While finding just the right words to express her affectionate for the number of qualities she admires of his, she also pointed to his abundance of 'true rationality and patience'

'I love him more today than I ever have, but not as much as I will tomorrow. Happy birthday my love,' she wrote in the birthday homage to her second husband

While Paltrow, who was previously married to Chris Martin from 2003 to 2016, stole the show with her tender words on Sunday, Falchuk was quite the wordsmith when he celebrated his wife's birthday in September.

'She's the greatest human being ever,' he captioned a picture of The Politician star smiling into the camera in front of the ocean on her birthday. 'She's a relentless mother and step mother, the BEST wife, all of her friends know she's their champion and no one wears clothes as well as she does.'

He added: 'She's endlessly fascinating, succeeds at everything she does and drinks whiskey and eats fried food yet still manages to look like that...I know I'm not the only person to say, thank God you were born. I love you.'

Online love: While Paltrow stole the show with her tender words on Sunday, Falchuk was quite the wordsmith when he wished his wife a Happy Birthday in September

In January, Falchuk admitted in an interview with Harper's Bazaar, he is still completely 'struck by' his other half's 'real' persona behind her public one.

'She's stunning and she's charming and she's completely disarming,' the producer revealed. 'We had similar enough backgrounds - a little bit Jewish, a little bit East Coast, her dad was a TV producer - and so we just sort of developed this really lovely friendship.'

He added: 'There's a public Gwyneth Paltrow, and there are all these ideas about who that is. And the reality is, the real Gwyneth Paltrow is so much more amazing, so much more than that, and that's the one that I keep getting struck by and can't believe I'm married to.'

The couple became engaged in 2017 after more than three years together after meeting on the set of Glee.

They exchanged vows at her East Hampton, New York, home in September 2018.
Australian UFC fighter Megan Anderson celebrated a big victory in the Octagon by pouring a beer into a dirty shoe and downing the drink.

Anderson beat Brazil's Norma Dumont on UFC Fight Night 169 in Norfolk, Virginia, on Sunday (AEDT time) to take her MMA record to 11 wins and four losses.

As Anderson left the ring she was filmed taking part in a 'shoey' with excited fans.

'This must run in the water, or I should say beer, or Fosters down in Australia because it's Megan Anderson pumping up the crowd with a shoey on her way to the back,' the commentator said.

Australian UFC fighter Megan Anderson (pictured) celebrated her most recent win in the UFC with a 'shoey' in front of adoring fans

The video was posted to the UFC's official Twitter page and immediately garnered the attention of fans.

'Australians, you guys rock!' one fan wrote.

'Thats the kinda girl that you just cant help but love,' a second added.

'Makes me proud to be Aussie,' another replied.

Anderson took out Dumont in the first round with a huge knockout punch.

She was awarded the $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus for the entertaining finish.

Anderson won her fight with a brutal first round knockout of her opponent

'A little bird tells me Amanda Nunes is looking to defend her title sometime soon, I'm assuming you may interested in that?' commentatory Michael Bisping asked the towering Aussie after the fight.

After hearing the crowd roar at the prospect, Anderson was more than happy to stoke the flames of a potential title fight.

'I am the only featherweight that is on a win streak, so lets f***** go!' Anderson said.

After leaving the octagon she took to her Twitter account with two simple words accompanied by a photo from her win.

'New era...' she wrote.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-29 20:07:01|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

A destroyed vehicle is seen in the city of Maarat al-Numan in the northwestern province of Idlib, Syria, on Jan. 28, 2020. (Xinhua)

They would continue to fight terrorists identified by the United Nations Security Council.



MOSCOW, Feb. 29 (Xinhua) -- Foreign and defense officials from Russia and Turkey have reiterated their commitment to "reducing tensions on the ground" in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Saturday.

The agreement was reached during the last round of consultations between Russian and Turkish delegations held from Wednesday to Friday in Ankara, the ministry said in a statement.

It said both sides continued to consider concrete steps to achieve lasting stability in the Idlib de-escalation zone by ensuring the full implementation of the memorandums signed on May 4, 2017 and Sept. 17, 2018, respectively.

They would continue to fight terrorists identified by the United Nations Security Council, the statement added.

Civilians inside and outside the Idlib de-escalation zone must be protected and emergency humanitarian assistance must be provided to all those in need, it said. 
The national census being conducted this year is important in many respects, but the use of its population count results has perhaps the greatest single effect on American citizens. The census will be followed in 2021 by the Pennsylvania State Legislatures deciding how voting districts will be redrawn to create Congressional districts, as well as state legislative districts.

Our national ideal is that the citizens choose their representatives.

The reality in the gerrymandered system that exists in Pennsylvania is that the political majority of legislators choose who will be their constituents.

Gerrymandering, the manipulation of district boundaries by the majority party in control of the State Legislature to maintain its political power, effectively neutralizes the votes of any citizen not in the majority party.

Currently the states districting is under a 2018 State Supreme Court decision which forced the revision of district maps because of gerrymandering.

But those maps will be redrawn again in 2021 by a five-person legislative committee, unless recent PA House and Senate legislation is passed that will create an 11-person independent citizens commission. The independent commission will draw the maps to eliminate gerrymandering.

Fair Districts PA, a nonpartisan organization seeking to abolish gerrymandering, has been working for three years to establish an independent commission. Four current bills, House Bills 22 and 23 and Senate bills 1022 and 1023, aim to replace the majority-dominated process and create an independent commission.

In my state House district, PA 13, Rep. John Lawrence has posted a YouTube video on his website expressing his support of the independent commission concept and opposition to gerrymandering. He is not, however, a cosponsor of the bills. It remains to be seen what his vote on the House bills may be.

Six of the 17 municipalities in his district have adopted a resolution supporting reform of the redistricting process: Londonderry, London Grove Township, Oxford Borough, Penn Township, West Grove Borough, and West Nottingham Township.

Efforts at having a fairer redistricting process continue in other municipalities in Rep. Lawrences PA-13.

West Fallowfield Township supervisors voted 2-0 in 2018 not to adopt a resolution supporting an independent commission, ceding their power as elected township officials to Rep. Lawrences domain. They declined to put consideration of a Fair Districts PA resolution on their February 19, 2020 agenda and relegated the issue to the visitors comment period, deferring once again to Lawrences position as a state legislator.

In order for citizens to ensure the power of their votes, they must act to eliminate gerrymandering. They must make their local township or borough officials, not only their state representatives, aware of their concerns. Only by speaking out can they correct inequities.

Kim Chappell

Parkesburg
Palestinians say Israeli plans for settlement expansions have been advancing for decades.

Israel is preparing to hold its third election in a year on Monday.

The vote will be the first since the announcement of a US plan for the Middle East which has been roundly rejected by the Palestinians.

They say neither of the two main candidates has a Palestinian state on their agenda, and they are competing to take even more of their rights away.

Al Jazeeras Nida Ibrahim reports from the occupied West Bank.
After an appeals court on Friday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump's "Remain in Mexico" policy, a stand off at the US Mexico border.

U.S. authorities said they closed the busy Ciudad Juarez-El Paso border bridge after more than a hundred mostly Cuban migrants tried to cross in response to the court ruling.

Put in place just a year ago, the program - known as the Migrant Protection Protocols or MPP - has already forced nearly 60,000 people to be sent back to Mexico as they wait for hearings in immigration courts.

There, they are vulnerable to kidnapping, rape, robbery and other crimes while living in sometimes unsanitary conditions.

But the Trump administration went to the courts to request a pause in the temporary block, which was was granted, putting the policy back into effect as the administration appeals to the Supreme Court.

The policy suspension and then quick reversal caused whiplash among those who had hoped to escape Mexico.

(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) CUBAN MIGRANT, HECTOR, SAYING:

"We are waiting that to open the bridge to get to the United States because Mexico is not a safe country for us, none of Latin America country. We are waiting to be opened (the border bridge) because we are victims of abuse, kidnappings. The police take our money."

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found the plaintiffs, who included 11 asylum seekers and several immigration advocacy groups, were likely to succeed in their argument that the program violated U.S. immigration law and international obligations on the treatment of asylum seekers.

If that happens it would be a major blow to Trump, who has declared the policy a success in reducing the flow of hundreds of thousands of people from Central America into the United States.
A mother who was jailed after leading police on a high speed chase with her daughter in the back seat was pictured snuggling up to a Married at First Sight star days after announcing plans to write an autobiography.

Margarita Tomovska was released from Emu Plains Correctional Centre in western Sydney after serving four months behind bars for leading police on a 232km/h chase in 2018.

She was travelling in a $450,000 Mercedes at the time with her unrestrained three-year-old in the backseat, earning herself the unofficial moniker of 'Mercedes Mum'.

Upon her release, she announced to her 69,000 followers on Instagram that she plans to cash in on the title with a book called 'Instagram to Inmate: The life of Mercedes Mum'.

Tomovska shared a picture of herself alongside MAFS 2020 cast member Mikey Pembroke, who is currently embroiled in a war of words with his on-screen love interest, Natasha Spencer.

Tomovska shared a picture of herself alongside MAFS 2020 cast member Mikey Pembroke

Ms Tomovska led police on a 10km chase in a $450,000 dark silver Mercedes AMG in November 2018 where she reached a top speed of 232km/h with an unrestrained three-year-old girl in the car

The couple have both spoken of their strained relationship and are no longer together post-production.

In the picture, Pembroke and Tomovska cuddled up to one another while he planted a kiss on her head.

Tomovska edited a red heart onto the image before sharing it with her followers.

The 28-year-old has been active on social media since she was released from prison, keeping her followers updated with different aspects of her life since coming home.

She told her followers about her plans to write a book, saying 'its about time the truth came out'.

Mikey Pembroke is currently embroiled in a war of words with his on-screen love interest, Natasha Spencer. The couple have both spoken of their strained relationship and are no longer together post-production

'I have decided to write a book that reflects on my life to date and the trials and tribulations and goals for the future,' her post read.

'What you see on social media is not always a reflection of someone's life. Fashion, cars, lifestyle is just a facade.'

The mother-of-one was sentenced to 18 months jail in October 2019, with nine months to serve before being eligible for parole.

She lost a bid to serve her sentence from home in November 2019, but had her non parole period slashed by five months.

Judge Andrew Haesler reduced her nine month non parole period to four months, despite saying it was 'not deserved'.

Tomovska posted a picture with her daughter following her release, with caption 'reunited with the love of my life'
Nirbhaya convicts left no stone unturned to escape gallows, failed to get relief

Squirmed for a bit before going still: The final moments of Nirbhayas killers

Nirbhaya convict Pawan Gupta urges SC to hold open hearing of curative plea

India

oi-Deepika S

New Delhi, Mar 01: Pawan Gupta, one of the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape case, has moved the Supreme Court requesting an open-court hearing of his curative plea, his lawyer AP Singh has informed.

The four convicts - Mukesh, Vinay, Pawan and Akshay - are scheduled to be hanged on March 3 at 6 AM in Tihar jail.

On February 28, he had moved a curative plea in the Supreme Court on Friday seeking commutation of his death penalty to life imprisonment.

He has also sought a stay on the execution of the black warrant issued by the trial court for the hanging.

Gupta, against whom the death warrant has been issued for execution along with three other condemned prisoners on March 3, has filed the curative plea, saying that the death penalty should not awarded to him, his counsel A P Singh said.

He is the lone convict who has not exhausted his legal remedies of filing a curative petition-last legal remedy available to a person-and subsequent mercy plea with the President.

The apex court had earlier dismissed separate pleas filed by Mukesh and Vinay challenging the rejection of their mercy petitions by the President.

Akshay has not yet challenged the rejection of his mercy petition.

On December 16, 2012, a 23-year-old physiotherapy intern, who came to be known as 'Nirbhaya' (fearless), was gang raped and savagely assaulted in a moving bus in South Delhi. She died after a fortnight.

Six people, including the four convicts and a juvenile, were named as accused. Ram Singh, the sixth accused, allegedly committed suicide in Tihar jail days after the trial began in the case. The juvenile was released in 2015 after spending three years in a correctional home.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Sunday, March 1, 2020, 17:00 [IST]
Slamming AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi for his recent remarks on Prime Minister over Delhi violence, BJP leader Lanka Dinakar on Sunday said that the Prime Minister focuses on work rather than giving out statements.

"Owaisi must understand that Modi Ji never speaks, he is work-oriented. He works for the purpose and results rather than giving provocative speeches like the one given by AIMIM MLA Waris Pathan," Dinakar told ANI here.

"SIT is doing its work and hundreds of cases have been registered against the persons involved have also been identified. The investigation is going on in a legitimate way."

Further targeting Owaisi for his continued silence on the provocative statements issued by his party MLA, Dinakar said, "the nation is questioning Owaisi, why is he silent on the comments of Waris Pathan, which added to the communal violence in Delhi. First Owaisi has to give answers to how such statements can be given in front of him."

Earlier today Owaisi had launched a scathing attack on the BJP saying that the responsibility of the recently erupted Delhi violence lies at the doorstep of the ruling party's government.

Asaduddin Owaisi, addressed the public at the 62 Foundation Day Ceremony of his party AIMIM earlier today.

"Today's speech is not for the public but for Prime Minister of Indian. Indian Prime Minister has not spoken anything about the Delhi violence. The violence-affected areas are not far from your house, it only takes 20 to 30 minutes drive from the Prime Minister's residence. Do you know that more than 80 people have been shot in the violence? You have formed SIT to probe the incidents but SIT will not do Justice," said Owaisi.

"The Delhi riot responsibility lies at the doorstep of BJP Government. It is your failure. You have closed your eyes. You have formed SIT to probe the Delhi violence but will they do Justice? Will the merciless get justice or the victims? Since you became the Prime Minister there is hatred against Muslims. Why is there so much hatred among the police against Muslims?" he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A fake ID card, troubled dreams and a mysterious box Ariana Neumann suspected her dad had a hidden past. But it took her two decades to unravel his astonishing story of courage, survival and tragic loss

Ariana with her father Hans in 1973

As a child growing up in Caracas, Venezuela, Ariana Neumann was desperate to be a detective. At the age of eight, she founded an amateur sleuthing society called the Mysterious Boot Club, appointing herself president and roping in her best friend Caroline and cousin Rodrigo as vice presidents.

Her Czech-born father Hans, a wealthy and prominent industrialist and newspaper proprietor, indulged his only daughters early vocation. Hed humour me and say: I think we have this mystery. I have these clues, recalls Ariana. Were both geeky, and we loved solving logic puzzles and crosswords together. Later, wed discuss books, history and politics. But he never asked me personal questions  in my 20s, for example, he never asked if I had a boyfriend.

One day, after Rodrigo reported seeing Hans moving a mysterious-looking box from a locked drawer to a cupboard in the library, Ariana went to investigate. Inside the box, underneath an expired Venezuelan passport, she found a pink identity card printed in a foreign language, belonging to someone named Jan Sebesta. But the card featured a youthful photograph of her own father, above a stamp bearing the face of a man she vaguely recognised but knew symbolised evil: Adolf Hitler.

Confused and terrified, she carefully put the box back where she found it; the next time she looked it was gone. She would not see the box again for more than 20 years, until a few months after her father had died, aged 80, in September 2001.

Ariana today

Ariana, by then 29, married and living in London, where she worked as a journalist, could not attend her fathers funeral, being just three weeks from giving birth to her first child. In the spring of 2002, the family gathered in Caracas for a memorial service. Afterwards, her fathers long-serving assistant took Ariana into his study, where she revealed he had left her folders full of letters  every letter and note shed ever sent him, and each one from her mother, from whom hed been divorced for 15 years. Underneath the piles of personal letters, hed also left her the box containing the identity card. Now, however, that box was stuffed full of papers, documents and photographs.

Over the next 20 years, Ariana became a detective again, diving into an investigation of her own family and painstakingly stitching together a network of people shed known nothing about. She would discover that her father, Hans Neumann, was a Czechoslovakian Jew who for two years had lived as Jan Sebesta, a chemist, in Berlin, at the very centre of Hitlers Third Reich. Now her detective work has become a book. When Time Stopped: A Memoir of My Fathers War and What Remains is a meticulous reconstruction of her fathers incredible story, that of his family  25 members of whom were killed in the Holocaust  and of those people brave enough to help him survive.

When I was first given it, I just thought, OK, so this was my fathers box. I need to know whats in it, she says. But I hadnt appreciated how rare it is, even among Holocaust survivors, to have such a trove of documents.

I think he was a little paranoid, so he kept all these papers, she continues. But if you had spent two years in the middle of the Nazi empire as a Czech Jew, fearing that your cover was going to be blown at any second, that is going to change your psyche and make you paranoid.

Ariana and I meet in New York City, where her mother has lived for 35 years, and where Ariana, 49, and her British husband Andrew, a criminal barrister, keep a modest apartment on Manhattans Upper East Side. She is slight and pale, with a mane of wavy brown hair, and is wearing a ring that was made from a copper pipe by her grandfather Otto for his daughter-in-law Zdenka, on a chain around her neck. Zdenka was instrumental in smuggling food and home comforts into the concentration camp Terezin, north of Prague, where Otto and his wife Ella were held for several years before being transported to the infamous extermination camp Auschwitz.

The detective part of this, solving the puzzles, was just wonderful, and the getting to know my grandparents part was 100 per cent amazing, says Ariana. But, of course, finding out how they died was awful and heart-wrenching.

Though shed had a career in newspapers, Ariana never seriously considered writing a book  I didnt think my writing was quite good enough, she shrugs  and her investigations into her fathers story were just for me and the kids (she and Andrew have three teenage children aged 18, 16 and 14). But, in 2016, in the course of her research, she tracked down a cousin in California, who knew his family was from the Czech Republic, but had no idea that they had died in the war or that they were Jewish, she says. As I started telling him the stories, he said: Will you please write this down for all of us?

Ariana also uncovered these amazing, beautiful stories and so many wonderful, courageous, remarkable people who had helped my family, and I figured the stories were worth telling.

Growing up an only child (her father  more than 20 years older than her glamorous, Catholic, Venezuelan mother Maria  had a son from a previous marriage who was 23 years her senior), she had no idea that one entire side of her family was Jewish either. As I look back on it now, I think: How could I not have known? but religion was really not a topic of conversation in the house, she says.

The identity card Ariana found with her fathers photo but a different name

She remembers, as a child, climbing into her parents bed after having a nightmare, and hearing her father screaming in the night in a language she couldnt understand; her mother reassured her that he had nightmares too. Otherwise, her fathers past was simply not a topic of conversation, even with her mother. I think it was just too big, she says today. When they were separating, my mother went to see a therapist who said: The person who really needs therapy is Hans, but ironically it would destroy him to talk about it, because whatever happened to him is just too overwhelming.

Hans was born on 9 February 1921 in Prague, where his father Otto owned a paint factory with his brother Richard. The family was Jewish, but secular and liberal. Nonetheless, they were alarmed by the ongoing restrictions in Germany, which dehumanised Jews and stripped them of their civil rights as the 1930s rolled on. In 1933, Jews were banned from working in state-sector jobs in law, farming, publishing and journalism; in 1935, the Nuremberg laws forbade Jews from citizenship and prohibited marriage or sexual relationships between Jews and Aryan Germans. By 1941, Jews in Nazi-occupied areas were forced to surrender all stocks, bonds, jewellery and precious metals; they were only permitted to keep wedding rings and gold teeth. In September 1941, all Jews in Bohemia, in the West of Czechoslovakia, were forced to wear a yellow Star of David to identify themselves.

Hans with Ariana's mother Maria, 1980

Theyre minute laws, and what are you going to rebel against? Ariana asks me rhetorically. The fact that you have to turn in your radio? That you cant have a dog any more? That you cant practise your trade, or that your children cant go to school and are not allowed to play outside? Or the fact that you have to hand in your jewellery? You weaken people, and they lose their sense of self.

In 1990, shortly after the Velvet Revolution brought the end of Communism in Czechoslovakia, Ariana visited Prague with her father, who had not been back to the city of his birth for over 40 years. He was characteristically controlled and buttoned-up until they visited an unremarkable, unkempt group of buildings at the end of a set of train tracks, where Hans clutched the wire mesh fence and sobbed silently, but explained nothing. Many years later, Ariana discovered that it was the old Bubny station, where Hans had last seen his parents, separated from them as they were processed and herded on to transport to Terezin.

Her father, having narrowly escaped being sent to the camp, was aware that the clock was ticking for him too, and embarked on an ambitious plan  to hide in plain sight. Nobody, he reasoned, would look for him in the centre of Berlin. With the help of his girlfriend Mila, 21-year-old Hans doctored Milas identity card, replaced her picture with his own, and created Jan Sebesta.

In the spring of 2018, Ariana re-enacted her fathers train journey from Prague to Berlin. That was really difficult, she admits. I know that Berlin is a vibrant, wonderful, inclusive city now, but I got there and I had to really fight this urge to turn around and take the next train back. I felt that I really couldnt cope with being there, imagining how terrified he must have been.

Father and daughter, 1976

On reaching Berlin in 1943, with help from his schoolfriend Zdenek, her father sought out work as a chemist in a paint factory and found accommodation close by. The factory was run by loyal Nazi party members and was crucial to the German war effort. During his time in Berlin, Jan was also forced to become a volunteer fireman, barely escaping with his life while putting out blazes in the aftermath of the RAFs heavy bombing raids on the city.

There were close shaves, including when his factory boss asked the Gestapo for clearance to promote him, which involved an investigation into his past. Fortunately, Jan Sebesta had never had a criminal record, been involved in student protests or expressed opinions critical of the Reich. More fortunately, the question was never posed as to whether the fictitious Jan Sebesta had ever truly existed. Jan was even deployed by the factory on a mission to Prague for a week, to visit some suppliers, and, the boss said, to let him see his old friends. Hans, however, faked an illness on arrival in his home town and hid in an apartment for fear of being recognised.

Hans, left, and his friend Zdenek, who helped him find a new identity, at Berlins famous Tiergarten, 1943

In the spring of 1945, after being temporarily blinded by chemicals in the factory, and with the Third Reich crumbling, Hans returned to Prague. There, he married Mila, whod been critical in his survival, and restored the familys paint factory to productivity. But the Communists were seizing power in Czechoslovakia, and several countries, including Venezuela, were offering refugee status. In February 1949, Hans, Mila and their infant son Michal left Europe for Caracas.

Mila and Hanss marriage did not last, though they remained close friends; Ariana recalls meeting her in Caracas as a child. By the 1960s, Hans had done well for himself, not only making money in paint and, later, food, but also helping to found venerable cultural institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art.

Arianas mother, she says, has only read certain sections of the book. Its very emotional for her, because even though they divorced, she was married to him for a very long time and they loved each other deeply. I think its difficult when you discover that someone so close to you had all these secrets.

Hanss life, however, will never be secret again. Ariana will be donating the familys artifacts to a museum; she has four separate institutions competing to archive and display the results of her extensive investigations.

And the stories of her father keep coming. I gave a talk in Boston yesterday and a woman in the audience started talking about my father, and I realised she had met him in Venezuela, she says. This woman said: I completely understand why all these people were so kind to your father and I dont think its because they were brave. I think its because your father was so engaging and you just wanted to be around him and you wanted to help him.

There was definitely something engaging about my father, laughs Ariana. But I also like to think people helped him because they were brave and doing the right thing.

Arianas book When Time Stopped: A Memoir of My Fathers War and What Remains is published by Scribner, price 16.99. To order a copy for 12.50 with free p&p until 31 March, call 01603 648155 or go to mailshop.co.uk
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Friday said that his government is taking advise form legal experts on how to deal with the IT raids undertaken by the orders of the central government without informing the state government.

Hitting out at the BJP government against the IT Department's raids in the state, on several people including, CM's close aid and Raipur Mayor Ajaz Dhebar and other senior IAS officers, Baghel told reporters, "Centre is telling us nothing. Chhattisgarh is a Naxal affected state. If someone happens to raid a place dressed as Police or Army, how will we come to know. Who will take the responsibility then? We are now consulting the legal experts as what further action can be initiated in the matter."

"For the past four days, the Income Tax (IT) Department has been raiding without giving any information to the state government. While taking such action, the centre must keep the state government in loop. It's unfortunate they failed to do that," he added.

Chief Minister Baghel also accused the BJP of avenging its recent defeats in the state Assembly elections and panchayat elections.

"It's all because the recent election defeat they have faced. There was plenty of corruption case took place during the Raman Singh government. Did any of the central agencies take any action against them?" he added.

He further said: "Raman Singh's (BJP leader and former CM) son named had featured in the Panama Papers yet no action was initiated against him. Former Pakistan Prime Minister (Nawaz Sharif) has been jailed for it, but no action has been taken against him by our government."

On Thursday, the I-T Department had conducted raids at 25 premises, including those of Congress leader and Raipur Mayor Ajaz Dhebar and senior IAS officers in the state. The IT department team then on Friday raided the Bhilai residence of Soumya Chaurasia, the Deputy Secretary of Baghel.

Officials raided properties of Ajaz Dhebar, his brother Anwar Dhebar and liquor baron Pappu Bhatiya. Searches were also conducted on the premises of senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers, Vivek Dhand and Anil Tuteja. Dhand is also a former Chief Secretary of the state.

Following the raids, the state unit of Congress held a protest on Saturday. Baghel had also alleged that the Central government had ordered the raids to destabilise his government.

"The government is not against any investigation into corruption cases but the officials should have informed us before coming out on the streets with armed forces," Baghel told reporters on Saturday.

According to sources, the Income Tax Department had to source extra machines for counting notes. Cash and jewellery, as well as information of bogus documents of many companies, have been allegedly found in the raids.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Amakeshift bamboo gate and a few tired men guard a narrow lane in northeast Delhis Chaman Park. This is where several hundred women and children who managed to flee with their lives and little more from the neighbouring Shiv Vihar, an area that had still not been sanitised by the police, are camping. Their menfolk are sleeping in the masjid in the neighbouring street and spend their time standing guard over their families.

Local residents have offered living space, food, even medical help to them. They wonder how long they can sustain this effort. Also the conditions are so crowded ...
Washington

March is crunch time for Democratic presidential candidates, with a nominee likely to emerge over the next several weeks, if not sooner.

Nearly two-thirds of the party's national delegates are up for grabs in a 30-day time period starting with Saturday's South Carolina primary. The biggest prizes come on Tuesday, when 1,344 delegates will be at stake in 14 states and American Samoa.

If one candidate can emerge from Super Tuesday with a significant lead in the delegate count, it would be very difficult for anyone to catch up. If that same candidate racks up big victories the following two weeks, when 10 more states and the Northern Mariana Islands have contests, the race would be all but over.

Bernie Sanders is the clear front-runner after winning New Hampshire and Nevada, and essentially tying with Pete Buttigieg in Iowa. Sanders was projected to finish second behind Joe Biden in Saturday's South Carolina Democratic primary, but if any of the other candidates hope to stop the Vermont senator, they have to start with a big showing on Tuesday.

"Starting with Super Tuesday, we shift from the momentum race to the delegate race," Virginia Tech political scientist Caitlin Jewitt said in an email. She said during the next month, "if Sanders can rapidly amass delegates and expand his delegate lead, it is more likely that his competitors will begin to see his nomination as inevitable and withdraw from the race."

It takes 1,991 pledged delegates to win the Democratic nomination on the first ballot at the party's national convention this summer. The first three contests yielded only a handful of delegates. Before allocating South Carolina's delegates, Sanders was leading the pack with 45, followed by Buttigieg with 25 delegates. Biden figures to add significantly to his 15 delegates with a victory Saturday, while Elizabeth Warren (eight) and Amy Klobuchar (seven) continue to trail.

The bustling field helps Sanders, and it's going to get more crowded on Tuesday, when former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg is on ballots for the first time.

Democrats award delegates proportionally, and candidates must get at least 15 percent of the vote, either statewide or in individual congressional districts, to win delegates. The system rewards top candidates in a crowded field and then makes it hard to catch them once the field shrinks.

Here's why:

In a crowded field, several candidates will get votes but not enough to break the 15 percent threshold. That leaves more delegates for the top candidates. For example, in Nevada, Sanders got 47 percent of the vote and 67 percent of the delegates  a total of 24. That's because Warren and Buttigieg won votes but not enough to get many delegates. Buttigieg ended up with three delegates, and Warren left Nevada with none.

"Given Sanders' strength in the national polls, the next 30 days could deliver him the nomination," said Louisiana State University political scientist Josh Darr. "If other candidates don't drop out, he will have a clear plurality of delegates by April, and it will be very difficult for the party to pick someone else, even if there is a contested convention in Milwaukee."

Buttigieg's campaign is already conceding defeat on Super Tuesday, saying the map, which includes huge states such as California and Texas, favors Sanders. In a memo to supporters this week, Buttigieg campaign manager Mike Schmuhl said the campaign's goal is to keep Sanders from building an insurmountable lead.

"Bernie Sanders will be the delegate leader after the March 3rd contests, but whether that makes him the prohibitive nominee is highly dependent on Pete's performance," said the Buttigieg memo. "If Sanders' expected delegate lead is not held within 350 delegates coming out of Super Tuesday, it helps solidify his pathway to becoming the nominee."

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

If Buttigieg is correct, and Sanders does come out of Super Tuesday with the most delegates, Buttigieg's campaign says it hopes to catch Sanders in the contests that follow Super Tuesday. It wouldn't be easy.

If one candidate builds a big delegate lead, the same proportional system that helped the front-runner build that lead in a crowded field makes it hard to catch him or her as the field narrows. That's because even if the front-runner loses a contest, he or she is still likely to win a significant number of delegates. This is what happened in 2008, when Barack Obama defeated Hillary Clinton in a primary battle that lasted until June.

Obama built a small delegate lead on Super Tuesday, then sealed the nomination by winning 11 straight contests over the following two weeks. After that, Clinton won some big states, including Pennsylvania and Ohio, but she barely made a dent in Obama's delegate lead.

The states following Super Tuesday, including Michigan on March 10 and Florida, Illinois and Ohio on March 17, offer an additional bonus for the winners.

In every Democratic primary, most of the delegates are awarded based on votes in individual congressional districts. In the states voting on March 10 and 17, most of the congressional districts have an odd number of delegates.

That means if you win a congressional district, you are guaranteed to win at least one more delegate than your opponent.

By comparison, in districts with an even number of delegates, the top two finishers are much more likely to win the same number of delegates.

One delegate might seem like a small victory, but the delegates add up as the votes are tallied in hundreds of congressional districts.

"That March window  particularly the part between Super Tuesday and St. Patrick's Day  is probably the most crucial," said political scientist Josh Putnam, who runs the delegate-oriented website Frontloading HQ.
Prasanta Mazumdar By

Express News Service

GUWAHATI: One more person was killed, taking the death toll in ongoing violence in Meghalaya to three.

Late Saturday night, three miscreants swooped down on the house of one Uphas Uddin (37) and attacked him. The seriously-injured man was rushed to a local hospital but the doctors there declared him brought dead, the police said.

The victim hailed from Pyrken village in East Khasi Hills.

On Friday, a local taxi driver had lost his life during a clash at Ichamati and on Saturday, a vegetable vendor, who hailed from Assam, was stabbed to death in Shillong. Eight others with stab wounds were admitted to a hospital at the hill station.

The violence broke out on Friday afternoon at the end of a meeting that was convened by Khasi Students Union (KSU) to discuss Citizenship (Amendment) Act and Inner Line Permit at Ichamati in East Khasi Hills near the India-Bangladesh border.

The police said after the meeting was over, clashes broke out between KSU members and non-tribals of the locality.

The KSU members burnt a haystack at the edge of the market and attempted to burn a house. The non-tribals retaliated and stoned one bus carrying KSU membersFour members of KSU were injuredA person driving a local taxisuccumbed to his injuries, the police said.

On Sunday, the police issued a statement giving details of the incidents that took place since Saturday evening.

The police said some unknown miscreants hurled a petrol bomb at the residential compound of one Lakshmi Bareh in Shillong. However, no one was injured. Property was also not damaged.

In another incident, the miscreants attacked one Rajua Karim (31), who is an employee of Meghalaya Basin Development Agency. He was admitted to a hospital in Shillong. He hails from Phulbari in West Garo Hills.


TORONTO - The federal government is moving forward with the creation of an independent review commission to consider claims of wrongful convictions. Here are 10 high-profile murder cases that resulted in wrongfully convicted Canadians and how long they spent in prison:

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 1/3/2020 (680 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

David Milgaard, who spent 23 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of murder, is photographed after a press conference held by Innocence Canada in Toronto on October 9, 2019. A new independent panel that would review claims of wrongful convictions is edging toward reality, as the Liberal government moves forward on one of its campaign promises. Signs of progress toward creating such a board came last week in Ottawa, where Justice Minister David Lametti met with a working group that includes David Milgaard, who spent 23 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

TORONTO - The federal government is moving forward with the creation of an independent review commission to consider claims of wrongful convictions. Here are 10 high-profile murder cases that resulted in wrongfully convicted Canadians and how long they spent in prison:

Romeo Phillion: Murder of Ottawa firefighter in 1967  31 years.

David Milgaard: Murder of Saskatoon nursing aide in 1969  23 years.

Glen Assoun: Killing of former common law spouse in Dartmouth, N.S.  17 years.

James Driskell: Killing of acquaintance in Winnipeg  13 years.

William Mullins-Johnson: Sodomization and suffocation of four-year-old niece in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., in 1993  12 years.

Donald Marshall Jr: Murder of acquaintance in Sydney, N.S. in 1971  11 years.

Steven Truscott: Classmate's rape and murder near Clinton, Ont., when he was 14 years old  10 years in prison.

Robert Baltovich: Killing of girlfriend in Toronto in 1990  8 years.

Thomas Sophonow: Convicted twice in 1981 murder of 16-year-old donut shop worker in Winnipeg  four years.

Guy Paul Morin: Sex slaying in Queensville, Ont., of nine-year-old neighbour in 1984  18 months.

SOURCE: The Canadian Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 1, 2020.
By Trend

A summit meeting of the Turkish and Russian Presidents, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin, will take place on March 5 or 6, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters on Saturday, Trend reports citing TASS.

"The issue [Idlib crisis] might be solved only at the meeting of Presidents Erdogan and Putin. We are working on it. The meeting will take place in early March, either on March 5 or 6," he said.

In the Friday phone call, the Russian and Turkish presidents focused on the urgency of extra measures to normalize the situation in northwestern Syria. The Kremlin press office said that the sides agreed "to speed up corresponding consultations between agencies and to work out the possibility of a summit meeting in the near future."

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the presidents discussed the potential meeting in the phone call.
LONDON, March 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- As of February 24th, 2020, citizens of the United Arab Emirates can travel to the Commonwealth of Dominica without a visa. The Dominican Embassy in Abu Dhabi announced last week that a visa waiver agreement between the two countries has now come into force.

Holders of UAE Diplomatic, Official, Special and Ordinary passports may now visit Dominica without a visa. Conversely, Dominicans with a Diplomatic and Official passport can gain UAE entry with a visa upon arrival, while those with and Ordinary Dominica passport can obtain an eVisa. Those who have become economic citizens of Dominica via its Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Programme can subsequently apply for an Ordinary passport, which allows them to enter the UAE based on an eVisa.

"The visa waiver agreement is yet another important step in the development of strong bilateral relations between the Commonwealth of Dominica and this dynamic country," His Excellency Hubert Charles, the Dominican Ambassador to the UAE, commented in an official press release issued on Tuesday. "It not only facilitates official travel, but introduces predictability and certainty on the part of citizens of both countries interested in travel for tourism, investment, trade and cultural purposes," Ambassador Charles stated.

In January, Dominica opened a new Embassy in Abu Dhabi, marking the country's first diplomatic mission to the Middle East. It provides consular services to a 'small but dynamic' community of economic citizens of Dominica, living in the UAE, as mentioned by Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit during the opening ceremony.

UAE residents may obtain second citizenship from Dominica between three to four months, should they fulfil all the requirements, including due diligence checks. Qualifying investments start at US$100,000 for single applicants, through the Economic Diversification Fund. Another route to Dominican citizenship is by investing at least US$200,000 in pre-approved real estate, which includes already operating luxury hotels like Jungle Bay and Secret Bay, two resorts nearing completion  Tranquility Beach (Hilton) and Anichi (Marriott), or the latest addition  Sanctuary Rainforest.

The CBI hotels are building an emerging ecotourism sector on the Nature Isle of the Caribbean, as Dominica is commonly referred to. The island is also ranked by FDI Strategy as one of the top tourism destination of the future. Dominican citizens can travel without a pre-departure visa to over 140 countries and territories.

www.csglobalpartners.com

For more information, please email [email protected]

SOURCE CS Global Partners
The widespread speculation on Hainan government's help of Hainan Airlines Group was confirmed by the group on Saturday, after a joint working group was formed take charge of the group's risk disposition.



HNA Group announced to public Saturday that since the start of the group's illiquidity in late 2017, the group has been seeking solutions to rescue itself, but the efforts failed to completely resolve the risks. The novel coronavirus epidemic in early 2020 further worsened the group's liquidity risks, according to HNA Group.

To effectively reduce risks and protect the interests of all parties, a joint working group has been formed by professionals from various local government divisions at the request of the HNA Group.

Gu Gang, chairman of the Hainan Development Holdings Co Ltd, will lead the working group. Hainan Yangpu Economic Development Zone management committee director Ren Qinghua will serve as the executive deputy head. Deputy head of the CAAC Central and Southern Regional Administration Li Shuangchen and deputy head of China Development Bank's credit management bureau Cheng Gong take the positions as vice-head of the joint working group.

During a shareholders meeting, the group reelected some of its directors and the board of directors decided to nominate Tan Xiangdong as CEO and Ren Qinghua as co-CEO.
The push and pull between providers and payers regarding claims can be frustrating at best, and at worst, result in a denial. To increase both efficiency and payment, St. Lukes Health System in Boise, Idaho, adopted a strategy some would deem risky: Inviting payers into their EHR system.

Cindy Andreason, director of health information management (HIM) operations at St. Lukes, said the organizations process of getting records to their payers was clunky, resulting in the payer saying they didnt get the record they needed or that the record they received didnt have the information they needed. Allowing payer representatives into their portal creates a more efficient process, she said.

The internal conversation

The decision to adopt this strategy wasnt one the health system took lightly. To some, opening the door to patient records could feel more like opening a can of worms.

Thats kind of scary to some individuals, to allow payer access, Andreason said.

St. Lukes started with a comprehensive internal conversation including HIM staff, members of the revenue cycle team as well as the vice president of revenue cycle, IT, a privacy and security officer and a payer liaison.

The risk chain

One critical decision when considering granting EHR access to payers is how much information to provide and how to provide it. Greg Ford, an associate vice president at MRO, a Pennsylvania-based disclosure management firm, recommends healthcare organizations limit payer access to their EHR to manual access by claim-specific encounter. In other words, the payer would request access to a specific document, and a staff member on the provider side would have to manually grant that access. This process would be like the process payers use to request paper records today.

St. Lukes adopted this level of access for their payer partners, creating a template containing only the information that would have been available via the paper process. The payer must request access to a specific patient record for a specific encounter and then has access only to the elements in that template.

A little riskier but possibly more convenient for the provider organization, payers could get automated access by claim-specific encounter. This level of access would cost the provider organization some control but could help free up the person responsible for reviewing requests, Ford said.

Moving up the risk chain, which Ford advises against, is automated access to a patients entire record (which opens the possibility of the payer using that record for any purpose). Some payers and their vendors can create a database of patient records, trying to mirror what the provider has in its own database. At that point, the provider has no control over what happens to the data, opening the doors for data breaches and loss of trust from patients.

Having all that data out there is definitely risky, he said.

Limiting access to necessary requests

There are additional reasons a provider organization would not want to allow payers to grab whatever records they want, Ford said. Payers want to access provider EHRs for three reasons, only one of which works in the providers favor, he said.

Claims processing. In this scenario, a payer representative is looking at a specific claim for a specific encounter and wants to ensure the information is correct. Ford said this type of review is a win-win for the payer and provider.

If [the request] can be limited to that specific data encounter, we think thats an area that makes sense. Thats going to get the provider paid in a more-timely manner.

Review of a paid claim, also known as a post-payment audit. These reviews occur after a claim is paid and the payer suspects theyve overpaid. Ford does not recommend agreeing to this type of review.

In those cases, theyre looking to take money back from the provider, he said.

Quality and risk adjustment reviews. The payer objective of a quality review is a better star rating. Theres no downside or benefit to the organization there, Ford said. In a risk- adjustment review, payers arent looking to recoup from the provider but might want additional compensation from CMS. In these cases, Ford recommends strong HIM governance to ensure the organization releases only what is appropriate. Most record requests will require some work on the part of staff (making the providers cost of sending records higher with no return), and the more patient records that go out, the greater the risk of data leaking out.

We dont think it makes sense to open the floodgates for the review requests, he said.

Results and continued monitoring

Once the system is set up with a payer, the providers work isnt over, Andreason said. Periodic reviews are essential to ensure the arrangement is working as intended. St. Lukes has been allowing payer access for less than a year and is keeping a close watch on how things are going, she said.

Maintenance is key. After you set it up, you dont want to stop reviewing what youre doing, she said. Changes to the EHR itself are something else to watch out for. An update might mean unintended changes to the way the payer views the system.

You have to make sure that you keep the integrity of what you established in place, she said.

Response from payers has been positive, and the process seems to be running smoothly, but its too early to tell whether St. Lukes will see denials reduced as a result of the effort, according to Andreason. The hospital is continuously monitoring the process.

4 questions providers should ask before payer partners get EHR access

Providers should ask several questions of their payer partners when considering a plan that allows those partners EHR access, according to Greg Ford, an associate vice president at MRO.

1. What is the process for managing users on the payer side? If an employee leaves the payer organization, the provider should receive timely notification to discontinue that employees access.

2. Does the payer use third-party or offshore vendors or employees?

3. Who has access to the information after it is pulled out of the EHR?

4. What are the payers policies around security to ensure patient information is safe?
Aasia Bibi, a Christian woman acquitted of blasphemy in Pakistan, has said she had been invited to live in France, after a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron.

Bibi had been sentenced to death before her acquittal by the Supreme Court last year in a case that has become emblematic of fair trial concerns in such cases. She left Pakistan for Canada in May 2019 and has been living there with her family ever since.

I have received the invitation from the president and the French Republic, and Im honoured, Bibi told reporters on Friday, shortly after meeting Macron.



Speaking outside the Elysee Palace in Paris, Bibi said she needed time to make a decision about whether to move to France, adding she wanted to focus for now on her health and family.

An Elysee official told Reuters news agency that France is ready to welcome her if that is her wish, in accordance with the procedures for a request for asylum.

Under French rules, someone seeking asylum has to submit a request to an independent state agency, which decides whether to grant it. It was not clear if Bibi had submitted a request.

Bibi, a farmworker and mother of four, was convicted in 2010 of making derogatory remarks about Islam after neighbours working in the fields with her objected to her drinking water from their glass because she was not a Muslim.

She spent eight years on death row.

Bibi was released in October 2018 after the Supreme Court overturned her conviction, saying there were glaring and stark contradictions in the case against her.

But thousands of religious hardliners, including supporters of the far-right Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), took to the street calling for Bibis death and demanding that the government prevent her from leaving Pakistan.

Blasphemy is a sensitive subject in Pakistan, where the countrys strict laws prescribe a mandatory death penalty for some forms of the crime.

Follow Us on Facebook  @LadunLiadi; Instagram  @LadunLiadi; Twitter  @LadunLiadi; Youtube  @LadunLiadiTV for updates
Chennai: The massive fire at a chemical warehouse here was put out on Sunday (March 1), after a battle of more than 18 hours, a Fire and Rescue Services official said.

There were no casualties in the fire that broke out around 3 pm on Saturday and damaged raw material estimated to be worth about Rs 100 crore, the official said.

"The fire has been put out. Since there is a heat atmosphere fire tenders are still engaged in cooling of the area by spraying water," he told PTI.

Fire and Rescue Services DGP C Sylendra Babu lauded the firemen for bringing the blaze under control.

"Congratulations to the firemen who valiantly fought for 18 hours and localised the serious fire in a chemical godown in Madhavaram," he said in a post on a social networking site.

Babu had on Saturday said the blaze, amid clouds of thick black smoke, spread rapidly since the chemical was highly combustible.

According to the fire department, 36 fire tenders and 500 personnel were used to control the fire.

An investigation was on to identify the cause of the incident, another official said.
In a recent interview with 60 Minutes, former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg tried to describe the political scene:

A few years ago, there was a revolution against the intelligentsia. People said, You know, those people, particularly on the coasts, are trying to tell us what to do. They wanted a change. That explains Donald Trump. Now, people seem to have changed. This cycle, people want stability.

Have they changed so much? Bloomberg thinks the tides are turning in his direction. Im not so sure on either count. If people wanted the intelligentsia, if they wanted someone on the coasts telling them what to do, Elizabeth Warren would be on her way to the Democratic nomination. Instead, she is soon to be packing up her campaign. Her job will have been to knife Michael Bloomberg before he could launch a sneak attack on Sanders on Super Tuesday.

Warren was clearly the favorite candidate of academics and journalists  the intelligentsia. Why? Because she was the quintessential front row candidate, to borrow a term from author and photographer Chris Arnade. The image of her campaign will be her on a debate stage, hand raised, ready with an answer  but losing support roughly every minute she speaks.

After her dismal showing in South Carolina, there is no chance of Warren becoming the electoral alternative to Bernie Sanders. The first three states tried Pete Buttigieg in that role. South Carolina resoundingly chose Joe Biden. Her campaign fell between two stools: the young, somewhat nervous Left, and an older, aspirational center.

Her campaign persona had a funny way of playing to each. To the Left, she offered her ambition: her plans to end private health insurance, institute a wealth tax, make day care universal and free. Her promise was to give them security. To the center, she gave her ability to do homework. Every issue had an elaborate plan. Every plan was drawn up in dollars and cents. Sometimes the figures werent quite right. To them, she offered her competence and attention to detail.

Story continues

Well, sort of. Her Medicare for All plan would send the federal budget into a new stratosphere, and she didnt even include the cost of her plan to cover illegal aliens as well. Not to mention that her proposal includes tax increases that are unconstitutional and politically infeasible.

No matter, her numerous plans werent meant to be real. Congress doesnt make a habit of passing a presidential candidates PDFs into law. The plans were meant to communicate that she was serious, that she puts in the overtime and sweats the details, just like all the other high-achieving non-billionaires have to do. Her sell to the Democratic Party was that she could pursue left-wing ideals in a responsible way. That is, she was proposing an impossible trade off: the pretense of radical action to thoroughly restructure existing power structures, while making sure that almost none of the affluent voters who support her would get hurt.

But the Left rejected her as a phony. She wouldnt call herself a socialist, like Bernie Sanders. Also, if you looked carefully, the plans werent socialist in a traditional sense. They werent intended to destroy the social stratification of American life, but to reinforce it. In the debate preceding the South Carolina primary, Warren said that cancelling student debt was one of the ways she would help black and Latino Americans achieve equality with their white peers. But of course, this would be the equivalent of passing reparations for the doctors, lawyers, academics, and other professionals who hold the bulk of the loan debt and who would benefit the most from seeing it disappear. Working-class kids, disproportionately black and Latin, who saved their pennies, paid their freight as they went along, and chose an affordable night school would come out the biggest sucker of all.

She was also a phony in deeper ways. Elizabeth Warren vowed to stop taking the support of super PACs, which she opposed as part of her anti-corruption agenda. She had already tapped out her donor network in super Pacs before she stopped taking their money. Or so she thought. More recently, she reversed her position on super PACs once again and raised millions of the supposedly corrupt soft money in the days leading to Super Tuesday.

And on top of it all is the evidence suggesting that she deliberately lied about her own ethnic identity, claiming to be a Native American, so that Harvard Law School, which was desperate for nonwhite law professors, could hire her and quell a growing protest movement on the campus.

Elizabeth Warren was not a Native American, she was not a radical egalitarian, her homework answers were elaborate but did not add up. Neither as left-wing as she proposed to be, nor as responsible and diligent. She wont be missed.

More from National Review
Union Home Minister Amit Shah who arrived in Kolkata on Sunday amid protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act said that those who try to violate the countrys borders and harm Indian troops will face consequences. Shah was speaking at a program of NSG in Rajarhat on the eastern fringes of the city.

We want peace in the world. But we will not allow anyone to disrupt peace in our country. The Narendra Modi government has adapted such a security policy that anyone who tries to violate our borders or harm our troops will have to face consequences, said Shah.

He also said that the task of implementing the policy of zero tolerance towards terrorism adopted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has to be be implemented first and foremost by NSG.

NSG has the responsibility of instilling fear into the hearts of those who want to divide and harm the country, said Shah.

The Home Minister said that before India conducted surgical strike and air strike the world only knew about USA and Israel who can avenge the deaths of their troops by entering into the enemies territory.

Before surgical strike the world only knew about USA and Israel who knew how to avenge the deaths of their troops by entering into the enemies territory to eliminate them. After surgical and airstrike India has got into the list of such countries, said Shah.

Earlier in the day the Union Minister was greeted black flags by Left Front workers after his arrival at the Kolkata Airport. The Left workers were agitating against Shahs visit to Bengal over the CAA issue. They also raised go back slogans.

There was heavy police deployment in the area along with several barricades to prevent any untoward incidents.

Shah will address a BJP rally in central Kolkata later in the day.
The recent series of short-interval elections taught elected Israeli officials that they need to change their habits. In the past, they would remove their masks immediately after elections in order to try and lead the public down the road they really wanted. Late Prime Minister Menachem Begin made a full retreat from the Sinai Peninsula; late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin stated before the 1992 elections that only a madman would withdraw from the Golan Heights, but afterward he informed American Secretary of State Christopher Warren that he was prepared to withdraw fully from the Heights if Israels security needs were addressed; and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu swore before the 2009 elections that he would not allow a Palestinian state to be formed, but afterward came his famous Bar Ilan speech. Now, however, Israeli politicians are worried about the chances for another (fourth) round of elections in the near future. They know that another round in such a short interval would immediately reveal the gap between their election promises and their readiness to fulfill those promises.

Due to this awkward state of affairs, a new phenomenon has been created in recent months: Politicians are wearing their masks for longer periods of time than in the past. Thus, we find ourselves in never-ending election cycles in which propaganda and policy are mixed together, making it very difficult to distinguish between the two.

One excellent example of the above is the possibility of annexation of the Jordan Valley. As aforementioned, in 2009 Benjamin Netanyahu joined the splitting up of Israel camp, though his reasons were purely demographic. From that point in time and onward, the Jordan Valley was considered territory from which Israel was supposed to retreat if Netanyahus conditions for the establishment of a Palestinian state were to be realized. Even in his ultranationalist speeches, Netanyahu talked about the need to remain on the site for 40 years after signing a permanent agreement with the PLO, even though many people in the security establishment felt this to be unnecessary. The prime minister was careful to pick his words and say that the Israel Defense Forces would remain on the Jordan River and not the Jordan Valley. Israel was never able to populate the valley with hordes of settlers, and most of the settlers in the valley are not extremists. Thus, their evacuation would evidently not involve violent confrontations with a crying and screaming population.

Despite all that, Israelis nowadays look differently at the Jordan Valley. In public opinion, it has morphed into the new Western Wall, the bedrock of our very existence  nothing is more urgent than to annex it to Israel. Insiders understand that annexation of the Jordan Valley will not shake the ground more than the American recognition of Israels annexation of the Golan Heights. Nothing has changed in the lives of the settlers on the Golan Heights since that American recognition. They are well aware that different rulership in Syria may lead an Israeli government, both right- and left-based governments, to try to renew peace talks with our northeast neighbors. This would end with an Israeli retreat from the Heights and cancellation of the 1981 annexation law.

A special committee has already begun to mark Israels new border following the peace agreement between the United States and the state of the Jews. The committee includes personages such as Israeli Tourism Minister Yariv Levin and American Ambassador to Israel David Friedman; the latter serves mainly as the settlers ambassador in the Israeli government. They created an impression of the tremendous historical importance of their acts, and Israels prime minister believes in their important, serious work. But even he knows that such an American-Israeli agreement has no real significance. Anyone who would produce a peace agreement with the Palestinians would nullify annexation of the Jordan Valley, just as hed have to revoke annexation of the Arab neighborhoods in East Jerusalem (including Palestinian refugee camps) that are so close to the hearts of those who view themselves as Israeli patriots.

But the new mask of Netanyahu and the Likud is the annexation of the Jordan Valley. It is part of Netanyahus efforts to win over the right-wing settler voice that fools itself by thinking that annexation announcements will make it impossible to partition the country. In February 2017, shortly after being elected leader of the free world, Donald Trump delivered a historic statement in which he said that he could "live with" either a two-state or one-state solution for Israel. In Israel, we all recall the reaction of Yamina leader Naftali Bennett (current defense minister and former education minister), who stated that at last the two-state solution could be relegated to the dustbin. Then, when Trumps pathetic plan was unfurled, it turned out that it even included the two states. It is hard to believe that any future government in Israel that understands the importance of a bonafide border between the Palestinians and us could come up with a better solution than the two-state view.

Anyone following Netanyahus moves ever since he has been the target of suspicion of criminal acts would estimate that this affair is what drives him principally in his choices of words and deeds. Even if he claims to have other interests on his mind, these may well be a mask: from bringing 43 members of the Ethiopian Falash Mura to Israel only days before the elections Feb. 25 to tightening Israeli relations with Sudan. But some of his actions may cause real damage to Israels national interests. For example, the annexation of the Jordan Valley can cause real damage to our relations with two Arab countries with whom we have a peace agreement, Egypt and Jordan. It can also damage relations with the Palestinian leadership and the Palestinian Authority, with whom Israel shares strong ties  albeit ties that both sides do not always admit publicly. Such an annexation may compel the Palestinians to weaken ties with Israel or even abolish them.

Netanyahus policy regarding annexation also creates problems for Benny Gantz and his Blue and White party. Most of the partys leadership understands that the Jordan Valley no longer has much security value in 2020, more than 50 years since Yigal Allon publicized his plan. Such a one-sided Israeli annexation, without the agreement of the Palestinians, can inflict much damage on Israel. Yet Blue and White, too, put on their masks, give lip service to the importance of the valley and promise to demand it from the Palestinians during any future negotiations  a demand that has never before been raised at any serious negotiations of a permanent agreement between us and them. This is true on both the formal and informal levels.

Thus, the Likud masquerades as being "righter" than Yamina (the pro-settler religious alliance), and Blue and White disguises itself as the Likud. Somehow, the ill-conceived notion of annexing a third of the West Bank morphed into a reasonable claim to Gantz, who identified with Trumps plan even before he managed to read it. He even suggested bringing the plan to the Knesset as is and asked for the support of lawmakers. None of this brought Gantz even one vote, but it inflicted great harm on the Israeli peace camp, Jew and Arab alike. And that camp is Blue and Whites true base of power, despite Gantz denials to the contrary.

What is important now is that the specter of a fourth round of elections should not cause the parties to continue wearing their masks. We must remember that these masks involve diplomatic processes that endanger us all.
Beirut: Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister seeking re-election for the third time in under a year, has again promised that the annexation of swathes of the occupied West Bank would happen within weeks if he wins Monday's election.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits an Israeli army base in the Golan Heights on Sunday. Credit:AP

The appropriation of the Jordan Valley and other parts of the region was his priority among "four major immediate missions" and would take no longer than two months, Netanyahu told Israeli public radio on Sunday.

Annexing the West Bank has long been seen as an endgame for Palestinian hopes of statehood.

The widely criticised Middle East "peace" plan by Donald Trump, the US president, published in January, gave Israel the green light for the move.
Advertisement

Panic is setting in for residents on the West Coast as California becomes a coronavirus hotspot, Washington state reports the first US death from the virus and Oregon officials announce that an elementary school employee has tested positive for the disease.

Anxious shoppers descended on California supermarkets, stocking up on supplies like bottled water, canned food and Clorox wipes.

The state has become a coronavirus hotspot, with more than half a dozen residents diagnosed with the disease in recent days.

Late last week, two Northern California residents were revealed to be confirmed cases despite having no known contact with anyone else who was infected.

Scroll down for video

Panic is setting in for residents on the West Coast as California becomes a coronavirus hotspot, Washington state reports the first death from the virus and Oregon officials announce that an elementary school employee has tested positive for the disease. A Los Angeles resident leaves a Burbank Costco with a cart full of toilet paper, bottled water and cleaning products

Anxious shoppers descended on California supermarkets (San Francisco shoppers pictured), stocking up on supplies like bottled water, canned food and Clorox wipes. The state has become a coronavirus hotspot, with more than half a dozen residents diagnosed with the disease in recent days

Oregon shoppers cleared out this shelf of Clorox wipes and other disinfectants on Saturday

In Seattle, some shelves were emptied completely as residents rushed to stock up on supplies on Saturday

Shoppers visit a Costco Wholesale in Tigard, Oregon, on Saturday after reports of Oregon's first case of coronavirus was announced in the nearby Oregon city of Lake Oswego on Friday

Shoppers stockpiled on food, water and other supplies at a Costco Wholesale in Tigard, Oregon, on Saturday

One Seattle resident purchased several boxes of Huggies and Pull-Ups as well as Lysol and snacks on Saturday

State officials say they are bracing for similar cases of people contracting the disease from an 'unknown origin' and nervous locals are taking no chances.

At a Costco Wholesale market in Los Angeles Saturday morning, a swarm of shoppers loaded up carts with essential items to prepare for a possible period of quarantine.

According to the chain, water, paper towels and Clorox disinfecting wipes were the most in-demand products.

Meanwhile, cars queued at the adjoining gas station, making sure their vehicles were filled with petrol.

On social media, residents further north shared shocking photos and videos from Costco centers in San Francisco.

Shelves were depleted of tinned food, while some shoppers climbed up onto shelving in order to reach remaining supplies of rice.

It comes on the same day that Santa Clara County - located close to San Francisco - confirmed a fourth person had tested positive to Coronavirus.

Shoppers with empty carts waited patiently in line to enter a Los Angeles Costco to stock up on Saturday

Some Twitter users described the shopping chaos as worse than Black Friday, as residents climbed up on to shelves to reach depleting supplies

Costco Wholesale market in Burbank was bustling on Saturday, despite no residents of Los Angeles County having been diagnosed with coronavirus

It was a family affair for these shoppers who left the supermarket with two carts full of supplies. Water, paper towels and Clorox disinfecting wipes were the most in-demand products of the day

Fathers got down to business pushing along carts that carried their sons, as well as Clorox wipes and rubber gloves

One Los Angeles local used a trolley to push their sanitary items and bottled water to their car

Residents waited in long lines to pump their vehicles with gas, amid fears daily life will be severely disrupted by the spread of coronavirus

There were similar scenes in Mountain View, California, where vigilant shoppers wore face masks as they stocked up on supplies.

A 'medically high-risk' man in his 50s became the first person in the US to die from coronavirus on Friday near Seattle, Washington.

Fears are now mounting for 50 staff and residents at a nursing facility in Washington state as they are now showing symptoms of the virus, after two individuals - a resident and an employee at the care home - have already been diagnosed with the infection.

Fifty-two staff and residents of the nursing facility where two new coronavirus cases have been confirmed are now showing symptoms of the disease, health officials said during a teleconference with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

At the Life Care nursing facility in Kirkland, Washington state, around 27 of the 108 residents and 25 of the 180 staff have some symptoms, including some cases where individuals have contracted pneumonia.

The CDC and local health officials are reportedly sending an emergency response team to the Life Care facility on Sunday to try to control the escalating situation.

In Oregon, officials reported their first coronavirus case on Friday. The infected person works at an elementary school in the Portland area, which will be temporarily closed, authorities said.

'The case was not a person under monitoring or a person under investigation. The individual had neither a history of travel to a country where the virus was circulating, nor is believed to have had a close contact with another confirmed case  the two most common sources of exposure,' the Oregon Health Authority said in a statement.

The Lake Oswego School District sent a robocall to parents saying that Forest Hills Elementary will be closed until Wednesday so it can be deep-cleaned by maintenance workers.

Health authorities planned to spend the weekend scrambling to find everyone the unidentified person, who has been hospitalized, had been in contact with.

Hours before the case emerged, the state ramped up efforts to combat an outbreak amid potential challenges, including closing schools, businesses and events, and sustained shortages of medical supplies.

'State and local authorities are responding quickly to this case,' Oregon Gov Kate Brown said during a news conference. Brown urged people not to panic.

The total number of Americans diagnosed with the virus is 73 (depicted above) and counting

There were similar scenes in Mountain View, California, where vigilant shoppers wore face masks as they stocked up on supplies

Shoppers in Mountain View weren't taking any precautions - with several seen sporting face masks as they made a dash to Costco

The total number of Americans diagnosed with the virus is 73 and counting.

The majority were people who were evacuated to the US under medical supervision from virus hotspots, including three from Wuhan and 44 from the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

The Santa Clara County Public Health Department confirmed its fourth case is an adult woman who is the second 'unknown origin' case in the US.

The fourth person does not have symptoms and has not been hospitalized, officials said.

Officials in Illinois confirmed the state's third case, which is being treated as another 'unknown origin' case.

Despite frantic buying, President Donald Trump urged for the public to remain calm during a press conference on Saturday.

He told the media not to sensationalize the outbreak and provoke panic.

'There's no reason to panic at all,' he said.

'Additional cases in the United States are likely, but healthy individuals should be able to fully recover.

'Healthy people  if you're healthy, you'll probably go through a process and you'll be fine.'

At the press conference, Vice President Pence also announced new emergency travel restrictions on Iran, Italy, and South Korea, which have been hit by outbreaks.

One social media user shared a photo of a San Francisco Costco swarming with people at 8.45am

The line stretched back deep inside the underground parking lot as panic set in for San Francisco residents - with four people from nearby Santa Clara County diagnosed with coronavirus

Shoppers faced lengthy lines at the check out as cashiers were kept busy, scanning an endless stream of bottled water and Clorox wipes

Along with toilet paper and bottled water, this Los Angeles local made sure to purchase some snacks in the event he's housebound by quarantine rules

Clorox wipes were one of the most popular items on Saturday, with residents ready to wipe down surfaces to stop a possible spread of coronavirus

Any foreign national who has visited Iran in the past 14 days will be banned from entering the US, Pence said.

He also said that Trump has authorized the State Department to raise the travel advisory level to outbreak areas in Italy and South Korea to Level Four, the highest level.

Level Four advisories urge Americans not to travel to an area for any reason, though they do not legally forbid travel.

Worldwide, the outbreak that began in Wuhan, China has sickened more than 86,000 people and killed more than 2,900 in 54 countries.

Health experts say that the coronavirus has a low mortality rate, resulting in death in about 2 to 3 per cent of cases, the majority of which are elderly patients or those with compromised immune systems.

However, it appears to be highly contagious, spreading quickly through communities.

Experts say frequent hand washing is one of the most effective preventative steps that individuals can take to prevent viral spread.

An elderly shopper (left) sought the assistance of a Costco employee to help load up her cart with bottled water. Others (right) needed no help as they took what was needed and rushed to the register

An elderly couple were seen loading up the trunk of their car at a Costco in Burbank, Los Angeles

Along with items such as bottled water and Clorox, one man purchased pasta, cereal, veggie crisps and bread

Trunks laden down with bottled water and toilet tissue was a familiar sight across the Costco parking lot

Shoppers in Honolulu, Hawaii, also lined up outside their local Costco in a bid to stock up on supplies amid coronavirus fears
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-02 04:27:50|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

TUNIS, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The 37th session of the Arab Interior Ministers Council kicked off on Sunday in Tunis to discuss common interests in strengthening Arab security cooperation, reported Tunis Afrique Presse.

In his inaugural speech, Tunisian Prime Minister Elyes Fakhfakh stressed the importance of joint Arab cooperation in the fight against terrorism, organized crime, cybercrime and illegal immigration.

"These crimes threaten Arab security, and further work is needed to develop means of fighting them," Fakhfakh said.

He stressed the need to develop cooperation between various regional and international structures and organizations and set up a system of global governance in the field of security.

The prime minister said the fight against terrorism and organized crime is not only a matter of security treatment, but requires the adoption of a comprehensive educational, social, economic and media approach.

For his part, the Secretary General of the Council of Arab Interior Ministers Mohamed Ben Ali Koman stressed the need to deal with crimes including terrorism "which feeds on racist ideologies and misinterpretation of religion."

Koman said the council will examine, during this 37th session, the creation of a team of Arab experts responsible for detecting terrorist threats and analyzing terrorist acts.

The session was attended by interior ministers of the Arab states, senior security delegations, and representatives of various Arab and international organizations.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-29 23:57:28|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

Medical staff members from Jiangsu Province work at an ICU ward of the Wuhan No. 1 Hospital in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Feb. 22, 2020. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)

The two sides updated each other on the recent developments in relation to COVID-19 and had a detailed exchange of views about specific response measures.

"China follows the development of the outbreak in European countries and stands ready to share its experience with the EU to jointly tackle the challenge," said a press release published by the Chinese Mission to the EU.

BRUSSELS, Feb. 29 (Xinhua) -- China is ready to share its experience with the European Union (EU) to jointly fight COVID-19, according to a press release published by the Chinese Mission to the EU on Friday.

The pledge was made by the Chinese side on Wednesday, when Chinese and EU health experts held a second video conference on the response to the epidemic, said the press release.

The conference brought together officials and experts from the National Health Commission of China, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the European Commission's Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety and the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.

A recovered patient (R) waves to medical staff of the temporary hospital, which applies traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) treatment to patients, in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Feb. 26, 2020. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

The two sides updated each other on the recent developments in relation to COVID-19 and had a detailed exchange of views about specific response measures.

"China follows the development of the outbreak in European countries and stands ready to share its experience with the EU to jointly tackle the challenge," said the press release.

The EU side briefed on the recent development related to the outbreak in Europe and the measures taken by the EU to coordinate and support the response efforts of its member states.

The EU expressed thanks to China for the timely briefing and noted WHO's recognition of China's response measures. The EU also expressed readiness to maintain close communication with China and draw upon China's good practices and experience.

According to the Chinese Mission, the first conference between the two sides was held on Feb. 12. 
Boris Johnson was already facing a June full of potential sleepless nights, tantrums and crying over spilt milk.

But now he may well have to add the responsibilities of parenting a newborn child.

The Prime Minister, 54, and his partner Carrie Symonds, 31, are believed to be expecting their first child together in early summer.

But Mr Johnson is already due to fly to Washington for a G7 summit hosted by Donald Trump that month, where he faces a president angry at him over his refusal to blacklist Chinese firm Huawei.

And last week he also laid down a marker to the EU that he would withdraw the UK from trade talks if insufficient progress had been made in four months time.

It means the new boy or girl will come into the world at an immensely difficult period for Mr Johnson, politically - and could make it difficult for him to take any paternity leave.

Boris Johnson has become engaged to girlfriend Carrie Symonds and the couple are expecting their first child, Downing Street announced last night

Mr Johnson is already due to fly to Washington for a G7 summit hosted by Donald Trump that month, where he faces a president angry at him over his refusal to blacklist Chinese firm Huawei

The couple put an end to months of speculation in Westminster last night by declaring that their baby would be born in the 'early summer'  and that he would become the first British Prime Minister to marry in office for 200 years.

He is believed to have proposed during the couple's romantic break in Mustique over Christmas.

Ms Symonds, 31, released an intimate picture  also thought to have been taken during the trip  on her personal Instagram page of an unshaven Mr Johnson, 55, kissing her cheek, accompanied by a message which made it clear that the couple had been engaged since last year.

She wrote: 'I wouldn't normally post this kind of thing on here but I wanted my friends to find out from me many of you already know but for my friends that still don't, we got engaged at the end of last year and we've got a baby hatching early summer.'

And last week he also laid down a marker to the EU that he would withdraw the UK from trade talks if insufficient progress had been made in four months time, with European politician Amelie de Montchalin hitting back today

But while he may be basking in the glow of new fatherhood in June, his face may be glowing for other reasons by the end of the month.

He will meet Mr Trump at the G7 summit at Camp David in Maryland from June 10-12.

It will be their first face-to-face meeting since Mr Johnson's decision to allow Chinese tech giant Huawei to have a role in the UK's 5G phone network.

The US is furious at the decision, regarding the Chinese state operator a spying and security risk and it has frosted transatlantic relations.

They have also clashed over Washington's refusal to extradite Anne Sacoolas, the alleged CIA agent accused of killing British teenager Harry Dunn in a Northamptonshire road accident.

He is believed to have proposed during the couple's romantic break in Mustique over Christmas (resort pictured)

And this week Mr Johnson put Britain on a collision course with the EU, warning Brussels that the Government would pull the plug on trade talks in just four months time if it did not get its way.

The Prime Minister's administration wants to see the 'broad outlines' of a 'Canada-style' deal with Brussels before a planned June summit, according to its confrontational official negotiating mandate.

If the two sides remain at loggerheads Britain is ready to withdraw and and concentrate on preparing the country for a bare-bones situation using World Trade Organisation terms under an arrangement with the EU similar to Australia's.

Meanwhile a post-Brexit trade deal with the UK could collapse if Britain refuses to give adequate fishing rights to European boats, a French minister warned today.

Amelie de Montchalin said that an agreement between London and Brussels hinged on four factors, with a failure of any one able to kibosh chances of a deal.

As well as fishing in the EU will want accords on free trade, competition rules and governance of the deal encompassing our future relationship, the French European affairs minister said.

Asked on the BBC's Andrew Marr programme if the EU was willing to collapse the whole agreement for the sake of fishing, she said: 'Yes. We said that there are four topics which are linked in negotiations.'
Washington State Reports 1st Coronavirus Death in US

By VOA News February 29, 2020

U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States was prepared for any circumstance arising from the coronavirus outbreak as U.S. health officials reported the first U.S. death from the virus.

Trump said Saturday at a White House news conference that the victim was a "medically high-risk" man in his late 50s who died overnight in Washington State.

While he said additional coronavirus cases in the United States were "likely" he said, "there is no reason to panic at all."

Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Robert Redfield said there was "no evidence of a link to travel'' in the case of the Washington State patient who died.

The governor of Washington state, Jay Inslee, declared a state of emergency Saturday, directing state agencies to use "all resources necessary'' to respond to the virus outbreak.

Inslee in a statement originally described the patient who died in Washington as a man, but later described the individual as "a Washingtonian.''

The White House Saturday also announced tightened travel restrictions to Iran to include any foreign national who has visited the country in the last 14 days. Additionally, it raised to the highest level a travel advisory to avoid Italy and South Korea, countries most affected by the virus other than China.

Virus spreading

The coronavirus continued to spread Saturday amid growing concern over the possibility it could trigger a global recession and the World Health Organization's decision to raise its impact risk alert to "very high."

China reported Saturday that manufacturing activity declined dramatically in February, as the virus slowed the world's second largest economy.

Global stock prices finished the week sharply lower Friday, ending one of the worst weeks for world markets since the 2008 financial crisis.

New cases worldwide

Qatar reported its first case of the virus Saturday, three days after leader Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani ordered the evacuation of its citizens from Iran, the Middle East's epicenter of the outbreak.

France announced 16 new coronavirus cases Saturday and a temporary ban on all public gatherings of more than 5,000 people, one day after Mexico, Nigeria, New Zealand, Lithuania, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Iceland reported their first cases.

In Italy, the civil protection agency said eight more patients had died, bringing the total deaths in the country to 29.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration moved Saturday to accelerate hospitals' abilities to test for the deadly virus. The agency issued guidelines "enabling laboratories to use tests they develop faster in order to achieve more rapid testing capacity in the United States."

A fourth case of the virus was reported Friday in a person who had no known history of travel to a country experiencing an outbreak of the disease, known as COVID-19, or no known close contact with an infected person. U.S. health authorities said they were waiting for confirmation of testing results. There are more than 60 confirmed cases in the U.S.

WHO raises risk assessment

The World Health Organization raised its global risk assessment of the coronavirus to its highest level on Friday.

"We have now increased our assessment of the risk of spread and the risk of impact of COVID-19 to very high at global level," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters.

The outbreak appeared to be easing in China, where the virus originated. China's National Health Commission reported 427 new cases and 47 deaths Saturday. China has a total of 79,251 cases.

South Korea, the hardest-hit country outside China, reported the biggest surge Saturday with 813 new cases, raising the total to 3,150.

Iran confirmed 593 cases and 43 deaths, the highest death toll outside China.

The WHO said Saturday that more than 85,000 people worldwide have been infected in nearly 60 countries and that virus-related deaths topped 2,900.

Closures, restrictions

The worldwide outbreak has led government and companies around the globe to implement closures and restrictions.

Switzerland canceled next week's Geneva international car show, an important event for the auto industry. Amazon.com, the world's largest online retailer, told its employees to defer all nonessential travel.

In Japan, Tokyo Disneyland and Universal Studios Japan announced closures. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has ordered schools to close at least through March.

The United States and South Korea called off joint military drills.

In Germany, about 1,000 people are being quarantined in the country's most populous state. The number of confirmed cases in Europe's biggest economy exceeded 50.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Europe Races to Ready Hospitals for Coronavirus Break Out

By Jamie Dettmer February 29, 2020

With public health experts warning a tipping point for coronavirus is getting closer, European authorities are racing to try to ready their health systems to cope with a flood of sick and highly contagious patients.

European countries are still in containment mode but they're also trying simultaneously to prepare their health services and hospitals for a possible pandemic and to delay any patient surge within their borders. They acknowledge that with some evidence emerging, as yet unconfirmed, that the virus can be spread by asymptomatic people, infection control  from containment to delaying a spread  is becoming harder.

Ukraine, which has not had any confirmed cases of COVID-19, has stepped up what it calls "sanitary controls" on its borders, now that neighboring countries are reporting cases. Those entering the country are meant to have their temperatures checked and officials are urging Ukrainians to refrain from travel to European Union countries. Anyone who has, especially to countries affected by the virus, is being asked to isolate themselves.

In the meantime, Ukrainian authorities are preparing to reorganize the country's hospital network and have advised medical centers to consider postponing scheduled operations to leave beds free for a possible outbreak. Local authorities have been ordered to pick two hospitals in their area to be designated to handle suspected coronavirus patients. World Health Organization specialists have started to train Ukrainian medical personnel on how to handle patients who test positive.

"We are ready to brace for the coronavirus. At the same time, we are doing everything to prevent it from getting into the country," Deputy Health Minister Viktor Lyashko said Friday.

EU public health officials say the continent is better prepared to cope with a pandemic than others, thanks to the development over many years of Europe-wide medical networks able to quickly disseminate the latest clinical research and to collate data. Herman Goossens, director of a network known as the Platform for European Preparedness Against Emerging Epidemics, told reporters last week that acting fast and taking proactive action is critical in managing viral outbreaks.

In Britain, where 20 have tested positive for the virus out of nearly 8,000 people tested, the rapid spread in some parts of Europe, especially Italy, is dispelling hopes that containment alone can help the country escape the virus unscathed.

On Monday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, will chair a meeting of the country's COBRA emergency committee of ministers to discuss preparations. The British strategy so far, according to Health Secretary Matt Hancock, is "contain, delay, research and mitigate."

Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, said midweek the hope is that Britain can avoid an epidemic until later in the year, when more may be known about the virus and how to combat it. Also, the country's winter will be over and the demands on the National Health Service reduced. Infection-control and containment measures appear to be working currently. Britons returning from affected countries are being asked to isolate themselves, and those who are sick are being treated in specialist units with anyone they had contact with prior to diagnosis traced and ordered to isolate themselves.

Officials say, though, that it is "only a matter of time" before there's a spread in Britain, and there are worries about whether the hard-pressed National Health Service, which is short of staff and capacity after years of reduced funding, will be able to cope in the face of a full-throttle emergency. The agency's telephone advice service has been overwhelmed by a high volume of calls and there have been complaints that anxious callers are being given contradictory advice.

Health officials have dusted off a 2009 battle plan drawn up to cope with a possible swine flu pandemic. Under that plan the National Health Service would prioritize access, postpone non-emergency operations and possibly treat only emergency patients. Most controversially of all, lifesaving care during a severe coronavirus outbreak could be denied to those deemed most likely not to survive. Ventilators and beds, if intensive care units are struggling to cope, would be rationed.

British officials say that single-payer health systems such as the National Health Service may have an advantages over countries with privately financed health systems as they have clearer command-and-control structures. In Britain, as elsewhere though, the big question is whether sheer numbers could be overwhelming for a service that many complain has been inadequate since funding cuts were imposed in the wake of the 2008 financial crash.

Ministers are drafting emergency legislation ready for a serious upsurge and, under the plans, medical staff and other armed forces and British Red Cross personnel could be drafted to help the health service cope and to replace sick hospital staff.

However, some British doctors say government ministers are being dishonest in suggesting the NHS is well prepared. They say the country's critical-care capacity is already overstretched and would buckle in the face of a pandemic.

A critical care consultant from a major London hospital told Britain's Independent newspaper Saturday, "There isn't any slack in the system. We are grossly under resourced. I hear them say the NHS is well prepared. We are not well prepared, it is media spin. As an NHS, we would crumble under the weight of those who need critical care." The British Thoracic Society warned Saturday that respiratory wards are already "understaffed and overstretched" just coping with the winter season of flu and bronchitis cases.

A government spokesman, though, said in a statement, "The UK is a world leader in preparing for and managing disease outbreaks, and our approach will always be led by medical experts. We have been clear from the outset that we expect coronavirus to have some impact on the UK and a global pandemic could have a pronounced effect on the NHS, which is why we are planning for every eventuality."

In France, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has been convening emergency meetings in an effort to increase the French medical system's readiness. An extra 70 hospitals are now being prepared to receive coronavirus patients, bringing to 108 the number of hospitals being readied for an outbreak. Each mainland departement of France has a designated coronavirus hospital.

France had 57 confirmed cases as of Friday, with all but a dozen having been diagnosed since the major outbreak in neighboring Italy a week before. The country is boosting its testing capacity for the virus. Health Minister Olivier Veran said this week, "I have called the head of the University Hospital Institute of Infectious Diseases in Marseille, it is able to perform 1,000 tests per day in the area of Marseille alone. In the hospitals of Paris we are at 400 tests per day. We are going to be able to amplify the screening to be able to answer all the requests at that scale across France."

Like other European countries, France is scrambling to obtain high-quality protective masks and clothing for health workers. French ministers, like their counterparts in Germany, say they're ready to follow Italy's example and to lock down villages or towns that witness a cluster of cases. "We are preparing for an epidemic. We are now moving to stage 2. The virus is circulating in our country and we must stop its spread," Veran said Friday.

However, with cases now in Italy, France and Britain of people contracting the virus with no identifiable link to overseas travel, time may be running out, public health officials admit.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Oregon reported its first coronavirus case on Friday, and Washington state reported the first coronavirus death the U.S. the following day. Heres the latest news:

Portland Public Schools: The district sent an email to families late Saturday saying they continue to monitor the situation in Lake Oswego, and we are in continual contact with government agencies and our public health partners, including Oregon Health Authority, Multnomah County, and the Oregon Department of Education.

Our internal team at PPS continues to develop contingency plans and identify best practices, the email read, both proactive and reactive, in the case that someone at or connected to a PPS school eventually contracts the virus.

They asked students, families and staff to support our proactive efforts by washing hands frequently, covering mouths when coughing or sneezing, and using hand sanitizer, and said anyone experiencing cold or flu symptoms should follow guidelines and stay home.

Second person under investigation tests negative for illness: An Oregon person who was under investigation as a possible case of COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus, has tested negative for the disease, state officials said Saturday.

Coronavirus quarantine kit: Dont panic, but do stock up. Heres a quick list of supplies to have in your home in case of a broader outbreak or quarantine, and links to buy each one.

How to prevent coronavirus: The advice is pretty simple, and its easy for most people to follow. First up: Know the symptoms.

Risk to students: Oregons first presumptive patient with the new coronavirus likely had little close contact with students at the Lake Oswego elementary school where the person works, the district superintendent said Saturday.

Community reaction: Some folks are calm, some are definitely not. Heres what it was like at Costco.

Washington coronavirus: The governor declares a state of emergency.

Trump and the hoax: The coronavirus outbreaks impact on the world economy grew more alarming on Saturday, even after President Donald Trump denounced criticism of his response to the threat as a hoax cooked up by his political enemies.

Remembering the flu: With Americans increasingly nervous about what to expect from the novel coronavirus pandemic, public-health experts and historians have pointed to the worldwide 1918-19 Spanish flu outbreak as an example of what not to do.

Know the facts: What is the difference between coronavirus and COVID-19?

Cut it out: The U.S. surgeon general has a message for Americans -- stop buying masks now!

Virus spreads in Northwest: The coronavirus hits a Washington nursing home.

The global effect: More coronavirus cases in the US are likely, President Donald Trump says. Meanwhile, travel restrictions increase.
Rajesh Kumar Thakur By

Express News Service

PATNA: Giving a pep talk to JD(U) workers, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar asked them to resolve to win more than 200 seats in the upcoming state polls on Sunday at a conference in Gandhi Maidan on the date of his 69th birthday.

He cleared all speculations over emerging cracks in NDA in the wake of his recent meetings with the Leader of Opposition Tejashawi Yadav.

Nitish Kumar said: There should not be any doubt over recent meetings of mine with anyone. The National Democratic Alliance is united and will win more than 200 seats in the upcoming Bihar Assembly Elections."

He said that he wanted to know the opinion of many leaders from different parties through meeting on NPR and other issues.

Presenting virtually the report card of works done by his party, Nitish Kumar said that 6.60 lakh public complaints were disposed of by the government.

Law and Order

"Crimes have declined if compared to the crime rates of other states. Bihar ranks at 23 position in the national crimes figures and 33 rank in rape cases," he claimed, adding that the rule of law has been established in Bihar.

He said that 60 per cent of total crimes registered in Bihar were related to either land, family feud or property disputes.

"Skirmishes reported over these disputes were being investigated and measures are being taken to prevent such disputes through aerial survey over the land and other measures effectively," he said.

On NPR

Speaking on the NPR, he strongly said that it will be implemented on the basis of its old 2010 format. For this to be trusted by the people, resolutions have already been passed on it. There is no room for politics and anyone being misguided by anyone on it, he said.

For Minorities

Reiterating his commitment to the welfare of minority people, he outlined the works done by him stating that Madarsa modernisation with proper facilities for education therein has been taken up.

The constructions of Minority Residential Schools in each district have begun, he added.

Lashing out at both the Congress Party and the RJD, Kumar said: These parties sought votes of minorities but we worked for them. Whether the community votes for us or not but it is our duty to provide equal developments to the people of the community."

He attacked the Congress party in particular and said that the justice was ensured for Bhagalpur riot victims by bringing to book those guilty of the pogrom.

Education sector

On the education front, the NDA government led by JD(U) has implemented the cycle yojna which has given a major boost to the education for women and girls.

"Remember what was the conditions of girls education during the jungle raj about 15 years ago. Now, the girls go freely to schools riding on their bicycles.

"To promote education for girls, one higher secondary school would be opened in each panchayat up to plus two-level," he said.

Speaking against the bad effects of porn sites among the youngsters, he said that he has demanded to ban the porn sites across India.

"In Bihar, I have directed to the education department to start awareness drive in schools amongst the students on the bad effects of porn sites," he said.

He has recently written a letter to PM Narendra Modi requesting him to ban the porn sites with immediate effect.

Taking a swipe at an RJD, the CM said the people of state gave 15 years to a family to work for the state but that family didn't do even a single work.

Women Empowerment

Outlining the works done for women empowerment, he said that nearly 1.15 lakh women have been linked with the SHGs.

Bihar has raised the women battalion of ST women in the country named as Swabhiman Vahini, he claimed.

Health sector

Lauding the performances of his government, he said that now at least 10,000 people visit the public health centre on an average in a month.

The vaccination is being carried out on war footing and soon the state would be among top five states of the country in having done complete vaccination.

The state has done a remarkable job in eliminating the Kala-azar, he added.

Quoting figures, he said: "In 2005, 23,379 patients of Kala-azar were diagnosed and now, thanks to works done to eliminate it, only 252 patients have been diagnosed with the Kala-azar in Bihar."

Kumar also made an appeal to the people asking to donate land for the construction of hospital or health centres. He promised that the centre or hospital would be named after anyone of the donor family.

The newly built Madhepura Medical college would be inaugurated on March 7.
The night curfew imposed in the Meghalaya capital after violent clashes was lifted at 8 am on Sunday, barring in areas under the jurisdiction of Lumdiengjri and Sadar police stations and Cantonment Beat House, where indefinite curfew continued to remain in effect, officials said.

The curfew was imposed since 9 pm Saturday, following the death of two persons in separate attacks in Ichamati area in East Khasi Hills district on Friday and at Shillong's Iewduh market on Saturday, they said.

The situation is tense following the two deaths, especially of a Khasi Students' Union (KSU) activist in a clash between members of the students' body and non-tribals during a rally in Ichamati area, which is close to the Indo-Bangladesh border.

East Khasi Hills District authorities said the curfew was extended in areas under the jurisdiction of Lumdiengjri and Sadar police stations Cantonment Beat House over fears there might be a serious breakdown of law and order in those places.

"There is a likelihood of a serious breakdown of peace and tranquillity which may lead to loss of life and property... I do promulgate curfew in these areas from 8 am on March 1 until further orders," District Magistrate Matsiewdor W Nongbri said in an order.

Mobile internet and messaging services have been temporarily suspended in six districts of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills region to curtail rumours that could deteriorate law and order, officials said.

Clashes broke out between KSU members and non-tribals during a rally organised against the Citizenship Amendment Act and demanding implementation of the Inner Line Permit (ILP), at Ichamati on Friday, district Superintendent of Police Claudia Lyngwa said.

Eight persons have been arrested in this case and a magisterial inquiry has been instituted to probe into the incident, she said.

One person was stabbed to death at the Iewduh market under Cantonment Beat House on Saturday when unidentified persons went on an attacking spree that left seven others seriously injured, the SP said, adding that no one has been arrested so far in this connection.

After the clashes, curfew was imposed at noon in the two police station areas in Shillong while night curfew was imposed in the entire city.

Three companies of central forces have been deployed in the sensitive areas of the district, including in the affected areas of the city, officials said.

Governor Tathagata Roy and Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma have appealed the citizens to maintain peace. Both had taken to social media to issue their appeals even as mobile internet services were suspended in the six districts.

Chief Minister Sangma reviewed the law and order situation in the state and appealed for peace.

"I appeal to all our citizens and people of the state to ensure that peace returns and urge upon different organisations to refrain from any violent activity. A magisterial inquiry has been set up. We have ensured that enough manpower is put in place in the affected areas," he had said.

He announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh for the family of the man killed in Friday's clash.

Meanwhile, a police officer told PTI that the state police, which has set up helpline number 1800 345 3846 for stranded tourists, has successfully escorted at least 16 tourists out of the hill town to Guwahati after receiving frantic calls for help from them.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
YEREVAN, MARCH 1, ARMENPRESS. In an apparent effort to dismiss the unsubstantiated panic and purported hotel booking cancellations in the town of Tsakhakdzor, the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced that he and his family are heading to the resort town to spend the night there at a local hotel.

Earlier today, 31 direct contacts of the first novel coronavirus case in Armenia were quarantined at a defunct hotel in Tsakhkadzor.

Shortly after the news, PM Pashinyan said he receives information that some visitors and tourists to the town are cancelling their hotel bookings. He dismissed the concerns and said that the quarantine doesnt anyhow affect the towns life. He called on the general public to refrain from panicking or spreading disinformation.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
MUMBAI, Feb 29 (Reuters) - Saturday is a "monumental day for Afghanistan", the United States embassy in Kabul said on Twitter, just hours before the signing of a pact with Taliban Islamist militants that could bring an end to an 18-year war in the South Asian nation.

With preparations underway for the signing in Qatar's capital of Doha, the embassy officials added, "It is about making peace and crafting a common brighter future. We stand with Afghanistan."

Once the deal is signed Afghanistan, which has been at war since American bombings began in response to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, stands to see an end to violence that has claimed tens of thousands of lives. (Reporting by Orooj Hakimi; Writing by Rupam Jain; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
Wearable wrist and ankle weights company Bala Bangles caught the attention of all the Sharks on Friday's episode of ABC's "Shark Tank," including guest Shark and retired tennis star Maria Sharapova but there was one catch.

Sharapova wanted to only invest with another Shark, and as a result, most of the Sharks fought to team up with her.

"It's the first time in history I've seen Sharks actually fight to be a partner [with another Shark]," investor Kevin O'Leary said during the episode.

The Bala Bangles co-founders, Natalie Holloway and Max Kislevitz, asked the Sharks for a $400,000 investment in exchange for a 10% stake in their company.

"Bala is designed to be additive to a workout that is already exhausting. These [weights] are going to make it incrementally harder," Kislevitz told the Sharks, as each looked at the product and tried it on their wrists.

The Bangles are either one- or two-pound weights, each in a variety of colors, that can be worn as wrist or angle bracelets.

Each of the Sharks were impressed by the look of the weights, and Sharapova was "impressed by the outside texture as well," as she said during the episode.
Boris Johnson was last night accused of handing a 'legal weapon' to opponents by failing to back Heathrow's third runway and abandoning the project to the mercy of the courts.

Dr Liam Fox, former Secretary of State for International Trade, said the Prime Minister was making a serious error by allowing the legal system to hijack policy that has already voted on by Parliament.

Hopes of building a third runway at Heathrow Airport received a major setback after the project was declared illegal on environmental grounds last week.

The Court of Appeal ruled Ministers had not honoured the Paris climate change agreement when they approved the third runway at Heathrow.

Dr Liam Fox, former Secretary of State for International Trade, said Boris Johnson should not let the legal system overrule decisions made in Parliament

It follows nearly two decades of wrangling over the project and a Government-appointed commission that said in 2015 a third runway at Heathrow 'will be crucial to the country's prosperity in an increasingly integrated global economy' and could be done 'without imposing too great an environmental impact'. A sweeping majority in Parliament subsequently sealed the plan, but its destiny has become fraught.

And part of the problem, say supporters of the project, is that the Prime Minister once threatened to 'lie down in front of the bulldozers' to prevent it.

Heathrow and its backers have vowed to challenge last week's decision at the Supreme Court.

But businesses behind Heathrow and other major infrastructure projects have warned that the court decision could set a dangerous precedent that has major legal implications for other future projects.

Dr Fox said that letting the judicial system take the lead on the project's fate  with the Supreme Court now ultimately set to rule on whether the third runway is compatible with global carbon emissions targets  would leave the Government wide open to future legal risks.

Dr Fox said that letting the judicial system take the lead on the project's fate would leave the Government wide open to future legal risks

It could expose other major infrastructure plans  ranging from road, rail and regional airports to housing and hospital projects  to legal complaints if courts decide they do not meet strict environmental targets.

'It points to the dangers of the Government tying themselves down and giving a legal weapon to opponents,' Dr Fox said last night.

He added that it would be 'unfortunate if at the moment we leave the European Union we hand a competitive advantage to rivals on the Continent. Heathrow expansion is critical to global Britain as the UK needs a world-beating airport hub.'

Dr Fox added: 'It will help UK exporters reach new global markets and bring in billions of pounds through economic growth and connectivity.

'We can't allow our European competitors to seize the opportunity. It doesn't make sense to leave the EU and immediately hand a major economic advantage to competing airports on the Continent.'

Mark Reynolds, chief executive of construction firm Mace which has worked on Heathrow and the HS2 rail project, said: 'The Government's response is disappointing. What's the point in having an infrastructure commission if you are going to ignore the recommendations?

'If projects like Heathrow, and then potentially the High Speed Rail or Highways England programmes become toxic because of the environmental impact, then what are we as a nation going to do?

'Are we just going to stop and say we don't do anything?'

Heathrow's official target of achieving zero carbon emissions by 2050 could even be achieved in the middle of the next decade, setting a benchmark for global airport emissions, supporters say.

Mr Reynolds said: 'Heathrow is a massive opportunity to kickstart key innovations in sustainability, construction and productivity in the UK.

'We should collectively get behind this.

'The UK could become a world leader in moving to net carbon zero.'
In the cold open of the latest Saturday Night Live, the show skewered Vice President Mike Pence and the fact that hes been placed in charge of President Trumps coronavirus task force. Then it mashed it up with a grab bag of the weeks political news, featuring the shows versions of the Democratic primary candidates  including John Mulaney as the new Joe Biden.

The skit began with Beck Bennett as Pence giving a press conference to explain  and of course fail to reassure the country about  whether the Trump administration has a handle on the coronavirus outbreak. It didnt help that he brought out Keenan Thompson as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson, who was there because hes actually a doctor.

This is something I actually do know about, Thompsons Carson said, and in my opinion its gonna be baaaad.

He then attempted to explain the threat posed by coronavirus with a photo of Stitch from Disneys Lilo and Stich. It looks like this. As you can see from his sharp teeth hes a nasty little thing, Thompson-as-Carson said.

Also Read: First Coronavirus-Related U.S. Death Reported in Washington State

Thats when Bennetts Pence took back over, telling Americans to take simple precautions, like covering your mouth when you cough, and as always closing your eyes during intercourse.

Thompsons Carson then offered Americans a free MAGA sticker, though he admitted it would probably be several months late since they are made in Wuhan, China. Then he slunked off the stage mumbling, its baaad.

Pence then protested that now is the time for unity and not the time to politicize this issue, at which point the SNL versions of the Democratic hopefuls popped up, beginning with Fred Armisens Mike Bloomberg.

Bloomberg claimed that he got past security by coughing and making everyone avoid him, then said hes the candidate to lead America out of the coronavirus crisis, even if that candidate lacks charisma, or the ability to connect with human being.

Story continues

Next up, Kate McKinnons Elizabeth Warren showed up basically to menace Bloomberg as shes expertly done during recent Democratic debates. Then Mulaneys Joe Biden appeared, joking that he looks different because the surgery is starting to settle.

Also Read: Joe Biden Wins South Carolina Democratic Primary; Sanders Is Distant Second

Mulaneys Biden then told an obviously false story about how the year was 19-ticky tavvy and me and Nelson Mandela were traveling around South Africa Green Book-style.

Then Larry Davids Bernie Sanders made the point that with coronavirus, universal health care doesnt sound too crazy now, does it? Colin Josts Pete Buttigieg also showed up because Im a candidate too for the next three days. Then Rachel Dratchs Amy Klobuchar chastised Mayor Pete.

And near the end, Davids Sanders urged people to wash their hands: I might get in trouble for saying this, but you know who was good at washing his hands? Joseph Stalin. We see what you did there.

Watch the whole clip above.

Read original story SNL': Democratic Candidates Crash Pences Coronavirus Press Conference (Video) At TheWrap
TEHRAN, Feb. 29 (Xinhua) -- Iran has adopted a series of measures to fight against the COVID-19, as the virus has killed 43 people out of 593 confirmed cases in the country as of Saturday.

Iranian medical officials announced on Saturday that they will ban the people suspicious of infection from moving out of the Qom city.

The deputy chief of Qom Medical University said that from Sunday their staff will monitor people's health condition at the exits of Qom with special equipment, and people diagnosed as suspicious of carrying the virus will be under quarantine.

In cities and provinces seriously hit by coronavirus, the educational centers have been shut down until the next notice.

Iran's parliament announced on Friday that it will stop working temporarily.

Meanwhile, Iranian officials have warned people to avoid attending gatherings and unnecessary public activities.

Iran's Friday prayer ceremony was cancelled on Feb. 28 and sport events were held without spectators.

Besides, Tehran announced earlier that public transportation in the capital city would be sterilized to reduce the risks of infection.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday that the world should address the outbreak of the coronavirus as the illness has turned to be a global issue.

"All countries will consequently have no choice other than to share their experience and resources to counter this issue," he added.

The Iranian president noted that "we look forward to expanding bilateral and regional medical cooperation with all countries in the region over the issue."
This comic insight chronicles the making and the unmaking of a racist, told with heartfelt affection and warmth, a journey specific to her own experiences and universal to many.

She's Back!

Carolyn Meyer, author of fiction and non-fiction for children and young adults, decided that sixty books were enough, and two years ago she launched a new career as a comedian and storyteller. Her solo show, Dont Call Me Young Lady!, played for more than a dozen sold-out performances at The Cell before heading to New York in October for the United Solo Theatre Festival.

With a stone-cold gaze and comic insight, The Old White Lady Tells It chronicles the making and the unmaking of a racist, from the naming of her first puppy at the age of four, through the writing of a college essay that would bring cheers from the KKK, and to ultimately standing in front of a black congregation on a Sunday morning. Told with heart-felt affection and warmth, Meyer takes a writers surgical precision to growing up in America, a journey specific to her own experiences but also universal to the experiences of many people.

The show plays SundaysFebruary 23rd, March 1st and March 8th at The Cell Theatre, 700 First Street NW in Downtown Albuquerque. The performance starts at 4pm. Tickets are $20 and can be ordered at www.forumabq.com.
'Americans, after 18 years of war in Afghanistan, have got tired and they want to withdraw for their domestic reasons'

IMAGE: United States Special Representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad and Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Taliban groups top political leader shake hands after signing a peace agreement between Taliban and U.S., in Doha. Photograph: ANI Photo

The long-anticipated deal signed between the United States and the Taliban is a "withdrawal agreement" rather than a peace agreement, experts said on Sunday, further fearing that it is more or less a compulsion for President Donald Trump to secure a win in the 2020 presidential elections.

After 18 months of talks and nearly 20 years of war, the Taliban and the US have signed a deal aimed at paving the way for peace in Afghanistan and the departure of foreign troops.

"He (Trump) wants to win the 2020 (elections) at all costs and this is a step that is taken in that direction. When he became the President in 2016, he had then said that he'll get the boys (American troops in Afghanistan) home and withdraw 5,000 troops out of 12,000 within a period of 14 months, provided that the Taliban does not infringe on the agreement," defence expert PK Sehgal said.

Pointing out that America has spent more than a trillion dollars on the long-drawn war and has lost more than 2,500 people in Afghanistan, Sehgal added that both the Americans and the Taliban are fatigued by now.

"This is not the peace agreement but the withdrawal agreement. A peace agreement would have been there had there been a genuine expectation that there would be peace in Afghanistan. The Taliban haven't made any major concessions to America. Neither have they talked to the Afghan government. They have only promised they would talk to the government. However, nobody knows what the future holds," Sehgal said.

Former diplomat Dilip Sinha also reiterated that the Americans, after 18 years of war in Afghanistan, have got tired and they want to withdraw for their domestic reasons.

"It's not that they have lost the war but also they have not won the war as they are not able to decimate the Taliban completely," he said.

"We have to see what the agreement says on Taliban joining the Afghan government. Will the US force the Afghan government to make the Taliban as a partner in their government? Or will Taliban will become a political party and contest election to see if people support them?" Sinha said.

As per a joint declaration between Washington and the Afghan government, the US will withdraw all its forces from Afghanistan within 14 months.

The plan is "subject to the Taliban's fulfilment of its commitments under the US-Taliban agreement".

Meanwhile, former diplomat Ashok Sajjanhar further noted that America has been quite desperate in taking its forces out of Afghanistan.

"They have spent trillions of dollars in the war-torn country and the US President has also called it an unnecessary war. The agreement means that out of the total 13,000 troops present there, around 4,500 troops will be withdrawn within 135 days. The remaining 8,600 forces will leave within some finite period of time which has not been discussed," he stated.

However, the diplomat said there are very many uncertainties in the process as well, the most important being that the democratically elected government in Kabul has not been involved in this process.

"One of the conditions now will be that the Taliban will have to undertake negotiations and talks with the Ashraf Ghani government in Kabul and with the other Afghan forces to ensure a long-term political settlement that is reached," he stated.
American Airlines Inc will suspend all U.S. flights to Milan, the airline said late on Saturday, just hours after the U.S. State Department said it was raising its travel warning for parts of Italy due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Italy is experiencing Europe's worst outbreak of the infectious disease, with more than 1,100 confirmed cases and 29 deaths. The country's outbreak emerged last week about 40 miles (60 km) from Milan, Italy's financial capital in the country's north.

American said it will suspend flights to and from Milan, from New York-John F. Kennedy International Airport and Miami through April 24, citing a reduction in demand.

On Saturday, the Trump administration raised its travel advisory alert to "Level 4 - Do Not Travel" to Lombardy and Veneto in Italy "due to the level of community transmission of the virus and imposition of local quarantine procedures".

Milan is the capital of the Lombardy region. Vice President Mike Pence said on Saturday that the U.S. State Department will work with Italy to coordinate medical screening of any individuals coming to the United States.

American said its final flight will return from Milan on Sunday.

American will continue to operate a single daily flight to Italy - between Philadelphia and Rome in each direction. American is scheduled to resume seasonal service to Venice in May.

Also read: USFDA allows labs to test for coronavirus prior to review

Also read: Trump imposes travel restrictions after first coronavirus death in US
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 22:09:22|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

MANILA, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has not authorized any new negotiations to forge a new military pact that will replace the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the United States, presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said Sunday.

Panelo reiterated Duterte does not want a new military deal with the U.S., adding that the Philippine leader is determined to terminate the VFA.

Panelo belied reports which quoted the Philippine Ambassador to the U.S. Jose Manuel Romualdez as saying that Manila and Washington are finding ways to come up with an agreement similar to the VFA.

"Actually I was talking to Ambassador Romualdez. He denied it. It's like he was saying that they are studying other agreements, whether they are disadvantageous or advantageous to the country," Panelo said in a radio interview.

Panelo said there might be some U.S. officials who are pushing for a possible new agreement but Duterte has already made up his mind not to negotiate a new one with the U.S.

"None. There was no approval from President Duterte. It must be an initiative of the counterparts of Ambassador Romualdez. They are the ones affected, that is why they will likely initiate and make a good suggestion," he said.

Panelo said any talks for new military pact with the United States is not sanctioned by Duterte.

"The president's position remains unchanged. He still wants to scrap the VFA. He wants us to be self-reliant. That's his main point," Panelo said.

In a speech this week, Duterte said that the Philippine troops can fight terrorists without U.S. military help.

On Feb. 11, the Philippines officially notified Washington of its intention to unilaterally terminate the VFA with the United States. The termination will take effect 180 days after the notification.

The two countries signed in 1998 the VFA allowing joint Philippine-U.S. military operations. The Philippine senate ratified the agreement in 1999, seven years after the closure of the last U.S. base on Philippine territory.

Over 300 military engagements are scheduled between the two militaries during the entire year. These engagements include training exercises, expert exchanges, functional training and exchanges, planning and table-top exercises.
Morocco has asked its citizens to abide by the Saudi decision to temporarily suspend visits to Islams holiest sites in Mecca and Medina over coronavirus fears.

Moroccos foreign ministry has also commended in a statement the Saudi decision as responsible and right.

The suspension of all foreign travels to Mecca and Medina comes ahead of the annual Hajj pilgrimage, as the Middle East recorded more than 220 confirmed cases.

Saudi Arabia renews its support for all international measures to limit the spread of this virus and urges its citizens to exercise caution before travelling to countries experiencing coronavirus outbreaks, the Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement announcing the decision.

Iran has been the Middle East most hardly hit country with the virus. The epicenter appears to be in the holy Shia city of Qom, where a shrine there sees the faithful reach out to kiss and touch it in reverence.

China, where the pandemic outbroke in December, reported on Saturday at least 47 new deaths, bringing to 2,835 the number of fatalities nationwide among 79,251 confirmed cases.
Two men have been arrested following a serious assault in the Moy area of Co Tyrone in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The men, aged 18 and 20, were arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm with intent and possessing an offensive weapon in a public place and remain in custody at this time. They were later released on police bail.

The incident occurred in the The Square area at around 1.20am.

Three men, who had just left a licensed premises, were attacked by a number of other men in the street.

One of the men, aged 31, sustained a serious stab wound to his abdomen and was taken for hospital to treatment. His condition is currently described as stable.

Two other men, aged 27 and 33, sustained a number of injuries during the attack and also received treatment in hospital.

Detectives are appealing for anyone who was in the area of The Square in Moy early this morning and who witnessed the incident to contact them in Cookstown on 101 quoting reference 137 01/03/20.

Information can also be provided to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111, which is 100% anonymous and gives people the power to speak up and stop crime.
Two local bands, Hines Drive and Fifty Amp Fuse are joining together to play a benefit concert for Veterans Matter at 8 p.m. March 20 at the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center in Dearborn.

The Veterans Matter is a program that helps veterans and their families transition from homelessness into permanent housing.

Over the last two decades, FiftyAmpFuse has become a favorite at festivals and concerts across the nation. Hines Drive is comprised of the original members of Salem Witchcraft, one of Michigans most successful rock bands of the 70s and 80s.

FiftyAmpFuse will also be performing Godz of Vinyl, a live musical production synchronized to nostalgic video segments.

Tickets are $25 each and may be purchased at http://www.dearborntheater.com/events/10004348-fifty-amp-fuse-godz-of-vinyl-and-featuring-hines-drive.

A cash bar will be available during the concert.
Nowhere was Mr. Steyers money more evident than in South Carolina. As his rivals fought amid the crowded Democratic field to gain a foothold in Iowa and New Hampshire, Mr. Steyers campaign saw an opportunity to saturate South Carolina voters with television ads and direct mail while also building out a large campaign operation and making dozens of visits to the state.

But Mr. Steyers campaign went beyond even those efforts. In a state where black voters comprised about 60 percent of the Democratic electorate, Mr. Steyers campaign hired local African-American staff members, used black-owned businesses to cater events and provide other services and committed to spending about $150,000 on advertising in the black-owned media.

The heavy spending strategy  which presaged a similar approach taken by fellow billionaire Michael R. Bloomberg  appeared to be at least partially responsible for the boost in the polls that Mr. Steyer enjoyed in South Carolina. In January and February, Mr. Steyer polled in the double digits several times in surveys of South Carolina voters despite having never performed that well in dozens of other national and early voting state polls, save for once or twice in Nevada.

But exactly how Mr. Steyer wielded his financial resources also came under scrutiny and raised questions about whether he was seeking to gain influence though his spending. For instance, Mr. Steyers campaign made commercial rent payments to a company owned by Jennifer Clyburn Reed, a daughter of James E. Clyburn, the longtime Democratic congressman from South Carolina whose endorsement was highly coveted and eventually went to former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.

Mr. Steyers campaign also put influential black lawmakers on his campaign payroll as advisers  some of whom endorsed him  and faced allegations of vote-buying, all of which raised concerns among some South Carolina Democrats. Earlier in the cycle, Mr. Steyers campaign was forced to apologize for what it said was miscommunication following a report that a top aide had privately offered campaign contributions to local politicians in exchange for endorsements.

Nonetheless, Mr. Steyers relative strength in South Carolina earned him one final chance to make his case in front of a national television audience at the debate in late February.
Rep. Henry Cuellar greeting drivers in Laredo, Texas on Feb. 18, 2020. Jacob Pramuk | CNBC

LAREDO, Texas  Rep. Henry Cuellar's final stretch before his Tuesday primary election wasn't one typically expected from a Democrat facing a challenge from the left. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which usually backs Republicans, endorsed the south Texas congressman earlier this month. Libre Initiative Action, a group backed by the conservative megadonor Koch family, also gave him its stamp of approval. About a month before his March 3 election against immigration lawyer Jessica Cisneros, Cuellar broke from his party to vote against a labor reform bill. Despite a blossoming progressive movement in the state, the Democratic congressman said he still sees his area reflecting conservative views on a range of issues. "My district. It's very simple," Cuellar told CNBC earlier this month when asked why he has opposed some of his party's proposals on topics from gun safety to labor rights and abortion. The congressman's voting record has come under scrutiny from a liberal wing of the party intent on ousting several House incumbents they say have fallen out of step with Democrats in 2020. The primary election in Texas' 28th District on Tuesday will likely determine who represents a Democratic-leaning seat that extends south from the San Antonio suburbs to a big stretch of the U.S. border with Mexico. Cisneros, endorsed by two of the leading candidates in the state's Democratic presidential primary in Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, hopes to pull an upset that would be a significant moment for the progressive movement in a changing Texas.

Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren and Democratic candidate for Congress in Texas' 28th district Jessica Cisneros walk onstage during a rally on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2019, in Austin, Texas. Nick Wagner | Austin American-Statesman | AP

Cisneros, a former Cuellar intern, supports a single-payer "Medicare for All" system and a Green New Deal. She said she would have voted for the labor bill known as the PRO Act that Cuellar opposed. She told CNBC that the congressman is "the one that's out of step with what the true values of south Texas are." The primary has put powerful Democratic figures in opposing camps. Sanders has backed Cisneros as he leads polling averages in the 2020 Texas primary. He has tried to energize younger Latino voters to win the state. Warren and former San Antonio Mayor and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro have supported Cisneros. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who works to protect incumbents, held a fundraiser with Cuellar in the border city of Laredo last weekend. "We want this to be not only a victory, but a resounding victory for Henry Cuellar," Pelosi said, according to the Texas Tribune.

A trade hotbed

His congressional seat juts southwest from the eastern suburbs of San Antonio, past Sutherland Springs, where a gunman killed 26 people at a church in 2017. Drivers navigating the last flat stretch of the drive on Interstate 35 south to Laredo roll past gates to ranches, U.S. Customs and Border Protection vehicles and 18-wheelers hauling goods to and from Mexico. Driving north after a customs inspection point, drivers see a Cuellar campaign billboard. The district is about three-quarters Hispanic or Latino, according to U.S. Census estimates. Trade buzzes through Laredo, the largest inland port in the country. Retail trade and transportation and warehousing are among the district's largest employers. Still, it has a higher unemployment rate, 6.6%, than the U.S. as a whole. About 20% of families live in poverty. Cuellar said "there are so many jobs here tied into trade." He added that businesspeople "always say we need predictability," but Trump "has been doing the reverse" by threatening to put tariffs and Mexico and withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Trucks, including an armored car, pass through U.S. customs on October 17, 2016 in Laredo, Texas. South Texas customs agents processed $166 billion in imports from Mexico last year, with the largest amount coming through Laredo. Getty Images

Trump achieved a campaign goal earlier this year when Congress ratified the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, his update to the 1994 free-trade deal that helped to facilitate commerce between Mexico and the United States. Cuellar voted to pass it in the House last year. Cisneros did not explicitly say whether she would have backed the version of USMCA that lawmakers passed, but noted that she was pleased Democrats appeared to listen to more labor voices when making changes to the Trump administration's original deal. She also said she would have pushed for tougher environmental standards in the deal. Several Democrats cited climate change in voting against the agreement.

Dueling backgrounds

Cuellar is a known commodity in the 28th District after representing it for 15 years. Standing on the corner of a busy Laredo intersection on the first day of early voting this month, he waved at and bantered with drivers. "I want to be like you when I grow up!" he yelled at one constituent stopped at a light. Cisneros, who moved back to the district after spending time in Brooklyn, N.Y., said she feels her message resonates better with people struggling in the district. The daughter of Mexican immigrants said locals were "looking for someone who was going to step up" against Cuellar after a long tenure. Her strategy for winning may have to involve expanding the electorate to younger and more infrequent voters  something Sanders hopes to do at the same time at the presidential level. "One can make the argument that we might be seeing the beginning of the progressive movement in Texas in some respects," said Jon Taylor, chair of the department of political science at the University of Texas at San Antonio. While progressive leaders have helped to fuel Cisneros, the U.S. Chamber and Koch endorsements underscore the support Cuellar has in the region's business community.

Customs broker J.D. Gonzalez at his warehouse in Laredo, Texas on Feb. 17, 2020. Jacob Pramuk | CNBC
State education leaders are scrambling to help half a dozen rural school districts suffering from sharp drops in enrollment, financial problems and trouble recruiting teachers.

Another 15 school districts are listed by state officials in the second tier of troubles, including the City of Baker and the Assumption, East Feliciana and Pointe Coupee parish school systems.

What it means is that 21 of Louisiana's 34 rural schools districts  nearly half the state  are either experiencing a "financial crisis" or expected to do so shortly, according to a recent report by the state Department of Education. The fallout could ultimately be the responsibility of all the state's taxpayers.

The six hardest hit are expected to lose more students in the next five years, suffer from low cash reserves and have failed to meet a state requirement that 70% of its dollars go toward instruction.

"We are kind of behind the eight ball," said Ted Reeves, superintendent of the Union Parish School District in north Louisiana, one of the struggling six. Reeves' district has gradually gone from nine or 10 schools to just two amid population losses plaguing rural America.

Nearby Tensas Parish has seen its enrollment drop from over 1,000 students about two decades ago to roughly 400 today. "We agonize about spending $1,000 on anything," Tensas Parish schools Superintendent Paul Nelson said.

One of three schools was closed in Tensas, and up to 40% of the staff has been let go.

"We are down to the point where we don't have much left to cut," Nelson said.

Teachers are paid $31,000 per year  roughly $21,000 less than some other districts  and the Tensas school system has the highest percentage of uncertified teachers in the state.

As rural Louisiana areas 'die before our very eyes,' here's how it's impacting the entire state too State Treasurer John Schroder shrugged last week saying he may not be to blame and he may not know quite what to do, but the financial problem

"In a poor, rural district that has no Subway, no Pizza Hut, no Sonic, you don't have the opportunity for much sales tax or, for that matter, property tax," Nelson said. "Most of what we have is farmland, and farmland is not assessed very high."

Others listed as having the greatest risks are the Madison, Catahoula, East Carroll and Morehouse parish school districts  all in north Louisiana. The six districts reeling the most have less than 9,300 students of about 720,000 statewide.

But advocates say the issue has statewide implications, including the fact that already-wobbly school systems in south Louisiana could nose-dive amid disruptions in the oil industry or other setbacks.

All 15 school districts in the second tier of problems are expected to lose students in the next five years and suffer from low cash balances.

$500 teacher pay raises proposed by John Bel Edwards after criticism of initial plan In an about face, Gov. John Bel Edwards' office Thursday proposed a pay raise of about $500 for teachers, less than two weeks after the govern

State Superintendent of Education John White said the issues require urgent state intervention, and he has been meeting with local superintendents to trade ideas.

The state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education may tackle the issue at its meeting on March 10-11.

Mike Faulk, executive director of the Louisiana Association of School Superintendents, said one idea is short-term financial aid from the state, similar to the $7.5 million provided to the East Baton Rouge Parish, Livingston Parish and other schools districts after the flood of 2016.

"It is a matter of working with the superintendents, the finance people, and the school board members to really look in depth at what is happening, what they are doing and what they can be doing," he said.

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

Faulk, former superintendent of the Central School District, said the issue also points up the fallout from state aid for public schools rising only two times in the past 12 years.

Some of the six districts have seen drops in property tax revenue in the past three years and expect more declines in the next 36 months. Drops in sales tax revenue that helps support schools are also a recurring theme.

The schools crisis is an offshoot of larger problems in rural Louisiana that prompted Gov. John Bel Edwards to form a task force last month to try to come up with answers.

The trouble has been percolating for years.

"It is not new to us," said state Rep. Francis Thompson, D-Delhi, who will start his 45th year in the Legislature on March 9.

Thompson said teachers are hard to find because of driving distances.

Private and parochial schools help trim public school enrollment.

Economic development is lagging.

"This is a trend that is nationwide," Thompson noted. "It is not just Louisiana."

The state Department of Education recently submitted its report on the districts to the House Education Committee in response to a 2019 resolution sponsored by Rep. Jack McFarland, R-Jonesboro.

"If we don't financially address it now and work together to come up with reasonable legislation, then inevitably the state will pay for these school systems," McFarland said.

The report said other states have set up "support centers" that allow struggling districts to share costs, especially for bulk items.

The governing board could include one or two school board members from each school system taking part.

Catahoula Parish School District Superintendent Ronald Lofton, which closed a school this year, said his district is 70 miles from north to south.

"Whether you haul 20 kids on the bus or 50 you still have the same costs associated with it," Lofton said.

The district has about 1,100 students, down from 2,500 not long ago.

Some students graduate from high school and leave the parish for good. "There is no opportunity for a job unless you are in education," Lofton said.
A daughter pieces together the details of her fathers escape from war in Bosnia, and finds a tunnel between them.

No matter how much my father tries to hide his accent, he still trips over the th sound. They, them and there become dey, dem and dere when he speaks.

His mouth has committed the rest of the English language to memory. He has learned how to weave local phrases and American slang into his near-perfect English to disguise the remaining traces of his mother tongue.

As if to combat the natural, open sounds of the Slavic vowels he grew up speaking, my father pronounces his letters with an exaggerated, nasal tone. That, combined with the way he unironically says Da Bears, tricks most people into thinking he grew up in Chicago.



His impediment has turned him into a caricature, the poster boy for the Chicago family man.

Except my father is a Sarajlija  someone born in Sarajevo, in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He spent 17 years of his life walking, talking and surviving like a Bosnian until the war forced him to flee.

In September 1995, he arrived in the United States on a refugee visa. By 2000, he would be married, have a child and have become a citizen. My father escaped the war and devoted the rest of his life to forgetting it.

War lives on

But war does not end just because the guns are put down. War lives on, passed down to future generations and disseminated around the world. About 40,000 Bosnian refugees came to Chicago between 1992 and 1995, each carrying a war story with them. Some of them had kids, and they became the next chapter in a story that is still unfolding.

I had no choice but to become part of a war story. In the US my father married my mother, an American-born Kosovar Albanian, now his ex-wife, in the same year that the Dayton Accords were signed, 1995.

Thanks to ethnic tensions, their marriage was  and still is  considered controversial.

Violence was simmering in Kosovo in 1995; it would erupt into full-blown armed conflict in 1998, when my mother was pregnant with me. The wars would haunt all of us even after the bombing of Serbia in 1999, which ended three days before my first birthday.

Sometimes, Balkan politics seeped into my parents arguments, and marital affairs became another unintended consequence of the war.

From left, Tyras grandpa, grandma and father in their apartment in Sarajevo [Photo courtesy of Tyra Bosnic]

One less witness

For a long time, I refused to be part of any collective narrative. I was not religious, and I did not feel enough of a connection with my familys culture to identify with it. I thought it did not matter, anyway. Not in the US, thousands of miles away from the tumult in the Balkans. In my native Chicago, I could live without ever having to acknowledge that part of me.

The more American my father became, the easier it was to forget that I was Bosnian. When I was little, he still held Old World sensibilities, distinctly Bosnian mannerisms and a heavy accent. I was well into elementary school when English began to dominate our conversations, both in public and at home.

The Bosnian language slowly faded from us both. When I was in college I noticed that my fathers accent was gone.

When I tried to conjure up a sentence in Bosnian after years of neglecting it, I could not. Suddenly, years of words, stories and jokes I had grown up with were gone, swept away to the inner corners of my mind where memories go to die.

I had hung up my war-torn background to be an assimilated American. I was one less witness if we were to ever disappear. I had become better at killing off my culture than any war criminal, simply by not caring about it.

A Bosniak in America

That was when the panic set in. I became obsessed with the war. I would go on drawn-out ramblings about the Balkan conflict and my identity in front of my friends. It was a bid to make someone else care because I did not trust myself to be responsible for our mark on history.

But the message would not land the way I wanted it to. It is hard to get people to care about a war that ended decades ago, in a far-away place, that started because of convoluted notions of identity that do not translate in American terms. War cannot live on where most of the people have no stake in it.

I was 18 when my obsession first took hold. The same age my father had been when he resettled in America. For the first time, I asked him directly about it.

We were in the kitchen of the suburban home he now shares with my stepmother. My half-siblings, a product of my dads marriage to a Catholic-raised Michigander whose family arrived on the Mayflower, do not know Bosnian. Thirteen years younger than me, they are set to grow up as American as apple pie, with no memories of saying goofy things to our father in a foreign language just because they can.

My father did not hesitate. We wouldve been seen as criminals if we stayed, he said.

Tyras fathers first Chicago apartment, taken a few months after he resettled [Photo courtesy of Tyra Bosnic]

I tried to follow his disjointed stories about committing petty crimes in a war zone or making a pact to leave the country with his best friend. He stumbled from one anecdote to another, all loosely related by the war.

It was more than he had ever told me about his life then, but there were still pieces missing.

I could tell my father wanted to give me answers but something stopped him from being able to delve directly into the truth. It seemed like the only way he could think about the war was in short bursts that flashed by quickly enough to repress any emotions they might stir.

I watched the facade slowly chip away around him so that I could finally see through the stoic, self-made man  who had juggled multiple warehouse jobs to keep up with the American Dream, moving up in position despite barely having a high school education  to the traumatised refugee beneath.

It was then that I knew I had to go back to Sarajevo to try to put the pieces together myself. I would have to trace my fathers footsteps through the city with whatever clues I could gather about his life.

The past that tied us together

In Sarajevo, my relatives were ready to give me more, to regale me with their war stories. My cousin took me to a mall, the basement of which had served as her classroom during the siege. Over Turkish coffee, my grandma told me about dodging grenades on her way to work. My grandpa lounged in his chair as he showed me the scar on his arm from a piece of shrapnel. It was from the same explosive that had killed one of my fathers friends.

It happened in front of the apartment building my grandparents still live in today. My grandpa heard the sound of approaching shelling as my 16-year-old father and his friend, Haris, took turns riding a bicycle on the street below.

War stories tumbled out of them .... Here were my comrades in suffering. But the Bosnians I thought I had a shared history with, including my family, did not see me as part of their war story.

My grandpa barrelled out of the building to tell my father to come inside, and Haris turned to flee. Haris only made it about 10 metres before the shells made impact.

It happened so quickly that my grandpa and father were not yet inside. Three or four people died along with Haris in front of their building that day, my grandparents told me.

War stories tumbled out of them. It would start with one, and soon they would be caught in a time loop, reliving the worst years of their lives. As much as it turned my stomach, hearing my familys memories from the siege sated a desire that had been gnawing at me. This was the source of the pain that had been echoing inside me since I realised I had given up on Bosnia. My angst in America was not for nought. Here were my comrades in suffering.

But the Bosnians I thought I had a shared history with, including my family, did not see me as part of their war story. After my relatives told me their anecdotes from the siege, they would abruptly sever the connection we shared with: You couldnt understand how bad it was. To them, I was not a Bosnian. I was an American with a Bosnian father.

My family told me their stories because they wanted to educate me. In their eyes, I was shrouded in American ignorance, my place of birth negating the past that tied us together.

Tunnel of Hope

That is why my grandma drove me to Butmir, a nearby suburb of Sarajevo and the site of the Tunnel of Hope.

The tunnel was used to bring aid to the city during the siege and as a means of escape. Hundreds of thousands of Sarajevans fled through this tunnel, including my father.

Death was omnipresent in Bosnia in the 1990s, but it spared my father every time they met.

In February 1995, when he was 17, my father hitched a ride in a truck delivering furniture to Croatia with a driver named Zenga after traversing the tunnel to Dobrinja. The truck sped up the narrow roads on the Igman mountain as my father watched the tyres teeter over the edge of the cliffs from the passenger window.

Serb forces were stationed on the opposite peaks, ready to shoot at passing vehicles. As they drove dangerously close to Serb territory, Zenga blew the trucks horn and screamed curse words at the soldiers. My father told me he was sure he was going to die before reaching the border, but he was lucky. Death was omnipresent in Bosnia in the 1990s, but it spared my father every time they met.

Zenga took him to the Croatian border, unscathed. My father hid in an armoire in the back of the furniture van as border police searched the truck. He heard the heavy footsteps of the officers as they investigated the trailer and slowly moved closer to the armoire. Then the footsteps trailed away. Zenga drove off, and my father would start the slow march towards normality in a new country, starting with his application for refugee status.

Tyras grandma walking over a Sarajevo Rose  mortar scars filled with red resin  in the courtyard outside the Tunnel of Hope [Photo courtesy of Tyra Bosnic]

He had to hide his Bosniak identity in Croatia while he waited for his application to be approved. He wanted to resettle in Germany so it would be easier to return to Bosnia once the war was over, but the only choice he was given was to leave for the United States.

I was standing in the exact spot that journey began at the entrance to the tunnel. Most of the tunnel is now condemned, but visitors can still walk 20m of it and experience what leaving home might have been like for the one million or so Bosnians who escaped through it. Looking around at the other people snapping photos of the displays, I noticed that most of them were not Bosnian.

Locals do not need to visit a museum to know what happened during the war, my grandma told me. That is probably why a museum worker was pleasantly surprised when, after telling us the admission prices in English, my grandma said in their native tongue: Im a Sarajlija. You dont have to talk like that with me.

He followed us into the open courtyard that led to the tunnel entrance, exchanging war stories with my grandma. My granddaughter was born in America, she told him. But her father went through this tunnel, and she needs to know what we went through.

The inside of the tunnel in the direction of Dobrinja, showing a sign that reads High voltage, alert, life-threatening [Photo courtesy of Tyra Bosnic]

Rooted in the soil

In most encounters with strangers when I was in Bosnia, my grandma took the lead, speaking for me. After just a few weeks surrounded by the language, muscle memory kicked in. I had regained near fluency in understanding Bosnian, but I was still hopelessly confused about grammar and sentence structure when I had to form the words myself.

That is my only tell in Bosnia. If I do not speak, or if I limit my responses to short, easy-to-assemble sentences, I blend in. But my language skills were still poor, so my grandma talked to the employees as I wandered around the courtyard. I could hear the guides leading tour groups, speaking in heavily accented English, unwittingly downplaying the severity of the war because they just could not find the right adjectives to describe it.

Many people suffered during war, one guide said. I, too, suffered. My grandfather, father, brother, and cousin died. It was very bad.

We eventually made it to the entrance of the tunnel, hidden inside a bullet-ridden house. A mortar shell was still lodged in the floor. The only way to enter the passage was through a set of rickety wooden steps leading into a musty, earthen tunnel that seemed to go nowhere. Signs warned visitors to be careful because of the cramped, still-decrepit state of the tunnel. The visitors in front of us held on to the walls for support and slowly walked over the uneven ground.

This was the passage between his old life and the one he was forced to create from scratch .... He was thousands of miles away back in America, and I was closer to understanding him than I ever was in Chicago.

I moved just as slowly, savouring every sensation. The cool, moist, underground air was a drastic change from the hot August day. I ran my hands along the wooden beams supporting the structure and slid my feet against the boards that formed the walkway. There were still cigarette butts crushed into the packed dirt. I followed the trail of orange lights above my head, imagining them lighting the way to Dobrinja.

I wondered if my father passed through the tunnel feeling what I felt then, this wad of emotions too tangled and compact to comprehend. This regret for a war that was not my fault. This fear of what was beyond the tunnel. Before descending into the darkness, did he take in one last glimpse of the city he was leaving? Did he watch his step or barrel ahead? Did he ever look back?

The entrance to the museum; a sign on the house shows the street was named in honour of the tunnel [Photo courtesy of Tyra Bosnic]

This was the passage between his old life and the one he was forced to create from scratch. A part of him was left here, rooted into the soil along with the stomped-out cigarette butts. He was thousands of miles away back in America, and I was closer to understanding him than I ever was in Chicago.

He and I had danced around each other as if we were cordial strangers for most of my life. After my parents divorced when I was nine, I saw him at most two or three days a week. We knew enough about each other to feign understanding but never ventured to know more.

I never told him about my obsession with Bosnia  not outright, at least. It felt too intimate to admit that I missed speaking his native language and that it felt like it was the only secret we had with each other. To tell him the hours I devoted to researching the war would reveal too much about what my heart aches for. But I learned to ask more from my father when I was in Bosnia, to know his history in order to know my own.

My Sarajevo father

My family in Sarajevo coped with what the war did to them by making every wound visible, impossible to forget. My father buried the war deep down, only letting it bubble to the surface when he could not hold it back.

The way he talks about the war is similar to how his English evolved. For the most part, traces of any other life he had lived outside of America were scrubbed away. But sometimes he gives clues and hints to his past, knowingly or not.

Even though my father did not talk about the siege much, he made me watch movies about it. Under the thunderous surround-sound of sniper fire blasting from the television speakers, he would murmur: I remember when that building was bombed.

Or, when a missile shot through an apartment building on screen, he would say: Once that happened to our neighbours. Most of the time he would come up with a joke or sarcastic commentary  something about the set design being all wrong or the actors not being native speakers because they had butchered a line in Bosnian.

He was a Bosnian child who had no choice but to become an American adult.

In a bid to instil some appreciation for his culture in my half-brother and sister, my father had taken them and my stepmother to Sarajevo for two weeks just before I arrived. We had hoped we could be in Bosnia together for the first time in years, but our travel itineraries did not work out. Still, when I was in Sarajevo, we talked to each other on the phone daily.

It was during one of those hour-long phone conversations that he told me, with sadness creeping into his voice: I can officially say I never want to move back. Its just too depressing there.

As far as we physically were from each other, those were some of the most candid talks I ever had with my father. He told me he had not planned to leave Bosnia forever. He was planting roots in America but still believed that one day he could go home. Except that home does not exist anymore. He could not stand how different Sarajevo was from his memories.

And it is not just that the country has changed. He has changed, too. Now in his 40s, my father has lived in America longer than he ever lived in Bosnia. He admits he has trouble speaking Bosnian now. Native speakers use countless words he was never exposed to because he was only 17 when he left. The Sarajlija in him never got a chance to grow up. He was a Bosnian child who had no choice but to become an American adult. Now our family in Sarajevo thinks he does not understand them, either.

Youre different. Youre an American now, is what our relatives tell him. They forget that he was born there, raised by them, and that the war affected him, too.

I could not help but laugh when he told me how hard it was for him to speak to our relatives now. Both of us are stunted. We are too Bosnian for America, too American for Bosnia.

Exactly! You get it. They dont understand us, my father said.

The tunnel exit that leads back to the museums courtyard [Photo courtesy of Tyra Bosnic]

We are in-betweeners, caught between one world and the next. I did not have to fight to survive as he did, but I am proof that he made it. I carry parts of him, even the pieces he thought he had to leave behind. To be part of a diaspora is to be homesick no matter where we are in the world, but at least we can be lonely together. This was our secret, a truth only people like us have the language for.

Still gripping the support beams, I had to will myself to exit that tunnel. I was not ready to part with the place where my past and my fathers future converged. This was a ruin left over from one of historys darkest moments, but it has not yet caved in. It is still a symbol of hope. Ascending from the darkness, blinking back the sunlight that made the mountains surrounding the city glimmer in green and gold, I hoped my father and I could build something that sturdy together.
The Northern State Governors Forum (NSGF) on Sunday, commended the impact of the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye on people as he clocks 78 years on Monday.

The forums chairman, Gov. Simon Lalong of Plateau, gave the commendation in a statement by his Director of Press and Public Affairs, Dr. Macham Makut in Jos.

While congratulating Pastor Adeboye on his 78th birthday, Lalong described him as a man of God who is rendering fervent service to God and humanity.

He added that Adeboye had been impacting peoples lives through education, healthcare, infrastructure, empowerment and entrepreneurship using the various outreaches and programmes of the Church.

The labour of Pastor Adeboye in the Lords vineyard over his many years of preaching and evangelism clearly sets him apart as a vessel of honour, he said.

He noted that God has used Adeboye to touch the lives of the people not only in Nigeria but in the world at large.

Lalong appreciated God for granting Pastor Adeboye who would be 78 years on March 2.

He prayed to God to grant him good health and grace as he continues to pray for the peace and progress of Nigeria while rendering his best toward the salvation of the people.


Sales Contract with Trafigura for Wiluna Gold Concentrate

Perth, Mar 2, 2020 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Blackham Resources Limited ( ASX:BLK ) ( FRA:NZ3 ) ( OTCMKTS:BKHRF ) ("Blackham", "Seller"), and Trafigura Pte. Ltd. ("Buyer) have executed a sales contract for Trafigura to purchase Gold Concentrate from Blackham's Stage 1 Expansion project (see ASX release dated 23rd December 2019).The contract shall be effective from the start of Blackham's gold concentrates production anticipated in Q3FY21, for a period of 3 years, and following that shall be renewed on an evergreen basis with 12 months' notice exercisable by either party. The minimum quantity to be delivered under the contract is 52,500 t of Gold Concentrate. The terms that have been agreed are aligned with the financial model that Blackham has developed for the Stage 1 Expansion Project.Trafigura's global non-ferrous concentrate trading book, which is in excess of 10 M tonnes per annum, together with its global blending facilities which service a variety of markets render Trafigura an ideal partner for Blackham.Blackham Executive Chairman Milan Jerkovic commented "Reaching agreement for the sale of a significant proportion of Stage 1 gold concentrate production is an important milestone for Blackham. Reaching that agreement with a global counterparty such as Trafigura provides certainty in the sale potential of the Wiluna gold concentrates. We look forward to developing a sustainable long-term operation based on the production of gold concentrates with partners that consider operational sustainability as a crucial element of conducting business."About Trafigura:Founded in 1993, Trafigura is one of the largest physical commodities trading groups in the world. Trafigura sources, stores, transports and delivers a range of raw materials (including oil and refined products and metals and minerals) to clients around the world. The trading business is supported by industrial and financial assets, including 49.3 percent owned global oil products storage and distribution company Puma Energy; global terminals, warehousing and logistics operator Impala Terminals; Trafigura's Mining Group; and Galena Asset Management.The Company is owned by over 700 of its 8,000 employees who work in 80 offices in 41 countries around the world. Trafigura has achieved substantial growth over recent years, growing revenue from USD12 billion in 2003 to USD 171.5 billion in 2019. The Group has been connecting its customers to the global economy for more than two decades, growing prosperity by advancing trade.Trafigura recently published its fifth Responsibility Report which accounts for the company's environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance. The Report presents a practical perspective on how Trafigura is working independently and in collaboration with its many suppliers and counterparts to manage its ESG impacts.To view tables and figures, please visit:About Wiluna Mining Corporation Ltd

Wiluna Mining Corporation (ASX:WMC) (OTCMKTS:WMXCF) is a Perth based, ASX listed gold mining company that controls over 1,600 square kilometres of the Yilgarn Craton in the Northern Goldfields of WA. The Yilgarn Craton has a historic and current gold endowment of over 380 million ounces, making it one of most prolific gold regions in the world. The Company owns 100% of the Wiluna Gold Operation which has a defined resource of 8.04M oz at 1.67 g/t au. In May 2019, a new highly skilled management team took control of the Company with a clear plan to leverage the Wiluna Gold Operation's multi-million-ounce potential.
A daughter of film director Steven Spielberg was arrested in Tennessee in a domestic incident involving her boyfriend, police said.

Mikaela Spielberg, 23, was charged with domestic assault causing bodily injury early Saturday.

Spielberg was released from a jail in Nashville jail later Saturday, jail records showed.

According to a Metropolitan Nashville Police affidavit, officers said Spielberg and her boyfriend were involved in an argument after returning from a bar.

After the victim made a "rude comment" toward Spielberg, she started throwing objects at him, injuring his hand and wrist, WTVC-TV reported.

Jail records didn't indicate whether she has an attorney who could comment on the charge. A March 9 court hearing on the charge was scheduled.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-02 00:39:37|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani speaks during a press conference in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, March 1, 2020. (Xinua/Rahmatullah Alizadah)

Though the agreement provides hope for the United States to end its almost two-decade war as well as lasting peace in the conflict-stricken country, thorny issues still remain, said experts.

WASHINGTON, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The United States signed a deal with Afghan Taliban on Saturday, framing American troops' future exit from Afghanistan and intra-Afghan negotiations.

Though the agreement provides hope for the United States to end its almost two-decade war as well as lasting peace in the conflict-stricken country, thorny issues still remain, said experts.





OPENING THE DOOR

Representatives of the United States and the Taliban signed the long-awaited pact in the Qatari capital city of Doha, calling for a gradual withdrawal of the U.S. troops if the Taliban negotiates with the Afghan government and cuts ties with terrorist groups.

According to a joint statement released by the U.S. and Afghan governments on Saturday ahead of the signing, the United States is going to reduce its troops in Afghanistan from about 13,000 to 8,600 within 135 days after signing the agreement.

Further withdrawal will depend on Taliban's meeting of conditions related to counter-terrorism, the statement added.

Speaking at a press conference in the Afghan capital of Kabul on Saturday, Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani expressed confidence that the country will "have a national consensus on peace."

"We have the political will and the capacity to make peace because of the resilience of our society, the dynamism of our economy and the capability of our state. Afghanistan is a sovereign state. It is an independent country," he said.

The pact came after over one year's on-and-off negotiations between the two sides and a "seven-day reduction of violence" across Afghanistan.

"The agreement is Washington's best hope of ending the longest American war," noted Carter Malkasian, who served as senior adviser to U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 2015 to 2019.

"The United States has missed too many opportunities over the course of its long Afghan war. It need not do so again," Malkasian added.

According to the deal, the United States is going to reduce its troops to 8,600 in Afghanistan within 135 days, and will, together with its NATO allies, completely pull out the remaining troops in the following 14 months if the Taliban sticks to its commitments.

Besides, the pact also sets the stage for intra-Afghan talks which are expected to begin in early March.

The value of the agreement lies in "opening the door to an Afghan peace process," said Laurel Miller, director of the Asia Program at the think tank International Crisis Group.

Local people celebrate the peace agreement between U.S. and Taliban in Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan, Feb. 29, 2020. (Photo by Sanaullah Siam/Xinhua)

NOT A "PEACE DEAL" ITSELF

Experts also cautioned that it is a step toward negotiations but not a "peace agreement" itself.

Important though it is, the agreement is not actually a peace deal, said Miller. "It is a chance to get one," she added.

"The agreement will break the logjam of the Taliban's longstanding unwillingness to sit in talks with the Afghan government and other Afghan power brokers without first achieving an American commitment to withdraw forces," she noted.

The deal itself would neither end the war nor bring all American troops home, wrote John Allen, president of the Brookings Institute, in an article published at the think tank's website.

To Allen and two other co-writers of the article, what is more essential is the second phase of the deal which includes a complete U.S.-NATO troop departure and a real Afghan power-sharing agreement.

"At present, we are a long way from any such agreement -- even though President Trump would love to be able to announce a U.S. withdrawal by November," noted Allen, taking into account the upcoming U.S. elections at the end of the year.

"It is to be hoped that this U.S.-Taliban agreement will indeed lead to vastly decreased violence and casualties on both sides," said James Cunningham, a former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan.

Taliban fighters attend a surrender ceremony in Jalalabad city, capital of Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, Feb. 8, 2020. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)

FUTURE THREATS

Experts think the next stage of talks will be really tough as they will have to tackle thornier issues, which could consume a year or even longer.

"The withdrawal of U.S. military personnel could allow a terrorist threat to grow," Malkasian wrote in an article published at Foreign Affairs magazine.

To Cunningham, now a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, what America needs is "caution and realism."

Taliban fighters attend a surrender ceremony in Jalalabad city, capital of Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, Feb. 8, 2020. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)

"That ... requires that the United States, under either a Republican or Democratic president, dispense with the argument that the 'forever war' in Afghanistan can be ended without regard to the consequences for Afghanistan and the impact on U.S. security," he said.

"America might find a way out of this war, at least temporarily -- but Afghanistan most likely will not, and the region could again descend into the type of anarchy that allowed al-Qaeda to establish a foothold there more than 20 years ago," said Allen.

"That is not an experiment that anyone should want to run," he noted. 
Businesswoman Bian Jingjing has a message about the coronavirus for the world: be more prepared.

The Aeroflot flight she boarded on Friday in Moscow had two passengers infected with the virus. As a result, she is now quarantined in a Beijing hotel.

"I was pretty cautious and now I'm here. It's not fair," she said over WeChat.

The case of this Aeroflot flight shows how the problems of the coronavirus are becoming truly global, disrupting people's lives in places and ways that can be difficult to anticipate.

After a month in Europe, Bian was flying home through Russia where there have been only two cases reported in the entire country. But as it turned out, the two infected passengers were transiting from Iran, which is experiencing one of the world's most severe outbreaks. Bian said she saw no health screening or precautions taken by Sheremetyevo International Airport or by the airline before passengers boarded her flight SU 204.

"How could they allow everyone to get on the plane without any testing?" She fumed. "Other countries, other governments, should do more  require all airports to conduct temperature checks at least."

In a statement on its website, Sheremetyevo airport says as part of measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus, as of January 31, it has transferred flights including Aeroflot for destinations in China to one terminal. The statement says all terminals have thermal imaging cameras and medical centers are equipped with protective gear such as masks and anti-plague suits.



The airport told CNBC in response to the growing epidemic, sanitation and passenger screening measures have been strengthened for flights from China, South Korea, Iran and Italy. Aeroflot said it is in "constant contact" with relevant authorities and it "goes without saying" that passenger safety is its number one priority.


South Carolina's Democratic primary voters were less likely to list climate change as a top issue compared to previous nominating contests, according to the AP's VoteCast exit polls.

The big picture: Health care, climate change and the economy have been the top 3 issues in each primary to this point.

Iowa's top 5 : Health care 37%, climate change 30%, economy 12%, foreign policy 8%, taxes 4%.

: Health care 37%, climate change 30%, economy 12%, foreign policy 8%, taxes 4%. New Hampshire's top 5: Health care 35%, climate change 33%, economy 11%, foreign policy 6%, immigration 4%.

Health care 35%, climate change 33%, economy 11%, foreign policy 6%, immigration 4%. South Carolina's top 5: Health care 37%, economy 22%, climate change 14%, race relations 9%, gun policy 7%.

What's next: Polls close at 7 p.m. EST.
Plains, Georgia  Former President Jimmy Carter suggested Pete Buttigieg's campaign is searching for answers after a disappointing fourth-place finish in Saturday's South Carolina primary, the first test of candidates' support in a state with predominantly African-American voters.

Buttigieg and his husband Chasten paid a visit to Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter on Sunday morning, joining them for breakfast here in Georgia, which holds its Democratic primary on March 24.

Carter told reporters at Buffalo Cafe in Plains that he is fond of Buttigieg, mentioning their work on a Habitat for Humanity project in South Bend, Indiana, where Buttigieg was mayor. But the 39th president, who has not endorsed a candidate, also weighed in on Buttigieg's path forward after South Carolina.

"He doesn't know what he's going to do after South Carolina," Carter said.

"Everyday we'll do the math," Buttigieg replied. He called Saturday a "convincing" victory for former Vice President Joe Biden.

Election 2020 Pete Buttigieg

Two days before Super Tuesday, CBS News estimates that Buttigieg is now in third place in the national delegate race, behind Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and Biden. Buttigieg told reporters that the campaign is approaching Super Tuesday by focusing on reaching the viability threshold in certain congressional districts to pick up delegates.

"We'll be doing a lot of math today and continually assessing what the best places are to make sure that limited resources are deployed," Buttigieg added.

In a call with reporters on Saturday, senior aides said the campaign is looking to minimize Sanders' delegate gains. The campaign detailed in a memo released before the South Carolina debate last week that they are hoping to be within 350 delegates of Sanders after Super Tuesday.

"It is certainly possible if you build a 500, 550 delegate lead coming out of Super Tuesday that no other candidates are able to overtake that kind of lead moving forward, just because of the nature of the primary," said Michael Halle, senior strategist on the Buttigieg campaign. "It's far less about what the specific numbers are for each candidate. It's far more about reducing that margin with Senator Sanders and making sure that we are competitive with that."

Story continues

Is Rep. John Ratcliffe able to be confirmed by the Senate for DNI?

Former FDA head warns against devoting resources solely to vaccine in coronavirus battle

CBS News Battleground Tracker: 2020 contenders gear up for Super Tuesday contests
Government never committed to set free 5,000 Taliban prisoners as a precondition for talks with the group, says Ghani.

A landmark deal between the United States and Taliban aimed at ending the USs longest war may already be facing obstacles as Afghan President Ashraf Ghani announced that his government had not agreed to a clause set out in the deal.

Ghani objected to arrangements within the deal that would see the Afghan government release 5,000 Taliban prisoners as a condition for direct talks between the armed group and the government.

The government of Afghanistan has made no commitment to free 5,000 Taliban prisoners, President Ghani told reporters in Kabul on Sunday, a day after the accord was signed in Qatars capital, Doha.

After 18 months of negotiations and nearly 20 years of war, the US and the Taliban signed an agreement set to pave the way for the withdrawal of all US and NATO troops from Afghanistan and a commitment by the Taliban that Afghan territory will not be used to launch attacks on other countries.

There are high hopes that the agreement will be followed by intra-Afghan talks between all major stakeholders and aiming to chart a course for peace in the country.

The Taliban had long refused to sit down with the Afghan government, calling it a puppet regime.

The four-part agreement sets March 10 as the date for an intra-Afghan dialogue with Ghanis government as well as a prisoner-swap which would see the government release 5,000 Taliban prisoners and the Taliban release 1,000 captives.

However, Ghani said: It is not in the authority of the United States to decide, they are only a facilitator.

Al Jazeeras Hoda Abdel-Hamid, reporting from Kabul, said: What we are seeing now are actually all the problems that were existing before coming to the surface again today.





Everybody would agree, ironically, on the fact that the deal between the Taliban and the US  as difficult as it might have been  has probably been the easiest part in trying to bring peace to this country.

While the prisoner swap could turn into a stumbling block for peace to return to the war-torn country, Ghani also said that a seven-day reduction in violence (RIV) would continue, possibly until a full ceasefire can be negotiated.

The RIV, which saw a drop in violence and casualties across the country, had been a condition for the signing of the US-Taliban deal.

The Taliban now controls or hold influence over more Afghan territory than at any point since 2001 and has carried out near-daily attacks against military outposts throughout the country.

The US and the Taliban had been on the verge of signing a peace agreement in September 2019 when US President Donald Trump abruptly cancelled the talks after a Taliban attack killed an American soldier in Afghanistan.

Trump has long expressed eagerness to remove US soldiers from Afghanistan and end the countrys longest war. He is seeking re-election this year.

More than 100,000 Afghans have been killed or wounded since 2009 when the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan began documenting casualties.
The Vatican has rejected the second appeal filed by a Kerala nun against the decision of Franciscan Clarist Congregation to expel her for "failing" to provide explanation for her lifestyle, which allegedly violated church rules, sources close to the nun claimed on Sunday.

Few months ago, the Congregation for the Oriental Churches in Vatican had dismissed Sister Lucy Kalappura's first appeal challenging her expulsion by Franciscan Clarist Congregation (FCC).

The nun filed the second appeal with the Vatican alleging that the 'disciplinary action' was taken for participating in protests by a group of nuns seeking arrest of a bishop accused of raping a fellow nun.

"The sister has received a communication in Latin from Vatican saying that the appeal was rejected," George Moolechalil of "Justice for Sister Lucy,"a social media platform supporting the nun, told PTI.

The nun has authorised Moolechalil, who is also the leader of Kerala Catholic Church Refromation Movement (KCRM), to communicate with media on her behalf.

He termed as "unilateral" the decision taken by the Vatican on her second appeal.

The nun had written to Congregation for the Oriental Churches, seeking an opportunity to her to appear in person before the Supreme Tribunal of the Segnatura Apostolica in Vatican to present her views.

But, she was denied an opportunity to present her views, he said.

He also said the nun would continue her legal fight in the courts in the country against the alleged move to force her out of the FCC convent she is staying in Wayanad.

A spokesman of the Mananthavady diocese said the FCC congregation has not received any communication from Vatican in this connection.

"She may have got communication from Vatican as she filed the appeal not through the system in the congregation," the spokesman said.

He said if her second appeal was also rejected, she cannot continue to stay as a nun in the convent.

A lay woman cannot stay in the convent meant for nuns, he said about the Sister Lucy's status in the convent.

Sister Lucy Kalappura, who took part in a protest by nuns belonging to Missionaries of Jesus Congregation, seeking the arrest of Bishop Franco Mulakkal, accused of raping a nun, was expelled by the FCC in August last year.

In its notice to the nun in January last year, the congregation had termed as "grave violations," Sister Lucy possessing a driving licence, buying a car, taking a loan for it and publishing a book and spending money without the permission and knowledge of her superiors.

The nun had dismissed charges levelled against her by the congregation, saying many of them were a "deliberate attempt to paint her in bad light."



The FCC, under the Roman Catholic Church, had said the nun was issued "proper canonical warnings," but did not show the needed remorse.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Jet skies were the preferred mode of travel for a group of resourceful individuals in Carrigahorig, Ireland, after Storm Jorge brought severe flooding to the area on February 29.

The jet skiers were spotted by Olivia Horan, who was on her way home from work when she and Daire, her 2-year-old son, came upon the four jet skiers taking advantage of recent flooding in County Tipperary.

Horan told Storyful that she did not know the people on the jet skis, but she believed they were local and used the road everyday to get to work.

While Daire can be heard counting five jet skiers, Horan said he got ahead of himself with the excitement, as she only counted four.

Met Eireann, the Irish meteorological service, said Storm Jorge brought heavy rain, sleet, snow and strong winds. The rain caused by the storm led to road closures in County Tipperary. Credit: Olivia Horan via Storyful
This was the scene of a horror crash in north London last night, which killed an elderly taxi driver in his 80s.

The collision, which took place on the A5 at Hyde Estate Road in Colindale around 9pm on Saturday, involved the London black taxi and a large white minibus.

Pictures emerging from the scene showed the twisted remains of the black taxi, which suffered extensive damage to the front of the vehicle.

A horror crash killed the 80-year-old driver of a London black taxi after his vehicle collided with a white minbus on the A5 at Hyde Estate Road in Colindale

The white minibus, positioned next to the taxi, also showed evidence of damage to the front.

In the aftermath of the collision, Met Police said the victim's next of kin had been informed and a post-mortem examination would take place in due course.

No arrests had been made and enquiries are continuing.

Metropolitan Police Barnet posted a tweet at 10.45pm on Saturday night about the incident.

It said: 'We are working at the scene of a collision between two cars in Hyde Estate Rd, #Colindale NW9.

'A man, believed to be in his 80s, has died at the scene. No arrest.

'Enquiries continue to establish circumstances. Drivers pls avoid the area.'

Meanwhile, a woman who witnessed the crash said she 'missed death by two seconds'.

Met Police said the victim's next of kin had been informed and enquiries are continuing

Speaking to MyLondon News, the woman, who wished to remain anonymous said:

'I was at the scene when the crash happened. I missed death by two seconds.

'If my car and the car in front and behind me didn't have the fast reaction that we had it would have been us.'

Barnet MPS posted a Tweet about the collision in Colindale on Saturday night

In an updated statement on Sunday, Met Police said: 'Police were called to a two vehicle collision on Hyde Estate Rd, NW9 just before 9pm on Saturday, 29 February.

'A man, believed to be in his 80s, has died at the scene.

'His next of kin have been informed and a post-mortem examination will take place in due course.

'No arrest. Enquiries continue to establish the circumstances.

'Road closures have now opened.'
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 12:13:26|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The international community has welcomed the signing of a U.S.-Taliban agreement as an important step in achieving a lasting political settlement in Afghanistan.

Representatives of the United States and the Taliban signed on Saturday the long-awaited deal in the Qatari capital city of Doha, calling for a gradual withdrawal of the U.S. troops if the Taliban negotiates with the Afghan government and cuts ties with terrorist groups.

According to the deal, the United States is going to reduce its troops to 8,600 in Afghanistan within 135 days, and will, together with its NATO allies, completely pull out the remaining troops in the following 14 months if the Taliban sticks to its commitments.

The pact also sets the stage for intra-Afghan talks which are expected to begin in early March.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday afternoon at the White House that the first withdrawals are starting "immediately" and he expects to "personally" meet with Taliban leaders in the near future.

Meanwhile, the Taliban said in a statement that it had reached an agreement "about the termination of occupation of Afghanistan."

"The accord about the complete withdrawal of all foreign forces from Afghanistan and never intervening in its affairs in the future is undoubtedly a great achievement," it added.

Addressing the signing ceremony, Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani expressed the hope that "this historic agreement will contribute to achieving peace, stability and prosperity in the region and the world."

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday welcomed the "efforts to achieve a lasting political settlement in Afghanistan" following the U.S.-Taliban deal.

"The Secretary-General welcomes efforts to achieve a lasting political settlement in Afghanistan. Today's events in Doha and Kabul mark important developments in this regard," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.

"The Secretary-General stresses the importance of sustaining the nationwide reduction in violence, for the benefit of all Afghans. He encourages continued efforts by all parties to create an enabling environment for the intra-Afghan negotiations and a comprehensive peace process," the statement said.

Calling the signing of the deal the beginning of a "reconciliation process," Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Saturday that Pakistan is committed to playing its role in ensuring the agreement holds and succeeds in bringing peace to Afghanistan.

"We welcome the Doha Accord signed between US & the Taliban. This is the start of a peace & reconciliation process to end decades of war & suffering of the Afghan people," he said in a Twitter post.

Saudi Arabia on Saturday also welcomed the signing of the deal.

The deal would contribute to bringing stability back to Afghanistan and promote regional and international security, Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The British Museum was told its bid to appoint Professor Mary Beard as a trustee was rejected by Number 10 because of her pro-European views, it has emerged.

The classicist, 65, was turned down last year at the end of Theresa Mays premiership.

Whitehall sources said that the decision to reject her had been made because she had often aired pro-Remain views, The Observer newspaper said.

It said that the Museum was told, when it asked why Prof Beard had not been approved, that the Government did not appreciate her pro-EU remarks, made on social media.

The British Museum was warned off appointing Mary Beard by the Government (Tim Ireland/PA)

It is thought that the museum will still be able to appoint the professor and broadcaster, as trustees are able to appoint some members independently.

Sir John Tusa, a former trustee and former BBC World Service boss, told The Observer: This is an absolute scandal. The trustees of the British Museum exist to protect its intellectual, academic and political independence

Will any Remainer now expect to be punished by the Government?

Prof Beard told the newspaper: There are cock-ups and conspiracies. Im not, however, going to diss Boris Johnson or the Department of Culture.

A source told the PA news agency that the classicists name was rejected because of her pro-Remain views.
MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla., March 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The weekend forecast in Destin is calling for plenty of sun, sand, tacos, and tequila. Seascape Resort, Seascape Towne Centre, and Extreme Festivals and Events have partnered to bring you the 7th Annual Tequila & Taco Fest. This combination is the perfect recipe for an epic culinary event weekend. Tequila & Taco Fest will take place at Seascape Towne Centre March 6-8, 2020. This celebration of all things tequila & taco pairs perfectly with a sun-soaked weekend on the Emerald Coast.

7th Annual Destin Tequila & Taco Fest at Seascape Resort March 6-8

During the event, festival-goers will find a wide variety of activities, tastings and fun contests. Tacos will be prepared and served by some of the top area restaurants, as local chefs compete for bragging rights and over $4,000 in prizes. Traditional favorites, unique creations, vegetarian and vegan options will be offered. Over 20 area restaurants are expected to compete for the title of "Best Taco on the Emerald Coast." For tequila aficionados and newcomers alike, there will be opportunities to sample over 30 different tequilas, margaritas and craft beer. Guests will enjoy authentic Salsa and Bachata music from "Merengue 4" while sipping the latest creations and libations. Event founder Carlos Shaffran explains, "This is a great opportunity to find new favorite tacos and tequilas while also enjoying delicious versions of the classics!"

The weekend kicks off Friday night, March 6 at 6:00 p.m. with a "Bocadillo & Margarita" party, featuring DJ Vasco at Mezcal Mexican Grill. Celebrity judges will crown favorite tacos, tequilas, and a Chihuahua Beauty Pageant winner during the festival. Seascape Towne Centre General Manager Ron Mote says "Seascape Resort and Seascape Towne Centre are really excited to share our beach and facilities with locals and guests during a gorgeous weekend on Miramar Beach! There's always something fun and entertaining happening here. This gives us yet another opportunity to show why Seascape is the premier resort destination in Miramar Beach, Florida." Rounding out weekend activities are a nacho eating contest and Sunday Brunch at Acme Oyster House, also located at Seascape Towne Centre. The event is family-friendly, offers Military discounted tickets and taco only tickets. A portion of this year's event will benefit Fisher House of The Emerald Coast, Inc.

Media Contact:

Cali Hlavic

Phone: 402-613-8872

Email: [email protected]

Related Files

DestinTequilaTacoFestLogo.png

TacoTequilaFestSeascapeMap.jpg

Related Images

tequila-taco-fest-destin.jpg

Tequila & Taco Fest Destin

7th Annual Destin Tequila & Taco Fest at Seascape Resort March 6-8

Related Links

Tequila & Taco Fest Tickets

Tequila & Taco Fest On Facebook

SOURCE Seascape Resort

Related Links

https://www.seascape-resort.com/


New Delhi

The Union government will sharply focus on government schemes aimed at individuals, such as scholarships or houses, in the Union territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, in an effort to push its development narrative in the region.

Earlier this week, cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba chaired a meeting on social schemes for the two new UTs. According to two officials who attended the meeting, it was decided that the schemes must see 100% coverage with no potential beneficiary being excluded for lack of funds. The meeting, attended by secretaries of home affairs, minority affairs, tribal affairs, rural development and officials from Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh focused on the two main issues involved -- challenging conditions on the ground and the financial implications of covering everyone. For instance, the two officials said, one of the participants pointed out how the limited availability of 3G network in the valley makes the enrolment process difficult.

The emphasis on schemes that touch individual beneficiaries comes from the belief that this will have a perceptible impact on the ground, and highlight the governments intent on the development front to residents. Indeed, this has been one reason consistently put across by the government to support its decision of August 5, 2019 to scrap constitutional provisions that had given the erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir special status and its citizens special privileges -- the ability to ensure people in the region benefit from welfare schemes as much as those in the rest of the country have.

Proper implementation of individual schemes can directly improve peoples lives, one of the two officials said on condition of anonymity.

Individual beneficiaries have been a key element of the National Democratic Alliance governments social schemes and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party made special efforts to carve out a vote-bank out of the 220 million who benefited from various schemes in the run-up to the 2019 national polls, reaching out to them through dedicated campaigns and interactions.

According to data provided by the National Scholarship Portal, J&K has received 517,000 new proposals for pre-metric scholarship in the academic year 2019-20 but money has been disbursed in just 8,294 cases.

Similarly, as on February 26, against a total target of building 62,932 houses for the rural poor in the region, only 36,780 have been sanctioned and just 122 have been completed, according to the data available with the rural development ministry.

In the meeting, it was decided that the schemes such as scholarships, gas connections under the Ujjwala programme, and housing for the poor must start with a 100% offtake with complete enrolment and funding. This is an important step. The government has targeted 100% saturation in social programmes earlier too. But this time, 100% offtake is also envisaged, making it a special case for J&K and Ladakh UTs, said the second official, who too didnt wish to be named.

One of the other challenges discussed at the meeting was data on potential beneficiaries. The data provided by UT officials didnt match with that of the Union home ministry and the latter has been asked to devise an online mechanism for data reconciliation.

A series of meetings would be held in the cabinet secretariat in the coming days on the financial implications of saturation, budget allotments, and ground network.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 16:53:53|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

YEREVAN, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Armenia reported its first case of COVID-19 in the country on Sunday.

According to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the patient is a male Armenian citizen who returned on Friday on a repatriation flight from Iran, who on Sunday tested positive for COVID-19.

As a precautionary measure, 30 others are to be quarantined, the prime minister said in a Facebook post.

He added that the government is taking all necessary measures to contain the virus, in line with the World Health Organization guidelines.

Last week, Armenia closed its border with Iran for two weeks, though the closure did not apply to two special flights organized to repatriate Armenian nationals from Tehran.
Donald Trump has tweeted his support for the owners of a Mexican restaurant in Arizona after they were blasted on social media for attending his recent rally in Phoenix and for wearing a Latinos Love Trump hat.

Betty Rivas, who is from Sonora, Mexico, was branded a sell-out in a Facebook group post that circled her face at the event on February 19 and identified her Tucson business Sammy's Mexican Grill.

Rivas and her El Salvadorian husband Jorge  who was also in the VIP section at the rally  addressed their treatment in a video Wednesday saying: 'We have the right to support the president and no one can intimidate us.'

On Sunday, POTUS promoted their business to his 73.2 million Twitter followers and tagged Fox News' morning show, writing: 'The food is GREAT at Sammy's Mexican Grill in Phoenix, Arizona. Congratulations to Betty & Jorge Rivas on doing such a wonderful job. I will try hard to stop by the next time I am in Phoenix. Support Sammy's! @foxandfriends.'

Jorge and Betty Rivas (pictured left and right) were blasted on social media for attending Trump's recent rally in Phoenix, Arizona. Betty Latinos Love Trump hat

Donald Trump tweeted Sunday: 'Congratulations to Betty & Jorge Rivas on doing such a wonderful job. I will try hard to stop by the next time I am in Phoenix. Support Sammy's!'

Betty Rivas, who is from Sonora, Mexico, was branded a sell-out in a Facebook group post that circled her face at the event on February 19

Comments online show people questioning how they could support Trump after he put kids in cages while others back the couple and their business, at the same time claiming Barack Obama did it first.

After their recent rally appearance, the naturalized American citizens began to receive phone calls with criticism, the Mr and Mrs Rivas claim.

'Just because we are Latinos, it doesn't mean that we have to feel like every other Latino in this country,' they said in the video shared online Wednesday. 'We are individuals and we feel that we have the constitutional right to meet and support whoever we want.'

'There have been calls as well threatening us and giving us a hard time because we support the president,' Jorge told Fox & Friends Sunday.

'The first day, a couple of days, it goes down, but like yesterday, we had a very good day. People know that anyone as an American has a right to support whoever they want, they come out and support us in a way that has turned out to be pretty good, thankfully,' Jorge said.

But business has since picked up again.

'People know us quite well in this area. I feel more than anything they know who we are. We are not mean, bad or racist people,' the father-of-three said. 'They know what they see posted online is a bunch of c**p.'

Donald Trump told 73.2 million followers Sunday: 'The food is GREAT at Sammy's Mexican Grill in Phoenix, Arizona'

They said business initially declined after they were branded 'evil', 'racist' and received negative phone calls and online comments. Sammy's is pictured in the background of a Trump event in 2016

Rivas said the people posting negative comments about Sammy's 'are just wasting their time. They are not going to achieve their goal of running us out of business'.

The restaurant has held events for Trump supporters in the past and claim they've been harassed ever since 2016 when he spotted their 'Latinos support D. Trump' sign.

But this time around they haven't received threats of violence and the business hasn't had minor vandalism like before.

The backlash picked up again on Facebook marketplace group Groupo de Palfeis when they appeared on TV right behind Trump.

'We have supported the president pretty much from day one,' Jorge told KOLD News 13 after the backlash. 'Every single rally he has had in Phoenix she goes or I go or sometimes we both go, this time we decided we both wanted to go.

'People recognize her being at the rally they circle her face around her picture and say 'oh this is the lady that owns Sammy's Mexican grill'.'

'Just yesterday I had a few guys say "you guys are  you're racists, you're evil, you're the worst of the worst",' Jorge continued.

He said commenters had shared 'very ugly' and 'nasty stuff about the restaurant'.

Jorge added: 'We feel that is very important for every person to say "this is what I stand for" and in our case we are Republicans we are behind the president.

'I came to this country for the freedoms and I'm going to stand by it.'

Betty (right), from Mexico, and her husband, from El Salvador, first came to Trump's attention by holding a 'Latinos support D. Trump' sign at a 2016 rally
Channel 4 head of news Dorothy Byrne fears the public are losing their 'trust and faith in democracy'.

The veteran journalist said she was concerned by the public's 'low opinion' of politicians.

Byrne described Prime Minister Boris Johnson as a 'known liar' during her withering MacTaggart Lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival last August.

Appearing on Desert Island Discs, she said: 'My job is to speak truth to power and my concern about politicians not telling the truth is not some eccentric view of my own - it is one shared by the British people.

'It was really depressing when we surveyed 2,000 voters in the election campaign and only 10% said that they believed that candidates were generally telling the truth.

'I think politicians have to listen - not just to me - but to the voters who are saying 'We don't trust you, because if the people stop trusting the politicians, they will lose their trust and faith in democracy.

Channel 4 head of news Dorothy Byrne (right) with Desert Island Discs host Lauren Laverne

Byrne has previously described Prime Minister Boris Johnson as a 'known liar' during her withering MacTaggart Lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival last August

'We have seen that happening in America, so if we want to preserve democracy, we have got to get people to trust the politicians again.'

The news chief, who was born in Paisley and raised in Blackpool, said the Conservative Party should be praised for winning a 'fairly fought' election campaign.

But asked by host Lauren Laverne whether she thought democracy was in peril, she replied: 'I do, yes.

'It doesn't seem to people as if it is in peril because we have just had a general election and we have got a clear winner, and we should congratulate them because it was a fairly fought election, but I am concerned by the public's low opinion of politicians.

'In fact, journalists don't share the public's low opinion of politicians because we meet them and we know that in fact they entered politics because they thought that they had something to give to society.

'But when politicians don't come on to television, the most trusted medium, and explain their policies, and hold themselves accountable, and allow themselves to be challenged, I think that that is bad for democracy because the people who elected them want to hear them justify their policies and want to hear them stand up to scrutiny.'

Byrne used her MacTaggart Lecture to attack abusive men in the media and reveal that she had been sexually assaulted by a former colleague.

Recalling her time at the Granada TV company, she said: 'Some men of power regularly assaulted women and everybody knew it and knew who they were.

'I don't mean that all the men were dreadful at all. Most were fantastic. But there was a level of sexism and sexual assault that was accepted.'

The wide-ranging interview also touched on her Catholic upbringing in Blackpool and her experience of depression after breaking her leg while working as a VSO teacher in Nigeria.

She spoke about how, after her family moved to England as a young girl, she became 'obsessed' with the idea she had committed 'lots of sins' and had to die by starving herself.

'Nobody noticed and also I kept getting hungry so I did get thin but I didn't starve to death, but I was so unhappy,' she said.

Channel 4 head of news Dorothy Byrne fears people are losing 'trust and faith in democracy'

'I am now a happy person because I realised that I had borrowed the unhappiness of the people around me.'

She also recalled how she broke into journalism by penning a humorous letter to 50 local newspaper editors in the style of a Reader's Digest advertisement.

She received only one response, from Rex Pardoe, editor of the Walthamstow Forest Guardian, but this secured her a job.

Byrne said she was 'one of those women who nearly forgot to have a baby' before she became pregnant by donor insemination in her mid-40s, eventually giving birth to a girl named Hetty.

The interview also saw her discuss her experience of giant cell arteritis, which can sometimes cause blindness, and urged wider recognition of the condition.

Byrne selected tracks including US punk band Pere Ubu's Non-Alignment Pact, Handel's Messiah and Fela Kuti's Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense.

Her luxury object was the voice of broadcaster Melvyn Bragg and for her book, she chose a selection of physics textbooks.

Desert Island Discs airs on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds on Sunday at 11.15am.
Yemen's Huthi rebels have seized control of a strategic town north of the capital, government officials said Sunday, in what analysts say could change the course of the five-year-old war.

The Iran-aligned militia captured Al-Hazm, capital of the northern province of Al-Jawf, enabling the rebels to pose a threat to neighbouring oil-rich Marib province, a government military official told AFP.

Al-Jawf has been mostly controlled by the Huthis, but its capital -- only 150 kilometres (90 miles) south of the border with Saudi Arabia -- had been in the hands of the government.

Yemen's internationally-recognised government, backed by a Saudi-led military coalition, has been battling the Huthi rebels since 2014 after they captured the capital Sanaa and swathes of the impoverished Arab nation.

"The Huthi rebels have taken control of Al-Hazm, the regional capital of Al-Jawf, after fierce fighting with government troops who were forced to withdraw to neighbouring Marib province," the official said.

According to other military sources, at least 30 government troops -- including high-ranking officers -- were killed in the battle over the past two days.

The Huthis also suffered dozens of casualties, the sources added.

Maged al-Madhaji, executive director of the Sanaa Centre, a Yemeni think-tank, said the Huthis' capture of Al-Hazm could be a game-changer.

"Control of the capital of Al-Jawf could totally change the course of the war. Huthis have made an exceptional advance and are changing the balance" in their favour, Madhaji told AFP.

He said the advance would enable the rebels to surround Marib, the most significant territory in the hands of the government.

It also secures supply lines between Sanaa and the Huthi northern stronghold of Saada, Madhaji said.

Since the Saudi-led coalition intervened in March 2015, tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, have been killed and millions displaced, in what the UN has termed the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
OnLeaks has just released a new set of renders for the (probably) upcoming Samsung Galaxy A41. They suggest that it may have a front panel much like that of its predecessor. However, with its triple cameras in a rectangular module, its other side is more up to date. This leak also hints at the retention of a 3.5mm jack in the A40's successor.

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

Samsung may release a phone called the Galaxy A41 soon. Its predecessor made a decent budget option last year, and judging by new OnLeaks/PriceBaba-published renders, this new generation is shaping up to be no different.

So far, the A41 is portrayed by its existing leaks as a phone that may not differ hugely from its previous generation in terms of specs. It is expected to run on the MediaTek Helio P65 SoC, which is in fact a little slower at the top of its clock than the Exynos silicon found in the A40.

Both phones may have 4GB of RAM, although the putative 2020 device may be able to offer 128GB of internal storage rather than a maximum of 64GB in its 2019 counterpart. The Galaxy A41's new renders also suggest that it will have pretty much the same Infinity U Samsung display as its predecessor. This notch option does at least minimize its side-bezels and chin.

However, the phone in the images does distinguish itself through an interesting 'diamond' pattern and 3 cameras on its rear panel. They are currently believed to be 48+25+2MP shooters. Finally, the A41 should supply the user with One UI 2.0 based on Android 10 out of the box.
DOJ Backs Photographer Over Free Speech Claim

The Justice Department (DOJ) has filed a brief in a federal court defending a photographer who is challenging a law that would force her to work at same-sex weddings in violation of her religion.

The department filed a statement of interest at a district court in Kentucky on Feb. 27, saying that the photographer, Chelsey Nelson, is likely to succeed in her lawsuit against Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government and its officials over a law that requires her to photograph same-sex weddings against her conscience.

The department said the law violates the free speech clause of the First Amendment, as the clause prohibits the government from compelling people to engage in speech that supports or promotes another persons expressive event, such as a wedding ceremony.

The First Amendment forbids the government from forcing someone to speak in a manner that violates individual conscience, Eric Dreiband, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, said in a statement.

In the case at hand, Nelson, a Christian, owns and operates a photograph studio in Louisville, Kentucky, according to the brief (pdf). She says she uses her photography to tell stories and declines requests for wedding celebrations and boutique editing services that require her to use her skills to portray anything immoral, dishonorable to God, or contrary to [her] religious beliefs.

She said she wouldnt provide services for wedding celebrations for certain types of weddings, including same-sex weddings, because it contravenes her belief that marriage is between a man and a woman. But she said she would provide other services to individuals regardless of sexual orientation.

Nelson sued the county government, seeking to block any enforcement action against her for violating its ordinance prohibiting discrimination in public accommodations based on sexual orientation.

The lawsuit centers around whether a government can force wedding photographers to provide services at weddings that they dont wish to photograph or promote.

The department has previously filed statements of interest to support parties in religious freedom cases.

In 2018, the DOJ formed a religious liberty task force to coordinate its work on religious liberty litigation and policy, and to implement former Attorney General Jeff Sessionss 2017 religious liberty guidance that provides guidance to the executive branch on how to apply existing protections in federal law.

Those include the principle that free exercise means a right to actor to abstain from action. They include the principle that government shouldnt impugn peoples motives or beliefs, Sessions said at the time.

In short, we have not only the freedom to worship, but the right to exercise our faith, he said. The Constitutions protections dont end at the parish parking lot, nor can our freedoms be confined to our basements.
Englands Tommy Fleetwood will take a one-stroke advantage into the final round of the Honda Classic at Palm Beach.

Fleetwood, looking to claim a first PGA Tour victory, birdied four of his final six holes to sign for a three-under par 67 and sit at five-under through 54 holes.

Compatriots Lee Westwood and Luke Donald both battled through one-over third rounds of 71 to tie for third place, two strokes behind.

Overnight leader Brendan Steele is in second at four-under. The American was also one over around the Champion Course on Saturday, where only 11 players broke par in the testing conditions.

Former European number one Fleetwood, 29, had been three off the lead and went into the turn at one under after recovering from a dropped shot at the par-three seventh.

I could not ask for much more from today, it was a good day, Fleetwood said on Sky Sports.

Eventually I holed a couple of long ones today and it makes such a difference, and I holed some really crucial putts around that middle stretch.

American Daniel Berger, South Africas Charl Schwartzel and Sungjae Im of South Korea are tied for fifth place on two under.

Canadas Mackenzie Hughes produced the best round of the day, shooting a 66 as he climbed to tie for eighth place at one-under.

American Grayson Murray, meanwhile, delighted the home crowd with a hole-in-one at the 17th.

Shane Lowry is six shots back on +1 after a three-over-par third round while
Over the past few days, Russia has done nothing in the face of an offensive that is rapidly destroying the capabilities of the Syrian army, Makki said. Although it is not in Russias interest to see the Syrian army it has supported for years eroded by Turkeys superior military, he said, Russias central interests in Syria have been secured, whether political or economic, so Russia has nothing to gain by entering into an awkward and bloody confrontation with Turkey, which is a member of NATO.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-29 03:02:20|Editor: yhy

Video Player Close

Women wail over their relatives who were killed in communal violence, in New Delhi, India, on Feb. 29, 2020. The death toll during communal violence in Delhi Friday evening rose to 42, officials said. (Xinhua/Javed Dar)

NEW DELHI, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- The death toll during communal violence in the Indian capital city - Delhi Friday evening rose to 42, officials said.

More than 350 people were injured in the violence that ravaged the city for three days.

"As per records available at different hospitals, the death toll by now is 42," an official said. "Besides this, the number of injured in the violence is over 350."

Police officials Friday said the situation was under control but the personnel were still deployed in the affected areas.

The violence left a trail of damage in the northeastern parts of the city as torched vehicles, vandalised shops and burnt buildings present a scary look.

Delhi Police has come under fierce criticism for its apparent inaction.

"A total of 123 FIRs have been registered and around 630 people detained. Senior police officers deployment will remain the same as today. Things are getting normal, distress calls have drastically gone down," Delhi Police PRO MS Randhawa told media.

Unrelenting communal violence broke out in the northeastern part of the city following which mobs armed with sticks and rods resorted to arson, looting and vandalism.

Many people, especially Muslims, have left their homes in the affected areas and took shelter in other safer locations.

The clashes broke out between pro- and anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) groups in the northeastern part of the city on Sunday and took an ugly turn on Monday and Tuesday.

Protests against the controversial new citizenship law were triggered on Dec. 11, the day India's upper house of parliament passed the law.

The law aims at granting citizenship to illegal immigrants belonging to six religions - Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism, Parsi and Christianity - from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan. However, it has kept out Muslim immigrants from applying for citizenship.

So far, the violence against the law has killed more than 70 people across India.
A group of Chinese experts arrive in Iran to help combat the novel coronavirus in the country, Feb 29, 2020. (Photo/ir.chineseembassy.org)

A group of experts from the Red Cross Society of China arrived at Tehran, Iran, on Feb. 29 to help the Islamic Republic fight against the novel coronavirus epidemic (COVID-19).

The group of five also carried medical materials aided from the Chinese side. They were received by Chang Hua, the Chinese Ambassador to Iran and an official from Irans Health Ministry.

Chang welcomed and expressed his respect for the Chinese experts who arrived at the capital at a critical moment, calling them heroes in harms way. He said that China and Iran are comprehensive strategic partners who will always support and stand with each other in difficult times, adding that China has been empathizing with Iran as the latter has been suffering an increasingly severe epidemic situation. He also reminded the experts to take care and wished them much success.

The official with Irans Health Ministry welcomed the medical supplies from China, and appreciated the countrys assistance. He said Iran is willing to enhance communication and cooperation with China and learn from Chinas rich experience combating the virus.

The Chinese experts said they would waste no time and get started investigating Irans epidemic development and engage in exchanges with their Iranian counterparts to promote bilateral cooperation in the health sector.
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. - President Donald Trump sought to assure his supporters Saturday that the coronavirus is under control after earlier confirming the first U.S. death attributed to the infection and boasted of the country's great economic comeback after Wall Street's worst week since the 2008 financial crisis.

Rallying conservatives eights months before the election, Trump mocked the height of Democratic candidate and former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg, crouching at the lectern for dramatic effect, called Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, a "lowlife" for his vote to convict the president on an article of impeachment and described Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., as a "crazy professor."

Against the backdrop of a growing global virus and the South Carolina Democratic primary, Trump delivered a 90-minute speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in which he crowed about his political success in 2016, lashed out at his preferred targets - Democrats and the news media - and polled the audience on which of his rivals would be easier to beat in November.

The response suggested the answer was Sanders.

Trump warned of "far-left radicals" who will "indoctrinate our children . . . impose a fanatical code of political correctness, bombard our citizens with fake news propaganda and implement policies that would turn America very quickly into a large-scale Venezuela."

He called the House Democrats "lunatics," railed against illegal immigration and complained about losing the distinction as Time magazine's person of the year to the teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg.

Trump sneered at Democrats for questioning the job he's doing on the threat of the spreading novel coronavirus. Trump was criticized over remarks he'd made during a political rally in South Carolina on Friday night calling the virus the Democrats' "new hoax," likening it to the Russia investigation and the impeachment inquiry and trial.

Trump said Saturday during a White House news conference that he wasn't calling the virus a hoax, but rather the Democrats' accusations that he's mismanaging it.

"Everything is under control," Trump told the CPAC crowd, falsely stating that it was the Democrats who "wanted to let infected people pour into our country."

The annual gathering of activists and politicians was created in the 1970s to reflect Ronald Reagan's brand of conservatism. But in recent years, the event has become a Trump affair.

As a private citizen, Trump spoke at CPAC for many years before formally entering politics, but he was never taken seriously by attendees as a presidential contender.

Romney, now persona non grata at the event because of his conflicts with Trump, was once a darling of the CPAC crowd, winning the group's presidential straw poll in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2012. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., won it in 2015 and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in 2016 - the years Trump ran for, and won, the presidency.

Now, the mention of Romney's name elicited boos and thumbs-down gestures from the crowd as Trump assailed the 2012 GOP presidential nominee.

Romney, the only Republican to vote to convict Trump on the abuse of power article of impeachment, said the president's actions were "grievously wrong" in pressuring Ukraine to investigate domestic political rivals, including former vice president Joe Biden.

Anne Copp, a former state representative in New Hampshire, voted for Romney in 2008 and 2012, but said she was very upset by his "grandstanding" vote on impeachment.

She said she liked that Trump criticized him during his speech.

"His political career and aspirations are over," she said of Romney.

Wearing a rhinestone Trump pin, Copp, 59, said she cried multiple times during Trump's speech because she was so moved.

A lifelong Republican, she said she is worried about the increasing popularity of socialism in the United States - especially among young people.

But she said there are enough people who recognize the dangers posed by socialism that she thinks Sanders would be the easiest candidate for Trump to beat.

The audience booed when images of Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., flashed on the screen and booed at the mention of socialism.

Trump basked in chants of "four more years" as he disparaged the Democratic presidential candidates one by one.

He described a recent Democratic debate in which Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., challenged Bloomberg on his record, marveling at her success and describing Bloomberg's performance as the worst. Trump claimed that Biden couldn't put words together and that if he were elected, others would be running the country while "he'll be sitting in a home somewhere."

He repeated a crowd-driven poll from his rally Friday night in asking the audience to determine the easier candidate for him to beat, "Sleepy Joe" Biden or "Crazy Bernie."

This crowd, like the one in South Carolina, cheered loudest for Sanders. The only difference was that in South Carolina, Trump urged Republicans to vote for Sanders in their state's Democratic primary - which allows anyone regardless of party to vote.

But not every Republican is confident that Sanders will be easy to beat.

Ken Gosnell, 47, who runs his own consulting business in Frederick, Maryland, said he's concerned about Sanders' strong following but also said he is confident that Trump will win on his record - especially on the strong economy and family values.

Gosnell's wife was adorned in a short-sleeve dress with TRUMP 2020 emblazoned over it.

Trump ended his speech vowing to save America before embracing a U.S. flag, kissing it and mouthing three times, "I love you, baby."
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Dian Septiari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, March 2 2020

Flying to peace: Afghan men celebrate in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, on Feb. 28 in anticipation of the United States-Taliban agreement to allow a US troop reduction and a permanent ceasefire.(Reuters/Parwiz)

Indonesia hailed the signing of a peace deal between the United States and the Afghan Taliban in Qatar over the weekend, calling it a first step forward in the ongoing peace process.

The Taliban's political chief met with senior diplomats from countries including Russia, Indonesia and Norway, hours after signing the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) deal with Washington aimed at ending the Afghan war, the hard-line Islamist group said in a statement on Sunday.

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
Prime Minister Boris Johnson will chair a meeting of the government's emergency response committee on Monday (March 2), signaling a stepping up of Britain's preparation for the epidemic which began in China, where authorities estimate it has killed almost 3,000 people worldwide.

Britain currently has 23 confirmed coronavirus cases, and Hancock said on Sunday (March 1) it was still in a containment phase.

The issue will become a standing item for all cabinet meetings and there will be more media briefings from health officials.

Johnson wrote in the Sun newspaper that it was right to be concerned about the possible spread of the virus, but said a visit to a British hospital had left him "100 per cent confident in the medical resilience."
New Delhi: The Delhi Police has arrested two persons for abducting a foreigner. The victim, a Bulgarian national, has been safely rescued.

Weapons have also been seized from the possession of the accused.

"There was an exchange of fire between the police and the miscreants during the rescue operations," DCP Anto Alphonso of Dwarka told IANS on Sunday.

"Cash has also been recovered from the accused. Arms and a car have also been seized by the police from the possession of the miscreants. Further investigation is going on," the police officer said.

Police said a ransom call of Rs 2 crore was made by the accused.
A Maryland man who was arrested for allegedly stabbing a woman with a syringe in a grocery store had other syringes filled with semen in his possession, according to police.

Thomas Bryon Stemen, 51, was charged on Tuesday for assault and reckless endangerment after he was accused of coming up behind victim Katie Peters and sticking a syringe in her right buttock.

Peters said she confronted Stemen after the alleged attack, who reportedly told her: 'I know it feels like a bee sting, doesn't it?'

On Friday testing of the syringes confiscated from Stemen, including from his car, found the needles contained semen, police said.

They later clarified that they 'are unsure if any of those were the syringe in question,' walking back their initial statement that semen was in the syringe Peters was stabbed with.

Thomas Bryon Stemen, 51, was charged on Tuesday for assault and reckless endangerment after he was accused of coming up behind victim Katie Peters and sticking a syringe in her right buttocks

Peters (pictured) said she confronted Stemen, who reportedly told her: 'I know it feels like a bee sting, doesn't it?'

On Friday testing of the syringes confiscated from Stemen's car shows they contained semen, police said

Peters told CBS Baltimore that she felt Stemen bump into her then something that felt like a cigarette burn.

After confronting Stemen, Peters went home but called her son when she found a puncture wound on herself.

She said: 'I started driving home (and) it started hurting really bad.

'I called my son and said, ''Something's not right, I hope nothing happens. I hope I make it home, I love you.''

Police said they found another needle in Stemen's possession and another in his car.

'What we're doing now is we need to find out, do additional testing, find out what this victim is up against if she was stabbed with one of those semen-filled syringes,' Anne Arundel County Police Sgt. Jacklyn Davis said.

She added: 'If you've seen this video, it's very aggressive, it's very deliberate  and that makes us think it's not his first time doing this.'

This is the latest encounter with the law for Stemen, who was also served a warrant in 1999 as a fugitive from justice, according to Maryland online court records.

The records also show he went to court in 2013 for a domestic violence civil suit.

A man follows an unsuspecting woman into a grocery store in Maryland before the syringe attack

The woman backed out of the front door looking to the ground for what may have pricked her

Following the assault, Stemen followed Peters out of the store, as they both looked for an object on the ground. The two can also be seen briefly exchanging words in the short video

Stemen's latest charges stem from the February 18 attack, which was caught on surveillance video.

It shows a man who appears to be Stemen walking closely behind Peters as she pushed a shopping cart into a supermarket.

Peters turned her back as she pushed the cart in with the others.

Then suddenly, Stemen quickly jabbed Peters with what appears to be a syringe.

She quickly jumped in reaction to the syringe prick and backed out of the store.

Following the assault, Stemen followed Peters out of the store, as they both looked for an object on the ground.

The two can also be seen briefly exchanging words in the short video.

Peters told news outlets she was put on preventative medications for 30 days.

Please contact the Anne Arundel County Police at 410-222-1960 or the Anne Arundel County Police Tip Line at 410-222-4700 if you have any other tips related to this case.
Michael Milken, a symbol of 1980s greed who went to prison for securities fraud and conspiracy, was at home in Encino, Calif., on Feb. 18 when he got a phone call from the White House. President Trump was on the line with good news: Mr. Milken had been pardoned.

Mr. Milken hung up, got in his car and drove to the home of his 96-year-old mother, Ferne Milken, according to Geoffrey Moore, Mr. Milkens spokesman. When he shared the news, his mother burst into tears.

The presidential pardon was a complete surprise, Mr. Moore said. During the phone call, Mr. Trump claimed that the pardon was his idea and was based entirely on Mr. Milkens philanthropic work, Mr. Moore said.

In fact, the pardon was the climax of a decades-long campaign on Mr. Milkens behalf. And it was hardly a spontaneous gesture by a president acting alone. In announcing the pardon, the White House took the unusual step of releasing the names of 33 people who it said had provided widespread and longstanding support for pardoning Mr. Milken.
Senator Bernie Sanders announced on Sunday that he had raised $46.5 million in February, a sum that gives him a significant financial advantage over all of his rivals aside from the self-funding billionaire Michael R. Bloomberg as the number of states holding primaries expands widely in March, beginning on Tuesday.

The Sanders campaign, which was already running television ads in most of the states that will vote that day  Super Tuesday  said it had reserved ads in five states that will vote on March 10 (including Michigan and Washington) and four big-market states that cast their ballots on March 17 (Arizona, Florida, Illinois and Ohio).

The $46.5 million haul is by far the largest of any 2020 candidate in any single month but not far from what Mr. Sanders raised four years ago in February in his campaign against Hillary Clinton, when he collected $43.5 million.

Senator Elizabeth Warrens campaign also announced a substantial February fund-raising total on Sunday, saying it had slightly exceeded its goal of bringing in $29 million. And the campaign of former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. said it raised $18 million last month.
Union minister for External Affairs Dr. S Jaishankar on Sunday assured Indian citizens stranded in Iran that all necessary steps are being taken to bring them back home as Iran battles with a coronavirus outbreak.

Jaishankar said that the government is collaborating with the Iranian authorities and is in the process of setting up a screening procedure to ensure the safe return of Indian nationals stranded in Tehran and other parts of Iran.

Working on the issue of Indians in Iran anxious to return due to #COVID19. Have seen many tweets in this regard. We are collaborating with the Iranian authorities to set up a screening process for return of Indians. (1/2)  Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) March 1, 2020

Jaishankar tweeted that he has noticed several Indian citizens tweeting about their distress as Iran prepares to tackle a coronavirus outbreak.

The total number of citizens affected due to the outbreak has now risen to 978 and 54 people have died due to contracting covid-19, according to Irans health ministry.

Jaishankar also said that he has asked Indias Ambassador to Iran Dhamu Gaddam to keep concerned citizens updated regarding any development.

Earlier on Sunday, the Indian embassy in Tehran had issued an advisory to Indian nationals asking them to follow guidelines set by the Iranian authorities and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The advisory outlined that the Centre is observing the evolving situation in Iran.

On Saturday, the Iranian embassy in New Delhi in a note verbale had asked the External Affairs ministry to adopt all measures to ensure affected nationals from both Iran and India can return home.

The coronavirus epidemic has now spread to 63 countries and has affected more than 88,000 people globally. 3,000 people have lost their lives due to contracting the covid-19 disease. The outbreak is suspected to have begun from a seafood and poultry market in Wuhan, China.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 1)  Three more Filipinos quarantined at New Clark City are showing symptoms similar to a coronavirus infection, the Health Department told CNN Philippines on Sunday.

Health Assistant Secretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said three more Filipinos who were evacuated from the Princess Diamond cruise ship quarantined off the coast of Japan now have red-flag symptoms that are also associated with the coronavirus disease, formally known as COVID-19.

Vergeire said tests are still pending for three Filipinos, while 10 of the evacuees who have also shown coronavirus symptoms have tested negative for the virus. According to her, they are expecting the test results of those with symptoms within 24 to 48 hours.

"We have expected this kind of circumstance. We have included to our plans the anticipation that some of them may show symptoms once they arrive home," Vergeire said.

The Health Department said Saturday that nine Filipinos were under strict monitoring in a Pampanga hospital and are all in stable condition.

All in all, 458 Filipinos, mostly crew members, were brought home from the Diamond Princess last week. They were transported to the New Clark City Athletes Village for a mandatory 14-day quarantine.

The repatriation did not include 70 Filipinos who have fallen ill to COVID-19.

Another 10 have recovered from the disease, eight of them have returned to the Philippines and placed under strict monitoring, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said Friday.

Some Americans, Britons and Australians who were previously on the Diamond Princess only tested positive for coronavirus after they returned home from a 14-day quarantine. Among them is a 78-year-old man from Perth, Australia, who became the country's first reported death due to the virus.

The US, Australia and Thailand reported their first deaths due to COVID-19 on Sunday, with the global death toll due to the virus reaching 2,976, according to CNN.

COVID-19 makes people sick, usually with a mild to moderate upper respiratory tract illness, similar to a common cold. Its symptoms include a runny nose, cough, sore throat, headache and a fever that can last for a couple of days.

For those with a weakened immune system, the elderly and the very young, there's a chance the virus could cause a much more serious, respiratory tract illness like a pneumonia or bronchitis.

The Philippines has only confirmed three cases of the virus. Two of them have already recovered and returned to China, while one died  the first recorded death outside of mainland China.
Ewan McGregor and his girlfriend Mary Elizabeth Winstead enjoyed a kissing break in Manhattan on Sunday.

The couple shared a smooch whilst walking through the Hudson River Park with their furry friend.

Fido stood dutifully by as Ewan, 48, and Mary, 35, put on an amorous display.

Pucker up! Ewan McGregor and his girlfriend Mary Elizabeth Winstead took a kissing break on Sunday

Tuning out the world, Ewan and Mary closed their eyes as they locked lips.

The couple were braving some chilly weather for their romantic stroll.

Mary was bundled up in her black beanie, green scarf, coat and mittens, while Ewan opted for a hat, windbreaker jacket and trousers.

Walking arm in arm by the Hudson River, the couple looked relaxed and content as they made the most of their Sunday off.

Puppy love! The couple were joined by their four-legged friend

Sealed with a kiss: The couple looked lost in the moment as they shared a smooch

Ewan has been busy portraying fashion designer Halston in the new Ryan Murphy series, Simply Halston.

But Sunday was all about his leading lady Mary.

Ewan and Mary were first spotted together in 2017 while he was still married to ex wife Eve Mavrakis, and their relationship made headlines again after his daughter Clara lashed out at Mary on social media in July 2018.

From her verified Instagram account, the model took to the comments section of an image from a fan page for the Fargo star, who was first spotted with Ewan in October, to lash out at the page administrators for calling Mary beautiful.

Bundled up: The couple braved the elements in their protective winter gear

A seemingly enraged Clara hit out in the comments section, as she penned: 'Most beautiful and talented woman on earth? (laughing faces) Oh man y'all are delusional. The girl is a piece of trash (smiley face) x'.

Ewan controversially filed for divorce from Eve in March  six months after being spotted kissing Mary.

It was claimed Ewan has been dumped by Mary because she was unhappy with being dubbed a 'homewrecker' however they have since reunited.

The Trainspotting and Star Wars actor blamed 'irreconcilable differences' for the split from his wife, the mother of his four daughters.

Eve was reportedly left devastated after pictures were published of Ewan kissing his co-star in a London cafe.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Lisa Richwine (Reuters) Los Angeles, United States  Sun, March 1, 2020 07:03 680 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206776ce7 2 Entertainment Netflix,Movie,coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus,COVID-19,Dwayne-Johnson,red-notice Free

Filming of Netflix Incs big-budget Dwayne Johnson movie Red Notice had been scheduled to move to Italy in the coming weeks, but producers now are exploring other locations due to the coronavirus outbreak in the country, a source close to the production told Reuters on Friday.

The possibility of relocating that portion of the production is not expected to force a hiatus in filming of the movie, which also stars Deadpool actor Ryan Reynolds and Wonder Woman actress Gal Gadot, the source said. Netflix has not announced a release date, and the company had no comment on production locations.

Red Notice is a global crime thriller about an Interpol agent who tracks the worlds most-wanted art thief. It is among the streaming services most-expensive movies to date with a budget of roughly $160 million, Hollywood trade publication Variety reported.

Production on Red Notice is currently underway in Atlanta, the location that had been planned to host the bulk of filming.

The US State Department late on Friday said Americans should reconsider travel to Italy due to the coronavirus outbreak there. Red Notice is among a handful of Hollywood productions affected by the virus.

Producers of the CBS television global competition show The Amazing Race said on Friday they had temporarily suspended filming of a new season.

And a planned three-week shoot in Venice, Italy, for Tom Cruises new Mission: Impossible film has been postponed due to the outbreak, Paramount Pictures said this week.
Sean Rayford/Getty

SPARTANBURG, South CarolinaTheres a fleeting sense of hope surrounding Joe Biden these days, the kind that can be savored for just a moment before the harsh reality of the days ahead sinks in.

The kind that causes staffers to throw Joe Biden T-shirts to a cheering crowd as a mans keytar music fills a gymnasium well before the candidate has even entered the room. The kind that makes the former vice president himself sound more than a little optimistic as he makes his closing pitch.

You send me out of here with a victory thats significant then I think Im going to be the next nominee, Biden told a crowd in Spartanburg Friday night.

Voters in South Carolina, even undecided ones, have a deep affection for Biden. And they take their memories of Bidens past as a sign that he belongs in their future.

The comfort runs both ways. For at least a little while, Biden can enjoy not feeling like he has to explain to voters the reason he may fail or why he has yet to succeed, a stream of consciousness blip Biden couldnt shake in between a rout in the Iowa caucuses and his freefall in the New Hampshire primary.

"I was worried about him" said Jack Scoville, the former mayor of Georgetown, South Carolina, who decided on the spot that hed support Biden after seeing him in person earlier this week. "He wasn't doing that well leading up till now. And he may not do well Saturday. That's going to be a big deal if he doesn't."

Biden expects to win South Carolina. A primary night event in Columbia Saturday has all the markings of a long-sought-after 2020 victory party for the former vice president.

Though in some ways, its a no-win situation for Biden. Success in South Carolina is the expectation. Do well, and it can be shrugged off. Blow it, and the futures bleak.

Even undecided voters friendly to Biden feel like he needs a resounding victory in South Carolina if he wants to place himself well for next weeks crucial Super Tuesday contests.

Story continues

"If he can pick up South Carolina, do it (by) double digits coming out of South Carolina and show his enthusiasm toward the people of this country, then I think he can with this," said Richard White, a 67-year-old Democratic voter.

And whether hell actually win the nomination and beat President Donald Trump, well, thats a question some voters here say theyll stop and pray over.

Bidens first event Friday didnt feel like the day before a major electoral victory as much as business as usual for the former frontrunner. A community event in Sumter was intimate and sometimes emotional. A teleprompter set up in front of the podium vanished before he went on to speak. He wandered around the crowd, into the crowd, and back again.

When one undecided voter asked Biden "what is your fire," and brought up Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warrens energy, Biden did his best to spin his own case. For him, it starts with decency and honor.

"The fact that I'm not screaming like Bernie and waving my arms, or like Elizabeth, is not a lack of fire," Biden told her.

By nightfall at the event in Spartanburg, jubilance had set in, T-shirts and keytar included.

It was a stark contrast from this time three weeks ago when Biden couldnt decide who he wanted to be. He wanted New Hampshire to be his comeback. Then he admitted on a national debate stage hed probably take a hit, when the votes were tallied.

He didnt want people to write him off, but when a woman asked him about his struggles in Iowa, he asked her if shed ever been to a caucus and then called her a lying dog-faced pony soldier.

He capped his time in the state by having the first few moments of his rally on the eve of the primary ruined by a shouting protester. He asked the voters to stick with him, and before the polls closed the next day he had already fled the state for South Carolina.

Lifes only gotten better for Bidens campaign since he left New Hampshire early. A second place Nevada finish reminded the faithful not to admit defeat just yet. South Carolinas focused on spoiling the presidential contender with affection that was sorely lacking from the masses in the other early voting states this cycle.

Biden seems like he's coming into his stride again, said former Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH). Biden had been avoiding getting into the fray as much, she said, but that's now changed.

"It's the Joe Biden that I have known for like 15 years," she said. "And I'm delighted to see it."

Biden's appeal in these final days of the South Carolina primary have been familiar notes. He's got experience. People here know him. Hes a sense of calm. His work on health care looms large for some. His close ties to President Barack Obama can also help make the difference. Fatigue with the once unwieldy Democratic field appears to have also taken a toll on some voters

The others are "just bickering," said Robert Long, a 76-year-old independent with an affinity for President Ronald Reagan and Pat Buchanan.

He doesn't think anyone else can beat Trump, even though Biden has yet to show he could top any of his Democratic primary rivals.

"It doesn't matter whether he's got a win or not," Long said. "He's the best man."

As Biden greeted fans after an event in Sumter, 74-year-old Edna Walters-Coleman said shes praying Biden will win for the sake of the country.

A scenario where Biden may not be the Democratic nominee was not an idea the semi-retired beautician was willing to entertain.

"I'm not going to even think about that," she said. "That's not in my vocabulary that he's not going to be.

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.
TORONTO - A new independent panel that would review claims of wrongful convictions is edging toward reality, as the Liberal government moves forward on one of its campaign promises.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 1/3/2020 (680 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada David Lametti speaks with the media following a cabinet meeting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on February 25, 2020. A new independent panel that would review claims of wrongful convictions is edging toward reality, as the Liberal government moves forward on one of its campaign promises. Signs of progress toward creating such a board came last week in Ottawa, where Justice Minister David Lametti met with a working group that includes David Milgaard, who spent 23 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

TORONTO - A new independent panel that would review claims of wrongful convictions is edging toward reality, as the Liberal government moves forward on one of its campaign promises.

Signs of progress toward creating such a board came last week in Ottawa, where Justice Minister David Lametti met with a working group that includes David Milgaard, who spent 23 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit.

"I very much appreciate the insight and guidance provided by the working group during our meeting," Lametti said in a statement to The Canadian Press. "It is important for me to hear directly from experts and stakeholders to determine the path forward on this important commitment."

While Canada enjoys a robust criminal justice system, mistakes do happen. The current remedy lies in a ministerial review process in which only the most obvious system failures are referred back to the courts for a final decision.

James Lockyer, a prominent lawyer who chairs the working group, said other countries have an independent commission on which a Canadian version should be modelled.

"The potential for the wrongly convicted of the creating of an independent tribunal is really quite staggering," Lockyer said. "It would be pretty revolutionary because it would put a fail-safe back end to the criminal justice system for those who've been wrongfully convicted, for those who've lost their appeals."

Over the past four decades, the Canadian system has sent 29 cases back to the courts  roughly 0.7 cases a year  but research indicates the actual number of wrongful convictions is likely much higher. Almost all referred cases have seen convictions quashed, as ultimately happened with Milgaard.

By contrast, the British system set up 22 years ago  Scotland has its own  has referred 679 cases to the courts  about 33 a year  and led to 447 quashed convictions, according to latest figures. About one quarter are for the most serious crimes, such as murder.

While Lametti offered few details about how he envisages such a board, among key decisions he will have to make would be the test for referring cases back to the courts. Now, the minister has to be satisfied there's a "reasonable basis to conclude that a miscarriage of justice likely occurred."

Lockyer's group is proposing the test be a "real possibility an Appeal Court would allow the appeal."

Lametti once served as a law clerk to former Supreme Court justice Peter Cory, who two decades ago led a public inquiry in Manitoba into the Thomas Sophonow case. Sophonow was tried three times and wrongfully convicted twice of killing a teenager. Cory recommended creation of an independent entity to review wrongful-conviction claims.

The minister also noted he had handled the case of Glenn Assoun, a Nova Scotia man who spent 17 years in prison after being wrongly convicted of murder.

"One of my first acts when I was named minister was to carefully review and ultimately order a new trial in the case of Glen Assoun," Lametti said. "I take my responsibility in this regard very seriously."

The government will also have to decide on the composition of a commission, although members would likely be appointed by the prime minister. Boards in other countries, for example, comprise about a dozen people, of whom one-third must have substantive legal training and at least two thirds must have experience in the criminal justice system.

The working group also wants at least two Indigenous members, an idea Lockyer said Lametti was more than open to, bilingual ability, and solid lay representation.

"More often than not, in the serious cases, it will be lay people who will have decided on guilt or innocence  the jury," Lockyer noted.

The working group promised Lametti it would provide a detailed view in the next six to eight weeks of what it believes enabling legislation should look like.

Lockyer, who began advocating for the wrongfully convicted in 1993, said one of his key priorities has been the creation of an independent board  something that finally seems to be in the works.

"I left there feeling really good," he said of the meeting with Lametti.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on March 1, 2020
COLUMBIA, S.C. - Billionaire activist Tom Steyer, who poured millions of dollars into his Democratic presidential campaign, is ending his bid after a third-place finish in the South Carolina primary.

Steyer announced Saturday night in Columbia that he was dropping out of the White House race. After spending nearly $24 million on television advertising in the state, he finished behind former Vice-President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders on Saturday. It was Steyers best showing in the 2020 race but not enough to keep him in the contest.

Honestly, I cant see a path where I can win the presidency, Steyer said.

Steyer rose to national prominence as a climate change activist and by investing heavily in a campaign to impeach President Donald Trump. His presidential campaign was heavily focused on South Carolina, where he sought to appeal to black voters by decrying yawning inequalities in American life that he said were caused by racism.

Am I going to continue to work on every single one of these issues? Steyer said in announcing his departure. Yes, of course I am. Ive never stopped.

With a net worth estimated by Forbes as $1.6 billion, Steyer was a presence in the Democratic contest well before he made his candidacy official in July 2019, blanketing the airwaves with $10 million in television ads advocating for Trumps impeachment.

Steyers Need to Impeach campaign spawned speculation that the 62-year-old would go a step further and also challenge Trump at the ballot box. In the meantime, though, the near-constant ads maintained high visibility for Steyer, who also launched a multicity town hall tour and petition campaign. He travelled to Des Moines, Iowa, in January 2019 to say that he wouldnt run for the White House, only to change his mind six months later and enter the race.

Officially in the contest, Steyer said he was prepared to spend $100 million toward his presidential ambitions and would remain committed to giving at least $50 more million this election cycle to outside groups he helped create, including Need to Impeach. But Steyers wealth was characterized as a liability in a puritanical Democratic primary, with both Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren decrying the presence of billionaires in the 2020 race.

Warren, who didnt mention Steyer by name, tweeted after he announced his candidacy: The Democratic primary should not be decided by billionaires, whether theyre funding Super PACs or funding themselves. Sanders said that while he may like Tom personally, he is a bit tired of seeing billionaires trying to buy political power. Both also mentioned it in fundraising appeals.

But Steyers wealth provided him with the ability to campaign nationwide, hiring full complements of state-based staff and continuing to flood the airwaves. Through Feb. 25, Steyer had spent about $186 million on ads, according to the tracking firm Advertising Analytics, though that figure would soon be dwarfed by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloombergs even more massive spending.

Steyers late entry caused him to miss the first few Democratic debates, but he began qualifying for the debates starting with the fourth one and made every stage but one from then on, appearing with his trademark red tartan tie. He earned fewer airtime minutes than others but made his mark particularly as it pertained to his top issue, climate change.

Even still, Steyer continued to pivot back to his criticism of Trump, reiterating his pre-candidacy calls for ousting the Republican from the White House, either electorally or via impeachment, as that process got underway in Washington.

On the trail, Steyer focused much of his effort in South Carolina, home to the first Southern primary, as well as the first state to test a candidates performance with a heavily black electorate. His wife relocated to the state for the duration of his campaign, and he spent almost $24 million on TV advertising  more than all the other candidates combined  in his quest for his first top finish in four contests, targeting minority-owned media in particular with a half-million-dollar spend on black radio.

He racked up notable endorsements, including the chiefs of the Legislative Black Caucus and Democratic Black Caucus, as well as the Greenwood, South Carolina, woman behind President Barack Obamas vaunted campaign chant, Fired up, ready to go.

In his policy rollouts and campaign speeches in the state, Steyer frequently noted his view that race, and what he saw as race-based injustices, were an undercurrent for many societal problems, including access to health care, environmental well-being and the need for criminal justice reform.

Theres a significant racial component in almost every single policy area, Steyer told reporters during a South Carolina bus tour in mid-January. I think that theres been a desire for a long time to bury this and not talk about it, and hope that it goes away. Its not going away.

But the road wasnt always smooth, there or in other early voting places. A top Steyer aide in South Carolina was forced to resign in November after it was revealed that he accessed volunteer data from the campaign of Democratic rival Kamala Harris, who dropped out in December. And a few days later, a top Steyer aide in Iowa resigned after The Associated Press reported he had privately offered campaign contributions to local politicians in exchange for supporting Steyer.

While his first political bid, the presidential effort was not the first time Steyer had considered running for office. He eyed bids for governor of California in 2018 and the Senate in 2016.

___

Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP

___

Catch up on the 2020 election campaign with AP experts on our weekly politics podcast, Ground Game.
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Bernie Sanders presidential campaign said Sunday that it raised more than $46.5 million in February, a show of financial strength after the Vermont senator finished a distant second behind Joe Biden in South Carolinas primary.

Fellow progressive Elizabeth Warren announced collecting a respectable $29 million last month, as she copes with a weaker South Carolina showing. But both did better than that states winner. Biden said on CNN that hed raised about $17 million since the start of February  including a $5 million boost in the last 24 hours that coincided with his first win of the primary.

Sanders team said it was making television ad buys in nine more states: Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri and Washington, which vote on March 10, and Arizona, Florida, Illinois and Ohio, which vote a week later. The campaign said it is currently on the air in 12 out of the 14 states that are voting on Super Tuesday, in two days.

The senators multi-generational, multiracial working class coalition keeps fueling his campaign for transformational change a few bucks at a time, Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir said in a statement. He said that, of the more than 2 million donations received this month, more than 1.4 million were from voters in Super Tuesday states.

The eye-popping haul follows an already impressive January that raised more than $25 million. Sanders campaign immediately said it would use the January funds to purchase $5.5 million in television and digital advertising in 10 Super Tuesday states.

That investment could still be paying off at a time when some rivals in a Democratic field that remains crowded may struggle to raise money after disappointing finishes in early states.

Both Warren and Sanders  who are competing for the Democratic Partys most liberal wing against more moderate candidates like Biden  continue to demonstrate the formidable power of attracting small, online donations nationwide. That allows contributors to give repeatedly without exceeding federal limits. Its a departure from traditional methods, where candidates organize high-dollar fundraisers or approach powerful supporters for big checks early in the campaign  and then cant ask again without the intervention of an outside political group.

Warren, who finished fifth in South Carolina, hasnt placed better than third since Iowas first-in-the-nation caucus. But, in a memo to supporters, her campaign manager Roger Lau attempted to project confidence going forward. He said the campaign was spending more than $2.4 million on TV, digital and traditional media ads in Super Tuesday states, as well as more than $4.1 million in every state that votes later in March and in Wisconsin, which holds its primary April 7.

Lau said the field will greatly winnow after Super Tuesday, where his campaigns internal projections continue to show Warren winning delegates in nearly all of the 14 states voting.

But, in a dramatic departure from previous public pronouncements on strategy, Lau also made clear that, rather than heading to this summers Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee clearly ahead of her rivals, Warren is hoping to earn enough delegates to simply stay in the hunt that long.

As the dust settles after March 3rd, the reality of this race will be clear: no candidate will likely have a path to the majority of delegates needed to win an outright claim to the Democratic nomination, Lau wrote, betting on the jumbled early field keeping a clear front-runner from emerging.

Sanders, though, thinks he can get to the convention in first place. His campaign said the February totals came from more than 2.2 million donations, including contributions from 350,000-plus people who donated to the campaign for the first time. It also said it raised $4.5 million on the final day of the month, as Sanders finished second in South Carolina, the best fundraising day since the campaigns launch a year prior.

Sanders 2020 presidential bid has now surpassed the total number of individual contributions received by his unsuccessful challenge of Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primary.

After wins in New Hampshire and Nevada, Sanders appeared to be emerging as the primarys top candidate. But he finished well behind Biden in South Carolina, a state featuring heavy concentrations of African American Democrats and where Clinton trounced him in 2016. The former vice-presidents victory was decisive, with him claiming almost half of the votes cast in a six-way race.

You cant win em all, Sanders told a crowd of 3,500 in a college gym at a rally in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on Saturday night.

That prompted boos, but Sanders continued: That will not be the only defeat. There are a lot of states in this country and nobody wins them all.
The two Italian team members of the UAE Tour who had tested positive for COVID-19 were among the technical crew, who typically do not mix with participants in the event, Dr Abdul Rahman bin Mohammad bin Nasser Al Owais, Minister of Health and Prevention, said.

The minister made the statement at a joint news conference on the coronavirus in the UAE on Saturday. The conference was attended by Hussain bin Ibrahim Al Hammadi, Minister of Education, also, said a Wam news agency report.

"A total 612 people who were in contact with the two Italian patients were examined, and the laboratory results for 450 showed they are free from the virus, while results for the remaining 162 people are expected soon," added Al Owais.

Meanwhile, two aircraft have been prepared in coordination with the Iranian authorities for the safe evacuation of the UAE nationals living in the Iranian Qeshm city and capital Tehran, added the minister.

"There are 21 novel coronavirus cases in the UAE, five of who have already recovered," the health minister added.

For his part, the minister of education said that nurseries in the UAE will be closed for two weeks effective March 1, as a precautionary measure against coronavirus.
A San Antonio apartment building is a total loss and 25 residents are displaced after fire tore through a Northwest Side complex Friday night.

When firefighters arrived at Altitude Apartment Homes in the 5200 block of Fredericksburg at 9 p.m., the third floor of one of the buildings was burning, said Joe Arrington, a Fire Department spokesman.

The fire was contained to one building, but another had minor heat exposure, Arrington said. Several buildings have been evacuated. Firefighters said all residents were accounted for.

Georgina Vogt, 25, said she was babysitting relatives at her mothers third-floor apartment when she heard an explosion.

It sounded like a bomb, and it shook the whole apartment complex, she said. She and her family ran to their balcony to see the building on fire. She said they went door to door to start evacuating residents.

Friday nights fire was the seventh blaze that crews battled that day, including one that destroyed a web development companys building.

Around 10 a.m., more than 100 firefighters responded to a structure fire in the 1500 block of South Flores at Cevallos, where Sweb Development is housed.

Arrington described that blaze as a stubborn fire with plumes of smoke that could be seen from Interstate 35.

There were no reports of injuries, Arrington said, but the building appeared to be a total loss.

Chris Espinoza, a Sweb employee who was in the office, said workers first noticed a burning smell, then fire burst through the window that led to the alley.

Arrington confirmed that the fire started in the alley between La Parrilla Azteca restaurant and Sweb.

Staff Writer Sara Cline contributed to this report.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-02 06:28:01|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

A boat full of refugees from Turkey approaches the port of Thermi, on the island of Lesvos, Greece, on March 1, 2020. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos)

Greece decided to increase the level of deterrence at its borders to the maximum, as the country is facing a forthcoming increased refugee and migrant influx recently.

The Greek Foreign Ministry tweeted Sunday that some 10,000 people were "prevented from entering Greek territory (all along Evros) from yesterday morning to this morning."

MYTILENE, Greece, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Greece on Sunday decided to increase the level of deterrence at its borders to the maximum, as the country is facing a forthcoming increased refugee and migrant influx recently.

The Greek government also criticized Turkey for allegedly "directing and encouraging" the increased refugee and migrant flows to its borders in the past few days.

"This movement is directed and encouraged by Turkey. These actions are taking place in violation of its obligations under the EU-Turkey joint statement," Greek government spokesperson Stelios Petsas said on Sunday night after a meeting of the Government Council for National Security, referring to the agreement launched in 2016 aimed to stem the refugee and migrant influx.

A migrant kid cries at Skala Sikaminias, on the island of Lesvos, Greece, on March 1, 2020.(Xinhua/Marios Lolos)

The council took the decision to increase the level of deterrence at Greece's borders to the maximum, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis tweeted, announcing that on Tuesday he will visit Evros land border in the north with European Council President Charles Michel.

"The borders of Greece are the external borders of Europe. We will protect them..." the prime minister said.

In Sunday's meeting, it was also decided that from now on Greece will not be accepting any new asylum applications for one month by people entering the country illegally and will be immediately returned to their country of origin if possible, spokesperson Petsas announced.

In addition, Greece was formally requesting European Border and Coast Guard Agency's (Frontex) increased presence in the region and EU's full support to Greece with concrete measures, the spokesperson said.

More than 13,000 people have gathered at the land border between Greece and Turkey, according to International Organization for Migration, after Ankara's message in the past few days that Turkish authorities can no longer prevent people from reaching Europe's borders.

A migrant woman is seen at Skala Sikaminias, on the island of Lesvos, Greece, on March 1, 2020.(Xinhua/Marios Lolos)

For a third consecutive day, on Sunday, Greek police and army forces guarded the land border, briefly clashing with groups of people attempting to cross the borderline, Greek national news agency AMNA reported.

The Greek Foreign Ministry tweeted Sunday that some 10,000 people were "prevented from entering Greek territory (all along Evros) from yesterday morning to this morning."

"No one can cross the Greek borders. All those attempting illegal entry, are effectively prevented from entering," read a second tweet.

At least six inflatable dinghies with 300 refugees and migrants landed on the shores of Lesbos and another 200 in two other islands on Sunday, according to AMNA.

A boat full of refugees from Turkey approaches the port of Thermi, on the island of Lesvos, Greece, on March 1, 2020. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos)

In at least one case on Lesbos, groups of locals prevented their disembarkation and Coast Guard vessels transferred the people to another site, Xinhua witnessed.

Other groups of islanders blocked the streets to Moria, Lesbos' refugee camp which currently hosts about 19,400 people, while its capacity is about 2,800, according to official data provided by Greece's Citizen Protection ministry.

More than 42,000 refugees and migrants are currently on five Greek islands in reception facilities which have been overflowing for months, according to the figures provided by the Greek government.

Locals request the central government to transfer part of them to the mainland, protesting that local communities can no longer shoulder the disproportionate burden.

More than one million people reached Greece, with about half landing on Lesvos, since 2015. Most continued their journey to other European countries until the closure of borders along the Balkan route in the winter of 2016.
Hungary said Sunday it is halting entry to its border "transit zone" camps for asylum-seekers over coronavirus fears after Turkey began letting migrants head toward Europe.

"We are suspending indefinitely new admissions of people into the transit zones," said Gyorgy Bakondi, an adviser to nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

"We are seeing a certain link between the coronavirus and illegal immigrants," he told a press conference.

Bakondi said that most migrants headed for Europe are Afghans, Palestinians, or Iranians, rather than Syrians, and many may have crossed Iran, a coronavirus hotspot.

Hungary has yet to record a confirmed case of coronavirus within the country.

Entry into the transit zones -- container camps built into a fence along the Serbian border -- will be halted "in the interests of protecting the 321 people waiting for decisions on their asylum applications who are already inside," Bakondi said.

Only a trickle of asylum-seekers each week had been previously let into the camps, which have been harshly criticised by rights groups.

But the new measure "effectively shuts down access to asylum" said the Hungarian Helsinki Committee refugee rights NGO, as the camps are the only place people without valid visas have been able to file asylum applications since 2017.

Hungary's move came after Ankara put pressure on Europe by opening its border for migrants to seek passage to the continent via Greece.

Greece said Sunday it has blocked nearly 10,000 migrants at its border with Turkey.

"Hungary will not open up or let through anyone," Bakondi said, adding that police and military reinforcements will be sent to the border.

"The road does not lead here, it's not worth trying this way," he said.

Hungarian police said there has been a sharp rise in attempts to enter the country from the south, a border of the EU's passport-free Schengen zone, since December.

Bakondi said around 7,000 attempts were made by illegal migrants to cross its borders so far this year, compared with only several hundred a month in 2019.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The HRD ministry has asked the Delhi University to resolve the problems faced by ad-hoc teachers and also fill up the scores of vacant positions that lie unfilled in the countrys premier varsity.

HRD Secretary Amit Khare had a detailed discussion with Delhi University Vice Chancellor S K Tyagi on both these key matters.

Speaking at the inauguration of the new wing of the Shivaji College, Khare gave these details and asserted that teachers are the backbone of any education system and while working for quality education the challenges faced by the teaching community too need to be resolved.

The ad-hoc or temporary teachers of DU have been demanding that they be absorbed permanently and their tenure as ad-hoc teachers be counted as part of their total service.

Khare has met Tyagi and other officials from the university aiming to resolve the matter.

The ministry hadearlier offered a one-time relief to allow all ad hoc teachers of Delhi University to appear for interviews of permanent positions and DU to let the ad hoc teachers continue in their positions. The university was also directed to let ad hoc teachers continue in their positions till permanent positions are filled.

At the event, Khare also paid tributes to Chhatrapati Shivaji. It is pertinent that the new block is named after the revered warriors mother, he said. He pointed out that Shivajis mother played a great role in his upbringing.

Acccording to an official statement, Shivaji college is the second institution in DU to have a finance lab, a great advantage for the student to gain hands on knowledge of different processes.
The European Union on Saturday announced it earmarked 100 million to support the civilian-led authorities in Sudan, bringing the total EU contribution to 217 million.

The announcement was made by visiting EU High Representative and Vice-President Josep Borrell after a meeting with Sudanese Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok.

The assistance, to be delivered through the EU Emergency Trust Fund (EUTF), is meant to meet the most pressing needs of the democratic transition in the country, said Borrell, who arrived in Khartoum earlier Saturday on his first two-day official visit to Sudan.

The European Union is fully committed to accompanying the ongoing political transition in Sudan through all the means at its disposal. Besides political support, financial assistance to Sudan remains crucial, given the severity of the economic crisis in the country, he pointed out. We hope that these additional 100 million will boost the efforts of the transitional Government to implement reforms, Borrell added.

On his part, Hamdok expressed gratitude to the EU for its supportive stance to the post-revolution Sudan.

Recalling his visit to the EU HQ in Brussels in November, Hamdok expressed desire to strengthen the strategic cooperation with the EU, which is in the best interest of Sudan and East Africa at large.

This new package of financial assistance will help the Sudanese Government to implement critical economic reforms required to create jobs and expand the provision of public services across the country, and to provide opportunity for the youth and women at the forefront of change in Sudan, Jutta Urpilainen, Commissioner for International Partnerships, said earlier Saturday.

Sudan now has an historic opportunity to transform into a democratic society. The European Union is fully committed to supporting the Sudanese people to succeed.

Economic reforms, economic opportunities for youth and women, and the peace process and democratic Governance were identified by Sudanese authorities, the EU and international partners as being vital for the welfare of the population and the future of the country.

The Sudanese economy has contracted for a second year in a row, and the transitional Government recognizes a clear need for macro-economic and structural reforms to stabilize it. These reforms should carefully manage a move away from generalized subsidies to a comprehensive social protection system.

The EU said it will support the efforts to buffer the transition for the most vulnerable citizens. The EU will also support the transitional Government in enhancing accountability and improving the management of public finances, as well as the peace process and the protection and promotion of human rights in the country.

Sudan has embarked on a complex political transition following the agreement on a civilian-led transition of 17 August 2019 that followed the popular protests, which toppled President Omar al-Bashir. This represents a major step towards civilian-led rule with a historic opportunity to achieve peace, democracy and economic recovery.

The transitional civilian authority is preparing the country for free and fair elections in 2022 but faces enormous social, economic and political challenges.
My Home Harumi, a nursing home in central Tokyo, is on lockdown.

Volunteers, service providers and even family members are turned away in hopes of keeping the centre sealed against the spreading coronavirus.

A sense of crisis pervades the home as employees wear masks, constantly wash their hands and disinfect every surface, said its deputy director, Kumi Iwasaki.

It is a life-or-death mission: the virus kills older people at a far higher rate.

The battle is being waged all across Japan, which has the highest proportion of elderly people in the world, as the number of reported cases in the country has steadily climbed to 230, with 11 deaths, mostly among people in their 80s.

Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty Show all 10 1 /10 Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty A man wearing a face mask crosses a road in Wuhan, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus outbreak. Reuters Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty A view of the empty entrance to the UniversitA Cattolica (Catholic University) in Milan, northern Italy, on 24 February, 2020. EPA Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty Empty streets in Daegu, South Korea, on 23 February, 2020. EPA Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty Empty streets in Daegu, South Korea, on 23 February 2020. EPA Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty A lone sanitation worker sits near the closed Hankou Railway Station in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, on February 24, 2020. Reuters Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty A view of a deserted street in Codogno, northern Italy, on February 23, 2020. EPA Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty Italian police officers set a road block in Codogno, Northern Italy, on Monday, Feb. 24, 2020. AP Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty A supermarket closed in Codogno, one the northern Italian towns placed under lockdown, on February 23, 2020. EPA Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty A lone cyclist wearing sanitary masks pedals in the center of Codogno, Northern Italy. LaPresse via AP Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty An empty road at the entrance of the small Italian town of Codogno on February 23, 2020. AFP via Getty

Globally, nearly 3,000 people have died, the vast majority in China.

Other countries with ageing populations, like South Korea and Italy, which have both experienced recent surges in infections, are also facing acute challenges.

Those two countries have done just what experts recommend: they have moved quickly to test large numbers of people so they can be treated and isolated from others.

But after weeks of caution, the Japanese government has only just begun to take more aggressive action, most notably by moving to close schools for a month.

That step, though, was aimed at the young, who often show only mild symptoms or none at all when infected, not vulnerable older people, who sometimes develop severe pneumonia.

All the while, officials have maintained strict constraints on testing for the virus, which has only added to the fears about risks to the elderly.

South Korea is conducting more than 10,000 tests a day. Japan, by contrast, is performing only a tiny fraction of that.

What is more, Japanese authorities recommend that elderly patients be tested for the coronavirus only after they have had a fever for at least two days (for most others, it is four days).

That may be too late for many older people, said Masahiro Kami, a physician and executive director of the Tokyo-based nonprofit Medical Governance Research Institute.

What we know is that older patients are the most vulnerable, and once they get sick or ill, they quickly deteriorate, he said. They should definitely not wait two days.

He speculated that the limitations might be driven by politics, as Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe seeks to keep the spread of the virus from derailing the Tokyo Olympics.

It may be Mr Abe or someone around him wants to downplay the number of infections or patients because of the upcoming Olympics, Mr Kami said.

Whatever the motivation, given Japans large ageing population  about 29 per cent of its citizens, some 36 million, are 65 or older  experts said the countrys testing gap could leave the most vulnerable people exposed.

What youre telling me is that Japan is a senior living facility at a larger scale, said Dr William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine and infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Centre in Nashville.

That would motivate me, if I were the minister of health, to test more broadly and to open up testing.

Mr Abe promised on Saturday to make testing more widely available.

Speaking at a news conference, he acknowledged that the screenings had been insufficient and said that the government would add the procedures to the national health insurance plan and expand the number of locations able to administer them.

Japan currently has the capacity to conduct about 4,000 tests a day, but it has carried out less than half that number on any given day since the crisis began, according to statistics provided by the health ministry.

That approach differs dramatically from those of other places in East Asia that have been hit by the virus.

South Korea, which reported on Saturday that cases in the country had risen to 3,150, has offered drive-through testing in Daegu, a hard-hit city, and other places, while in Hong Kong, clinics have begun to give residents kits that allow them to take the tests at home and send them to a lab.

You wonder, if they were testing nearly as much as South Korea is testing, what would the actual number be? How many cases are lurking and just arent being caught? said Tobias Harris, an expert on Japanese politics at Teneo Intelligence in Washington.

Making the problem worse, only a small number of public health centres in Japan have been authorised to provide the tests, which can be processed by just five companies selected by the government, creating a potential bottleneck.

That has forced clinics to turn patients away, even when they are presenting serious symptoms like high fever, according to news reports and statements from the Japan Medical Association, which said it had begun looking into the issue.

Erika Tamada, a 33-year-old nursery school teacher from Hyogo prefecture who lives with her 59-year-old parents, 83-year-old grandfather and younger sister, said both her mother and grandfather had had fevers and other symptoms, including runny noses and coughs.

But neither of them has been able to get tested for the virus, by local public health clinics or by the hospital they visited.

Ms Tamada said she was taken aback when a doctor at a health centre told them to wash hands, gargle and just work hard not to get infected.

It is not clear why Japan lags behind other governments in the region in its ability to test for the virus.

 First dog tests positive for Coronavirus in Hong Kong

Yasuyuki Kato, a professor of infectious diseases at the International University of Health and Welfare in Narita, Japan, said the country had been largely untouched by past outbreaks of coronaviruses, such as Sars and Mers, giving it a false sense of security.

Among the neighbouring countries of China, only Japan has no experience of managing any of the diseases, he said, adding that there was insufficient preparedness for handling an emerging illness.

Policymakers in Japan first came under heavy criticism for their response when they instituted a quarantine of the cruise ship Diamond Princess, where the pathogen rapidly spread among passengers, crew members and the medical professionals tasked with providing care.

Despite the severity of the outbreak, authorities were slow to test those on the ship, saying that resources were limited.

Feverish passengers waited in their cabins for days without seeing a doctor, and once the two-week isolation period ended, authorities allowed a number of people who had been exposed to the virus to slip away untested, without submitting to an additional quarantine.

Experts said the government needed to strike the right balance on screening for the virus. Some worry that if testing is increased too much, the nations health care system could be overwhelmed.

The New York Times
Heinrich Klaasen's maiden ODI century helped South Africa defeat Australia by 74 runs in the first ODI at the Boland Park here on Saturday.

With this victory, South Africa have taken a 1-0 lead in the three-match ODI series against Australia.

Chasing a target of 292 runs, Australia did not get off to a good start as Lungi Ngidi removed both the openers, Aaron Finch (10) and David Warner (25), in the fifth and ninth over respectively.

Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne then took the charge of the chase and played cautiously. In the 27th over, bowled by Keshav Maharaj, Smith completed his half-century but in the same over Labuschagne (41) was dismissed.

Mitchell Marsh then came out to bat but failed to leave a mark on the field as he only managed to score 16 runs before Ngidi got hold of him in the 34th over. In the next over, South Africa got the much anticipated wicket of Smith (76), who was given LBW off Anrich Nortje's ball.

The hosts then did not allow Australia to form a good partnership and the visitors kept on losing wickets. Australia were all out on 217 runs in the 46 over.

Earlier, after deciding to bat first, South Africa witnessed a very poor start as Janneman Malan was given LBW off the very first delivery of the innings, bowled by Mitchell Starc.

Quinton de Kock was then joined by Temba Bavuma out on the field but their partnership also did not last as the former was dismissed by Josh Hazlewood. Soon after, Bavuma (26) was sent back to the pavilion by Pat Cummins as he bowled the batsman.

Klaasen and Kyle Verreynne then came out to bat and provided their side with some momentum as they formed a 78-run partnership. Kyle Verreynne was just two runs short from completing half-century when Cummins dismissed him.

David Miller was the next batsman and played brilliantly along with Klaasen, who went on to score his maiden ODI century. Miller, who played a knock of 64 runs, was caught behind off Cummins' delivery in the 49th over.

In the same over, Andile Phehlukwayo was run out on a duck. Klaasen's unbeaten knock of 123 runs helped South Africa post a respectable target of 292 runs for Australia.

The second ODI will be played on March 4.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah asserted on Sunday that the Centre would not stop until all refugees in the country are granted citizenship under the amended Citizenship Act, and accused the opposition, including the Trinamool Congress, of misguiding refugees and minorities over the new law.

Not a single person will lose citizenship because of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), Shah said at his first public rally in Kolkata after the 2019 general elections.

He also hit out at West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee, who is a bitter critic of the CAA, accusing her of "only caring about infiltrators."



As Shah arrived in the city, Congress and Left activists demonstrated against his visit holding black flags and shouting "Amit Shah, go back".

They also accused the BJP of spreading hate and bigotry after a group of people holding the saffron party's flags raised the incendiary "goli maro..." (shoot the traitors) slogan on their way to the Union home minister's rally at the Shahid Minar ground.

Earlier, inaugurating a new building of the National Security Guards (NSG), Shah said India has zero tolerance towards terrorism and has developed a "proactive" security policy under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

At the rally, he said, "The opposition is terrorising the minorities. I assure every person from the minority community that the CAA only provides citizenship, does not take it away. It won't affect your citizenship."



"The opposition parties are spreading canards that refugees will have to show papers but this is absolutely false. You don't have to show any paper. We will not stop until all refugees are granted citizenship," Shah said.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought the CAA to give citizenship to the refugees, but Mamata Banerjee's TMC and other opposition parties were opposing it.

The Union minister accused Mamata Banerjee of "fuelling riots" during anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests last year when trains and railway stations were burnt, and challenged her to stop the implementation of the CAA.

His comments came against the backdrop of the communal violence in northeast Delhi which was sparked by protests over the CAA and has left 42 dead and over 200 injured.

With the 2021 state elections in mind, Shah also accused Banerjee of opposing citizenship to the Dalits, while referring to the Matua community, which with a population of around 30 lakh is a deciding factor in around 40 Assembly seats.

The Matua sect is a backward community of refugees who migrated to West Bengal during 1950s from erstwhile East Pakistan due to religious persecution.

"I want to ask her (Mamata Banerjee), what harm did Dalits do to you? Why are you protesting when we want to give them citizenship? You only care about infiltrators. While protesting and opposing the CAA, you're also opposing the social reforms of (Matua sect founders) Harichand Thakur and Guruchand Thakur," Shah said.

Listing out the priorities of the Narendra Modi government, Shah said that in its second term, the dispensation is focusing on of national security along with welfare policies.

"Our government has removed Article 370 from Kashmir and fulfilled the dream of Syama Prasad Mookerjee... Within a few months, a grand Ram temple will come up in Ayodhya, for which we have been waiting for 500 years," he said.

Targeting the TMC government in the state, Shah expressed anguish over the "worsening" law-and-order situation in the state and exuded confidence that the BJP will come to power in West Bengal in 2021 with a two-third majority.

At the rally, Shah virtually set in motion the BJP's campaign for the upcoming civic body elections and also launched the party's 'Aar Noi Annay' (no more injustice) campaign for the next year's assembly polls.

"With this 'Aar Noi Annay' slogan, we will change the government in the state and usher in Sonar Bangla (golden Bengal). If you give five years to Narendra Modi, we will turn Bengal into Sonar Bangla," he said.

Referring to the TMC's 'Didi Ke Bolo' mass outreach campaign, Shah said, "Whenever Didi asks 'Didi Ke Bolo,' you say, 'Aar Noi Anyay' meaning we will not tolerate this injustice."



He accused the TMC government of not allowing "central welfare policies to be implemented in the state" and of misusing central funds. Shah also alleged that West Bengal's debt has nearly doubled despite a substantial increase in central funds under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Shah also said that once the BJP is voted to power neither criminals and nor those who have looted public money will be spared.

The TMC leadership was quick to return the fire, asking Shah to apologise for "failing" to save innocent lives during the Delhi violence.

"Rather than coming and preaching in Bengal, Amit Shah you should have explained and apologised for failing to save more than 50 innocent lives in Delhi Violence right under your nose," TMC leader and the chief minister's nephew Abhishek Banerjee said in a tweet.

"Mr Shah, Bengal is better off without bigotry and hatred that the BJP is trying to spread," he said.

At the NSG programme, the Union home minister said India has now joined the league of countries like the US and Israel in carrying out surgical strikes.

"Now, after Modiji became the PM, we have developed a proactive defence policy which is distinct from the foreign policy," he said.

Shah arrived in Kolkata amid protests by opposition parties which waved black flags outside the airport. His effigies were also burnt in Park Circus area. CPI(M) and Congress activists also took out rallies in various areas of north, central, and south Kolkata.

Some people, carrying BJP flags, were heard shouting "goli maro..." (shoot the traitors) slogan at Esplanade on their way to the rally venue. State BJP vice-president and MP Subhas Sarkar, however, claimed that no BJP worker was involved in raising the incendiary slogan and blamed it on the TMC.

When contacted, a senior Kolkata Police officer declined to comment on the incident but said strict action will be taken against anybody trying to disrupt law and order.

"No arrest has been made in this connection so far," the police officer said.

The Congress and the CPI(M) alleged that the saffron party was trying to vitiate the atmosphere of the state and accused the police administration of being inactive against those raising the inflammatory slogan.

Later in the evening, Shah held a meeting with the state BJP office-bearers.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Sunday warned that "spoilers" could try to sabotage the peace process in Afghanistan, a day after the US and the Taliban signed a landmark deal in Doha to bring lasting peace in the war-torn country.

Qureshi was among several foreign dignitaries who attended the signing ceremony in Qatar on Saturday.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad on his return from Doha, Qureshi said he met US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo after the signing ceremony and highlighted that it was important to deter the "spoilers".

"There are spoilers both within Afghanistan and outside, you will have to keep a lookout for them and deter them. You have to identify them and put them to blame and shame - a mechanism is needed for that," he said.

Qureshi said that he told Pompeo that it was also key to see the optics of the intra-Afghan dialogue, address political uncertainties in Afghanistan and mobilise international support for its rebuilding.

"The role that Pakistan has played as facilitator was being acknowledged and praised. People who used to criticise Pakistan were appreciating its role yesterday," he said.

He said Pakistan would extend full support to the intra-Afghan dialogue to bring last peace in the war-torn country, but noted that the ultimate responsibilities were on the Afghans.

"It has to be seen whether the Afghan leadership agrees to sit and make a political roadmapThey are the ones who have to make the decision as to what kind of Afghanistan they want," he said.

He said Norway had expressed its willingness to hold the intra-Afghan dialogue.

Qureshi said it would be also important for the Taliban to cut off links with al-Qaeda and other terror groups to the satisfaction of the world.

Qureshi also said Pakistan expected Afghanistan would not allow any country "such as India or any other, use their soil against Pakistan".

He said the agreement generated positive momentum which should be maintained and "one thing that can do this is the release of prisoners".

He said the Taliban were successful in reducing violence across the country which "had not seen such a reduction of violence in the past".

The foreign minister said the deal signed in Doha could pave the way for full withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan in the next 14 months.

Qureshi also called the agreement as "harbinger" of peace and said Pakistan would be benefit from peace in Afghanistan.

The US will complete its troop withdrawal from Afghanistan within 14 months with the initial drawdown of forces from a total of 13,000 to 8,600 happening in the next 4 months, according to the deal.

Under the agreement, in the first 135 days, the US will reduce the number of US forces in Afghanistan to 8,600 and proportionally bring reduction in the number of its allies and coalition forces.

The 18-year-long Afghan war has killed tens of thousands of civilians and Afghanistan remains one of the poorest countries in the world. Some 2.5 million Afghans are registered as refugees abroad and another two million are displaced within their country.

The war has cost the US taxpayer more than USD 1 trillion in military and rebuilding costs since the US-led invasion of 2001.

More than 100,000 Afghan civilians have been killed or injured over the past decade, according to the United Nations.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
FILE PHOTO: A logo of Toyota is pictured at Bangkok Auto Salon 2019 in Bangkok

BEIJING/TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese automaker Toyota plans to build a new electric vehicle plant in the Chinese city of Tianjin with its local partner FAW Group, a document from the local authorities showed.

The joint venture between Toyota and FAW plans to invest around 8.5 billion yuan ($1.22 billion) in the planned car plant in Tianjin, according to a document issued by authorities of the China-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city.

The plant will have manufacturing capacity of 200,000 new energy vehicles a year, the document showed. In China, new energy vehicles include battery-only, plug-in hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles.

Toyota declined to comment on the project but said in a statement that the company regards China as one of its most important global markets and is constantly considering various measures to implement in China to meet the needs of growing the business in the country.

Last year, despite China's overall auto market dropping 8.2%, Toyota sold 1.62 million Toyota and premium Lexus cars in China, the world's biggest auto market, a 9% sales jump compared with a year earlier.

It is also expanding car manufacturing capacities in its Guangzhou-based venture with another partner GAC.

($1 = 6.9906 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Yilei Sun, Norihiko Shirouzu and Naomi Tajitsu; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
IMPOSING STRICTER ABORTION LIMITS: Voting 53 for and 44 against, the Senate on Tuesday failed to reach 60 votes needed to advance a GOP-drafted bill (S 3275) that would outlaw abortions after 20 weeks of fertilization on grounds that the fetus can feel pain by then. The bill repudiates the Roe v. Wade standard that abortion is legal up to when the fetus reaches viability  usually after 24 to 28 weeks of pregnancy  and after viability if the procedure is necessary to protect the health or life of the mother. Under Roe, viability occurs when the fetus can potentially survive outside the womb with or without artificial aid. The bill allows exemptions for victims of rape or incest and to save the mothers life. Rape victims must receive counseling and medical care at least 48 hours before the procedure could be exempted. Doctors who violate the law could be criminally prosecuted.
An illustration of SpaceX's planned mobile service tower at Launch Complex 39A of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The tower will allow vertical integration of U.S. national security payloads.

SpaceX is planning a huge boost to the number of rocket launches from its Florida launch sites in the next few years as the company builds its Starlink satellite megaconstellation while meeting flight demands from its customers, according to a federal environmental report.

The missions for SpaceX's Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets will also have more options than in the past, according to the report, which was first reported by SpaceNews . One change will be a new mobile service tower allowing some missions to be assembled vertically, rather than horizontally. Another will be the capability to launch to polar orbits  quite the feat, since Florida is located close to the equator and better optimized for missions that operate close to the equator. SpaceX also plans to test recovering payload fairings as the company pushes for greater mission reusability.

By 2023, the company wants to launch 70 missions a year from its two Florida launch sites at the Kennedy Space Center and nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, using Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets. This rate is a seven-fold increase from the 11 missions SpaceX put into orbit in 2019, and almost double the 38 planned launches in 2020. That information comes from a draft environmental assessment published Thursday (Feb. 27) by the Federal Aviation Administration's Office of Commercial Space Transportation.

Video: Watch SpaceX launch 60 new Starlink satellites!

Related: See the evolution of SpaceX's rockets in pictures

"This launch schedule is based on SpaceX's anticipated need to support NASA and DoD [Department of Defense] missions, as well as commercial customers," the assessment reads in part. "In addition to its typical launch trajectories, SpaceX is proposing  to include a new Falcon 9 southern launch trajectory to support missions with payloads requiring polar orbits. SpaceX estimates approximately 10 percent of its annual Falcon 9 launches would fly this new southern launch trajectory."

SpaceX has two launch sites in Florida. One is at the historic Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) of NASA's Kennedy Space Center and the other is located Space Launch Complex 40 of the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station . The company also has two rocket landing pads at the Air Force Station. Its drone ship "Of Course I Still Love You," used for rocket landings at sea, is based in Cape Canaveral, as are two payload fairing recovery ships and a Dragon spacecraft recovery ship.

The Hawthorne, California-based company also has a West Coast launchpad at California's Vandenberg Air Force Base , with a second drone ship available for offshore landings. SpaceX's first rocket, the Falcon 1, launched from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands of the Pacific Ocean.

Polar launches and a Mobile Service Tower

This SpaceX diagram shows how the company's planned mobile service tower will look in launch position (left) and integrated position for launches from Pad 39A of NASA's Kennedy Space Center. (Image credit: SpaceX)

The new polar trajectory would require missions to fly alongside the Florida coast to reach the correct orbit, which could generate sonic booms. The SpaceNews report , citing a March 2019 assessment by Blue Ridge and Consulting included as an appendix to the FAA's document, says there would be a "low probability of structure damage (to glass, plaster, roofs, and ceilings) for well-maintained structures" in that area, assuming a peak overpressure of 4.6 pounds per square foot under typical flight trajectory and atmospheric conditions.

The mobile service tower would be used for a variety of launches, including security missions from the United States Air Force. The FAA states it will be built on SpaceX's existing launch pad at LC-39A at the Kennedy Space Center, standing about 284 feet (86 meters) tall and 118 feet (35 meters) wide on its longest side. Any lighting for the tower would be constructed to comply with local environmental regulations concerning sky glow, the FAA added.

SpaceX plans to recover payload fairings, in which satellites are stored during launch, "using power boats to 'chase and catch' the chutes and the fairings," FAA said. SpaceX caught half of a fairing on June 25, 2019 after a Falcon Heavy launch, and it hopes to recover three payload fairings a month between 2020 and 2025. This could lead to an environmental problem.

"During these six years, SpaceX anticipates up to 432 drogue parachutes and up to 432 parafoils would land in the ocean," the FAA stated. "SpaceX would attempt to recover all parafoils over this time period, but it is possible some of the parafoils would not be recovered due to sea or weather conditions at the time of recovery." There is a backup available if the power boats fail, which is using a salvage ship that could track down the fairing using GPS data and strobe lights located on the fairing data recorders. That said, recovery could be impossible "if sea or weather conditions are poor," the FAA said.

SpaceX's rocket fleet

Of note, the report covers activities from Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches and makes few mentions of Starship , which is SpaceX's forthcoming larger rocket system that could take on even heavier launches. The FAA noted, however, that "as Starship/Super Heavy launches gradually increase over time to 24 launches per year, the number of Falcon launches would decrease."

FAA issued the report because "SpaceX's launch manifest includes more annual Falcon launches and Dragon reentries than were considered in previous  analyses," the FAA stated in the executive summary. This launch activity could affect both humans and animals in the region  which is relevant since part of the downrange launch zone is a protected area filled with marine mammals, sea turtles, and sharks, the FAA said. That said, the report does not contain a detailed list of which missions would be launched under the accelerated launch schedule.

While few details are available about SpaceX's plans, in general the company has made announcements that do point to far more launch activity in the coming years. SpaceX is in the midst of building out its Starlink constellation, which could include as many as 42,000 individual satellites . The satellites are being launched into space at a rate of one launch every few weeks.

The company is also planning to launch humans from Florida's Space Coast for the first time when its Dragon spacecraft is certified under NASA's Commercial Crew program, which could happen as early as this year. No astronauts have been launched from this area since the end of the space shuttle program in 2011. That said, the normal pace of International Space Station flights from Kazakhstan (the only spot that sends humans to space right now) is about four launches a year, which is an appreciably lower rate than the Starlink lauches.

FAA proposes to modify or issue new launch licenses to SpaceX for Falcon rocket launches, and to issue new licenses for Dragon spacecraft reentry operations. The report is open to public comment until March 20, and the FAA urges all commenters to make their remarks "as specific as possible, and address the analysis of potential environmental impacts and the adequacy of the proposed action or merits of alternatives, and any mitigation being considered."

Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace . Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook .
Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) boss Nitish Kumar on his birthday on Sunday describing him as a popular leader who has risen from the grassroots.

Greetings to Bihars Chief Minister and my friend, Shri @NitishKumar Ji. A popular leader who has risen from the grassroots, hes been at the forefront of furthering Bihars development. His passion towards social empowerment is noteworthy. Praying for his long and healthy life, Modi tweeted.

Greetings to Bihars Chief Minister and my friend, Shri @NitishKumar Ji. A popular leader who has risen from the grassroots, hes been at the forefront of furthering Bihars development. His passion towards social empowerment is noteworthy. Praying for his long and healthy life.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 1, 2020

Nitish Kumars Bihar became the first National Democratic Alliance-ruled state to pass a resolution on February 25 against the proposed National Register of Citizens which the BJP wants to implement in the country.

Nitish Kumar who will lead the NDA in the upcoming Bihar assembly elections said last week that alliance would win more than 200 of the 243 seats in the House.

The JD(U) which allied with the BJP for the first time outside Bihar to fight the Delhi assembly elections last month, drew a blank. It had contested two seats.

In January, Union home minister Amit Shah had announced that the BJP will contest the Bihar assembly elections under the leadership of Nitish Kumar to end any doubts the partys own leaders may have harboured and also is a clear sign to JD(U) that the BJP believes the partnership, which has repeatedly delivered in Bihar in the last two decades, is mutually beneficial.

The JD(U)s relation with the BJP has had its share of hiccups. Before Amit Shahs declaration in January, the JD(U) had taken strong exception to comments by some BJP leaders, particularly in regard to NDAs chief ministerial face for the Assembly polls and had asked its alliance partner to rein in its loudmouths.

The JD(U)s reaction had come after a statement by former Union minister and BJP MLC Sanjay Paswan, who had said that people of Bihar wanted to see a BJP leader as the Chief Minister.
South African police on Sunday forcibly removed hundreds of migrants who had been squatting for four months on a busy Cape Town square popular with tourists.

The eviction ended months of tension between the city and the migrants who had camped on the pavements of Greenmarket Square since last year following a spate of xenophobic attacks.

Cape Town had sought an injunction after around 700 foreign nationals, mainly from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi occupied the sidewalks.

A court last month granted the city the right to enforce its bylaws which prohibit sleeping, washing, defecating or cooking on the streets.

On Sunday, police vehicles surrounded the area and hundreds of officers donning masks and gloves peacefully removed the migrants.

Trucks followed and tore down makeshift structures where they had camped.

Emotions ran high as migrants grabbed their belongs and walked away.

Some sang in defiance and shouted "where's the rainbow nation?", "we are not animals in a zoo" and "we are not cockroaches like you call us. God will punish you for generations."

"People are stranded. We have nowhere to go," said Oliver Majambu, a Congolese refugee.

Many refugees expressed anger and disappointment at the lack of alternative accommodation for them.

"Cape Town is not insensitive to the plight of the refugees, but we can simply not allow the situation to carry on unchecked, as it has had a major impact on surrounding businesses," said JP Smith, the city official in charge of security and safety.

The city had sought the injunction after around 700 foreign nationals, mainly from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi occupied the sidewalks. By RODGER BOSCH (AFP)

"We are not in a position to provide emergency shelter to the group, given the great need that exists among South Africans."

Greenmarket Square is a tourist hotspot with hotels, restaurants and vendors selling African goods to visitors.

Since the refugees moved in, around one-third of the businesses in and around the square in the heart of the city's business district have shut down.

Migrants had initially staged a sit-in protest at a building hosting the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the city in October, demanding to be relocated to another country.

They were evicted from that building and spent a few weeks at a church before camping at the square.

South Africa, the continent's most industrialised economy, is a magnet for economic migrants. But they are sometimes targetted by locals who blame them for the lack of jobs.

Last year, a surge in mob attacks against foreign workers hit Johannesburg and other areas, forcing migrants to flee shelters or return home.
At least 87 people suffered gunshot wounds in the communal riots that tore through north-east Delhi this week. Of these, at least 20  including a policeman  succumbed to bullet injuries, investigators said.

Police said no fresh deaths were reported on Saturday from riot-affected areas but a shop was set on fire in the Welcome neighbourhood.

At least 42 people have been killed so far, while more than 450 people have been injured in the communal riots that ravaged the capital from February 23 to 25. Delhi Police had registered 203 cases till Saturday evening.

Of the 203 cases, 24 were of murder, and 36 others were under various sections of the Arms Act. The remaining cases were of rioting, attacking police personnel, arson and damaging properties, the police said.

Meanwhile, the police said they had registered separate cases against 13 social media account holders on various platforms  Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram  for posting provocative contents having potential to trigger communal violence. Police said many such accounts and web links involved in circulation of unlawful and offensive contents were either suspended or their objectionable contents were removed.

Two special investigation teams (SITs) probing the communal violence had arrested 39 people, some of them having a criminal background. The police seized 39 firearms, 36 of which were country-made pistols, after raids in various parts of Delhi and adjoining states. 46 cartridges were recovered from the arrested suspects, who, police say, were involved in the communal clashes and were identified with the help of video clips.

The arrest of people with criminal history and the fact that illegal firearms were used, apart from petrol bombs and bottles being stockpiled on terraces of houses in riot-hit areas, made the city police suspect the clashes were not spontaneous.

Officials associated with the SITs said they were probing the role of outsiders and some local gangs, who could have orchestrated the violence.

Joint commissioner of police (eastern range) Alok Kumar said the investigators were collecting details of cases against the arrested criminals. We are interrogating the suspects to identify other people who were with them during the violence. More first information reports (FIRs) will be filed and more arrests will be made, Kumar said.

SN Shrivastava, who on Saturday took charge as acting chief of Delhi Police replacing Amulya Patnaik, said cases of riots and murder were being registered and the strictest possible action would be taken against the culprits so that such incidents do not recur.

My first priority is to restore peace and bring back the communal harmony in the city. All those involved in the riots will be punished, said Shrivastava.

Senior police officers said more than 20 teams were conducting raids in Delhi and adjoining states to hunt down people who have been linked to the rampage that also claimed the life of an Intelligence Bureau (IB) staffer, Delhi Police head constable Ratan Lal, and left hundreds of others, including two IPS officers, critically injured.

Suspended Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor from Nehru Vihar, Mohammad Tahir Hussain, who has been linked to the death of IB staffer Ankit Sharma in Chand Bagh, continued to evade arrest on Saturday despite the police claiming to have raided his possible hideouts and questioning many of his relatives and friends in the last two days.

On Saturday, teams of Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) visited several Gokalpuri and Bhajanpura and collected evidence . The experts visited the petrol pump that was set on fire by the rioters. On Friday, the teams inspected Hussains house in Chand Bagh and the drain from which Sharmas body was recovered on Wednesday.

Apart from petrol bombs, empty bottles, stones and bricks, we recovered several pouches containing corrosive substance from Hussains house, said a senior FSL official.

According to the official, the FSL got a call from the police regarding a shop set on fire in Welcome area. We were asked to come to the spot and collect samples from the burnt shop. Since the area is gripped in tensio, we told the police that our forensic experts would be available on Sunday, he said.

The police are still looking for one Shahrukh, who on Monday was caught on camera approaching a policeman while pointing a pistol at him and firing across a road divider.
TIPPECANOE COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI) - Judge Kristen McVey is one of 12 local female leaders being honored at the 2020 YWCA Salute to Women celebration. Presiding over a courtroom and practicing law wasn't always Judge McVey's end goal.

"I grew up in Homeplace Indiana on a miniature farm, planning to be either a veterinarian or an FBI agent like my father," she said.

However her studies at Purdue University took her a different route, she started studying political science and the law started to become more interesting to her. After law school, she worked for the Tippecanoe and Carroll County Prosecutor's Offices before getting her first big promotion.

"When Pat Harrington was elected in 2006, I became the first female Chief Deputy," she said.

Governor Eric Holcomb appointed her as the Tippecanoe Superior Court 5 judge in 2018. She handles anything that is a level six felony and below that is not drug or driving related. This includes animal cruelty, theft, counter fitting and sex registery cases.

"Additionally, I handle about 750 requests for protection orders for individuals that are being subjected to harassment or stalking or domestic violence," she said. The YWCA of Greater Lafayette also provides domestic violence services to women in multiple counties.

Judge McVey wants to have a bigger impact on the community from her bench with two goals.

"I'm very passionate about mental health and about starting a mental health court," she said. "And looking for ways that we can identify individuals that can be diverted out of the criminal justice system."

She also wants to look for ways to incentivize employment training and job opportunities.

"Many of the people who come before me are in trouble because they don't have purpose or income," she said.

Judge McVey said it's a blessing to work in this community and to be a salute to women honoree.

"I'm at a loss for words," she said. "I'm truly humbled and honored."

Judge McVey is up for re-election this November. She hopes to start working towards her goals if re-elected. Running as a Republican, she is currently the only person who has filed for the Superior 5 judgeship.
Ben Lambert / Hearst Connecticut Media /

NEW HAVEN  A man who moved to the state pleaded guilty to failing to register as sex offender here, according to federal authorities.

Kurtis Gaskins, 46, now of Waterbury, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven to violating the federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.
Rahul Gandhi owes it to the Congress to resume presidentship and dispel uncertainty about the future leadership issue as the party does not have the luxury of time, former law minister Ashwani Kumar said on Sunday.

Kumar noted that as long as the Gandhis choose to remain active in the Congress, the centrality of their role "is a given" and only if Rahul Gandhi decides not to relent, can another leader be chosen "through consensus and not elections".

In an interview to PTI, Kumar said, "Given the ground realities of politics in the country today, I think Rahul Gandhi owes it to the party to resume leadership, inspire party persons and win the trust of the nation in the better tradition of the public."

The Congress veteran noted that the almost unanimous opinion is for Rahul Gandhi to succeed interim Congress president Sonia Gandhi and he should be "directed to do so, if required".

"We do not have the luxury of time. In these days of shifting political loyalties people will not wait endlessly for us to get our house in order," he said.

"The uncertainty on future leadership needs to be dispelled. It is already late as if today is yesterday. If necessary, a direction can be given to Rahul Gandhi to assume leadership," Kumar said, adding that Sonia Gandhi had accepted only to remain as the interim president.

He said the opposition unity in the country, which is a prime need today, can be facilitated only by the Congress as a catalyst. "The urgency of settling the leadership question within the Congress is therefore apparent and evident," Kumar said.

Asked if Rahul Gandhi, having suffered electoral setbacks in the recent past, can rejuvenate the party, Kumar said he certainly deserves to lead the party once more.

"We know that at this point of time the almost unanimous opinion is for Rahul Gandhi to succeed Sonia Gandhi. It is true that he did not do well in 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections and that is why he tendered his resignation.

"But his political priorities are anchored in idealism and I am sure if and when he returns as Congress president, he will address the organisational shortcomings," Kumar said.

He rejected suggestions of some his colleagues who are seeking organisational elections to settle the leadership issue and said consensus is the best way forward.

"I doubt very much whether, through an election by itself, we can strengthen the party's organisation given the present constitution of the electoral college. Elections are no guarantee of the party's rejuvenation. They tend to be divisive and are known to leave bitterness behind," Kumar said, noting that the top organisational structure of the Congress has always been built on consensus.

On the question that Rahul Gandhi himself batted for a non-Gandhi to succeed him, Kumar said the unanimous view is that Rahul Gandhi should take over the Congress.

"We know that when Rahul Gandhi resigned and a process was initiated to identify other leaders, not a single name emerged as an alternative. Under these circumstances, there is ample justification for insisting that Rahul Gandhi accepts the responsibility to lead the Congress. If he chooses not to relent only then should a leader be found through consensus," Kumar said.

The former Rajya Sabha MP rejected BJP's charge of dynastic politics in the Congress, saying the Gandhis have been baptized by fire.

"The charge of dynastic politics is totally wrong, considering that the leadership of the Gandhis has been tested in the public arena in tough electoral battles. The Gandhis have been baptized by fire so to say," he said.

Kumar added that the future president of the Congress would have to win the trust of the people and the nation.

The Gandhis had an emotional connect with the party and as long as they are active, the centrality of their role "is a given", he said.
The stalemate has gone on for months.

After revelations of widespread abuse and fraud involving millions in economic incentives meant to lure new jobs and business to New Jersey, the program was allowed to expire last June.

What has followed is a long standoff between Gov. Phil Murphy and Senate President Steven Sweeney over proposed reforms.

Despite the eight-month shutdown of the controversial programs, though, administration officials say the impact on New Jersey has so far been minimal.

Theres plenty of signs of strength and hiring, said Tim Sullivan, who heads the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, pointing to continued filings of so-called high propensity companies most likely to attract jobs. People are moving here.

That will not last forever, he acknowledged. At some point, the dynamics will change. Long-term, the regional competitiveness will swing around, Sullivan said.

But while Sullivan maintained that economic incentives will remain a part of the states toolbox in its efforts to convince companies to find a home here  especially in urban areas  he said any change needs to be done smartly and strategically.

"Its more important for us to get the right set of programs in place, he said.

The debate in Trenton has been focused mainly over the issue of whether to limit how much can be spent on corporate tax breaks in any given year. The governor wants them capped. Sweeney is firmly opposed to any such limits.

Business groups say the ongoing squabble has already caused great harm to the state.

We think the economy has been damaged, said Michele Siekerka, president and CEO of the New Jersey Business & Industry Association. We have heard stories of companies that were looking to expand and went someplace else. Commercial real estate firms tell us this is hurting New Jerseys reputation.

Incentives are necessary, she said, because the cost of doing business is higher in New Jersey  making the environment here less competitive than other states.

However, New Jersey Policy Perspective, a progressive think tank long-opposed to incentives, countered that New Jerseys businesses are thriving.

The last eight months have proven that the lack of a corporate subsidy program has not hindered economic growth, said Sheila Reynertson, senior policy analyst for the Trenton-based research group.

In fact, the states corporate business tax is expected to generate $555 million more this year than initially projected, meaning corporate profits are much higher than expected, Reynertson said. This shouldnt come as a surprise, as there is no evidence that corporate tax breaks have any impact on a states broader economic performance.

One company that recently opened a new headquarters in New Jersey without seeking any assistance from the state said they never considered applying for a tax break.

It was not part of our decision, said Sam Gutmann, chief executive officer of OwnBackup, a tech company that helps customers back up data, recover it and put the pieces back together when files are lost or corrupted. Ill take the free money, but we wanted to be here regardless.

OwnBackup, which has offices in Tel Aviv and London, moved to a corporate office park in Englewood Cliffs in October with 115 employees. Gutmann was unsure whether the company would have even qualified for state tax credits, but said New Jersey had the office space they needed, was close to New York, and offered easy access to anywhere in the world out of Newark Liberty International Airport.

We never contemplated going anywhere else, he said.

The states tax credit programs have been under fire since a task force appointed by the governor last year called into question more than $500 million in awards to dozens of firms  some that allegedly submitted false statements in their applications for tax breaks. Others did not create as many jobs as had been promised.

In a series of reports, the task force also charged that millions in incentive money went to politically connected companies and insiders in Camden  including several businesses closely tied to George Norcross III, the South Jersey political power broker and healthcare executive. Norcross denied the allegations in speaking before the state Senate last year, and fiercely defended the use of incentives in the redevelopment of Camden.

The lucrative tax incentives, which include the Grow NJ Assistance Program and the state and local Economic Redevelopment and Growth programs, expired at the end of June. Efforts by the Legislature to reauthorize the programs were vetoed by the governor.

The administration has proposed a set of reforms that would include incentives specifically aimed at projects in distressed areas, transit-oriented development, and the creation of incubators and shared workspaces. It would impose strict caps on how much in incentives can be awarded each year.

The state Senate has put forward its own plan and incorporates many of the administrations proposals, but refuses to consider any cap on the program.

I dont know how many more times we can say it, or how much more clearly we can say it, Sweeney told reporters recently. Im not supporting a bill that has an overall cap.

His office on Friday declined further comment.

Sullivan, who was brought in by Murphy to take over the EDA in 2018 to oversee change at the independent entity in charge of growing business in the state, said tax incentive caps will remain integral to the governors reforms.

"We didnt invent the idea of capping tax credits, he said. Its best practice nationwide.

Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL. Facebook: @TedSherman.reporter. 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.
Delhi Police Special Commissioner (Law and Order) SN Shrivastava on Sunday visited Max Hospital in Patparganj to meet Shahdara Deputy Commissioner of Police Amit Sharma, who was injured during clashes between two groups in Gokulpuri on February 24.

Shrivastava also inquired about the health of Sharma.

Shahdara DCP Amit Sharma was injured during clashes between two groups in Delhi's Gokulpuri on Monday. One Delhi Police head constable lost his life during the clashes on Monday.

At least 11 police personnel, including DCP Sharma, were injured while trying to quell the protests.

At least 42 people were killed in the violence witnessed by North-East Delhi areas over the past few days. Two Special Investigative Teams (SITs) have been constituted under Crime Branch, Delhi Police to probe the violence.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Vietnamese Consul General in Vladivostok Nguyen Hoang Viet said through the selected photos of the Vietnam News Agency, the exhibition gives visitors an insight into a beautiful Vietnamese country with diligent, creative and hospitable people.

Apart from scenic landscapes, visitors could see Vietnams achievements in socio-economic development and international integration, important milestones in the traditional friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and Russia, including the Far East region, thereby raising their awareness about the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership, he said.

Konstantin Loboda, a representative of the Vladivostok administration, said the city plays an important role in developing Russia  Vietnam friendship in the Far East region.

He recalled historic milestones in bilateral ties over the past years, including the establishment of twinning relations between Ho Chi Minh City and Vladivostok a decade ago and the erection of President Ho Chi Minh Monument in a square named after him in July 2019.

Part of a series of documentary film Two countries, One heart, made by Vietnam Television in early 2020 on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties, was also screened at the event.
Written by ACM





*Strasbourg/Angelo Marcopolo/- It was proved "Mission Impossible" for the Council of Europe to become World's Pioneer for "the Human Right to a HEALTHY Environment", at the same Moment that European Countries have just become 1st in the World in the Number of Victims infected by CoronaVIRUS ID-19, after China's area (incl. SKorea) !

A landmark PanEuropean Conference for the "Right to a Healthy Environment", organized at the CoE in Strasbourg Today by its current Georgian Presidency, with invited "Special Guest" the French f. UNO's COP Head of the Famous "Paris Agreement" on Climate, and f. Prime Minister, currently Constitutional Council's President, Laurent Fabius, Unexpectedly Missed its Target,

in Circumstances indicating that it fell Victim to a Sudden, unexplained yet, Implosion of CoronaVirus ID-19 Contaminations at Nearby North-Western Italy, which is Rapidly Spreading in the Neighbouring French and German Regions, at EU's Core, including Strasbourg's, whose Hospitals just started to host Victims Infected in NW. Italy, while in Paris Died the 1st French Victim of that Dangerous Virus, a 60 y.o. Professor.

Indeed, already Since its 1st Official Announcement, back from November 2019, up to the Latest relevant CoE's Press Releases of 20 and even 25 February 2020, that Conference on "Environment and Human Rights", had been Always co-Titled also with the insertion, in its Headlines, of a Key mention, in the form of the Main Topical Question it Raised : - "Towards a Right to a HEALTHY Environment ?"...





- "Do we have the Right to a Healthy Environment ?", Wondered, f.ex., inter alia, also the competent CoE's "Directorate General for Human Rights and Rule of Law", while Inviting, the Morning of Tuesday, February 25, 2020, to "Join", in Strasbourg, that "High Level Conference ... on (Thursday) 27 February 2020 !"

----------------------------------------------------



-- But, Meanwhile, China's Big Neighbours, India and Russia, had reported Only ... 3 and 2 infected Victims, respectively, while, on the Contrary, EU Countries Dangerously approached ... 1.440 Infections !...

+ At the same time, Bitter Ironical Comments were inevitably Provoked by Media Headlines speaking of "7 Killed" People at Neighbouring Italy, while Only ..."1 Bus" was Stoped at Nearby Lyon's Borders to France...

Angry People were reported in Central and Southern France about Ships, Boats, Buses and Cars allegedly coming and going unhindered in Round Trips to/from Italy ; Shocked Readers didn't believe their eyes when they saw Press Headlines about Public Authorities' Prohibitions Focusing mainly on Gatherings of ..."More than 5.000 People, in Confined spaces" (sic !) ; and former Environment Minister, and f. Presidential Candidate, Segolene Royal, reportedly Slamed as "InComprehensible Nonsense" the Authorisation of "Juventus"' Italian Football Team's Fans to enter France during a Game at Nearby Lyon's Borders, (etc)...

----------------------------



On the Contrary, Russia (only 2 infected) has reportedly Closed its Borders to China (a long-time Ally) almost Immediately.



++ Moreover, Most Contaminations in NW. Italy, and several in France and other EU Countries, Curiously, don't seem Imported from China, but, on the Contrary, to Infections contracted inside Local "Communities", particularly ..."Hospitals" and other "Health Facilities", including Medical Staff, recent Enquiries revealed. The "Impact" of these Local "Clusters" of Contamination, from NW. Italy, to the Rest of the EU, "would be High", "especially if Hospitals were Affected, and a large Number of Healthcare Workers had to be Isolated", according to EU's ECDC Watchdog, and the Real "Impact on Vulnerable" People, "within Hospitals or Healthcare Facilities, is due to be Severe", ECDC's Latest Reports, after a Visit in Italy, Warned these days.



=> In such Circumstances, CoE's initial reference "Towards a Human Right to a HEALTHY Environment", suddenly, ...Disappeared, from the Latest Official Documents issued in Strasbourg for Today's Conference !



>>> Instead, CoE's subsequent Headlines, Press Releases, and texts Started to speak, Vaguely, about (UnDetermined) "Modern Legal STANDARDS and Tools" (sic !)...

=> Conclusions, (Drafted as a "Final Declaration" Only by the Rotating Georgian Chairmanship of CoE's Committee of Ministers, and Not Collectively), make a Few Mentions to "Health", just in order to urge to "Consider as a matter of priority" the already existing relevant references in CoE's minimalist and toothless "Social Charter"; Vaguely evoke "a Healthy Environment" for unspecified ... "Future Generations"; and Postpone up to ..."2030" (i.e. + 10 Years Later) for UNO's notoriously Not legaly Binding Wish, in its "Agenda for Sustainable Development" ("Goal 3"), favouring "Good Health and Well Being", by Merely observing that the CoE "Could (sic !) Consider a common approach to contributing" to that...





On the Contrary, Specific and Concrete Proposals Focus on a call to "Upgrade" CoE's "Legal Standards" (Comp. Supra), just in "the 1998 Convention on the Protection of the Environment through Criminal Law", for "clearer legal Obligations and stronger Sanctions", wth "more effective International cooperation", particularly against "Organised Crime" ; as well as to "Review" for "More Effective Protection", the "1993 Convention on Civil Liability for Damage Resulting from Activities Dangerous to the Environment".

In Fact, a Vague move to "Explore" some UnDetermined "viable Ways forward, for further Legal developments at both the National and European levels", practicaly Postpones for Later-on, until about "2021", a Future "draft Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers on Human Rights and Environment", due to be "elaborated by the Steering Committee for Human Rights"' Experts, whose Content currently remains, for the Public, a Mystery...

At any case, this surprisingly Coincides with the "Summer 2021" currently Expected Time-Frame for an eventual ... new "Vaccine" Discovery against CoronaVirus ID-19 ! I.e., practically ... + 2 Winters-Time Later (2020 + 2021), when, (if things continue like this, wthOut any Big Change), it Risks to have, meanwhile, provoked an awful Lot of Sick or Dead People in the EU.

It's really a pity for the Sympathetic Georgian Presidency of the CoE, who is certainly Not Responsible for that (Otherwise Interesting) Conference's Flop,

>>> and could even usefully Advise other CoE's Member Countries on how they might Succeed to have ...Only 1 Contaminated Person from that Virus, (even Less than Russia and India : 2 or 3 respectively), as Tbilisi's Government currently declared !



How on earth did the Georgians manage to achieve that ?

(../..)

("Draft-News")

----------------------------------
It was a gathering of the countrys rich, famous and powerful, which had gathered on Saturday evening to celebrate the nuptials of Ruia heir Rewant and his bride Karishma Choraria. Held at the Ruiass sumptuous seafront mansion at Walkeshwar road, the evening had seen the presence of political heavy weights from across the spectrum, such as Sharad Pawar, Nitin Gadkari, Uddhav Thackeray, Devendra Fadnavis, Praful Patel and Kamal Nath, rub shoulders with Mukesh and Nita Ambani, Adi Godrej, Uday Kotak, and Sunil and Rajan Bharti Mittal.

The couple had met in London, where the brides family lives, and had dated for a year before taking the plunge. Besides the Ruia hospitality seen on full display, with both brothers Shashi and Ravi along with their wives and families playing perfect hosts, what is being remarked is the presence of many arch corporate rivals who had made it a point to mark their presence at the event. At an earlier reception last week, the United Kingdom-based steel tycoon LN Mittal, who is currently locked in a headline-grabbing battle with the Ruias to acquire their steel division, had made heads turn when hed walked in with wife Usha and son Aditya. Sajjan Jindal, the other steel tycoon, also involved in the bruising battle, had attended both functions along with wife Sangita, and the presence of Mukesh Ambani and Sunil Mittal  both principal competitors of the hosts in the highly combative telecom space  only emphasised the fact that when it comes to social obligations and niceties, even alpha tycoons could set aside their arsenal. However, this might not be the case in political circles. According to a guest, even though both, the former Maharashtra chief minister Fadnavis and the current one Thackeray had been present for Saturdays reception, they had managed to avoid coming face to face with each other. I think they had timed their entrances and exits quite judiciously, said one observer.

Gerson da Cunha, Bhaichand Patel, Sabira Merchant, Shyam Benegal and Anil Dharker at the book release.

Them, Good Old Days

We like the sound of unreliable memoir, but then Bhaichand Patel, the author of the newly released I am a stranger here myself: an unreliable memoir has a reputation to live down to, of being one of the Capitals leading wits and gossipy bon vivants. The former Fiji-born United Nations diplomat had made Mumbai his home in the late sixties, and had with his characteristic gregariousness become a leading member of its intelligentsia; barrister Rajni Patel, editors Rahul Singh, and the late Vinod Mehta and ad guru Gerson da Cunha had belonged to this circle, when the evenings had been full of discussions of art, politics and film, punctuated frequently by Patels tales of salacious peccadillos and society scandals.

From Mumbai, Patel had moved to Delhi, where in a very short period hed gathered a kindred circle, and his parties at his Sujjan Singh bachelor pad had soon become a toast of the Lutyens set.

In fact, the last one, Patels annual Valentines Day celebration for a crush of happy singletons, had a guest list of 160 and had made it to Page Three, with most of the senior citizens gamely arriving in stipulated Valentine Reds and dancing till late into the night, we are informed.

Unsurprisingly, Fridays book release, attended by Bakul Patel, Saryu Doshi, Tanuja and Dina Vakil amongst others, had felt like an old Bombay evening. Patel had riveted his audience with gossipy anecdotes culled from his latest tome, like his claim that hed been a potential husband for femme fatale actress Rekha, when a Delhi-based socialite mutual friend had recommended him as a highly eligible bachelor to the actress. After one at me, she had decided otherwise and had gone on to marry a close friend of mine, the consummate raconteur had narrated in his speech, adding, And we all know how tragically that had ended.

Tweet Talk

Turns out a broom doesnt have a spine either.

-Stand-up comedian Vir Dass comment on you know whose alleged betrayal

Villie and Brig (rtd) Furdoon Mehta with their family at Sundays celebration.

The Distinguished Soldier

Its dads 100th birthday this year, erstwhile entertainment tycoon, philanthropist and now impassioned philosophy student Zarina Mehta had texted, adding, Would love for you to come celebrate it this Sunday, at lunch. The effervescent Mehta, who along with husband  movie producer and entertainment mogul Ronnie Screwvala  had been responsible for some of the countrys biggest TV and movie hits, was referring to her father, Brigadier Furdoon Mehta, who had distinguished himself during the Second World War when hed risked his life flying above enemy lines to pinpoint targets. Now long retired, the dapper handlebar moustachioed, ram rod straight dead ringer for Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, lives along with his elegant nonagenarian wife Villie in an apartment in SoBo, not too far from his daughter, and is the centre of their attention and love. The centenary birthday celebration was full of affection and admiration for the patriarch, and saw the presence of a large circle of his family and friends, including Dr Faroukh Udwadia with wife Vera, Nadir and Rati Godrej, Pheroza Godrej, Siddharth Roy Kapur, Ishan and Anjali Raina, AD and Sabena Singh, and Ricky and Laila Lamba amongst others.

How does one wish a distinguished and much decorated soldier on his 100th birthday? The hosts had forbidden gifts, but Pheroza Godrej appeared to have gotten around it with an ingenious solution. Shed sent a glorious arrangement of exactly one hundred flowers for the birthday boy.
Go to a coffee shop in Hong Kong and you will see office workers wearing masks to protect themselves from catching the new coronavirus, connecting to public Wi-fi and shuffling through papers downloaded from their office servers.

While that may be a common sight after the biggest shift in work culture ever, the risk from another form of attack has remained constant: cybercrime.

From stock traders to civil servants, more employees are handling confidential information off-site globally under the biggest work-from-home experiment in decades. That poses a risk to governments and businesses which were not fully prepared for the shift on such a scale, security analysts say.

"I've seen a lot of individuals over the last few weeks working in coffee shops, using public Wi-fi," Stuart Witchell, a managing director at risk consultancy firm Berkeley Research Group, said in an interview. "Data is obviously more vulnerable outside the corporate environment."

More than 60 per cent of companies in major Chinese cities have not reopened offices since the Lunar New Year holiday, allowing employees in the world's second-largest economy to work remotely from home, according to statistics from Baidu, which operates China's biggest search engine.

The government of Hong Kong has been encouraging some of its 176,000 civil servants and private companies to work remotely to help contain the virus, while guarding against hackers.

"Fraud attempts are certainly up, especially with many more finance persons working from home with less than ideal technology or no secure connectivity," Steve Vickers, chief executive of Steve Vickers & Associates, a specialist political and corporate risk consultancy based in Hong Kong.

A person wearing a protective mask looks at a smartphone while sitting at a Starbucks shop in Shibuya, Tokyo. Photo: Bloomberg alt=A person wearing a protective mask looks at a smartphone while sitting at a Starbucks shop in Shibuya, Tokyo. Photo: Bloomberg

Story continues

While work-from-home is nothing new in the US, it is less common across Asia. This made the abrupt and urgent need to organise staff en masse that much more difficult, said Sean Chen, director of strategy in Hong Kong at Blackpeak, an investigative research firm.

"Face-time is more important in Asia's work culture," said Chen, who grew up in Taiwan and has worked in Washington, Beijing and Shanghai. Accessing data from home leaves them vulnerable, especially as IT help desk professionals are responding less quickly to off-site threats, he added.

Even if Hongkongers worked from home during the anti-government protests last year or even as far back as 2003 during the Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome) outbreak, the current exercise across Asia is unprecedented in its magnitude.

As a result, the IT systems may struggle to cope with the extra load, some experts say. Moving large amounts of confidential data into drop boxes to overcome system bottlenecks can be detrimental, said Vickers.

"Many systems, whilst apparently technically sound, were never designed for the very significant numbers of additional users and the protracted periods involved," he said. "This is dangerous and may lead to significant data loss or fraud" despite the good intentions, he added.

Staff without access externally to data on their company's cloud may download data from a server onto potentially vulnerable personal devices, or print out hard copies of documents and carry them off-site, said Witchell of Berkeley Research.

To be sure, the Hong Kong government has not received any reports on data leakage from government departments during the past one month, according to a spokeswoman for its Chief Information Officer. Workers use secure communications channels and are trained in cybersecurity, she added.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority said it has not observed increased threats of cyberattacks targeting banks, nor received any reports about customer data leakage resulting from banks' work-from-home arrangements, a spokeswoman said.

Another high-risk group is stock brokers. Many investment banks are splitting trading teams into two, with one group working from the office and another from home, according to traders contacted by the Post.

"In today's advanced tech environment, it should not be a problem for traders to work from home," said Brock Silvers, managing director at Adamas Asset Management. "It may not be optimal for longer-term business purposes, but it should work from a compliance standpoint."

Hong Kong's Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (PCPD) has received 10 notifications on data breaches between January 29 and February 26, it said. One of them is related to cybercrime. It also received two complaints relating to cybercrime or loss of data.

These figures, however, do not represent a significant leap in data loss, it said.

"Hackers are watching every pitfall in mobile devices or Wi-fi connection to steal personal data or sensitive data," said Stephen Wong Kai-yi, who oversees the PCPD office. The first line of defence may just be a routine change of Wi-fi password and proper antivirus and malware software, he added.

Many international firms with offices in Asia have robust data encryption in place. The weaker links in the chain, however, are likely among the smaller, local businesses, said risk analysts. Using social media apps such as WhatsApp or WeChat could produce untold damage, analysts warn.

With workers gradually drifting back to the office as the number of new coronavirus cases ebbs in mainland China, lessons can be learned from the experiment as long term, the working from home trend gains traction as part of business continuity plans.

Best practice would be for companies to store data on the cloud and allow staff to access it externally, according to data security consultants. They should have protocols in place for working remotely and train staff regularly on them, as well as staying out of public Wi-fi networks. Still, it is hard to protect against human error, said Witchell of Berkeley Research.

"Once people start bringing laptops home, inevitably they leave them on the bus or train," he said.

Additional reporting by Enoch Yiu and Deb Price

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.
Consumers could be missing out on hundreds of pounds by failing to claim money they are entitled to. Many could be compensated for travel delays or refunded for overpaid energy bills, bank charges or tax  simply by taking the time to claim.

Rail watchdog Transport Focus estimates that tens of millions of pounds in compensation go unclaimed for train delays every year. But with most train companies using the Delay Repay system, making a claim is relatively straightforward.

Claims can be made through the train operator's website, by post or phone, and typically involve filling in a form and scanning in or uploading a photo of the ticket.

Tens of millions of pounds in compensation go unclaimed for train delays every year

Passengers are entitled to 25 per cent of their single fare for delays of between 15 and 29 minutes; 50 per cent for delays of 30 to 59 minutes; and 100 per cent of the single fare for delays of more than an hour. Claims need to be made within 28 days of the date of travel.

Compensation can also be sought for flight delays. Under EU Regulation 261/2004, anyone flying from a European airport or with an EU airline is entitled to compensation if the flight is held up, providing the delay is the airline's fault.

For flights arriving at their destination more than three hours late, travellers can claim 250 (220) if the distance flown is less than 1,500km; or 400 (350) if the distance is between 1,500km and 3,500km.

For flight distances of more than 3,500km, travellers can claim 300 (260) if they arrive more than three hours late, or 600 (510) if arrival is delayed by more than four hours.

Coby Benson, of law firm Bott and Co, urges consumers to apply for compensation. He says: 'Passengers have every right to hold airlines accountable if they've suffered loss of time and any inconvenience to their travel plans.

'Many may not be aware of their legal rights and we've seen cases of airlines' refusal to pay claims which we later found were eligible and recovered compensation for.'

To apply for compensation, contact the airline directly or check its website. If there is no standard claim form, follow the template letter on the Civil Aviation Authority website, caa.co.uk. Another area where consumers may be able to claim money back is energy bills.

Those who make energy payments by direct debit can often claim a refund if their account is in credit. Credit balances can run into hundreds of pounds and suppliers must refund this amount on request.

Richard Longmore, of home management firm Hoppy.co.uk, says: 'Customers should contact their supplier with their most up-to-date meter reading to make sure they are entitled to a refund. If the account is still in credit after submitting these meter readings, the supplier is obliged to process a refund directly back to their customer's bank account.'

He adds: 'Providing suppliers with regular meter readings, maybe getting a smart meter installed so meter readings are shared automatically, and obtaining a direct debit payment plan review from your supplier, will ensure you are paying the correct amount.'

Taxpayers should keep an eye on their tax code, particularly if they have recently changed jobs and are on an emergency tax code

Claims can usually be made online or by phone, although some suppliers will automatically provide refunds. British Gas and Scottish Power, for instance, will refund customers if they are more than 75 in credit after a year.

Finally, taxpayers should keep an eye on their tax code, particularly if they have recently changed jobs and are on an emergency tax code.

Incorrect tax codes can result in too much income tax being handed over to the taxman and a rebate could be due.

The gov.uk website can help when assessing tax codes and you can contact Revenue & Customs on 0300 200 3300 if you think your code is wrong. Claims for a refund can be made via the gov.uk website.
A good rule of thumb when youre trying to eat healthy is to beware of any food you see advertised. The most beneficial fare  whole grains, fruits, vegetables  tends not to have a marketing budget.

Similarly, investments that are enthusiastically pushed by salespeople earning commissions may not be the best for your financial health. Before you buy any of the following, youd be smart to investigate lower-cost alternatives and to consult an objective, knowledgeable third party, such as a fee-only financial planner.

Equity-indexed annuities

Equity-indexed annuities are insurance products that base their returns on stock market benchmarks. Theyre often promoted as a way to benefit from stock market gains while being protected from losses.

But the contracts typically limit how much investors get when the stock market rises, says certified financial planner Anthony Jones of Groveport, Ohio. Two clients who had purchased equity-indexed annuities before joining his firm got only a fraction of last years 30% rise (as measured by the Standard & Poors 500 benchmark). They each had less than a 3% return, Jones says.

Equity-indexed annuities typically come with high commissions and surrender charges that can make it expensive to get your money out, says CFP Scott A. Bishop of Houston. The contracts can be extremely complex, and many buyers dont understand what theyre getting, he says.

Reverse mortgages

Reverse mortgages allow homeowners 62 and older to convert some of their home equity into a lump sum, a series of monthly checks or a line of credit. Borrowers dont have to make payments on the loan, which doesnt have to be paid back until they die, sell or move.

But borrowers dont always realize that their debt is accruing monthly interest. The amount they owe may grow so high they lose all the equity in their homes, says Barbara Jones, an attorney with the AARP Foundation.

Reverse mortgages typically arent a good fit for people who may need to rely on their equity for future expenses, such as medical bills or nursing home care. Reverse mortgages could be a way to avoid foreclosure if a homeowner cant afford to make payments on a regular mortgage, Jones says. There may be no equity left for their heirs, but at least the person gets to age in place, Jones says.

Non-traded real estate investment trusts

Real estate investment trusts allow people to invest in commercial real estate without having to buy and manage the properties themselves. Most REITs are publicly traded, so its easy to buy and sell them.

Nontraded REITs also invest in real estate but are designed to reduce or eliminate taxes. The trade-off is that your money could be locked up for years. Also, nontraded REITs tend to have high up-front fees.

These are very complex products, with high fees, and oftentimes not the greatest-quality underlying holding, says CFP Jonathan P. Bednar of Knoxville, Tennessee. He prefers clients own investments they can easily sell if needed, such as an exchange-traded fund that invests in real estate.

Cash-value life insurance

Cash-value life insurance combines a death benefit with an investment component. (Whole life, universal life and variable life policies are all types of cash-value life insurance.) Sometimes the policies are promoted as a tax-efficient way to invest for high earners who have maxed out their other retirement savings options, says CFP Alex Caswell of San Francisco.

But the premiums arent deductible, and the policies tend to have high costs, Caswell says. Many investors have better alternatives, such as using a tax-efficient investment strategy in a regular brokerage account.

Also, premiums for cash-value policies tend to be much higher than premiums for the same amount of term insurance, which has a death benefit but no investment component. The higher premiums can lead buyers to skimp on coverage or to drop the policy because its too expensive. And sometimes policies are sold to people who dont need life insurance at all, such as single people with no financial dependents, says CFP Tess Zigo of Lisle, Illinois.
T J S George By

The Greatest Show on Earth made by Cecil B DeMille 58 years ago was imaginary, meant to entertain filmgoers. The Greatest Show on Earth 2020 staged by Narendra Modi last week was real, meant to impress one man. It was clear that Donald Trump had never seen such an extravaganza in his eventful life. He was so overwhelmed that in Gandhijis Sabarmati Ashram he ignored the Mahatma and recorded, in the visitors book, his appreciation for my great friend Prime Minister Modi.

(Those who paid attention to the lines Trump scribbled in the book would have noticed the peculiarity of his handwriting. He writes in a mix of capital and lower-case letters. The spacing between words and between lines goes irrational in unexpected ways. When he writes T, the crossbar on top goes wild, affecting neighbouring words and lines. Overall the handwriting suggests a man unfamiliar with putting pen to paper.)

Now that the hurly-burly is done and the battle is lost or won, the question props up: What was it all about? Presidents and prime ministers go on state visits all the time. But no country ignores its national priorities to focus wholly on the glorification of a visiting VIP. India turned the Trump visit into a national festival. This was all the more anomalistic because, in the midst of the festivities, Delhi exploded in communal violence. For three days, the prime minister showed no sign of being aware of it. Nothing was heard from the home minister either, perhaps because he, too, was celebrating Trump. And religion went on a mad killing spree.



ALSO READ: US President Donald Trump describes Kashmir as 'big problem' in India visit

Preparations for the celebration were typically lopsided. The first thing the authorities did was to erect a wall that would hide the slums of Ahmedabad. It was a revelation to many that Ahmedabad had so many slums despite 12 years of rule by the dynamic chief minister Shri Modiji. TV cameras revealed the heartless side of this VIP culture. Bulldozers wrecked pushcarts laden with vegetables, destroying the livelihood of poor citizens.

Couldnt they have been helped to relocate elsewhere for a few hours?



Everything about the reception to Trump was overstated, overplayed, overdone. Trump was told that 10 million people would assemble to welcome him. The population of Washington DC is 7 lakh. In the event, about a lakh plus people were collected from different regions and brought by the government to Ahmedabad to fill the stadium. They all wore state-supplied white caps, indicating the official role in organising them.



ALSO READ: India to get Romeo, Apache choppers after signing USD 3 billion defence deals with US

The state government shared with the BJPs Gujarat unit the responsibility to fill the roadsides with crowds for the much-publicised roadshow from the airport to the Motera stadium. The states loyal chief minister, Vijay Rupani, said, entire Gujarat speaks in one voice, Namaste Trump! But the roadshow turned out to be a damp squib. There were only a few knots of people in a few places. What replaced the people was the unwieldy, unnecessarily large security squads and their vehicles. With Trumps own imported army and trademark vehicles adding to the Indian contingents, there were more uniformed personnel than lay people throughout the visit.

The effort to showcase Indian culture to these visiting dignitaries was another sad spectacle. Scores of dancers and musicians were made to line up when the dignitary deplaned and walked towards his car. He had time only to show a smile of courtesy lasting a few seconds. For that, in Agra for example, 250 artistes performed near the Trump aircraft. Along the route to the Taj, 3,000 artistes stood at 21 designated points presenting Brij, Awadh and other local dance forms. These artistes would have rehearsed for long to perform as the VIPs drove past. Through the tinted security windows of the limousines, the VIPs may or may not have caught a glimpse of the dancers.

What a meaningless routine.



Trump spent a total of three hours in Ahmedabad. For that, the Gujarat government spent Rs 85 crore. What was it all about? A kind of answer is: Politics. Gujaratis form a big chunk of Indian American Population. Traditionally supporters of the Democratic Party, they have been feeling Modis pressure to turn into Republicans. Remember his Houston slogan: Abki baar Trump Sarkar. Trump has political interest in the Modi bonhomie. Modis interest is less political. He is driven by his magnificent obsession with drama and spectacle. Modi is fundamentally a showman. The Trump visit was one more occasion for him to play his trump card and put on a show no one would forget.
Current Print Subscribers will be prompted to either login to their current site user account or to create a new one. A confirmation email will be sent when a new user account is created, which must be confirmed within three days in order to provide uninterrupted online access through your Print Subscription.

Once the email address is confirmed please provide your Account Number to activate your Print Subscription Service.
The Chamber had an exchange of ideas and options over the last months with their owners, Matz said in the note sent out to the community. The Village of Morton Grove (on whose land the market takes place) has picked up with the talks after the Chambers preliminary investigations and has been in communication with the owners, who are now reviewing a contract from the village to continue operating a market in Morton Grove.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal here on Saturday reviewed the process of compensation to the victims of northeast Delhi violence.

After the meeting, the Delhi Chief Minister said, 69 people had submitted application for compensation. "All these people will get immediate assistance of Rs 25,000 by Sunday," he said.



Stating that the first goal is to bring the lives of people back to normal, Kejriwal said no fresh violence had been reported. "It's our goal to maintain brotherhood among communities," he said.





The Chief Minister has asked the sub-divisional magistrates (SDMs) to identify and visit the violence-hit areas, meet people and find out the number of gutted shops and houses.



Kejriwal has announced Rs 10 lakh compensation to riot victims' families, Rs 5 lakh to the kin of a minor, Rs 5 lakh to the disabled persons, Rs 2 lakh to the seriously injured, and Rs 20,000 to people with minor injuries.



He also said books and uniforms would be provided to riots-affected student by the Delhi government for free. "All the expenses for treatment of the injured at private hospitals will be borne by the Delhi government under the Angel Scheme," he said.



Special camps would be organised for owners of gutted shops and houses, and they would be provided fresh documents at those camps, the Delhi Chief Minister said.
Jane Bryant Quinn, personal finance expert and author. Jane Bryant Quinn

In an era when everyone with a checkbook fancies himself a money guru and blogger, it's refreshing to see "How to Make Your Money Last" by Jane Bryant Quinn updated and reissued. Jane eschews the typical and bland bromides, such as "eat ramen" and "save more," that often passes for financial advice these days for practical, actionable information organized by the topics retirees and those close to retirement need to grapple with and understand, such as Medicare, Social Security, pensions and more. For example, in the book she delivers a great takedown of cash-value life insurance when sold as "free" retirement income, when the reality is it's a complex, fee-laden product pitched to unsuspecting consumers who may not recognize the pitfalls. And if this one book isn't enough to sate your appetite, I'd add the following to your bookshelf: "Medicare for Dummies" by AARP alum Patricia Barry, whose in-depth knowledge of the health-care program is stunning. There's also "Social Security for Dummies" by another former AARP staffer, Jonathan Peterson. More from Personal Finance:

How to improve your credit score right away

Some weird tax breaks have become harder to claim

How to reduce the taxes on your Social Security benefits But back to Jane. To those unfamiliar, she is the real deal on all things money, having practically invented the Personal Finance genre before it become a thing. Now, after decades of writing for Newsweek, Bloomberg News, CBS MoneyWatch, Woman's Day, Good Housekeeping and AARP (whew!), she's decided to take a step back (ok, retire) and spend some time overseas. I chatted with Jane recently on how it felt to make the big leap to the next chapter of her life. The following is condensed and edited from a longer conversation. Rick Levinson: How does it feel after a lifetime of working to not be working? Jane Bryant Quinn: It takes a particular approach. I think that if I were still in New York and I just stopped working I would feel at loose ends. I think I would be not quite sure what to do with myself. I think I would probably have had a difficult transition. In fact, I might have signed up for working another year! You can't tell. But making a different life for myself all of a sudden and coming to live in Rome for a year, this has eased my transition tremendously because I had something hugely new to do and do right away. Many people, of course, when they retire, they already have something new that they want to do.

How to Make Your Money Last Source: Amazon.com

RL: What did you do about health care? (Medicare generally will not cover Americans overseas.) JBQ: Let me tell you what we did. And it was an eye opener! We looked for international health insurance, and you can get a policy. It doesn't cover pre-existing conditions, of course. It's like insurance in the U.S. before the ACA. There are a lot of companies that sell international insurance. We took huge deductibles, we took big copays and paid how much? Well, we're older people so, for my husband and I, it would be $26,000 for the year. And we looked at each other and we said, 'You know, I'll bet we can buy a lot of health insurance in Italy for $26,000.' So what happened is I got pneumonia. So I can test this. I can tell you that my visit to a doctor cost me 90 euros, which is, you know, a little over, what, $100? I needed a CAT scan, too... I paid for my CAT scan as an uninsured person in Italy, 152 euros [around $165 U.S.]. And so what do you do when you're uninsured? You say 'Thank God I am in a country that believes health insurance is a right, not a privilege.' So even as an uninsured person in Italy, my costs for a major illness were very low. RL: Any advice in the book that you haven't followed or wish you had followed? JBQ: I follow my own advice. I would say when I was younger, I learned the things that I learned to put in my book, that I didn't save enough money, and I had a stock broker that was ridiculous. But once I came to understand more about personal finance, and index investing, and what a fiduciary means, and where you can find good advice, and I absorbed the fact that the market goes up even after it goes down. It goes back up again. So I didn't have to sell. And once you learn these things, I've pretty much put my personal finances on autopilot, just the way I suggest in the book.

They're sometimes hard for people to do because you can't believe it's that easy, but simple things when it comes to investing, simple things are actually sophisticated. Jane Bryant Quinn

So a proper asset allocation between stocks and bonds, and making regular contributions while you're working, and being in index funds that follow the market, not trying to buy individual stocks, all of these things work and they not only work, they're easy. They're sometimes hard for people to do because you can't believe it's that easy, but simple things, when it comes to investing, simple things are actually sophisticated. And buying this stock here, and that stock there, or master limited partnerships or whatever else is going on, that sounds sophisticated, but it is not, it's a sucker's game. RL: A lot of people are worried Social Security won't be there for them. Do you share that view? JBQ: I do not share that view. I simply don't believe that any Congress that wants to be re-elected is going to let Social Security run down. Social Security is there even if nothing is done. Now, 2035 is not all that far away [when promised benefits could be cut by 20% if Congress doesn't act.] Can you imagine telling your grandmother that her benefits are going to be cut by 20%? No way. Now, certainly we need either higher taxes or benefit adjustments to keep the system going for five more generations. But it's going to be done. Might benefits be adjusted down if you are 20 years old today? Possibly. So the idea that Social Security will go broke is an idea promulgated by people who want to privatize it, people who want to cut benefits for older people. They are not people who have your best interest in mind when they tell you Social Security is going broke. It won't go broke. It will be there. It will certainly be there at present rates for older people and people near retirement.
The opposition in Bihar on Sunday had a field day sharing photographs, on social media, of a much less than expected turnout at the workers rally of the ruling Janata Dal (United) which was addressed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, its national president.

State JD(U) president Vashishtha Narayan Singh had said recently that about "two lakh" party workers were expected at the "karyakarta sammelan" seen as a virtual show of strength by the party ahead of the assembly elections which are about half a year away.

However, images that have gone viral, suggest that only a fraction of the sprawling Gandhi Maidan having a capacity of about half a million could be filled by the attendees.

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav shared numerous such photographs on his Twitter handle calling the rally, a 'maha nukkad sabha' (a huge street gathering) and taunted the JD(U) with the offer of 'maha badhai' (heartiest congratulations) upon the 'maha saphalta' (grand success).

For good measure, he also shared pictures of his own rally at Motihari where the turnout appeared to be quite impressive.

Congress MLC Prem Chandra Mishra, who is also an AICC media panelist, shared photographs on his social media accounts showing heaps of food strewn outside the residence of a JD(U) legislator, who lives next door.

"It appears that my fellow MLC got livid over the poor attendance at the rally and ordered that all the rice, lentils, vegetables and other edibles prepared for the attendees be thrown away. This is appalling.

"We sympathize with the JD(U) leaders frustration but they could have, at least, taken the trouble to get the food distributed among the poor and the needy," Mishra told PTI.

Bihar Congress spokesman Rajesh Rathore claimed in a statement, "Not even 15,000 people turned up to listen to Nitish Kumar who has been the Chief Minister for 15 years".

State RJD spokesman Chitaranjan Gagan said, "It was a colossal wastage of resources. The number of vehicles parked at the venue of the rally exceeded the number of people in attendance."



Hindustani Awam Morcha spokesman Danish Rizwan said, "The JD(U) rally was an insult to the glory of Gandhi Maidan known for its historic turnouts. They should have chosen a smaller ground which might have spared them the poor optics and left Gandhi Maidan free for more worthwhile causes."



Former Union minister Upendra Kushwaha, who heads the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party, tweeted "despite blatant misuse of government machinery, only a handful of supporters could be brought at the rally. Achievements trumpeted by Nitish Kumar in his speech exist only on paper. The people are well aware of the abysmal situation of law and order, health and education.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In this weeks deep dive into the archives of The Birmingham News, Huntsville Times and Mobiles Press-Register, we find an artists depiction of a deadly 1886 flood, a 1952 photo of a young Mobile soldier imprisoned in a Korean P.O.W. camp, the 1921 sinking of the U.S.S. Alabama and a 1936 photo of Birminghams Mercy Home for children.

Theres also a 1962 image of a Florence rodeo, a sharecroppers grave in Hale County and future journalist Diane Sawyer in Mobile in 1964.

This weeks installment also includes photographs from the Associated Press and Getty Images.

For more historic Alabama photographs, visit our Alabama Vintage Instagram account and the AL.com vintage photos page.

Any topics youd like us to explore on our Vinatage Insta or an old photo you would like us to find? Drop me a line at jgray@al.com.
President Donald Trump speaks in the press briefing room at the White House, Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020, in Washington. AP



WASHINGTON - Travelers entering the United States from Italy, South Korea and Iran will face new restrictions as part of efforts to curtail the spread of the coronavirus, President Donald Trump and U.S. health officials said on Saturday.



The United States is also considering imposing restrictions on the border with Mexico, they said. Americans should not restrict their travel within the United States, officials said, but should be wary of going to coronavirus-hit areas in South Korea and Italy.



U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, who was named by Trump to run the White House's coronavirus response on Feb. 26, said the United States would also work with Italy and South Korea to coordinate screening in those countries of travelers planning to enter the United States.



Pence also said existing restrictions on travelers from Iran would be expanded to include any foreign nationals who have visited that country in the last 14 days. He said Trump's unprecedented action to suspend all travel to the United States from China was one of the reasons the threat to Americans from the coronavirus remained low.






Jason Watkins has spoken out about losing his two-and-a-half-year-old daughter Maude to sepsis on New Year's Day in 2011.

The Crown actor, 53, revealed he was 'angry for a long time' at fate for taking the child he shared with his wife Clara Francis.

In 2010 a persistent cough and consequent respiratory problems prompted two consecutive visits to a hospital A&E, where Maude was initially diagnosed with croup, a type of respiratory infection.

But within two weeks of developing her first symptoms she was dead. She had in fact fallen victim to sepsis, an insidious illness in which the immune system reacts violently to infection, attacks its own tissue and eventually leads to organ failure.

Speaking to The Sunday Times Magazine, he said: 'Clara and I felt cheated.'

He described the pattern of his grief changing over time, from an acute pain to a 'heart-shaped feeling that you carry around for ever.'

Jason Watkins, pictured with his wife Clara Francis - the mother of his three children Bessie, Maude and Gilbert - in November last year, has spoken out about his daughter Maude's death

Jason and Clara - who already had an older daughter Bessie, 13 - decided to try for another child after Maude's death.

He added: 'Life was not going to rob us of our happiness. And Gilbert has brought us so much happiness.'

Their son, now eight, is obsessed with his iPad and Nintendo and Jason went on to explain he has to limit time on the devices to 20 minutes a day - which caused a lot of temper tantrums.

The Crown actor, 53, revealed he was 'angry for a long time' at fate when Maude (pictured) died of sepsis on New Year's Day in 2011

In the magazine's A Life In The Day segment Jason described a 6am wake-up call before he fed his children toast for breakfast.

According to the Trollied star his wife's role in a play means she doesn't get back until late and Jason has to look after the children in the morning.

He will then prepare his children's evening meals while they are away at school, and he says his eldest is now adept at looking after herself.

In the evening Bessie will do her homework and when the children are asleep Jason watches TV for an hour before heading to bed by 9.30pm.

In 2010 a persistent cough and consequent respiratory problems prompted two consecutive visits to a hospital A&E, where Maude (pictured with Jason) was initially diagnosed with croup

The actor, who played Harold Wilson in The Crown (pictured) described how the pattern of his grief changed over time, from an acute pain to a 'heart-shaped feeling that you carry around'

In The Sunday Times magazine's A Life In The Day segment Jason described a 6am wake-up call before he fed his children toast for breakfast

Speaking to MailOnline in 2018 of his initial attempt to return to work following the sudden, heartbreaking loss, he recalled: 'I tried to work immediately and that was never going to happen, but I did try for a week.

'I had to do lots of things regarding the circumstances of her death so I needed to be at home.'

He added: 'I think (sitcom) Trollied was the first thing that enabled me to go away and work and earn some money, because there was no money coming in.

'It was a distraction in some ways but for Clara, she's a jewellery designer so it was harder for her. I was sort of carried along by the people I was working with and it really did help, while there were other challenges for her.'

The devastated couple eventually found an outlet for their grief through support group SLOW, a Lottery funded north London based organisation set up by bereaved parents for bereaved parents, with whom they still maintain a strong bond some six-years on from the death of their daughter.

'My wife works very closely with them,' he added. 'It's a place where parents can sit down and talk about what's happened to them with people who have had it happen to them also.

'Some people are maybe 10 or 15 years down the line and others have just lost their child so it's a fantastic support group. That helped us specifically. Also family and friends.

'You have to sort of reach out and find them. They are there to help and you have to ask. Sometimes that's a very daunting prospect to help someone when they're feeling so desperate.'
Billie Faiers, 30, was whisked off to the Maldives on Friday for a weekend trip to celebrate her one year wedding anniversary with husband Greg Shepherd, 33.

Despite only being on the idyllic island for 48 hours the duo have filled their Instagram feeds with photos of their sun soaked trip.

The Mummy Diaries star slipped her svelte frame into a busty black bikini and enjoyed a boat trip with her husband on Sunday.

Dreamy: Billie Faiers, 30, was whisked off to the Maldives on Friday to celebrate her one year wedding anniversary with husband Greg Shepherd, 33

She paired the bikini with white crochet trousers and wore her blonde locks in a simple up do, whilst she accessorised with large black sunglasses.

The former TOWIE star made sure to take a mirror selfie of the ensemble before heading out for the day.

Greg shared a cheeky video of the mum-of-two enjoying time in their crystal blue pool while 'exercising.'

Pose: Despite only being on the idyllic island for 48 hours the duo have filled their Instagram feeds with photos of their sun soaked trip

The reality star changed into a red bikini and white hat for her afternoon dip.

On Saturday night the pair enjoyed a romantic meal on the beach and shared a photo of them sitting on an extravagant gold chair.

Billie looked sensational in a coral and orange two piece that flashed her taut abs.

Selfie time: The Mummy Diaries star slipped her svelte frame into a busty black bikini and enjoyed a boat trip with her husband on Sunday

Sun kissed: She paired the bikini with white crochet trousers and wore her blonde locks in a simple up do' and large black sunglasses

She captioned a photo of them sitting side by side: 'Catch a star ... if you can ... wish for something special ( Incase you didnt know already we are Elton fans) having a wonderful time with you my sweets'

Greg shared another snap from the evening that showed them cuddle up beside the hotel pool.

He looked dapper in a pale blue linen shirt and shorts and captioned the pic: 'Cant believe its nearly 1 year we have been married, love you lots my Maldivian beauty queen.....'

Peachy: Greg shared a cheeky video of the mum-of-two enjoying time in their crystal blue pool while 'exercising'

On Sunday evening Billie slipped into a red and white shirt dress from her own boutique.

She shared a picture to her Story of the outfit before filming her final sunset of the short mini-break.

The couple were reminiscing over their wedding which took place this time last year in the Maldives.

Despite it taking approximately 11 hours one way to travel there by plane, Greg surprised Billie with a weekend trip to celebrate their anniversary.

Gorgeous: On Sunday evening Billie slipped into a red and white shirt dress from her own boutique

Cheers! The couple were reminiscing over their wedding which took place this time last year in the Maldives

Idyllic: Billie was whisked to the Maldives on Friday by her Greg, who surprised her with the weekend getaway to celebrate their one year wedding anniversary

The mum-of-two shared a snap to her Instagram on Saturday that showed her standing in front of crystal blue waters in a orange summery dress and holding a basket bag.

She captioned the sun-kissed shot: 'Paradise for the weekend! I cant believe we are actually here. Thank you @gregory-shep for surprising me to celebrate our first wedding anniversary ... wow what a year it has been !

'... Its a long way to come for a few days .. but Im not complaining and I couldnt be happier [sic].'

Holiday: Billie and Greg tied the knot in an extravagant ceremony last year in the idyllic Maldives

The star also posted a selfie from the plane with the caption: 'Best anniversary surprise everrr @gregory_shep how you pulled this one off I don't know... a long weekend in paradise...'

In the sweet snap she planted a kiss in her husband's face while enjoying a glass of champagne on board.

Billie and Greg wed on the idyllic island of Kuramathi last March with the likes of her sister Sam Faiers and her children Nelly, four, and Arthur, two, in the wedding party.

Beach babe: The mum-of-two shared a snap to her Instagram on Saturday that showed her standing in front of crystal blue waters in a orange summery dress and holding a basket bag.

Holiday: While they both shared snaps of themselves walking around the plush resort

Fun times: Billie was loving her short break to the paradise island

Speaking to OK! magazine about the ceremony, she gushed it was like a 'fairy tale', with Greg pulling out all the stops by arriving on a speedboat.

Billie confessed: 'Other than the days that Nelly and Arthur were born, it was the best day of my life. It was like a fairy tale - all the stress and tears were worth it.'

She added: 'Its so lovely for me to finally be a Shepherd and share a surname with my children. Marriage ties our little family together completely.'

Sweet escape: The couple are visiting the island for just one weekend, despite it taking approximately 11 hours one way to travel there by plane

She said: ' Paradise for the weekend! I cant believe we are actually here, 'Thank you @gregory-shep for surprising me to celebrate our first wedding anniversary'

Greg admitted he was blown away by his new wife's beauty at the nuptials.

He said to the magazine: 'She looked incredible in her dress.

Explaining her decision making process behind the gown, which featured a risque sheer panel to showcase her cleavage, Billie said: 'As soon as I tried it on I had "the feeling"; when you know you know!

Surprise! The star also posted a selfie from the plane with the caption: 'Best anniversary surprise everrr @gregory_shep how you pulled this one off I don't know...'

Cute couple: Billie and Greg wed on the idyllic island of Kuramathi last year with the likes of her sister Sam Faiers and her children Nelly, four, and Arthur, two, in the wedding party

She added: 'Because we didnt get married in a church I could get away with something more daring'.

Her best friend Ferne McCann was among the guests, and blew the newlyweds away with a 'lovely surprise' performance of Stand by Me at their reception, with Billie revealing 'shes got a brilliant voice'.

The Maldives holds a special place in Billie and Greg's heart, as the pair also engaged there back in 2014, and have enjoyed numerous holidays on the island with their children.

Having fun: She said of her wedding, 'Other than the days that Nelly and Arthur were born, it was the best day of my life. It was like a fairy tale - all the stress and tears were worth it'
JELDAK, AFGHANISTANTheir young bodies are as broken as the bomb-pocked 40 miles of highway they guard.

Some are missing fingers, others a leg or an eye. Many carry multiple scars and the ringing sound of the last explosion trapped in their heads. Most have not been home in years  to go home is to drive into Taliban territory. So their mothers come to them once in a while, with dried fruit or embroidered tunics.

A brief truce has brought this battle-weary unit of the Afghan police, holed up in their hilltop outposts in Zabul province, an unexpected respite from the daily attacks they had come to see as inevitable.

It is the final days before a peace deal between the United States and the Taliban insurgency is expected to be signed, and the partial ceasefire that was set as a precondition seems to be holding. The police on this remote, southern battlefield suddenly have time for questions they once hardly imagined asking: Could there really be peace? What would that be like?

Lt. Col. Musa-Kalim Rodwal, the units commander, draws on at least 15 years of perspective, loss and hurt as he ponders. The life they have lived  of assaults and roadside bombs when on duty, and targets on their backs when not  is like being chained by fear, he said.

Freedom is the most important thing for humans in life, Rodwal told me as he drove us between outposts. What we live is not really life.

During a seven-day period of violence reduction agreed to by the Taliban and Afghan security forces as a test run, officials have recorded as much as an 80 per cent drop in major attacks. That compliance rate is most likely acceptable enough for the signing of the deal to go ahead on Saturday, in the Gulf state of Qatar.

An agreement would formally begin the end of the United States longest war, laying out a conditional timeline for the remaining 12,000 U.S. troops to withdraw from Afghanistan. But for Afghans, it would be the beginning of a long and difficult challenge. Bitter enemies must try to find their way to a peace, and maybe someday a reconciliation, that they have never experienced, and that their country has not seen in generations.

The truce for the highway police in Zabul has meant that the hit-and-run assaults by motorcycle-riding Taliban at night have stopped. The Taliban still lurk, but mostly to visit relatives they would not have been able to before, the police say. Rodwal says his men have followed the central governments orders, resisting the urge to shoot first while they can.

The force also has not encountered any roadside bombs. He has roughly 300 men spread over 14 outposts along the road, and every morning each group combs their stretch of highway with rakes tied to long bamboo poles. They check about 200 meters on each side of the road for hidden wires. They investigate under each bridge, all destroyed and rebuilt several times.

For the first time in years, the men have been able to fetch water to their outposts without the fear of snipers taking them out.

I have lost more men fetching water than I have in face-to-face fighting, Rodwal said.

In the second decade of this conflict, begun as an act of vengeance by the United States in 2001 and at its peak involving a force of more than 100,000 U.S. troops, the war has increasingly fallen on the backs of young Afghans.

Over the past five years alone, about 50,000 Afghan police officers and soldiers have died fighting. The number for the Taliban is estimated to be the same if not more. The fighting has been brutal, intimate, the same forces on each side often battling each other in familiar localities over long stretches of time.

Most of the fighters in the Zabul highway police unit are in their early 20s, but already veterans of the war. The latest addition is an 18-year-old from eastern Laghman province. On his arm is a tattoo of a heart, the word mother written underneath.

Many of them have earned by the gun, killed by the gun, since adolescence. The war, in some shape or form, was already raging long before they were born.

Among the fighters are three brothers from the Deh Rawood District of Uruzgan province. Their father, Mohamed Sadeq, part of the local polices engineering team there, was blown up by a roadside bomb last year, after he had unearthed thousands and thousands of them over more than a decade on the job.

He had defused two bombs when the third went off, said Zalmay Jan, 20, who said he had served since he was 12.

The familys first losses came right at the start of the war, when a mistaken U.S. airstrike killed 13 relatives who were with Hamid Karzai, the man who not long afterward became the president of Afghanistan.

They have seen other kinds of loss, too. One brother was on leave after losing a leg to a bomb blast. And all three have lost any easy way home, which lies in insurgent territory.

Zalmay was a week late to his own wedding. He could not get on a military flight. And it took him so long to find a truck driver who was willing to smuggle him for the two-day drive on a dirt road held by the Taliban that he arrived after the wedding dinner was already over. They rushed a religious ceremony to close the day.

At 29, their commander, Rodwal, brings perspective and survival instincts. How many relatives has he lost to the war? Fifteen? Twenty, maybe? He said that in the 15 years that he has been in the police, he has gone to his home village just once, to bury a cousin.

Rodwal is using the brief truce to buttress his outposts  new dirt-filled barriers to protect from incoming fire, new trenches with sniper holes that cannot be seen from a distance. He is surprisingly open about where the money for it comes from: the businessmen who use the road.

I asked him whether he was collecting a toll  it is against the rules, but common  and he insisted that they were freely given donations to help secure the road. You cant force an Afghan to do anything, he said.

When talking about what a future peace could look like, Rodwal largely echoes what he has heard on television  that there will be a prisoner release, that there might be an amnesty. But he can express more emotion about the dire state of the war than his younger fighters.

He tells the story of a man who lived in the area, Mawlawi Ahmad Jan, who had come to the base about a dozen times for tea or lunch as a local elder. Rodwal had no idea the man was a Taliban commander until the day he and his men were cracking down on a group of bomb-planting insurgents and found Mawlawi Jan was among them.

Who is it on the other side? Rodwal said. I wish it were people from a different country that we were fighting  they are not even from a different district.

Ultimately, real peace would mean tens of thousands of Taliban fighters either laying down their arms and going home, or integrating into a united Afghan security force. For the young fighters in Zabul, even just the idea of sharing barracks with bitter and familiar enemies seems unbelievable.

I dont like their looks, said Zalmay, who said that he had only once talked with a Taliban fighter  during a three-day ordeal when the insurgents held and tortured him. But peace is good. We will see then.

Read more about:
The family of the 27-year-old Dalit man, who allegedly died in police custody in Rajasthans Barmer, refused to give consent for an autopsy of his body on Saturday, three days after his death.

Jeetu Khateeks family and protesters have been sitting with his body outside the hospital, where the scrap dealer died during treatment on Thursday.

Protesters demanding the arrest of guilty policemen, a compensation of Rs 1 crore and a job to the family till Friday added one more demand of a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe on Saturday.

On Sunday, a delegation will meet the chief minister Ashok Gehlot in Jodhpur to demand a CBI probe in the matter.

A delegation of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders will also reach Barmer on Sunday to take stock of the incident. The delegation will comprise Jalore MP Devji Patel, former minister and sitting MLA Madan Dilawar, BJPs state unit vice-president Rajendra Gehlot and BJP leader Rajendra Singh Shekhawat.

The delegation will meet Khateeks family members and join the protest.

Jeetu Khateek alias Jitendra died while in police custody on February 27 during illegal detention at the rural police station in Barmer. The state government has removed everyone from the staff of the police station to the chief of district police in connection with the case.

Congress legislator Mewaram Jain met Khateeks family on Saturday.

As requested by the MLA, a delegation went to Jains office for talks. However, during the meeting protesters agreed on some points but the talks failed after Jain refused to a demand for a CBI probe in the matter.

Laxman Badera, a member of the delegation, said Jain agreed to their demands of compensation and a job to the family but refused a CBI probe.

Badera added district collector Ansh Deep also met protesters late in the evening and offered them all possible help but he too was unable to give any assurance on their demand for a CBI probe.

On Sunday, a delegation will meet state chief minister Ashok Gehlot in Jodhpur to demand a CBI probe in the matter. If our demands are not met we will intensify our protest, said Badera.

Khateeks is the second case of custodial death in Barmer in the last six months. A right to information (RTI) act activist, Jagdish Goliya, died in Pachpadra police station on October 5, 2019, a day after he was arrested in a land dispute case.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Budget carrier narrowed its loss to Rs 123.35 crore in three months to December from Rs 166.15 crore in Q4FY18 owing to higher fuel and staff costs coupled with increased user charges and other related expenses, as per a company presentation.

The Bengaluru-based airline, which is a joint venture between Tata Sons and Malaysian airlines group AirAsia's investment arm, AirAsia Investment Ltd, follows January-December financial year.

Total revenue during December quarter jumped 65 per cent to Rs 1,057.55 crore as compared with Rs 641.17 crore in the same period of financial year 2018, aided by higher average fare and capacity, the airline said.

Revenue grew on the back of a 38 per cent increase in capacity and 19 per cent rise in average fare.

For the full fiscal, the airline reported around 6 per cent lower losses at Rs 597 crore as against Rs 633.61 crore posted in FY'2018.

" continues to undertake continuous improvement projects to save costs on fuel. Overall Q4FY19 loss before tax narrowed to Rs 1,233.6 million (123.36 crore) compared to Rs 1,661.5 million (166.15 crore) in the same quarter last year," the company said.

Its expenses also increased in tandem with the rise in revenue, it said, adding that staff costs increased 77 per cent to Rs 164.73 crore due to additional operational staff for increased number of aircraft and also forward hiring to cater to additional aircraft to be inducted in the first half of 2020.

flew 39 per cent more passengers at 26.85 lakh during the quarter with a load factor of 87 per cent as compared with 19.33 lakh passengers and 86 per cent load factor in December quarter of 2018.

Load or seat factor is a measure of how much of an airline's passenger carrying capacity is used or average percentage of seats filled in an aircraft.

The airline added nine new planes to take its fleet size to 28 aircraft during the quarter as against 19 aircraft in December quarter of 2018, as per the presentation.
By Express News Service

KOLKATA: A former Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawan with gun was held at Shahid Minar on Sunday when he was entering the venue where Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressed a rally.

The man, identified as Jadu Nandi from Durgapur, was taken to the nearby police station after a revolver was spotted tucked in his waist when he was being frisked. The man identified himself as a BJP supporter, said police.

However, the man was released after he produced the license which was issued for the firearm he was carrying.

ALSO READ: BJP workers raise 'goli maro...' slogan en route to Amit Shah's Kolkata rally

The police said the incident took place before Shah arrived at the venue. "Nandi was in the queue of the BJP supporters who were going through searches by Kolkata police personnel. When we frisked him manually, we found the gun. He was promptly whisked away to a police station," said an officer of Kolkata police.

Heavy security arrangement was made in and around Shahid Minar and policemen were searching the party supporters at all the entry points. "We cannot allow anyone to enter a high-security zone even with a licensed gun," said the officer.
US sanctions more sinister than Coronavirus: Iran official

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, Feb 28, IRNA -- Head of Presidential Office's Center for Strategic Studies Hesameddin Ashena said on Friday that the US sanction is the same background disease that makes Corona more lethal and sinister for Iranians.

In his twitter account, he referred to what doctors and medical experts about the existence of some background disease in coronavirus patients which makes it deadly and said the US is directly responsible for death and sufferings of Iranian victims of the coronavirus through its maximum pressure and beating drums of Iranophobia.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) that was first identified in Wuhan, China, has so far spread to over 50 countries, prompting World Health Organization to declare emergency status for the global health.

8072**1424

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

San Francisco firefighters are still battling a four-alarm blaze that has destroyed a towing warehouse and an adjoining restaurant near the intersection of Toland Street and Evans Avenue, firefighters said.

The fire was first reported about 8:49 p.m. Saturday in this light-industrial area near the India Basin area. The main warehouse there collapsed.

High winds that blew smoke across nearby Interstate 280 earlier, prompting its temporary closure, had died down by 10 p.m., said fire Lt. Jonathan Baxter, but had blown down nearby power lines that caused power outages around the south part of San Francisco, Baxter said. A power pole fell onto SFFD firefighting equipment, Baxter said; PG&E was responding to repair the lines.

There were no known injuries as of 10 p.m., Baxter said; the department was told the building should have been unoccupied. The owner of the Bonanza Restaurant had safely escaped the restaurant before it burned.

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.
By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 03/01/2020



ADVERTISEMENT

[ Spoilers Warning: This article contains spoilers revealing if Lisa and Usman are still together and if the : Before the 90 Days has married].

So are Lisa and Usman still together? Did the get married or split?

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.

couple Lisa and Usman are planning to meet on Season 4 of : Before the 90 Days, so what happened between this couple? Are they still together and what's the latest?Lisa, a 52-year-old hospice caregiver from York, PA, and Usman "SojaBoy," a 30-year-old rapper from Nigeria, were featured in the February 23 premiere of : Before the 90 Days.Lisa said Usman had contacted her on Facebook and videochatted with her right away to prove he wasn't a catfish.After two years of talking, Lisa finally planned a trip to Nigeria so she could meet Usman in person -- and that's where their love story began on the spinoff. Lisa was anticipating her first trip out of the United States.Lisa divorced four years prior from an unfaithful man, who allegedly verbally abused her in the relationship for years. Lisa said leaving the marriage was the best thing for her and her 15-year-old daughter, whom Lisa said she worked hard to support.Usman is apparently an entertainer in Nigeria who has over 20,000 followers on Instagram.Lisa therefore didn't understand why this Nigerian celebrity had feelings for her, but she revealed Usman had written a song for her that confirmed his love.Lisa said their relationship was built on trust but she had an issue with the "thirsty" women who followed him on social media.Lisa was not okay with women telling Usman they wanted and admired him. She therefore demanded Usman tighten up his social-media profiles after seeing some flirty comments had been left by women, such as heart emojis. (Sounds like fellow star Angela Deem !)Lisa revealed Usman had already proposed marriage to her and so they planned to marry once she traveled to Nigeria.Lisa told the cameras Usman had fulfilled all of her desires other than physical intimacy, and so she knew sex would be great because she was going to have unprotected sex with him.Lisa said they loved and trusted each other, and unprotected sex was something he had never experienced before."He'll teach me his Nigerian ways, and I'll teach him my American ways," Lisa bragged in a confessional, adding that Usman had been tested for STDs and was clean.Lisa was warned Usman would tell her anything she wanted to hear in order to come to America and receive a Green Card, but Lisa believed otherwise."I feel like this is an opportunity for me to have a love that I have never experienced in my life," Lisa gushed."But the one thing I am worried about are his female fans, and I need to make sure he has been faithful to me. But I won't know until I travel to Nigeria and see him face to face."Lisa and Usman are reportedly still together and got married!Starcasm obtained photos of Lisa and Usman late last year at what appeared to be their wedding ceremony.One picture appeared to show the couple holding their Nigerian marriage certificate.Lisa reportedly chose not to wear any makeup on her wedding day at Usman's request, and Lisa changed her name to Usman's mother's name when she got married.Based on posts Lisa has made on Facebook, she and Usman reportedly began dating in June 2018 and then got married on August 30, 2019.Usman also shared a post on Facebook in December 2019 that showed a screenshot of a text message Lisa had sent him in which she talked about converting to Islam, Starcasm reported."Wasn't for your mom or anyone in our lives, not even you," Lisa allegedly wrote, "this was a decision that I made for myself."Lisa reportedly received her fair share of backlash on social media after revealing she's married to Usman, but it doesn't really seem to phase her!Lisa is clearly feisty and won't take insults from anyone.When one fan reportedly wrote to Lisa, "I wish you were faithful tho," she reportedly replied, "What do you mean my husband is faithful to me. Keep moving."Lisa then went off at the online troll and, according to Starcasm, wrote, "She is a typical Nigerian b*tch an ppl from my husband area wonder why he married a WHITE AMERICAN WOMAN. FACT STANDS I AM A GOOD WOMAN SO LET MY HATERS COME @USMAN SERIOUSLY ILL F**KING MAKE HER CRY."The commenter went on to say Usman had been "f-cking around" on her, advising Lisa to get checked for sexual transmitted diseases."Jealous much b*tch? Get in line to kiss my white a**," Lisa reportedly responded."You mad bc I married Usman Sojaboy no wonder Nigerian men are choosing to marry anyone but a Nigerian woman like you."In addition to being a musician, Usman is also reportedly an actor in Nigeria.Want spoilers? Click here to visit our Spoilers webpage!
By Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Putting concerns to rest, the state Health department on Sunday confirmed that the 36-year-old man had died at the Ernakulam Government Medical College Hospital as a result of respiratory infection and diabetes-related complications, and not due to COVID-19.

According to Health Minister KK Shailaja, the National Institute of Virology-Pune had tested the mans samples and ruled out the possibility of death due to COVID-19. The deceased, who had arrived from Malaysia on Thursday, breathed his last on Saturday while under observation for suspected coronavirus infection at the hospital. As the man arrived at the Kochi airport with symptoms similar to that of COVID-19, he has shifted to the hospital straight away. Considering the severity of his condition, he was provided ventilator support.

This was his second sample that was being tested. The first sample sent to NIV Alappuzha had also tested negative for the virus, said the minister.

Meanwhile, Dr Amar Fettle, state nodal officer, Public Health Emergency of International Concern, said the hospital had been instructed to release the body. The department has advised cremation. Also, the Kannur District Medical Officer has been asked to follow standard precautions while handling and cremating the body, said Amar. He confirmed that the death was indeed due to respiratory infection and diabetes-related complications.

As per the daily status report prepared by the COVID-19 Virus Control and Prevention State Cell, 206 people in the state are under surveillance. Of them, 193 are in house quarantine and 13 are admitted to isolation wards at various hospitals with suspected symptoms.

Body to be cremated

Kochi: The body of the 36-year-old man will now be handed over to family members for conducting funeral rites and cremating the body. We were awaiting test results from NIV, Pune, and since they have come out negative, we have decided to hand over the body to his family. We had also conmducted tests for other viral infections including H1N1, and all of them were negative, said Dr Peter P Vazhayil, MCH Superintendent. According to family sources, the body will be taken home on Monday morning. It will be kept at the Navshakthi Club in Vellur for the public to pay homage, before being cremated at the Palathara crematorium.
US Defence Secretary Mark Esper, on February 29 said that while the Afghan Peace deal is a good thing, the road ahead would not be easy and would require compromise from all parties. The United States and the Taliban on February 29 signed a peace deal in Doha after months of negotiations, aimed at ending the 18-year long war in Afghanistan. Soon after the deal was signed, Esper met the Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul where they announced a joint declaration.

The statement which published on Pentagons official website read,

This is a hopeful moment, but it is only the beginning. The road ahead will not be easy. Achieving lasting peace in Afghanistan will require patience and compromise among all parties. But for the first time in many years, Afghanistan has a real path toward the future this country deserves.

Read: Donald Trump Says Troop Withdrawal Begins 'today' After US-Taliban Peace Deal

'Will watch the Taliban closely'

In the statement, the Pentagon chief also called on the Taliban to abide by their commitment. He said the US will watch the Talibans actions closely to judge whether their efforts towards peace were in good faith. He further said that if the Taliban successfully upholds the agreement, then the US would initiate a condition-based reduction in forces.

Read: 'Momentous Day': Mike Pompeo Hails Historic US-Taliban Peace Deal

However, he warned that in case, Taliban fails to honour their commitment, they would forfeit their chance to sit with fellow Afghans and deliberate on the future of their country" before saying that the US would not hesitate to nullify the agreement. Esper concluded that the US and international partners would continue to provide Afghanistan with the necessary support. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump, on February 29 said that he would meet Taliban leaders in ''in not so distant future.'' He added that he believed that the Taliban was ready for peace but warned the Islamist organisation that in case they fail to take hold, then the ''US will go back.''

Read: US-Taliban Truce: India Reiterates Support For 'Afghan-led, Afghan-controlled Process'

Read: Afghan Peace Deal: 5,000 Taliban PoWs To Be Released; US To Withdraw In 14 Months

(With inputs from agencies)
Ten persons have died from swine flu in the past two days in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut town.

According to the sources, at least 71 people have so far tested positive for swine flu in Meerut alone. Of them, 17 are jawans of the PAC.

Incidentally, according to the official sources, the total number of cases of swine flu reported from across the state barring Meerut was only 25.

The officials, however, confirmed eight deaths. Sources said that these deaths had taken place at different private hospitals in the town.

Apparently alarmed at the rising number of swine flu cases, the state government has rushed a three-member team of experts to the town to take stock of the situation.

Sources said that swine flu patients from different parts of western UP have been flocking the hospitals in Meerut for treatment. ''We have increased the number of beds exclusively for such patients. They are being kept at isolation wards,'' said a senior health official in Meerut on Saturday.

Sources said that 17 jawans from a single battalion of the PAC had tested positive for swine flu and are being treated at Meerut Medical College hospital.

Meanwhile, in a bid to allay fears that the Coronavirus spreads from chicken, the Poultry Farms Association members in Gorakhpur offered cooked chicken with rice to the people at heavily discounted price. The Association has put up its stall in front of the Gorakhpur railway station.
Your browser does not support the audio element.

A Vietnamese citizen has been confirmed to be infected with the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Daegu City, one of the two outbreak epicenters in South Korea.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) recently sent the confirmation to the Vietnamese Embassy in Seoul regarding the case, the Vietnam News Agency reported.

In accordance with the International Health Regulations, KCDC already sent information about the patient to the Vietnamese health ministry.

The South Korean government previously said it would offer free treatment to Vietnamese nationals living in the country if they were infected with the COVID-19.

The Vietnamese Embassy has sent dispatches to the Korean foreign ministry and related agencies, asking them to ensure effective treatment for the Vietnamese patient.

The COVID-19 has killed 2,978 people and infected over 86,900 globally since it first hit the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, according to the South China Morning Post.

The number of confirmed cases in South Korea  the largest cluster of infections outside of China  has exceeded 3,500 as of Sunday morning. The country has reported 17 deaths caused by the COVID-19.

Vietnam has so far confirmed 16 cases of the viral infection, including 13 Vietnamese, one Vietnamese American, and two Chinese.

All of them have fully recovered and have been discharged from the hospital.

The country has reported no new cases since February 13.

The Vietnamese government on Saturday suspended visa-free travel for South Koreans and announced that all people arriving from the East Asian country would be quarantined for 14 days in a bid to prevent viral infection.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
CHICAGO - A man shot and seriously wounded by a Chicago police officer in a downtown train station wont face charges, as prosecutors on Sunday dropped the criminal case stemming from an incident captured on bystander video and shared widely.

Cook County prosecutors moved to drop resisting arrest and criminal narcotics charges against Ariel Roman at the request of Chicago police, which was approved Sunday by a judge, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Interim Police Superintendent Charlie Beck said he asked Cook County States Attorney Kim Foxx to drop the charges, which were initiated by police, according to a statement.

Given the totality of circumstances and the departments significant level of concern around this incident, it would be insensitive to advocate for these charges, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. While we will not rush to judgment, the level of concern over the tactics used in this incident is significant.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot said footage of Fridays shooting was extremely disturbing and that she supported Becks rare request for prosecutors to be sent directly to the scene. The shooting came the same day that Lightfoot and the department announced a safety plan for the citys rail system amid a spike in crime, including more officers on trains and at stations.

The Civilian Office of Police Accountability was investigating the use of force, while the states attorney and FBI conducted the underlying criminal review. Guglielmi said the department was co-operating fully.

Foxxs office said they agreed with Chicago polices request to drop the charges.

Romans attorney, Gloria Schmidt Rodriguez, has said he underwent surgery after he was shot in the abdomen and buttocks, and that he will likely need more operations. He remained hospitalized Sunday but was no longer in critical condition.

Romans family was pleased with the decision to dismiss all charges, said Schmidt Rodriguez. In a statement, she said Roman remembers everything about the incident that took place and is fully committed to co-operating with the various investigations.

The shooting happened Friday afternoon. An officer who spotted a man jumping from one car to another in violation of a city ordinance and called for backup, and two officers chased and grabbed the man.

The video shows a male officer on top of the suspect at the base of an escalator, struggling to keep the man still. The suspect can be heard saying, I didnt do nothing to you, as the officer trying to hold him down says, stop resisting, several times. They stand up, and a female officer appears to try to pepper spray the mans face before telling him to show his hands.

The man refuses to be handcuffed. Stun guns can be seen on the floor. With the man still struggling to get away, the female officer shouts, Give him your hands, and a gunshot rings out. As the man flees up the escalator with the officers in pursuit, a second shot is fired.

Police have said only one officer fired a weapon, striking Roman twice, but the department has not named either of the officers involved.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo addresses the press following the US-Taliban deal signing ceremony in the Qatari capital Doha. AFP Photo

Kabul: The Talibans political chief has met with senior diplomats from countries including Russia, Indonesia and Norway, hours after signing a deal with Washington aimed at ending the Afghan war, the hardline Islamist group said in a statement on Sunday.

Saturdays accord was signed in the Qatari capital Doha by U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban political chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on hand to witness the ceremony.

Soon after the agreement, U.S. President Donald Trump said he would be personally meeting leaders of the Taliban in the near future and rejected criticism surrounding the deal signed with the Islamist insurgents.

Baradar met foreign ministers from Turkey, Uzbekistan and Norway in Doha along with diplomats from Russia, Indonesia and neighbouring nations, the Taliban said, a move that signalled the groups determination to secure international legitimacy.

The dignitaries who met Mullah Baradar expressed their commitments towards Afghanistans reconstruction and development... the U.S.-Taliban agreement is historical, said Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid.

Baradar received congratulatory messages and thanked them (ministers and diplomats) for attending the ceremony, he said.

In the agreement, the United States said it is committed to reducing the number of its troops in Afghanistan to 8,600  from the current 13,000  within 135 days of signing the deal, and working with its allies to proportionally reduce the number of coalition forces in Afghanistan over that period, if the Taliban adhere to their security guarantees and ceasefire.

A full withdrawal of all U.S. and coalition forces would occur within 14 months of the deal getting signed, if the Taliban hold up their end of the deal, the joint statement said.

Prior to the signing ceremony, the Taliban had ordered all its fighters in Afghanistan to refrain from violence against civilians, Afghan and western forces.

The Taliban ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 after seizing power following years of civil war, and imposed many restrictions on women and activities it deemed un-Islamic.

After being ousted from power in 2001, the Taliban have led a violent insurgency against the internationally backed government, killing thousands.

The Afghan war has been a stalemate for over 18 years, with the Taliban increasingly controlling or contesting more territory, yet unable to capture and hold major urban centres.

Trump came under sharp criticism for the deal from his former national security adviser, John Bolton, who said in a tweet that signing this agreement with Taliban is an unacceptable risk to Americas civilian population.
It is the best of California elections. It is the worst of California elections.

Consider the paradox, if you will, of this moment of democratic triumph, which is also a moment of democratic defeat. It has never been easier to vote in California than it is right now. And it has never been harder to figure out what to vote for.

In one sense, the March elections in California represent the culmination of several years of herculean efforts to extend Californians voting rights. Not long ago, California had one of the lowest voter participation rates in the country; in 2014, our June election saw record low turnout. But state officials, county election registrars and nonprofits have managed to reverse that trend.

Their main strategy was to make voting more convenient. So you can now register to vote online. You also can register to vote at any time, including on election day itself. And under a brand-new law, you can change your party registration whenever you want as well.

Today you no longer have to get out and find the one particular precinct that will accept your vote; this year, in 15 counties, you can go to any of hundreds of vote centers. The centers are open for several days before election day  including on weekends, when most people dont have to work.

If you dont feel like going out, California has embraced voting by mail. In many counties, you dont even have to request a mail ballot  they automatically send you one. And you no longer have to get your mail ballot in ahead of time. Just have it postmarked by election day, or turn it in at a vote center, and it will be counted.

Is this a great democratic state or what? The answer to that question, unfortunately, is or what.

After decades of failures and missed opportunities, this California election represents yet another defeat for democracy. All that new infrastructure to get people to vote has not been accompanied by infrastructure to help people inform themselves about how they vote. To the contrary, people are more misinformed than ever.

California newspapers, which once were the primary independent sources for news and context to inform voters, are in decline, or gone. Most election races on the ballot dont get covered at all. Most ballot measures are also ignored  even though such measures are getting longer (routinely more than 5,000 words) and more complicated. At the local level, candidates dont even have their parties listed on the ballot, so we voters dont even have partisan cues.

With more candidates and measures, ballots have grown in size and confusion. The states Official Voter Information Guide doesnt cover all the races on the ballot, and it sometimes has significant omissions.

When voters do get information, its often from social media, which means it may be full of hatred, errors or deliberate misinformation. And in contrast to all the efforts to get us voting, very little has been put into helping us sort through the nonsense. Our informational infrastructure is so weak that most Californians dont even know all the ways that voting has been improved. In the 15 counties with new, highly convenient voting centers, a poll showed that more than 60% of voters dont know about the changes.

Why? Our state government and our media have failed to explain, accurately and memorably, how our elections have changed. And the state and media dont bother to get very basic things right  like the very name of the elections themselves.

Ten years ago, California eliminated primary elections for state offices. To replace primaries, voters approved whats called a top two system, where the first-round election is actually a general election, when candidates from all parties appear on the ballot and voters have the most choice. The second round is a runoff for the top two finishers in the general election. Once you understand the logic of the top two, its clear that the more important election is the first one, when voters have lots of choices, rather than the second.

Still, the state and elite media persist in calling the first round, inaccurately, a primary. This is a clear mistake, with real consequences, since California voters  especially the younger and diverse voters who are registered independents  are less likely to turn out for primary elections than general elections. But the state wont fix the problem, and the media wont correct the error.

In the March 3 elections, the mislabeling adds another dimension of confusion to an already long and confusing ballot. Because political parties still hold primaries in California for president, the presidential contest actually is a primary  and it is the rare primary in which independent voters can participate because the California Democratic Party allows nonpartisans to request a Democratic ballot in primaries. Unfortunately, while three-quarters of independents want to vote in the presidential primary, fewer than one-fifth have managed to obtain a ballot.

At the same time, all the other races on your ballot  everything from state Assembly and Senate to city council  will be general elections. So between the presidential primary and the state general, March 3 will be, quite literally, a tale of two elections. Our election tale is now being told by national media who dont understand California and by leading American politicians like Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump, both of whom have made false attacks on Californias election system. That may be why polls show 20% of likely California voters saying they are not confident that their ballot will be counted.

Those doubters are distressingly wrong. California is so committed to counting every ballot that the count will go on for weeks after election day.

In the near term, there is little we can do to counter the avalanche of lies told about our elections. But in the long term, we need to construct new processes of deliberation to serve our growing population of voters. We could really use a more comprehensive voter guide, for starters. And it would be fantastic to have election juries made up of regular citizens chosen at random to study the most complicated ballot questions and races and report back to the rest of us on what they find.

Such reforms have drawn little interest from our elected leaders, who are reluctant to change the systems that elected them. But we voters undeniably need more support and better information. Until we get that, California elections may be events where nearly everyone votes and no one knows what theyre doing.

Joe Mathews writes the Connecting California column for Zocalo Public Square.
Thousands of Moroccans in the occupied city of Ceuta took to the streets to vent their anger at the discriminatory policies of the ruling Vox far right party.

The march, bringing together at least 6000 people, was described as the largest in the enclave in the 21st century signaling the frustration of the Moroccans in the city with the racism of the Spanish Vox party.

The protest started in Moroccan neighborhoods in the city where Muslims of Ceuta- as the Spanish media calls them- denounced their marginalization as they marched to the town hall.

They chanted slogans against racism, disparities and the indifference of the Spanish institutions and government towards their ordeal in the city.

They also demanded coexistence and mutual respect while warning of a return of fascism symbolized by the anti-Moroccan measures adopted by Vox and like-minded parties.

Although they fell short of calling for an end of Spanish occupation of the City, the protesters reasserted that despite their Spanish nationality they feel discriminated against.

Disparities are so stark in the city between affluent areas populated by Spaniards and poor neighborhoods where Moroccans live.

The protest also pointed at the economic hardships facing the city after Moroccos decision to ban all sorts of low-scale smuggling, putting at risk economy and commercial activity in the city.
One vegetable vendor was stabbed to death and six others were injured in Shillong on Saturday as curfew was re-imposed in parts of the state capital and restricted use of mobile internet to contain violence that broke out following an anti-CAA public meeting on Friday in East Khasi Hills district.

A member of the influential Khasi Students' Union (KSU) died in an attack at Ichamati area near the India-Bangladesh border following the meeting. The KSU is opposed to the CAA and demands introduction of Inner Line Permit system in Meghalaya in order to check "adverse impact" of the CAA on the state's tribal population.

Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, who held a review meeting at 11 am on Saturday said that eight persons have been arrested while efforts were on to contain tension. An ex-gratia of Rs. 2 lakh has also been announced to the family of the victims while a magisterial probe was ordered.

The administration imposed restriction on use of mobile internet for 48 hours in at least six districts while the use of SMS service was also restricted to five. "Message system like SMS and Whatsapp and social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Youtube are likely to be used for transmission of information through pictures, video and texts and have potential to cause serious breakdown of law and order," said a notification issued by Meghalaya home department.

Sangma and Governor Tathagata Roy appealed all to maintain calm and not to spread rumours.

The Centre decided to keep the states having ILP and the areas administered under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution (autonomous) out of the CAA's ambit. Most parts of Meghalaya are under the Sixth Schedule but KSU and other organisations demand ILP in Meghalaya too like in Nagaland, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur. Visitors from rest of the country are required to have a permit under the ILP.
WikiLeaks Julian Assange continues to languish in a British prison, awaiting extradition for a trial here, an event which may, or may not, occur within his lifespan.

Going on a decade now, the villainous Assange has been pursued by intelligence apparatchiki the world over. In the bipartisan Washington, D.C. Swamp  a place where conspiracy theorizing is sneered at  Assange faces charges of, yes, conspiracy.

Hes alleged to have conspired with an Army intelligence clerk to disseminate a massive amount of classified secrets. The secrets, having to do with U.S. military meddling in Afghanistan and Iraq, are said to have been damaging to U.S. national security.

Just as likely, the real point of the complaint may be that the disseminated information was politically embarrassing to the agencies that compile and hoard the governments ever-expanding cache of classified data.

The exchequers of the secrets  the FBI, the CIA, the NSA  much prefer the old mushroom treatment to the language of the Freedom of Information Act. Their modus operandi is: Keep the people in the dark and feed em bull.

Meanwhile, much of the media  despite having a supposed vested interest in the widest possible transparency  have become content to play along with the Deep States surreptitious game.

The Deep State  also a bipartisan creation, let us note  is a governmental bureaucracy thats determined, like any other, to protect its own turf while resisting efforts to impose outside accountability on it. The difference between the Deep State and other bureaucracies, however, is that the Deep State possesses the means to do so, and then some.

The Deep State and media have come to have what the biologists call a symbiotic relationship, a mutually beneficial arrangement. The networks and a couple of big papers are content to play along with the Deep State as long as it favors them with leaks. The leaks, of course, advance the Deep States agenda. The media gets the story  or the official version thereof  and the Deep State is spared the irreverent skepticism the media applies to other institutions.

As is widely but tacitly acknowledged around the Swamp, Julian Assanges real crime  although he hasnt been officially charged with it  is that he embarrassed the Deep State by disclosing its secrets. If the Deep State cant protect its own vaunted secrets, some wags may start wondering, then how competent is it, really?

But Assanges worst offense yet, though not cited in any indictment, is that he is thought to have played a key role in the election of Donald Trump.

Yes, thats Assanges unforgivable sin. And for that he must pay and pay dearly. And if the jury that eventually convicts him has to be headed by a vocal Trump hater, as Roger Stones jury was, well . . . . whatever it takes.

Assanges real crime, as the Deep State/media industrial complex views it, was to circulate Democratic National Committee emails supposedly hacked by Kremlin operatives in 2016. By doing so, WikiLeaks sabotaged Hillary Clintons expected  and entitled  presidential election.

So goes the Swamp party line.

According to it, Russia hacked the DNCs emails out of Vladimir Putins deep dread that hed have to face an intimidatingly tough Hillary Clinton as his adversary in the global geopolitical arena. Putin much preferred the pushover Trump, according to the Swamp party line.

The party line, however, does not bear up under even superficial inspection.

As Secretary of State, Clinton was, after all, the Swamp official who signed off on an arrangement that gave Russia ownership of 20 percent of Americas uranium production capacity, thus tightening Russias grip on the international uranium market.

She was also the architect of Americas Russia Reset policy, under which the United States agreed  per Russias insistence  to drop plans for an anti-missile defense shield in Eastern Europe.

And she served a president who  prudently, it might well be said  took a restrained posture regarding Russian assertiveness in Eastern Europe, especially Ukraine, where that president declined to send military aid even after Russia annexed the Crimea.

Given such facts, why would Putin have feared a Clinton presidency in the least?

But the goofy notion that Putin trembled at the very thought of having Hillary Clinton as an adversary, much preferring Trump, is only the Swamps second most preposterous, self-deluding myth.

The No. 1 myth of that category is the irrational belief that those hacked DNC emails circulated by WikiLeaks somehow led to candidate Hillary Clintons defeat.

Precisely how so? you might well wonder. Well, dont bother asking. This myth, too, cant withstand even a superficial inspection.

What did those WikiLeak-circulated emails show, really? Not much of note when you think about it. They showed some unshocking details on party finances and donors and other such minutiae, in considerable, boring detail.

The only real bit of news to be gleaned from the purloined emails was the revelation of the DNCs sneaky, behind-the-scenes machinations calculated to derail Bernie Sanders pesky primary campaign.

And that was hardly a blockbuster revelation itself. It was an open secret, widely acknowledged throughout the Swamp and beyond at the time, that the DNC was doing whatever it could to favor the Clinton campaign.

The reigning Swamp myth, the Swamp party line, continues nevertheless to be that those Rooskie-hacked DNC emails somehow cost Clinton the election. Left unexplained is how, exactly, the emails managed to accomplish that objective.

How did the revelation that the DNC was doing whatever it could to undercut Sanders in the Democratic primary later help Trump, in the general election, carry Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, the states crucial to his victory? Just to pose the question exposes the absurdity of the proposition.

If the DNC emails didnt actually carry the day for Trump, one thing they did do, however, was help advance the since-debunked, McCarthyite allegations that Trump colluded with Putin to rig the presidential election.

We now know, thanks to Inspector Gen. Michael Horowitz  an Obama appointee  that the entire, partisan collusion fiasco was based largely on court surveillance applications riddled with improprieties, in Horowitz own words, with inaccuracies and omissions.

The collusion controversy was a partisan scam from the get-go. The case may well be made that Trump is a coarse blowhard, a narcissistic jerk, an ill-informed prevaricator whos on the wrong side of many issues. But such an assessment doesnt rationalize the misuse and abuse of legal process and the incitement of a lynch-mob attitude.

Trump, though prone to hyperbole, uncharacteristically understated matters when he condemned the Mueller probe as a witch hunt.

Worse than that, it was a ham-handed coup attempt, an effort by the Swamps permanent Deep State bureaucracy, its Democratic enablers on Capitol Hill and a major swath of the news media, to subvert legal procedure for partisan ends.

The supposed Russian hack of the DNCs emails  forerunner of the Trump/Putin collusion nonsense  continues to this day to emanate something of a dumpster-fire odor.

And the stench hovers long after the vaunted Mueller probe limped anticlimactically off stage, leaving behind the smoldering ruins of selectively pursued indictments and prosecutorial excess.

Its now held as orthodoxy around the Swamp that the law enforcement/national security apparat, i.e., the FBI, the CIA and the NSA  the Deep State  unanimously declared it a certainty that Russian agents hacked those DNC emails and did so to help Trump.

But wait. Take a closer look. The agencies themselves stressed that they were not actually making a finding to that effect, but were only offering an assessment.

They were emphatic about the distinction.

In the Deep States world, an assessment is, um, a sort of educated guess, not a statement of known truth such as a finding would be.

With such sly, cover-your-butt sophistry, the Deep State evades accountability while nudging the country into costly, winless quagmires in remote parts of the world or into other policy debacles. (Remember the Deep States slam-dunk assessment of WMD in Iraq?)

The CIA and FBI declared their assessment of the DNC email matter one they arrived at with high confidence. (Is high confidence like a slam dunk?) But the NSA demurred ever so subtly, saying it had only moderate confidence in the assessment. (Question: What does it mean when you only moderately believe something to be true?)

In some of the most evasive words ever strung together in a sentence, the Deep State agencies actually avoided asserting outright that Russia had hacked the DNC emails. They opted instead for a weasel-worded statement that such a conclusion was consistent with the methods and motivations of Russia-directed effort.

In his last news conference as President, Barack Obama himself noted: The conclusions of the intelligence committee with respect to the Russian hacking were not conclusive. There you have it: Conclusions that werent, actually, conclusive.

Even today, the Swamp party line that Russia hacked those DNC emails provokes heated debate within the Deep States own inner-circles. This dissension, itself,

should sow skepticism regarding the widely accepted party line.

In an effort to keep U.S. intelligence untainted by the toxins of partisan politics,

several retired officials of the Deep State in 2003 formed a gadfly group that calls

itself Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS). Its no right-wing group,

as its bipartisan criticisms have demonstrated.

After examining the available though limited data, a VIPS panel of five intelligence technicians and analysts concluded that the hacking of DNC emails was likely

actually the work of a DNC insider who had access to the DNC material, downloaded it and passed it along to WikiLeaks.

In other words, it was a leak, not a hack  the work of a disgruntled DNC insider, not the work of an off-site Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale bent on electing Trump.

The VIPS panel based its conclusion strictly on technical considerations regarding known transfer rates of megabytes of data per second.

The DNC data download, on July 5, 2016, took 87 seconds to pull off, a transfer rate of 22.7 megabytes per second, the VIPS panel said. It added: No Internet service provider, such as a hacker would have had to use in mid-2016, was capable of downloading data at that speed.

The panels conclusion was that a person with DNC inside access used a memory key or other portable data-storage device to extract the emails.

Said one of the VIPS panel members: A speed of 22.7 megabytes is simply unobtainable, especially if youre talking about a transoceanic data transfer.

The panel that came to this conclusion is an impressively credentialed bunch, not tinfoil-hat conspiracy whackos. The panel included:

Kirk Wiebe, former senior analyst for the National Security Agencys SIGINT Automation Research Center; William Binney, former NSA technical director for Geopolitical and Military Analysis; Edward Loomis, former technical director of NSAs Office of Signal Processing; Ray McGovern, former intelligence analyst and chief of the CIAs Russia Foreign Policy Branch, and Skip Felden, long-time IT executive at IBM.

For sure there was dissension, even within VIPS own ranks. Another impressively credentialed VIPS panel  one more heavily weighted with military backgrounds  said the first panel had raised legitimate questions but leaped to its conclusion based on educated guesses, not just the available digital meta data.

In fact, this panel said, the data transfer rates could have exceeded those cited by the first panel, depending on the capacity of the network and the method of access to that network.

The point to be taken from all of this is that were talking about a still highly debatable controversy, about partial evidence still being discussed  not about a guilty verdict thats already been rendered. The jury is still out.

The upshot is this: Although many Democratic Party and media voices are unhesitant in asserting that Russians hacked those DNC emails, we dont really know whether that was the case or whether, in fact, a DNC insider snatched the emails.

While the issue of outside hacker vs. insider access remains unsettled, there seem to be powerful forces who are content never to know the truth. The suggestion has a conspiratorial ring to it, but dont dismiss it out of hand.

Despite the momentous nature of the DNC emails controversy, the Justice Department and FBI amazingly never insisted that the DNC hand over potentially key evidence in the matter  i.e., the DNC servers.

Theres an Inspector Clouseau perversity here. The FBI was content to make do with second-hand information provided by a DNC cybersecurity consultant, CrowdStrike, Inc., rather than seize and examine the evidence itself. FBI Director James Comey confirmed this himself. He conceded that our forensics folks would always prefer to get access to the original device or server thats involved.

Nevertheless, according to Comey, the FBI didnt press the point and force the DNC to turn over the evidence.

Later, Comey dismissed the matter as unimportant. He said that CrowdStrike  a reputable government contractor  had given the FBI all the information it needed, thus sparing the agency the bother of taking possession of and examining the evidence directly itself.

Were urged to accept such lame official excuse-making  at the same time were advised to turn a deaf ear to all the crazy conspiracy theorizing thats going on.

Hmmm.
Kashmir: Security forces in Budgam on Sunday (March 1) busted a terror module and arrested four terrorists affiliated with Ansarul- Gazwatul Hind (AGH) outfit.

Acting on a tip-off, the Budgam police with the help of Rashtriya Rifles raided the hideout, detained the militants and recovered arms and ammunition from them.

On preliminary enquiry, it was found that these terror associates are affiliated with terrorist outfit Ansarul- Gazwatul Hind ( AGH) and are involved in providing shelter and logistic support to terrorists.

The four have been identified as; Mir Muzamil Nabi, Umar Ajaz Ahangar both are residents of Kanihama and Raouf Ahmad Bhat, Ishfaq Ahmad Bhat residents of Kantebagh.

In this regard, a case under relevant sections of the law has been registered in Magam police station and an investigation has begun.

Five terrorist #associates arrested from Ganderbal & Budgam. #Incriminating materials including arms & #ammunition recovered. Cases registered. Investigation in progress. @JmuKmrPolice  Kashmir Zone Police (@KashmirPolice) March 1, 2020

Earlier, an associate of a Lashkar-e-Taiba militant was arrested by the joint team of Ganderbal Police and the Rashtriya Rifles while also recovering a Chinese grenade from him. A police official revealed that in November 2019 two militants were brought to Ganderbal district by the accused Fayaz Ahmed Bhat, who is a resident of Akhal area of Kangan.

Bhat has been found to have established contacts of militants with locals at Kullan area where the former took refuge on different occasions. He is also known to have ferried militants from Bandipora to Ganderbal at the behest of Pakistani handlers. Bhat has a previous police record which was registered for lobbying grenade at Kangan Police Station in the year 2008.
Istanbul, March 2 : Over 80,000 illegal migrants have so far crossed into Europe from Turkey's northwestern borders, Turkish government said in a statement.

"This number may increase in the coming days," Fahrettin Altun, Communication Director of the Turkish presidency, said, noting that "humanitarian suffering, unprecedented displacement and migration challenge in Syria" is not only Turkey's problem, but that of the region, Europe, and the entire world.

Altun also noted that Turkey is open to "serious and robust" cooperation, and it will do its part, but other countries must do their part as well on the issue, Xinhua reported.

Meanwhile, thousands of refugees, including Syrians, Iraqis, Iranians, and Pakistanis, seeking better living conditions, have been forcing Turkey's northwestern province of Edirne to cross into Europe.

After Turkey announced on Thursday that it would no longer stop the migrants from going to Europe, refugees have gathered near the Pazarkule border gate.

Refugees have mostly started to cross the border to the Greek side via the Evros River in either fishing boats or inflatable boats over the last two days, according to local journalists.

"Turkish villagers, those with fishing boats, have been carrying refugees to the other side of the river," Yasin Akgul, a photojournalist, told Xinhua.

The price of this journey for one person varies between 35 and 70 U.S. dollars, Akgul said, noting that no fee is required for children.

Many refugees are spending days and nights along the river to bargain with the fishermen for a more affordable price, Akgul said.

"The villagers here told us that those who could manage to cross the river to the other side have to walk approximately 1.5 km in the buffer zone, trying not to be caught," he added.

Those who were captured by Greek security forces were pushed back to Turkey, Akgul continued, saying that Greek soldiers were often seen covering the different parts of the river shore with barbed wires.

Turkey decided to open its border gates for illegal migrants after at least 33 Turkish soldiers were killed in an air strike in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib, the last rebel-held stronghold.

Around 1.5 million Syrian refugees, fleeing from the bombardments of Syrian forces in Idlib, have also flooded Turkey's border with Syria.

Currently, Turkish authorities do not allow these refugees to cross the border into Turkey, keeping them on the Syrian side.

Hosting over 3.7 million Syrian refugees in its territory, the Turkish government earlier announced that it could no longer cope with a new flow of refugees alone.
In the aftermath of the Delhi riots, the AAP has suspended its municipal councillor Tahir Hussain from primary membership of the party.

The Aam Aadmi Party has suspended its municipal councillor Tahir Hussain from primary membership of the party. From the terrace of Hussains three-storeyed house in Delhi's Chand Bagh, a stash of Molotov cocktails, acid pouches, stones and slingshots was recovered. An FIR has also been filed against Hussain in connection with the killing of Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer Ankit Sharma. The same building that Hussain lived in once served as the office of former AAP leader Kapil Mishra, who is now with the Bharatiya Janata Party, and after whose speech armed mobs began attacking civilians in parts of northeast Delhi.

The saffron party hasnt taken a dim view of Mishras open threat to anti-CAA protesters to clear out of Shaheen Bagh and the road next to the Jafrabad metro station. Apart from East Delhi MP Gautam Gambhir, no one from the party has come forward and expressed resentment over Mishras speech. In fact, Delhi BJP spokesperson Tajinder Bagga has tweeted his support for him and BJP MLA from Rohini Vijender Gupta has cleverly passed the buck. Gupta tweeted that those blaming Mishra for inciting riots arent questioning the statement about 15 crore Muslims taking on Hindus made by Waris Pathan of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul-Muslimeen (AIMIM). Neither has Pathan been dismissed from AIMIM, nor have Thakur or Mishra been pulled up for their inflammatory statements. The AIMIM's Maharashtra unit chief and Aurangabad MP Imtiyaz Jaleel has said that the party doesnt support Pathans statement and is seeking an explanation from him. An unconvincing withdrawal of the remark followed suit. Across the political spectrum, there is a visible absence of a moral rulebook.

The year 1984 had also seen similar violence on the streets of Delhi, after the assassination of former prime minister Indira Gandhi. Memories of mobs charging towards people with stones and swords still haunt many. At that time, Charan Singh, a resident of East Delhi's Trilokpuri, lost many family members. He had shaved his head to mislead those who came baying for his blood. Till today, Singh says he doesnt have the courage to tie a turban around his head and follow his faith with dignity. In 2018, the Supreme Court constituted a committee to re-investigate the riots and even then, the only question he had was: "Why hasnt the Congress party dismissed leaders who played a role in inciting the riots and protecting rioters?"

Jagdish Tytler and Kamal Nath are both members of the Congress party. The latter is in fact the present chief minister of Madhya Pradesh and in 2019, the former was even present at Priyanka Gandhi Vadras recent protest at India Gate against police brutality on Jamia Millia Islamia students. Tytler, accused of instigating mobs, was given a clean chit by the Central Bureau of Investigation in 2014. Congress leader Sajjan Kumar tendered his resignation from the party to Rahul Gandhi only after he was convicted in a 1984 Sikh riot case in 2018.

In 2018, a five-judge Constitution Bench headed by then Chief Justice of India observed that while rapid criminalisation of politics cannot be arrested by merely disqualifying tainted legislators, it can surely begin by cleansing political parties. The bench had directed political parties to publish pending criminal cases against their candidates online and urged the Parliament to bring in a strong law to cleanse political parties of leaders facing trial for serious crimes.

The court had said that the Parliament should frame a law that makes it obligatory for political parties to remove leaders charged with heinous and grievous crimes. The nation eagerly awaits such a legislation, the bench comprising Justices AM Khanwilkar, Rohinton Nariman, DY Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra had stated.

India lacks a robust framework for electoral disqualifications. The Ministry of Law and Justice had constituted the 20th Law Commission in 2012. In its 244th report, the yardstick for disqualification, conviction or the framing of charges, was debated. SY Quraishi and SK Mendiratta pointed out that the jurisprudence of presumption of innocence until found guilty already has been displaced to a large extent as there are lakhs of undertrial prisoners in the country.

Some people had suggested that any political party that allows a position to a disqualified person should be de-recognised. However, the political fraternity expressed fears that if candidates are disqualified on framing of charges, the provision could enable vendetta. In this regard, senior Supreme Court advocate Pavani Parameswara Rao observed that the presence of tainted people is the main reason for deterioration in the credibility enjoyed by the institutions and admitted that many legislative terms may pass before a court pronounces a verdict in a particular case. Hence, a person under a cloud of suspicion should be dismissed.

A report of the Law Commission in February 2014 had also lamented that the purpose behind Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act (which deals with disqualification of candidates convicted for criminal activities) has not been served. Indeed, if political parties are unwilling to dismiss even those who are accused of very serious crimes, then such a situation threatens the very life blood of democracy.

While the Bharatiya Janata Party, which enjoys a majority in Parliament, has never missed an opportunity to highlight the involvement of Congress leaders in the 1984 carnage, it is also guilty of committing the same crime. Pragya Singh Thakur, who contested and won from Bhopal in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, is one of three prime suspects in a bomb blast that took place in Malegaon in 2008. She has repeatedly and unabashedly made statements extolling Godse. The party's senior leadership, which seeks to appropriate the Mahatma, has claimed to be left shamefaced by her remarks. However, she is still going about her ways, and was even, for a brief period, nominated by the NDA government as a member of the Parliamentary Panel on Defence.

During an election campaign event, Union minister Anurag Thakur was seen chanting the first half of a slogan that called for shooting "traitors." Soon afterwards, a man was seen charging towards the protesters at Shaheen Bagh with a gun. The Election Commission banned Thakur from campaigning for 72 hours, but his party didnt take any concrete step against him.

In the present scenario, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwals immediate sacking of Tahir Hussain is a firm message from him and his party that national security and all matters pertaining to the safety of Indian civilians precede politics. At a recent press conference, Kejriwal also stated that politics and national security cannot and should not be mixed.

The author is a Policy Fellow attached to the Department of Home, Government of Delhi
The number of distilleries in the UK has rocketed by 22 per cent in just one year, with more operating in England than in Scotland.

Britain had 80 new distilleries in 2019 bringing the total up to 441 with 228 of those in England, HMRC figures showed.

Scotland - which previously dominated the spirit-making world thanks to Scotch Whisky - has 186 distilleries, 255 fewer than England.

The gin boom - also called the 'ginaissance' - has helped the total number of UK distilleries to more than double in the last five years, from 184 to at least 441.

The number of distilleries in the UK has rocketed by 22 per cent in just one year, with more operating in England than in Scotland. Pictured: Boris Johnson with a glass of gin and tonic in a distillery in London in 2015

It also caused the number of distilleries in England more than triple rocketing from just 66 distilleries in 2014 to the 228 in operation today.

Since 2010, when there were just 23 distilleries, English distilleries have gone up tenfold.

The 'ginaissance' has meant gin sales in the UK have hit an all-time high helping to fund new forays into spirit making, such as English and Welsh whisky and rums.

The Wine and Spirit Trade Association's end of year market report showed a massive boost in gin sales last year with over 82 million bottles sold in the UK, worth over 2.6 billion.

According to HMRC Britain exported 672 million-worth of British gin in 2019, taking total sales of the juniper-based spirit at home and abroad to over 3.2 billion.

The 'ginaissance' has meant gin sales in the UK have hit an all-time high helping to fund new forays into spirit making, such as English and Welsh whisky and rums (stock image)

Scotland still boasts some of the largest distilleries in the UK, however, an increasing number of smaller distilleries have emerged across England.

Chief Executive of the Wine and Spirit Trade Association Miles Beale said: 'It's fantastic to see a growing number of British distilleries up and down the country, year on year, providing jobs and boosting their local economies.

'A freeze at the last Budget has certainly helped our innovative British distillers to invest and boost exports.

'And because we also know that an increase in wine duty has reduced Exchequer revenue, we are asking the Chancellor to take the time to consider a clear win/win.

'A cut to excise duty would boost both British Business and Treasury coffers.'

The latest HMRC figures do not reveal the total number of distillery openings in Wales and Northern Ireland as the applicants were fewer than 5 and the actual number has been withheld by officials to protect the confidentiality of HMRC's customers.
Mask-clad pedestrians walk through Tajrish Bazaar in the Iranian capital Tehran on February 29, 2020 (AFP)

Iran's health ministry on Sunday reported 11 new deaths from the novel coronavirus and 385 infections, bringing the overall number of lives lost to 54 and cases to 978.

Spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour told a televised news conference, Eleven people lost their lives in the past 24 hours"

International experts are questioning the scale of the new coronavirus epidemic in Iran, where the official death toll is second only to China and risks creating a regional epicentre of contagion.

While Iran has acknowledged 54 deaths among 593 confirmed infections nationwide  with a vice-president and deputy health minister among those testing positive  unofficial tolls are much higher.

Six epidemiologists based in Canada used a mathematical model to estimate that there have been more than 18,000 cases on Iranian soil.

This week, Reporters Without Borders added its own criticism of Tehran's handling of the outbreak, accusing the government of stifling news on the spread of the virus.

According to Iran's official data, more than seven percent of people in Iran confirmed to be infected with the virus have died, a far higher mortality rate than in other countries.

Situated at a geographical crossroads in the Middle East and surrounded by countries with creaking infrastructure and challenging humanitarian conditions, Iran's situation gives cause for worry.

Iranian authorities have taken measures to counter the virus' spread, including cancelling Friday prayers in several cities, closing schools until at least Tuesday, shutting parliament until further notice and restricting travel within the country.
For a commodity going through one of its worst slumps ever, you would think that a major oil company bringing more of it to an already flooded market would cause all manner of panic.

At a production clip of 10.3 million b/d of oil, Saudi Aramco is by far the worlds biggest energy company, responsible for single-handedly pumping 10% of the worlds crude supply--at some of the lowest production costs.

Thats why news that Saudi Arabia--a nation well known for its energy price wars--has just launched the biggest shale gas development outside of the United States should be unsettling for the severely depressed natural gas market.

Only, its not.

Understandably, the markets are feeling jaded with natural gas prices slumping nearly 40% over the past year. Its probably one reason why the specter of another supply glut has only elicited muted reaction.

But theres more to it than meets the eye.

Source: Business Insider

Major Gas Producer

Saudi Aramco has announced that it will be pumping $110 billion over the next couple of years to develop the Jafurah gas field, which is estimated to hold 200 trillion cubic feet of gas.

The state-owned company hopes to start natural gas production from Jafurah in 2024 and reach 2.2 Bcf/d of sales gas by 2036 with an associated 425 million cubic feet per day of ethane. The field will produce some 550,000 barrels per day of gas liquids and condensates, around 50% more than current output of just over 1 million bpd. For perspective, Aramco produced 8.9 Bcf/d of natural gas and 1 Bcf/d of ethane in 2018. Related: Oil Rig Count Inches Higher In Coronavirus Plagued Markets

If the company hits its development targets for the field, Jafurah will become the largest unconventional gas field outside the U.S., while Saudi Arabia will officially become the worlds third largest gas producer by 2030, behind only Russia and the U.S.

Unconventional drilling has not been very successful outside North America, mostly due to lack of expertise, scarcity of water or other key resources, poor infrastructure or proximity to large population centers.

But Aramco appears to have it all figured out, and has even boasted about its low shale gas development costs.

As Amin H. Nasser, president and CEO of Saudi Aramco, has revealed, Jafurah will use plentiful seawater in the fracking process, easing a major worry for the mostly desert nation.

The Saudi state oil group has also worked with international oil service companies including U.S.- based shale drilling experts Schlumberger, Halliburton Co. and Baker Hughes Co. on the field to develop the necessary fracking technology. The company has already drilled 150 wells since 2013 so it has probably tested all production parameters.

Not for Export

All that sounds impressive; but it probably wont be enough for Saudi Arabia to become a major exporter of natural gas--still.

"Soon you will hear about the ability of the kingdom to be a gas exporter," Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said earlier this month, without offering any further details.

Thats easier said than done. Related: Oil Prices Tumble 4% As Coronavirus Demand Shock Spreads

In the same breath, bin Salman issued an order on Friday for Jafurahs gas to be used primarily by domestic industries such as petrochemicals to support the kingdoms Vision 2030 development plan, the princes chief economic reform strategy to diversify away from over-dependence on oil.

Aramco has committed billions of dollars to new petrochemical projects, including a US$44-billion refinery and petrochemical complex in India and a US$7-billion investment in another complex in Malaysia, and is in negotiations with companies for more partnerships in this segment.

Further, Saudi has been having strained relations with Qatar--its major natural gas supplier via the Dolphin pipeline--since 2017 after accusing Doha of supporting terrorism. Saudi Arabia would be keen to minimize its reliance on Qatar by developing its own gas fields.

But keeping its own natural gas also makes plenty of economic sense. The kingdom has been burning though nearly 900,000 b/d of valuable liquid fuels for industrial use and power generation. Replacing all that oil natural gas could generate more than $10 billion in additional export revenues and possibly significantly more if oil prices recover in the future. That extra oil could also provide a nice cushion to spare its crude capacity that was recently tested by the Abqaiq attacks.

Saudi Arabia is not likely to be in a position to export natural gas any time soon even if it wanted to.

Global energy analyst Platts Analytics has estimated that Saudi Arabias natural gas production needs to reach at least 23 Bcf/d by 2026 to fully meet the nations growing power and industrial demand. This means that natural gas alone will barely be able to meet half the industrial demand even with Jafurah at full blast.

Assuming Saudi Arabia is able to export an extra one million b/d of oil by replacing some its own demand with natural gas, there still wont be much to worry about. In its latest estimates, the EIA expects that global petroleum and liquid fuels demand will rise by 1.0 million b/d in 2020, and another by 1.5 million b/d in 2021.

Any more of the black commodity in this oversupplied market is bad, but it probably wont matter much in the bigger scheme of things.

By. Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
(CNN)  The Trump administration on Sunday announced new travel restrictions after confirmation of the first coronavirus death in the US, with President Donald Trump signaling a more robust response as US cases rise.

Trump said additional cases in America were "likely" but cautioned the public not to "panic."

"Additional cases in the US are likely," Trump said, "but healthy individuals should be able to fully recover."

The President, joined by members of his administration's coronavirus task force as he made comments from the White House briefing room, aimed to calm Americans.

"We respectfully ask the media and politicians and everybody else involved not do anything to incite the panic, because there's no reason to panic at all," Trump said.

The President also offered his condolences to the first coronavirus death in America.

Dr. Jeffrey Duchin, health officer for Seattle and King County, Washington, confirmed Saturday that the individual who died was male. Trump earlier described the patient, who died in Washington state, as a "medically high-risk patient in her late 50s" and "a wonderful woman."

A senior administration official blamed the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the mix up.

"Dr. (Robert) Redfield briefed Pence and Trump after speaking with Washington State health officials that it was a woman. Washington State has since corrected," the official said.

Redfield tweeted later Saturday that the "CDC erroneously identified the patient as a female in a briefing earlier (Saturday) with the President and Vice President."

The Washington patient appears to have become ill through community spread, according to Redfield, who spoke alongside the President at Saturday's briefing.

Travel and coronavirus

Pence said at the briefing that the US would be expanding travel restrictions from Iran "to include any foreign national who has visited Iran within the last 14 days." He also said the US would heighten a travel advisory for specific regions of Italy and South Korea.

"We are urging Americans to not travel to the areas in Italy and the areas in South Korea that are most affected by the coronavirus," Pence said.

Pence also emphasized that "the average American does not need to go out and buy a mask," and that at least 35 million more masks per month are expected to be produced for the United States.

More courses of action to increase the availability of masks to high-risk health care workers will be announced later Saturday, Pence said.

Trump also said he'll be meeting with pharmaceutical companies at the White House on Monday to discuss developing a coronavirus vaccine.

The President's update followed a briefing from his coronavirus task force earlier in the day, which Trump said lasted for more than two and a half hours.

The President said there are now 22 cases of the novel coronavirus in the US. This number does not include individuals repatriated to the United States from Wuhan, China, or from the Diamond Princess cruise ship. Those cases have been counted separately by the CDC.

There are four instances of possible community spread transmission of coronavirus -- two in California, one in Oregon and one in Washington.

At Saturday's briefing, Trump asserted that "the markets are very strong," even though three major stock indexes this week posted their worst weekly percentage drops since the 2008 financial crisis.

"The markets will all come back," Trump said. "We have one problem -- we have to get this problem brought into focus."

"It's certainly not a good situation. When you lose travel that's a big part of market. But for a period of time we're going to have to do what's necessary. Safety, health -- number one. The markets will take care of themselves," he continued.

The President suggested the Federal Reserve should take measures to assist with the economic dip that has resulted from the coronavirus outbreak. He also brought up his long-anticipated middle-income tax cuts.

The President has previously appeared to downplay the effects of coronavirus, saying earlier this week that he did not think community spread of the infections disease in the country was "inevitable," despite that fact that CDC officials have been assessing that they expect to see community spread within the country.

Trump has rarely delivered remarks to the press from the White House briefing room, but his Saturday appearance marks his second time in the room in less than a week.

The President said at a rally in South Carolina Friday that Democrats are now "politicizing" the virus. "Now the Democrats are politicizing the coronavirus," Trump said. "They have no clue, they can't even count their votes in Iowa."

"This is their new hoax," Trump added.

On Saturday, Trump said he doesn't think coronavirus itself is a "hoax," but the criticism is. Asked if he regretted calling it a hoax during Friday's rally, Trump said he didn't.

"Hoax referring to the action that they take to try and pin this on somebody," the President explained. "I'm not talking about what's happening here, I'm talking about what they're doing."

Trump called it the "continuation of the hoax," and mentioned the Russia investigation and his impeachment.

"I don't like it when they are criticizing these people, and I don't like it," he said. "That's the hoax I'm talking about."

Worldwide, the virus has killed at least 2,922 -- including 2,835 people in China -- and there have been 85,055 confirmed cases.

A senior administration official told CNN on Friday that Trump's mid-March meeting with leaders of southeast Asian countries in Las Vegas had been postponed.

This story has been updated to reflect that the individual who died in the first reported coronavirus death in the US was male.

This story was first published on CNN.com 'Trump says additional American coronavirus cases 'likely' as US confirms first death'
Renowned Nigerian academic and poet, Harry Garuba, is dead.

He was 61.

Mr Garuba passed away on Friday evening in South Africa, following a long illness.

A statement on Saturday by the University of Cape Town where the poet had taught for much of his career, announced his death.

The university, on its Facebook page, described Mr Garuba as a masterful writer and poet, a luminary in the field of African literature and a champion of postcolonial theory and postcolonial literature.

His dedication to his field was critical in developing the UCT Centre for African Studies as a hub for research on the African continent.

As part of the universitys Curriculum Change Working Group (CCWG), Professor Garuba was committed to developing thinking about what a decolonised curriculum would look like in Africa and the global south and what a multicultural curriculum would look like in the West, the statement read.

As a revered academic, Mr Garuba was praised for his scholarly contribution to the canons of African studies and literature with his warm personality and empathy for his students.

The Acting Vice-Chancellor of UCT , Lis Lange, remembered Mr Garuba as a genuine person who dedicated his time to moving the university forward and supporting his students.

His passing is a great loss to the university and the transformation project, but we must continue this important work in his absence and build on the foundation he has left, she said in the statement

The statement said details of the funeral and memorial service would be shared as the university expressed its condolences to the Garuba family.

Humble beginning

Born in Akure, Ondo State in 1958, Mr Garuba was a literary prodigy.

He was still a teenager when his one-act play Pantomime for Saint Apartheids Day was published in the Festac Anthology of Nigerian New Writing, a publication compiled on the occasion of the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture, held in Lagos in 1977.

He was seventeen when he began his undergraduate studies in English at the University of Ibadan where he would later bag both his Masters and Doctoral degrees.

While he was a student at the university, he founded The Poetry Club which met every Thursday. It was at the club that poets like Afam Akeh, Remi Raji, Onookome Okome, Chiedu Ezeanah, Bose Shabah, Sanya Osha, Niyi Okunoye first planted their seeds of literary creativity.

He published his first academic book, Mask and Meaning in Black Drama: Africa and the Diaspora, in 1988. He taught at the university for fifteen years before migrating to South Africa to teach in the English Department at the University of Zululand.

In 1988, he edited the collection Voices from the Fringe: An ANA Anthology of New Nigerian Poetry.

In 2001, he moved to the University of Cape Town, where he taught in the African Studies and English departments until 2019, and published widely in the fields of African and postcolonial literature.

READ ALSO:

Meanwhile, in 2017, he published a second collection of his own poetry, Animist Chants and Memorials.

In addition to being an author and poet, Mr Garuba was a member of the editorial advisory board of the Heinemann African Writers Series and one of the editors of the journal Postcolonial Text.

He also served as acting dean of the Faculty of Humanities from February to December 2017, and held research fellowships at the University of Texas at Austin, Harvard University and Emory University.

In late 2019, he wrote a blurb about the emphemerality of life and the permanence of art in Wreaths for a Wayfarer, an anthology of poems in honour of late Nigeria scholar, Pius Adesanmi.

Literary Luminary

The immediate-past National President, Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Denja Abdullah, described the poet as a literary luminary to crops of young talented writers Nigeria is currently proud of.

Advertisements



He was a great teacher and influence to many young writers of today.

His contribution to African scholarship is highly eminent and goes beyond mere mentions.

He will be greatly missed, Mr Abdullah told PREMIUM TIMES.

Mr Garuba is survived by his immediate family in Cape Town, his wife, Zazi, son, Ruona (twenty), and daughter, Zukina (fourteen).
(Bloomberg) -- On the shores of the Turkish coast, thousands of refugees are wading through the cold waters of the Mediterranean Sea to board inflatable dinghies bound for Europe. More still are preparing to cross borders on foot and by bus.

Whether new or old, the images that flooded Turkish state-run news outlets on Friday are what President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants Europeans to believe could happen -- if he allows it to.

After tensions soared in Syria late Thursday with the killing of at least 33 Turkish soldiers in the northern province of Idlib by Russian-backed Syrian forces, Erdogan pulled out the one card he has left to play in a bid to get support from Europe: he threatened to unleash a wave of migrants as big as the one that upended European politics in 2015, and is leaving his allies guessing about how serious he is.

European Union chief diplomat Josep Borrell was at pains to stress he had received reassurances from Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Friday that Turkey remains committed to the 2016 refugee deal. But Erdogans spokesman, Fahrettin Altun, implied the opposite moments earlier by saying that Ankara would need to loosen its stance on refugees if Idlib falls. Turkey no longer has the possibility to provide resources for and help these people.

With Italy gripped by a coronavirus outbreak and populists across the region beating the drums about the potential for migrants to spread the disease, the very idea of more refugees seeking shelter in Europe is a powerful tool in the Turkish presidents arsenal.

But the hype belies an important fact: although their ties may have frayed on numerous fronts over the past five years, Turkey and the EU ultimately need each other. As a result, Erdogan may be bluffing and the EU might seek to help him by making a faster payout of aid already pledged to his country.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in January that shed support extra European refugee aid for Turkey on top of the existing 6 billion euros ($6.6 billion). She also said its a matter for EU governments as a whole to consider.

Story continues

The EU has room to do more under the current pledge because only around half of the 6 billion euros has been disbursed. The aid is part of a 2016 accord that stemmed Europes biggest refugee wave since World War II by stopping Syrians displaced in Turkey from entering the bloc via Greece.

Erdogan has long been complaining that the money committed isnt actually being delivered -- and that Turkeys spent $40 billion on refugees so far. The country is the worlds biggest host of migrants with more than 3.5 million Syrians on its soil. Erdogan has said hundreds of thousands of people are already on the move from Idlib toward Turkey and the total number could exceed 2 million.

Read more: How Waves of Refugees in Europe Test Its Open Borders

The deterioration in relations between the EU and Turkey, which is seeking to join the bloc, makes it politically tricky for European governments to comment openly about the prospect of faster or extra refugee aid for the country.

Coupled with Europes predilection for soft over hard power and widespread opposition in Europe to Turkeys military presence in Syria, EU nations would probably shy away from offering Turkey what it might want most: military hardware.

The Turkish losses on Thursday mark the deadliest ambush for the countrys military in several decades, and prompted a North Atlantic Treaty Organization meeting amid fears of a further escalation.

Significant numbers of migrants and refugees have gathered in large groups at the Greek-Turkish land border and have attempted to enter the country illegally, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said. I want to be clear: no illegal entries into Greece will be tolerated. We are increasing our border security.

Greece is in regular contact with the EU and NATO, a government official in Athens said on Friday.

The general downturn in EU-Turkish ties began just months after the 2016 refugee deal was reached. The EU became alarmed when Erdogan responded to a failed coup attempt in mid-2016 by unleashing a widespread crackdown on political opponents.

Relations soured further in 2018 when the Turkish navy prevented drilling by Italy-based Eni SpA in Cypriot waters and again late last year, when Turkey carried out a military operation in northern Syria to carve out a buffer zone and struck a controversial accord with Libya on their maritime boundary.

The acrimony has halted negotiations on a bid for EU membership by Turkey, which has been seeking to join the bloc since the 1980s and began accession talks in 2005.

Beneath all the high politics and gamesmanship in EU-Turkey ties are millions of innocent victims of Syrias brutal nine-year civil war. The lesson of the last migration crisis is that many thousands of these people will go to great lengths, including by risking their lives at sea, to escape awful living conditions.

--With assistance from Patrick Donahue, Ania Nussbaum, Onur Ant, Selcan Hacaoglu, Sotiris Nikas, Nikos Chrysoloras, Firat Kozok and Cagan Koc.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan Stearns in Brussels at jstearns2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.net, Caroline Alexander, Richard Bravo

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.
Turkey shot down two Syrian warplanes on Sunday in an escalating offensive against the Damascus regime as Ankara pressured Europe over the conflict by opening its border for migrants to cross into the continent.

Following weeks of violence in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib, Turkey confirmed a full military operation against Russian-backed Syrian forces after dozens of Turkish soldiers were killed last week in an air strike blamed on Damascus.

Tensions have intensified between Russia and Turkey -- who back opposing forces in the Syria's civil war -- but Ankara has insisted it does not want to clash directly with Moscow.

"One anti-aircraft system that shot down one of our armed drones and two other anti-aircraft systems have been destroyed, and two SU-24 regime planes that were attacking our aircraft have been downed," Turkey's defence ministry said in a statement.

Syrian state media said Turkish forces "targeted" two of its planes over Idlib. A rebel group and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, both said the planes had been downed.

The situation in rebel-held Idlib was already volatile as the regime supported by Russian air power pressed an assault on the region in a bid to retake the last opposition enclave in a nine-year civil war.

The confrontation between the Russia-backed Syrian forces and NATO-member Turkey, which supports Syrian rebels, has prompted worries over a wider conflict and a migrant crisis in Europe similar to 2015.

Migrant numbers have already surged along the rugged frontier after Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, seeking to pressure the EU over Syria, said the country had "opened the doors" to Europe.

Greece said Sunday it has blocked nearly 10,000 migrants at its border with Turkey.

As migrant boats continued to land on Greek islands, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar announced "operation 'Spring Shield'" for the first time, adding it "successfully continues" after the attack last week killed 34 Turkish troops.

Turkish forces hit Syrian regime positions after Erdogan warned Damascus would "pay a price" for the air strike.

Under a 2018 deal with Russia meant to bring calm to Idlib, Turkey has 12 observation posts in Syria -- but several have come under fire from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces.

Turkey wants the international community to establish a no-fly zone over Idlib, where Islamist fighters backed by Ankara pose the biggest obstacle to Damascus seizing back control over all of Syria.

SANA Syrian state media reported the regime shot down a Turkish drone near the town of Saraqeb, publishing footage of an aircraft tumbling from the sky in flames. Those images could not be immediately confirmed.

But Turkish defence ministry confirmed one of its drones was shot down.

Earlier on Sunday, Istanbul police detained the editor-in-chief of the Turkish version of Russia's Sputnik website as its offices were being searched in Istanbul.

Three of its journalists were also taken to a courthouse in Ankara for questioning, likely related to a Sputnik article in English claiming Turkey's Hatay province was "stolen" from Syria. Colonial power France ceded the southern region to Turkey in 1938.

The website later said they had been released.

Turkish media reported on Sunday that Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin would meet in Moscow on March 5. They already spoke by telephone last week when both expressed "concern" over the escalation.

The Russian and Turkish foreign ministers also spoke by telephone on Sunday, Moscow's ministry said, to discuss preparations for the meeting between the two leaders, and the safety of the Sputnik journalists.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said he "hoped" the meeting would be on Thursday or Friday.

"It will undoubtedly be a difficult meeting, but the leaders confirmed their wish to resolve the situation in Idlib. It's important," Peskov said on Sunday.

Some 13,000 migrants have amassed at the Turkey-Greece border, including families with young children who spent the night in the cold, the International Organization for Migration said.

An estimated additional 2,000 migrants arrived at the Pazarkule border gate Sunday, including Afghans, Syrians and Iraqis, according to an AFP reporter.

But as the crowds rushed to enter Europe, Greek police and soldiers blocked 9,972 "illegal entrances" from entering the northeastern Evros region in the past 24 hours, a Greek government source said.

The UN refugee agency spokesman Babar Baloch called for "calm and easing of tensions on the border," as he urged countries to "refrain from the use of excessive and disproportionate force".

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday said the EU was watching "with concern" and stood ready to deploy its Frontex border guard agency.

The developments recalled events in 2015 when over a million migrants fled to Europe, mainly via Greece in what became the continent's worst refugee crisis since the Second World War.

The EU's commissioner for migration, Margaritis Schinas, tweeted Sunday he had requested an extraordinary meeting of EU interior ministers to discuss the situation.

Erdogan said Turkey, home to some 3.6 million refugees, did not plan to close the borders because "the (EU) should keep its promises".

He was referring to the 2016 deal with Brussels to stop the flow of refugees in exchange for billions of euros.

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

...The Flood Warning continues for the following rivers in Kentucky...Illinois...Missouri... Ohio River at Paducah...Olmsted Lock and Dam...and Cairo For the Ohio River...including Paducah, Olmsted Lock and Dam, and Cairo...Minor flooding is forecast. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Motorists should not attempt to drive around barricades or drive cars through flooded areas. Caution is urged when walking near riverbanks. Turn around, don't drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood deaths occur in vehicles. Additional information is available at www.weather.gov. && ...FLOOD WARNING NOW IN EFFECT FROM THIS MORNING THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING... * WHAT...Minor flooding is forecast. * WHERE...Ohio River at Paducah. * WHEN...Until early tomorrow afternoon. * IMPACTS...At 39.0 feet, Minor flooding occurs affecting mainly bottomland and surrounding low lying areas. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS... - At 11:00 AM CST Monday the stage was 38.5 feet. - Forecast...The river is expected to rise to a crest of 39.0 feet tomorrow morning. - Flood stage is 39.0 feet. - http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood &&
Prasanta Mazumdar By

Express News Service

GUWAHATI: A minor girl was allegedly gang raped and killed by seven friends, all of them juveniles, on Saturday from a village in northern Assams Biswanath district.

The police arrested all the accused who had appeared for their Class 10 board examinations earlier last month.

The body of the 12-year-old girl, reported missing since Friday evening, was retrieved from a nearby forest on Saturday. All the accused and the victim are from the same area.

According to the locals, the accused had lured the girl by inviting her for dinner and instead took her to a forest where they gang-raped her. Later, they hung the body from a tree to make it appear a case of suicide.

An uncle of the victim told journalists that when she had not returned home till late evening on Friday, her family members and the locals conducted a search but could not trace her.

"We sniffed the hand of two boys from the village in her disappearance and conducted a search for them the next morning. We spotted them in the forest but they fled the place as soon as they saw us.

"Later, we called the police and scouted the jungle. Soon, we discovered her body hanging from a tree," the uncle said.

Alleging that she was raped by the seven boys, he demanded a magisterial probe into the incident and death for the culprits.

The police said the body was sent for autopsy and they were awaiting the medical report.

"Right now, we cannot say if she was raped. We havent received the report of medical examination as yet," Sub Divisional Police Officer Tilak Das told this newspaper.

"We have registered a case based on a complaint lodged by the girl's father. We have arrested all the accused persons and interrogated them. We will produce them in the court," he added.
British actor Daniel Radcliffe in a recent interview said he is not rushing back to reprise the role of young wizard, Harry Potter, anytime soon.

The 30-year-old star who rose to fame with the first eight films in J.K. Rowling's famed franchise, told Variety that he doesn't like to say no to things but reprising the role in the 'Fantastic Beasts' prequels is not something he's "rushing to do".

"I feel like those films have moved on and they're doing just fine without us. I'm happy to keep it that way. I like what my life is now," Radcliffe told the outlet.

"I'm not saying that I'll never go back into any franchise, but I like the flexibility that I have with my career now. And I don't want to get into a situation where I'm signed up for one series for years in advance," cited Variety as Radcliffe as saying.

Radcliffe is currently gearing up for his upcoming mystery-thriller 'Escape from Pretoria,' a true-life prison drama, where he is set to essay the character Tim Jenkin.

The forthcoming flick is set to hit the theatres on March 6.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Majority of Protestant churchgoers do not attend alone: LifeWay

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

The vast majority of Protestant churchgoers in the United States do not attend alone, but rather go with family or friends, according to a new report by LifeWay Research.

In a report titled Most Protestant Churchgoers Dont Go to Church Alone that was released Tuesday, LifeWay asked Protestant churchgoers who normally travels with them to church.

Eighty-one percent of respondents said they attend church with at least one other person, with options including spouse, children, grandchildren, other family, friend, or someone who lacks transportation.

Respondents were allowed to select multiple options. The most common response was my spouse, with 54 percent of respondents selecting that option.

The next most common was child/children at 31 percent, followed by another family member at 18 percent, and friend or acquaintance at 11 percent.

Those who responded that they travel to church by themselves was 19 percent, with respondents aged 50 or older being more likely than respondents aged 18-34 to say they travel alone (23 percent vs. 13 percent).

LifeWay drew from an online survey conducted Sept. 20-27 of last year, which had a sample of 1,002 American Protestants who attend church at least once a month.

Other findings from the report included men being more likely than women to report attending worship with their spouse (64 percent vs. 46 percent), women being more likely than men to say their children travel with them (36 percent vs. 24 percent), and 3 percent of respondents reporting going to church with someone who lacks transportation.

Many weeks, its hard enough for attendees to get themselves to church, so its not surprising few are stopping to pick up a neighbor, said Scott McConnell, executive director of LifeWay Research, in a statement released with the report.

The reality is, if every Christian driving or riding to church this week used the extra vehicle seats around them to bring other people, churches would likely not be able to contain the crowds.

Last August, LifeWay released a report that found a majority of Protestant churchgoers believed they could walk with God without the need of other believers.

Sponsored by the Center for Church Revitalization at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, the report found that 65 percent of Protestant churchgoers said they could walk with God without other Christians and 36 percent of respondents agreed strongly.

At the same time, however, the 2019 report also found that 75 percent of respondents felt they needed help from others with their walk of faith.

"The 'needing, yet not needing' responses demonstrate an internal turmoil of individuals desiring community, but not seeing the church as the place to have those needs met," said Kenneth Priest, interim director of the Center, at the time.

"Solo Christianity is an inward desire to seek after spiritual matters without the realization biblical community is what will fulfill the desire they are seeking.
PM Modi's Ferozepur rally in Punjab postponed after stuck on road for 15-20 mins

Viral: This Animated video released in 2020 looks exactly the sequence of PM security breach

MHA showcauses Bathinda SSP, 5 other officers over 'major lapses in security' during PM's visit

Punjab to reduce retirement age to 58 years

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Amritsar, Mar 01: Reducing government employees' retirement age from 60 to 58, free education for all students up to Class 12 and a debt waiver for landless farmers were some of the major announcements made by Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal in the 2020-21 budget on Friday.

Badal on Friday presented a Rs 1,54,805 crore budget in the state Assembly here.

Deciding against levying any fresh taxes, Badal also announced a waiver of Change of Land Use (CLU) charges for two years for new industries coming up outside municipal limits and slashed 'mandi' fee on vegetables from 4 to 1 per cent.

7th Pay Commission: Good news on pension rules, as govt brings cheer to CG employees

The budget earmarked Rs 100 crore for giving 10 lakh free smartphones to the youth, which was one of the main poll promises of the ruling Congress.

The delivery of smartphones, however, has been halted due to the coronavirus outbreak in China, Badal said in his fourth budget speech.

"We expect the delivery of smartphones to start from April 2020 onwards," he said.

NEWS AT NOON, MARCH 1st, 2020

Asserting that the state's finances were "back on track", Badal said the state has reached the point where there is no funding gap in 2020-21 because of the government's sustained efforts to bringing in fiscal prudence.

In a major announcement, Badal said the retirement age of government employees has been reduced from 60 to 58.

"With this, we will be able to provide employment to three to four times the number of people who retire. We will also be able to get more talented pool of young people to serve Punjab," he later told reporters.

He said the number of employees who are going to be affected by this move was yet to be worked out and that the decision will be implemented in two phases.

"Those who have turned 59 will retire on March 31 this year and those who are 58 will retire from September 30," he added.

Currently, 3.50 lakh government employees are working in the state departments and the attrition rate is 5 to 9 per cent.

When asked about the financial implications, Badal said he was expecting that the financial outgo on account of reducing the retirement age would be Rs 3,500 crore.

Allocating Rs 12,488 crore for promotion of schools and higher education, the minister announced free education for all students in government schools up to Class 12.

Currently, education is free for all students up to Class 8 and it is free up to Class 12 only for girls.

Free transportation facility for primary schools students will also be provided and for this Rs 10 crore has been allocated, Badal said.

He also announced to earmark Rs 4,000 crore in the budget for the 6th Pay Commission which is expected to submit recommendations in the near future.

He further announced payment of 6 per cent Dearness Allowance arrears to employees next month which would involve financial outgo of Rs 1,000 crore.

The government employees have been seeking release of their pending DA.

Badal also announced allocation of Rs 2,000 crore including Rs 520 crore especially for waiving loans of landless farm workers under its flagship programme of crop loan waiver scheme.

The government has already waived crop loans of all small and marginal farmers (up to 5 acres) who have loans of up to Rs 2 lakh.

Later, Badal also said the compensation to families of farmers who committed suicide would be ensured within 60 days.

The allocation for free power subsidy for farmers has been kept at Rs 8,275 crore for 2020-21, he said.

In another important announcement, the minister said under the new assessment policy of the excise and taxation department, the number of pending and old VAT assessment cases would come down from 1.24 lakh to about 30,000.

In the budget, Badal proposed revenue receipts of Rs 88,004 crore and revenue expenditure of Rs 95,716 crore for 2020-21.

He further said the revenue deficit for 2020-21 will be Rs 7,712 crore (1.20 per cent of GSDP) and the fiscal deficit will be Rs 18,828 crore (2.92 per cent of GSDP).

He also projected outstanding debt of Rs 2,48,236 crore for 2020-21 as against 2019-20 revised estimates of Rs 2,28,906 crore.

While Chief Minister Amarinder Singh lauded the budget, the Opposition dubbed it "visionless and directionless".

"With his futuristic budget projections, the finance minister laid down a progressive roadmap that will chart the way for the state's holistic growth and development, with all sections of the society set to be benefitted," said Amarinder Singh in a statement here.

BJP national secretary Tarun Chugh said the budget is "nothing but a document of deceit" and a "U-turn" on the promises made by the Congress party ahead of 2017 assembly elections.

Shiromani Akali Dal leader and former minister Bikram Singh Majithia described the budget as a "fraud" on the people of Punjab.

In a statement here, he said figures had been "fudged" to paint a rosy picture even as Punjab was suffering due to "inefficiency and mismanagement" of the state's finances by Badal.

Badal also proposed capital expenditure of Rs 10,280 crore.

He said the state would get higher share from the central taxes as has been proposed by the 15th Finance Commission.

He said the state government proposes to set up two agriculture colleges at Gurdaspur and Balachaur.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Sunday, March 1, 2020, 10:34 [IST]
The West Bengal BJP unit on Sunday came under fire after a group of people holding the party flag allegedly raised the incendiary "desh ke gaddaron ko, goli maro..." (shoot the traitors) slogan on their way to a rally of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The men shouted the slogan while they were passing the Maidan Market in Esplanade en route to the rally venue Shahid Minar ground.

There has been a controversy over raising of such slogans in BJP rallies during Delhi polls and demonstrations in favour of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) due to allegations that they provoke violence.

The state BJP leadership, however, denied involvement of any party worker in the incident and termed it as the "handiwork of the TMC (Trinamool Congress)".

The slogan shouting BJP supporters came close to Congress and Left Front members who chanted "Go Back Amit Shah" on the other flank of the Jawaharlal Nehru Road, but a showdown was averted as a large number of police personnel posted nearby intervened and took control of the situation.

When contacted, a senior Kolkata Police officer declined to comment on the incident but said strict action will be taken against anybody trying to disrupt law and order in the city.

"No arrest has been made in this connection till evening," he said.

When asked for a reaction on the incident, state BJP vice-president Subhas Sarkar said no party workers were involved in this sloganeering.

"It was a mega rally in Kolkata. We feel that it was the handiwork of the TMC to malign our party," Sarkar said.

Senior CPI(M) leader Mohammed Salim criticised the role of the Mamata Banerjee administration claiming that police were "inactive" against those raising the slogan.

"They (the BJP) are trying to vitiate the atmosphere of West Bengal. We had heard the 'goli maro' slogan in Delhi. Now, thanks to the Mamata Banerjee government and her police, who were mere spectator, we saw them shouting it here," Salim told reporters.

Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury condemned the incident.

"The BJP is trying to bring in a new culture to Bengal. This is not our culture. Whatever has happened today in Kolkata is deplorable. Mamata Banerjee has brought Shah to the city by allowing the BJP to hold the rally. And the police inaction shows that the state government has helped them," Chowdhury told PTI over the phone.

Senior TMC leader Anubarata Mandal said people of Bengal would give a befitting reply to the "preachers of hate and divisive politics".

The Union home minister was on a day-long visit to Kolkata.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Slovak voters handed a resounding victory to the centre-right, anti-graft OLaNO opposition party in Saturday's general election, dominated by an angry backlash over the 2018 murder of a journalist probing corruption in the eurozone state.

Having vowed to immediately push through anti-corruption measures when in office, OLaNO leader Igor Matovic galvanised voter outrage over the murder of Jan Kuciak and his fiancee and the high-level graft their deaths exposed.

"We will try to create the best government Slovakia has ever had, with the help of the other leaders of the democratic opposition," Matovic told journalists as he claimed victory after the exit poll results were announced.

"It was the death of Jan Kuciak and Martina Kusnirova that woke up Slovakia."



Outgoing Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini conceded defeat as partial official results showed OLaNO outpacing his populist-left Smer-SD by six percentage points.

"Congratulations to the election winner, good health, good luck," Pellegrini told Matovic, adding "he has good marketing, but we will be interested in how he will handle his office."



OLaNO took 24.87 percent of the vote ahead of 18.73 percent for the governing populist-left Smer-SD party, while the conservative We Are Family scored 8.34 percent, the liberal Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) won 5.67 percent and the fellow liberal "For the People" of ex-president Andrej Kiska mustered 5.43 percent of the vote, according to returns from 82.76 percent of polling stations.

The result suggests Smer-SD lacks obvious coalition partners as it has ruled out teaming up with the far-right Our Slovakia LSNS party, which scored 8.27 percent support.

When asked by journalists about a possible coalition with OLaNO, Pellegrini quipped "never say never".

"But you have to put this question to Igor Matovic whether he would be willing to do so or not," he added.

Matovic told reporters that he had agreed via telephone to meet with President Zuzana Caputova on "Monday or Tuesday" and that he would begin talks with leaders of other opposition parties that make it into parliament on Sunday.

Earlier on Saturday, Caputova said she would consider the "coalition potential" of party leaders when deciding whom to task with creating a government.

Analysts have indicated that OLaNO will have the option of considering several opposition parties for a coalition.

"There is a chance that this new government will last until the end of its term," said Slovakia analyst Tomas Koziak, the Rector of the University of Political Sciences based in Kutna Hora, Czech Republic.

"These parties have been in opposition for a very long time, therefore their top politicians are thirsty for power. Power is the strongest glue," Koziak told AFP.

Allegedly a hit ordered by a businessman with connections to politicians, the killings of Kuciak and Kusnirova have become a lightning rod for public outrage at graft in public life.

"Change is much needed here," said Daniela Jonasova, a 35-year-old office clerk, who told AFP she voted for OLaNO at a Bratislava polling station.

Analysts suggest that OLaNO's Matovic, a 46-year-old media-savvy MP but unpredictable politician, could become premier if he manages to unify the splintered opposition.

An eccentric self-made millionaire and former media boss, Matovic set up "Ordinary People and Independent Personalities -- OLaNO" a decade ago.

According to Bratislava-based political analyst Radoslav Stefancik, "the election is primarily about the desire for decency in politics".

"Instead of protesting against the ruling Smer-SD party on the streets, people will do so in polling stations," Stefancik told AFP.

The double murder triggered the largest anti-government protests since communist times and toppled Fico as prime minister, with his party colleague Peter Pellegrini taking up the reins.

It also propelled Zuzana Caputova, a liberal lawyer and anti-graft activist, out of nowhere to win last year's presidential race in the country of 5.4 million people.

Heavily dependent on car-making, economic growth in the Slovak economy is projected to slow to 2.2 percent this year, according to the European Commission's latest forecast.

Unemployment is relatively low and stood at around 5.6 percent in late 2019. Turnout tallied at 63.94 percent of the electorate, official results showed, up from 59.8 in 2016.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Shillong: The night curfew imposed in the Meghalaya capital after violent clashes was lifted at 8 am on Sunday, barring in areas under the jurisdiction of Lumdiengjri and Sadar police stations and Cantonment Beat House, where indefinite curfew continued to remain in effect, officials said.

The curfew was imposed since 9 pm Saturday, following the death of two persons in separate attacks in Ichamati area in East Khasi Hills district on Friday and at Shillong's Iewduh market on Saturday, they said.

The situation is tense following the two deaths, especially of a Khasi Students' Union (KSU) activist in a clash between members of the students' body and non-tribals during a rally in Ichamati area, which is close to the Indo-Bangladesh border.

Clashes broke out between KSU members and non-tribals during a rally organised against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and demanding implementation of the Inner Line Permit (ILP), at Ichamati on Friday, district Superintendent of Police Claudia Lyngwa said.

East Khasi Hills District authorities said the curfew was extended in areas under the jurisdiction of Lumdiengjri and Sadar police stations Cantonment Beat House over fears there might be a serious breakdown of law and order in those places.

There is a likelihood of a serious breakdown of peace and tranquillity which may lead to loss of life and property... I do promulgate curfew in these areas from 8 am on March 1 until further orders, District Magistrate Matsiewdor W Nongbri said in an order.

Mobile internet and messaging services have been temporarily suspended in six districts of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills region to curtail rumours that could deteriorate law and order, officials said.

Eight persons have been arrested in this case and a magisterial inquiry has been instituted to probe into the incident, she said.

Another person was stabbed to death at the Iewduh market under Cantonment Beat House on Saturday when unidentified persons went on an attacking spree that left seven others seriously injured, the SP said, adding that no one has been arrested so far in this incident.

After the clashes, curfew was imposed by noon in the two police station areas in Shillong while night curfew was imposed for the entire city.

Three companies of central forces have been deployed in the sensitive areas of the district, including in the affected areas of the city, officials said.

Governor Tathagata Roy and Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma have appealed the citizens to maintain peace. Both had taken to social media to issue their appeals even as mobile internet services were suspended in the six districts.

chief minister Sangma reviewed the law and order situation in the state and appealed for peace.

I appeal to all our citizens and people of the state to ensure that peace returns and urge upon different organisations to refrain from any violent activity. A magisterial inquiry has been set up. We have ensured that enough manpower is put in place in the affected areas - Chief Minister Sangma

He announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh for the family of the man killed in Friday's clash.

Meanwhile, a police officer told that the state police, which has set up helpline number 1800 345 3846 for stranded tourists, has successfully escorted at least 16 tourists out of the hill town to Guwahati after receiving frantic calls for help from them.
Relations between Russia and Turkey continued to sour as the two countries edged closer to open confrontation over northwest Syria while their top officials struggled to defuse tensions.

Meanwhile inside embattled northwest Syria, Turkish-backed rebel fighters and Assad regime troops fought ferociously for towns and villages in Syria's northwest. A Syrian monitoring group described a Turkish drone strike which killed 19 regime troops in a convoy on Monday.

An activist described improving humanitarian conditions as the regimes forces find themselves on the defensive in the face of a Turkish artillery and air onslaught.

Now the situation has become better than before, said Mustafa Dahnon, a journalist reached by telephone in the city of Idlib, the most heavily populated urban centre in the contested opposition-controlled province.

Because the military factions managed to regain control of villages, towns and cities, he told The Independent. In the past, the regime was very close to the city Idlib. Now they have been pushed back.

The escalating violence in Syria has prompted the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladmir Putin to hold a hastily arranged meeting in Moscow on Thursday, the Kremlin announced Monday. Russian and Turkish troops also conducted a joint patrol in northern Syria on Monday in an attempt to restore fraying ties.

The fast-moving developments came following the killing of at least 33 Turkish soldiers in a Syrian regime airstrike in Idlib province on Thursday. The attack prompted Ankara to dramatically escalate attacks on military forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and open its borders at Bulgaria and Greece to refugees yearning to head towards the west.

On Sunday, Turkey claimed it downed two Russian-made Syrian regime fighter jets over the countrys opposition-controlled northwest and rendered useless a regime airbase near the town of Nayrab, according to Turkish media outlets. Damascus claimed it shot down a Turkish drone near the town of Saraqeb.

Neither claim could be independently verified.

Hours later Damascus announced a no-fly zone over northern Syria, according to the official Sana news agency, a restriction it would be unable to enforce without Russia, its primary patron and military backer.

Turkeys defence minister Halusi Akar on Sunday announced the launch of Operation Spring Shield, aimed at pushing back Assads forces from Turkeys positions in Idlib.

We do not aim to have a face-off with Russia, Mr Akar said. Our aim is for the Syrian regime to stop massacres and to prevent radicalisation, migration.

Mr Akar said the Turkish offensive would entail targeting Assad regime assets that posed a threat to Turkish interests in northeast Syria.

Turkey has been hammering Syrian regime positions with artillery and airstrikes for days, claiming to have neutralised several drones and helicopters, as well as dozens of tanks, howitzers, several air defence systems and 2,212 regime soldiers, according to Halusi.

Meanwhile Turkey detained three journalists working for the Kremlin-operated Sputnik website after it published a piece questioning the Turkish annexation of a part of Syria some eight decades ago. The journalists were later released under pressure from Moscow.

Turkey has long been the primary patron of Syrian opponents to the Assad regime, but finds itself backed into the corner as his forces, backed by Russian air power and Iranian ground forces, have reconquered much of the country.

Northwestern Idlib province remains the final opposition stronghold, and for months both the Assad regime and Russian forces have been pummelling it and its estimated 2 million civilians with airstrikes and artillery, creating a humanitarian disaster and a potential domestic political nightmare for Mr Erdogan in a Turkey increasingly hostile to Syrians.

Mr Erdogan and Mr Putin forged a partnership over Syria over the last several years, attempting to find a resolution to a nine-year conflict that began with Mr Assads violent suppression of peaceful protesters and mushroomed into an all-out civil war.

A collapse in the detente between Moscow and Ankara could mean direct armed conflict between a Nato member and Russia, potentially entangling the rest of the alliance. It could also spell more misery for millions of Syrians penned up in the countrys northwest hoping to get to western Europe.

Mr Erdogans government has claimed it allowed 117,000 migrants and refugees to get across the border towards Greece and Bulgaria as a way of putting pressure on the European Union to address Syria and to deflect domestic attention away from the losses the conflict has entailed.

Greek and Bulgarian authorities are reporting far fewer numbers attempting to cross and insist very few if any are successful in traversing the heavily guarded frontiers.

No one can cross the Greek borders, said a text message sent out by Athens authorities. All those attempting illegal entry are effectively prevented from entering. Numbers cited by Turkish authorities are entirely false and misleading.
Centre-right politician Luis Lacalle Pou sworn in as president after winning Novembers runoff by a close margin.

A previous version of this article incorrectly stated Uruguay was the smallest country by population in South America. This article has been corrected to note Uruguay is one of the smallest countries by population in the region .

Montevideo, Uruguay  After 15 years of left-wing leadership under the Broad Front coalition, Uruguay has ushered in a conservative government.

The centre-right National Partys Luis Lacalle Pou was inaugurated on Sunday after winning by a runoff election in November against the Broad Fronts Daniel Martinez by about 37,000 votes.

While the Broad Front presided over one of the longest economic growth cycles in the countrys history, growth stalled in recent years.

The sluggish economy, combined with a high cost of living and an increasing homicide rate contributed to Uruguayans swerve to the right, analysts say.

The number of homicides increased by 46 percent in 2018. While the countrys official rate of 11.8 percent per 100,000 was relatively low compared with other countries in the region, for Uruguayan standards, its high and many voters believed tougher measures were in order to stop gang and drug-related crimes from spreading, said political analyst Oscar Bottinelli.

Uruguay has also become one of the most expensive countries in Latin America to live.

Uruguayans pay 30 percent more for a litre of gasoline, then Argentines, Brazilians and Chileans, said economist Ignacio Munyo.

A supporter of Uruguays new President Luis Lacalle Pou, displays a flag outside Congress in Montevideo, Uruguay [Natacha Pisarenko/AP Photo]

Pou, a 46-year old lawyer and son of former president Luis Alberto Lacalle (1990-1995), has the support of five centre-right parties, including his National Party, as well as a majority in Congress.

His coalition wants to cut government spending and liberalise the energy sector, in order to tackle the countrys fiscal deficit.

Last year, the deficit increased to 4.8 percent of the gross domestic product, making it the highest deficit in 30 years.

Pou plans to make most changes during his first year as president and has included them all in a 400-article bill, said political analyst Daniel Chasquetti.

But his proposals, without angering trade unions, middle-class Uruguayans and the opposition, may prove to be an uphill battle.

Uruguayans are very divided, said Ximena Abitante, a teacher in Montevideo.

Almost half of the country still supports the Broad Front, he told Al Jazeera.

Peaceful haven

Nestled between Argentina and Brazil, Uruguay is known as the Switzerland of South America  partly because of its banking secrecy rules, which were recently scrapped by Congress, but mostly because of its stability.

Uruguay was one of the only South American countries that did not experience social unrest last year.

That is our biggest and perhaps most precious asset  what makes a tiny agricultural country like ours appealing, Munyo told Al Jazeera.

In recent years, the region has experienced a number of political shifts, including Mexico, Argentina and Brazil.

Uruguayans voted for Pou because they wanted a change, but dont expect anything radical  this is a country with a low tolerance for extremists, says Bottinelli.

A supporter of Uruguays new President Luis Lacalle Pou waits for his arrival to Congress in Montevideo, Uruguay [Natacha Pisarenko/AP Photo]

When Brazils far-right President Jair Bolsonaro openly rooted for Pou during the campaign, saying he hoped someone closer to his team would win Uruguays presidential elections, Pou sought to distance himself from the Brazilian leader. He appeared to side with the ruling Broad Front by questioning Brazils interference in Uruguayan politics.

I dont think its a good idea for rulers to influence what happens in another country, Pou said at the time.

Part of Pous plan to inject money into Uruguays economy involves easing up regulations, to attract tens of thousands of wealthy and qualified immigrants  mostly from the region. With almost 3.5 million inhabitants, Uruguay is one of the smallest nations by population in South America  hardly an attractive market, compared with Brazils 200 million consumers or Argentinas 44 million.

We have already been singled out as a peaceful haven  the idea is to take the lead of countries, like Portugal, and make it more appealing to those seeking a better quality of life, said German Cardoso, the newly sworn-in minister of tourism.

Uruguay has free healthcare and education, and is known for its progressive laws on abortion and same-sex marriage.

In 2013, it was the first in the world to legalise the production and distribution of cannabis.

But equally important is the fact that we defend human rights, value private property, and respect both our institutions and contracts  no matter which way the government changes, Cardoso told Al Jazeera.
MUMBAI, India  When Pakistans government unveiled some of the worlds most sweeping rules on internet censorship last month, global internet companies like Facebook, Google and Twitter were expected to comply or face severe penalties  including the potential shutdown of their services.

Instead, the tech giants banded together and threatened to leave the country and its 70 million internet users in digital darkness.

Through a group called the Asia Internet Coalition, they wrote a scathing letter to Prime Minister, Imran Khan. In it, the companies warned that the rules as currently written would make it extremely difficult for AIC members to make their services available to Pakistani users and businesses.

Their public rebellion, combined with pressure and lawsuits from local civil libertarians, forced the government to retreat. The law remains on the books, but Pakistani officials pledged last week to review the regulations and undertake an extensive and broad-based consultation process with all relevant segments of civil society and technology companies.

Because Pakistan does not have any law of data protection, international internet firms are reluctant to comply with the rules, said Usama Khilji, director of Bolo Bhi, an internet rights organization based in Islamabad, the countrys capital.

The standoff over Pakistans digital censorship law, which would give regulators the power to demand the takedown of a wide range of content  is the latest skirmish in an escalating global battle. Facebook, Google and other big tech companies, which have long made their own rules about what is allowed on their services, are increasingly tangling with national governments seeking to curtail internet content that they consider harmful, distasteful or simply a threat to their power.

India is expected to unveil new censorship guidelines any day now, including a requirement that encrypted messaging services like WhatsApp tell the government how specific messages moved within their networks. The country has also proposed a new data privacy law that would restrict the activities of tech companies while exempting the government from privacy rules.

Vietnam passed its own cybersecurity law in 2018, with similar provisions to what Pakistan passed. Singapore recently began using its rules against fake news to go after critics and opposition figures by forcing social networks like Facebook to either take down certain posts or add the governments response to them.

The unified resistance by Facebook, Google Twitter and other tech companies in Pakistan is highly unusual. Companies often protest these types of regulations, but they rarely threaten to actually leave a country. Google pulled its search engine out of China in 2010 rather than submit to government censorship of search results, but LinkedIn agreed to self-censor its content when it entered China in 2014 and Apple acceded to Chinese demands to remove apps that customers had used to bypass the countrys Great Firewall.

Chinmayi Arun, a fellow at the Information Society Project at Yale Law School, said the collective threat by the tech companies to leave Pakistan was a brilliant new tactic to fight authoritarian policies.

If it was just Google threatening this or Facebook threatening this, Pakistan might say go ahead, said Arun, who founded the Center for Communication Governance at National Law University Delhi. Its more risky for the Pakistani government to have all of these services withdraw together.

In Pakistan, like much of the world, Facebook, TikTok, WhatsApp and YouTube routinely top the charts of most popular apps.

Under Pakistans new regulations, formally known as the Citizen Protection (Against Online Harm) Rules 2020, social media services must remove or block content within 24 hours of a request from a newly appointed officer, called the national coordinator. Companies must also prevent the livestreaming of any type of content the authorities say is objectionable and label as false anything the government deems to be so.

In addition, the companies must open permanent offices in Islamabad and set up servers to store data in the country. Violations of the law are subject to fines of more than $3 million, with the authorities even empowered to block services entirely.

Pakistani officials denied the new regulations were aimed at curbing free speech.

Firdous Ashiq Awan, the adviser to the prime minister on information and broadcasting, said in a policy statement this month that the rules were introduced to protect the social, cultural and religious values of the country.

She added that under the new laws, action could be taken against those who speak against national institutions and sovereignty  a veiled reference to the military.

Shahzada Zulfiqar, president of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, urged the government to rescind the regulations, which were adopted without any warning or public consultation.

The new laws will not only cause deterioration of a digital economic future for Pakistan but also decrease freedom of expression, increase censorship and diminish digital rights, he said.

The U.S. government also expressed concern about the new restrictions. Last week, the State Department tweeted that they could be a setback to freedom of expression and hamper the development of Pakistans digital economy.

Google, Facebook and Twitter declined to comment beyond the letter from the Asia Internet Coalition.

It is a huge concern that more governments want to take down online content, said Jennifer Daskal, a law professor at American University and faculty director of its Tech, Law, Security Program. So many of the rules end up being used by the government to stifle dissent, or to curate content in ways that are conducive to the governments preferred narratives.

Khan rose to power in Pakistan in 2018 partly because of his partys strong presence on social media, a fact he acknowledges in his speeches. But now that he is in charge, he has shown little patience for online criticism.

Pakistans powerful military is also averse to debates on social media platforms, especially on Twitter, which is used by critics to question human rights violations and the militarys involvement in politics.

Over the past two years, Pakistani government requests for Facebook, Google and Twitter to remove content have increased sharply, according to transparency reports published by the companies. Pakistan disclosed in September that it had blocked more than 900,000 webpages for various reasons, including pornography, blasphemy and sentiments against the state and military.

Separately, regulators in Pakistan have proposed requiring online video sites to obtain licenses from the government.

There is a strong case to be made that the government is overstepping its authority with the new rules, said Muhammad Aftab Alam, executive director of the Institute for Research, Advocacy and Development, a Pakistani public policy group.

This national coordinator is judge, jury, regulator and executioner as well, he said.

At least two lawsuits challenging the rules have already been brought in Pakistani courts.

The main objective of the impugned rules seems to be to control the social media through indirect control by the government and ruling party, read the petition in one case, filed by Raja Ahsan Masood, who asked the court to declare them unconstitutional.

Vindu Goel and Salman Masood are New York Times writers.
Lake Effect snow has ended in the Northeast and temperatures are actually set to trend milder across the eastern U.S. over the next few days.

Attention turns immediately to a complex system developing in the western U.S. and part of this system will track across the country this week and set off yet another widespread heavy rain event in the South.

This morning, there are some snow showers from Idaho to California with areas of limited visibility and slippery travel. As this storm system starts sliding south today, both precipitation and winds will increase from California to Wyoming.

PHOTO: there are some snow showers from Idaho to California with areas of limited visibility and slippery travel. As this storm system starts sliding south today, both precipitation and winds will increase from California to Wyoming. (ABC News)

Winds in the San Francisco Bay area could reach 45 mph today which could cause some downed trees and power lines today.

In Southern California, there is also a small chance of thunderstorms with hail Sunday evening in the lower elevations and winds in the hillsides and mountains of Southern California could gusts up to 45 mph. Light snow will be possible on parts of I-5 through Grapevine and locally up to 6 inches of snow will be possible in southern California.

Locally, up to 14 inches of snow will be possible in parts of Wyoming through Sunday and early Monday and travel on I-80 through southern Wyoming could be affected.

PHOTO: Locally, up to 14 inches of snow will be possible in parts of Wyoming through Sunday and early Monday and travel on I-80 through southern Wyoming could be affected. (ABC News)

On Monday, a part of this system will move eastward and begin a multi-day heavy rain event for parts of the southern U.S. The first batch of rain will move into parts of the Ohio and Tennessee Valley on Monday with the heaviest rain from Kentucky to northern Alabama. There could also be some strong thunderstorms over this area on Monday night with some gusty winds possible.

On Tuesday, another impulse will sneak in and could cause another round of heavy rains to spread from Texas to Georgia with strong thunderstorms possible again.

Widespread heavy rainfall could bring some flash flooding in the region too and some severe weather will be possible across parts of Texas with damaging winds, large hail and brief tornadoes possible.

Story continues

On Wednesday, another round of widespread showers and thunderstorms will move into the Deep South and bring additional chances for flash flooding.

PHOTO: On Wednesday, another round of widespread showers and thunderstorms will move into the Deep South and bring additional chances for flash flooding. (ABC News)

There is increasing confidence that the highest rainfall totals this week will be over portions of Mississippi, Alabama and northern Georgia. Portions of Mississippi and Alabama have seen more than a foot above their average year to date rainfall. If the heaviest rain tracks close to some of this region  flash flooding and river flooding could quickly become a concern in the region this week.

Heavy rain, strong storms target water-logged South originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
If you have been following Daniel Radcliffe's work after Harry Potter, you would have noticed something that the British actor is purposely doing; moving away from Hogwarts and any role or character that even closely resembles his portrayal as Harry Potter.

Asked if he would return as Harry Potter in the "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" films, Radcliffe told Variety:

"I don't think so. I don't like to say no to things, but it's not something that I'm rushing to do. I feel like those films have moved on and they're doing just fine without us. I'm happy to keep it that way."

But does that mean there is absolutely no chance for fans across the world to see Radcliffe as Harry Potter again? A beloved character he played from 2001 to 2011.

"I like what my life is now. I'm not saying that I'll never go back into any franchise, but I like the flexibility that I have with my career now. And I don't want to get into a situation where I'm signed up for one series for years in advance," added the actor.

He will be soon seen in "Escape From Pretoria", a true-life prison drama. In the film, Radcliffe plays Tim Jenkin, an anti-apartheid activist who was imprisoned in South Africa for distributing political pamphlets that were critical of the racist government.
Pete Buttigieg exited the 2020 Democrat presidential race, ending an unlikely bid that saw a gay small-town mayor overpower governors and senators in the fight for the party nomination.

"Today is a moment of truth," Buttigieg said from South Bend, Indiana, where he served as mayor for two terms. "The truth is the path has narrowed to a close, for our candidacy, if not for our cause."

Buttigieg said he had a responsibility for considering "the effect of remaining in this race any further."

"Our goal has always been to help unify Americans to help defeat Donald Trump and to win the era for our values. And so we must recognize that at this point in the race the best way to keep faith with those goals and ideals is to step aside and help bring our party and our country together," he said.

The remarks, punctuated with chants of "2024!" from supporters, concluded with no endorsement from the 38-year-old moderate.

His decision to drop out of the race came a day after former Vice President Joe Biden won a crushing victory in the South Carolina primary, reenergizing a campaign that had flagged in the first three nominating contests in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.

Biden's renewed momentum would make it difficult for Buttigieg to win over moderate voters in this week's Super Tuesday. It also caused some financing trouble: In the wake of Biden's victory, bundlers working for his campaign were able to lure some donors who had been backing Buttigieg, CNBC reported.

During his longshot bid, Buttigieg outperformed expectations, assembling what at points was a substantial war chest and building out a vast national operation. Buttigieg, the first openly gay major presidential contender, scored a narrow delegate edge over Sen. Bernie Sanders in the Iowa caucuses and finished a strong second in New Hampshire's primary.

But the one-time candidate for chair of the Democratic National Committee ultimately failed to sustain his campaign's momentum and ran into difficulty attracting the support of black and other minority voters.

This became clear in the Nevada caucuses, where he finished a distant third place with only 2% of the black vote, and in South Carolina, where he collected 3% of the black vote and finished in fourth.

Buttigieg had predicted that wins in Iowa and New Hampshire would boost his support in the more diverse states that followed, but that outcome did not materialize.

Buttigieg's showings in Nevada and South Carolina muddied potential paths to victory for the millennial Afghanistan war veteran ahead of Super Tuesday, when 14 states will host contests that collectively award a third of the race's total delegates.

Brian tweet

Earlier on Sunday, on NBC's "Meet the Press," host Chuck Todd pressed Buttigieg about his decision to stay in the race.

"Every day we are in this campaign is a day that we have reached the conclusion that pushing forward is the best thing we can do for the country and for the party," Buttigieg said.

The Super Tuesday contests have escalated pressure on candidates who are underperforming in state surveys to drop out.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar have resisted those calls, though.

Warren's campaign released a memo on Sunday describing the Democratic National Convention in July as the "final play" for the campaign and committing to fight for delegates for as long as it could until then.

An aide to Klobuchar told CNBC shortly after Buttigieg's departure from the race became known that the moderate senator was not planning to drop out any time soon. Klobuchar was attending an event in her home state Sunday evening. Minnesota is among the Super Tuesday states.

-- CNBC's Lauren Hirsch contributed to this report.
The ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal on Sunday slammed Union Home Minister Amit Shah for attacking the state government over law and order situation, saying instead of preaching he should apologise for failing to save innocent lives during the Delhi violence.

Senior TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee also said West Bengal is better off without bigotry and hatred that, he alleged, the BJP "is trying to spread".

"Rather than coming and preaching #Bengal @AmitShah you should have explained and apologised for failing to save more than 50 innocent lives in #DelhiViolence right under your nose," Abhishek, nephew of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, said in a tweet.

At least 42 people were killed and over 200 injured as frenzied groups of people torched houses, shops, vehicles, a petrol pump, and pelted local people and police personnel with stones earlier this week, the worst riots in Delhi in over three decades.

Delhi Police is under the Union Ministry of Home.

"Mr Shah, Bengal is better off without bigotry and hatred that BJP is trying to spread," Abhishek said in the tweet.

Shah, who was in the city to address a rally, exuded confidence that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will form the next government in the state with two-third majority after the 2021 Assembly polls and expressed anguish over the "worsening" law and order situation in Bengal.

With an eye on 2021 Assembly polls in the state, Shah also launched the BJP's 'Aar Noi Annay' (no more injustice) campaign and accused the TMC government of not allowing "central welfare policies to be implemented in the state".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In a statement Sunday, Schmidt said, The Roman Family is pleased with the decision of the State Attorneys Office and the Chicago Polices Departments decision to dismiss all charges. At this time my clients, the Roman family, have been reunited and are enjoying time with Ariel as he recuperates. He remembers everything about the incident that took place and is fully committed to cooperating with the various investigations. They thank the City of Chicago for all of their prayers and support and request for privacy during this very difficult time.
Two factors make this years event different from those in the past. One is that Super Tuesday falls just three days after the South Carolina primary, rather than 10 days as it was in 2008. That gives candidates little time for serious campaigning in most of the states and raises the question of how much impact Bidens victory in South Carolina will have on voters elsewhere. The other difference is that the field of candidates competing Tuesday is larger than on previous Super Tuesdays, even with Buttigiegs withdrawal.
ALBANY  A veteran and former Iran hostage from Albany has died.

Westley Williams died at the age of 62 at the Stratton VA Medical Center Wednesday surrounded by his family, according to his paid obituary. The cause of his death was not disclosed.

Williams was one of 65 Americans held captive by Iranian militants during the Iran Hostage Crisis in 1979. He was serving with the Marine Security Guard Detachment at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran at the time. Upon his release and return home, he received a Prisoner of War Medal.

Williams grew up in Arbor Hill and later settled in Troy. He is survived by his partner, Christina Valenti, daughter, Giada Williams, and step-daughter, Tahlia Maldonado, as well as his brother, nieces and nephews.

"Westley was always the first to help people, he felt that helping others was always more important than his own safety," his obituary read. "He was guided by his faith and inspiration of his grandmother."

Times Union columnist Chris Churchill interviewed Williams in 2016 about his hostage experience. Williams, who was among 12 other black and female hostages who were released by the terrorists early, was excluded from government compensation for the ordeal the hostages suffered through, Churchill wrote. While most of the other former hostages were set to receive up to $4.4 million, Williams and the other early-release hostages received nothing.

"I was there and got my ass beat and everything else," Williams told Churchill at the time. "But I guess my service isn't good enough for them."

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

On Nov. 4, 1979, Iranian militants charged the U.S. Embassy in Tehran because of what they said was their frustration with years of U.S. meddling in their country's internal politics. They held 65 Americans captive, 52 of which were held for 444 days. Williams and others were released after 20 days. All hostages were tortured in detention. The hostages were released on Jan. 20, 1981 after a year of negotiating between the Iranian and U.S. governments.

Williams suffered from alcohol and drug addiction stemming from post-traumatic stress disorder after returning from service in 1983, he told Churchill. Last month, Rensselaer County posted a photo of Williams at his graduation from drug court in Troy.

Calling hours for Williams will be held at New Comer Cremations & Funerals, 343 New Karner Road, Albany from 5 to 7 p.m. Monday. A funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the funeral home. Interment will follow the service at the Gerald B.H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery, Schuylerville.



In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Sacred Heart Church, 310 Spring Ave., Troy, NY 12180.
VRC'S LATEST SCRATCHINGS Victoria Racing Club members knew 2020 would be a year of big changes, given long-time club chair Amanda Elliott is due to pass the directors baton to a new leader. But the 10-person board of directors is now on track for a near-total makeover following the resignation of three well-known members in two months. Readers will recall Elisa Robinson resigned in early January, circulating an open letter along with her resignation which laid bare tension around the board table. On Thursday, former vice-chairman John ORourke and former PwC executive Peter Fekete both tendered their resignations, ahead of a directors meeting on Friday. O'Rourke and Fekete had publicly abandoned support for Elliott in November, expressing concerns over governance and a need for fresh blood on the committee. A resignation letter for ORourke and Fekete obtained by CBD again alluded to their concerns about internal governance. We apologise to Club members for not seeing out our remaining elected terms. However, in the circumstances where we as Directors cannot support a number of majority decisions of the current board, we feel there is no choice but to step down at this time, the letter read.

The letter also offered praise for the highly talented and dedicated executive team and staff at the VRC, and said the resignation would be effective immediately. The notoriously closed-shop board now gets to choose replacements for the three outgoing directors. Members will not get a say in that, given that the board of directors is responsible for replacing them through a casual vacancy process. Its a lofty responsibility for those left on the board, including PEXA executive manager Sophie Cornell, Galileo Funds chief executive Neil Werrett, EY assurance managing partner Glenn Carmody and Terrain Capital managing director Michael Ramsden, who is deputy chair. Judge Katherine Bourke was also re-elected to the committee in December, along with Elliott. Under the process, new members who are appointed to the board will have to renominate in 10 months' time at the annual general meeting in December. Fresh blood? Dont count on it.

HOUSE HYGIENE With the spread of coronavirus across the country looking more and more inevitable  another hospitalisation in Sydney over the weekend, Australias first COVID-19 death  who will think of the parliamentarians? As it turns out, none other than former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce. The one-time deputy prime minister late last week brought to our attention, via one of CBDs Canberra correspondents, his concerns about the serious risk posed by Parliament House. Ive just been looking through all the sporting events being cancelled, Joyce said. I was thinking of a place everyone goes, sit in one big room together, they bump into each other, they sit on the same seats then they get on planes together and fly to all corners of Australia. Sending people out to every nook and cranny in Australia  by plane, you couldn't design a better way to spread a virus. His comments came after International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound suggested the Tokyo Olympics could be called off, and with NSW Health outlining a possible crisis management plan that temporarily shut schools.
United States Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar, and NCIRD Director doctor Nancy Messonnier speak about the public health response to the outbreak of the coronavirus during a news conference at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in Washington, on Jan. 28, 2020. (Amanda Voisard/Reuters/File Photo)

Azar Says Hes Personally Involved in Coronavirus Whistleblower Complaint Investigation

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar on Sunday said he is personally investigating an allegation that was raised by a whistleblower who claimed that agency employees lacked protective gear and training when evacuating Americans from COVID-19 coronavirus epicenter Wuhan, in China.

We are aggressively looking to see whether there is validity to the concerns, Azar told CBS News. What the American people need to know is that we now have passed well over 14 days since any HHS employee had contact with the individuals involved. 

Of those HHS workers, he added that nobody has symptoms of COVID-19 and nobody has the disease. He added that he is personally involved in the investigation into the matter.

Reports last week said a whistleblower, who remains anonymous, filed a complaint with the Office of Special Counsel and claimed more than a dozen agency workers who were involved in the evacuation didnt have proper training for infection control of appropriate protective gear. Its not clear if whistleblower, who works for the Administration for Children and Families at HHS, was involved in the evacuation effort.

A stretcher is moved from an AMR ambulance to the Life Care Center of Kirkland where one associate and one resident were diagnosed with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) according to a statement released by the facility in Kirkland, Washington on February 29, 2020. (JASON REDMOND/AFP via Getty Images)

In the interview, Azar said HHS takes the protection of its staffers very seriously and said it is absolutely not the case that agency staffers who were on the flight spread COVID-19 along the West Coast.

Even if these allegations prove to be true, there was no spreading of the disease from this, and we have offeredeven though it is not medically indicatedwe have offered to test any HHS employees involved. If they would like that extra peace of mind, we want to do that for employees, he said.

A lawyer for the whistleblower told CNN that HHS failed to protect its workers against the virus.

We are hopeful that Congress and the OSC will investigate this case in a timely and comprehensive manner, the attorney, Ari Wilkenfeld, said in a statement.

There are 72 cases of the new coronavirus in the United States. Over the weekend, Washington state reported the first U.S. fatality.

The risk to average Americans remains low. We are working to keep it low, Azar continued. We will see more transmissions of cases in the United States. Weve got the finest public system in the world here. This is what we do. We cannot make predictions as to how many cases well have, but we will have more and we will have more community cases. Its simply a matter of math.
South Korea has reportedly detected 210 new cases of Coronavirus with the total figure of those infected now climbing to 3,736, the Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) confirmed in media reports. South Korea has also reported it's 18th fatality due to COVID-19.

According to news reports, South Korea has the highest number of virus cases globally, after mainland China. There has been an acute surge in the figures as the disease continues to spread unabated within the East Asian nation. South Korean President Moon Jae-in told international media that his government was waging an all-out response to curb the nationwide spread of the disease.

He further elaborated that the nation was escalating the crisis alert to the highest level. Scores of events have either been called off or postponed in South Korea since the outbreak, as per the reports. The Central Bank of South Korea warned the government of shrinking growth in the first quarter for the worlds 12th largest economy, hinting at a consumption and export slowdown due to the deadly epidemic.

Read: Malaysia Health Ministry Confirms Four New Coronavirus Cases

Read: Pak To Close Border With Afghanistan For 7 Days Amid Coronavirus Scare

North Korea warns of consequences

The Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reportedly confirmed that more than 90 per cent of cases of the novel coronavirus in South Korea emerged in Daegu, a province in North Gyeongsang. Like Wuhan City in China, Daegu has become the South Korean epicentre of the disease. South Koreas Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip warned the country of the upsurge in Coronavirus infections as health authorities scrambled to diagnose the members of the Shincheonji religious group, suggest reports.

Meanwhile, North Koreas communist leader Kim Jong-Un warned South Koreas top party officials of the "serious consequences" upon failing to prevent an outbreak on their side of the border. North Korea has sealed off its borders to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 within its territory.

Read: Trump Accuses Democrats Of 'politicizing Coronavirus' Outbreak, Links It To Immigration

Read: Kim Jong-un Warns Of 'serious Consequences' If Coronavirus Spreads To North Korea

(With Agency inputs)
Former EastEnders star Carol Harrison has lashed out at producers of the show and accused them of making her feel 'suicidal' amid a clash over 'sexist and ageist scripts'.

The actress, 65, who played Tiffany Mitchell's mum Louise Raymond in the nineties, has spoken out against the BBC soap and says the toxic atmosphere on set eventually led her to have an emotional breakdown.

Carol, who was 42 when she portrayed the character, told The Mirror how she had seven crunch meetings with producers over the way she was treated, with the drama having a serious impact on her health.

Furious: Former EastEnders star Carol Harrison has lashed out at producers of the show and accused them of making her feel 'suicidal' amid a clash over 'sexist and ageist scripts' (pictured in 2018)

Carol was axed from EastEnders in 1999, after just a year on the show.

Discussing her treatment at the hands of producers at the time, she told the publication: 'I was told, "We dont care about women over 40. They are not our audience. There is no interest in them"

'It left me shocked at how ageist and misogynistic they were. They told me to just get on with it and be grateful.'

The TV personality went on claim that the stress of her trying to please show bosses through her character led her to suffering blackouts, putting on weight and having suicidal thoughts which first occurred when she was a teenager.

Anger: The actress, 65, who played Tiffany Mitchell's mum Louise Raymond in the nineties, has spoken out against the BBC soap and says the toxic atmosphere on set eventually led her to have an emotional breakdown (pictured in character in 1999)

Carol explained that she ended up on antidepressants and went to therapy following her time on the show, which she says made her feel like a 'has-been'.

During her time on the soap, Carol was involved in several explosive storylines, namely the affair with Tiffany's husband Grant Mitchell, of which Tiffany subsequently learned of via a baby monitor - a plot which which one the soap a BAFTA.

However, in the six months that followed, Carol recalled many scenes in which she believed reeked of 'ageism and misogyny'.

She told of a scene in which Louise's then lover Gianni Di Marco found a bottle of her hair dye in the medicine cabinet, leading him to brand the character 'nothing but an old granny.'

So sad: Carol, who was 42 when she portrayed the character, told The Mirror how she had seven crunch meetings with producers over the way she was treated, with the drama having a serious impact on her health (pictured in 2018)

Shock: Discussing her treatment at the hands of producers at the time, she told the publication: 'I was told, "We dont care about women over 40. They are not our audience. There is no interest in them"

Carol remarked that this was 'demeaning' to the characters and viewers of a similar age.

While another scene saw Grant snap at Louise and remark why would he be with her when he could have Tiffany, despite his character being just five years younger than hers - with Carol adding that his line was 'ridiculous.'

Going on to discuss the difficult times she faced in the wake of her clashes she had with producers, she added: 'I had about seven meetings with executives. My relationships with them became toxic and I started feeling ill... I was working 7am to 7pm and had my little boy Alfie and husband Jamie. Id go home and cry.'

Oh her suicidal feeling, Carol told how she 'never let them' go beyond thoughts and 'knew the signs' due to her past battles.

Tough time: 'It left me shocked at how ageist and misogynistic they were. They told me to just get on with it and be grateful'

Impact: Carol explained that she ended up on antidepressants and went to therapy following her time on the show, which she says made her feel like a 'has-been'

Carol's comments come in response to the news that Dot Cotton star June Brown had quit the BBC soap amid reports she was unhappy with her scripts.

The mother-of-one gave her verdict on the news, stating that it 'smacks of ageism' and that June's character Dot was 'diminished'.

An EastEnders representative declined to comment when approached by MailOnline.

Carol's words come after she claimed last year that the soap axed her aged 42 because she was 'past it' as she said she went from 'desirable to desperate'.

The star appeared on This Morning back in April and revealed she discovered her contract was ending through the press.

Ructions: Carol's character Louise was embroiled in several scandalous storylines, including having an affair with her daughter Tiffany's husband Grant Mitchell (Ross Kemp), with Tiffany (Martine McCutcheon) finding out over a baby monitor

Toxic atmosphere: 'I had about seven meetings with executives. My relationships with them became toxic and I started feeling ill' (pictured with former husband Jamie Foreman in 1999)

She told Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield: 'The fact was, I was in my 40s and the role was so powerful, she had this affair with a younger man...

'Its that stigma about an older woman, that you are kind of cougar. I suddenly went from desirable to desperate.

'When I came out [of the show], I couldnt understand it at first. It was very confusing. It was like, "Where are the parts?"

'There werent that many parts for a woman like me at that age. Suddenly they dried up.'

Carol said the situation was even more confusing because she thought she had done such a good job in the soap.

Axed: Carol's words come after she claimed last year that the soap axed her aged 42 because she was 'past it' as she said she went from 'desirable to desperate'

Speaking out: Carol told Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield, 'The fact was, I was in my 40s and the role was so powerful, she had this affair with a younger man... I suddenly went from desirable to desperate'

She said: 'I thought I did really well, I thought I played her really, really well. If you are rubbish, you get it.

'I felt a real sense of rejection. Acting has always been my first love and suddenly its unrequited I was offered some parts but they were all very similar the description [for the roles I was offered] was "mutton dressed up as lamb".'

She added that she learnt she was being let go from the soap by reading it in the papers.

She said: 'The new Executive Producer came on board and I guess when someone else comes in, they want to make their changes.

'A lot of people found out in the newspaper. I thought, "How terrible", and then the next week, there I was.'
Turkish drone strikes in Syria's Idlib province killed 19 regime soldiers on Sunday, a war monitor reported, as tensions soared between Damascus and Ankara.





The 19 died in strikes on a military convoy in the Jabal al-Zawiya area and a base near Maaret al-Numan city, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The report came hours after Turkey shot down two Syrian warplanes, in an escalating offensive against the Damascus regime in the country's northwestern province of Idlib.

Following weeks of violence in and around Idlib, Turkey confirmed the launch of a full military operation against Russian-backed Syrian forces after 34 Turkish soldiers died last week in an air strike blamed on Damascus.

Tensions have intensified between rebel backer Turkey and the regime's main ally Moscow, but Ankara has insisted it does not want to clash directly with Russian forces.

Turkey has also pressured Europe over the conflict by opening its border for migrants already in Turkey to cross into the continent.

The confrontation between Syrian forces and NATO-member Turkey has prompted worries over a wider conflict and a migrant crisis in Europe similar to that of 2015.



Turkey has 12 observation posts established in rebel-held Idlib following a 2018 deal between Ankara and Moscow signed in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.



But the regime recently has pressed ahead with an assault, killing hundreds of civilians and forcing nearly a million to flee from their homes in the region.



Rebel-supporter Turkey and Damascus ally Russia previously worked closely to prevent a regime offensive in Idlib despite being on opposing sides of the nine-year war.



Erdogan on Saturday called on Russia to "get out of our way" in Idlib and leave Turkey "face to face with the regime" in Idlib.



The latest developments has strained relations between Ankara and Moscow but the Kremlin hopes Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan will hold talks in Moscow on March 5 or March 6, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday, Interfax news agency reported.

The talks will not be easy, but both leaders confirm their focus on resolving the situation in Syrias Idlib region, where the two countries are backing opposing sides in a conflict, Peskov said.



(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and REUTERS)
A US university worker has been fired after he made high school students line up according to the colour of their skin.

The recruiter, from Oklahoma Christian University, visited Harding Charter Preparatory High School ostensibly to discuss college admissions.

However, student Korey Todd told local broadcaster KFOR-TV the man barely talked about the school itself, instead making the teenagers play a little game.

He was like, All right, lets play a little game, Mr Todd told the TV station.

Then he said, Okay everyone, now line up from darkest to lightest skin complexion.

The pupils, aged between 16 and 17, were then told to shuffle again.

He told us to line up nappiest hair in the back and straightest hair in the front, student Rio Brown said. Nappy is historically used as a derogatory term to describe the hair of black people.

Oklahoma Christian University told KFOR-TV that the recruiter had since been fired and that it didnt approve the inappropriate activity in advance.

The university said its admissions staff would be visiting the high school on Monday to apologise.

Hardings headmaster Steven Stefanick said the recruiter led a group activity with our students that involved inappropriate and hurtful statements.
Days after she called Maharashtra tourism minister Aaditya Thackeray a cocooned worm, Amruta Fadnavis praised his mother Rashmi Thackeray on her appointment as new editor of the Shiv Senas mouthpiece Saamana.

Amruta Fadnavis, wife of former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said India needs more women in top leadership positions to represent the issues of women and society.

Congratulations & best wishes to Smt #RashmiThackeray for being appointed as new Editor of #Saamana !Our country needs more women in top leadership positions to represent the issues of women & society & also have a platform to voice their opinions in matters of public importance!, she tweeted.

Rashmi Thackeray is chief minister Uddhav Thackerays wife.

The last page of the Sunday edition of the Marathi-language newspaper carried Rashmi Thackerays name as the editor, effectively making an announcement of the development. Senior Shiv Sena leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut will remain as its executive editor.

On Wednesday, Amruta Fadnavis had taken on Aaditya Thackeray after he took a swipe her husband for commenting that Shiv Saniks were wearing bangles for its silence on AIMIM leader Waris Pathans controversial remark recently.

While Fadnavis did not respond to Thackerays tweet, Amruta didnt let it pass, and in a scathing tweet, called the Sena youth wing leader a cocooned worm.

A cocooned worm will never understand the Pun of life ! Its meant to thrive on the glory of the silken life woven for its comfort by its ancestors @AUThackeray ! Proud of ur struggles @Dev_Fadnavis & each and every hardworking member of @BJP4Maharashtra ! she tweeted.

Aaditya Thackery did not respond to that barb.
A female member of Irans parliament said on Saturday she contracted the COVID-19 (coronavirus) while attending a session of the legislature.

In a video she released yesterday, Massoumeh Aghapur Alishahi the representative of a district in northwestern Iran said she is certain she got exposed to the virus during a parliamentary meeting.

Coronavirus has spread to many regions of Iran creating a serious health crisis. With dozens dead, Iran has the highest mortality after China, where the virus originated.

Among close to 600 people officially diagnosed with the illness, there are several politicians and public figures. The spokesman of parliaments presidium has said that 100 legislators have been tested and five have the coronavirus. He added that these lawmakers will take a second test.

He did not name the five lawmakers but in recent days two well-known members of parliament have announced they have contracted the virus.

Many Persian social media users have criticized that while few people get tested for the virus, the political elite is first in line to take the test.

One newly elected member of parliament who was supposed to start his term soon died of coronavirus on February 28. The city where he lived is one of the hotpots of the epidemic in northern Iran.
By Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A top-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday took stock of the preparations for the famous Attukal Pongala scheduled to take place on March 9. Even as he issued the necessary directives to all departments, to do everything in their power to ensure that the single biggest confluence of women devotees anywhere in the world passes smoothly, the CM underscored the need to adhere to the green protocol.

He said considering the scorching heat, adequate supply of drinking water should be ensured to the devotees. Officials of various departments briefed the meeting on their respective preparations for the event. The revenue department said it will deploy around 200 volunteers for disaster relief activities while the corporation will field 3,500 staff for cleaning works.

To ensure hygiene of food items, 14 squads of the food safety department will be deployed. To avert any fire accident, the fire and rescue department will set up 97 points. The health department will send a medical team consisting of doctors to attend to any medical emergencies. And a heavy posse of police -- 3,000 to 4,000 personnel -- will keep an eagle eye on the proceedings to avert any untoward incidents.

Green protocol observance

For strict implementation of the green protocol, 500 green army volunteers will keep vigil. Also, 10,000 steel glasses and 3,000 plates will be made available to devotees.


People wait in line to buy face masks from a store at the Dongseongro shopping district in Daegu, South Korea, on Feb. 27, 2020. (Jung Yeon-je/AFP via Getty Images)

South Korean Religious Sect Leader Could Face Coronavirus Murder Charge: Official

The leader of a religious sect in South Korea will be investigated after numerous members of the church contracted the COVID-19 coronavirus in recent days, according to officials.

The city government of the capital Seoul asked prosecutors to charge Lee Man-hee, the founder of the Shincheonji Church, and 11 others associated with the organization. They are accused of homicide, causing harm, and violating the Infectious Disease and Control Act, reported the BBC.

Seouls mayor, Park Won-soon, alleged the churchs actions constituted murder by inaction in a Facebook post translated by the Korea Herald on Sunday. The same report said Lee was reportedly tested and quarantined for COVID-19.

Officials have accused the church of making the COVID-19 outbreak worse by deliberately not providing a list of its 200,000 members, which would impact how the government can curb the spread of the virus.

Park called on Lee, whose church has been described as heretical by other religious organizations, to fully cooperate with South Korean authorities and take responsibility. As reported by the Herald, more than 73 percent of over 2,500 cases in Daegu were traced to the church there.

Kim Shin-chang, a spokesperson for the Shincheonji religious group, told CNN Sunday that its members have been cooperative with officials about the outbreak.

It makes me wonder if they are trying to exaggerate the link or possibly move the responsibility to Shincheonji, he said. I would like to ask the Ministry of Justice why they did not check all Chinese and Korean citizens (traveling) from Wuhan since July, and why they only released the number of 42 (Shincheonji) members.

We shut down all offices to prevent further spread, and our administrative process has become delayed as all members are working from home so they can self-isolate themselves to the fullest extent, he added.

Workers wearing protective gear arrive to spray disinfectant as a precaution against the new coronavirus at a shopping street in Seoul, South Korea, on Feb. 27, 2020. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

The virus was first discovered to have infected a 61-year-old woman called Patient 31 who went to the churchs services in Daegu, located in the countrys south.

Churches, meanwhile, were closed in South Korea on Sunday, with many holding online services instead, as authorities fought to rein in public gatherings as 586 new coronavirus infections took the tally to 3,736 cases, Reuters reported.

In Seoul, the capital, about a dozen worshippers were turned away from the Yoido Full Gospel Church, which put a sermon for its 560,000 followers on YouTube, filmed with a small choir instead of all 200 members and 60-strong orchestra.

Authorities have warned of a critical moment in the battle against the virus, urging people to refrain from attending religious services and political events and stay home this weekend.

For the first time in its 236-year history, South Koreas Catholic church decided to halt masses at more than 1,700 locations nationwide. Buddhist temples also called off events, while major Christian churches held online services.

Reuters contributed to this report.
New Delhi: Two dead bodies were found in Gokulpuri, one of the riot-hit areas of the northeast district in Delhi, on Sunday (March 1, 2020). The bodies were recovered from a drain taking the total number of deaths to 44 while over 250 people are reported to have sustained serious injuries.

The first dead body was found at around 10 am whereas the second body was recovered at around 3 pm. The identity of both the deceased is yet to be known.

Earlier, Intelligence Bureau staffer Ankit Sharma's body had also been recovered from a drain. The postmortem details revealed that he was brutally assaulted and stabbed by the rioters.

In the riots that took place in the national capital the Delhi Police has registered 167 FIRs and has detained 885 people. The Delhi Chamber of Commerce has projected that the initial loss caused by the violence is nearly Rs 25,000 crore.

About 92 houses, 57 shops, 500 vehicles, 6 godowns, 2 schools, 4 factories and 4 religious places were burnt down during the riots. The schools in the riot-hit areas will also remain closed in till March 7 in view of the prevailing tensed situation, said the Delhi government on Saturday.

Section 144 was imposed in the Shaheen Bagh area in the wake of the violent incident and heavy security deployment. At least 1,000 jawans and 12 companies of paramilitary forces have been deployed in the area after the imposition of the prohibitory orders by the authorities.

The violent clashes that rocked the northeast district of Delhi started after reports of stone-pelting incidents at Maujpur Chowk in Jafarabad area between pro and anti-ACC protesters on Sunday (February 23, 2020). Later, the clashes escalated to several parts of the northeast Delhi constituency. However, there are still a large number of people missing in the violence.
Much of the workforce at Xuda's factory in Wenzhou are absent -- blocked by virus-induced travel disruptions and safety measures

The Xuda Shoes Company is usually bustling at this time of year, with workers having long returned from a Lunar New Year holiday in their hometowns to kick-start production of tens of thousands of shoes daily.

But China's coronavirus epidemic has changed all that.

Only about one-third of the roughly 1,000-strong workforce at Xuda's factory in the eastern export hub of Wenzhou are around, the rest blocked by virus-induced travel disruptions and safety measures.

Getting back to full annual capacity of seven million pairs of shoes could take several more weeks, company officials said.

The situation in Wenzhou, a trade entrepot for centuries and now a major producer of much of the world's shoes, eyeglasses and clothing, reflects the slow progress in fully reviving China's economy, the world's second-largest and an indispensable lynchpin of global growth.

China's economy remains rooted in manufacturing, much of that for export, and heavily reliant on countless labourers from the vast interior who had returned home in January for the most important Chinese holiday before the epidemic hit, killing more than 2,800 people and infecting around 80,000.

"Factories that want to restart are short of labour. Wenzhou's economy will definitely be impacted," Yang Wenjiang, a top manager with Xuda Shoes, told AFP during an interview at the factory.

Recent official data indicated Chinese manufacturing activity in February was the lowest on record

"If you don't have workers, you can't produce. If you can't restart, you can't fill orders."

The virus shut down provinces responsible for most Chinese economic output, including Zhejiang where Wenzhou is located.

With concern rising over the impact on global growth, the world is watching how quickly Chinese factories can be brought back online.

- Ghost town -

Adding to the unease, official data released Saturday indicated Chinese manufacturing activity in February was the lowest on record.

But you don't need numbers to convince anyone in Wenzhou.

The city is one of the worst-hit by the contagion, with 504 cases of coronavirus infections and one death as of Saturday, compared to 337 infections in far larger Shanghai up the coast.

Consequently, tough restrictions on residents' movement were imposed in Wenzhou and other major Zhejiang cities, with fear of outsiders further complicating the return of labourers.

The coastal city, with around three million people in its urban core, remains subdued, with scant road traffic and most businesses shuttered.

The western Shuangyu district, reached by a road called "Shoe Capital Avenue" in Chinese, is home to dozens of footwear factories several stories tall.

Wenzhou is among the worst-hit by the contagion, with 504 cases of coronavirus infections

But it resembles a ghost town, with most factories closed or barely operating, streets empty, and row upon row of supplier businesses shuttered and silent.

The short-staffing at Xuda allows ample room for workers to obey new factory requirements to spread out in the canteen at lunch to avoid potential virus transmission.

- Bringing them back -

Officials in Wenzhou and other Chinese manufacturing regions have begun offering tax relief, lower-interest loans and are chartering buses and trains to retrieve workers from their homes in less-developed provinces.

"When I first arrived back at my home, I heard the epidemic situation was serious, and I was worried I would not be able to leave again," said Wang Changwen, a 28-year-old Xuda worker who arrived back in Wenzhou last week from his hometown in Guizhou province aboard a company chartered bus.

More trickle back daily, but there is concern about reductions in worker salary remittances upon which many rural communities depend.

"My fellow villagers are worried. This has reduced income to the economy (of his village)," Wang said.

Most factories remain closed or barely operating in Wenzhou, with rows of supplier businesses shuttered and silent

Wenzhou businesses insist workforces are growing daily and the impact will be temporary, helped by the annual stockpiling of orders and supplies before the Lunar New Year to cushion the annual holiday disruption.

Wang Jin, co-owner of local eyewear manufacturer Azure Eyeglass Company, said his factory is nearing 50 percent normal capacity and hopes to be at 90 percent by late March.

"If we can control all of the negative impact to 15 percent (of annual revenues) we will be happy," said Wang, 43.

"Some of my supply-chain contractors are already in the same situation as us, trying to recover to 20 percent, 30 percent, 40 percent (of capacity). I think people are moving, not waiting."

With the virus spreading rapidly overseas, he fears longer-term foreign demand will be depressed and hopes cost savings from recent investments in automation will ease the blow.

China's government has released figures showing that a majority of auto factories and other major industries were running again.

Independent analyses, however, say only about one-third of the nation's factory workers had returned by late last week.

Independent analyses say only about one-third of China's factory workers had returned

Chris Schell, China manager for Stockholm-based Sourcing Allies, which helps buyers find Chinese manufacturers, said virus-related global fears over travelling could curtail potential trips by clients for months, impacting future orders and changing the "business culture" to one based more on electronic communications.

But he expects only a temporary impact as Beijing ramps up policy supports and as Chinese manufacturers continue a long-term climb up the value chain.

"This shouldn't be a very long-term thing for China," Schell said. "It's so set up for success already that one trip won't make it fall over."
Retired AFL star Jimmy Bartel appears to have 'liked' an Instagram comment criticising his estranged wife, Nadia.

A social media user left the offensive comment below a photo of Jimmy and his new girlfriend, Lauren Mand, on holiday in Japan last week.

'So glad you finally saw through the boring Instagram obsessed *****,' it read, seemingly referring to Nadia.

Say what?! Retired AFL star Jimmy Bartel appears to have 'liked' an Instagram comment criticising his estranged wife, Nadia. Pictured on November 3, 2016 in Melbourne

Jimmy's Instagram account, jrb03, 'liked' the comment. However, it's unclear if Jimmy himself was actually behind the activity.

The Geelong Cats legend, 36, has a habit of 'liking' many of the comments on his posts, so it's possible he 'liked' this one by accident.

Several hours later, one of Jimmy's followers noticed the 'like' and expressed their disapproval.

They wrote: 'By "liking" this comment, I've just lost much respect for you, it's very nasty, aimed at the mother of your children.'

Throwing shade? An Instagram user left the offensive comment ('So glad you finally saw through the boring Instagram obsessed *****') below a photo of Jimmy and his new girlfriend, Lauren Mand, on holiday in Japan last week. Jimmy's Instagram account, jrb03, 'liked' the post

Regrets? One of Jimmy's followers noticed the 'like' and expressed their disapproval. In response, he appears to have deleted the offending comment, which means his 'like' is no longer visible. Pictured: Jimmy and Lauren in Japan

In response, Jimmy appears to have deleted the offending comment, which means his 'like' is no longer visible.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Nadia Bartel for comment. Jimmy Bartel declined to comment via a 3AW spokesperson.

The Bartels announced their split in August last year, but it's believed they actually separated two months earlier.

They're not hiding anymore! Jimmy and Lauren are currently on holiday in Japan

Gossip: It's unclear when they began dating, but it was reported they were in a 'long-term relationship' at the time of Jimmy's marriage breakdown

The former couple, who share sons Aston, four, and Henley, one, married on the Bellarine Peninsula in 2014.

Following their break-up, a 'heartbroken' Nadia told the Herald Sun: 'It's been a very difficult month for me and the boys.'

It's unclear when Jimmy began dating Lauren, but it was reported they were in a 'long-term relationship' at the time of his marriage breakdown.
Sec 144 imposed in Shaheen Bagh even as Hindu Sena calls off proposed protest

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

New Delhi, Mar 01: Shaheen bagh area of the national capital witnessed heavy deployment of forces on Sunday as a precautionary measure, even after Fringe right-wing group Hindu Sena called off their proposed protest against the ongoing anti-CAA stir.

Joint Commissioner DC Srivastava said,''As a precautionary measure, there is heavy police deployment here; Our aim is to maintain law and order and prevent any untoward incident from occurring.''

Delhi: Heavy police deployment in Shaheen Bagh as a precautionary measure, even after Hindu Sena yesterday called off protest site clearance call pic.twitter.com/5LVwLcaaoO  ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2020

In a statement, the Hindu Sena said that police pressured them to call off their peaceful protest on Sunday. It also claimed that their national president Vishnu Gupta was "illegally detained".

NEWS AT NOON, MARCH 1st, 2020

However, police said that no one was detained and the organisation called off their protest after a conversation with senior officials.

Shaheen Bagh, near Jamia Millia Islamia, has been a protest venue for a section of people opposed to the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens since December 15 last year.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Sunday, March 1, 2020, 10:47 [IST]
Every week, Dear Prudence answers additional questions from readers, just for Slate Plus members.

Q. Paid time off leaves everyone angry: One of my co-workers recently discovered his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. She has to go to chemotherapy and he has to stay home to take care of her and their infant child. We are a close-knit private school and, as teachers, are always expected to give, give, give. A few days ago, one of the guidance counselors sent around an email asking if anyone would like to donate paid time off to this teacher. Many people began replying to the email where everyone could see, each donating the equivalent of one or two days. I personally do not approve of donating paid time off because I feel as though this is the responsibility of the schools owner, not for other employees. I ignored the email and sent my co-worker a nice card with a gift card to a resort that I know he likes taking his family to and is nearby the hospital his wife is attending. I also formed a group of teachers to take turns cooking extra dinners and meals to drop off with his family. Well, one of my fellow teachers asked if I was going to donate my paid time off, especially since I am never sick. When I told her no, she asked why. I explained my reasoning and that I am helping out in these other ways. She called me selfish, explaining that without the paid time off, he could lose the family insurance and jobs after a while. She then proceeded to tell several of my other co-workers, many of whom are now avoiding me. Am I doing something wrong? Am I really being selfish? Or is it really my responsibility to give my paid time off to people who use it rather than cash in?

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

A: I am so sorry youre in this position, and I couldnt agree more that the fault lies with the company that doesnt give employees sufficient time off to help support their partners with cancernot the one or two days donation you could provide your colleague. Im so sorry that another teacher asked you this in the first place and then pushed to demand more details about your own time off, and on top of all of that has started bad-mouthing you to the others. Shes not helping your colleague whose wife is sick by doing so, and shes not doing anything to improve conditions for other workers. My best advice is to ignore the fact that youre being ignored, continue to offer your help and support to your colleague through the meal exchange, and keep working. I would also understand if you decided to sacrifice a single day of paid time off not because you agree that you owed it to him to begin with, but simply because the act of doing so has become a symbol of supportiveness to so many of your colleaguesin short, to get them off your back. You shouldnt have to, and your employer is the one whose feet you should all be holding to the fire, but if you decide its worth it, then Id understand.
The highly anticipated primary issue of the year, SBI Cards initial public offer (IPO), opens for subscription on Monday (March 2). The SBI Cards IPO, which is the fifth-biggest issue in India so far, comprises of a fresh issue of Rs 500 crore and an offer for sale of Rs 9,855 crore.

The introduction of the IPO will increase the paid up capital of SBI Cards from Rs 932.3 crore to Rs 939 crore. Price band of the issue is fixed at Rs 750-Rs 755. SBI Cards IPO can be applied in lot sizes of 29 shares and in multiple thereafter. Our of the total IPOs, 35% is reserved for retail investors and 1.49 crore shares are reserved for employees and shareholders of State Bank of India. The employees of SBI will get Rs 75 discount on the issue price. The last date to apply for the IPO is Thursday (March 5).

SBI Cards and Payment services is a non-deposit taking NBFC and is a subsidiary of SBI, India's largest bank. Established in 1998, the company was initially a joint venture between SBI and GE Capital Mauritius Overseas Investment but GE Capital sold its entire 40% stake to SBI (14%) and CA Rover Holdings (26%) in December 2017. Notably, SBI Cards is the second-biggest credit card issuer in India.

The company offers various types of credit cards as per the needs of its clients. The company also offers corporate cards and is the largest co-branded credit card issuer in India. It also issues cards in partnership with other banks.
Commercial property activity has picked up pace in the first two months of the year, according to CBRE Ireland's first bimonthly property report for 2020.

Total returns from Irish commercial property reached 5.1% during 2019.

CBRE Ireland's Marie Hunt Hunt added that demand is high for new office buildings in cities outside Dublin.

"We see particularly strong demand for the provincial cities of late," she outlined.

There's quite a bit of construction underway in cities like Cork, Limerick and Galway.

"We are due to hear some announcements over the coming months in each of those cities."

However, the recent general election and government formation talks are having an impact on the sector:

"It has created some uncertainty and I suppose uncertainty is something that is not welcome in the commercial property industry," Ms Hunt said.

"We have a lot of international investors who are anxious at this point to find out what the new administation is going to be and to see the programme for government and what implications that might have for sectors of the economy like the commercial property market."
Footwear and apparel brand Woodland, is expecting to double its sales in next five years to around Rs 2,500 crore, driven by retail expansion, a top company official said.

The company, which is presently operating around 600 retail stores in around 250 cities, mostly owned by it, plans to add around 30 to 40 stores every year mostly in small cities.

"Our topline was around Rs 1,250 crore (FY19) and is growing by 10 per cent every year, which is a quite healthy and sustainable," Aero Club Managing Director Harkirat Singh told PTI.

Aero Club, maker of & Woods, expects to continue the same rate of growth for the coming 4-5 years and expects to double the turnover by FY25.

Besides, Woodland, which presently gets around 12 to 15 per cent of its sales through e-commerce, from its own website and channel partners, expects significant growth in this space in the coming years.

As part of its retail strategy, has adopted the omni-channel strategy by connecting, its offline sale network with its online sales channels.

We have both footwear and apparel growing very fast. We have expecting good growth from both the categories. Besides, we have launched many new products such as accessories, bagpacks These will also contribute to the growth," he said.

Presently, gets around 50 per cent sales from shoes, 35 per cent from apparels and rest from accessories and others.

Woodland has presence in overseas market as Russia, Middle East region, Africa and Far East and plans to expand its network further.

The company, which had started in metros and main cities is also now moving towards small cities.

Now we are also moving to tier II & III cities, he said adding the competition in the segments is also growing, which is expanding the market.

The company said it has a separate line of products for the online channels, which operates mostly through discount-driven sales model.

In our stores, we sell more premium products and do not offer that much of discounts. It works both ways. More premium customers are coming to our stores, whereas first timers are buying from online, he said.

The company presently has around 15 manufacturing units and most of them are in the North region in Himachal Pradesh, Uttranchal, Haryna, Noida and Delhi.
Gurugram: Three people, including a woman, were booked on Saturday for allegedly stealing the source code of a software and proprietary material of a private marketing company where they used to work. The police said that the three suspects allegedly tried to poach clients of the company in Udyog Vihar too.

According to the police, the suspects resigned from the complainant company in November last year, after one of them alleged misbehaviour on behalf of the management. In a police complaint, the company alleged that after leaving the office, the suspects did not return their laptops which were provided to them by the management.

Tarun Sobhani, a representative of the company, alleged in the first information report (FIR) that when the company accessed the backup of the suspects emails and cloud storage drivers where client related information and their sales reports were hosted, it found that the suspects had source code of the software and proprietary material of the company. Sobhani said that none of the suspects had permission to access the source code and private information of the company.

Having resigned from the company, the former employees have been found to contact the companys clients, through their official email IDs, thereby misrepresenting themselves to be still being employed by the company, Sobhani said in the complaint. He also alleged that the suspects were in touch with the employees of the company and trying to poach them.

It is thus very clear that the former employees intend to offer services to the companys clients, using the companys own software / proprietary material / source codes, which they have obtained illegally and through unauthorised access of the companys computer resources. Such overtures are a clear proof of the former employees malicious intent and future plans, the complainant added.

A police official privy to the investigation said, We are verifying the claims made by the company. The suspects are yet to be arrested. We are investigating the case.

A case was registered under sections 420 (cheating) and 408 (criminal breach of trust by clerk or servant) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 66b of the Information Technology (Amendment) Act at Cybercrime police station on Saturday.
Kastines, Greece: Thousands of migrants and refugees massed at Turkey's western frontier on Sunday, trying to enter Greece by land and sea after Turkey said its borders were open to those wanting to reach Europe.

In Syria, Turkish troops shot down two Syrian war planes after the Syrian military downed a Turkish drone  a major escalation in the direct conflict between Syrian and Turkish forces.

Migrants head for Greece near the Pazarakule border crossing in Edirne, Turkey, on Sunday. Credit:AP

Turkey's decision to ease border restrictions came amid a Russia-backed Syrian government offensive into Syria's north-western Idlib province. That offensive has killed dozens of Turkish troops and led to a surge of nearly a million Syrian civilians fleeing the fighting toward Turkey's sealed border.

Turkey backs the Syrian rebels fighting in Idlib province, and has sent thousands of troops into the area. Idlib is the last opposition-held stronghold in Syria, and is dominated by al-Qaeda linked fighters.
(Natural News) We have now reached the stage of this coronavirus pandemic where the advice from Trump administration officials is almost indistinguishable from that of communist China.

Earlier today, the U.S. Surgeon General Jerome M. Adams told America to stop buying masks! He said that if consumers buy masks, then the hospitals will run out, accidentally admitting that hospitals are facing a severe mask shortage because they didnt prepare in advance.

While every nation in China is strongly encouraging people to buy masks and stop the spread of the coronavirus, in the United States, our own (brain damaged?) Surgeon General says exactly the opposite.

So because the hospitals didnt prepare, you shouldnt prepare either, says Adams (who, regretfully, shares my last name).

Dont buy any food, cleaning supplies or anything else, either be an obedient American and stop spreading fear

Surgeon General Adams was also grilled by members of Congress earlier in the week about whether Americans should prepare with extra food or cleaning supplies. His answer to both questions was, No or Not at this time, indicating that at least this one branch of the Trump administration has become the anti-preparedness Ministry of Stupid that actively urges people to NOT get prepared.

Instead of purchasing preparedness supplies that might help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, Americans are apparently supposed to wait around for a vaccine that might take two years.

Once the vaccine is available, it might kill you, by the way, as the SARS vaccine experiments ended up causing rapid death in all animal test subjects when they were exposed to secondary infections.

So while people in other countries where the coronavirus has already exploded are rapidly getting prepped for long-term self-quarantine  arguable the most effective way to stop the spread of the virus  Americans are being actively discouraged from preparing for such a scenario.

The anti-shopping list: Heres what you are supposed to NOT be buying, according to the Trump administration

While youre not supposed to be purchasing masks, protective equipment, food and hand sanitizers, you are supposed to keep blindly buying stocks, it seems, to pump up the stock market and at least create the appearance of a thriving economy even as the global supply chain is rapidly collapsing.

In case youre keeping track, heres the summary of advice so far from the Trump administration:

 Do NOT buy masks, because the hospitals are running out of supplies since they didnt prepare for an outbreak (which seems incredibly stupid on their part).

 Do NOT buy extra food, because V.P. Pence went on Rush Limbaughs show, and even though neither one of them is a scientist or a virologist, they both want you to feel warm and fuzzy that everything is fine, and they want you to believe the virus thats sweeping through nearly 60 nations around the world will somehow stop at Americas totally unprotected borders.

 Do NOT buy extra prescription medications, even though 97% of Big Pharmas drugs are made in China (or use ingredients manufactured there), the U.S. pharmacies will be just fine because supply lines are magic and can be repaired by wishing. (It helps to be slightly high when wishing, were told.)

 Do NOT buy hand sanitizers, cleaning supplies or colloidal silver, since theres no need to clean anything because Trump will invoke magical miracles to halt the virus, causing it to vanish and be gone virtually overnight.

 Do NOT be fearful, because fear is bad, and you should remain totally calm even as you are totally unprepared. In fact, you should have a Zen attitude about everything and stop getting all excited about the possibility that you might die as the world collapses.

 But DO buy stocks, no matter how overvalued, because the Fed promises to make them even more overvalued.

Speaking of things you should NOT buy, the Health Ranger Store might still have some N99 masks with full-face eye shields (portable, foldable emergency use face masks) that you should NOT buy at this link, especially since the store is backlogged 4-5 business days just processing the incoming orders.

Meanwhile, at a Costco in Brooklyn, the following jaw-dropping scene just took place this morning as the masses are finally coming to their senses about the pandemic scenario which is unfolding:

Plus, theres already panic buying at a Costco in Hawaii, where the mad rush on toilet paper just got real:

Just remember: When the day comes that you have no food, no masks, no gloves, no antibiotics, no vaccine, no toilet paper and no chance of survival, the Surgeon General wanted it that way.

As you starve to death and are eaten alive by the coronavirus from the inside out, you can find hope in the fact that you were an obedient American who didnt cause panic.

Fortunately, somebody in the grocery story is thinking ahead and protecting all the other beers from the corona beer:

Stay informed. Read Pandemic.news for daily updates.
John White isnt just passively interested in the history of America and the fundamental ideals that helped to bring the nation to life. Hes passionate about it  so much so that, when just thinking about the U.S.A, White often becomes emotional.

I cant tell you what this (country) has meant to me and my family, said White, while choking back a few tears. When I think of the cost of blood, of treasure  which allows me  little old me  to enjoy liberty, I feel a huge responsibility to do whatever I can to awaken others (to that history).

Thats why White, the author of several books, an active member of the local veterans community, and a resident of Cheshire for more than five decades, wants to pass along his appreciation of American values to another generation. He wants residents of all ages, students in particular, to understand how America came into being, and hes chosen The Star-Spangled Banner and the Pledge of Allegiance as good places to start.

The book is intended to explain and make attractive to people things they may have forgotten or may not have known, explained White. Saying the pledge to the flag and the history of the flag  young people, they may not know (the history) of that, and it isnt their fault.

The book, entitled The Pledge of Allegiance and The Star-Spangled Banner: A Patriots Primer on the American Spirit and a Citizens Guide to Restoring the Republic, is both a treatise on how two of Americas most honored traditions came into being and a philosophical musing on what the American Spirit has meant to the history of the nation and the world. In his book, White explores the genesis of both the Pledge and The Star-Spangled Banner, offering insight into the people and experiences that influenced both the original versions of each piece, and also subsequent changes.

We go from (John) Adams proposal of 13 stars in a field of blue to the present 50 stars, said White. I find it fascinating and I think people will also find that mini-history interesting as well.

White also dives into other matters, such as the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, and how the ideas embedded into American society by those documents have helped the country persevere, even through difficult times.

I talk about what I call great stains on America, but even despite those events and developments (such as slavery), the fundamentals are still in place and guides us to greater strength.

The book, White insists, is not meant to be right-wing or left-wing. In fact, he describes himself as up-wing, trying to help those who have had limited exposure to the history of the country better understand who and what helped shape it, away from any specific political agenda.

However, White warns that some will find portions of his book not politically correct, as he spends a good deal of his time arguing for a sort of religious reawakening in the country, grounded in Judeo-Christian values. He also has a chapter dedicated to thoughts on President Abraham Lincoln and his time in office, in which White offers conclusions guaranteed to elicit strong responses even from fellow history buffs.

Politically, for voting purposes Im a registered Republican, but for 30 years I was a Democrat, explained White. Now adays, I feel that anything that is common sense can be viewed as politically incorrect  and unless there is a restoration of common sense, America will continue to decline in both civility and morality.

On Tuesday, March 3, White will be at the Cheshire Public Library to speak about his book. For two hours, hell not only offer his history of the Pledge and Star-Spangled Banner, but make his case for why every American, especially the youngest generation, needs to once again re-acquaint themselves with the history of the land. White is hoping that his book can help encourage people do just that.

When I was in the Navy, I had the chance to a good portion of the world, said White. I hadnt been able to wait to get out of this town, but once out, I recognized the blessings of liberty. I want to help preserve that for those who are American citizens.

Whites presentation will be held at the Library, 104 Main St., on Tuesday, March 3, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Those interested in registering for this event are asked to call (203) 272-2245.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - A.J. Broome is a 56-year-old married gay man living in St. Petersburg, Florida. Until recently, he was torn over who to pick in the Florida primary.

I seldom vote down party lines, said Broome, who is a property manager, adding that he voted in presidential elections for Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and also Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. But when he started thinking about the March 17 primary, he became uneasy.

I was looking at Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders. They intrigued me. Bernie was about real change. And Pete was a newcomer, Broome said. Then, an alternative emerged: former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg.

There you go. Hes the one whos going to be able to fight Trump, Broome said. Bloomberg really cant be blackmailed. Theres nothing that Trump can do to Bloomberg. Bloomberg is like Teflon to Trump.

But its an open question whether Broome will get a chance to cast a vote for his preferred candidate. Bloomberg has showered Florida with attention, both in advertising and campaign infrastructure. But it is possible that he will no longer be in the race if he does not do well in the Super Tuesday primaries. He plans to be in Florida when those results start to come in.

With his vast resources, Bloomberg was able to build a national political organization from a standing start. On Tuesday, that effort will get its first test. If he does well, then the money spent on Florida and other states that follow will seem prescient.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders strong showings in the first three contests for the nomination and former Vice-President Joe Bidens blowout win in South Carolina give both the kind of momentum that Bloomberg has yet to achieve.

And states like Florida, always critical in a presidential election with its 219 delegates, will be among the most important arbiters of who the Democrats choose.

Its neither as liberal as California nor as conservative as Texas. The median age is older than that of the nation  42.2 years compared with 38.2. In the 2016 Democratic primary, Sanders received 33% of the vote, while Clinton received a resounding 64%. Trump won the 2016 general election here by 1.2 percentage points.

Given the states decidedly purple status, Floridians who arent entirely comfortable with Sanders fiery rhetoric or the lagging candidacies of the rest of the field are looking to Bloomberg. Last week, a group of a dozen supporters gathered in a bungalow-turned-office building just outside of downtown Tampa to watch the South Carolina debate. Adorned with balloons, its one of the candidates many offices around Florida.

I supported Cory Booker, but then he dropped out and I was undecided, said Silvia Santos, a 50-year-old worker at Walmart who used to live in New York and New Jersey, and now resides in Tampa. But when Bloomberg jumped in, I knew he was the person to run this country.

Santos nodded and clapped when Bloomberg made his points during the debate, and thought he was doing a better job during the South Carolina debate than his first foray in Nevada.

Bloomberg enjoys the support of many in Florida like Santos  former New Yorkers who have moved south. Hes trying to gain new fans by pouring money and resources into the state. Hes opened 14 offices up and down the state and his campaign says it will open at least six more. Hes hired about 200 paid staffers. Hes put up 90 billboards across the state. And Florida voters cant escape his ads on television and social media, part of a nationwide effort that already has cost more than $500 million.

Hes conservative in his ideas and I like the way that he started with nothing, said 65-year-old Jim Flynn of Sarasota, who voted for Obama and also Trump, and added that he has screaming matches with his wife of 40-plus years who is a Trump supporter. When youre the mayor of New York City, thats pretty commanding.

Beverly Dame, a former Vermonter who now lives in Sarasota as a retiree, said: I supported Elizabeth Warren at the beginning of the year, but I dont think she can appeal to that great middle mass of Americans. I need somebody that can get that man out of the White House. Dame is supporting Bloomberg, because she feels Sanders socialist background wont resonate with many, including Floridas Cuban population.

Bloomberg has also drawn some key endorsements in the state, including from former gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink and former Miami Mayor Manny Diaz.

Former Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, who also is supporting Bloomberg, says you cant discount his resources.

Who votes? Who votes consistently? Older folks. Its not the young kids. It is senior citizens, Buckhorn said. I think those ads, as well done as they are, are going to find fertile ground in Florida.

Daryl Rouson is a black state senator from St. Petersburg. He initially was interested in Sens. Kamala Harris and Cory Booker, but both dropped out of the race. He has decided to endorse Bloomberg, who he thinks is well positioned to win in Florida.

I think that he has the skills, Rouson said. Hes learned lessons from his past, has acknowledged mistakes and thats what you want to get behind, somebody who understands they need to govern differently.

Some Florida voters, like Nancy Lee of Miami, have already received their early voting ballot. Lee, a retiree from New York, was ready to mark her ballot for Bloomberg, but hesitated after the debate in Nevada on Feb. 19, when the billionaire delivered a lacklustre performance and was the target of sharp attacks from his rivals.

A lifelong Democrat in the general election, Lee said she appreciates Bloombergs views on gun control and climate change. The fact that he succeeded in the cutthroat world of New York City business also impresses her. She isnt fazed by allegations of harassment complaints.

I was a secretary for many years in New York. Thats the way it was in those times. Crazy, she said, adding that shed like to know more about the nondisclosure agreements his company signed, preventing women from talking about complaints of harassment.

On Sunday, Lee messaged The Associated Press. After Bidens performance in South Carolina and seeing his African American support there, shes now planning to cast her ballot for the former vice-president.

Bloomberg just had too much baggage, she wrote. But I think he would have been a good president.
A three-year-old girl was mauled to death by a leopard while she was playing near her house in Tumakuru district, police said on Sunday.

The leopard is said to have attacked and dragged away the girl at Baichanhallivillage last night.

When the child was missing near the house, the parents raised an alarm, they said adding after a search, the body bearing injuries was found at a distance from the house.

Villagers said the leopard had attacked humans and domestic animals several times in the nearby areas for the last few months, and claimed that this was the fourth such death in the region.

Forest Minister Aand Singh and Law Minister J C Madhuswamy (who hails from Tumakuru district) visited the family.

Singh said he has issued shoot at sight order against the man eating leopard, and as per procedures official orders will be issued on Monday.

He said Rs 10 lakh compensation would be given to affected family.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Olga Chumbe and Chris Hristov, husband and wife, attended Shen Yun Performing Arts in Las Vegas at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, Feb. 29, 2020. (Jana Li/The Epoch Times)

LAS VEGASBeing quietly moved to tears by positive inspiration isnt common in todays world. It is a common reaction, however, to Shen Yun Performing Arts, which is spearheading the revival of traditional Chinese culture which is deeply spiritual and richly emotional.

Olga Chumbe, a private client banker, got tears in her eyes watching a storytelling dance staged by New York-based Shen Yun about two brothers who find themselves on opposite sides of the persecution of innocent spiritual believers in Chinaone ordered to attack believers in a park, the other moved to defend thema persecution that is unfortunately all too real today.

It was very sad, Chumbe said, about the classical Chinese dance piece in question. That made me cry. It was a beautifuleverything was beautiful. Very touching. I really like the culture. I didnt realize China has so much culture. Abetting The Wicked really got me. Chumbe and her husband Chris Hristov attended Shen Yun at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts in Las Vegas on Feb. 29, 2020.

We loved the [Shen Yun] show. It was beautiful. We loved the performances, Chumbe said.

We loved it. Its great. Weve been waiting to see it for a long time, said Hristov, who is an engineer.

For two years Ive been waiting to see it, Chumbe added. [The dancing] was very different and it was beautiful. We really, we enjoyed it.

Shen Yuns roughly 20 vignettes vary in art form from bel canto vocal performances to storytelling dances to solo instrumentalists to ethnic and folk dances. But a common thread throughout the production is the acknowledgment of the divine, a thread which has its roots in Chinas 5,000-year-old heritage. The depiction of persecution and the struggle of conscience in the storytelling dance vignette Abetting the Wicked is only one of the many divinely-inspired themes in the performance.

You dont realize, maybe we take for granted, Chumbe explained, about why the story of the brothers made her cry, especially when you live in a country where you have the freedom to believe in whom you want to believe in, and the religion you want to choose.  Thats just sad. You take for granted the freedoms that you have.

Her wish for the people of China who are living under an atheist and violent regime is I really hope that it changes. Everybody has the right to choose and no one has the right to tell you whom to believe in and its really sad whats happening.

Chumbe and Hristov appreciated Shen Yuns orchestra for the effect it had on them as well for opening their eyesand earsto instruments they hadnt heard before.

We loved the music. I loved the instruments, Chumbe said. I think they did a very good job at describing the instruments cause you dont realize. There was a lot of Chinese instruments that we dont know what they were and so when [the emcees] were explaining, that was actually really cool.

The effect of instruments such as the pipa and erhu, blended into the Western-style orchestra in a way only Shen Yun has accomplished, had a positive effect on the banker.

It was calming. I was smiling a lot, Chumbe said.

She liked the tenor though, her husband chimed in.

Oh, yes, the tenor was amazing, Chumbe said. The lyrics the bel canto tenor sang in a solo performance stood out to her especially. The song touched on belief and the plight under communism and it spoke to Chumbe.

We need to stay grounded. I like that. I like the message, she said. In fact, throughout the show, Chumbe gleaned deep meaning that she was grateful for. I like the messagebe kind, believe in God. Its very spiritual. I liked it.

Since time immemorial, Chinese people have passed down a legend about the Creator returning to the world for all mankind. Shen Yun carries on this tradition by portraying it their performance. The tenor of the evening even mentions Him in the song. This was one of the most powerful aspects of the show for Chumbe.

Since Chumbe and Hristov believe in the Creator and His eventual return, they enjoyed being reminded of this legend and it made them think about it more deeply.

Yes, I didnt realize what was happening. I didnt think a lot of people realize it. Or maybe you kind of know but you dont really feel it until youre watching or you see it. In the [Shen Yun] show, it shows you, you feel it, youre there.

He is [coming back]. So you have to be kind and you have to believe in God, is how Chumbe described her own beliefs and also what she saw in Shen Yun.

He will take you home one day. I believe that as well, yes, Chris said.

To the performers, Chumbe and Hristov wanted to convey their gratitude and delight.

It was just beautiful. And thank you for coming to Vegas. Keep doing what youre doing. Good job. Beautiful message, Chumbe said.

Absolutely, Chris agreed. And I loved that [the artistic director] changes the stories every year.

Every year. We didnt know that, Chumbe said.

That will bring us back, Hristov added.

With reporting by Jana Li 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.
Update: Gov. Andrew Cuomo confirmed the first case of coronavirus in New York.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The citys Department of Health said on Sunday that two people are currently being tested for the coronavirus in New York City.

The two cases comes after the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said one person was under investigation on Saturday, the Advance previously reported.

The Health Department said that case returned with negative results.

There are currently two people under investigation for #COVID19 in NYC. Were also announcing one other test performed is negative. Tests for novel #coronavirus are now being performed by @HealthNYGov's lab, which means we will be able to get results back much sooner. pic.twitter.com/pcwk9c81Xt  nycHealthy (@nycHealthy) March 1, 2020

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Saturday afternoon that the U.S. Food and Drug administration approved his application to develop our own test for the coronavirus.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also provided new tests to the city giving the possibility to run more tests.

This means we will soon, within the coming week, have the ability to get results back in a matter of hours, not days, de Blasio previously said in a statement. "Quick detection is vital to stopping the spread of the virus, and this development will help the experts do their job to protect New Yorkers.

Tests for novel #coronavirus are now being performed by @HealthNYGovs lab," said the Department of Healths tweet, which means we will be able to get results back much sooner.

Mayor Bill de Blasio previously urged New Yorkers to focus and continue to take preventative measures to mitigate possible spread of the virus just two days after CDC officials said the community spread of the virus is expected in the United States. The CDC warned that disruption to everyday life may be severe."

Some pharmacies on Staten Island are running out of hand sanitizer and medical masks and public schools across the borough are sending home letters with students, advising parents of precautions and best practices for stay safe and germ free.

One person in Washington state died after contracting the virus. It is the first casualty of the virus on American soil.

GLOBAL IMPLICATIONS

Its a tough one," Trump previously said of the virus. "But a lot of progress has been made.

Additional cases in the U.S. are likely, Trump said. [But] whatever the circumstance, we are prepared. There is no reason to panic at all.

There have been more than 87,100 confirmed cases globally, according to the World Health Organization, and over 60 confirmed cases in the United States.

The risk remains low for the average American, but this could change rapidly, said Alex Azar, the U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services.

Meanwhile, Vice President Mike Pence announced Saturday afternoon during a press conference that travel restrictions will be upgraded and implemented for those traveling to countries that have been highly affected by the coronavirus.

Pence said the White House coronavirus task force met with President Donald J. Trump Saturday morning and came to the conclusion of expanding travel restrictions to Iran, as well as advising Americans to not travel to specific regions of Italy and South Korea.

Additionally, the Trump administration will work with allies in Italy and South Korea to screen citizens who are coming to the United States.

The United States already suspended entry of foreign nationals who have been in China 14 days prior to coming to the U.S.

CDC RECOMMENDATIONS

The CDC said proactive measures, like staying home when youre sick or regularly cleaning surfaces, should be implemented on an individual level to avoid potential virus transmission.

The symptoms of the virus  cough, fever and shortness of breath  mimic those of other respiratory conditions, including colds and the flu, according to the CDC, and they can range from being barely visible to causing severe respiratory distress and even death.

To avoid potential infection, the CDC stresses these everyday preventive actions to help prevent the spread of all respiratory diseases:
Comedy legend Peter Kay spent the last two years living under the radar at a secluded house in rural Ireland after cancelling his multi-million pound tour, it has been revealed.

Kay, 46, all but disappeared from the limelight after pulling the plug on a series of UK performances worth 40million in 2017, due to 'unforeseen family circumstances'.

His last stage appearance was when he spoke to an audience gathered to see a charity screening of his BBC comedy Car Share in April 2018.

Comedy legend Peter Kay has spent the last two years living at a secluded house in Ireland after pulling the plug on his 40million tour due to 'unforeseen circumstances'

After a two-year hiatus - during which there was false speculation the Phoenix Nights comic had passed away - his social media account announced he will return to the stage in April and May to DJ at six charity events.

It has now emerged that Kay spent the last 24 months living a quieter life in the rural surroundings of a house close to Lough Derg, a freshwater lake in the Shannon River Basin, which has shores in the counties of Clare, Galway and Tipperary.

The Lancashire-born star's mother, Deirdre, is from Coalisland in Co Tyrone, while in 2017, Kay revealed in an interview with Ireland's The Late Late Show that he owns a house in Tipperary.

Locals have revealed that Kay stayed in a secluded house close to Lough Derg (file pic)

Locals said that the father-of-three tried to maintain a low profile and was rarely seen in pubs or restaurants, but that residents 'saw him coming a mile off' due to his inconspicuous Range Rover.

Explaining his period of absence, sources close to Kay told The Sun on Sunday: 'Peter is a born entertainer, but while he has many famous pals he has always preferred to live life out of the spotlight.

Kay is understood to have connections to Ireland, including that his mum, Deirdre (pictured) is from Coalisland in Co Tyrone and in 2017 he revealed that he owns a house in Tipperary

'He is a very funny, but down-to-earth bloke - and his family are his world.

'So when faced with a choice between focusing on his family or his career, there was never any question which he would choose.'

Since taking a break, Kay has only been seen in public on a few occasions.

During his two-year hiatus there was false speculation the Phoenix Nights comic had passed away, but his social media account announced he will return to the stage next month

He was spotted last April on a vintage-style tram in Blackpool with his wife, Susan Gargan and again on December 27 and re-emerged again at the Crewe Lyceum Theatre to watch X Factor star Chico and iconic duo Canon and Ball in a production of Peter Pan.

A few days later he was seen again at the final performance of Nativity! The Musical in London and posed for a snap alongside the show's director Debbit Isitt.

This came hours after Kay broke his social media silence to slam Channel 5 for using an 'incredibly misleading title' for a documentary on his life and career.

Rarely seen in public for two years, Kay was spotted on a tram in Blackpool last April

'Peter Kay: In His Own Words' came under fire from Kay for not featuring any new interviews with the comedy legend.

The comedian will return to the stage next month for Dance For Life events in Manchester, Liverpool and London, which will raise money for Cancer Research UK.

Kay told Bolton News: 'Ive honestly never had so much fun as I had working on Dance For Life.

'The atmosphere was so happy and positive; it really is a great way to raise money for the worthiest of causes. All people have to do is turn up and dance.'

Comedy legend Peter Kay will return to the stage in April to DJ at six charity dance-a-thon events, a post to his Twitter page confirmed
I used to think that the world divided into two types of people:

Those who apologize and those who dont.

Now, I think thats no longer true.

Because these days, there are many more apology categories:

People who apologize too much.

People who apologize too little.

People who demand apologies.

People who apologize for things for which there is no apology.

And people who apologize for people who cant bring themselves to apologize for themselves.

If you follow.

Sorry if you couldnt follow. Really, Im sorry.

Yes, I apologize constantly.

As in all the time.

I always apologize if its my fault.

Like Im human, I make mistakes, and Im sorry for them.

But, to bust myself, when Francesca and I have one of our little Chihuahua battles, wherein we yap at each other until we both have headaches, I have been known to apologize after.

And she will say, Youre just sorry that Im upset. Youre not sorry that you did anything wrong.

And I will think, shes right.

So my apologies arent always absolutely pure.

And I apologize for that.

I also apologize if its not my fault, and on the contrary, even if its your fault.

If youre late, Im sorry. If you forgot, Im sorry. If you bumped into me, Im sorry. I had an entire marriage apologizing for things that werent my fault, or even wrong. And in the end, I was only sorry for one thing:

That I married a jerk.

That was my fault.

I know Im not alone in this.

Not in the divorce, but in the apologizing constantly.

Women do it all the time. I dont know who taught us to, maybe Society in General, because Mother Mary certainly didnt. She told me, dont take any guff. Only she said a word that begins with an s and rhymes with hit, which is a far better word than guff.

Mother Mary apologized when she was wrong, but as she was never wrong, she never apologized.

Honestly, I was fine with that.

But these are the days when everyone is either apologizing or demanding apologies.

TV pundits are apologizing to politicians.

Politicians are apologizing to each other.

Politicians are apologizing to voters.

The Justice Department apologized to a federal judge. Antonio Brown apologized to Ben Roethlisberger. Some people want the Houston Astros to apologize for sign-stealing, and others want California to apologize for interning Japanese Americans during WWII. Then there are people like Harvey Weinstein, convicted of rape, who isnt apologizing at all.

Im not sure you can apologize for a major felony.

That might be in the category of things you cant apologize for.

That might be in the category of things you should go straight to hell for.

Sooner, rather than later.

Its not to say that apologies dont serve a purpose, because they do. But there are things that no apology can cure, which is what I suspect a lot of these apologizers are going for.

After they apologize, they want everything to go away.

And some things just arent.

An apology isnt an eraser.

By the way, I just heard somebody on the news say get over it, in response to past alleged sexual misconduct.

Get over it is not an apology. Its the opposite of an apology. But its said when an apology is required, so its tricky.

I bet anybody whos saying get over it should really be saying, OK, you got me, wheres the handcuffs?

Then there are people who demand apologies.

I never demand an apology. I think if you have to ask for an apology, youre talking to someone you shouldnt bother talking to. Because that person will say the magic words like open sesame, and you will open a door that should probably stay closed.

And finally there are people who demand apologies for other people.

I always think of The Godfather Part II, after Michael Corleone has lied at the congressional hearing, and his lawyer Tom Hagen shouts: This committee owes an apology, senator!

Tom Hagen is an apologist, which is something else in the news. Politicians hire people to apologize for them, because they cant bring themselves to offer even a meaningless apology.

Even I can do that.

And you know what?

The whole thing makes me sorry.

You, too?

Look for Lisa and Francescas humor collection, I See Life Through Rose-Colored Glasses, and Lisas novel, Someone Knows, in stores now. Also you can preorder Francescas debut novel, Ghosts of Harvard, publishing May 5.
Veteran Spotlight: Gen. Sullivan Lead Army Into Information Age



Retired Gen. Gordon R. Sullivan with participants in the inaugural Sullivan Cup precision tank gunnery competition held in 2012 at Fort Benning, Ga. FALMOUTH, Mass.  This will not be your typical Veterans Spotlight, simply because this gentleman is not your typical veteran.

It was an opportunity of a lifetime. What an honor and true pleasure to sit and interview retired Gen. Gordon R. Sullivan.

The former Army chief of staff and retired four-star general served his country from 1959 to 1995. Born in Boston, he grew up in Quincy and graduated from Norwich University in Northfield, Vt., later earning a master's degree from the University of New Hampshire.

He served a number of tours overseas and was commander of the 1st Infantry Division, Mechanized, at Fort Riley, Kan., as well as holding deputy command posts at the Army's Armor School and the Command and General Staff College.

As Army chief of staff, he was a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and served as acting secretary of the Army. He was largely the architect of a new vision for the Army's mission as it the Cold War era came to an end and the Information Age began.

As Sullivan brought me into his home office, I was overwhelmed at being privileged to witness a part of true American history.

Framed pictures, flags, awards, personal letters from presidents and commendations surround the room. I asked the general what the stars were on one of his flags (a vice chairman flag) and he replied, "there are 13 of them. They represent the 13 original colonies."

Among all the treasures, were an abundance of extraordinary books that range from military strategy to history to his own, "Hope Is Not a Method," written with Col. Michael V. Harper, which offers advice to business leaders based on their experience in helping prepare a post-Cold War strategy.

The most important quality I found in being with the general is despite his military stature, he is one of the most down-to-earth people I've ever met. Sentiments that are shared by many others all over the world.

As I took my seat the general, with writing pad in hand, he gave me a copy of the Statement of Guiding Values from Norwich University, where he also had been chairman of the board of trustees. The core is on integrity, honor, service to nation and perseverance in the face of adversity.

Then he gave a brief overview on the important aspects of the statement values.

"You'll find these very important. These values, never change," he told me. He shared a wonderful story of his being at Norwich University.

"I worked in the kitchen to earn extra money. My mother came to me and told me that she couldn't swing college anymore," he said. "One of my classmates signed for some pretty decent money with the Red Sox. I asked him to co-sign a loan for me and he did. I worked as a summer bartender to pay off my debt."

Sullivan said his desire to be a soldier came from attending Reserve Officers' Training Corps' summer camp at Fort Knox, Ky., around 1958.

"I loved soldiering," he said.



Gordon R. Sullivan He served in 14 months in South Korea and did two tours of duty in Vietnam as well as one in Europe. When asked about mentors during his 36-year military career, Sullivan responded quickly, "Julius Becton (three-star general), Carl Vuono (four-star general) and Col. Sidney Hack.

"It was Colonel Hack who said to me, you can go the distance  but you gotta' want to do it."

I asked Sullivan his thoughts on being away for the holidays, not as a soldier but as a commanding general.

"It was a big concern for me," he said "We had to entertain [the troops]. Had to keep them busy. We tried to keep them out of the fields. It worked in Korea, but not in Vietnam, unfortunately. I wanted to have the appropriate meals for our troops at Thanksgiving and Christmas with the appropriate food, to give them a little feel of home. It was extremely important to me, as I was around a lot."

Sullivan added, "you cannot let your soldier's feel like you cannot love them. They need to know you respect them."

The general then went to a passage he read this out loud for my privilege: "The faith gave you victory at Shiloh and Vicksburg. Also, when you have completed your best preparations, you go into battle without hesitation as at Chattanooga  no doubts, no reserve, and, I tell you that it was this that made us act with confidence. I knew wherever I was that you thought of me and if I got in a tight place you would come, if alive."

The letter was dated March 1864 and was sent to General W.T. Sherman from General Grant.

"What that means is that you're going to die trying," said the general. He also told me to read The Soldier's Oath  "That represents the country." I also had the privilege to scan through

"Gordon R. Sullivan, The Collected Works 1991  1995," a book that is filled with priceless notes, speeches and personal quotes from the general.

There is simply not enough room in to pay the appropriate tribute to Sullivan. His awards, achievements and accolades are immense and here are a few; Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Army Distinguished Service Medal (2), Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star and Purple Heart.

"I have spent my whole life as an American soldier  if I could do it again, I would. All of our veterans old and young, they took an oath to defend the United States of America. That means a lot to me," he said.

From my time with General Sullivan I can tell that he was never a "desk" general. His love and passion was being with his troops. You will not find more of a regular gentleman.

Gen. Gordon R. Sullivan, America thanks you for your service to our great country, sir.
Business France, the national agency supporting the development of the French economy, will organise the French pavilion at VIV MEA 2020, the trade fair devoted to livestock taking place from March 9 to 11 in Abu Dhabi.

The French pavilion will be hosting 20 French companies (including 14 new exhibitors) specialised in: animal feed & nutrition, animal health, equipment and innovative solutions for hatchery & laboratory and efficient egg processing lines and packaging. The pavilion will showcase the latest French technologies in the livestock industry and allow professionals to set up meetings with these companies on the spot.

Covering several industries such as poultry, aquaculture or dairy, the trade show attracts professional visitors mostly from the Middle East, Africa, India and Central Asia.

In 2018, France was the worlds fifth largest agri-food exporter (UN Comtrade). Being the 3rd largest poultry producer in EU (1.7 million tons in carcasse weight equivalent - CWE), first beef producer (1.5 million tons in CWE), first egg producer (14.4 billion eggs in 2017) and second milk producer in EU (Eurostat), France offers expertise in all fields related to livestock.

Exporting $12.7 billion livestock solutions worldwide in 2019, France is a leading cereal producer in Europe, with exports of 31.3 million tons of cereals. With nearly 300 production facilities in France, the animal feed industry is one of the top users of grain cereals. France exported $3.1 billion of prepared animal feed globally, Business France said.

The pavilion is supported by Bretagne Commerce International, a regional player (interprofessional council and regional collective) bringing together the companies from the Brittany region.

Choose France is the official brand that promotes French industrial sectors and attractiveness internationally.

The French pavilion will be located in Hall 7 C039 to F048 & Hall 8 K063.  TradeArabia News Service
Vice President Mike Pence defended Sunday the US administration's handling of the coronavirus epidemic after two confirmed deaths on American soil and rising criticism of the state of US preparedness. Pence and Health Secretary Alex Azar made the rounds of Sunday talk shows with the message that risks from the disease remain low for most Americans, while promising to make up for testing shortfalls. "We could have more sad news, but the American people should know the risk to the average American remains low," Pence said on CNN's "State of the Union." The assurances came a day after officials confirmed that two men had died in the northwestern state of Washington after becoming infected with the virus. The first was a man in his 50s, with no known contact with persons infected abroad. The second was a man in his 70s. Both had "underlying health issues," according to the public health officials. Azar told "Fox News Sunday" the man in his 50s was in a hospital to which a nursing home, hit by a coronavirus outbreak, had sent patients. "So right now there's a large investigation going on in the nursing home, the hospital, contact tracing to try to determine where that disease was introduced and how it might have spread," he said. The United States has had about 70 confirmed coronavirus cases in all, including 47 patients who were repatriated from virus hotspots in Asia and quarantined for 14 days on their return, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Pence put the number of cases among repatriated Americans at 46. There are more than 20 other cases in the United States, including the first infection in New York state confirmed on Sunday -- a woman who had travelled to Iran. She was described as not being in a serious condition. Genetic analysis suggests the novel coronavirus had probably been spreading undetected for about six weeks in Washington state, The New York Times reported. - Testing kits - The spread of the virus through communities would be an ominous development that would almost certainly intensify the epidemic in the United States. US health authorities have been slow to distribute coronavirus testing kits, however, making the dimensions of the problem uncertain. "It's a very fair question, and it's one of the first issues that governors I spoke to raised with me," Pence said when asked on CNN why the US was so far behind other countries in producing testing kits. He said more than 15,000 testing kits were released over the weekend, the federal Food and Drug Administration has approved a testing regime, and the government was working with a commercial provider to produce an additional 50,000 kits. President Donald Trump put Pence in charge of the US response last week, amid rising complaints that the administration had been slow to prepare for the virus's spread. Trump himself had been criticized for seeming to low-ball the risk, even as experts from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned of a looming health emergency. - 'Political talking points' - Former vice president and Democratic candidate Joe Biden attacked what he described as Trump's "incompetence" in dealing with the epidemic, accusing him of muzzling the government's top experts. "I see no preparedness other than political talking points," he said on ABC's "This Week." Democrats also have roundly attacked proposed Trump budget cuts for the CDC and for eliminating in 2018 a senior White House position for a director in charge of global health security. Right-wing commentators, meanwhile, have accused Democrats of "weaponizing" the health crisis, while the president's son Donald Trump Jr. accused them of hoping the virus "kills millions" to hurt his father. In defending the administration's response, Pence credited Trump with acting quickly to establish quarantines for Americans brought back from China and Japan. "The coronavirus remains low -- and that is largely owing to the decision the president made, the energetic efforts of CDC and local health officials, and we'll continue to lean in that in a hopeful way," the vice president said. Two patients infected by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) have died in Kirkland, Washington at the EvergreenHealth Medical Center A stretcher is moved from an AMR ambulance to the Life Care Center of Kirkland where one associate and one resident were diagnosed with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) according to a statement released by the facility in Kirkland, Washington US President Donald Trump (L) has made US Vice President Mike Pence his pointman on dealing with the coronavirus epidemic Former vice president and Democratic candidate Joe Biden has attacked what he described as Trump's 'incompetence' in dealing with the coronavirus epidemic
Athens, GA (30605)

Today

A few showers this evening with overcast skies overnight. Low near 40F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%..

Tonight

A few showers this evening with overcast skies overnight. Low near 40F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%.
The ghost of 1977 still haunts Polish master director Roman Polanski. In 1977, he pleaded guilty of having sex with a 13-year-old girl in the US, but escaped from the country before being sentenced. He has never set foot in America since then, but in this #MeToo era, he is hardly ever going to find support or sympathy  although the girl herself had pardoned him and asked that legal proceedings be dropped.

When Polanski won the Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay Awards at the French Cesars (France's equivalent of the Oscars) the other evening for An Officer and a Spy, there were protests and booing. Several actresses walked out. French star Adele Haenel who revealed last year that she had been sexually molested when she was a child by another director shouted "shame".

Polanski, now 86, did not attend the function fearing public lynching.

He has not had an easy life. As a child he lost his family in the Holocaust, and in 1969, his young and pregnant wife, Sharon Tate, was brutally murdered by the Manson Family  a day in August that America thought was the end of the Golden Era of Hollywood. Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which premiered at Cannes 2019, touches upon this, though he glosses over the actual murder.

When Polanski's movie, An Officer and a Spy, was picked to compete at the Venice Film Festival last September, there was uproar. But Festival Director Alberto Barbera said he was not going to judge the man, but only his creative efforts. "When you go to see a painting by Caravaggio, you are seeing a work by an assassin who, after killing a man, had to escape to Palermo. It's ridiculous. If you can't make a distinction between the culpability of a person and that person's value as an artist, you aren't going to get anywhere."

Polanski's Cesar clincher talks about the Dreyfus affair, the infamous late 1800 scandal. The French Jewish Army Captain, Alfred Dreyfus, was accused of spying for Germany, convicted in an awfully biased trial and sentenced to life imprisonment in the notorious Devil's Island. He was eventually exonerated in trials which laid bare anti-semitism in the French army and Government.

Interestingly, Polanski's work comes at a time when the world finds itself polarised. A strong anti-Jewish sentiment is emerging in Europe, and elsewhere in places like India, there is clear hostility between communities.

But An Officer and a Spy conveys that it is possible to overcome such biases with rational thinking and a sense of 'live and let live.'
A teenage girl thought to have been killed in a fire alongside her brother has been found alive and charged with murdering him and an unknown female believed to be her mother, authorities said.

Candace Walton, 16, was believed to be dead when two bodies were found in a house fire in Monroe County, Georgia, on Thursday morning, and the girl's mother was missing.

The other body was identified as her 21-year-old brother, Gerald Walton, who has special needs.

Just hours later, authorities found Candace alive and heading to Oregon in her mother's stolen car.

Candace Walton, 16, (above) was believed to be dead when two bodies were found in a house fire in Monroe County, Georgia, on Thursday morning, and the girl's mother was missing

One body is confirmed as that of Gerald Walton (left), Candace's 21-year-old brother. The other is an unidentified female which may be the girl's mother Tasha Vandiver (right), 46

The teen has now been arrested and charged with the murder of her brother and the unidentified female, who may be her missing mother.

Emergency services were called to a blaze at a property in Monroe County at around 3.30 am Thursday morning.

Two badly burned bodies were discovered inside the home and were originally identified as Gerald and Candace.

Emergency services were called to a blaze at a property in Monroe County at around 3.30 am Thursday morning

Two badly burned bodies were discovered inside the home and were originally identified as Gerald and Candace.

Authorities said the bodies were 'burned beyond recognition'

Authorities said the bodies were 'burned beyond recognition'.

Officers reported the pair's mother Tasha Vandiver, 46, missing and her vehicle, a white 2007 Chevrolet Malibu, unaccounted for.

'Tasha has been entered as missing and we are unsure at this time if she is in any danger,' a Monroe County Sheriff's Office news release said Thursday.

However, a nationwide lookout for the car led Kentucky police to locate the vehicle later that afternoon more than 450 miles away in McCracken County.

When they pulled the vehicle over, they found Candace behind the wheel, 13WMAZ reported.

Candace's mother is still missing and the second body has not been identified. It has not been confirmed if she is the other person whose remains were found in the burned home

Walton has been charged with arson, theft by taking, and two counts of murder including the murder of her brother (above)

Kentucky Sheriff Brad Freeman told the Macon Telegraph that officers found 'some incriminating things' in the car.

The suspect said she was heading for Oregon, where authorities believe she has a boyfriend, Freeman added.

The Sheriff confirmed Monroe County investigators had traveled to Kentucky and spoken to the suspect but would not divulge 'what kind of statement she made'.

Candace's mother is still missing and the second body has not been identified.

It has not been confirmed if she is the other person whose remains were found in the burned home.

Initially the fire was not believed to be intentionally set.

Walton has been charged with arson, theft by taking, and two counts of murder.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  In the opening moments of the 24th Tri-C High School Rock Offs Final Exam at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Saturday, Barry Gabel of Live Nation prepped the crowd on what to expect. As he detailed, each group would receive 15 minutes of stage time, adding that, We dont care if they are originals, we just want the bands to kick butt for all 15 minutes.

Plenty of bands would take Gabels words to heart, including Detention, who delivered an electrifying performance that took them from time out to first place in this years Rock Off.

The Meatball Mob nabbed second place while The Autumn Dogs came in third.

The members of Detention, from Firestone High School, Highland Middle School and Stem Middle School, have achieved different levels of actual wrongdoing ranging from, yes, detention, to in-school suspension. Thats worse, guitarist Evan Cox is happy to inform us.

First time participants, they were all caught off guard by the win.

Im super, super excited, vocalist Elliott Carter said. I genuinely wasnt expecting this at all.

They had more than earned it with their set, which was bookended with a pair of covers, Tom Pettys I Need to Know and in a subtle nod to their Akron lineage, a killer take on Devos Uncontrollable Urge. A pair of additional originals, including Dead Malls, offered a preview of a forthcoming full-length album.

Carter is a chameleonic vocalist who displayed incredible stage presence performing with the group. Their Rock Off performance came more than three hours after the event had begun. It was worth the wait.

Marrying memorable song hooks with equally great hooky guitar riffs as demonstrated by two strong originals  Cabin Trip and Stick Around  that they played during their set, The Meatball Mob served up a deep dish of quality rock and roll, with a faithful cover of Molly Hatchets Flirtin With Disaster thrown in as a set-opening bonus that primed the pump.

Meanwhile, The Autumn Dogs mixed a love of 60s power pop with blues-soaked guitar jams, anchored by drummer and vocalist Jack Mclaughlin. The powerful trio demonstrated an impressive ability to slip fluidly between frenetic paced jamming and quieter melodic sections.

Other highlights from the night included bands like Antimatter, who powered through a set that had a 70s road rock vibe, with punkish energy added in by a show-closing cover of Green Days American Idiot.

Were the band your mom likes, Ink frontman Gavin Payne informed the crowd during their set which melded metal-leaning guitar riffs with a flurry of anthemic pop hooks and even a touch of ska.

The team spirit of Bucyrus High Schools 17-piece Xband was hard to miss. A funky horn-soaked cover of the 80s classic Land of Confusion, anchored by a gravelly vocal from Princeton Wurm, was a highlight of their performance.

Guitarist Ryan McKendry broke a string before Fake ID got to their take on Rage Against The Machines Killing In The Name. Making their debut appearance at the Rock Off, the band proved that a steady stream of performances have helped mold them into a formidable live unit.

This years Rock Off was the first to happen on the Leap Day. Perhaps that extra calendar entry contributed to what ended up being an incredible bill of contenders. From top to bottom, as indicated in The Plain Dealers previous coverage, it was a strong class of bands.

So what can we look forward to for the 25th anniversary of the Rock Off next year? Barry Gabel wasnt giving away any details  only noting that this years winner would be mostly known as the best band in the land until 2021.

Thanks to their win, that best band, Detention will receive a prize of $1,000 plus an additional $250 earmarked for their schools music program.

Previous Rock Off coverage

Tri-C High School Rock Off: Tracking dreams, not just songs, in the studio

Tri-C High School Rock Off unveils schedule for Final Exam

The Tri-C High School Rock Off has become one of Northeast Ohios top musical events

Meet the bands in the 2020 Tri-C High School Rock Off
Mumbai, March 1 : Actress Bhagyashree shot to fame with her 1989 debut film "Maine Pyar Kiya" opposite Salman Khan. Then, even as she was being touted as Bollywood's next big thing, she announced her marriage to Himalaya, who was an aspiring actor then, and subsequently became a businessman. The early marriage took a toll on her fledgling career and she never quite managed to make a comeback.

While Bhagyashree and hubby Himalaya have always known to be deeply in love, she has now revealed that there was a one-and-a-half year phase when she had to stay away from him.

In a video posted by celebrity lensperson Viral Bhayani on Instagram, the 51-year-old actress is seen interacting at an event. In the video, she says: "Himalaya ji was my first love and, yes, I got married to him. Lekin ek arsa tha beech mein jab hum juda ho gaye the (However, there was a period of time in between when we were separated)." Bhagyashree continued to say that the period of separation made her mull over the question of what would happen if she had not married Himalaya. "I had that feeling that 'what if I hadn't got him in my life and I had married someone else?' It got me to that stage because there was a period of a year and a half that we weren't together. Woh ehsaas abhi bhi yaad aata hai toh darr lagta hai (recalling that feeling still scares me)." Back in the day it had been reported how Bhagyashree and Himalaya got married in a hush-hush temple ceremony against the wishes of their parents, in the presence of Salman and "Maine Pyar Kiya" director Sooraj Barjatya among a handful of close friends and colleagues.

Bhagyashree's son Abhimanyu Dassani is now an aspiring actor. He has a couple of projects lined up this year. In "Nikamma", he will be seen opposite debutante actress Shirley Setia, while Shilpa Shetty makes a comeback in the film. That apart, Abhimanyu has also signed "Aankh Micholi" opposite "Super 30a actress Mrunal Thakur. The film directed by "OMG: Oh My God" maker Umesh Shukla also stars Sharman Jshi, Divya Dutta, Paresh Rawal, Grusha Kapoor, Abhishek Banerjee, Darshan Jariwala and Vijay Raaz.
Taliban deal, judicial confirmations, lampooning Democrats: 8 takeaways from Trump's CPAC speech

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

President Donald Trump addressed the annual Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday afternoon at the Gaylord National Resort & Conference Center in National Harbor, Maryland.

CPAC was familiar territory for Trump, who has given speeches at the largest gathering of conservatives in the United States every year since becoming president.

During his speech that lasted well over an hour before a large passionate crowd, Trump touched on several different topics, among them the economy, foreign policy, and media bias.

Here are eight things that Trump spoke about during his remarks at CPAC, including the newly announced Taliban deal, economic progress, and criticisms of Democratic presidential candidates.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Next
President Trump's No. 1 nemesis invited me to visit him in Burbank, Calif., on Monday. How could I resist?

U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff had just returned from the annual Munich Security Conference, where he held bilateral meetings with various European defense ministers who are working with the U.S. on negotiations between Afghanistan and the Taliban. He also met with NATO officials in Brussels.

The meetings, said Schiff, "confirmed what we are hearing and seeing, which is that the Russians are continuing to engage in interfering in the 2020 election. They've never really stopped. Our allies are equally aware of the Russian threat to their own elections."

The theme of the Munich conference was "Westlessness," a depressing if catchy new word that describes the way the world is shifting away from liberal democracies, in the same way the moral authority of the United States is being eroded.

After Trump acquittal, the Resistance clings to faith that what's right still matters in America The few Red State senators with the courage to convict offer a slim ray of hope in Trump's ugly new America, columnist Will Bunch says.

"There was a real sense that democracy has been on a downward trajectory over the past two to three years of the Trump presidency and the West is leaderless," Schiff told me. "Trump is leading in a negative direction against the Transatlantic (Trade and Investment) Partnership and NATO, and others are rising in the void, like China. Russia is lashing out as much as ever."

Schiff had come home to California for a few days to cast his vote in the primary, touch base with constituents and appear on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"

As chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and the lead prosecutor against President Trump in both the House impeachment inquiry and the Senate trial, Schiff has become Trump's virtually untouchable archenemy. The unflappable congressman is never far from the president's mind, and the reverse is true, too.

"I spend half my day inside his head apparently," Schiff joked with Kimmel. "And I gotta tell you, it's pretty scary in there. It's everything I can do to avoid all the marbles rolling around." (Cue the rimshot.)

The truth that mattered at Trump's impeachment trial? America is a monarchy now In the end, the fires of the American Experiment were extinguished by a crude demagogue and the power of his mean tweets, columnist Will Bunch says.

In his closing statement at the trial, before the Senate vote, Schiff predicted that if Trump were acquitted of having violated the Constitution, he would be unleashed in potentially terrifying ways. He was right; since the vote, Trump has gone off the deep end, purging his administration of enemies real and imagined and their families.

For instance, when Trump learned that Joseph Maguire, his acting intelligence chief, had allowed an election security expert to tell the House Intelligence Committee last month that Russia had a "preference for Trump," he blew a fuse. He claimed he'd never heard the information and suggested that Schiff should be investigated for leaking it, which Schiff said he did not.

Even crazier, Trump insisted that the information was wrong, that the intelligence community was "being played," as the Washington Post put it, and that Democrats had just been handed political ammunition to use against him.

Trump fired Maguire and replaced him with the supremely unqualified Richard Grenell, a Trump loyalist and former U.S. spokesman at the United Nations who currently serves as the American ambassador to Germany.

Many elected officials and journalists know Grenell as a once-prolific Twitter antagonist; in fact, I first came to know his name a few years ago when he tweeted sarcastically at me.

Hamilton would have led the charge to oust President Trump Hamilton faced a choice of party over principle in the deadlocked 1800 election - and he unhesitatingly chose principle, historian Eli Merritt says.

"So the Twitter trolls are now running the intelligence agencies," Schiff said.

On Monday morning, I joined Schiff in a black SUV for the ride from his district office on East Olive Avenue in Burbank to his polling place at the Buena Vista Branch Library a couple of miles away.

Schiff is on the ballot, and seven challengers have taken him on, including Maebe A. Girl, a progressive Democrat and drag queen who serves on the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council. His leading Republican challenger is attorney Eric Early, a huge Trump fan who calls Schiff "a national disgrace."

"I don't think that's your best approach in this district," Schiff said dryly.

In the car, I pressed him on his choice for the Democratic presidential ticket.

Study shows how Trump has led Republicans to distrust mainstream media And the erosion is not only with the hardcore Trump base, TV critic David Zurawik says. According to this study, it also involves Republican-leaning independents.

Schiff, who has not endorsed a candidate, refused to say. However, like so many Democrats, he said his main criteria was "electability." Which means what, exactly, I asked.

"To me, what that means is they can both excite the base of our party and they can win over swing voters," Schiff said. "That's what Bill Clinton was able to do, and it's what Barack Obama was able to do. If I were advising anyone in the field, I would say run on two things: Run on meeting the economic needs of those who have been left behind -- the Trump-Obama voters -- and run on a return to basic decency."

He will support the eventual nominee "110%," he said, no matter who that is. He'd support anybody over Trump.

"I say this without any hyperbole -- you could pluck someone off the street at random and they would be a better president than Donald Trump," Schiff said. "Because someone chosen completely at random off the street would be patriotic, they would be decent and if they didn't know something, they would have the good sense to ask someone who did."

My last question for Schiff was something I had to ask. Given that Trump was acquitted by the Republican-majority Senate, did he have any regrets or second thoughts about how he'd handled the whole impeachment?

He did not.

Not even when he paraphrased Trump's shakedown phone call with the Ukrainian president to make him sound even more like a Mafia don than he already does?

"No," said Schiff, "if mocking the president got under his skin, that's just another benefit."

Robin Abcarian is an opinion columnist at the Los Angeles Times.
Senior Colonel Wu Qian, Director General of the Information Office of China's Ministry of National Defense (MND) and Spokesperson for the MND, answers reporters' questions at a monthly press conference on Feb. 28, 2020. (eng.mod.gov.cn)

Senior Colonel Wu Qian: Under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, the whole nation has been united as one to fight against the COVID-19 epidemic. To answer the concerns of the Chinese people and the international community, the Chinese government has taken a series of actions to prevent and control the epidemic in the most comprehensive, strict and thorough way. President Xi directed that, the military should bear in mind its purpose of serving the people and make active efforts to support local authorities in epidemic prevention and control. All service members follow President Xis order and remain true to their original aspiration of serving the people. They will perform their duties of saving people's lives with great courage and stand with the whole nation until the end of the battle against COVID-19. There will be no success without a total victory. Relevant military departments will host a special briefing on the support provided by Chinas armed forces in fighting COVID-19 in the next few days.

According to the consensus between China and Cambodia, the militaries of the two countries will hold Dragon Golden 2020, a joint training focusing on counter-terrorism operations, in Cambodia from March 2 to April 10. The Chinese side will send 265 troops from the Southern Theater Command Army to the joint training, .

Dragon Golden is an important program in China-Cambodia military cooperation. The training this year, the fourth of its kind, is a concrete step to implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries during their recent meeting in Beijing. It can help the two militaries strengthen strategic trust and cooperation in military training, and enhance their capabilities in dealing with global security threats including terrorism.

Question: The US Department of Justice (DoJ) announced this month indictment against four members of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) on allegations of hacking Equifax, a credit reporting agency in 2017. Whats your comment?

Answer: We have already stated our position on this case. I want to emphasize that the indictment is based on fabrications and lies for ulterior motives, and is an example of US judicial bullying. The Chinese military has lodged solemn representations with the US side.

Chinas position on cyber security is clear and consistent. China is a staunch defender of international cyber security. The Chinese government firmly opposes and fights all kinds of cyber crimes in accordance with the law. The Chinese military has never engaged or participated in any form of cyber theft.

The world knows that the US side has a notorious record on cyber security issues. From WikiLeaks and Snowden revelations to the recent Crypto AG incident, the US has never been able to offer a proper explanation to the world. It has been proven time and again that the US has been conducting large-scale, organized and indiscriminate cyber theft and surveillance activities against foreign governments, businesses and individuals. It is a real hacking empire. The world should stay vigilant against its bad behaviors. We urge the US side to correct its mistake and withdraw the indictment so as not to do further damage to the relations between the two countries and the two militaries.

Question: Recently, the US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said that China is Americas main adversary at the Munich Security Conference. He claimed that China has made more aggressive military posture by seizing and militarizing islands in the South China Sea, weaponized the space domain through the development of directed-energy weapons and killer satellites, and challenged and undermined the rules-based international order. He said China is heading even faster and further toward the wrong direction. Whats your comment?

Answer: These remarks made by the US side on China do not make sense. In this speech, the US side spared no effort in smearing and slandering Chinas defense and military development, exaggerated the so-called China military threat, interfered in Chinas internal affairs and undermined the basic norms governing international relations. The Chinese side is strongly dissatisfied and firmly opposed to these words.

On the South China Sea, the overall situation is improving towards greater stability thanks to the concerted efforts made by China and other countries in the region. The US, out of self-interest, does not want a peaceful and stable South China Sea. It has sent warships and aircraft to carry out hegemonic navigation operations in the region, and held targeted military exercises and joint patrols together with countries outside the region. These fact have proven that the US is the true trouble-maker undermining regional peace and stability in the South China Sea and the black hand behind the militarization in the region.

On the space issue, the US confuses right with wrong in its accusation against China. In fact, it is the US that has been weaponizing the space. It is known to all that the US, in pursuit of space hegemony, has formed the Space Force, spent enormous amounts of money on enhancing space combat readiness and unilaterally initiated an arms race in the space. The accusation against China is just an excuse for itself to strengthen its own military power.

On the issue of safeguarding international rules, I would like to ask a question: who is the global rule-maker, the international community or the US? Can anyone put its own interests over the rules universally recognized by the international community? Can a country choose whether to follow the rules or not just based on its own interests? The fact is that the US, who is championing unilateralism, has violated or withdrawn from international conventions in order to shirk or shift its international responsibilities and obligations. In recent years, the US has exited from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United Nations Human Rights Council, and a number of international treaties including the Paris Agreement, Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iranian nuclear issue and Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty). Its actions have made clear to the international community that the US is the disruptor of the international order, and it is in no position to point fingers at other countries.

"Verdant mountains could not stop the river from flowing into the sea." Chinas development is an unstoppable trend. These false and slanderous comments from the US will only expose its prejudice and anxiety to the world. China stays committed to the path of peaceful development, upholds a defensive defense policy, and stands ready to work with countries all over the world to build a community with a shared future for mankind. We urge the US side to stop its wrong doing and not to go any further down the wrong direction.

Question: President Xi recently signed the CMC Order No.1 of the year to launch the annual military training. What measures will be taken to implement the order?

Answer: On January 2, President Xi Jinping, also General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Chairman of the CMC, signed the CMC Order No.1 of 2020 to launch the annual military training.

Following this Order, the military has carried out arduous and rigorous training to further enhance real combat training.

First, the leading role of the CMC and commanding officers in training is emphasized. The CMC functional organs have organized high-tech lectures through video conferences. Commanding officers at different levels have taken the lead in organizing and participating in training, setting an example for the troops.

Second, real combat training is prioritized. Seminars and exercises of operational commanding, training of new capabilities in new fields, and basic technical and tactical training have been conducted across the military with more emphasis on emergency response. The purpose is to leave no stone unturned in the training of every individual soldier, every type of equipment, and every category of combat element, thus consolidating the capabilities of fighting and winning battles.

Third, stricter training inspection has been put in place. Considering the COVID-19 epidemic, training inspection has been organized flexibly in groups and at different levels to strengthen supervision and to guarantee a high starting point of military training in 2020.

Question: Some analysis says the outbreak of COVID-19 might influence the combat readiness of the Chinese military. Whats your comment?

Answer: Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the Chinese military has strictly implemented the orders of President Xi Jinping and the CMC, focusing on both epidemic prevention and military training. To minimize the influence of the outbreak on military training, some measures have been adopted:

First, we have adjusted annual training tasks in accordance with the requirements of disease prevention and control. Given the impact of the epidemic, we have drafted more appropriated training plans and suspended some large-scale drills and training;

Second, we have established a training order in line with the requirements of disease prevention and control. The sites, time and participants of training have been managed in a more scientific way. Meanwhile, training in headquarters, basic tactical training in troops and self-training have been organized in a more careful manner;

Third, we have differentiated training forms in different places based on specific risk levels in local areas. Large-scale training is tightly restricted in areas with severe outbreaks. Troops in areas with less affected cases can conduct basic training in their barracks or closed training camps around.

Fourth, we have explored innovative teaching and training methods such as forming training units in a more flexible manner, conducting training courses step by step and using digital and smart technologies to ensure the quality and efficiency of training.

Fifth, we have strengthened epidemic prevention measures during training. We have established an epidemic prevention mechanism and supervised the implementation of these measures throughout the training to ensure safety.

According to relevant laws, disaster relief and emergency rescue is one of the diversified missions of the PLA. It is the duty of the armed forces to fight the epidemic. Our service members will continue to battle the epidemic and strengthen combat readiness so as to fulfill the tasks entrusted by the Party and the people.

Question: Earlier this year, the MND released information that China will change military conscription and retirement from once a year to twice a year. Has the conscription work of 2020 been affected by the COVID-19 outbreak?

Answer: As approved by the State Council and the CMC, the conscription in the first half of 2020 will be postponed to the second half. This decision is in line with the national requirements of COVID-19 prevention and control. Currently, the top priority is protecting peoples safety and the conscription should come after the epidemic prevention and control. The postponement is to ensure that military units and local authorities at different levels focusing on the battle against the epidemic and achieving a final victory. The conscription tasks for the first half will also be completed in the second half, which means the numbers of new recruits for the year and for every province, autonomous region and municipality remain unchanged. The conscription has been rescheduled to start on August 1. New recruits will be transported from September 10 to 30.

Question: Following a joint air-sea combat-readiness patrol on February 9, the PLA conducted joint exercises in waters southeast of Taiwan on February 10. A person in charge of the Taiwan administrative department complained that the mainland, in time of the COVID-19 outbreak, still flew military aircraft around Taiwan, which caused concerns among Taiwan people and undermined regional peace. Whats your comment?

Answer: The Spokesperson for the PLA Eastern Theater Command has released information on this issue. I want to emphasize that the combat-readiness patrol and joint exercises conducted by the PLA are aimed at safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity, maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and protecting the common interests of compatriots on both sides of the Strait. These operations are targeted specifically at Taiwan independence forces and their secessionist activities.

Taiwan is a part of China. We warn the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of Taiwan not to play with fire. Any attempt to secede Taiwan from China is doomed to fail.

Question: Senator Bernie Sanders, one of the US Democratic presidential candidates, said in an interview that he will not stand by if China decided to take military actions against Taiwan. Whats your comment?

Answer: The Taiwan question belongs to China's internal affairs, and brooks no foreign interference. Those actions fueling cross-strait hostility and confrontation will only bring disasters to the compatriots in Taiwan. Any attempt to resist reunification by force is doomed to failure. Containing China with Taiwan will not work. The PLA has the firm will, full confidence and sufficient capabilities to safeguard Chinas national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Question: According to foreign media reports on February 24, during his recent visit to India, US President Donald Trump said America should be Indias premier defense partner and India will buy $3 billion worth of military equipment from the US, including armored helicopters. The US and India will also strengthen the quadrilateral consultation among Washington, Tokyo, New Delhi and Canberra in a bid to jointly safeguard a free and open Indo-Pacific. Whats your comment?

Answer: We have noticed relevant reports. We hope military cooperation between relevant countries can be conductive to regional peace and stability rather than the opposite.

Question: According to Singaporean media, in a meeting with the Bayi Aerobatics Team of the PLA Air Force at the Changi Air Force Base, Singapores Minister for Defence Dr. Ng Eng Hen said that the presence of Chinese participants at the Singapore Airshow amid the coronavirus outbreak in China proves the strong relationship between Singapore and China. Whats your comment?

Answer: Based on the agreement between the two countries, the Bayi Aerobatics Team of PLAAF was invited to participate in the Singapore Airshow from February 5 to 18 and to put on flight performances. This is an important program in the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Singapore, and both sides attached great importance to it. The participation of the Chinese military fully demonstrates the sound and smooth cooperation between the two militaries.

Question: It is reported that Exercise Cobra Gold 2020 commenced in Thailand recently. Please brief us on the performance of the PLA in the exercise.

Answer: Exercise Cobra Gold 2020 is being held in Thailand from February 25 to March 6. China has sent ground force troops from the PLA Southern Theater Command Army to participate in HADR subjects.
Ginny Burdick

Burdick, D-Portland, is the Oregon Senate majority leader and represents Senate District 18.

I am proud to lead the Oregon Senate Democrats. We put in the long hours. We do the hard work. We show up for work.

The voters of Oregon elected us and are paying us to represent them in our representative democracy.

Unfortunately, we are unable to act on any legislation since the Senate Republicans walked off the job last Monday. This is the third time in the last 10 months that the Senate Republicans have shut down the legislative process by denying a quorum. This is the third time they have obstructed the democratic process rather than simply voting no on bills they dont like. This is no way to govern.

Oregon faces a human-caused climate emergency. That cannot be denied. Scientists agree, and the climate crisis is brutally evident all across Oregon: from our warming coastal waters, to devastating floods in Umatilla, from wildfires increasing in frequency and intensity to drought in Harney County. We know the facts, and we know that this is an urgent matter. We need to pass Senate Bill 1530 - the Oregon Greenhouse Gas Initiative. We owe it to our children, and we cannot afford to wait any longer.

The Republicans who have abandoned their duties claiming they object to SB 1530 are blocking every single bill. Only three bills have made it through the legislative process this session and are able to become law. Blocked legislation includes: emergency relief for Umatilla County, critical budget fixes for the Oregon Health Authority and the Department of Human Services, a bill to prioritize the finalization of adoptions for 700 children in foster care, necessary improvements to our public defense system, earthquake resiliency measures and so many more.

Share your opinion Submit your essay of 500-700 words on a highly topical issue or a theme of particular relevance to the Pacific Northwest, Oregon and the Portland area to commentary@oregonian.com. Please include your email and phone number for verification.

The Republican Senate minority leader was correct when he said in an interview with KOBI Television that a walkout isnt really a good way to govern. Yet, for the third time in 10 months he has walked off the job he was elected to do. His counterparts in the Oregon House also abandoned their posts the very next day.

In recent elections, Oregonians chose the 90 legislators we have today. While we have different opinions, many of us ran for office talking about climate change. Those who campaigned in support of bold climate action overwhelmingly won. That is why we have a strong majority for climate action.

I am infuriated that Republicans are walking off the job while collecting a salary, receiving benefits, and even a daily per diem. In addition, these absent Republicans can use campaign funds to pay expenses they accrue while off the job.

We must acknowledge the walkout for what it is: subversion of democracy and a dereliction of duty. To call walking out on your oath of office leadership is insulting. Setting precedent for this sort of action degrades the integrity of the Legislature.

I am proud of the Senate Democrats and our Democratic colleagues in the House of Representatives. These elected officials are dedicated to their oaths of office and to Oregons citizens. You can count on us to show up.
As Harvey Weinstein began life as a convicted sex offender last week, with a cell at notorious Rikers Island beckoning, I thought back to all the Vogue dinners I hosted that he and other powerful men would attend.

Dinners such as the one we regularly gave on the weekend of the Baftas, where many of the film folk in town would join fashion designers, models, newspaper editors, gallery owners and social lounge lizards for a glittering evening.

In the run-up to the big night, there would always be a lot of feverish chat about whether Harvey was coming  he was always Harvey, whether you knew him or not.

On the occasions Harvey did join us, we made sure his table was filled with people he might find entertaining and that would always include a number of strikingly pretty girls.

As Harvey Weinstein began life as a convicted sex offender last week, with a cell at notorious Rikers Island beckoning, I thought back to all the Vogue dinners I hosted that he and other powerful men would attend

We did the same with just about every powerful and famous man at a dinner of this kind. And so, I might add, did every other party organiser in town if they were hosting similar events.

Does this sound shocking in 2020? Perhaps. But its the truth.

Of course, we didnt intend any kind of physical relationship to emerge between these guys and their dinner companions but there was undeniably a complicit acknowledgment that youthful beauty was its own currency. One as potent as that of wealth, power and fame.

I havent put together a big dinner like that for some years and, truthfully, I dont know whether I would feel the same way now about who I seated with whom.

Back then, of course, I had no idea about Weinsteins predatory behaviour, although, as we now learn, others clearly did.

Nor had I heard the harrowing stories of his victims and the impassioned outpourings of other #MeToo activists.

Incidentally, at one of those Vogue parties Harvey brought with him the much-lusted-after Leonardo DiCaprio. Much to the chagrin of many of the gorgeous girls present, Leonardo closeted himself at the far end of the room and insisted on spending the entire night sitting next to his mum

Today, I would be much more wary of any potential accusations of objectifying the less powerful but more beautiful guests.

But I also know that, for both parties, to meet around a dinner table can be enjoyable and sometimes beneficial in a perfectly straightforward and harmless way.

I wont be so cravenly woke as to pretend that attractive youth isnt still admired in our society and that its currency doesnt still exist.

You have only to look at the daily media feed of pictures of good-looking young men and women at parties, openings and premieres to see that.

The practice of bringing in younger and physically attractive guests (of both sexes) to sprinkle around at big social events is not unusual.

At large fashion show dinners, there would often be an influx of models dressed in the designers clothes after the main course. Was their entrance so timed because they didnt want to eat?

The designer didnt want to feed them? Or because the girls didnt want to have to spend too long in the company of the generally older dinner guests? Who knows.

For decades, centuries even, social hostesses have invited bright young things to their parties to jolly things along  and often introduce them to men they wanted to entertain. But in todays light, these practices raise all kinds of questions I dont claim to know the answers to.

I wonder now, for example, why we dont usually feel that a powerful older woman would find it just as riveting to sit with a beautiful young man? Whats the difference? Perhaps they would. Is that wrong?

Many moons ago when I was a young woman, on the odd occasion I was sitting next to a powerful older man at such an event, or indeed was invited to dinner at all, I definitely considered it a compliment. An achievement even.

I might have been terrified about whether I would know what to say  but I also knew that I hadnt really been invited for the breadth of my illuminating conversation. I was there to add a sprinkling of the gold dust of youth.

Which was fine by me. I got to meet really interesting people, some of whom helped me in various ways as time went by, some of whom made an entertaining anecdote to tell my friends the next day.

Back then, of course, I had no idea about Weinsteins predatory behaviour, although, as we now learn, others clearly did. Nor had I heard the harrowing stories of his victims and the impassioned outpourings of other #MeToo activists. The Silence Breakers are pictured above

And I knew many other girls like me who felt the same. And several who actively flirted wildly with an older man in a position to help them.

We always felt perfectly capable of legging it if we encountered an unwanted approach  what might kindly be called a misunderstanding at the end of the evening.

But I am sure that there were other young women and young men who may have been more fragile, less robust and who found themselves in situations they felt they couldnt control.

And others still who found themselves in appalling situations like the victims of Weinsteins behaviour, which no one should have to suffer, let alone as the result of a seating plan at dinner.

Incidentally, at one of those Vogue parties Harvey brought with him the much-lusted-after Leonardo DiCaprio.

Much to the chagrin of many of the gorgeous girls present, Leonardo closeted himself at the far end of the room and insisted on spending the entire night sitting next to his mum.

Farewell Ana, my first Brexit casualty

Weve suffered our first post-Brexit loss. Ana, our wonderful housekeeper, is going home to Romania.

Although she could have remained indefinitely, her husband, who had joined her in London a few months after her arrival and who had less stable employment, was told he could only be sure of five years more here.

Rightly, he thought, why hang around if they couldnt be certain of being welcome in this country where theyve worked and paid their dues for nearly a decade?

Our loss. Romanias gain.

The Americans are masters of panic

The coronavirus is causing pandemonium in the fashion industry, now nearing the end of a month of catwalk shows that are always fertile ground for feverish talk of catastrophe.

The Chinese arent able to travel while many of the Americans, who can, have made their excuses and stayed away.

Americans arent the most stoic of nations in a crisis. It reminds me of how, immediately post-9/11, the Americans who travelled to Europe were all terrified of an anthrax attack.

They spent the whole of the Milanese shows getting their Italian drivers to ferry them round the pharmacies on a hunt for Cipro, the vaccine that had instantly sold out in the States.
https://www.aish.com/ci/s/Going-Viral-Coronavirus-in-a-Polarized-World.html

We're all interconnected, whether we like it or not.

The coronavirus is spreading in China, the Middle East, Europe and has infected people in the United States, Latin America and a growing number of places, with thousands of deaths reported. Israels Ministry of Health has urged citizens to reconsider non-essential travel abroad due to heightened fears over the spread of this potentially deadly disease.

One of the top officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in America warned this week: Ultimately, we expect we will see community spread in this country. Its not so much a question of if this will happen anymore, but rather more a question of exactly when this will happen and how many people in this country will have severe illness. The agency itself tweeted: Now is the time for US businesses, hospitals, and communities to begin preparing for the possible spread of #COVID19.

Indeed, now is the time to do all we can to prepare and to stop the spread of this disease, but there is also an important lesson we can learn from it.

China and the United States couldnt be further apart, not only geographically, but also in family life, social values, and religious customs. One is the model of capitalism and the other the embodiment of communism. For these reasons and others, Americans and Chinese citizens feel so different, like there is so little we have in common. And yet coronavirus reminds us just how interconnected we are, how impacted we are by one another, and how important it is to find common ground and work together for mutual benefit.

Consider how coronavirus began and where we are now. On December 31, the Chinese authorities reported a case of pneumonia with an unknown cause in Wuhan, Hubei province to the World Health Organization. By January 3, 44 more similar cases were reported. Fast forward just two months and from that one case in China, there are now over 80,000 people diagnosed with the illness around the globe, including in this country.

What started far away threatens us here and has impacted the economy around the world, affecting supply lines, import and export, manufacturing, banking and more. We cannot afford to ignore it or dismiss it because it didnt start here or didnt begin by impacting someone we can relate to. Humanity, the worlds population, are one; we are all interconnected and impacted by the behavior, policies and precautions of one another, whether we like it or not.

If we recognize what we have in common and come together to confront this deadly disease, we can isolate it, treat it, and eliminate it. Focus on our differences, deny our common destiny, fail to cooperate and communicate, and it can grow to pandemic proportions that threaten everyone.

In some ways, this is the story and message of Purim. The Jewish people faced extinction and annihilation when they lived with an attitude of "am mefuzar umeforad bein haamim  a nation disparate and separate, dispersed among disconnected peoples." The Jewish people found redemption and safety only when they followed Queen Esther's directive: "lech kenos et kol haYehudim  gather together all the Jews"  become one and act in a unified way.

We describe God as our Father in Heaven. What parent is drawn to intervene and intercede on behalf of their children who cannot and will not get along, who fail to cooperate or show loyalty to one another? On the other hand, when children come together, function as a devoted family, parents are moved to do anything they can to help.

When everyone is in it for themselves, self-centered, narcissistic and concerned only for their wellbeing, they are in danger. But when we see our destiny as intertwined, when your pain hurts and threatens me and my struggles are yours, we can together endure and overcome anything.

It isnt a coincidence that the mitzvot of Purim center around connecting with others, being of service to them and seeking to relieve their pain. We deliver Mishloach Manos (gifts of food) to one another to further our connections and bonds and we distribute Matanos LEvyonim, gifts to the poor to feel the pain of those less privileged.

When we are united, unified in our history and destiny, focused on what we have in common instead of what divides us, we are bigger and stronger than the sum of our parts. We are both worthy and capable of confronting, persevering and triumphing over whatever challenge or threat we face. That is the message of Purim for the Jews and perhaps that is a message of the coronavirus for humanity.

The odious virus reminds us that our actions are never local; they can have cosmic implications  for bad, but equally for good. In 1963, meteorologist Edward Lorenz introduced what he called the butterfly effect. He demonstrated that the flapping of a butterflys wing in Australia can cause a tornado in Kansas, a monsoon in Indonesia, or a hurricane in Boca Raton. Lorenzs thesis is part of a greater theory called chaos theory that essentially postulates that small acts can have large outcomes. Chaos theory is applied in mathematics, microbiology, computer science, economics, philosophy, physics, politics and many other fields.

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks has applied chaos theory in one more realm. In his book To Heal a Fractured World, he coined the phrase chaos theory of virtue, demonstrating how small acts of kindness can have immeasurable consequences on the world. If one person in an isolated area can spread something that has impacted the whole world for the bad, one person, anywhere in the world, can infect the world with goodness and positivity.

We are living in an increasingly polarized world and at an increasingly partisan time. There are conflicts and tensions between countries and there are divisions and discords within nations, peoples, religions, and families.

In that atmosphere, coronavirus not only challenges us, but can teach us. Should we focus on our differences, fail to cooperate or come together, we will all be threatened as a result. On the other hand, if we find common ground, we can collaborate and eliminate a threat by coming together.

Never underestimate the next act of virtue you do. Flap your wings and it can change the whole world. As we begin the month of Adar and count down to the celebration of Purim let us hope and pray that the only thing going viral is a spirit of cooperation, unity, and love.
Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof won the top prize at the Berlin Film Festival for his film titled There Is No Evil, which he made despite being forbidden to do so by the government in Tehran.

Rasoulof was not present at the February 29 ceremony to receive the Golden Bear award for the film, which tells four stories loosely connected to the use of the death penalty in Iran and dealing with personal freedom under tyranny.

Rasoulof, who was sentenced to a year in prison in 2017 and is barred from leaving Iran, is a prominent critic of the Iranian government and has been banned by the authorities from making films for life.

Event organizers left an empty chair and name sign for the 48-year-old Rasoulof at the news conference for his film entry.

Germany's dpa news agency reported that Rasoulof's daughter, Baran, accepted the Golden Bear on his behalf.

The Berlin festival jury chose There Is No Evil over 17 other films competing for the prize, including Sally Potter's The Road Not Taken -- a remake of the classic Berlin Alexanderplatz -- and Siberia.



Based on reporting by dpa, Reuters, AFP, and AP
The Supreme Court will on Monday consider in chamber the curative plea of one of the four death row convicts, Pawan Kumar Gupta, in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case, a day before their scheduled hanging.

The curative petition will be considered by a bench of justices N V Ramana, Arun Mishra, R F Nariman, R Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan in the chamber of Justice Ramana.

Pawan, 25, against whom the death warrant has been issued for execution on March 3 along with the three other condemned prisoners, has claimed juvenility to seek commutation of sentence to life imprisonment.

He has filed the curative plea through lawyer A P Singh seeking setting aside of the apex courts earlier verdicts on appeals and review petitions in the case.

Advocate A P Singh said he has filed an application in the apex court registry on Sunday seeking an oral hearing on Pawans curative plea in the open court.

Pawan is the last death row convict in the case to move the top court with his curative plea, the final legal remedy available to a person.

A 23-year-old physiotherapy intern, who came to be known as Nirbhaya (fearless), was gang raped and savagely assaulted in a moving bus in South Delhi on December 16, 2012. She died a fortnight later.

Pawan and another convict Akshay Singh also moved a trial court here on Saturday seeking stay on the execution of death warrants.

The trial court has issued notice to Tihar Jail authorities on the pleas, directing the officials to file their response by Monday.

While Akshay has claimed that he has filed a fresh mercy petition before the President of India, which is pending, Pawan said he has moved a curative plea before the Supreme Court.

Akshay has said that his earlier mercy petition that was dismissed by the President did not have complete facts.

In the curative plea before the apex court, Pawan has pleaded that his age on the day of offence was 16 years and two months as per the school records last attended by him and the age has not been determined in accordance with the procedures laid down under the Juvenile Justice Act.

This information was suppressed by the State throughout the proceedings, Pawan has claimed.

He was the lone convict who had not exhausted his legal remedies of filing a curative petition and subsequent mercy plea with the President.

The trial court on February 17 issued fresh date for execution of death warrants for March 3 at 6 am for the four convicts -- Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan Kumar Gupta, Vinay Kumar Sharma (26) and Akshay Singh (31) -- in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case.

The mercy petitions of three convicts -- Mukesh, Vinay and Akshay -- have already been dismissed by the President.

The apex court had earlier dismissed separate pleas filed by Mukesh and Vinay challenging the rejection of their mercy petitions by the President.

Akshay has not yet challenged the rejection of his mercy petition.

Six people, including the four convicts and a juvenile, were named as accused. Ram Singh, the sixth accused, allegedly committed suicide in Tihar jail days after the trial began in the case.

The juvenile was released in 2015 after spending three years in a correctional home.
Joe Biden scored a convincing victory in South Carolinas Democratic primary on Saturday, riding a wave of African American support and ending progressive rival Bernie Sanders winning streak.

The victory came at a crucial moment in Bidens 2020 bid as the moderate Democrat bounced back from underwhelming performances in the first three contests. The race now quickly shifts toward next weeks Super Tuesday, when voters in 14 states award one third of the total number of presidential delegates.

Biden hopes the South Carolina victory will be enough to establish him as the clear alternative to Sanders as the race moves into a new phase. Standing in Bidens way is former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, one of the worlds richest men, who has spent more than half a billion dollars courting voters in dozens of states yet to vote.

The South Carolina primary was the first major test of the candidates appeal among black voters. And while it gave the 77-year-old Biden a win when he most needed it, he must still prove that he has the financial and organizational resources to dramatically expand his campaign in the next 72 hours. He will also be under pressure to rely on his decades-long relationships with party leaders to create a new sense of inevitability around his candidacy.

Even before news of Bidens win was declared, Bloomberg announced his own plan to deliver a three-minute prime-time address Sunday night on two television networks. He didnt say how much he paid for the air time, which is unprecedented in recent decades.

And Sanders was already peeking ahead to Super Tuesday, betting he can amass an insurmountable delegate lead at that point. After two consecutive victories and a tie for the lead in Iowa, the 78-year-old Vermont senators confidence is surging.

Sanders was spending the lead-up to Super Tuesday campaigning in the home states of two major Democratic rivals, betting he can score a double knockout blow  or at least limit the size of their victories.

In a power play, Sanders hosted a midday rally Saturday in downtown Boston, campaigning in the heart of liberal ally Elizabeth Warrens political turf. Addressing a crowd of thousands on the Boston Common, Sanders said his success in the Democratic primary means the establishment is getting very nervous  but he never predicted victory in South Carolina.

On the eve of Super Tuesday, Sanders will host a concert in Minnesota, where home-state Sen. Amy Klobuchar is looking for her first win.

Sanders senior adviser Jeff Weaver was among the staffers dispatched to California on Saturday. He said Sanders is aggressively hunting for delegates, noting that their campaigns experience during the 2016 primary against Hillary Clinton taught them that any candidate who finishes Super Tuesday with a significant delegate advantage will be difficult to catch.

Im confident were going to do very, very well across the country, Weaver said of the coming days. He also sought to downplay the importance of South Carolina, where Biden was expected to win.

Moments after Bidens victory was confirmed, former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe formally endorsed the former vice president and encouraged the Democratic Partys moderate wing to unite behind him. On CNN, he called on several candidates to get out of the race  not after Tuesday, but tomorrow.

But the Democrats 2020 primary election isnt yet a two-person race.

In South Carolina, billionaire activist Tom Steyer spent more than $19 million on television advertising  more than all the other candidates combined  in his quest for his first top finish in four contests. At his state campaign headquarters on Saturday, Steyer said he felt optimistic going into the vote and was looking ahead to trips to Alabama and Texas, two Super Tuesday states.

Not ceding anything, Pete Buttigieg is fighting to prove he can build a multiracial coalition. And with the help of super PACs, Warren and Klobuchar vowed to keep pushing forward no matter how they finished on Saturday.

Still, Saturday was all about Biden and whether he might convince anxious establishment Democrats to rally behind him at last.

Elected officials inclined to embrace his moderate politics had been reluctant to support him after bad finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire and a distant second place in Nevada last week. Yet fearing Sanders polarizing progressive priorities, theyre still searching for an alternative whos viewed as a safer bet to defeat Trump in November.

Senior Biden adviser Symone Sanders shifted away from calling South Carolina Bidens firewall and instead called it a springboard, on par with how the state boosted the presidential aspirations of Barack Obama in 2008 and Clinton in 2016.

That sentiment was echoed by former senior Obama adviser David Axelrod, who said a big Biden win in South Carolina could give him a Super Tuesday boost that might force several candidates to quickly consider whether to proceed, including Bloomberg.

If Biden wins by a big margin, it will translate into a bigger day for him on Tuesday, Axelrod said. And if he beats Bloomberg by a significant margin on Tuesday, Bloomberg is going to have to consider what hes doing here.

Indeed, South Carolina represented much more than the fourth state on the Democrats months-long primary calendar.

It serves as the first major test of the candidates strength with African American voters, who will be critical both in the general election and the rest of the primary season.

African American voters in South Carolina backed Biden over any other candidate by a significant margin, according to AP VoteCast, a wide-ranging survey of the electorate. Close to half of black voters supported him, compared with 2 in 10 supporting Sanders and about the same for businessman Tom Steyer.

There was also evidence that Bidens status as former President Barack Obamas two-term vice president helped him win over African Americans.

VoteCast found that about 4 in 10 voters in South Carolina wanted to return to the politics of the past, compared to about a third in Iowa and New Hampshire. That includes the roughly 50% of African American voters who said they want a Democratic presidential nominee who would emulate the Obamas presidency.

By comparison, roughly two-thirds of white voters wanted a presidential candidate who would bring fundamental change to Washington.

While voting technology was a concern in two of the last three primary contests, South Carolina uses a wide array of voting technology that presents unique challenges.

Saturdays election in South Carolina marks the first statewide test of its new fleet of electronic voting machines, a $50 million upgrade from an old and vulnerable system that lacked any paper record of individual votes. The new machines produce a paper record that can be verified by the voter and checked after the election to detect any malfunction or manipulation.
The peace accord, signed by US and Taliban is aimed at ending US' longest war after nearly two decades

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani (C) walks with journalists after a press conference at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan. AFP Photo

Kabul: Afghanistan's president said Sunday that he will not free thousands of Taliban prisoners ahead of all-Afghan power-sharing talks set for next week, publicly disagreeing with a timetable for a speedy prisoner release laid out just a day earlier in a U.S.-Taliban peace agreement.

President Ashraf Ghani's comments pointed to the first hitch in implementing the fragile deal, which is aimed at ending America's longest war after more than 18 years and getting rival Afghan factions to agree on their country's future.

Still, the U.S. has said a planned U.S. troop withdrawal over the next 14 months is linked to the Taliban's counter-terrorism performance, not to progress in intra-Afghan talks.

The U.S.-Taliban deal signed Saturday envisions the release of up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners by the Afghan government ahead of talks between Afghan factions meant to begin March 10 in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The Taliban would release up to 1,000 prisoners.

Ghani told a news conference in the Afghan capital of Kabul on Sunday that this wasn't a promise the United States could make. He said the release of prisoners was a decision for his government to take and that he wasn't ready to release prisoners before the start of negotiations.

The request has been made by the United States for the release of prisoners and it can be part of the negotiations but it cannot be a precondition," Ghani said.

The U.S.-Taliban deal is seen as a historic opportunity to extricate the United States from Afghanistan, a nation convulsed by conflict since the Soviet invasion in December 1979. Yet it could also unravel quickly, particularly if the Taliban fail to deliver on a promise that no terror attacks would be launched from Afghan soil.

The intra-Afghan talks between squabbling political factions and rival Taliban in Afghanistan are even more intricate  even if a potential failure might not slow the withdrawal of American forces.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammad bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said he considered a prisoner exchange an important confidence-building measure.

What we have here is a 14-months agreement that, including in these 14 months, there are several things that need to be accomplished because everything is interconnected," he said Sunday.

"And in that agreement, the prisoner exchange will be one of the first confidence-building measures, so it will remain a very critical step that we need to push forward. And we have the delegations ready for the meeting (with) Taliban and others. So I hope that the negotiations will start very soon.
Turkish Airlines AnadoluJet brand goes global on March 29 with the launch of new international flights from Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen Airport and Ankara Esenboga Airport.



The expansion was announced during the pre-launch event held at Swissotel Al Ghurair, Dubai, with attendance of over 50 representatives from 25 agencies, including Dnata Travel, Kanoo Travel, BCD Travel, and Orient Travel Services.



Set to carry its service quality abroad, the airlines expanded flight network will include 10 weekly flights to Dubai at affordable fares. The service will be available from Dh890 ($242.2) between Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen Airport and Dubai respectively.



Since its inception in 2008, AnadoluJet has provided more than 100 million passengers with affordable, and comfortable flights between Turkeys domestic airports. Operating its flights with experienced Turkish Airlines cabin and cockpit crew, AnadoluJet will introduce international routes covering 27 destinations in 17 countries, taking its total 70 destinations in 20 countries.



With its fleet size also set to reach 57 aircraft, the brand will continue to grow abroad while offering affordability alongside the high-quality standards, which Turkish Airlines is globally renowned for. This includes complimentary onboard catering by Turkish DO&CO, free baggage allowance (20 kg checked plus 8kg cabin), as well as other advantageous additional services to make passengers travel experiences convenient, and comfortable. Additionally, AnadoluJets entire operational processes, from ground services to technical maintenance, will be covered by Turkish Airlines stamp of approval.



Speaking at the pre-launch event, senior vice president of Regional Flights at Turkish Airlines and head of AnadoluJet, Said Samil Karakas, stated; To this day, Turkish Airlines has carried millions of passengers to four corners of the world. From March 29 onwards, AnadoluJet will continue to share the quality of its parent brand and open its doors to the UAE alongside many international destinations. This expansion will allow us to offer our warm and welcoming Turkish hospitality to many more passengers while providing them with comfortable travel options at affordable prices.



As the sub brand of Turkish Airlines, the 87 year-old national flag carrier of Turkey that became the potent symbol of the world-renowned Turkish hospitality in years, we aim to strengthen this position with AnadoluJets' new international flights. Operating at the Anatolian side of Istanbul, and offering an alternative to Turkish Airlines' flights operated at its hub at Istanbul Airport which is located at the European side of the city, AnadoluJet is set to become a meeting point of worldwide passengers with its new international expansion, just like its namesake Anatolia, the land that has long been the connecting point of numerous civilizations throughout history. I believe that after connecting Anatolia from one corner to another, AnadoluJet will successfully link cities of the world with its advantageous flight options. he added.



With its aircraft consisting solely of the economy class configuration, AnadoluJet will increase its passenger capacity by 22 per cent, offering an additional 1.2 million seats to more travellers at affordable fares. Moreover, new flight planning will offer 30 per cent better connectivity to domestic and international routes.



Tickets for the new flights, which will commence on March 29, are available via AnadoluJets and Turkish Airlines sales channels. - TradeArabia News Service
French historians have demanded the return of Napoleon III in the wake of Brexit, whose remains lie in a tomb in Hampshire.

The emperor, who was the final monarch to rule France before he died in exile in 1873, was laid to rest in a church in Farnborough.

But historians in France are hoping to have his remains repatriated as part of a post-Brexit trade deal.

It comes after The Greek government launched a bid to engage in talks with the UK over the return of the Elgin Marbles to Athens, which are currently on display in the British Museum.

Napoleon III, who was the final monarch to rule France before he died in exile in 1873, was laid to rest in a church in Farnborough

A request has been sent to the Foreign Office asking the government to consider the return of Napoleon III's remains in any future talks, according to the Telegraph.

French historian Dimitri Casali is leading calls for the artefact to be returned to what he believes is the country of origin, and told the publication it would be a 'gesture of reconciliation' between France and Britain.

Mr Casali, who has written a book about the monarch, said: 'He was a very, very great man. It's very important for France to have the body of Napoleon III.

French historians have demanded the return of Napoleon III in the wake of Brexit , whose remains lie in a tomb (pictured) in Hampshire

'It will be an elegant gesture of reconciliation between England and France.

'England has their Royal Family, but we have nobody, we have Macron.'

French historian Dimitri Casali is leading calls for the artefact to be returned to what he believes is the country of origin

In July 1870, Napoleon entered the Franco-Prussian War and was rapidly defeated before he was captured by the Germans at the Battle of Sedan.

He was released by the Germans in 1871 and fled to England, where he would spend his final years.

He died after undergoing an operation to extract bladder stones and was laid to rest in a tomb in St Michael's Abbey.

It comes after the British Museum has vowed to fight off any attempt by the EU to take back the Elgin Marbles during Brexit talks as it said they were acquired 'completely legally'.

It emerged the bloc's negotiating mandate for Brexit trade talks had been extended to include a demand to 'address issues relating to the return or restitution of unlawfully removed cultural objects to their countries of origin'.

The ask was widely believed to have been added at the request of Greece, Italy and Cyprus - and indicates that Brussels intends to play hardball.

Historians in France are hoping to have his remains repatriated from St Michael's Abbey (pictured) as part of a post-Brexit trade deal

It comes after The Greek government launched a bid to engage in talks with the UK over the return of the Elgin Marbles to Athens, which are currently on display in the British Museum
Islamabad, March 1 : A survey conducted by the Pakistan unit of the international survey body Gallup has found that 66 per cent of Pakistanis are not satisfied with the functioning of the Imran Khan-led government.

The survey, conducted in February, found only 32 per cent people were satisfied with the functioning of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Party (PTI) government.

In the Gallup Pakistan survey, 59 per cent people said Imran government's performance was worse than previous governments. Only 22 per cent said that current government is better.

Sixty-two per cent of the participants in the survey said Pakistan is not going into the right direction while 35 per cent said that the country is moving in direction.

According to the Gallup survey, 16 per cent of people in Sindh, 13 per cent in Balochistan and 34 per cent in Punjab expressed satisfaction with the performance of the Imran Khan-led government.

Only in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, 64 per cent of the people said that they are satisfied with the Imran government.

The survey found 70 per cent of the men and 60 per cent of the women were dissatisfied with the work of the Imran government.

Disappointment was found among the youth regarding the government's style of functioning as 66 per cent youth -- under the age of 30, said they are not happy with the work of the federal government.

According to the survey, 76 per cent of the traditional voters of the PTI party said the country is going in the right direction but 26 per cent of voters said that they do not think the country is going in the right direction.
Dear Mrs. Adetiba,

Compliments ma. It is a great pleasure to meet you and know that we are members of the same family. It gladdens my heart that providence made our meeting possible.

May God continue to make His presence felt in your life and that of your family. May the spirit of our forefathers continue to guide and guard your footsteps.

Please, find attached the material I promised. Read it with patience and try to disseminate to as many of our brothers and sisters. Education and information is very important to our survival as a race and as a people.

It was one philosopher that contended that "A genius without information is at a great disadvantage compared to a mediocre with information."

Information is of great importance and of highest imperative to the consummation of our vision and what we seek to be and how we hope to do so. It is important that we continue to educate ourselves at every available opportunity. May the spirits of our forebears never rest until we liberate Oodua land and create our own Country and be able to determine our own destiny the way we want it. The world is too much advanced to think that only through military means could this be achieved. This is not correct. We WILL, we CAN and we MUST do this without shooting a single bullet. IT IS VERY POSSIBLE and people are already working on this across Europe and America as well as Nigeria here.

If bullets have to fly, it would be the very last resort. We do not want war, but at times, it could be inevitable. It is however very important that we are prepared, even if we may never have to fight any war. Chances favour those who are always prepared.

The Yoruba race is a very great one. We inherited greatness from our ancestors. We have a duty to ensure that we bequeath this to the coming generation. We have a duty to ensure that the coming generation understands it. Obafemi Awolowo used to preach LIFE ABUNDANT for our people. He worked tirelessly to achieve this for us and made us the envy of others. The present level of poverty is not our lot. We are members of a race that values hard-work, honesty, integrity, dignity, respect and communal commitment. Our race values its history as guidance for the future as represented in Ifa Corpus. We work ceaselessly, tirelessly, relentlessly with unwavering dedication and unalloyed commitment to our future and the generation yet unborn and those already born as represented by our children. This is why you see parents who would sell woods to send their children to school, deny themselves all comforts just so that their children would be something in life.

In 1959, when Awolowo left Ibadan as the Premier of Western Region, Yorubaland was more developed than Portugal and Spain and on the same pedestal as France in infrastructure and social amenities, especially in terms of the percentage of those who had access. As at that time, when we already had the television station in Ibadan, 85% of Europeans have never heard about it or had a clue what it was about. He was able to do that much because as Yoruba, we were in charge of our own destiny. Since 1960, that we became fully part of the cursed country called Nigeria, it has been retrogression in geometrical measures. It has been misery upon misery and suffering upon suffering.

The Yoruba Nation deserves better. But this may never be possible as long as we remain in Nigeria. This is because Nigeria is presently a life prisoner to carpetbaggers whose only God is money, whose only faith is power for the sake of power, and whose only belief is themselves.

This is not what we are as Yoruba. In our culture, CHARACTER determines the value of a person and not MONEY. Accountability of leadership has been part of our monarchical structure for more than 1000 years. Respect for leaders has engendered stability in our milieu for the same span of time. Freedom of opinion and a liberated youth that is free to explore his or her potentials while being understood and cautiously guided by elders, has been the vehicle of our progress. Integrity in personal life, loyalty to the community, dedication to family - immediate or extended are the cornerstones of our culture. Tolerance of others, especially religious tolerance, is a foundation of our worldview. All these are being contaminated or jettisoned totally because of our being part of Nigeria. Human life, greatly cherished and valued by our culture, has been ridiculously cheapened by the Nigerian state.

Historically, Nigeria is an aberration. Anthropologically, Nigeria is a misnomer. Philologically, Nigeria is a conduit of cacophony. Philosophically, Nigeria is a stable of contused quagmire. Culturally, Nigeria is a cluttered cocoon. Structurally, it is a dangerous dilapidation. Spiritually, it is a reject. Olodumare, the God of our fathers is not in support of our involvement in the Nigerian Project. The Biblical God has shown His aversion to it. The Quranic Allah has turned His back to it. And Nigerians have continued to show their hatred and rejection of it since 1960.

We have an obligation to retrieve our Yoruba race from drowning and continued contamination by the Nigerian malaise by seeking ways to extricate ourselves and creating the Oodua Nation. May Olodumare help us. May God bless our effort. May Allah give us His mercy. May the spirits of our forefathers continue to guide and guard us. Oodua a gbe wa o. Ase.

Once again, read the attached material with PATIENCE and try to DISSEMINATE it to as many of our brothers and sisters. If you want to share the email too, it is your prerogative, ma.

My heartfelt greetings to you and your family.

Thanks and my due regards.

Remi Oyeyemi

NB: Mrs. Adetiba was a Senior Civil Servant in one of the Southwest States. She is presently retired. This letter is also slightly edited from the original one.

Lies never last, History never dies and the TRUTH is always constant.

Remi Oyeyemi
Police have appealed for information after a serious sexual assault in Londonderry on Saturday night.

Detectives from the Public Protection Branch wish to speak to anyone who was in a licensed premises on Ferryquay Street between 10.30m and midnight and witnessed or heard anything in the area of the toilets.

Police are working to establish the circumstances of the incident and are appealing for anyone who has any information that can assist their investigation to contact 101 quoting reference 2001 29/02/20.

Information can also be provided to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111, which is 100% anonymous and gives people the power to speak up and stop crime.
In a major win, India has managed to bag a $40 Million defence export deal. Under the deal, India will supply four indigenously-built weapons-locating radars to Armenia. Russian and Polish firms were also in the race to bad the mega-deal.

While interacting with a news agency, a government source said, "The deal is for supplying four Swathi weapon locating radars developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and manufactured by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) to Armenia in Europe."

READ | India has developed proactive defence policy: Amit Shah

The supply of the equipment to Armenia has already begun under the 'Make in India' initiative and this is being considered as a big achievement. Reports also stated that Armenia had conducted various trials of the systems offered by Russia and Poland. Even though the Russian and Polish systems were good, they decided to ahead with the reliability of the Indian system.

Under the $400 Million contract, India is required to supply four Swathi weapons-locating radars. The radars provide fast, automatic, and accurate location of enemy weapons like mortars, shells, and rockets in its 50-km range. It can also simultaneously handle multiple projectiles fired from different weapons at different locations.

READ | Don't let CAPF personnel wear combat uniforms: Army to Defence Ministry

India eying other orders from South-East Asia

The Indian Army is also currently using the same Swathi weapon locating radars to carry out operations along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. Using the radar, the army traces the source of attack by Pakistani positions. The Indian Army had trialled the system in 2018.

As per the officials, this deal will open up a new market for Indian indigenous systems, which are considered to be reasonably priced as compared to its rivals. The Ministry of Defence is also eying various other orders from South-East Asia, Latin America, and Middle-Eastern countries to boos defence exports. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set a target of Rs. 35,000 crore for Indian defence exports.

READ | Defence Minister lays foundation-stone for new Army HQ, explains why 'Thal Sena Bhavan'

READ | 200 MoUs signed at DefExpo, USD 5 bn in Indian defence exports by 2024: Rajnath

(With ANI inputs)
A predatory pervert who had explicit sex chats with two 10-year-old boys has been warned that he faces a lifetime in custody if he continues to offend.

Imposing a four-and-a-half-year sentence on Michael McCollum, Judge Melody McReynolds warned the 21-year-old, who already has two sets of relevant convictions including one for a serious sexual assault, that if he committed more offences "there's every likelihood ... that will drive a dangerous assessment".

"The net effect of that is that you would be looking at a very long time, if not your entire life, in custody," said the Antrim Crown Court Judge who suggested that instead "you view this as a crossroads and knuckle down on your release".

Ordering McCollum to spend 18 months of his sentence in custody and the remaining three years on licence, Judge McReynolds said given his previous convictions, "your life will be very closely controlled."

At an earlier hearing McCollum, from Curragh Hill in Carnlough, pleaded guilty to a total of 17 sex offences all committed on various dates between December 31, 2018 and March 1, 2019.

Prosecuting counsel Suzanne Gallagher told the court how the PSNI was alerted to McCollum's sickening online activities by Lancashire police.

The English force had been contacted by the parents of two 10-year-old boys after they discovered that a man with the moniker "almost there 19" had befriended them and chatted to them via Instagram.

"Sexually graphic cartoon picture messages had been sent along with sexual communication where the male involved had masturbated via video chat with a boy and had actively encouraged both boys to perform sexual acts on themselves so that he could watch," said the lawyer.

Lancashire police were able to trace the IP address to McCollum's home in Carnlough which was then raided by the PSNI who seized numerous electronic devices. They discovered the indecent images during their examination.

McCollum told police "he had no friends or support at home" so he had gone online and met the boys.
Home minister Amit Shah asked voters to handover Bengal to Narendra Modi for five years to realise the Sonar Bangla dream and reeled off data to claim the state was sliding back under the incumbent Trinamool Congress party government led by Mamata Banerjee.

Shah launched an early poll campaign with a sixth month-long state-wide outreach by the BJP in Kolkata to end injustice under the Mamata Banerjee government.

Dial 9727294294 to oust Mamata from Bengal, Shah told the crowd.

This number will give refugees the right to citizenship, it will also free you from corruption and terror, it will also recreate Sonar Bangla of Tagores dreams, Shah said while launching the number for people to pledge support to the BJPs campaign.

I am here to give you the guarantee to put all those who do tollbaazi (extortion), run syndicates and indulge in vote bank politics, behind the bars if you vote for a BJP government in the state,

We wont spare anyone, we know how to straighten out elements, who trouble the common people, he added.

Shah also accused the state government of misuse of central funds and claimed that despite a substantial increase in Central funds under the Narendra Modi government, the state had managed to nearly double its debts.

There is a debt of Rs 3.75 lakh crore on Bengal. The Communist Govt had left at Rs 1.92 lakh crore, and Mamata Di has made it even bigger. Every kid of Bengal takes a debt of 40,000 as soon as he takes birth, Shah said.

Shah said the money given by the centre was going down the corruption hole.

Rs 359,000 crore has been given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi but all this money has become fodder to corruption in Mamata Banerjee government, he added.

Bengal is heading for the municipal elections in more than 100 civic bodies in April-May and the assembly elections are due next year. Shah said it was time for Bengal to give Narendra Modi a chance.

If you give five years to Narendra Modi, we will turn Bengal into Sonar Bangla, he told an applauding crowd.

Refugees from across the borders is an important political issue in Bengal and Shah said the central government was committed to the CAA, no matter, what the opposition including Mamatas party said.

These persecuted people have been living in their own country as outsiders for 70 years and we should give them citizenship. We will ensure we provide these people citizenship, no matter what you say or do (opposition), Shah said.
PR-Inside.com: 2020-03-01 15:15:37

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 832 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

WINNIPEG, MANITOBA / ACCESSWIRE / March 1, 2020 / Winston Gold Corp. ("Winston Gold" or the "Corporation") (CSE:WGC) (OTCQB:WGMCF) is pleased to announce that it has finalized a lease agreement with an option to purchase the Pardine Mill LLC., located in Radersburg, Montana.The Pardine Mill is located just 35 miles (56 km) by paved road from the Corporation's wholly owned Winston Gold project which is situated near Helena, Montana."Leasing the Pardine Mill represents a significant step towards starting mining operations at the Winston Gold project," commented Mr. Murray Nye, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Winston Gold. "The Pardine mill and its associated lined tailings impoundment have been idle for a number of years but they remain fully licensed and only require some minor maintenance to bring them back on-line." The mill has a nameplate capacity of 150 tons per day and hosts a ball milling circuit as well as both a gravity and flotation circuit. This should complement the mineralized rock that is to be processed from the Parallel and Block 93 veins. The plant will be a zero-discharge facility with respect to water.Milling operations are anticipated to come on stream by the second quarter of 2020. In the meantime, Winston Gold plans to execute several minor maintenance activities which will include:Building maintenancePlumbing, Painting and DemarcationsFine ore bin and conveyors and belt scale installationElectric motor testingWet commissioning of mill circuitNaturally, with any re-commissioning activities there is always the chance for unseen challenges to arise. Should this occur, Winston Gold will strive to overcome any issues in a timely and budget conscious manner."Once the Pardine mill has been revamped, I believe the facility can be maintained as a turn-key mineral processing plant, commented Mr. Joseph Carrabba, Executive Chairman of Winston Gold. "Since the mill lies in the heart of a region blessed with precious metal endowment, the future value opportunities are significant." Photo of Pardine MillQualified PersonThe scientific and technical content and interpretations contained in this news release have been reviewed, verified and approved by Dr. Criss Capps PhD. P.Geol., an independent consultant to Winston Gold Corp. Dr. Capps is a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.About Winston GoldWinston Gold is a junior mining company focused on advancing high-grade, low cost mining opportunities into production. Towards that end, the Corporation has acquired the under-explored and under-exploited Winston Gold project near Helena, Montana.The CSE has neither approved nor disapproved the information contained herein. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.Forward-Looking InformationThis release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that Winston Gold Mining Corp. (the "Company") expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include regulatory actions, market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, and continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.For more information, please visit www.winstongoldmining.com; or contact:Murray Nye,Chief Executive Officer and a director of Winston GoldSuite 201-919 Notre Dame AvenueWinnipeg, Manitoba, R3E 0M8Telephone: (204) 989-2434E-mail: murray@ winstongold.com SOURCE: Winston Gold Corp.
Robert Spencer recently published The Palestinian Delusion, which depicts the modern struggle between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs (and the Arab world). This incredibly well researched and readable volume reveals the lack of historical truth in the Arab narrative. It also depicts the weakness of American presidents from Jimmy Carter through Barack Obama, the inherent contradictions and deceptions of all proposed "two-state solutions," and the importance of the Qur'anic notion of jihad that is driving Arab politics. The book is a tour de force of historical knowledge, of understanding of modern negotiations, and of the failure of American leadership to appreciate the importance of Qur'anic theology in the Arab mindset.

Of all the presidents since Carter, Spencer is most pleased with Pres. Donald Trump. He considers Trump's policies to be reflective of diplomatic wisdom insofar as he has stopped funding being used by the PLO to support jihadists' families; he has shut down the PLO mission in Washington, D.C.; he has called for an end to the PLO extolling of terrorists as martyrs; and he has moved our embassy to Jerusalem.

While the right to erect our embassy in Jerusalem was authorized by Congress in 1995, the legislation gave the president authority to waive the move, which was done by presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama. Perhaps these presidents thought they were being even-handed, or perhaps they feared a tremendous backlash from the Middle Eastern Islamic world. But Spencer rightly points out that this "restraint" is perceived as weakness by the Arabs, not as a "righteous balance." The Arab theme is that of victimology. Arabs falsely claim that Israel has victimized them in many ways. Thus, actions siding with Israel are promoted by the Arabs as though the U.S. is adding to their victimization. We are "fair" only when we are fair on their terms.

Spencer tells us that the Bush peace plan did include some harsh criticism of Arab terrorism against Israel. Yet while Bush did not turn words into action, Spencer tells us that Bush's plan stated that "a Palestinian state will never be created by terror  it will be built through reform. And reform must be more than cosmetic change, or a veiled attempt to preserve the status quo" (p. 171). However, unlike Pres. Trump, Bush did not go so far as to suggest "that there could be no Palestinian state until jihad terrorism against Israel was completely ended; Bush was signaling that he would be satisfied with gestures and half measures, as long as he was satisfied that progress was being made."

Bush's stern reprimand of Arab terrorism reminds this writer, who spent many years teaching in some of the roughest secondary school environments in New York City, of many weak deans who reprimanded criminal students that they had to shape up yet gave those students only in-house, one-week suspensions for offenses worthy of jail time. The deans knew full well that the most misbehaved students would keep committing worse and worse acts until finally they did something so egregious that they would be arrested and disappear into the Rikers Island jail for an extended time. More serious punishments to negatively reinforce against bad behavior and prevent worse acts of theft, assault, or destruction of property were deemed not worth the effort.

Thus, for Spencer, Pres. Trump has taken some giant steps in the right direction, but whatever happens, the underlying ideology of the Arabs  which is their true motive for opposing Israel  will remain. First, they have complete contempt for Jews based on Qur'anic verses that say, "Allah transforms disobedient Jews into apes and pigs" (Qur'an 2:6366, 5:5960, 7:166) and the Jews "strive to do mischief on Earth" (Qur'an 5:33). He lists a whole range of faults of the Jews that are described in the Islamic holiest book, the Qur'an. Spencer summarizes the negative depiction of the Jews in the Qur'an by stating, "The Qur'an demonizes Jews in all manner of ways, and envisions their living in subservience and submission to the Muslims, not governing their own state. In light of these teachings, the Jewish state of Israel constitutes a perpetual affront to Muslims and Islam on Qur'anic grounds" (p. 39).

Second, the most important stumbling block to any lasting peace between Israel and the Arab world, especially the Arabs led by the PLO and Hamas, is based on Qur'an 2:191, which states, "[D]rive them out from where they drove you out." He writes, "Rule of Muslims by infidels, especially by those whose enmity towards the Muslims is strongest (Qur'an 5:82) is unacceptable under any circumstances and can never be tolerated" (p. 41). The fundamental principle of driving out those who drove you out is the motivation behind the Islamic jihad against Israel. Expedience over the past 100 years sometimes has led the Arabs to seem to back away from their militancy, but the militancy is their true and only motive.

At the beginning of this century, Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak offered Yasser Arafat 92% of the West Bank and East Jerusalem as a capital, but Arafat would not accept even this incredibly generous offer. This writer watched Pres. Clinton's chief Mideast negotiator, the brilliant Dennis B. Ross, being interviewed by Charlie Rose and saying that the night before the agreement was to have been signed between Arafat and Barak, the PLO called him and said that "they 'only' had 39 articles they wished to change." At that point, Mr. Ross understood that the negotiations were over, and he reported on this to our outraged Pres. Clinton.

For the Arabs, the principle of "drive them out from where they drove you out" is absolute, and all other negotiations are just biding time or trying to appear balanced and normal. In short, Arab negotiation is inherently a manipulation, never sincere.

Yet, despite its strengths, the volume does not detail a breakthrough, but ends on a note that was disappointing to this writer. Spencer calls for greater realism when dealing with Hamas and Fatah. Because of the Arab jihadist commitment, Spencer believes that Israel will have to accept being even more of a pariah than it has been. He also believes that Israel must continue to stress that there is no such thing as a Palestinian Arab identity; rather, the so-called Palestinian Arab identity is not at all different from the Arabs living in Syria, Jordan, or Lebanon. Further, Israel should state unapologetically its right to what are now called the "Palestinian territories" (sic). He calls this posture "sober realism" and "standing firm."

For those like myself, the real hope for Israel and for a world that seems to be perennially blackmailed and/or intimidated by Arab and Muslim aggression and intransigence in the Middle East and elsewhere is one other option not presented by Mr. Spencer's brilliant survey and analysis. Revealed religion as presented in the New Testament reminds us that we live in a world under judgment. There is a providential destiny to all of history. At a date and time that no human knows, Almighty God, the King of the Universe, will descend to Mt. Megiddo ("Armageddon") in Israel to win a decisive battle against our ultimate enemies: the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet (Rev. 15:1316).
Madhulika Liddle By

Express News Service

In the foreword to her book Bahawalpur: The Kingdom That Vanished, Anabel Loyd mentions a mnemonic by which a British viceroy used to remember the names of the Indian princely states entitled to a 21 gun salute: Hot kippers make a good breakfast. Hyderabad, Kashmir, Mysore, Gwalior and Baroda. Not among the 21 gun states, but not too far from them when it came to stature and wealth was Bahawalpur, with a 17 gun salute to its name. Bahawalpur is now situated in one of the most arid zones of Pakistan, abutting Rajasthan in India but with a primarily Muslim population, and a ruling family which traces its ancestry back over more than 60 generations, through the Abbasid caliphs to none other than the uncle of the Prophet Mohammad. Not that that is an indisputable fact.

Like much of the rest of the pre-colonial history of Bahawalpur, this lineage too is a matter of some debate. Bahawalpur itself, as emerges from Loyds history of the state and its line of nawabs, has been all too often torn in different directions, caught between opposing interests. From its unique culture (part of the larger Saraiki tradition), which struggles to survive against the overwhelming presence of the adjacent Punjab, to the constant war the nawab must wage against corruption in Pakistans political scenario in order to keep Bahawalpurs interests alive, this fascinating area appears to have a long history of conflict of various types.

Loyd delves into the history of Bahawalpur using sources as varied as historical accounts by British officials across the centuries to written histories by modern Pakistani writers. This is embellished by folklore, legend and the memories of Salahuddin Abbasi, the current Amir of Bahawalpur. Beginning from the somewhat sketchy origins of the Abbasi family, Loyds history of Bahawalpur weaves its way through the glamorous-bizarre times of the Anglicized Bahawalpur nawabs of the 1800s, with their European wives and their eccentric, expensive tastes.

Through the turbulent years of the Partition (when the region was largely free of the violence that tore apart much of the India-Pakistan border), to Bahawalpurs absorption into Pakistan and the subsequent leaching away of Bahawalpurs substantial wealth, Loyd traces the postcolonial history of this kingdom, once wealthy and powerful, now almost unknown. The history of Bahawalpur and its ruling family is written in chronological order with the focus initially on the early rulers.

This narration, since it draws from limited sources (and a mix of lore and conjecture), is at times dry and even confusing, with one name after the other blending into a blur. It is with the later nawabs specifically, Sadiq Mohammad Khan IVthat Loyd seems to hit her stride, or perhaps it is just that the wealth of information available from this period on makes it easier to write more impactfully. The way she does it is to combine state with individual, politics with persona. On the one hand, she shows how the Bahawalpur nawabs equations with the paramount power changed over timewhether the power was the Mughal ruler, the British East India Company, the British Raj, or the government of Pakistan. On the other hand, she allows us a peek into the (somewhat) private lives of the nawabs: the love for philately of one man, the obsession with Rolls Royces of another.

The accompanying photographs of its rulers, from the very earliest days of photography to the present day, are invaluable. The book, in the final analysis, is an eye-opener, and also a poignant tale of a once powerful, beautiful and wealthy state that now, thanks to dirty politics, corruption and greed, is possibly on the brink of losing what little remains of its heritage. Bahawalpur: The Kingdom That Vanished is a sad riches-to-rags story, as well as an insight into the mess that Pakistans politics and the radical Islamisation of the country have made of what was once the wealthiest of the princely states in the country.

Bahawalpur: The Kingdom That Vanished

By: Anabel Loyd

Publisher: Penguin Random House

Pages: 285

Price: Rs 599
A warehouse in San Francisco's Bayview collapsed amid a four-alarm fire Saturday night.

The building that housed tow trucks at Toland Street and Evans Avenue is attached to the Bonanza restaurant which survived the blaze but was damaged and may need to be torn down, according to KTVU.

Two people who lived in the residential unit above the restaurant were displaced and are receiving assistance from the American Red Cross and city services.

The fire started in a light-industrial area known as India Basin before 9 p.m. and was contained by 11:35 p.m., according to San Francisco Fire Department Lt. Jonathan Baxter.

The raging blaze in an area between 101 and 208 sent flames high into the air. At the height of the fire, high winds blew smoke across nearby Interstate Highway 280 prompting its temporary closure. Gusty conditions also knocked down nearby power lines, causing power outages around the south part of San Francisco, Baxter said.

A power pole also fell onto SFFD firefighting equipment; PG&E was responding to repair the lines.

On Sunday morning, crews were still at the location monitoring the situation. There are no reports of injuries.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

The Bay City News Service contributed to this story.

Amy Graff is a digital editor with SFGATE. Email her: agraff@sfgate.com.
Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) on Sunday reported a 10.3 per cent decline in total sales at 48,910units in February.

The company had sold 54,518 units in the same month last year, HMIL said in a statement.

Domestic sales were down 7.2 per cent to 40,010 units as against 43,110units in February 2019, it added.

The company's exports declined 22 per cent to 8,900 units as compared with 11,408 units a year ago.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 12:45:29|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

SEOUL, March 1 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's export grew 4.5 percent in February from a year earlier, marking the first rebound in 15 months, a government report showed Sunday.

Export, which accounts for about half of the South Korean economy, reached 41.26 billion U.S. dollars in February, up 4.5 percent from the same month of last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

It was the first turnaround since November 2018 owing to the higher number of business days, caused by the Lunar New Year holiday that moved to January this year from February last year.

The daily export averaged 1.83 billion dollars in February, down 11.7 percent from a year earlier.

Import added 1.4 percent over the year to 37.15 billion dollars in February, sending the trade surplus to 4.11 billion dollars. The trade balance stayed in the black for 97 straight months.
Although its not uncommon its also not often that senior lawyers criticise the judiciary. They may do so amongst themselves but only infrequently in public. I guess theres an esprit de corps that stops them.

So when one of Indias most highly-regarded  and, more importantly, most highly-paid!  lawyers hits out at the judiciary the rest of us must pay close attention. This is what Abhishek Singhvi has done. Tucked into a brief five-page conclusion of his forthcoming book From the Trenches, are astonishingly forthright comments about judges and ...
"People are being dragged out of vehicles and attacked", these were the last words of 22-year-old Mohammad Shahbaz to his brother on phone before he went missing on February 25.

His family now fears the worst.

"My brother Mohammad Shahbaz worked as a welder and lived with his family at Loni in Uttar Pradesh. He had gone to Guru Nanak Eye Centre in Delhi on February 25 for treatment as a spark during welding work injured his eye," Matloob said.

"I last talked to him around 2.25 pm (on February 25) when he said he was in Karawal Nagar. He was very scared and told me a mob was dragging people out of vehicles and attacking them. He said he would walk for safety," he said.

Unaware of the whereabouts of Shahbaz, Matloob says that the family has requested for a DNA test of a badly burnt body found in Karawal Nagar.

"The body is badly burnt. It was found from Karawal Nagar. I think a DNA test will make it clear if it was that of Shahbaz," said Matloob who reached the mortuary at GTB Hospital here to identify his brother.

Shabaz's friend Saqib, who was also present at the mortuary, said missing complaints were filed at Karawal Nagar police station as well as Loni in Ghaziabad.

A police officer said the process of conducting DNA test of the "charred remains" has been started.

"There is not much left of the body except a portion of the hip bone and a piece of skull. It will be sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory for the DNA test with sample from Shahbaz's relatives," he said.

Matloob said the police have asked him to bring his parents to the hospital on Monday.

The communal violence in Jaffrabad, Maujpur, Babarpur, Chand Bagh, Shiv Vihar, Bhajan Pura, Yamuna Vihar and Mustafabad areas of northeast Delhi claimed at least 42 lives and left over 200 injured.

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

Today we are challenged by two forces. On the one hand we seek to embrace our heroes, lauding their impressive accomplishments. On the other end of the spectrum cancel culture encourages us to strike down these figures for their transgressions, silencing them for actions that disgust us today.

Often, it is easiest to have this zero sum conversation on social media platforms. After all, to the victor goes the spoils - heaps of favorites, likes, or retweets. This culture has invaded our discourse and encouraged winning over understanding, extinguishing the importance of nuance and complexity. This can be repaired but it takes a commitment to civil discourse that begins in our schools.

There are countless historical figures who have earned public admiration while leaving us with concerns about their choices, conduct, and actions. Thomas Jefferson, as the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, helped to forge a nation and inspired generations to embrace a more inclusive future. Jefferson also owned hundreds of slaves and likely fathered six children with one of them, children he never acknowledged. For all the recent celebration of Alexander Hamiltons triumphant immigrant success story, he practiced a divisive brand of politics that ultimately exposed his involvement in Americas first political sex scandal. For a contemporary example, look no further than the contentious conversation about Kobe Bryants legacy following his tragic death.

While we may have grown more comfortable with evaluating historical figures for the totality of their actions, it has been more recent that this lens has been applied to Theodor Geisel. The famed Dr. Seuss is best known for more than 60 childrens books that he wrote and illustrated. With whimsical rhymes and imaginative figures and worlds, his books have been embraced by millions of children around the world for decades. Despite deeper themes and meanings, Seuss work has been primarily embraced by an elementary school audience. In fact, so integral were the Seuss books believed to be to childrens literacy that the Read Across America initiative of the late 1990s begins annually on Geisels birthday.

However, Dr. Seuss work also incorporated overtly racist depictions of Blacks, Jews and Asians. Arguably, the nadir of such content was the many virulently anti-Japanese cartoons that Seuss turned out as World War II propaganda. A concerned public has taken notice.

USA Today asked in 2017, Was Dr. Seuss a racist? The conversation advanced after a February 2019 study published in Research on Diversity in Youth LIterature laid bare the treatment of non-white characters in Seuss workers. Within weeks, the BBC considered The Radical Politics of Dr. Seuss while NPR explored how the public could continue consuming such knowingly offensive content. A part of their answer came in the formal de-Seussification of Read Across America.

In August 2019, the National Education Association terminated their licensing agreement by which the Cat in the Hat appeared on the Read Across America Logo. This was followed by a September 2019 rebranding announcement promoting the new mission of Read Across America that would now span the school year instead of a single week - Celebrating a Nation of Diverse Readers.

This laudable, recalibrated goal comes at a time when public education is rightfully working to infuse more diverse literature into classrooms. Despite the official retreat, Seuss remains prominent in the public imagination, especially around the first week of March. A quick google search finds many local events still incorporating Seuss during the traditional Read Across America week -- from cartooning workshops to birthday parties.

In preparation for the traditional Seuss-centered celebration, the publisher responsible for the iOS Seuss content is discounting a large collection of the books-as-apps. All of this on top of the late January announcement that a Broadway production of If I Ran the Circus is forthcoming. In fact, even the NEA in their aforementioned announcement noted, children still love Dr. Seuss, and his birthday on March 2, also Read Across America Day is still an ideal time for a school-wide reading event when you can serve green eggs and ham.

From the Dr. Seuss Collection at the University of California San Diego.

So, at what cost do we shelve Dr. Seuss? Is it best for students, many of whom have grown to associate Read Across America, and maybe reading in general, with Dr. Seuss to see him struck from the narrative without explanation? By doing so we miss an opportunity to prepare students to engage in civil discourse about contentious figures.

At this moment, it is critical to talk with students about how Seuss works reflect the best and the worst of the America in which he lived. As developmentally appropriate, students must be encouraged to confront his record and draw their own conclusions about the full measure of Dr. Seuss and his works. This process also needs to be the responsibility of schools. Guided by educators, students need to see the materials in question for themselves and engage in conversations about the material. Only by taking time to vet and discuss the good and the bad of Dr. Seuss can students appreciate nuance and have a complete conversation about what he should mean to us today.

Like Jefferson, Hamilton, and Kobe, Dr. Seuss is too ubiquitous and too much a part of our fabric to be silenced. We can and should make room for authors who allow us to celebrate and embrace our diversity. But the fraught path we traveled to get to a more inclusive moment is paved with content like Dr. Seuss. He needs to be part of the conversation if we are to understand who weve been, who we are, and where wed like to go.

Joseph Dwyer serves as a K-12 social studies coordinator in Essex County and a part-time lecturer in history at Rutgers University-Newark.

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.
Fiona Phillips has claimed that her former Strictly Come Dancing partner Brendan Cole 'wasn't very nice' and that it's 'karma' that he was axed from the show.

The former GMTV and Lorraine presenter, 59, has told the Daily Star: 'Brendan was a real b****r, actually. He wasn't very nice. He was really naughty.'

She went on: 'He's not on the show now. Karma indeed. It works its way every time.'

It all comes out: Fiona Phillips has claimed that her former Strictly Come Dancing partner Brendan Cole 'wasn't very nice' and that it's 'karma' that he was axed from the show

Brendan, 43, did not have his Strictly contract renewed in 2018 and famously became tearful when he announced the news on Lorraine in January of that year.

His last partner on the show was Charlotte Hawkins, whom he danced with in the 2017 series - his last.

He was seen on ITV's X Factor: Celebrity in 2019, where he and actor Jeremy Edwards failed to get through to the live shows, having paired up as a duet.

His time on Strictly was eventful, splitting from fiancee Camilla Dallerup during the first ever season, on which he was paired up - and won - with newsreader Natasha Kaplinsky.

The former GMTV presenter said: 'Brendan was a real b****r, actually. He wasn't very nice. He was really naughty. He's not on the show now. Karma indeed. It works its way every time'

Devastated: Brendan, 43, did not have his Strictly contract renewed in 2018 and famously became tearful when he announced the news on Lorraine in January of that year

Back in the day: He was partnered with Fiona during the show's third run, in 2005

Rumours were rife that they had an affair - but he has always denied it.

He was partnered with Fiona during the show's third run, in 2005.

Fiona has admitted that she struggled with depression during her career, including her time on Strictly.

Brave face: Fiona has admitted that she struggled with depression during her career, including her time on Strictly

Encore? He was seen on ITV's X Factor: Celebrity in 2019, where he and actor Jeremy Edwards failed to get through to the live shows, having paired up as a duet

Appearing on Lorraine in 2018, she admitted that she struggled with mental health as she cared for her two children and her mum and dad, who had both been diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

Fiona also revealed that she underestimated the impact having the menopause would have on her body, despite her mum going through a similar ordeal.

Tough time: Appearing on Lorraine in 2018, she admitted that she struggled with mental health as she cared for her two children and her mum and dad, who had both been diagnosed with Alzheimer's

Fiona told Lorraine Kelly that she felt she 'had to' get on with juggling her work as a breakfast TV presenter alongside raising two children and taking care of her parents, who have since passed away.

She said: 'You have to don't you? Otherwise I would have had two parents with Alzheimer's and be homeless because we wouldn't be able to afford the mortgage.

'All the time my emotions were torn  I should be with my kids, I should be with my parents you know what it's like. You have to have a house for your kids and food on the table.'

Legend: Fans may best know Fiona for her time presenting breakfast favourite GMTV from 1993 to 2008

Fiona also admitted that her mum suffered with depression while she was growing up, and confessed that she was also unprepared for the effect the menopause would have on her body.

She said: 'My poor mum, when we were little, she used to lock herself in the room for a day in the dark because she was just so, so depressed. I think it can run in families as well.

'Things happen to you and the menopause, that is a horrible thing! I remember my mum in a real state with her menopause and I just thought, 'It can't be that bad surely'  and yes, it can.

'Anxiety in all sorts of things that you might never had had before. Suddenly youre overwhelmed by things.'

Hard ordeal: Fiona told Lorraine that her mum Amy (middle) also suffered from depression and would sometimes spend entire days locked in her room




Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido said he could have been killed during a shooting attack on a protest march in the country's west that wounded a teenage boy.

Guaido had been leading around 2,000 supporters through Barquisimeto city on Saturday when the incident occurred.

A photo released by Guaido's supporters showed a man standing next to a motorcycle, with his face covered, aiming a gun in the direction of the parliament speaker.

His team said a 16-year-old boy was later shot in the leg but is now in a "stable condition." They attributed the attack to pro-government vigilantes.

"The dictatorship could have killed me today, without a doubt," Guaido said in a video published to social media after the march.

"They shot... but that is not going to push us back," he added. The state government and Barquisimeto mayor's office have not commented on the incident.

Venezuela lurched into crisis a year ago when Guaido declared himself acting president, following claims the country's 2018 election was rigged in favor of President Nicolas Maduro.

Guaido wants Maduro to stand down in favor of a transitional government that would hold free and fair elections.

Although Guaido quickly secured the backing of more than 50 countries and initially led street protests drawing tens of thousands of people, his popularity has waned.

He recently returned from a high-profile tour to drum up international support, meeting US President Donald Trump, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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(0x7f0481e51e40)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f04819ffc00)', '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(0x7f0481e51e40)') 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(0x7f04819ffc00)') 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(0x7f0481cbb498)') 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(0x7f04819ffc00)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f04819ffc00)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f048145eb20)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f0481da1520)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f0481da1520)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0
Syrian Government Claims to Capture More Ground in Idlib

By Edward Yeranian February 29, 2020

As tensions continue to simmer between Turkey and Russia in the north of Syria, Ankara says another Turkish soldier was killed in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 34 in the last several days.

Turkey also is claiming to have killed large numbers of Syrian government forces and inflicted heavy material damage in retaliation.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Russia to "get out of [Turkey's way in] Syria" and allow it to "deal with [President Bashar al-] Assad," in a speech to supporters Saturday. "Turkey," he said, "has entered Syria at the demand of the Syrian people and not at the demand of Assad."

Erdogan added that Turkey has retaliated against Syrian forces for killing 34 of its soldiers:

He claims that Turkish troops have killed more than 2,000 Syrian forces, destroyed 300 of their military vehicles and bombed a chemical weapons factory east of Aleppo.

Syrian state TV denied a chemical weapons factory had been hit, joking that "gases from such an attack would have killed several million people in Aleppo if the story were true."

Erdogan, who attended a funeral for soldiers killed in Idlib, told mourners that "Turkey has been fighting in Syria, Libya and elsewhere, as it has done in the past, and that there will be more [soldiers killed] in the future."

Thousands of refugees gathered Saturday along the Turkish border with Greece had to flee tear gas used by Greek forces to stop them from entering Greek soil. Erdogan said earlier in the day 18,000 refugees had entered Greece and that the number could rise to 25,000 to 30,000. He said Germany must send money to Turkey to deal with its refugee crisis, in order to stop the flow.

Inside Syria, Russian-backed Syrian government airstrikes continued around Idlib, and Syrian TV asserted it had recaptured the towns of Mansoura, Ziyara, Tel Wasel and Zayzoun Jedida from Turkish-backed rebel forces, killing a number of them and chasing them to Khan Safra in eastern Idlib.

Rami Abdel Rahman of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claimed that 48 Syrian troops and their allies have been killed in Turkish attacks during the past 24 hours. Arab media reported 8 Hezbollah militiamen were killed in a Turkish drone strike on their headquarters near the town of Saraqeb.

Al-Jazeera TV-Arabic showed rebel forces in control of Saraqeb, as well as a stretch of the strategic M5 highway from Damascus to Aleppo. Damascus had recently celebrated with fanfare the recapture of the last stretch of the highway.

Talks between Turkish and Russian military advisers during the past several days apparently have failed to reach a cease-fire. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told journalists Saturday that President Erdogan will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 5.

Syrian Ambassador to the U.N. Bashar al-Jaafari told the U.N. Security Council Friday that Turkey has "failed to live up to the Sochi or Astana agreements," in which it was "expected to rein in [rebel] forces." Instead, he said, "Turkey has transformed its observer posts in Idlib into war operations rooms to use against Syrian and Russian forces."

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






A march in support of refugee rights held in the village of Moria in Lesvos, Greece on Feb. 25, 2020. Photo: Jade Sacker

LESVOS, Greece  Those looking from the windows of the Drop Center, a popular school and cafe for refugees in the Greek village of Moria, could tell the mood had turned on a warm morning in early February. Afghan mothers pushing strollers were heading back to the refugee camp, while young men were rushing in the other direction. A morning protest by around 300 asylum seekers over their squalid living conditions had begun peacefully enough inside the camp, home to some 20,000 people from 64 different countries, including Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq and Angola. But clashes soon erupted with riot police after the group tried marching to Mytilini, the main port and capital of Lesvos. Now protesters were coming toward this small village, and its residents were mobilizing.

After a truck filled with locals stopped outside the center, continually blasting its horn through the usually serene town, workers inside hit the lights and pulled down the blinds. There was a message over loudspeakers calling for villagers to gather at the church. And it provided an opportunity for the staff to evacuate those inside two at a time. After that day, the Drop Center was closed and staff moved elsewhere on the island. For the organization that ran the school, A Drop in the Ocean, it seemed their welcome had run out. Another NGO had rocks thrown through their windows. Later a group of local vigilantes went door-to-door looking for aid workers or refugees. "I understand that [the villagers] are tense. They live in an extreme situation. But it doesn't excuse their behavior toward us," said Ida Sorbye, a worker at the Drop Center. If the Greek island of Lesvos is the frontline of Europe's refugee crisis, Moria is a no-man's land. The small village's population of around 2,000 is now dwarfed by the camp of the same name up the road. As many as possible are crammed into the main facility, designed to hold only 2,800, with the rest spilling out in tents and hastily-built structures on the slopes of ancient olive groves. Numbers have exploded over the last year as new regulations require refugees to apply for asylum at their first landing place in Europe. For many that means Lesvos. Turkey said on Thursday it would no longer restrain hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers in its territory from reaching Europe despite a deal to do so reached with the EU in 2016. That means islanders are things to rapidly worsen. Thousands of refugees are now on the border of Northern Greece. The crisis poses the toughest test for Greece since a 2015 financial crisis. The situation is worsening as crime escalates. There's been at least two murders at the camp, and reports of daily fights and stabbings between refugees. Doctors Without Borders said that rape is also common inside the camp, as high as one rape reported a week.

Asylum seekers on the Greek island of Lesvos are seen in the Moria refugee camp on Feb. 15, 2020. More than 20,000 are living in the camp, designed for 2,800, and the surrounding hills. Jade Sacker

The European refugee crisis is now five years old. More than 120,000 migrants and asylum seekers arrived clandestinely in 2019, according to the International Organization for Migration, with the vast majority crossing the Mediterranean Sea. That's a big drop from the more than 1 million who arrived in 2015. Yet due to a backlog of cases and closed borders in the North, the Greek islands have never looked like this. The local economy of Lesvos, largely dependent on tourism, has taken a hit. The home of archaic poetess Sappho, the island used to draw holidaymakers for its stunning blue waters, picture-postcard villages, sun-baked olive groves, medieval fortress and world-famous petrified forest. But tourism dropped by more than 50% in 2016 and, according to business owners on the island, hasn't recovered by nearly enough. Cruise ships are coming less often  only eight arrived in 2019 compared to 94 in 2011. Tourists that do step onto the island see refugee children reselling bus tickets and a constant flow of those making the trek between camps and into towns. It seems the open arms that initially had greeted those coming ashore in Lesvos have finally closed. Thousands of island locals attended a protest for Athens to process or remove the refugees. General strikes have been called. "It's a powder keg ready to explode," regional governor Kostas Moutzouris told local news regarding the situation.

Demonstrators protest against the construction of new migrant camps in Mytilene, on the island of Lesbos, on February 27, 2020. Aris Messinnis | AFP | Getty Images

Qais Azizi, from Afghanistan, has been in Moria camp for four months. The 26-year-old said that on the suggestion of his sister, and after witnessing two suicide blasts while studying in Kabul, he trekked first to Turkey and then to Greece. When he crossed the short but dangerous strip of Mediterranean  his first time seeing the ocean  he had no idea his journey would pause here. When his sister calls, he can't bear to tell her the truth. "I am always lying to her, saying, 'After two months they will accept me ... and they will accept you also.'" After more time has passed, he lies again about another step in the application. "With this hope she is alive, I think." He is yet to have his interview for asylum. Meanwhile, a city has grown around him. On the camp's market street, dozens of vendors sell their wares amid a hum of Farsi, French and English. Sellers fan hot coals under kebab skewers and display bread made from an Afghan tandoor oven. Outside the main camp is the "jungle." Among the gray-green hills is a shanty town with narrow dirt alleys that flood in the rain. Garbage is piled in ditches. Greek locals sell wooden pallets to the newcomers for around 7 euro, although prices are rising, according to a man from Syria building a room for his family. It will cost around 300 euro total for his materials, he said. There's even a real estate market where prime spots are traded and sold. Around midnight only a handful of guards are on duty. That's when most refugees don't dare leave their tent, said Azizi. There are daily reports of knifings and fights between the refugees. Rocks are placed at the ready near Azizi's tent in case a melee breaks out.

Conditions at the Moria refugee camp in Lesvos, Greece are deterriorating as overcrowding and crime become serious problems. Photo: Jade Sacker

Like elsewhere in Europe, a center-right government was elected in Greece last year, led by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. The New Democracy coalition promised to resolve the backlog of asylum seekers. So far, nothing has changed, except the movement of more riot police to the island. Athens proposed building a new semi-enclosed camp to keep refugees from freely walking the streets. But this has been met by protests and strikes by islanders. No other plans are in the pipeline. But if they were, it's unlikely they would be trusted by those in Lesvos. "People have lost faith in the government," said Mytilini mayor special advisor Tasos Balis.

Things are getting worse. They [refugees] cut the trees. They take the animals  the sheep, the goats. And we feel insecure. Mikis Papadakis local resident

The EU's solution has been to block onward migration to the rest of Europe from those that land in Greece. Their policy is that those that land on Lesvos must apply for asylum before moving on. If refugees move on without doing this, then they must return to Lesvos to go through the process. There's no change in policy moving forward, although there's plans to increase spending on migration management and border controls (total of 34.9 billion euro) for the next seven years.

Greeks on the front lines of the refugee crisis

On a windy night a few weeks after the unrest in Moria, a group of men and women stood huddled around a fire at the entrance to the village, stopping cars to make sure the passengers were local. Mikis Papadakis, 47, comes here every night after working at a butcher shop in Mytilini. "Things are getting worse," he said. "They [refugees] cut the trees. They take the animals  the sheep, the goats. And we feel insecure." Today a march organized by a local antifascist group in support of refugee rights passed his store. Protesters handed out fliers that warned: "In these circumstances, social polarization is rising, and extreme-right ideology has found space among a section of local society." "It's their job," Papadakis said, smiling. He thinks there is a lot of money involved with aid work on the island. A common complaint from locals is that a thriving NGO industry  no doubt helping refugees that come ashore  comes at the cost of their businesses as more are encouraged to make the journey. A meeting was held the following day in Moria village to discuss the situation. Angry shouts and applause reached Takis Bokolis, 50, smoking a cigarette outside of the town hall. Bokolis works pressing oil from his family's olives. What bothers him most is the refugees cutting down the trees for firewood. "I want to cry. It's so painful. We've grown up with these trees. They are my kid's food," he said. Local authorities haven't intervened as refugees thin out the groves around Moria camp.

Panoramic general and closeup view from a hill of everyday daily life in Moria. Handmade tents on the olive grove hills of the slums or jungle or hell as asylum seekers called it, next to the official first Reception and Identification Center, Moria hotspot. Nicolas Economou | NurPhoto | Getty Images
WASHINGTON  President Trump crouched underneath his microphone on Saturday, mimicking the height of Michael R. Bloomberg, the billionaire former mayor of New York City who is running for president.

Mr. Trump pointed at the ceiling above him, marveling at all of his own success. Maybe its right there, right? he said. Thank you. Thank you, God.

Throughout an animated 90-minute speech in front of conservative activists at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference outside Washington, a confident Mr. Trump attacked his rivals in nasty terms while gloating about and inflating his own achievements.

He even exited the stage by embracing the American flag in both of his arms, mouthing the words I love you and planting a kiss on the stars and stripes.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 16:49:53|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani speaks during a press conference in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, March 1, 2020. Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani has refused the Taliban outfit's demand for the release of 5,000 detainees within 10 days, saying no precondition is acceptable for initiating intra-Afghan talks. (Xinua/Rahmatullah Alizadah)

KABUL, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani has refused the Taliban outfit's demand for the release of 5,000 detainees within 10 days, saying no precondition is acceptable for initiating intra-Afghan talks.

"No commitment has been made for the release of 5,000 prisoners. This could be included at the agenda of the talks with the Taliban and if anyone released should not take arm against the people of Afghanistan," Ghani told reporters at the Presidential Palace a day after the inking of a U.S.-Taliban peace deal at a ceremony held in Qatar's Doha on Saturday.

A Taliban senior representative at the group's liaison office in Doha, Sher Mohammad Abas Stanikzai said on Saturday that the "Kabul administration should release 5,000 inmates within 10 days" as a precondition for initiating intra-Afghan dialogue.

"The release of the Taliban detainees is within the authority of the government of Afghanistan and not with the United States, and we have no agreement with America in this field," Ghani said.

The Afghan president also noted that his government would spare no effort to ensure the restoration of lasting peace in Afghanistan and safeguard all the achievements and values including the rights of women achieved over the past 19 years.

Following rounds of talks between the United States and the Taliban, which lasted about 18 months, the two sides inked an agreement in Doha on Saturday that underlines the United States to reduce its forces to 8,600 from the current 13,000-strong force within 135 days of signing the deal.

The United States and allied would proportionally reduce their military strength in Afghanistan if the Taliban comply with the agreement and reduce the violent to the level of ceasefire.

Afghan president also expressed hope that the so-called reduction in violence should turned into ceasefire across the country to pave the way for returning viable peace in Afghanistan.

The withdrawal of all the U.S.-led coalition forces would take 14 months if the Taliban adhere to the agreement and avoid committing violence in the country, both the U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told at a joint press conference with president Ghani here on Saturday.
The scientists immediately reported the genomic sequence and their findings to state and federal health officials.

Dr. Scott Lindquist, the state epidemiologist for communicable diseases with the Washington State Department of Health, said on Sunday that though Dr. Bedfords laboratory had very limited data to work with, I would not be surprised if there was transmission and these two were related.

Dr. Lindquist said more would be known when genetic sequences from the states other cases have been similarly analyzed. Seeing how they all relate to each other will be the real answer to the question of, has it been circulating, he said. I imagine within the week we should have some of these answers.

Heather Thomas, a spokeswoman for the Snohomish Health District, said in a statement that the district was aware of the preliminary findings suggesting that coronavirus had been spreading for close to six weeks.

She said that it was important to remember that national testing capabilities have only been available for about six weeks, and in Washington, health personnel have only had the ability to test locally for a few days. It is definitely possible that Covid-19 has been circulating, with people experiencing mild symptoms just like the flu, she said.

The C.D.C. did not respond to a request for comment.

The first patient, a man in his 30s, has recovered after being treated in a hospital isolation unit. The later patient, a teenager, had a mild enough illness to recuperate at home.

According to a statement by the Snohomish Health District, the teenager was unaware that he was being tested for the coronavirus. His case came to light on Friday because he went to a clinic on Feb. 24 to be tested for the flu, and his sample was shared with the Seattle Flu Study, which tested it for a variety of pathogens including the new coronavirus.
By Elizabeth Piper and Andrew MacAskill

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain on Monday unveiled its mandate for trade talks with the United States, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowing to drive a hard bargain in negotiations that are set to test the two allies' "special relationship".

After leaving the European Union in January, Johnson wants to pursue a trade deal with Washington to try not only to champion Britain's new independence, but also to put pressure on the bloc in separate talks on a future relationship.

As a negotiating team heads to Brussels to start those discussions, the government set out its mandate for talks with the United States, warning that London would walk away if its demands are not met.

Britain said it wanted to achieve "huge gains" by removing barriers to trade, but that its much-loved National Health Service (NHS) would not be on the table in talks, and that its food standards would be maintained.

That could set the two sides on a collision course, putting additional pressure on a relationship already strained by London's decision to allow China's Huawei a limited role in its 5G mobile network, as well as a proposed digital services tax.

"We have the best negotiators in the business and of course, we're going to drive a hard bargain to boost British industry," Johnson said. "Most importantly, this transatlantic trade deal will reflect the unique closeness of our two great nations."

Jeff Emerson, spokesman for the U.S. Trade Representative's Office, said Washington was reviewing Britain's negotiating objectives and was looking forward to starting talks.

"The United States remains committed to negotiating an ambitious trade agreement with the United Kingdom that is good for both countries," he said.

Britain's mandate hinted London could reconsider its plans to introduce the tax on big tech companies like Google, Facebook and Amazon in April after criticism by Washington.

Story continues

A spokesman for Johnson said the government's policy had not changed, adding that while ministers were working to find a global solution, "we have put forward proposals for a digital services tax".

The government said its analysis showed a deal with the United States could boost transatlantic trade by 15.3 billion pounds ($19.61 billion) over 15 years and increase the size of the British economy by 0.16%.

The United States is currently Britain's biggest trading partner after the EU, accounting for nearly 19% of all its exports in 2018 and 11% of imports. By comparison, the EU accounted for 45% of all UK exports and 53% of UK imports.

SCOTTISH SALMON FOR STETSON HATS

Johnson, the face of Britain's campaign to leave the EU, has repeatedly said the ability to strike new trade deals with other countries is a major benefit of Brexit.

But opposition political parties said the modest potential boost to gross domestic product would not make up for the economic hit Britain will take from leaving the EU.

"Today's analysis is clear: the gains from the best-case trade deal with Donald Trump will not come close to outweighing what we expect to lose from leaving the EU," said Sarah Olney, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for International Trade.

The government said manufacturers of cars, ceramics, food and drinks, and professional services, including architects and lawyers, would be among the biggest winners from the trade deal.

"Trading Scottish smoked salmon for Stetson hats, we will deliver lower prices and more choice for our shoppers," Johnson said.

Both sides hope a deal can be reached as soon as this year, but there are many hurdles.

The government reiterated that the NHS was "not for sale" - addressing criticism that a deal could let private U.S. healthcare providers into Britain's state-funded health system.

It also vowed to uphold high standards on food safety and animal welfare amid fears from farmers that the government will allow U.S.-produced chlorine-washed chicken and hormone-treated beef into Britain.

"In a trade deal with the U.S., we will not diminish our food safety standards and we will also not put the NHS on the table," British trade minister Liz Truss said. "If we don't get the deal we want we will be prepared to walk away."

Speaking later to parliament, she said she wanted the two allies to agree quickly to remove retaliatory tariffs on British and American products related to the U.S.-EU aircraft subsidy dispute "to show goodwill".

Washington's negotiating objectives, published last year, include pressing for full market access for U.S. pharmaceutical products and medical devices, which would require changes to NHS pricing restrictions and could increase the cost of drugs.

Britain's Chief Trade Negotiation Adviser, Crawford Falconer, who previously worked as New Zealand's chief negotiator, will represent the government in the talks, supported by dozens of officials.

(Reporting by Elizabeth Piper, Andrew MacAskill and William James; Additional reporting by David Lawder in Washington, Kate Holton, William Schomberg, Paul Sandle and Alistair Smout in London; Editing by Catherine Evans, Philippa Fletcher and Dan Grebler)
Darkness is enough, the nation that hated the ignorance and darkness looks for light

The light will eventually overcome the dark, Iranians are shouting

The Iranian regime has tracked a notorious record in response to the rightful grievances of the people. In the past decade alone, security forces time and again opened fire on protesters who merely looked for civic rights and basic freedoms. Authorities, of course, never announced the genuine death toll and even the number of detainees.

In June 2009, Irans society suddenly flooded onto the streets to protest the regimes fraud in the presidential elections. However, elections were only an excuse, the principle of the system was the target, the regimes authorities later admitted that the protesters sought to topple the cleric regime in its entirety.

In the end, the mullahs only managed to suppress the peoples will for freedom, justice, and equality through violence. Furthermore, they implemented this path for the next uprisings in January and July 2018, November 2019, and January 2020.

The regimes supreme leader Ali Khamenei also recommended his mercenaries in Iraq and Lebanon to implement this path to quell their peoples protests. He sent his right-hand man and the slain then-chief of the Revolutionary Guards Quds Force Qassem Soleimani to supervise and orchestrate the oppression operation and preserve Tehrans interference in these countries. Soleimani also made an absolute bloodbath in Iraq by using snipers and heavy machineguns.

However, the Iraqi protests have continued! As the Iranian peoples passions for a free and democratic government didnt ever cease despite thousands killed, injured and many more arrested who narrate horrible stories from the mullahs dungeons.

Amir Arshad Tajmir was one of the victims of the 2009 protests. On December 27, 2009, the 25-year-old protester like many other youths stepped onto the streets to join anti-government protests. However, he and many others didnt know that the authorities had made their decision to stop protests at all costs.

At mid-day, oppressive forces began bloodshed to preserve Khameneis compound. They killed the protesters that they could. Many people were shot by live ammunition. However, Amir Arshad was crushed by a police vehicle that definitely opened its way through the crowd. He along with many others finally fell in their blood but in pride and dignity.

Latently, Amirs mother published a letter addressed to his lost son. She wrote:

Caption: A photo of the message of the mother of Amir Arshad Tajmir that circulated on social media

For my fighter son, Amir Arshad Tajmir

They killed you while you were my homeland.

Today, while millions of Amir Arshad, who were the homeland of their mothers, have been killed, how can I mourn and bear this distance between us?

My land is burning, mourning, and weeping for the people who are taken away due to the incompetence of fools!

Iran became a prison with ignorant torturers who suck the blood of people, become drunk, and chant, Death to

Death is enough, the nation that hated your principles and expectations looks to live.

Darkness is enough, the nation that hated the ignorance and darkness looks for light.

Hear their cries when they shout, The light will eventually overcome the dark.

Read More:

Iran: Families of November Protests Detainees Gather Before Evin Prison
New Zealand club seeks newcomers for HamCram course New Zealand's Herald reports Whanganui Amateur Radio Society is looking for newcomers to take the HamCram course to get their 1 kW CEPT Class 1 equivalent license in just 2 days



The newspaper says:



The Wanganui Amateur Radio Society is calling for new members, with enrolments in its "HamCram" course opening this weekend.



Amateur radio involves exploring the limits of radio, electronics and digital technologies. Once an exam is passed to receive a licence, people can operate and build radio equipment capable of communicating with others around New Zealand, the world and even space.



Member Mike Newman, otherwise known as ZL1BNB in the radio world, has been a member of the society since he moved to Whanganui in 1982.



Newman is a self-confessed "technology freak" and radio has been his passion.



"It's a lifetime interest. Some people have lifetime interests in fishing, tramping, cars and so forth. This is my lifetime interest."



Newman sat his technical examination in 1954, but didn't get his licence for another 17 years.



Read the full story at

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/north-island/news/article.cfm?c_id=

1503932&objectid=12310202



New Zealand has a single class of license that permits 1 kW output and requires passing a single 60 question multiple choice exam, the pass mark is 40.



HamCram courses have grown in popularity in recent years. People starting from scratch can get licensed with just two-days of study. Pass rates for many courses are 100%

http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2018/august/nzart-looks-at-ham-cram-courses.htm
London - The UK's Opposition Labour Party on Sunday called on Home Secretary Priti Patel to address Parliament on the allegations of bullying against her following the resignation of one of her top civil servants.

Sir Philip Rutnam resigned from the important post of Permanent Secretary in the Home Office on Saturday blaming the 47-year-old Indian-origin minister for failing to engage with him or address his concerns around her conduct with officials in the department.

"The home secretary has a duty to come to Parliament on Monday to explain the allegations made about her own conduct, said Sir Kier Starmer, the frontrunner in the ongoing Labour Party leadership contest to replace Jeremy Corbyn.

Patel also faces the prospect of an inquiry following Rutnam's decision to sue the government over his alleged forced exit and Starmer called for the head of the UK civil service, Cabinet Secretary Mark Sedwill, to start "an immediate investigation" into the circumstances surrounding his departure.

"There are now urgent questions that must be answered and steps that need to be taken," he said.

John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, described the situation as "unprecedented", which put a question mark over Patel's longevity in the Home Office as minister.

Labour's Yvette Cooper, the chair of the home affairs select committee which holds the Home Office to account, said the row reflected extremely badly on the government".

She said: "To end up with one of the most senior public servants in the country taking court action against one of the great offices of state shows a shocking level of breakdown in the normal functioning of government.

"For the home secretary and prime minister to have allowed things to reach this point is appalling, especially at a time when the Home Office faces crucial challenges with rising violent crime, forthcoming counter-terror legislation, new immigration laws, and sensitive negotiations on post-Brexit security cooperation."

Dave Penman, general secretary of the FDA - the trade union for senior civil servants in the UK, which will back Rutnams legal case  said it is expected that Rutnam will demand a public hearing at which he can outline his case against Patel.

"The Home Office now needs to find new leadership at a time when it needs stability. Those who engage in anonymous briefings need to bear the responsibility for this destructive behaviour," he said, in reference to some unattributed media reports over the past month around clashes between the minister and her top civil servant.

On Saturday, Rutnam announced his resignation in an emotional television statement as he claimed a vicious and orchestrated campaign against him and pointed the finger of blame at Patel.

The Home Secretary [Patel] categorically denied any involvement in this campaign to the Cabinet Office. I regret I do not believe her, said Rutnam.

Even despite this campaign, I was willing to effect a reconciliation with the Home Secretary, as requested by the Cabinet Secretary on behalf of the Prime Minister. But despite my efforts to engage with her, Priti Patel has made no effort to engage with me to discuss this, he said, adding that he had very strong grounds to claim constructive, unfair dismissal, and I will be pursuing that claim in the courts.

Rutnam also referred to the tensions with Patel when he encouraged her to change her behaviour.

"I have received allegations that her conduct has included shouting and swearing, belittling people, making unreasonable and repeated demands, behaviour that created fear and needed some bravery to call out, he claimed.

The UK Home Office or Patel herself are yet to officially comment on the resignation.

Patel, who joined the Boris Johnson-led Cabinet in July 2019, has previously been forced to resign as Secretary of State for International Development by former Prime Minister Theresa May in 2017 over a controversy surrounding some unofficial meetings with Israeli ministers and business executives during a visit to Israel.
WASHINGTON  President Donald Trump wasted no time weighing in on the results of Saturdays Democratic primary in South Carolina.

Sleepy Joe Bidens victory in the South Carolina Democrat Primary should be the end of Mini Mike Bloombergs Joke of a campaign, Trump tweeted just minutes after Biden was declared the winner.

Trump mocked Bloombergs performance in last weeks Democratic debate in Las Vegas in which the former New York City mayor was excoriated by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

Bloomberg was not on the ballot in South Carolina, choosing instead to bypass early presidential contests to focus on Super Tuesday on March 3.

But Trump seemed to suggest that Biden had benefited from Bloombergs shaky performance.

After the worst debate performance in the history of presidential debates, Mini Mike now has Biden split up his very few voters, taking many away! Trump said.

Sleepy Joe Bidens victory in the South Carolina Democrat Primary should be the end of Mini Mike Bloombergs Joke of a campaign. After the worst debate performance in the history of presidential debates, Mini Mike now has Biden split up his very few voters, taking many away!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 1, 2020

Trumps campaign manager, Brad Parscale, suggested that the real winner of South Carolinas Democratic primary was not Biden at all.

Once again, President Trump is the clear winner because not one of these candidates has a chance at beating him in November, Parscale said in a statement.

The South Carolina results just prove what a hot mess the Democrat primaries are, as the field once again descends into chaos heading into Super Tuesday, Parscale said. We dont know who the eventual nominee will be, but they are all the same, and their radical big government socialist policies will be on the Democrat ballot in November no matter what.

Michael Collins covers the White House. Reach him on Twitter @mcollinsNEWS.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: South Carolina primary: Donald Trump suggests Bloomberg end campaign
Public health officials say 19 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus have been diagnosed in Canada so far, with 11 cases reported in Ontario and eight in British Columbia. One presumptive positive case has been reported in Quebec.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 29/2/2020 (680 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Public health officials say 19 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus have been diagnosed in Canada so far, with 11 cases reported in Ontario and eight in British Columbia. One presumptive positive case has been reported in Quebec.

Here is a timeline of cases in this country.

Jan. 25, 2020: A man in his 50s who arrived in Toronto from Wuhan, China, the epicentre of the outbreak, becomes the first "presumptive" case of the new coronavirus in Canada. The man called 911 as soon as he got sick with relatively minor symptoms and was placed in isolation in Toronto's Sunnybrook Hospital.

Jan. 26, 2020: The wife of the Toronto man who was Canada's first "presumptive" case of the new coronavirus becomes the second presumptive case. The woman is kept in home isolation.

Jan. 27, 2020: The National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg confirms that a man in quarantine in Sunnybrook Hospital is Canada's first documented case of the new coronavirus.

Jan 28, 2020: Health authorities confirm Canada's second case of the novel coronavirus. The woman had recently travelled to Wuhan with her husband, who was the first case confirmed in Canada.

Jan 28, 2020: Health officials in British Columbia say a man in his 40s is presumed to have the new coronavirus and is doing well as he recovers at his Vancouver home. B.C.'s health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, says the man often works in China and voluntarily isolated himself upon returning to Canada.

Jan. 28, 2020: The presumed case of the new strain of coronavirus in B.C. is confirmed by the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg.

Jan. 31, 2020: Toronto man hospitalized with the novel coronavirus is well enough to go home. Sunnybrook Hospital says he'll continue to recover at home, where his wife is also in self-isolation.

Jan. 31, 2020: Ontario's third case of the new coronavirus is confirmed. The patient, a woman in her 20s, had travelled to the affected area in China. The London university student initially tested negative for the virus, but a subsequent test at the national lab in Winnipeg was positive. Health officials say her symptoms are minor.

Feb. 4, 2020: Health officials announce another presumptive confirmed case in B.C. Henry says the woman had family visiting from China's Hubei province and she is in isolation at her home.

Feb. 5, 2020: British Columbia's second case of coronavirus is confirmed by the National Microbiology Lab.

Feb. 6, 2020: Henry announces two new cases of COVID-19 in B.C., noting both people were in the same household as the woman diagnosed with the province's second case.

Feb. 12, 2020: Ontario health officials say the woman from London, Ont., no longer has the novel coronavirus in her system. It marks the first time a case of the illness has been resolved in Canada.

Feb. 14, 2020: Officials in B.C. announce the province's fifth case of COVID-19. The woman in her 30s who lives in B.C.'s Interior recently returned from Hubei province.

Feb. 19, 2020: Henry announces that the person diagnosed with B.C.'s first case of the new coronavirus has recovered. It's the first time this has happened in the province.

Feb. 20, 2020: A woman who recently returned from Iran is diagnosed with British Columbia's sixth case of COVID-19. She's the first person in the country diagnosed with the illness who did not recently visit China. Meanwhile, in Ontario, the man who had Canada's first case of the virus is cleared after testing negative for the illness twice in 24 hours.

Feb. 21, 2020: The last known case of coronavirus in Ontario is resolved.

Feb. 23, 2020: Officials in Toronto announce Ontario has a new case of coronavirus  the fourth to be diagnosed in the province. The woman arrived in Toronto from China several days earlier.

Feb. 24, 2020: Henry announces a seventh person in B.C. has been diagnosed with the new coronavirus. The man in his 40s was in close contact with the woman who has the province's sixth case of the illness.

Feb. 26, 2020: Ontario officials announce a fifth diagnosis in the province: a woman in her 60s who recently travelled to Iran.

Feb. 27, 2020: Quebec public health officials report the province's first presumptive case, a woman from the Montreal region who recently returned from Iran. Ontario officials also confirm a sixth case of COVID-19 in the province. They say the man in his 60s is the husband of Ontario's fifth patient with the virus.

Feb. 28, 2020: Ontario reports a seventh confirmed case  a man in his 50s who had travelled to Iran. The man arrived in Toronto on Tuesday, Feb. 25 and went to the emergency department of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre the next day. It also reports its eighth case: a man in his 80s with a travel history to Egypt. Officials said he arrived in the city on Feb. 20 and went to the Scarborough Health Network's General Hospital's emergency department on Thursday.

Feb. 29, 2020: Health officials in British Columbia say a woman in her 60s who travelled from Iran is the eighth case of COVID-19 in the province. Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says the woman has a relatively mild case and she is in self-isolation at home. Health officials in Ontario report another three cases  two women who had recently made separate trips to Iran, and the 69-year-old husband of one of those women, who had no recent travel history.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 29, 2020.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Philip Pullella (Reuters) Vatican City, Holy See  Sun, March 1, 2020 06:57 680 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2067762b7 2 World #PopeFrancis,#health,sick,Vatican-City Free

Pope Francis, who has been suffering from what the Vatican says is a "slight indisposition," resumed official audiences with individuals in his residence on Saturday but three with groups were cancelled.

A statement said the pope, who had cancelled most official audiences on Thursday and Friday, celebrated his customary early morning Mass in the chapel of the Santa Marta guest house where he lives.

He was then holding four separate official audiences there on Saturday morning with Church figures, including three with archbishops from outside Italy. Three larger audiences with groups were cancelled.

All of Saturday's official audiences were to have taken place in the Apostolic Palace. Those with individuals were moved to his residence.

The Vatican has not specified what the 83-year-old Roman Catholic leader is suffering from.

On Friday afternoon spokesman Matteo Bruni moved to dismiss speculation that the pope was anything more than slightly unwell, saying "There is no evidence that would lead to diagnosing anything but a mild indisposition."

At his general audience on Wednesday he appeared to have a cold and spoke with a slightly hoarse voice, and he coughed during an afternoon Ash Wednesday service in a Rome church, his last appearance outside the Vatican.

In the past few days since the pope was taken ill, he has continued his afternoon working meetings in the residence.

Francis is missing a part of one lung. It was removed when he was in his early 20s in his native Buenos Aires after an illness.

The pope is due to preside at his regular noontime prayer and message on Sunday. On Sunday afternoon, he and senior Vatican officials will go by bus to a Church residence south of Rome for their annual week-long Lenten spiritual retreat.

The Vatican said the retreat will go ahead as planned.
Homeless charity Focus Ireland is calling on the next government to hold a referendum on the right to housing.

It is one of the elements of a plan it is launching today to end the housing crisis.

It also wants the next government to commit to building 35,000 new homes a year.

Focus spokesman Roughan McNamara says the question should be put to the people.

"That was recommended by the constitutional convention who put forward a number of issues to the previous government that should be put to a referendum. No action was taken on this," Mr McNamara said.

We were told that the issue was unconstitutional - we don't believe that to be the case.

"I think while the result of the election was unclear, the message from voters that they want the housing and homeless crisis tackled (with) a lot more urgency by whoever is in the next government was very clear.

"Every day that they are dithering and not even starting proper talks and forming the next government, three families are becoming homeless," he added.

Meanwhile, the government denies there was anything improper with the homeless figures it published for December.

The number of people recorded as homeless for the month dipped below 10,000 before rising again in January.

Sinn Fein and Fianna Fail have both criticised the figures while a report by the European Commission claims the statistics are unreliable and incomplete.
Quinnipiac shows a similar spread, as well as strong ratings from moderate and conservative Democrats. And a vast majority of Democrats, 93 percent, say they would back Sanders against Trump. As a point of comparison, 88 percent say the same for Pete Buttigieg.

Sanders also fares well against the president in preliminary matchups. He has led Trump in nearly every poll since the start of 2019 and does better than most other candidates in the crucial swing states Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania that delivered Trump the White House. Yes, head-to-head polls arent as reliable now as theyll be in the summer, after the conventions, or in the fall, when the general election campaign starts in earnest. But if, on the strength of the polls, you believe a candidate like Biden can beat Trump, then you should think the same of Sanders.

As for the fear that Sanders would be another McGovern? Hyperpolarization makes that highly unlikely. In todays political environment, winning either partys nomination gives you a high electoral floor. If Sanders does lose, he wont lose big.

The easiest objection to all of this is that Sanders has never been scrutinized like a presidential nominee. What will voters think when they learn hes a socialist, democratic or otherwise? How will they react to footage of Sanders praising Cuba or singing This Land Is Your Land while on a honeymoon in the Soviet Union? Sanders has strong personal appeal, but can it survive an onslaught of Republican attacks? Will voters punish him for flying too far from the mainstream?
The woman and the 28-year-old man were taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where they later were pronounced dead. The people killed were identified as Takeyla Sims, 34, of the 2400 block of West 62nd Street and Michael Lee, 28, of the 8200 block of South LaSalle Street, the medical examiners office said Monday.
New Delhi, March 1 : Two former District Magistrates of Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara, including an IAS officer, were arrested on Sunday for alleged involvement in the scam in issuing gun licences in the state for money, the CBI said.

During investigations conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation, "the alleged role of Itrit Hussain Rafiqui (a Kashmir Administrative Service officer) and Rajiv Ranjan, IAS, both posted then District Magistrates Kupwara, J&K has been surfaced during their tenure as District Magistrates, Kupwara, J&K from the year 2013 to 2015 and from 2015 to 2016 respectively," an agency statement said.

The CBI had registered a case following on May 17,2018 following an FIR registered atA Police Station Vigilance Organisation Kashmir (VOK), on the allegations that during the period 2012 to 2016, then District Magistrates/Deputy Commissioners of various districts of J&K were illegally issuing "bulk arms licenses in lieu of a monetary consideration". CBI said
We have a lot of plans. I hope Im around to follow them through, he said. But I kind of know [my daughter] will take over when I go. I think its going to be fabulous.

Saturday also marked the centennial for Zeta Phi Beta, a sorority of which Walker was an honorary member. Theyve worked with the National Park Service to conserve historic landmarks and had their own section of the crowd throughout the unveiling Saturday morning.

The president of the Richmond chapter, Violet Mensah, had on her 30-year-old black beret with blue Zeta Phi Beta letters stitched onto the front. Being at the Walker site reminded her of growing up in Church Hill and when she used to teach at Maggie Walker before it was the governors school. Sometimes, she still walks past Leigh Street to catch a glimpse of her old classroom.

All of this has that remembrance. That connection, she said. We have family members who are buried in Evergreen. All of this just cultivates one historic and sentimental moment.

Mitchell said theyre looking for partners to help in the restoration efforts, such as contractors and landscapers, with an emphasis on using as many Richmond businesses as possible.
Serial killer Stephen Griffiths could have lived a 'relatively normal life' but instead 'turn his back' on relationships with people, after a rejection from a woman damaged his 'fragile ego'.

Triple murderer and criminology student Stephen Griffiths, took the lives of three sex workers in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, between 2009 and 2010, after a longstanding obsession with serial killers and violence.

His case is examined in TV documentary 'Making a Monster' and criminal psychologist Dr. Eric Cullen claimed he could have established 'normal relationships' but isolated himself further when he was left by a girlfriend in 1998.

While he had already voiced desire to kill, Cullen alleges it was when his girlfriend, who had been horrified upon discovering his flat was full of violent memorabilia and covered in sheets of plastic, that Griffiths turned his back on normal life.

At the time of his arrest in 2010, Griffiths told detectives he cooked flesh from the first two women and ate the third one raw, landing him the nickname 'crossbow cannibal'.

Serial killer Stephen Griffiths (pictured) could have lived a 'relatively normal life' but instead 'turn his back' on relationships with people, after a rejection from a woman damaged his 'fragile ego'

Triple murderer and criminology student Stephen Griffiths, took the lives of three sex workers in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, between 2009 and 2010

Cullen claimed: 'He's trying, it seems to me, to establish a relatively normal life. He is trying to establish normal relationships with women.

'He is failing because the early signs of mental obsession are showing and as soon as these women see this, the relationships fall apart.'

The woman was horrified after discovering sheets of plastic on the walls, shelves of hundreds of serial killer books and a stash of crossbows and samurai swords.

His ego strength was sufficiently fragile in terms of women, that he then turned his back on relationships and increasingly isolated himself', said Cullen.

The three sex workers, Susan Rushworth (left) Suzanne Blamires(middle) , and Shelley Armitage (right) , who were murdered by Griffiths between 2009-2010

'Because of his criminal history as well, his relationship with his family broke down as well, so there is no potential for positive intervention in the deterioration of his lifestyle'.

It was then the killer began to isolate himself from further, falling deeper into the world of hardcore pornography on the internet, where he created an alter-who called 'Ven Pariah', a name which would later become another moniker of his killer.

Despite the killers morbid obsession with killing, Cullen told that Griffiths was 'unusual' in that his murderous tenancies began in his teen years, rather than his childhood - when most psychopathic traits are thought to develop.

He told: 'Stephen Griffiths is unusual in killing, because there's not very much in his childhood or formulation period, to suggest the monster that he was to become. '

'You really have to go to his teenage years before you start seeing the early morbid fascination with violence, especially knives. He also, at this point, is starting to introduce himself to a criminal lifestyle'.

Despite the killers morbid obsession with killing, Cullen told that Griffiths was 'unusual' in that his murderous tenancies began in his teen years, rather than his childhood. He is pictured at school

At the age of 17, Griffiths was sentenced to three years in prison after an unprovoked knife attack on a supermarket manager, and it was here his ambitions of becoming a renowned serial killer first became clear.

He told psychologists of how his main desire was to kill, and in 1991 was diagnosed as a 'schizoid psychopath', but left to go free without treatment. '.

Cullen told how the killer would have grown frustrated at how none of his peers 'took him seriously' despite his attempts to appear 'menacing ' by dressing as a goth and walking around his pet lizard.

'It's fascinating', said Cullen, 'He was making attempts to to present an image of being someone of menace, of someone of substance, but also someone who was outside the normal convention.

'He had pet lizards he would take for walks, he would wear black leathers and slick his hair back, he was conspicuous and yet nobody took him seriously.

'People saw him as harmless, which must have galled him, because that as throwing content that was still seeing him as this Stephen Griffiths character, who was a loser.'

Later, he received a sentence for holding a knife up to the throat of a girl, yet was still allowed to study at Leeds university before undergoing a PHD in homicide at Bradford University in 2009.

Cullen told that the degree was 'perfect' for the killer, as it enabled him to study the intricate details of killing with 'formal academic sanction'.

He said: ' This is perfect for Griffiths, this is ideal, he can with official formal academic sanction, pursue his pathology.'

Making a Monster continues on CRIME+INVESTIGATION on Monday 2nd March at 9pm. The series is available on all catch up and on demand services.
Funerals held for soldiers martyred in Idlib

Thursdays attack which martyred 34 Turkish soldiers was one of a series since January on Turkish troops, with Turkish officials keeping their pledge that such assaults would not go unanswered.

Funerals were held across Turkey for the soldiers martyred in the Thursday's deadly attack in Idlib, a de-escalation zone in northwestern Syria, just across Turkeys southern border.

HIGH-RANKING MILITARY OFFICIALS ATTENDED THE FUNERALS

The funerals were held in many Turkish provinces, including Hatay, Mersin, Tokat, Kayseri, Adiyaman, Gaziantep, Osmaniye, Zonguldak, Adana, Afyonkarahisar, Antalya, Usak, Samsun, Istanbul, Kahramanmaras, Tekirdag, Mersin, Izmir, Denizli, and Konya.

Many Turkish state and high-ranking military officials along with thousands of citizens attended the funerals across the country.

Funeral prayers in absentia were also organized in many other Turkish provinces.

At least 34 Turkish soldiers were martyred and tens of others injured in an airstrike by Bashar al-Assad regime forces in Idlib late Thursday.

The Turkish soldiers are working to protect local civilians under a September 2018 deal with Russia, which prohibits acts of aggression in the Idlib de-escalation zone.
The State Security Service (SSS) has told the Federal High Court in Asaba on Friday that it arrested and detained Anthony Okolie, based on a directive from the presidency to investigate him over the use of a SIM card previously used by Hanan, President Muhammadu Buharis daughter.

Mr Okolie was arrested in July 2019 and eventually detained for 10 weeks without trial despite the provision of the Nigerian law that mandates that a suspect not be detained for more than 48 hours by the police (or government agency) without bail or without charging the individual to court.

After his release, Mr Okolie through his lawyer, Tope Akinyode, sued Hanan, the Director-General of the State Security Service (SSS) and telecoms provider, MTN, over his illegal detention.

Mr Okolie is seeking an order to compel the respondents to jointly or severally to pay the applicant the sum of N500 million as general and aggravated damages for the gross and unlawful violation of the applicants right to acquire moveable properties, freedom of movement and self dignity.

Speaking at the hearing of the suit filed by Mr Okolie at the Federal High Court in Asaba on February 12, the presidents daughter, through her lawyer M.E. Sheriff, told the court Hanan would not be responding to the allegations because there was no need.

The judge, Nnamdi Dimgba, furiously responded saying: What do you mean you havent seen a reason? Sheriff, how can you not see a reason? Somebody has accused you. Even if it is to say, I didnt do so, cant you respond? Youre saying you did not see a reason. Sheriff, what kind of thing is this?

On his part, the SSS lawyer, E.E. Daobri, said he did not receive the necessary documents from the SSS headquarters in Abuja on time, hence, could not file a counter-affidavit.

Controversy

Following the backlash from the judge, Hanans lawyer, Mr Sheriff, in a counter-affidavit filed on February 21, agreed that the MTN SIM card which caused the dispute was once used by her.

She, however, claimed not to be aware that any arrest was made by the SSS in her 20-paragraph affidavit obtained by PREMIUM TIMES.

She said although she was not happy with the complaint from the public that someone else was using her former SIM card, but I have never complained to the State Security Service or any law enforcement agency in Nigeria or outside the country to make arrest of anyone.

The SSS has now deposed to an affidavit, explaining why it arrested and detained the suspect.

The SSS Claim

In the 35-paragraph affidavit, signed by an SSS official, S.M. Kayode, and obtained by PREMIUM TIMES, the security agency said it received an official letter of instruction from the presidency dated July 5, 2019, upon which it acted.

In the affidavit, the SSS said the presidencys letter indicated that Mr Okolie was parading himself as a member of the first family to defraud unsuspecting members of the public.

The SSS alleged that their investigation revealed that Mr Okolie attempted to defraud Ahmed Halidu, a member of the presidents family, before the former was arrested. The agency said Mr Okolie wrote a confessional statement admitting to the crime on July 24, 2019.

For 10 weeks at their custody, the SSS said nobody applied for Mr Okolies bail until one Ernesh Chukwuedo surfaced and he was released to him.

Also in the affidavit, SSS said it acted in the interest of national security.

Defence

Mr Okolie had earlier told PREMIUM TIMES that Hanan ordered his arrest and she was contacted thrice before he was eventually released.

Mr Akinyode, the lawyer to the accused, said the Nigerian constitution makes no provision of any kind for the first family and that the involvement of the presidency in this matter is a disgraceful deployment of state apparatus for personal gains.

The confessional statement has no relevance to this suit whatsoever. There was no place he ever misrepresented to anybody that he is Buharis daughter. More so, he never received any money from anybody.

However, even if someone commits an offence  and theres none that my client has committed  he must be charged to court within at most 48 hours. In this instance, the victim was detained for 10 weeks, his fundamental rights had been violated. Period.

All the things they wrote is just about putting up a useless defence where theres none. His right has been violated. The SSS has on several occasions admitted that they ran a foul of the law because of national security. Should that be a ground to deprive a citizen of his fundamental human rights? the lawyer said,

The matter is scheduled to come up March 3 before Justice Nnamdi Dimgba.
'I don't feel like we're making any progress': 6 months after Hurricane Dorian, Bahamas struggles to rebuild

Ten minutes away from the restored and gleaming cruise ship terminals on Grand Bahama island, just beyond the multi-millionaires' beach compounds, is the real Bahamas  and it lies in ruins.

It's six months since Hurricane Dorian made landfall on the island nation, snapping trees, gutting homes, shearing exterior walls and roofs clean off. Along with the catastrophic winds, surging waves hammered cars through buildings, and emptied schools of desks and chairs and pretty much everything else.

Bahamian authorities officially reported 76 dead as a result of Dorian's wrath. But nearly that many have been missed from some individual communities, with the belief by many aid and other organizations that the true death toll is more likely counted in four figures. Hundreds of Haitian migrants lived next to the sea when the hurricane hit, for instance, and many are unaccounted for but, without status in the country, their deaths have not been included in the official national tally.

While the streets have been cleared of debris, thousands of homes remain uninhabitable. Power crews continue to restore electrical service, and roofers have years of work ahead of them.

"What do people do? They have nowhere to come back to," says Bishop Silbert Mills, on the hardest hit island of Great Abaco.

"When they do come, there is nothing."

David Common/CBC

Mills's own church was a sanctuary for more than 200 people. First as powerful winds battered the windowless building during the storm, and then for nearly a week as supplies dwindled and food rationing became a necessity, with the community waiting for two metres of floodwater to recede back into the ocean.

For several days after the storm, water cascaded into homes of Great Abaco. On neighbouring Grand Bahama island, 80 per cent of the island was covered in water.

That wiped out business, and with it the source of most of the jobs on both Abaco and Grand Bahama.

David Common/CBC

"On Sept. 1 when I woke up, my pizza operation was worth half a million dollars," says Bishop Mills. "After Dorian, it was reduced to vacant land."

Story continues

He didn't have insurance and does not expect to ever have the money to rebuild that business. He's running his other business, a gospel radio station, out of a trailer he now lives in with his brother.

WATCH | Bishop Silbert Mills describes the effort to sort through the wreckage left behind by Dorian:

While the uber-wealthy who inhabit lesser-hit Bahamian islands have insurance for their expansive palatial quarters, most Bahamians do not.

"It is extremely expensive," explains contractor Darren Cooper. "It can go anywhere monthly from about $600 US to $10,000."

Already, Bahamians were suffering from job and income losses after Hurricane Matthew caused destruction in 2016. Many stopped paying insurance because they simply couldn't afford it. Then came Dorian in 2019, causing even more loss.

The result is that many Bahamians have simply left the most affected areas, moving with their kids to other islands where schools are still operational  and sometimes as far as the U.S. and Canada.

But that requires friends or money, or both.

"We stayed here because we couldn't afford to go anyplace else," Ronique Adderley says.

David Common/CBC

Her father has just replaced the waterlogged drywall in her modest home.

Her family has had to rely on charities for mould removal and to provide building materials. Government officials, she says, have been absent since the storm.

National efforts and resources have focused on rapid recovery in the country's tourist hotspots, in order to kickstart the top driver of the Bahamian economy.

"I don't feel like we're making any progress really, especially not from the government," Adderley says, referring to recovery efforts outside the tourist centres. "Thanks, though, to NGOs and private entities from all around the world who are assisting us."

David Common/CBC

One of those non-governmental organizations is Canada's GlobalMedic, which arrived in the days immediately following the storm to provide emergency services.

The group wanted to continue helping with the economic impact of the storm in the weeks following Dorian's punch, so after the initial emergency relief efforts, it went looking for projects that would help Bahamians get back into their homes and back to work.

"We operate on a model of the right aid to the right people at the right time," says the group's leader in The Bahamas, Jowett Wong. "So past that [initial] point where people need immediate food and water, they need a livelihood."

David Common/CBC

Partnering with the local Rotary Club, GlobalMedic has created jobs for 45 people, hiring teams to remove contaminated materials from homes.

In many cases, families have been unable to return to their homes after Dorian, due in part to structural damage, but often because of mould that rapidly developed in the weeks following the hurricane in the structures that were still serviceable.

"It's a lingering threat," says Wong.

"We're giving people  something to hang on to their livelihoods, a safe place to come home to, and a way to earn money."

David Common/CBC

Removing mould is a tedious and messy process, with the team able to clear up to 12 homes a day in Freeport, the largest city on Grand Bahama.

It involves bashing out drywall, and removing mattresses, furniture, clothing  absolutely anything that was covered by the storm surge.

David Common/CBC

At the other end of the island is another GlobalMedic project to help McLean's Town return to being a fishing village. Not just for sustenance, but for the recovery of the local economy too, where dozens of fishing guides have for years led small groups of tourists through lucrative fishing spots.

One of those guides is Joseph Thomas, who heads up the local effort to repair the community's remaining vessels.

"This community is 80 per cent fishermen," he told us while repairing holes in boats damaged by the storm. "Can you see why this project is so needed and helpful? That's what they need to make a living to feed their family."

David Common/CBC

The boats he works on suffered punctures, hull and floor damage after being thrown into mangroves, trees and buildings by Hurricane Dorian. Fisherman are now hauling them to Thomas and his small Canadian-funded crew to repair.

The town is a shell of its former self. While 200 people once lived here, today only 15 can spend the night. The rest still have no permanent shelter, or are bunking with friends and family outside the community.

Thomas lived in a tent for months after the storm. Now he's back inside his damaged home, restoring one room at a time with money he earns repairing boats.

David Common/CBC

Philip Thomas owned five boats before the storm hit. He has been waiting for repairs to one of them, and still doesn't know where some of the others ended up after the storm.

"It's important for me because it's my livelihood, and it's important that I continue to make a living to sustain my family and try to get my house repaired."

He plans to use the first repaired vessel to take clients fishing, including the many who arrive by cruise ship and seek a day's adventure.

While Thomas is excited to be back out on the water, he's still struggling with a major loss. His adult son died in the storm after rescuing his wife from the water, and while trying to rescue his three young children. All four died.

"It's hard to keep going, but if I stop, then I think it will be even harder, because my mind will continue to dwell on what has happened," Thomas says.

WATCH | Residents of fishing community of McLean's Town fix boats wrecked by Hurricane Dorian:
Susan Furner paid to paint her rental unit, installed shelves and lampshades and cleaned up the garden, only to be kicked out of her home of 18 months and given no reason why.

The 61-year-old, who was renting a unit in Bundaberg, said she was left flabbergasted after pouring her own money in to fixing up the unit only to have her tenancy ended.

Susan Furner thinks tenants should be given a reason if they are evicted or do not have their lease renewed

Queensland landlords are currently not required to give a reason for evicting a tenant or not renewing their lease.

The state government released draft reforms late last year that would abolish "no grounds" evictions, after long-term campaigning from tenancy and welfare groups.
Participants shared the view that under the leadership of the Party and State and with efforts of the three sides, external work has contributed to the common success of the country, improving Vietnams stature on international arena.

The work has also helped maintain an environment of peace and relative stability for promoting ties with countries and partners, especially global economic integration and improvement of multilateral diplomacy.

Other important pillars and fields of external work such as cultural diplomacy, overseas Vietnamese affairs, citizen protection and popularisation of foreign service information have also seen important results.

They the hailed close and effective coordination between the three sides in every stage of external activities, citing the success in hosting the second US-DPRK Summit, the winning of the election to become a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) with 192 out of the 193 votes, the signing and ratification of the European Union (EU)  Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) by the EU, and the completion of the UNSC Chair Month in January and launch of ASEAN Chairmanship Year 2020, among others.

Concluding the event, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh requested the three offices to continue to devising the external policy to submit to the 13th National Party Congress, enhancing information sharing and assessing regional and global situation to serve the consultation work, implementing the 2020 action plan approved by the Politburo, with a focus on fulfilling the role of the ASEAN Chair, the Chair of the 41st General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA 41), and a non-permanent member of the UNSC.

He also asked for efforts in making EU parliaments ratify the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA), and monitoring the implementation of the EVFTA together with the EU.

The Deputy PM also asked them to step up personnel training and increase mutual consultation in external affairs.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 22:06:21|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

SHANGHAI, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai on Sunday unveiled a number of new measures on facilitating the development of foreign enterprises as part of its efforts to further open up and spur growth and minimize the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

The city aims to build up foreign investors' confidence on long-term investment and operation by easing market access, Hua Yuan, director of the municipal commission of commerce, said during a teleconference.

"We will strive for expanding opening-up in key sectors including telecommunication, insurance, securities, research and technical services, education and health services," Hua said.

Hua urged more support on attracting foreign investment, especially those on high value-added modern service industries such as advanced manufacturing, science and technology services as well as the information service industry.

Shanghai is expected to see 40 more regional headquarters of multinationals and 15 more foreign-funded research and development centers this year, according to Hua.

Teleworking modes such as video conference and signing contracts online should be promoted to strengthen the communication with foreign investors, Hua added.
Tawnylust Lodge in conjunction with the North Leitrim Womens Centre is organising a used clothes sale in aid of Warmi Huasi women and childrens project in Peru.



Proceeds from the sale of baby and toddler clothes will go to the charity Self Help Africa.

There have been links between Leitrim and the two charities in Peru and Africa for several years.

The Holey Soles Hill Walking Club runs a very successful fundraising walk annually for Peru.



Fr Ed OConnell, chairperson of Warmi Huasi Non Governmental Organisation in Peru has visited Leitrim several times and he and his team are most grateful for funds raised which go towards training, after schools services and library facilities for women and children living in poverty in Peru.

One of the members of the Holey Soles Walking Group works for the charity Self Help Africa with a project in Uganda.

100% of the funds raised will go directly to the charities involved. The organisers are delighted to be extending this support with an event celebrating International Womens Day and celebrating 25 years of the North Leitrim Womens Centre and its contribution to the community.



The sale of womens clothing, bags, shoes and baby and toddler clothing with be held in the Bee Park Centre main hall on Friday March 6 from 10am- 2pm.

Embrace the slow fashion trend and enjoy a great morning out.

Come along, have a cuppa and chat and bag a bargain for two very good causes!



As part of the Womens Centre 25th anniversary celebration there will be crafting from 10-12 at this event. All welcome. For more information on the charities visit; columbans.ie or selfhelpafrica.org

Also read: Gold stars for Lough Rynn Castle Estate & Gardens
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.



You should upgrade or use an You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.You should upgrade or use an alternative browser
It was a meeting of Allison Nikula's professional and personal lives that drove her to entrepreneurship.

"My grandparents were accessing care 800 kilometres away from where my family lived," the occupational therapist and founder of CareApp says.

Founder of CareApp, Allison Nikula, says a meeting of her personal and professional lives propelled her into entrepreneurship.

"We felt disconnected... and I was seeing professionally that my personal experience wasnt unique."

Nikula had been working in the aged care sector and supervised a team of hundreds of care workers helping Australians across the community.
Advertisement

An icy blast and blizzard in the East Coast has frozen over a Lake Erie neighborhood in New York, transforming homes into igloos and the water into an ice sheet.

Homes in Hamburg, New York were completely covered in ice over the weekend, with icicles hanging down from doors and windows, leaving some homes completely in the dark due to frosted windows.

Shocking photographs show homes and trees on Hoover Beach, just in front of the lake, covered in thick muddied snow and ice.

The damage was so extreme that some residents had to force their way out of the house as the ice covering their homes was between one to three inches thick.

Frozen! Any icy blast and blizzard has frozen over a Lake Erie neighborhood in Hamburg, New York over the weekend

Homes in Hamburg, New York were completely covered in ice over the weekend, with icicles hanging down from doors and windows, leaving some homes completely in the dark with windows frosted over

The ice was so extreme that residents had to force their way out of the house as the ice covering their residences were between one to three inches thick

'I actually had to go out a secondary door and then chisel my way back into the house by breaking the ice,' Hoover Beach resident Ed Mis said

This is the sixth storm in a matter of months to batter the area as residents are demanding the city build a breakwall to protect their homes from further weather-related damage

'I actually had to go out a secondary door and then chisel my way back into the house by breaking the ice,' Hoover Beach resident Ed Mis said to ABC10.

Mis said he checked in on his neighbors after waking up and realizing the entire neighborhood was covered in ice.

He said the woman living next door to him had her home completely covered in thick ice that almost reached her roof.

'This is like our sixth storm in a matter of a few months, and its kind of wearing on everybody,' he said.

An aerial view of the Hoover Beach neighborhood shows rows of the frozen homes covered in thick ice and snow

This aerial view shows how Lake Erie froze near the shore and how monster waves covered waterfront homes in ice and snow

Residents say their worried about property damage as repeated storms blow through the area

What is lake-snow effect? Lake-snow effect in a natural phenomenon that occurs in the Great Lakes region between late fall and into winter It occurs when cold air moves over a lake's warmer water and results in heavy snow fall on the shore 'As a cold, dry air mass moves over the Great Lakes region the air picks up lots of moisture from the Great Lakes. This air, now full of water, dumps the water as snow in areas generally to the south and east of the lakes,' according to the National Severe Storms Laboratory Advertisement

Ice started to accumulate on Thursday and overnight into Friday due to freezing temperatures with lows of 21 Fahrenheit as waves from Lake Erie pounded the shoreline and strong winds further blew the water onto the homes.

On Friday Hamburg was hit with a blizzard that brought heavy snow and sloshing 10-foot waves from Lake Erie.

To add to the cold snap, wind gusts topped at 47mph over the weekend coupled with sustained winds as strong as 36 mph.

The weekend's weather in a natural phenomenon known as lake-snow effect where frigid air moves over the Great Lakes and creates heavy snowfall.

In the severe weekend weather Hoover Beach residents suffered property damage, destroyed power lines and saw trees collapse under the weight of the ice.

An aerial view of the waterfront neighborhood shows a dozen houses completely swamped with snow and covered in muddy ice.

Mis joked 'Now I live in a cave' after Lake Erie waves pounded then froze his home's exterior over the weekend

Ice started to accumulate on Thursday and overnight into Friday due to freezing 20-degree temperatures as waves from Lake Erie pounded the shoreline and strong winds further blew the water onto the homes

On Friday Hamburg was hit with a blizzard inundating the New York neighborhood with snow and sloshing 10-foot waves from Lake Erie

To add to the cold snap, wind gusts topped at 47mph over the weekend coupled with sustained winds as strong as 36 mph

In the severe weekend weather Hoover Beach residents suffered property damage, destroyed power lines and saw trees collapse under the weight of the ice

Sloshing waves from the bitterly cold Lake Erie at Hoover Beach pictured above

Icicles pictured along Lake Erie over the weekend following a severe snow storm

According to Hamburg's Emergency Services Manager the ice has to thaw before a team can be sent in to assess the damage.

Locals say they're worried for their homes as the lake creeps closer to their properties due to erosion over the past few big stores.

Homeworker Lise Kreuder told WIVB that Hoover Beach needs a breakwall soon.

Last month Hamburg town supervisor announced the town will apply for new FEMA funds in 2020 for a breakwall and other protective measures for the neighborhood.

Social media users shared snaps of their frozen homes and of eerie icicles hanging from ice-covered trees

This home was completely covered in ice and icicles facing the direction of the howling wind

Even the sidewalk was completely covered in ice and snow making it dangerous to even walk through the neighborhood
What good is insurance without doctors or hospitals? The consequences of legislative language presented by Anthem in the Statehouse this last week will be disastrous for Methodist Hospitals.

House Bill 1004 contains language that will allow insurance companies such as Medicaid, Anthem and other commercial payers to reimburse hospitals at lower rates if a service is not provided inside the hospital. Methodist Hospitals has services, including our Heart Rhythm Center (EP Lab), Outpatient Surgery Center, Outpatient Diagnostic Center, Outpatient Physical and Occupational Therapy Centers and other community services such as those for women and children that, while not physically inside hospital walls, are located on or nearby our hospital campuses. Even though these services are not located inside the hospital, they are subject to the same federal and state regulations and therefore have the same expense structures.
Missing Florida Woman Found Dead Hundreds of Miles Away in Tennessee

A Florida woman was found deceased in the trunk of a car more than 700 miles away in Tennessee, according to police.

A suspect in the death of 36-year-old Anna M. Primavere turned herself in at the Lebanon Police Department in Lebanon, Tennessee.

At the request of the Titusville, Florida Police Department, our detectives located a vehicle suspected to be used in connection to a missing person, police said in a statement last week. That vehicle was located in our city, and within the vehicle, Primaveres body was found, said officials.

The suspect was identified as Courtney Dawn Gibson, and she is being held as detectives from Titusville are en route to Tennessee, said officials.

Gibson, 27, had been working as a babysitter for a child of the landlord where Primavere lived, officials told Fox35. Gibson had also lived in the same home, and she left on the same day that Primavere vanished, according to officials.

Gibson was captured on a Ring doorbell video driving away from the area of Trinidad Avenue early [Feb. 22] morning with a mattress on the roof of her car, a Red Kia Forte, Titusville Deputy Chief Todd Hutchinson told the Fox affiliate.

But the mattress fell off the car at a nearby location, prompting her to get out before she tried to burn it, said Amy Matthews, spokeswoman for the Titusville Police Department, according to Florida Today.

She basically left a child alone and then she also tried to destroy a mattress with fire. Other charges are pending, she said.

The suspect, meanwhile, was first located at her parents home in Tennessee, said police. Officials said she refused to cooperate and wouldnt allow them to search her vehicle before they obtained a warrant.

Gibson is now being held on charges of child neglect and evidence tampering, Matthews confirmed.

Our detectives began working in partnership with Lebanon Police on obtaining a search warrant for the vehicle, which was obtained [Feb. 26], Hutchinson added. We believe the victim was likely killed in a violent manner in the home between 7 p.m. and midnight on Friday, February 21st.

There is evidence to make us believe that she was a victim of violence or foul play, Matthews added, referring to Primavere.

Primaveres sister Kristie Fuller issued a statement to Florida Today: The family is working closely with local law enforcement to seek justice and closure but nothing will ever fill the hole thats been left in our hearts. My sister Anna was always full of life, making friends, and loved her family [and] close friends fiercely. She left a lasting impression on everyone she met. She was a great daughter, sister and friend.

Anyone with information about the case can call Titusville Police Department at (321) 264-7800 or can remain anonymous and be eligible for a reward by calling Crimeline at 1-800-423-TIPS (8477).
There is some question as to how Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Kavanaugh, who dissented from the chief justices stay order a year ago, may rule now  when faced with the temptation to deal a body blow to Roe v. Wade, as the party that elevated them to the bench so fervently wishes. The correct response is clear, however, as the chief justice implied by voting for the stay and as two of his colleagues would also agree if the words of their dissenting opinions from the courts 2016 ruling against Texas mean anything. Unless the Court abides by one set of rules to adjudicate constitutional rights, it will continue reducing constitutional law to policy-driven value judgments until the last shreds of its legitimacy disappear, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote. To which Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. added: a patent refusal to apply well-established law in a neutral way is indefensible and will undermine public confidence in the Court as a fair and neutral arbiter.
Egypt reported its first coronavirus case on February 14, saying the infected person was a foreign national.

Authorities in Qatar have temporarily banned all arrivals from Egypt, except Qatari citizens, over fears of the spread of deadly coronavirus.

As a public health measure, the State of Qatar has imposed a temporary entrance restriction to its territories on all those who are coming from Egypt through intermediate points, the Government Communications Office of Qatar said in a statement sent to Al Jazeera on Sunday.

The measure is temporary due to the spread of COVID-19.

Egypts health ministry reported its first confirmed case of the coronavirus on February 14, saying the infected person was a foreign national. On February 19, the World Health Organization (WHO) said he had been discharged from the hospital.

No further reports of infection have been released from Egyptian authorities.

Egypts health ministry spokesman Khaled Megahed told Ahram Online on Sunday it denies once again the detection of any diagnosed or suspected cases of the coronavirus across all governorates.

Megaheds comments came after news reports said two suspected coronavirus victims were transferred to a hospital in northern Egypt to be quarantined.





Egypts Health Minister Hala Zayed on Saturday told TV channel MBC Masr that pandemics cannot be entirely prevented  [but] their spread can be limited.

She added there is a high probability we will get the coronavirus.

On Friday, the Egyptian cabinet denied rumours that authorities discovered large numbers of new coronavirus cases.

In a statement, it highlighted its complete transparency in dealing with suspected coronavirus cases, saying any new infections would be announced immediately. The WHO will also be notified, it added.

Two new cases

Qatars health ministry confirmed two more cases of the coronavirus on Sunday, bringing the total number of cases to three. The two Qatari individuals were evacuated from Iran on February 27 and were placed in full quarantine.

The Gulf states health ministry said on Saturday a 36-year-old Qatari man who returned recently from Iran was its first confirmed case. He was in a stable condition.

Iran is the Middle Easts worst-hit country by the coronavirus as it announced 11 deaths on Sunday, bringing its death toll to 54. More than 600 people have been found infected.

200125070959786

Meanwhile, Bahrains ministry of health confirmed six new coronavirus cases on Sunday, raising the total number to 47 cases, the state news agency reported.

Some neighbouring countries have closed their borders with Iran and several countries have stopped flights.

Across the world, more than 2,900 people have died from the fast-spreading virus that appears to have originated in China in December.

More than 87,000 people have been infected worldwide.

On Friday, the WHO warned the spread of the virus is getting bigger.
When French President Emmanuel Macron leaned in to give Premier Giuseppe Conte the Italian double-cheek kiss not once, but on two separate occasions, during a Franco-Italian summit in Naples this week, it was much more than a greeting.

It was a signal to citizens not to fear their neighbours as a new virus from China spreads, with Italy established as Europe's hotspot.

Friendly kissing in the time of coronavirus has become a fresh dilemma, especially in effusive southern Europe, with perhaps the power to reshape customs. But even more-reserved northerners are grappling with whether to forgo the hallowed handshake.

The government's special commissioner for coronavirus, Angelo Borrelli, has suggested that Italians' demonstrative nature could be contributing to the virus' spread, with more than 1,100 people testing positive and 29 deaths, almost all in the country's north.

But there have been no official edicts on the social custom of kissing, which sociologists say is rooted in Italy's Mediterranean culture as well as its strong family and social structure.

We have a collective social life that is very florid, very expansive. We have lots of contact, we shake hands, we kiss each other, we hug each other, Borelli told reporters.

Maybe it is better in this period not to shake hands, and do not have too much contact, and try to be a bit less expansive, which is different from how I am.

In neighboring France, Health Minister Olivier Veran on Saturday advised people to cut back on la bise, the custom in France and elsewhere in Europe of giving greetings with kisses, or air kisses, on the cheeks, along with shaking hands.

France, which has had 100 cases and two deaths so far, made a similar recommendation during the swine flu epidemic a decade ago.

In Germany, where children are taught to shake hands with adults and the firmness of the grip can be seen as correlating to personality strength, health experts and doctors are trying to persuade people to quit traditional etiquette.

At Virchow hospital in Berlin, doctors not only stopped shaking hands with their patients even non-contagious ones but are actively encouraging them to follow the example as cases in Germany hit 66.

Health experts have been warning that shaking hands is a prime way to spread the disease.

In northern Italy, the virus is taking a deep social toll, curtailing the usual opportunities to meet.

With schools, museums and most public offices officially closed until Monday, many people are staying at home and avoiding all social contact.

Italy's financial capital, Milan, is as empty as in the peak summer holiday period, with many companies giving professionals the option to work from home, and some restaurants and neighborhood shops closed because of a lack of business. Ones that remain open are unseasonably empty.

During Milan Fashion Week, cheek kissing was dropped as the week went on and cases spiraled in favor of other acknowledgments, like a little double kiss to fingertips that one fashionista dubbed, ''the new coronavirus kiss.''



Eleonora Strozzi, marketing manger in a business, WOVO store, specializing in sexy lingerie and erotic accessories that aims to challenge social taboos, said that the virus is teaching Italians boundaries.

Italians want to be cool with each other, exchange kisses and shake hands. Now they are learning if you are not OK, or if you have doubts, they can create some distance, Strozzi said.

Italians will learn something about consent from this experience. Marco Pozzi, a film director, met a business contact in a central Milan coffee bar on Friday, unconcerned about the risks of social contact, and was following the same precautions he follows every flu season, including frequent hand-washing. He was critical instead of what he saw as alarmism surrounding the virus.

Another meeting involving Pozzi recently in a city office had to be moved to a bar at 5:30 p.m. when emergency measures closed the office, but the bar in turn closed half an hour later because of the same restrictions.

We ended up finishing the meeting on the sidewalk, talking for an hour in the cold. It was crazy, Pozzi said, adding that the real Milan is not afraid.

Giampaolo Nuvolati, an urban sociologist at the University of Milan-Bicocca, said Italians' habit of kissing is an expression of trust that is unlikely to be shaken by the virus. But he said something else more fundamental might change.

Once this is past, we will understand that we cannot confront problems alone, that we need others beyond the family and close group of friends, Nuvolati said.

There is the community, there are institutions. Maybe it will create a broader solidarity, not just restricted to friends and family.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At the Angelus, Pope Francis expressed "sadness" over the situation of civilians in northern Syria and the refugees that Turkey is sending to Europe. The commentary of Jesus' temptations in the desert. "Never talk to the devil". "The further we are from God, the more defenseless and helpless we feel in the face of the great problems of existence." The help of the Virgin Mary, "the Mother of He who crushed the head of the snake".

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - At the end of the Angelus prayer with the faithful in St. Peter's Square, Pope Francis announced that "this cold will not permit me to participate in the spiritual exercises" for all the Roman curia, that begin this evening in Ariccia. Francis said he will follow the sermons - given by the Jesuit Pietro Bovati, Secretary of the Pontifical Biblical Commission - from the Vatican. In recent days the pontiff had canceled some audiences because of a "slight indisposition". Some media had carried reports full of fears (and fake news) that the pontiff was ill with coronavirus.

Previously, the Pope commented on the Gospel of today's mass, the first Sunday of Lent (A, Matthew 4,1-11) which recounts the temptations of Jesus in the desert, in which "the tempter, the devil, ... attempts three times to put Jesus in difficultly.

"The first temptation is inspired by the fact that Jesus is hungry, and he suggests to him:" If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread. But christ's response is clear, he says It is written: One does not live on bread alone,but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God." (4: 4). He refers to Moses when he reminds the people of the long journey made in the desert, in which he learned that his life depends on the Word of God (cf. Dt 8,3) ".

"The devil makes a second attempt (vv. 5-6), he becomes more astute, also citing Holy Scripture. The strategy is clear: if you have so much confidence in the power of God, then experience it, in fact the Scripture itself states that you will be helped by the angels (v. 6). But even in this case Jesus does not allow himself to be confused, because whoever believes knows that God does not test him, but entrusts himself to His goodness. Therefore to the words of the Bible, exploted when interpreted by Satan, Jesus replies with another quote: "Again it is written, You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test." (v. 7) ".

Finally, the third attempt (vv. 8-9) reveals the devil's true intentions: since the coming of the Kingdom of heaven marks the beginning of his defeat, the evil one would like to divert Jesus from carrying out his mission, offering him a perspective of political messianism. But Jesus rejects the idolatry of power and human glory and, in the end, drives away the tempter by saying: "Get away, Satan! It is written: The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve. (v. 10). And at this point, near Jesus, faithful to the Father, angels come to serve him (cf. v. 11) ".

This teaches us one thing: Jesus does not dialogue with the devil. Jesus responds to the devil with the word of God ... Never dialogue with the devil. Jesus does two things with the devil: he chases him away or answers with the word of God .

Even today - concluded Francis - Satan breaks into people's lives to tempt them with his tempting proposals; he mixes his with the many voices that try to tame the conscience. Messages come from many quarters inviting us "to be tempted" to experience the thrill of transgression. The experience of Jesus teaches us that temptation is the attempt to take alternative paths to those of God, ... paths that give us the feeling of self-sufficiency, of the enjoyment of life as an end in itself. But all this is illusory: soon we realize that the more we distance ourselves from God, the more we feel defenseless and helpless in the face of the great problems of existence. May the Virgin Mary, the Mother of He who crushed the head of the serpent, help us in this time of Lent to be vigilant in the face of temptations, not to submit to any idol of this world, to follow Jesus in the fight against evil; and we too will win like Jesus .

At the time of the greetings, Francis wished "to all that the Lenten journey, which has just begun, be rich in spiritual fruits and works of good". And immediately afterwards he added: "I am a little saddened by the news that is arriving of so many displaced people - men, women, children - driven away because of the war and many migrants asking for help. In these days it has become very urgent. Let us pray for them." In all certainty the Pope is refering to the situation in northern Syria, where many civilians flee to Turkey due to the attack by the Syrian army on Idlib. Ankara, for its part, has decided to open its borders to allow refugees pour into Europe. But many hundreds who managed to reach the Greek border were repelled with tear gas.
By Trend

Belarus Agro-Technical Startup OneSoil has agreed on a pilot project in Uzbekistan, a OneSoil representative told Trend in an interview.

In accordance with the project, OneSoil will launch fields and crops monitoring in some regions of Uzbekistan.

OneSoil is an agrotechnical start-up from Belarus, which creates applications and an online platform for precision farming. The company's products are based on machine learning algorithms and satellite imagery analysis Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2, which are in the public domain.

Recently it was reported that the Ministry of Agriculture of Uzbekistan, Boston Consulting Group and OneSoil signed an agreement on the use of satellite data in agriculture sector ofUzbekistan.

"OneSoil was approached by employees of the Boston Consulting Group, who represented the interests of the government of Uzbekistan. OneSoil agreed with them on a pilot project in Uzbekistan," the representative said.

The source noted that the project will allow the government of Uzbekistan to get a more complete picture of the state of agriculture and to find out accurate statistical information about the size of farms and types of crops.

OneSoil applications already work in 137 countries of the world, the team plans to release worldwide by the end of the year.

The startup has developed the OneSoil Scouting application. The application allows to remotely monitor the state of the fields, as well as do text and photo notes for problem areas of the field.

Moreover, The OneSoil web platform was developed as well. It allows remotely monitoring the status of fields, leaving notes and creating maps and task files for the differential application of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers.

In 2018, the startup team released an interactive OneSoil Map. It visualizes data on 60 million fields and 27 cultures in 43 countries of Europe and the US. it is possible to find out the size and number of fields in different countries, the rating of agricultural crops, track the development of a specific field field and the relative yield over the past three years using OneSoil Map.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Vaccination has been proven to help children prevent and survive varying diseases, and live a long and healthy life, irrespective of their place of birth.

However, the world, in recent times, has been facing lots of challenges convincing people about the importance of the small liquid in vaccine bottles.

This has made health experts around the world struggle with containing the spread of killer diseases, most of which are vaccine-preventable.

Developing countries such as Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, among others, have not stopped reporting cases of vaccine-preventable diseases, despite the availability of these vaccines.

Childhood killer diseases such as pneumonia, measles, meningitis, cholera among others have become epidemics and are still far from being over in most of these countries.

Meanwhile, developed countries like Ukraine, England, the US, which have made progress in the elimination of most of the preventable diseases, are, in recent times, beginning to report new cases of these diseases.

In 2019, the health community suffered a setback in health safety due to the resurgence of polio and measles in some countries where these diseases were once eliminated.

Four countries  Albania, Czech Republic, Greece and the United Kingdom, which had eradicated the disease, lost their measles free certification due to the emergence of the disease with their territories.

Also, the Philippines and Malaysia suffered a setback in polio eradication as new cases of circulating vaccine-derived polio were reported after so many years.

Though Nigeria has successfully attained three years without a reported case of wild polio virus in the country, new polio challenges are arising  particularly the circulating vaccine derived polio (cVDPv).

The Struggle

While some countries have been suffering setbacks, Nigeria in its own case, is still struggling with effective routine immunisation coverage for most of its children under the age of five.

The World Health Organisation has blamed the resurgence on the low compliance to vaccination, vaccine hoax, vaccine hesitancy and low immunisation culture.

A 2018 WHO report on global immunisation estimated that 19.4 million children worldwide are missed out on lifesaving immunisation services such as three doses of DTP vaccine (DTP is a combination vaccine against three infectious diseases in humans: diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), and tetanus).

About 60 per cent of these children live in 10 countries- Angola, Brazil, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Meanwhile, the 2018 Nigeria Demographic Health Survey (NDHS), shows that the national immunisation coverage rate is still very low.

According to the survey, only 31 per cent of the children with ages 12 to 23 months received all basic vaccinations at the time before the survey, while 28 per cent received the basic vaccination by the appropriate age of 12 months and 19 per cent received no vaccination at all.

Immunisation coverage in a country is one of the indicators used to monitor progress towards a reduction in child morbidity and mortality.

As it stands, Nigeria is one of the countries in the world with the highest childhood mortality rate.

According to NDHS, the infant mortality rate was 67 per 1,000 for the five-year period preceding the survey, while under-five mortality rate was 132 deaths per 1,000 live births. This implies that more than one in eight children in Nigeria dies before their fifth birthday.

Many of these deaths are related to childhood diseases (measles, meningitis, cholera, pneumonia, diarrhoea, measles, tetanus, and polio which could have been prevented by a shot of vaccines.

WHO Director-General, Tedros Ghebreyesus, said current world vaccination status needs to be improved as it is unacceptable that while most children are being vaccinated, far too many are left behind.

According to him, it is often those who are most at risk, the poorest, and the most marginalised, those in areas of conflict or forced from their homes- who are persistently missed.

Advertisements



If these children do get sick, they are (at) risk of the severest health consequences and least likely to access life-saving treatment and care, he said.

Recommended childhood vaccines

Based on the recommended WHO childhood vaccination schedule, a child from age 0 to two is expected to receive vaccines which can protect them against 13 diseases.

The first batch of vaccines is expected to be given at birth. The child is expected to receive three vaccines which are expected to protect against hepatitis B, Polio and Tuberculosis.

At six weeks, the child is to be given another set of vaccines, which covers for four more diseases and second dose for two.

While NDHS figures shows that there has been an improvement in vaccination coverage in Nigeria over the last ten years, health experts believe Nigeria still has a long way in terms of immunisation coverage.

This is due to the periodic infectious outbreak in the country and the numbers of suspected, confirmed cases and deaths recorded from such outbreaks.

According to NDHS, the percentage of children ages 12 to 23 months who received all basic vaccination increased from 23 per cent in 2008 to 31 per cent in 2018.

The percentage of the children who received none of the basic vaccinations declined from 29 per cent to 19 per cent during the same period.

While this trend shows improvement, it still falls short of the Sustainable Development Goal three, whose target is for countries to achieve 90 per cent coverage of all basic vaccinations among children ages 12 to 23 months.

A professor of virology, Oyewale Tomori, said Nigeria would reduce most of its health challenges if immunisation routine is observed diligently.

Mr Tomori, however, said this can only be achieved through dedication on the part of the government.

He said Nigeria was able to attain a commendable status in its fight against wild polio because of the commitment of the government which translated to commitment on the part of the caregivers and community.

The government needs to put in (the) same level of commitment the made in polio eradication to all types of vaccinations for the country to have a head way.

Without proper monitoring and evaluation process for immunisation, Nigeria will not be able to make much progress, he said.

Behavioural challenges

Despite the known benefits of vaccines, many Nigerians (both children and adults) do not present themselves for vaccination.

Mr Ghebreyesus said the global rise in vaccine hesitancy and anti-vaccine movement has also affected many parents choice of presenting their children for vaccination.

The UN health agency said vaccine hesitancy is the reluctance or refusal to vaccinate, despite the availability of vaccines.

A WHO vaccine advisory group identified complacency, inconvenience in accessing vaccines and lack of confidence as key reasons for the hesitancy.

An example is the yellow fever vaccination which is one of the compulsory travelling requirements within African states. Evidence has shown that most Nigerian travellers after paying for the service, shun the vaccine and only collect the yellow card.

The non-compliance for vaccination is also evident even in places where the government provides the vaccines.

The government, in collaboration with development partners such as GAVI, and WHO have been providing vaccines for childhood routine immunisation in the country, but much is yet to be achieved as regards the immunisation rate in the country.

Unfortunately, the non-compliance of parents and health care givers to routine immunisation has been creating problems in the health sector in Nigeria.

This has been putting a strain on the already burdened health sector as there are constant cases of outbreak of these diseases.

The reluctance of some parents and caregivers to comply with vaccination schedules for children has also led to the resurgence of old diseases such as yellow fever, which was on the brink of eradication.

Diseases to vaccines

1. Haemophilus Influenzae type b (Hib)  causes meningitis and pneumonia. The name of the vaccine for this is Hib vaccine

2. Hepatitis B vaccine  is a vaccine that prevents hepatitis B. The first dose is recommended within 24 hours of birth with either two or three more doses given afterwards.

3. Measles vaccine  measles is a highly contagious disease. It usually results to high fever and rashes and can lead to blindness, encephalitis or death.

4. Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common viral infection of the reproductive tract, and can cause cervical cancer, other types of cancer, and genital warts in both men and women.

5. Meningitis A is an infection that can cause severe brain damage and is often deadly.

6. Mumps is a highly contagious virus that causes painful swelling at the side of the face under the ears (the parotid glands), fever, headache and muscle aches. It can lead to viral meningitis.

7. Pneumococcal diseases include pneumonia, meningitis and febrile bacteraemia, as well as otitis media, sinusitis and bronchitis.

8. Polio is a highly infectious viral disease that can cause irreversible paralysis. In 2017, 85 per cent of infants around the world received three doses of polio vaccine. Targeted for global eradication, polio has been stopped in all countries except for Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria. Nigeria is also witnessing vaccine derived polio due to the non-compliance with immunization schedule by parents.

9. Rotaviruses are the most common cause of severe diarrhoeal disease in young children throughout the world.

10. Rubella is a viral disease which is usually mild in children, but infection during early pregnancy may cause fetal death or congenital rubella syndrome, which can lead to defects of the brain, heart, eyes, and ears.

11. Tetanus is caused by a bacterium which grows in the absence of oxygen, for example in dirty wounds or in the umbilical cord if it is not kept clean. The spores of C. tetani are present in the environment irrespective of geographical location. It produces a toxin which can cause serious complications or death. The tetanus vaccine to prevent maternal and neonatal tetanus had been introduced in Nigeria. Maternal and neonatal tetanus persist as public health problems in 14 countries, mainly in Africa and Asia.

12.. Yellow fever is an acute viral haemorrhagic disease transmitted by infected mosquitoes.
If we are successful tonight in this campaign, if he has a relaunch, he told CNN, I think we will have to sit down and get serious about how we retool this campaign, how we retool the fundraising, how we do the [Get Out The Vote]. And at that point in time, many of us around the country will be able to join with him and help him get it right.
The Queen cut an elegant figure as she headed to The Royal Chapel of All Saints at the Royal Lodge Windsor this morning.

Her Majesty, 93, appeared stoic during her weekly drive to worship, following reports she is 'very sad' to hear that her great-grandson Archie Mountbatten-Windsor is unlikely to be returning to the UK this week.

His mother, Meghan Markle, 38, is set to join husband Prince Harry, 35, from Canada for the couple's last official royal engagements - but she is not expected to bring her nine-month-old son.

It is believed that Archie, who has yet to set foot on UK soil this year, will remain with the Sussexes' nanny, and with Meghan's friend Jessica Mulroney.

The Queen (pictured) cut an elegant figure as she headed to The Royal Chapel of All Saints at the Royal Lodge Windsor this morning

Her Majesty (above), 93, appeared stoic during her weekly drive to worship, following reports she is 'very sad' to hear that her great-grandson Archie Mountbatten-Windsor is unlikely to be returning to the UK this week

Looking straight ahead, the Queen seemed her usually, perfectly poised self as she attended the church service today.

She donned a vibrant blue hat and sophisticated blazer, paired with dark red lipstick and some sunglasses.

Showing her penchant for pearls, the Queen completed the look with a pearl drop earring, which perfectly complemented her patterned jacket.

Her weekly visit to church comes amid reports that Meghan Markle is not expected to bring son Archie with her when she joins Prince Harry in Britain this week for their last round of royal engagements.

The Queen and Prince Philip, 98, are said to be 'very sad' by the news, having seen so little of Archie since his birth, according to the Sunday Times.

Meghan is not expected to bring son Archie with her when she joins Prince Harry in Britain this week for their last round of royal engagements (pictured, July 2019)

Archie's last official sighting was in a photograph with his father the Duke of Sussex, posted to the Sussex Royal Instagram account last New Year's Eve.

Harry and Meghan's decision to leave Archie behind is also thought to add another 50,000 to the royal couple's security bill, The Sun reports.

A royal insider told the paper: 'Meghan's London jaunt is proving a real headache.' They added: 'It's an expensive time just when the costs of looking after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are under scrutiny.'

Prince Harry left Meghan and their nine-month-old son in Canada as he embarked on a final round of official duties last week.

Launching an eco-friendly travel company in Edinburgh, the senior royal made headlines as he asked delegates 'just to call him Harry'.

Harry and Meghan's decision to leave Archie behind is also thought to add another 50,000 to the royal couple's security bill (pictured, Harry visiting Abbey Road Studios)

It is believed that Archie (pictured, September 2019), who has yet to set foot on UK soil this year, will remain with the Sussexes' nanny, and with Meghan's friend Jessica Mulroney

He also performed a duet with Jon Bon Jovi at Abbey Road Studios for a new charity single before recreating the Beatles' iconic zebra crossing photo outside.

Harry flew to Britain on a commercial flight and arrived in Edinburgh on an eco-friendly LNER train from, with taxpayer-funded Scotland Yard bodyguards.

The Queen's grandson has been stung by criticism over the past six months of his frequent use of private jets while campaigning on environmental issues.

Harry's flight to Britain this week was believed to have been the seventh flight the Queen's grandson has taken so far this year, following return trips from Vancouver Island to London, Miami in Florida and Palo Alto in California.

The Duke will be joined by Meghan this week for five further official appearances.
As the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19 continues to spread around the world, disrupting global trade and rattling stock markets, Gov. J.B. Pritzker insisted that state and local public health agencies are fully prepared to respond if the disease should spread further here.

While the risk to the general public remains low, we want you to know our state and local agencies and officials are using every tool at our disposal to ensure the publics health and safety are well guarded, Pritzker said during a news conference in Chicago.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the COVID-19 virus causes mild flu-like symptoms in otherwise healthy people, but in some cases it can become serious or even fatal. It is transmitted much like cold and flu viruses by person-to-person contact.

There is no vaccine for the virus, although efforts are under way to develop one. In the meantime, the CDC recommends the public take the same precautions that help prevent the spread of colds and the flu: avoid close contact with people who are sick; avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth; stay home when you are sick; and cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.

So far, there have been only two confirmed cases of coronavirus in Illinois. Both were Chicago-area residents  a woman who had recently returned from Wuhan, China, the city at the center of the outbreak, and her husband who was diagnosed shortly after her return. Both have fully recovered.

As of Friday, CDC was reporting only 15 confirmed cases in the United States. There have been 47 additional cases in people who have repatriated to the U.S.  44 of them from the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan.

The virus reportedly originated in China but has since spread to every continent on the globe except Antarctica. Chicago, however, is home to OHare and Midway International Airports, facilities that could become transmission points as travelers from throughout the world pass through there.

Because of that, officials said the city and state have stepped up screening and monitoring the health of travelers returning from China at both airports.

Here in Chicago, we moved quickly when we got the directive from the White House back in January to make sure that we were implementing additional screening measures at our airports, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said. Weve collaborated with dozens of our airline partners and staff and the CDC, (the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) as well as Homeland Security on this issue.

Pritzker and Lightfoot were joined at the news conference by several state and local public health officials. Illinois Public Health Director Ngozi Ezike said that by early next week, the state will have three laboratories  in Chicago, Springfield and Carbondale  that are able to test for the virus. She also said hospitals throughout the state will work with those labs to test people who show up with flu-like symptoms.

Other measures state and local officials are taking include providing regular guidance to hospitals and health care workers, including information about how to control infections and how to prevent themselves from becoming infected.

Officials are also distributing guidance for child care facilities, schools, universities and businesses as well as community-based and faith-based organizations.

They also recommend that businesses and employers actively encourage their workers to stay home if they feel sick, to wash their hands regularly and cover coughs and sneezes.

Lightfoot also cautioned the public not to stigmatize individuals or businesses based on ethnicity.

Our residents should continue and enjoy the city, its neighborhoods, particularly Chinatown, and its amenities as they normally do, she said. Fear cannot guide us in this moment. Thoughtfulness and preparations are the rule of the day.
A new coronavirus patient in England has become the first to catch the illness within the UK while a man who had been on a quarantined cruise ship became the first Briton to die from the virus.

The developments came as the Government prepares to bring in new emergency powers to help stop the spread of Covid-19.

The PA news agency understands that this will give schools, councils and other parts of the public sector powers to suspend laws  including health and safety measures  to cope with a pandemic.

Teachers and nursery workers will be allowed to have larger classes to cope with staff absences under the laws, which are due to be introduced next week.

UPDATE on coronavirus (#COVID19) testing in the UK: As of 28 February 2020, a total of 8,986 people have been tested: 8,966 negative.20 positive. For latest information visit:https://t.co/CZh5JdyN2Q pic.twitter.com/rEeU7lGSck  Department of Health and Social Care (@DHSCgovuk) February 28, 2020

Health leaders confirmed on Friday that a 20th patient had tested positive for the virus, and that it had been passed on within the UK.

Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty said it was not yet clear if it had been transmitted directly or indirectly from somebody who had recently travelled abroad.

Meanwhile, a British man, reported to be in his 70s and said to have lived abroad, was confirmed as the first UK citizen to die from coronavirus.

The man, who was on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship which has been quarantined off Japans coast amid the outbreak, was the sixth person from the vessel to have died.

(PA Graphics)

The spread of the virus comes as the UKs leading index of companies saw its sharpest weekly fall since the middle of the financial crisis as markets lost 3.2% on Friday.

Story continues

The bloodbath that has gripped markets for days continued, wiping more than 200 billion off shares on the FTSE 100 this week, as traders panicked over the spread of coronavirus.

It includes a major drop on Friday, with the index losing 215.79 points to 6,580.61 as the blue chip index posted its worst week since October 2008, the depths of the financial crisis.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the coronavirus was now the Governments top priority as critics accused him of failing to take a lead on the UK response.

He told reporters on Friday that he had met with the Health Secretary and chief medical officer to discuss the preparations.

He said: On the issue of coronavirus, which obviously is a great concern to people, I just want to reassure everybody and say that the NHS is making every possible preparation.

As you can imagine, the issue of coronavirus is something that is now the Governments top priority.

Health Minister Helen Whately said it was likely more people in the UK would contract coronavirus and that plans were in place should it become a pandemic.

The Conservative MP told BBC Newsnight: I cant reiterate enough that we are well prepared but we do have to recognise that it is likely we will see more cases in the UK.

We have plans in place and have carried out exercises so in the event of something like a flu pandemic, we are ready.

Asked whether that meant mass gatherings could be banned and schools closed, such as in parts of Italy, she said such measures were being considered.

Clearly, how to deal with those sorts of things absolutely has been considered and is being considered. That is rightly all part of the planning, she added.

Confirming the latest case in England on Friday evening, Prof Whitty said: One further patient in England has tested positive for Covid-19.

The virus was passed on in the UK.

It is not yet clear whether they contracted it directly or indirectly from an individual who had recently returned from abroad.

What happens if you're tested for #COVID19? Find out in our novel #coronavirus Q&A blog: https://t.co/vvIWp72flo  Public Health England (@PHE_uk) February 28, 2020

This is being investigated and contact tracing has begun.

The patient has been transferred to a specialist NHS infection centre at Guys and St Thomas.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said the original source of the virus was unclear, adding that there was no immediately identifiable link to overseas travel.

According to Public Health England (PHE), one of the latest coronavirus cases was a resident in Surrey.

Haslemere Health Centre in the county was closed on Friday, with a statement on its website saying: The surgery is temporarily closed today to enable a clean of the surgery as a routine precautionary measure. The practice will reopen on Saturday and patients will be advised if their appointment needs to be rearranged.

A sign at Haslemere Health Centre in Surrey, which has closed temporarily for cleaning (Yui Mok/PA)

The new case takes the total number of cases in England up to 18, while there has been one confirmed case in Northern Ireland and one in Wales.

Waless chief medical officer Dr Frank Atherton said the first diagnosed patient in Wales had recently travelled back from Italy, the worst-affected country in Europe.

In Tenerife, hundreds of guests have been confined to the H10 Costa Adeje Palace after at least four tourists, including an Italian doctor, were diagnosed with coronavirus.

However, six Britons were among those told they could leave on Friday by Spanish authorities because they arrived at the hotel on Monday  after those who tested positive had been taken to hospital.

Northern Ireland reported its first case on Thursday, as someone who recently returned from northern Italy was diagnosed with the virus.

Irish health authorities said on Friday that people who had sat within two rows of the person on the flight from northern Italy to Dublin have been contacted.

(PA Graphics)

Italy has become the worst-affected country in Europe, with at least 650 cases and 15 deaths.

On Friday, easyJet said it will be cancelling flights as a result of the continued spread of coronavirus, in a move which will particularly affect those into and out of Italy.

So far, China has reported nearly 80,000 cases and almost 3,000 deaths, while the virus has reached nearly 60 countries with more than 80 deaths.
President Donald Trump, center, speaks about the coronavirus in the press briefing room at the White House on Saturday, Feb. 29 (AP image)

Amid fears about where the next outbreak of a fast-spreading new virus would appear, infections and deaths continued to rise across the globe ,leading to empty streets , shaking economies and rewriting the realities of daily life.

Tourist sites across Asia, Europe and the Mid-east were deserted, and governments closed schools and banned big gatherings.

While the new coronavirus has extended its reach across the world, definite geographic clusters of infections were emerging, with Iran, Italy and South Korea seeing rising cases.

Meanwhile, United States recorded its first Coronavirus case in Washington where a man in his 50s had underlying health conditions.

Additional cases in the United States are likely, but healthy individuals should be able to fully recover US President Donald Trump

The list of countries touched by the virus climbed to nearly 60, with Ireland and Ecuador reporting their first case on Saturday. More than 86,000 people worldwide have contracted the virus, with deaths topping to 2,900.

Many cases of the virus have been relatively mild, and some of those infected apparently show no symptoms at all, this can allow for easier spread, and worries are mounting that prolonged quarantines, supply chain disruptions and a sharp reduction in tourism and business travel could weaken the global economy or even cause a recession.

As governments scramble to control the spread and businesses wrestled with interruptions, researchers are working to understand the disease better and reported that the death rate may be lower than initially feared as more mild cases are counted.

There's growing evidence of the vast cost and economic turmoil of the disease that emerged in central China in December.

A new report shows a sharp decline in Chinese manufacturing in February after efforts to contain the virus shut down much of the world's second-largest economy. The survey comes as global stock markets fall sharply on fears that the virus will spread abroad.
New Delhi: Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) on Sunday (March 1) reported a 10.3 percent decline in total sales at 48,910 units in February.

The company had sold 54,518 units in the same month last year, HMIL said in a statement.

Domestic sales were down 7.2 percent to 40,010 units as against 43,110 units in February 2019, it added.

The company's exports declined 22 percent to 8,900 units as compared with 11,408 units a year ago.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 20:46:21|Editor: mingmei

Video Player Close

Workers pack alcohol disinfectant at a medicine company at the industrial park of Jianhe County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, March 1, 2020. More than 1,000 workers have returned to work so far at poverty alleviation workshops of companies in the industrial park, which are gradually resuming production amid strict measures against the novel coronavirus epidemic. (Xinhua/Yang Ying)
The decision was made during a teleconference between the Vietnamese Embassy in the US and the US Department of State, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the CDC.

The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and Department of Heath and Human Services praise the Vietnamese Governments efforts in the fight against the acute respiratory disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. (Illustrative photo: VNA)



Representatives of the CDC and the HHS praised the Vietnamese Governments efforts in the fight against the acute respiratory disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, saying monitoring, quarantine and treatment have been carried out comprehensively in the country.

The CDC said it plans to dispatch a delegation to Vietnam in the second half of March in order to enhance medical cooperation between the two countries and accelerate the establishment of a CDC office in the Southeast Asian nation.

The HHS also affirmed its willingness to consider helping Vietnam with more equipment in service of the epidemic combat.

Regarding regional collaboration, the US side expressed its wish to step up cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in epidemic control, which is also expected to be tabled for discussion at the ASEAN-US Summit slated for March 14th in Las Vegas.

Over the past time, apart from authorities, many US firms have also shown their interest in promoting medical collaboration with Vietnam.

According to the US-ASEAN Business Council, among a delegation of more than 40 US enterprises to visit Vietnam from March 3-6, there are about 20 specialising in health care and pharmaceutical products./.
Child star Finn Wolfhard has revealed that he was stalked by "Stranger Things" fans when he was barely 13.

The actor, now 17 years old, who plays Mike Wheeler in the hit Netflix sci-fi drama, recalled being "followed" home by adult fans for a selfie, soon after the first season of the show premiered.

"When I was 13, some adults followed me back to my condo when I was shooting 'It'. 'Stranger Things' had just come out, and I was by myself. As I walked faster, they walked faster, and I was getting a bit antsy by the time I got to the door.

"Suddenly, they were like, 'Hey, dude, can we get a selfie?' And I was like, 'No you can't have a selfie! How about don't follow children?'" Wolfhard told Mastermind magazine.

According to the actor, the stalking wasn't restricted to being followed while on the way home.

"I also had my taxi followed and, out of the taxi, the person continued to be pretty relentless," he added.

Wolfhard said he even had to stop performing live with his band, The Aubreys, as people were "getting crushed" thanks to overexcited fans. He was also the frontman for Calpurnia before they split last year.

"I've had to stop shows because people were getting crushed, and Ryan Reynolds almost got injured in Brazil when he went to the barricade. It was lucky that the hundred people who fell over it weren't hurt," he said.

The actor will next be seen in "Ghostbusters: Afterlife".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Photo: Contributed Lucy Hazelwood, founder Sarah Bourne, Taylor Kolb, Jeff Bourne and Mary Ann Fowler.

A one of a kind dance class has launched in Kelowna making dance accessible for people of all abilities.

Exploration Dance's motto is 'Dance for Anybody' as it aims to make dance a more inclusive activity. The first class took place Feb. 5 at the Rotary Centre for the Arts.

The Exploration Dance Society welcomes people with no physical limitations to people who require mobility aids, or those with other physical limitations.

Attendees include people with visibility problems, wheelchairs and people who rely on crutches.

Sarah Bourne, the founder and instructor of the Exploration Dance Society dances using a power wheelchair.

Before I moved here from Vancouver in 2018, I co-founded B.C.s first inclusive dance company," she says. "I am excited to be creating more opportunities in the Okanagan - for artistic driven activities that promote healthy and inclusive lifestyles while giving everyone a dance class they can fit into.

"Classes are facilitated by me and local dance studio owner Lucy Hazelwood. Our teaching team provides examples from the perspective of a standing body and a sitting body."

Participant Rachael Kimola suffers from severe rheumatoid arthritis and she never thought she would be able to participate in a dance class.

I always thought in order to dance, you had to be able to move a certain way, but Exploration Dance is about doing what you can and just enjoying movement in whatever form it takes for you. Its very freeing, she says.

The free classes are running every Wednesday from 2:30 to 4 p.m. at the Rotary Centre for the Arts until Mar. 18, then a new session of classes will begin Apr. 8.

Currently classes are only open to people over the age of 18 but Bourne plans to expand classes to include children, depending on interest.

Anyone interested can contact Bourne at [email protected] or register in person at the Rotary Centre for the Arts on arrival.

Classes will free up your creativity, your imagination, and your body while celebrating our diverse ways of moving, no previous experience required," says Bourne. "Participants have the opportunity to explore movement in a safe space while discovering more about themselves and each other. Everybodys differences become an integral part of the dances we create as a group."
Welcome to my genealogy blog. Genea-Musings features genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories from the keyboard of Randy Seaver (of Chula Vista CA), who thinks that Genealogy Research Is really FUN! Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2006-2021.
Dubais external trade surged 6 percent to Dh1.371 trillion ($373.26 billion) in 2019 from Dh1.299 trillion in 2018 with exports skyrocketing 22 percent to Dh155 billion ($42.2 billion).

Re-exports grew by 4 percent to Dh420 billion and imports rose by 3 percent to Dh796 billion, said a Wam news agency report.

Non-oil external trade last year grew 19 percent in volume from 91 million tons in 2018 to reach 109 million tons in 2019. Re-exports rose by a record 48 percent to reach 17 million tons, while exports rose by 45 percent to 19 million tons and imports grew by 9 percent to 72 million tons.

These figures capped a prosperous decade for Dubai from 2010-2020, during which external trade grew by 70 percent.

Dubais strong foreign trade performance, which reflects its robust economic fundamentals and its resilience against odds, gave it a positive start to the year 2020  the year of preparation for the next 50 years.

Dubai achieved exceptional external trade growth in 2019 despite the headwinds from an intensified global economic downturn.

HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council, said: "Dubais external trade has contributed significantly to the emirates economic achievements, further raising its status as a global hub for trade, business and tourism, giving it a solid platform for growth in the next 50 years and creating the optimal conditions for more sustainable development across sectors.

"Inspired by the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, Dubais external trade sector is progressing steadily towards the 2025 trade target of Dh2 trillion set by His Highness. All government entities are working seamlessly together to provide the best services, facilitate trade and foreign investments, and further develop infrastructure across the emirate, especially at airports and free zones, to galvanise its journey of excellence and enhance its role as a commercial bridge between the east and west. Furthermore, hosting mega-events such as Expo 2020 will provide opportunities for the international trade sector to explore new possibilities and expand growth."

Dubais foreign trade out of free zones in 2019 was a major contributor to the overall increase, accounting for Dh592 billion, a 11 percent increase year-on-year. Direct trade saw 2 percent growth to reach Dh770 billion. Customs warehouse trade hit Dh9 billion.

Land trade grew by 11 percent contributing Dh228 billion, air trade rose by 5 percent to Dh641 billion and sea trade increased by 4 percent to Dh502 billion.

Sultan bin Sulayem, DP World Group Chairman & CEO and Chairman of Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation, said: "Growth in Dubais external trade is the fruit of dedicated and well-planned work over the last few years, which helped us establish global leadership in different sectors. The future is promising and there are no limits when it comes to our expectations. We will keep growing and developing based on the latest and most advanced innovations and breakthroughs in AI smart applications following the vision and directives of our leadership.

"Hosting major international events will give our organisations a greater voice on the world stage, backed by our presence and strong network out of the 80 terminals that DP World operates worldwide, and our bold economic initiatives including the Dubai Silk Road."

Bin Sulayem added: "Free zones in Dubai are a key factor behind the emirates trade success. The sophisticated infrastructure of our free zones, especially Jebel Ali Free Zone, JAFZA, has helped businesses benefit from different incentives and facilities, and attracted more foreign investments over the years."

Bin Sulayem said Dubai Customs is continuously evolving to facilitate greater trade and provide more exceptional service to its customers. The number of customs transactions completed by Dubai Customs grew by a record 34 percent in 2019 to 13 million from 9.7 million in 2018.

As part of the Dubai Silk Road strategy, Dubai Customs launched the World Logistics Passport, which links Customs World, DP World, and Emirates Group to enhance connectivity through Dubai and, through sharing of expertise and process development directly between partner countries. Dubai Customs also launched the second phase of the productivity engine, an initiative developed in-house and approved by The Executive Council with the aim of boosting productivity by 8 - 10 percent.

China remained Dubais largest trading partner, contributing Dh150 billion. India was the second biggest trading partner, contributing Dh135 billion, followed by the US with Dh77.7 billion, and Switzerland with Dh60 billion.

Saudi Arabia maintained its position as Dubais largest Arab trade partner. The country was the emirates fifth biggest partner globally, contributing Dh56 billion.

The highest traded commodity by value in 2019 was gold, jewellery and diamonds which contributed Dh370 billion, a growth of 7 percent from 2018. Gold took the lions share of trade with Dh169.5 billion, followed by phones with Dh164 billion, an increase of 9 percent from the previous year. The third-highest traded commodity was jewellery at Dh116.6 billion, followed by petroleum oils which contributed Dh85.4 billion in 2019, a growth of 55 percent, and diamonds which accounted for Dh83.9 billion, the report said.
The Laser Weapon System temporarily installed aboard the destroyer USS Dewey in San Diego, Calif., on July 30, 2012. (U.S. Navy/John F. Williams)

You Dont Want to Play Laser Tag With Us, US Navy Tells China Over Pacific Incident

The U.S. Navy has sent an apparent warning to China that it better stop harassing American service members, following an incident in which a Chinese warship aimed a military-grade laser at a Navy P-8A Poseidon surveillance plane.

You dont want to play laser tag with us, the Navy posted on its official Instagram account on Feb. 28.

The incident happened on Feb. 17 in international airspace over the Pacific Ocean about 400 miles west of Guam, a U.S. territory, according to the military.

The laser, which was not visible to the naked eye, was captured by a sensor on board the P-8A. Weapons-grade lasers could potentially cause serious harm to aircrew and mariners, as well as ship and aircraft systems, the Navy said in a Feb. 28 release, calling the incident unsafe and unprofessional on the part of the Chinese.

The Navy has also been increasingly arming its vessels with lasersboth destructive ones and so-called dazzlers, which can illuminate aircraft cockpits and blind pilots.

Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) said in a Feb. 20 report that the Navys Optical Dazzling Interdictor, or ODIN laser weapon, was recently installed on the USS Dewey guided missile destroyer.

The new laser-based drone defense system is capable of tracking, disabling, and jamming the sensors of enemy drones, according to a Congressional Research Service report from December 2019, titled Navy Lasers, Railgun, and Gun-Launched Guided Projectile.

While the Navy indicated it wont be deterred from operating in the region, it isnt clear whether the United States plans to engage in a tit-for-tat with the Chinese.

U.S. Navy aircraft routinely fly in the Philippine Sea and have done so for many years. U.S. Navy aircraft and ships will continue to fly, sail, and operate anywhere international law allows, the Navy said.

The Feb. 17 incident appears to have involved a dazzler onboard what reportedly appeared to be Hohhot, a Type 052D or Luyang III-class destroyer in the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army Navy. Its not known if the pilots of the American P-8A suffered temporary blindness.

The Navy pointed out that the incident violated the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea, a multilateral agreement reached at the 2014 Western Pacific Naval Symposium to reduce the chance of an incident at sea.

The Navy Instagram post included an aerial picture of Woody Island, one of Chinas largest island outposts in the South China Sea, with an inset picture of a laser show at a music concert. Meanwhile, in the South China Sea, the text on the picture says. The image is likely illustrative as the Feb. 17 incident didnt occur near the island.

For years, China has been criticized for harassing planes and vessels with lasers.

In 2018, the United States accused Chinese forces stationed in the East African nation of Djibouti of using a laser on C-130J aircraft, injuring American pilots.

Last year, Australias defense department reported multiple incidents where its aircraft and vessels were targeted with handheld lasers. Military insiders blamed Chinese fishing boats operating as part of Beijings maritime militia, ABC News reported.

Isabel Van Brugen and Jack Phillips contributed to this report.
SPRINGFIELD  Massachusetts hospitals are getting ready for the new coronavirus  even if, as experts note, common illnesses like the flu present a more immediate threat.

Holyoke Medical Center is among hospitals in the Pioneer Valley that say they are prepared to meet the health needs of our community if there is a local outbreak of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus.

We have a number of isolation rooms available with negative pressure, as well as the personal protective equipment recommended by the CDC in stock and readily available for our staff, said registered nurse Carol Wojnarowski, manager of the hospitals infection control department. In the isolation rooms, lower air pressure allows air into the room while preventing any harmful airborne particles from leaving it.

Training has been rolled out to all staff regarding the coronavirus, and will continue to be updated as more information and protocols become available," she said.

Dr. Sarah D. Haessler, hospital epidemiologist for Baystate Health, said Baystate began making contingency plans as soon as the epidemic began to ramp up in China and a travel case was diagnosed in the U.S.

Baystate has been addressing staffing ability, surge planning in handling any possible influx of people into the health system, supply chain, infection control," she said.

Ever since the first U.S. case was made public about a month or more ago, we put into place protocols in all of our emergency departments in our urgent care  basically the front door to Baystate Health, where there is a screening question asked of every person who is coming through the door about their travel, Haessler said. If they answer yes to that then there are subsequent screening questions that ask about location, such as have you been to mainland China, and then questions about symptoms that would be consistent with a respiratory infection."

Dr. Estevan Garcia, chief medical officer for Cooley Dickinson Health Care, said the Northampton hospital is fully engaged in assuring that our staff and community have the most up-to-date information, are following the public health recommendations, and are prepared should COVID-19 start to impact us locally.

Garcia said the hospitals leadership teams and infection control department are in constant contact and coordinating our preparedness with our parent, Massachusetts General Hospital, and sister hospitals within the Partners HealthCare network; local and state health departments, as well as the CDC.

We are already screening patients to identify high-risk travel," Garcia said.

Cooley Dickinson has isolation rooms and adequate personal protective equipment to care for our community if large numbers of people need treatment, he said.

We have the capacity to increase the number of airborne isolation rooms on individual units and we can also make an entire unit negative, Garcia said.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week warned of likely outbreaks of COVID-19 and urged hospitals nationwide to begin preparing for cases in their communities.

The virus has killed at least 2,800 people worldwide, including one person in Washington state whose death was announced Saturday. It has sickened more than 85,000 people in at least 56 countries since first being identified earlier this year in China, which has the largest burden of the disease. In the U.S. it has been contained so far to about five dozen cases, mostly travel related, through screening, quarantine measures and regulations on who can enter the country from high-risk areas. Recent cases may indicate local transmission of the virus, however.

Massachusetts has had the only confirmed case of the virus on the east coast. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health said Wednesday the individual, who had traveled to China, is recovering well and being monitored during quarantine at home, and that risk for the disease remains low in the state.

DPH said 231 people in the state are under self-quarantine in their homes and being monitored as a result of recent travel to China.

Gov. Charlie Baker said Thursday his administration has been in daily contact with the federal government about coronavirus protocols and that by the beginning of next week well probably have a fully formulated plan that we can show people."

There is no vaccine to protect against COVID-19 and no medications are approved to treat it. The CDC has urged the public to engage in frequent hand washing and to remain home when sick as the best preventative measures against any virus.

The virus can cause severe lung damage and other complications, particularly for older individuals with chronic medical conditions like cardiovascular disease.

Dr. Sarah D. Haessler, hospital epidemiologist for Baystate Health, speaks with a reporter at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield Friday, Feb. 28, 2020.Greg Saulmon / The Republican

Haessler, the Baystate epidemiologist, cautioned that what is currently known about the illnesss severe impact in some individuals is based on cases out of China  where smoking is more common and air pollution is worse than in the U.S., among other risk factors.

The majority of the understanding around the disease  who is getting sick, who is not getting sick, are all reports from outside of this country, Haessler said. We really dont have good data yet from within the United States about which characteristics might be risk factors for more severe disease. ... We have a lot to learn about who might be at risk here for the more severe disease.

She said as far as the recently identified virus itself, which like other pandemic-causing strains is a spillover into humans from animals, everyone is vulnerable to it.

Now we have a virus that is affecting a population that has no immunity to it at all, Haessler said. Everybody is vulnerable to infection  and when everybody is vulnerable it can spread like wildfire, because there is no natural protection from it.

Screening and testing critical

Haessler said that when Baystates screening process determines a person does have related symptoms, clear protocols tell triage staff to send the person, with an escort, to a special isolation room. Staff follow Centers for Disease Control and DPH guidance on the type of isolation the patient should be in, and on the personal protective equipment health care workers should don.

Testing algorithms, meanwhile, would look at ruling out other pathogens, like circulating flu viruses.

If we needed to test for COVID-19 we would partner with the DPH and they ultimately make the decision on testing, following protocols from the CDC, around which patients meet their specific criteria for testing, Haessler said.

On Friday, it was announced the Massachusetts State Public Health Laboratory had received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to begin testing samples of patients with suspect cases of COVID-19 who also meet certain CDC requirements. This means a shorter turnaround time for results though the CDC, which has been doing such testing, and will continue to verify the result on whether a patient under investigation is positive for the virus.

Whether someone who tests positive for COVID-19 needs to be placed in self-quarantine or hospitalized in an isolation unit, Haessler said, depends on their clinical needs.

Just like any other respiratory infection, the distinction really relies on clinical characteristics and severity having to do with their vital signs and capacity to breathe as to whether the patient needs to be hospitalized," she said.

She added, Some people with mild symptoms might be able to manage at home with supportive care, similar to how we manage people with influenza."

Quarantines are managed in conjunction with DPH, which oversees who should be in quarantine, and for how long. We follow their guidelines," Haessler said.

Haessler was involved in Baystates preparations for a possible Ebola virus outbreak in 2014, after two nurses in Texas were infected while caring for a patient who had contracted the deadly, easily transmitted disease in Liberia.

Those preparations included creating a two-bed intensive care pathogens unit with negative air pressure. The unit was tailored to Ebola patients, as the virus can be spread by skin-to-skin contact and requires health care workers to wear full-body suits with boots, hoods, face shields, respiratory masks, and two pairs of gloves

Haessler said other isolation rooms would be used within Baystate for any patient with COVID-19, and that they would be attended to by health care workers wearing n95 tight-fitting respirator masks, eye protection and gowns and gloves.

COVID-19 patients with a respiratory virus similar to influenza in terms of its transmission ability do not need the level of isolation that an Ebola patient needs, Haessler said. And their health workers dont need the level of protection required to care for a patient with a viral hemorrhagic fever.

The U.S. health care system is very different from China, Haessler said, with a robust public health service and the skill and expertise of the Centers for Disease Control. The hope is that, due to ongoing containment efforts, there will not be widespread transmission of COVID-19 in the U.S.

They have told us to prepare for that, and fortune favors the prepared  and that is wise advice, and our health care systems are certainly preparing themselves to be ready to handle it if it occurs, she said.

Related Content:
A man is dead and two more are injured after a shooting in the 7th Ward on Saturday afternoon, according to New Orleans police.

The triple shooting occurred at North Tonti and St. Anthony streets around 4:45 p.m., police said.

The victims were taken to a local hospital for treatment by Emergency Medical Services. EMS spokesman Jonathan Fourcade said one of the men was in serious condition while the other two were stable.

Just after 9 p.m., however, an NOPD spokesman said one of the victims died at the hospital, upgrading the crime to a homicide.

Residents said they heard several shots fired before police showed up. Though police did not confirm where the men were shot or how many times they were hit, a neighbor heard one man was shot near the face, another in the arm and the last man near his waist.

He said it wasnt the first instance of hearing shots ring out in his neighborhood that Saturday afternoon. Just an hour before police showed up to investigate the triple shooting, he heard more gunfire.

You hear shots, everyone comes out to see what happened, and thats how it goes, he said.

Police were on the scene picking up casings and replacing them with evidence markers  at least 20 that formed a line from the road to a pink-colored porch.

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

Many of the neighbors stayed within their own yards, not too curious of the ongoing investigation just feet away from them.

An NOPD spokesman said the identities of the men were not immediately available. Information on possible suspects or a motive also is not available at this time.

This was the second shooting in the 7th Ward reported Saturday. Earlier this morning, a man was shot to death at Frenchmen and Abundance streets.

Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to contact NOPD detective Brittany Kimbrough at 504-658-6050 or Crimestoppers at 504-822-1111.

Stay with NOLA.com for more updates.
Once again, The Plain Dealer missed the opportunity to educate its readers while promoting the notion that Bernie Sanders is somehow unfit. It is hard to know where to start with the Michael P. Ramirez cartoon that ran Feb. 29; Cuba has been so vilified most Americans have no idea what the truth is.

Fidel Castro is a hero in Cuba. He overthrew the corrupt and illegitimate dictator supported by the United States. Powerful and wealthy Cubans were the most affected and they effectively turned America against Cuba. As is the case today, when America abandons its allies, others step in. Then, it was the Soviet Union cosying up to Castro to provide needed oil and materials. Now, it is Russia who steps in every time we abruptly change course internationally.

Sanders knows the truth about Cuba but he cant say it because it has been made politically unpopular. The reality is that Cubans have a higher life expectancy than do Americans, that Cubans have universal health care, and that Cubans exhibit a happiness rarely found in the United States.

Spend some of your resources educating the public on what Cuba really is and isnt, instead of taking shots at a politician who speaks truthfully.

Jack Woodyard,

Akron
Vietnams Ministry of Health has stated it had not consulted any individual in the prevention of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), rebutting a false report by an Israeli newspaper.

Israels Haaretz newspaper on Friday published an article titled "What Israel can learn from Vietnam on how to beat the coronavirus," in which it said Rafi Kot, an Israeli doctor living in Hanoi, had been giving advice to the Vietnamese government regarding the fight against the COVID-19.

The Vietnamese health ministry affirmed it has only consulted the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

More than 120 Vietnamese experts are working at the two organizations and have been sharing information and coordinating with the ministry in the prevention of the viral disease.

Although the health ministry is open to all opinions regarding the disease, it did not invite any individual to be an advisor in its efforts to contain the epidemic.

The COVID-19 has killed 2,982 people and infected over 86,900 globally since it first hit the central 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.

All of them have fully recovered and have been discharged from the hospital.

The country has reported no new cases since February 13.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
The new chairman of the John Lewis Partnership is expected to trigger a review of the company's 'Never Knowingly Undersold' promise as part of a major strategic overhaul this week.

Industry sources told The Mail on Sunday the root and branch review by Dame Sharon White and her recently appointed strategic development director Nina Bhatia will leave 'no stone unturned'.

For almost 100 years, John Lewis has committed itself  via its famous 'Never Knowingly Undersold' slogan  to match a rival's price if the same product is found to be cheaper elsewhere.

Under threat: The store's famous pledge to match a rival's price if the same product is found to be cheaper elsewhere

But the pledge has become more painful to honour as rivals such as House of Fraser and Debenhams have struggled and been forced into dramatic price cuts.

The review is also likely to look at the number of stores operated by 156-year-old John Lewis and could result in closures.

However, it is understood that White, the former boss of telecoms watchdog Ofcom, has already ruled out selling the Waitrose chain amid fervent speculation in recent days.

White, 52, who was in the running to replace Mark Carney as head of the Bank of England before she took the John Lewis job, will take centre stage on Thursday after only weeks at the chain when she presents full-year results.

She has inherited a fundamental strategic shift ordered by her predecessor Sir Charlie Mayfield just a few months ago to integrate senior management at John Lewis and Waitrose.

When the MoS spoke to senior market sources last week, they criticised the plan, which appears to have left the business in chaos and has resulted in the departure of the company's two most senior operators, Waitrose managing director Rob Collins and former managing director Paula Nickolds at John Lewis.

Shake-up: Sharon White has taken the top high street job at a torrid time

It will ultimately see the two businesses more closely aligned and cut a third of the group's 225 most senior jobs, saving 100million.

But the boss of one large retailer said: 'Putting the two businesses together like that is crazy. On paper it sounds like a great way of cutting costs but they are two completely different businesses which need a fundamentally different approach.

'You need someone who knows what they are doing running the supermarket business and someone running the department store business. At the moment it's not clear who is doing either.'

One food boss speculated whether it might be 'sensible' to try to tempt Collins back into the business, even on a temporary basis.

White has already ruled out selling the Waitrose chain amid fervent speculation in recent days

Retail expert Richard Hyman said a key issue facing White is the question of the annual bonus. He added: 'There are whispers there might be a bonus but they can't afford one. It's as simple as that.'

Retail analyst Nick Bubb said he believed the company 'might just have the confidence' to pay a bonus equivalent to 2 per cent of salary.

But, he added, the financial performance for last year was grim with the 'damage' to profit inflicted by a poor performance at the John Lewis department store chain.

He forecast profit before tax and exceptional items will be down from 160million to 95 million in the year to January. Deteriorating performance not only wiped out profits in the first half of the year but also dampened morale at the group.

Bubb said, however, he expected profits at Waitrose to be stable.

Staff at John Lewis are referred to as partners because they own the company through a trust. For years they received a healthy annual profit share. But the high street has been battered by the rise of online shopping and left the chain juggling its investment in both online delivery and maintaining stores, blowing a hole in the annual bonus.

The review is likely to look at the number of stores operated by 156-year-old John Lewis and could result in closures

Hyman said: 'The numbers this week are going to be dire. The questions are about where Sharon White will take the strategy and the big one is about stores and store closures. She could say it's too early or she could be really ballsy and 'kitchen sink' the business.'

The phrase 'kitchen sink' refers to an incoming boss releasing all of their bad news at the same time  rather than over an extended period which can tear morale to shreds.

Hyman added: 'Sharon is very impressive and she is very bright. But for someone that has never worked in business before this is one hell of a challenge. John Lewis needs some urgent action. It needs to focus on selling stuff because the bottom line at the moment is that it doesn't make any money.'

On the integration plan he said: 'Have John Lewis and Waitrose missed out on commercial opportunities because they have been run separately? Yes, I believe they have. My issue is that this integration plan has gone far, far too far. I don't know anyone that doesn't think its crazy.'
Chinese Navy Fires Laser at US Aircraft

By Carla Babb February 28, 2020

The United States Navy says that a Chinese Navy destroyer targeted a U.S. patrol aircraft with a laser last week while it was flying over the Philippine Sea, about 600 kilometers west of Guam.

The U.S. Pacific Fleet said in a statement that a Chinese ship trained the laser on the American P-8A Poseidon aircraft in an "unsafe" and "unprofessional manner," while the P-8 was operation "in international airspace in accordance with international rules and regulations."

The U.S. Navy said the Chinese action was in violation of the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES), a multilateral agreement reached in 2014, and also inconsistent with a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the U.S. and China defense departments on safety of air and maritime encounters, the statement said.

The laser was captured by a sensor onboard the P-8A and was not visible to the naked eye.

"Weapons-grade lasers could potentially cause serious harm to aircrew and mariners, as well as ship and aircraft systems," the Navy said.

The P-8A Poseidon is deployed to Kadena Air Force Base in Okinawa, Japan and conducts routine operations, maritime patrol, and reconnaissance in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






A mother and daughter were walking home and chatting in Spanish after having dinner out in a Boston neighbourhood.

Suddenly, two women attacked them on the street  punching, kicking and biting them, according to the mother.

This is America! Speak English! yelled the women, the mother said.

The daughter, 15, is still in a neck brace two weeks after the alleged attack.

Prosecutors have now filed hate crime charges against two women  Jenny Leigh Ennamorati and Stephanie M Armstrong, both 25 years old and from Revere in Suffolk County, Massachusetts  in connection with the alleged assault on 15 February in East Boston.

The episode sparked outrage in the city, which has a history of racial strife and violence. In East Boston, more than half of the residents are Latino, and more than half were born in another country.

Anti-racism demonstrations across Europe: in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Anti-racism demonstrations across Europe: in pictures Anti-racism demonstrations across Europe: in pictures London A young boy holds a placard reading 'migration is beautiful' during the march against racism demonstration in London. Getty Anti-racism demonstrations across Europe: in pictures Warsaw Protesters rally in Warsaw under the slogan 'Tired of racism and fascism'. AFP/Getty Anti-racism demonstrations across Europe: in pictures London An anti-racism demostrators chants with chains around his neck during a march against racism. Getty Anti-racism demonstrations across Europe: in pictures Vienna People getting ready to march against racism in Vienna. Twitter/Wriseup Anti-racism demonstrations across Europe: in pictures Glasgow Anti-racism demonstrators take part in a rally through the city centre of Glasgow. Getty Anti-racism demonstrations across Europe: in pictures London An anti-racism demostrator holds a placard readin 'Laundry is the only thing that should be seperated by colour'. Getty Images Anti-racism demonstrations across Europe: in pictures Paris Thousand of protesters demonstrate against police brutality and in defense of migrants and those without papers in Paris. EPA Anti-racism demonstrations across Europe: in pictures London Anti-racism demostrators hold placards and chant during a march organised by the group Stand Up to Racism as an expression of unity against racism, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism. Getty Anti-racism demonstrations across Europe: in pictures Athens A girl poses for a photo during a rally against the EU-Turkey deal blocking mass migration into Europe in Athens. AP Anti-racism demonstrations across Europe: in pictures Glasgow Aamer Anwar a prominent Scottish lawyer joins an Anti-racism rally through Glasgow city centre. Getty Anti-racism demonstrations across Europe: in pictures London Anti-racism demostrators hold placards and chant in London's march against racism. Getty Anti-racism demonstrations across Europe: in pictures Glasgow A man in Glasgow holds a banner reading 'refugees welcome'. Getty Anti-racism demonstrations across Europe: in pictures London Anti-racism demostrators let off flares during the march against racism in London. Getty Anti-racism demonstrations across Europe: in pictures Paris A protester in a grim reaper disguise holds a shield reading 'State racism, no impunity for police brutality against those without papers' in Paris. EPA Anti-racism demonstrations across Europe: in pictures Athens Migrants who live in Greece chant slogans during a rally against the EU-Turkey deal blocking mass migration into Europe, in Athens. AP

There is no place for hatred or bigotry in Suffolk County, said Rachael Rollins, the county district attorney. The sense of entitlement and privilege these defendants must have felt to utter these hateful and racist words, and then to physically attack a mother and her child for laughing and speaking Spanish is outrageous and reprehensible.

The mother asked to be identified only as Ms Vasquez to protect the identity of her daughter and to prevent her from being harassed.

Ms Vasquez, 46, said on Saturday she was still having nightmares about the assault.

This was terrible  terrible, said Ms Vasquez, a South American immigrant who has lived in East Boston for five years. Nobody expects to be walking down the street and attacked.

Ms Ennamorati and Ms Armstrong are scheduled to appear in court on 9 March on charges that include two counts each of violation of constitutional rights with bodily injury, and two misdemeanour counts each of assault and battery.

There was no answer on Saturday to calls made to phone numbers listed for either of the women, and it was not immediately clear if they had lawyers.

Prosecutors said both women told the police they had been drinking. A police report indicated that Ms Ennamorati and Ms Armstrong believed that Ms Vasquez and her daughter had been making fun of them in Spanish, which they could not understand.

They began shouting at the mother and daughter before attacking them, the report stated.

A lawyer for Ms Vasquez, Ivan Espinoza-Madrigal, said law enforcement officials filed charges only after the mother and daughter held a news conference on Monday to draw attention to the case.

Mr Espinoza-Madrigal said Ms Vasquez had spoken to the police on the night of the attack, but then sought his legal help because she was frustrated with the slow response.

Based on the details outlined in the initial police report that was done at the site of the incident, this should have been immediately flagged as a hate crime, said Mr Espinoza-Madrigal, executive director of Lawyers for Civil Rights, a nonprofit based in Boston that fights discrimination on behalf of people of colour and immigrants.

The fact that it was not raises serious questions about the process that law enforcement is using to identify hate crimes and resolve them, he added.

Mr Espinoza-Madrigal said that after the news conference, his office heard from other Latino victims who had experienced racial violence in East Boston, who said that their cases were not being properly investigated by the police.

East Bostons foreign-born population has risen to more than 50 per cent over the past several decades, and its Latino population has increased to 58 per cent in 2015 from 1 per cent in 1970, city data shows.

This familys experience was not an isolated event, said Janelle Dempsey, another lawyer from Lawyers for Civil Rights. Acts of racism and xenophobia are alarmingly common in East Boston.

Detective Sergeant John Boyle, a Boston Police spokesperson, said on Saturday that investigators had responded to the attack on Ms Vasquez and her daughter on the night.

We referred this case to our own civil rights unit, which actively worked the investigation right away, he said.

Recommended Utah man who beat latino father and son not charged for hate crime

Mr Boyle added that residents in immigrant-dense neighbourhoods like East Boston should report crimes, regardless of their immigration status.

Boston is a sanctuary city, limiting the ability of local law enforcement to cooperate in handing over immigrants for deportation to the federal authorities.

If they are undocumented, we will treat them as a victim and nothing else, Boyle said. No one should be afraid to come to the police if they are a victim of a crime.

Mr Espinoza-Madrigal said the attack, which happened at about 8pm near a train station, was captured on CCTV from a nearby business.

The video shows a woman pointing and appearing to yell before punching another woman. Several people standing nearby also appear to be pushing and shoving one another before police officers arrived.

The district attorney said several bystanders also stepped in to help.

Ms Vasquez said that despite being badly shaken by the assault, she hoped the charges would encourage other immigrants, even if they are unauthorised, to report crimes to the police.

No one, she said, has the right to attack us.

 The New York Times
JERUSALEM  For the third time in under a year, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seeks re-election, and once again the Israeli leader is on the ropes.

After two inconclusive elections last year, opinion polls forecast another stalemate  a troubling scenario for Netanyahu who will go on trial on corruption charges just two weeks after Mondays vote.

This election campaign has been especially tumultuous. U.S. President Trump launched his long-awaited Mideast plan, a proposal that heavily favored Israel and was seen as an election gift to Netanyahu. The Israeli leader, meanwhile, was forced to drop his bid for immunity from prosecution, and just last week, Israel battled Gaza militants in a two-day round of fighting.

Mondays election is seen as another referendum on Netanyahu, the countrys longest serving prime minister. And once again, the country seems hopelessly divided.

He claims credit for a strong economy and boasts of his close relationships with world leaders, first and foremost Trump, while deriding opponent Benny Gantz as a lightweight. In a message that has drawn accusations of racism, he also accuses Gantz of plotting with Arab lawmakers to oust him. In recent days, Netanyahu and his Likud surrogates spread unfounded allegations claiming his opponent is corrupt, unstable and susceptible to blackmail by Iran.

Gantz, a former military chief of staff, has focused his campaign on Netanyahus character, saying a man accused of serious crimes is unfit to lead. He has painted Netanyahu as an out-of-touch egomaniac obsessed with remaining in power and escaping justice.

Polls forecast Gantzs Blue and White and Netanyahus Likud party and their smaller partners will again fall short of securing the 61-seat majority in parliament required to form a government.

Josef Federman is an Associated Press writer.
"Agent Cody Banks" star Frankie Muniz has tied the knot with girlfriend Paige Price after four years of dating.

The actor, also known for the hit series "Malcolm in the Middle", revealed he and Price exchanged vows in an intimate ceremony a week ago on February 21.

"Every single moment of February 21 was perfect.

"From the moment of waking up together and jumping on the bed hyping each other up, to helping our wedding planner with setting things up at the venue, all the way to walking down the aisle with my best friend hand in hand with our closest friends and family in attendance. Everything was just so us," Muniz told People magazine.

He said the wedding day was the "best day of my life".

"I always thought it was such a cliche for people to claim their wedding day as the best day of their life, like maybe it was something they had to say," the actor said.

Muniz proposed to Price in November 2018 at the Pinal Fairgrounds Lantern Fest in Casa Grande, Arizona, the same year the couple bought a small specialty shop, Outrageous Olive Oils & Vinegars, inside the Frontier Shops courtyard in Old Town Scottsdale in the state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
We know there are steps we can take together as a community that can help limit the impact of COVID-19, Anderson said. Keeping our community informed is essential. We dont want to alarm people, but we want them to be prepared.

She is right. People need to be informed about the coronavirus and what they can do about it. COVID-19 is similar to the flu, health officials say. Its symptoms are a fever, cough and shortness of breath.

Precautions to take against it are also similar to the flu: wash your hands, cover your mouth when you sneeze or cough, and stay home if you are sick.

President Trump stressed that health researchers are furiously working on treatments and possible vaccines. A lot of that work is taking place right here in Nebraska.

The University of Nebraska Medical Center has some of the countrys leading experts at treating infectious diseases. In fact, some of the Americans who were on a Japanese cruise ship where the virus was contacted have been brought to Omaha for treatment. Others who may have been exposed have been quarantined at Camp Ashland.

So Nebraska has some of the leading experts in treating the disease.
Bob Owen / San Antonio Express-News

When Texans celebrate the 184th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence from Mexico on Monday, theyll of course have much to be proud about. Most of us think were the best state in this union, even if we are second in population (behind California) and size (behind Alaska). But while Texans do have a lot to boast about, our state has also a growing number of problems that cannot be ignored. How we address them will have a big impact on the state of our state on the 200th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence  and many years beyond that.

For example, if any industry defines our state more than anything, its oil. That black gold has brought tremendous wealth to Texas and brought billions of dollars to public education and our major universities. But the growing awareness of climate change threatens this industry like none other. More and more people and businesses across America want to phase out the use of petroleum and even natural gas as quickly as possible. Foreign countries are starting to ban gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles in coming years. At some point, the oil business in Texas just will not support as many jobs and create as many tax dollars as we have gotten used to. We must prepare for that future and adapt. That certainly applies to this region, with its four major oil refineries and plans for three LNG export terminals.
QSO Today Amateur Radio Podcast

Glen Jenkins - WB4KTF

Glen Jenkins, WB4KTF, grew up on US Marine bases in the 50s and 60s, and was no stranger to starting over in new places.

Glen tells his ham radio story that includes a professional start in Israel, a stint in Moscow, a successful landing in Houston Texas, until Hurricane Harvey changed his retirement plans.

Glen loved his early Heathkit HF Transceivers, collecting Collins gear, and working the digital modes on his modern station. WB4KTF is my QSO Today

Listen to the podcast
There was a back-and-forth discussion about whether it would have a material impact in New Hampshire if we announced we were leaving before the polls closed, said Kate Bedingfield, a deputy campaign manager. But we decided the most important thing to do was to not just tell people that we believed diverse voters should have their say before anyone declared this race over, but to show it. And the only way to show it that night was to take a dramatic step and physically be there in South Carolina.
A Tayside resident who recently travelled from Italy has become the first person in Scotland to be diagnosed with coronavirus, the Scottish Government has said.

The person, who has not been named, has been admitted to hospital and is currently receiving treatment in isolation.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: Our first thoughts must be with the patient diagnosed with coronavirus, I wish them a speedy recovery.

Scotlands Chief Medical Officer Dr Catherine Calderwood said: Firstly our thoughts are with the person who has been diagnosed, and with their family.

I would like to thank all the health professionals who continue to be involved in their care and treatment.

The statement said clinicians had begun tracing the persons contacts and gathering details of the places they have visited and the people they have been in contact with since returning to the UK.

Close contact involved face to face contact or spending more than 15 minutes within two metres of an infected person, rather than simply passing in a street or a shop, the statement said.

A patient has been diagnosed with coronavirus (COVID-19) in Scotland: https://t.co/QF15XT1HcF pic.twitter.com/5xrOBNaoXa  Scottish Government (@scotgov) March 1, 2020

Ms Sturgeon added: Scotland is well-prepared for a significant outbreak of coronavirus but there is currently no treatment or vaccine. Early detection measures will continue to be vital in helping to prevent the spread of the virus.

People have a vital role to play in helping us contain any outbreak by following the latest health and travel advice, and following basic hygiene precautions, such as washing hands frequently, not touching their face and covering their nose and mouth with a tissue when coughing or sneezing.

Ms Sturgeon chaired a meeting of the Scottish Government Resilience Committee (SGoRR) on Sunday evening and is expected to take part in the UK Governments Cobra meeting chaired by Boris Johnson on Monday.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon (Danny Lawson/PA)

There have been a total of 698 negative tests in Scotland since the outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan, but further cases are expected, the Scottish Government said.

Health officials are to begin testing some people with flu-like symptoms for the virus even if they have not visited affected areas.

Dr Calderwood said: Hospitals and GP surgeries will now conduct tests on some patients with coughs, fevers or shortness of breath  regardless of whether they have travelled to a place where the virus is known to be spreading.

Not everyone with flu will be tested, but this is a sensible step to take as a precautionary measure to give us an early warning of community transmission.

People have a vital role to play in helping us contain any outbreak by following the latest health and travel advice and following basic hygiene precautions, such as washing hands frequently, not touching their face and covering their nose and mouth with a tissue when coughing or sneezing.

The stepping up of the testing regime has been described as a precautionary measure, but it is thought it could help detection after an outbreak in Scotland.

Using existing NHS monitoring measures, a network of 41 GP practices will start sending samples for testing from patients who report symptoms such as coughs, fevers or shortness of breath.

In addition, pneumonia patients in critical care units will also be tested for the virus.

The Scottish Government has implemented a range of measures including training Scottish Ambulance Service staff to support the transport of patients who may be infectious, and has delivered face masks to GP practices as a precautionary measure.
Readers in the market for a new personal computer often ask which one Id recommend. Well, considering the number of brands and configurations available, along with the varying needs of different buyers, I hesitate to make a specific recommendation. However, I can relate a little about my own PC-ownership experiences.

The $450 Lenovo laptop I bought in 2015 through Amazon.com continues to be my all-time favorite. It has a 15.6-inch screen with 6 megabytes of RAM and an 8-megabyte hard drive and an AMD processor. (I no longer see this laptops specific ID listed anywhere, so I wont mention it here.)

Prior to Lenovo, my favorite brand was Toshiba. However, when they changed their keyboard layout to require pressing two keys to do a simple screen print I dumped them.

During the early years of computing, my favorite was Dell. But when they sold me a defective Alienware and gave me all kinds of grief about repairing it, I returned it and ditched Dell.

Advertisement

Nowadays, for an average user with average computing needs, I suggest researching Lenovo.com. Be aware, however, there is a huge selection with most models costing between $1,000 and $2,000. I prefer checking out their simpler under $600 laptops.

IRS scams

This is the time of year when many IRS scams appear. Be wary of an email saying you have a large refund coming ... if you will just fill out the enclosed form ... The IRS does NOT contact taxpayers via unsolicited email; it still sends notices via the U.S. Postal Service.

Internet of Things

The acronym of IoT (Internet of Things) is being used with increasing frequency as more and more devices such as TV sets, telephones, home security systems, garage door openers and intruder alarm devices are being connected to the Internet. Internet connections, by their very nature, are two-way devices that allow users to see and be seen by other Internet users.

IoT technology, when used properly, can be marvelously helpful, but it is also fraught with danger. A downloadable list of user safeguards has been written by Brian Krebs (krebsonsecurity.com) and is definitely worth reading.

Search Everything app

Ive previously mentioned the FREE lightning-fast Search Everything app, available at voidtools.com, but feel obliged to say more about it now.

Search Everything is a misnomer because it does NOT search for everything. It searches only for words that are actually in the labels of files and folders on your computer.

For instance, if you have a folder labeled Family at Seaworld, the app will find all files and folders that contain: family or at or seaworld or sea or world or any combination of those words, depending on what what was typed into the Search field.

Well, I recently realized I can create names that could help me locate items many years from now. Using the above as an example, I might name it Edrington family at Seaworld on a Sunday afternoon in January of 2018.

Just think about the number of search opportunities.

Contact Don Edrington at (949) 891-1731 or donedrington@gmail.com.
(.)

By David Morgan and Michael Erman

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK, Feb 27 (Reuters) - U.S. officials on Thursday said they were ramping up efforts to guard Americans against a local spread of the new coronavirus, dispatching test kits nationwide, and promising funding legislation within the next two weeks.

At least 40 public health labs should now be able to test specimens for coronavirus and that could more than double as soon as Friday, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told a House of Representatives committee.

He said a newly manufactured test from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) can be sent to 93 public health labs as soon as Monday, and a privately manufactured test based on the new CDC test could be sent to those same labs as early as tomorrow.

Some state and local public health workers, however, have expressed concern about how quickly the U.S. has been able to scale up its coronavirus testing capability. As of Monday, only five U.S. states - California, Illinois, Nebraska, Nevada and Tennessee - had the capability to test for the virus, according to the Association of Public Health Laboratories.

Funding for the preparation has become a political issue in an election year. President Donald Trump, a Republican, is seeking $2.5 billion from Congress to boost the government's response. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer has called for $8.5 billion.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he expected the divided U.S. Congress would make an urgent bipartisan effort to come up with legislation to fund the fight.

"I hope they can work expeditiously so the full Senate would be able to take up the legislation within the next two weeks," said McConnell, speaking on the Senate floor.

The number of cases in the United States is still relatively small at 60, the bulk of them repatriated American passengers from the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked in Japan.

China, where the coronavirus started, has borne the brunt of the outbreak, with nearly 80,000 cases and 2,746 deaths. It has spread to another 44 countries with 3,246 cases and 51 deaths reported.

Story continues

Trump told Americans in a news conference on Wednesday that the risk from coronavirus remained "very low."

But city and state officials were still gearing up for a potential public health crisis.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio on Wednesday announced plans to provide up to 1,200 hospital beds if needed and called on the federal government to help the city obtain 300,000 extra protective masks. The city currently has no confirmed cases.

International health officials warned against complacency.

Rich countries that might have thought they were safe from the coronavirus should expect surprises, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

"No country should assume it won't get cases, that would be a fatal mistake, quite literally," WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in Geneva.

Various treatments are being tested for the virus, that can lead to pneumonia, but a vaccine may take up to 18 months to develop, health officials have said.

MARKETS

On Wall Street, major indexes were set for their steepest weekly pullback since the financial crisis more than a decade ago over fears of a global pandemic and local spread.

Trump, who is running for re-election in November, has been increasingly alarmed by the market reaction. On Wednesday he blamed Democrats competing to be their party's nominee as well as two cable TV news channels, CNN and MSNBC, for spooking investors.

On Thursday, Democrats went on the offensive.

"I'm worried this administration is not prepared for the global outbreak," Democratic U.S. Representative Bill Pascrell told Azar, citing Trump's tweets focused on the stock market. "I don't see a plan to manage the risk."

U.S. Senator Chris Coons, a Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, welcomed the White House effort. But he said Trump's record of dismissing science and the administration's budget cuts to public health spending raised concerns.

"I hope that the administration, and President Trump in particular, will respect the scientific leaders - the very capable leaders - at NIH (National Institutes of Health) and CDC," Coons told MSNBC in an interview.

Schumer and Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked for assurances that Trump would not transfer new funds to any other use apart from fighting infectious diseases.

"Any emergency funding supplemental the Congress approves must be entirely new funding - not stolen from other accounts," they said in a statement.

(Additional reporting by Susan Heavey, Doina Chiacu and Lisa Lambert in Washington and Jonathan Allen in New York, Writing by Sonya Hepinstall; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
The article has been updated to reflect the latest information.

Coronavirus infections in Italy rose 50 percent Sunday and the U.S. government issued its strongest travel warning yet, advising Americans against any travel to two regions in northern Italy that have been hard hit by the virus that first emerged in China in December.

Authorities said the total number of people infected in Italy had risen to 1,694, a 50 percent jump from just 24 hours earlier. Five more people infected with the virus have died, bringing the deaths in Italy to 34, while 83 people have fully recovered.

Italian health authorities said the increases were expected, since it takes as long as two weeks for containment measures to take effect, and because Italy has a large number of elderly people. Still, the numbers highlighted the rapid impact the virus is having on Italy, the epicenter of the outbreak in Europe.

This acceleration was expected, unfortunately, said Giovanni Rezza, director of the infective illness department at the National Health Institute. He said it would be another week or 10 days until the spread of the virus slowed down in the country.

With numerous cases in other European countries traced back to Italy, many countries have issued travel warnings for the 11 Italian towns that have been on lockdown since the virus exploded there on Feb. 21. But none have gone as far as the U.S. government, which on Sunday urged Americans not to travel to the regions of Lombardy and Veneto, raising the warning to the highest level. It is one step shy of the U.S. travel advisory for China, which urged Americans to leave the country.

In the wake of the warning, Delta and American Airlines have both suspended flights to Italys financial capital of Milan, which can have a potentially devastating business impact beyond just tourism. Already a major furniture and design fair has been postponed due to the virus until June.

Tourism officials said an earlier U.S. travel warning covering all of Italy was potentially calamitous to the industry, which represents 13 percent of gross domestic product in a country famed for its world-class museums, archaeological sites, art cities and natural beauty.

More than 5.6 million Americans visit Italy every year, representing 9 percent of foreign tourists and the second-largest national group behind Germans, according to the most recent statistics.

Lombardy, which includes Milan, accounts for over half of the cases while Veneto and Emilia-Romagna have 15 percent and 17 percent, respectively. All three regions have closed schools for at least another week. In Veneto and Lombardy, closures also have hit museums, theaters, cinemas and most public offices, emptying cities like Milan, where many companies have permitted office workers to telecommute.

Earlier Sunday, the French community church in Rome, St. Louis of the French, closed its doors to the public after a priest was infected with the new virus.

The church in the historic center of Rome is famous for three paintings by the Baroque master Caravaggio, making it a destination for tourists and the faithful alike. A sign on the door Sunday noted in French that the church had been closed as a precaution by the French Embassy for both Masses and tourist visits until further notice.

The Religious Information Service news agency reported the church was closed after a 43-year-old priest who had returned to Paris was hospitalized after being infected. It carried a statement by the archbishop of Paris, Michel Aupetit, who said the priest, who had been living in Rome, returned to Paris by car in mid-February and tested positive for the virus on Friday. He was in good condition, Aupetit said.

It was the first church in Rome closed by the virus. Churches in much of Veneto and Lombardy have closed their doors under widespread measures aimed at containing the spread of the virus. Televised Masses have been available for the faithful.

By Colleen Barry
Nigerian health authorities said Saturday an Italian who tested positive for the coronavirus in Lagos, the first case in Nigeria, has been relocated for better care, a health official said.

The Italian, quarantined at the Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba on Friday, had complained of poor facilities, Lagos health commissioner Akin Abayomi told journalists.

He was moved to a renovated facility with air-conditioning and the patient was now comfortable.

"As of this morning, his condition has improved, he hasn't developed any new symptoms, but he's still got a mild fever," he added.

Several people from the company where he worked had been contacted and officials were trying to trace other people with whom he might have had contact, Abayomi added.

Meanwhile, Nigeria consumer officials warned against arbitrary hikes in prices of protective kits and products.

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) said suppliers of protective apparel and hygiene products, including face masks, latex gloves and hand sanitisers were taking undue advantage of the rush.

It urged pharmacies and department stores to stop hoarding the products. Nigeria, Africa's most populous country with some 190 million people, is viewed as highly vulnerable to viral spread given its weak health system and high population density.

Prior to the case in Nigeria, the first in sub-saharan Africa, there had been just two cases on the continent -- in Egypt and Algeria.

The outbreak, which began in December, has already killed more than 2,800 people and infected more than 78,000.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
ANN ARBOR, MI  A literary timeline featuring 40 panels of headlines and all 400 essays in the New York Times 1619 Project will be exhibited in the downtown Ann Arbor District Library lobby.

The exhibit will open on March 1.

We wanted to give the public an opportunity to experience the 1619 Project if they hadnt already seen it, said Molly Bickley, library technician.

The New York Times 1619 Project is a collection of essays, photography and original works that focus on how slavery, housing, segregation, music, social infrastructure, health care and sugar are all connected. The projects goal was to explore the legacies of Africans and African Americans since the first enslaved Africans arrived in 1619. It explored the countrys history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of the national narrative, according to the New York Times.

Nikole Hannah-Jones, lead writer of the 1619 Project, is expected to speak at the Rackham Auditorium at the University of Michigan on April 6 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. She will discuss her experience leading the project and its impact.

The library is hosting the event, with support from the Ladies Library Association. A special poster for the April 6 event will be created by Amos Kennedy, award-winning printmaker.

Hannah-Jones was recently in Ann Arbor on Jan. 28 during UMs annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Symposium.
RTHK: Biden wins South Carolina primary

Former vice president Joe Biden won the South Carolina primary on Saturday, reviving his flagging campaign and positioning himself as the leading rival to frontrunner Bernie Sanders in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

All of the major television networks projected the 77-year-old Biden as the winner in South Carolina just minutes after polls closed in the state at 7:00 pm (0000 GMT).

The networks did not provide any vote totals but the early projections were an indication that Biden had scored a decisive win in the state where he was counting on heavy support among African-American voters.

A South Carolina victory was seen as crucial to Biden's hopes of challenging Sanders, the 78-year-old senator from Vermont, for the spot on the Democratic ticket in November against Republican Donald Trump.

Sanders has been the clear frontrunner in the race having won both New Hampshire and Nevada after finishing in a virtual tie in Iowa with former South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg.

Biden finished fourth in Iowa, fifth in New Hampshire and second in Nevada and he desperately needed a win in South Carolina ahead of next week's "Super Tuesday," when 14 states go to the polls.

One-third of the delegates who formally choose the Democratic nominee at the July party convention will be up for grabs on Super Tuesday.

"The biggest question is whether this will slingshot Joe Biden into victory in some Super Tuesday states," said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Centre for Politics.

Biden, who served for eight years as vice president to Barack Obama, America's first black president, was the favourite in South Carolina, the first state with a substantial African-American electorate to hold a primary contest.

Speaking before the result was announced, Biden said he hoped South Carolina would propel him into national contention.

"I think I'll do well," he told CNN. "It's been the launching pad for Barack and, I believe, for me."

Biden had been leading in the South Carolina polls, a dozen points ahead of Sanders and 20 points up on billionaire activist Tom Steyer, who was gunning for a third-place finish.

Steyer has spent US$23.6 million on ads in South Carolina, nearly 10 times the number two spender, Buttigieg, according to Advertising Analytics.

Biden and Steyer have primary night rallies scheduled in South Carolina but the other candidates have moved on already to the Super Tuesday states.

Sanders was campaigning in Virginia, Senator Elizabeth Warren was in Texas and Buttigieg was spending the day in Tennessee and North Carolina.

Billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who is not on the ballot in South Carolina, spent the day in Virginia and North Carolina.

At one polling place in a suburb of the state capital Columbia, about 20 people were lined up at 7:00 am when the doors opened.

Samantha Rogers, a 67-year-old retiree, said Biden is the right candidate to take on Trump.

"He's more experienced. He's for all people, not just African-Americans. He's for everyone," said Rogers, who is black.

But for 21-year-old student Andrea Green, "Bernie is telling the truth. He's authentic."

Despite his South Carolina victory, Biden and fellow moderates including Buttigieg and Senator Amy Klobuchar may well face a Sanders buzzsaw come Super Tuesday, with the self-declared "democratic socialist" leading in the two biggest prizes, including crown jewel California.

Sanders is dominating there with 32.5 percent support, according to the RealClearPolitics polling average, with fellow progressive Warren second.

Biden is a distant third with just 12.5 percent, in danger of missing the 15 percent threshold for earning delegates from the state.

In Texas, the other Super Tuesday delegate gold mine, a new CNN poll showed Sanders ahead of Biden by six points.

The senator also tops polls in Super Tuesday states Colorado, Maine, North Carolina, Utah, Virginia, his home state of Vermont and Warren's Massachusetts. Some of the races are tight. (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2020-03-01. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
MSNBC host Chris Matthews was noticeably absent during the cable networks coverage of Saturdays South Carolina primary - a day after a journalist said he inappropriately flirted with her before an appearance on his show.

Matthews, who has been hosting political talk shows on cable news for decades, is normally a fixture on MSNBCs election panels.

DailyMail.com has reached out to MSNBC for comment on Matthews status with the network.

On Friday, freelance journalist Laura Bassett wrote an article in GQ accusing Matthews of being 'gross and inappropriate' with her.

Last week, Matthews also apologized on the air after he compared Senator Bernie Sanders Nevada caucus victory earlier this month to Nazi Germanys invasion of France in 1940.

Chris Matthews (left) was absent during Saturday's coverage of the South Carolina primary - just a day after freelance journalist Laura Bassett (right) wrote an article in GQ magazine accusing the MSNBC host of inappropriately flirting with her before a television appearance

The comment ignited anger after viewers pointed out that Sanders is a Jew whose relatives were killed during the Holocaust.

On Friday, Bassett named Matthews as the cable news host that she referenced in a 2017 personal essay for Huffington Post.

'In 2017, I wrote about a cable news host being gross and inappropriate with me,' Bassett said in a Twitter post. 'I was afraid to name him at the time. I'm not anymore; it was Chris Matthews! And his sexist exchange with [Senator Elizabeth] Warren this week inspired me to revisit those moments and name him.'

Bassett's fury comes on the heels of a tense exchange between the Hardball host and Warren over comments she made regarding allegations against Michael Bloomberg.

Bloomberg, who founded the multi-billion dollar media empire Bloomberg LP, was once accused by a female employee, Sekiko Sakai, of telling her to kill it when she informed him that she was expecting a child.

Sakai, who eventually left the company, filed a complaint against Bloomberg, who has denied the allegation. The two sides settled the complaint.

Chris Matthews demands to know why Warren believes the woman who accused Bloomberg of telling her to "kill" her unborn child: "Youre confident of your accusation?" pic.twitter.com/sroztgr9kB  TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) February 26, 2020

Bassett's fury comes on the heels of a tense exchange between the Hardball host and presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren over comments she made regarding allegations against Michael Bloomberg

Bloomberg has come under fire from rival Democratic candidates, particularly Warren, over nondisclosure agreements between his company and female employees who have alleged sex discrimination and harassment.

During the back and forth between Warren and Matthews, the Hardball host repeatedly asked the senator from Massachusetts why Bloomberg would lie about pregnancy discrimination.

The senator retorted: 'Why would she lie?'

'There was no reason for him to harp on its veracity, except, perhaps, that he himself has made so many sexist comments over the years that he has a vested interest in Bloomberg being let off the hook,' Bassett added in her GQ piece, shared on Friday.

Speaking of her own experiences with Matthews, Bassett shared that 'a much older, married cable-news host' inappropriately flirted with her in a makeup room before going on his show on numerous occasions.

'I was afraid to name him at the time for fear of retaliation from the network; I'm not anymore,' she added, declaring that Chris Matthews was the host in question.

Bassett claimed that Matthews made her 'noticeably uncomfortable' while on air, asking her ahead of a segment, 'Why haven't I fallen in love with you yet?'

Bassett nervously laughed, which prompted Matthews to turn to the makeup artist and state: 'Keep putting makeup on her, I'll fall in love with her.'

Warren and Matthews sparred on air about Bloomberg (left), who is alleged to have told a former employee, Sekiko Sakai (right), to 'kill it' when she informed him she was expecting a child

On another occasion, the columnist claims that Matthews saw her in a red dress and asked if she was going out that night.

She says that that she 'didn't know,' to which Matthews told the makeup artist: 'Make sure you wipe this off her face after the show. We don't make her up so some guy at a bar can look at her like this.'

'Again - Matthews was never my boss. I'm pretty sure that behavior doesn't rise to the level of illegal sexual harassment,' she said.

Bassett claimed that Matthews made her 'noticeably uncomfortable' while on air, asking her ahead of a segment, 'Why haven't I fallen in love with you yet?'

'But it undermined my ability to do my job well. And after I published a story about it, even though I didn't name him, dozens of people reached out to say they knew exactly who it was. Many had similar stories.'

Bassett began her onslaught by highlighting the 'well-documented' allegations against the host, noting that Matthews has a tendency to make comments about women in demeaning ways.

She specifically references comments Matthews made to Erin Burnett where he allegedly told her on air: 'You're a knockout... it's all right getting bad news from you.'

The columnist also highlights a 2017 Daily Caller article where one of the host's former producers said that he rated female guests on a numerical scale, naming them the 'hottest of the week' like a 'teenage boy.'

And in 1999, an assistant producer accused Matthews of sexual harassment.

CNBC investigated the incident and determined that comments Matthews made were 'inappropriate', leading to him getting a 'stern reprimand,' according to an MSNBC spokesperson.

Bassett notes that besides pundits, Matthews has 'tendency to objectify women' who are also in the political space.

She notes that women in politics are split in two categories when it comes to Matthews; those he lusts over and those he holds contempt for as they make it closer to the presidency.

Bassett considers comments he made about Sarah Palin in 2011 and Sally Yates in 2017 as showing how he'll often note how attractive a woman is.

The journalist also claimed that a plethora of remarks that Matthews has made about Hillary Clinton showed that he has 'repeatedly challenged whether women are legitimate politicians or could be president at all.'

'In fact, Matthews's whole modus operandi seems to be inviting smart women onto his show, flirting with them or otherwise making them uncomfortable before or while the camera rolls, asking them a question on air and then immediately interrupting them to tell them why they're wrong,' Bassett asserts.

'He repeated this playbook with Warren this week. The fact that this kind of behavior has not lost him his primetime cable-news show in the year 2020 - even aside from his egregious Bill Cosby pill joke and the sexual-harassment allegation against him - speaks to how far the #MeToo movement still has to go to change the standards for what kind of attitudes toward women in the workplace are acceptable and even rewarded.'

Last week, Matthews apologized on the air after he ignited outrage by comparing Senator Bernie Sanders' (right) victory in the Nevada caucus earlier this month to Nazi Germany's invasion of France in 1940. Sanders, a Jew, lost relatives in the Holocaust

Bassett continues lambasting Matthews, stating that he could have asked important follow up questions about the role NDAs play in abusive power structures.

She continued: 'Instead of exploring that, Matthews attacked Warren's clarity on whether she believes another woman's corroborated testimony. He seems constitutionally incapable of probing these hyper-relevant topics with anything approaching intellectual curiosity or open-mindedness. In that way, he's also unfit for his job.'

Bassett slammed MSNBC for continuing to employ Matthews and have him doing a major cable-news evening show with his clear 'flagrant bias.'

'His position affords him the ability to affect public opinion, both sweeping away documented behavior of male presidential candidates and casting doubt on corroborated women's accusations against those men,' she said.

'Having a news anchor who calls women she-devil and treats their assessments with infantilizing suspicion while conducting post-debate interviews builds in a major disadvantage for female candidates. And that's downright irresponsible.'
Fangliang Zhang is the CEO of Genscript Biotech Corporation (HKG:1548). This report will, first, examine the CEO compensation levels in comparison to CEO compensation at companies of similar size. Next, we'll consider growth that the business demonstrates. Third, we'll reflect on the total return to shareholders over three years, as a second measure of business performance. This process should give us an idea about how appropriately the CEO is paid.

View our latest analysis for Genscript Biotech

How Does Fangliang Zhang's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

According to our data, Genscript Biotech Corporation has a market capitalization of HK$31b, and paid its CEO total annual compensation worth US$320k over the year to December 2018. It is worth noting that the CEO compensation consists almost entirely of the salary, worth US$313k. As part of our analysis we looked at companies in the same jurisdiction, with market capitalizations of US$2.0b to US$6.4b. The median total CEO compensation was US$558k.

A first glance this seems like a real positive for shareholders, since Fangliang Zhang is paid less than the average total compensation paid by similar sized companies. While this is a good thing, you'll need to understand the business better before you can form an opinion.

You can see a visual representation of the CEO compensation at Genscript Biotech, below.

SEHK:1548 CEO Compensation, March 1st 2020

Is Genscript Biotech Corporation Growing?

On average over the last three years, Genscript Biotech Corporation has shrunk earnings per share by 45% each year (measured with a line of best fit). In the last year, its revenue is up 19%.

Sadly for shareholders, earnings per share are actually down, over three years. And while it's good to see some good revenue growth recently, the growth isn't really fast enough for me to put aside my concerns around earnings. It's hard to argue the company is firing on all cylinders, so shareholders might be averse to high CEO remuneration. It could be important to check this free visual depiction of what analysts expect for the future.

Story continues

Has Genscript Biotech Corporation Been A Good Investment?

I think that the total shareholder return of 266%, over three years, would leave most Genscript Biotech Corporation shareholders smiling. This strong performance might mean some shareholders don't mind if the CEO were to be paid more than is normal for a company of its size.

In Summary...

It looks like Genscript Biotech Corporation pays its CEO less than similar sized companies.

It's well worth noting that while Fangliang Zhang is paid less than most company leaders (at similar sized companies), there isn't much EPS growth. Having said that, returns to shareholders have been great. We would like to see EPS growth, but in our view it seems the CEO is remunerated reasonably. So you may want to check if insiders are buying Genscript Biotech shares with their own money (free access).

If you want to buy a stock that is better than Genscript Biotech, this free list of high return, low debt companies is a great place to look.

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.
Socio-EconomicRights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sent an open letter to the SenatePresident Dr Ahmad Lawan, urging him to use his leadership position to ensurethat the bill that would allow repentant Boko Haram terrorists opportunities toaccess public funds to enjoy foreign education is immediately dropped, and to sponsorbills that would ensure access to justice and reparation for the victims of BokoHaram terrorist group.

According to SERAP, the bill, which has passed the first reading at the Senate would give opportunities to repentant terrorists to receive foreign education including by accessing funds from the Universal Basic Education Commission, the Tertiary Education Trust Fund and subventions from the government.

In the letter dated 28 February 2020 and signed by SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare, the organization said: This bill erodes justice and makes a mockery of the suffering of victims, and the unspeakable human tragedy, humanitarian crisis and appalling atrocities committed by the Boko Haram terrorist group.

SERAP said: By calling Boko Haram members ex-agitators, the bill mocks the victims of appalling atrocities committed by the terrorist group, and is a blatant affront to victims dignity. Repentant Boko Haram terrorists are not ex-agitators; they are terrorists under Nigerian and international laws.

According to SERAP: Boko Haram members should not be allowed to enjoy foreign education while over 13 million Nigerian children of school age are roaming our streets. Alleged perpetrators of gross violations should not get the benefits at the expense of these and other deserving children.Rather than allowing perpetrators to access public funds to enjoy foreign education, the Senate should be promoting reparation for victims, to prevent future criminality and ensure the best interest of justice.

SERAP also said: Should the Senate go ahead to pass the bill, and should the bill be supported by the House of Representatives and assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari, the Registered Trustees of SERAP shall take all appropriate legal actions nationally and internationally to challenge the legality of any such law and ensure that it is never implemented.

The letter read, in part: Prioritising the education of Boko Haram members over the rights of Nigerian children to quality education is discriminatory, as it violates Nigerian constitutional provisions, international and regional human rights obligations, and will undermine national development.

This bill serves neither justice nor the public interest. The bill also does not represent value for money for Nigerian taxpayers, especially coming from an institution whose individual member reportedly takes home about N182 million yearly, translating to N15.1 million monthly or N45.3 million quarterly.

Internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in many parts of the country are in shambles, with people lacking access to basic necessities like food, clothing and children of victims lacking access to basic education.

Without justice, the seeds of future criminality and militant terrorism will grow. This bill, if passed, would only lead to more terrorism and suffering.

The Senate should focus on passing bills that would ensure access of victims to effective remedies including adequate reparation, and effective prosecution of repentant Boko Haram members rather than rewarding them with opportunities to study abroad.

Prioritising alleged perpetrators rights at the expense of the victims rights, interests and needs is discriminatory, illegal and unconstitutional, as it amounts to re-victimisation. While the alleged repentant Boko Haram terrorists have the right to an impartial and fair trial, they have absolutely no right to enjoy foreign education.

Pursuing accountability of perpetrators would also show that Nigerian authorities will take action against those who commit gross human rights violations against their own people.

In proposing bills to respond to the atrocities committed by the Boko Haram terrorist group, the Senate should ensure strict adherence to the 1999 Nigerian Constitution (as amended) and Nigerias international human rights obligations and commitments, including the 1985 United Nations Declaration of the Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power, which provides for the basic standards for victims treatment.

The Boko Haram terrorist group has committed numerous human rights atrocities against the Nigerian people. By prioritising prosecution of alleged perpetrators, the Nigerian authorities will be sending a powerful message to the victims and the international community that atrocities committed by the terrorist group will not be ignored.

According to our information, the proposed bill aims to establish a National Agency for the Education, Rehabilitation, De-radicalisation and Integration of Repentant Insurgents in Nigeria. The agency will get its funding from the Universal Basic Education Commission, the Tertiary Education Trust Fund and annual subventions from the government.

Section 5(m) of the bill gives repentant terrorists the opportunity of receiving foreign education, by among others accessing the services of offshore and Nigerian institutions in the pursuit of the educational needs of ex-agitators. Under the bill, one per cent of TETFund and UBEC fund will be used in funding the agency for rehabilitating the terrorists. The agency will also be funded by 0.5 per cent of the federal allocation of the six North-East states.

The bill, sponsored by Senator Ibrahim Geideam, representing Yobe East, has passed the first reading in the Senate. Among the likely beneficiaries under the bill will be 25 Boko Haram members and their wives, who recently arrived in Maiduguri, the Borno State, after they reportedly surrendered to troops in Niger Republic.

SERAP therefore urged Dr Lawal to urgently initiate four separate bills to ensure:
By PTI

DUBLIN: Ireland on Saturday confirmed its first case of coronavirus after a man who had returned from northern Italy tested positive, the government said.

Health officials said the man, from the east of Ireland, was "receiving appropriate medical care" after they followed "established protocols" in testing and diagnosing him with COVID-19.

"The case is associated with travel from an affected area in northern Italy, rather than contact with another confirmed case," the Department of Health said in a statement.

The authorities were working rapidly to identify any contacts the patient may have had, "to provide them with information and advice to prevent further spread," it added.



ALSO READ | Coronavirus outbreak: How it has impacted the world and what you must do

Health Minister Simon Harris said the development was "not unexpected".

"We have been preparing for this since January," he added.

The COVID-19 epidemic continues to spread around the world, with cases now recorded in several dozen countries.

More than 2,900 people have been killed and nearly 86,000 infected.

Qatar and Ecuador both confirmed their first cases on Saturday and the US announced the first death.

Ireland's Six Nations match with Italy in Dublin on March 7 was postponed this week due to the epidemic.

Although Saturday saw its first confirmed case, neighbouring Northern Ireland -- part of Britain -- had already recorded a positive test in recent days while mainland UK has seen 23 cases so far.

In the northern Irish case, the woman involved had travelled through Dublin Airport on her way home to Northern Ireland from northern Italy.
Coronavirus has spread from Wuhan in China to countries across the world, with tens of thousands of confirmed cases and thousands of deaths worldwide.

Here is all you need to know today.

 What is the scale of the problem?

So far, China has reported nearly 80,000 cases and almost 3,000 deaths.

(PA Graphics)

Outside China, there have been cases in nearly 60 countries with around 100 deaths.

The first Briton to die from the virus had been on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship which was quarantined off the coast of Japan.

He was the sixth passenger from the ship to die after more than 700 tourists contracted coronavirus on board.

 Whats happening in the UK?

There have been 36 confirmed cases in the UK, with more than 10,000 people having been tested.

There have been 33 cases diagnosed in England, one in Northern Ireland and one in Wales.

On Sunday, Scotland reported its first case  a Tayside resident who recently travelled from Italy.

The 20th case was the first transmission of coronavirus within the UK and the Department of Health and Social Care said the original source was unclear.

Haslemere Health Centre in Surrey closed temporarily for cleaning on Friday (Yui Mok/PA)

Eight of the confirmed UK cases have been discharged from hospital. There have been no deaths.

The first diagnosed case in the Irish Republic was reported on Saturday.

 What is the UK Government recommending people returning from infected regions do?

The UK Government said people returning from Hubei province in China, Iran, lockdown areas in northern Italy and special care zones in South Korea in the last 14 days should immediately self-isolate at home and call NHS 111.

People returning from a number of other countries including the rest of China and Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore should self-isolate if they develop symptoms of cough or fever or shortness of breath.

It also said those returning from Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Burma and northern Italy above Pisa should self-isolate if they show symptoms.

 What about schools?

Story continues

Burbage Primary School has been closed (PA)

Although several schools have sent pupils home over fears of Covid-19 contact, Public Health Englands general advice is for them not to close.

Burbage Primary School in Buxton, Derbyshire, was closed on Thursday because of a case diagnosed in a parent.

Willow Bank Infant School in Berkshire informed parents on Saturday that it would be closing for some days after a staff member tested positive for the virus.

 What will happen if it is declared a pandemic?

Health leaders have said if coronavirus becomes a global pandemic then there are a number of contingency plans in place to halt its spread.

In the UK, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said the Government has a battle plan for tackling coronavirus should a pandemic be declared.

The UK is a world leader in preparing for and managing diseases like #coronavirus. Today, @MattHancock sets out an enhanced government approach to pandemic preparation. Here's an outline of the measures we're putting in place  pic.twitter.com/h6DrySmr95  Department of Health and Social Care (@DHSCgovuk) March 1, 2020

It is understood new emergency powers will be brought in to give schools, councils and other parts of the public sector powers to suspend laws  including health and safety measures  to cope with a pandemic.

A war room is to be set up in the Cabinet Office to ensure effective co-ordination of public information.

Mr Hancock has said the long-term strategy for ensuring Covid-19 is contained is attempting to delay its peak until the summer when the warmer weather means the virus will not spread so easily.

 What about a vaccine?

Matt Dunn, a researcher for the Centre for Vaccine Research at the University of Pittsburgh, holds dead samples of the coronavirus (Nate Guidry/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP)

Vaccines have been developed and researchers are starting to test them on animals.

But tests can take months to see if any potential vaccine can be used on humans and there will then have to be trials on humans.

The World Health Organisation has convened a group of experts to fast-track promising tests, drugs and vaccines to help slow the outbreak.

But experts say it could still be months or even years before any approved treatments or vaccines are developed.

The UK Government is putting 40 million into trying to find a vaccine and also aiming to improve treatments for patients who do have the disease.

 What is a coronavirus?

A woman wearing a face mask on the London Underground (PA)

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars).

The strain that has recently emerged is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans. The respiratory disease it causes has been named Covid-19 by WHO.

 Where did it come from?

Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people, the World Health Organisation says.

The first cases identified were among people connected to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan in China.

 How is it spread?

Coronaviruses can be spread through small droplets from the nose (PA)

The disease can spread from person to person through small droplets from the nose or mouth which are spread when a person with the virus coughs or exhales.

These droplets land on objects and surfaces around the person and can be picked up other people touching them then touching their nose or mouth, it added.

 How can you stop it?

Thorough hand-washing, maintaining distance from others, and avoiding hand-shakes are among the most effective measures for reducing your risk of catching coronavirus.

Everyday precautions like carrying hand sanitiser, covering your mouth and nose with a tissue or sleeve when you cough or sneeze, rather than your hands, and binning used tissues immediately is also helpful, according to the NHS.

 What are the symptoms?

Symptoms of the virus include fever, cough, tightness of the chest and shortness of breath (Jane Barlow/PA)

Initial symptoms of the novel coronavirus include fever, cough, tightness of the chest, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties.

More severe cases can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, sepsis and septic shock, which can lead to death.

There are no specific treatments or vaccines for a new coronavirus but symptoms can be treated.

 Can people with no symptoms spread the virus?

The jury is still out on this one, although scientists believe there is evidence of asymptomatic transmission.

The Department of Health has said it believes the risk of catching coronavirus from someone with no symptoms at all is low.

But because many people with Covid-19 experience only mild symptoms, particularly during the early stages of the disease, it is possible to catch it from someone who has mild symptoms.

 Are some groups more at risk?

The UK Government says based on current evidence most cases appear to be mild and those who have died in Wuhan appear to have had pre-existing health conditions.

The World Health Organisation has said about four in five people who contract the virus get mild symptoms and recover.

But it added older people or patients with pre-existing medical conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease or diabetes are more at risk of developing serious illness.
Chelsey Rhodes stared at the document two executives had slid across the desk to her.

It was a confidentiality agreement. By signing it, she would be agreeing not to publicly discuss what she had experienced while working for the non-profit Engineers Without Borders Canada.

I felt ill, she says.

She recalls glancing at the garbage can next to her in the board room. Shed asked for it in case she needed to throw up, she says.

I thought, This is not a choice. I dont have an option.

She signed the settlement and received $15,000.

That moment  some six years ago now  was a pivotal one for Rhodes, who would eventually renege on her agreement and ignite a public firestorm by bringing forward allegations of sexual harassment and bullying against Engineers Without Borders and its staff.

Rhodes' description of her experience emerged against the backdrop of what has been dubbed the #AidToo movement. Its been a contentious time for the non-profit sector, broadly, with scandals threatening to shake the public and government goodwill that is the bedrock of its funding model.

Humanitarian organizations are a regular vehicle for governments looking to do good in the world. In the 2017-18 fiscal year, the Canadian government gave $812 million in funding to humanitarian organizations that deliver foreign aid. There are currently hundreds of foreign aid projects receiving funding from the Canadian government, operating in dozens of countries, including Afghanistan, Haiti, Mali and Tanzania.

Aside from public and government goodwill, the organizations also rely on the young and idealistic believing in what they do.

This sector promotes themselves as the good doers and as the saviours of everyone else. They attract quite idealistic people, says Shaista Aziz, who spent 15 years working for some of the worlds largest humanitarian organizations.

That formula also creates a situation that can leave some vulnerable.

In 2018, news reports made public allegations that Oxfam workers had paid earthquake victims in Haiti for sex in 2011. In June, a U.K. government commission found Oxfam had an internal culture that tolerated poor behaviour.

The Oxfam case highlighted what many in the humanitarian community had known for years  charities were not immune to #MeToo revelations.

Speaking about the sector generally, Aziz says it is rife with people who abuse their power.

They also attract all sorts of people that know they can abuse the loophole. If youre going to be travelling all around the world and go into countries that are impacted by conflict ... you will have even more power than you had in Toronto, for example.

Aziz co-founded the advocacy group NGO Safe Spaces in an effort to raise awareness of the problems in the humanitarian aid industry.

It is very much part of the culture inside a lot of these organizations, where casual sexual relations with members of staff are seen as being normal, she says.

***

In 2011, Rhodes was fresh out of a masters program in health studies. Engineers Without Borders sanitation program in Malawi was exactly the kind of work the then-27-year-old wanted to do. The Canadian non-profit delivers humanitarian aid to sub-Saharan Africa by investing in small businesses and improving access to basic needs, such as clean water in communities.

Rhodes, for her part, worked with locals to apply best practices in rural communities.

After having dinner with her supervisor one night, Rhodes says, they had sex.

The next day, Rhodes said her supervisor became overly hostile and abusive, toward her and continued to harass her in the following weeks.

She alleges that he drew diagrams he said demonstrated her flaws in front of co-workers, and that he made comments about colleagues breasts in front of her. She says that at times he would become so angry he would scream at her in public until they were asked to leave.

In the weeks after her supervisor allegedly started harassing her, Rhodes says, her hair started falling out and she began vomiting from stress. She says she did not report her experience at the time to her bosses in Toronto, because she did not feel safe doing so.

Rhodes did not complete her fellowship with Engineers Without Borders and instead returned to Canada with the help of family.

The supervisor did not return the Stars multiple requests for comment.

Four months later, Rhodes started experiencing dizzy spells, anemia and insomnia  symptoms of what a psychologist diagnosed as post-traumatic stress disorder, stemming from a traumatic relationship with (Rhodes) employer.

While Engineers Without Borders twice hired lawyers to review what happened between Rhodes and the organization, it did not share the results of either review with her, she says.

Aziz says that humanitarian aid organizations need to open themselves up to watchdog organizations  ones that arent being paid by the organizations they investigate.

An organization cannot be left to investigate itself. It doesnt make any sense, said Aziz, the co-founder of NGO Safe Spaces.

Rhodes says she felt bullied by upper managements refusal to publicly acknowledge its role in what happened to her.

In a January 2013 email, Engineers Without Borders co-founder and CEO at the time George Roter wrote to Rhodes: I sense that you are frustrated with the lack of progress on reaching a resolution. ... I would also like to point out that your emails are taking an increasingly threatening tone, which I worry will be destructive to our ability to work together to find a solution that is best for you and also for other members of the organization.

Over dozens of emails, Rhodes continued calling for compensation and accountability from the non-profit for the mistreatment she says she experienced. In September 2013, the organization responded by offering her $15,000 with the stipulation that she not talk with anyone about her experience.

Most of the executives, including Roter, have since left Engineers Without Borders.

While Roter says he treated Rhodes' allegations "with the utmost seriousness from the moment they were brought to my attention," in retrospect, he says, he would have done some things differently.

Specifically, I do regret that we didnt do more to ensure (Rhodes) was more fully involved in the investigation, he said in an emailed statement. I have no hesitation expressing this regret.

In January 2019, Rhodes went public with her Engineers Without Borders experience on Twitter, violating the confidentiality clause she signed in 2013. Her social media post cast a spotlight on her within the humanitarian aid community, a place already on high alert for signs of misconduct.

***

Engineers Without Borders held at least one conference call with members to answer the questions flooding in after Rhodes went public. In May, several chapters announced boycotts against the organization.

In an open letter addressed to the board of directors, members Juliette Escande and Aspen Murray said they felt disappointed and betrayed by the non-profits misogynistic response to Rhodes allegations.

Global Affairs Canada told the Star it was aware of Rhodes allegations and that the department had been in contact with the non-profit regarding its internal review into the matter. Engineers Without Borders was scheduled to receive $9 million in Canadian-government funding between 2015 to 2020.

Finally, in August, eight months after Rhodes spoke out publicly, Engineers Without Borders released a lengthy public statement in response.

As an organization, we are confident that we acted appropriately and addressed all concerns that (Rhodes) raised in mediation. That said, we regret that she was not offered more acknowledgment and support at the time, it read.

Engineers Without Borders statement said Rhodes had told them in 2013, when she signed the settlement agreement, that the relationship between her and her supervisor was consensual.

It was in 2014 that Rhodes raised the issue again, this time saying she experienced sexual harassment, according to Engineers Without Borders.

The legal advice at the time was that the issue had in fact been raised before and was covered by the mediated agreement, therefore the Board of Directors of the time was not made aware of it, the non-profits statement read.

Engineers Without Borders went on to say it regretted that Rhodes had a negative experience with the organization and that the non-profit would no longer use confidentiality agreements in personnel matters.

It said that since the issue of sexual harassment was brought to the board, the chair and members have made every effort to investigate, listen, understand and act. They have met with Chelsey numerous times to understand her position and have made every effort to address her concerns in a compassionate manner. A full review has been conducted with input from Chelsey Rhodes, chapter members, two legal firms, a gender consultant, a consultant on human rights as well as past and present staff members. Two independent legal reviews have also confirmed our position that EWBs duty of care was fulfilled through our mediated process. As such, this case will not be reopened.

Rebecca Kresta has been involved with Engineers Without Borders since 2010 and became the chair of the board in June.

She stands behind the non-profits public statement and says the organization has been incredibly transparent in outlining how it responded to Rhodes.

We have taken a lot of steps to work co-operatively with Chelsey and find a positive path forward, she says.

We have to have this balanced approach. We sought to apologize in as many ways as we could. And thats about where we can get to.

The statement also listed the various ways the non-profit said it is making things better for those reporting harassment, including an independent ombudsperson, a complaints and policy procedure and an updated sexual relations policy.

But Rhodes says the non-profits response did little to repair the harm she says it inflicted on her and others.

This statement is light years way from a glimmer of understanding of what they have done wrong and how they have harmed people, Rhodes told Star Vancouver, hours after it was posted.

There isnt even a glimmer of remorse here.

***

NGO Safe Spaces co-founder Aziz says that if non-profits are serious about repairing harm and regaining trust, its essential that they allow an independent body to investigate allegations.

Its beyond parody really that they can feel comfortable investigating themselves. There needs to be clear transparency, she says.

She says that independent body should be the federal government, noting that it could take proactive steps to address the underlying cause of #MeToo-type allegations in the humanitarian aid sector.

According to the Global Affairs Canada website, as of September 2019, partner organizations such as Engineers Without Borders applying for federal funding are required to have a code of conduct on preventing and responding to sexual exploitation and abuse.

But Aziz says those types of policies do little because they dont address the root causes of abuse  the systemic divide of power along racial and gender lines.

In "organizations where power is mostly centred with white men ... there is a massive disparity of power, which leaves the gate wide open for abuse.

She suggests that collecting information about the race and gender pay gap in the sector would be a good place for the Canadian government to start.

Meanwhile, Rhodes and former Engineers Without Borders employee, Alex Fox, are gathering testimonies from other employees on a website called Total Systems Failure, in what they describe as an effort to hold the non-profit accountable.

If more people did what I considered the baseline ethical behaviour and had integrity, Rhodes says, it wouldnt be such a burden on the few people who are willing to step up.

Wanyee Li is a reporter with the Toronto Star based in Vancouver. You can follow her at @wanyeelii

Read more about:
Asadabad : , March 1 (Xinhua) Forty-two Islamic State (IS) militants have laid down arms in Afghanistan's eastern province of Kunar, the provincial governor said on Sunday.

"The surrendered militants were active in Wata Pur, Chawkay, Chapa Dara, Nurgal, and Manogay. The former militants joined the national peace and reconciliation process. The departments concerned would register their names and provide them necessary help," Xinhua quoted governor Abdul Satar Mirzakwal as telling reporters here.

They handed over 40 rounds of guns and machine guns to provincial police authorities, the governor added.

With the former insurgents' surrender, peace and stability would be further strengthened in several parts of the province, 180 km east of the country's capital, Kabul.

Those who surrendered called on fellow IS members to join the process.

More than 800 Taliban militants and Islamic State members have surrendered to the government since the beginning of January.
When he gets to his feet at Stormont on Monday to update MLAs on his department's handling of coronavirus in Northern Ireland, there are a number of questions which Health Minister Robin Swann needs to answer. Or, to put it another way, which need to be asked by MLAs - if they're doing their jobs of holding the Executive to account.

It's now accepted that the woman who is in quarantine at home with her daughter made her way to Belfast on the Enterprise service after landing at Dublin Airport from an infected area of Italy. A taxi driver has come forward to say that he drove her from the airport to catch her train and he was later contacted by the police after being identified on CCTV. He's now put himself into isolation.

Despite that, health authorities in Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic have insisted from the start, and continue to do so, that everyone who was in contact with the woman and who needs to be tracked down has already been identified and that "members of the public who have travelled between Dublin and Belfast using public transport need not be concerned".

But how can they possibly say that for certain? Contacting all those who might have come into contact with this woman would require identifying all other passengers on the train and it's not possible to know exactly who was on board at the time, or where they were sitting.

It may be possible to trace passengers who paid for a ticket by credit card, but it would still take time and some passengers will likely have paid with cash, making them anonymous.

Furthermore, Irish Rail say they had no contact with the Department of Health in Dublin, but did a deep clean of the Enterprise as a precaution anyway once details of her journey plans began to emerge.

So, again, how could the authorities have contacted everyone who was on the train without going through Irish Rail first, who presumably are the only ones with access to whatever scant details there are to identify travellers?

In Northern Ireland the Enterprise service is managed by Translink. The same question applies. How did the Government and health authorities track down everyone who was on that train, or even in a particular carriage, without going through Translink?

Unless the Government is operating some sinister, Orwellian facial recognition programme on us all, that must be considered an unfeasibly complex task until they explain exactly how they did it.

If the authorities didn't contact Translink or Irish Rail to alert them to the fact that a passenger with suspected Covid-19 had used their service hours earlier, that would be genuinely scandalous and needs to be clarified.

The official guidelines are that there are a number of ways to be infected through "close contact" with an infected person. The NHS website clarifies these ways to include living in the same house, face-to-face contact, such as "talking for more than a few minutes", coming into contact with bodily fluids, being coughed on and being within two metres of the person for more than 10 minutes.

The authorities appear to be placing the greatest emphasis in this case on the last condition, which is why they say they have narrowed down possible candidates for infection to those who shared the plane with the infected woman, and later the train.

But what about the other possible sources of infection, such as "coming into contact with bodily fluids"? Guidelines from the Health Service Executive (HSE) in the Republic clearly state: "You could get the virus if you ... touch surfaces that someone who had the virus has coughed, or sneezed, on."

They also explain that the virus can survive for up to "a few hours if someone who has it coughs, or sneezes, on a surface".

In other words, if any person was, within a few hours, to touch a surface onto which this woman coughed or sneezed at any point during her journey, they may well be infected, too.

And if she did indeed take a taxi from the airport to the station, that would also include anybody who got into the same taxi afterwards, for a period of hours, who is similarly untraceable.

The nagging question arises again: how can the health authorities, north and south, be certain they've contacted everyone who might've been infected that way?

Common sense says that they can't, considering the huge volume of people who pass through transport hubs, such as airports and train stations and in and out of taxis. So, why are they still saying it?

Interestingly, when he spoke to BBC Radio Ulster's Evening Extra on Friday Robin Swann only said: "If you have not been contacted at this stage, it's likely you have nothing to worry about."

That "likely" may have been just a verbal aside rather than a get-out clause, but it was certainly less absolute than statements by the Irish health minister, who said without qualification on RTE radio in Friday: "If you have not been contacted by the health authorities, you do not need to worry."

Minister Swann's latest official statement made no assertion whatsoever about who may, or may not, have been infected. It was merely a bland holding position about how he's co-operating closely with his counterpart in Dublin and how everyone in public health is "working hard to contain the spread of this virus and keep us well". No one ever said otherwise. But there are still questions to be answered.

The reason for releasing such a paucity of information may be that the authorities don't want people to panic unnecessarily. That's reasonable enough.

More than 10,000 people have been tested in the UK at this stage and all but a handful of results have come back negative. The decision by the World Health Organisation to declare it a pandemic prompted the UK chief medical officers to raise the threat level from low to moderate, but it's not a full-blown crisis yet.

What this paternalistic addiction to secrecy ignores is that it's the very act of refusing to be open with information which leads to rumour and fear in the first place.

It's better to be upfront rather than giving out wishy-washy assurances that all is well when people's own common sense tells them that might not be true.

Scaremongering is irresponsible, but so is treating the public like children who must be shielded from the truth.

There may be simple and sensible answers to all these questions, but we won't find out unless MLAs bother asking them.

Isn't that what they're paid for after all?
The Diamond Princess cruise ship sits docked at Daikoku Pier in quarantine in Yokohama, Japan on Feb. 7, 2020. (Carl Court/Getty Images)

Quebec Couple Who Got Coronavirus on Cruise Ship to Come Home, Daughter Says

MONTREALA Quebec couple who contracted the novel coronavirus aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan will soon be on their way home after testing negative for the virus, their daughter said Sunday.

Chantal Menard said she learned early in the morning that her mother was being discharged from hospital after a second test confirmed she no longer had the illness. Her father tested negative last Wednesday.

Diane and Bernard Menard, who are in their 70s, were among the more than 700 people who contracted COVID-19 aboard the ship, which has been docked in Yokohama since early February.

Their daughter said the news was welcome after weeks of worry and frantic calls to consular officials.

Were very happy because at one moment we lost hope, but you cant ever lose hope, she said in a phone interview.

Menard said her parents were on the last day of their month-long tour of Asia when they learned the boat was under quarantine.

The couple from Gatineau, Que. tested positive in mid-February and were transported to a Japanese military hospital with symptoms including coughing and fever.

Menard said the couple will spend the next day or two in a hotel while the family organizes their trip home, but she hopes theyll be back in Canada by Friday.

She said its unclear whether theyll have to face another quarantine when they return, on top of the two theyve already done in Japan. If so, she believes it will be at home.

For sure well go to the house to look at them through the curtains, she said with a laugh. Well set ourselves up on the outdoor patio and do a simultaneous toast.

She says consular services and and the Canadian Red Cross have been helping the family.

Despite the familys happiness, Menard said she still worries about other Canadians from the ship who remain in Japan.

I hope it will send them a message of hope, she said.
Thai students and pro-democracy activists flash the iconic three-finger salute (inspired by the 'Hunger Games' movie saga), representing dissent against the government, as they take part in a 'flash mob' protest at Kasetsart University in Bangkok, Thailand, 29 February 2020. EPA



Beijing - Thailand and Australia both reported their first fatalities connected to coronavirus on Sunday, as infections soared beyond 3,500 in South Korea and deaths in China inched closer to 3,000.



Suwannachai Watthanayingcharoenchai, director-general of Thailand's Department of Disease Control, told reporters that the 35-year-old victim was initially hospitalized for malaria and later tested positive for the coronavirus. He died of multiple organ failure.



Suwannachai said officials were still investigating the role played by the respiratory disease in the man's death, since he subsequently tested negative but was still suffering from the damage it had caused.



Western Australia's Chief Health Officer Andrew Robertson confirmed the 78-year-old victim, who contracted the coronavirus along with his wife onboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship, died at Perth's Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital early Sunday morning.



He was diagnosed ten days earlier while in isolation at Howard Springs, after having been quarantined for two weeks aboard the Diamond Princess of Yokohama, Japan.



His wife, also in her 70s, was diagnosed with the virus a few days ago and remains in stable condition in hospital, Dr Robertson said.



South Korea meawhile reported 595 new coronavirus infections in the country, bringing the total confirmed cases to 3,526 - with 3,479 cases in isolation - including 18 deaths, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).



The outbreak is the largest outside China, where the novel coronavirus began spreading in December 2019.



China reported 35 new deaths and 573 new confirmed cases of the Covid-19 disease caused by the coronavirus on Sunday, in figures released by the National Health Commission.?



The new additions bring the total death toll across China to 2,870, and total number of confirmed cases to almost 80,000.



Of the new cases, 570 were in Hubei province, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak. The province in central China was also where 34 of the new deaths were recorded.



The new coronavirus has spread to countries across the globe and killed more than 2,900 people worldwide since the outbreak began in the city of Wuhan in Hubei in December.



In Taiwan, which recorded its 40th case on Sunday, authorities said they had raised the country's warning level for travel to Iran due to the rapid increase in coronavirus cases and the high percentage of fatalities in the country.?



As a result, citizens are advised against unnecessary travel to Iran and travellers arriving from there to Taiwan will be required to carry out home quarantine for 14 days.



Iran has reported 593 coronavirus cases and 43 deaths, the fourth-largest outbreak outside of China and the most deaths recorded anywhere outside of Hubei province. (dpa)




One of Editor & Publishers 10 That Do It Right 2021
In an ambitious project with strategic significance, aerospace major (HAL) has started ground work to produce a 10 to 12 tonne attack helicopter by 2027 which will be comparable with some of the best medium-lift military choppers globally like the Apache of the

Chairman and Managing Director of R Madhavan said the aim of the mega project is to stop import of more than Rs 4 trillion worth of military helicopters for the three services in the coming years.

In an interview to PTI, Madhavan said the has completed the preliminary design of the helicopter and that initial plan is to produce at least 500 units with the first prototype set to be ready by 2023 if the government gives the go ahead to the project this year.

"One major project we are focusing on is to produce a helicopter in 10 to 12 tonnes category to replace the Mi-17 fleet. It will be an indigenous platform with the potential to manufacture around 500 helicopters. It will stop import of more than Rs 4 lakh crore worth of platforms from foreign countries," he said.

Madhavan said an amount of Rs 9,600 crore will be required for design as well as to produce the prototype of the helicopter.

"If we get the approval in 2020, we will be able to manufacture the first chopper by 2027. We are looking at producing at least 500 helicopters of the variant. It will be a major project we are working on," he said.

A military expert described the project as the biggest by the after development of the Tejas military aircraft.

"We have done the preliminary design. We have also been in discussion with the Air Force and the Navy. The 10-12 tonnes category will have two basic structures on similar platforms. The naval version will have different dimension compared to the one for the Army and the Air Force," Madhavan said on the proposed mega project.

"Like the LCH (Light Combat Helicopter) we developed from the Dhruv platform, a similar variant of 10-12 tonnes category can be produced to make it an Apache equivalent," said Madhavan.

The helicopter will be powered by twin engines and will feature blade folding option for ship deck operations. The planned roles for the helicopter will be to support air assault, air transport, combat logistics and combat search and rescue. The chopper will also have a very superior weapons package.

Madhavan said the helicopter will have a huge potential for export.

The Mi-17 helicopters make up the backbone of the IAF's helicopter fleet and they are planned to be phased out by 2032.

The HAL's product range includes a number of helicopter like the LCH (Light Combat Helicopter) and multi-role ALH (Advanced Light Helicopter) and Chetak choppers.

India is one of the largest importers of arms and military platforms globally. The government has been focusing significantly on promoting defence indigenisation by taking a slew of reform initiatives including liberalising FDI in defence sector.

The Indian Air Force is procuring a total of 22 Apache Guardian attack helicopters from aerospace major under a multi-billion dollar deal. Additionally, the Army is procuring six Apache helicopters along with weapons systems, a deal for which was sealed during US President Donald Trump's visit to India last week.
Haze shrouds Hanoi sky over Pham Van Dong Street, Cau Giay District, in the morning of December 13, 2019. Photo by VnExpress/Gia Nghia.

Hanoi has become the worlds seventh most polluted capital city, even worse than Beijing, a new IQ AirVisual report says.

The citys worsening air quality saw its average PM2.5 level last year rise to 46.9 micrograms per cubic meter of air from 40.8 in 2018, according to a report released this week by Switzerland-based air quality monitor, IQAir AirVisual.

The 2019 World Air Quality Report says that for the first time, Hanoi has overtaken Chinas Beijing, the worlds most suffocating capital just a few years ago. The Chinese capital city has improved to ninth on the list with its average PM2.5 level at 42.1.

IQ AirVisual, which uses data from governments, companies, civic society groups and ground-based and real-time monitoring stations, surveys air quality in over 3,000 cities globally by measuring PM2.5 levels.

The capital city ranking compares annual PM2.5 averages in 2019 among 85 capital cities available in the report's dataset.

India's Delhi was the world's most polluted capital city with its PM2.5 level reaching 98.6 micrograms per cubic meter, followed by Bangladesh's Dhaka (83.3) and Mongolia's Ulaanbaatar.

PM2.5, also described as super fine particles, is a fraction of the width of a human hair, which is released from vehicles, industry and natural sources like dust. The World Health Organization (WHO) Air Quality Guideline recommends an annual mean exposure threshold of 10 g/m3 to minimize health risks.

Hanoi ranked 150th in the list of worlds most polluted cities and was the sixth most polluted city in Southeast Asia.

Meanwhile, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnams southern metropolis, ranked 609 in the cities list.

HCMC has its seen air quality improve over the past year, with the average PM2.5 level reaching 25.3 micrograms per cubic meter of air. In 2018, the southern Vietnamese metro was the 15th most polluted city in Southeast Asia, with PM2.5 level soaring to 26.9, more than two times the WHO threshold.

Vietnam ranked 15th in the list of 98 countries and territories with the worst air quality in the world with an average PM2.5 level of 34.1 and second in Southeast Asia behind Indonesia.

"Vietnam's rapid development and urbanization poses severe challenges to managing its PM2.5 pollution," the report said.

"Rapid development coupled with weak emission standards for power plants, vehicles and industries and a high and rising share of coal in power generation contribute to high air pollution levels in bigger cities. Vietnam's coal consumption doubled and oil consumption increased by 30 percent over the past five years," the report said.

Questionable data

Pham Hai Duong, an official at Hanoi's Environmental Protection Agency under the citys Department of Nature Resources and Environment, dismissed IQ AirVisual ranking as "inadequate."

"To date, we are not aware of any comprehensive study or assessment by a prestigious environment agency on city pollution ranking. The reason is each city has its own monitoring system with distinctive equipment and methods. The meteorological conditions of different cities are also very different."

To compare cities' pollution levels based on monitoring data, there needs to be a consistent dataset, he said.

Nguyen Thuong Hien, deputy head of the Vietnam Environment Administration, said foreign agencies' data on Vietnam pollution should be perceived with doubt.

Hien said at a meeting last week that there are currently lots of air monitoring systems operated by different foreign organizations in Vietnam, and no one can make sure that these devices and systems are precise.

He recommended that the public turn to government-run agencies for "official and precise" air quality data.

Hanoi is operating 11 air monitoring stations run by the city's Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and plans to add 70 more this year.

Worsening air pollution in Hanoi and HCMC, Vietnam's two biggest metropolises, has become a top concern in the country of 94 million people, making headlines repeatedly.

Officials have said the low quality of air in the cities is caused by construction, a growing number of cars and motorcycles and heavy industry, including steel works, cement factories and coal-fired plants.

The Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Tran Hong Ha, last year called for urgent measures to reduce air pollution, from improving monitoring system to ending people's use of coal stoves.

Research done by Vietnamese experts showed that Vietnam suffered between $10.8- $13.2 billion worth of economic losses associated with ambient air pollution each year, equivalent to about 5 percent of the countrys GDP.

Vietnam ranked 4th in the number of pollution-linked deaths in the Western Pacific region, with an estimated 71,365 Vietnamese people losing their lives to pollution, including 50,232 to air pollution in 2017, the latest year for which data was available, according to the Pollution and Health Metrics report by the Global Alliance on Health and Pollution last year.
Goodbye, up-close and personal campaigning. Hello, fly-by rallies.

Up to now, the Democratic presidential contest has been a series of discrete events held one after the other in a single - which is to say manageable - locale: Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and, on Saturday, South Carolina, which gave Joe Biden the big victory he desperately needed.

Say what you will about how accurately, or not, those states reflect the rest of America. From here on, it's largely a nationwide contest, starting on Tuesday, when 14 states from California to Massachusetts vote.

But before the Democratic race scatters to all corners, here are five takeaways from election day in South Carolina:

-Biden's not dead yet

ADVERTISEMENT

For weeks he clung to hope, a victory in South Carolina, like a drowning man grasping at a life ring.

Some of it was an excuse - malarkey, as Biden might put it - to explain away cringe-worthy performances in Iowa and New Hampshire. Just wait, Biden said, for the real contests in Nevada and, especially, South Carolina. (As though his earlier exertions were all for show.)

He didn't just win Saturday; it was a blowout.

Black voters, especially older blacks, have been the bedrock of Biden's support, and they came through in a big way, making up well over half the electorate and backing him overwhelmingly over Bernie Sanders, the national front-runner.

The week leading up to Saturday's primary was probably the best of Biden's presidential campaign. (Make that campaigns; this is his third try for the White House, and South Carolina is the first state he has ever won.)

He finished second in Nevada's caucuses, turned in a strong debate performance Tuesday and Wednesday received the endorsement of Rep. James E. Clyburn, the highest-ranking black member of Congress and a titan of South Carolina politics.

The downside of Biden's all-or-nothing focus on South Carolina was little time or money spent in the swarm of states that vote in three days; former New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, in particular, has invested an extraordinary sum on Super Tuesday. (The billionaire was not on the ballot Saturday.)

Biden's hope is that his victory slingshots him forward and offers a particular boost in four contests - Alabama, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia - with similarly large black voter populations.

ADVERTISEMENT

At the least, Biden has lived to fight on.

-Sanders improves only a bit

In 2016, Vermont Sen. Sanders was shellacked in South Carolina, losing to Hillary Clinton by a whopping 48 percentage points. He received only 14% of the black vote, a harbinger of what followed as Clinton capitalized on strong black support to sweep the South and put herself on an irreversible path to the Democratic nomination.

A week ago in Nevada, Sanders won more than a quarter of the black vote, most of the white vote and, by a huge margin, the Latino vote. His performance Saturday in South Carolina was less impressive; he won just 15% of the black vote.

The state was never crucial to Sanders' strategy, so finishing a distant second was not a major setback. With abundant cash and a coast-to-coast legion of loyal followers, he is expected to do well on Super Tuesday. He even hopes to kill off a pair of competitors by beating Sens. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts in their home states.

But in the first test where black voters made up a large portion of the electorate, Sanders failed to demonstrate a whole lot of improvement from four years ago, despite investing significantly more time and effort. That could be a problem as the race goes on.

-Steyer makes his mark

There has been talk of Tom Steyer someday running for statewide office in California.

ADVERTISEMENT

The San Francisco hedge-fund billionaire gave it a test run, of sorts, in South Carolina, effectively campaigning the past several months as though he were a candidate for governor or U.S. senator.

He spent lavishly - far more than any other candidate - and stumped in the black community as though he were a combination of Moses and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Steyer's reward was a far-off third-place finish - better than his flyspeck performance in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, but a poor enough showing to convince him to quit the race Saturday night.

"This has been a great experience," he told supporters in Columbia. "I have zero regrets."

It's easy to see why Steyer made his exit; he was unlikely to repeat that performance elsewhere.

-Buttigieg agonistes

It has been obvious for months that Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., and the campaign's certified political phenom (make way, Beto!) has a problem with black voters.

How much of a problem has become starkly clear since the campaign left the predominantly white confines of Iowa and New Hampshire.

Buttigieg received just 2% of the black vote in Nevada and about the same in South Carolina, though not for lack of trying.

Unlike Sanders four years ago, Buttigieg has made a concerted effort to appeal to the black community, spending nearly $3 million on advertising, visiting not infrequently and laying out a long and detailed series of political prescriptions - the Douglass Plan - to address systemic racism and improve the health and economic well-being of black Americans.

If a narrow victory in Iowa and narrow loss in New Hampshire weren't enough to bring black voters around to Buttigieg, his fourth-place, single-digit showing in South Carolina isn't likely to help much.

-Republicans stay home

Call it Operation Chaos.

Egged on by President Donald Trump, South Carolina Republicans threatened to flood the polls and wreak havoc on the Democratic side by casting their ballots for Sanders, the incumbent's preferred November opponent, in hopes of tanking Biden's campaign.

The state canceled its Republican primary, part of a nationwide campaign to smooth Trump's path to the nomination, leaving partisans little to do on a crisp and pleasant Saturday but perhaps create a bit of political mischief.

With Biden's handy victory, however, the effort seems to have fallen flat. Republicans made up only 5% of those who cast ballots, according to exit polls.

For their part, South Carolina Democrats hopefully enjoyed their period of political relevancy. The state will almost certainly vote Republican in the fall, as it has in every presidential election since 1976.

---

(c)2020 Los Angeles Times

Visit the Los Angeles Times at www.latimes.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
London, March 1 : The UK is set to reveal negotiating objectives for its trade talks with the US next week amid rising concerns over the National Health Services (NHS) and food standards, the Department for International Trade has said.

The document is expected to set out Britain's "red lines" on some controversial issues, including whether to open NHS, the country's publicly funded healthcare system, to US private companies, Xinhua news agency quoted the Department as saying on Saturday.

There were also rising concerns in the UK that the trade deal will lower barriers to controversial American exports such as chlorine-washed chicken, which was banned in the European Union (EU) in 1997 over food safety concerns but is considered "safe" in the US.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly expressed his ambition for a "massive" trade deal with the US.

Earlier this month, he criticized "America bashers" who take a "hysterical" attitude towards US food.

British International Trade Secretary Liz Truss met US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in London on Thursday.

The two sides reiterated their commitment to get on with negotiating a Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

"The UK stands ready to negotiate a highly ambitious FTA with the U.S. and will publish UK's negotiation objectives very soon," said Truss.

Johnson government's plan to kick off the trade negotiations with the US soon after the beginning of its talks with the EU scheduled on Monday, is also seen as an attempt to put further pressure on Brussels, which has questioned Britain's goal to seek a "Canada-Style" comprehensive FTA.

According to the policy paper revealed by the government on Thursday, the UK will plan for an "orderly exit" from the EU if not enough progress is made with Brussels in the negotiations by June.
Turkish drone strikes in Syria's northwestern Idlib province killed 19 government soldiers on Sunday, a war monitor reported, as tensions soared between Damascus and Ankara. The 19 died in strikes on a military convoy in the Jabal al-Zawiya area and a base near Maaret al-Numan city, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The report came hours after Turkey shot down two Syrian warplanes, in an escalating offensive against the Damascus government in Idlib, where Islamist fighters backed by Ankara pose the biggest obstacle to Damascus seizing back control over all of Syria. Following weeks of violence in the province, Turkey confirmed a full military operation against Russian-backed Syrian forces after 34 Turkish soldiers were killed last week in an air strike blamed on Damascus. However Ankara has insisted it does not want to clash directly with Moscow. "One anti-aircraft system that shot down one of our armed drones and two other anti-aircraft systems have been destroyed, and two SU-24 regime planes that were attacking our aircraft have been downed," Turkey's defence ministry said. Syrian state media said Turkish forces "targeted" two of its planes over Idlib. A rebel group and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, both said the planes had been downed. The situation in Idlib was already volatile as the government supported by Russian air power pressed an assault on the region in a bid to retake the last opposition enclave in a nine-year civil war. The confrontation between the Russia-backed Syrian forces and NATO-member Turkey, which supports Syrian rebels, has prompted worries over a wider conflict and a migrant crisis in Europe similar to 2015. Migrant numbers have already surged along the rugged frontier after Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, seeking to pressure the EU over Syria, said the country had "opened the doors" to Europe. Greece said Sunday it has blocked nearly 10,000 migrants at its border with Turkey. Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar announced "operation 'Spring Shield'" for the first time, adding that it "successfully continues". Turkish forces hit Syrian government positions after Erdogan warned Damascus would "pay a price" for the air strike. Under a 2018 deal with Russia meant to bring calm to Idlib, Turkey has 12 observation posts in Syria -- but several have come under fire from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces. Turkey wants the international community to establish a no-fly zone over Idlib. SANA Syrian state media reported that the government shot down a Turkish drone near the town of Saraqeb, publishing footage of an aircraft tumbling from the sky in flames. Those images could not be immediately confirmed. But Turkish defence ministry confirmed one of its drones was shot down. - Moscow meeting? - Earlier on Sunday, Istanbul police detained the editor-in-chief of the Turkish version of Russia's Sputnik website as its offices were being searched in Istanbul. Three of its journalists were also taken to a courthouse in Ankara for questioning, likely related to a Sputnik article in English claiming that Turkey's Hatay province was "stolen" from Syria. Colonial power France ceded the southern region to Turkey in 1938. The news website later said they had been released. Turkish media said Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin would meet in Moscow on March 5. They already spoke by telephone last week when both expressed "concern" over the escalation. The Russian and Turkish foreign ministers also spoke by telephone on Sunday, Moscow's ministry said, to discuss preparations for the meeting between the two leaders, and the safety of the Sputnik journalists. Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said he "hoped" the meeting would be on Thursday or Friday, which he admitted would be "difficult" but was "important" nonetheless. - Protecting borders - Some 13,000 migrants have amassed at the Turkey-Greece border, including families with young children who spent the night in the cold, the International Organization for Migration said. An estimated additional 2,000 migrants arrived at the Pazarkule border gate Sunday, including Afghans, Syrians and Iraqis, according to an AFP reporter. But as the crowds rushed to enter Europe, Greek police and soldiers blocked 9,972 "illegal entrances" from entering the northeastern Evros region in the past 24 hours, a Greek government source said. The situation on the Greek island of Lesbos grew tenser on Sunday as local people blocked around 50 migrants, including children, from landing their boat after several hours at sea, AFP photographers witnessed. Some also insulted a UN official and attacked journalists and photographers, while later on Sunday, residents set fire to a disused migrant centre. The UN refugee agency spokesman Babar Baloch called for "calm and easing of tensions on the border" as he urged countries to "refrain from the use of excessive force". The developments recalled events in 2015 when more than a million migrants fled to Europe, mainly via Greece, in what became the continent's worst refugee crisis since World War II. EU foreign ministers are to hold an emergency meeting next week to discuss Syria mainly at Greece's behest, the bloc's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Sunday. Erdogan said Turkey, home to some 3.6 million refugees, did not plan to close the borders because "the (EU) should keep its promises". He was referring to the 2016 deal with Brussels to stop the flow of refugees in exchange for billions of euros. burs-raz/gd
Temperatures plunged Thursday with wind chills in the single digits. Some of the penguins at the St. Louis Zoo took it all in stride, as their
For the first time, people overcame the culture of keeping things quiet, he said. They have come out against lies, against hypocrisy, and they are no longer able to hide their anger.

His own career mirrors the growing fury. Rasoulof resorted to allegorical stories in earlier work like White Meadows, so as not to directly confront power, he said. But he eventually felt that was a form of accepting the tyrannical regime, he added.

His more recent films, like Manuscripts Dont Burn, based on the governments attempt to kill prominent writers in the 1990s, are much more direct in its criticism.

Yet his rebellion comes with a price. In 2010, he and the prominent director Jafar Panahi were detained while working on a project related to the 2009 Iranian presidential election and each sentenced to six years in prison. The sentences were later reduced to one year, which neither has served yet. Panahi was banned from filmmaking for 20 years, yet he has made several award-winning movies since.

Rasoulof was held in solitary confinement for eight days and could not communicate with his family, he said. He believed his work could endanger them, so his wife and daughter moved to Germany soon after.

In 2017, his Man of Integrity won the Un Certain Regard Award at the Cannes Film Festival. When he returned to Iran, authorities confiscated his passport, charged him with propaganda against the state and in July sentenced him to a year in prison. (Cannes and others issued a statement condemning the sentence soon after.)
Ashameera Aiyappan By

Express News Service

For several years, the southern film industries were considered to be stepping stones to bigger, far more glitzier Bollywood. But in the past few years, the winds have changed. Comali, Aadai, Jersey, Vikram Vedha, Dear Comradeall these films have remakes lined up in the Hindi film industry, a trend that seems to be been spurred by Arjun Reddys hit remake Kabir Singh. So, has the gap between the north and south finally closed? National Award-winning writer Rahul Ravindran of the Telugu film, Chi La Sow says, Theres been content exchange, right from the 50s.

But somewhere in the mid-90s, our paths diverged. With considerable legitimisation of remakes and transparency provided by social media platforms, the exchange has now become more trackable. Earlier, people used to watch films at festivals and break coconuts saying Im taking this story. But now one cant do that, says Parthiban, whose Oththa Seruppu Size 7 is now in talks for a Hindi remake. Social media has also fastened the turnaround time, says Pushkar of Vikram Vedha. Earlier, when a film had a good buzz here, trade people would talk to their counterparts there saying they should check it out. And this takes a couple of weeks. However now, the buzz begins with social media and translates to mainstream press quickly and that gets noted.

Comali; 2. Dear Comrade

All this interest doesnt necessarily mean that more films are being remade. Pradeep Ranganathan, whose Comali is being remade in Hindi with Arjun Kapoor, says the situation has only changed marginally. More people are now watching Tamil films there, we are watching more of their films and all of this is very prominent. But it doesnt mean creators get to crossover as often as we think. Pushkar observes that while remakes for several films might be announced, not many actually end up being made.Lets put this way. If the inquiry comes from them, the remake moves in a certain direction. If an actor or a big production house is interested, not just individual producers, then it happens smoothly. But, if you try to take your content to Bollywood, it is an uphill task.

Theres also an effective case to be made where stories cross over, but creators dont. The reason is that usually unless it is an established filmmaker, the story rights are held by the producer. Thus, it becomes a matter of choice for the producers who buy the film. After Jerseys release when I heard there was interest in a Hindi remake, I was ecstatic. I wasnt expecting them to ask me to helm it. It was shown to Shahid Kapoor and he was more interested in meeting me and talking to me. But maybe, they felt that the story was personal and thus, asked me to helm the remake, says director Gowtham Tinnanuri. However, Pushkar adds that the producers cant be faulted.

This happens in all industries. The priority will be to localise it and they need to be convinced that the director can get the local flavour right, he says. Theres no denying the newly-invigorated fascination Bollywood has for content from the South. It is safe ground. It has worked in a language, there are higher chances that it will work in another language, if done well, says Rahul. But it is the films quality that decides its fate. Bollywood is open to newer talent.

The buzz will get us interest. But it ends there, as the films content and the quality is what finally seals the deal. If youre just going to tell a story, people wont come to the theatres anymore. It all depends on the quality of the film. As long as you spend what the script demands, and make a quality film, it will reach far and wide, points out Parthiban.
Hello, I am Leonard Dumire, candidate for Midland County Commissioners Court, Precinct 1, and I am asking for your vote in the March 3 GOP primary. I am a Christian and a conservative Republican.

Whey! Got that platitude out of the way. Not that I believe any of those descriptions are negative or insignificant  quite the opposite. In fact, I would say they are paramount and why nearly all the candidates for the Republican primary in Midland County can accurately use them. The problem lies in the fact that the descriptions are used so much that they begin to lose their significance. I actually had a financial contributor, when I sat done with the person say, I know the spill  conservative, Republican, Christian, blah, blah, blah. I want to know what that means to me tomorrow, next month and three years from now? What a great question.

What comes next is a great answer and why you should thoughtfully consider it before you walk into the voting booth on Tuesday.

REPUBLICAN: honor for the rule of law  especially with respect to how it is laid out in the United States and Texas state Constitution. That means also how each level of government is supposed to operate and what their responsibilities are. The constitutional responsibilities of Midland County, as outlined by the Constitution of Texas, are infrastructure and public safety. Infrastructure deals with our roads, along with buildings, water and utility issues within the county. Public safety primarily means our Sheriffs Office, including the jail, but also emergency management and EMS concerns (working in conjunction with the city).

Anything else is smoke and mirrors. Smoke and mirrors can provide a great presentation, but they do not provide for substance and continued, long-term growth and health. Our spending habits for Midland County must be focused, measured and controlled if we are to maintain and sustain the growth we need to provide the necessary tools for the residents of Midland County. We must concentrate of facilitating growth  not dictating its course.

CONSERVATIVE: First of all, I will tell you what I think it is not  status quo  and that includes our methods of doing. One of my former pastors, Mike Benson says, If you always do what youve always done, you will always get what youve always gotten. Our message (as conservatives) is concrete  our methods must be flowing. As a conservative, I will not be moved from the concrete foundations of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness laid out in the Declaration of Independence. Foundations so important that they pre-dates our Constitution. Foundations that have been codified in our national, state and local rules of law. However, the methods of governing that we employ must be flexible enough to, 1) meet the needs of the changing populace and more importantly, 2) encourage greater participation in the process of local governing by more and diverse parties that will be affected by the decisions made by those responsible to represent. I have watched with encouragement as some the newer members of Midland City Council have used a more deliberate approach to making decisions  taking time to learn about a subject before saying yes or no simply because thats how we have always done it or doing it to get along. Getting along is a wonderful thing, and cooperation in governing is important, but not if it continues a status quo that is not focused on the fundamentals of what and who we are elected to represent. I am and will serve as an independent thinker and doer focused on what is the best of the people of Midland County, and particularly the residents of Precinct 1, where I have lived the majority, 33 of my 37 years in the Permian Basin.

CHRISTIAN: This one can be dangerous because it is the one most misunderstood. As mentioned with conservative  I will state what it is not. It is not a political and/or national ideology  those are world-wide perversions of Gods magnificent Grace and mercy given to us all. This grace and mercy motivate and compel me to be better each day; simply because it pleases the Father.

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27.

This compels me to serve on the PermiaCare Planning & Network Advisory Committee to help those with special needs. It compelled me to serve as a substitute teacher for nearly 20 years in MISD. To support local and state programs which help foster children who age out of the state system without stable family support. To support men who are on the frontlines in the battle against Human Trafficking in our area.

And it compels me to want to serve the amazing people of Precinct 1 of Midland County. I will listen to your concerns, without hiding behind any institution or office.

I am Leonard Dumire, and I humbly ask for your vote on March 3.
ANN ARBOR -- The University of Michigan Depression Center will host its 18th Depression on College Campuses Conference this month at the Rackham Auditorium in Ann Arbor. Over 50 universities and community colleges around the nation will have representatives at the conference, organizers said.

This years themes will include diversity, equity and belonging.

The idea is to look at the intersection of identity and student mental health, said Stephanie Salazar, University of Michigan Depression Center outreach and education program manager. This includes sexual orientation, race and socio-economic status.

The schedule consists of six workshops, eight concurrent sessions and three plenary sessions over the two days, March 18 and 19. Resources will be offered by local organizations, including information on counseling centers as demand rises.

Its important to focus on depression on college campuses because we know that a lot of students struggle with the age of onset for a lot of mental illnesses, Salazar said.

Working at the University of Michigan for 11 years, Salazar has seen a large shift in student advocacy when it comes to mental health. When she first arrived, there was only one student organization focused on mental health advocacy. Now, Salazar says shes lost count.

This is a time where students are away from their home support networks and theyre facing different stressors that they may have not traditionally experienced, Salazar said.

Tabbye Chavous, director of the National Center for Institutional Diversity and associate vice president for research at the University of Michigan, will be opening the event at 1 p.m., March 18.

The closing keynote speaker, Jeena Thomas, is operations coordinator and policy specialist for the division of translational research at the National Institute of Mental Health. That part of the conference will be open to the public.

Registration is open until March 19 for professionals for the price of $185. Students can attend for free. Additional prices are available with lunch options.

Cant make it to the conference? The three plenary sessions will be recorded for public access.

More:

Crisis team funded by mental health millage looks to fill gaps

Nowhere to turn: Families struggle as psych beds disappear from hospitals

When a mental illness is fatal: Daughters suicide leads to new mission for mom

A cop killers unchecked mental illness and the lives it destroyed

Immigrant scarred by childhood trauma, losing his parents, copes with anxiety and depression

Severe depression threatened a Michigan teens life. But now she has Levon, an Arabian therapy horse

Finding their voices: Michigan residents confront mental health

Dead cops, dead civilians: The price of untreated mental illness

Justifiable? Police-involved shootings and mental illness go hand-in-hand
The federal government's restrictions on travel due to coronavirus are causing chaos in the lives of Iranians in Australia.

The Morrison government announced new travel restrictions for Iran on Saturday, citing the country's "high death rate" from coronavirus.

The ban, which applies from Sunday, means people cannot travel from Iran to Australia for 14 days. For those in Australia, the travel advice has also been upgraded for Iran to "do not travel".

Pedestrians wearing face masks cross a square in western Tehran, Iran, Credit:AP

Australia recorded its first death from coronavirus on Sunday. A 78-year-old Perth man died in the early hours of Sunday, after being evaucated with his wife from the Diamond Princess ship late last month.
The airline Sun dOr (owned by El Al) will have four flights a week to travel to Tel Aviv between the months of May and October.

Malaga debuted its first direct flight to Tel Aviv back in 2017.

Recent news about Air Europas direct flights to Tel Aviv from April and Qatar Airways daily Malaga flights between in July and August cements Malagas air connectivity with the Middle-Eastern market.
All crew members from a coronavirus-stricken cruise ship off Japan have now disembarked, the country's health minister said.

The crew began leaving the Diamond Princess on Thursday for quarantine ashore after the last of the passengers had departed.

"Including the captain, all crew members disembarked," health minister Katsunobu Kato told reporters late Sunday.

Around 130 people -- including the captain and 98 health ministry officials who were working aboard -- tested negative for the virus as they left the vessel, he said.

They will spend 14 days at government-designated dormitories before being allowed to leave Japan, while the vessel will be disinfected before sailing again.

At least six people who were hospitalised after being taken off the ship have died, including a British male passenger, the health ministry said.

On Sunday a 78-year-old man evacuated from the vessel died at a Perth hospital, becoming Australia's first fatality from the disease.

Japan quarantined the cruise ship after an 80-year-old passenger who disembarked on January 25 in Hong Kong tested positive for the deadly virus.

The quarantine has been heavily criticised after more than 700 people on board tested positive for the virus.

The ship carried about 3,700 passengers and crew members when it reached the port of Yokohama.

Kato said the government "will have to review the whole process", but for now authorities were focusing on efforts to contain the spread of the virus.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A stretcher is moved from an AMR ambulance to the Life Care Center of Kirkland, Washington state, in a file photo. (Jason Redmond/AFP via Getty Images)

2 More Confirmed Coronavirus Cases in Washington State

More Than 50 People Show Illness Symptoms at Nursing Home in King County

Seattle and King County Public Health announced two more COVID-19 coronavirus cases in King County residents, bringing the total to eight in Washington state and six in the county, as officials said that dozens of residents and staff who worked at a nursing home in Kirkland are showing coronavirus symptoms.

In a press release on Sunday, King County and Seattle said the number is expected to rise as testing results are returned.

The two new cases include a man in his 60s who is under care at the Valley Medical Center in Renton and another male in his 60s who was hospitalized at Virginia Mason Medical Center.

Both of the men have underlying health conditions, said King County officials, adding that the Valley Medical patient is in critical but stable condition while the Valley Medical patients status is critical.

Washington state reported the first U.S. death on Saturday, confirming that a male in his 50s died at EvergreenHealth in Kirkland. Three other King County cases include a woman in her 50s who had traveled to South Korea and is recovering at home, a woman in her 70s who was a resident in LifeCare in Kirkland and is hospitalized at EvergreenHealth, and a LifeCare employee in her 40s who is hospitalized in Overlake Medical Center, according to the release.

Healthcare workers transport a patient on a stretcher into an ambulance at Life Care Center of Kirkland in Kirkland, Washington, on Feb. 29, 2020. (David Ryder/Getty Images)

King County also confirmed to local news outlets that dozens of residents and employees at LifeCare, a nursing home, have reported symptoms that could suggest they contracted COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

Dr. Jeff Duchin with King County Public Health said that more than 50 additional residents and staff members have shown illness symptoms, including respiratory symptoms and pneumonia. Additional positive cases are expected.

LifeCare confirmed that a staffer and a resident were diagnosed with COVID-19 while receiving care in local hospitals, reported KIRO7. Current residents and associates are being monitored closely, and any with symptoms or who were potentially exposed are quarantined. As precaution, all visits to the facility from families, volunteers or vendors are not allowed.

King County said it is heading an investigation to identify any people who contacted the six COVID-19 patients, including family, co-workers, emergency responders, and others.

A team of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials are now in King County working along with county health officials as well as the Washington state Department of Health and others.

While the vast majority of cases of COVID-19 are believed to be mild, the virus can be a very serious infection that can lead to death. Protecting the health of our community and supporting the care of health care workers is our top priority, Duchin told local media.

King County officials also confirmed they are aware that a U.S. Postal Service worker was diagnosed with the virus, and they have been included in the cases that were already reported.
In intense clashes taking place in Syrias Idlib province in recent days 21 members of Iran-backed Afghan and Pakistani militias were killed, Qom News an Iranian website has reported.

The report says 18 members of Pakistani Shiite fighters of Zeynabyoun Brigate and three members of Afghan Shiite Fatemyoun Brigade died in battles.

As Iran became deeply involved in the Syrian civil war it organized proxy forces to do the dangerous ground fighting, while Irans Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) officers and advisers largely provided command and support to a variety of forces.

The burial ceremony of those killed took place on Sunday, March 1 in Irans holy city of Qom.

Forces loyal to Syrias strongman Bashar Assad intensified their attacks on Idlib in recent weeks to defeat rebel forces and take back control. Turkey, which provides support, including diplomatic backing to Syrian rebels intervened to defend a disengagement line agreed with Russia and Assad in 2018.

An air attack, which killed scores of Turkish forces on February 27, led to military retaliation by Ankara against pro-Assad forces, possibly including Iran-backed fighters.

Irans ally Hezbollah also lost 8-14 fighters on Friday, based on different estimates, and thousands gathered in Beirut for their burial on Sunday.

Turkey downed two Syrian fighter jets on Sunday as it continued attacks on pro-Syrian forces. However, Ankara reiterated that it has no desire to confront Russian forces in Syria.

With reporting by AFP, AP
Fake land titles could soon be a thing of the past in Uganda as the government, supported by a French mapping company, experiments with a computerised land registry to stop fraudsters in their tracks. But not everyone is convinced.

A nationwide land registry has been in the pipeline since 2010. Ugandan officials have been under pressure to improve transparency of the land sector, and last Thursday unveiled the completion of the Land Information System, the first of its kind in Africa.

"Twenty-two districts are now registered, and we've seen a tenfold reduction in the time it takes to carry out transactions," explains Christophe Dekeyne, the CEO of French company IGN FI, behind the digitisation process, saying it had brought the land ministry's services closer to the population.

Delegates from over 30 countries gathered in Uganda last week to strengthen land rights for citizens and computerise land records to safeguard against fraud.

"All of the data entered into the NLIS [National Land Information System] was subject to very thorough checks and vetting processes to minimise the input of fraudulent titles," Dekeyne told RFI.

Unlike conventional deeds, all new land titles have bar codes making it difficult to forge signatures.

Collusion concerns

There have been numerous cases in the past of conmen impersonating elderly family members or pretending to be local officials to sell fake land titles.

"It's difficult to say now that the NLIS system is 100 percent safe but we are working in close cooperation with experts from the land ministry to verify all the information entered into the system," explains Dekeyne.

Some observers also suspect collusion between conmen and officials.

"A digital land registry does not address the attitude of workers who in Uganda do not live on their salary alone," says Kenneth, who declined to give his full name for fear of reprisal.

Land is a very sensitive issue in Uganda, where the majority of people still rely on agriculture for their livelihood. And the country has suffered from heated disputes over who owns what.

That could soon change.

High costs

"Everything is registered in the system so in case of conflict, it is much easier than before to issue or print any document related to a conflict," comments Dekeyne.

However, getting onto the land registry remains a challenge for residents in remote areas.

"If you want to register, you have to bring a surveyor and it's expensive," continues Kenneth, referring to the high surveyor fees, which can cost as much as 3 million Ugandan shillings or over 700 euros.

French CEO Dekeyne hopes the money raised from the Land Information System will go towards covering some of these costs.

"Uganda invested 70 million dollars in the system, it has now got back 195 million," he said, adding, "It is now their policy to adjust services to the different category of people in Uganda."
michael barbaro

From The New York Times, Im Michael Barbaro. This is The Daily. Today: Joe Biden scores a lopsided victory in South Carolina, prompting Pete Buttigieg to drop out and potentially resetting the race for the Democratic nomination. Alex Burns on how Biden did it, and what his victory could mean for Super Tuesday. Its Monday, March 2. Alex, lets talk about what happened on Saturday night. Ill tell you what happened to me. The polls closed at 7 p.m., meaning thats when the results were supposed to start trickling in.

archived recording (george stephanopoulos) Good evening. We are coming on the air now with breaking news in the race for the White House.

michael barbaro

And I went to The Times homepage and the race had already been called.

archived recording 1 It is now 7 oclock on the East Coast, and the Fox News desicion desk can now project  archived recording 2 CBS News projects  archived recording 3 CNN projects that Joe Biden is the winner in South Carolina.

michael barbaro

Which is a little strange.

alex burns

Well, thats what happens when theres really not much suspense involved on election night.

[music]

archived recording The fact that we could make a projection right as the polls closed, its going to be a significant win for the former vice president.

alex burns

We only see it in races where the people who make these analyses and assessments 

archived recording This is overwhelming what were looking at. We have talked 

alex burns

 believe that there is really virtually no doubt at all about the outcome, and, in fact, where the outcome looks like its going to be really lopsided in the direction of one candidate.

archived recording Numbers coming in, the raw vote total. But we can project that it is going to be big. Itll be dominant.

alex burns

This was one of the biggest victories weve seen for any candidate in this campaign.

archived recording This was a blowout. And Biden is winning in almost every category.

alex burns

Biden carried the state by almost 30 percentage points, Bernie Sanders way behind with about 20 percent. Third place candidate Tom Steyer with 11 percent, and nobody else in double digits.

joe biden

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, South Carolina! [CHEERING]

michael barbaro

Dominant, dominant, dominant win.

joe biden

Thanks to all of you, the heart of the Democratic Party, weve just won, and weve won big because of you. [CHEERING]

michael barbaro

I want to break down exactly how Biden won so big. What actually happened in South Carolina in terms of who showed up? And for which candidate?

alex burns

So South Carolinas primary electorate on the Democratic side is always majority African-American. And Biden carried black voters basically in every age group, especially older black voters, who he carried by an enormous margin. When you look at black voters who were younger, its somewhat more even  its a lot more even than with Bernie Sanders. But Bidens still very much holding his own, which is usually not the case with Joe Biden and young voters. We also saw higher turnout, higher participation in the Democratic primary among suburban, moderate, white voters in South Carolina. They also favored Joe Biden. This was not a situation of the kind weve seen in other states where Biden does very, very well with African-Americans, much less well with white voters. In South Carolina, you were looking at an electorate that was largely African-Americans and moderate whites. And those two groups are very, very Biden friendly.

michael barbaro

So lets start with the black vote. We had talked on Friday about how black voters have tended to align behind a single candidate  behind Barack Obama, behind Hillary Clinton  which helps explain why the black vote can become so decisive. But there was talk this year that there would be a more fragmented black vote, particularly along generational lines. It sounds like thats not exactly what happened.

alex burns

Well, its not what happened in South Carolina. Bernie Sanders did not do a whole lot better with black voters in South Carolina this time than he did four years ago. And the question going forward is going to be whether Sanders can improve upon his performance with African-Americans outside the South in a way that right now it doesnt look like he is doing in the South. Its a more conservative black electorate in the South, although African-American primary voters everywhere do tend to be more moderate.

michael barbaro

And what is the significance of that high rate of white suburban turnout for Joe Biden?

alex burns

If Joe Biden is going to end up as the Democratic nominee, it has always been clear that he has needed to join his strong support with black voters with a couple other big constituencies in the Democratic Party, including a good chunk of white voters. He has so far done far better with less educated, lower income, and older white voters than with the sort of suburban soccer mom white vote that probably characterizes a lot of these suburban areas. If he can going forward think about the suburbs outside of large cities as places where he can do really well, and join that with his support from less affluent and perhaps more rural areas, as well as heavily African-American parts of the electoral map, thats actually a pretty encouraging picture for Joe Biden nationally. He has been trying to make the case to Democrats in this race that he is the candidate who is best equipped to reassemble the coalition that has won them such a series of electoral victories in the Trump era, in the 2018 midterm elections, when Democrats pieced together strong turnout among their core base constituencies with moderate voters in those suburbs. If Biden can, week after week, point to the results of primary elections and say, look at what Im doing. Its what we did in the midterms. Its what we need to do in November. That gives him a strong moral case to make for the nomination.

michael barbaro

So Bidens basically saying, think of me like these House freshmen in the purple districts who won in 2018 and helped the House flip to Democrats.

alex burns

Right. And in South Carolina we saw the first real glimmers of hope that he might be able to do that.

michael barbaro

Mhm.

alex burns

The question is whether South Carolina is a turning point. And now that there has been a big win for a moderate candidate in a diverse state, whether that triggers a coalescing of moderate constituencies across the political map, or whether we are still going to see Bernie Sanders recording victory after victory on the strength of his very intense, hardcore coalition on the left, while the moderate vote remains splintered. Because in South Carolina, the moderate constituencies are really, really well aligned for Joe Biden. He is deeply familiar with the politics of South Carolina, has decades-long relationships with many of the most important political figures in the state. Hes not going to be able to say that everywhere. And what we will see as the primary proceeds is how much what we saw in South Carolina is a result of Joe Bidens distinctive relationship with that state. And you can easily see the race reverting to the pattern that weve seen in other states so far, where Bernie Sanders has his very energetic plurality coalition, and Joe Biden is still jockeying for support against folks like Klobuchar, to some extent Warren, and, as of the next round of primaries, Mike Bloomberg.

[music]

Bernie Sanders has a huge head start organizationally, financially in a lot of the contests around the country. He has had the momentum from Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada at his back. Biden needs to turn around his campaign in a very, very short period of time. Its not impossible by any stretch, but I dont think that anybody close to Joe Biden looks at him today as anything besides something of an underdog.

michael barbaro

Mm. Well be right back. So Alex, lets talk about how all of this helps inform whats going to happen tomorrow, Super Tuesday. 14 states are going to vote on the same day. And if Im not mistaken, something like 30 percent of that electorate will be African-American. First of all, what do you think matters about what happened in South Carolina in terms of what might happen on Super Tuesday?

alex burns

So the Super Tuesday map is enormous and enormously diverse. And there are states like South Carolina, where black voters could end up playing a decisive role. Up to this point, we have seen that electorate divided between a couple different options, most importantly between Biden and Bloomberg.

michael barbaro

And why are they choosing between Biden and Bloomberg?

alex burns

Well, especially older African-American voters entered this primary season really favorably disposed towards Joe Biden. You had this enormous reservoir of goodwill based on Bidens service as Barack Obamas vice president. And then he had a bunch of really weak debates. And he got clobbered in Iowa, and he got clobbered even more in New Hampshire. And suddenly, voters across the board, including African-American voters, started to wonder, is this guy really the strongest option for the general election? And at exactly the moment that those doubts were starting to really percolate in earnest.

archived recording A great president, and an effective mayor. Leadership that makes a difference. archived recording (barack obama) Hes been a leader throughout the country for the past 12 years, Mr. Michael Bloomberg 

alex burns

Mike Bloomberg shows up with $500 million in television ads, many of them showing him side by side with Barack Obama.

archived recording (barack obama) I want to thank the mayor of this great city, Mayor Bloomberg, for his extraordinary leadership.

alex burns

And talking about his record on issues like gun control that are very, very important to black voters in Democratic primaries. The hope for Joe Biden going into Tuesday is that those voters who were with him at the start, and drifted away, and were drawn in by Mike Bloomberg will look at his own win in South Carolina and at Bloombergs pretty rocky couple weeks on the trail and sort of go home. Right? And to look at Biden and say, you know what? I had my doubts about this guy. But theres a reason I liked him at the beginning. And Im going to vote for him now.

michael barbaro

So lets talk about this white suburban voter that weve been discussing on Super Tuesday. This is someone who will be decisive in states like Virginia. Right?

alex burns

Right.

michael barbaro

And whats the dynamic been there?

alex burns

So this is another constituency where at the start of the race Biden was doing pretty well in those areas. Youre talking about a sort of educated white professional class that certainly isnt interested in Medicare for all, and definitely wants to beat Donald Trump. And if Joe Biden had come into this race as a swaggering, dominant front-runner and had blown away the competition in debates, I think he would be rolling in those areas. Thats obviously not what happened. And for most of the last year, you have seen those voters feel pretty drawn to a sequence of alternatives  Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg, briefly Amy Klobuchar, even Kamala Harris when you look back to last summer. These are people who are looking for a winner. And theyre looking for somebody whos not necessarily super ideological. And there is a hunger, I think especially among a lot of high information white voters, people who follow the news really closely, to sort of glom onto whoever the hot new thing is. That has been Pete Buttigieg for much of this race. Recently you have seen a lot of interest in Mike Bloomberg, people who just feel like they are new and different and look like winners. Right now, Biden has, again, a narrow window to look to those people and say, listen, your choices are me and Bernie Sanders. Who are you more comfortable with?

michael barbaro

I was on the subject of Mike Bloomberg. Ever since the results started to come in from South Carolina, it has occurred to me that Bloombergs original rationale for entering the race was that Biden had to collapse. And he was collapsing. Right? And he was doing very badly in those first few primaries. And the thesis for Mike Bloomberg was, the reason they keep spending all this money is to emerge as the alternative to Biden out of the ashes of the Biden campaign. But there are no ashes at this moment in the Biden campaign. Hes doing quite well. So is this a Super Tuesday in which Mike Bloomberg has no real rationale?

alex burns

Well, were going to find out on Tuesday. I do think his rationale is a lot more strained right now than it was a week or two weeks ago. You know, part of it is about Biden being more resilient than I think a lot of the Bloomberg folks expected. Part of it is about Bloomberg himself having had such a rough couple of weeks on the campaign trail.

archived recording This is how you describe your policing policy as mayor. Quote, We put all the cops in the minority neighborhoods. And you explained that is, quote, Because thats where all the crime is. You went on to say, And the way you should get the guns out of the kids hands is to throw them against the wall and frisk them. Youve apologized for that policy, but what does that kind of language say about how you view people of color or people in minority neighborhoods?

alex burns

Bloomberg had really set himself up as this imposing alternative for moderate voters, and for even non-moderate voters who are mostly just interested in beating President Trump. And a lot of those people saw him on the debate stage and concluded, this guy is actually not so imposing after all.

michael bloomberg

Well, if I go back and look at my time in office, the one thing that Im really worried about, embarrassed about was how it turned out with stop-and-frisk. When I got into 

alex burns

And that probably needed to happen in order for Biden to make the kind of comeback that he is attempting now.

michael barbaro

OK. So tell us about the other key voters that were going to be seeing on Super Tuesday, the other demographics.

alex burns

When you look at the eastern and southern states, it is mostly about the moderate whites and African-Americans that weve been talking about so far.

michael barbaro

Mhm.

alex burns

And then when you start to move further west, thats when Latino voters become extremely important, and Asian-American voters as well. The biggest states on the Super Tuesday map are Texas and California. And if any candidate wins either of those states, and certainly if any candidate wins both of those states, it gives them an enormous claim to lead the Democratic Party nationally. It potentially establishes them with a huge lead in the national delegate count. And right now, the only candidate who looks like theyre in a solid position to win both of those states is Bernie Sanders. Now, there is a strong case to make right now that someone like a Biden, or maybe even a Bloomberg has the chance to pull off an upset in Texas. Thats a state that has a more moderate electorate overall, where Latino voters are more moderate than they are in California, and where you do have a ton of those moderate, white-collar suburbs that are so wary of Bernie Sanders. When you move into a state like California, it is just a much, much more liberal primary electorate from top to bottom. And every poll that we have seen out of California so far has suggested that Bernie Sanders has a pretty solid, and maybe even dominant lead in the state.

michael barbaro

Mhm.

alex burns

So we could end up in a really unusual kind of situation on the night of Super Tuesday, where, for much of the night, it looks like Joe Biden or Mike Bloomberg or another candidate is doing pretty well, because of the makeup of the states that are in the Eastern time zone and the Central time zone. And then as we move closer to the West Coast, suddenly Bernie Sanders leaps out ahead and it becomes clear that actually he is the guy who has had the upper hand all along.

michael barbaro

And thats what we will discuss at 4 a.m. with you on Wednesday morning.

alex burns

Im looking forward to it.

michael barbaro

So Alex, what youre describing, in the broadest terms, sounds like a Super Tuesday evening, in which as we move across the country from east to west, we go from states that are likely to break for moderates, and are more testing the question of Biden versus Bloomberg, than they are Sanders versus all the moderates left in the race. And then we head to states, as we head west, that are likely to break for Sanders and are demonstrating what sort of coalition he has built and how strong its going to be.

alex burns

I think thats basically right. I think in the east there still is the dynamic of Sanders versus all the moderates. And the very fact that there is a realistic chance that Bernie Sanders can win states like Virginia and North Carolina is a testament to just how fragmented the moderate vote has been for most of this race. And it is entirely plausible that from start to finish on Super Tuesday, Bernie Sanders dominates from coast to coast. That moderate voters in the east are split between Biden and Bloomberg, and moderate voters in the west are split between them as well. And Bernie Sanders, by varying margins, with coalitions from 25 percent of the vote to 40 percent of the vote, just dominates the night. That is a real possibility. It is also a possibility that Sanders is going to find that having a hardcore base that makes up about a quarter of the Democratic vote in a lot of these more moderate and diverse states is actually not enough to win in a scenario where somebody, most likely Joe Biden, has emerged as a standard bearer for folks closer to the political middle.

michael barbaro

Thats interesting. So the version of this, Alex, where Sanders essentially walks away with the nomination after Super Tuesday, is the version of this where the question facing voters of Biden versus Bloomberg actually costs both Biden and Bloomberg the win in the east and the south by splitting the vote. The version of this where its much less clear, and theres really no clear winner coming out of this, is if Biden manages to pull together the moderate vote in those places.

alex burns

I think thats right. I think we should think about Super Tuesday in terms of sort of two big questions. The first is, does Bernie Sanders become a dominant front-runner? Does he manage to just roll over the divided moderate wing of the Democratic Party and run up the kind of delegate lead that would make him a prohibitive favorite to go into the Milwaukee convention with a wide lead in the delegate count? If that happens, then everybody else in this race, including Joe Biden, is going to need to really assess what kind of path forward they think they have, and whether its really worth waging a 50-state war against Sanders in order to try to take away the nomination at a convention where Sanders will enter as the clear leader.

michael barbaro

Mhm.

alex burns

If the answer to that question is no  if Bernie Sanders is not an overwhelming favorite after Super Tuesday  then I think the second question is: Is Joe Biden the clear runner-up or the clear alternative to Bernie Sanders? Because that is what has eluded Biden and every other moderate candidate in this race so far, is a moment of clarity that signals to the entire country this is a two-person race between a left-wing candidate and me. Biden hopes that South Carolina has set that process in motion. It needs to come to fruition in very, very short order on Super Tuesday. And then, from there, this narrows to a Biden-Sanders race. And then the campaign moves to places like Michigan and Arizona and Georgia and Florida that will really test the mettle of these two guys as head-to-head candidates in states that are super important in a general election.

michael barbaro

Thank you, Alex.

alex burns

Thank you.

pete buttigieg

Today is a moment of truth. After a year of going everywhere, meeting everyone, defying every expectation, seeking every vote, the truth is that the path has narrowed to a close for our candidacy, if not for our cause.

michael barbaro

On Sunday night, during a speech from his hometown of South Bend, Indiana, Pete Buttigieg said he was ending his presidential campaign because he was concerned about the impact of staying in the race.

pete buttigieg

We have a responsibility to consider the effect of remaining in this race any further. Our goal has always been to help unify Americans to defeat Donald Trump and to win the era for our values. [CHEERING]

michael barbaro

Without mentioning Sanders, Buttigieg said it was time for the Democratic Party to coalesce around a single moderate alternative.

archived recording (pete buttigieg) We need leadership to heal a divided nation, not drive us further apart. We need a broad-based agenda that can truly deliver for the American people, not one that gets lost in ideology. We need an approach strong enough not only to win the White House, but to hold the House, win the Senate and send Mitch McConnell into retirement. [CHEERING]

michael barbaro

Buttigieg was the second Democratic candidate to drop out of the race since the South Carolina primary. Tom Steyer quit the race on Saturday night. Well be right back. Heres what else you need to know today. Washington State has declared a state of emergency after multiple cases of the coronavirus were detected near Seattle, where a man died from the virus, becoming the first U.S. fatality from the epidemic. Researchers studying infections in Washington said that the coronavirus may have been spreading there for weeks undetected, raising the possibility that up to 1,500 people may have been infected.

archived recording (alex azar) We cannot make predictions as to how many cases well have, but we will have more. And we will have more community cases. Its simply just a matter of math.

michael barbaro

So far the United States has tested very few Americans for the virus. But during an interview on Sunday with CBSs Face the Nation, the secretary of health and human services, Alex Azar, said that testing would begin to dramatically expand.

archived recording (alex azar) In terms of testing kits, weve already tested over 3,600 people for the virus. We now have 70  the capability out in the field to test 75,000 people. And within the next week or two, well have a radical expansion even beyond that of the testing thats available. archived recording In Washington State, places that have 

[music]

michael barbaro
The presidency has released the statement below telling Nigerians not to panic over the coronavirus.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how Nigeria announced its first coronavirus case last week. An Italian who arrived in Nigeria last week was diagnosed with the disease and has been quarantined.

The disease has caused about 3,000 deaths globally, the majority in China where the disease originated from.

In a statement by his spokesperson, Garba Shehu, Mr Buhari urged Nigerians not to panic about the news of this first case of Covid-19 in our country, as undue alarm would do us more harm than good.

Read the full statement below.

President Muhammadu Buhari notes with sadness, the recent confirmation of a case of Covid-19 infection in Lagos, Nigeria.

This was despite the ardent efforts of the government regarding preparedness and response measures put in place in our countrys borders and beyond.

President Buhari, however, commends the Federal Ministry of Health and other relevant agencies whose diligence and efficiency enabled the case to be detected, diagnosed and isolated quickly, even while swift measures were taken to identify and follow up on those with whom the index patient came into contact.

The president commends the responses of the Federal Ministry of Health and Governments of Lagos and Ogun States as well as other relevant agencies to the reported incident and calls for vigilance on the part of all citizens and responsible government agencies.

President Buhari urges Nigerians not to panic about the news of this first case of Covid-19 in our country, as undue alarm would do us more harm than good.

Instead, Nigerians should strictly observe the advisories disseminated by the Ministry of Health, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and the World Health Organisation (WHO), on the best way to prevent infection.

This information is being broadcast in all available media by the Federal Ministry of Information.

Garba Shehu

Senior Special Assistant to the President
PORTLAND, Ore.  A long-awaited federal report has rejected the idea of removing four hydroelectric dams on a major Pacific Northwest river in a last-ditch effort to save threatened and endangered salmon, saying such a dramatic approach would destabilize the power grid, increase overall greenhouse emissions and more than double the risk of regional power outages.

The four dams on the lower Snake River are part of a vast and complex hydroelectric power system operated by the federal government in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. The massive dams, built in eastern Washington between 1961 and 1975, are at the center of a years-long battle that pits the fate of two Pacific Northwest species  the salmon and the killer whale  against the need for plentiful, carbon-free power for the booming region.

Environmental groups that have pushed for years for the dams to come down immediately blasted the report released Friday. The three agencies in charge of overseeing the hydropower system recommended an alternative that doubles down on an approach that includes spilling more water over the dams when juvenile salmon are migrating  a tactic already being used.

Rather than seizing this opportunity to heed the publics call for working together for a solution that revives salmon populations, the draft plan is built on the same failed approach the courts have rejected time and again, said Todd True, an attorney for Earthjustice who has represented environmentalists and fishing groups in ongoing litigation over the dams.

Dam removal opponents, however, said the report presented a balanced solution that wont burden ratepayers or disrupt the regions power supply.

Once again, the science has determined that destroying the four lower Snake River dams would have high environmental and economic costs, said Todd Myers, environmental director at the Washington Policy Center, a conservative think tank.

The 14 federal dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers together produce 40% of the regions power  enough electricity to power nearly 5 million homes. They also contain a system of locks that allows cities nearly 500 miles inland access to Asian markets via barges that transit the rivers to the Pacific Ocean. Roughly 50 million to 60 million tons of cargo navigate the Snake and Columbia river system annually.

Yet the dams have proven disastrous for salmon that struggle to navigate past them on their way to and from the Pacific Ocean. Salmon are rare in that they hatch in freshwater streams, then make their way hundreds of miles to the ocean, where they spend years before finding their way back to mate, lay eggs and die.

Snake River sockeye were the first species in the Columbia River Basin listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1991. Now, 13 salmon runs are listed as federally endangered or threatened. Four of those runs return to the Snake River.

Scientists also warn that southern resident orcas are starving to death because of a dearth of the chinook salmon that are their primary food source.

Gillian Flaccus is an Associated Press writer.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday asserted that the Narendra Modi government will not stop until and unless all refugees in the country are granted citizenship under the CAA.

Shah, addressing a rally here, also exuded confidence that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will form the next government in Bengal with two- third majority after the 2021 assembly polls.

Accusing opposition parties, including the TMC, of misguiding the refugees and minorities, Shah said not a single person will lose citizenship as a result of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

"The opposition is terrorising minorities... I assure every person from the minority community that CAA only provides citizenship, does not take it away. It won't affect your citizenship," the home minister said.

"We will not stop until and unless all the refugees are granted citizenship," he added.

Shah also launched the BJP's 'Aar Noi Annay' (no more injustice) campaign in West Bengal at the rally.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has questioned a key component of an agreement between the United States and the Taliban aimed at ending the 18-year war in Afghanistan.

Ghani told a news briefing in the capital, Kabul, on March 1 that his government has made no commitment to free up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners, as set out in the February 29 agreement.

The Western-backed Kabul government was not a signatory of the bilateral U.S.-Taliban deal.

"There is no commitment to releasing 5,000 prisoners," Ghani said, adding that any prisoner release was "not in the authority of the U.S., it is in the authority of the Afghan government."

"This is the right and the self-will of the people of Afghanistan, Ghani added. It could be included in the agenda of the intra-Afghan talks, but cannot be a prerequisite for talks."

There was no immediate response from the United States or the Taliban.

There are an estimated 10,000 Taliban prisoners being held in Afghanistan.

The U.S.-Taliban deal said Washington was committed to the release of "up to five thousand" Taliban prisoners held by the Afghan government and "up to one thousand...prisoners of the other side will be released by March 10, 2020, the first day of intra-Afghan negotiations."

Road Map To Peace

Pursuit of a lasting peace -- which is heavily conditioned on guarantees that Afghanistan won't be used to stage attacks on the United States or its allies -- could face considerable obstacles as Washington tries to shift the burden of peacemaking to the warring Afghan sides with Ghani's government facing its own challenges following his disputed reelection victory.

The long-awaited road map to peace was signed by the leader of the political wing of the Taliban, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, and Washington's chief negotiator, Zalmay Khalilzad, in the Qatari capital, Doha.

WATCH: U.S., Taliban Sign Deal To End War In Afghanistan

In it, the United States commits in the deal to "start immediately to work with all relevant sides on a plan to expeditiously release combat and political prisoners as a confidence building measure with the coordination and approval of all relevant sides."

Ghani told CNN on March 1 that U.S. President Donald Trump had not asked for the release of the prisoners and that the political consensus needed for such a major step did not currently exist.

"The people of Afghanistan need to believe that we've gone from war to peace, and not that the agreement will be either a Trojan horse or the beginning of a much worse phase of conflict," Ghani told CNN.

Earlier, at his press conference, Ghani expressed hope that a seven-day partial truce that helped finalize the U.S.-Taliban agreement would continue until a more permanent deal was reached.

"The reduction in violence will continue with a goal to reach a full cease-fire," Ghani said.

Trump said on February 29 that American troops would "immediately" begin their withdrawal from Afghanistan.

"Today. They will start immediately," Trump told reporters when asked when the soldiers would start to leave.

"No one should be criticizing this deal, after 19 years," Trump said, adding that he will "be meeting personally with Taliban leaders in the not-so-distant future," without specifying.

The agreement lays out a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in return for various security commitments from the insurgents and a pledge to hold talks with the government in Kabul -- which it so far has refused to do.

According to a joint declaration published by the U.S. and Afghan governments, the United States and NATO would withdraw all troops in Afghanistan within 14 months if the Taliban upholds the commitments made in the agreement.

The U.S. military has some 13,000 troops in Afghanistan and plans to immediately cut the level to 8,600, leading up to a potential final pullout in 2021.

Trump told a conservative political conference in suburban Maryland that if the Taliban lives up to its commitments, the war will "be over."

"We cant be the policeman for the world," said Trump, who has often vowed to halt Americas involvement in endless wars around the world.

John Bolton, Trump's hawkish former national-security adviser, wrote on Twitter that "signing this agreement with Taliban is an unacceptable risk to America's civilian population."

"This is an Obama-style deal. Legitimizing Taliban sends the wrong signal to [Islamic State] and Al-Qaeda terrorists, and to America's enemies generally," he said, referring to former President Barack Obama, Trump's predecessor.

Republican U.S. Representative Liz Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney under George W. Bush, also ripped the deal, saying the U.S. administration must explain how it will verify Taliban compliance.

"Todays agreement with the Taliban includes concessions that could threaten the security of the United States," she said.

'Everyone Is Tired Of War'

Many experts have also said that eventual talks, if they occur, between Afghan government officials and the Taliban could prove to be troublesome. Many in Kabul have rejected talks with the extremist group, expressing doubts about its sincerity and ability to control its fighters.

Trump, however, said he was optimistic that such talks will be successful, saying "everyone is tired of war."

"The other side's tired of war. Everybody is tired of war -- a particularly long and gruesome one," he said.

"We've had tremendous success in Afghanistan, in the killing of terrorists, but it's time, after all these years, to go and to bring our people back home."

Meanwhile, chief Taliban negotiator Abbas Stanikzai said, "There is no doubt we have won the war.... This [is] why they are signing a peace treaty."

The Foreign Ministry of U.S. foe Iran, which shares a long border with Afghanistan and has a sizable population of Afghans, said the United States has no legal standing to sign a deal with the Taliban, Reuters reported.



Tehran also reportedly stressed the need for intra-Afghan talks and urged considerations for the interests of Afghanistan's neighbors.

Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammad bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said he considered a prisoner exchange an important confidence-building measure.

The prisoner exchange will be one of the first confidence-building measures, so it will remain a very critical step that we need to push forward, he added.

Afghan National Security Adviser Hamdullah Mohib told Afghanistan's Tolo TV channel that the government had made no commitment to releasing 5,000 prisoners by March 10.

Mohib also questioned the deal's seeming absence of specifics on the Talibans ties to neighboring Pakistan, which Kabul and Washington have long accused of harboring militants who conduct cross-border attacks in Afghanistan.

Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, his chief political rival who has disputed official results of September's presidential election that showed the president winning reelection, have yet to agree on the composition of the government's negotiating team for any peace talks with the Taliban.

With reporting by RFE/RLs Radio Mashaal, AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters, The New York Times, and the BBC
Guests take photos in the main entranceway of the 2020 Philadelphia Flower Show at the Pennsylvania Convention Center on its opening day, Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020. The show will be open until next Sunday, March 8, 2020. Read more

Philadelphias annual Flower Show blossomed this weekend at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, so if youre looking to smell the roses, among other flowers, Riviera Holiday awaits you. Plus, after former Vice President Joe Bidens win in the South Carolina primary yesterday, the 2020 presidential election sets its sights on Super Tuesday. Also, in todays Q&A, we sit down with Mari Schaefer, who finds uplifting and feel-good stories around the Philly region.

 Tauhid Chappell (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

The week ahead

This weeks most popular stories

Behind the story with Mari Schaefer

Each week we go behind the scenes with one of our reporters or editors to discuss their work and the challenges they face along the way. This week we chat with Mari Schaefer, who writes human interest stories for The UpSide, a vertical dedicated to all the good news happening in the Philly region.

What does a typical day look like for you? How do you find stories?

There really isnt a typical day when you are a reporter.

Some days I spend making calls and writing stories. On other days I might be out of the office doing the reporting or meeting sources. And, then there are those days I need to switch gears to respond to another story that has taken priority.

There are a number of different ways I find stories. Mostly, I try to listen to what people in my community are talking about to hear what is important and relevant in their lives. I comb through Facebook groups and Twitter for the same reason. Occasionally, a reader will contact me by email with a good story idea. Sometimes friends will suggest a story that I find interesting. Often, editors pass along stories.

What would you say is different about writing for the UpSide over other sections of The Inquirer?

The main difference in writing for the UpSide is that the stories always have a positive spin.

What is one of your favorite stories youve written recently and why?

I dont really have one favorite story.

I did like writing about a local chapter of Days for Girls, the international group that makes sanitary products for women and girls. We hadnt done that story before, so it was new information for our readers. I did receive a fair amount of feedback from people asking how they could get involved.

I learned a piece of history I wasnt aware of when I wrote about the members of the Keystone Boys Choir and the connection they made with a survivor of Terezin, the Nazi-run World War II concentration camp, who helped secretly publish a weekly magazine, Vedem.

The story of a young couple who were able to keep to their plan of marriage, family and career even after one suffered a debilitating stroke was also a story I enjoyed reporting.

Fill in the blank: Readers should reach out and contact me if _______.

They have an original story that will resonate throughout the region.

You can stay in touch with Mari by following her on Twitter at @MariSchaefer or by emailing her at MSchaefer@inquirer.com.

Through Your Eyes | #OurPhilly

Were marking Miss Ceilys Blues as our next spot to check out. Thanks for sharing @imsuperdope_.

Tag your Instagram posts or tweets with #OurPhilly and well pick our favorite each day to feature in this newsletter and give you a shout-out!

#CuriousPhilly: Have a question about your community? Ask us!

Have you submitted a question to Curious Philly yet? Try us. Were listening to our readers and doing our best to find answers to the things youre curious about.

What were

Eating: Red snapper at African Small Pot. Its one of a variety of dishes that show a connection within the Philly food scene to the African diaspora.

Drinking: The Blackened Bourbon at Bookers, a solid drink muddled with blackberries, simple syrup and bright lime which compliment the added notable barrel spice of Jim Beam Black.

Watching: Renaissance in the Belly of a Killer Whale , 70 minutes of passion, joy, tasty dance battles, hand games, and slam-style spoken word, plus a complex look at gentrification.

Listening to: Pink Sweat$'s 17, a tender love song that has Pink Sweat$ pledging his heart will be as true at 71 as it is at 17. The singer was a standout performer at the 2019 Made in America festival and is following two EPs with a debut album due this summer.

Comment of the week

Wonderful article David and you painted the picture with class. Most of the fans wanted Fultz to succeed in many ways. Supportive of him even when he was traded. Anyone can write an article as they see it and not much can be done. Nature of the beast. spalmereagles, on A Bleacher Report story accuses Philadelphia of hating Markelle Fultz, and gets everything about the city wrong.

Your Daily Dose of | The UpSide

Hospital stays arent typically a fun experience for the sick and ailing, but surgeon Robert Parry has been able to give families and children some solace by leaving heartwarming drawings over patients surgery marks. During a time of stress for families, its nice to be able to help them smile and laugh, Parry said.
The URL has been copied to your clipboard

The code has been copied to your clipboard.

Tajik voters headed to the polls on March 1 to vote in parliamentary elections, widely seen as an uneven contest between President Emomali Rahmon's ruling party and one opposition party. Cases of ballot-box stuffing and other irregularities have been reported.
Paris, March 1 : French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has said the government invoked a special clause in the country's Constitution to push through a controversial pension reform plan without a parliamentary vote.

Speaking at the Lower House of Parliament, Philippe on Saturday announced his decision to use Article 49-3 to make into law the government's pension reform bill, reports Xinhua news agency.

The French goverment has planned to replace the current pension system of 42 regimes by a point-based single one with same rules applying to all.

"I have decided to engage the government's responsibility... Not to end the debate but to end this episode of non-debate in a parliament deprived of its eminent function to make a law," said the Prime Minister.

Philippe blamed the opposition of impeding the draft law's passage through the National Assembly, arguing that after more than 115 hours of debate, lawmakers discussed only eight Articles out of 65, with a huge number of amendments remained to be examined.

It was a strategy of deliberate obstruction by a minority with the sole purpose of preventing the debate, he said.

Members of parties supporting the government hold a majority in the National Assembly.

Under the French Constitution, the Prime Minister can make the government's bill into a so-called "49-3 decree", by passing the vote at Parliament.

The Opposition must propose a no-confidence motion within 24 hours, or the decree is deemed to have been adopted.

Shortly after the government's decision, two motions by the MPs opposing the pension reform bill were filed.

Philippe Martinez, leader of the CGT union, denounced "a deeply outrageous attitude" by the government, pledging to bring people into the streets next week to protest the use of the 49-3.

Opposition against the pension reform endures in France.

After rolling strikes in transport services and country-wide street protests, the battle now seems locked in the Lower House of Parliament, where 41,000 amendments to the draft bill have been filed.
The foreign media respond to the election outcome.

Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled

The outcome of the February 29, 2020 election caught the attention of several foreign media, which wrote about the victory of the Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OLaNO), the party that dethroned Smer after 14 years of leading the polls.

Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement

The New York Times

The long-time governing party in Slovakia suffered a sweeping defeat in national elections on Saturday, paving the way for a new government coalition that promised to fight corruption and promote the rule of law, The New York Times daily commented on the election outcome in Slovakia.

The election, as it put it, was the culmination of one of the most turbulent periods in Slovak politics, while the issues convulsing the small central European country are the same ones coursing through democracies across the former Soviet bloc.

Populists hope to tap into public anger by appealing to an aggrieved sense of nationalism, often competing with progressives who cling to the flag of the European Union as a symbol of a future that brings the Continents nations closer, not further apart, NY Times reported.

BBC

Igor Matovic, a millionaire anti-corruption campaigner with a populist touch, had pulled off a stunning victory, the British broadcaster BBC said. It reminded of the fact that OLaNO will control over a third of parliamentary seats. Matovic is poised to become the prime minister and gain a constitutional majority.

True to form, former prime minister Robert Fico arrived at his partys election headquarters by the back door and left without speaking to reporters  and what was there to say? the broadcaster reported. His party suffered its worst result in a decade of its government; its never recovered from the murder of Jan Kuciak, which took place on its watch.

Commenting on the performance of the far-right Kotlebovci  Peoples Party Our Slovakia (LSNS), it noted the party's result was slightly worse than in 2016, but it still gained 17 seats due to the parliamentary agenda.

Their rise appears to have mobilised liberal voters, but the continued presence of a virulently nationalist and xenophobic party will worry those who thought that at heart, Slovaks believe in liberal democracy, BBC reported.

Reuters

Slovak opposition, led by OLaNO, won an emphatic victory in the countrys parliamentary election, as voters angry with graft routed the ruling centre-left Smer, which has dominated the political scene for over a decade, the Reuters newswire reported.

It describes the movement as a politically amorphous, pro-European Union and pro-NATO movement focused on fighting corruption.

The political shift in the euro zone member state, which has avoided fights with Brussels unlike its central European Visegrad Group neighbours Hungary and Poland, started with the 2018 murder of journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee, Reuters continued, mentioning the revelations during the investigation and the events that followed.

AP

The centre-right populist opposition claimed victory in the parliamentary election in Slovakia, ending the reign of the countrys long dominant but scandal-tainted leftist party that governed on an anti-immigration platform, the AP newswire starts its report on the Slovak election outcome.

OLaNO captured the victory in a move that steered the country to the right and could make a local ally of Frances far-right National Rally party, led by Marine Le Pen, a part of the governing coalition, it added.

The newswire also reminded of the fact that Smer has been in power for most of the past 14 years, and even won the last election after campaigning on an anti-migrant ticket.

But the party was damaged by political turmoil following the 2018 slayings of an investigative journalist and his fiancee, AP reported. In what would be a further blow for Smer, its two current coalition partners, the ultra-nationalist Slovak National Party and a party of ethnic Hungarians looked like they wouldnt win any seats.

Commenting on the potential union of OLaNO and We Are Family of Boris Kollar, an ally of Le Pens party in Slovakia, it said that it is hard to estimate whether their partnership can survive the whole four-year term.

AFP

Slovak voters handed a resounding victory to the centre-right, anti-graft OLaNO opposition party in Saturdays general election, dominated by an angry backlash over the 2018 murder of a journalist probing corruption in the eurozone state, the AFP newswire reported.

It continued that OLaNO leader Matovic galvanised voter outrage over the murder of Jan Kuciak and his fiancee, and the high-level graft their deaths exposed.

Allegedly a hit ordered by a businessman with connections to politicians, the killings have become a lightning rod for public outrage at graft in public life, the newswire wrote.

Commenting on the result of Smer, it reminded that the party lacks obvious coalition partners as it has ruled out teaming up with LSNS.

Bloomberg

The Bloomberg newswire reported that Slovak anti-corruption parties  propelled by lingering anger at the killing of an investigative reporter two years ago  scored an unexpectedly large majority in elections.

It went on to write that the result leaves Slovakia rooted in Europes mainstream, staving off the risk of deviation along the rebellious paths followed by neighbouring Hungary and Poland.

It comes less than a year after voters in the European Union and euro-region member elected their first female president in a rebuke to nationalist and euroskeptic forces, the newswire wrote.

It also reported that Matovic is a divisive character whos squabbled in the past with potential allies, questioning whether he can fulfil promises to work with opposition colleagues to create a stable government.

Hes drawn comparisons with Beppe Grillo, the former comedian who helped found Italys Five Star Movement, Bloomberg wrote.

La Repubblica

The Italian daily La Repubblica brands the result of the election a political revolution in Slovakia.

A new phase begins in the centre of Europe, according to the daily, which labels it anti-corruption and pro-European but also traditionalist and national-conservative, with possible Polish-style homophobic fringes.

Hospodarske Noviny

After the era of the mafia state a new age seems to be starting in Slovakia. Similarly to other countries, it will be a time of political marketing and populism, the Czech Hospodarske Noviny daily reported.

The sweeping victory of OLaNO showed that although Slovaks want to put the ruling Smer aside after 12 years in power, they are driven by emotions and marketing rather than quality programmes presented by other democratic opposition parties.

Slovaks are no exception in Europe; rather, they confirm the rule, the daily wrote.

Idnes.cz

The Idnes.cz news website focused in its report on the responses of Czech opposition politicians, who say the outcome of the Slovak elections is proof that change is possible.

Commenting on the results, Czech Deputy PM and CSSD chair Jan Hamacek said that Slovak voters have redrawn the political map in their country, since the far-right party of Marian Kotleba did not score as much as some polls predicted.

Denikn.cz

The Czech Denik N daily called the Slovak parliamentary election dramatic, pointing to the fact that the results are different from the last polls before the vote, as well as exit polls published after the polling stations closed.

The daily pointed to the large margin between OLaNO and other parties, claiming that it is the first time in the era of independent Slovakia when Vladimir Meciar or Robert Fico did not win the election.

Czech Radio

Igor Matovic, often called a lunatic from Trnava by Smer chair Robert Fico, has become a main star of the Slovak parliamentary election and most likely a future Slovak PM, the Czech Radio broadcaster reported. While Matovic celebrates, other parties contemplate their failure.

The broadcaster put together a list of the five main outcomes of the election, including the end of the Smer era, the sweeping victory of Matovic, the loss of the Liberals, the end to a dramatic rise of the far right, and the lack of Hungarian minority representatives in the parliament.

Respekt

In an opinion piece, the Czech weekly Respekt focused on the end of Robert Fico and his dark era of dominating Slovak politics. Although it will be hard for the new government, the country was given a big opportunity to change.

After nearly 14 years of power being concentrated in the hands of one person and one party, those serving them are losing their cover and the change that comes may exceed the classic exchange of power.

The king of the 2020 election is Igor Matovic; the Liberals will be missing in the parliament, as well as the Hungarian party, the weekly wrote.
We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on!

Go to form
Statement from the National Public Health Emergency Team

Contact Tracing of the confirmed Covid-19 case, in the East of Ireland, has identified and made contact with a secondary school. The principal, staff and parents of pupils of this school have been notified.Following risk assessment, all pupils and teachers are being treated as close contacts of the confirmed case.

The school will close for the duration of the incubation period, which is 14 days.

All pupils and teachers are being asked to restrict their movements until the end of the incubation period and will receive guidance on the meaning of restricted movements.

Public health doctors will actively follow-up with all students and teachers on a daily basis over the coming 14 days.

Dr. Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer with the Department of Health, said: Contact tracing has assessed that close contacts of this patient includes pupils and teachers of a secondary school. Public health doctors are in direct contact with pupils, their parents and the staff involved.

"Patient confidentiality in this case, and in all cases, should be respected. The Department of Health will provide updated information as necessary.

The Department of Education said: The Department of Education is available to assist the school in any way necessary. The Departments of Education and Health are in regular contact. The closing of this school was a decision made on public health grounds after risk assessment deemed it appropriate. All other schools will remain open. The Departments will continue to communicate with all schools on this issue.

Covid-19 is spread through close contact with an infected persons body fluids (e.g. droplets from coughing or sneezing), or by touching surfaces that an infected person has coughed or sneezed on.

The general public is advised to follow advice from the HSE and the Health Protection Surveillance Centre to protect their health.
A 46-year-old woman was arrested early Saturday morning for stabbing a man multiple times, according to New Holland Police Department.

Kayanna Brown was charged with aggravated assault, police said. Brown was transported to Lancaster County Central Booking to await arraignment.

Police said they were dispatched at 4:25 a.m. Saturday to the 500 block of East Main St. in New Holland Borough. When they arrived, officers said they found a man stabbed multiple times. He was taken to a nearby hospital.

Authorities said they didnt know the extent of his injuries.

New Holland Police Department is investigating the incident. Additional information is expected to be available on March 2.

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.
Washington: US President Donald Trump on Saturday (March 01) praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling him a 'great guy' who is loved by his countrymen.

Terming his recent visit to India 'worthwhile', President Trump, while addressing a rally in South Carolina, a southern-eastern US state, also quipped that he would never be excited again about crowds after having addressed over 1 lakh spectators in Ahmedabad's Motera Stadium earlier this week.

"I was with the Prime Minister of India, Modi. Great guy, loved by the people of India. And we had an amazing thing. And I went in, and here's the problem. This is a big crowd. And normally I like talking about my crowds because I get the crowds like nobody, but I just got back from 140 or 50 or 60,000 people and now I'm coming here," President Trump said.

"I may never be excited again about a crowd after going to India. Think of this, they have 1.5 billion people. We have 350, so we''re doing pretty well, I'll tell you what, but I love this crowd, and I love that crowd too. Tell you they have a great love for. They have a great love. They have a great leader, and they have a great love for the people of this country. That was really a worthwhile trip," he added.

Trump, before his India visit, had said that PM Modi had told him that 5-7 million people would line up to see him. The US President, accompanied by wife Melania and daughter Ivanka Trump, headed a high-level delegation as he visited India earlier this week.

During their 36-hour visit, President Trump and the First Lady attended various events and visited two cities, Ahmedabad and Agra, besides the national capital of India.

Upon their arrival at Ahmedabad airport on Monday, the US first couple was accorded a rousing welcome by Prime Minister Modi and lakhs of people who had gathered on the side of the street and at Ahmedabad's Motera Stadium.

Later, the US President addressed the 'Namaste Trump' event at Ahmedabad's Motera Stadium along with PM Modi, where both the leaders had hailed the growing ties between the two countries.

From Ahmedabad, the couple had flown to Agra in Uttar Pradesh to visit the Taj Mahal where the two, holding hands, took a stroll on the lawns. They also posed for a picture at the famed Diana's bench.

In the last leg of their visit, President Trump and Melania visited New Delhi. The US President received a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday morning. He then visited the Rajghat where he paid homage to Father of The Nation Mahatma Gandhi. Following this, he and Prime Minister Modi held delegation-level talks at Hyderabad House during which three agreements were finalised.

The couple wrapped up their visit by attending a banquet hosted by President Ram Nath Kovind on February 25 night.
China, Cambodia to hold joint military training

PLA Daily

Source: Xinhuanet

Editor: Chen Zhuo

2020-02-29 16:02:30



BEIJING, Feb. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese and Cambodian armies will hold a joint military training in Cambodia from March 2 to April 10, a Chinese military spokesperson has said.

Code-named "Golden Dragon-2020," this year's event will focus on joint counter-terrorism combats, said Wu Qian, a spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense.

The joint training, the fourth of its kind, is expected to strengthen strategic mutual trust, cooperation and exchanges between the two armed forces, and enhance their capability in jointly tackling international security threats.

China will dispatch 265 military personnel for the joint training, according to Wu.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Jessica Housby, a business manager, was stunned by the beauty of Shen Yun at the Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre, Aotea Center, Auckland, New Zealand, on Feb. 29, 2020. (Michael Zhang/The Epoch Times)

AUCKLAND, New ZealandJessica Housby, a business manager, was stunned by the beauty of Shen Yun Performing Arts. Housby attended the matinee session at Aucklands Kiri te Kanawa Theatre, Aotea Centre, Feb. 29, 2020.

Im very very happy to be here and actually watching in person. Its amazing to watch what the performers are able to do. Its just seamlesseverything. The music is just perfect. The costumes are breathtaking. The messages are also breathtaking as well, Housby said.

New York-based Shen Yun is the worlds premier classical Chinese dance company.

Two of the dances performed told of the persecution that Falun Dafa practitioners are experiencing in China today. Falun Dafa is an ancient spiritual path that was reintroduced into China in the early 1990s. Its values of truthfulness, compassion and tolerance, and the overall wellbeing that it brought to its followers lead to its enormous popularity. However, it was banned by the communist regime in July 1999 and this was followed by a campaign of persecution that still continues today.

Its just upsetting  with so much persecution happening around the world, Housby said. I think its something that we all need to be talking about so we can stop it from happening, and, hopefully, to try to live more in love and peace, [rather] than fear and anger.

She felt very emotional as she watched and listened to the dance stories about good and evil, and said that it was very important to let people know what was happening. Shen Yuns mission is to revive Chinas 5000 years of traditional culture through classical Chinese dance, folk dance, and music.

Speaking of Shen Yuns mission, Housby said, [It is] very, very important, if we dont want to lose something this beautiful.

She felt Shen Yuns message had an important role to play in todays society. I think that you do need to be in touch with that side of things, otherwise you lose who you are, she said.

Jessica Housby, with friends, at the Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre, Aotea Center, Auckland, New Zealand, on Feb. 29, 2020. (Michael Zhang/The Epoch Times)

Shen Yun Has Grace and Elegance

Annette Gohns, general manager for Auckland University Services, and Carin Napier, senior research fellow, admired the grace and elegance of the Shen Yun dancers.

Gohns and Napier work in a longitudinal study at Auckland University called Growing up in New Zealand that follows 7,000 children from before birth to young adulthood.

Annette Gohns and Carin Napier enjoyed Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre, Aotea Center, Auckland, New Zealand, on Feb. 29, 2020. (The Epoch Times)

Gohns particularly enjoyed the dances depicting the ordeals and challenges of the spiritual group Falun Dafa. It was an actual story where you could really see the reality of the story.

She said it was really important for people to understand that the Falun Dafa practitioners were being oppressed under a communist regime and cannot practice their faith.

Gohns said bringing those values [of Falun Dafa] into the 21st century would help people with issues that they are facing today. I think that those values are really strong and high, she said.

China was previously known as The Land of the Divine. It was believed that Chinese culture came from divine beings. Shen Yun Performing Arts is restoring a culture.

Napier summed up her experience, I think that the orchestra really complemented the whole performance. I think the orchestra was particularly goodamazing and so visually pleasing  lovely to watch, she said.

With reporting by NTD and Diane Rowe.

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.
A newly graduated classroom teacher has an overwhelming task ahead of them. Australia is a culturally diverse nation, and schools are seeing greater participation of students with Indigenous heritage, different faiths, and special education needs.

Those special needs range from developmental impairments and disabilities to disadvantages that influence the development of communicative and social competence, cognitive ability, or literacy and numeracy.

A novice typical classroom teacher, however, commonly completes just one unit in "inclusive education" during their undergraduate study. With this training, it is unrealistic to expect them to cater for the range of diversity found in an average inclusive classroom.

In education, "inclusion" is frequently confused with earlier concepts of mainstreaming and integration. The deficit model, which describes the systems tendency to focus on student weaknesses such as learning disability or cognitive impairment, has long led to tensions between "typical" and special education teachers.
The Chinese tourist market has been the fastest growth area for Irish tourism over the past five years.

IHF president Elaina Fitzgerald Kane said the Chinese market might take a short term hit this year.

We have been making a big push into China. In 2014, we had just over 30,000 Chinese visitors to this country and this trebled to over 90,000 by 2017. We were expecting in excess of 100,000 visitors from China this year with the projection is that this figure will go to 175,000 within five years.

Many Irish hotels have been part of the Failte Ireland and Irish Tourism Board initiative China Ready. This involves promotion of Ireland in China as a holiday destination. Hotels have invested a lot in getting involved in this marketing push into China and worked in creating a Chinese cultural awareness within their hotels and among hotel staff.

However, she said the hotel industry will now have to prepare for the worst. We are in the unknown right now, but we have to to prepare ourselves for the scenario that there will be very diminished if any visitors at all from China this year.

However, like all these things, the coronavirus will pass and the work we have done in marketing Ireland in China will pay dividends in the years to come as the Chinese market will come again.

China is the largest outbound tourism market in the world and Chinese visitor numbers here have been growing at a phenomenal rate and many of these visitors would be regarded as high end spenders.

Ms Fitzgerald Kane said the loss of Chinese visitor revenue will come at a particularly bad time with hotels still grappling with a Vat hike from 9% to 13.5%.

She said the IHF is in ongoing dialogue with the Department of Health and Department of Tourism on getting best advice no how to deal with the current alert.

Our chief executive, Tim Fenn, has been talking to our European counterparts on how hotels in affected areas were dealing with the corona issue and measures that are putting in place when an issue arises.

We feel information is critically important and that is why we have a very open channel with regards to getting best practice from the Department of Health and also to getting the most up to date information on what hotels are doing throughout Europe.

As I said, keeping all our members up to speed on the measures that are being taken elsewhere.
Speaking on the violence in Delhi, the capital of India, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy has said that the Modi government wants to get to the bottom of the conspiracy behind the violence in Delhi. Speaking from a forum in Hyderabad, the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs said that during the last week we have seen disturbances in Delhi.

Journey from Indore to Prayagraj starts, Know schedule

Unfortunately, many innocent people lost their lives and property, including a brave constable. The rumors were linked to violence by political parties, social media and a section of the media.

Kerala: MLAs will be able to chat with speaker online

On this matter, he said that the Modi government is determined to go to the bottom of the truth to reveal the conspiracy, if any, to trigger the riots. Speaking on the question of the CAA, Reddy said, "I will repeat, CAA is not to take away the citizenship of any Indian, but to give citizenship to persecuted religious minorities in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan."

'It is important for india to become five trillion dollar economy' says vice president
By Trend

The plane heading from Baku to Ankara, which returned to Heydar Aliyev International Airport for technical reasons, flew to Ankara at 13:00, Trend reports citing Azerbaijan Airlines.

The captain of flight number J2-003 of the Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL), flying at 10:35 local time from Baku to Ankara, decided to return to Heydar Aliyev International Airport for technical reasons.

At 11:05 Baku time, the plane successfully landed at the airport in the capital of Azerbaijan.





According to preliminary information, the flight was delayed until 12:30.
The coronavirus is currently help wipe sharemarkets both in Australia and overseas.

However, some Australian companies have managed to quite well out of the outbreak.

From funeral company InvoCare to A2 Milk, these are the companies that have profited.

Visit Business Insider Australias homepage for more stories.

The market might be down, but these companies are making a killing.

Despite the coronavirus sparking a broad selloff across the entire sharemarket, some companies are now only holding their ground, they're actually profiting from it.

As investors guess what stocks stand to gain from the potential pandemic, these stocks are defying the downturn.

A2 Milk

On the face of it, A2 Milk perhaps seems like an unlikely candidate to prosper from a pandemic. However, as the coronavirus begins to spark anxiety about the supply and availability of certain products, it makes sense that China, a key market for the milk company, would be looking to stock up on its products, especially its infant formula.

"The company is currently experiencing stronger than expected sales due to the Coronavirus [and] we have upgraded our forecasts," stockbroker Morgans said in a research note supplied to Business Insider Australia.

The ASX-listed company has seen its stock price soar 10% since the beginning of the month as a result of profits jumping more than 20%. The share price ha even continued to lift this week, despite the broader ASX losing more than 7%.

Funeral companies

While the mortality rate for the coronavirus is low, it's obvious it is more likely to claim lives among the older demographic.

Perhaps a little morbid, but the fact that coronavirus may lead to an increase in deaths is one investors are clinging onto, as a wave of buying pushes funeral stocks higher.

InvoCare, which owns funeral 'brands' including White Lady Funerals and Simplicity Funerals, has seen its stock price jump nearly 13% on Tuesday and has hovered around that level since. Interestingly, while crematorium company Propel was trading higher, its share price has now returned to below where it began the month.

Story continues

Make of that what you will.

Health care stocks

Australian biotech giant CSL was the first major stock to appear to do well from the coronavirus, announcing earlier in the month it was pushing into the new area, separate to its work already with influenza.

"Coronavirus is quite different to influenza virus so it is not a core area of focus for CSL or Seqirus. However, we have investigated possible adjacencies in expertise, technologies and facilities that might be able to contribute to the global effort and are pleased to advise that we have partnered with the University of Queenslands COVID-19 vaccine development program," it said in a statement issued earlier this month.

However, CSL cautioned it wasn't a money-making exercise at this point in time.

"In the pre-clinical development stage, this is a humanitarian effort, not a commercial one, and CSL is contributing its support to our partners due to the critical need of this public health emergency," it said.

It didn't stop the market eating up the news, with the stock price climbing around $30 in February before slipping this week.

Other health care stocks that have done well include Fisher and Paykel, which manufacturers respiratory gear. Many however have followed CSL's lead and begun selling off at the end of the month as investors exit equities altogether.

Gold companies (kind of)

You'll often hear when markets take a turn that investors rush to 'safe haven' assets. Chief amongst which is gold.

As the price of gold soars inversely to the stock market, so typically does the stock price of gold companies with it.

Some of Australia's biggest gold miners including Northern Star and Evolution have seen their stock prices rise this month as a result.

However, it's interesting that this week, while the stock market is getting wiped, so too are gold stocks. Newcrest, Australia's largest gold miner, is actually trading at its lowest point since May last year.

The coronavirus, in other words, is causing chaos, on and off the market.
US President Donald Trump said that he would himself meet the leaders of the Taliban in the "not too distant future" and asserted that the 'war against terrorism' should be fought by regional players. The Taliban and Washington on February 29, signed the historic Afghan peace deal, which conditionally foresees the withdrawal of US troops from the region. Hours after the peace deal to put the 18-year-old US war in Afghanistan to an end, Donald Trump said that he would 'personally meet' with the Taliban leaders. Further stating that he 'hoped' that the Taliban would fight terrorists, including ISIS and break ties with Al Qaeda, that previously took refuge in the country.

The US President said, "I'd like to congratulate all of those people who have worked for so long on the endless war in Afghanistan. There has not been a moment like this. We have had successful negotiations. Everybody is tired of war. I'll be personally meeting Taliban leaders in the not-too-distant future. We will be very much hoping that they will be doing what they say they are going to be doing, they will be killing terrorists."

READ| Donald Trump calls Osama bin Laden, Hamza "tall, very handsome"

Donald Trump had stirred a storm in September last year after he canceled a secret weekend meeting at Camp David with the Taliban and Afghanistan leaders. Trump received immense flak for planning a 'secret meeting', as it would mean the US president was ready to host members of the Taliban at the presidential retreat in Maryland. It came mere days prior to the 9/11 anniversary.

US-Taliban peace deal

In a historic move, US peace envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad and senior Taliban leaders Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar signed the deal in Qatar's Doha on Saturday. Mullah Baradar was released from a Pakistani prison in October 2018, after he was arrested in Karachi in 2010. Two unnamed Pakistani intelligence officials also confirmed that Mullah Baradar was freed "after high-level negotiations," AP reported.

The US military, as per the deal agreement, will leave Afghanistan within the next 14 months, if the Taliban upholds its commitments that the Afghan territory will not be used for terror activities to target the US and its allies. The deal lays the groundwork for negotiations between the democratic government in Kabul and the armed group Taliban. The US has even agreed to lift sanctions against Taliban leaders by August. Washington and Kabul further agreed with the Taliban to exchange prisoners of war by March 10.

Diplomats from the Afghanistan, United States, India, Pakistan and other members of the United Nations gathered alongside the Taliban representatives in Doha's Sheraton Hotel on Saturday. The US invaded Afghanistan in 2001 after the 9/11 terror attack, wherein the Taliban was accused of harbouring Al Qaeda leaders.

READ| Donald Trump announces that Taliban peace negotiation is "dead"

READ| Trump's narration of Baghdadi "whimpering & crying" finds no evidence
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-29 23:13:23|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

A staff member disinfects a workshop at Haoshou Garments Co., Ltd. in Jinjiang City of southeast China's Fujian Province, Feb. 20, 2020. (Xinhua/Jiang Kehong)

More than 66 percent of 23,715 merchants on Alibaba's major e-commerce platforms of Taobao and Tmall expressed optimism about future activity in 2020.



HANGZHOU, Feb. 29 (Xinhua) -- Despite the economic impacts of the novel coronavirus outbreak, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) across China remain optimistic about business prospects, according to a survey by Alibaba-backed research unit.

More than 66 percent of 23,715 merchants on Alibaba's major e-commerce platforms of Taobao and Tmall expressed optimism about future activity in 2020, despite short-term setbacks such as declines in orders and customers, delivery delays and tight cash flows caused by the outbreak, showed the survey.

The online survey was conducted from Feb. 5 to 7 by the Ali Research Institute and the China Household Finance Survey and Research Center of Southwestern University of Finance.

The survey on business and economic recovery prospects shed light on the enduring entrepreneurial spirit of the small-business sector, which has been hardest hit by the epidemic, said Luohan Academy, also run by Alibaba, in a research report.

Over 90 percent of the respondents said they expected to suffer losses from the outbreak, but nearly 90 percent stated that they would not cut jobs in 2020, even with increased financial pressure.

According to the survey, disrupted logistics and distribution channels were the main causes of delays to the resumption of business operations and production. Other pressure came from rent, labor costs, interest on loans, material backlogs and virus-prevention costs.

Luohan Academy said it was crucial to relieve MSMEs' cost burdens by offering reduced fees and accessible financing options, and providing them technological infrastructure to navigate obstacles presented by the virus.

Researchers noted that economic recovery was closely linked to the return of workers, including about 170 million migrant workers, to their jobs following a Lunar New Year break prolonged by health concerns.

Luohan Academy said the swift and safe return of workers to their posts should be a priority. In addition, the ongoing maintenance of a healthy work environment was key to ensuring solid and sustained recovery for businesses and the economy. 
City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, a former high school teacher who represents parts of northern Manhattan, said that he saw the two cases as completely separate. He cautioned against jumping to any larger conclusion.

When you have something like this, theres always concern but I feel its an isolated case that doesnt reflect the environment of Barnard, Mr. Rodriguez said.

The stabbing that involved Ms. Jones, according to the police, took place in Rahway, a small town about 20 miles southwest of New York City. According to an affidavit, on Feb. 16, the mother and daughter began arguing at around 7 a.m. about Ms. Joness living situation and going back to school.

A second argument broke out in kitchen later that day at around 3 p.m., according to court documents. A man who was in the home during the incident told the authorities he heard the elder Ms. Jones yell that her daughter had cut herself and needed to go to the hospital, according to the affidavit.

The struggle continued several minutes later, the man told police, when he heard what sounded like dishes breaking in the kitchen area. The man told investigators that about 20 minutes later he saw the younger Ms. Jones running toward him, yelling, She tried to hurt me, according to court records.

After making his way to the kitchen, the man told police he found Inell Jones lying on the kitchen floor, bloodied and with a knife nearby. Twenty minutes went by before he was able to calm down the younger Ms. Jones so they could call the police, according to the court records.
The advertised turnaround at Bombardier Inc. is nothing of the kind. Investors should be wary of a promised upturn in the fortunes of this humbled former industrial giant.

Bombardier says it has put the finishing touches on its five-year turnaround  a long-running asset liquidation, in fact, and not a strategic turnaround plan  with its Feb. 17 announced sale of its rail division to Frances Alstom S.A. for about $9 billion.

With the sale of the rail division, Bombardier Transportation (BT), Bombardier is finally a lean enterprise focused on its sole remaining asset, business jets.

It can use the proceeds from the BT sale to pay down its onerous debt load, and is at last poised for consistent profitability as a pure-play maker of business jets.

In announcing the Alstom deal, Bombardier CEO Alain Bellemare began his victory lap, declaring the beginning of a new and bright chapter for the company.

But the stock market isnt buying that story. Bombardier stock, which had already lost nearly 75 per cent of its five-year peak 2018 value, fell even further on the Alstom deal news, by a hefty 15 per cent.

And with good reason.

Bombardiers future is still riddled with profound uncertainties, including one rather unsettling question: Is the company selling the wrong division?

The problem with selling BT

Bombardier Transportation is the larger and more profitable of Bombardiers two remaining divisions. Indeed, BT is among the most profitable of the worlds leading rail-equipment makers.

Siemens leads the pack in operating profit margins, at 11 per cent. BT is next, with an impressive 8.7 per cent. Alstom is a laggard, at 7.1 per cent.

In the past four years, BTs profits have grown significantly faster than those of Bombardier Aviation (BA), the business-jet division.

BT boasts average annual growth in EXIT (earnings before interest and taxes) of 9.6 per cent since 2016. By contrast, annual EXIT growth at BA has been a miserable 0.5 per cent in that period.

Bombardier Aviation has been losing market share for years.

From a peak of just over 30 per cent in 2008, BAs market share has fallen to 18 per cent, a tad above Gulfstream (16 per cent). The market leader is Textron Inc. (Cessna, Beechcraft), with about 25 per cent, according to 2018 statistics from the General Aviation Manufacturers Association.

The outlook for trains versus planes

World demand for passenger rail equipment is almost inexhaustible. And BT is one of a mere handful of enterprises able to satisfy it.

The public transit systems BT designs, builds and maintains on every continent are increasingly seen as crucial in the fight against climate crisis.

They are also prominent in the urban-renaissance movement worldwide to make cities more livable by removing GHG-emitting vehicles from the streets.

By contrast, aviation is a target of environmentalists and their plane shame campaigns. And the kind of elite luxury aircraft in which BA specializes are acutely vulnerable to environmental backlash.

The global business-aircraft sector shows no signs of breaking out of a years-long slump.

The cash demands of Bombardier Aviation will be considerable. As rivalry intensifies in a stagnant market for business aircraft, Bombardier will be compelled to lavish development funds on the aging products in its lineup, notably its Challenger brand.

And BA must contend with formidable competition.

BAs chief rivals are owned by deep-pocketed aerospace and defence contractors, including Textron, General Dynamics Corp. (Gulfstream), Boeing Co. (Embraer) and Dassault Aviation S.A. (Falcon).

A debt that wont go away

The long-running crisis at Bombardier is centred on its unmanageable debt load of $12.4 billion.

Securities analysts believe that a sale of Bombardier Aviation would fetch about $9.8 billion for Bombardier. The proceeds could be used to wipe out more than two-thirds of that debt.

By contrast, the $9-billion headline sale price of BT actually works out to net proceeds to Bombardier of as little as $5.6 billion.

BA is wholly owned by Bombardier. But BT is about one-third owned by the Caisse de depot du Quebec, the giant pension fund manager.

The Caisse will reap one-third of the BT sale proceeds. And settling BT pension obligations will take as much as $1 billion more.

Which means the new Bombardier would still be saddled with an estimated $3.3 billion in debt, supported by a notoriously volatile private-jet business. As a weak player in that industry, the new Bombardier would be takeover bait.

And that might be what Bombardier has in mind  the sale of its last remaining business.

Last year, Bombardier commenced talks for selling BA with Textron and U.S. private equity giant Carlyle Group. BAs ultra-long-range Global 7500 jet, one of the most technologically advanced business planes in the skies, would be an ideal fit for a Textron overweighted with slower, smaller and lower-margin aircraft.

But the legacy of company founder Joseph-Armand Bombardier would not end with the sale of Bombardier Inc.s last remaining business.

That legacy thrives in BRP Inc. (Bombardier Recreational Products), the original business Bombardier started with in 1942, spun off from Bombardier Inc. in 2003.

Profits have more than doubled at the Valcourt, Que.-based BRP in the past five years, and its market capitalization of $6.2 billion exceeds that of its former parent ($3.2 billion).

The personal fortunes of the Bombardier and Beaudoin families that control Bombardier Inc. are actually vested in their roughly one-third stake in BRP, from which they have drawn millions of dollars through secondary stock offerings.

With a lofty price-earnings multiple of 16.6, BRP is not a cheap stock. But BRP is a business with a future, a descriptive that might not apply to its erstwhile parent.

Twitter: @TheGrtRecession

Read more about:




China News on Women





Sorry, the page you requested was not found. If you're having trouble locating a destination on Womenofchina.cn, try visiting the Womenofchina Home page
(Natural News) A man previously cleared of COVID-19 after attending a memorial service in Wuhan, China has alarmed people after repeatedly coughing in the middle of a television interview.

The man, Frank Wucinski, according to Fox News, lived for a decade in Guangzhou with his wife before moving to Wuhan  the epicenter of the currently raging COVID-19 outbreak  three months ago to help take care of her ailing father, following her mothers death.

Wucinskis wife is a Chinese citizen.

Wucinski, in his appearance on Americas Newsroom on Friday, said that when he and his daughter Annabel arrived at the Miramar U.S. Marine base in Southern California, authorities immediately separated them, adding that they were placed in isolation for a few days.

A few days later, Annabel just coughed in front of some staff. They suggested we go to the medical tent. The medical tent contacted the CDC and they said that we should go back to isolation at the childrens hospital, Wucinski said.

According to Wucinski, his daughters coughing led to an extension of their quarantine period at the childrens hospital. (Related: MULTIPLE community outbreaks tracking in California as coronavirus set to explode across USA beginning next week.)

We stayed there for about three days, Wuckinski said, adding that both his and his daughters tests came back negative.

While explaining their situation on-air however, Wucinski began coughing. He has since brushed it off as being due to nervousness.

They said Im fine. I got tested twice. Negative both times. The cough was probably just nerves, Wucinski said.

Wucinski added that from what he understood, the infection stemming from COVID-19 is contagious, but that its death rate is pretty low.

The official count is far from low: the new coronavirus has already infected 85,206 and killed 2,924 as of press time.

During his interview, Wucinski mentioned that he and Anabel were supposed to undergo follow-up checkups in order to make sure that they remain healthy. There is just one problem: his insurance plan, which came with his employment in China, does not work in America.

Although I assumed all medical bills from our time in quarantine would be paid by the government, it turns out that I am financially responsible for the six days Annabel and I spent in isolation at the hospital, Wucinski explained, adding that this is compounded by the fact that he does not know just how long they will be staying in the United States.

Wucinski said during the interview that this has put a strain on him financially, adding that aside from applying for different insurance policies to help cover the unexpected medical bills he has begun receiving during their stay in quarantine, he has also started a GoFundMe page.

Were looking into trying to get some insurance because my insurance for work  for my job  doesnt work in America. So, were applying, Wucinski said.

As of press time, Wucinskis GoFundMe has raised 17,930 USD.

We hope that with this money, we can help pay our bills in America for Annabel and I. The quarantine is free, but flights out of California to family in the East coast is very expensive, as was the 2,200 dollar trip from China, Wucinski said.

Read the latest news and stories on COVID-19 at Pandemic.news.

Sources include:

NYPost.com

FoxNews.com








Web Toolbar by Wibiya

In order to fight all these new diseases and save the world, Bill Gates suggests two possible (and quite controversial) solutions: Artificial Intelligence and gene editing.

According to an article published on Yahoo Finance by journalist Alan Boyle, the tycoon has been working to improve the state of global health through his nonprofit foundation for 20 years, and today [14 February] he told the nations premier scientific gathering that advances in artificial intelligence and gene editing could accelerate those improvements exponentially in the years ahead.

The article explains that Mr Gates believes in a new generation of health care solutions based on AI and manipulation of genes. We have an opportunity with the advance of tools like artificial intelligence and gene-based editing technologies to build this new generation of health solutions so that they are available to everyone on the planet. And Im very excited about this, he said.

For example, the Gates Foundation is working on several projects that apply Artificial Intelligence to common health issues. One project is using AI to look for links between maternal nutrition and infant birth weight. Other projects focus on measuring the balance of different types of microbes in the human gut, using high-throughput gene sequencing. The gut microbiome is thought to play a role in health issues ranging from digestive problems to autoimmune diseases to neurological conditions, the report informs.

The Gates Foundation has backed a number of organ-on-a-chip projects over the years, including one experiment thats using lymph-node organoids to evaluate the safety and efficacy of vaccines. At least one organ-on-a-chip venture based in the Seattle area, Nortis, has gone commercial thanks in part to Gates support, it states. High-tech health research tends to come at a high cost, but Gates argues that these technologies will eventually drive down the cost of biomedical innovation, it continues.

Draw your own conclusions

For more information: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-bill-gates-thinks-gene-022040288.html
In a new study, Marin, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties ranked first, second and third, respectively, among Californias 58 counties for health and living past age 75.

Marin County ranked No. 1 in health and length of life and No. 2 in quality of life, behind only Placer County, which flanks Lake Tahoe and runs down the western slope of the Sierra Nevada along Interstate 80.

The report graded results from 2019 and was published last month by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which studies inequalities in health, fresh water and income at the county level across the U.S. Analysts looked at many factors that help determine health outcomes, including fitness, physical activity, environmental quality, income inequality, smoking and the quality of clinical treatment.

In the greater Bay Area, eight counties ranked in the top 12 statewide: Marin (1), San Mateo (2), Santa Clara (3), San Francisco (6), Napa (7), Sonoma (8), Contra Costa (11) and Alameda (12). Only Solano, at No. 22, was out of the top 20.

Ken Brummel-Smith, a California doctor with expertise in geriatrics, fitness and active living, said the study confirmed two important facts: Fitness is critical to healthy living and long-term health often correlates to income.

A determinant factor behind the rankings is socioeconomic, Brummel-Smith said. It didnt surprise him that the Bay Area and Southern California coastal regions ranked so high in the study, or that rural Northern California counties ranked so low.

Whether it be walking, hiking, biking, swimming or pickleball, Brummel-Smith advocates for whatever can get you to 150 minutes of activity per week.

Marin ranked best in California for least premature deaths, identified as those dying at age 75 or under, at a rate of 3,100 deaths per 100,000 residents, and with San Mateo (3,500) and Santa Clara (3,600), ranked 1-2-3. In contrast, Lake County ranked the worst, (11,600 deaths for those under 75 per 100,000 residents), with Trinity (11,300) and Modoc (10,400) close behind.

The one blemish on Marin County was the daily commute. According to the survey, 65% of those in Marin drive alone to work, and 44% face long commutes. Driving alone too much, under stress, is a health negative, Brummel-Smith said.

Bests, worsts

The study reveals how the affluent, urban Bay Area and Californias rural north state, and the respective health results for each, are in different worlds.

The six California counties that ranked for poorest health outcomes were all in the rural north state: Lake (58, last), Siskiyou (57), Modoc (56), Trinity (55), Plumas (54) and Yuba (53). Some of the states highest obesity rates also were in those counties, including Yuba County (28%), Siskiyou and Trinity (25%) and Lake (24%).

Marin Countys No. 1 rankings and Lake Countys last-place position validated Brummel-Smiths premise that income, activity, exercise and fitness are keys to long-term health and quality of life.

Best of the best State bests: Marin, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties ranked 1-2-3, respectively, among California's 58 counties. Bay Area bests: Eight counties in the greater Bay Area ranked in the top 12 statewide: Marin (1), San Mateo (2), Santa Clara (3), San Francisco (6), Napa (7), Sonoma (8), Contra Costa (11) and Alameda (12). Only Solano, at No. 22, was out of the top 20. Outskirts of Bay Area: Counties in the vicinity of the Bay Area also ranked high. Santa Cruz was No. 13, Monterey ranked 21st. I-80 corridor to Tahoe: The only counties in the Sierra Nevada that ranked high for health were Placer County (No. 4), which flanks Lake Tahoe and extends west down Interstate 80 to Roseville, and bordering to the north, Nevada County (14), which spans generally from Truckee to Nevada City/Grass Valley. SoCal coast: Other counties ranking in the top tier were on the coast of Southern California Coast: Orange (No. 5), Ventura (No. 9), San Diego (No. 10) and San Luis Obispo (No. 15). Worst of the worst North state wreckage: The five California counties that ranked for poorest health outcomes were all in Northern California: Lake (58th place, last), Siskiyou (57th), Modoc (56th), Trinity (55th), Plumas (54th) and Yuba (53rd). Going deeper, NorCal: On top of those five worst, another four counties from Northern California added up to the nine of the lowest ranked 13 in in the state, with Humboldt (49), Shasta (48), Tehama (46) and Del Norte (45). Redwood Empire: While counties along the coast of the Bay Area and Southern California coasts ranked at the top of the list, in the Redwood Empire, north state coastal counties were closer to the bottom: Humboldt (49), Del Norte (45) and Mendocino (41). San Joaquin Valley: Another region that ranked near the bottom across the board was the San Joaquin Valley, with Kern (52), Tulare (51), Fresno (50), Merced (47). County health rankings Top 10: Marin (1), San Mateo (2), Santa Clara (3), Placer (4), Orange (5), San Francisco (6), Napa (7), Sonoma (8), Ventura (9), San Diego (10). 11-20: Contra Costa (11), Alameda (12), Santa Cruz (13), Nevada (14), San Luis Obispo (15), Yolo (16), El Dorado (17), Mono (18), Santa Barbara (19), San Benito (20). 21-30: Monterey (21), Solano (22), Los Angeles (23), Calaveras (24), Amador (25), Riverside (26), Colusa (27), Tuolumne (28), Sacramento (29), Kings (30). 31-40: Imperial (31), Sutter (32), Stanislaus (33), Alpine (34), Butte (35), Madera (36), Sierra (37), San Bernardino (38), Lassen (39), Glenn (40). 41-50: Mendocino (41), Mariposa (42), Inyo (43), San Joaquin (44), Del Norte (45), Tehama (46), Merced (47), Shasta (48), Humboldt (49), Fresno (50). 51-58: Tulare (51), Kern (52), Yuba (53), Plumas (54), Trinity (55), Modoc (56), Siskiyou (57), Lake (58). Source: www.CountyHealthRankings.org See More Collapse

In Marin County, 88% of the population was rated as physically active, according to the study. In Lake County, in comparison, 20% was physically inactive and 24% obese.

The risk of heart attack is greater from not exercising than it is from high cholesterol, Brummel-Smith said.

Lara Hitchcock, a parent of two boys who also provides oversight for 3,000 kids as director of the Presidio-Point Bonita YMCA in San Francisco, said the key to healthy lifestyles is starting them early.

We try to overcome any barriers that might exist that prevent kids from getting outdoors, Hitchcock said. That can often be transportation, ideas of places to go, and where parents might disguise physical activity under the cloak of an adventure.

A favorite example, Hitchcock said, is where you take youngsters to find the tule elk at Pierce Point Ranch at Point Reyes National Seashore. Its actually a hike disguised as something else, to see the elk, she said.

Social health link

The study also measured clinical care across the state and compared it to health outcomes.

In Californias far north, there were some glaring findings. Siskiyou County rated 27th for clinical care, yet 57th for the health outcomes for residents; Shasta ranked 22nd for clinical care, yet 52nd for length of life.

Brummel-Smith said these disparities show that money spent on health care alone does not equate to improved health. Investments must be made on what he termed social health, including fitness and more healthy lifestyles, that help prevent long-term health issues, he said.

Around the world, look at many of the countries that spend much lower on health care, Brummel-Smith said. It includes the Scandinavian countries, Europe and Taiwan. They instead spend much higher per capita on social health programs (promoting healthy lifestyles) and they have much better health outcomes.

The greater Bay Area dominated the states top 10 for clinical care. Marin County graded out first, San Francisco third, San Mateo fourth, Santa Clara sixth, Santa Cruz ninth and Alameda 10th. At the other end of the scale, the bottom five were Glenn County, rated worst at 58th, followed by Kings (57th), San Bernardino (56th), Imperial (55th) and Merced (54th).

Tom Stienstra is The San Francisco Chronicles outdoors writer. Email: tstienstra@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @StienstraTom
Two people were killed after being run over by a train when they were allegedly trying to cross a closed railway crossing on two-wheelers here, a railway police official said on Sunday.

The incident took place on Saturday evening on the busiest Delhi-Amritsar section near Giaspura on the outskirts of Ludhiana city.

The Railway police said seven others, who were also trying to cross the closed railway crossing, suffered injuries. At the time of the incident, most people were trying to cross the closed railway crossing on two-wheelers when Amritsar-bound Shatabdi Express from Delhi passed the area, the official said.

SHO of Government Railway Police Inspector Balbir Singh said the deceased were identified as Rattanjit Singh (64) and Gurpreet Kaur (22).

They were riding a motorcycle and a scooter, respectively, and both were crushed under the wheels and died on the spot, he said.

Two of the injured were admitted to a hospital while the other injured who received minor injuries were discharged after first-aid, he said.

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


Dr Jason Gurney

More than 2000 people have died of coronavirus and half the population of China have faced travel restrictions in a desperate bid to halt the spread of the disease. Mahurangi Matters asked Mahurangi epidemiologist Dr Jason Gurney on the risks to New Zealand and how young families can protect themselves 

Q. As we go to press, coronavirus has spread to 27 countries beyond China. How worried should we be in New Zealand?

It is natural to feel scared when novel diseases emerge  particularly when they impact so many people. In New Zealand, we are very lucky to be naturally protected from these diseases due to our remote island status  but that doesnt mean that we shouldnt be vigilant and do what we need to do to minimise the risks.

Q. If one of my children has seen something in the news about coronavirus and is getting anxious what can I say to put their mind at rest?

Firstly, its important to remember that we have not had any confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus (known as COVID-19) in New Zealand just yet. Secondly, even if the disease does arrive here, its worth reminding your child that the chances of them actually getting the disease are likely very small  and even if they get the illness, the chances of dying from it are also really small. Nevertheless, COVID-19 has impacted a lot of lives, which is why it is all over the news. Your child is very unlikely to benefit from hearing this news every day, so the more you can do to shield them from it the better.

Q. Suppose my child is sitting next to a Chinese student at school. Should I be concerned?

There is no need for concern. Firstly, if the child has recently arrived from areas of China where the outbreak occurred, then the New Zealand Government has put steps in place to protect the wider population. For example, through the quarantine base at Whangaparaoa. Secondly, if the child has arrived from a part of China that is outside the outbreak zone, then the chances that they are infected are extremely remote. As a community, we all need to ensure that we do not use this outbreak as a reason to ostracise the Chinese, or to treat them with any less dignity or respect than that afforded to anyone else. We should all be aware of our cultural biases and do what we can to support those who might be the target of unjustifiable angst.

Q. Is there anything a child or indeed any individual can do to protect themselves and others?

The virus that causes COVID-19 spreads through droplets, so in reality our best hope is to do the things that we should be doing to prevent the spread of other more immediately relevant diseases like influenza. Things like proper hand washing, and practicing good cough and sneeze etiquette  in other words coughing or sneezing into a tissue or into our elbow and away from others.

Q. There are a lot of ads appearing in email inboxes promoting the use of face masks in the wake of the coronavirus. Is it worth getting masks for my family?

If you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask if you are taking care of a person with a suspected COVID-19 infection. You might consider wearing a mask if you are coughing or sneezing. I would not necessarily advise people to do that in New Zealand at this stage, but we may need to rethink this if there was a serious outbreak of coronavirus in New Zealand.

Q. Given the ease with which the coronavirus appears to spread, are there any general lessons we can learn about preventing transmission of disease?

The principal symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, coughing and difficulty breathing  symptoms also shared by other more immediately relevant diseases like influenza. If your child has these symptoms, then they should see a doctor. Its always best to keep kids with coughs, runny noses and other respiratory symptoms away from school, to prevent the spread of whatever illness is causing these symptoms. When considering whether to send their child to school, parents should be thinking about what is best for the wider class, school and community  not just what is best for them or their child.

Q. Beyond hand washing and watching how we cough and sneeze, what other basic hygiene rules should we be teaching our children?

Our kids have a tendency to rush boring things like hygiene  my own kids make me cringe by effectively showing their hands to the water after finishing their business in the toilet! My advice: take some time this week to stand with your kids and show them how to properly rinse and wash their hands with soap and warm water. Teach them the three key steps of proper hand washing: first, we scrub our hands  including in between our fingers  with soap to pick up all those germs. The germs stick to the soapy mixture, which is why soap is so important to proper hand washing. Second, we rinse all the soap off to get rid of all those germs. Lastly, we dry our hands properly. These three simple steps  conducted before meals, using the toilet or any other dirty activities  are really important ways that we can stop the spread of infectious diseases.

Q. Back in 2003, there was a similar concern over a SARS outbreak in China. But you dont hear much about SARS now. Is the coronavirus similarly likely to die out, or does it pose a more severe threat than SARS?

Its still very early to tell what is going to happen with this illness. Experts believe that it will probably follow a similar pattern to influenza  in other words, its burden might extend a lot longer than the SARS outbreak.

Q. Do you think the NZ Government is doing enough to stop the disease entering New Zealand? Could it be doing more? Can we hope to keep the disease out of New Zealand or is it inevitable that it will come here?

The Government has a pandemic plan and is currently putting that into operation. We can always be doing more  but our Government has enacted some really critical steps, like travel restrictions and other border control measures to keep the disease out of New Zealand. Thats our biggest objective: to keep the disease out entirely, or at least keep it out for as long as possible. The more time we can buy before the disease arrives is more time that we have to learn about this disease, how to contain it and how to prevent or treat it. In terms of whether it is inevitable that the disease will arrive in New Zealand, only time will tell.

Q. Could coronavirus have the kind of impact it is having in China or are we better protected here?

Experts agree that our key preparatory steps include  a) increased public awareness of the importance of staying home when youre sick, especially with respiratory illnesses; b) increased presence of alcohol sanitisers at health facilities; and c) increased public awareness of proper hand washing practices and cough/sneeze etiquette. If the disease does arrive in New Zealand, our current best defence is to do exactly what we should be doing to prevent other diseases like influenza. As mentioned earlier, we have natural border protection, which is very much to our advantage. We are also less densely-populated than some parts of China, which is an additional advantage.
Photograph: Erik S Lesser/EPA

Stop Donald Trump now, Democrats warned at his impeachment trial, or will he take on the aspect of a king.

Related: Trump fends off criticism of 'hoax' remark after first US coronavirus death

The prophecy appears to have been borne out, as the US president hands out jobs to loyalists, purges perceived enemies, pardons convicted criminals and swaggers as if with a divine right.

On Saturday, addressing the biggest annual gathering of US grassroots conservatives, Trump wondered aloud at it being sort of a miracle he has got so much done despite all hes been through.

Maybe its right there, right? he asked, pointing to the heavens. Thank you, God.

The crowd loved it. Trump stayed away from a sceptical Conservative Political Action Conference in 2016 but now he is its sun king. Supporters in a palatial ballroom at the National Harbour leaped to their feet, whooping and cheering, many wearing Make America great again and Keep America great caps.

Theyre coming after me, and we fight them back Donald Trump

They roared their approval when, like a medieval monarch who has survived a bloody insurrection, Trump vowed revenge.

Theyre coming after me and we fight them back, he said. And now were going after them because we have no choice. We have to straighten out our country. But despite the best efforts of the leftwing fanatics, their scams, schemes, slanders, theyve all been discredited, totally discredited.

He singled out James Comey, whom he fired as director of the FBI, and special counsel Robert Mueller, who led the Russia investigation, as enemies whose heads deserved to end up on metaphorical spikes.

How is Comey doing? he asked, sardonically. How is Bob Mueller doing? That was a great performance in Congress. Raise your right hand. What?

There was also mention of the Utah senator Mitt Romney, who voted to convict Trump at the impeachment trial and, like a rebellious duke, was banished from CPAC this year. Trump described Romney as lowlife and the crowd booed lustily.

Story continues

The president also spoke ominously of getting rid of bad people in government who are not people that love our country and launched a familiar tirade against the fake news media.

He gave little sign that he is worried about the democratic inconvenience of an election in November. Just a couple of hours after trying to muster gravitas in the White House briefing room while discussing the coronavirus, he reverted to the comfort zone of freewheeling rally style.

He took delight in mocking each of his Democratic rivals.

Weve got Sleepy Joe [Biden], weve got Crazy Bernie [Sanders], weve got Mini Mike [Bloomberg] but I think hes out of it, he said. That was probably the worst debate performance in the history of presidential debates.

It just shows you cant buy an election. I mean, theres a point at which people say, You gotta bring the goods a little bit, too.

Trump parodied Bloombergs height by crouching behind the lectern and the crowd went wild, laughing ecstatically and chanting: Four more years! Four more years!

The president said: We hit a nerve!

Supporters of Donald Trump applauds as he speaks. Photograph: Jose Luis Magana/AP

He also took a swipe at Biden, the former vice-president, for a gaffe in a recent debate: Did he just say that we killed 150 million people? Thats half of our population.

Trump even held an instant poll by asking the audience to scream for whether he would beat Biden or Sanders more easily. There was a significant scream for Biden but a much louder and sustained one for the democratic socialist senator from Vermont.

Trump suggested Biden would be sitting in a home for the elderly rather than governing, whereas Sanders might be a communist. That chimed with the conferences theme: America vs socialism.

Of the Democrats, Trump warned darkly: They want to take away your money, take away your choice, take away your speech, take away your guns, take away your religion, take away your history, take away your future and ultimately take away your freedom. But we will never let them do that.

Related: Self-belief surges as Trump's conservative faithful plan four more years

In a characteristically rambling monologue, he seemed genuinely unable to comprehend how teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg beat him to the precious title of Time magazine person of the year.

But he finished his speech by hugging and kissing the flag  a familiar move which elicited a huge cheer from his devoted subjects.

For them, and for Trumps loyal courtiers at the White House and on Capitol Hill, it is a case of long live the king.
Hong Kong police arrested several pro-democracy figures early Friday morning on trumped-up charges. The move shows Beijing is more concerned with containing democracy than the coronavirus that emerged from China.

Among the arrested was Jimmy Lai, the only outspoken pro-democracy tycoon in Hong Kong. Lai founded Apple Daily, a popular news outlet in Hong Kong and Taiwan that favors democracy and a free press. Police also arrested two other pro-democracy politicians.

CORONAVIRUS CRISIS  HOSPITALS NEED TO DO THESE 4 THINGS NOW TO PREPARE FOR A PANDEMIC

The three reportedly were charged and released for illegal assembly related to one of the scores of mass gatherings against the government that have taken place since last June. Protesters have resisted Beijings efforts to undermine Hong Kongs freedoms and relative autonomy.

Andrew Wan, a pro-democracy member of Hong Kongs Legislative Council, observed, The three were not even organizers, this is clearly political persecution.

Authorities also reportedly charged Lai with allegedly intimidating a reporter in 2017 by using foul language. That journalist works for Oriental Daily, a pro-Beijing competitor newspaper.

In reality, the Hong Kong government, whose activities are increasingly directed by Beijing and the Chinese Communist Party, is trying to use the disastrous coronavirus outbreak to its advantage. Protests have dropped off due to concern about the outbreak. Rather than focus all of their energy on public health, authorities are evidently hoping instead to crack down on pro-democracy sentiment.

CLOROX BOOSTS SANITIZER OUTPUT AMID CORONAVIRUS-DRIVEN DEMAND

It wont work. Hong Kong residents are incensed at local authorities for not moving faster to seal the border with mainland China. This obvious precaution to halting a viral outbreak wasnt taken because senior officials in Hong Kong thought the move would upset their masters in Beijing.

This politics-before-health conduct fits with actions by Chinas communist government on the mainland, which included harassing doctors who warned of the outbreak and misleading the world of its severity and scope.

Story continues

Lais true sin in the eyes of authorities was probably drawing attention to this fact and its political ramifications. Writing in the Wall Street Journal about the outbreak and coverup, Lai observed: Deception is Chinas true rule of law. Now the world must start asking something that Chinese people living under communism ask themselves every day: How reliable can Chinas political, social and economic institutions be when its local government leaders routinely lie to their citizens and superiors alike?

The simple question must have touched a nerve in Beijing. The Chinese government previously reacted furiously when the Journal ran an opinion piece by Walter Russell Mead titled, China Is the Real Sick Man of Asia. Mead similarly linked the coronavirus outbreak with the fragility of Chinas political system and economy, despite their facades of strength.

GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE

Neither Lai, Mead nor their respective publications editorial inclinations are new. So why is the reaction from Beijing and its cronies different in this instance? The answer may be that coronavirus is an existential threat to the Chinese Communist Party and its boss, Chairman Xi Jinping.

The implicit bargain the Party has made with the Chinese people is that it will provide a growing economy in exchange for its monopoly on power and intense political repression. In recent decades, that economic growth has been stunning and consistent, partly due to a one-sided trade arrangement with the United States that favored China.

But even before the outbreak, America began to alter trade, and Chinas economy was probably at zero growth for the first time in decades. Now it is almost certainly in steep recession, the severity of which most foreign financial analysts and economists underestimate.

Across China, factories have been shuttered and entire cities quarantined in an effort to stem the spread of coronavirus. Tourism and business travel have dropped to nil. Foreign companies that have unwisely relied on Chinese production for their supply chains are scrambling to diversify, and many that leave will not return. In Hong Kong, restaurants and malls are empty, and service-industry businesses are facing plummeting enterprise values. The outbreak and mismanagement of public health have dealt another blow to the citys status as a financial capital.

Its a shame that authorities in Hong Kong have chosen to side with Beijing. If they think their repression will silence the men they arrested or others in the city, they are mistaken.

As Lai told the New York Times in an interview about Beijings intimidation, If you dont fight, you get frightened. I have always been a fighter.

So too are millions of others in Hong Kong, and the fight will go on.

The only thing that has changed is that more and more people are beginning to see that the Chinese Communist Party and Xi Jinping are the real sick men of Asia.

Christian Whiton was a senior advisor in the Donald Trump and George W. Bush administrations. He is a senior fellow for strategy and public diplomacy at the Center for the National Interest and the author of Smart Power: Between Diplomacy and War.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS

Related Articles
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 21:52:20|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese government attaches great importance to the health and safety of overseas Chinese and students in virus-hit countries and regions, said a Chinese diplomat Sunday.

The government will assist overseas Chinese citizens to return if their health is under severe threat, said Cui Aimin, head of the consular affairs department with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at a press conference in Beijing.

Cui called on overseas Chinese to strengthen self-protection and cooperate with the epidemic prevention and control measures in host countries.

Overseas Chinese should ask for help from local administrations and contact Chinese embassies or consulates in case of emergency, said Cui.

Noting that the foreign ministry has coordinated 10 civil flights to brought 1,314 Chinese citizens back, Cui said the ministry also assisted the governments of the Hong Kong Special Administration Region and the Macao Special Administration Region in bringing back nearly 200 residents on the Diamond Princess cruise ship from Japan.

The Chinese embassies and consulates have called for all-out efforts of local authorities to treat overseas Chinese citizens confirmed with COVID-19, Cui said, adding that the consular protection hotline "12308" is in 24-hour service to help compatriots abroad.
Gandhinagar, March 1 : The communal clashes between between two communities in Khambhat town of the Anand district in Gujarat on the last Sunday afternoon caused the damage of over Rs 50 lakh, according to the primary assessment by the police.

"This is just a primary assessment. Teams from the collector's office are carrying out the damage assessment for the last two days," said Bharti Pandya, Khambhat Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP).

On the transfer of a Sub-Inspector, an Assistant Sub-Inspector, one Head Constable and two constables by Khambhat SP Ajit Rajian, she said it had nothing to do with the riots.

On the number of families that left the city due to riots and had returned, she said exact figures were not available but in the last 2 days more than 50 families had returned to their homes.

"Those who have not returned was not due to fear, but because of infrastructural issues, like loss of electricity, particularly in areas like Akbarpura," the DSP said.

She said the SP was visiting different localities everyday and was assuring them of safety.

According to Pandya, many students of the affected areas had stopped attending schools. "We have tied up with schools and obtained the number of absentees. We are talking to the people assuring them not only about safety but also about the continuation of the children's studies, affected by the recent incidents," she said.

"We are focusing on education because for most students, the final examinations are near and we don't want them to suffer," said Pandya.
The liaison position came about as a "hybrid" to meet the need for English learners at the same time the school district hired social workers who evolved into family facilitators as a resource for all students, according to Holen.

He said the liaison position is for more than translation, but is to help students and families grow comfortable with the school district and build relationships.

"We just felt it was kind of a proactive approach, a little bit, to bringing them into the fold because they're a major part of our school district and we wanted to make sure they felt wanted and appreciated," Holen said.

'Connecting with families'

The district's school board approved the position at the recommendation of school administration.

English Learner Coordinator Mari Rasmussen said the school district conducts annual assessments for English skills. Holen said the English learner program includes four teachers, three aides and the liaison.

"Our focus is to support students in becoming proficient in English so that they can be successful in the classroom," Rasmussen said.
Democratic presidential hopeful Senator Bernie Sanders held a campaign rally in Springfield, Virginia on Saturday.

Sanders was campaigning in Virginia as voters in South Carolina voted in that state's presidential primary.

He chided President Donald Trump describing him as the "most dangerous president" in modern American history.

"We are going to defeat Donald Trump because we are putting together an unprecedented, multi-racial, multi-generational grassroots movement the likes of which this country has ever seen," Sanders told his supporters.
A senior priest in Kerala, who was sentenced to a double life term for raping a girl, has been expelled by the supreme head of the Catholic Church Pope Francis, the Manathawady diocese said in a statement on Sunday.

Robin Vadakkumchery was suspended from the vocation after his conviction last year.

The Pope had used his special powers to expel him from the clergy. He was informed about the latest decision, the dioceses statement said.

The church had faced severe criticism for not taking action against the priest even after his conviction in the case, which saw many twists and turns.

The case against the priest had surfaced in 2017 after the 17-year-old girl gave birth to a baby in a church-run hospital.

When the crime surfaced, the girls father said he had raped his daughter and was arrested. During his questioning, the police found discrepancies in his statements but after sustained interrogation, he broke down and revealed the whole story.

The priest was held while he was trying to flee the country.

The trial in the Protection of Children From Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act court in Thalassery in north Kerala witnessed more drama. The victim had told the court that she had consensual sex with the accused priest and they should be allowed to live together.

Later, her parents and many other witnesses also turned hostile.

The church drew flak for defending the accused and in one of the prayer meetings there was a call to pray for him.

The court sentenced Vadakkumchery to 20 years rigorous imprisonment for raping in February 2019 and slapped a fine of Rs 300,000 under various offences including rape, destroying evidence and cheating.

It had also ordered the police to book her parents.
The genesis of this column began with a question.

The answer to my question was 1, as in one.

The question?

How many times does the word, Lewy, as in Lewy body dementia, appear in an 82-page report entitled: World Research Funding and New Technologies for Alzheimers and Dementia Treatment.

The report created by the Primary Research Group, and written by Annika N. Alexopoulu has a lot of good information, including a grid of all Dementia/Alzheimers studies currently being conducted, dozens upon dozens. Not a one had Lewy body in its title. Nearly all had Alzheimers in its title.

The report by Primary Research Group Inc. says it helps its readers or clients understand how much are various scientific funding agencies worldwide spending on on Alzheimers and dementia research and into which areas is it flowing? Which universities are getting these grants and contracts? Which private companies? What new approaches and products are gaining ground?

Its a business report plain and simple. I have no issues with that. The more we know about the spending channels the better.

But I do have a problem holding Lewy hostage. Wheres Lewy? Unknown and broke?

Lewy, call it by its name.

The report was written by Annika N Alexopoulou who graduated from the University of Surrey with Ist class honors degree in Biochemistry and holds a PhD from Imperial College London. reviewed journals. A company spokesman waived the fee and sent me the report but did not answer a list of questions I had. The main one being: Wheres Lewy?

So, again, wheres Lewy? Still being hid away, Im afraid.

Of 16,077 words on those 82 pages, Lewy appears a total of 1 time. Thats right, once  1. That is not a typo, stop looking for zeros.

And Im sure you want to know how the word was used. It was on page 6 and went like this:

Pathologies such as vascular disease and Lewy body often coexist with AD.

Really?

We already believe Lewy body proteins malfunctioning are the likely cause of the second most prevalent type of degenerative dementia. And now we find Alzheimers Disease living together with Lewy. Caught red-handed was Lewy, and we dont arrest him or take him down to the station for more questioning. Why arent researchers flocking to do Lewy body research? It seems Alzheimers has power through numbers and money -- and thats understood. But I have Lewy body. And my more than million afflicted brothers and sisters just want a fair share of the attention.

Why doesnt the medical industrial complex look more, write more about Lewy body dementia? Whats that famous quote asking the bank robber why he robbed banks. Cuz thats where the money is, he said.

Lots of good people are trying, but what do you do when the government shovels millions of dollars for research into dementia and they dont even name the one with arguably the most disabling symptoms.

Its pushed aside into the To-Do list basket for sometime in the future: Remember to mention Lewy body when talking about dementia, the note might say. Apparently its that one that Robin Williams had.

I may be making the proverbial mountain out of a mole hill. But I dont think so.

Theres something screwy about getting a handle on Lewy.

The report itself says between 50 percent and 70 percent of dementia cases are attributed to Alzheimers disease. That means as many as 50 percent of dementia patients do NOT have Alzheimers.

The 1.4 million number for estimates of Lewy in the U.S. is an "extrapolation based on census statistics and data from autopsy studies of people with dementia, suggesting that about 20 percent of all dementia cases are due to LBD, said Angela Taylor, Senior Director of Research and Advocacy at Lewy Body Dementia Association.

Now that is interesting  20 percent of dementia patients may have Lewy body -- and as few as 50 percent of the overall cases may be Alzheimers.

Twenty percent and only one lousy mention of Lewy in a 16,077- word document on dementia research. I may not be a mathematician but 1 of 16,077  thats not 20 percent.

So what about the money? If it was just anonymity -- thatd be one thing.

In the report, it says US grants for Dementia/Alzheimers Research have steadily risen from $68.5 million in 2008 to $913 million in 2019. Taylor said funding for Lewy body has risen from $15 million in 2014 -- when it was first tracked as a disease -- to $39 million in 2019. Taylor said Lewy body research is rising significantly thanks to the National Alzheimers (and related dementias) Plan.

In truth, it is a small fraction of what is funded for the study of Alzheimers disease, but what is called Alzheimers research also includes a tremendous amount of research relevant to all forms of dementia, Taylor said. " LBD also benefits many millions of dollars being spent on Parkinsons disease research, which doesnt get included in global dementia research funding statistics."

It may be a small thing Im highlighting here. Whats in a name anyway. I think a lot in terms of diagnosis, treatment, psychological well being and ultimately how we as a society want to recognize the best way to spend our money. Do we want to spend hundreds of millions of dollars chasing a cure when the complexity of the disease and the brain thwarts finding that magic pill. Maybe we need to allocate more money toward making a better life for those who live with the disease. More dollars going to patient care.

Lewy, call it by its name.

Mike Oliver writes frequently about living with Lewy body dementia. Check out his blog at myvinylcountdown.com
WASHINGTON  Billionaire and activist Tom Steyer has ended his presidential campaign.

In his speech Saturday night, Steyer, 62, thanked his supporters and campaign staff, saying he "has zero regrets."

Theres no question today that this campaign, we were disappointed with where we came out, Steyer told the crowd in South Carolina. "Honestly, I can't see a path where I can win the presidency."

Steyer used his vast personal wealth to fund much of his campaign, had made climate change and campaign finance reform the focus of his candidacy. But that wealth also made him a target, of other candidates and some voters, who likened his run to trying to buy the presidency. (Forbes estimates Steyer is worth $1.6 billion.)

Despite his low polling nationally, Steyer put much of his resources into advertising in the four early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. Ad-tracking firm Advertising Analytics says Steyer spent more than $186 million on ads during the race.

This deluge of advertising helped him get onto the debate stage even as some of his opponents with more defined political careers, such as Sen. Cory Booker and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro, struggled to make it onto the stage.

Primary victory: Former vice president Joe Biden posts a convincing  and quick  win in South Carolina

On the issues: 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer shares his views

Tom Steyer speaks during a town hall devoted to LGBTQ issues hosted by CNN and the Human rights Campaign Foundation at The Novo in Los Angeles on Oct. 10, 2019.

His campaign bet on a stronger finish in South Carolina, and his wife went so far as to move to the state temporarily, but Steyer finished behind former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Despite the tens of millions of dollars he pumped into the Palmetto State, it was unclear whether Steyer was projected to earn any delegates in South Carolina by the time he had dropped out.

But he declared that meeting the people of South Carolina and America was "the biggest highlight" of his life.

Story continues

"When the Lord closes a door, he opens a window, Steyer said passionately. I will find that window and crawl through it with you, I promise you that.

Steyer announced his candidacy in July in a video posted on YouTube, where he also noted that he had signed the Giving Pledge, a "promise to give away half of your wealth while you're alive to good causes."

His candidacy came several months after he said he wasnt going to jump into the race. Steyer said in January he was going to be "strengthening my commitment to Need to Impeach, a group that organizes grassroots efforts to impeach President Donald Trump.

In addition to that organization, Steyer founded NextGen America, a climate-oriented advocacy group.

Steyer said Saturday that "of course" he will keep working to defeat Trump, despite the end of his candidacy.

"Every Democrat is a million times better than Trump," Steyer declared. "Trump is a disaster."

Contributing: Nicholas Wu, Savannah Behrmann

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 2020 election: Tom Steyer ends his campaign for Democratic nomination
The governor of Washington declared a state of emergency Saturday after a man died there of COVID-19, the first such reported death in the United States. More than 50 people in a nursing facility are sick and being tested for the virus.

Gov. Jay Inslee directed state agencies to use all resources necessary to prepare for and respond to the coronavirus outbreak. The declaration also allows the use of the Washington National Guard, if necessary.

We will continue to work toward a day where no one dies from this virus," the governor vowed.

Health officials in California, Oregon and Washington state are worried about the novel coronavirus spreading through West Coast communities because a growing number of people are being infected despite not having visited an area where there was an outbreak, nor apparently been in contact with anyone who had.

The man who died was in his 50s, had underlying health conditions and no history of travel or contact with a known COVID-19 case, health officials in Washington state said at a news conference. A spokesperson for EvergreenHealth Medical Center, Kayse Dahl, said the person died in the facility in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland.

Dr. Frank Riedo, medical director of Infection Control at Evergreen, said local hospitals are seeing people with severe coronavirus symptoms but its probable that there are more cases in the community.

This is the tip of the iceberg, he said.

The health officials reported two cases of COVID-19 virus connected to a long-term care facility in the same suburb, Life Care Center of Kirkland. One is a Life Care worker, a woman in her 40s who is in satisfactory condition at a hospital, and the other is a woman in her 70s and a resident at Life Care who is hospitalized in serious condition. Neither had traveled abroad.

In addition, over 50 individuals associated with Life Care are reportedly ill with respiratory symptoms or hospitalized with pneumonia or other respiratory conditions of unknown cause and are being tested for COVID-19, Seattle and King County officials said. Additional positive cases are expected.

Amy Reynolds of the Washington state health department said in a brief telephone interview: "We are dealing with an emergency evolving situation."

Health officials in California, Oregon and Washington state worried about the novel coronavirus spreading through West Coast communities after confirming at least three patients were infected by unknown means. They had not visited an area where there was an outbreak, nor apparently been in contact with anyone who had.

The number of coronavirus cases in the United States is considered small. Worldwide, the number of people sickened by the virus hovered Friday around 83,000, and there were more than 2,800 deaths, most of them in China.

Most infections result in mild symptoms, including coughing and fever, though some can become more serious and lead to pneumonia. Older people, especially those with chronic illnesses such as heart or lung disease, are especially vulnerable. Health officials think it spreads mainly from droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes, similar to how the flu spreads.

The patients  an older Northern California woman with chronic health conditions, a high school student in Everett, Washington, and an employee at a Portland, Oregon-area school  hadn't recently traveled overseas or had any known close contact with a traveler or an infected person, authorities said.

Earlier U.S. cases include three people who were evacuated from the central China city of Wuhan, epicenter of the outbreak; 14 people who returned from China, or their spouses; and 42 American passengers on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, who were flown to U.S. military bases in California and Texas for quarantining.

Convinced that the number of cases will grow but determined to keep them from exploding, health agencies were ramping up efforts to identify patients.

The California Department of Public Health said Friday that the state will receive enough kits from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control to test up to 1,200 people a day for the COVID-19 virus  a day after Gov. Gavin Newsom complained to federal health officials that the state had already exhausted its initial 200 test kits.

Santa Clara County in the San Francisco Bay Area reported two cases where the source of infection wasn't known. The older woman was hospitalized for a respiratory illness, and rapid local testing confirmed in one day that she had the virus, health officials said.

"This case represents some degree of community spread, some degree of circulation," said Dr. Sara Cody, health officer for Santa Clara County and director of the County of Santa Clara Public Health Department.

"But we don't know to what extent," Cody said. "It could be a little, it could be a lot."

"We need to begin taking important additional measures to at least slow it down as much as possible," she said.

Cody said the newly confirmed case in Santa Clara County is not linked to two previous cases in that county, nor to others in the state.

The Santa Clara County resident was treated at a local hospital and is not known to have traveled to Solano County, where another woman was identified Wednesday as having contracted the virus from an unknown source.

Dozens of people had close contact with the Solano County woman. They were urged to quarantine themselves at home, while a few who showed symptoms of illness were in isolation, officials said.

At UC Davis Medical Center at least 124 registered nurses and other health care workers were sent home for "self-quarantine" after the Solano County woman with the virus was admitted, National Nurses United, a nationwide union representing RNs, said Friday.

The case "highlights the vulnerability of the nation's hospitals to this virus," the union said.

Earlier Friday, Oregon confirmed its first coronavirus case, a person who works at an elementary school in the Portland area, which will be temporarily closed.

The Lake Oswego School District sent a robocall to parents saying that Forest Hills Elementary will be closed until Wednesday so it can be deep-cleaned by maintenance workers.

Washington state health officials announced two new coronavirus cases Friday night, including a high school student who attends Jackson High School in Everett, said Dr. Chris Spitters of the Snohomish County Health District.

The other case in Washington was a woman in in King County in her 50s who had recently traveled to South Korea, authorities said.

Both patients weren't seriously ill.

But health officials aren't taking any chances. Some communities, including San Francisco, already have declared local emergencies in case they need to obtain government funding.

In Southern California's Orange County, the city of Costa Mesa went to court to prevent state and federal health officials from transferring dozens of people exposed to the virus aboard a cruise ship in Japan to a state-owned facility in the city. The passengers, including some who tested positive for the virus and underwent hospital care, had been staying at Travis Air Force Base in Northern California.

On Friday, state officials said the federal decided it no longer had a crucial need to move those people to the Fairview Developmental Center in Costa Mesa. That's because of the imminent end of the isolation period for those passengers and the relatively small number of persons who ended up testing positive, officials said.

The new coronavirus cases of unknown origin marks an escalation of the worldwide outbreak in the U.S. because it means the virus could spread beyond the reach of preventative measures like quarantines, though state health officials said that was inevitable and that the risk of widespread transmission remains low.

Federal officials think the coronavirus is spread only through "close contact, being within 6 feet of somebody for what they're calling a prolonged period of time," said Dr. James Watt, interim state epidemiologist at the California Department of Public Health.

Peter Beilenson, Sacramento County's health services director, said he expects even those who test positive to become only mildly ill.

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
By Gwladys Fouche

OSLO (Reuters) - Norway's $1 trillion wealth fund will exclude four companies for their vast emissions of greenhouse gases, or at least put them on probation to force them to change, the chairman of its ethics watchdog told Reuters.

The fund's ethics body is, separately, opening a new front, said Johan H. Andresen: investigating whether technology companies' tools are being used for "improper surveillance", with their makers held to account regardless of their intent.

The world's largest sovereign wealth, which has massive market influence because it owns 1.5% of the world's listed shares, operates under ethical guidelines set by parliament.

Andresen, chairman of the fund's Council on Ethics, said it had recommended the fund divest shares in the four polluters, after probing the oil, steel and concrete industries. The four companies were "worst in class" compared with peers in the same sectors but also compared with other sectors, he said.

The Norwegian central bank, which manages the fund, should make announcements about the firms imminently, the 58-year-old added. Companies to be excluded are not named until the fund has sold the shares, to avoid the stock falling in value beforehand.

"All of them were recommendations to exclude because we felt it was needed: they were cases that stood out," Andresen said in an interview ahead of the publication of the council's annual report on Sunday.

The central bank typically follows the council's recommendations to censure companies but sometimes, rather than immediately excluding them, it puts them on a watch list to give them a set period of time to come up with a plan to significantly change their behaviour, or face exclusion.

CARBON, NUKES, TOBACCO

The fund is forbidden by parliament from investing in companies that produce nuclear weapons, landmines, or tobacco, or violate human rights, among other criteria.

Story continues

Emissions became a criterion for exclusion in 2016. In 2017 the Council on Ethics recommended a handful of companies be excluded but, since then, work had been suspended while the central bank asked for clarification from the finance ministry about the interpretation of the criterion. This has now happened, enabling the council to proceed.

To avoid blacklisting, companies should have a plan showing how they intend to adapt to climate change, with specifics crucial, Andresen said.

"We will look at speed, time, capital spend dedicated," he added. "We want to see if they are walking the walk."

A fifth company will now be assessed by the central bank for possible exclusion for using too much coal in its activities, Andresen said.

1984: BIG BROTHER'S WATCHING YOU

The council is also investigating a new area for possible human rights violations - whether tech products are used for "improper surveillance".

"We are not looking at intent but whether the products of companies are being used improperly," he said. "Artificial intelligence can be used to find cancer but it can be used for other things ... We are looking for documentation as to whether companies know what their products are used for."

Andresen, who also owns private investment vehicle Ferd, said he expected the fund to announce possible exclusion decisions in this area this year as the council had already concluded investigations in "several cases".

"We are looking at the sharper end, where the norm violations are the most visible and where it is easier to establish the facts," he added. "George Orwell's 1984 is, to some extent, here. These are scary developments."

Andresen said he also expected a decision to be published this year about a company that causes severe environmental damage, as well as several companies in the textile industry for labour condition violations that breached human rights.

Some 65 companies have been excluded by the fund, on various grounds, on recommendations from the Council on Ethics. Another 68 companies have been excluded directly by the central bank based on their dependence on coal.

The fund, created from the proceeds of Norway's oil industry, gradually sells shares in any company it wishes to drop. The main aim is to remove the ethical risk.

(Reporting by Gwladys Fouche; Editing by Pravin Char)
On Tuesday night, after the latest Democratic debate, Ann Coulter tweeted: Sen. Warren has convinced me that Bernie isnt that worrisome. Hell never get anything done. SHES the freak who will show up with 17 idiotic plans every day and keep everyone up until it gets done. Vicious reactionary that she is, Coulter cut to the heart of Elizabeth Warrens promise.

Warren has an almost supernatural ability to identify problems before anyone else and to work relentlessly to solve them. Of all the Democratic candidates, she would make the most effective president. (Full disclosure: My husband, a graphic designer and creative director, works as a consultant for her.)

In 2007, Warren, then a Harvard law professor, wrote an article in the journal Democracy calling for the creation of what she called a Financial Product Safety Commission. It is impossible to buy a toaster that has a one-in-five chance of bursting into flames and burning down your house, she wrote. But it is possible to finance an existing home with a mortgage that has the same one-in-five chance of putting the family out on the street. This was before a cascade of mortgage failures set off the financial crisis, which she foresaw.
Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday accused opposition parties, including West Bengals ruling Trinamool Congress, of spreading misinformation on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, or CAA, while also assuring Muslims that the legislation does not pose any threat to them.

Addressing a public rally in Kolkata, he also launched the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)s campaign for the West Bengal assembly election next year, exuding confidence that his party will win with a two-thirds majority.

Earlier in the day, Shah inaugurated the 29 Special Composite Group complex of the National Security Guard (NSG) in Rajarhat, on the outskirts of Kolkata, where he spoke of national security and Indias defence policy.

We have zero tolerance towards terrorism. India had no proactive defence policy before. Now, after [Narendra] Modiji became the Prime Minister, we have developed a proactive defence policy segregated from the foreign policy, he said at the event.

People who want to divide the nation, harm the country and disrupt its peace should fear the presence of NSG. If they still come, it is NSGs responsibility to fight and defeat them, he said.

Shah also said that India has now joined the league of countries like the United States and Israel that can carry out surgical strikes.

At the Shahid Minar rally in the heart of the city, Shah launched a scathing attack on chief minister Mamata Banerjee and her party, giving a call to oust the Trinamool Congress (TMC).

We are launching a campaign called Aar Noy Annay (No More Injustices) to defeat the dictatorial government ... Its a difficult battle. But we have to fight it out, Shah said.

The BJP bagged 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in last years Lok Sabha election.

Mamata Banerjee is obstructing PM Modi from developing Bengal. Give Modiji five years and we will change it. We will turn Bengal into Sonar Bangla (Golden Bengal), Shah said, launching a phone number (9727294294) that will be used to drum up support in the campaign against the Trinamool.

On the issue of citizenship, which has triggered nationwide protests, Shah sought to reach out to Muslims while he hit out at the Opposition.

They are trying to create panic among the minority, saying that our Muslim brothers and sisters will lose citizenship. From this rally in Kolkata, I assure all minorities in Bengal that CAA will not take away your citizenship. This law is for granting citizenship, not for taking it away, he reiterated.

Muslims comprise 27.01% of Bengals total population of 90.3 million, according to the report of the Census 2011.

Shah alleged that refugees, too, were being fed misinformation that they will have to produce papers and that their right to live in the country will be taken away. They are being told to go to police stations and government record-keepers. I am telling you to go nowhere. We will not stop until and unless all the refugees are granted citizenship and Mamata Banerjee cannot stop us from doing that, Shah said.

Crores of Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Christian, Jain and Parsi brothers who had to come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan after being cheated, persecuted do not have citizenship. Tell me, do you not want them to get citizenship? he asked.

CAA, passed in December in Parliaments winter session, fast-tracks the citizenship process for refuges of Hindu, Sikh, Christian, Parsi, Jain and Buddhist faiths who entered India from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh before December 31, 2015. Opponents of CAA say the act is unconstitutional because it links faith to citizenship in a secular country and discriminatory because it leaves out Muslims.

Shah also reiterated the partys stand against infiltration. Are you with BJP on the question of infiltrators? Then, join me in saying no more infiltrators, he said.

Responding to Shah, state urban development minister and Kolkata mayor, Firhad Hakim, said Mamata Banerjee will never allow CAA, National Register of Citizens and the National Population Register to be implemented in Bengal.
The last day of February is observed as Rare Disease Day. It is estimated that over 300 million people in the world suffer from over 6,000 identified rare diseases.

By Robin Gomes

The Vatican is urging the international community to implement the Catholic social principles of subsidiarity and solidarity in healthcare policies in order to provide specific support and care for patients with rare diseases and their families, and make them feel part of society.

Cardinal Peter Turkson, the Prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, made the call on Saturday in a message for Rare Disease Day, that is observed on the last day of February.

European Organisation for Rare Diseases (EURORDIS), a non-governmental organization, established the annual observance in 2008 to raise awareness for unknown or overlooked illnesses.

According to the NGO, there are over 300 million people in the world suffering from over 6,000 identified rare diseases.

Pope Francis

Pope Francis also called for support for persons with rare diseases. In a post on his @Pontifex Twitter account on Saturday, he wrote: #RareDiseaseDay offers us the opportunity to together care for our brothers and sisters who are ill, to integrate research, medical care, and social assistance so that they might enjoy equal opportunities and lead a full life.

Rare diseases in poor countries

In his message, Cardinal Turkson noted that often people with rare diseases and their families live in stigma, loneliness and a sense of helplessness, often exacerbated by difficulties in getting specific treatment and appropriate care. This situation is even more serious in all those countries where the health system is more vulnerable.

Stressing that the fundamental right to health and care is a question of justice, the cardinal said that the unequal distribution of economic resources, especially in low-income countries, does not guarantee the health justice that protects the dignity and health of every person, especially the neediest and poorest.

The pharmaceutical industry

For this reason, Cardinal Turkson said, the scientific knowledge and research of the pharmaceutical industries, even if they adhere to their own laws, such as the protection of intellectual property and fair profit as a support for innovation, must find appropriate agreements that grant the right to diagnosis and access to essential therapies, especially in the case of rare diseases.

Subsidiarity and solidarity

The principles of subsidiarity and solidarity, Cardinal Turkson said, must inspire the international community as well as health policies to ensure that efficient health systems, equitable access to diagnosis and treatment and specific support and care for patients and their families are guaranteed for all, particularly the most vulnerable populations.

In the Catholic Churchs social teaching the principle of subsidiarity stipulates that human affairs and their decisions be handled at the level of the affected persons, rather than by a central authority.

Inclusiveness

Noting that the impact of rare diseases on the daily life of families is disruptive from a psychological, emotional, physical and economic point of view, Cardinal Turkson urged that health and social care include all aspects of family life and involve the various actors in a country in order to meet the needs of persons with rare diseases. He particularly urged for support, solicitude, attention ... in short, love".

He said it would be ideal that alongside family members, health, social and pastoral workers and volunteers, work in a spirit of fraternity, to take care of persons with rare diseases, integrating medical care with social activities and commitments that make them feel a dynamic part of society.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Layan Odeh (Bloomberg)  Sun, March 1, 2020 16:23 680 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206792615 2 News Emirates,coronavirus,Airlines,travel,Wuhan-coronavirus,COVID-19 Free

Emirates Group, which runs the worlds biggest airline by international traffic, is encouraging staff to take leave as the coronavirus outbreak slows demand for travel.

Weve seen a measurable slow-down in business across our brands, and a need for flexibility in the way we work, according to an internal email seen by Bloomberg and confirmed by the Dubai-based airline.

The airline asked employees to consider taking paid or unpaid leave, according to the email.

Read also: Singapore Airlines chief, senior staff take pay cut as air travel demand drops

Emirates halted most flights to China and suspended operations to Iran, the epicenters of the coronavirus. It stopped flying tourists from more than 20 countries to Saudi Arabia, the carriers biggest market in the Middle East.

Reuters reported the news earlier Sunday.
Google Ireland will discover on Tuesday if it has successfully challenged a fine of over 3m imposed by the Hungarian government.

The Court of Justice of the EU is to rule on a case taken by Google Ireland seeking to annul the fine which was imposed by the tax authorities in Hungary.

An initial fine worth 30,600 which was issued in January 2017 involved the companys failure to comply with an obligation to register for tax for selling advertising in Hungary.

Google Ireland was also subject to a daily fine for its alleged continuing failure to register as required under Hungarian law.

It brings the current overall fine to just over 3m.

Google started the action after the European Commission claimed the tax, which was introduced by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, violated EU laws because its rates unfairly benefited some companies, as the tax was calculated on turnover.

The tax is applied to anyone who publishes advertisements on the internet, mainly in Hungarian, or on Hungarian internet pages.

The Hungarian authorities have claimed Google has obtained a competitive advantage.

They have argued that the 3m fine is justified because the complaint dates back to January 2015.

Google took the action to the court which is based in Luxembourg primarily on the basis that it claims the fine is much higher than any fine that can be imposed on domestic companies in Hungary.

It said that Hungarian firms become automatically assessed for tax payments when companies are registered in Hungary.

Google also complained that its rights to an effective remedy were infringed as the decision to impose the fine was final and enforceable from the moment it was issued.

Google has argued that it had limited scope to submit evidence to challenge the fine and that foreign-based taxpayers have extraordinarily little time to try and challenge such decisions.

Its chances of successfully challenging the fine were boosted last year when a Court of Justice of the EU advocate general issued a legal opinion in favour of Google.

She claimed the law was applied unfairly on companies based outside Hungary.

Although the EU General Court last year annulled the European Commissions decision which found the Hungarian advertising tax law in breach of EU state-aid rules, Hungary subsequently capped and lowered the tax rate before pledging last year to reduce the tax rate to zero up to the end of 2022. Google Ireland is involved because the companys European head offices are based in Ireland.
The gang

With his calm looks, Emeka Emmanuel would easily pass for an innocent Nigerian dutifully doing his daily job and content with his little income.

Popularly known as Wiper, Emmanuel paraded himself as a labourer ready to work on any construction sites in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. His zeal appeared genuine enough to land him contracts at Guzape and Gwarimpa areas of the FCT.

To many of his clients, the 34-year-old was an artisan, adept at installing plaster of paris. They never knew the man they entrusted their property with during the day had a criminal role he assumed at night.

Emmanuels dark side came to light during the week when he was paraded by the police for stealing coils of electric wires worth N10m. He was arrested alongside five other accomplices, Chidi Offor, Kalu Chukwu, Ikechukwu Udeji, Chijioke Igwe and Jabi James, who is also an artisan.

Operatives of the Inspector-General of Police Intelligence Response Team launched a manhunt for the gang after a property owner at Guzape reported that to the police that the wires he kept at his site were stolen.

Saturday PUNCH learnt that in the course of their investigation, detectives traced the theft to James who had reportedly gone to some sites in Guzape some days earlier in search of jobs.

He was consequently tracked down and gave police information leading to the arrest of the gang leader, Emmanuel, and other members of the gang.

A police source told our correspondent that James contacted Emmanuel after sighting the wires on one of the sites he visited and the gang struck at night, carting away the property they later sold for N1.2m.

The source said, The gang specialised in burgling construction sites in Abuja. They were rounded up recently after they looted a site at Guzape, stealing cables worth over N10m. The gang had been terrorising residents of the FCT for a long time but they ran into trouble recently when the owner of the building at Guzape reported their activities to the police.

One of the gang members known as James, who fixes burglary, went to one of the sites at Guzape in search of jobs. He discovered there were several coils of cables on the site. Afterwards, he contacted Wiper, who is the leader of the gang and informed him of his discovery.

Five other members of the gang were also brought in and they struck at night. They carted away the cables in a truck and sold them to their waiting buyers at Jabi Market in Abuja, at a giveaway price of N1.2m.

The source explained further that after the theft, the case was reported at the Abuja of office of the IRT and operatives were deployed in the scene for on-the-spot investigation.



Workers found on the site were interrogated but it was discovered that one of the persons who had come to look for job there might have organised the theft.

The suspect was trailed and arrested and during interrogations he confessed organising the theft and led the operatives in arresting members of his gang including their buyers, he added.

Narrating his criminal escapades, Emmanuel, the gang leader, said there were times he stole wires when he was at work and he would hide them in his bag.

He said he operated in four sites within Abuja, adding that he sold the stolen items at Jabi and Gudu markets to three dealers still at large.

He stated, I started installation of POP in 2016. Before then, I was a trader. I sold spare parts in Zuba Market. The owner of the shop I used wanted to sell it but I could not afford to buy it. So he told us to vacate the place.

I then went to learn how to install POP and one of my friends known as Osors, taught me how to steal at construction sites. Osors is dead now. What we target mostly are wires because we can hide them in our work bags.

I used to carry coils of wires in my bag and would take them to Jabi and Gudu markets to sell them to Uche, Utekebe and Ubaka. I started this in 2017 and I have done it about four times.

It was James who brought the job that got us into trouble. He told me that he went to a site at Guzape to look for jobs and when he got there, he discovered that there were plenty wires in the compound. James then called me because he knew I also steal them.

Emmanuel said he invited other members of the gang, including Chidi and Kalu to take part in the operation.

He, however, said it was James who invited Igwe, adding that he got N300,000 share from the sale of the items.



We stole all the wires we found in the house. We sold the wires at a giveaway price to Utekebe for N1.2m.

My share was N300,000 and every other members shared the remaining money, he added.

Apart from being an expert in POP installation and painting of buildings, Ofor, another suspect, was good at stealing. In work and crime, he was almost on the same level with Emmanuel.

The 34-year-old man stated that he had operated on three sites so far, adding that he got N300,000 share in the Guzape operation that led to their arrest.

He said, I am into POP installation and painting but I reside in Gwagwar area of Abuja. It was my elder brother who taught me how to steal from construction sites. I met Wiper, who does the same job as me and we started working together. We started by stealing wires from sites because they are easy to carry.

I have stolen from three sites, one in Gwarimpa. I stole over 20 coils of wires from the site and I used to take them to market and sold to one Utekebe.

It was my friend Emeka (Emmanuel) who took me to do the job at Guzape, and we stole all the cables we found on the site.



I got N300, 000 share. We also stole from another house in Guzape and I also got N300, 000 as my share. I used it to solve my family problems. I paid house rent, bought clothes and fed myself with the rest.

***

Source: The PUNCN
Kamil Siedcynski, Polish student of Comparative Literature, was asked by the FRRO to leave the country within a fortnight for 'conduct deemed inappropriate for a foreign national on student visa'

Kolkata: A Polish student of Jadavpur University has been asked by the Foreigner Regional Registration Office (FRRO) to leave the country after he participated in an anti-CAA rally in the West Bengal capital, varsity sources said on Sunday.

The incident comes close on the heels of a Bangladeshi student of Visva Bharati University being issued a similar directive by the FRRO after she posted photographs of an anti-CAA demonstration, held on the campus, on social media.

A JU source told PTI that Kamil Siedcynski, a Polish student of Comparative Literature, was asked by the FRRO to visit its Kolkata office, which he did on 22 February. "Siedcynski was served a notice by the FRRO asking him to leave the country within a fortnight on receipt of the notice for alleged conduct deemed inappropriate for a foreign national staying in India on a student visa," the source said.

The JU source said several teachers and Left-leaning students of the varsity were of the view that Siedcynski was paying the price for attending an anti-CAA rally at Moulali area in the city in December last year where he was interviewed by a Bengali daily and a brief report on him was published the next day.

"Some people probably forwarded a copy of the report to the FRRO. Siedcynski has no political leanings but his enthusiasm to attend the protest rally and click photographs landed him in trouble," the source said.

Siedcynski, who was supposed to write his third-semester examinations this year, could not be contacted. JU vice-chancellor Suranjan Das and Registrar Snehamanju Basu also did not take calls.

The Polish student had earlier studied Bengali at the Visva Bharati University.

Recently Afsara Anika Meem, a first-year Bangladeshi undergraduate student in the Fine Arts department of the Visva-Bharati University was served an FRRO notice for reportedly engaging in "anti-government" activities.

Both the foreign nationals have requested the FRRO to reconsider its decision and promised not to get involved in any such protests in the future, sources said. The FRRO, in turn, has said that a final decision will be taken in Delhi, the source said quoting the two students.
WATERLOO  School districts in Waterloo and Cedar Falls, as well as Waverly-Shell Rock, Independence and Starmont, are asking voters to make their voices heard at the polls Tuesday.

Voters are being asked to approve updated revenue purpose statements that outline how school districts may use funds from the penny sales tax known as Secure an Advanced Vision of Education funds.

Districts can borrow against future SAVE funds to finance current infrastructure projects. The Legislature last year extended the SAVE ptogram through at least 2020.

However, before a district can use the funds voters must approve new revenue purpose statement. The RPS is not additional funding or a tax increase; it simply allows districts to spend the funds as allowed by Iowa law. A simple majority (50% +1) is needed for passage.

All vote centers will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday. Locations are listed below:

Waterloo

Cedar Valley Church, 3520 Ansborough Ave., east entrance.

Hammond Avenue Brethren Church, 1604 Hammond Ave., lower level.

Landmark Commons, 1400 Maxhelen Blvd.

St. Paul United Methodist Church, 207 W. Louise St.

Our Saviors Lutheran Church, 420 Harwood Ave., east entrance.

Harvest Vineyard Church, 715 E. Fourth St.

Linden Methodist Church, 301 Butler Ave., lower level.

Kimball Ridge Center, 2101 Kimball Ave., lower level.

Zion Lutheran Church, 810 Kimball Ave., lower level.

Evansdale Community Response Center, 911 Evans Road.

Cedar Falls

St. John Lutheran Church, 715 College Street (upper level).

Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 4000 Hudson Road.

Church of Christ, 2727 W. Fourth Street.

Cedar Heights Community Presbyterian Church, 2015 Rainbow Drive (lower level).

Trinity Bible Church, 125

Orchard Drive.

Waverly

City Hall, 200 First St N.E.

Independence

Falcon Civic Center, 1305 Fifth Ave. N.E.

Starmont

Aurora Legion Hall, 302 Warren St.

In Waterloo, SAVE funds have helped pay for construction projects at Orange and Becker elementaries and the building of the Career Center. The next project slated for the district will be at Lowell Elementary School.

Cedar Falls spokesperson Janelle Darst said the district does not have any set plans for the funds, but they will be used for building and infrastructure needs as they come up, including building the new high school.

Waverly-Shell Rock School District Superintendent Ed Klamfoth said funds will be used for general maintenance and upkeep.

In the past, the W-SR district has used SAVE funds for new roofs, building additions, furnishings, technology, playgrounds, band instruments, miscellaneous equipment, property tax relief, and more, according to their website.

Independence Community School District Superintendent Russell Reiter said SAVE funds will continue to be used for paying off bonds used for the new junior/senior high school that opened in 2013. Funds also will be used for transportation items and laptops.

All in all its really just paying off the debt we have with the new buildings, he said.

The district is eyeing possible future renovations at some of the elementaries, including revamping an addition at West Elementary.

Over the past five years, the Starmont Community School District has used SAVE dollars, along with some PPEL funds, for purchasing a new building security system, loader for district maintenance, three new buses, camera system for buses, and updated science rooms, gymnasium, bathrooms and more.

School districts were required to provide the revenue statements and get voter approval for them since 2004. The statement covers a range of uses for the sales tax, which changed from a local option tax to a statewide tax in fiscal year 2008.

A look inside Cedar Falls Orchard Hill Elementary School

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Want to see more like this? Get our local education coverage delivered directly 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.
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

San Francisco firefighters are still battling a four-alarm blaze that has destroyed a towing warehouse and an adjoining restaurant near the intersection of Toland Street and Evans Avenue, firefighters said.

The fire was first reported about 8:49 p.m. Saturday in this light-industrial area near the India Basin area. The main warehouse there collapsed.

High winds which blew smoke across nearby Interstate Highway 280 earlier, prompting its temporary closure, had died down by 10 p.m., said fire Lt. Jonathan Baxter, but had blown down nearby power lines that caused power outages around the south part of San Francisco, Baxter said. A power pole fell onto SFFD firefighting equipment, Baxter said; PG&E was responding to repair the lines.

There were no known injuries as of 10 p.m., Baxter said; the department was told the building should have been unoccupied. The owner of the Bonanza Restaurant had safely escaped the restaurant before it burned.

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.
Mumbai, March 1 : In a surprise development, Rashmi Thackeray - wife of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray - has been named as the new Editor of 'Saamana' Group, here on Sunday.

The group, run by Prabodhan Prakashan, includes the flagship dailies 'Saamana' and 'Dopahar Ka Saamana', often referred to as Shiv Sena's official publications, and founded by the late Sena patriarch Balasaheb Thackeray.

Celeb-banker and wife of Leader of Opposition Amruta Fadnavis congratulated and offered her best wishes to Rashmi Thackeray on her new appointment.

"Our country needs more women in top leadership positions to represent the issues of women and society and also have a platform to voice their opinions in matters of public importance," said Amruta Fadnavis.

Her unexpected appreciation came as she regularly trained guns at Chief Minister Uddav Thackeray in the past three months and days after she suggested that Minister Aditya Thackeray was a 'worm', sparking off a massive political furore in the state.

Today's statement is viewed as an olive branch extended by Amruta Fadnavis after a Sena senior leader wrote to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh demanding that she and her husband (Devendra) should be 'reined in' from throwing irrelevant political barbs at the Thackeray family.

Earlier in the day, an announcement appointing Rashmi Thackeray, 58, was made in the newspapers by the group publisher Rajendra M. Bhagwat with names of the other Trustees shown as Subhash R. Desai and Liladhar B. Dake.

When contacted, a party leader said that since she has now been assigned the onerous responsibility, she will take it up earnestly, but declined to elaborate.

However, the family's close confidante Sanjay Raut and Rajya Sabha Member will continue to be the group executive editor and pen his famed fiery edits and commentaries.

While the multi-edition Marathi 'Saamana' was founded on January 23, 1983 with the late Thackeray as its Editor, the Hindi 'Dopahar Ka Saamana' was launched on February 23, 1993.

Rashmi Thackeray will step into her husband's footsteps who quit the post after becoming CM which he had held after his father, the late Balasaheb Thackeray.
Disapproving of political 'controversies' around the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, Nitish Kumar called for 'patience' as the matter was sub-judice

Patna: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday asserted that the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is and will remain united in the state, dispelling "confusions" that had arisen in the wake of his recent meeting with RJD's Tejashwi Yadav followed by some Opposition Grand Alliance leaders beckoning him to cross over.

Addressing a 'karyakarta sammelan' (worker's meeting) of the Janata Dal (United), of which he is the national president, Kumar exhorted party workers to strive towards ensuring the NDA's win in "more than 200 seats" when elections to the 243-member Bihar Assembly are held this year.

Disapproving of political "controversies" around the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), which his party had supported in Parliament, Kumar called for "patience" as the matter was sub-judice. Anxieties in some sections of society, particularly among the minorities, have been addressed with a resolution passed by the Bihar Assembly against the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and insertion of contentious clauses in National Population Register (NPR) forms, he said.

The JD(U) chief also reiterated his commitment towards ensuring justice and welfare of all, including minorities, and slammed the Opposition Congress-RJD combine, which keeps attacking him over his alliance with the BJP, by recalling the Bhagalpur riots of 1989 that had claimed over 1,000 lives.

"It is well known who was in power when the riots took place and how justice eluded the victims for 15 years thereafter. We brought the guilty to book and justice was ensured to the victims. I am more concerned about working for the minorities than getting their votes," said Kumar as he highlighted the various schemes being run by his government for minority communities.

The chief minister, who spoke for close to an hour and a half, also dwelt at length on his government's accomplishments with regard to improving law and order, and bringing in all round development. Kumar asked party workers to apprise the common people about the same and debunk the Opposition's propaganda.

On allegations of deterioration in law and order levelled by Opposition parties and the concern expressed of late by ally Chirag Paswan, who heads the Lok Janshakti Party, the chief minister quoted National Crime Records Bureau statistics to suggest that the crime rate in Bihar, when taken into account in proportion to the population, was among the lowest in the country.

Sore over widespread criticism of the poor health and education scenario in the state, Kumar highlighted his government's success in reducing school dropout rates and mentioned the adulation from Microsoft founder Bill Gates who, during his visit to Patna last year, had praised the state's efforts towards "fighting poverty and disease".

The chief minister, who will aim at a fourth consecutive term in power in the Assembly elections due by November, urged his party's workers to draw inspiration from the NDA's stupendous performance in the Lok Sabha polls last year when the BJP, the JD(U) and the LJP had together won 39 out of the 40 seats in Bihar.

Indirectly referring to his one-to-one meeting with Tejashwi Yadav inside his chamber at the Bihar Assembly complex, which had prompted Grand Alliance leaders like former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi to "welcome" him to the Opposition formation, Kumar said, "There is no scope for confusions. We met over the NPR and the NRC debate, and the matter has been settled with a unanimous resolution passed by the Assembly".

"Now there should be dhairya (patience) as the CAA is before the court. Stirring a controversy is not proper," said the JD(U) chief in a veiled admonition to the Opposition. He also pointed out that the law providing for citizenship to refugees fleeing adjoining countries out of religious persecution was conceptualised when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the prime minister.

Flaying the RJD-Congress combine for their agitations over the citizenship law, Kumar said, "I was a member of Parliament then. And, what I am saying can be verified from the records of the proceedings of the time. Leaders like Pranab Mukherjee, Manmohan Singh and Lalu Prasad all were in favour of such a legislation back then."

He also spoke of the "Jal Jeevan Hariyali" campaign which aims at combating climate change through environment preservation and expressed delight over the enthusiastic public participation in the human chain that was formed in its support in January.

Kumar also asserted that prohibition, brought in force four years ago, has had many positive social and economic efforts and reiterated his commitment to securing special category status for Bihar which, he holds, is necessary for accelerated development of a state that has been historically backward.

The chief minister paid tributes to Valmiki Nagar MP Baidya Nath Prasad Mahto, who died in Delhi earlier this week. Condoling his death before he commenced his speech, Kumar winded up his address by making the crowds observe silence in the memory of the departed leader.
After tying the knot less than one year ago with a surprise wedding in Las Vegas, Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas are reportedly expecting their first child.

The 24-year-old Game of Thrones star tried to keep rumors at bay as she covered her stomach by embracing her beloved dog, Porky Basquiat, and wearing a baggy t-shirt while out with her other half.

Turner strategically obstructed any clear view of her stomach while carrying her pooch in her arms while leaving a pet store in Los Angeles on Saturday.

Hiding: Sophie Turner masked her stomach amid the growing pregnancy rumors surrounding her and husband Joe Jonas on Saturday in Los Angeles

While she eventually put her adorable Alaskan Klee Kai - who boasts over 132k Instagram followers - down, the actress hid her figure or any sign of a baby bump in the loose-fitting top.

As the pair left Petco, Jonas carried out their purchases in a purple and black tie-dye hoodie, sneakers and black Gymshark shorts over a pair of joggers.

Like her man, the HBO star hid her expression under a pair of massive shades in her ultra-casual attire.

Strategic: With her pooch in her arms, Turner cleverly obstructed any clear view of her stomach, while leaving a pet store in Los Angeles on Saturday

'Sophie has decidedly been choosing outfits to wear on and off the carpet to accommodate her changing body,' a source told Just Jared three weeks ago when the rumors broke

The 'pregnant' star wore her blonde tresses in a messy bun and remained silent over the speculation she is expecting, which first began three weeks ago via a Just Jared report.

'The couple is keeping things very hush hush but their friends and family are super excited for them,' a source told the site . She is reportedly due this summer.

Another insider added at the time: 'Sophie has decidedly been choosing outfits to wear on and off the carpet to accommodate her changing body.'

Out and about: Despite opting not to confirm or deny, the lovebirds have started going out more frequently again

Expecting: The 'pregnant' star wore her blonde tresses in a messy bun and remained silent over the speculation she is expecting, which first began three weeks ago via Just Jared

According to sources, kids have always been in the cards for the couple.

Despite opting not to confirm or deny, the lovebirds have started going out more frequently again.

Sophie and Joe first said 'I do' in a surprise wedding after the Billboard Music Awards in Sin City on May 1 before a more lavish affair in France on June 29.
SAN LUIS RAO COLORADO, Mexico  Inside Casa del Migrante, the piercing screams of an 8-year-old boy echo from a room. Other children, curious and uncertain, look on as Jordan Ramirez battles two nurses trying to vaccinate him against influenza, chickenpox and measles.

Jordans family arrived here 15 days earlier from their home in the Mexican state of Chiapas, intent on seeking asylum in the United States. Despite her sons obvious terror, Maribel Lopez was grateful for the care for him and his two siblings.

She and her husband couldnt afford health care for their kids in Chiapas.

We dont have enough money to give our children well-being and a better life, she said.

Her children were among 120 people receiving free vaccinations late last month at Casa del Migrante, a shelter across the border from Yuma, Arizona, that temporarily houses migrants waiting to head to the U.S.

American doctors, members of Congress and immigrant advocates have been pushing U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials to vaccinate migrants to prevent illness and death. Their calls come after several migrant children, including some diagnosed with the flu, have died in U.S. custody.

With CBP rejecting those requests, some organizations are working to get migrants the health care they need  on the Mexican side of the border.

One Hundred Angels, a Phoenix organization that provides medical care and other services to migrants, helped coordinate the one-day vaccination clinic at Casa del Migrante, working with the Mexican Red Cross.

One Hundred Angels founder Cecilia Garcia made the seven-hour round-trip drive with two volunteers, a nurse and a doctor in a van packed with snacks and supplies to donate. After she saw that efforts to vaccinate migrants in U.S. facilities were being blocked, she decided to go a different route.

We went around; we went to the other side of the border, she said. Once theyre in detention, and they really cant protect themselves, they are so vulnerable.

Since September 2018, at least seven migrant children have died while in U.S. custody or shortly after their release. They ranged in age from 19 months to 16 years.

At least three who died had the flu, according to medical investigations and a letter from 13 U.S. senators to the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Customs and Border Protection.

Felipe Gomez Alonzo, 8, was one of the victims.

The Guatemalan boy was in CBP custody in New Mexico when he was taken to a hospital Dec. 24, 2018, complaining of a sore throat and other symptoms. According to a report by New Mexicos medical investigator, he was prescribed ibuprofen and released back to agents.

That same night, after his father asked that Felipe be taken to the hospital again, the boy complained of abdominal pain, vomited blood and became unresponsive. He died of complications from influenza B.

Shortly after Felipes death, teams of experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention visited border facilities in Yuma and El Paso, and the agency provided written recommendations about how best to control flu and other viruses in CBP facilities. Those included a recommendation that flu vaccinations be given at the earliest feasible point of entry to anyone 6 months or older.

Nevertheless, CBP officials have declined to provide vaccinations to migrants in their facilities. In an emailed statement, the agency said that administering vaccines is not a CBP practice.

The agency notes its facilities are meant to hold migrants for up to three days before transfer to longer-term housing under Immigration and Customs Enforcement or, in the case of unaccompanied minors, U.S. Health and Human Services  agencies that are able to provide vaccinations and other medical care.

Despite that 72-hour window, government reports and lawsuits reveal that migrants have been kept in CBP holding facilities for as long as a month, increasing the potential for disease to spread.

On Feb. 19, a federal judge in Tucson determined that CBP facilities in southeastern Arizona violate the Constitution because the conditions are presumptively punitive. In fiscal year 2019, 12,030 individuals were kept longer than the 72-hour limit in the Tucson border sector, which covers all of the border in Arizona.

Noting that the migrants held in those facilities are civil detainees and not convicted criminals, Judge David Bury said conditions are substantially worse than conditions afforded criminal detainees at the Santa Cruz County jail or other jail facilities, where detainees are medically screened by medical professionals; have a bed with cloth sheets, blankets, and pillows  have clean clothing  showers, toothbrushes and toothpaste, and warm meals.

His ruling, which comes in a class-action lawsuit brought by detainees, prohibits CBP from holding processed detainees longer than 48 hours, unless the agency provides conditions of confinement that meet basic human needs.

In testimony last month before a U.S. House subcommittee on border operations, Brian Hastings, chief of law enforcement operations for CBP, said the agency has expanded its medical support program, adding hundreds of contracted medical professionals who work 24/7.

DHS and CBP remain committed to ensuring that individuals in CBP custody receive appropriate care, including medical support, he said.

In the U.S., several organizations are advocating for better health care for those in custody.

Doctors for Camp Closure, a group of health care professionals who oppose detention of immigrants, has tried to offer free vaccinations for detainees.
Airlines in Hong Kong have called for financial assistance on top of a HK$1.6 billion relief package upon getting to know they will not be given any discount on aeronautical charges, the Post has learned.

The relief measures to be offered to various airlines by Hong Kong International Airport include an interest-free deferral of 50 per cent of aircraft-operation charges for up to six months, including those for landing, parking, and using the air bridge and terminal building. But, the charges will not be lowered, according to a document seen by the Post.

Other measures include a 20 per cent rental reduction for airline lounges, office and storage space, and a 20 per cent discount for airside vehicle permits.

Scores of foreign airlines  including all US carriers  have suspended services to Hong Kong for months amid the coronavirus outbreak. Photo: Winson Wong

The airport last week announced concessions worth a fifth of its most recent net profit to help the aviation industry ride out the combined effects of the coronavirus crisis and the anti-government protests. But the details of the measures have yet to be unveiled.

Sources said members of the Hong Kong Board of Airlines Representatives, which represents a coalition of more than 70 airlines, had expressed disappointment in a meeting this week, ahead of their meeting with airport officials.

We strongly believe these measures are disproportionate to the scale of the challenge that our member airlines face, a spokesman of the board said, pointing to the absence of any help to the aviation sector from the government in the 2020-21 budget.

Singapore was the first major country to offer help to airlines flying to the city state, rolling out an S$112 million (HK$626 million) package. It included a full parking charge rebate and a 10 per cent discount on landing charges for all flights from Southeast Asia to Singapore.

The board, currently chaired by Cathay Pacific chief customer and commercial officer Ronald Lam Siu-por, said: We strongly urge the Hong Kong government to provide the much-needed assistance to the airline community to help maintain the city as a global aviation hub.

Story continues

Airlines say they need more help to ride out the crisis caused by poor travel demand. Photo: Winson Wong

Some 27 per cent of the airports revenues come from aeronautical charges, including air traffic fees, which account for 17 per cent of Cathays expenses.

The Cathay Pacific Group, which controls half of all runway slots at the airport, has reduced its flights significantly amid weak travel demand.

Scores of foreign airlines  including all US carriers  have also suspended services to Hong Kong for months, while many Asian and European airlines have scaled down the number of flights flown to the city. The city airport is operating with around two-thirds fewer passenger flights.

Hong Kong Airlines also said it needed more assistance. We believe the incentives can be further expanded to provide us with the much-needed support during this difficult period, the airlines spokeswoman said.

We  have communicated to the board to petition the government for targeted incentives and support measures to help us defray the costs, she added.

Hong Kong International Airport handled 71.5 million passengers in 2019. Photo: Winson Wong

The airport handled 71.5 million passengers in 2019, the entire second half of which was marred by anti-government protests. This was a 4.2 per cent decline from an all-time record in 2018.

It is on a 19-year profit streak worth HK$78.77 billion, having maintained positive earnings during 9/11, the 2003 Sars outbreak and the 2008-2009 global financial crisis.

The airport generated HK$19.5 billion in revenues and made a profit of HK$8.4 billion in the 2018-19 financial year.

The Airport Authority said it will continue to closely monitor the operational circumstances of the industry and review the measures when necessary. The Transport and Housing Bureau offered a similar statement.

ACI Asia-Pacific, which represents 692 airports in the region and Middle East, warned that airport revenues were under tremendous pressure in the first two months of 2020.

Airport revenue generation and growth are directly linked to traffic levels. We can therefore expect declines of significant proportion for airports in the affected markets in the first quarter. However, the ripple effect will be felt across many airports beyond our region, Stefano Baronci, the organisations director general said.

This article Hong Kong airlines call for more financial assistance to weather the crisis caused by coronavirus and anti-government protests first appeared on South China Morning Post

For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2020.
David Ryder/Reuters

Washington State health officials said Sunday that a nursing home resident who contracted the new coronavirus has diedthe second death in the U.S. as the outbreak continues to spread across the country.

The patient was described only as a man in his 70s with underlying health problemsthe scenario under which the virus is most lethal. He was moved from the LifeCare long-term care facility in Kirkland to a hospital, where he died.

There are now six confirmed cases, including the fatality, from the nursing home, but that number could rise since officials have said dozens of staffers and residents there have symptoms.

The first deatha man in his 50s who also had health issueswas announced on Saturday. He had not traveled to one of the coronavirus hot spots, so health investigators believe he was infected locally.

Person in Washington State Is First in U.S. to Die From Coronavirus, Authorities Say

It has become almost impossible to keep up with the fast-changing coronavirus statistics, with the number of confirmed cases in new countries and cities seeming to roll like ticker tape.

The latest confirmations include a New York woman in her 30s who recently traveled to Iran, where an outbreak is in full swing, and an American student studying in Italy who reportedly just tested positive while on a weekend trip to the Czech Republic. Rhode Island announced a second positive test, and Florida declared a state of emergency after two presumptive cases there.

As of Sunday, there were 76 in the U.S., including those who were evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise or the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the new coronavirus originated.

Testing of potential patients has been slow in the U.S., with only about 3,600 tests completed, compared to 100,000 tested in South Korea and more than 21,000 tested in Italy.

But Vice President Mike Pence said on CNN that more than 10,000 test kits are in the mail to regional health officials trying to stem the spread.

Story continues

In Hungary, the government is using the fear of the spread to close borders and transit zones to migrants on the move, though they are not the first to politicize the virus. President Donald Trump in the U.S. and far-right leader Matteo Salvini in Italy have done the same.

In Rome on Sunday, men in white hazmat suits swooped in to close the famous Luigi dei Francesi church next to Piazza Navona which houses three original Caravaggio paintings. A French priest who had been in Rome to celebrate Ash Wednesday mass had just tested positive in France, where the number of confirmed cases is growing. Italy has seen the number of cases climb to nearly 1,700 and the number of deaths rise to 34, butuntil nowit had not been a problem in Rome.

The spread in France caused the Louvre in Paris on Sunday to close its doors early amid growing concern by workers that they might be at risk. It is unknown how long one of the worlds most famous museums will be closed.

In South Korea, which has seen an explosion in the number of casesnow at 3,730and 21 deaths tied to the Shincheonji religious sect, the founder and 11 others have just been charged with murder, causing harm and violating the Infectious Disease and Control Act.

To date, more than 85,403 cases have been confirmed in over 60 countries, according to the World Health Organization. More than 2,900 people have died worldwide.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here

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.
Kate Carnell, the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO), urged senators to pass the Australian Business Growth Fund Bill on Wednesday.

Ms. Carnell explained that the bill would significantly encourage growth and promote economic expansion for small and medium-sized businesses around the country.

We strongly support the investment by the Commonwealth in the Australian Business Growth Fund to provide much-needed patient capital to SMEs seeking to realise their high-growth potential, she said.

This investment is critical to the success of the fund. Previous attempts leaving it to industry to establish the business growth fund, resulted in no action.

The fund hopes to address lack of access to funding and equity investment to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), which are often overlooked by venture capitalists and investors.

In 2018, the Inquiry into Affordable Capital for SME Growth, led by Ms. Carnell, revealed a serious nationwide funding gap for smaller businesses. It was found that lenders see SMEs as high-risk investments and place restrictive terms on them.

The current conditions imposed by lenders and investors on small businesses, including high interest rates, security demands, and near-immediate return on investment, mean that small businesses often have a difficult time raising capital.

RBA Governor Philip Lowe said that the fund would help address the critical funding gap and enable our up-and-coming, high growth potential SMEs to flourish, giving them the confidence to expand, invest, and innovate.

Australian businesses with an annual turnover between $2 million and $100 million will benefit the most, and be eligible for long-term investments of $5 million to $15 million.

Both Ms. Carnell and Mr. Lowe referenced similar international economic models to support the passing of the bill in Australia, with the UK and Canada Business Growth Funds having substantial influence in developing the current model.

In Australia, the Business Growth Fund (BGF) was launched by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in November 2019 as an initiative between the Federal Government, national banks and superannuation funds including ANZ, CBA, NAB, Westpac and HSBC.

So far, more than $500 million has been pledged to the fund, with hopes that this amount could reach $1 billion.

Keep up to date with our stories LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Ravi Shankar By

Death by volcano: If the 44-mile-wide active Yellowstone volcano in America erupts, the result could be global devastation, even human extinction.

Deadly Waste: Microplastics, almost invisible tiny shreds of plastic waste, which are being

discovered in the stomachs of ocean life such as fish.

Tech sabotage: Anti-climate change tweets by automated bots. One-fourth of all such daily

tweets are by bots labelling global warming a hoax.

Very few non-glamorous campaigners can become global celebrities in the overloaded age of digital influencers. The very fact a blond, pig-tailed 17-year-old Swedish schoolgirl named Greta Thunberg can become the most powerful ambassador of the anti-climate change movement shows that the new generation is concerned that global warming could push mankind to the verge of extinction. Last year, millions of children participated in rallies worldwide against political lethargy over the climate crisis. The UN calls climate change the defining issue of our time, and the greatest challenge to sustainable development. Scientists calculate that mankind has just a decade left before climate change becomes irreversible. The world must bend the global curve of emissions by 2020 and then cut emissions in the world by half by 2030, said Professor Johan Rockstrom, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research at Davos.

It took 10 years to land a man safely on the moon, we now have 10 years to land Earth on a safe trajectory for our future, he added. Private offers of help to fight climate change are the only hope: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has committed $10 billion for the cause. The Bezos Earth Fund, which amounts to 8 per cent of the e-commerce multi-billionaires wealth, will back any effort that offers a real possibility to help preserve and protect the natural world, according to his Instagram post.

As the Corona Contagion continues to wreak destruction on public health and economies, countries are going into self-imposed quarantine. It is worth remembering that global warming has endangered Natures natural checks and balances such as rivers, oceans and mountains, which have been rendered useless by the carbon spreading airline industry. In 2014, the Ebola epidemic, which spread through international travel, claimed 12,000 lives within a short span of time. If Nostradamus, the fecund ore of tabloid headline writers, is to be believed, the end of the world is nigh. World leaders do not seem unduly concerned. Donald Trump has unilaterally pulled the US out of the Paris Climate Change Accord. Australian Premier Scott Morrison was holidaying in Hawaii when savage wildfires slaughtered over 1 billion animals in the country.

European governments are too sluggish to act against the exploitation of fossil fuels: at Davos early this year, the Adani coal mine project, one of the worlds largest, came under fire from climate activists who want companies to curb fossil fuel use to meet the Paris Agreements goal of bringing global heating down to 2C this year. Most of Indias energy needs are met by coal, which causes 68 per cent of the countrys emissions leading to a significant rise in air pollution. The world is on fire. July 2019 was the hottest month on record in the world.

The Australian bushfires of 2019, which could be seen from space, choked all major cities, killed 25 people and incinerated 18 million acres. In August, the Amazon, which is called the planets green lungs, since it absorbs 14 per cent of all CO2 in the atmosphere, burned for months across Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Peru.

California burned, too, forcing hundreds to flee.

In July 2019, a heatwave in Europe sent heated air to Greenlands atmosphere, causing surface ice to melt at record levels.

The Arctic cap is melting, heating up at twice the global rate. The sea ice off the coast of northern Greenland has dissolved into miles of open water for the first time. In 2013, CO2 in the atmosphere rose to levels seen for the first time in 800,000 years. This could push up sea levels by 20 feet by 2040. Over two-thirds of the worlds biggest cities are by the sea, with 80 per cent of their population living close to the coast.

Birds are getting smaller in size. Bumblebees in Europe and North America could be extinct soon. Of the two million-plus different species on Earth, 200 to 2,000 go extinct every year, significantly impacting the food chain.

Indias National Disaster Management Authority concludes that 27 of the 37 states and UTs are disaster-prone with rising sea levels threatening the Sundarbans. The Himalayas witness floods, cloud bursts and landslides. Dr Miniya Chatterji, Director, Centre for Sustainability, Anant National University, Ahmedabad, says, We should start with developing our own discourse on climate change and realistic solutions. At the moment, its heavily skewed towards Europe. The only way to do so is to have policymakers, private sector, and educational institutions work together. In 2018-19, extreme weather events killed over 2,400 Indians; according to World Bank estimates, average temperatures in India could go up to 29.1C by the end of the century, an increase of 4C and by 2C by the 2040s.

In Vidarbha, the epicentre of farmers suicides, the World Bank expects climate change to bring down GDP per capita by nearly 10 per cent by 2050. Maharashtra experiences weather swings ranging from hailstorms, heat waves, frost and erratic rainfall. Indias agricultural policy, which doesnt account for massive water wastage, needs a complete overhaul. Climate change affects the poor the most. Expect crop production to come down by 12 per cent and increased dependence on exports, which became redundant after the green revolution. The drought in 2016 which affected most of India was caused by drastic rise in temperature, which rose to 51C in May in Rajasthan. According to the Central Water Commission, there are 91 reservoirs in India, in which water levels were at their lowest in a decade.

In Chennai and Kerala, unprecedented floods due to an unexpected increase in sea level have claimed lives, caused epidemics and destroyed livelihoods. Divya Narayan, Campaigns Director at Jhatkaa.org, which is committed to building grassroots citizen power, says, Rising temperatures and changes in rainfall patterns will affect farmers. Greater frequency of floods and drought will affect the rural population. Its important to acknowledge that we arent doing enough to implement mitigation strategies and help these populations adapt to the changing environment. The International Labour Organization says heat stress could put 34 million full-time jobs at risk and cripple productivity. Big corporations which are major contributors to pollution getaway, thanks to poor legislation: the Air Act enacted by the Parliament under Article 253 meant for the prevention, control and abatement of air pollution does not mention the term Climate Change.

The first climate change in the worlds living memory took place about 1,500 years ago when two subsequent massive volcanic eruptions over two years threw up so much black dust into the upper atmosphere preventing sunlight from reaching the earth. This led to a cold wave that devastated agriculture and commerce. Today, the problem is the exact opposite: too much of solar heat is trapped in the atmosphere by greenhouse gases generated by burning fossil fuels. What are the Doomsday predictions of scientists about climate change? Death by Volcano. The 44-mile-wide Yellowstone volcano in Americas Yellowstone National Park is very much active. An eruption (the last was 630,000 years ago), according to Bryan Walsh, the author of End Times, could lead to global devastation, even human extinction. When the Lake Toba supervolcano in Sumatra erupted 75,000 years ago, it caused a bottleneck effect in human development, leading to a dramatic shrinking of the global population, according to scientists.

They say that the Lake Toba which sits atop a massive volcanic crater is in a stage of resurgence. This puts Southeast Asia at risk and can cause a mega-tsunami. Periodic landslides on Hawaiis Big Island have caused tsunamis. According to The Independent, the movement of the Hilina Slump generated a smaller, yet destructive tsunami that reached California in 1975. Climate change is expected to increase the number of mega hurricanes such as Irene, Katrina, Wilma and Sandy, which devastated the East and Gulf Coasts of America. The San Andreas Fault could kill millions in a mega-earthquake in the coming few decades causing devastating tsunamis.

Climate change scientists predict that land on which some 150 million people live will go below the high-tide line by 2050, according to The New York Times. This will affect China, Thailand and all of Vietnam. All of low-lying Maldives could sink into the ocean by 2045. The eruption of the unstable Cumbre Vieja volcano in the Canary Islands would wipe out the many island nations in the Caribbean. Chatterji says, International platforms such as the various COP meetings have succeeded in bringing heads of states together to make commitments. This is a massive step forward. However, it has to be seen how world leaders will carry their commitments forward. One size does not fit all and climate policy in every country needs to consider the political economy and its immediate needs. According to Bloomberg, climate scientists are worried about unexpectedly high readings on earth system models run on massive supercomputers which set their baseline of the atmosphere heating up to 3C. Some projections exceed 5C. These models have accurately

India at Risk

India is the fifth most vulnerable of 181 countries, with its poorest being the most at risk, according to the 15th edition of the Global Climate Risk Index 2020 prepared by Bonn-based think-tank Germanwatch. Japan is the most vulnerable, followed by the Philippines, Germany and Madagascar.

Indias economic losses due to climate change were the second highest in the world with a loss of Rs 2.7 lakh crore, says the Germanwatch report. This is equivalent to losing about 0.36% per unit of GDP.

The country reported the most deaths (2,081) in 2018 due to extreme weather events triggered by climate changecyclones, heavy rainfall, floods and landslides.

According to the World Migration Report (2020), 3.3 million new displacements were estimated in South Asia, caused by the sudden onset of hazards in 2018. India bore the maximum brunt of disasters, with more than 2.7 million people displaced due to tropical storms and floods.

India accounts for 7% of annual global greenhouse-gas emissions. It is the worlds fourth-largest emitter, after China (27%), the US (15%) and the EU (10%). However, Indias per capita energy use

is around one-tenth of the USs.

According to the National Disaster Management Authority, 27 of the 37 states and union territories in India are disaster-prone. While places like Sundarbans in the east face the threat of sea-level rise, the mountains in the north are vulnerable to floods, cloud bursts and landslides. The Aila cyclone of 2009 in Bay of Bengal or Kedarnath floods of 2013 in Uttarakhand are proofs to this fact.

There has been a decline in coastal marine fish production in India over the last few years. CMFRI data reveals a 9% decline in overall catch in 2018 compared to the previous year.

India recorded just nine of 93 disasters in Asia in 2019 but accounted for nearly 48% of the deaths, says the latest State of Indias Environment 2020 report of the Centre for Science and Environment.

predicted global warming for over 50 years and form the policy framework for governments and the private sector, including the sixth encyclopedic assessment by the UNs Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2020. The findings show that man has less time than believed to set the earth right. Matching 300 digital configurations of weather flows to historical data, the models doubled CO2 projections to 5.3C33 per cent over past simulations. The social, cultural and economic disruption due to population displacements by adverse weather effects is causing tension worldwide. The CAA/NPR debate is largely about migrant populations skewing the ratio, especially in border states.

Extreme weather events leading to more precipitation, soil degradation and desertification are displacing over 20 million people every year. They seek places in low-lying coastal zones, which are safer, and cities, which offer jobs and educational opportunities. This puts pressure on infrastructure and expands urban limits, thereby forcing populations to move over 1,000 km. The authors of a UN paper see population density in the tropical margins and subtropics increasing by 300 per cent or more, leading to a rise in nationalism with immigrants impacting local culture and economy.

Data collected by Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre on disasters-induced migration concluded that 1.6 million people were living in camps or out of their homes in 2019. Around 2.7 million Indians were displaced by disasters and extreme weather last yearthe worlds highest. None other than businessman-president Donald Trump who has wide construction interests across the world and his cronies lead the dark side of the climate war. The Guardian recently broke a story about an anti-climate change tweet wave by automated Twitter bots. One-fourth of all such daily tweets is by bots labelling global warming a hoax.

A Brown University study found that bots sent out millions of tweets praising Trumps announcement that the US would pull out of the Paris climate agreement. The US has called climate crisis bullshit and a hoax. One of the Twitter accounts with 16,000 followers that comes on top of the list is

@sh_irredeemable, which said, Get lost Greta! in December. In October 2019, the Narendra Modi government imposed a nationwide ban on single-use plastic products with the goal of making India completely free of single-use plastics by 2022. But microplasticsalmost invisible tiny shreds of plastic wastewhich are being discovered in the stomachs of ocean life such as fish, sea otters and giant killer whales, are a new threat. Microplastic pieces are tiny bits from moving car tires, which enter streams and rivers through rainwater and eventually land up in the ocean.

The Australian bushfires of 2019 choked all major cities, killed 25 people and incinerated 18 million acres.

They also come from fleece garments and spandex in washing machines, which penetrate the earth when soiled water is poured into drains. They also come from the countless discarded straws, cups, water bottles, plastic bags and other single-use plastics. In 2018, California passed a law to evolve a method to test for microplastics in drinking water. Awareness of this new plastic danger is almost nil in India. According to the British Plastic Association, India has about 25,000 plastic manufacturing companies employing three million workers and has one of the highest growth rates in the world. Consumption is growing yearly at 16 per cent compared to 10 per cent in China.

In spite of political indolence, some action is slowly emerging on the anti-climate change front. The US Air Force Research Lab set aside a $100 million last year for a programme to develop hardware for a satellite, which can beam solar power to Earth. Currently, the globe receives 173,000 trillion watts of solar energy. Scientists estimate that just 1 per cent of that is sufficient to meet global energy requirements. Since solar panels are affected by cloud cover and the efficacy rate of sunlight conversion is poor, a space-based solar station could be the answer we are looking for. Companies are turning to geothermal energy, which depends on the use of hyper-hot water drawn deep from the Earths subterranean reservoir to operate turbine generators.

However, there are not enough hot water springs on earth. Enhanced geothermal technology is severely underfunded; drilling machines are used to penetrate hot dry rock and pump the water into newly created chambers. Such activity is both capital-intensive and dangerous since drilling into the wrong rock formation could trigger earthquakes. There is not enough government or private incentive to encourage this nascent eco-friendly industry. Desperate times require desperate measures: in spite of fierce anti-nuclear energy environmentalists, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has acknowledged that nuclear energy can be effectively used to contain global warming.

Since 2011, Canadian energy behemoth General Fusion has been receiving investments from the Earth Fund to build the worlds first nuclear fusion power plant, which would be, when finished, an unlimited source of clean energy which can produce more toxic waste-free energy, than a traditional nuclear power plant. NuScale Power, an Oregon-based energy startup, has built a prototype modular nuclear reactor in the USs State University campus. Micro is the new prevailing trend in tech: such reactors can be easily shipped to any location, thus making the cumbersome process of setting up a nuclear reactor redundant. These small engines can operate without meltdown because they use very little nuclear fuel compared with existing reactors. Scientists are also advocating the use of hydrogen energy since there is an abundance of the element in the atmosphere. Honda has a third-generation hydrogen cell-powered car, which hasnt found buyers. Hydrogen energy can be counterproductive currently because the technology needed to break up water into its two components will require fossil fuels.

The downside of government is its dependence on traditional forms of industry which will take huge investment to replace with eco-friendly models. This has been preventing state leaders who depend on corporate donors to take decisive steps for the future of their own children. Dr Kavya Michael, Associate Fellow, Centre for Global Environment Research, Earth Science and Climate Change, TERI, says, Climate change compounds and exacerbates pre-existing myriad socio-economic and biophysical vulnerabilities. Accelerating adaptation action is the biggest hope to ensure a safe future for all in light of increasing climate change impacts. Through a number of initiatives, we are beginning to extend our knowledge and research in climate science and policy to other emerging economies.

The climate change conversation has clear racial overtones, which favour the West which is exploiting natural resources in Africa and Asia without heeding the impact of their tech on the local climate. Eight-year-old Manipuri girl Licypriya Kangujam, Indias youngest climate activist, hates being compared with Greta. She has spoken against global warming in 21 countries. When Spanish newspapers labelled her the Greta of the Global South, she tweeted, We have a common goal but I have my own identity, story. I began my movement in July 2018 even before Greta started. It is not too late for India to follow her cue.

Global Stand

What the countries are doing (or not doing) to achieve the globally agreed goal of holding warming below 2C

INDIA



India is formulating its renewable energy policy but at present, such energy security lies far ahead in the future. While the country needs to reduce its dependence on coal-based energy and balance growth and environment, a reforming farm policy can help tackle water shortages and discourage crop burning.

USA



After pulling the US out of the Paris pact, Donald Trump is backing industrial activity without ecological responsibility. The real estate developer-president is downgrading protected parks allowing logging. Land development is threatening extinction of native species. The Clean Power Plan is scrapped.

CHINA



The worlds largest greenhouse gas emitter (27% of global emissions) vows to control coal consumption and raise use of natural gas and power. But its fossil fuel consumption went up by 4% in the first half of 2019. It started boosting 28 GW of new coal-fired power capacity in 2018, and is financing and building both fossil-fuel and renewable infrastructure in other countries. Its totalitarian secrecy prevents clarity about the real picture.

EU



The EUs Paris Agreement target of at least a 40% emission reduction below 1990 levels by 2030 is insufficient while its policies are on track to meet the target. The UK played a key role in ensuring strong EU action, but dwindling London-Brussels ties post-Brexit could jeopardise joint efforts to achieve the 2050 emissions-neutrality goal.

(Photo | NASA)

Evidence for Rapid Climate Change



Most of the current warming trend in the earth is linked towith greater than 95 per cent probabilityhuman activity since the mid-20th century. It is proceeding at a rate that is unprecedented over decades to millennia.

8 inches Sea Level Rise



Global sea level rose about 8 inches in the last century. The rate in the last two decades, however, is nearly double that of the last century and is accelerating slightly every year.

Extreme Events



Scientists are establishing a stronger link between the planets warming and its changing weather patterns with hotter heat waves, drier droughts, bigger storm surges and

greater snowfall

12.85 per cent Declining Arctic Sea Ice



The extent, as well as thickness of Arctic sea ice, have declined rapidly over the last several decades. Arctic sea ice reaches its minimum each September. September Arctic sea ice is now declining at a rate of 12.85 per cent per decade, relative to the 1981 to 2010 average.

Glacial Retreat



Glaciers are retreating almost everywhere around the worldincluding in the Alps, Himalayas, Andes, Rockies, Alaska and Africa.

286 billion tonnes (Greenland)

127 billion n tonnes (Antarctica)

Ice lost per year between 1993 and 2016



Shrinking Ice Sheets



The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have decreased in mass. Data from NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment show Greenland lost an average of 286 billion tonnes of ice per year between 1993 and 2016, while Antarctica lost about 127 billion tonnes of ice per year during the same time period. The rate of Antarctica ice mass loss has tripled in the last decade.

30 per cent Ocean Acidification



Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the acidity of surface ocean waters has increased by about 30 per cent. This rise is the result of humans emitting more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and hence more being absorbed into the oceans. The amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by the upper layer of the oceans is increasing by about 2 billion tonnes per year.

Decreased Snow Cover



Satellite observations reveal that the amount of spring snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere has decreased over the past five decades and that the snow is melting earlier.

1.62 F Temperature Rise



The planets average surface temperature has risen about 1.62 degrees Fahrenheit (0.9 degrees Celsius) since the late 19th century, a change driven largely by increased carbon dioxide and other human-made emissions into the atmosphere. Most of the warming occurred in the past 35 years, with the five warmest years on record taking place since 2010.

Over 0.4 F Warming Oceans



The oceans have absorbed much of this increased heat, with the top 700 meters (about 2,300 feet) of ocean showing warming of more than 0.4 degrees Fahrenheit since 1969.

Apocalyptic Scenarios

Solar storm



In 2012, Earth narrowly escaped the most powerful solar storm in over 150 years. A hit will completely destroy the internet and nearly all communications which would cost the world economy trillions in damages.

Asteroid attack



predict that mile-long asteroid 1997XF11 will miss the planet in 2028 by a whisker; however if it doesnt, it would hit the earth at 30,000 mph or energy roughly equal to a one-million megaton bomb. This would guarantee a mass extinction of life very much like the dinosaurs were wiped out millions of years ago. Nostradamus predicted that an asteroid would hit the earth and we shall see the water rising and the earth falling under it.

How did We Get Here?



Gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect



Water vapour



The most abundant greenhouse gas, but importantly, it acts as a feedback to the climate. Water vapour increases as the Earths atmosphere warms, but so does the possibility of clouds and precipitation, making these some of the most important feedback mechanisms to the greenhouse effect.

Carbon dioxide (CO2)



A minor but very important component of the atmosphere, carbon dioxide is released through natural processes such as respiration and volcano eruptions and through human activities such as deforestation, land-use changes, and burning fossil fuels. Humans have increased atmospheric CO2 concentration by more than a third since the Industrial Revolution began. This is the most important long-lived forcing of climate change.

Methane



A hydrocarbon gas produced both through natural sources and human activities, including the decomposition of wastes in landfills, agriculture, and especially rice cultivation, as well as ruminant digestion and manure management associated with domestic livestock. On a molecule-for-molecule basis, methane is a far more active greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, but also one which is less abundant in the atmosphere.

Nitrous oxide



A powerful greenhouse gas that is produced by soil cultivation practices, especially the use of commercial and organic fertilisers, fossil fuel combustion, nitric acid production, and biomass burning.

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)



Synthetic compounds entirely of industrial origin, used in a number of applications, but now largely regulated in production and release to the atmosphere by international agreement. Because they have the ability to contribute to destruction of the ozone layer. They are also greenhouse gases. Source: Nasa

People are suffering, people are dying. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is the money and fairytales of eternal economic growth For more than 30 years the science has been crystal clear. How dare you continue to look away! Greta Thunberg, Teen Swedish climate activist, at UN Climate Action Summit, September 2019
FILE PHOTO: Logo of Airbus is pictured at the aircraft builder's headquarters of Airbus in Colomiers near Toulouse

DUBAI (Reuters) - Kuwaiti lawmakers agreed on Wednesday to set up a committee to look into whether Airbus's <AIR.PA> aircraft orders from the Gulf Arab state involved alleged corruption, the state news agency reported.

Governments and airlines around the world have launched their own investigations after Airbus on Jan. 31 reached a record $4 billion settlement with prosecutors in Britain, France and United States over alleged bribery and corruption stretching back more than a decade.

In Kuwait, a three-member parliamentary committee has been tasked with reviewing Airbus orders and is to submit a report of its findings to the National Assembly within three months, KUNA reported.

Kuwaits anti-corruption authority said on Feb. 6 it was open to receiving any information about alleged bribes paid to secure Airbus plane orders involving Kuwaiti parties.

The parliament also asked the finance ministry to review recent aircraft deals involving state-owned Kuwait Airways.

Airbus was not immediately available to comment.

(Writing by Alexander Cornwell. Editing by Jane Merriman)
Markets have shuddered as the coronavirus spreads worldwide, but analysts doubt it will plunge economies into a crisis like the one that followed the 2008 Lehman Brothers investment bank failure. Where will the market slide end? Stock markets held up fairly well in the first weeks of the coronavirus outbreak in China, but fell sharply when a large number of cases were reported in Italy. In one week more than half a year of gains were wiped out in a brutal swing reminiscent of the financial crisis more than a decade ago. Yet analysts note that such abrupt market corrections -- a swift drop of at least 10 percent from a recent peak -- have happened nearly every year over the past decade. "Drops of 10 to 20 percent, that's nothing special," said Alexandre Hezez, Group Chief Investment Officer at asset manager Richelieu Gestion. But the shock wave differs from those felt in 2008, which ravaged the financial sector before paralysing the broader economy, and in 2000 when the internet bubble burst. This time, stock markets faced "an external shock," Hezez said. "If investors do not see a political, medical and monetary response, the market could fall lower still," he forecast. Christian Parisot at the Aurel BCG brokerage felt however that "central bankers will keep us from arriving at that point." And the real economy? Growth forecasts for the first quarter of 2020 and the year as a whole have been lowered by most economists, and that is based on a fairly limited impact from the virus leading to a rebound in the second quarter. The slowdown will clearly be sharper in China. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has revised its growth forecast for the world's second biggest economy down from 6.0 percent to 5.6 percent, and Moody's expects it to be weaker still, at 5.2 percent. That is certain to affect other countries, so Swiss bank Credit Suisse has trimmed its 2020 global growth forecast by 0.2 percentage points to 2.2 percent. Countries such as Germany that export a lot to China will probably be hit hard, and some others could fall into recession. Japan is a case in point, given a drop in output already late last year, while a mini-rebound in Italy, the European country hit hardest by the virus so far, now appears to be in trouble. In 2019, Italy's economy, the third biggest in the eurozone, grew by just 0.2 percent. Across the Atlantic however, growth in the United States is fairly strong, owing to resilient consumer spending on the back of "solid job growth and real wage gains," noted Sara Johnson, director of the global economic unit at IHS Markit. In 2009, the world suffered an overall recession, with global gross domestic product (GDP) contracting by more than three percent. Could things get worse? "The longer this goes on the more people will become afraid, which will weaken confidence," said Sylvie Matelly, deputy director of the French Institute for International Relations and Strategic Affairs. "There will be quarantines or cities blocked, and that means less economic activity and more ruptures in supply chains," she added. Johnson felt that "the danger is that the outbreak spreads more widely and rapidly than we expected, leading to production shutdowns and travel restrictions outside of the Asia Pacific region." While she believes that "financial markets have over-reacted to the downside risks to the global economy," Johnson noted there is a danger "that reaction could have adverse consequences" to it, nonetheless. Matelly said that could happen if the market panic sparked runs on banks in China or other countries hit hard by the coronavirus where government finances are fragile. "That is the scenario that would lead to a very serious economic crisis," she warned. But it's not certain such a scenario will come to pass. "The hypothesis of a quick rebound" in the global economy has been discounted, said Christian Parisot. But "that does not call into question the hypothesis that things will improve" even if the outbreak wreaks havoc with the economy in the first half of the year and not just the first quarter," he added. pan-jra-boc-mhc/wai/har/tom Graphs of stock markets around the world which have fallen sharply during the last week on concerns over the economic impacts of the coronavirus spread.
Police in Vietnams Mekong Delta have arrested a man and his wife after they were caught on camera beating up his 88-year-old mother earlier this week.

Officers in Cho Gao District, Tien Giang Province confirmed on Saturday they had apprehended Vo Quoc Tuan, 56, and his wife, 57-year-old Pham Thi Loan for the violence.

Footage of the incident was posted on social media on Tuesday.

According to the video clip, which was about two and a half minutes long, Loan first violently beat her mother-in-law, 88-year-old V.T.D., at their home on Monday morning.

Tuan and an unidentified young girl were also present and witnessing the beating.

The man later beat his own mother with a wooden stick and forcefully carried her to another room.

Preliminary investigation showed that D. suffers bad health condition and memory loss due to old age.

The elderly woman can only lie on her bed and is unable to relieve herself properly, which might have triggered the anger and violence.

According to officers, the footage provides sufficient evidence against the married couple and suitable punishment will be imposed upon the offenders.

D.s daughter has taken her to her home for further care.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Jihadists have killed 10 people in a raid on a village in northeast Nigeria's restive Borno State, burning homes and looting food supplies, civilian militia sources said Sunday.

Suspected Boko Haram insurgents in trucks fitted with machine guns stormed into Rumirgo village in the Askira Uba district at 1740 GMT on Saturday, shooting indiscriminately and sending residents fleeing into the surrounding countryside.

"They killed 10 people in the indiscriminate shooting which made residents run into the bush" civilian militia member Adamu Galadima said.

The militants burnt a dozen homes, carted away food supplies and two "trailers loaded with foodstuffs," another militiaman, Peter Malgwui said.

Askira Uba lies close to the Sambisa Forest where Boko Haram enclaves dwell and has suffered repeated attacks.

Yet in recent months an Islamic State group-aligned faction of Boko Haram has been waging attacks.

Last month three Nigerian soldiers were killed in clashes with fighters from the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) faction in Askira Uba town.

A decade of Boko Haram violence has killed 36,000 people in the northeast and displaced around two million from their homes, creating a severe humanitarian crisis.

The conflict has spread to neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, prompting a regional military response to combat the jihadist groups.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


June 19, 2020





May 19, 2020









Related Posts

The theatrical release for Pixar'sis set for Soul will now be released on December 25, 2020 ), and while that may seem like a long time, it's only 3 months aftercomes out (Pixar fans are spoiled this year). To get us even more excited, the first glimpse at the 'Art of' book, with all its wonderful concept art and behind-the-scenes insights, has just been released.The official synopsis ofasks the question ofand will have you wondering where your passions, your dreams, and interests come from. The ethereal look to the 'Art of' cover is a stark contrast to the New York City setting that takes place in the film, as the color palette of the cover features cool tones but also has a very warm feeling to it.The 'Art of' books continue to be one of our most treasured items from each Pixar film, as the artwork and details shared within the approximately 168 pages (according to the Amazon listing) are sure to be packed with details. Not only do we look forward to the color scripts and character/world development, but the introduction to the books are often filled with such pure admiration and insights  which always tend to spark our own creativity.Writer/co-director Kemp Powers recently shared on his Instagram We cannot wait to hear what Powers has to say about this incredible film. Be sure to pre-order your copy of The Art of Soul , availablewill now be released on October 27, 2020).Pixar Post - Julie & T.J.
A middle-aged couple from Gujarat



has eloped once again, just over a month after they had returned to their respective homes, their family sources said on Sunday.

The couple--Himmat Pandav (46), who hails from Surat and Shobhna Raval (43) of Navsari- had eloped weeks before the scheduled marriage of their respective son and daughter in January this year. They had returned to their respective families after two weeks, only to elope again it seems.

"Pandav and Raval left their respective homes on Saturday. They are reportedly staying in a rented house in Surat," sources said.

However, unlike last time, no police complaint was filed about the duo going 'missing'.

While Pandav is a resident of Katargam area in Surat, Raval hails from Vijalpore town in Navsari district.

On January 10, both of them went "missing" and police complaints were lodged to trace them at Surat and Navsari, respectively.

When the couple went missing for the first time, their kin had said Patel and Raval knew each other as both lived in Katargam area as youngsters, with Raval shifting to Navsari after marriage.

After their return on January 26, Raval went to her paternal home, after her husband refused to accept her.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Union minister Anurag Thakur, who has been under opposition fire over his alleged hate speech during assembly polls, on Sunday said strict action should be taken against those involved in the communal riots in the capital which claimed over 40 lives.

The Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs was addressing a press conference here after meeting with stakeholders from various trades and industries during an interactive session organised by the Income Tax department.

At the press conference, he was asked to comment on the alleged hate speeches made by him and other leaders in the run-up to the elections and how such vitriolic speeches led to the riots in the city.

"Strict action should be taken against those involved in (Delhi) the riots. The strength of our country is that people of various faiths coexist and live unitedly contributing towards nation building," Thakur said.

Further commenting on the communal riots, he said, "Police is doing its job...."



Asked again about his alleged hate speech, Thakur said, "I think sometimes there is lack of information in the media too regarding the way some things are projected."



Evading further response on the issue, the Union minister chose to talk about the country's economy.

"India should move forward. We have taken big steps on the economy and will do so in future too," he said.

Thakur added, "From Monday, parliament session will begin, questions are raised there also from economy to various other issues and on that platform (in parliament), answers will be given on various matters."



"If you have questions on the economy, you should ask those..," he said when media persons kept fielding questions about his alleged hate speech.

When journalists mentioned the wordings of the alleged hate speech, the leader shot back, "This is not what I said..."



Declining any further comment on the matter, the leader said, "The matter is sub-judice. You (media) should have full facts (about his alleged hate speech). Half-baked information can be dangerous...

The High Court had recently expressed "anguish" over the Delhi Police's failure to register FIRs against three BJP leaders over their alleged hate speeches in connection with the CAA-related violence and asked the police commissioner to take a "conscious decision" on it.

The Congress has said it will strongly raise the issue of the communal riots in Delhi during the second part of the budget session of parliament starting on Monday and demand Union Home Minister Amit Shah's resignation over alleged police lapses in curbing the violence.
Graham Nash is unquestionably a music legend. In the United Kingdom, he was heavily influenced by the rising popularity of skiffle music in the 1950s and identified heavily with the harmony of the Everly Brothers.

Together with boyhood friend Allan Clarke, they formed The Hollies in 1962, and with the addition of guitarist Tony Hicks the following year, they perfected their three-part harmony and became one of the most popular bands in England.
SMITHERS, B.C. - Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs and senior government ministers reached a proposed arrangement Sunday following days of discussions over a pipeline dispute that prompted solidarity protests and transport disruptions across Canada.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 1/3/2020 (680 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Carolyn Bennett and B.C. Indigenous Relations Minister Scott Fraser arrive to address the media in Smithers, B.C., Saturday, February 29, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

SMITHERS, B.C. - Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs and senior government ministers reached a proposed arrangement Sunday following days of discussions over a pipeline dispute that prompted solidarity protests and transport disruptions across Canada.

Details of the draft deal, which centres on Indigenous rights and land titles, were not disclosed, however, and work on the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline at the heart of the dispute was set to resume on Monday.

Federal Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett said the talks are the start of a better relationship with the Nation.

"We, I believe, have come to a proposed arrangement that will also honour the protocols of the Wet'suwet'en people and clans," Bennett said in a news conference in Smithers, B.C. "What we've worked on this weekend needs to go back to those clans and then we have agreed as ministers that we will come back to sign if it is agreed upon by the Nation."

She said the proposal is about making sure "that this never happens again, that rights holders will always be at the table."

British Columbia Indigenous Relations Minister Scott Fraser acknowledged there was a disagreement over the natural gas pipeline going through traditional territory.

"We are developing a protocol here ... to recognize rights and titles for the future," he said. "I ask for some space and calm to continue that good work, and allow the Wet'suwet'en people to review the arrangement and to endorse it."

Chief Woos, one of the Wet'suwet'en hereditary leaders, called the draft a milestone for everyone involved but said the "degree of satisfaction is not what we expected."

He stressed that the hereditary chiefs remain opposed to the pipeline in their traditional territory.

Wet'suwet'en hereditary leader Chief Woos, also known as Frank Alec, centre, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relation, Carolyn Bennett, left, and B.C. Indigenous Relations Minister Scott Fraser arrive to address the media in Smithers, B.C., Sunday, March 1, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

"We are going to be continuing to look at some more conversations with B.C. and of course with the proponent and further conversation with the RCMP," Woos said. "It's not over yet."

A joint statement released by representatives of Wet'suwet'en Nation, the province and the federal government acknowledged that they had not come to an agreement on the pipeline.

Shortly after the proposal was announced, Coastal GasLink issued a statement saying it would resume construction activities in the Morice River area, which is near the Unist'ot'en Healing Centre, on Monday. It also said the company is committed to talking with all Indigenous groups along its route.

The company had agreed to pause construction during the talks between the hereditary chiefs and the ministers, which began Thursday.

RCMP had also pledged to cease patrols along the Morice West Forest Service Road during the discussions. The Mounties did not respond to requests for comment Sunday.

The dispute over the pipeline has spurred solidarity protests across the country that have disrupted passenger and freight train service over the last three weeks. Police have recently moved to dismantle some of the blockades.

The Wet'suwet'en are governed by both a traditional hereditary chief system and elected band councils. A majority of its councils have approved the pipeline, but some of the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs oppose it running through their traditional territory.

Gary Naziel, a Wet'suwet'en hereditary subchief who wants the pipeline built, said he hasn't seen the proposed arrangement.

"What's done behind closed doors hasn't been shared yet," he said. "But it will be settled in the Feast Hall  all this stuff that's been going on has to come to Feast Hall. We will deal with it there."

Naziel said no date has been set to discuss the proposal, but he noted it's a good first step and he's satisfied that the pipeline is going ahead.

"The projects are going forward so that way we can get the benefits for our education and language," he said. "If everybody is satisfied, that's fine by me. Internally we need to fix things in the Wet'suwet'en Nation.

"We already know we had titles and rights to this land. We know we own this land."

The dispute also involves other unsettled land rights and title issues, including who has the right to negotiate with governments and corporations, the fact that the land is not covered by a treaty and remains unceded, and a 1997 court case that recognized the hereditary chiefs' authority and the exclusive right of the Wet'suwet'en peoples to the land but did not specify the boundaries.

Lawyer Peter Grant, who represented the Wet'suwet'en and neighbouring Gitxsan First Nation, said the proposal is not a treaty.

"It's a draft arrangement, but I think it's very powerful," he said.

The secretary of the Mohawk Nation of Kahnawake said activists have decided to maintain their rail blockade on the territory south of Montreal, at least for now.

Kenneth Deer said the Mohawks want more clarification on the agreement between the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs and the federal government before making a final decision.

Stay informed The latest updates on the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 delivered to your inbox every weeknight. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

"It's a big decision to decide to take down the barricade or not, and they want to make sure they have everything before they make a decision," he said Sunday outside the entrance to the barricade, where Mohawk flags flew from a tent and pointed wooden shelter protected by low concrete barriers.

Deer, who said he's been in contact with hereditary chiefs, said good things came out of the meeting in B.C., as well as "some things that were not so good."

He said the agreement includes discussions on who are custodians of the land, as well as a recognition of the hereditary chiefs, which he described as "significant."

"However, the pipeline is not resolved, and that's a very big issue, not only for the Wet'suwet'en chiefs but for everybody," he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on March 1, 2020

 with files from Colette Derworiz in Edmonton and Morgan Lowrie in Kahnawake
By PTI

BOLPUR: Expressing concern over the communal clashes in Delhi, Nobel laureate Amartya Sen said on Saturday that India is a secular country and people cannot be divided on religious lines.

Addressing a press conference, he said it should be found out whether the police is inefficient or there was a lack of effort on the part of the government to tackle the violence.

"I am very much worried that where it happened is the capital of the country and is centrally governed. If minorities are tortured there and police failed or can't discharge their duties, it is a matter of serious concern," Sen said at an event organised here by the Pratichi Trust.

"It is reported that those who died or were tortured are mostly Muslims. India is a secular country we can't divide Hindus and Muslims. As an Indian citizen, I can't help but worry," he added.

However, Sen said he doesn't want to draw any conclusion without analysing the entire matter.

He said the transfer of Justice S Muralidhar from the Delhi High Court to the Punjab and Haryana HC is natural to raise questions.

"I personally know him. It is natural to raise questions but I can't pass any judgment," Sen told reporters.

Justice Muralidhar, who was hearing the Delhi violence case, was transferred on a day when a high court bench headed by him expressed "anguish" over police's failure to register first investigation reports against alleged hate speeches by three BJP leaders.

Sen further said that he found it "unreasonable" to force a Bangladeshi student of the Visva-Bharati to leave the country.

"I have no detailed information. As per newspaper reports, I have not yet found any strong reason why she should be deported from the country," he said.

Afsara Anika Meem, an undergraduate student at the central university, has been asked by the Home Ministry to leave the country for reportedly engaging in "anti-government activities".
German prosecutors raided offices and private homes of Porsche engineers last week as they widened investigations into employees allegedly involved in manipulating diesel motors.

Four new suspects were added to the investigation which is now probing seven current and former Porsche employees, Heiner Roemhild a spokesman for the prosecutors office in Stuttgart said Friday by phone.

No board member is among the suspects, he said.

Volkswagen's most profitable car brand last year paid a 535m fine for breaching supervisory duties, but investigations against individuals are continuing.

The world's largest automaker is still wrestling with the fallout from the diesel emission scandal, which involved rigging emission tests for as many as 11 million vehicles worldwide and has cost the company about 30bn so far.

Porsche confirmed the raids and said that it continues to fully cooperate with authorities in the investigations against individuals.

The raids were first reported by German magazine Der Spiegel.

The raids come as Porsche announced it intends to offer more green debt to support its 6bn investment in electric vehicles.

The Volkswagen unit will stick with green financing after selling a record 1bn green 'Schuldschein' - the German equivalent of a private placement - last year, according to Wolfgang Ratheiser, vice president for corporate finance and treasury.

It has for now ruled out raising potentially more flexible financing in the faster-growing ESG-linked market.

Bloomberg
TDT | Manama

Mobile medical units will be used by the health authorities in the Kingdom to test Bahraini returnees from Iran. The units will be sent by the ministry to the areas of residences of the returnees. This is due to the high rate of coronavirus infections in Iran and the risk that the returnees could be infected. According to the ministry, the mobile units are state-of-the-art and well equipped. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health has stepped up efforts to spread awareness about coronavirus as they urge residents and citizens to take hygiene measures.

The ministry has urged citizens and residents to take various measures to protect themselves from coronavirus. Ministry sources said that educational campaigns are in full swing to create awareness in the public about the novel coronavirus. The modes used to create awareness include traditional media, social media and even SMS campaign which was recently done.

Kindly be reminded to take the following precautions to reduce the risk of contracting the Coronavirus (Covid-19): Wash your hands regularly and thoroughly using soap and water. Use alcohol-based sanitisers. Clean and disinfect frequently used objects and surfaces such as door handles. Cover your mouth when coughing or sneezing, and dispose of used wipes properly. Avoid contact with people experiencing a fever or suffering from a cough, the ministry stated in a mass SMS campaign, which was sent out to Bahrainis and expatriates across the Kingdom.
An American couple have come up with an ingenious way to stop thieves from stealing tools out of the tray of their pick-up truck at night.

Katie Camarena posted CCTV footage from outside her home showing a would-be thief being scared away from her family's vehicle in Fresno, California.

'We were having issues with the same person coming back,' Mrs Camarena told Daily Mail Australia.

An American woman and her husband figured out an ingenious way to stop thieves from stealing tools out of their pick-up truck in the dead of night (pictured)

Mrs Camarena said her husband, who works as an agricultural ranch manager, had tried a range of other methods to try and deter the would-be thieves.

'Our ring camera floodlight wasn't scaring them off so we wanted something that would scare them,' she said.

'We were brainstorming some ways to scare him so I was looking up Halloween decorations that would pop up. My mom ended up coming across this (sprinkler) on Amazon.'

Mrs Camarena, a teacher by profession, said the sprinkler had a surprising amount of water pressure which proved perfect for the job.

'My husband got it all set up with a makeshift base. It did exactly what we wanted it to,' she said.

The couple then posted the video to Facebook showing the high pressure sprinkler in action.

As a hooded man rides his bicycle up the driveway the floodlights come on, but he is undeterred.

As soon as the sprinkler, sitting in the tray of the pick-up, sprays him directly in the face he quickly turns around and flees.

The sprinkler Mrs Camarena used was designed to repel 'animals and pests' in a humane way and was purchased for $50 on Amazon.

The video has garnered more than 80,000 shares and 15,000 comments since it was posted on February 28.

'You guys should sell the kit! That's awesome' one person wrote.

'We have cameras everywhere but I love this preventive step,' another added.

'Be even better if it were a paint or dye that was hard to get off,' a third suggested.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he is still hopeful of containing Covid-19 (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

The Government has outlined a new battle plan to respond to the spread of coronavirus after three new cases were identified in the UK, including a staff member at a school.

Every department will have a ministerial lead on the virus while a cross-Whitehall war room is being set up to roll out an enhanced public information campaign, the Department of Health and Social Care announced.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he is still hopeful of containing Covid-19 as he detailed the new approach to pandemic preparation on Sunday.

The plan is very clear, he told Sky News Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme.

Firstly, (it is) to contain this virus. Thats the stage were in now, we hope that we can succeed in doing that.

(PA Graphics)

Mr Hancock said the long-term strategy for ensuring Covid-19 was contained was attempting to delay its peak until the summer, as the virus will not spread so easily in warmer weather.

If the outbreak worsens, the next phase of the Governments plans could include encouraging people to work from home and an emergency registration of retired health professionals.

Mr Hancock added the NHS was ready to deal with further cases of coronavirus, with more than 5,000 emergency critical care beds available.

Other measures include an increase in the number of emergency meetings by the Government.

Boris Johnson has come under fire for failing to lead a Cobra contingencies committee on the outbreak until Monday.

Three more patients in England tested positive for coronavirus on Saturday, while the Republic of Ireland reported its first patient  bringing the total number of cases in the British Isles to 24.

One of those confirmed was a staff member at an infant school in Berkshire.

Willow Bank School in Reading, Berkshire (Jonathan Brady/PA)

In an email, Willow Bank Infant School headteacher Michelle Masters urged parents to remain calm and follow the recommended hygiene procedures.

The school will be shut for some days to allow for a deep clean and to ensure that the risk of infection remain(s) low, Ms Masters said.

Health officials are also tracing anyone who had close contact with the other two latest cases  a resident in the Cotswolds area of Gloucestershire, and another in Hertfordshire.

Two of the patients had recently travelled back from Italy while the other had returned from Asia, Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty said.

A pub in Haslemere, Surrey, has been closed until further notice for deep cleaning after a customer tested positive for coronavirus.

PLEASE NOTE This is a precautionary measure only. Our staff and customers health and happiness is our main priority... Posted by The Prince Of Wales Hammervale on Saturday, February 29, 2020

A patient in the county was confirmed as the first to catch the illness within the UK on Friday.

The landlords of the Prince of Wales pub said on Facebook that they had no symptoms of the virus and that it was a precautionary measure only.

It came as Donald Trump banned travel to Iran after America reported its first death from the virus.

The US president added that he was considering additional restrictions, including closing the border with Mexico in response to the outbreak.

Elsewhere, the husband of British-Iranian woman Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe believes she has contracted coronavirus at the prison where she is being held.

Richard Ratcliffe said his wife has repeatedly asked to be tested for the virus at the Evin prison in Tehran after suffering from a strange cold.

Although there are currently no confirmed cases at the prison, Covid-19 has spread rapidly across Iran  with at least 43 dead amid 593 patients identified.

Richard Ratcliffe fears his wife has contracted coronavirus (Kirsty OConnor/PA)

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has called on the Iranian government to immediately allow health professionals into the prison to assess British-Iranian dual nationals.

Holiday operator Tui said on Saturday evening it would be making arrangements for Britons at a coronavirus-stricken hotel in Tenerife who test negative to return to the UK.

Around 160 Britons were among hundreds of guests put into quarantine at the four-star H10 Costa Adeje Palace after at least four holidaymakers were diagnosed with Covid-19.

Spanish authorities have since said the risk of infection for any Britons staying at the hotel was low, although Public Health England (PHE) advised anyone travelling back to self-isolate until March 10.

It comes amid reports that a fifth man at the hotel has tested positive for coronavirus.

As of 9am on Saturday, more than 10,000 people in the UK had been tested for coronavirus.

The number of people sickened by the virus has climbed to more than 86,000 globally and there have been more than 2,900 deaths, most of them in China.
Children Learn What They Live is a 1954 poem written by Dr. Dorothy Law Nolte. Over the years its powerful message resonated with parents: children learn not from what adults say, but from what they see adults do.

We urge Bridgeports public officials to read this poem, because some of them are sending a message to children and their constituents that you dont have to keep your word.

One of the worst examples involves the Bridgeport Board of Education. FaithActs remembers when the board loudly and proudly declared that it would conduct a national search for a permanent district leader, and that the acting superintendent, Michael Testani, could not be a candidate for the job.

Lo and behold, in January the board offered him the job anyway, with a three-year contract worth $245,000 a year.

To be clear, our complaint is not with Mr. Testani. Hes been accessible and helpful.

This is about what the board is teaching the children its sworn to serve. Not only did board members break their word to the people of Bridgeport, they did so in a secret meeting, without public input from the constituents they were elected to represent, and without the national search they promised to conduct.

In short, the board lied to the parents and children of our city.

Board members set a bad example for our children that its OK to break your word if it suits another agenda.

Whats more, when board members tried to justify their decision at a public meeting in January, they talked about how it was good for adults but never raised academics or student achievement. In one of Connecticuts lowest-performing school districts where the stakes are so high, we ask where were the children in this equation?

The board also did Mr. Testani no favors. His credibility is damaged by a secret backroom deal. This hurts everyone in our city, especially when we need all our strength to win equitable school funding from Hartford and get our children the education they deserve.

We are also watching Mayor Joe Ganim. Soon after he won re-election in November, the Mayor joined FaithActs members for a large public meeting and in front of 500 of his constituents prayed with us and made three very clear commitments:

By Dec. 31, hed meet with New Haven Promise Executive Director Patricia Melton to explore a program offering free college tuition for Bridgeport graduates who attend Connecticut colleges and universities.

For each year of his elected term, hed propose and protect a $2 million per-year increase to local education funding.

At least once every legislative session, hed bring members of the Bridgeport Board of Education, City Council and legislative delegation with him to the State Capitol to lobby for more education funding from the state.

Were grateful for Mayor Ganims commitments and his prayers. We have faith hell keep his word. But we know public officials often are tempted to say what crowds want to hear, then pivot later.

As people of faith, our commitment to our families is to keep our word and hold public officials accountable to theirs.

Last week we hand-delivered a letter to the mayor, noting that he hadnt yet met with Ms. Melton to explore a college access program for Bridgeport students and provided possible dates. He must keep his promises.

In the coming weeks, Mayor Ganim will release his proposed 2020-21 budget. We respectfully remind him of his commitment to propose and protect at least a $2 million increase to municipal education funding.

We also need the mayor to lead a delegation to Hartford to argue for Bridgeports needs  including equitable funding for our school children.

Yes, Connecticut has a budget deficit. But whats worse, it suffers from a justice deficit that underfunds schools that serve black, brown and low-income children. Despite strong campaign commitments to bring justice to Bridgeport, Gov. Ned Lamonts recent proposed budget rations hope by cutting programs that help our most vulnerable children reach their God-given potential.

We need our local leaders, state lawmakers and Gov. Lamont to heed Dr. Noltes poem. And when childrens lives are riddled with adults breaking their word, thats a bad lesson.

Jamilah Prince-Stewart is executive director of FaithActs for Education. William McCullough is FaithActs founder and senior pastor of Russell Temple CME Church in Bridgeport.
US President Donald Trump warned the Taliban soon after Washington signed a truce with the latter, ending the 18-year-long war in Afghanistan. Speaking at the White House at a press conference on February 29, Trump said that he would meet Taliban leaders in in not so distant future. He added that he believed that the Taliban was ready for peace but warned the Islamist organisation that in case they fail to take hold, then the US will go back.

US-Taliban peace deal

The United States and the Taliban on February 29 signed a peace deal in Doha after months of negotiations, aimed at ending the 18-year long war in Afghanistan. As per the joint declaration between Afghan and Washington, the United States will withdraw all its forces from Afghanistan within 14 months. The move is "subject to the Taliban's fulfilment of its commitments under the US-Taliban agreement."

Read: Afghan Peace Deal: 5,000 Taliban PoWs To Be Released; US To Withdraw In 14 Months

US President Donald Trump said the US was "working to finally end America's longest war and bring our troops back home". Under the agreement, the militants also agreed not to allow al-Qaeda or any other extremist group to operate in the areas they control. Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, a member of the Taliban's office in Qatar, called the peace deal a 'historic day for Afghanistan' and told Afghanistan's TOLO News, "The US guaranteed that 5,000 prisoners would be released before the intra-Afghan talks."

Read: US-Taliban Truce: India Reiterates Support For 'Afghan-led, Afghan-controlled Process'

Major powers such as the US, Russia, and Iran had reached out to the Taliban as part of efforts to push the stalled Afghan peace process, that Donald Trump had abruptly declared as "dead" on September 10, 2019. India has been supporting a national peace and reconciliation process led by Afghanistan. India has also been maintaining that care should be taken to ensure that any such process does not lead to any "ungoverned spaces" where terrorists and their proxies can relocate.

Read: US-Taliban Truce: India Reiterates Support For 'Afghan-led, Afghan-controlled Process'

Read: 'Momentous Day': Mike Pompeo Hails Historic US-Taliban Peace Deal
NEW SOUTH WALES: 61

January 25

Three men aged 43, 53, and 35 who had recently travelled to China contracted the disease.

Two flew in from Wuhan while the other arrived in Sydney from Shenzhen, south China.

They were treated in isolation at Westmead Hospital.

January 27

A 21-year-old woman is identified as the fourth person to test positive for the illness in NSW.

The woman, a student at UNSW, flew into Sydney International Airport on flight MU749 on January 23 and presented to the emergency department 24 hours later after developing flu-like symptoms.

March 1

A man in his 40s is confirmed as the fifth coronavirus case in the state and a woman in her 50s as the sixth. Both returned to Sydney from Iran.

March 2

The 41-year-old sister of a man who had returned from Iran with the disease was one of three confirmed cases. The second locally-acquired case was a 53-year-old male health worker who hadn't travelled for many months.

The other new case is a 31-year-old man who flew into Sydney on Saturday from Iran and developed symptoms 24 hours later.

March 3

Six more cases are confirmed in NSW. They included a 39-year-old man who had flown in from Iran and a 53-year-old man who arrived from Singapore last Friday.

It also included two women aged in their 60s who arrived in Sydney from South Korea and Japan respectively.

A man in his 30s who returned from Malaysia to Sydney on Malindo Air flight OD171 on March 1 was also one of the six.

A 50-year-old carer was the final of the day's six people diagnosed with coronavirus. The woman is a carer at a nursing home in Macquarie Park in Sydney's north. She had not been overseas and contracted the virus in Australia.

March 4

A 95-year-old woman died at a Sydney hospital on Wednesday night after developing a respiratory illness from the coronavirus, bringing the death toll to two.

A Macquarie University lecturer tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday after returning from Iran.

A further six cases confirmed on Wednesday evening. They included an 82-year-old aged care resident from the Dorothy Henderson Lodge, where the 95-year-old woman was staying.

The new cases include a female doctor who works at Liverpool hospital, a female patient from the Northern Beaches, a male from Cronulla, a woman who returned from the Phillippines and a woman in her 70s.

March 5

A health care worker, who attended the same conference as the doctor from Ryde Hospital, also tests positive.

A boy from Epping Boys High School is diagnosed with COVID-19 forcing the school to temporarily close.

A Goulburn resident who had recently returned from Singapore and travelled on to Darwin was also diagnosed with the virus.

A fourth resident, aged 94, from the Dorothy Henderson Lodge aged care facility in Macquarie Park was also diagnosed.

March 6

Two more workers at the Dorothy Henderson Lodge aged care centre are diagnosed with coronavirus.

A 24-year-old female and 21-year-old male have now been confirmed as cases at the facility.

An 18-year-old female has also been diagnosed.

March 7

Six new cases are diagnosed. This includes a man in his 50s and a woman in her 40s, who are a close contact of a previously confirmed case.

Also included was a man in his 40s and a woman in her 40s, both family members of a previously confirmed case.

A man in his 20s, also a close contact of a previously confirmed case, was also included.

A man in his 70s, who returned from Italy and who exhibited symptoms a day after returning. NSW Health is contacting flight passengers on flight number QR908 which left Doha on 1 March.

A second male in his 40s, who is a known close contact of a previously confirmed case, is being tested. He travelled on two domestic flights on 28 February while symptomatic but before he had been identified as a close contact.

Another man in his 60s who recently returned from Italy and a second man in his 40s who is a known close contact of a previously confirmed case, were confirmed late Saturday.

NSW Health says the man in his 40s travelled on two domestic flights on 28 February while symptomatic.

March 8

A female care worker in her 30s at Ryde Hospital is among new cases in New South Wales. She had been in contact with a case in Macquarie Park aged care facility which had already been confirmed.

Another woman, in her 50s, was the other person confirmed to have caught the disease. She had also been in contact with a previous case.

An 82-year-old man, who contracted the coronavirus from an infected aged care worker at BaptistCare's Dorothy Henderson Lodge in his Sydney, died on Sunday.

A man in his 70s was diagnosed after presenting to Sydney's St Vincent Hospital on Friday. He hadn't recently travelled overseas and the source of his infection is not known.

A man in his 40s who recently travelled overseas was confirmed on Sunday night as NSW's 40th case. No other details about the case are available.

March 9

St Patricks Marist College in Sydney's north west is forced to close after two students in grade 10, one boy and one girl, are diagnosed with coronavirus.

Both fathers of the year 10 students, aged in their 50s have also tested positive, including a third member of the ADF.

The father of the male St Patricks Marist College student is diagnosed with coronavirus. He is also the third Australian Defence Force member to test positive.

A grade 7 student at Willoughby Girls High School was another confirmed case on March 9. The girl's mother, who is Iranian, was also diagnosed.

Woman aged in her 30s was diagnosed on Monday having recently returned from the Philippines. NSW Health is establishing her travel movements and identifying any contacts who may require self-isolation.

March 10

Cases confirmed on Tuesday March 10 include a woman in her 20s who had contact with a previously confirmed case at Ryde Hospital and a woman in her 40s who recently returned from South Korea.

NSW Health is separately working to establish how three others were infected: two women in their 30s and 40s and a man in his 70s.

Two other cases are related to the outbreak at the Dorothy Henderson Lodge nursing home in Macquarie Park.

Another case was confirmed.

A man in his 70s, a woman in her 30s and a woman in her 40s test positive, as well as three other people.

VICTORIA: 21

January 25

A Chinese national aged in his 50s becomes the first confirmed case of the coronavirus in Australia.

The man flew to Melbourne on China Southern flight CZ321 from Wuhan via Guangzhou on January 19.

He was quarantined at Monash Hospital in Clayton in Melbourne's east.

January 29

A Victorian man in his 60s is diagnosed with the coronavirus.

He became unwell on January 23 - two days after returning from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak.

The man was confirmed as positive on January 29 and was subsequently seen by doctors at the Monash Medical Centre.

January 30

A woman in her 40s is found to have coronavirus.

She was visiting from China and mostly spent time with her family.

She is being treated at Royal Melbourne Hospital.

February 1

A woman in her 20s in Melbourne is found to have the virus.

February 22

Two passengers taken off the Diamond Princess cruise ship test positive.

February 25

Another passenger taken off the cruise ship tests positive.

March 1

Victorian man confirmed to have coronavirus after the 78-year-old was evacuated to Melbourne from a Darwin quarantine centre.

It is confirmed a Victorian woman in her 30s has tested positive for coronavirus after flying from Malaysia to Melbourne via Indonesia.

March 4

Victorian man in his 30s confirmed to have coronavirus after returning from Iran. Health Minister Jenny Mikakos said the man was 'almost symptom-free' after self-isolating

March 7

A doctor working at a clinic in Toorak, Melbourne has been confirmed to have coronavirus and is now in isolation at home after returning from a trip to the US.

The doctor came into contact with around 70 patients who have been told to self isolate.

March 8

A woman who arrived in the state from Indonesia has tested positive

March 9

Authorities confirmed on Monday two new cases in returned travellers from the United States.

A third case was diagnosed on Monday in a passenger who recently returned from Iran.

One of the cases is a woman in her 50s who returned from Tehran via Kuala Lumpar on MH0149, arriving on March 6, and is in hospital in isolation being treated for pneumonia.

March 10

A man in his 70s who returned to Melbourne from Singapore on March 6 at 12.15am on flight EK404 was confirmed to be carrying the disease.

A Victorian man in his 20s who recently returned from Hong Kong was diagnosed.

A teacher from Carey Baptist Grammer was diagnosed. The school will closed until next week while students are tested

March 11

A male teacher at Yeshivah-Beth Rivkah college was diagnosed with coronavirus after arriving in Australia on a flight from Los Angeles on March 6.

QUEENSLAND: 19

January 29

Queensland confirms its first case after a 44-year-old Chinese national was diagnosed with the virus. He is being treated at Gold Coast University Hospital.

January 30

A 42-year-old Chinese woman who was travelling in the same Wuhan tour group as the 44-year-old man tests positive. She is in Gold Coast University Hospital in stable condition.

February 4

An eight-year-old boy was diagnosed with coronavirus. He is also from the tour group where the other Queensland cases came from.

February 5

A 37-year-old man, who was a member of a group of nine Chinese tourists in quarantine on the Gold Coast, also tested positive.

February 6

A 37-year-old woman was diagnosed with coronavirus from the same travel group that flew to Queensland from Melbourne on January 27.

February 21

Two Queensland women, aged 54 and 55, tested positive for COVID-19 and will be flown to Brisbane for further treatment.

A 57-year-old woman from Queensland also tested positive for the virus.

February 28

A 63-year-old woman was confirmed to have the virus after returning to the Gold Coast from Iran.

March 3

A 20-year-old man from China was confirmed as the tenth person to be infected by the coronavirus in Queensland. The man had travelled to Dubai for at least 14 days before entering Australia, via Brisbane on February 23.

March 4

A 26-year-old man from Logan in Brisbane is diagnosed with coronavirus. He arrived back in Australia from Iran.

March 5

An 81-year-old man who had returned to Brisbane from Thailand and a 29-year-old woman who had come via Singapore from London are diagnosed with coronavirus.

March 6

A 28-year-old man in Brisbane was diagnosed after returning from Iran.

March 8

A 38-year-old woman is confirmed to have tested positive for coronavirus after returning to Australia from London via Dubai.

March 10

A 42-year-old female is n the Sunshine Coast University Hospital in a stable condition. She is the partner of the 38-year-old woman, who travelled from London through Dubai.

A 46-year-old female from Brisbane, who recently travelled to Austria and France, is confirmed to have contracted the illness.

A 22-year-old male from Brisbane is in a stable condition in The Prince Charles Hospital. He recently travelled to Spain, Italy and France.

March 11

A student at the University of Queensland was diagnosed with coronavirus.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA: 7

February 1

A Chinese couple in their 60s who arrived in Adelaide from Wuhan to visit relatives are confirmed to have coronavirus.

A 24-year-old woman from South Australia was transferred to Royal Adelaide Hospital.

March 4

Mother, 40, is diagnosed after flying to Australia from Iran via Kuala Lumpur.

Another 24-year-old woman, not related to the previous woman, was in a stable condition in Adelaide hospital after falling ill following overseas travel.

March 5

The eight-month-old child of the 40-year-woman, diagnosed on March 4, is also diagnosed with coronavirus.

Renowned Australian music composer Brett Dean, 58, who travelled to SA on March 3 from Taiwan also tests positive. He's receiving treatment in an Adelaide hospital.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA: 6

February 21

A 78-year-old man from Western Australia was transferred to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Perth. On February 28, he was taken into intensive care in a 'serious' condition and later died. His wife was also diagnosed with coronavirus.

March 1

The elderly man died in the early hours of the morning from the virus at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital.

March 5

A woman in Perth is diagnosed with the virus after flying into the city from the UK, via Dubai

March 8

A Perth woman, aged in her 70s, was confirmed as WAs fourth coronavirus diagnosis. She had been in Cuba in recent weeks had flown from London to Perth on a direct flight on March 5.

The woman was tested for COVID-19 on Friday but didnt wait for the results before attending a the West Australian Symphony Orchestras Absolute Beethoven concert on Saturday night.

March 9

A West Australian woman in her 60s contracted coronavirus from her husband after he returned from Iran, making her the state's first person-to-person transmission of COVID-19.

TASMANIA: 2

March 2

The man who travelled from Iran to Australia on Saturday tested positive for COVID-19.

March 7

A man in his 20s was diagnosed with coronavirus after returning to Tasmania from Nepal on February 26 and experiencing cold-like symptoms the next day.

He is in the Royal Hobart Hospital in a satisfactory condition.

NORTHERN TERRITORY: 1

March 4

A tourist in Darwin has tested positive for coronavirus in what is the first confirmed case in the Northern Territory.

NT Health confirmed the 52-year-old man as the first case of COVID-19 in the community on Wednesday evening.

The man recently arrived in Darwin via Sydney and has had limited contact with the local community, NT Health said in a statement.
ARO Drilling, an offshore drilling contractor that owns, operates and manages a fleet of premium jack-up rigs in Saudi Arabia, has reached a deal with global enterprise applications company IFS to

deploy its key solutions to unify mission-critical business processes across its headquarters and fleet of 16 offshore drilling rigs.



A joint venture between state oil giant Saudi Aramco and Valaris, an industry-leading, global drilling contractor, ARO Drilling said with this deployment the company aims to consolidate its legacy business software, comprising several disparate systems that were complex and difficult to scale.



From streamlined procurement and inventory management to more efficient maintenance of critical equipment on our rigs, IFS Applications has made a real difference in how we operate, remarked Anas Mosa, the IT Director at ARO Drilling.



Following a competitive bid process involving several major ERP vendors, the Saudi group chose IFS Applications based on the platforms industry-specific functionality and fully integrated architecture.



The IFS solution was rolled out, on time and on budget in nine months, to some 400 full users and 2,000 self-service users across ARO Drillings onshore and offshore operations, he stated.



The IFS solution was deployed to support critical processes including maintenance, supply chain management, finance, and human capital management (HCM) - all fully integrated to the companys best-of-breed systems.



By running a fully integrated solution the company has been able to gain a centralised view of the entire business, driving quicker and better-informed decision-making, he added.



IFS Managing Director (Middle East) Mehmood Khan said: "There are few industries where project control and asset maintenance and safety are more critical than in the oil and gas sector. Working with some of the worlds leading offshore companies, we have developed a broad set of industry-specific capabilities that is unique in the market."



"We are very proud to announce ARO Drilling as the latest addition to our growing list of world-renowned oil and gas customers and we look forward to a long and mutually beneficial partnership," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Washington: At a press conference at the White House on Saturday (Sunday AEDT), US President Donald Trump paid tribute to the first American to die after contracting the coronavirus.

"Unfortunately one person passed away overnight," Trump announced. "She was a wonderful woman, a medically high-risk patient in her late 50s."

Vice-President Mike Pence, who is leading the Trump administration's response to the virus, also expressed his condolences, saying the woman's family members were in his prayers.

Donald Trump seems anxious that a potential pandemic could upend the election. Credit:AP

But the first US coronavirus victim wasn't a woman. It was a man from Washington state, as authorities there later confirmed.
Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], Mar 1 (ANI): Hours ahead of Union Home Minister Amit Shah's visit to the city, members of the Students' Federation of India (SFI) gathered at the airport and took part in demonstrations against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens.



Raising slogans, protesters waved black flags and held placards opposing the visit of Shah to the city. Another protest by the All Indian Youth League was also held in the Esplanade area.

The CAA grants citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Parsi, Buddhist, and Christian refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh who came to India on or before December 31, 2014. (ANI)


There was a particular impediment to boys who wanted to reach the pinnacle of Scouting, as these five young men had done. Eagle Scout status required the swimming merit badge, and that badge could be earned only in a regulation-sized swimming pool. In many Southern cities, those pools were off-limits to African Americans.
(Photo : Screenshot from: The Guardian Official Website)

Read Also: Watch: Expert Says Coronavirus COVID-19 Quarantine Procedures in Diamond Princess are 'Completely Chaotic'

Studies have shown that the Diamond Princess cruise ship's quarantine plans had resulted in more Coronavirus patients than ever before.

It started with Japan's strategy in battling the virus onboard

It has been over two weeks since Diamond Princess was under quarantine ever since a person traveling the cruise ship was tested positive for the virus resulting Japanese authorities to then prohibit the 3,700 passengers that were on board to leave the ship as it reached Yokohama until February 19 as the ship was put into quarantine, and passengers onboard that showed some signs of illness were separated from others. Like any country's priority which is safety of their citizens, the situation that passengers on board the vessel experienced was pretty much chaotic.

In the end, a total of 619 passengers had been infected by the coronavirus due to poor choices and strategies made by the authorities, for example, there were reports of infected passengers that were actually sharing rooms with others who were tested negative which greatly put everyone onboard the ship at risk, and it seems that the situation had gone even worse according to a study held at Umea University in Sweden.

It has gotten worse there than any major infected areas in China

Joacim Rocklov, a professor of epidemiology at the university has stated that "The infection rate onboard the vessel was about four times higher than what can be seen on land in the worst infected areas of China. A probable cause is how close people stay to one another onboard a vessel." Rocklov has also stated that the scenario would have been very different if the Diamond Princess cruise ship had been evacuated immediately upon arrival in Yokohama, and the passengers who were tested positive for the virus had been taken care of.

Their calculations have shown that only around 70 passengers would have been infected instead of a massive 619 which the quarantine resulted in. Japanese experts have also claimed that the passengers of Diamond Princess were greatly mistreated and that the whole virus outbreak should have been handled with more care and better strategies form the authorities that were heading and supervising the coronavirus or COVID-19 quarantine operation at the vessel.

Read Also: Robocop-like Police System Now in China to Combat COVID-19

Though the precautionary measures of having to quarantine the entire ship were very much understandable, it still made a chaotic mess due to the high risk of transmission on the vessel which now raises eyebrows to if the decision that was made was actually the right call. Though their study also shows that if these measures of isolating carriers have not been implemented, another 2,300 people would have been infected.

Read Also: Are Aliens Behind the First US Coronavirus Confirmed Case of Unknown Origin? A Scientist Claim It's Possible!

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
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(0x7f0481e13858)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f04819b9630)', '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(0x7f0481e13858)') 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(0x7f04819b9630)') 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(0x7f0481dbcb10)') 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(0x7f04819b9630)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f04819b9630)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f048145f588)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f0481e13d98)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f0481e13d98)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Sunday urged the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) workers to toil hard to come second in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections that are scheduled to be held in 2022.

"Shiv Sena is the number one party in BMC and they should remain there as they are our alliance partners but NCP should try come second in the upcoming BMC elections," Pawar said while addressing NCP's convention.

Clarifying that allies in Maharashtra's ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) are united, he further said, "NCP workers should not have misconceptions or misunderstandings about our partners because in the coming days we have to contest elections together," he further added.

The BMC election is expected to happen in 2022, as of now, Shiv Sena is the ruling party in BMC with 92 Corporaters while Congress has 30 Corporaters and 9 from NCP, in the house of a total 227 seats.

The NCP leader further said that nobody in Maharashtra should be worried about CAA NRC and NPR, as the party chief Sharad Pawar and the ruling government had already given their word to the people.

"People of Maharashtra should not get scared of this decision of CAA, NRP and NPR as even state's Home Minister Anil Deshmukh have also assured this. Some people are trying to create a debate on this but if anyone tries to create a misconception then NCP workers should tell them that Sharad Pawar and MVA ministers have given us word that because of this decision no one's citizenship in Maharashtra will be affected," the Deputy CM said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Alistair Shipsey (pictured) who revealed on Sunday the family name is pronounced 'Mil-et' rather than 'Mil-at'

Backpacker killer Ivan Milat's nephew has claimed his dead uncle was a victim whose ashes should have been scattered in the same forest where he murdered his victims.

Alistair Shipsey, who revealed on Sunday the disgraced family name is pronounced 'Mil-et' rather than 'Mil-at', initially suggested his uncle be laid to rest in Belanglo State Forest, south-west of Sydney, where the slain hitchhikers were found in the '90s.

Milat, who was convicted of the murders of seven backpackers and suspected of several others, died in October aged 74 after spending the last few months of his life between his prison cell and a hospital bed, where he was being treated for stomach cancer.

His ashes were scattered of off Sea Cliff Bridge in Wollongong at a private ceremony in early November - less than an hour from the forest.

Mr Shipsey has always maintained Milat's innocence.

Milat is wheeled out of the secure wing at Prince of Wales Hospital by a nurse, under the close guard of two police officers, just months before his death

'He didn't do it, he's innocent, so I thought, well, he's a victim of Belanglo too,' he told The Sunday Telegraph.

'That's the truth that nobody wants to hear. But in the end we made the right choice - he belongs at peace out to sea.'

Even in death Milat continued to cause controversy.

One of Milat's dying wishes was to have Corrective Services NSW pay for his funeral.

But outrage from taxpayers led NSW Corrections Minister Anthony Roberts to step in and ensure his cremation was paid for with money remaining in his prison account.

Milat (pictured) died in October aged 74 after spending the last few months of his life between his prison cell and a hospital bed, where he was being treated for stomach cancer

According to the Daily Telegraph, the killer's brother Bill Milat, whose nickname for Ivan was 'Mac', has started demanding the murderer's remaining money and possessions be returned.

'It's not about the money. At the end of the day Mac wanted me to have his personal belongings and they should be returned to me,' Bill Milat said.

He said the family wants 'closure to get on with our lives' and claimed Corrective Services NSW won't return his phone calls.

Bill also believes his brother was wrongly convicted and insisted his DNA doesn't match the DNA found on the victims.

Milat killed seven backpackers and hitch-hikers between 1989 and 1992, with their bodies found partially buried in shallow graves in the Belanglo State Forest in NSW.

Joanne Walters, 22, (left) was stabbed to death by Ivan Milat. Her friend Caroline Clarke, 21, (right) was shot 10 times as if she was target practice. The pair disappeared in April, 1992

Deborah Everist (left) and Anja Habschied (right) were among Ivan Milat's seven victims. Everist, 19, died after being stabbed multiple times. Habschied, 20, was decapitated

He was handed seven consecutive life sentences for the murders.

In the weeks that followed his death on October 27, Bill was in a tense stand-off with the NSW government over who would pay for the murderer's funeral.

'I'm not going to pay for anything,' Mr Milat told Daily Mail Australia previously.

'I don't care where (he goes) - they can stick him back in Long Bay.'

Mr Milat was handed a letter from his brother, days before his death, which told him 'don't pay for my funeral services or contribute in any way.'

Bill (left) and Chris Milat, relatives of Matthew Milat, leave the NSW Supreme Court during a sentencing hearing in Sydney on Monday, May 21, 2012

Milat always maintained his innocence, signing off every letter from 'Ivan the innocent' (above)

'Please don't pay for my funeral services or contribute in any way,' Milat wrote.

'I have advised the Commissioner of Corrective Services NSW of my wishes.'

Bill vowed to honour his sibling's dying wishes and said he would 'not pay a cent'.

He also claimed the Long Bay Jail chaplain would take care of the arrangements on behalf of the family.

The backpacker killer suggested a pauper's funeral.

Milat was initially jailed in Maitland but he and another inmate planned an escape he was transferred to the maximum security Goulburn Prison.

He remained in Goulburn until earlier this year when he became increasingly sick.

Transferred to the secure prison wing at Prince of Wales Hospital in Sydney, his need for continued treatment saw him moved to Long Bail Prison when not in hospital.

He always maintained his innocence, signing off every letter from 'Ivan the innocent'.


DRUMHELLER, ALTA. Nestled in the badlands of southern Alberta sits Canadas dinosaur town.

Every summer, tourists flock to Drumheller and the surrounding valley, the resting place for thousands if not millions of fossils, a fraction of which are on display at the internationally renowned Royal Tyrrell Museum.

The theme is unmistakable, as soon as you get there.

Theres the 25-metre-tall T-Rex statue outside the towns information centre, which visitors can climb for a view of the badlands. There are dino figures on top of buildings, peeking out of windows and painted on the side of shops.

Even with Drumhellers claim to fame, some residents are worried about the towns future.

On a recent cold February day, many of the businesses downtown were closed  not just tourist shops, but cafes and bakeries, old and new.

Nick Sereda, co-owner of the Valley Brewing micro brewery, said its a common sight.

There are a few businesses that just open up for the summer, take their advantage of the tourists and then they close the rest of the year, he said.

And that doesnt really let a community thrive, right?

Like many Alberta communities, Drumheller was built on coal and blossomed during the height of the industry.

In the 1940s, the towns population was about 20,000, before the province started switching over to oil and gas, according to Jay Russell, curator at the Atlas Coal Mine, a former mine turned national historic site.

Now that population is about 8,000. Its median age is creeping up, from 38.4 in 2001, according to Statistics Canada, to 41.9 in 2016, while the provinces sits at 36.7.

And while dinosaurs draw a deluge of tourists each year, Drumheller is trying to pull in a different and more elusive group: not summer visitors, but millennials who might live there and help the efforts underway to transform the community.

Saved from extinction

Drumheller has been an energy town since its inception, and coal was king until the Atlas Coal Mine shut down.

Thats what brought people here, said Russell, adding that, like many Alberta towns, Drumhellers whole story can be characterized by the boom-and-bust cycle of energy.

In the mid-1900s, Alberta began transitioning to oil, and Drumhellers population began to shrink, said Russell. He said the towns survival in those days hinged on the penitentiary, which opened up in 1967 and immediately hired about 400 people.

That really saved Drumheller from extinction, said Russell.

Drumheller was already a popular destination for tourists interested in fossils, but the Royal Tyrrell Museums opening in September 1985 kind of opened up the floodgates of opportunity and made Drumheller the town it is today, said Russell.

Oil and gas has always been a big employer in the town, he said, but never the golden egg that tourism continues to be.

However, with tourism for less than half the year. Russell said he thinks many businesses struggle to take advantage of the deluge of people in the summer, He gets the sense some residents are in denial about its identity as a tourist town.

Lisa Making, the Tyrrell museums exhibits and communications director, said that when it first opened, Drumheller wasnt equipped to handle the rush of tourists.

Now, she said, the museum and the town have a kind of symbiotic relationship. But the museum itself has also been affected by the decline of oil and gas. Attendance went down as many of the museums visitors, the majority of which come from Alberta, found themselves with less money to spend.

Numbers have gone up a bit in recent years, noticeably in 2017. But Making said she agrees there needs to be more of a push for tourists to discover the whole valley, and not just its fossilized population.

A sleepy town

Eric Dahl moved to Drumheller in 1984 when he was 14 years old, almost exactly a year before the Royal Tyrrell Museum opened. His familys house was in downtown Drumheller, in an historic area.

At that time, Drumheller was in the middle of a transformation, said Dahl. It was a sleepy town, recovering from the downturn of coal. The penitentiary and agriculture were its two biggest population draws, he said.

That is, until the museum opened. The difference was astounding, said Dahl: Boom Drumheller is a tourist destination.

The next summer, the same sleepy town was filled with tourists from around the world.

It was absolutely packed, said Dahl. For people that were born and raised here  it was kind of a shock to the system.

Jamie Worman has deep ties to Drumheller. His father was one of the original guards when the penitentiary first opened. He remembers finishing high school in 2002, when many of his fellow graduates had jobs waiting for them in the oil and gas industry. The restaurants and bars in downtown Drumheller were full many evenings of the week.

Itd be shoulder to shoulder, he said  a mix of locals and visiting workers. I enjoyed it.

He said the energy industry kept people visiting the town year-round. He said the recent downturn of that industry led to a more dramatic ebb and flow of people throughout the year.

According to data from Statistics Canada, over the years the number of people moving to Drumheller has slowed: the 2016 census showed 485 migrants in the past year, compared to 1,070 in 2001, when oil and gas was a bigger employer. The Camrose-Drumheller region was one of the highest contributors to Albertas GDP in 2006, according to a government report.

After the decline, Worman said it became clear Alberta would never return to the glory days of oil and gas. And neither would Drumheller.

Now we rely very heavily on the tourism industry and we rely very heavily on locals supporting locals to keep everybody afloat.

Its been more than 30 years since the museum opened. But the town is, in many ways, still sleepy. Dahl said shops in Drumheller would take advantage of the tourist rush but then go back to business as usual in the winter, resulting in a lot of short-lived businesses.

Theres a beautiful downtown core with hundred-year-old brick buildings  theyre sitting idle.

But if Dahl and others have anything to say, that will change.

Big plans

Mayor Heather Colberg, who was born and raised in Drumheller, won the election in late 2017 and came in swinging, rewriting bylaws so that businesses along the tourism corridor had to obey certain standards when it comes to upkeep of things like signs and lawns.

The town has also created more financial incentives for businesses to get started or improve their storefronts. These are small steps, maybe, but business owners say theyve made a big difference.

Janet Grabner is one of the local business owners who has taken advantage of the new incentives available, She and her husband John Dahm operate a pottery studio in East Coulee near the coal mine that sells clay replicas of hoodoos and fossil-encrusted mugs. Grabner said she got a storefront grant to build a wheelchair ramp and deck for her studio and replace the front door.

They are really trying to get people to improve the looks of their place and  make people want to stay in the valley, she said.

The idea, said Colberg, is to get tourists to stop in Drumheller on their way through to the museum or the coal mine.

The town also brought in an economic development manager, who was hired in April 2019. Sean Wallace moved to Drumheller for the job, fresh from a similar position in Tisdale, Sask.

Many of the business incentives are his doing. Wallace said Drumheller needs to look beyond its past  coal, oil and gas  but also beyond its current strength of tourism. He wants to see the town diversify, and he said the town has a lot of potential for multiple industries.

For example, this year Drumheller saw a lot of filming for a variety of projects including the new Ghostbusters movie. Its also home to at least four music festivals, including a heavy metal festival, and also boasts motocross events.

But Wallace said he wants to attract companies and events that arent seasonal as well, and its not just about getting tourists to stay a little longer. Wallace wants to attract a younger workforce, which of course means tech. And Drumheller has a not-so-secret weapon.

About five years ago, Drumheller was selected by Telus to be outfitted with fibre-optic technology, meaning the sleepy little town already has the infrastructure for speedy Internet. This is useful for businesses, such as the bitcoin mining facility that opened in 2018, but also for those who want to work from home, said Wallace.

We have to change

Sharon Mathieu, who opened Black Mountain Roasters with Nathan Moore in 2019, said friends warned her the business wouldnt last. After tourism season, they said, there would be no local support and their coffers would dry up.

But thats not what happened, said Mathieu. Moore added that the cafe has been busy enough all winter long to support the business.

Moore said theyve done their best to become part of the community  not just focusing on tourists, but locals. Theyve held consistent hours throughout the winter and welcome every customer like a longtime friend, with smiles and jokes.

Jeremy MacKenzie moved to Drumheller in 2016. He and his girlfriend, Sonia Linn, are both business owners downtown.

MacKenzie said its often the towns longtime residents who are the most stubborn when it comes to change. But while he loves the tourist rush in the summer, he knows Drumheller cant thrive without something more.

Now, after several years of work, MacKenzie said hes seeing even the most stubborn of attitudes start to turn.

Its a challenge, theres no doubt, he said. But he doesnt want to see Drumheller get left in the dust.

Theres a rural part of Alberta that is getting left behind, he said. We have to change.

MacKenzie said he doesnt take a single day in the valley for granted, and in the summer he doesnt take the towns visitors for granted, either.

For those of us that take a lot of pride in Drumheller, it gives us an ability to showcase it a little bit, he said.

MacKenzie calls himself a vocal supporter of Drumhellers diversification, and hopes it could become a beacon for other towns in Alberta struggling with their own transitions.

Theres always skepticism, he said. (But) its starting to turn a bit.

Kicking and screaming

Kristyne DeMott, one of the newer faces on the town council, did not intend on staying in Drumheller. Like many young people growing up in a small town, DeMott planned to leave after high school and build a career in the big city. And thats what she did, making a name for herself designing high-end homes in Calgary.

But after the oil and gas industry dipped, DeMott found herself without a job. It was then that she returned, kicking and screaming, to Drumheller to work in her parents flooring store. What she thought would be a short stay turned into the next chapter of DeMotts life.

It was this community that picked me up when I was at the lowest part of my life, said DeMott, who ran for town council and is now heading the brand-new millennial committee tasked with trying to attract more people to Drumheller.

One of the committee members is Nick Sereda, co-owner of Drumhellers first craft brewery. Valley Brewing opened in August 2019 and was an immediate success in Drumheller and beyond.

The brewerys beers are all named after various parts of the valleys history, from coal to fossils and more.

We really try and push the history of the valley, said Sereda. Each beer has a story.

Sereda, who also owns a skate and snowboard shop next door to the brewery, said he believes Drumheller has more to offer than only the museum.

Theres so many tourists that come to town and they just come for the museum and thats it, but Drumheller.  We know how much it has to offer.

Read more about:
Greta (pictured protesting in Bristol on Friday) slammed the image as 'desperate'

A sick cartoon depicting the rape of 17-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg has sparked outrage at a Canadian oil company where employees are circulating helmet decal bearing the image.

Alberta-based X-Site Energy Services' logo is plastered on a sticker - which MailOnline is refusing to show - that shows a silhouette of female marked 'Greta'.

The firm has denied circulated the image on social media, but did not deny creating the sticker that was pictured online.

When confronted about whether he was comfortable with a depiction of rape, general manager Doug Sparrow was more concerned with disputing that the teenager is a child.

The activist from Sweden slammed the vile image after it began circulating on social media.

She told her followers on Twitter that it was a sign of panic in the oil industry after she galvanised youngsters across the world to walk out of school in environmental protests.

Greta defiantly said of the cartoon: 'They are starting to get more and more desperate... This shows that we're winning.'

Pictured: Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg takes part in a 'Youth Strike 4 Climate' protest march in Bristol on Friday

Rocky Mountain House Councillor Michelle Narang told Global News that X-Site's general manager Doug Sparrow offered a dismissive defence of the image when she called him with her concerns.

She said: 'His response when I asked him if he was aware that there are stickers circulating with his logo depicting the rape of Greta Thunberg. He said yes, that he is aware.

'And I said, 'So you are fine with an image that your company condones the rape of children?' And he said, "She is not a child, she is 17.'''

Police are not investigating the matter because they do not believe a crime has been committed.

Although the age of consent of consent for sexual activity in Canada is 16, the country recognises the age of adulthood as either 18 or 19 depending on the province. Alberta sets the age of adulthood at 18.

Sparrow said that the image was not shared by the company but that X-Site was tagged in the post on social media.

When asked whether or not X-Site Energy Services had produced the sticker that appeared in the post, he had no comment.
Health officials have been engaged in a double-pronged approach to COVID-19  working to stop the spread of the coronavirus, while also preparing a robust response plan in case containment fails.

Last week federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu suggested people should prepare as they would for a natural emergency such as a severe snowstorm  by setting aside a week's supply of food, medicine and other household supplies.

But with Toronto recording a seven-per-cent increase in food bank usage between 2018 and 2019, there are concerns that many people are simply not able to make that kind of preparation.

"Having a week's worth of food stockpiled, having a month's worth of food stockpiled is not an option for individuals who are making use of food banks," Neil Hetherington, the CEO of the Daily Bread Food Bank, told CBC News.

"We know that the average food bank user has $7.83 a day, after paying for housing, to survive on. They are not in a position where they are able to save for that so they do need to come to the food bank.

"An individual who comes to a food bank, they can come once a week and they are provided about the equivalent of three days' worth of food to be that gap between what they can afford shopping in grocery stores and what they actually need for their families," Hetherington added.

Heather Kitching/CBC

On Saturday, Ontario confirmed three new positive cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the province to 11. As of Saturday, there were 20 confirmed coronavirus cases in Canada.

As the cases rise, Hetherington said food banks are faced with a challenge to make sure that individuals have access to food and that food banks remain open for the city's most vulnerable, while at the same time making sure that volunteers and staff members are protected.

He said the Daily Bread Food Bank has a pandemic plan to be rolled out if the need arises.

"The plan involves things like decreasing the amount of shopping that individuals at food banks do and maybe provide more of a ready-to-go kit," Hetherington explained.

Story continues

"We want to decrease the interactions that we're having, but at the same time there is tremendous need. So how do you say no to that? So we are going to monitor what Toronto Public Health tells us to do but we are going to be prepared."

Food for 1 week includes energy bars and dried foods

If you do need to stay home, what exactly would you need to sustain you for a week?

Public Safety Canada recommends this bare-bones emergency kit.

It includes food that won't spoil, such as canned food, energy bars and dried foods.

CBC News spoke Saturday with several Toronto residents who were doing their usual grocery shopping. Most of them had not heard Hajdu's suggestion to stockpile food, and others said they did not see the need to stockpile yet.

CBC

At the annual PDAC Convention  an international event for the minerals and mining industry  now underway in Toronto, participants said they are taking extra precautions.

"I think maybe people will be shaking hands less, maybe they will be doing the Howie Mandel fist bump and using the sanitizers. Everyone's pretty aware of what is going on," James McDonald told CBC News.

He said the organizers have sent out a list of precautionary steps participants should take to protect themselves.

"They've been monitoring the situation and talking with health officials in Ontario," McDonald said.

CBC

Rob Simillie, who is attending from New Zealand, said he isn't scared but has a "heightened awareness about the possibility of catching it.

"One of the things that we have come up with is a different kind of handshake. Instead of shaking people by the hand, you can touch people at the back of the wrist, things like that," Simillie told CBC News.

CBC

Debra St. Aubin travelled from Tucson, Ariz.

"On the plane coming here I saw relatively few people wearing masks. I'm just very conscious about washing, cleansing, trying to keep away from people spewing, but it is what it is," she said.

"I think if everyone takes precautions, keeping their hands washed, covering their face, I think we're going to be fine," St. Aubin said.
Two Massachusetts women face hate crime charges after physically attacking a mother and her 15-year-old daughter who were speaking Spanish in East Boston, prosecutors said Friday.

Jenny Ennamorati, 25, and Stephanie Armstrong, 25, were both charged with misdemeanor counts of assault and battery and felony counts of violating constitutional rights with bodily injury. Ennamorati also faces a felony charge of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon for kicking one or both of the alleged victims with her shoed foot.

A mother and her teenage daughter were allegedly attacked in East Boston for speaking Spanish on Feb. 15, 2020.

"The victims and witnesses each allege that without provocation Ennamorati and Armstrong began shouting at the mother and daughter and then physically attacked them because they were laughing and speaking to each other in Spanish," said a statement from the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office.

Video released by Lawyers for Civil Rights Boston shows the assault, from the point Ennamorati and Armstrong approach the mother and daughter to the point an ambulance arrives.

The mother who was attacked, identified by Lawyers for Civil Rights as Ms. Vasquez, 46, said in a statement that she and her daughter "were attacked, punched, kicked, and bitten."

"Im having nightmares. Im afraid to take the train to work, and my family is afraid to speak Spanish in public," Ms. Vasquez said. "My daughter is still wearing a neck brace and shes having trouble sleeping. We are all very shaken."

Ennamorati and Armstrong are due in court on March 9. They told police officers "they had been drinking and were behaving belligerently," according to the district attorney's statement.

The mother, who identified herself only as Ms. Vasquez, held a press conference on Monday to call on police to investigate the incident as a hate crime.

District Attorney Rachael Rollins said she would "personally be watching this case at every step."

"There is no place for hatred or bigotry in Suffolk County," Rollins said. "The sense of entitlement and privilege these defendants must have felt to utter these hateful and racist words, and then to physically attack a mother and her child for laughing and speaking Spanish is outrageous and reprehensible."
Democrats who actually want a chance to beat Donald Trump still have a chance to stop socialist Bernie Sanders this Tuesday. Its not only their best opportunity, its probably their only one.

If Sanders does as well as he is polling this Tuesday, the race for the Democratic presidential nomination will be effectively over. He won the first three contests in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, and he will probably finish second in South Carolina. Hes the clear front-runner, and a strong Super Tuesday across 14 states will seal that status. He is leading in the two biggest states that vote Tuesday  Texas and California  which will show that he can compete and win on the biggest stages.

When the polls close Tuesday, Democrats will have allocated nearly 40% of their delegates. It will be mathematically impossible for a dark horse to mount a late charge and unseat Sanders. It will also be very hard for whoever is in second place to overtake Sanders, especially because that slot is occupied by a number of candidates who have roughly the same level of support, and theyre all well behind him.

If Joe Biden does well in South Carolina, his flagging campaign would get new life. But even if he does, fewer and fewer Democrats are boarding the Biden bandwagon. He is just too feeble, unlike the many other 70-year-olds in this race. At a recent campaign stop in South Carolina, he embarrassingly said, Im a Democratic candidate for the United States Senate. Look me over, if you like what you see, help out. If not, vote for the other Biden.

Theres no way to spin gaffes like that, and they arent rare. When he participates in a debate, he is praised if he doesnt stumble and looks sort of OK. Thats not a foundation for a winning presidential campaign. Just as Sanders could basically close the sale on Tuesday, Biden must strongly exceed expectations in these 14 states to have any hope of winning. But very few Democrats expect that; Biden is more likely to begin a slow fade to withdrawal.

The only Democrat who could realistically stop Sanders and put a real scare into Trump would be billionaire Michael Bloomberg. Elizabeth Warren has fizzled to single digits, which is where Amy Klobuchar has been all along. Pete Buttigieg had a brief surge, but it ended just as quickly. Yes, one of them might break out on Super Tuesday, but its unlikely. What is more probable is that some of them will drop out of the race and begin quietly making it known theyre available for a VP slot.

Bloomberg wont be anyones running mate; hes used to being in charge instead of taking orders. Hes also not shy about spending his $60 billion fortune, unloading more than $350 million so far to buy his way into this race. He could become the anti-Bernie candidate, but he must do extremely well on Tuesday to have enough delegates to challenge Bernie in Milwaukee in July. His debate performances have not been good, however, and many Democrats view him as a distant cousin in their tight family.

All of this is why what happens on Tuesday will have a gigantic influence on which candidate gives the victory speech at that convention, or even settle it. Choose well, Democrats. Donald Trump knows that he will trounce Bernie in November; you can decide whether he has a cake walk or a real contest.

Thomas Taschinger, TTaschinger@BeaumontEnterprise.com, is the editorial page editor of The Beaumont Enterprise. Follow him on Twitter at @PoliticalTom
Across South Korea on Sunday (March 1) pews were empty, churches shuttered and worshippers turned away as authorities fight to rein in public gatherings after a spike in coronavirus cases.

South Korea is battling the biggest virus outbreak outside China.

On Sunday, it announced 586 new coronavirus infections, taking the total to over 3,700 cases - and the day before saw the country's biggest daily jump, 813 cases.

That's prompted churches to act; for the first time in its history, South Korea's Catholic Church has halted masses at more than 1,700 locations.

(SOUNDBITE) (Korean) 30-YEAR-OLD CATHOLIC CHURCH FOLLOWER, JUNG JI-EUN, SAYING:

"The Catholic church has a history of about 236 years, there had been persecution and war in it, but there's never been a suspension of mass, so it's almost every believer's opinion that it is tragic and sad, but despite this, as coronavirus is spreading all over the place, the decision made by the Korean Catholics is a right decision."

Buddhist temples have also called off events while major Christian churches held online services.

Of the new cases, 333 were from the southeastern city Daegu - the location of a church at the center of the outbreak.

The head of South Korea's National Institute of Health said that some church members in January visited Wuhan, where the disease emerged late last year.

On Sunday China reported 573 new cases the day before, with nearly 99% concentrated in Wuhan. That was the highest daily increase in a week, though officials emphasized that the overall situation continues to improve.

As many as 53 countries have reported cases, the World Health Organization said on Saturday (February 29), with Mexico and San Marino the latest additions.
The Ministry of Health, Cross River State, said it is making use of town criers and churches as parts of the informal channels to enlighten people in the state about coronavirus.

The health commissioner, Betta Edu, stated this on Saturday while talking about the preparedness of the Cross River state government against the outbreak of the virus around the world.

Only one infection has been reported in Nigeria so far. Health officials around the country are stepping up preventive measures to forestall the possible spread of the virus.

The health commissioner, Mrs Edu, told PREMIUM TIMES that her ministry has met with the leadership of the Christian community in the state to have a sensitization message on the coronavirus read out in churches across the state.

We are also working with the mobilisation officers and information officers at the local government areas so they can get town criers out into the various communities to say these things in our local dialects and in Pidgin English.

We are working with both the formal and the informal media in the state, she said.

We try to keep our message very straight and simple, she said. All we are saying is that Cross River state government is asking everybody not to panic, we are on top of the situation, and we are poised to protect Cross Riverians from the coronavirus.

The message has been very strong in Cross River state, we have asked everyone if you see someone who is having cough, headache, they are sneezing, they are having shortness of breath, difficulty in breathing, and this person has had a history of travel to any of the countries that are implicated (in the coronavirus), please immediately notify the nearest health facility.

Cross River has an isolation centre at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Calabar, which the state government helped to set up.

The commissioner said the state has developed a system where samples could be sent in for laboratory tests.

The state has been very pro-active in its response to the coronavirus. For the last two months, we have had an EOC (Emergency Operations Centre) set up and we meet every single day. This involved persons from various agencies from the federal government, the military, paramilitary, and all key stakeholders.

We have done a lot of sensitization in rural areas, met with paramount rulers, told them about coronavirus and other diseases like Lassa fever. We have, in collaboration with federal agencies, set up screening points in all the points of entry into the state, land, sea, and air.

For the last two weeks, our airport has had health workers screening everyone that comes in from one of the 48 countries that have been implicated in the coronavirus outbreak.

Your full biodata and other vital information are collected from you so that we can do proper contact tracing in case of any challenge or any suspected case. We also try to advise them to self-isolate at home and try and reduce their contact with various persons.

For everyone that is involved in this process, they need to protect themselves and maintain personal hygiene, they must ensure they avoid people who are sick.

They should wash their hands after taking care of people who are sick, we asked that they cover their mouth and their nose with tissue paper when they are sneezing and dispose them properly, use alcohol-based hand sanitizers as often as possible.

They should also avoid sick or dead animals. They should also not use dirty hands on their nose and face, the commissioner said.
Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden celebrates with his supporters after declaring victory at an election-night rally on February 29, 2020 in Columbia, South Carolina (AFP)

The victory, powered by support from African-American voters was the 77-year-old Biden's first in the race and may give him momentum going into Super Tuesday next week, when 14 states go to the polls.

Just days ago the press and the pundits had declared this candidacy dead, you've launched our campaign on the path to defeating Donald Trump. we have the option of winning big or losing big Joe Biden, Former vice president

With 99 percent of the ballots counted, Biden had 48.4 percent to 20 percent for the 78-year-old Senator Bernie Sanders, a self-described 'Democratic socialist'.

Former South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg, who has been challenging Biden for the centrist vote, had eight percent while Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren had seven percent.

A victory in South Carolina, where African-Americans make up around 60 percent of the Democratic primary electorate, was seen as crucial to Biden's hopes of reviving his flagging campaign.

South Carolina was seen as a key test of Sanders' support among African-Americans crucial to a Democratic victory in November, but he only received the backing of around 15 percent of black voters while Biden received 60 percent according to exit polls.

Biden finished fourth in Iowa, fifth in New Hampshire and second in Nevada, and desperately needed a win in South Carolina ahead of Super Tuesday, which decides a third of the delegates who formally choose the Democratic nominee at the July party convention.

The Bloomberg campaign, which has invested heavily in the Super Tuesday races, noted that the former New York mayor was not on the ballot in South Carolina.

Biden, who served for eight years as vice president to Barack Obama, was the favorite in South Carolina, the first state with a substantial African-American electorate to hold a primary contest. Trump also praised Biden's victory and called on Bloomberg to quit the race
Nacogdoches, TX (75965)

Today

Sunshine and a few afternoon clouds. High 56F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 31F. Winds light and variable.
"The emergence and spreading of COVID-19 is negative for the NZ economy and NZD. Once risks of the viral epidemic become well-contained the NZD can recover, but until then we remain cautious about the outlook." Jason Wong, BNZ

The Pound Sterling New Zealand Dollar (GBP/NZD) exchange rate remained flat on Monday as concerns the outbreak of Covid-19 will spread further increased.

Other countries around the world such as South Korea, Italy and Iran began to battle outbreaks, which weighed on risk appetite.

Meanwhile, Sterling stumbled as investors moved away from the Pound and towards the US Dollar on coronavirus fears. Any gains in GBP due to better than expected data and optimism about the UK budget were capped by worries about UK-EU trade negotiations.

Tuesday saw the New Zealand Dollar slide as health experts worried the virus was developing into a pandemic after the number of Covid-19 deaths increased in Iran. Unlike the outbreak in Italy, officials in Iran refused to enforce quarantines in areas affected by the outbreak.

Meanwhile, Sterling was buoyed as investors began to move away from the safe-haven USD, with the main GBP driver being the slight increase in risk appetite.

Wednesday saw the GBP/NZD exchange rate edge lower as investors worried the UKs March budget would disappoint. Many expected Chancellor Rishi Sunaks to increase fiscal spending, however, analysts are doubtful that there would be enough increases in spending to stimulate the UK economy.

The pairing continued to slump on Thursday after disappointment over the budget grew. Many now expect the Chancellor will be unable to provide the fiscal stimulus that was expected.

Sunak has been told by Treasury officials that there is no way for him to increase public spending while keeping tax low as Prime Minister Boris Johnson would like. This means the Chancellor could postpone loosening policy until later this year.

The New Zealand Dollar remained under pressure as the Covid-19 rate of infection outside of China was higher than inside the country, increasing fears of a pandemic.

At the end of the week, Sterling rallied against the Kiwi as fears the world was on the brink of a pandemic weighed on risk appetite.

Commenting on this, Sean Callow, Westpac FX analyst noted:

We havent found any reason to stabilise. Every half hour or so we get a new headline about a factory closure, or a case in a country that hasnt had one before [...] this sort of move, it feeds on itself.

Looking Ahead: Will Pandemic Fears Send NZD X-Rates Lower?

Looking ahead, exchange rate markets will be focused on the spread of Covid-19. If pandemic fears continue to grip markets, the risk-sensitive New Zealand Dollar (NZD) could slide against the Pound (GBP).

On Monday, Pound Sterling could edge higher following the release of Februarys UK manufacturing PMI.

If data shows Britains manufacturing sector continues to expand, it could provide GBP with some support.

Meanwhile, better than expected UK construction data could provide the Pound with further support.

If the countrys construction sector is able to edge closer to the no-change 50 mark, Sterling will edge higher.

However, the Kiwi could slump further following the release of Januarys building permits. If permits plummet at the start of the year, NZD sentiment will remain under pressure.

UK services data could provide GBP with another boost on Wednesday. If the UKs largest sector expands at a faster rate than expected, Sterling will rally.

However, Pound Sterling investors could remain pessimistic about the UK budget over the course of the week, limiting any GBP gains.
Srinagar, March 1 : Five men associated with terrorists, including one linked to the Lashkar-e-Taiba, were arrested in two separate operations in Jammu & Kashmit, police said on Sunday.

Fayaz Ahmed Bhat, associated with the LeT, was arrested from Ganderbal, police said.

"As per the investigations, he was involved in providing logistic support and shelter to the active terrorists of terror outfit LeT operating in the areas of Ganderbal besides transporting terrorists from one district to another district. Moreover he was also involved in lobbing grenade on Police Station Kangan regarding which a case stands registered at PS Kangan.

"Incriminating materials including ammunition have been recovered from his possession," police said.

A case has been registered and police are probing his complicity in other terror crimes.

Four terrorist associates were arrested from Budgam and and arms & ammunition seized from them.

According to police, a team of police and other security agencies, acting on a credible input, arrested four terrorist Muzamil Nabi, Umer Ajaz (both residents of Kanihama), Rouf Bhat and Ishfaq Bhat (both residents of Kantebagh SK Pora) and recovered incriminating materials including arms and ammunition from their possession.

As per the investigations, they were involved in providing logistic support and shelter to the active terrorists operating in the areas of Magam Budgam.

A case has been filed and further investigations are on.
Coronavirus has claimed nearly 3,000 lives worldwide and over 86,000 people are reportedly infected. Wuhan turned into a ghost town over a month ago and now, decreased levels of pollution over China hint at an economic slowdown owing to shut down of factories amid coronavirus scare.

Shocking NASA images of Earth show a major decrease in pollution levels over northern China in the last month. Entire towns and factories there have been shut down amid the deadly outbreak.

NASA

According to a New York Post report, the images, produced by NASA and the European Space Agency, compare air quality between January 1 and January 20, with pollution levels between February 10 and 25  and the difference in nitrogen dioxide concentration is stunning.

Usually in February, NO2 levels increase after Chinese New Year celebrations, as factories reopen and more vehicles take to the roads following the annual holiday.

NASA

However this year is different. US space agency NASA says that the decrease is at least partly due to an economic slowdown prompted by coronavirus.

There has been a tremendous decline is Chinas factory activity as manufacturers stop work in a bid to contain coronavirus.

AFP

This is the first time I have seen such a dramatic drop-off over such a wide area for a specific event, New York Post quoted NASA researcher Fei Liu, as saying.

The coronavirus scare has spread across the world. Over 1,100 cases have been reported in Italy and US saw its first death because of the virus recently. Scientists and doctors are doing what they can, to contain it.
SKOPJE, Macedonia - Police in North Macedonia said a mobile border patrol on Sunday found 78 migrants, including six minors, crammed in a van during a routine checkup in the central part of the country and arrested two men, suspected for illegal migrant trafficking.

Police said 41 Pakistanis, 26 Afghans, five Syrians, four Egyptians and two Turkish nationals were found in a van after a mobile border patrol stopped the vehicle near the town of Shtip, some 90 kilometres south of the capital Skopje.

Police said the driver, 46, and another man, 36, both Macedonian nationals, have been arrested on suspicion of trafficking.

The migrants are believed to have entered North Macedonia illegally from Greece. They are expected to be transferred to a detention centre in the border town of Gevgelija pending deportation back to Greece.

North Macedonia was part of what became known as the Balkan route for migrants and refugees seeking to make their way to more prosperous countries of the European Union.

Although that route has been shut for years, thousands still pay large sums to smugglers to help them through Balkan borders.

North Macedonia police and border authorities have increased patrolling on the border with Greece, after Turkey opened its border to outgoing migrants.
Samantha Aigner-Treworgy, the commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care, speaks at the Child Care of the Berkshires annual meeting on Feb. 25.

Child Care of the Berkshires Celebrates 50 Years



President and CEO Anne Nemetz-Carlson speaks at the annual meeting.

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.  Child Care of the Berkshires could be celebrating the milestone of its 50th anniversary by looking back at what the agency has accomplished over the last half-century.

Instead, it's looking forward  particularly to the completion of renovations to its home, the Sarah T. Haskins School in North Adams.

At the agency's annual meeting on Feb. 25 at the Williams Inn, Liz Costley, chairman of the board of directors, said $1.8 million has been raised for the renovations to "transform" the building into the "bright, clean and safe space that our children, our families and our staff deserve." Many of those donors were in attendance at the meeting, and Costley had grateful words for them.

"You believed in us. You invested in us. You will be thrilled with the results," she said.

Improvements include the installation of an exterior elevator, replacement of classroom doors, accessible bathrooms, a fire suppression system and a contemporary security system. In addition to classrooms and play space, the Haskins Center also houses the Family Center and the offices of the Family Child Care System, the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program, the Early Literary Program and accounting and administration.

These renovations, Costley said, represent an investment in early education, which experts have identified as vitally important for children, leading to higher high school graduation rates, higher earnings and better health and wellness outcomes in the future.

"We speaks for the most vulnerable children and families? We do," she said. "The future of Child Care of the Berkshires looks bright. (CCB) is proof that we are so much stronger when we work together."

Still, even with a new building, policy changes need to be implemented to further assist children and families, she said.

To that end, attending the annual meeting -- which followed a day of tours and talks -- was Samantha Aigner-Treworgy, the commissioner of the state Department of Early Education and Care. Aigner-Treworgy introduced herself to the annual meeting attendee, explaining how she grew up in Massachusetts, always knew she was interested in early childhood education and was thrilled to be able to return to the Bay State last summer to take this position.

"I care deeply about the early childhood program," she said, explaining that while Massachusetts has been and continues to be a leader in the field of early childhood education, there are some systemic issues that she hopes to be able to address in her new position. A new strategic planning document will be made public in a couple weeks, she said, which she sees as an "opportunity to be an innovative leader for he country."

Aigner-Treworgy said she was fully supportive of the Haskins Center renovations and knows the impact they will have on the families served by Child Care of the Berkshires.

"To realize the beautiful potential the child has, you need a beautiful facility," she said.

And along with appropriate facilities, she said it's important that the staff guiding these young children be appropriately trained and compensated with living wages and education and advancement opportunities. In a way, she said, early child development is more about the adults around the children.

"Children are pre-programmed to ask for that kind of development," she said. "It's our job to make sure we're fostering that."

And that's what President and CEO Anne Nemetz-Carlson said Child Care of the Berkshires always has been about in its 50 years. While they are looking forward to the new building, she said she couldn't resist take a quick look back at how the organization came to be.

In 1967, a group of Methodists saw a need for preschool opportunities in North County. It took them two years to get up and running, and in 1969 the first classroom opened with five teachers.

"These people who organized were visionaries," she said.

From there, they were able to expand and gain support from agencies that are still around and supporting CCB today -- like the Northern Berkshire United Way and the Williamstown Community Chest. When Haskins School closed, they were able to negotiate with the city to use that space, which now they are truly making their own with these renovations.

Nemetz-Carlson said she knows the words being used to describe what the new building will be like include "safe" and "accessible" but she likes other descriptions.

"I say inviting, warm," she said. "It's pretty exciting what's going on."
A woman who claims she was given 'experimental' puberty-blocking drugs at 16 without being warned of the consequences is set to lead as a witness in a landmark case.

The Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust, which runs the UK's first gender clinic in London, is being sued over concerns it gave powerful drugs to children as young as 12 without proper consent.

Keira Bell, 23, started gender reassignment at the clinic when she was a teenager after she felt suicidal and asked to be called by a boy's name at school.

She was prescribed hormone blockers to halt the development of her female body after just three one-hour appointments.

But Ms Bell has now stopped transitioning and argues staff did not challenge her want to become a teenage boy.

Keira Bell, 23, (pictured outside the Royal Courts of Justice in January) started gender reassignment at the clinic when she was just 16 after she felt suicidal and asked to be called by a boy's name at school

Ms Bell is now waiting to see if she has fertility issues following the drugs and claims she should not have been rushed into treatment because children cannot given adequate consent.

The judge in the landmark case, Mr Justice Supperstone, told The Sunday Times it was 'plainly arguable' the clinic was acting unlawfully and has given permission for the high-profile trial in the divisional by July.

Ms Bell hopes the case will bring attention to the fact children are given treatment without being properly informed of the lifelong consequences.

'I am constantly taken for a boy,' she previously said in an interview with the Daily Mail. 'I get called "Sir" when I speak to officials. I worry what women think when they see me using their loos or changing rooms.

Ms Bell (pictured in January) is now waiting to see if she has fertility issues following the drugs and claims she should not have been rushed into treatment

'I am living in a world where I do not fit in as a male or as a female. I am stuck between the two sexes.'

Put on what she calls a 'roller coaster' journey, she was given the male hormone testosterone to change her appearance after going to the clinic at 16. Three years ago, she had her breasts removed, in an operation paid for by the NHS.

Despite that dramatic step, Ms Bell has now changed her mind about her gender and is trying to reverse the process.

The Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust, which runs the UK's first gender clinic in London, is being sued over concerns it gave powerful drugs to children as young as 12 without proper consent

Barrister Jeremy Hyam QC said Ms Bell 'underwent the treatment that is in issue in the proceedings'. He added she 'very seriously regrets the process and feels that the way it was handled and her involvement in it was not appropriate'.

At the Tavistock clinic, Ms Bell said there was 'no resistance' to her want to be a boy, even though she was little more than a child and had only just started having periods.

'The Tavistock gave me hormone blockers to stop my female development. It was like turning off a tap,' she said.

'I had symptoms similar to the menopause when a woman's hormones drop. I had hot flushes, I found it difficult to sleep, my sex drive disappeared. I was given calcium tablets because my bones weakened.'

Ms Bell claims she was not warned by the Tavistock therapists of the dreadful symptoms ahead. 'My female hormones had been flushing through my body and, suddenly, a curtain came down on them. It felt pretty bad,' she recalls.

At the Tavistock, Ms Bell (pictured outside the Royal Courts of Justice in January) says, there was 'no resistance' to her want to be a boy, even though she was little more than a child

Campaigners supporting Ms Bell's court battle say the number of young people regretting a sex change is rising.

A new charity, The Detransition Advocacy Network, has been set up to help them. Its founder Charlie Evans was born female but lived as a man for nearly a decade before accepting her birth sex.

She says she has been contacted by 'hundreds of young adults'  some only 19 or 20  who claim the treatment has not solved their problems.

The Government has also launched an inquiry into the explosion in the number of children wanting to change sex.

In 2009/10, 40 girls under 18 were referred to doctors for gender treatment in England.

By 2017/18, the number had soared to 1,806. Over the same period, annual referrals for boys increased from 57 to 713.

Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust said: 'We welcome the opportunity to talk about the service and to stand up for our dedicated staff who put the best interests of the young people and families at the heart of their practice.'
All MENA region markets have seen a downturn, except for Oman and Bahrain

Egypt has ranked the fifth worst market in the MENA region in February, in terms of the EGX's performance over the past month, according to a report released by SHUAA Securities Sunday.

Coronavirus has an impact on the market, the report said, with Egyptian equities closing out February on a weaker note than January after almost all EGX sectors dropped.

Egypt is not alone in the red zone; all MENA region markets joined Egypt in the downturn, except for the two less liquid markets, Oman and Bahrain, according the report.

"The regional downturn is partly attributable to global fears about the spread of coronavirus which weakened equities and oil prices globally, and at the same time pushed gold prices higher as investors were more inclined to invest in safe-haven assets," according the report.

For the domestic market, real estate stocks were under pressure due to the lack of clarity about the future of Heliopolis Housing & Development (HELI) after an unsuccessful attempt by the firm to sell management rights late February, the report noted.

It added that the EGX 30 still trades at a deep discount to MSCI EM and MSCI FM. Foreigners and Arabs were net sellers in February for the second consecutive month this year, while Egyptians remained net buyers.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Polar bear cannibalism in the Arctic is increasing, according to a Russian expert. Ilya Mordvintsev, polar bear expert and senior researcher at Moscow's Severtsov Institute of Problems of Ecology and Evolution, said that cases of polar bears cannibalizing each other are rising. "Cases of cannibalism among polar bears are a long-established fact, but we're worried that such cases used to be found rarely while now they are recorded quite often."

While speaking in the northwestern city of Saint Petersburg, Mordvintsev suggested that the behavior could be due to a lack of food options.

The sources were reportedly ice melt as well as human activity that may be contributing to polar bears' food problems.

Seasons wherein large males attack females with cubs when there is not enough food are becoming a more regular occurrence. An example gained widespread attention when members of a 2017 National Geographic expedition captured it in video footage.

Mordvintsev said increased development of the Yamal Peninsula and the Gulf of Ob by oil and gas companies are factors for the depletion of polar bear hunting grounds.

Rising temperatures in the Arctic and melting ice cover have also led polar bears to further south in search of food.

The increase in the frequency of cannibalism incidents may also be due in part to an increase in human activity in the Arctic who are present to witness the horrific events.

While cannibalism is a natural behavior among wild animals in the Arctic, the scientists noted that this becoming a more common occurrence that could jeopardize polar bear populations.

According to Mordvintsev, "During some seasons there is insufficient nutrition, and large males attack females with cubs, and maybe there weren't so many people in the Arctic to record so many cases of cannibalism."

Also read: Polar Bears Swimming More Often As Climate Change Melts Sea Ice

The climate crisis is heating Russia 2.5 times faster than the rest of the world. Sea ice coverage in the Russian Arctic at the climax of summer has decreased by 40 percent, said scientist Vladimir Sokolov.

More people are working in the Arctic and reporting such behavior. Scientists are not the only ones gathering information, but also the growing number of oil workers and defense ministry employees.

The development in the Gulf of Ob and the passage from that area to the Barents Sea has become a more popular route for ships carrying liquefied natural gas. Therefore, increased human activity has affected the lives of polar bears.

This year, polar bears might have been hurt by unusually warm weather on Spitsbergen Island in Norway's Svalbard archipelago.

Polar bears come ashore when the ice melts then wait for the ice to freeze again so they can go hunting again. However, with the receding ice, they have less access to seals.

Eventually, polar bears might be unable to hunt on sea ice and will be limited to shore areas and high-latitude archipelagos.

Related article: Climate Change And Polar Bears: Animals Not Able To Adapt To Lack Of Food Caused By Sea Ice Loss

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
New Delhi [India], Mar 1 (ANI): In a major success, India has bagged a deal worth USD 40 million to supply four indigenously-built weapon locating radars to Armenia by beating Russian and Polish firms.

"The deal is for supplying four Swathi weapon locating radars developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and manufactured by the Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) to Armenia in Europe," government sources told ANI.

The supply of the equipment to Armenia has already started and this is being considered as a big achievement for 'Make in India' programme in the defence sector, they said.

Sources said Armenians had conducted trials of systems offered by Russia and Poland that were also good but they decided to go for the reliable Indian system.

The contract is for four Swathi weapon locating radars which provide fast, automatic and accurate location of enemy weapons like mortars, shells and rockets in its 50-km range.

The radar can simultaneously handle multiple projectiles fired from different weapons at different locations. The Indian Army is also using the same radars for its operations along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir where they trace the source of attack by Pakistani positions. The system was given for trial to Army in 2018.

Officials said the export order will help India open a new market for the sale of its indigenous systems, which are cheaper than their European and other rivals.

The Defence Ministry is also now looking at other orders from South-East Asia, Latin America and Middle-East countries for boosting defence exports for which a target of Rs 35,000 crore has been set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
- William Ruto has never attended the BBI sensitisation rallies being held countrywide

- Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria had said the DP will attend the Meru BBI rally that was held on Saturday, February 29, at Kinoru Stadium

- Meru Senator Mithika Linturi said the Jubilee deputy party leader supports the BBI report while reading his apology

- The DP who has blown hot and cold on the document had earlier said he would consult his boss Uhuru Kenyatta on whether to attend the forums or not

Deputy President William Ruto has apologised for not attending the Meru Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) meeting that was graced by ODM leader Raila Odinga on Saturday, February 29.

The DP who has never attended the BBI sensitisation rallies was scheduled to attend Mt Kenya forum for the first time according to Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria.

READ ALSO: Gire Ali: Suspended KQ employee to sue airline, denies recording viral video

Deputy President William Ruto speaking at a past event. Photo: William Ruto.

Source: Facebook

READ ALSO: Photos of CS Matiang'i, woman rep Sabina Chege tightly holding hands excites netizens

His apology was read by his close ally Meru Senator Mithika Linturi.

" I have been sent here by the deputy president to deliver his apology. The DP told me he supports BBI but he could not come due to other commitments," Linturi said.

Meru Senator Mithika Linturi is a close ally of William Ruto. Photo: Mithika Linturi.

Source: Facebook

READ ALSO: Kabogo, Sonko waingia mkutano wa BBI kwa kishindo

The sensitisation rallies have resumed after they were postponed following the death of former president Daniel arap Moi on Tuesday, February 4.

Kuria had claimed the DP will attend the rally to voice his concerns after blowing hot and cold on the document.

The Meru BBI rally on Saturday, February 29, will be the best so far. If inclusivity is one of the aspirations of the BBI, this will be the hallmark of the Meru rally with the Deputy President William Ruto set to attend for the first time alongside former prime minister Hon Raila Odinga. This is the Kenya we want, he posted on his social media pages on Thursday, February 13.

Ruto in an interview with NTV on Thursday, January 23, had said he would first consult with his boss Uhuru Kenyatta on whether to attend BBI rallies or not.

"It is not for me to tell you that I am proceeding to this rally or that rally. I am going to have a conversation with my boss and agree on the nature of attendance, he said.

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.

Kenya's biggest con? Man Accused of conning Kenyans millions claims he is untouchable | Tuko TV

Source: TUKO.co.ke
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.




Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister and senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar on Sunday said the citizens of Maharashtra need not worry about the new citizenship law, the proposed NRC and the NPR, and flagged "misinformation" on the issue.

Addressing the convention of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) here, he also ruled out any need to bring a resolution against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Population Register (NPR) in the state Legislative Assembly.

"State Home Minister Anil Deshmukh has given his word. Some people are trying to create different types of debates on the issue," he said, adding that there is no need to fear about the CAA, the NPR and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Pawar further said that his party will take the precaution that no citizen of Maharashtra suffers because of the CAA, the NRC and the NPR.

"(NCP chief) Sharad Pawarji and other leaders have assured that nobody will have to face any problem in Maharashtra because of it (CAA, NRC and NPR). We have already discussed the issue in the Maha Vikas Aghadi government," he said.

The deputy chief minister said some people were spreading "false information" about the CAA, the NRC and the NPR by referring to a resolution passed in Bihar, and called for more awareness on this issue.

The Bihar Legislative Assembly had last month unanimously resolved that there was no need of NRC in the state and that the NPR exercise be done strictly according to the 2010 Format.

Notably, Sharad Pawar had said in last December that like eight other states, Maharashtra should also refuse implementation of the new citizenship law, which he feared would hurt the religious and social harmony of India.

NCP leader and state minister Nawab Malik had last month said the NRC will not be implemented in Maharashtra.

The Congress, another constituent in the Shiv Sena-led government, had demanded that a resolution against the NPR and the CAA be brought in the Assembly.

After meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi last month, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had said that no one needs to fear about the CAA. He had also said that the NPR was not going to throw anyone out of the country.

Earlier, Thackeray had said that his government will not allow the proposed NRC to be implemented as it would impact people of all religions.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Cybersecurity continues to be a major challenge for state and local governments, and the issue will likely grow in importance in the coming year.First, they are popular targets. During the first half of 2019, nearly two-thirds of ransomware attacks targeted state and local governments. Second, they face a multitude of threats  data breaches, ransomware, phishing, malware and more  and they must be prepared to defend against all of them. For example, last year, government officials in Cabarrus County, N.C. , fell victim to an online social engineering attack in which the scammer stole $1.7 million in taxpayer funds. Third, and perhaps most important, with continued growth in e-gov applications and smart city initiatives, state and local governments are collecting and storing more data than ever before. Securing this information will need to be a top priority.Unfortunately, many agencies simply arent up to the task. They dont have the talent, training or resources to respond to the most advanced attacks. Nor is it necessarily reasonable to expect them to. They can outsource some of these security roles to the private sector, just as they do with other IT responsibilities, but they still must be accountable.In many cases, the most effective response to cybersecurity incidents will entail government agencies pooling resources and capabilities. For example, last July, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency after multiple public school systems in the state were hit with a ransomware attack. The declaration allowed the governors office to direct resources from the State Police, the Louisiana National Guard and the state Office of Technology Services, among others, to create a coordinated response to the attack.Some efforts underway to make this type of collaboration on cybersecurity issues more routine are coming from partnerships between state and local governments. In the 2019 State CIO Survey conducted by the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO), 65 percent of states reported providing security services to local governments, up from 54 percent in 2016. States are assisting local government agencies with issues such as election security, ransomware response and cyberincident response. For example, Pennsylvania provides statewide access to a cloud-based anti-phishing training program as part of its PA CyberSafe program. But many states still do not have such initiatives or their efforts are incomplete. In a recent report , both NASCIO and the National Governors Association called for states to do more outreach to local government, such as by marketing state-level security services, hosting cybersecurity summits and including local governments in service contracts.The federal government can also increase its support to state and local governments, and there are some promising initiatives. Congress passed the DHS Cyber Hunt and Incident Response Teams Act in December 2019, which established permanent teams in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to help prevent and respond to cybersecurity incidents. State and local governments, among others, can request assistance from these teams in the event of an attack or security threat.Congress is also considering additional legislation to increase federal support for state and local cybersecurity efforts. In January, Sens. Hassan, Cornyn, Peters and Portman introduced S. 3207, the Cybersecurity State Coordinator Act of 2020 , which would provide each state with a federally funded cybersecurity coordinator based in DHS Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. The coordinator would be responsible for helping to prevent and respond to cybersecurity threats by working with federal, state and local governments, as well as local schools and hospitals.The reality is that every jurisdiction is not going to have the same level of training and resources to respond to cybersecurity incidents. But ignoring these problems will not fix them. When it comes to measuring risk and implementing countermeasures, policymakers must take a whole-of-government approach that spans jurisdictions. States are not secure if their local governments are facing unmitigated cyberthreats, and the nation is not secure if states are vulnerable.
Starbucks used child labour on farms supplying its coffee beans, an investigation has claimed.

Children as young as 11 were filmed working eight-hour days on plantations for little more than the price of a takeaway coffee.

A Channel 4 Dispatches investigation revealed the youngsters were picking beans in gruelling conditions in Guatemala and being paid just 5 a day.

The American coffee giant has almost 1,000 cafes in the UK and an annual global revenue of more than 20billion. It often boasts of its ethical credentials and 'zero tolerance' of child labour.

Starbucks used child labour on farms supplying its coffee beans, an investigation has claimed (stock image)

Starbucks does not publish the names of the farms it gets its beans from, but five plantations linked to the company visited by Dispatches were exploiting children for work. Many of the youngsters worked six days a week and were forced to carry heavy loads.

Just one penny out of the cost of a cup of coffee goes to the farmer and a fraction of this goes to the pickers.

The revelations could put Starbucks in breach of international labour regulations. Human rights lawyer Oliver Holland told Dispatches: 'The conventions are very clear in that they don't want children's education to be compromised.

'If children are working 40 hours a week there is no way they can also be having a proper education.'

Nespresso was also found to have links to farms using child labour. George Clooney, 58, who has reportedly earned 31million as Nespresso's ambassador, said he was 'saddened' by the findings and promised 'work will be done'.

He added: 'Having grown up working on a tobacco farm from the time I was 12, I'm uniquely aware of the complex issues regarding farming and child labour.

A Channel 4 Dispatches investigation revealed the youngsters were picking beans in gruelling conditions in Guatemala and being paid just 5 a day (stock image)

'That's why I joined the sustainability advisory board of Nespresso seven years ago with the goal then, as it remains to this day, to improve the lives of farmers. Make their farms more profitable. More sustainable. More safe.

'I'm enormously proud of the success of their efforts. They've improved the lives and livelihoods of thousands of farmers all around the world.

'Clearly this board and this company still have work to do. And that work will be done.'

Starbucks said it had launched a full investigation. It added: 'We have not purchased coffee from the farms in question during the most recent harvest season, and we will not do so until we can verify that they are not in breach of our ethical sourcing programme.'

Nespresso chief executive Guillaume Le Cunff said: 'Nespresso has zero tolerance of child labour. It is unacceptable.

'Where there are claims that our high standards are not met, we act immediately. In this case, we've launched a thorough investigation to find out which farms were filmed and whether they supply Nespresso.

'We will not resume purchases of coffee from farms in this area until the investigation is closed.'

Dispatches is on tonight at 8pm on Channel 4.
It seemed nobody had missed the news.

And even if somebody had failed to learn that the first US fatality from coronavirus had taken place in this city, they would know soon enough.

Governor Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency to try to stop further deaths. Later, it would emerge that 50 residents of a care home located two miles from the hospital where the first victim had died were showing symptoms for the illness.

Outside the city of Kirklands Whole Foods Market, from where the Evergreen Health Hospital could be seen by anyone who cared to turn their head and look, people were going about their business. Yet, it was clear that, while nobody was screaming or shouting, many felt quiet concern.

I do worry, because I take the bus to work, said Akash Shrivastava, who works in IT and was shopping with his wife, Aditi.

The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea Show all 11 1 /11 The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea Visitors with suspected symptoms of the new coronavirus, inside of a car, bottom right, get virus test by members of medical team as others queue in their cars at a "drive-through" test facility at Yeungnam University Medical Center in Daegu on 27 February 2020 AP The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea Workers move equipment into containers set up as a makeshift medical facility to accommodate COVID-19 patients at a hospital's grounds in Daegu, South Korea on Friday 28 February 2020 AP The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea People wait in line to buy face masks in front of a store at Dongseongro shopping district in Daegu on 27 February 2020 AFP via Getty Images The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea Medical workers wearing protective gears comfort each other outside a hospital in Daegu, South Korea, on 28 February 2020 REUTERS The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea Medical staff in protective gears arrive for a duty shift at Dongsan Hospital in Daegu South Korea on Friday 28 February 2020 AP The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea A South Korean health worker sprays disinfectant as part of preventive measures against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, at a residential area near the Daegu branch of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Daegu on 27 February 2020 AFP via Getty Images The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea A man wears a mask and goggles as he waits in line to buy face masks from a post office near the Daegu branch of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Daegu on 27 February 2020 AFP via Getty The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea South Korean medical workers wearing protective gear visit a residence of people with suspected symptoms of the COVID-19 coronavirus to take samples, near the Daegu branch of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Daegu on 27 February 2020 AFP via Getty Images The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea A South Korean health worker sprays disinfectant as part of preventive measures against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, at a residential area near the Daegu branch of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Daegu on 27 February 2020 AFP via Getty Images The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea A South Korean army vehicle sprays disinfectant on a road to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 in Daegu, South Korea on Thursday 27 February 2020. AP The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea Troops set up makeshift partitions and beds at the Armed Forces Hospital in Daegu South Korea 28 February 2020 EPA

His wife said that at the towns Costco supermarket that morning, the queues had been long, as if people were stocking up. She said there was a sign saying the store was out of face masks. She said the couple were following the advice of experts, including regularly washing their hands.

There is only so much you can do, she said.

Michael Epstein, 48, a consultant, said he was following updates from the Centres for Disease Control (CDC), and other experts. He was not listening to anything Donald Trump had to say. The president has been criticised for seeking to play down the threat.

For the family of the person who has died its terrible, he said. But when you look at who is most at risk, and the fatality rates, you have to try not to worry.

Of the claims made by Mr Trump that the US had little to worry about, he said: I dont listen to anything he says.

Recommended US town attempts to contain deadly coronavirus

A 21-year-old teacher said it was important people followed all necessary steps to stay healthy.

Im a teacher so there is a bit of panic. But were trying to stay calm, said the woman who asked to be identified by her first name, Roxanna. But people die from the flu every year. So you have to be healthy and stay active.

Washingtonians pride themselves on not making a fuss about things. Lots of people hike in the mountains in just shorts and T-shirts. Similarly, they insist the often relentless rain is nothing more than mist.

To a newly arrived outsider, it feels less like bravado, than people choosing to get on with things, and not obsessing about those details they cannot change.

The region attracts lots of computer engineers and coders, and that logical methodical approach appeared to be on display over the weekend in Kirkland, a neighbourhood 10 miles to the northeast of Seattle.

There is no reason to panic, said a 65-year-old woman who works for the city of Bellevue. We are getting really good information.

 'Has he no shame?': Biden slams Trump over coronavirus

How long such calm persists remains to be seen.

The man who died at EvergreenHealth on Friday was in his 50s, had underlying health conditions and no history of travel or contact with a known covid-19 case, health officials said at a news conference.

And on Saturday night, it was reported that two of three confirmed coronavirus cases in the state had links to a longterm care facility in the city of Kirkland, and more than 50 other residents and staff of the facility could be symptomatic. These people will be tested, and experts expect the number of confirmed cases could rise.

One, a woman in her 40s, an employee at Life Care, is in a satisfactory condition at a hospital. The other is a woman in her 70s and a resident at Life Care who is in a serious condition in hospital. The Centres for Disease Control and local health officials sent an emergency response team to the Life Care facility on Sunday to try to control the situation.

In a briefing call to reporters, Amy Reynolds of the Washington state health department said: We are dealing with an emergency evolving situation.

Washington had the unwanted distinction of having the first confirmed case of coronavirus in the US, after a man who travelled to China and who lived in the city of Everett, 20 miles north of Seattle, tested positive. Now it has the first fatality.

Cheryl Crowley, 73, a retired paralegal, was among those at the Whole Foods Market trying to put on a brave face.

She said she had no intention of changing her plans. She has a flight to the east coast in two weeks and intends to take it.

What else are you going to do, she said. You cannot be that scared. Otherwise youd just stay at home and do nothing.




A SECOND suspected coronavirus (Covid-19) patient has been put under isolation at Wilkins Hospital in Harare while tests are being conducted.





The results are expected today. The first case involved a 27-year-old Harare woman two weeks ago who was suspected to have contracted the disease after visiting Wuhan, China.





The woman tested negative to the virus and was released from Wilkins within days. Harare City Council Health Services director Dr Prosper Chonzi confirmed yesterday that there was a suspected case of a traveller from China who had been taken to the isolation facility.





Yes, there has been a suspected case of a person travelling from Hunan, China, who has been put under isolation facilities, he said.





The traveller arrived in Zimbabwe this afternoon (yesterday). At the time of arrival, people thought the traveller had symptoms of coronavirus. We picked the person at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport and isolated the traveller.





As we speak, the traveller is admitted at Wilkins Hospital under isolation while investigations are being carried out. We are waiting for the results and the traveller is in a stable condition and is not showing any symptoms or fever.





We have to follow protocol as ascribed by the World Health Organisation and adopted by the Zimbabwean Government. When there is rumour of a suspected coronavirus case, we investigate.





The Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services yesterday afternoon tweeted on the matter: Government would like to inform the public that today, a traveller from Hunan Province in China was flagged up as needing assessment for coronavirus. Full WHO Protocols were deployed. The traveller has now been taken to designated isolation facilities where tests are being conducted.





According to WHO, coronaviruses belong to a family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).





Statistics showed that by yesterday, coronavirus had killed over 2 900 people worldwide, the vast majority in mainland China.





There have been more than 85 000 global cases, with infections on every continent, except Antarctica. The virus is highly contagious and has no cure.





So far, only experimental treatments have been used in China with success in stabilising patients.





An ARV, Kaletra (ritonavir and lopinavir) has been used. Coronavirus symptoms include pneumonia, high fever, flu-like symptoms, chest pains, diarrhoea and shortness of breath.





Precautions include covering the mouth when coughing or sneezing, washing hands the same way as people do when guarding against cholera and typhoid.





Zimbabwean and Chinese authorities are encouraging travellers between the two countries to either delay or cancel unnecessary travelling to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus.





Surveillance systems in Zimbabwe have also been activated, with special focus being put at the main ports of entry and exit including Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport, Joshua Nkomo International Airport, Victoria Falls International Airport and Beitbridge Border Post. Herald




























A senior Hamas delegation met with Russias Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov in Doha Feb. 18. The meeting was focused on the Palestinian objection to the US peace plan and the UN Security Council and relevant General Assembly resolutions as well as the Arab Peace Initiative.

The Russian delegation was led by Bogdanov, who also serves as the special representative of President Vladimir Putin in the Middle East and Africa, and Russian Ambassador to Doha Nur Muhammad Kholov.

Hamas' delegation to Doha was led by the head of its international office, Mousa Abu Marzouq, political bureau member Sami Khater and former Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal.

In a statement, Hamas reported that it asserted to the Russian delegation its rejection of Washingtons peace plan, which is detrimental to the Palestinian people, their legitimate right to return and the efforts to establish an independent sovereign Palestinian state. The two delegations held in-depth talks about restoring Palestinian national unity.

Bassem Naim, a former health minister in the Gaza government and a member of Hamas international relations office, told Al-Monitor that the Islamic movement is keen on establishing relations with Russia. Our meeting was part of our efforts to confront the deal. We held the talks in Doha because Bogdanov was visiting Qatar.

Hamas believes the Russian influence in the region can work in favor of the Palestinians to pressure Israel. Hamas close ties with the countries that have strong relations with Russia, such as Iran, Turkey and Qatar, mean ... Moscow will realize that Hamas cannot be bypassed when Russia proposes solutions, Naim added.

Saleh al-Arouri, deputy head of Hamas political bureau, said during a Feb. 22 interview on Al-Aqsa TV that Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh is slated to visit Moscow at the beginning of March for talks with Russian officials about the implications of the US peace plan and its impact on the future of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Meanwhile, well-informed sources told Al-Ghad TV Feb. 19 that Haniyeh will discuss the issue of Palestinian reconciliation during his visit to Moscow, where the different Palestinian factions might come together for talks.

Israel does not want Hamas moving in the regional and international arenas, as it fears the international community opening to the Islamic movement. However, Israel hopes that Hamas relations with Russia will push the latter to pressure the movement to show more flexibility toward Israel. This would serve the efforts for calm in Gaza and work to the benefit of Israels security interests in Gaza, Imad Abu Awad, an analyst on Israeli affairs at the Vision Center for Political Development, told Al-Monitor.

Hamas relationship with Russia began in 2006, when the movement won the legislative elections in the Gaza Strip, and have been growing since. Russia, a superpower and a permanent member of the UN Security Council, has strong international ties and broad diplomatic influence.

Hamas seeks to intensify its contacts with Moscow in a bid to strengthen its positions in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to galvanize Moscows diplomatic potential into thwarting Washingtons peace plan through Russias veto power at the Security Council against any US effort to replace international resolutions with the plan.

Hussam al-Dujni, a political science professor at Umma University in Gaza, told Al-Monitor, The meeting between Hamas and Russian officials in Doha is a continuation of previous talks. Haniyeh was not present as he is preparing to arrange a visit to Moscow soon to discuss the deal.

Russia has played several roles in the Palestinian issue, including in the reconciliation process between Hamas and Fatah, peace with Israel, efforts for a truce to lift the blockade on Gaza and a prsioner swap between Hamas and Israel. The Islamic movement seems to understand Russias relationship with Israel and see it as an opportunity to relay messages to the Israeli government.

Meanwhile, the Palesitnian Authority is wary of Hamas relations with Russia since the PA is the sole legitimate representative of Palestinans, according to Dujni.

The PA could have viewed the Hamas and Russia meetings as part of wider diplomatic efforts to strengthen Russias role in the Palestinian cause. A unified Palestinian delegation to meet with the Russians would have indeed been better, but the ongoing division between Hamas and Fatah continues to undermine the Palestinians' efforts.

A Palestinian official close to President Mahmoud Abbas told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that the PA welcomes any endeavor to face the 'deal of the century.' Russia is capable of doing so. We have initiated intensive contacts with Moscow since the rollout of the deal.

The source added, Hamas foreign contacts, however, must be made through the official Palestinian leadership instead of going over its head. The Russians deal with the official Palestinian authorities, even if they meet with Hamas delegations out of courtesy.

In the Doha meetings, Hamas' representatives told the Russian officials that Trumps peace plan affects not just the Palestinians but the international balance of power as the US tries to become the sole decision-maker in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Hamas is trying to prompt Moscow to balance the US influence.

Ahmed Hussein, a researcher on international affairs at the Doha-based Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, told Al-Monitor, It is not surprising that Doha hosts a meeting that brings Hamas together with Russians. Qatar wants to galvanize the efforts of the international stakeholders, including Europe, Russia and China with regard to the 'deal of the century.'

Hussein concluded, With the expansion of Russias influence in the region, we might soon see a Russia-Qatari initiative to end the Palestinian division as a prelude to unifying the Palestinian-Russian efforts against the plan.
Afghanistan's president said Sunday that he will not free thousands of Taliban prisoners ahead of all-Afghan power-sharing talks set for next week, publicly disagreeing with a timetable for a speedy prisoner release laid out just a day earlier in a U.S.-Taliban peace agreement.

President Ashraf Ghani's comments pointed to the first hitch in implementing the fragile deal, which is aimed at ending America's longest war after more than 18 years and getting rival Afghan factions to agree on their country's future.

Still, the U.S. has said a planned U.S. troop withdrawal over the next 14 months is linked to the Taliban's counter-terrorism performance, not to progress in intra-Afghan talks.

The U.S.-Taliban deal signed Saturday envisions the release of up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners by the Afghan government ahead of talks between Afghan factions meant to begin March 10 in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The Taliban would release up to 1,000 prisoners.

Ghani told a conference in the Afghan capital of Kabul on Sunday that this wasn't a promise the United States could make. He said the release of prisoners was a decision for his government to take and that he wasn't ready to release prisoners before the start of negotiations.

The request has been made by the United States for the release of prisoners and it can be part of the negotiations but it cannot be a precondition," Ghani said.

The U.S.-Taliban deal is seen as a historic opportunity to extricate the United States from Afghanistan, a nation convulsed by conflict since the Soviet invasion in December 1979. Yet it could also unravel quickly, particularly if the Taliban fail to deliver on a promise that no terror attacks would be launched from Afghan soil.

The intra-Afghan talks between squabbling political factions and rival Taliban in Afghanistan are even more intricate even if a potential failure might not slow the withdrawal of American forces.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammad bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said he considered a prisoner exchange an important confidence-building measure.

What we have here is a 14-months agreement that, including in these 14 months, there are several things that need to be accomplished because everything is interconnected," he said Sunday.

"And in that agreement, the prisoner exchange will be one of the first confidence-building measures, so it will remain a very critical step that we need to push forward. And we have the delegations ready for the meeting (with) Taliban and others. So I hope that the negotiations will start very soon.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A 37-year-old man died after being attacked by three unknown miscreants in Meghalaya's East Khasi Hills district at around 2:45 am on Sunday while violence continued in Shillong and elsewhere.

This took the death toll to three in the violence that the state witnessed since Friday following a conflict over an anti-CAA rally.

Police said unknown miscreants hurled a petrol bomb at 9:30 pm on Saturday at the residence of Lakshmi Bareh at Pynthorbah in Shillong. But no one was injured in the attack.

Several non-tribals who work as carpenters fled their homes at Umtrew in Ri-Bhoi district and took shelter in the jungles after some youths went to their area in a bus at around 3:15 am. They were brought back to their homes by police.

Parts of Meghalaya witnessed violence since a member of the influential Khasi Students' Union (KSU) was killed on Friday afternoon under Shylla police station in East Khasi Hills district. The violence broke out soon after an anti-CAA public meeting organised by KSU. Police said a scuffle broke out between Khasi students and some "non-locals" after the meeting at Ichamati.

The angry Khasi students' union members burnt a haystack and pelted stones at the residence of "non-locals" and when they retaliated a member of the Khasi students' union died.

This spilt the violence to the state capital Shillong in which at least seven non-local persons were stabbed by a youth on Saturday in which one died.

The administration clamped curfew and imposed restriction over the use of mobile internet and SMS service in at least six districts in order to contain the violence. The administration also appealed all citizens and organisations to help it fight rumour-mongering and spread of further violence.

Tourists stranded:

The state government opened a toll-free number (1800-345-3846) for tourists stranded in Cherapunjee (Sohra), Shillong or any other places, who will be provided free transportation. Two buses will be made available to carry the tourists out of the state. Meghalaya, including Shillong, a hills station is a tourists' attraction

Why this violence?

The KSU is opposed to the CAA and demands introduction of Inner Line Permit (ILP) system in Meghalaya in order to check the adverse impact of the CAA on the state's tribal population. But sources said some persons, who support CAA, got into an argument with the KSU members at Ichamati leading to the violence.

The Centre decided to keep the states having ILP and the areas administered under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution (autonomous) out of the CAA's ambit. Most parts of Meghalaya are under the Sixth Schedule but KSU and other organisations demanded ILP in Meghalaya too like in Nagaland, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur. Visitors from rest of the country are required to have a permit under the ILP.
Prince just call me Harry clearly likes to think hes one of the ordinary people these days.

But theres one member of the Royal Family who could teach him a thing or two about what rubbing shoulders with the masses really means.

While Harry enjoyed the comforts of an entire first-class train carriage when he travelled from an appearance in Edinburgh to London last week, Princess Anne was quite happy to brave the crowds on the London Underground when she needed to reach an appointment.

Duty calls: Princess Anne speaking at the Queen Elizabeth II award for British Design presentation, which she travelled to on the Tube during London Fashion Week

Prince Harry pictured arriving at Waverley Station after attending a Travalyst event on February 26 in Edinburgh, Scotland

Im told that she jumped on the Tube at Green Park, not far from her official London residence at St Jamess Palace, and took a simple 15-minute journey to St Pauls before heading for a London Fashion Week event nearby.

The Princess Royal, 69, whizzed through the station barriers like a regular, causing no fuss as Londoners went about their daily business.

She was spotted by an incredulous but eagle-eyed member of Transport for London staff, who said: She came through with another older woman and her security. We werent expecting any royalty. Hardly anybody seemed to notice them.

At 69, Princess Anne qualifies for a Freedom Pass which grants the over-65s free travel throughout London. And while most people her age are enjoying retirement, she has never shirked her duties.

So the Tube-riding Princess made the most of her trip to the City by making sure she completed two diary dates.

Her first was the fashion event at St Etheldredas Church, where she presented The Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design. After that she made it to the nearby Guildhall for another ceremony, the Euromoney Wealth Management Awards.

Im told that she jumped on the Tube at Green Park, not far from her official London residence at St Jamess Palace, and took a simple 15-minute journey to St Pauls

Will Harry and Meghan be taking a leaf out of her book rather than lecturing the public on climate change and sustainable travel while enjoying the use of private jets?

Dont hold your breath

Former Bake Off host Sandi Toksvig and celebrated artist David Remfry hit it off during an exhibition at the Royal Academy recently.

They clicked so well that Sandi agreed to sit for him  nude. But now it seems Sandi, who still presents the BBCs QI, has got cold feet.

She got a bit nervous about me painting her nude, Remfry told me at the David Hockney exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery last week. But I assured her Id keep my socks on.

Toff and her champagne bar 'stalker'

Is Stanley Johnson stalking his Im A Celebrity co-star Georgia Toff Toffolo? More than two years on from their stint in the jungle, Toff, 25, pictured at the launch of her collection for fashion house Shein, tells me: I cant get rid of him.

Georgia 'Toff' Toffolo at the launch of her collection. While she may not want to see Stanley Johnson, 79, in the Mayfair clubs she frequents, shes happy enough to go on holiday with him

'I went out on Monday night, its a club. I go down the stairs and think, Im going to have a cheeky glass of champagne, its going to be brilliant. I go down, whos standing there? Stanley is standing there.

But while Toff may not want to see Stanley, 79, in the Mayfair clubs she frequents, shes happy enough to go on holiday with him.

Weve just booked to go to Uganda to see gorillas, just us two. We try to do something every year, she revealed at the launch.
Animal rights protestors gathered Sunday outside a Sydney hospital where three baboons escaped last week.

Onlookers were stunned to see the animals running wild near Royal Prince Alfred hospital in Sydney's inner west on Tuesday.

They'd escaped a van on the way to a research clinic where one was scheduled to have a vasectomy.

Demonstrators said they were horrified to learn the animals had previously been subjected to medical testing.

The male baboon has now undergone the procedure and is said to be recovering well.

The Animal Justice Party of Australia is calling for the trio to be set free and allowed to move to a wildlife sanctuary.

(IMAGE: UNSPLASH)
For Rachel Bosley and Lee Sebastian, taking the leap on Feb. 29 meant embracing the uniqueness of a special date.

We just though it was unusual, non-traditional in a sense, said Bosley, a 33-year old marketing manager for a tech firm in Toronto who married Sabastian, a 35-year-old zoning examiner on Saturday, Leap Year Day.

The couple, who met three years ago online, and just connected, may decide to mark their wedding anniversary next March 1, or have a really big celebration every four years, she said, adding that family and friends have all been supportive of their choice of wedding date.

Leap Day, which comes once every four years, fell on a Monday the last time around. But this years timing has made the occasion a draw for couples looking for an out-of-the-ordinary wedding, with one small chapel in Las Vegas telling British newspaper the Observer that it has more than 70 weddings and vow renewal ceremonies scheduled for Saturday alone.

Practically speaking, wedding experts say tying the knot in February offers the chance for winter travel and venue discounts.

Saturday was booked solid at the civic wedding chambers in Toronto, but officials say thats per usual with the 23 couples coming through for the half-hour ceremony in line with any given Saturday throughout the year.

Some of the couples who were married Saturday said they chose the date specifically  noting that last time the 29th of February fell on a Saturday was nearly 30 years ago.

Among them was Priscilla Chataika-Smyth of Toronto and Calgarys Tristan Smyth, whose parents travelled from Alberta for the ceremony.

The 20-something couple had originally planned on getting married on Halloween, but decided Leap Day would be far more interesting.

We wanted to pick a memorable day, something we wouldnt forget. We wanted something a little different because were definitely not typical, Priscilla said. Or maybe its just because were lazy, we only wanted to celebrate every four years.

Her husband agreed, saying the couple may go on a big trip in 2024 to mark the occasion.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  So I forfeit my personal, private property if I break the law?

Thats the upshot of new legislation signed by Mayor Bill de Blasio the other day.

Now my car could be impounded if I rack up too many speed camera or red light camera violations and if I subsequently fail to complete a safe driving course.

This reminds me of the time that Mayor Rudy Giuliani implemented a policy to seize the cars of those accused of drunken driving. This was back in 1999, when the battle against drunken driving was raging.

But there was a big problem with the Giuliani effort: People merely accused of drunken driving had their property taken away immediately. There was no due process, no finding of actual guilt, before motorists were penalized.

It was hardly constitutional, no matter how worthy the goal of eliminating drunken driving. The program was eventually eliminated, and the vehicles returned to their owners.

Never mind the question of whether its acceptable in any instance for the government to seize my property just because Ive committed a crime, unless that property was bought with the proceeds of crime. Im sure there are plenty of legal alleys, blind and otherwise, to wander down on this one.

The new impoundment law isnt exactly like what Giuliani attempted. Impoundment will only be a possibility down the line in the legal process, not immediately upon the first alleged infraction.

Still, weve already seen plenty of legal challenges to speed camera tickets. Motorists have raised questions about the calibration of the units, or whether the cameras are placed properly within school zones. Whether license plates have been read properly. There have been challenges to whether the actual tickets themselves contain all the information required under the law.

So Id expect motorists who have their cars impounded to hurry up quick to court and challenge it. The law may not stand up to constitutional scrutiny.

But its still going to be an undue burden on motorists while its being sorted out. Its going to cost time and money.

Or should I say its another undue burden on motorists? Because it truly does seem like its just one thing after another, all in the name of Vision Zero and the overall targeting of motorists.

And the big shoe of congestion pricing hasnt even dropped yet. Not that the city and state appear to have done their legal homework on that one.

It turns out that you cant just slap a toll on any road you please, i.e., on those built with federal funds, as the congestion pricing plan seeks to do.

So now the feds are looking into the whole deal. Lets hope that the Trump administration kills congestion pricing stone dead. Or at least sends lawmakers back to the drawing board.

And while we motorists complain about what de Blasio and Department of Transportation commissioner Polly Trottenberg have foisted on the city in the name of safety, remember that it can always get much, much worse.

A Boston city lawmaker has proposed basing parking ticket fines on the drivers income. That way, lower-income people would pay less for the same infraction as the rich, who could be hit with whopping fines.

How is that equality under the law? How is that not class warfare? If youre successful and make more money, youre punished in greater proportion by the state.

They have a program like this in Finland, and one schmuck was dinged the equivalent of $103,000 for going 15 miles over the speed limit.

Its an incentive for people to hide their incomes, and an incentive for eligible drivers to break the law more frequently.

Im surprised New York lawmakers havent laid this one on us yet.
India re-asserts claim on J&K areas occupied by Pakistan

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 01: India has pledged to build two new roads in a bid to signal its long term commitment of Afghanistan. The decision comes in the wake of the United States inking a peace deal with the Afghan Taliban in Doha.

The deal paves the way for the withdrawal of all foreign forces from the conflict ridden country in the next 14 months.

Following the re-election of Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had written to him stating that both nations have been victims of state sponsored terrorism. Under your leadership we would take our cooperation to new heights to enhance security and fight terrorism, PM Modi had also written.

US aims to withdraw all forces 'within 14 months': US-Afghan sign agreement for bringing peace

NEWS AT NOON, MARCH 1st, 2020

India also asserted that it was a contiguous neighbour of Afghanistan, thus re-asserting its position that parts of its territory in Jammu and Kashmir continued to be illegally occupied by Pakistan.

As a contiguous neighbour, India will continue to extend all support to the government and people of Afghanistan in realising their aspirations for a peaceful and democratic and prosperous future where the interests of all sections of Afghan society are protected, Raveesh Kumar, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs said.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Sunday, March 1, 2020, 8:21 [IST]
Newly unsealed secret files have revealed how one of Britain's most well-known spies deceived Czech agents spying on him during the 1970s.

Sir Richard Dearlove was posted to the Czech capital, Prague, as MI6 station commander during the height of the Cold War.

While portraying himself as living a normal family life as a diplomat behind the iron curtain, communist spies went to great lengths to track his whereabouts.

But the spy, who went on to be the head of MI6 and known as 'C', was well-aware of his enemies attempts to put tabs on his activities and even fed them disinformation and repeatedly met with a KGB-trained double agent.

In documents newly declassified by the Czech government, Dearlove was portrayed by the Czech secret police, the StB, as 'inexperienced', 'clueless' and 'timid', according to The Sunday Times.

The files paint a picture that the communist spies believed their target to even be 'under the influence of his wife' because she told him off in public.

Richard Dearlove with his wife, Rosalind, in a restaurant in Prague in the 1970s. The pair were often following as the walked around the city by Czech spies

Sir Richard Dearlove was recruited at Cambridge and rose to become head of MI6

An agent identified as Agent Ludek carried out surveillance on Dearlove and befriended him on his arrival in Prague in 1973, when he was appointed station commander in the city.

Another spy worked as a caretaker in his block of flats in order to keep an eye on Dearlove while others posed as ordinary members of the public.

The British spy lived with his wife, Rosalind, and two children, gave off the impression of being a young and inexperienced diplomat, rather than an highly trained secret service officer.

Former director of MI6, Sir Richard Dearlove, at the Cliveden Literary Festival in Berkshire in September 2019

Ludek, who lived in the basement of Dearlove's block of flats, reported to his supervisors that his mark was 'an inexperienced diplomat, who is quite clueless, careful, even timid'.

In another report Ludek stated Dearlove, 'is strongly under the influence of his wife, who has several times publicly given him as telling off'.

However, Dearlove's Czech adversaries seemed unaware of the plot to deceive them as he pulled off his most daring act of espionage.

During his time in the then-Czechoslovakia, Dearlove handled one of the West's top double agents, Miloslav Kroca.

The KGB-trained major was head of the British section responsible for spying on British soil.

But Kroca, code-named 'Freed', was an MI6 asset, meeting with Dearlove at secret locations in Prague - including a forest on the outskirts of the city.

It was only once Kroca died that the StB realised the extent of his betrayal.

MI6 were said to be aware that Ludek was following Dearlove's movements and deliberately fed carefully selected information to him.

The recently released documents show some of Dearlove's deceptions went as far as not spending much money or throwing away large amounts of rubbish.

One Czech report stated: 'He is most frugal, he hardly drinks any alcohol and his household waste is so small as to be imperceptible.

The compound of the Russian embassy in Prague. Communist spies followed Dearlove when he was MI6 station commander in the city in the 1970s

Another stated Dearlove did not have many visitors and even walked around his flat in a suit.

The report read: 'He does not admit visitors into his flat....He walks around his flat smartly dressed.'

Dearlove said he 'lulled' Ludek and the other at least five agents tracking him he could not possibly be an intelligence officer.

He told the Sunday Times: 'All the information he [Ludek] gleaned was deliberately disclosed to him and to make him feel that I was a young and inexperienced Czech-speaking diplomat, rather than a highly trained Secret Intelligence Service officer.

'The whole idea was to lull him [Ludek] and the others of his type in to thinking I couldn't possibly be an intelligence officer.'

Despite using valuable resources to tail Dearlove during his time in Prague, it was only when he returned to Britain that the Czech were certain he was an MI6 officer, according to the files.

Dearlove, who is the son of Olympic silver medallist Jack, went on to become head of MI6 in 1999 after being posted to lead the Washington station in 1991.

He was in charge when the MI6 HQ at Vauxhall Cross was attacked by a Russian-built RPG-22 anti-tank rocket launcher by Real IRA militants in 2000.

The following year the service was criticised for failing to warn of Al-Qaeda's attacks on New York on September 11.

The ensuing War on Terror and 2003 invasion of Iraq saw tensions form between the intelligence committee and the government over the so-called 'Doggy Dossier' on Saddam Hussein's alleged weapons of mass destruction.

In a report on a Downing Street meeting about the intelligence justifying any military action, Dearlove said: '[President] Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy.'

Dearlove was recruited by the secret service while studying at Cambridge and when he rose to chief was known in Whitehall as 'C'.

Like all British spymasters, he signed his memorandums in green ink - a tradition established by the first director of the Secret Intelligence Service, Sir George Mansfield Smith-Cumming.

Now aged 75, Dearlove has become outspoken on a number national security issues since his retirement.

Ahead of the 2017 general election he described Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn as a danger to national security who would pose a 'present danger to our country' if he became prime minister.

He also that Chinese tech firm Huawei posed 'without question' a threat to British security.

In 2008, he had to give evidence at the inquest into Princess Diana's death, denying claims by Mohamed al-Fayed that MI6 murdered her.
Migrants continue to flock to Greece-Turkey border

Irregular migrants face the intervention of Greek police while exposed to severe weather conditions.

The mobility of the irregular migrants that started in late hours of Friday is ongoing in the region. The migrants gathering in Edirne, which borders both Bulgaria and Greece, from many other provinces, especially the Turkish metropolis Istanbul, have crowded in front of the Pazarkule border crossing with Greece.

AT LEAST 47,113 MIGRANTS HAVE CROSSED BORDER

Spending the night there, the large group, including women and children, tried to warm themselves by fire they set.

Meanwhile, some of the migrants have crossed the Meric River -- which flows from Bulgaria to Turkey through Greece -- and set foot in Greece.

Three irregular migrants trying to cross to Greece from Edirne has stranded in the middle of Meric River on February 29, 2020. Boat carrying them deflated in the middle of the river.

The attempt by the migrants coming from different provinces, especially Istanbul, to cross into Europe through the Pazarkule border crossing opening to Greece is ongoing.

More than three thousand migrants who gathered in front of the gate were exposed to tear gas and sound bombs.

Greek police try to push the crowd from the gate by opening fire into the air.

Around 750 irregular migrants waiting in the buffer zone built by Greek police using razor wire, were hoping the gate would open on Saturday.

Spending the night around the fire they set with branches collected from wood, the migrants, including women and children, also try to bear harsh weather conditions, and hunger.

Despite aid by the Edirne governorship and some non-governmental groups, help remains insufficient as numbers keep growing.
Founder of an NGO in Goa was



arrested on Sunday after a woman filed a complaint alleging that she had kidnapped her minor son, police said.

The complainant alleged that the accused Tara Kerkar, founder of Savera NGO and an activist, sold her son to unknown persons, a police officer said.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Raju Raut Desai said Kerkar was arrested by Vasco police.

"A case of kidnapping has been registered against Kerkar. She has also been booked under Goa Children Act," he said.

The complainant stated that she was staying at the house of Kerkar as she had no resources to livelihood.

"The complainant stated that Kerkar has been forcing her to sell her child, which she refused. On Saturday, Kerkar locked the woman, took away her son and sold him to unknown persons," the police officer said quoting the FIR.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Mosquito control experts from across the country will be visiting the Oregon Zoo in Portland to offer visitors an unforgettable interactive science experience. More than a dozen mosquito professionals and scientists from the American Mosquito Control Association (AMCA) will conduct experiments and presentations as part of a mosquito education program at zoos Nature Exploration Station, The Nest on Wednesday, March 18, 2019 from 10:00 am until 12:00 noon.

AMCA volunteers will share their knowledge and professional experiences with visitors by conducting hands-on science experiments and activities. Topics include mosquito biology, life cycle, mosquito surveillance and control with an emphasis on what students can do to protect themselves from mosquito bites and diseases such as West Nile virus. Touch tables, displays, and presentations will help visitors learn about these fascinating insects using scientific educational equipment, observing live specimens and interacting with AMCA volunteers one-on-one.

Visitors will take with them a new appreciation for the public health significance of mosquitoes.

WHAT: Live interview opportunities with experts, scientists, and academics on insects, mosquito control, mosquito-borne disease, and containment strategies from throughout the United States.

Potential story angles on how people can help control mosquitoes, Zika and West Nile Virus.

Photo opportunities with great visuals, hands-on examples, including live and preserved bug demonstrations. The hands-on area will have displays on Mosquito Life Cycles (with live samples of each stage) and other displays on mosquito breeding, and different methods of control.

WHEN: Wednesday, March 18, 2019 from 10:00 am until 12:00 noon.

WHERE: Interviews and visuals available at Oregon Zoo | 4001 SW Canyon Road | Portland, OR 97221

CONTACT:

Wendy Samz

Tel: 239 841-5115

Email: Wendyms@LeeSchools.Net

About AMCA:

The American Mosquito Control Association is an international, non-profit association of over 1,700 scientists and mosquito control professionals dedicated to enhancing health and quality of life through the suppression of mosquitoes and other vectors of public health importance.

AMCA Encourages You to Remember the 3 Ds to Mosquito Prevention:


KNOXVILLE, Tenn.  Evelyn Mae Boswell  the Tennessee toddler missing now for months  was born into chaos to a teen mom whose childhood had been marred by domestic violence, family upheaval and isolation, a Knox News investigation of court and public records shows.

Evelyn, a 15-month-old girl with wispy reddish-blonde hair and big blue eyes, remains nowhere to be found  despite almost two weeks of intense media coverage across the nation of her reported disappearance. Authorities say she hasnt been seen since mid-December.

Evelyns mom, Megan Maggie Boswell, is now behind bars after an arrest warrant stated she refused to tell the truth about her babys whereabouts. Shes been spinning yarns  the sheriff's office called them "inaccuracies"  in television interviews, too.

Evelyns maternal grandmother, Angela Mae Boswell, was just released Friday from that same Sullivan County Jail, accused of fleeing town in a stolen car with a boyfriend after her ex-husband  Evelyns grandfather  reported the toddler missing Feb. 18.

And Evelyns grandfather, Tommy Boswell Sr., isnt talking publicly  especially to journalists.

Related: Two Missing Children Are Just The Beginning of This Story

Background: Mom arrested, North Carolina pond searched: Tennessee toddler Evelyn Boswell still missing

Evelyn Boswell: Why did it take months to issue an Amber Alert for the missing Tennessee toddler?

Youre all vultures, he told the USA TODAY Network's Knox News this week in an encounter at the Boswell family compound in the tiny town of Blountville where Evelyn once lived.

The Sullivan County Sheriffs Office has been working around the clock  with help from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the FBI  to figure out where Evelyn is and, more importantly, whether shes safe and alive.

Sullivan Sheriff Jeff Cassidy and Captain Andy Seabolt said Evelyns mother's story has changed multiple times. Cassidy's agency isnt saying much else, though. Search warrants have been obtained, authorities have confirmed, but remain sealed. Cassidy has said the agency remains hopeful the toddler is alive but has quashed the idea of citizen searches.

Story continues

Knox News has been sifting through court and public records this week to glean a portrait of the Boswell clan into which Evelyn was born.

A rocky start

Angela Boswell was just 16 when she gave birth to Tommy Boswell Sr.s first son  Tommy Jr.  in 1993. A background check shows Tommy racked up an assault charge in Sullivan County a few months after the boys birth, but the specific details on the arrest are no longer available. A Tennessee Bureau of Investigation report shows he was convicted of misdemeanor assault a year later in that case.

The couple, records show, eventually moved to Bulls Gap, Tennessee. In March 2001, Angela Boswell gave birth to the couples second child  Megan Boswell, Evelyns mother. Angela married Tommy Boswell Sr. a few months later.

By 2009, the couple was back in Sullivan County, settling the kids in a manufactured home atop a hill on a family-owned plot of land.

But there was little harmony inside those walls, court records show. In March of that year, Tommy Boswell Sr. told deputies his wife attacked him, stabbing his neck with an ink pen, and struggling with their then-14-year-old son, Tommy Jr., as he tried to rescue his dad.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation gives an update on the Amber Alert case of 15-month-old Evelyn Mae Boswell.

Months later, records show, an angry Tommy Boswell Sr., showed up at the home of his wifes father, David Lynn Jones. Jones would later tell authorities Tommy Boswell Sr. accused his son of theft and had been drinking when he sped away in his Chevy Camaro.

Less than three minutes later, Jones stated the power went off at his house, a warrant stated.

Angela Boswell was with Jones and claimed her husband called her minutes later to say hed crashed the Camaro and ran away. She initially told authorities she was driving but  under prodding by Jones  later insisted she lied to protect her husband, court records show.

Tommy Boswell Sr. refused to return to the crash scene but eventually paid a fine for leaving the scene of an accident.

Less than two years after that incident, Tommy Boswell Sr. was angry again  this time because another man was inside his home with his wife, according to an affidavit of complaint.

Conflicts continue

It was a cold February morning in 2012 when Brandon Yates and Angela Boswell awakened to shouts from outside the Muddy Creek home in which they had been sleeping, court records stated.

Angela Boswell was naked and said she could hear her husbands truck  and his voice  outside. When Brandon Yates went to the door, the Boswells' son, Tommy Jr., threatened him with some type of wooden club and told him to come outside, arrest warrants state.

Yates did, heading down the steep driveway leading to the exit of the Boswell family compound.

Brandon said that he was about half way down the driveway to Muddy Creek Road when he observed a grey colored Chevrolet pickup truck with Tommys Paving on the side  heading straight for him, the warrant states.

Brandon stated that he was in fear for his life, and he began running toward a fence that was in the yard, it continued. Brandon stated that he was unable to outrun the truck and was struck by the vehicle  and was flipped over the hood and landed on the driveway.

He later told Sullivan County deputies Tommy Boswell Sr., his son and a third, unidentified man surrounded him, kicking and punching him, before he broke free and ran to a neighbors house for help.

When detectives called Tommy Boswell Sr., he confessed the three of us did work him over but hung up, a warrant stated. The two Boswell men  Tommy Jr. was 19 by then  were arrested.

Seventeen months later, a reunited Tommy Boswell Sr. and his wife celebrated the birth of another son, Elijah. Tommy Boswell Sr. and his son soon struck plea deals in the Yates assault, garnering probation.

But it didnt take long for trouble to erupt once again in the Boswell home.

Divorce and reconciliation

Angela Boswell filed for divorce from her husband in September 2014  two months before Elijahs first birthday. Megan Boswell was 13. She wanted custody of both. She got the divorce over with a year later in an agreed settlement entered at a hearing Tommy Boswell Sr. didnt attend.

A year later, the couple were celebrating another birth  Charlotte Boswell. By the time Charlotte was two years old, the Boswells were again in turmoil, records show.

It was early fall of 2018 and the Boswells were separated again. Angela Boswell was shuffling the three children  a pregnant Megan plus Elijah and Charlotte  between the Muddy Creek compound, her fathers home in Kingsport and an apartment in Johnson City, records show.

Her drivers license was suspended. The tags on her car were expired. Police repeatedly stopped her, often finding her children unrestrained, records show. She was repeatedly jailed.

Tommy Boswell Sr. insisted she was endangering their children, including Megan, and asked a judge to award custody to him.

(Angela Boswell) is currently in jail, Tommy Boswell Sr. wrote in a petition for a restraining order against her. She has stated that she is out for blood and she will get revenge on me when she is released from jail.

I am in fear for myself and my children, Megan, Elijah and Charlotte Boswell, he wrote. She is using illegal drugs in front of our children. She is exposing our children to criminals.

Tommy Boswell Sr. won his request and moved the children back to Muddy Creek. Angela Boswell, nabbed trying to sneak stimulant pills into jail, was behind bars when Megan's baby Evelyn was born, records show.

And a new life

Evelyns father, Ethan Perry, joined the military before she was born. So far, he has remained largely silent about her disappearance. There isnt much known about the relationship between Perry and Megan Boswell  when it began and when it ended.

Photographs of Evelyn suggest she and her mom were living at the Boswell family compound with Megan Boswells two younger siblings at some point before she disappeared.

Tommy Boswell Sr. operates  with Tommy Jr.  a paving company from the compound, which now includes three manufactured homes, a double bay garage, a work shed and a stable of dump trucks, heavy equipment and personal vehicles. A Sullivan County Sheriff's Office captain says Elijah and Charlotte are living there now with Tommy Sr.

Angela Boswell was continuing to rack up arrests in 2019 for shoplifting and driving offenses. Sometimes, she told authorities she was living at Muddy Creek. Other times, she listed her fathers address or the Kingsport apartment.

Megan Boswell lamented in September 2019 in a Facebook post that her life was tough but Evelyn made it bearable.

I'm not the best mom in the world, but I try so hard for this little beauty, she wrote. I can't even explain the love I feel for her, and I know she loves me too. Lately my lifes been really sucky but she'll come reach for me and say mom mom and my heart melts and I'm reminded of her unconditional love.

You can say whatever you want about me being a young mom, but I promise you my life is so much better with this angel, she wrote. My life wasnt ruined when I had her, she gave me a purpose and a reason to wake up every day and to better myself. Theres no love like the love from your child!

Five months later, Megan Boswell hasn't explained where her angel is.

'Not over yet': Biden-Sanders on Super Tuesday collision course as biggest trove of delegates awaits

'We'll get through this': Pence says 'no question' there will be more coronavirus cases, but 'we're ready'

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Evelyn Boswell: Missing Tennessee toddler's family racked by chaos
Iran says US has no resolve to help Iran fight epidemic, Pompeo misleading public opinion

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, Feb 29, IRNA -- Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said on Friday that the US has no resolve to help Iran fight COVID-19 epidemic and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's is misleading world public opinion.

The US claim of helping Iran to fight the deadly epidemic is psychological warfare when the US has put massive pressure on the Iranian people through its maximum pressure and blocked even entry of medicine and medical equipment, he said.

Islamic Republic of Iran has been in close contact with many countries to meet pharmaceutical and sanitary needs and combat the epidemic, Mousavi said, adding that 100,000 testing kits, surgery masks, artificial breathing apparatus have so far been provided by friendly countries and other aid shipment are on way to Iran.

Countering coronavirus which has turned into a global epidemic requires global resolve and cooperation, not hypocritical moves made with political purposes and abusing sufferings of the people, Mousavi said.

Pompeo wrote in a tweet late on Friday that he is deeply concerned about spread of coronavirus in Iran and threat against public health in the country and its neighbors.

Coronavirus cases in Iran surged to 388 on Friday and eight more people died, bringing the number of deaths to 34, the highest outside of China, Iran's Health Ministry said.

In the past 24 hours, 143 new confirmed cases were detected across the country, with the average age of the infected standing at 50 years and the average age of the dead was over 60 years, the head of the Health Ministry's Media Center, Kianoush Jahanpour, said.

8072**1416

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






SINGAPORE  The scrap heap may not be the final destination after all for one of Changi Airports decommissioned information display flip boards.

Instead, Changi Airport Group (CAG) has donated it to the National Heritage Board (NHB), which will be adding it to Singapores National Collection.

At an NHB event on Wednesday (26 February), members of the media were invited to take a peek into the processes involved in preparing the board for conservation.

Comprising 48 panels, over 50 metal casings and 2,052 capsules of individual alphabets and numbers, each analogue board is 4.5m high, 15m long and 0.3m deep.

The boards at Changi Airports Terminal 2 were decommissioned due to difficulties faced in maintaining and finding parts for them.

The NHB estimates it will take about six months to clean all the components of the donated flip board. (PHOTO: Dhany Osman / Yahoo News Singapore)

NHB estimates that it will take about six months to thoroughly clean the donated boards components, after which it will be transferred to the boards Heritage Conservation Centre (HCC) where it will be accessioned into the National Collection.

At the HCC, conservators will assess the condition of the boards components and recommend plans for conservation and storage.

The flip boards are certainly part of Changi Airports history. Hence, we will also re-use the last remaining flip board, to be retired in about two years time, in a different part of the airport as a display piece to be enjoyed by all who visit, said Ang Siew Min, CAGs senior vice-president for development operations, in a media release.

The remaining flip board is still operating and is located at Terminal 2s Departure Hall.

Many Singaporeans will remember standing underneath these huge boards, listening to the clickety-clack sounds of the flaps and waiting for the flight information to be displayed, said Alvin Tan, NHBs deputy chief executive for policy and community, at Thursdays event.

Display panels from the decommissioned flip board. (PHOTO: Dhany Osman / Yahoo News Singapore)

More Singapore stories:

COVID-19: Singapore confirms 4 new cases, total at 102; 3 discharged

Singapore police investigating teens for spittle in public lifts
The Prime Minister has insisted he 'absolutely' has confidence in Priti Patel following allegations she led a campaign to oust the Home Office's chief civil servant.

The Secretary of State was facing fresh calls to quit today as she remained embroiled in a political row amid the explosive resignation of Permanent Secretary Sir Philip Rutnam.

Speaking during a visit to a laboratory at the Public Health England National Infection Service in Colindale, north London, Boris Johnson gave his full support to Ms Patel in her role in 'one of the toughest jobs in Government.'

'I absolutely do have confidence in Priti Patel,' he added. 'I think she is a fantastic Home Secretary.'

'It is never an easy job, as anyone who has been Home Secretary will testify. It is one of the toughest jobs in Government.

Speaking during a visit to a laboratory in Colindale, north London, Boris Johnson (pictured) gave his full support to Ms Patel in her role in 'one of the toughest jobs in Government'

' I absolutely do have confidence in Priti Patel,' he added. 'I think she is a fantastic Home Secretary'

'There is a big, big task ahead of us now. We are delivering, at last, a new immigration system for this country, a points-based immigration system.

'That will take a lot of work by the Home Office, a fantastic department.'

The Conservative Party leader was also sure to praise the work of the civil service after Sir Philip's walkout sent shock waves through Westminster and Whitehall.

It comes after allies of Ms Patel leapt to her defence this morning as Labour claimed she was on her way out of the department after clashing with mandarins.

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said he could not see how Ms Patel could carry on after Sir Philip sensationally quit and said he would take the Government to court.

But Health Secretary Matt Hancock this morning defended his colleague's leadership style.

He told the BBC's Andrew Marr programme: 'Priti is a very determined Home Secretary.

'She is probably closer to where the public are on the issues of law and order than any home secretary in recent history. I think she drives things forward.

'Now, I also think she is extremely courteous, and in every dealing I've had with her she has been very courteous.

Allies of the Home Secretary leapt to her defence this morning as Labour claimed she was on her way out of the department after clashing with mandarins.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock defended his colleague's leadership style. He told Sky's Ridge on Sunday: 'Of course Priti is determined. That is right and that is what we want to see'

'I can't get into the details of the case, not least because it looks like it might be going to court and I'm not close to it.'

Sir Philip vowed to sue the Government for constructive dismissal after his name appeared on a 'hitlist' of senior civil servants that Downing Street wanted to sack that was leaked to the media.

It is understood that tensions in the Home Office came to a head in September after Sir Philip blocked a pre-Election announcement that Ms Patel wanted to roll out Tasers for police.

It was also felt at the top of Government that Sir Philip had been 'a roadblock to change' and has consistently tried to stymie reforms needed to get Britain ready for Brexit.

Asked if Ms Patel could continue as Home Secretary, shadow chancellor John McDonnell told Sky's Ridge on Sunday: 'I can't see it, it's bizarre.'

He added: 'One of the ways the Prime Minister could go forward is to have an independent investigation but during that period you'd have to suspend the Home Secretary whilst that went on.'

One source claimed Sir Philip's public civil war with the Home Secretary was 'the only way to save face' after his position became untenable

He added: 'When you have a civil servant going public like this ... I can't remember a case like this so it must be something pretty serious that is going on.

'It looks likely she is on the way out.'

But a source claimed Sir Philip's public civil war with the Home Secretary was 'the only way to save face' after his position became untenable.

The explosive resignation came after simmering tensions between Ms Patel and her Permanent Secretary boiled to the surface last weekend, with various reports about a rift between the two.
(CNN)  A patient infected with the novel coronavirus in Washington state has died, a state health official said Sunday, marking the first death due to the virus in the United States.

The patient was a man in his 50s who had underlying health conditions, according to Dr. Jeffrey Duchin, health officer for Seattle and King County, Washington state. President Donald Trump and US officials previously said in a press briefing that the patient was a woman.

Earlier, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee referred to the patient as male.

"I want to assure that family they are on the hearts of every American," Vice President Mike Pence said.

There was no evidence the patient had close contact with an infected person or a relevant travel history that would have exposed the patient to the virus, Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said at the White House Saturday, suggesting the patient became ill through community spread.

Health officials previously said at least 4 US coronavirus patients had no travel history that would tie them to the virus.

While this is the first death in the United States from the coronavirus, it is not the first death of an American. A 60-year-old US citizen died earlier this month in the city of Wuhan, China, where the virus first appeared in late December.

US officials, including the President and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, urged Americans not to panic.

"It's important to remember," Azar said, "for the vast majority of individuals who contract the novel coronavirus, they will experience mild to moderate symptoms, and their treatment will be to remain at home, treating their symptoms, the way they would a severe cold, or the flu."

4 cases without related travel history

At least four US coronavirus patients have no travel history that would tie them to the virus, health officials say.

A woman in Oregon and a high school boy in Washington state are presumptive positives, which means their tests were conducted at local labs, but the results have not yet been confirmed by the CDC.

The other two cases of unknown origin are from California.

An older woman in Santa Clara County who had been hospitalized for a respiratory illness tested positive for the virus but had no relevant travel history or contact with anyone infected, health officials said.

"This new case indicates that there is evidence of community transmission, but the extent is still not clear," said Dr. Sara Cody, director of the county's public health department.

The other California case is a Solano County woman who is hospitalized at UC Davis Medical Center and in serious condition.

The two counties are about 90 miles apart. The Santa Clara patient had not traveled to Solano County, officials said.

With an increase in cases with unknown origins and a change in testing guidelines across the country, CDC officials said they were hoping to have every state and local health department testing for the virus by the end of next week.

Worldwide, the virus has killed at least 2,922  including 2,835 people in China  and there have been 85,055 confirmed cases.

The World Health Organization has "increased our assessment of the risk of spread and the risk of impact of COVID-19 to very high at a global level," Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Friday, referring to the WHO's formal name for the disease caused by the virus.

"The continued increase in the number of cases," he said, "and the number of affected countries over the last few days, are clearly of concern."

States announce presumptive positives

Oregon Health Authority officials confirmed the state's first presumptive case Friday  a Washington County resident with no history of related travel nor close contact with another confirmed case, the agency said in a news release.

"As such, public health officials are considering it a likely community-transmitted case, meaning that the origin of the infection is unknown," the release said.

Officials said the patient is in isolation.

"We are awaiting confirmation of the test results from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but at this time we are considering this a presumptive case," said state epidemiologist Dean Sidelinger in a statement.

Officials also haven't traced how a Washington state high school boy was infected. Those test results were also presumptive positive.

The student, a Snohomish County resident, is doing well, said Dr. Chris Spitters, interim health officer for the Snohomish Health District.

The patient is one of two presumptive positive cases in the state.

A woman from King County tested positive at the state's Public Health Laboratory and is in home isolation, according to a release from the Washington State Health Department. Her test is awaiting confirmation from the CDC.

She visited South Korea for about two weeks earlier this month, according to Dr. Jeff Duchin, health officer at Public Health of Seattle & King County. The woman returned and worked for one day before noticing symptoms. She developed a fever, cough, some nausea, a headache and a sore throat, Duchin said in a news conference Friday. Officials are now investigating the woman's workplace and anyone she may have come in contact with, he said.

Officials work to expand testing capabilities

In hopes of enabling more rapid testing capabilities, the US Food and Drug Administration announced a policy Saturday allowing certain laboratories to use tests they developed and validated before the FDA has reviewed them.

"We believe this policy strikes the right balance during this public health emergency," FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn said in a statement. "We will continue to help to ensure sound science prior to clinical testing and follow-up with the critical independent review from the FDA, while quickly expanding testing capabilities in the US."

The guidance only applies to labs that are certified to perform high-complexity testing. Once labs have validated a test, the guidance says, they must notify he FDA and submit a request for emergency use authorization within 15 business days.

The CDC, following an earlier change in testing guidelines, is working to expand the number of labs that can test for the virus.

Testing kits from the CDC arrived Friday in California, and additional kits are expected soon, according to a news release from the California Department of Public Health.

"These new testing protocols and resources will help California medical experts identify and treat COVID-19 cases, trace potential exposures and better protect public health," California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement.

Some testing kits initially sent to state and local labs were flawed, delaying their ability to test for the virus.

"This has not gone as smoothly as we would have liked," Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said Friday.

Guidelines for who should be tested were broadened by the CDC earlier this week after the first case of unknown origin emerged in California.

Initial guidance called for testing only if a patient had a travel history to China or had been in close contact with someone who had been there, CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield said.

The Solano County patient now in serious condition wasn't initially tested at UC Davis or the Northern California hospital she was transferred from because she did not fit the CDC criteria for testing at the time.

"As soon as that case was recognized, we met and we revised our case definition for persons under investigation," Redfield said.

The guidance was updated on the CDC's website Thursday.

"Today that has been posted along with a new health advisory that the recommendation should be when a clinician or individual suspects coronavirus, then we should be able to get a test for coronavirus."

Correction: A previous version of this story misspelled Washington Gov. Jay Inslee's name. It has been fixed.

This story was first published on CNN.com 'First death from coronavirus in the United States confirmed in Washington state, officials say'
On Feb. 4, 2004, I clambered atop my desk in the open floor-plan office of the Wesley Clark for President Campaign. This being somewhat unusual, even in the chaos of a campaign headquarters, the room hushed quickly.

With all the enthusiasm I could muster, I informed the Clark team that we were, starting immediately, all volunteers. Despite placing third in New Hampshire, second in a few other states, and first in the Oklahoma primary, our campaign was dying. Our polls were dropping, and money was drying up; we needed every dime to keep the lights on and the candidate on the road. Staff salaries were being suspended, along with other campaign luxuries, like advertising and field work.

About 10 days ago, Im guessing a senior staffer at the Joe Biden campaign headquarters was eyeing her desk warily. Things were looking a bit grim. But I wouldnt be surprised if she jumped up on that thing Sunday with a very different message for the team: We. Are. Back.

Heading for the lifeboats just days ago

Presidential campaigns area like small boats in high seas, buffeted by massive waves of political momentum. A candidacy that looks dead in the water in December, like John Kerrys in the 2004 cycle, can be cruising to the nomination in March. And a smooth sailing front-runner, like Hillary Clinton in 2008, can be capsized by reality when voters start trudging to caucuses in the Iowa winter.

In the 2020 race, Democratic moderates like me were heading for the lifeboats just last week. No one seemed obviously positioned to stop Sen. Bernie Sanders. Though at least two-thirds of Democratic voters were against him, the other candidates were splintering the remaining vote in ways that seemed likely to give him a major lead in pledged delegates.

Its impossible to overstate how scary that was for many Democrats. We would regard a second Trump term as a catastrophe, with his right-wing demagoguery, bigotry, isolationism, climate denial, contempt for the rule of law, and obsession with loyalty and personal glory threatening our future in unprecedented ways. And when we look at Bernie Sanders, we see Trumps path back to the White House and the Republicans best chance at regaining the House majority.

Story continues

If Sanders were to win the nomination, his proud connection to socialism and his 50-year record of extremism would be enough to doom his chances. Add to that his unpopular campaign proposals to double the size of the government, sharply raise middle-class taxes, and take private health insurance from 180 million Americans, and you hand the GOP a deadly arsenal of material to use against both Sanders and other Democrats on the ballot.

Roller coaster performance: It's late. Can Joe Biden make a South Carolina-Super Tuesday comeback?

But the political winds may have shifted. On Saturday, roughly half of South Carolina Democrats voted for Biden, with Sanders almost 30 points behind. That matters, because it will dampen Sanders momentum heading into the massive Super Tuesday primary. And it might get voters in those states to do what the moderate candidates refuse to do: settle on one to carry the banner forward.

Because South Carolina held the first primary with a diverse electorate, it was the first significant test for Sanders, and he failed it. The Vermont senator lost narrowly in Iowa and won by a hair in his neighboring New Hampshire, but both of those electorates are almost entirely white. He won easily in Nevada, which is diverse, but he has always benefited from the undemocratic methods in caucus states. The time-consuming gatherings reward candidates with diehard supporters and penalize those who rely on voters with work or family commitments that might prevent them from spending hours at their polling place.

Plenty of time to catch up with Sanders

African Americans, who constitute more than 60% of the Democratic electorate in South Carolina, were voting in overwhelming numbers for the first time in this election cycle. And they spoke loudly in rejecting the erstwhile front-runner. Also, the results in South Carolina mean that Biden has surpassed Sanders in the cumulative popular vote of the four contests to date.

Now, we turn to the 15 places voting next. While the big states of California and Texas have gotten most of the pundit attention, states like Alabama, Arkansas and North Carolina also will be voting. They have heavy concentrations of black primary voters and often follow South Carolina's lead, so they likely will not be kind to Sanders. He will, of course, get his share of wins, with so many moderates still in the race. But that dynamic too could shift quickly.

His brand's a flop: Democrats court doom by backing Bernie Sanders. His ideas are toxic outside blue America.

If the rest of the field narrows after Tuesday, the remaining moderate will be able to consolidate a much larger share of the non-Sanders vote in future contests. And while Super Tuesday is a major marker, about two-thirds of the delegates needed for the nomination will still be up for grabs after that vote. So there will be plenty of opportunity for a Sanders opponent to catch him.

Sadly, consolidation means that in several campaign offices this week, staffers will climb onto their desks to break the bad news. But happily for the majority of Democrats, who are eager to prevent a democratic socialist revolutionary from seizing the top of the ticket in the fall, that will make this a much more competitive race for the nomination.

Matt Bennett, executive vice president and co-founder of Third Way, has served on five presidential campaigns, including as Director of Communications for Clark for President 2004. Follow him on Twitter: @ThirdWayMattB

You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @usatodayopinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter. To respond to a column, submit a comment to letters@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden gives moderate Democrats hope that Trump won't win another term
Two Republicans and two Democrats are running for their parties nomination during Tuesdays primary elections.

'Super Tuesday Alabama 2020 election-day primer: Candidates, sample ballots, poll times and more

AL.com election coverage.

Senate candidates: Who they are, where they stand. Find the statewide judicial candidate races here.

Public Service Commission president - Republicans

Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh, President, Alabama Public Service Commission talks with Huntsville/Madison County Leadership Class 26 in Montgomery March 6, 2013 (Bob Gathany / bgathany@al.com)HVT

Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh

Cavanaugh, 53, has been president of the Alabama Public Service Commission since 2010.

In that office, Cavanaugh says she helped reduce the size of state government by reducing the size of the PSC staff by 20%. She also refused a state car and other perks that normally come with the PSC presidency. She said she encouraged economic growth by promoting business incentives and consistently taking the EPA to task on their over-reaching regulations, according to her PSC bio page.

Cavanaugh also said she has pushed for methods to help homeowners reduce their utility rates, and worked with farmers to keep their utility costs down. Cavanaugh, an Auburn University graduate who lives in Montgomery, served as deputy chief of staff to former Gov. Bob Riley, and as executive director of the Alabama Republican Party. She also served as the state director of Citizens for a Sound Economy, a national organization promoting lower taxes for American families. Cavanaugh ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 2018, losing to Will Ainsworth in a runoff. She is the co-owner of Cavanaugh Bradley Animal Hospital and the consulting firm Conservative Solutions.

- Robin Litaker is running for president of the Alabama Public Service Commission. Contributed by Robin LitakerContributed by Robin Litaker

Robin Litaker

Litaker, 60, is a former elementary school teacher and school administrator from Hoover. She said she is running as a Republican for Public Service Commission president to ensure that Alabamas taxpayers and ratepayers are represented fairly. Litaker, who attended the Birmingham School of Law after retiring from 32 years in education, said Alabamas history of public corruption drove her to run for office. She holds a doctorate in educational leadership from Samford University, an education degree from the University of Montevallo and a bachelors and masters in physical education from Winthrop College.

In my career as an educator, I had to uphold a high standard of excellence, and I was held accountable to the public in everything I did, she said on her campaign Facebook page. Why should government be any different? She said that running for office should be something attainable for all Americans, not just the privileged or people with powerful corporate donors. On her campaign website she pledges to publish monthly a log of what she does every day at work, who she meets with and why, and why she votes the way she does during monthly commission meetings.

Public Service Commission president - Democrats

When three members of the public tried to live stream an Alabama Public Service Commission meeting, the PSC had them escorted from the meeting. Now one of those three, Laura Casey, is suing the PSC under the Alabama Open Meetings Act.

Laura Casey

Casey is an attorney and former actuary running for the Alabama Public Service Commission presidency on a platform of bringing the commissions work out from behind closed doors. Casey, 48, recently filed a lawsuit against the commission when she was barred from live streaming on Facebook a PSC hearing regarding a service charge on people who have solar panels. When Casey attempted to livestream the hearing, her phone was confiscated. Alabama has lacked meaningful energy regulation for decades. As a result, we are the third poorest state in the nation paying the second highest power bills, Casey said in a statement to AL.com. This as the PSC rubber-stamps power rates that both pay Alabama Power the highest profit margin (by far) of any regulated utility in America, and effectively block residential solar use from the two-thirds of the state who rely on Alabama Power. Thats not governance, thats theft. We are one of only 11 states that elects its utility board. We are failing ourselves. Its time to stop.

- Robert L. Mardis III is running for Public Service Commission president. Contributed by Robert L. Mardis IIIContributed by Robert L. Mardis

Robert L. Mardis III

Mardis III is a 31-year-old Birmingham business owner who is running for Public Service Commission president on a climate change platform. Mardis, who is co-owner of Mardis Properties LLC, recently told the Daily Mountain Eagle at a forum in Jasper that climate change will kill us, and were still not listening. How long is it going to take for us to listen? So that is what I want to work on Day 1 as president of the Public Service Commission of Alabama, is addressing climate change.

Mardis said during the Jasper forum that hes not against utility companies, but he is against those companies making unreasonable profits. He said he is against a $1.1 billion proposal from Alabama Power to expand its natural gas capacity. He said experts have done studies that say the extra capacity is not needed and that Alabamians would have to pay for it with a rate increase. Mardis is president of the Birmingham Young Democrats and ran unsuccessfully for the Jefferson County Board of Education in 2018.
Soft-spoken, astute politician has very adroitly kept his adversaries away from striking distances.

BHUBANESWAR: Odisha chief minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik shows no signs of fatigue. Ruling the state for 20 years now, the 74-year-old CM also runs the cumbersome party affairs very adroitly ever since it was founded in 1997.

Naveens unusual capability, both as head of state and BJD president, surprises many. Defying all logic that a politician must be a loquacious to well-articulated in his thoughts in louder voice before the public for establishing greater connect with them, the CM manages with brief written speeches at political rallies and official meetings and continues to remain hugely popular with the voters. The key rivals  the Congress in the past and presently the BJP  have failed to make much dent into his image and harm his partys electoral gains.

The chief minister who was recently elected as the party president for the eighth consecutive term has declared to make his party stronger and consolidated to deny any opportunity to the rivals to come to power in the state.

In the power in the state since 2000, Naveen  unlike other politicians  have experienced little roller-coaster ride, much because he always kept the adversaries beyond striking distances.

After decimating, in the early years, the partys old guards and partys founder members who he perceived threats to his position, the CM targeted potential leaders in the Opposition and ensured that they never entered the State Assembly or the Parliament to be thorns in his crown.

Once consolidation, the CM rolled out numerous schemes and welfare measures for all sections of the people  starting from women and children to students, elderly persons and differently-abled. These people have always stood rock solid behind him. The Congress, which was the key Opposition in the state till 2019 Assembly polls in which it lost that position to the BJP, never appeared in all these years posing any real threat to the BJD. The utter disunity among the partys state leaders and disenchantment of the partys Central leadership to care for the organisational affairs crippled it. Each top leader of the party, while nourishing an ambition post of chief minister, never sweated and toiled hard on the ground to ensure the partys victory. They all lived in the fools paradise hoping they would come to power on anti-incumbency factor.

In 2000 Assembly polls, the Congress had bagged 38 seats and in the last 2019 polls, it got only 9 seats in the 147-member state legislature, depicting an unwarranted picture of its falling relevance in the state politics. Its vote share has always been in the wane; it has come down from 33.78 per cent in 2000 to 16.12 per cent in 2019 Assembly polls. The party had got 25.6 per cent in 2014 Assembly polls.

In sharp contrast, the vote shares of BJD and BJP in 2019 Assembly elections stood at 44.7 and 32.5 per cent, respectively.

After sharing power with the BJD for nine years in the state, the BJP was shown the door by Naveen in 2009 after being labled by the latter as communal. The saffron party, then seething in anger and vowing to dislodge the regional party from power to avenge Naveens humiliation, has failed to assuage the feelings of lakhs of supporters. Diluted stands of the partys state and Central leaders have deprived it of its dream to come to power in the eastern Indian state. It won 23 of the 147 seats in 2019 Assembly elections, a figure far less than the 120-plus target set by erstwhile party chief Amit Shah.

With the BJP losing power in one after another state in the country in the recent elections, the BJP central leadership has been looking at Naveen Patnaik for passing crucial pieces of legislation in the Parliament. Less than any political compulsion, the BJD has been supporting the BJP post the 2019 polls purely on strategic grounds.
KASTANIES, GREECEWith tear gas clouding the air, thousands of migrants trying to reach Europe clashed with riot police on the Greek border with Turkey on Saturday morning, signalling a new and potentially volatile phase in the migration crisis.

The scene at Kastanies, a normally quiet Greek border checkpoint into Turkey, rapidly became a tense confrontation with the potential to worsen as dozens of Greek security officers and soldiers fired canisters of tear gas. Riot police with batons, shields and masks confronted the migrants through the wire, yelling at them to stay back.

About 4,000 migrants of various nationalities were pressed against the Turkish side of the border. An additional 500 or so people were trapped between two border posts, but still on the Turkish side, at the long and heavily militarized land border that has turned into the flashpoint for the tug of war between Turkey and Europe.

Some people had climbed onto the limbs of trees or were crouching against the thick loops of barbed wired placed on the ground by the Greek army. They cheered, booed and screamed to be let through.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey declared on Saturday he had opened his countrys borders for migrants to cross into Europe, saying that Turkey could no longer handle the numbers fleeing the war in Syria.

What did we do yesterday? he said in a televised speech in Istanbul. We opened the doors. His comments were his first to acknowledge what he had long threatened to do: push some of the millions of Syrian refugees and other migrants in Turkey toward Europe in order to cajole the European Union to heed Turkeys demands.

He accused European leaders of not keeping their promises to help Turkey bear the load of millions of Syrian refugees.

Erdogan has also called for European support for his military operations against a Russian and Syrian offensive in northern Syria that has displaced at least one million more Syrians toward Turkeys border. He has also sought more support for the displaced and the 3.6 million Syrian refugees already in Turkey.

The migrants at the border had heeded Erdogans call and rushed to Turkeys borders with Europe, some on Friday taking free rides on buses organized by Turkish officials. But once at Europes doorstep, they were met with a violent crackdown.

Migrants were also heading by sea to the Turkish coast, from where they hope to reach Greek islands, facilitated by Turkish authorities, but officials reported few arrivals on Saturday, perhaps due to poor weather at sea.

The mini-exodus was livestreamed by Turkish state television in scenes reminiscent of the 2015 migrant crisis that Europe had solved only with Turkeys help. Syrians shared information, some joking about the Turkish facilitation, suggesting they should publish the telephone numbers of people smugglers, too.

The International Organization for Migration, a United Nations agency, said as many as 10,000 were making their way through Turkey to the northern land borders in hopes of reaching Europe.

Greek authorities said on Saturday they had intercepted some 4,000 people attempting to cross at various spots of the 80-kilometre border overnight, and only a few had been successful and made it to Greece.

The frontier is heavily militarized on both sides and is closed off with barbed wire only for about 11 km, running through fields, valleys and forests and partly demarcated by the Evros River and its delta, where migrants have long perished because of choppy waters.

Even if the Greek officials succeed in holding back the hundreds at the small border chokehold in Kastanies, it will be hard to secure the entire border as migrants become dispersed and try their luck farther afield.

Most on the front line of the confrontation at the Kastanies crossing were men, but children were heard screaming farther back and women were hanging on the side of the group stuck between the Turkish and Greek officials.

The ground was strewed with empty Turkish tear-gas canisters, rocks and burned-out tree branches; and the Greek guards pledged a standoff for as long as it took into the cold night and beyond.

Greece came under an illegal, mass and orchestrated attempt to raze our borders and stood up protecting not only our frontiers, but those of Europe, too, said Stelios Petsas, the Greek government spokesman. He added 66 migrants had been arrested crossing the land border illegally and none have anything to do with Idlib.

Our government is determined to do whatever it takes to protect our borders, he said.

Erdogans comments on Saturday came after Turkey suffered heavy losses from Russian or Syrian airstrikes in northwestern Syria on Thursday and as Turkey seeks U.S. and European support for its Syrian operations. The death toll from the strikes has risen to 36, Erdogan said. More than 30 soldiers were wounded in the strikes.

The Turkish leader has avoided accusing Russia directly of carrying out the airstrikes and has spoken with President Vladimir Putin of Russia by telephone. But he said Turkey was retaliating with strikes of its own, including on a Syrian chemical-weapons site south of the city of Aleppo. Turkey has deployed thousands of troops in recent weeks into the Idlib province to try to stem the Russian-backed advance.

Read more about:
A top medical expert in Hong Kong believes the coronavirus epidemic can now be labelled a global pandemic, as it has spread quickly across several countries.

Professor Gabriel Leung, dean of the University of Hong Kongs (HKU) medical faculty, added the first death recorded in the United States was worrying, as it indicated there could be more confirmed cases in the country.

However, the World Health Organisation has stopped short of calling the outbreak a pandemic, with director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus saying health officials had not yet witnessed the uncontained global spread, or large-scale severe disease or death associated with a pandemic.

But speaking on a radio show on Sunday, Leung said the death in the US could be the tip of the iceberg.

One death could mean there are 100 confirmed cases in the region  and maybe you havent recorded as many cases just because you havent tested enough people, he said.

So while the first wave of outbreak could be getting under control in mainland China, the first wave outside China could be just starting. This seems to be inevitable.

Asked if the virus, which causes the Covid-19 disease was now a global pandemic, Leung said the only reason for not classifying it as such was maybe the word triggers public fear.

Technically this is a pandemic, as it is spreading locally in many countries  but the World Health Organisation insisted that it should only be called pandemic when local outbreaks get out of control, he said.

The contagious disease, which originated in China, has been spreading fast globally, with the US facing the latest outbreak, with one death reported on Saturday, and 62 infections.

Community outbreaks have also been seen in Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, with Italy and South Korea facing the biggest number of infections.

Leung also said that as the outbreak was being brought under control on the mainland, authorities must stay vigilant against a second wave, which could be caused by the resumption of work and industrial production.

Story continues

The HKU head also said he had visited Britain recently, and health officials in the country praised Hong Kong for doing well in containing the virus.

They said both Singapore and Hong Kong have been doing well, because the numbers of confirmed cases in the two places are similar, he said.

Hong Kong and Singapore have confirmed 95 and 96 cases respectively, so far.

But Hong Kongs population is about a third larger than Singapore. So I think this is something we achieved with the effort of the whole society, he added.

But Professor David Hui Shu-cheong, a respiratory medicine expert from Chinese University, said the outbreak in Hong Kong could only be considered as under control if there were no new confirmed infections in 28 days.

So far we have a few new cases every day, he said. But if the containment strategy is effective, we hope we will only have a new case every few days or weeks, and then we can relax the containment strategy a bit. But the most ideal is not to have any case in 28 days.

Meanwhile, the outbreak has forced the city to call off major events at the annual Bun Festival next month, a traditional Chinese fiesta which draws tens of thousands of local and overseas visitors to the outlying island of Cheung Chau every year.

The festival traditionally features a bun scrambling contest, which requires contestants to climb 14 metres to the top of a bamboo tower and back down again.

Other highlights include the Piu Sik, or floating colours parade, a traditional Taoist ritual featuring children dressed in colourful costumes and balanced on floating platforms, that are carried around the island in the belief it will ward off wandering evil spirits.

The organisers of the rural festival announced on social media that both the contest, and the parade had been cancelled, but other smaller parades and Taoist rituals would take place.

This article Coronavirus: Hong Kong expert claims outbreak is now a pandemic and US death could be tip of the iceberg first appeared on South China Morning Post

For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2020.
Less than 24 hours after the United States signed a landmark agreement with the Afghan Taliban in Doha, its implementation has already hit its first speedbump.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani announced in Kabul Sunday that his government has made no commitment to release thousands of Taliban prisoners, a precondition to the start of talks between Taliban and other Afghan factions. "The release of prisoners is not the United States authority, but it is the authority of the government of Afghanistan," Ghani said.

The U.S.-Taliban deal sealed on Saturday requires Afghan parties to the conflict to open direct negotiations on or around March 10 to agree on a nationwide permanent cease-fire and future power-sharing.

However, some of the steps required to be taken in the run-up to the dialogue include the release of up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners from Afghan jails and of 1,000 government security forces, who are held by the insurgents.

The Taliban have so far refused to acknowledge the Ghani administration as a legitimate government or to engage with it directly. As far they are concerned, they say they have settled the prisoner release issue with the Americans. "We have decided the issue of our 5,000 prisoners with the Americans. They have promised in the agreement that those prisoners will be released before the start of the intra-Afghan negotiations. For us, this issue is settled," said Khairullah Khairkhwah, a senior member of the Taliban negotiation team.

An Afghan delegation from Kabul arrived in Doha ahead of the signing ceremony to discuss prisoner releases and other issues with the Taliban but members of the insurgent group refused to meet them. "We have not decided yet whether we are going to meet them," Khairkhwah said after the deal signing Saturday. "We don't know yet who they are and why they are here."

Meanwhile, officials of the host country Qatar say they could facilitate the discussion without the two sides having to sit together.

"Negotiation sometimes does not mean you interact directly and face to face. There's something which is called shuttle diplomacy. So, we can do this, as an option, to facilitate these talks without physically... facing, seeing, watching, and touching each other. Maybe this is something to start with," said Mutlaq bin Majed Al-Qahtani, Special Envoy of the Qatari Foreign Minister for Counter Terrorism and Mediation of Conflict Resolution.


Iran releases Christian convert from prison, persecution watchdog reports

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

An Iranian Christian convert who was arrested during an anti-government protest in Tehran last month has been released on bail from the Qarchak women's prison, which is located in a barren desert east of Tehran and seen as the most dangerous prison in Iran.

The 21-year-old Christian convert, Fatemeh Mohammadi, who prefers to go by the name Mary since her spiritual conversion, was released on a $2,250 bail days before her court hearing Monday, the U.S.-based Christian persecution watchdog International Christian Concern reported.

For nearly a month after her arrest on Jan. 12, little to nothing was known about her whereabouts. There were reports about her being tortured and beaten during her time in Qarchak Prison.

The news of her release on bail is a welcomed break from the uncertainty in her case to date, the group said.

Mohammadi was detained near Azadi Square in Tehran, where protests occurred after the Iranian military shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane, killing 176 people. Although several people were arrested in connection with protests that took place in multiple cities, it was not clear whether she was participating in any of the protests.

She was charged with disturbing the public order and for participating in an illegal rally.

Mohammadi published a series of tweets on the day she was arrested, saying that the Iranian people faced soft repression in Iran as the regime creates false beliefs through selective coverage of the news, according to Article 18, a U.K.-based watchdog group that promotes religious freedom and tolerance for Christians in Iran.

Mohammadi reportedly used hashtags in her tweets that translate to English as hard-pressed and suppression is the norm. She reportedly accused the regime of spreading lies that are bigger and more repetitive make them more believable.

Mohammadi was previously detained by authorities in the Islamic Republic under different pretexts.

In 2017, she was arrested during a raid on an underground house church meeting and later sentenced to six months in prison. Mohammadi served her time in the womens ward of Irans notorious Evin prison.

She wrote an open letter to Irans Minister of Intelligence Mahmoud Alavi last May accusing him of targeting Christians and violating the constitution. In her letter, she also questioned why Christian converts in Iran must refrain from talking about their faith while Muslims are free to discuss their faith in public settings.

In June 2018, Mohammadi wrote another open letter detailing the mistreatment she suffered while in prison, accusing interrogators of pressuring her to admit to having illicit sexual relations even though she hadnt. She even said interrogators even asked her to make up a story about sexual relations that they could enjoy.

Last December, Mohammadi took to social media to complain after she was deemed ineligible to take classes at Azad University and not given a reason why. Her rejection came as other religious minorities had also been denied equal access to education in Iran.

Last July, Mohammadi was arrested again for improperly wearing her hijab. She was arrested while trying to report that she had been assaulted. She was detained for hours and released with a warning.

Iran has for years been designated by the U.S. State Department as a country of particular concern for religious freedom violations.

Last December, nine Christians, who were arrested in January and February 2019, were sentenced to a combined total of 45 years in prison by Irans Revolutionary Court. In Iran, it is illegal for a Muslim to convert to Christianity.

Iran ranks as the ninth-worst country in the world when it comes to Christian persecution on Open Doors USAs 2020 World Watch List. At least 169 Christians were arrested in Iran during the organizations 2019 reporting period  Nov. 1, 2018, to Oct. 31, 2019.
National news agency Australian Associated Press is facing mass job cuts and the prospect of closure as its shareholders confront one of the toughest media markets in history.

Sources close to discussions about AAP's future, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the operation has been under immense financial pressure and major shareholders Nine Entertainment Co and Rupert Murdoch's News Corp were assessing all options. Nine is the owner of this masthead.

The future of AAP is in doubt. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

AAP executives will meet with Nine and News Corp Australia executives this week to make a final decision about the operation's future. As many as 180 jobs could go as a result of the planned changes  representing the entirety of AAP's remaining editorial operations.

Media companies are facing rising financial challenges from the weakest advertising market since the global financial crisis and the rise of global digital giants which have drawn audiences and revenues away from incumbents.
Security forces have arrested an associate of a Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militant who was killed in an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir's Ganderbal district in November last year, police said on Sunday.

During investigation of the case pertaining to operation Kullan in which one LeT militant was killed on November 12, 2019, it has been revealed that two militants were brought to Ganderbal district by Fayaz Ahmed Bhat, a resident of Akhal area of Kangan, a police official said.

He said Bhat is an activist of Hurriyat Conference.

"Bhat has been found to have established contacts of militants with (the) locals of Kullan area where they had (taken) refuge on different occasions and (the) said person also ferried (the) militants from Bandipora to Ganderbal at the behest of Pakistani handlers," the official said.

Bhat was arrested and a Chinese grenade was recovered from his possession, he said.

"Previous record also shows that the said person was involved in grenade lobbying at Kangan police station in the year 2008 and an FIR under the Explosive Substances Act was registered against him. He had remained in jail for a considerable period and was also booked under the PSA (Public Safety Act)," the official added.

While one LeT militant was killed in the encounter, another militant Nisar Ahmad Dar, who had escaped from the encounter site, was arrested by police from a hospital here on January 4.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Sunday visited Amruta Hospital here and inquired about the health of a five-day-old baby girl, who was found with stab injuries in a village of the district earlier this week.

"It is very sad that a new-born baby was thrown outside the village. Dogs also bite her. Villagers came to her rescue," Rupani told ANI.

The district collector has announced to bear her medical expenses.

One of the doctors, who is treating the girl said: "Her condition is stable now but she does not come out of the risk. She has a blood infection.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Press point by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg following the North Atlantic Council meeting at Turkey's request for Article 4 consultations on the situation in Syria

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

28 Feb. 2020



(As delivered)

Good afternoon.

The North Atlantic Council has just met, following a request by Turkey to hold consultations under article 4 of NATO's founding Washington Treaty on the situation in Syria.

Under article 4 of the Treaty, any Ally can request consultations whenever, in the opinion of any of them, their territorial integrity, political independence or security is threatened.

I spoke to the Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu last night about the situation in Syria.

And he requested these consultations. Today Turkey briefed on the serious security situation in Syria.

Allies offer their deepest condolences for the death of Turkish soldiers in last night's bombing in Idlib. And expressed their full solidarity with Turkey.

Allies condemn the continued indiscriminate air strikes by the Syrian regime and Russia in Idlib province.

I call on them to stop their offensive. To respect international law. And to back UN efforts for a peaceful solution.

This dangerous situation must be deescalated and we urge an immediate return to the 2018 ceasefire. To avoid further worsening of the horrendous humanitarian situation in the region. And to allow urgent humanitarian access for those trapped in Idlib.

Today's meeting is a clear sign of solidarity with Turkey. Turkey is a valued NATO Ally and Turkey is the NATO Ally most affected by the terrible conflict in Syria, which has suffered the most terrorist attacks, and which hosts millions of refugees.

NATO continues to support Turkey with a range of measures. Including by augmenting its air defences. This helps Turkey against the threat of missile attacks from Syria.

I thank Turkey for briefing Allies regularly on the situation in Syria.

Allies will continue to follow developments on the South-eastern border of NATO and to consult very closely.

And with that, I'm ready for your questions.

Moderator: We will start with NTV

NTV Turkey  Can you on one hand tell us what was the support given by member states in light of the briefing given by the Ambassador, and do you think that it's also  because you mentioned tailored assurance measures for Turkey  do you think it's an opportunity to at least fulfil all the gaps, because you are just delivering 40% of it and there is still a gap of 60 %? Thank you.

NATO Secretary General  So NATO Allies expressed their deepest condolences to those who have lost their loved ones, to family members and to the people of Turkey.

We also stated very clearly that we call on Russia and the Assad regime to stop the attacks, to stop the indiscriminate air attacks and also to engage and support UN-led efforts to find a lasting peaceful solution to the crisis in Syria. And we also call on Russia and Syria to fully respect international law. Because we have seen bombing of civilian targets, we have seen increased humanitarian suffering and hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to leave their homes. NATO Allies provide support for Turkey today. We augment their air defences, we have AWACS planes helping to patrol the skies, and we also have port visits and provide support in other ways. But Allies are constantly looking into what more they can do to provide further support for Turkey.

Moderator: Anadolu

Anadolu  Mr. Secretary General, Yusuf Hatip from Anadolu Agency. Could we expect any more concrete steps from NATO as the situation in Syria is worsening, the humanitarian situation especially? There are 3 million civilians waiting on the border of Turkey. Could we expect any concrete steps to attacks on Turkey soon, and if yes can you inform us if it was discussed during the meeting?

NATO Secretary General - NATO provides strong political support and we also provide practical support. We provide practical support with different assurance measures and we are constantly assessing, and Allies are looking at what more they can do and that was also expressed clearly in the meeting today. We are of course also constantly monitoring and following the situation very closely. And Turkey is regularly updating NATO Allies. And I also spoke with the Turkish foreign minister late last night when he requested this meeting. And just the meeting we had today is a clear demonstration of NATO solidarity and expression of support from all the NATO Allies to our NATO Ally Turkey. We are strongly supporting and NATO Allies are engaged in trying to move forward in efforts, in the UN-led efforts to find a peaceful solution and we call Turkey, we call on Syria and Russia to fully engage in such UN-led efforts to find a peaceful solution.

Moderator  Kabul Times, last question

Kabul Times  Thank you very much. Secretary General I know that you are talking about Syria but the situation in Afghanistan is also very important. And tomorrow the US and Taliban will sign an agreement and also the Afghan government with US, renew their base.

What will be the next step for NATO, and also will you also reduce troops if the US decides to reduce their troops from Afghanistan?

NATO Secretary General  We are closer to a peace agreement than ever before in Afghanistan. And NATO will continue to support the efforts to find a peaceful and negotiated solution. We have seen a significant reduction in violence in Afghanistan over the last days. And therefore we are also very close to signing of an agreement between the United States and the Taliban. This will be only the first, but very important first step towards a lasting peace agreement in Afghanistan. Because the only way to find a lasting sustainable peaceful solution to the conflict in Afghanistan is to have an inter-Afghan process, inter Afghan negotiations, and an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process. And that's the next step. And the road to peace will be long and hard. And there will be setbacks and there is a risk always for spoilers. But the thing is that we are committed, the Afghan people are committed to peace and we will continue to provide support. We will support the Afghan security forces with training, with funding. Because we have to send a clear message to the Taliban that they will never win on the battlefield.They have to sit down at the negotiating table and make real compromises. So we will continue to support them because that's the best way we can create the conditions for a peaceful negotiated solution in Afghanistan.And I also would like to commend the Afghan security forces. Because they have made enormous progress, we have helped them, but they are now on the front line, and they are providing security for the country and we will continue to provide support because that is the best way to support a peaceful solution.

Moderator: Thank you very much, this concludes this press point.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






For U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts, the moment of truth on abortion is coming.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear its first abortion case since Roberts became the pivotal vote on the issue. Four years after invalidating a Texas law requiring clinic doctors to have hospital admitting privileges, the court will consider whether to switch directions and uphold a similar law in Louisiana.

The argument will test Roberts's appetite for rolling back abortion-rights precedents and could foreshadow a fight over the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling. The justices will rule by the end of June, potentially making abortion and the court itself central issues in the November election. President Donald Trump's administration is supporting the Louisiana law.

Opponents say the law would leave the state with only one clinic, in New Orleans, and just one abortion doctor to serve the 10,000 women who seek to end a pregnancy every year in the state.

"Roe becomes meaningless if there is no access to abortion," said Kathaleen Pittman, director of the Hope Medical Group for Women, a Shreveport clinic that says it would have to close if the measure took effect. "These women that we work with now do not have the means to travel, to fly out of state, to go to other places for their care."

Conservative states have been moving to sharply restrict abortion rights in recent years. States enacted 58 new abortion restrictions alone, including a total ban by Alabama, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that backs reproductive rights. Many of those laws are on hold.

Supporters of the Louisiana measure, which carries criminal penalties, say the state is trying to protect women from unscrupulous and incompetent abortion providers. Among other arguments, they are urging the court to say that Hope and two unidentified doctors lack the legal right to challenge the law on behalf of their patients.

"We need to be listening to women, not to abortion businesses," said Catherine Glenn Foster, president of Americans United for Life.

Roberts -- now back at the court full-time after presiding over Trump's impeachment trial -- dissented from the 2016 ruling that struck down the Texas rules and gave abortion-rights supporters reason to think the issue was resolved. The 5-3 decision said the state's law "provides few, if any, health benefits for women" and "poses a substantial obstacle to women seeking abortions."

That was before the court's composition changed with the addition of Trump appointees Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. The latter succeeded Justice Anthony Kennedy, who had been the court's swing vote on abortion and voted with the majority to throw out the Texas law.

Those changes have left Roberts, a 2005 appointee of Republican President George W. Bush, squarely in the middle. Last year he joined the four Democratic-appointed justices to put the Louisiana law on hold while the court considered whether to intervene. Kavanaugh and Gorsuch both voted to let the law take effect, hinting they were at least open to upholding it.

Roberts' vote might suggest he has questions about the federal appeals court ruling that upheld the Louisiana law. The 2-1 decision said the impact wasn't as great as in Texas, and the majority blamed Louisiana doctors for not making good-faith efforts to get the required privileges.

But Roberts gave no explanation for his vote, and he may view the Louisiana law differently now that the court is directly considering it.

If he votes to throw out the Louisiana law, "it will be an indication that he wants to move slowly on abortion and does not want to expose the court to a lot of criticism, at least at this point," said David Strauss, a constitutional law professor at the University of Chicago Law School who signed a brief urging the court to strike down the law.

If Roberts votes to uphold the Louisiana statute, "that will suggest that he's willing to be more aggressive, although a lot will depend on how the opinion is written," Strauss said.

Roberts steered the court toward restricting abortion rights in a 2007 ruling he could use as a template. That decision, issued during Roberts' second term as chief justice, upheld a federal ban on a rarely used late-term abortion procedure that opponents called "partial-birth abortion."

The decision, written by Kennedy, didn't overturn a 2000 ruling that struck down a similar Nebraska ban. Instead, Kennedy said the federal statute was clearer in describing what procedures were outlawed and how doctors could ensure they wouldn't be prosecuted.

Roberts is far more reluctant to overturn precedents than his conservative colleagues. He said in his 2005 Senate confirmation hearing that overruling a precedent is a "jolt to the legal system."

In that testimony, he called the 1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey abortion-rights ruling a "precedent of the court entitled to respect under principles of stare decisis," the policy that the court generally won't disturb its settled rulings.

In the hospital-privileges case, abortion-rights advocates say the Texas and Louisiana rules are identical. Louisiana says there are enough differences that the court need not rule the same on both, but the state says the court should overturn the Texas ruling if necessary.

Louisiana's law, enacted in 2014, requires doctors to have privileges at a hospital within 30 miles (48 kilometers) of the abortion facility. The measure was in effect for a brief period in 2016.

A ruling that upholds the Louisiana law without overturning the 2016 ruling would still be a boost for the anti-abortion cause, said James Bopp, an Indiana lawyer who filed a brief on behalf of the National Right to Life Committee and the Louisiana Right to Life Committee.

"It wouldn't be as consequential," Bopp said. "But any time you have a ruling on an abortion case, if the law's upheld, there is value in that."

The cases are June Medical Services v. Russo, 18-1323, and Russo v. June Medical Services, 18-1460.
Perth, Australia, Feb 28, 2020 - (ABN Newswire) - Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (ASX:LNG.AX - News) (OTCMKTS:LNGLY - News) (LNGL or the Company) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a Bid Implementation Agreement (BIA) with LNG9 PTE LTD (LNG9), a Singapore-based private company, pursuant to which LNG9 will make an offer to acquire all of the issued ordinary shares of LNGL under the terms of an off-market takeover bid (Offer).

LNGL has over the last year evaluated many potential corporate and asset transactions to provide liquidity and value for shareholders and considers that the LNG9 offer is the most attractive offer currently available for LNGL shareholders.

The Directors of LNGL will therefore unanimously recommend that LNGL shareholders accept the Offer in the absence of a superior proposal being received.

Proposal highlights

- LNG9 desires to acquire 100% of the outstanding LNGL shares, which includes all shares underlying the outstanding LNGL sponsored ADRs (LNGLY), and to potentially take the Company private.

- Under the terms of the Offer, LNGL shareholders will receive US$0.13 in cash per share (or the Australian dollar equivalent), valuing the share capital of LNGL at approximately US$75 million.

- The Offer price approximates A$0.198 per LNGL share, applying an A$ / US$ exchange rate of approximately 0.66 / 1 as at 27 February 2020, the trading day prior to the date of this announcement.

- The Offer represents a 72% premium to the closing price of LNGL's shares on the ASX of A$0.115 on the trading day prior to the date of this announcement, valuing the share capital of LNGL at approximately A$114 million, and a 48% premium to LNGL's 30-day volumeweighted average price (VWAP) on ASX of A$0.133 over the 30 trading days prior to the date of this announcement.

- The Offer is subject to LNG9 receiving acceptances in respect of at least 90% of ordinary shares and to other conditions summarized below.

- Additionally, First Wall Street Capital Corp. (Lender) has agreed to provide bridge financing to LNGL in the form of a non-revocable Senior Secured Convertible Note financing facility for the purposes of facilitating ongoing marketing and development of LNGL's projects, and to meet LNGL's working capital requirements, including its transaction costs. Further details of this facility are set out below.

Story continues

Further details of the Offer, and of LNG9's intentions, will be set out in LNG9's Bidder's Statement.

To view the full bidders statement, please visit:

https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/EZ7D3NRO



About Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd:

Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (ASX:LNG.AX - News) (OTCMKTS:LNGLY - News) (LNGL) is an ASX listed company whose portfolio consists of 100% ownership of the following companies:

- Magnolia LNG, LLC (Magnolia LNG), a US-based subsidiary, which is developing an eight mtpa or greater LNG export terminal, in the Port of Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA;

- Bear Head LNG Corporation Inc. (Bear Head LNG), a Canadian-based subsidiary, which is developing an 8 - 12 mtpa LNG export terminal in Richmond County, Nova Scotia, Canada with potential for further expansion;

- Bear Paw Pipeline Corporation Inc. (Bear Paw), which is proposing to construct and operate a 62.5 km gas pipeline lateral to connect gas supply to Bear Head LNG; and

- LNG Technology Pty Ltd, a subsidiary which owns and develops the Company's OSMRA LNG liquefaction process, a midscale LNG business model that plans to deliver lower capital and operating costs, faster construction, and improved efficiency, relative to larger traditional LNG projects.

Contact:

Mr. Micah Hirschfield

Sr. Manager, Communications and Investor Relations

Liquefied Natural Gas Limited

T: +1-713-815-6920

E: mhirschfield@lnglimited.com

Mr. Andrew Gould

Joint Company Secretary

Liquefied Natural Gas Limited

T: +61-8-9366-3700

E: AGould@lnglimited.com.au

Source:

Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd

Copyright (C) 2020 ABN Newswire. All rights reserved.
Former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, who have spent two years in an MI6 safe house after surviving a novichok poisoning attack  want to start a new life Down Under, according to security insiders.

Just days before the second anniversary of the poisoning in Salisbury, Wiltshire, The Mail on Sunday has been told the father and daughter are desperate to leave the UK for either Australia or New Zealand after effectively living under house arrest since the attack.

They were found unconscious on a park bench on March 4, 2018, after Russian agents smeared the deadly chemical on the door-handle of Mr Skripals home.

It remains a mystery why two agents were sent to the UK to target Sergei Skripal, pictured above with daughter Yulia, given he had been pardoned for sharing Russian secrets with MI6 and had been permitted to start a new life in Britain

The pair were rushed to hospital and put in induced comas to prevent the poison damaging their organs.

Yulia left hospital in April that year and was taken by police to a secret location where she has been guarded by British intelligence agents ever since.

Her father had sufficiently recovered by the following month to join her in hiding.

Mr Skripal, a former double agent who arrived in the UK as part of a spy-swap deal between Britain and Russia in 2010, and his daughter would apparently be offered new identities in another country and would still receive protection, say sources.

The Mail on Sunday has also received unconfirmed reports that Mr Skripal, 68, and his daughter, 35, may have already travelled to Australia and New Zealand to scout possible locations.

They were found unconscious on a park bench on March 4, 2018, after Russian agents smeared the deadly chemical on the door-handle of Mr Skripals home. The pair were rushed to hospital and put in induced comas to prevent the poison damaging their organs

Last night, British chemical weapons expert Hamish de Bretton-Gordon said: Im sure Yulia especially will want to return to some sort of normality and a remote Commonwealth country may be an option.

The Government continues to have a duty of care and the Russians seem unconcerned with any collateral damage they caused around this assassination attempt. So security arrangements would in all certainty continue.

It remains a mystery why two agents were sent to the UK to target Mr Skripal, given he had been pardoned for sharing Russian secrets with MI6 and had been permitted to start a new life in Britain.

Yulia left hospital in April that year and was taken by police to a secret location where she has been guarded by British intelligence agents ever since. Her father had sufficiently recovered by the following month to join her in hiding

He was not thought to have been active in the intelligence field and there was no evidence of Yulia ever being a spy.

The novichok attack claimed the life of Dawn Sturgess, 44, after she handled a perfume bottle containing the poison.

It has been estimated that the incident has cost taxpayers 30 million  but that figure does not include the expense of guarding the Skripals.

The MoD spearheaded the clear-up effort apparently after the security services expressed concerns over companies on a Government-approved list of contractors with chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear capabilities.

The Mail on Sunday has been told that spies ruled out using any of these companies over fears that sensitive information would be passed to Russia.

Last night, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs refused to answer questions about apparent Russian ownership of firms on the list.

A spokesman said: Due to the nature of the substance, the military were best equipped to lead the clean-up.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren faced a lackluster fifth-place finish in South Carolina as primary results rolled in on Saturday night, but the Massachusetts progressive went on the offensive against her top opponents and made the pitch she was still the best bet to oust President Donald Trump.

The Associated Press called the race for former Vice President Joe Biden as polls closed at 7 p.m., and declared Sen. Bernie Sanders the runner up about an hour later. By 8:45 p.m. and with about 37% of precincts reporting, Biden had garnered about 50% support from South Carolina voters, trailed by Sanders at 18%.

Warren had earned just 6.6% support, missing the 15% threshold for a chance to pick up any delegates in the state. Former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg and billionaire activist Tom Steyer were beating Warren, with 7.4% and 11.8%, respectively.

Warren attacked former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, Biden and Sanders in an address to supporters in Houston, Texas, a key Super Tuesday state.

Bloomberg, she said, was little more than a billionaire who could buy the airwaves and pretend to be president; Biden wanted to compromise too much with Sen. Mitch McConnell and Republicans; and Sanders had a 30-year track record of great ideas but not getting things done.

If you think we need progressive ideas and progressive results ... pitch in and join us, she said. The time to choose is upon us. The crises we face are real. Twenty-twenty is your chance to choose a president and Im ready to get to work.

Warren also spoke about the growing concerns of the coronavirus, calling it a public health crisis and potential economic crisis in the United States and worldwide.

She said she would soon release a plan with initiatives Congress and the president should consider immediately to keep the people and our economy healthy.

Americans must ask themselves who do you actually trust to run this government? she said. Donald Trump has already shown he is not up to the task.

Warren came into the South Carolina race in fourth place in total delegate count, with eight compared to Sanders 45. Biden was projected to pick up at least 14 delegates on Saturday.

Warrens campaign and surrogates have argued she has a viable path to the Democratic nomination, and say she has the best chance of victory if the race narrowed to a three-way contest between her, Biden and Sanders.

A recent national CNN poll showed Warren in second place behind Sanders, with 19% support compared to Sanders 28%.

In South Carolina, Steyer campaigned hard by flooding the airwaves with advertising and focusing on the strong African American population. He noted in recent debates that he is the only candidate in the race calling for reparations and an independent commission on race to help address the legacy of slavery.

Biden, who always held strong support from black voters in South Carolina, saw that support slip in the wake of Steyers ads, and Steyer rose in polls to the point where he was topping Warren. But CNN exit polls still showed Biden commanding 60% support among African Americans.

Sanders, meanwhile, has risen in a host of national polls after strong showings, including two wins, in the first three voting sates.

Warren will look to fend off Sanders in her home state on Tuesday, where Sanders held rallies in Springfield and Boston along with a four-day music and canvassing festival in Worcester over the weekend.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: The family of 20-year-old Dilbar Singh Negi hoped against hope for two days about getting news of his wellbeing, but all that was dashed when his decapitated and charred body was found in a building of a sweet shop owner in Shiv Vihar for whom he worked.

Negi had come to Delhi from his native Uttarakhand only six months ago and was working at the sweet shop in Shiv Vihar.

On the afternoon of February 24, he had gone to a building in a nearby lane, which served as a restroom for the sweet shop workers and also as a storage space, for a nap, Negi's friend and colleague Shyam Singh said.

According to Singh, as a mob gathered near the shop and started throwing stones around 3 pm.

ALSO READ: Delhi riots - Opposition parties write to President, seek action against those who made hate speeches

They eventually managed to sneak out of the shop to safety with the help of some locals.

But luck didn't favour Negi.

"Around 7 pm, Negi called me informing that a large group of people has reached the roof of the building where he had gone to take rest, and was hurling stones from the top.

"I told him to stay hidden inside the two-storey building and come out only when the rioters leave," Singh said.

"Two others were stuck with Negi in the same building but they managed to run to safety around 11 pm. Negi had told me that he would leave the building around 9 pm," he said.

According to locals, the building was set on fire around 11.30 pm.

"Even till late in the night when we could not get any news of Negi we called up the local police station only to be told that police can't reach the area with such intense rioting going on there," Singh said.

Negi's family members kept calling on his mobile phone and his colleagues throughout the next day but of no avail.

"On February 26, when Anil Pal, the owner of the shop went to visit his building with some police personnel, they found Negi's decapitated and charred body on the second floor," he added.

Pal said that Negi's body was found near the staircase it seems he was killed while trying to flee the building.

Negi's father is a farmer and not in the pink of health while his mother is a homemaker.

He had planned to visit his family on Holi.

But now, only his mortal remains would return home.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday handed over 28 houses to flood victims built by the Rotary International, here in Kochi.

He inaugurated the launch of the next project in which Rotary International aims to construct 52 more houses for flood victims of Kerala and also inaugurated the centennial projects of Rotary International district 3201.

Congress MP Hibi Eden, Congress MLA PT Thomas, and Malayalam actress Asha Sarath also attended the event.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Sonae Capital, SGPS, SA (ELI:SONC), which is in the industrials business, and is based in Portugal, saw significant share price movement during recent months on the ENXTLS, rising to highs of 0.81 and falling to the lows of 0.67. 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 Sonae Capital SGPS's current trading price of 0.67 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 Sonae Capital SGPSs outlook and value based on the most recent financial data to see if there are any catalysts for a price change.

See our latest analysis for Sonae Capital SGPS

Is Sonae Capital SGPS still cheap?

Sonae Capital SGPS appears to be overvalued by 49% at the moment, based on my discounted cash flow valuation. The stock is currently priced at 0.67 on the market compared to my intrinsic value of 0.45. Not the best news for investors looking to buy! In addition to this, it seems like Sonae Capital SGPSs share price is quite stable, which could mean two things: firstly, it may take the share price a while to fall back down to an attractive buying range, and secondly, there may be less chances to buy low in the future once it reaches that value. This is because the stock is less volatile than the wider market given its low beta.

What kind of growth will Sonae Capital SGPS generate?

ENXTLS:SONC Past and Future Earnings, March 1st 2020

Future outlook is an important aspect when youre looking at buying a stock, especially if you are an investor looking for growth in your portfolio. Buying a great company with a robust outlook at a cheap price is always a good investment, so lets also take a look at the company's future expectations. Though in the case of Sonae Capital SGPS, it is expected to deliver a negative revenue growth of -4.8% over the next couple of years, which doesnt help build up its investment thesis. It appears that risk of future uncertainty is high, at least in the near term.

Story continues

What this means for you:

Are you a shareholder? If you believe SONC is currently trading above its value, selling high and buying it back up again when its price falls towards its real value can be profitable. Given the uncertainty from negative growth in the future, this could be the right time to reduce your total portfolio risk. 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 SONC for a while, now may not be the best time to enter into the stock. Its price has risen beyond its true value, on top of a negative future outlook. However, there are also other important factors which we havent considered today, such as the track record of its management. Should the price fall in the future, will you be well-informed enough to buy?

Price is just the tip of the iceberg. Dig deeper into what truly matters  the fundamentals  before you make a decision on Sonae Capital SGPS. You can find everything you need to know about Sonae Capital SGPS in the latest infographic research report. If you are no longer interested in Sonae Capital SGPS, 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.
Earlier this week, the pope canceled two planned official audiences  formal affairs in the Apostolic Palace where Francis would have delivered a speech and greeted a great number of people at the end

Vatican City: A coughing Pope Francis told pilgrims gathered for the traditional Sunday blessing that he is canceling his participation at a week-long spiritual retreat in the Roman countryside because of a cold.

It is the first time in his seven-year papacy that he has missed the spiritual exercises that he initiated early in his pontificate to mark the start of each Lenten season. Such retreats are typical of Jesuits, an order to which he belongs. The 83-year-old pontiff, who lost part of a lung to a respiratory illness as a young man, has canceled several official engagements this week as he battled an apparent cold.

His weekly appearance Sunday to pilgrims from a window high above St. Peter's Square was the first time he has been seen publicly since Ash Wednesday, when he was seen coughing and blowing his nose during Mass. Francis paused twice to cough Sunday while addressing the faithful. At the end, he asked for prayers for the spiritual retreat, adding "unfortunately a cold prevents me from participating this year. I will be following the meditation from here."

Earlier this week, the pope canceled two planned official audiences  formal affairs in the Apostolic Palace where Francis would have delivered a speech and greeted a great number of people at the end. Those were to include an audience with an international bioethics organization and with members of the scandal-marred Legion of Christ religious order.

Francis has never previously canceled so many official audiences or events in his papacy. He was, however, continuing to work from his residence at the Vatican's Santa Marta hotel and was receiving people in private, the Vatican press office said. On Saturday, those private meetings were with the head of the Vatican's bishops' office, Francis' ambassadors to Lebanon and France and a Ukrainian archbishop.

He was to have left Sunday for the retreat outside of Rome.

The Vatican has described Francis' condition as "a slight illness," without giving other details. Francis' illness, though, has come amid general alarm in Italy over the coronavirus outbreak, which has infected more than 1,100 people, mostly in northern Italy.

There have been just six cases reported in Lazio, where Rome is located, to date.
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2020 > The BJP Has Wilfully Let Delhi Burn

in lieu of EDITORIAL

The following is the editorial that appeared in The Wire (February 26, 2020). We are using it here in lieu of an editorial with due acknowledgement.

For three days, northeast Delhi has been in the grip of armed vigilantes mobilised by Hindutva politicians to attack and terrorise those protesting the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. Given the nature of the mobs and their leaders, the violence quickly lost any pretence of a political motive and descended into crude, generalised communal violence against Muslims.

The utter chaos and lawlessness which reigned unchecked on the watch of the Narendra Modi Government at the Centrewhich controls law and order in the national Capitalhas left at least 21 people dead (the figure has now risen to 38), including a policeman, and several hundred injured. Ordinary working peopleboth Hindus and Muslimshave died in the orchestrated mayhem.

There can be no doubt that the ultimatum issued by Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kapil Mishra on Sunday (February 23) for the anti-CAA protestors to clear the streets of northeast Delhi or face dire consequences was the immediate trigger to the violence. But there are also deeper underlying factorsinstitutional and politicalwhich helped push Delhi into the abyss.

The first and most obvious factor is the partisanship of the Delhi Police, encouraged and sustained in large part by the support of the ruling BJP at the Centre. From university campuses to the streets, it is now a matter of habit for the Delhi Police to stand by and watch mobs whose political agenda squares with the BJP run amok.

Ordinary citizens, particularly Muslimsthe primary targets of the ruling partys polarising politics around the question of citizenshipcan expect no succour from such partisan law enforcers. As in other recent episodes of violence in Delhi, here too, instead of protecting the vulnerable, the police could be seen backing the Hindutva mobs in their attacks on Muslims. The fact that the Delhi High Courts intervention was needed before the police agreed to ferry victims of the violence to safety tells its own appalling story.

The continued dereliction of duty without fear of punitive action has created a situation that is alarming for any civilised nation. The images flooding television screens for the past few nights, along with reports by journalists from numerous organisations who had all been subject to the mobs vicious attacks, brought back stark memories of 1984the last time Delhi was in the throes of such organised communal violenceor 2002, when the State of Gujarat under Narendra Modi burned for weeks.

Second, the role of the BJP and Sangh Parivar leaders throughout this period has been reprehen-sible. Apart from Kapil Mishra, party legislators and functionaries have either openly incited anti-Muslim hatred or helped demonise the anti-CAA protestswhich have all been peacefulas anti-national. While Union Home Minister Amit Shah has been missing in action, the junior Home Minister has now set his sights on the mediademanding action against news platforms whose reports of the violence have proved embarrassing for the government.

Regrettably, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which won a landslide against the BJP in Delhis Assembly polls last month, has also miserably failed to rise to the occasion. Granted, law and order is not in the State Governments hands. But rather than mark their presence in the embattled parts of the city, AAP leaders appeared to vanish from the scene. It would have been befitting of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to send out his legislators to the strife-torn areas where people were desperately seeking help.

The image of the Chief Minister alongside his deputy, Manish Sisodia, paying homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat added further insult to injury. Rather than take a proactive stance, the AAP chose to retreat into the shadows while Delhi was burning.

To be sure, the AAPs retreat pales in significance before the direct culpability of the BJP. Nobody should be under any illusion that the Delhi communal riots of 2020 are not a product of deliberate attempts to polarise the country on religious grounds. The party leadership and its governments at the Centre and in States like Uttar Pradesh have, directly and indirectly, stoked hatred against Muslims. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who hosted US President Donald Trump while Delhi burned, finally tweeted a tepid appeal for peace and harmony on Wednesday (February 26).

Given Delhis history, and his own, Modis silence for three days tells its own story.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-26 20:22:48|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

WINDHOEK, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Choosing a career as a young man was very difficult for 21-year-old Namibian Festus Haulonjaba who is now a seasoned electrician at the China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC).

The international Chinese state-owned company changed his life six years ago when they offered him an opportunity to build a career and receive training in electricity installation.

Taking a leap of faith, the young man agreed thus beginning his successful journey which has seen him lift his family out of poverty.

"Working for China Harbour Engineering Company has changed my life, I have learnt so much. I had no idea what to do with my life before they took me on board. They gave me power to elevate myself. Instead of giving me fish, they taught me how to fish. They have given me a skill that I will use for the rest of my life," Haulonjaba said.

CHEC has not only directly impacted the lives of ordinary locals in Namibia but it has also helped grow the country's economy.

The company specializes in large-scale construction projects such as the building of harbors, railways, and bridges.

It was in 2013 awarded the 260 million U.S. dollars contract to expand the port of Walvis Bay which has this day helped Namibia inch a step further towards realizing the country's plan of becoming the leading logistics hub in Africa.

The container terminal was commissioned last year.

The container terminal has now increased Namibia's port assets to 7.6 billion Namibian dollars (510 million U.S. dollars).

According to Feng Yuanfei, manager of CHEC Namibia company, CHEC maintains a sense of social responsibility meant to improve lives of locals.

"... these projects hold tremendous benefits for Namibia including employment of over 2000 Namibians on projects, transferred skills to 770 through local qualified training organizations and on the job training," Feng said.

According to him, the company has donated a total of 5 million Namibian dollars to help develop education and poverty alleviation.

"We have supported local economic development through the contracting of Namibian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to provide essential goods and services to the projects as well as contribute to environmental protection," Feng said.

According to Namibian port authority Namport, statistics show on the job training of over 700 previously disadvantaged Namibian employees by CHEC, where close to 500 received full-training in areas such as plumbing, piling, marine work, steel fixing, and riggers.

Another young local who is a part of these statistics is 32 year old Johannes Shitwomunhu who was employed at CHEC as a general worker but is now a marine.

"I started as a general worker but later received training as a marine then they trained me on how to operate a boat," Shitwomunhu said.

The young man is now a holder of a certificate in water and electricity installation and well as boat driving.

Through the many projects that CHEC is a part of in Namibia, the company continues to help grow Namibia's economy while transforming people's lives.
Celebrating Women's Voice The 2020 Womens History Month remembers Valiant Women of the Vote. Womens Voices: I AmWe Are is presented to inspire valiant women.

The Franklin County Visitors Bureau welcomes all to Womens Voices: I AmWe Are on Saturday, March 21 at 1 PM in the Franklin County 11/30 Visitors Center, on the square in Chambersburg PA. The 2020 Womens History Month remembers Valiant Women of the Vote. Womens Voices: I AmWe Are is presented to inspire valiant women. Guest presenter-performer is Carla Christopher-Waid, 4th Poet Laureate of York PA, author, artist, and community advocate. Christopher-Waid is a moving performer and a passionate educator, who empowers her audiences with new perspectives.

In addition to the presentation-performance by Christopher-Waid, the lobby of the 11/30 Visitors Center features the Beauty of Diversity exhibit, showcasing the many faces of Franklin County PA. Fueled by regional photographer Phillip Michael Whitley, the exhibit is on display as part of the 11/30 Visitors Centers African American and womens history activities. These many faces make one community.

Womens Voices: I AmWe Are is offered at no charge. All participants will receive take-aways and a chance to win a publication related to womens history, including Know Your Value, Narrative of Sojourner Truth, and The Seneca Falls Convention.

The public is encouraged to register here on Eventbrite to secure a seat at the event.

The Franklin County Visitors Bureau invites all to explore history, arts and architecture, recreation, natural beauty, fresh foods and the warm hospitality of communities like Chambersburg, Greencastle, Mercersburg, Shippensburg, and Waynesboro. Franklin County PA is located just north of the Mason Dixon Line and is an easy drive from Washington DC, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh. Plan a visit at ExploreFranklinCountyPA.com, contact 866.646.8060, or stop at the new Franklin County 11/30 Visitors Center in downtown Chambersburg, housed in a former 1865 bank.


A Muslim BJP leader said his and some of his relatives' houses were burnt down by rampaging mobs during the communal violence in northeast

Akhtar Raza, the district vice president of BJP's minority cell told PTI that on February 25, a crowd had gathered in his neighbourhood in Bhagirath Vihar in the evening and within a couple of hours mayhem ensued.

"The crowd raised religious slogans and began setting houses on fire. There are 19 houses belonging to Muslims in the area including mine and three of my relatives... all were burnt down," he said.

Raza alleged most of the rioters were outsiders. As he along with 12 of his family members were fleeing their burning home, they were pelted with stones by the mob, he alleged.

"I sought the help of police but was told that the force was short-staffed. I did not receive any phone call or relief from the party but I have been assured of justice," he said.




English actor Dame Helen Mirren has lauded Harry and Meghan Markle's decision to step back from royal duties. As per reports, Helen is in support of the former Royals' decision as she believes their instincts are absolutely correct. Helen, who played Harry's grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II in 'The Queen' thinks that it's a loss for the couple in a way, but at the same time hoped that everything will sort itself out. As per reports, Helen also praised Markle, calling her a fantastic addition to the Royal Family.

Read: Canada To 'soon' Stop Providing Security Funding To Prince Harry, Meghan

Dame Helen Mirren portrayed the role of Queen Elizabeth II in director Stephen Frears' The Queen. Helen won the award for Best Actress at the 2007 Academy Awards for playing the matriarch. Helen also won Best Actress awards at BAFTA and Golden Globe Awards among others for the highly acclaimed movie. Helen won Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival in 2006 for the same movie.

Read: 'Call Me Harry': Prince Asks Edinburgh Delegates To Address Him By His First Name

The Royal Exit

On January 8, Meghan and Harry announced that they were stepping back as senior royals and will move to North America with their son Archie to live a financially independent life. The royals are currently living in Canada as they prepare to drop their titles and quit monarchy. The couple arrived in Canada in late January where they have reportedly settled into a seaside home in Victoria in British Columbia.

Read: Prince Harry, Meghan 'banned' From Using 'Sussex Royal', Netizens Suggest New Brand Names

The couple faced a lot of flak from netizens on social media after their announcement of exiting the Royal Palace came into light. The press termed the royal exit as 'Megxit' with some even blaming the former Suits actor for the decision. Meghan's estranged half-sister, Samantha Markle also took a dig at her sister as she accused her of 'ripping through the Royal Family like a tornado' and added that she always wanted to make a career in Hollywood, referring to the couple's decision to move to North America.

Read: Margot Robbie Supports Prince Harry And Meghan Markle's Decision Of Leaving Royal Family

(with inputs from agencies)

Lead Image Credit: AP



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.
French President Emmanuel Macron has called for Turkey and Russia to implement a lasting ceasefire in Syria's Idlib province in conversations with the two countries' leaders, the Elysee said.

Moscow-backed Syrian forces have since December led a military offensive against the final major rebel stronghold, where Ankara supports some rebel groups.

Macron expressed his "very strong concern about the unfolding humanitarian crisis" to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, according to a statement released on Saturday.

He also warned of the risk terrorist groups would spread "because of the military offensive of the Syrian regime and its allies," adding it undermined the 2018 Idlib agreement between Russia and Turkey to create a demilitarised zone in the northwestern province.

The accord has fallen apart as Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's forces moved to recapture the last big region outside his control.

Macron said an "immediate halt to hostilities" is needed and called on Russia and Turkey to implement a "lasting and verifiable" ceasefire as outlined in that agreement.

Russia must "end its military offensive in northwest Syria and respect international humanitarian law, the protection of civilians, personnel and humanitarian access", he added.

Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have called for a summit with Erdogan and Putin to seek an end to the crisis.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The first fatality from the novel coronavirus has been confirmed on US soil, as President Donald Trump on Saturday urged Americans not to panic. Health officials said the man who died in Washington state was one of a handful with no known links to global hot zones to have contracted the virus -- indicating that the pathogen was now likely spreading in communities. The death occurred in King County, the most populous in the state and home to Seattle, a city of more than 700,000 people, officials told AFP. The victim was in his 50s and had "underlying health conditions," said Jeff Duchin, public health officer for Seattle and King County. "It is a sad day in our state as we learn that a Washingtonian has died from COVID-19," Washington state Governor Jay Inslee said in a statement, sending condolences to the victim's loved ones. Inslee declared a state of emergency over coronavirus, freeing up funding for state agencies and allowing the use of the Washington National Guard, if necessary. Speaking at a White House news conference Trump said that "additional cases in the United States are likely," but added that "healthy individuals should be able to fully recover." "Our country is prepared for any circumstance," Trump insisted, calling on "the media and politicians and everybody else involved not to do anything to incite panic." Trump identified the victim as "a wonderful woman," but the CDC later said it had misinformed the president in an earlier briefing. Washington state also reported on Saturday the country's first case of coronavirus in a health care worker and the first possible outbreak in a nursing home. This comes after the states of Oregon and California confirmed late last week the first instances of infected US patients who had not traveled overseas or come in contact with anyone known to be ill. "While there is still much to learn about the unfolding situations in California, Oregon and Washington, preliminary information raises the level of concern about the immediate threat for COVID-19 for certain communities in the United States," the CDC said. - 'We will see more cases' - Trump said he would meet with leaders of big pharmaceutical groups at the White House on Monday to discuss treatments and efforts to develop a vaccine to combat the virus. The president said the number of cases detected by the US public health system now stood at 22. Combined with patients who were repatriated from abroad, the overall number of infected on US soil is now about 70. "We will see more cases," Health Secretary Alex Azar told the White House press conference. "But it's important to remember, for the vast majority of individuals who contract the novel coronavirus, they will experience mild to moderate symptoms." Their treatment will be to remain at home and treat the symptoms as they would the flu, he added. The president and other officials also announced a more complete ban on travel from Iran, which has seen a rapid spread of the disease, and encouraged Americans to avoid travel to hard-hit areas in Italy and South Korea. Vice President Mike Pence, charged by Trump to lead efforts against the virus, said that an existing ban on travel from Iran had been expanded to include any foreign national who has visited the Islamic republic within the last 14 days. Trump also said the United States was ready to assist Iran with its coronavirus outbreak and that "all they have to do is ask." An American citizen died of the new coronavirus in early February at the Chinese epicenter of the global outbreak, the city of Wuhan, the US embassy confirmed at the time. Worldwide, the virus has hit about 60 countries across the globe, with more than 2,900 people killed and over 85,000 infected since it was first detected at an animal market in Wuhan late last year. US President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference at the White House King County officials speak following the death of a Washington state resident due to novel coronavirus
Fluorescent tigers, ghastly characters and the iconic Spurs logo dotted the canvases. With his art around him, Cristian Hernandez, 11, offered a glimpse of his world to visitors at the Family Service Neighborhood Place, 3014 Rivas St.

His advice to budding artists was to use the world around them.

I would tell them draw what they like, he said, and that could be their style.

Art was Cristians first language. His mother, Raquel Camarillo, said her son communicated through drawings until he was 3. On Saturday morning, Cristian was among the more than 15 vendors who shared their work at the inaugural Makers Expo.

The BiblioTech Public Library hosted the event that also featured resources for education and entrepreneurship opportunities.

Jesse Garcia, branch manager at BiblioTech West, said the event offered opportunities. The goal is to inspire brilliance and ingenuity, he said. We want people to see something theyve never seen before and get inspired.

Hopefully we can cultivate the maker spirit we have in Bexar County.

Yolanda Wurgler, 75, displayed jewelry and artwork between Cristians art and her husband Steve Wurglers cigar box guitars.

Deputy historic preservation officer Kathy Rodriguez and preservation specialist Katie Totman arrived with an old window frame made of wood to demonstrate how historic fixtures can be repaired and preserved.

Activities included families building geometric models at the Octa-Tetra table under the instruction of Dan Suttin, a math tutor with the Alamo Colleges District.

Nearby, Brian Beck from 10BitWorks toggled levers that sent a clam-sized drone flying across the cafeteria, and Galileo Gonzalez invited Jayda Martinez, 11, to make a linocut print.

Analisa Martinez watched her daughter spread the ink with a roller just as Gonzalez said: Boom! You made your own print.

Jayda showed the flower print to her family with ink-smudged fingers before moving to Lindy M. Perezs table for a lesson on paper marbling using shaving cream and dyes.

Visitors saw several multicolored Lego constructions built by the Texas Lego User Group. Mark A. Kunetz said many of the Lego creations sprang from the imaginations of the groups members.

A Lego brick can be used to make whatever is in peoples minds, he said. Theres no limitation to what you can make.

Vincent T. Davis is a reporter in the Greater San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | vtdavis@express-news.net | Twitter: @vincentdavis
San Francisco firefighters battled a warehouse fire Saturday night in the Bayview district that destroyed an industrial warehouse and displaced two people.

The fire at the warehouse at Toland Street and Evans Avenue spread to a building that had a restaurant at ground level and an apartment above, officials said.

Two people lived in a residential unit, according to Lt. Jonathan Baxter, a spokesman for the Fire Department. They were uninjured by the fire and are receiving assistance from the Red Cross, Baxter said.

The fire caused power failures in the southern part of the city, and the warehouse collapsed, firefighters said. Crews restored power by about 2 a.m., Baxter said.

The blaze was contained shortly before midnight, and the cause of the fire is under investigation, firefighters said. Baxter said it may take a few weeks to determine the cause.

Supervisor Shamann Walton, who represents the area, was at the scene Saturday night and said there were several downed power lines.

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.

Thank you to our committed firefighters who save lives everyday, he wrote on Twitter.

Smoke and embers delayed southbound traffic on Interstate 280 during the peak of the fire.

Roland Li is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: roland.li@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rolandlisf
Following the outbreak, Iran has stopped Indian basmati shipments. This has led to exports already falling 18-20 per cent this fiscal year.

Iran and the rest of West Asia account for the largest imports of Indian basmati, and comprise more than 30 per cent of the shipments.

Rice exports from India, which are already facing the heat of the US-Iran standoff, have been hit further after Iran reported several deaths from the coronavirus outbreak.

The West Asian nation is one of the top international destinations for Indian basmati. Owing to the bleak export outlook coupled with robust paddy production of more than 117 million tonnes (MT) during 2019-20, Indian exporters are now staring at big losses.

Production in 2019-20 was higher by 9.67 MT than the five-year average production of nearly 107.80 MT.

Rice exports, which posted a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of nearly 14 per cent between 2010 and 2019, have been hit by the negative geopolitics, tighter trade norms and higher minimum support price (MSP) by the government.

The negative market dynamics are resulting in a downward basmati price trend on the bourses.

On commodity exchange ICEX, top selling pusa basmati variety (PB1121) was trading at Rs 3,030 per quintal, after being hammered by the coronavirus spread. However, consistent fall was seen in the spot market for paddy.

Following the outbreak, Iran has stopped Indian basmati shipments. This has led to exports already falling 18-20 per cent this fiscal year.

Iran and the rest of West Asia account for the largest imports of Indian basmati. They comprise more than 30 per cent of shipments, Kedia Advisory director Ajay Kedia said.

Joint managing director of Kohinoor Foods Gurnam Arora said, Coronovirus is the biggest worry for exporters and with Iran now reporting such cases, the situation has only worsened. Impact of the outbreak has already started to show on international trade and travel.

He added that rice exporters had adopted a wait-and-watch stance on how the situation unfolds in 4-6 weeks. Kohinoor Foods is one of the largest rice exporters.

Meanwhile, Mumbai-based rice trader Devendra Vora is pessimistic about the prospects of the industry in the near term, saying there is no rescue in sight.

The market continues to fall due to various external and internal factors and we can only hope that the situation improves in the next 1-2 months, he said.

He had earlier suggested that the Centre should promote farm exports to Brazil, which was a big consumer of rice and wheat, to partly cushion the losses to Indian exporters.

Export of rice, especially basmati to Iran, was valued at $1.5 billion in the 2018-19 fiscal year. The country accounts for 25 per cent of Indian rice shipments.

According to a report by US-based trade finance company Drip Capital, rice exports have seen a decline across the globe with a major fall emerging from West Asia due to geopolitical tensions.

YTD (year to date), exports so far are looking bleak with Iran, the biggest export market, seeing a 22 per cent fall in shipments, said Drip Capital co-founder and co-chief executive officer Pushkar Mukewar.

India is the worlds largest rice exporter, accounting for 25 per cent of the global share. However, rice contributes only 2 per cent to the Indian export basket.

Photograph: Getty Images.
(Newser)  Miss Staten Island 2020 Madison L'Insalata will take her marching skills elsewhere after the St. Patrick's Day parade banned herapparently over her sexual persuasion. "This is definitely a curveball," L'Insalata tells the New York Post. "I was really looking forward to being there and having a discussion and now there won't be." After L'Insalata came out as bisexual to the Post on Saturday, parade organizer Larry Cummings banned her along with Miss Richmond Countys Outstanding Teen, Victoria Montouri. Meanwhile two other pageant winnersMiss Staten Islands Outstanding Teen and Miss Richmond Countyhad already dropped out over (in the Post's words) the parade's "ugly history of banning a gay group from marching."

story continues below

"None of them can march," complained Jim Smith, head of scholarship pageants, who says he took the call from Cummings. "He was not to be bargained withyou can't talk to him." Smith also dismissed Cummings's concern that L'Insalata's presence in a rainbow outfit was a safety concern. Cummings told the Staten Island Advance that "it's a non-sexual identification parade and that's that. No, they are not marching. Don't try to keep asking a million friggin' questions, OK?" As for L'Insalata, she calls it "frustrating" that they "can't have a disagreement and still be in the same place. They're removing all discussion by not allowing me to be there." She'll show off her colors at the alternative Staten Island "Rainbow Run" instead. (Read more gay rights stories.)
Muhyiddin emerges as prime minister after infighting between parties in the ruling coalition triggered its collapse.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  Muhyiddin Yassin was sworn in as Malaysias prime minister on Sunday, an hour after his predecessor and former ally, Mahathir Mohamad, claimed he was the one with enough support to form a government and would prove it with a vote in Parliament.

I am telling the public that I have the majority support, Mahathir told journalists in a live-streamed news conference. I have the 114.

The 94-year-old veteran Mahathir said he had proof of the support in the form of statutory declarations and letters, and called for an urgent sitting of Parliament.

Mahathir was flanked by politicians from the Pakatan Harapan coalition, which won power in May 2018 but has been dogged by political infighting that came to a head last weekend when a splinter group tried to form an alliance with the opposition.

The move led to Mahathirs resignation and days of uncertainty that the king, a constitutional monarch, had sought to resolve by meeting each member of Parliament individually.





On Saturday, the palace announced that Muhyiddin, 72, had the confidence of Parliament and would be sworn in as prime minister on Sunday.

The announcement sparked anger among some Malaysians who felt their democratic rights as voters were being undermined.

Betrayal

Muhyiddin was driven into the palace in Kuala Lumpur at 9.50am (01:50 GMT) ahead of the oath-taking ceremony, having cobbled together a coalition with the opposition United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), and PAS, Malaysias Islamic party, with support from the main political party in the Borneo territory of Sarawak.

Members of his new coalition were also at the palace, sharing pictures of themselves on social media, before Muhyiddin took the oath to become the countrys eighth prime minister at 10.30am (02:30 GMT).

Mahathir said he felt betrayed by Muhyiddin, a veteran politician who was home minister under the previous Pakatan Harapan government.

We are going to see a man who does not have majority support become prime minister, he said.

Some Malaysians held a protest in central Kuala Lumpur after it was announced that Muhyiddin would become Malaysias next prime minister, saying UMNO was returning by the back door [Vincent Thian/AP Photo]

Hasan Jafri, a political analyst based in Singapore, said the situation remained uncertain.

Until there is a parliament sitting and a vote of confidence, you dont know how strong a government it is, Hasan said. With the vote of confidence you can see which of the coalitions commands the majority. Its so close.

There are 222 seats in Malaysias lower house.

Muhyiddin was deputy prime minister under Najib Razak until he was sacked in 2015, amid a multibillion-dollar corruption scandal at state fund 1MDB.

He left UMNO and, after battling pancreatic cancer, joined forces with Mahathir, who helped the multi-ethnic Pakatan Harapan coalition to victory in the May 2018 election amid widespread disgust over corruption.

Najib, who remains an MP and in UMNO, is now on trial over wrongdoing at 1MDB, while several other senior UMNO politicians are also facing corruption charges. The 2018 election was the first time the party had lost power since independence.
A woman's incredibly simple 'one-pan' recipe for making the perfect French onion roast chicken has taken the internet by storm, with many saying the slow-cooked dish is 'simply amazing'.

The Australian mum posted on Facebook, where she said all you need to make a delicious dinner for your family is a 1.5 kilogram chicken, some oil and one packet of French onion dry soup mix.

The dried soup mix costs just 95 cents from Woolworths.

A woman's 'one-pan' recipe for making the perfect French onion roast chicken has taken the internet by storm, with many saying the slow-cooked dish is 'simply amazing' (pictured)

The Australian mum posted on Facebook, where she said all you need is a 1.5 kilogram chicken, some oil and one packet of French onion dry soup mix (pictured cooking in the slow cooker)

'Spray your slow cooker with oil,' she wrote on Facebook.

'Place onion, potato and carrot and any veggies of your choice to accompany it on the bottom of the slow cooker.

'Rub soup mix onto the chicken and place it in the slow cooker.'

Following this, the woman said all you need to do is cook it on high for four hours, while you go about your day.

'[It] was moist and tasted delicious,' the woman wrote. 'Definitely a winner with the family. The smell was amazing' (pictured after cooking)

The woman said she added onion, potato and carrot to the bottom of the slow cooker, where they also picked up juices (pictured after cooking)

The recipe requires a dried packet of French onion soup mix, which costs just 95 cents

Then, simply remove it, allow it to cool and enjoy hot.

'[It] was moist and tasted delicious,' the woman wrote. 'Definitely a winner with the family. The smell was amazing.'

Others were quick to compliment the woman and her ingenious idea.

'This looks delicious - I can't wait to try,' one person posted.

Others asked whether it left the potatoes too watery underneath the chicken.

'I put the potatoes in under the chook. Cooked perfectly. Not crispy or too oily,' the woman wrote.

Some said they were keen to try the recipe with baked lamb too.

An Australian mother previously shared the secret to cooking the perfect roast potatoes (stock image)

This isn't the first time the 95 cent packet soup mix has proven the secret to a delicious dish.

Just last month, a woman said the soup also makes delicious roast potatoes.

'When doing roast spuds, peel, cut and place in a baking dish then get French Onion dry soup mix and sprinkle over top of spuds,' she said in a Facebook group.

Next, she drizzles oil over the top and then places the tray into the oven to bake.

'It's the only way I do roast spuds now,' she said.

'It's the bomb, my mum taught me.'
Turkish Foreign Minister has noted that it cannot be argued that Russian forces carry out airstrikes on Turkish soldiers

Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin Reuters

Amid the conflict in Syria, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in the first week of March, as the Anadolu news agency reports, referring to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

According to him, the regime of Bashar al-Assad is fired at settlements, hospitals, schools, and positions of the Turkish military in the area of the city of Idlib.

At the same time, he has noted that it cannot be argued that Russian forces carry out airstrikes on Turkish soldiers.

He noted that Turkey and the Russian Federation are doing everything possible to achieve peace in the region.

As we reported before, NATO head Jens Stoltenberg urged Russia and Syria to halt their Idlib offensive and said the military alliance stood in solidarity with member state Turkey, which lost 33 soldiers in an airstrike by Syrian government forces.

Syrian government forces, backed by Russian airpower, have launched an assault to capture the northwest Idlib region, the last remaining territory held by rebels who are backed by Turkey against President Bashar al-Assad in the nine-year conflict.
No Deal from US-Brokered Nile Dam Talks

By Patsy Widakuswara February 29, 2020

The Trump administration has concluded two days of what was supposed to be the final round of talks on the Grand Ethiopian Dam without reaching a deal and without the presence of Ethiopia after that country said Wednesday that it is walking away from negotiations on the project.

Addis Ababa and Cairo have been at odds in a water war on the issue of the filling and operation of the giant Ethiopian dam that Egypt worries could threaten its supply of water from the Nile.

Instead of meeting with the three countries involved in the conflict, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, host of the negotiations, participated in bilateral meetings with ministers of foreign affairs and ministers of water resources of Egypt and Sudan.

Treasury statement

According to a Treasury statement late Friday, the United States "facilitated the preparation of an agreement on the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) based on provisions proposed by the legal and technical teams of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan and with the technical input of the World Bank."

"The United States believes that the work completed over the last four months has resulted in an agreement that addresses all issues in a balanced and equitable manner, taking into account the interests of the three countries," the statement said, adding that the final testing and filling of the dam "should not take place without an agreement."

The statement noted "the readiness of the government of Egypt to sign the agreement" and recognized that "Ethiopia continues its national consultations."

Ethiopia leaves

On Wednesday Ethiopia said it would not participate in the latest rounds of negotiations. The country's ambassador to the United States, Fitsum Arega, said on Twitter that, "Ethiopia will not sign any agreement that gives up its rights on how to use its own Nile water."

A second statement by Ethiopia's Water, Irrigation and Energy Ministry, published by Ethiopia's state-owned media, said it would not take part in this week's meetings because it has not completed internal consultations.

"They aren't really talks without Ethiopia," said Bronwyn Bruton, deputy director of the Atlantic Council's Africa Center.

Sources tell VOA that Ethiopia has been urging Mnuchin since Feb. 13 to postpone the talks, as well as remind the U.S. of its "neutral observer status." Mnuchin responded that the U.S. will continue talks as planned.

Mnuchin also disputed Ethiopia's characterization of his role, saying that the observer status the U.S. agreed to is limited to regional technical negotiations and does not include Washington talks.

Despite the setback, the process may not be entirely lost.

Ethiopia is calling this a postponement, said William Davison, senior Ethiopia analyst at the International Crisis Group.

"They're not suggesting that the meeting has been canceled forever, but only that they need more time to prepare for it," he said.

Final negotiations among Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan on the guidelines and rules of filling and operation of the $4.5 billion mega dam were scheduled for Thursday and Friday. Mnuchin, whom U.S. President Donald Trump had appointed to lead on the matter has hosted several rounds of talks since November, with ministers from the countries and the World Bank.

The Treasury Department has not responded to VOA's requests for additional comments.

U.S. pressure

There has been widespread concern in Ethiopia that its delegation is being pressured by the U.S. to accept a deal it cannot live with.

On Thursday, a few dozen Ethiopians in Washington protested in front of the U.S. Department of State building, urging the U.S. to stop its pressure campaign against Addis Ababa.

The dam is the centerpiece of Addis Ababa's bid to increase domestic energy production for its growing population. Ethiopia and Egypt have been negotiating for years, but one sticking point remains the rate at which Ethiopia will draw water out of the Nile to fill the dam's reservoir. Cairo fears Ethiopia's plans to rapidly fill the reservoir could threaten Egypt's source of fresh water.

"It is a hugely important and sensitive issue," said Mirette Mabrouk, director of the Middle East Institute's Egypt Studies program. "It's a matter of life and death for a lot of people, certainly for more than a million Egyptians."

In the last round of Washington talks last month, Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan agreed on a schedule for staged filling of the dam and mitigation mechanisms to adjust its filling and operation during dry periods and drought.

The parties said at the time that they would sign a final agreement by the end of February. It is unclear whether there will be any follow-up talks after this week's negotiations broke down.

Trump's interest

Trump has been interested in the project since he agreed to intervene based on Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi's request in September. He has since invited officials from the countries in the dispute to at least two Oval Office meetings, and called Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali to discuss the matter.

An administration official told VOA that Trump prides himself in his deal-making abilities and wants to see this agreement achieved. No one from the administration, though, has elaborated on what the U.S. interest is in this deal.

In November, the Ethiopian Embassy in Washington held a press conference during which officials gave a detailed account of their U.S.-brokered meeting and said Trump was planning to "cut the ribbon" after the completion of the dam.

America's significant leverage over Ethiopia could provide Trump with a chance to push for a treaty to prove his deal-making prowess, said Addisu Lashitew, the Rubinstein Fellow in the Global Economy and Development program at the Brookings Institution.

"In the wake of his controversial peace plan for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, President Trump might be keen to strengthen his friendship with Egypt by resolving his thorny issue," Lashitew said.

Egypt has been a key player in the Middle East peace talks. Last month the Trump administration released its plan to resolve the conflict between Palestine and Israel, without buy-in from the Palestinians.

Salem Solomon contributed from Washington for VOA's Africa Division and Habtamu Seyoum reported from Washington for the Horn of Africa's Amharic service.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Government leaders and health officials have expressed concerns this week over a lack of available COVID-19 test kits, the official laboratory materials that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ships to qualified facilities to test for the coronavirus.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday morning said there were about about 200 test kits in the state at that time, a figure he called simply inadequate, but said the state was in conversations with the CDC about ensuring ... physicians or clinicians who ask for the test will more easily be able to (access) it.

The CDC website indicated at one point Thursday that only 445 tests had been conducted nationwide. As of late Friday morning, that number had increased by six to 451 total across the U.S.

Not counting Americans repatriated on flights from the viruss suspected epicenter of Wuhan, China, and the Diamond Princess cruise ship hot zone that was docked off of Japan, the CDC says 15 people have tested positive for the coronavirus across the United States. According to the state Department of Public Health, California made up nine of those 15 cases as of Thursday.

Concern was heightened by reports this week that the patient who tested positive for the coronavirus, a Solano County resident now treated at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento who is believed to represent the first community-transmitted instance of the virus in the United States, had her CDC-issued test delayed by four days.

According to an internal memo sent by top UC Davis health system leaders to hospital staffers, the medical center requested the coronavirus test on Feb. 19, but because she did not fit the existing CDC criteria, federal officials didnt order a test until Sunday.

Testing protocols have been a point of frustration for many of us, Newsom said.

Numbers and potential shortages aside, what exactly is a coronavirus test kit? How does it work, what does it look like, how is one made available and what exactly does one test for?

What does a coronavirus test kit looks like?

The CDC on its website provides a photo of the lab test kit for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) the disease named by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses that is caused by the novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19.

The kit itself contains four small vials inside of a white box of packaging, all of which is bagged in plastic.

What does a coronavirus test include?There are two main elements to a COVID-19 test, according to interim guidelines shared publicly by the CDC to clinicians.

The coronavirus is a respiratory disease, so the test kits take specimens from both the upper and lower respiratory tracts.

Tests in the lower respiratory tract include a branchoalveolar lavage, a minimally invasive procedure in which the clinician places a bronchoscope through the patients mouth or nose and into the lungs. A sterile fluid solution is squirted into a small part of the lung, and a specimen is collected for examination.

The patient then produces a sputum sample: Have the patient rinse the mouth with water and then expectorate deep cough sputum directly into a sterile, leak-proof, screw-cap sputum collection cup or sterile dry container, the CDCs instructions read.

In the second test, for the upper respiratory tract, the clinician will swab the patients nostril as well as the throat. The test also collects a 2 to 3 milliliter specimen following a nasal wash or aspirate, which involves a soft, flexible tube in the nose.

What happens to the test kit after that?These specimens are refrigerated until they can be shipped to the CDC for testing.

The kit is to be stored at 35-46 degrees Fahrenheit and kept at that temperature using an ice pack or dry ice as it is shipped to a CDC lab.

Where do the

kits get tested?The CDC on its website says laboratory test kits are shipped to laboratories CDC has designated as qualified, including U.S. state and local public health laboratories, Department of Defense (DOD) laboratories and select international laboratories, the latter of which include facilities with the World Health Organization and Global Influenza Surveillance Response System.

The agency said this week that a protocol developed by the CDC and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which uses two of the three components of the original CDC test kit to detect for the virus, will allow 40 additional public health labs to begin testing.

Newsom said in Thusdays news conference that the California Department of Public Health would be among those sites performing tests.

How do doctors decide who gets tested?

As of this week, healthcare providers have been testing patients for coronavirus only if they met the CDCs set criteria for that patient to be considered a person under investigation, or PUI.

There are now three criteria that can be met to warrant lab testing, according to the CDC website. The third item was added Thursday under revised guidelines, as CDC Director Robert Redfield explained to congressional leaders.

 Symptoms that include fever or coughing and shortness of breath, along with the epidemiological risk of having close contact with a lab-confirmed COVID-19 patient;

 Symptoms that include fever and a cough or shortness of breath, along with a history of recent travel to coronavirus hot zones; or

 A fever and severe symptoms of lower respiratory illness, such as pneumonia, that require hospitalization, even with no source of exposure via travel or contact with a confirmed COVID-19 patient.

How long do the test results take?The CDC does not specify the time frame for which results should be expected, but its guidelines call for the samples to be shipped overnight.

In the case of the patient being treated at UC Davis Medical Center, the positive diagnosis appears to have been received about three days after testing.
A Borno State-based cleric and Director General, Centre for Justice on Religion and Ethnicity in Nigeria, Rev. Kallamu Musa-Dikwa, has said three governors from the North started Boko Haram in Nigeria shortly after return of democracy to the country in 1999.

Musa-Dikwa claimed to have sent messages to personalities and media organisations in Nigeria, informing them of a clandestine plan going on in the region to build and unleash the militants on the country.

The creation of Boko Haram started in 2000. I sent some messages and statements to some people and media organisations then. When Olusegun Obasanjo became the President of Nigeria in 1999, he appointed service chiefs  all from the North Central zone  Benue, Plateau, Kogi and Kwara states. Incidentally, all of them were Christians. The development prompted three northern governors to come up with the idea of creating and raising Islamic militants to fight for Islam because they felt Obasanjo did not appoint their own (what they described as pure Hausa/Fulani northerners as service chiefs). From there, they created Islamic militants. Those governors contributed N100m each to buy working equipment, uniforms and so on for the militants. Immediately, Nigeria started experiencing religious crisis.

After they contributed the money, those organised Islamic militants started religious crisis in Kaduna, Kano, Jigawa, Zamfara, saying they wanted Sharia. The aim was to intimidate and oppress the Christians. They started attacking churches and killing people. Any time elections took place and they did not favour them, they would burn churches and attack their members. They never went to offices of political parties or the Independent National Electoral Commission office to carry out their attacks.

On February 18, 2006 in Maiduguri, those boys came out and said they wanted Sharia law and that a governor in the state then did not cooperate with them. And because of a cartoon that was designed in Denmark in 2006, they protested and burnt down 66 churches in the state and killed many Christian men, women and children. After that, they started moving from house to house, church to church, yet nobody talked  we were the only ones talking or raising the alarm about what was happening, the clergyman is quoted by the PUNCH on Sunday.

He added that in July 2009, the insurgents burnt down 27 churches and killed many Christians. At that time, they did not touch any Muslim man or woman. They only killed security agents and Christians.

From 2009 till 2014, they were attacking churches  going from house to house, slaughtering Christians. They started attacking people, including Muslims in 2014 when they felt their leaders had deceived them by not backing them to fight infidels in the North. Four of our reverends were slaughtered in 2009.

When the newspaper asked him if he had evidence to back up his claims, the man responded: We have over 20 VCDs recorded by Islamic scholars and they said if a northerner did not get to power, they were going to fight Christians in Nigeria. A scholar once preached and incited Muslim youths not to be civil if the President of Nigeria was not a Muslim. We have the videos  he preached in Hausa. He alleged that all the former Muslim Heads of State that died, including Umaru YarAdua, were killed by the infidels and therefore, they would not allow a non-Muslim to lead Nigeria.

Read the full interview in PUNCH.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 05:09:52|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

SANTIAGO, Feb. 29 (Xinhua) -- Severe obesity among schoolchildren is on the rise in Chile, the Ministry of Family and Social Development warned on Saturday.

The ministry presented a study, titled "Nutritional Map 2019" and compiled by the National School and Scholarships Auxiliary Board (Junaeb), which reports obesity among the youth increased 0.3 percentage points on average compared to the year before.

While the obesity rate appears to have stabilized nationwide, there is a "greater number of students with severe obesity whose body mass by far exceeds the norms and who have a much higher risk of suffering from metabolic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension," national director of the Junaeb Jaime Toha said.

"That is why we are working on a series of measures to improve the nutrition of our schoolchildren," including making school lunches healthier and more attractive, said Toha.

Head of the ministry Sebastian Sichel said, "The most important thing is that as a government we are concerned about an epidemic."

He added that "Chile's worst current epidemic is called obesity," and it mainly affects the poor in rural communities, "especially in southern Chile."
Chandauli : , March 1 (IANS) At least six persons, including five women were feared dead here in an incident of a boat capsizing on the Ganga river.

The accident happened on Saturday evening and the local administration launched a massive rescue operation that continued till late into the night.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath has expressed grief at the accident and has asked the district officials to ensure that the State Disaster Relief Force (SDRF) is called in for the rescue work.

A team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) was rushed to the spot from Varanasi and heavy police deployment was made in the district. The District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police also reached the spot to supervise the rescue work.

Chandauli Superintendent, Hemant Kutiyal said that a boat carrying 40 labourers was crossing the river Ganga to return home on Saturday evening.

On reaching midstream the boat overturned. Kutiyal said that 35 managed to swim out or got rescued, but six, including five women, were missing.

The incident took place near Maheji village under Dheena police station limits. Several residents of the Maheji village were returning home from Ghazipur when their boat overturned. Locals then alerted the district administration and rescue efforts were launched.
An international yoga festival began in Rishikesh on Sunday with yoga teachers and practitioners from eleven countries taking part in the week-long event.

Inaugurating the annual event known as "antar rashtriya yog mahotsav", Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath asked people to make yoga part of their daily routine to lead a disease-free life.

Describing yoga as the way to physical and spiritual health, he said it had its origin in Uttarakhand and credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for taking it to the world.

"The credit for the prestige accorded to yoga internationally goes to the prime minister. It is due to his efforts that more than 192 countries in the world are connected with yoga today," Yogi said.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said India is known in the world as the land of yoga.

"Yoga is our identity. It is a matter of pride for us that India is now going to the world with its identity under Narendra Modi's leadership," Rawat said.

The 'yog mahotsav' is held in Rishikesh every year from Mar 1 to Mar 7.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh said on Sunday that he spoke to acting Delhi Police chief S N Shrivastava on the rumours of fresh violence in the capital and was ensured that the situation was under control.

The AAP MP, in a tweet, requested people to not pay heed to any rumours.

"Rumours of violence are being spread in Delhi. In this regard I spoke to Delhi CP (commissioner of police) and he said that reports of violence are rumours and the law and order situation of the national capital is completely under control," he tweeted.

Panic gripped the residents of several parts of west Delhi on Sunday evening following false rumours of violence but the Delhi Police denied any incident and appealed people to remain calm.

"A rumour has been noticed that there is some tension in Khyala-Raghubir Nagar area of West District. There is no truth behind it. All are requested to keep calm as the situation is absolutely normal and peaceful," DCP West Deepak Purohit said.

"There are some rumours regarding some communal tension in Tilak Nagar and Khyala area. It is intimated that there is No tension in Tilak Nagar and Khyala and whole west Distt area. Nothing to worry about," he said.

The police also said that some "unsubstantiated reports of tense situation in South East and West District are being circulated on social media. It is to reiterate that these are all rumours. Don't pay attention to such rumours. Delhi Police is closely monitoring accounts spreading rumours and taking action."



They also said that some rumours circulating about violence in Dwarka and Badarpur area were also unsubstantiated.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said it had shut down the entry and exit gates of seven metro stations but did not give any reason. The stations were later reopened.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A woman was arrested on Friday in connection to a sexual assault investigation near Little Italy said Toronto Police.

Police allege that a man met a woman over social media and later met up in the area of Bathurst and College streets between midnight and 2:30 a.m. Friday morning.

The woman allegedly sexually assaulted the man and extorted money.

On Feb. 28, Tessy Osabuyi, 25, of Toronto was arrested and charged with sexual assault, forcible confinement, extortion and assault with a weapon.

Police are concerned there may be other victims.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-7474, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477).
Kolkata: Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP leader Mukul Roy during a public rally on favor of CAA at Shahid Minar Maidan in Kolkata on March 1, 2020. (Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News

Kolkata: Union Home Minister Amit Shah during a public rally on favor of CAA at Shahid Minar Maidan in Kolkata on March 1, 2020. (Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News

Kolkata, March 1 : Accusing West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of instigating riots and burning of trains and railway stations in Bengal during the violent anti-CAA movement in the state, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday alleged that she was 'disrespecting' the founding fathers of the constitution as also tribal and scheduled caste leaders by opposing and spreading fear about the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

Shah said not a single member of any minority community would lose citizenship because of the legislation, which seeks to provide Indian nationality to Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Parsis, Jains and Buddhists who fled religious persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh till December 31, 2014.

"The opposition is terrorising minorities... I assure every person from the minority community that CAA only provides citizenship, doesn't take it away. It won't affect your citizenship.

"No minority community member from Kolkata or West Bengal will lose citizenship because of the CAA," Shah said, addressing a large BJP rally at the Shahid Minar Maidan here.

He said lakhs and crores of Bengalis were facing a big problem all these years as they had come to India as refugees and did not have citizenship.

"Now Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given citizenship to lakhs of people. But from the time Modi brought the CAA in the Parliament, the Congress, the Communists and Mamata Banerjee have all been opposing it.

"The refugees are being made to fear that they will have to produce documents. Nothing of this sort will happen. Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist and Jains do not need any documents." "I want to ask Mamata didi -- why are you hurting the interests of our refugees?" he said.

Shah also wondered what harm has the dalit Namashudras and Matuas done to Banerjee that she thinks they are not her people.

"She opposed the CAA and instigated riots, torching of trains and railway stations in Bengal. You only care about infiltrators. Refugees are being misled and scared... Hindus who fled our neighbouring countries who were raped and threatened and killed... should they not get citizenship? Why are you only fond of infiltrators?" Shah said.

Shah said by opposing CAA, Banerjee was disrespecting the commitments give to refugees by Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Ballabhbhai Ptel and Moulana Abul Kalam Azad.

"By opposing a law passed by parliament you are also disrespecting the Father of our Constitution Ambedkar. You are also disrespecting the likes of Harichand Thakur, Guruchand Thakur (founders of Matua sect) and Panchannan Barma (a leader of Koch and Rajbanshi people)," Shah said during his aggressive speech.

However, he categorically said the centre would give citizenship to all refugees and "not stop until and unless all of them get it".

"Mamata didi cannot stop us," he added.

The CAA has generated much political acrimony in Bengal, with the Banerjee led Trinamool, as also the Left and the Congress going all out to oppose it.

In fact, one of the prime reasons for Shah's rally was to give a boost to his party's campaign backing the law.

Political observers feel the CAA could be a game-changer either way in the civic polls, being considered the semi-final before next year's all-important assembly polls.

Shah also launched a new BJP political campaign Aar Noe Anyay (No more injustice).

"It is a campaign to change the government in Bengal," he said, and made public a mobile number on which party supporters can give missed call to be a part of the programme.
New rules to weed out dodgy building surveyors will be introduced in Victoria to prevent the approval of property developments that fail safety and quality standards.

Authorities hope the new code of conduct will restore public confidence in the building sector after it was battered by negative headlines about shoddy developments that left buyers with massive repair bills.

The code of conduct is being drafted and will apply to all building surveyors in Victoria. It will be introduced in June.

Planning Minister Richard Wynne says a new conduct of conduct will help restore confidence in building surveyors. Credit:Joe Armao

The peak body for building surveyors has welcomed moves to establish the code and called for the Victorian Building Authority to crack down on operators who do poor quality work.
RED BLUFF, Calif.- A woman from here at home caught in the middle of the Coronavirus outbreak is finishing up her final days in quarantine.

Wanda Schuler has been quarantined at The Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield for almost two weeks, but on Monday, she's heading home to Red Bluff.

Action News Now spoke with Schuler via phone on Saturday, she says she's excited to be heading back home in a couple of days.

"Woohoo getting out of here. I hope I remember how to drive and I hope I remember how to fly my plane too because I'm really anxious to do that," Schuler said. "I'm ready, I guess part of me thinks someone will move the finish line but all indications show we will be out of here on Monday."

Schuler is one of more than 300 Americans who were caught in the middle of the outbreak after embarking on the Diamond Princess Cruise ship in Japan.

Schuler returned to the U.S. earlier this month for an addition two weeks of quarantine and has remained healthy and optimistic. She says, "I have a negative test and our quarantine ends with a travel day on Monday. I'll be driving myself from here to my home."

According to the C.D.C's website, 44 Americans who were on that Diamond Princess Cruise ship tested positive for the Coronavirus.

Saturday, health officials in Washington State confirmed the first death in the United States from the Coronavirus.
Omicron Outbreak: Night curfew in Kerala from Dec 30, no New Year celebration post 10 pm

Kerala cop kicks, beats up passenger for travelling without ticket on train, video goes viral

Complete lockdown in Kerala? Here's what Health Minister has to say

New Covid curbs in Kerala: Attendance at marriages, funerals capped at 50

Kerala CM seeks MEA help to bring back stranded Indian

India

pti-PTI

Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 01: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday appealed to the External Affairs Minister to take necessary steps and arrange for safe return of hundreds of fishermen, including Keralites, trapped in Iran following coronavirus scare.

In a letter to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, he said the state government has received information that more than hundred people, including around 60 from Kerala, were trapped in Azalur in Iran.

'When contacted by state government officials, it has been stated by the persons trapped in Azalur that more than hundred persons are there out of which around 60 are reported to be from Kerala,' Vijayan said in the letter.

He said it was learnt that they were unable to return to India on account of the COVIT19 spread.

'...I request you to direct the (Indian) Embassy officials (in Iran) to take necessary steps and arrange for the safe return of these persons,' Vijayan wrote.

Earlier, the Fisheries Minister J Mercykutty Amma had said the state government will take all necessary steps to bring fishermen from the state stranded in Iran.

She said the state government will collect details of Keralites trapped in Iran and coordinate with the Indian embassy there through NoRKA (Department of Non-Resident Keralite Affairs).

A video of the Kerala fishermen seeking help was forwarded to the families of the fishermen and media houses in the state.

One of them is heard saying in the video that they were unable to move out of their rooms due to the restrictions imposed by the Iran government due to the coronavirus scare.

'Like us many people are from India are stranded here.

We are short of food. We tried to contact our sponsor. But he asked us to contact the government authorities,' the man said.

The fishermen were in Iran, working for a fishing company for last many months.

Most of the Keralites are from Pozhiyur and Vizhinjam areas in Thiruvananthapuram.

The Tamil Nadu government had on Friday taken up with the Centre the issue of over 300 stranded fishermen from the state in Iran and sought steps for their immediate evacuation.

According to Chief Minister K Palaniswami, 450-odd Indians including fishermen from Tamil Nadu were working in various fishing vessels berthed and operating in Iranian ports.
The woman also has multiple tattoos, among them the name Richard on her right thigh; Chicago and a picture of Marilyn Monroe on her left shoulder; a portrait of someone on her left hand; and a tribal tattoo on her lower back.
The presidency has condemned Nigerian print media over their coverage of coronavirus.

The spokesperson to President Muhammadu Buhari, Garba Shehu, took to his verified Twitter handle to allege that the newspapers are not paying adequate attention to malaria like they have done to coronavirus.

This mornings newspapers, all of them have Coronavirus as the lead, cover story. When will they bring the spotlight to bear on 822 who are killed by malaria everyday in Nigeria?

This mornings newspapers, all of them have Coronavirus as the lead,

cover story. When will they bring the spotlight to bear on 822 who are killed by malaria everyday in Nigeria?  Garba Shehu (@GarShehu) March 1, 2020

Nigeria recorded its first case of coronavirus after an Italian tested positive to the virus on Thursday.

Lafarge cement through its Industrial Director, Segun Soyoye, said the Italian came to Lafarge facilities at Ewekoro to inspect some installations of machines bought from a Swedish firm.

The coronavirus has caused about 3,000 deaths, mostly in China where it originated from.

Although thousands have recovered from the disease, it has no known cure or vaccine.

In Nigeria, the government has advised citizens not to panic saying everything possible was being done to ensure the virus does not spread.

The presidencys Sunday tweet has however generated strong reactions on social media as many Nigerians accused Mr Shehu of creating unnecessary controversy.

See some of the reactions below:

@ticken_clocks: Why is this tweet refusing to make sense to me?? 

Why is this tweet refusing to make sense to me??   tHe environMANtalist (@tickin_clocks) March 1, 2020

Bankole Omisore: Pls stop this attitude of Us (presidency) vs everyone. Stop looking for imaginary enemies. If you are not attacking those you call opposition or wailers, you are attacking media houses. For once, preach unity to face #coronavirusnigeria then go back your politicking once defeated.

Pls stop this atitude of Us (presidency) vs everyone. Stop looking for imaginary enemies. If you are not attacking those you call opposition or wailers, you are attacking media houses. For once, preach unity to face #coronavirusnigeria then go back your politicking once defeated  Bamikole Omishore (Banks) (@MrBanksOmishore) March 1, 2020

@Funsho70: It is sad how we get these set of insensitive people insulting our collective sensibilities from positions where they are totally dependent on the tax payers to survive. Like Adesina, like Garba.

It is sad how we get these set of insensitive people insulting our collective sensibilities from positions where they are totally dependent on the tax payers to survive. Like Adesina, like Garba.  Joseph Ojo (@Funsho70) March 1, 2020

Wemimo Adewunmi: It gladdens me that you acknowledge that so many Nigerians die of malaria daily.

If you tell me what the FG has done to eliminate malaria and cut the figures youve mentioned by half, and prove it, I might make that my topic on my show tomorrow morning instead of #COVID19

It gladdens me that you acknowledge that so many Nigerians die of malaria daily. If you tell me what the FG has done to eliminate malaria and cut the figures you've mentioned by half, and prove it, I might make that my topic on my show tomorrow morning instead of #COVID19  Wemimo Adewuni (@wemimospot) March 1, 2020

Aisha Yesufu: When the incompetent, clueless, corrupt, inept and failure #ICCIF Major General Buhari @MBuhari that you work for decide to prioritise health sector the way he prioritises his healthcare in the United Kingdom

When the incompetent, clueless, corrupt, inept and failure #ICCIF Major General Buhari @MBuhari that you work for decide to prioritise health sector the way he prioritises his healthcare in the United Kingdom https://t.co/CHxqfbD0aK  Aisha Yesufu (@AishaYesufu) March 1, 2020

Immanuel Ibanga: Honestly. Who selected/gathered this bunch of despicable mediocres as a team. Garba is not ashame that his Govt allows malaria kill 822 Nigerians everyday. So if media report it thatll bring the scourge to and end?

Honestly. Who selected/gathered this bunch of despicable mediocres as a team. Garba is not ashame that his Gov't allows malaria kill 822 Nigerians everyday. So if media report it that'll bring the scourge to and end?  Immanuel Ibanga (@IbangaImmanuelE) March 1, 2020

@FS_Yusuf_: This is the height of psychosis. This is not surprising because its obviously the testament of your substandard preparedness for the pandemic. The mornings newspapers are tired of having the failures of your principal as the lead cover story.

This is the height of psychosis. This is not surprising because it's obviously the testament of your substandard preparedness for the pandemic. The morning's newspapers are tired of having the failures of your principal as the "lead cover story."  FS Yusuf, AMIIM (#TPACT) (@FS_Yusuf_) March 1, 2020

@Achiewonder: This is a global pandemic and one that is very contagious.

Newspapers are trying all their best to inform and sensitize the public but the SSA media to the President feels that now, is the time we should be talking about malaria.

How senseless can one be?

This is a global pandemic and one that is very contagious.

Newspapers are trying all their best to inform and sensitize the public but the SSA media to the President feels that now, is the time we should be talking about malaria.

How senseless can one be?  Wondy Archibong (@Archiewonda) March 1, 2020
Iran voiced its opposition on Sunday to an Afghanistan accord between the United States and the Taliban, saying Americans had no right to decide on the country's future.

"The United States has no legal right to sign a peace agreement or to decide the future of Afghanistan," the foreign ministry said in a statement issued a day after the pact was inked in the Qatari capital.

After 18 years of war, the US and the Taliban signed an agreement in Doha on Saturday that paves the way for a 14-month timetable for the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Afghanistan, provided the militants open talks with Kabul and fulfil other pledges.

Ahead of the signing ceremony, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had warned Iran against trying to scuttle the agreement.

"There is a history of Iran engaging in activity inside of Afghanistan to act as a spoiler," Pompeo said.

In its statement, Iran called for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan, saying their presence "is illegal and is one of the main causes of the war and insecurity in that country".

Iran said a lasting peace deal could "only be achieved through inter-Afghan dialogue with the participation of all political groups, including the Taliban, and taking into account the considerations of neighbouring countries."



It added: "We believe that the United Nations has the capacity to facilitate negotiations among Afghans and to monitor and ensure the implementation of agreements reached."



Tensions have sharply escalated between Tehran and Washington since May 2018, when US President Donald Trump withdrew from a deal that gave Iran relief from sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear programme.

The arch enemies have appeared to come to the brink of an all-out confrontation twice since then.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
WHO Chief: Personal Hygiene Can Protect From Coronavirus Infection

By Lisa SchleinFebruary 29, 2020

The World Health Organization is urging people not to give in to panic and fear about the global spread of the coronavirus epidemic, but to ward off the disease through effective personal hygiene.

Globally, coronavirus cases are skyrocketing, with most of the cases and deaths in China. However, the disease now is spreading faster in countries outside China.

The rapid global acceleration of Covid-19 has prompted the WHO to raise its risk assessment to very high at a global level. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus acknowledges this is a matter of great concern, but says there are things everyone can do to prevent themselves and others from becoming infected.

"First, as we keep saying, clean your hands regularly with an alcohol-based hand rub, or wash them with soap and water. Touching your face after touching contaminated surfaces or sick people is one of the ways the virus can be transmitted. By cleaning your hands, you can reduce your risk," Tedros said.

Indeed, health professionals agree this is one of the simplest and most effective ways of keeping this deadly virus at bay. Other recommendations include cleaning surfaces regularly with disinfectant, avoiding traveling with a fever or cough, staying home if you are sick and eating and sleeping separately from your family.

Tedros noted there is a potential for the spread of Covid-19 to develop into a global pandemic. Right now, though, he said what is seen is linked epidemics in several countries where it is still possible to trace most cases to known contacts or clusters of cases.

"We do not see evidence as yet that the virus is spreading freely in communities. As long as that is the case, we still have a chance of containing this virus, if robust action is taken to detect cases early, isolate and care for patients and trace contacts," he said.

Tedros said work is progressing on vaccines and therapeutics. He said more than 20 vaccines are in development, and several therapeutics are in clinical trials. First results are expected in a few weeks.

However, the WHO chief cautions it is likely to be many months or longer before a viable vaccine or drug is available, so, he said, people should take control of their own health and follow the WHO's guidance on ways to protect themselves from Covid-19.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Open Letter To SGF

Barr Boss Gidahyelda Mustapha

Secretary to the Government of the Federation

The Office of the SGF, Shehu Shagari Complex

Three Arms Zone, Abuja, FCT, Nigeria

Via: [email protected]

Sir,

Time To Audit The Nigeria Police Force

The attention of your public office is drawn to a fresh and bogus expenditure request by the Nigeria Police Force through IGP, Adamu Abubakar. The request was specifically made and directed to the House of Reps committee on Police Affairs for approval or appropriation in the 2020 budget of whopping N944.9b or roughly N1trillion to the NPF to enable the Force carry out its operations across the country. Details of the bogus request were reported by the Sunday Punch Newspaper of today, 1st March 2020.

Intersociety had earlier in its statement condemned in strongest terms the NPF request and called on the authorities of the Force to grow beyond archaic policing and embrace ICT and skillful policing. It remains our strong insistence that Nigeria presently has enough number of police personnel to police anywhere in the country if only it could jettison its age-long archaic, divisive, clannish, barbarous and born-before-computer policing and make triumphant inroad into man-mental-machine policing. Our earlier position on the issue is also contained in the Sunday Punch Newspaper report under reference. See the link here: https://punchng.com/police-need-n944-9bn-to-protect-nigerians-says-ig/?fbclid=IwAR3MkjD592eyk-YOWQLpZ902DVnyToYC2Y1yGlmfzwCj3FL2HIL2-2dkqKE

As you are aware, Sir, our writing your office this time and openly is in consonance with powers and functions vested in you. As the SGF, your office coordinates the activities of Ministries and Government Agencies on the implementation of Government decisions, policies and programs dealing with constitutional, political and socio-economic matters. Your office is also entrusted with investigative powers including coordinating administrative tribunals, commissions and panels of enquiry as well as coordinating national security and safety matters. These are among the fifteen functions statutorily allocated to your office.

Our decision to write your public office is not because the OSGF is the appropriating authority or House of Reps or Senate; but because the IGPs bogus request has thrown up issues warranting your attention and immediate intervention so as to clear some doubts, unearth some ugly developments in the Force and restore public confidence. Among worrying issues thrown up in the bogus request package included rogue statistics, duplicity, suspected conflict profiteering and irrelevancies.

As contained in the detailed report by the Punch Newspaper (Sunday Punch), the IGP had last Tuesday, Feb 25, 2020 appeared before the House Committee on Police Affairs, claiming acute shortage of personnel or man power and policing equipments including weapons and operational vehicles. In the end, he demanded for a sharp increase in police personnel and procurement of equipments nearing N1trillion or $3.3b. It must be reminded that the sum proposed for the NPF in the 2020 was earlier pegged at N408b or about $1.3b.

Why We Demanded For Comprehensive Audit Of The NPF

Contradictions On Exact Number Of Personnel In The Force:

Sir, inherent contradictions abound. The NPF said it has 370,000 or 371, 800 personnel and to the Police Service Commission, it is about 350,000. To the newly established Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) of the Office of the Account General of the Federation, it is 291, 685 from 42 commands and formations of the NPF as at 2018.

No Reliable Data Concerning NPFs Weapons & Ammunitions

While the NPF is demanding for additional 250, 000 rifles and associated munitions, 1,819 APCs, 1,819 water cannons, 200, 000 riot gunners and smoke pistols, 2m tear gas canisters, 1000 tracking devices and 774 operational drones, among others; Nigerians are not aware of existence of any reliable data in the Force concerning number of weapons and ammunitions in the armories of the NPF. Owing to the fact that they were purchased and maintained with tax payers or public funds, auditing of same is a must and inexcusable.

Use & Safety Question Regarding The Existing Weapons In The NPF

There is also no credible database showing what the existing weapons are being used for, their safety and condition. In other words, it is very difficult to say whether they are used within or outside the law and whether they are safely or porously managed or warehoused.

Bogus Request & Serious Suspicion Of Conflict Profiteering

The IGPs request as highlighted above is nothing short of bogus and frivolous demands. It also raises serious suspicion of conflict profiteering or using the situation of insurgency and other forms of insecurity in the country as conduit pipe to further deepen and rotten Nigeria into the class of highly unsecured and indebted poor country. Demanding for 250,000 additional rifles for instance, is a clear attempt to make Nigeria a future Afghanistan where it is cheaper to buy an assault or AK-47 rifle than to buy a loaf of bread. Policing in Nigeria is supposed to be rested on 80% ICT and mental or skillful poling and 20% gun policing.

Request For 1,915 Patrol Vehicles Trailed By Duplicity & Roguery

The IGPs request for 1,915 patrol vehicles for its 267 police area commands, 1,489 divisional headquarters, 37 State headquarters and 12 zonal commands; independently put at over N56b is not only sheer duplicity but also tantamount to environmental pollution and insecurity. As a matter of fact, the demand is roguish and unnecessary because it is on record that the NPF receives several thousands of donated patrol vehicles every year. Such donations routinely come from most, if not all the 36 State Govs and the FCT. In 2019, for instance, over 100 police patrol vans were donated to the NPF by the Government of Anambra State.

Also, most, if not all patrol vans used by NPF in protecting VIPs and multi millionaire and billionaire companies are donated, fueled and maintained by such VIPs and companies. This is in addition to billions of naira paid by the companies to the NPF authorities. The demand for N194.4m for weekly or N770m monthly fueling or dieseling of the 1,915 patrol vans is also bogus, corruptive and duplicative. This is more so when available records clearly indicate that most of the police patrol vans attached to divisional, area, state and zonal commands of the NPF are fueled and maintained using illicit proceeds generated from roadblock/roadway and captivity extortion.

N28.5M Quoted For Each Police Patrol Van Is Roguish

Apart from a brand new High Impact or VIP Hilux Truck being sold at N21m-N22m, no Nigeria Police modeled Pick-up Van is sold at 28.5m anywhere in Nigeria. Our checks at various automobile websites including INNOSON, clearly attest to this fact. We also spoke with a number of brand new and Belgium car (pick-up van) dealers across the country and it was correctly found that a Nigeria Police modeled Pick-up Van or patrol van is sold between N7m and N15m; and not N28.5M.

It is as a result of these confusions, contradictions, economical facts and duplicities that we are calling on you, the SGF, to do the needful by conducting and coordinating a comprehensive audit in the Nigeria Police Force. This, we respectfully prayed, shall be done as a matter of uttermost urgency and extreme public importance. The audit under demand shall enable Nigerians know the true state of things in the Force.

Summarily, Nigerians want to know the actual number of personnel in the Force and weapons including their types in use and how they are maintained. What happens to the safety of such weapons is also important to Nigerians. Nigerians are itching to further know the number and type of vehicles or vans being donated to the NPF by Govs, VIPs and profit oriented institutions as well as how much they are paying the Force monthly and the whereabouts of same when paid.

Background Statistics:

In a follow-up story published by the Sunday Punch Newspaper of today, Sunday, 1stMarch 2020, the respected Newspaper disclosed the full details of the IGPs complaint and request to include: gross underfunding, occasioned by inadequate budgetary appropriation and non release of the limited appropriated funds.

Others are: deployment of six helicopters to six geopolitical zones including their repairs, lubricants, servicing and spare parts, all at the cost of N3.05b; and police marine section involving acquisition of combat patrol launch and armored boats including 15 units of (12m) armored gunboats (N230m each), 15 units of (14m) armored gunboats (N265m each) and 10 units of M16 gunboats (N285m each), all at total the cost of N21.6b.

The rest are: acquisition of operational vehicles involving 1,819 APCs (armored personnel carriers) at N150m each, 1,819 water cannons at N170m each, 1,915 patrol vehicles (pick up vans) at N28.5m each and commensurate number of vans with cameras at N29.7m each; all totaling N696.8b. To fuel the said 1,915 patrol vehicles, whopping N194.4m (or 1,28m litres of fuel) was requested for their fueling and dieseling per week while cost of maintaining them during the same period was put at N1.83b. Also requested for funding are monitoring and evaluation which would gulp N247.4m.

The IGP further claimed that the patrol vehicles, when purchased, will be distributed to 267 police area commands, 1, 489 divisional headquarters, 37 State headquarters and 12 zonal commands of the Force across the country, while 10 APCs, 10 water cannons, 100 patrol vans and 100 vans with cameras will be kept and reserved. The PSC, on its part, claimed that 2,866 ASPs to DIGs retired from the Force in 2019 and that the current strength of the NPF, put at about 350,000 is grossly inadequate to police the country. The PSC requested for increase of the Force strength to at least 500, 000 within the next two years.

Signed:

For: Intl Society for Civil Liberties & Rule of Law

Emeka Umeagbalasi, Obianuju Igboeli, Esq., Chinwe Umeche, Esq., and Comrade Samuel Kamanyaoku

 Contacts:

Mobile/Whatsapp Line: +2348174090052

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.intersociety-ng.org
Want to dive into a petri dish of bacteria at a time when most of the globe is worried about finding a vaccine to fight the coronavirus?

Just come to the Capitol when the anti-vaccination mob descends on the General Assembly like the winter we havent really had.

Picture a couple thousand people, mostly women with runny-nosed preschool children, spread out along the marble floors of the Legislative Office Building in a show of force that some lawmakers find ominous. Me? I just want to cover committee meetings without catching someones cold.

Lets not forget the evidence of diaper changing in the lavatory sinks as part of the ancillary effects of Informed Choice CT, the CT Freedom Alliance and others.

I respect their making a statement about not wanting to vaccinate their kids, or to have their children immunized at their own pace. Its the anti-scientific-fringe element that I find disturbing and even insulting.

I also suspect they are ignoring state law that requires lobbying organizations to register and pay nominal fees like every other interest group.

Under Connecticut lobbyist registration law, any individual or entity, including groups formed around a single issue, whether they are incorporated or not, and whether they hold a tax-exempt status under the Federal IRS rules, must register if they expend $3,000 or more in lobbying and in activities in furtherance thereof, says Peter Lewndowski, executive director of the Office of State Ethics.

I cant get a straight answer out of the organizers, who I presume want to make their own rules on a variety of levels, one of which is not accountability.

Its the 21st Century in the United States, so everyone just makes up their own truth, like the woman from New York, an anti-vaxxer who was arrested the other day before the legislative Public Health Committee approved watered-down legislation that would eventually end religious exemptions for parents who dont want to immunize their kids but do want them to attend public schools.

Fortunately, Ive covered the Capitol long enough to rely on some veteran lawmakers who I believe have some moral authority: Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff and state Reps. Bob Godfrey and David Yaccarino.

The anti-vax crowd cannot substantiate anything in fact, said Duff, D-Norwalk, who needed a security escort after a recent forum on the issue at the Westport Library. Everything they say has been debunked as a myth and they are generally the most aggressive, hostile, rudest and threatening group of people I have ever experienced as a legislator. It is no surprise to me that one of the anti-vax advocates was arrested at the Capitol. In fact, more should have been arrested, but the Capitol Police showed great restraint.

Duff says their tactics include bringing in supporters from out of state to pump up their presence. They yell, scream, and try to intimidate and they use debunked information, he said. Thankfully for me they dont scare me and theyre not going to bully me. This is a well-funded group and not an organic, grassroots movement.

Yaccarino, R-North Haven, believes that most of the protesters have gotten their kids immunized. He is worried that the General Assembly could put itself in violation of the state Constitution if kids are refused admission into public school, especially in the bill as currently written that would let the current generation of under-immunized pupils remain enrolled but would bar their younger brothers and sisters.

I think most people want their child to get vaccinated, but some parents and physicans timetables might not coincide with the state government timetable, Yaccarino said. I try to look at all sides. Most people know its a public health issue. We have to be careful.

Godfrey, D-Danbury, believes parents certainly have the best interests of their children in mind at a moment when insurers and the medical community may be pushing them into corners.

Youve got parents who are frightened of vaccinations and I think in many cases, they have genuine medical concerns, but when they go to their doctor, I am finding out that doctors dont want to get involved, Godfrey said. One, they are worried about their liability for malpractice and two, the insurance company doesnt cover this stuff. In 2020, in the United States, doctors dont make medical decisions. Insurance companies do.

Godfrey acknowledged that over the years, many parents have been using the states boilerplate religious exemption to avoid vaccination requirements.

I understand that, he said, stressing that none of the states religious communities, even Christian Scientists, prohibit immunizations. Id rather have the medical professionals say yeah, this kid shouldnt get a vaccine, than a frightened parent who doesnt have the knowledge to make a medical decision on this. Because I do very much worry about unvaccinated kids getting sick and spreading measles and mumps. I havent heard discussions about if there are any other options we have to deal with this issue.

kdixon@ctpost.com Twitter: @KenDixonCT
A formal complaint about under-fire Priti Patel's conduct was made when she was Employment Minister at Department for Work and Pensions, reports suggest.

The MP for Witham was facing fresh calls to quit today as she remained embroiled in a furious political row over claims she bullied civil servants.

And now, claims have emerged that the 47-year-old was the subject of a formal complaint whilst in her previous role, which she served in between May 2015 and July 2016.

Claims have emerged that 47-year-old Priti Patel (pictured arriving at the Home Office today) was the subject of a formal complaint whilst in her previous role as employment minister, which she served in between May 2015 and July 2016

The BBC's Home Affairs Correspondent Danny Shaw broke the news on Twitter, stating that the alleged complaint is believed to have been made by a member of her then private office.

Shaw said in a follow up tweet that Patel's spokesperson was 'not aware' of the complaint, adding that the Government didn't deny it, saying that they would not comment on personal issues.

Shaw tweeted: 'Whitehall insider with knowledge of her time at DWP said she'd created a "hostile and unhappy" environment for civil servants there by questioning their capability and undermining their performance. "I felt very sorry for people in her private office - they felt bullied."'

The BBC's Home Affairs Correspondent Danny Shaw broke the news on Twitter, stating that the alleged complaint is believed to have been made by a member of her then private office

He added that a source backed the current Secretary of State for the Home Department, he quoted the source as saying: 'I wouldn't describe her as a bully. She was difficult and not afraid to say when she was unhappy.'

Allies of the Home Secretary leapt to her defence this morning as Labour claimed she was on her way out of the department after clashing with mandarins.

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said he could not see how Ms Patel could carry on after Permanent Secretary Sir Phillip Rutnam sensationally quit and said he would take the Government to court.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock defended his colleague's leadership style. He told Sky's Ridge on Sunday: 'Of course Priti is determined. That is right and that is what we want to see'

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said he could not see how Ms Patel could carry on after Permanent Secretary Sir Phillip Rutnam quit and said he would take the Government to court

But Health Secretary Matt Hancock this morning defended his colleague's leadership style.

He told the BBC's Andrew Marr program: 'Priti is a very determined Home Secretary.

'She is probably closer to where the public are on the issues of law and order than any home secretary in recent history. I think she drives things forward.

'Now, I also think she is extremely courteous, and in every dealing I've had with her she has been very courteous.

'I can't get into the details of the case, not least because it looks like it might be going to court and I'm not close to it.'

Sir Philip vowed to sue the Government for constructive dismissal after his name appeared on a 'hitlist' of senior civil servants that Downing Street wanted to sack that was leaked to the media.

It is understood that tensions in the Home Office came to a head in September after Sir Philip blocked a pre-Election announcement that Ms Patel wanted to roll out Tasers for police.

It was also felt at the top of Government that Sir Philip had been 'a roadblock to change' and has consistently tried to stymie reforms needed to get Britain ready for Brexit.

Asked if Ms Patel could continue as Home Secretary, shadow chancellor John McDonnell told Sky's Ridge on Sunday: 'I can't see it, it's bizarre.'

He added: 'One of the ways the Prime Minister could go forward is to have an independent investigation but during that period you'd have to suspend the Home Secretary whilst that went on.'

One source claimed Sir Philip's public civil war with the Home Secretary was 'the only way to save face' after his position became untenable

He added: 'When you have a civil servant going public like this ... I can't remember a case like this so it must be something pretty serious that is going on.

'It looks likely she is on the way out.'

But a source claimed Sir Philip's public civil war with the Home Secretary was 'the only way to save face' after his position became untenable.

The explosive resignation came after simmering tensions between Ms Patel and her Permanent Secretary boiled to the surface last weekend, with various reports about a rift between the two.

And it comes amid growing tension between Boris Johnson's Government and the Civil Service machine.
Sri Lankan President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa is likely to dissolve the Parliament later on Sunday, paving the way for snap elections in the country months ahead of the schedule, a top minister said.

President Rajapaksa in December named his elder brother and former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa as the prime minister of the caretaker cabinet until the general election in August 2020. He can now legally dissolve Parliament and call an election.

The president could issue the dismissal order on the parliament on Sunday night, the earliest he could force a fresh parliamentary poll. The current parliament was appointed on September 1, 2015.

"Yes we will definitely look to dissolve, we were prevented from going for early polls due to 19A mistake of the previous government," Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena told reporters.

The 19A amendment was a key reform pledge of the previous government headed by then president Maithripala Sirisena and prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

It aims to curtail excessive powers of the presidency, leaving more power for the parliament.

Gunawardena said President Rajapaksa despite his clear win in the elections was clamped by the 19A to call for a fresh election to have his own government.

"Previous presidents were able to dissolve the parliament after an year," he said.

Political sources said the dissolution order could be issued at midnight tonight, making the way for the fresh polls by the end of April.

Rajapaksa had earlier said he wanted two-thirds parliamentary strength- 150 seats in the 225-member assembly.

Among the Rajapaksa reforms post election are the abolition of 19A.

According to a report in the Sunday Observer, after the dissolution of the parliament, the country will be run by a caretaker government with Mahinda Rajapaksa as the prime minister and a cabinet of ministers.

All state ministers and deputy ministers will thereby lose their posts, it said.

Election Commission Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya was quoted as saying in the report that in the event of the parliament's dissolution, arrangements will be made to receive nominations from March 12-16.

According to him, 271,789 more voters will be eligible to cast their votes in the polls, bringing the total number of voters to nearly 16.3 million.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Joe Biden has won the South Carolina primary, with his decisive victory being called moments after polls closed in the state.

The win in South Carolina sends Mr Biden into the next phase of the nominating season  Super Tuesday  with fresh momentum, after three successive losses so far in 2020.

The election was called just minutes after polls closed in the Palmetto State, and before most precincts had even reported their results, showing that the former vice president was met with massive support in the state.

The news was met with cheers from inside of Mr Biden's election night watch party in Columbia, in the centre of the state.

Even with the commanding win, the former vice president still faces considerable obstacles in those 14 Super Tuesday states that will vote in just days, including a lack of financial resources and established ground game.

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

Even so, Mr Biden's runaway victory in South Carolina was immediately met with even more good news in the form of a high level endorsement from Terry McAuliffe, the former governor of Virginia, which will vote on Tuesday.

"Im hoping some of the candidates tomorrow get out," Mr McAuliffe said on CNN, signalling what is likely to be a frequent argument that will be made in coming days by the Biden campaign that he is the best candidate for moderate Democrats to coalesce around.

Mr Biden's win in South Carolina, in addition to bolstering his 2020 chances, also represents the first time he has ever won a presidential primary state, after failing to win the nomination in two past attempts at the Oval Office.

Behind Mr Biden in South Carolina on Saturday was Bernie Sanders, who came in second place, though he trailed the former vice president by nearly 30 per cent. Tom Steyer, who had staked most of his chances on a solid showing in the state, was the only other candidate to break double-digits in the state, and dropped out after his third-place finish. They were followed by Pete Buttigieg and Elizabeth Warren.
A governors budget address is supposed to be about numbers that are shaped by the administrations political priorities.

But Gov. J.B. Pritzkers speech to members of the Illinois General Assembly was more about politics than it was about spending.

Specifically, Pritzker included $1.4 billion of spending in his proposed $42 billion budget that the state doesnt have and wont get unless voters approve a state income tax increase in the fall election.

If the vote to repeal Illinois Constitutions flat tax mandate doesnt fly, Pritzker warned hell have less money to spend on a variety of important programs including K-12 and higher education.

Thats a solid political play  threatening to sow financial chaos amid popular programs unless he gets his way. Republicans were quick to denounce the governors scare tactics.

Unfortunately for the GOP, they have little-to-no political relevance in Springfield. So much, if not all, of what Pritzker proposed last week will be approved by the legislature and become effective for the budget year that begins July 1. If any major changes are made in the governors spending plan, theyll be made by the super-majority Democrats in the House and Senate.

One possible area of pushback relates to Pritzkers education proposal. Legislators, including new Senate President Don Harmon, predicted members of his caucus will want to increase K-12 spending by $350 million regardless of the outcome in November.

Pritzker said he wants to spend $350 million but would reduce that number to $200 million if the proposed repeal of the flat tax mandate is defeated. Given the emotional nature of the issue and Pritzkers intent to use it as a club to induce voters to back him, this could be a point of substantial tension in the budget debate.

There are a few things that stand out like a sore thumb in the governors spending plan. Combined, they reveal the sham nature of state spending plans.

The biggest involves Pritzkers pledge to put $8.6 billion into the states five woefully underfunded state pensions. Thats roughly 20 percent of the state budget, a number that reveals just how crippling the states public pension woes are.

Pritzker bragged that he will allocate all of the statutorily required pension money. But he somehow forgot to mention that whats statutorily required is considerably less than whats actuarially required. Thats why the states pension debt approaching $140 billion keeps going up.

Heres another.

To demonstrate that hes tough on spending and looking to get the biggest bang for the buck, Pritzker recently embraced a plan to cut expenditures by $225 million. Thats a lot of money, but, unfortunately, not a lot of money in the context of state spending.

Financial analysts at Wirepoints note that $225 million represents less than one percent of the 2021 budget, which increases state spending by $2 billion from the current 2019-20 state budget.

In another effort to show his fiscal tough-mindedness, Pritzker announced he wants to put $10 million in the states rainy day fund. Perhaps symbolically potent, all that it means is that the state will be even slower in paying its stack of $7.2 billion in unpaid bills.

Finally, he again spoke of the importance of presenting a budget that balances spending with revenue, something that, like last year, he failed to do.

While acknowledging Comptroller Susana Mendoza in the audience, Pritzker neglected to acknowledge her recent report on the states financial status.

It revealed the depth of state existing debt  $214.5 billion  as well as the $3.4 billion deficit in the states current budget.

The states financial picture is so bleak that Pritzker felt required to acknowledge financial challenges. At the same time, he lambasted those who do not share views as pessimists unworthy of attention and portraying himself as an incurable optimist.

He has a point about those who are relentlessly negative. Theyre not much fun to be around. But in Illinois case, they would be better described as sober realists who point out that problems ignored, generally speaking, do not go away. They just get worse.

Just as he pledged in his campaign, Pritzkers proposed cure involves raising taxes and raising spending. But the people of Illinois have a say about that, and it just may be that theyve had their fill of both.

 News-Gazette, Champaign
ANNISTON, Ala. - Not long before local leaders decided, in the words of one of them, that federal health officials "didn't know what they were doing" with their plan to quarantine novel coronavirus patients in town, a doctor here set out in a biohazard suit to stage a one-man protest along the highway with a sign. "The virus has arrived. Are you ready?" it asked.

The town didn't think it was. Residents already were unnerved by strange stories posted on Facebook and shared via text messages about helicopters secretly flying in sick patients, that the virus was grown in a Chinese lab, that someone - either the media or the government - was lying to them about what was really going on.

The quarantine plan hastily hatched by the federal Department of Health and Human Services was soon scrapped by President Donald Trump, who faced intense pushback from Alabama's congressional delegation, led by Republican Rep. Mike Rogers. Americans evacuated after falling ill aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan would not be coming to Anniston, a town of 22,000 people in north-central Alabama, after all. They would remain in the same Texas and California sites where they were taken after leaving the cruise ship.

What happened here over the pastweek illustrates how poor planning by federal health officials and a rumor mill fueled by social media, polarized politics and a lack of clear communication can undermine public confidence in the response to the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease named covid-19. The rapidly spreading virus has rattled economies worldwide in recent weeks and caused the deaths of more than 2,900 people, mostly in China.

The panic and problems that burned through Anniston also provided a preview of what could unfold in other communities, as the spread of the virus is considered by health experts to be inevitable.

"Their little plan sketched out in D.C. was not thought out," said Michael Barton, director of the emergency management agency in Calhoun County, where Anniston is located.

As local officials learned more, Barton added, "We knew then -"

"We were in trouble," said Tim Hodges, chairman of the county commission.

In Anniston, local leaders were stunned to discover serious problems with the federal government's plan for dealing with patients infected with the virus - starting with how the patients would get to Alabama, according to interviews with county and city officials, along with business leaders who dealt with the federal response.

"I was shocked," Anniston Mayor Jack Draper said. "I was shocked by the lack of planning. I was shocked by the manner in which it was presented to us."

Two HHS officials - Darcie Johnston, director of intergovernmental affairs, and Kevin Yeskey, principal deputy assistant secretary for preparedness and response - said in a Feb. 23 meeting with local officials that the patients would be flown from California to the Fort McClellan Army Airfield in Anniston, according to multiple local officials.

The airfield was closed when the Army base was shuttered in 1999. Local officials said they told the HHS officials during the meeting the runway was in bad shape.

"The more we talked," Hodges said, "the more holes we found."

The HHS plan also called for housing coronavirus patients at the Center for Domestic Preparedness, a FEMA facility on the old Army base and one of several redevelopment projects at the sprawling outpost.

The center has several brick dormitory buildings - behind tall black fencing - where federal officials planned for the patients to live. Federal officials even picked out the building they wanted to use for the first arrivals: Dorm No. 28, local officials said. A team of federal health workers would care for the patients and U.S. marshals would keep them from leaving the quarantine, local officials said they were told.

The dorms normally house emergency responders from around the country.

But the center doesn't have any special capabilities for handling infectious diseases, local officials said. The center is used for training. It has isolation hospital rooms - located in a former Army hospital building - but they are mostly just props, with fake equipment and light switches that exist only as paint on walls.

Meanwhile, federal officials never contacted the town's hospital, Regional Medical Center, about handling covid-19 patients, said Louis Bass, the hospital's chief executive.

Yet HHS officials said in a statement released to the public Feb. 22 that patients who become seriously ill would be sent to "pre-identified hospitals for medical care."

"We were surprised," Bass said.

The hospital does have eight negative-pressure isolation rooms, but patients with serious complications would need to be sent to a larger institution, such as Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, 90 miles away, Bass said.

Emory University Hospital did not respond to a question about whether it was told about the HHS plan.

A federal contract for a local ambulance service was secured at the last moment, after HHS had already issued a statement about its plan for Anniston. Details on how to handle other tasks - including patients' laundry and food - seemed unfinished.

The preparations for bringing patients to Anniston were handled partly by Caliburn International, a government contractor that previously provided emergency medical services to federal agencies, according to interviews and documents reviewed by The Washington Post.

Former Trump chief of staff John Kelly joined the firm based in Reston, Virginia, as a board member last year. Caliburn is the parent company of Comprehensive Health Services, which has come under scrutiny for its operation of medical services at a detention site for migrant children.

A Caliburn spokeswoman referred questions about the Anniston operations to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

HHS, through its Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, responded to The Post's questions about its Anniston operations with a statement noting the office's staff members "have a long-standing relationship" with the disaster preparedness center and were familiar with its capabilities. The statement also said the federal agency "was considering the facility as a contingency location" and decided during discussions with local officials that "the site would not actually be needed."

It was Trump who finally canceled the planned quarantine in Anniston on Feb. 23, according to tweets from Rogers and Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., that referred to their conversations with the president.

The news arrived as people attended an emergency meeting of the Calhoun County Commission. Cheers broke out.

"I guess in our culture today a tweet is considered official," Barton said.

Anniston has plenty of experience dealing with unwelcome threats - and learning to live with them.

It was for years home to the nation's chemical weapons stockpile, including sarin and mustard gas. Later, it was the location of a chemical weapons incinerator, where those munitions were carefully destroyed.

The town also deals with the toxic legacy of a former Monsanto plant that for decades polluted the soil and water with PCBs, which were banned in the 1970s amid health concerns. The pollution resulted in a $700 million settlement for 20,000 residents in 2003.

But the novel coronavirus posed a different kind of challenge.

Fear that the HHS plan was flawed gave new energy to already circulating rumors and wild theories about the virus.

Residents didn't know whom to believe. Trump had said without evidence that CNN and MSNBC were exaggerating the threat. Rush Limbaugh was on the radio saying it was no worse than the regular flu. Facebook posts claimed the outbreak had been foreshadowed by a 1981 Dean Koontz book. And the idea the virus could have been created in a Chinese biochemical lab was floated widely, including by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark.

The whirlwind caught the attention of Michael Kline, a urologist in Anniston.

"I don't think anyone knows what's going on," he said.

So on the weekend of Feb. 22-23, Kline dressed up in a blue biohazard suit with his "the virus has arrived" sign. He stood along the highway and waved to passing vehicles. He wanted to drum up opposition to allowing infected patients in Anniston. But even the plan was abandoned, Kline said he still wasn't certain patients weren't being housed at the old Army base.

Rumors of black helicopters ferrying infected patients to the training center at night were rampant. The local Home Depot sold out of painting and sanding face masks. Hodges, the commissioner, said he heard often from worried residents. But helicopters were common in the area because of a nearby Army depot and National Guard training center. Only now they were nefarious. Other people talked about mysterious vans driving along county roads.

Hodges and Draper held emergency news conferences and meetings to try to lessen the panic. But those meetings also allowed for additional rumors to flourish during public comment periods. A commission meeting included one resident tying the coronavirus to a 1992 United Nations document about climate change.

"That's how long this has been going on," he said.

"The public is going crazy," said Bobby Foster, a business owner who spoke at the meeting and asked the commissioners to try harder to distribute accurate information.

Glen Ray, president of the local NAACP, talked about the virus at a Sunday service at Rising Star United Methodist Church on Feb. 23 to try to calm people's worries. But he was also dismayed that one of the county commissioners wore a red "Make America Great Again" hat to an emergency meeting about the virus.

"It's not about Donald Trump," Ray said later. "A virus is not going to just jump on a Democrat. So at times like this, we need to be coming together. No time for politics."

Anniston's flirtation with the dreaded virus did have one positive effect, officials said. It made them realize they need to prepare - that the virus could come without warning and they shouldn't rely on outsiders alone for expertise.

Barton, the emergency management director, helped create a county infectious disease task force. It has already had its first meeting. The focus is not solely on the coronavirus. It will handle the flu and whatever other viruses pop up in the future.

The public's interest in the virus hasn't faded, either.

Barton gave a talk Thursday to a lunchtime meeting of a civic organization, the Exchange Club. It had been planned months ago but he decided to talk about the aborted plan to bring infected patients to town.

People peppered Barton with questions about why federal health officials had ever considered the disaster training facility and how much emergency food they should keep at home. They wanted to know how to avoid getting sick.

Barton suggested hand-washing and keeping a safe distance from sick people.

As he talked, a lady reached into her purse, squeezed some alcohol sanitizer on her hands and passed the bottle around the table.

- - -

The Washington Post's Emma Brown and Beth Reinhard contributed to this report.
TAIPEI, Feb 29 (Reuters) - Taiwan reported a five-person jump in new cases of the coronavirus on Saturday, including four people who had contact with another infected patient in a hospital and one person returning from the Middle East, bringing Taiwan's total to 39.

The government's Central Epidemic Command Centre said a cleaner and three nurses were the four staff who had been infected at the hospital, which was treating another coronavirus case.

The nurses had treated the patient before he had been confirmed to have been infected, it added.

The fifth new case is a woman in her 60s who went on a tour to Egypt and Dubai and who returned to Taiwan on Feb. 21 having begun feeling unwell while in Egypt, the centre said.

She is most likely to have been infected while overseas, and the government is tracking down others who were on the same tour, it added.

Taiwan has reported one death from the coronavirus, while 9 patients have recovered and been released from hospital.

The government on Thursday raised its epidemic response level to the highest, and postponed a major religious event scheduled for next month.

Next door China, where the outbreak began, has reported more than 79,000 infections and more than 2,800 deaths.

The coronavirus has continued to expand its footprint around the world, with at least six countries on four continents reporting new cases for the first time on Friday. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Stephen Coates)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 22:53:27|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

SHANGHAI, March 1 (Xinhua) -- On the frontline of the COVID-19 battle, six smart robots using 5G technology have been working side by side with medics in Shanghai.

The robots, developed by China Mobile's Shanghai Branch, are used for tasks such as disinfecting and cleaning patient areas and delivering medicine to reduce the risk of cross-infection and ensure the safety of medics, according to its developer.

Powered by the 5G technology, these robots can be used in isolation wards, operation rooms, and fever clinics for improving the efficiency of COVID-19 prevention and control, the company said.

According to the Shanghai Communications Administration, 5G technology is being widely applied in Shanghai to battle the epidemic. Apart from 5G robots, leading telecom operators in Shanghai have also come up with smart devices such as 5G thermal imagers and 5G health monitors.

Seven 5G base stations have been established near the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center to ensure telecommunications services, the administration said.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has welcomed the "efforts to achieve a lasting political settlement in Afghanistan" following the US-Taliban deal.

"Today's events in Doha and Kabul mark important developments in this regard," Xinhua quoted Guterres as saying in a statement on Saturday.



He also expressed his appreciation to Qatar for hosting the talks between the US and the Taliban.



The US and the Taliban signed a peace agreement on Saturday in the Qatari capital of Doha in a bid to end a long-running war in Afghanistan.





According to a joint statement released by the US and Afghan governments ahead of the signing, the United States and NATO will completely pull out their troops from Afghanistan in 14 months if the Taliban held its commitments.



The statement also said that the United States is going to reduce its troops to 8,600 in Afghanistan within 135 days after signing the agreement.



The UN Secretary-General stressed the importance of sustaining the nationwide reduction in violence, for the benefit of all Afghans. He encouraged continued efforts by all parties to create an enabling environment for the intra-Afghan negotiations and a comprehensive peace process.



In the statement, the UN chief hoped that the deeply held aspirations of the Afghan people for peace will be realized, through an inclusive Afghan-led process with the meaningful participation of women and youth.



Guterres also reiterated the commitment of the United Nations to supporting the people and government of Afghanistan.
(Newser)  The first US coronavirus death, recorded in Washington state over the weekend, is unlikely to be the last. "We know there will be more cases," Mike Pence said, adding that there could be "more sad news" ahead, CNN reports. The vice president is leading the Trump administration's effort to stem the outbreak. He said in a CNN interview that Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told him that most people with the virus will recover. "They will deal with a respiratory illness, we'll get them treatment," Pence said. But patients with other health issues could have "a worse outcome," he said, repeating that the risk is still low for most Americans. Two new cases have been confirmed at a long-term nursing home near Seattle, per the Washington Post, and the area's top health official said more COVID-19 cases could be confirmed there soon. Researchers there said the virus could have been around for weeks, raising the possibility that as many as 1,500 people have been infected, per the New York Times.

story continues below

Thailand and Australia have recorded their first deaths from the outbreak, and the administration is enacting travel restrictions involving Iran, Italy, and South Korea. European nations are considering next steps that could be as extreme as putting large cities under lockdown. Short of that, Germany is considering closing roads and asking doctors and nurses who retired recently to come back to work to help. The spread of misinformation also has not been contained: A State Department report that has not been released shows that conspiracy theories about the outbreak were tweeted about 2 million times in the first three weeks, per the Post. The virus has been found in at least 60 countries. Almost 87,000 confirmed coronavirus cases have been reported, more than 7,000 of them outside China, where the outbreak originated. (Read more coronavirus stories.)
GBP/CAD Forecast: Where Next for the Pound Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate This Week?

Posted by Adam Solomon on 10 Jan, 2022

The Pound to Canadian Dollar (GBP/CAD) exchange rate rose throughout the week, beginning the session at CA$1.7194, before peaking on Thursday at CA$1.7308. Sterling has been largely influenced by coronavirus developments in UK, whilst the Loonie has been weighed on by unrest in OPEC+ producing countries. Pound (GBP) Exchange Rates Fluctuate amid Rising Coronavirus Cases The Pound (GBP) began strong on Tuesday as rate hike bets gained momentum for Februarys Bank of England (BoE) meeting, priced in with an 82.5%...

 GBP/CAD Forecast: Where Next for the Pound Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate This Week?
Kolkata: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday (March 1) asserted that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) will grant citizenship to every refugee in the country. Shah is on a one-day visit to West Bengal while addressing a rally in Kolkata he said, "We will not stop until and unless all the refugees are granted citizenship."

The BJP leader also blamed the opposition parties, including Trinamool Congress (TMC), of 'misguiding the refugees and minorities'. "The opposition is terrorising minorities... I assure every person from the minority community that CAA only provides citizenship, does not take it away. It won't affect your citizenship," he said.

Shah exuded confidence that the BJP will form the next government in the state claiming that his party will win a two-thirds majority after the 2021 assembly polls.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the BJP had emerged as West Bengal's second-most powerful party. It had bagged at least 18 of 42 seats, against 22 by Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress.

He also kick-started the party's 'Aar Noi Annay' (no more injustice) campaign in West Bengal at the rally.

Earlier, the home minister inaugurated the 29 Special Composite Group Complex of National Security Guard (NSG) in Rajarhat. He went on to say that people who want to create a divide in the country and disrupt peace must fear the NSG.

This is Shah's second visit to the state after assuming office as the Union Home Minister.

In the meantime, Opposition parties hit the streets protesting Shah's visit to the state as they raised 'Go Back' slogans outside the airport today. According to ANI report, members of Students' Federation of India and Left parties, who assembled outside the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in the northern outskirts of Kolkata, showed black flags and black balloons to Shah upon his arrival in the city.
A young woman suffered years of crippling abdominal pain that left doctors baffled until a FaceTime video call with an expert changed her life.

New Zealand woman Sharna McManus, 22, said she had spent the last four years visiting specialists in a bid to find out the source of her agonising stomach pain.

'It's mentally challenging as you can't predict and you can't plan anything,' Ms McManus told Nine News.

'Pretty much any team they could send me to, they would say "no it's not me, it's the next team, it's the next team." They said there was nothing more they could do to help me.'

Perth specialist Krishna Boddu diagnosed Sharna McManus with nerve entrapment

WHAT IS NERVE ENTRAPMENT Nerve entrapment is a rare condition where the nerves become compressed and restricted. It affects the nerves ability to send and receive messages from the brain and may result in swelling, reduced blood flow and damage to surrounding structures. There are various causes for nerve entrapment, including trauma and injury such as from sprains or bone fractures, but is often due to repetitive or overuse activities. Advertisement

Desperate for answers and an end to the chronic pain, Ms McManus came across Perth specialist Krishna Boddu in a YouTube video treating a patient with a similar condition.

She got in contact with the specialist, who instantly diagnosed her condition during a FaceTime video call.

Mr Boddu has treated around 200 patients with the crippling condition in the last two years, offering a 20-minute procedure that promises to be life-changing.

'When the soft tissue is healing, majority of the time, the nerve is not entrapped,' Dr Boddu said.

'However, sometimes the nerve gets entrapped, the scar forms and the nerve is constantly being stimulated, which causes pain.'

There are several causes for nerve entrapment, including trauma, injury and repeated or overuse activity.

Doctors in New Zealand were unable to pick up on the condition that had Sharna (pictured) constantly wincing in agonising pain

Ms McManus travelled from New Zealand to Perth and underwent the 20-minute operation on Saturday.

She said she was looking forward to enjoying a life free of pain.

'Can I please give you a hug?' she asked Dr Boddu after the operation.

'Honestly I can't thank you enough and express my gratitude.'
Students monitor social media buzz during SC Democratic primary

As voting closed for the South Carolina Democratic primary, student assistant analysts at UofSCs Social Media Insights Lab monitored and analyzed the publicly available buzz and sentiment surrounding the candidates and results of the primary.

Housed in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications, the Social Media Insights Lab uses artificial intelligence technology-powered Crimson Hexagon software to generate, visualize and interpret data on everything from consumer sentiment to crisis response. Since its launch in 2019, the lab has greatly enhanced the universitys research efforts and raised its profile as a thought-leader in social media analytics.

Beginning in March 2019, the Social Media Insights Lab has been focusing on the S.C. primary as part of the UofSC Insights Initiative. Leading up to the 2020 presidential election, researchers at the lab are generating in-depth reports on each of the Democratic presidential candidates as they make their case to South Carolinas voters.

Each report will examine what social data can reveal about public sentiment in the Palmetto State and beyond, providing a deeper understanding of the issues influencing the 2020 presidential race.

Reports will be available on the College of information and Communications website.

Student interns, Hanna Wilde (left) and Jonah Rotholz (right) are using Crimson Hexagon software to monitor share of voice, sentiment and other aspects of social media listening .

Student assistant analysts Hanna Wilde and Jonah Rotholz are monitoring share of voice, sentiment and other social media listening aspects regarding the candidates.

"Essentially what we are doing is analyzing the results of the election on social media. We are looking at how closely what we are observing with our tools on social media reflects the results of the polls," says Rotholz, who is a senior information science major.

"The most interesting thing so far is seeing how closely real world events track what we are seeing on social media. We often hear the quote 'Twitter isnt real life' but in a lot of ways it is, and politics is definitely one of those areas."

Timeline of the primary watch party at The Social Media Insights Lab

5 p.m.

I've arrived at the social media insights lab where lead analyst Kaitlyn Park and student interns are hard at work analyzing the buzz surrounding the primary. Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders have been neck and neck for the lead in share of voice, but Biden currently surpasses Sanders by 0.6%. Sentiment for posts about Biden are primarily positive, while posts about Sanders lean more negative.

5:15 p.m.

There have been isolated reports about problems with voting, however, there doesn't seem to be a significant amount of social discussion regarding polling issues.

5:45 p.m.

Dean of the College of Information and Communications Tom Reichert stops by the watch party to check in on the researchers and the election.

6:30 p.m.

Sentiment for posts about Biden and Sanders have now flipped. Posts about Sanders are primarily positive, while posts about Biden are more negative.

7 p.m.

Voting precincts close.

7:01 p.m.

The Associated Press calls Biden the winner of the S.C. primary almost immediately after the polls closed.

7:30 p.m.

There has been a significant surge in mentions by South Carolina Twitter users about Biden. The former vice president's share of voice is rising fast with over 440 mentions in the 30 minutes since voting has closed.

8 p.m.

There have now been over 1,000 tweets from South Carolina about Biden since the polls closed and over 250 tweets mentioning Sanders.

To stay up to date with more insights from the UofSCs Social Media Insights Lab, follow @UofSCInsights on Twitter.

Share this Story! Let friends in your social network know what you are reading about
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- On the eve of todays ceremony to sign an agreement with the U.S. to begin peace negotiations, the Taliban declared it had already won. This is a day of victory, said Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, a Taliban negotiator. Victory has come with the help of God.

In one sense, this crowing seems premature. While its true that the U.S. intends to reduce its troop presence from more than 12,000 to 8,600, further withdrawals are conditioned on the Taliban adhering to its commitments to reduce violence and sever ties with al Qaeda. As Defense Secretary Mark Esper said in Kabul on Saturday, the U.S. would not hesitate to nullify the agreement if the Taliban reneges on its commitments.

Another condition for the Taliban will be to enter negotiations for a final peace settlement among Afghan groups themselves. That has always been a red line for the Taliban, which has never recognized the legitimacy of the elected government in Kabul. So why has it agreed to these talks now?

The answer is that the U.S. is being deliberately ambiguous about whether the Taliban is actually recognizing the elected government of Afghanistan, for which the U.S. and its coalition partners have fought and died.

The intra-Afghan negotiations envisioned by the new peace process will not take place exclusively between the elected government and the Taliban. Instead, the U.S. pushed to make sure the Afghan government side also included representatives of civil society groups and of the ruling partys opposition. The purpose of the negotiations is for Afghans to work out a political settlement, a senior administration official told columnists this week. From our perspective the priority is peace, and the implication is that they would work out a new governing agreement.

Many insurgencies have ended when recognized governments allowed for insurgent groups to run as political parties or to govern local areas. But in places such as Colombia, the insurgents joined the existing government. In Afghanistan, the U.S. is dropping the demand for the Taliban to negotiate directly with the government of newly re-elected President Ashraf Ghani.

Story continues

That counts as a major concession. For one, the Taliban has always considered itself Afghanistans legitimate government in exile. This is why it sends its minions to attack polling places during elections, as it did last year. For another, the countrys constitution already lays out rules for how political parties interact with the government.

The U.S. began weakening the constitutions legitimacy in 2015, said Fred Kagan, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, when it pressured Ghani to form a national unity government, creating a new position for his chief rival. The more we undermine the electoral process and its outcomes, and get into negotiating with the warlords and other power brokers about how the country is going to be run, ignoring or bypassing elections, the more we drive the country back to the 1990s, he told me.

Its fair to point out that Afghan elections have been beset with fraud. Ghanis rival, Abdullah, declared himself the winner and claimed that Ghani stole the most recent election. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo this month acknowledged election irregularities and hesitated to recognize Ghani as the winner. (Eventually the State Department did.)

That said, cheating and allegations of cheating mar elections all over the world, including in America. A senior administration official said the U.S. believes still that Ghani won the election with almost a million votes. In the context of Afghanistan, hesitating to acknowledge the winner of the election bolsters the Taliban narrative that the elections themselves are illegitimate.

This is why Espers presence Saturday in Kabul was more significant than the ceremony in Doha to sign the framework for peace negotiations and the withdrawal of U.S. forces. Esper said the U.S. would continue to provide the Afghan security forces support as necessary to assist in their defense against internal and external threats to the sovereignty of Afghanistan. Thats crucial, because without U.S. subsidies, the Afghan military would not be able to pay the salaries of its soldiers.

If President Donald Trump sticks to Espers commitment, then the peace negotiations may not be a pretext for surrender. But its unclear whether this is his intention. And even if it were, Democrats largely agree with him that Americas longest war is no longer worth fighting.

After the Nixon administration negotiated the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Vietnam in the early 1970s, the Democratic-controlled Congress voted to significantly reduce all security assistance for the pro-American government in Saigon. The North Vietnamese were able to topple it soon after. In a few months, Nixons peace with honor became a dishonorable surrender. In Afghanistan, America is in danger of repeating that mistake.

(Corrects final paragraph to indicate that Congress voted to significantly reduce, not abruptly end, security assistance to Vietnam after after peace negotiations.)

To contact the author of this story: Eli Lake at elake1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Newman at mnewman43@bloomberg.net

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Eli Lake is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering national security and foreign policy. He was the senior national security correspondent for the Daily Beast and covered national security and intelligence for the Washington Times, the New York Sun and UPI.

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.
Consider the state of things when SARS rocked the global economy in 2003. Cellphones were candy-bar-shaped devices with actual buttons. Most Americans were stuck with dial-up internet speeds at home, which means they watched movies via tape or disc (DVD sales tipped VHS sales in the U.S. just the year before). Computers were heavy towers confined to a desk. And social networking? That was the year Myspace started while Facebook was simply known as Facemash"a tool for Harvard students to rate each others hotness.

Fast-forward to now, when nearly a third of the worlds population uses Facebook or one of its family of apps every day. Most of those are doing so through a full-fledged computing device that fits in their pocket. Powerful, portable devices streaming data at high speeds means informationand disinformationspreads fast. It also means other big changes in how people work and live, which in turn has made the world a much smaller and more interconnected place.

Many of those changes involve lessening the need for in-person interactions. Amazon.com, the worlds pre-eminent seller of things over the internet, unveiled a new grocery store in its hometown of Seattle this week that spares patrons the inconvenience of dealing with cashiers. In China, e-commerce and online takeout companies are trying out delivery robots and autonomous vehicles to avoid human contact. Chinas prevalent mobile payment systems also reduced physical cash transactions.

Movie fans and gamers can now skip stores entirely. A raft of streaming services allows users to watch practically any movie and TV show at home on demand. And videogame consoles and home internet connections have become robust enough that gamers neednt venture to their local GameStop anymore, either. The latest Call of Duty" game sold about half of its new units as digital downloads, according to publisher Activision Blizzard. Short-video app Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, saw a 76% jump in daily active users in early February, compared with a month earlier, according to data firm QuestMobile.

Even hitting the gym may get passe. Peloton Interactive shares jumped earlier this week after a Needham analyst told clients that the coronavirus outbreak will make U.S. consumers less comfortable over time going to their gym" and thus more likely to buy one of the companys pricey stationary bikes or treadmills to work out at home.

And then there is Zoom Video Communications. The fairly new public company has seen its share price surge 38% this month alone on the notion that the spreading coronavirus will spike corporate demand for its snappy new videoconferencing technology. The recent cancellation of the Mobile World Congress trade show that was set to take place in Barcelona this week seemed to drive that point home. Qualcomm livestreamed the press conference it had planned for the show from its headquarters in San Diego on Tuesday. Students in China have also used videoconferencing apps like Alibabas DingTalk for online learning as schools remain shut.

But until robots and self-driving cars are running everything in our lives, disruptions in the physical world will still ripple through the virtual one. Chinas Alibaba, for example, said earlier this month its e-commerce business was feeling an impact as many delivery workers werent back to work. Its takeout business, which theoretically could get a boost from more people staying at home, also was hurt as many restaurants closed.

Technology also cant fully replace the need for in-human contact, whether personal or for business. Nor should we want it to. Not all tech-driven changes have been good ones. Social networks and mobile devices feed the spread of misinformation, and even convenience-driven innovations like ride-hailing and food delivery can displace vulnerable smaller businesses while ushering in the growth of less desirable gig economy" jobs. A recent survey by public-relations firm Edelman found that trust in technology has fallen 4% across the globe in just the past year. Lockdowns may glue more people to their screens, but it doesnt mean they have to like it.





Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 1)  The man allegedly behind the July 2019 killing of veteran radio commentator Eduardo "Ed" Dizon in Kidapawan City is facing immediate arrest, according to authorities.

Kidapawan Regional Trial Court Branch 61 ordered authorities to arrest Dante Tabosares, alias Bong Encarnacion. A copy of the warrant was issued last January 15 and transmitted to Malacanang, but was only made public over the weekend.

Malacanang's Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) said Sunday that it is now coordinating with the National Bureau of Investigation and the Philippine National Police to immediately arrest Tabosares, one of the three suspects previously tagged in Dizon's murder.

Tabosares tried to further delay the issuance of a warrant for his arrest with his pleadings before the court. Delays are expected but, ultimately, justice will prevail. Again, I commend the Task Force for closely monitoring and responding, not only in this case but for each case of media violence in its inventory, said PTFoMS co-chair and Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Martin Andanar.

Presiding Judge Henelinda Molina-Diaz also issued the arrest warrant for the other suspects involved in the murder: Junell Poten, alias Junell Gerozaga, and Sotero Jacolbe Jr., alias Jun Jacolbe.

Jacolbe immediately surrendered to authorities, while Poten remains at large and is currently being tracked down by police operatives.

Dizon, who was reportedly critical of the Kapa Community Ministry International, was killed in an ambush on the night of July 10, 2019 after his radio program.

Tabosares, who was also a radio broadcaster, reportedly served as Kapa's media coordinator. Jacolbe reportedly served as his right-hand man, while Poten was the alleged gunman.

Short for Kabus Padatoon [translation: making the poor rich], Kapa claims to be a religious group which has been recruiting members and asking them to donate funds to the organization. In exchange, donors are promised a 30 percent monthly return  called "love gifts" or "monthly blessings"  in perpetuity.

President Rodrigo Duterte previously ordered the arrest of all Kapa members, claiming that the group has been involved in the continuing crime of large-scale estafa.

https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2019/6/13/duterte-kapa-arrest-general-santos.html?fbclid=IwAR09403olD3N9lUopy6fU9Lprl2-VtFsLLyiRjwS_7AWIHPebglIb3wcthA
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-02 03:42:47|Editor: Yurou

Video Player Close

SAN FRANCISCO, March 1 (Xinhua) -- California, which has had more coronavirus cases than any other state in the United States, is bracing for potential community transmission of the virus, as residents are stocking up on essentials and patients cancel visits to hospitals.

California has reported three cases of coronavirus infection of unknown origin as of Sunday, in which the patients haven't traveled to any country hit hard by the epidemic or come into contact with people who had the virus. Health experts refer to such circumstances as "community transmission."

The U.S. first case of community transmission is a woman in Solano County, California. The county's officials announced earlier in the week that she had been in community and shown symptoms before being admitted into hospital on Feb. 15. The state is trying to find anyone who might have come in contact with her.

Santa Clara County, the center of Silicon Valley, has reported two cases of community spread -- "an older adult woman" and "an adult women" who were in the same household -- were detected to have the virus on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

"Now is the time to prepare for the possibility of widespread community transmission," said the Public Health Department of Santa Clara County in a press release.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also has warned the public of an inevitable outbreak of coronavirus within the United States, and said that the outbreak could lead to a "disruption to everyday life."

"Preparation is key. At this time I think preparation is the right action but no panic," said Albert Wang, a doctor at Palo Alto Medical Foundation in California.

"The community transmission in South Korea, Italy, and probably Iran, has caused concern as some did not have clear path to China as a source," he said, but he advised people not to panic at this time while getting prepared.

At Wang's facility in Silicon Valley, all patients who have a cough or fever will be screened for travel history and contact with travel history. For those who are suspected, they are asked to enter through separate entrance and then taken into a negative pressure room, where a nurse in protective gear will go in to ask questions and take a sample for testing if needed.

"Many patients have expressed concern about coming to a medical facility since there is a higher chance of getting infected. We provide masks for anyone with a cough and try to get them into a room as soon as possible so they're not out in the waiting area long," said Wang.

"There is more than normal number of cancellations for non-urgent patients in the last couple of weeks, perhaps due to fear of the virus," he said.

A lot of shopping lists are circulated on social media for how to survive a pandemic. Many health officials are advising people to stock up on a two-week supply of non-perishable foods, prescription medicine, and sanitary supplies.

At the same time, Karen Eggleston, deputy director of Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford University, stressed the importance of investment in health system.

"A crisis can strain any health system. A crisis underscores what can be forgotten in normal times: the vital social and economic importance of investing in a high-functioning health system," she said.
(Newser)  Two white women allegedly attacked a Boston mom and daughter in part because the victims were speaking Spanish, NBC Boston reports. "My daughter and I were attacked, punched, kicked, and bitten by two white women," says the mother, identified only as Ms. Vasquez, 46. "As they beat us, they yelled 'This is America! Speak English!'" Authorities say the accusedJenny Leigh Ennamorati, 25, and Stephanie Armstrong, 25had been drinking and thought the two were making fun of them. Surveillance video shows a woman crossing an East Boston street on Feb. 15 and shouting at a woman who seems to be Vasquez, per CNN. They break into a fight and other women get involved until police show up and talk to the two groups.

story continues below

Police say each blames the other for starting it, but witnesses appear to side with Vasquez. Ennamorati and Armstrong are also the ones chargedwith two counts each of violating constitutional rights with bodily injury and two counts of assault and battery charges. Ennamorati got an extra charge of assault and battery with dangerous weapon, for using a shod foot. Police say one of the accused did suffer facial lacerations. A lawyer for Vasquez expressed frustration that the attack wasn't "immediately flagged as a hate crime" and said charges were only filed after a news conference was held about the case, per the New York Times. The Suffolk County DA has since slammed the accused for their "outrageous and reprehensible" behavior. No word yet from the alleged assailants. (Read more hate crime stories.)
With Fernandes in their ranks United have every chance of finishing in top four

Chants of 'Bruno' were belted out at Old Trafford as Manchester United cruised into the last-16 of the Europa League on Thursday night.

Bruno Fernandes, the Red Devils' 68million marquee January signing, pulled the strings for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side once more.

Following a long transfer saga between United and Sporting Lisbon plus the hefty price tag, all eyes have been fixed on the Portugal international.

Chants of 'Bruno' were belted out at Old Trafford as he starred in the Europa League victory

Would he be able to live up to the hype? Would he be able to make an instant impact? And ultimately would he be able to help them mount a top-four challenge?

After just five games the answers to all those questions are a resounding yes. The 25-year-old has not disappointed. He has delivered from the moment he entered the side.

Since making his debut in the stalemate against Wolves, Fernandes has created the most chances out of the United squad.

He has produced 10 chances with midfielders Fred, Nemanja Matic and Juan Mata the next best with seven each.

Prior to his arrival United lacked creativity in the middle of the park with a link between midfield and attack noticeably absent.

But in Fernandes, United appear to have found the spark that they have been missing.

The 68m signing pulled the strings for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side once more on Thursday

MOST CHANCES CREATED BY MAN UNITED Bruno Fernandes: 10 Fred, Nemanja Matic, Juan Mata: 7 Luke Shaw: 6 Aaron Wan-Bissaka: 4 Mason Greenwood: 4 Advertisement

He has reignited their season with United unbeaten in his first five games.

As a result the club are within touching distance of the final Champions League spot in the Premier League.

After picking seven points from a possible nine in the top flight in February, Solskjaer's side are breathing down the neck of fourth-placed Chelsea.

Following their worst start in 31 years talk of Europe's elite competition seemed unrealistic.

But with Fernandes in their ranks United have every chance of finishing in the top four.

The Portuguese midfielder scored from the penalty spot in United's 5-0 win over Club Brugge

The Red Devils are averaging close to four more shots per game now with Fernandes in the side.

Solskjaer's side are averaging 18 shots per match when the Portuguese plays compared to 14.7 per match in the 2019-20 campaign without their latest addition.

Fernandes, who has scored from the penalty spot in his last two matches, is quickly emerging as the new star at Old Trafford.

His performance in their 5-0 win over Club Brugge in midweek earned praise from a former United midfield maestro.

In Fernandes, Manchester United appear to have found the spark that they have been missing

BRUNO FERNANDES IMPACT With Bruno: 90 shots in 5 games = 18 per match Before Bruno in 19-20: 560 shots in 38 games = 14.7 per match Appearances: 5 Goals: 2 Assists: 2 Advertisement

'He's brought a lifeless attacking team to life. You wonder where United would be if they'd signed him in the summer,'Paul Scholes told BT Sport.

'He's made a team that wasn't all that watchable at times very watchable.'

And Solskjaer highlighted the strengths of Fernandes earlier this week, he said: 'We have missed that box opener that Bruno is proving to be now.

'There was one or two pieces missing and we still know we miss one or two to be where we want to be, but it's a work in progress.'

United are still in the rebuilding process but the club's fans have reason to be optimistic with the Portuguese in their ranks.

Chants of 'We are top of the league' may be some way off at Old Trafford but Fernandes has hit all the right notes.
By Express News Service

KOLKATA: A group of BJP supporters shouting 'Goli Maro' headed towards Shahid Minar ground where Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressed a rally in Kolkata.



The slogan was raised when the BJP supporters reached Esplanade a few hundred metres from Shahid Minar ground where police were deployed in heavy numbers.

As the news of the slogan spread across the city, opposition parties criticised the police who were present there for not taking any action. The CPM leaders demanded immediate arrest of the culprits.

The BJP has drawn flak since Delhi Assembly elections for use of instigating slogan at the partys meetings and rallies during the poll campaign. Union minister Anurag Thakur was heard egging a crowd to raise the slogan.

The BJP supporters who started marching from party's state headquarters on CR Avenue were initially shouting slogans like Bharat Mata Ki Jai and chanting Jai Shri Ram.

As they reached at Esplanade, where the Left Front and Ultra Left supporters had assembled to protest against Shahs Kolkata visit, the BJP supporters decided changed their slogan.

The police escorted the supporters to the entrance of the rally venue.

CPMs central committee member Sujan Chakrabarty said the state government should identify the BJP supporters and book them under stringent provisions of Indian penal Code.

"Kolkata has never heard such slogan that spreads hatred. We condemn it and demand immediate lawful action against the culprits," he said.
The mother and daughter were speaking Spanish while walking home from dinner in a Boston neighbourhood where more than half of the residents are Latino, and more than half were born in another country.

Suddenly, two women attacked them on the street  punching, kicking and biting them, according to prosecutors and the mother.

The women yelled: This is America! Speak English! according to the mother, who asked to be identified only as Vasquez to protect the identity of her daughter, who is 15, and to prevent her from being harassed.

On Thursday, prosecutors filed felony hate-crime charges against the two women  Jenny Leigh Ennamorati and Stephanie M. Armstrong, both 25 and both of Revere, Mass.  in connection with the Feb. 15 assault in East Boston.

The episode sparked outrage in Boston, a city with a history of racial strife and violence.

There is no place for hatred or bigotry in Suffolk County, said Rachael Rollins, the county district attorney. The sense of entitlement and privilege these defendants must have felt to utter these hateful and racist words, and then to physically attack a mother and her child for laughing and speaking Spanish is outrageous and reprehensible.

Vasquez, 46, said Saturday that she continues to have nightmares about the assault, and that her daughter remains in a neck brace.

This was terrible  terrible, said Vasquez, a South American immigrant who has lived in East Boston for five years. Nobody expects to be walking down the street and attacked.

Ennamorati and Armstrong are scheduled to appear in court March 9 on charges that include two felony counts each of violation of constitutional rights with bodily injury, and two misdemeanour counts each of assault and battery.

There was no answer Saturday at phone numbers listed for either of the women, and it was not immediately clear if they had lawyers.

Prosectors said both women told police they had been drinking. A police report indicated Ennamorati and Armstrong believed Vasquez and her daughter had been making fun of them in Spanish, which they could not understand.

Ennamorati and Armstrong began shouting at the mother and daughter before attacking them, the report states.

A lawyer for Vasquez, Ivan Espinoza-Madrigal, said that law enforcement officials filed charges only after the two of them held a news conference Monday to draw attention to the case.

Espinoza-Madrigal said Vasquez had spoken to police on the night of the attack, but then sought his legal help because she was frustrated with the slow response.

Based on the details outlined in the initial police report that was done at the site of the incident, this should have been immediately flagged as a hate crime, said Espinoza-Madrigal, executive director of Lawyers for Civil Rights, a non-profit based in Boston that fights discrimination on behalf of people of colour and immigrants.

The fact that it wasnt raises serious questions about the process that law enforcement is using to identify hate crimes and resolve them, he continued.

Espinoza-Madrigal said that after the news conference, his office heard from other Latino victims who had experienced racial violence in East Boston, and who said their cases were not being properly investigated by police.

East Bostons foreign-born population has risen to more than 50 per cent over the past several decades, and its Latino population has increased to 58 per cent in 2015 from one per cent in 1970, city data show.

This familys experience was not an isolated event, said Janelle Dempsey, another lawyer from Lawyers for Civil Rights. Acts of racism and xenophobia are alarmingly common in East Boston.

Sgt. Det. John Boyle, a Boston Police spokesman, said Saturday that investigators had responded to the attack on Vasquez and her daughter on the night it happened.

We referred this case to our own civil rights unit, which actively worked the investigation right away, he said.

Boyle added that residents in heavily immigrant neighbourhoods like East Boston should report crimes, regardless of their immigration status. Boston is a sanctuary city that limits the ability of local law enforcement to co-operate in handing over immigrants for deportation to the federal authorities.

If they are undocumented, we will treat them as a victim and nothing else, Boyle said. No one should be afraid to come to the police if they are a victim of a crime.
Joe Biden has declared his campaign resurrected after his decisive win in the South Carolina primary, breathing fresh life into his candidacy after an exceedingly lacklustre start to the nomination season that saw him beaten  badly  in three successive states.

With his win in the Palmetto State, the former vice president has made good on a promise that he could attract voters in the states large African American population, even as his claim to being the most electable candidate took repeated hits in Iowa, then New Hampshire and then Nevada just one week ago.

To all of those of you who have been knocked down, counted out, left behind, this is your campaign, Mr Biden said during an emotional speech in which he at one point wiped a tear away at his campaign's celebration party in Columbia. Just days ago the press and the pundits had declared this candidacy dead. Now, thanks to all of you, the heart of the Democratic Party, we just won and we won big because of you. And we are very much alive.

The former vice president had campaigned in-part on what he and others have described as a long history between himself and the state, and especially the African American community there that still remembers his former boss Barack Obamas presidency fondly.

He now heads on to Super Tuesday, where he will hope to further blunt the momentum gained by Bernie Sanders  who was projected to come in second place in South Carolina  in the first few states to have voted. Signalling that Mr Biden may prove to be the standard bearer for moderate Democrats in that upcoming fight, the former vice president picked up a key endorsement from Terry McAuliffe, the former governor of Virginia who said he plans on hitting the campaign trail over the next few days.

Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures Show all 18 1 /18 Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures Jessica Canicosa, a precinct captain for Bernie Sanders, waits to greet caucus voters at Liberty High School in Henderson, Nevada REUTERS Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures Hotel workers at the Bellagio in Las Vegas get to grips with voting papers during the Nevada caucuses AFP via Getty Images Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures A caricature of Bernie Sanders is projected on to a tree during a rally in Las Vegas EPA Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures A woman waits to have a photo taken with Elizabeth Warren during a town hall meeting in Las Vegas REUTERS Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures The threat of coronavirus and other germ-borne illnesses was on some voters' minds at the Democratic caucuses in Henderson, Nevada Getty Images Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures Former vice-president Joe Biden takes a selfie with a voter in Las Vegas ahead of the Nevada caucuses REUTERS Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures Amy Klobuchar changes her shoes backstage after giving a speech in Exeter, New Hampshire AFP/Getty Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures A warmly-wrapped-up dog attends an Elizabeth Warren event at Amherst Elementary School in Nashua, New Hampshire AFP/Getty Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures Bernie Sanders, who romped to victory in New Hampshire against Hillary Clinton in 2016, talks to the media in Manchester Getty Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures Joe Biden was hoping to improve on his poor showing in Iowa in the New Hampshire primary Reuters Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures Elizabeth Warren, renowned for giving time to supporters for selfies, works the crowd at the University of New Hampshire in Durham Getty Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures Joe Biden takes a selfie with a supporter and his child outside a campaign event in Somersworth, New Hampshire on 5 February Reuters Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders quarrel after a confrontation in a TV debate in which Sanders claimed that Warren was not telling the truth about a conversation in which she claimed he had said a woman could not win the presidency on 14 January AP Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures Supporter Pat Provencher listens to Pete Buttigieg in Laconia, New Hampshire on 4 February Getty Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures Pete Buttigieg speaks at a campaign event in Concord, New Hampshire while awaiting the results of the Iowa caucus Reuters Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures Elizabeth Warren is presented with a balloon effigy of herself at a campaign event in Nashua, New Hampshire on 5 February Reuters Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures A Trump supporter rides past a rally for Amy Klobuchar in Des Moines, Iowa on 14 January AP Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures A man holds up a sign criticising billionaires in the presidential race in front of Michael Bloomberg in Compton, Califronia. The former New York mayor skipped the first caucus in Iowa and instead campaigned in California on 3 February Reuters

Mr Sanders, although he has run a campaign that has outraged and scared the establishment Democratic Party, appears poised for big wins in many of the 14 states that are heading to the polls in just three days.

But on Saturday, he congratulated Mr Biden for his performance in South Carolina.

There are a lot of states in this country and nobody wins them all, Mr Sanders said in Virginia, where he held one of two rallies on Saturday including an event in Massachusetts. I want to congratulate Joe Biden on his victory tonight.

Pete Buttigieg, who won the most delegates in the Iowa caucuses earlier this month, told supporters at a campaign event of his own that he is proud of the votes they earned in South Carolina, and promised to continue fighting in the days ahead.

Running for president is an exercise in hope and humility and we have come down South filled with both, he said. I want to thank the voters of South Carolina, especially black voters who showed the famous Southern hospitality over the last year.

Elizabeth Warren, who has had virtually no success so far in the primary season, told a crowd at a rally in Houston that she was already looking ahead to Super Tuesday, and did not plan on leaving the race anytime soon.

Were looking forward to gaining as many delegates to the convention as we can, she said.

Tom Steyer, who had staked his whole candidacy on the hopes that he would perform well in South Carolina, dropped out shortly after the results came in. Amy Klobuchar and Tulsi Gabbard, both of whom are still running, received less than 5 per cent of the vote in South Carolina, together.

Theres no question today that ... we were disappointed with where we came out, Mr Steyer told supporters as he announced the end of his campaign. But I said if I didnt see a path to winning that I'd suspend my campaign, and honestly I can't see a path where I can win the presidency.

If Mr Biden can now claim momentum heading into those contests, he still remains at a significant disadvantage. Compared to Mr Sanders and Michael Bloomberg  the billionaire former mayor of New York City who has spent a small fortune targeting Super Tuesday states  the former vice president has significantly fewer resources at his disposal, including much weaker finances and a lack of ground game in those states.

We will have to sit down and get serious about how we retool this campaign, said House majority whip Jim Clyburn, a powerful South Carolina democrat who endorsed Mr Biden just before the primary, during a CNN interview before results came in. He added that a win in South Carolina would mean many of us around the country will be able to join with him and help him get it right.

Even so, at least part of the difficulties facing Mr Biden appeared to ease in just the hour after the former vice president was announced the victor in South Carolina. His director of online financing, 48 minutes after the winner was announced, tweeted that the campaign had already had its best hour of fundraising of the entire campaign  an incoming wave of cash that was likely to continue over the next several hours before midnight, which is a campaign finance filing deadline.

As results continued to be compiled, Mr Biden's decisive win in South Carolina drew comparisons for him to past presidential candidates who had come back from long odds to win the nomination, and the presidency. Andrew Yang, a former 2020 candidate who is now a CNN contributor, called him the "comeback kid".

And, during his speech in South Carolina, Mr Biden became emotional and signalled that he would never forget the support he received in the state.

"We'll never forget what you've done for us. We can say without fear of contradiction: the Bidens love you guys," he said.
DECATUR  Police say a 34-year-old woman was arrested after she shot her boyfriend, telling officers she did so after he battered her repeatedly.

A sworn affidavit said Decatur police officers responded to the 1800 block of West U.S. 36 around 12:29 a.m. Thursday on a call about a domestic battery with a gunshot victim.

The man is being treated at a local hospital for a single gunshot wound in his upper right shoulder blade, the affidavit said. It said the bullet was lodged into his rib cage on his right side causing arterial damage that required surgery, but he was expected to recover.

The woman told police that the man grabbed her around the throat while she was driving back to Decatur from Bloomington, where they had dropped off a friend. They made stops at multiple gas stations and a liquor store and the arguing continued, according to the affidavit. She said he punched or backhanded her in the face multiple times.

The man was in the driver's seat after one of the stops and he later pulled over down the road and pulled a firearm out of the driver's side door, police said. He pointed the gun at himself before she lunged for it and got it away from him, she said.

The woman told police that the man pulled her out of the car, kicking her and punching her in the face, pushed her in the snow and bit her chest. At this point, she said, she remembered the gun going off. She did not remember grabbing the gun and was not planning to use it, she told police. She said she immediately called 911.

An officer who examined the woman found bruising on her forehead and neck, but no bite marks on her chest or bruising on her abdomen.

The woman told police that the gun belonged to her and she had purchased it about a year ago. She did have a FOID card, but did not have a conceal-carry permit, according to the affidavit.

The woman is facing preliminary charges for unlawful use of a weapon and aggravated domestic battery. All preliminary charges are subject to review by the state's attorney.

The woman was booked into Macon County Jail with bail set at $25,000. She was released Friday after posting $2,500 bond.

Contact Analisa Trofimuk at (217) 421-7985. Follow her on Twitter: @AnalisaTro

Love 7 Funny 10 Wow 7 Sad 9 Angry 7
We have nothing. We dont have that kind of money they are asking for.

Those were the words of one of the nephews of couple Narine Maraj, 62, and Mattie Maraj, 52, who were kidnapped on Saturday evening after leaving their Madras, St Helena, home to tend to their animals at a family-owned farm in Piarco.
Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden talks with supporters at a campaign event at Wofford University February 28, 2020 in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

Former Vice President Joe Biden on Sunday criticized President Donald Trump's response to the coronavirus outbreak here in the U.S., accusing the administration of being largely unprepared.

"We knew this was coming ... back as far as January," the current Democratic presidential hopeful said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union." "They didn't even begin to prepare the testing kits. ... That is kind of elementary."

Biden accused the Trump administration of eliminating an office in the White House to deal with future outbreaks of pandemic diseases, which he said was set up during the Ebola crisis in West Africa from 2014 to 2016.

The top White House official in charge of responding to pandemic diseases, Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer, left the Trump administration in 2018 and his team was disbanded in a shake up of the National Security Council under John Bolton, according to The Washington Post. Vice President Mike Pence has been tasked with overseeing the Trump administration's response to the coronavirus.

"The fact is, other nations have had thousands of test so far," Biden said on CNN. "What are we doing? Why are we just getting started?"

"The idea that this is not a pandemic ... is absolutely bizarre," the former vice president said.

A representative from the White House didn't immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.

Earlier Sunday morning, also appearing on "State of the Union," current Vice President Mike Pence said more than 15,000 coronavirus testing kits are in the mail, en route to health professional. He said another 50,000 had been ordered.

Biden over the weekend won the 2020 South Carolina Democratic primary, a needed boost for a once-promising presidential campaign. He had previously stumbled in early nominating contests  with fourth, fifth and second place finishes in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, respectively.
Nick Paumgarten in The New Yorker:

In mountain towns, an early-autumn snowstorm is a nuisance and a lure. It runs some people out of the high country but draws others in. During the first week of October, 2017, a foot or more of snow fell in the peaks south of Bozeman, Montana. Before dawn on the fifth, a group set off from a parking lot in Hyalite Canyon, a popular outdoor playground, just outside town. The man at the head of the group was spooked by the new snow. To minimize exposure to avalanches, he made sure that everyone ascended with caution, keeping to the ridgelines and bare patches, away from the loaded gullies. This was Conrad Anker, the famous American alpinist. It is often said that there are old climbers and there are bold climbers, but there are no old bold climbers. So far, Anker, at fifty-four, was an exception.

There was nothing intrepid, really, about this particular outing. It was basically a hike up a minor mountain formerly known as Peak 10031 (for its unremarkable altitude of 10,031 feet), which had been rechristened in 2005 in honor of the late climber and Bozeman idol Alex Lowe. The group was headed to Alex Lowe Peak to spread Alex Lowes ashes. Anker recognized that it would be cosmically stupid to kick off an avalanche on the way.

More here.
Director of the Centre for Natural Resources and Environmental Studies Trinh Le Nguyen talks on Vietnams efforts to eliminate the wildlife trade

Wild animals seized by authorised agencies.

Can you tell us about the trading of animals listed in the Red Book in Viet Nam?

According to the latest data released by the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in 2019, in the last 15 years, some 105.71 tonnes of elephant ivory (from some 15,779 elephants), 1.69 tonnes of rhino horns (from about 619 rhinos), skins and bones from at least 228 tigers and remnants of more than 65,000 dead pangolins were seized in smuggling cases in Viet Nam or related to Viet Nam.

According to a report from the Wildlife Conservation Society  Viet Nam Programme, in the five-year period from January 2013 to December 2017, some 1,500 violation cases of the Law on Wildlife Protection were recorded and almost 1,500 smugglers brought to court.

In the current outbreak of SARS-COV-2, Vietnamese agencies have called on all concerned local agencies to step up their inspection visits and control the smuggling and consumption of wildlife meat to prevent an outbreak.

However, in Viet Nam, the trade of wildlife, including animals listed in the Red Book, has been reported in many localities nationwide. Adding to that, quite a few animal farms have raised wild animals for trading.

What are the reasons behind the trading of animals in the 'Red Book' in some parts of Viet Nam, leading to the existence of illegal wildlife markets like the Thanh Hoa market in the southern province of Long An?

Local authorities should be blamed for that, particularly the lack of responsibilities, supervision and inspection.

Apart from forest rangers, we also have environmental police, market watch forces and other authorised agencies being in charge of handling wildlife trade. Legal documents and guidance were issued quite fully. Therefore, law adoption is a basic factor to ensure effective handling of the problem.

What are solutions to deal with the wildlife trade?

In an open letter sent recently to Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc which was signed by 14 natural conservation organisations, we asked the Vietnamese Government to issue specific measures to close illegal markets and sanction anyone who breached Vietnamese Law.

The Government should ask local authorities and authorised agencies to fully perform their tasks and obligations and they have to take the highest responsibility in case of any wildlife trade happening within their locality.

Strict punishment should be applied for those who helped to cover up the wildlife trade.

Authorised agencies should review the policy to allow the raising of wild animals and regularly inspect wild animal raising establishments to ensure they meet requirements. Particularly, those establishments found to abuse this policy to join smuggling of wildlife must be closed and strictly punished.

The letter has also urged Vietnamese agencies to take strong actions to close Thanh Hoa market.

It is also necessary to foster coordination and cooperation among authorised agencies to improve the efficiency of activities aimed at protecting wild animals.

How do non-profit organisations work with Vietnamese agencies to protect animals listed in the Red Book?

Viet Nam has worked closely with international organisations to develop new policies to protect and conserve wild animals from the danger of extinction.

Together with Vietnamese and international non-governmental organisations, well work with the Government to conduct our own supervision activities while working side by side with international NGOs to put a stop to the illegal trading and consumption of wide animal products in Viet Nam.  VNS

Coronavirus: The race to find the source in wildlife From animals to humans, how did the deadly coronavirus make the leap? We look at the scientific evidence.
Up to 1,100 British troops in Afghanistan could be home in just over a year after the US-Taliban peace deal.

The deal was signed on Saturday in the Qatari capital Doha by U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban political chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was on hand to witness the ceremony.

Under the agreement, the U.S. will begin withdrawing thousands of troops in exchange for Taliban commitments to prevent Afghanistan from being a launchpad for terrorist attacks.

If the Taliban meet their commitments, all U.S. troops would leave in 14 months, with the first cut from 13,000 to 8,600 soldiers coming in mid-June.

US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar sign the US-Taliban peace agreement during a ceremony in the Qatari capital Doha on Saturday

British soldiers search in the snow the scene of a suicide bomb attack against British soldiers on January 28, 2004 in Kabul, Afganistan

There are still more than 16,500 soldiers serving under the NATO banner currently. Germany has the next largest contingent after the US, with 1,300 troops, followed by Britain with 1,100.

It is understood that the first British withdrawals will take place at the same time in mid-June.

The remaining troops leaving the region would be dependent on the Taliban keeping up their end of the brokered deal, as reported by the Daily Telegraph.

Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary said: 'We should never forget that much of this has been achieved through sacrifices made by the brave men and women of the UK armed forces.

'I know how proud they are to have played their part, and the depth of the bonds that many of them have forged with the people of Afghanistan during their many tours over the last 18 years.'

President George W. Bush ordered the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Qatar's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani attend the signing of a US-Taliban agreement in the Qatari capital Doha on Saturday

Fighting group: This was the Taliban shortly before the 9/11 attacks. The group seized power and became the Afghan government by 1996, before the US led invasion which toppled them in the wake of the atrocities which hit the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and United Flight 93

British troops have be a part of the campaign since the beginning and more than 450 were killed.

It only took a few months to topple the Taliban and send Osama bin Laden and top al-Qaida militants scrambling across the border into Pakistan.

But the war dragged on for years as the United States tried establish a stable, functioning state in one of the least developed countries in the world.

In all, 38 NATO countries are contributing forces to Afghanistan. The alliance officially concluded its combat mission in 2014 and now provides training and support to Afghan forces.
As Nigeria heightens preparedness and response to Covid-19 (Coronavirus), the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has assured that measures have been put in place by the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) to halt the spread of the virus particularly to barracks and military communities.

This is just as Nigeria recorded its first confirmed case of Coronavirus in Lagos. The index case is an Italian businessman who arrived in Nigeria from Milan, Italy on February 25 and was confirmed at the Virology Laboratory of Lagos University Teaching Hospital on February 27, 2020.

The Director of Defence Information (DDI), Onyema Nwachukwu, on Saturday told PRNigeria that medical services of the AFN are on alert and are daily monitoring patients who report sick in any of the medical facilities for detection of any probable carrier, in addition to awareness campaigns.

Just as we are already doing to prevent outbreak of Lassa fever in barracks communities, the Armed Forces of Nigeria has since commenced vigorous sensitization and awareness campaign in military cantonments and barracks to enlighten personnel and their families on preventive sanitary and hygienic measures to halt the spread of coronavirus.

Hand sanitizers are already being installed for use by guests as well as personnel in office complexes, Nwachukwu said.

Meanwhile, Nigerias Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, has assured all Nigerians that the country has the capacity to respond to the disease and called for calm.

Mr Ehanire explained that the inability to detect the Italian citizen at the port of entry was not due to the failure of screening but because the virus was still at the incubation stage when he arrived.

The minister said there will be no travel restrictions whether on Nigerians going out or foreigners coming into the country.

He confirmed that the government was tracing all the people who made contact with the Italian, who is currently being treated in a Lagos hospital.

He said the Italian patient has already been isolated and is stable.

Also, the Nigeria Centre for Disease (NCDC) on Saturday issued a new advisory. According to the fourth advisory, travellers to Nigeria without symptoms on departure but become unwell in transit are advised to self-report to the Port Health Services on arrival, while travellers from countries with ongoing local transmission, but who show no symptoms on arrival should self-isolate at home for 14 days after arrival.

Travellers from countries with ongoing local transmission who feel ill with fever, cough or difficulty breathing within 14 days of arrival in Nigeria, are advised to observe self-isolation immediately by staying indoors, avoiding self-medication and contact with People or Call the NCDC 24/7 toll-free line immediately on 080097000010.

Travellers from Nigeria to China and other affected countries are advised to avoid contact with sick people.

The NCDC strongly advised that all non-essential travel to countries with ongoing local transmission be postponed until the outbreak is contained.

The NCDC stated that the current situation in the country does not warrant a shutdown of daily activities, adding that additional measures may be instituted if the transmission is sustained in Nigeria.

But, businesses and schools are however advised to circulate NCDCs public health advisory and related materials on COVID-19 to all employees, clients, visitors, staff, students and parents; Encourage sick employees and students to stay at home; Ensure routine cleaning of high contact areas such as toilets, door handles, and telephones amongst others as well as provide facilities and emphasise the importance of hand washing.

All health workers are advised to maintain a high index of suspicion for COVID-19 and all health officials are advised to call 07032864444 for sample transportation and related advice if a case that fits the national case definition is identified.

To reduce the risk of spread of COVID-19, members of the public are again advised to adhere to the following measures:

Wash your hands frequently with soap under running water or use alcohol-based sanitizer if water is not available

Cover your mouth and nose properly with a tissue paper when sneezing and/or coughing. Dispose of the tissue properly immediately after use. You may also cough into your elbow if a tissue is not available.

Avoid close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing.

Healthcare workers are always advised to observe standard infection prevention and control measures when attending to patients and take a travel history.

The NCDC said screening has already been heightened at Port health services in Nigeria.

Advertisements


A 29-year-old man died and nine others were injured after they were attacked by unidentified people in a busy market in Meghalayas Shillong on Saturday, according to police.

This was the second death after a Khasi man was killed on Friday in a clash during a rally in Ichamati village of East Khasi Hills district. The rally was held to oppose the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and seek the implementation of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) regime in the state.

Assistant inspector general of police (A) Gabriel K Iangrai said Rupchand Dewan succumbed to his injuries on the way to the hospital.

Dewan was a resident of Laban Jumma Compound in Hari Sabha and originally belonged to Bhela Nawgoan village under Borpeta district of Assam.

The police said the victims, mostly non-tribals, were shifted to the Shillong civil hospital for treatment.

The other victims have been identified as Akash Ali (21) of Laban Batti Bazaar, Ajay Kuri (39) of Mawbah in Barapathar, Rikesh Das (60) of Kenchs Trace, Satya Madak (36) of Mawprem, Deepak Kumar (17) of Barapathar, Pradeep Kuri (21) of Barapathar, Aman Kumar Shah (18) of Garikhana, Jadur Choudhury (50) and Shubham Nath (18) of Lower Mawprem, Bishop Falls.

Iangrai said Akash Ali was assaulted by a group of people at Jaiaw in Langsning at around 11am while Shubham Nath was stabbed on his left shoulder and brought to the civil hospital with a deep wound at around 3.15pm.

Iangrai said another non-tribal was also assaulted at Iew Sohra market in Cherrapunjee and was taken to Sohra Community Health Centre for treatment. The person, who received grievous injuries on his head, was later referred to Shillong civil hospital for further treatment, he said.

A curfew was imposed in the areas under Lumdiengjri and Sadar police stations from 12pm while the remaining parts of the capital Shillong and its agglomerate were already under curfew from 9pm on Saturday to 8am on Sunday.

Eight people have been arrested in connection with the death of Lurshai Hynniewta on Friday based on the first information report (FIR) lodged by the Khasi Students Union (KSU) in Shella police station in East Khasi Hills district, a senior police officer said.

An investigation into the violence is also underway, the officer added.

The arrested have been identified as Sushan Das (46), Ranjit Baidya (30), Bajit Baidya (30), Kanal Baidya (51), Sajol Das (38), Joy Sharma (41), Indormohan Sharma (34) and Rajesh Sharma (25).

Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, after reviewing the law and order situation on Saturday, announced the victims families will be given an ex-gratia.

The government has decided to give an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased and I would like to express our solidarity and support with the people especially the family members of the deceased, Sangma said.

Lauding East Khasi Hills police for the prompt response to the situation since Friday, Sangma said the overall situation has improved while admitting that tension still prevailed in some pockets.

Curfew has been imposed in some parts of the city and suspension of mobile internet will continue, the chief minister said adding that a magisterial inquiry has been ordered into the incident at Inchamati, the report of which will be submitted shortly.

He appealed to all citizens and social organisations to refrain from any kind of violence to ensure that peace and tranquillity is restored at the earliest.

Assuring that the government will augment manpower of the administration in Sohra civil sub-division, the CM said additional central forces have been sought to enable the state to ensure that law and order is maintained.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
KYODO NEWS - Mar 1, 2020 - 21:01 | World, All, Coronavirus

(Officials disinfect subway trains to prevent the spread of the new type of coronavirus in Tehran on February 26, 2020)[Anadolu Agency/Getty/Kyodo]

TEHRAN - Iran's health authorities on Sunday said the country's death toll from the new coronavirus has risen by 11 from the previous day to 54, with the nationwide tally of confirmed infections at 978.

Of the 385 newly confirmed cases, 170 were reported in the capital Tehran and 30 in the central city of Qom.

Although the Health Ministry has called on Iranians to refrain from nonessential travel in the country, a ministry spokesman on Sunday called for avoiding unnecessary movement even in Tehran.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, March 1, 2020 17:35 680 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2067977f0 1 Politics Maruf-Amin,Vice-President-Maruf-Amin,MUI,clerics,ulemas,vice-president,president Free

Vice President Maruf Amin, who is also a non-active chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), wants his successors to reach even greater political heights than he has.

Going forward, I hope the [next] MUI chairperson will become president, not just the vice president, Maruf said during his speech at the International Islamic Health Conference and Expo in Central Jakarta on Saturday as quoted by kompas.com.

Maruf, who has retained his leadership within the MUI since taking office as vice president last year, went on to say that he was honored for having been trusted with such great responsibilities while still maintaining his affiliation with the council.

Alhamdulillah [thank God], an MUI chairman was elected vice president."

The senior cleric previously said he would retain his chairmanship until after the councils national meeting later this year.

The decision was made after a meeting with the organizations leaders on Oct. 11-13 of last year in West Nusa Tenggara. During the meeting, Maruf said, it was unanimously agreed that he should stay on as chairman, albeit inactive.

They agreed to keep my chairman position. However, due to my duties as the vice president, I will be inactive for a while, Maruf said late last year, adding that he would perform his duty as MUI chairman until the council elected new leaders this year. (rfa)
Trump sends Pompeo to attend signing of U.S.-Taliban deal

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 11:06, February 29, 2020

WASHINGTON, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will attend the signing of U.S.-Taliban agreement, which could be one step forward to ultimate U.S. troops withdrawal and lasting peace in Afghanistan.

The United States and Afghan Taliban are expected to sign a deal in the Qatari capital city of Doha on Saturday, which reportedly includes a timeline for a conditions-based and phased U.S. forces withdrawal, the commencement of intra-Afghan negotiations and the Taliban's commitment not to assist terrorists.

"If the Taliban and the government of Afghanistan live up to these commitments, we will have a powerful path forward to end the war in Afghanistan and bring our troops home," Trump said in a statement released by the White House on Friday afternoon.

Apart from announcing Pompeo's presence at the signing ceremony, Trump also revealed that U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper will issue a joint declaration with the government of Afghanistan, without any elaboration on details.

Trump urged the Afghan people to "seize this opportunity for peace and a new future" for their country, saying that "ultimately it will be up to the people of Afghanistan to work out their future."

Trump has long grumbled about the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan, calling it "ridiculous."

Under the deal, the 12,000-13,000 U.S. troops currently serving in Afghanistan are reportedly slated to draw down to 8,600 within 135 days, while the ultimate exit of all U.S. forces is still to be decided.

For its part, the Taliban should stop assisting al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups, reduce violence and reach a political settlement with the Afghan government and other Afghans that would end the war.

Washington announced last week that a deal with Taliban is expected to be inked on Feb. 29 on the condition of successful week-long reduction of violence in Afghanistan starting from Feb. 22.

Peace talks between Washington and the Taliban began in 2018 but were suspended late last year following Taliban attacks on U.S. military personnel.

The war in Afghanistan is the longest one in U.S. history. The death toll of U.S. service members has surpassed 2,400 since America invaded Afghanistan in 2001.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






10.2k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

The Biden campaign reported that they raised $5 million in the 24 hours after his win in South Carolina.

Biden said on CNNs State Of The Union, Weve raised about $17, $18 million this month  $5 million just since the victory or during the victory in South Carolina so were feeling good, but its a long way to go, Jake.

Video:

The former vice presidents haul is the biggest single day of fundraising by any Democratic candidate in this cycle. The Bernie Sanders campaign reported that they raised an eye-popping $46 million in February.

The Sanders campaign said in a statement provided to PoliticusUSA, Sen. Bernie Sanders presidential campaign on Sunday announced it raised $46.5 million in February from more than 2.2 million donations, including contributions from more than 350,000 people who donated to the campaign for the first time. The campaign also announced that it will make television ad buys in nine states with primary contests on March 10th and March 17th.

Sen. Sanders has shown in two cycles that he has been able to raise huge sums of money, so his number is not surprising.

Winning does cure everything. If Biden wins some more states on Super Tuesday, his fundraising will continue to grow.

One senses a shift among non-Sanders Democratic voters, as they are rallying behind the candidate that they think can beat Trump, keep the House, and flip the Senate.

Joe Biden appears to have found the right message, as the stage is being set for a primary that likely wont be settled until the Democratic convention.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

Follow Jason Easley on Facebook
JERUSALEM - Israelis head to the polls for the third time in less than a year on Monday, after the two previous parliamentary races ended inconclusively.

Twenty-nine parties are running, but no more than eight are likely to break the 3.25% electoral threshold needed to enter the Knesset, Israels parliament.

No party has ever won an absolute majority in the 120-seat Knesset. Typically, larger parties have to make alliances with smaller groups to create a governing coalition with a majority in parliament. After the election, the president will tap a party leader to try to form a coalition government.

Mondays election was triggered after neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor his chief challenger Benny Gantz succeeded in building a coalition after Septembers vote, leading the Knesset to dissolve itself and hold new elections.

Heres a look at the main parties and blocs:

LONG-RULING LIKUD

The conservative Likud party has dominated Israeli politics for much of the past 40 years, with Netanyahu as prime minister for the past decade.

Its election campaign has focused heavily on Netanyahus leadership and close relationships with world leaders, most importantly President Donald Trump. Since the White House unveiled its Mideast plan last month, Netanyahu has made the proposal a key plank in his platform.

Netanyahu has traditionally allied himself with Israels ultra-Orthodox and religious nationalist parties to form governing coalitions. To garner support from the nationalist right, Netanyahu has promised to take steps toward annexing areas of the West Bank if re-elected.

The prime minister will go to trial two weeks after the elections for his indictment in three corruption cases. He has denied wrongdoing. Netanyahus legal woes dont appear to have affected Likuds polling numbers.

___

STUCK IN THE MIDDLE

Gantzs centrist Blue and White party won a seat more than Likud in September and remains poised to challenge for that title again on Monday.

The partys leaders  which include the former army commander Gantz, an ex-TV host and two other retired military chiefs  have focused their campaign on Netanyahus legal woes and questioned his character.

The party shares similar views to the Likud when it comes to a tough stance against Iran and Palestinian militant groups, but is more open to negotiations over Palestinian statehood. It breaks from Likud more dramatically when it comes to matters of the rule of law. Blue and White calls for a national unity government with Likud, but only if it rids itself of its longtime leader because of the corruption charges against him.

Even if Blue and White bests its long-ruling opponent, it will have a difficult time patching together an alternative governing coalition due to divisions among the anti-Netanyahu forces and the partys reluctance to co-operate with the Arab-led parties in the Knesset.

___

THE RELIGIOUS NATIONALISTS

Israels religious-nationalist factions, who count among Netanyahus stalwart allies, are running on a single list once again. Drawing much of their support from the countrys settlers, Yamina has vowed to back the prime minister in his bid for re-election and has pushed for annexation of West Bank settlements.

Even further to the right, Jewish Power, a small ultranationalist party, is not projected to garner enough support to enter the Knesset, but has earned significant attention. It could strip votes away from Likud and Yamina.

Jewish Powers leaders are political heirs of the late rabbi Meir Kahane, who advocated the expulsion of Palestinians and a Jewish theocracy.

Kahanes Kach party was banned from parliament for racism in the 1980s, and the U.S. has classified his Jewish Defence League a terrorist group. Kahane was assassinated in New York by an Egyptian-American assailant in 1990.

___

THE ULTRA-ORTHODOX

Shas and United Torah Judaism are the two parties that represent Israels ever-growing ultra-Orthodox Jewish community. The parties enjoy near uniform support of their community and advocate for policies that cater to their insular lifestyle focused on prayer and study. Theyve been staunch supporters of Netanyahu.

___

A REUNITED LEFT

The venerable Labor Party dominated Israeli politics in its early decades. But it had a historically bad year in 2019, winning just six seats in each of the two previous elections.

Under its veteran leader Amir Peretz, Labor united with the smaller, centrist Gesher party in the run-up to Septembers vote. After new elections were called, Labor-Gesher then merged with the liberal Meretz party in a bid to build a larger left-wing bloc.

Both parties have said they will not join a Netanyahu-led government.

___

REUNITED ARABS

Israels Arab parties, which represent the countrys 20% minority, are running on a single Joint List ticket after the feuding factions mended fences last summer and surged to 13 seats in parliament. This was largely thanks to higher turnout among Arab voters.

The Arab parties have never joined an Israeli government, but Likud has sought to play on Israeli conservative fears they might. Likud leaders have repeatedly claimed Gantz would form a government supported by the Joint List.

The Joint List is politically diverse, ranging from Communists to Islamists, and has sought broader support from Jewish voters with ads in Hebrew, Russian and Yiddish.

A substantial Arab turnout could hurt Netanyahus hopes for another term.

____

KINGMAKER

Netanyahus nemesis, Avigdor Lieberman, holds considerable power after his Yisrael Beitenu thwarted the formation of a Likud-led government in April and blocked either contender from building a coalition in September. For the third time in a year, he is the kingmaker.

Polls forecast that the secular ultranationalist party, largely supported by Liebermans fellow immigrants from the former Soviet Union, is likely to hold onto enough seats to tip the balance.

If he compromises on his campaign promise to bring secular reforms to Israel, he could join a coalition with Netanyahu and the ultra-Orthodox. If he compromises on his opposition to a government supported by Arab parties, he could make a centre-left government headed by Gantz.

If polls are accurate, it could be difficult for Netanyahu or Gantz to secure a parliamentary majority without Liebermans support.
PHILIPSBURG: --- EOC was activated by the Government of St. Maarten since the two persons that are currently hospitalized at the Louis Constant Fleming Hospital (LCF) and tested positive for the COVID-19 were on the Dutch side of the island.

Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs said at a press conference on Sunday that the two passengers arrived on the island on February 21st, 2020 and were in transit to St. Barthelemy. She said that the two persons do not show any symptoms but were flagged because of where they departed from.

Prime Minister Jacobs said that at the time these passengers entered St. Maarten the list was not upgraded, however, this week she said the list has been upgraded and the two patients will remain hospitalized at the Louis Constant Fleming Hospital for the next 14 days. She stressed that the patients are of no threat to the island.

Jacobs said there are no confirmed cases on the Dutch side of the island, however, the government has heightened their surveillance since St. Maarten is an open hub and they must remain vigilant.

The Prime Minister said St. Maarten has increased their surveillance and travel restrictions which have been extended to the United States and the Caribbean. Security has been heightened at all ports of entry including at the Harbor.

A letter will be sent to all schools to encourage schools must implement the protocol while pamphlets will also be given out.

For more on the press conference listen to the audio below.

RESPONSE TO CONFIRMED CASES OF COVID-19 ON FRENCH SAINT MARTIN

Population reminded to step-up with handwashing and cough/sneeze etiquettes

GREAT BAY, Sint Maarten (DCOMM)  The Prime Minister Hon. Silveria Jacobs on Sunday morning activated the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in connection with two confirmed cases of the coronavirus COVID-19 on French Saint Martin. These persons are currently in isolation at the Hospital on the French side and will remain there for 14-days according to the Prefecture.

The EOC chaired by the Prime Minister has been activated to continue with the preparedness, response and mitigation measures that need to be taken in connection with the coronavirus COVID-19 and will continue to function on a heightened level of awareness. There are zero cases of suspected or confirmed COVID-19 on Dutch Sint Maarten at this time. Our screening processes at our ports of entry have been stepped up in cooperation with the airlines who are also following their own screening protocols based on World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations.

There is no reason to panic; stay calm and take preventative hygiene measures at home, on the job, in school that have been promoted by the Ministry of Public Health for the past several weeks via the Governments Department of Communication. School boards have been requested to increase hygienic measures at schools and to maintain these at a high level; front line staff of businesses across the business community  customer service reps  as well as all other staff members are also requested to follow preventative measures on a daily basis.

The Dutch side has been working closely with French-side counterparts prior to the confirmed cases and will continue to work together in the coming days, weeks and months ahead.

The public health of the people and visitors to Sint Maarten is a top priority of the Government and the latter remains fully engaged on the issue of infection prevention and control of COVID-19 to ensure the health and safety of the people of Sint Maarten.

The various Government ministries of Sint Maarten, such as the Ministry of Justice, Public Health, and Tourism along with key stakeholders such as the ports of entry have protocols in place to deal with any probable cases of COVID-19.

The Princess Juliana International Airport implemented its infectious disease protocols with respect to the two French nationals who were isolated and examined at the airport prior to being transported to the French side hospital for further medical examination.

Protocols and Guidelines:

The Government of Sint Maarten and its respective ministries, especially Public Health, is working closely with the Netherlands National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) who will be the key organization to handle any testing requirements should they come up regarding a suspected case.

The Netherlands has a number of cases of COVID-19, and the Government of Sint Maarten understands what measures are being taken by its Kingdom partner to contain the virus. All Kingdom partners are working under the same international guidelines as provided by the WHO.

The St. Maarten Medical Center has a capacity to handle four COVID-19 cases, and should there be more than that, the Government of Sint Maarten has already reached out to its international and Kingdom partners for capacity and resource assistance should that be necessary.

The Government of Sint Maarten is in contact with the United Nations (UN) Disaster Assistance & Coordination organization as well as with other UN associated disaster agencies in preparing its stepped-up approach and response to protect the public health of Sint Maarteners and visitors.

Ministry VSA continues to make national and response preparations that are in line with International Health Regulations (IHR) and local health sector regulations (Public Health Ordinance of Sint Maarten).

As part of CPSs increased surveillance activities (Infection prevention and Control, public health stakeholders and other entities, have been trained in the use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) when they have to deal with a suspected case of COVID-19.

The Ministry of Public Health continues to follow guidance from its regional and international partners concerning COVID-19 such as the Pan American Health Organization and the World Health Organization.

Protocols at ports of entry entails that based on health information provided of passengers, if necessary, the person or persons will be isolated, and these protocols will continue to be followed by ports of entry. Airlines and cruise line companies for example have their own screening protocols to follow as a first line of screening whether a passenger would allowed to board a flight or cruise ship; the Sint Maarten Immigration and Border Control also has its own screening protocol at ports of entry and in collaboration with Public Health, have already been active. Local officials can request additional information of passengers such as travel history in order to determine if they have traveled to countries or regions where COVID-19 clusters exist.

Public Preventative Measures:

The Collective Prevention Services (CPS), reminds the general population that they should step-up handwashing and cough/sneeze etiquettes in order to prevent getting the coronavirus COVID-19.

CPSs influenza-prevention guidance is to practice daily proper handwashing with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, or using alcohol-based hand rub; and cough/sneeze etiquettes (cover your mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing); and throw away your tissues in the garbage bin; avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.

The virus spreads from an infected person to others through the air by droplets (secretion) as a result of coughing and/or sneezing, or by direct contact with the virus on hard surfaces or peoples hands that have the viruses on them then touching the mouth, nose or eyes.

Avoid close contact with people who are sick. Avoid sharing cups and eating utensils with others who have flu-like symptoms and stay at home when your sick.

It is very important for parents with children to teach them proper hand hygiene, cough and sneeze etiquette; persons with compromising health conditions as well as the elderly need to follow the aforementioned recommendations as well.

Persons with flu-like symptoms (e.g. cough, fever, tiredness) should call their family physician or the ambulance service and explain what symptoms they have and follow the instructions of the family physician/ambulance staff you will advise you on what steps you should take.

For more information, you can call the following emergency numbers of the Collective Prevention Service: 520-4523, 520-1348 or 520-5283.

FOLLOW-UP:

Listen to the Government Radio station  107.9FM - for official information, statements and news updates or visit the Government website: www.sintmaartengov.org/coronavirus or and Facebook Page: Facebook.com/SXMGOV
On a conference call with campaign donors on Sunday evening, Mr. Buttigieg said he had reached the decision with regret but concluded it was the right thing to do, when we looked at the math, according to one person on the call. Without mentioning opponents by name, Mr. Buttigieg said he was concerned about the impact he would have on the race by staying in, saying Democrats needed to field the right kind of nominee against Mr. Trump.

Mr. Buttigieg talked with Mr. Biden and former President Barack Obama on Sunday night, according to a Democratic official familiar with the conversations. Mr. Biden asked for Mr. Buttigiegs support and the former mayor indicated he would consider the request. Mr. Buttigieg wants to sleep on the decision, he told aides, some of whom believe he should move quickly to endorse Mr. Biden.

Mr. Obama did not specifically encourage Mr. Buttigieg to endorse Mr. Biden, said the official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss private conversations. But Mr. Obama did note that Mr. Buttigieg has considerable leverage at the moment and should think about how best to use it. Should Mr. Buttigieg endorse Mr. Biden on Monday, it could reshape the Democratic primary if many of his supporters shift to Mr. Biden, creating a more formidable centrist challenge to Mr. Sanderss progressive movement.

In his remarks, Mr. Buttigieg directed criticism toward Mr. Sanders, without naming him, that he has previously made on the debate stage and on the campaign trail.
GILBERT, Ariz.  Martha McSally, former fighter pilot, was in the midst of launching an attack on Mark Kelly, former astronaut, when she paused to check the countdown clock on her smartphone.

258 days to Election Day.

The Arizona Republican senator finished the attack: Kelly will spend those 258 days, she argued, trying to pretend hes not a Democrat to win over the states voters.

McSally lost a blistering Senate race two years ago, but was appointed to the state's other Senate seat weeks later. Now she's back on the ballot for round 2  defending her seat against a more imposing opponent in Kelly, with his sterling resume, massive fundraising and popular wife, Gabby Giffords.

As McSally dashed between a tightly-packed schedule of events on a recent morning here  hours later, she would appear on stage at a rally with the commander in chief, soaking in the praise of the president and his supporters  her 2020 strategy was clear: run side-by-side with Trump, and turn Mark Kelly the astronaut into Mark Kelly the socialist.

Its a tough sell. Kelly has no history in elected politics, no past votes to attack and a biography that has made him a sought-after Democratic recruit for years. But the fight might decide which party controls the Senate.

Thats whats at stake here, McSally said, leaning over from the front passenger seat of her staffers car to emphasize her point to a reporter in the back. Its not whether you like him. Its not whether you think its cool he was an astronaut, or I was a fighter pilot. Its about what direction you want the country to go.

As for that countdown clock: McSally checked it daily during her 2018 race against Kyrsten Sinema  and she resumed the habit last year when her campaign ramped up. McSally, who made history as the militarys first female fighter pilot to fly in combat, said she approaches the campaign "like these could be the last two years of my life" and would "never pull back from the afterburner."

Story continues

This race, in a state Democrats think could be on the cusp of turning blue, is an expensive clash of heavyweight political biographies: McSally is a retired Air Force colonel. Kelly is a Navy veteran who flew four missions to space, commanded the space shuttle  then quit to return to Arizona to care for Giffords, who was seriously wounded in a 2011 assassination attempt.

McSally raised more money than every other Republican senator last year, topping Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and well-known stalwarts like John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). But Kelly raised more than any senator or candidate of either party  $20.2 million  and had the biggest war chest entering 2020 of anyone on the ballot this year across the country.

McSally is relying on a resurgence of Arizonas red tilt, making a hard play for the GOP base by aligning with Trump, who won here by 3.5 percentage points in 2016. She argues the left was pretty on fire in 2018, while rural Trump voters didnt turn out to the degree they will this year  though the GOP governor who would later appoint her to the Senate, Doug Ducey, won reelection while Sinema peeled away crossover votes.

This year, McSally has taken a two-pronged approach: She's talking more about her past to improve her image compared to 2018, while also running a knock-down, drag-out campaign against Kelly. Her launch video released this month featured emotional testimonials from Arizona voters as she talked about her personal background, including her fathers death when she was 12 and surviving sexual assault when she was in the military. That same week, she launched her first TV ads bashing Kelly for supporting impeachment and tying him to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

Were trying to win back over suburban, college-educated women. Im a suburban, college-educated woman. Thats my demographic, McSally said. I broke barriers to pave the way for opportunities for them and their daughters.

As for the attacks?

Structurally, theres people who love the president here. Theres some people who like his policies, maybe dont like his demeanor, she said. Theres people who maybe took a protest vote against him in 2018, on me. But theyre not for socialism.

McSally is no stranger to tough races: She lost a House race in 2012 by 2,454 votes, then won a rematch in 2014 by only 167 votes. She blew out her opponent in 2016 before leaving for the Senate race after the Republican incumbent, Jeff Flake, decided not to seek a second term after criticizing Trump.

Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), who served with McSally in the House and now in the Senate, called her tenacious as all get out.

Wed all love to draw a weak opponent, or none, if we can. But in Marthas case, shes never had that luxury, Cramer said.

McSally is specifically working to improve her coverage in Maricopa County, the vast expanse that includes Phoenix and the majority of the states voters, which she lost in 2018. Shes started stacking events to spend entire days in one part of the county to avoid wasting time traversing myriad highways.

Sen. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., joins her staff after delivering her first major speech on the Senate floor, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, July 30, 2019. McSally is a former Air Force colonel who flew combat missions in Iraq and Kuwait.

In Gilbert, a town of more than 200,000 people outside Phoenix, McSally sat down to talk local issues with the mayor outside a bustling coffee shop in the mild winter warmth before taking a walking tour of the small downtown, hitting up a few local spots to hand out pins for the towns centennial. She talked with constituents and took pictures  including with one woman who asked about Trumps rally and told her, please more of them, in reference to the attack ads against Kelly.

She also toured a local Bishops Storehouse run by the Mormon church and gave an update on her work in Washington, including talking about the seven bills she sponsored that were signed into law  shes tied with Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) for most among senators, according to GovTrack. She then squeezed in a roundtable with female small business owners at the local chamber of commerce, all jammed into five hours before she jetted across town to speak at Trumps rally.

There, she bashed Kelly, telling the crowd he was flying on Bernie Sanders wing, and Im flying on your wing, President Trump.

Democrats are just as eager to emphasize how closely McSally aligned with Trump. In an interview, Kelly said it's important to have independence representing Arizona, and McSally lacks it.

Weve seen that in this state before from other U.S. senators. Im concerned that were losing that, Kelly said, pointing to McSally's votes to repeal Obamacare and support Trumps emergency declaration at the border, even though funds have been diverted from Arizona military projects to build the wall.

Democrats' campaign plan against McSally is essentially the same as in 2018: run a centrist against her, criticize her on health care and pre-existing conditions and attack her for being too aligned with Trump in a state the party believes will be a major presidential battleground. Democratic Arizona Rep. Ruben Gallego, a liberal who considered running for Senate but now supports and has campaigned with Kelly, said Arizona, with its increasingly diverse electorate, is trending toward Democrats  and McSally hasn't kept up.

Things have only gotten worse for her since 2018, Gallego said. "And I dont see her trying to change course.

McSally stood by her voting record with Trump  91 percent in the Senate, according to FiveThirtyEight  saying it showed her colleagues were putting good legislation on his desk. She also defended voting to support the border emergency, saying Trump had the legal authority to declare it and blaming Democrats for creating a false choice between funding the military and border security.

McSally, who drew support from Trump's campaign last month for a brief confrontation with a CNN reporter in a Capitol hallway, got an energetic reception from the crowd at the Trump rally that evening. In conversations with attendees, most spoke positively about the senator, though with less enthusiasm than they had for Trump.

Being the first female fighter pilot and stuff like that, I think, is a really cool thing to have under your belt, Chris Montgomery, who works compliance at a bank in Phoenix, said about McSally. Going up against an astronaut is never easy. But, like I said, I think shes done a good job so far sticking it to their face.

Kellys impressive biography is never far from mind in the race: His campaign liberally uses space puns in its public statements, and released their first TV ad last week introducing his biography to voters. Kelly himself is quick to reference it. During a visit to a public school with career training programs in Phoenix last week, Kelly met several students in scrubs and pointed to one who had gauze on his arm from having blood drawn. I used to have to do that at NASA, he said, adding that he needed the skill in case you have to do it in space.

A poll conducted by a Phoenix-based GOP firm this month showed McSally down 7 percentage points to Kelly and well defined among voters, with a 43 percent approval rating and a 46 percent disapproval rating. Kelly had 42 percent approval and only 24 percent disapproval, but one-third of voters didnt know him.

Thats why Republicans leaped at the opportunity to tie him to Sanders surge. Kelly has said hed support the Democratic nominee in November but emphasized his disagreements with the presidential frontrunner.

There are policies that Sen. Sanders has and put out there that I dont agree with, like taking away private health insurance from individuals. Ive been very clear about that, Kelly said in the interview. Ive also been very clear about the administration in the White House and the trajectory our country has been on. Elections are about choices.

He declined to say who he would choose in Arizonas presidential preference ballot on March 17 and demurred when asked if he could win the state if Sanders is atop the ticket.

McSally ran a burn-it-all-down general election against Sinema, throwing out attacks at a roaring pace in the ten weeks between her primary and Election Day. But she makes no bones now about already turning negative against Kelly, even as some Republicans privately worry shes repeating mistakes from the last race. Facing a cash deficit that's likely to grow, McSally said she had to fight early to define the race when she saw the opening.

"It was right after the impeachment vote," said McSally. "Its right as Bernie is surging, and people need to know that."
The agreement signed in Doha is supposed to bring to an end the longest war in Americas history and the decades of bloodshed in which Afghans have fought each other and foreign forces. There is the flickering hope of violence ending among the people in the country, but also the understanding that this does not mean that everlasting peace is about to break out.

The simple fact is that Afghanistan is no longer an arena just between the Taliban and Afghan government and its western allies. Isis and al-Qaeda have arrived in recent years, while historical proxy groups of the Pakistani military like the Haqqani network continue to be active.

Isis and al-Qaeda, whose presence grew after the tide turned against them in Syria and Iraq, are not going to lay down their arms because of a deal between the Taliban and the Americans. If anything, they will present themselves even more as the true jihadis against foreign occupiers. And they are likely to be able to draw from the pool of Taliban fighters who are unhappy with the decision of their leaders to take the path of negotiation.

Nevertheless, the signing of the deal is a landmark event which may yield real benefit. That is certainly the desire, I found, among Afghans when I returned to the country to cover the presidential elections at the end of last year. This wish to end the strife was expressed not just by the public, but government officials, and also some members of the Taliban.

The next stage of the talks will be between the Taliban and the Afghan government who were absent from the meetings in Qatar, something which understandably led to criticism. There have been claims that the countrys elected representatives were being sidelined and concern that they will, at the end, be presented with a fait accompli by the US.

The intra-Afghan talks have been symbolically as well as strategically important. The Taliban has, in the past, refused to hold formal talks with the Afghan government due to their official stance that the administration in Kabul were simply western puppets.

There have, however, been unofficial overtures and the identity of the Taliban signatory to the Doha deal is interesting in the context of these past efforts.

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar has been down the path of seeking an end to violence before. Ten years ago he tried to hold ceasefire talks with the government of Hamid Karzai. But he had done so without the knowledge of the Pakistans military and intelligence service, ISI. They found out, he was arrested and spent the next eight years in a Pakistani jail.

The fact that Mullah Baradar was released to take part in the talks, supposedly after American pressure, and has credibility in Kabul should, in theory, help the talks with the Afghan government make progress.

There is apprehension among many Afghans that the Taliban will show its true colours if it becomes part of a power-sharing government, seeking to bring back the harsh, fundamentalist doctrine of its previous rule, jeopardising womens rights and civil liberties.

But senior figures who were prominent in the time of Mullah Omars regime and retain contact with the current Taliban leadership claim important changes have taken place in the groups position. Abdul Hakim Mujahid, who was the sole international face of the Taliban regime at the time of 9/11, has been among a group of elders who had been going to Doha to discuss strategy with the Taliban team.

He told me in Kabul: I dont think the Taliban would try to impose the type of rules from the time when I was in the government. Then the system was spiritual rather than political, there was little written down. Dont forget that was a wartime government. But the Taliban has said at the [Doha] meetings it would not make the same mistakes as it made then.

Syed Mohammad Akbar Agha, a former Taliban commander who was preparing to travel to Doha from Afghanistan to speak to Taliban officials, said a theocratic state will be established after an agreement.

Lets not forget that the Qatar talks were started at the request of the Americans. They didnt want to face the same consequence the Russians ended up facing, they did not want to be humiliated. There will be elections after the agreement, but the Taliban will at the end want a government like in Iran, they will have Islamic scholars who will monitor the work of the government, itll be watched over by a strong shura [a consultative council], he said.

Recommended I fled the Taliban and was welcomed to the UK with open arms

Another commander, Maulvi Manzoor, who had returned to Afghanistan after surviving an assassination attempt in Pakistan, warned while speaking from Kandahar: There are a lot among the Taliban who do not believe in the talks and want to continue fighting. This is a problem that needs to be solved, otherwise they can easily join up with other groups who dont want peace. What will the Americans do about that?

Under the agreement the US and its Nato allies will cut troop numbers to 8,600 over the next 135 days. This is expected to include 200 of the 1,100-strong UK contingent currently in the country. Five bases will be closed. All American-led foreign troops will leave the country within 14 months if the Taliban adheres to the agreed conditions. The US wants to keep intelligence units in the country, but this may not be feasible if the Talibs form a future government.

But disengaging from Afghanistan is not easy, as the west found to its cost and at great cost to the Afghans.

The US, UK and their allies armed and trained Afghan Mujahedin to fight Russians and its allied Kabul government and then abandoned the country to lawlessness, Islamist extremism and plotting of terror attacks including 9/11. When the Taliban fell following the American-British invasion, Tony Blair declared: This time we will not walk away. But the British and American forces were soon moved to Iraq and the Taliban moved back in from its Pakistani haven to take advantage of the security vacuum.

Another large scale deployment, by the US-led Isaf (International Security Assistance Force) followed in 2006 to counter the insurgents taking over swathes of territory. That mission ended seven years ago with the withdrawal of most of the troops. Now another countdown has begun: whether it is the final one remains to be seen.
She said Mr. Trumps attempts to minimize the threat posed by the coronavirus was a dramatic departure from the way most political figures have approached past health emergencies

Weve never had a political leader say stuff like this, she said.

But, she added, At the same time, what we cant do is just have media messages that focus on his words and not address practical things that people can do, concrete information that she said everyone, Trump supporters and critics alike, are hungry for.

That national outlets may be more alarmist and politicized than local ones is common to nearly every epidemic she has studied. But what sets this one apart from most of those is that it is unfolding on Facebook and Twitter as well.

The most alarming messages have come from just people speculating on social media and other people taking that as fact, she said.

Already, a number of Democratic voters said they had little confidence in Mr. Trumps public statements.

I dont think he gives a damn, said Shelli Hunt, 62, a saleswoman for a cable company in Las Vegas who voted for Bernie Sanders in last months Democratic caucuses. Its all about the spin. If he spent half of the energy he does running the country that he does into tweeting and blaming people, wed be in a lot better shape.

Other experts questioned whether Mr. Trump has the credibility to guide the country through a public-health crisis given his history of making false claims. After Hurricane Maria shattered Puerto Rico in 2017 leaving thousands homeless or without power for months, Mr. Trump hailed himself in 2019 as the best thing thats ever happened to Puerto Rico and disputed the official estimates that about 3,000 people died because of the storm.
The tradition we have come to closely associate with presidential inaugurations was once almost an afterthought  or so the legend goes.

The rite of a president-elect placing his hand on a Bible to be sworn into office is not codified into law but is one all presidents since Theodore Roosevelt have participated in.

On Saturday, the original inaugural Bible used to swear in George Washington in 1789 was in San Antonio for the second time in its 250 year history.

The book is being used by the San Antonio Shriners chapter, an organization within the broader Free Mason society emphasizing philanthropy and camaraderie.

The centuries-old bible is being used to swear in the new CEO of the San Antonio Shriners, among others.

When not in use, the Bible is on display at Federal Hall in New York City and was previously at the Smithsonian.

Just as Washington was to be inaugurated at Federal Hall  then the meeting place of Congress  someone realized there was no Bible for him to swear in on.

Jacob Morton, a marshal at Washingtons inauguration, was the grand master of the St. Johns Masonic Lodge in New York not far from where the inauguration was taking place. The story goes that Morton ran to the lodge to retrieve the Bible and upon returning opened the book at random. Washington is said to have finished his oath of office with so help me, God.

But while it makes a good story, historians say George Washington was almost certainly too detail-oriented to have forgotten a Bible, according to Joel Ginn, a tour guide with the Grand Lodge of New York who accompanied the Bible to San Antonio.

But even if the story is less than accurate, the sepia colored pages of the book signify the establishment of democratic norms and the peaceful transition of power America has experienced since, Ginn said.

The same Bible has been used at other presidential inaugurations, including those of Warren Harding, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush.

President Barack Obama was sworn in using a Bible owned by Abraham Lincoln. President Donald Trump also used the Lincoln Bible for his inauguration, as well as a personal Bible he received from his mother.

The Shriners of San Antonio are part of the broader international Shriners organization with more than 200 chapters. You might see Shriners wearing the red, tasseled Fez hats while participating in Fiesta parades. The organization operates 22 hospitals for children around the world.

diego.mendoza-moyers@express-news.net
The African Development Bank (AfDB) says the size of business and consumer expenditures in Africa will rise to $5.6 trillion in five years.

This is contained in a speech delivered by AfDB President, Akinwumi Adesina, at African Leadership Persons of the Year Investiture Ceremonies and Awards Gala night at Johannesburg, South Africa, on Saturday and was made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday.

Mr Adesina explained that the size of the food and agriculture business alone would reach one trillion dollars in just ten years.

According to him, with the African Continental Free Trade Area, the size of the economies will be 3.3 trillion dollars.

He said the Africa of the 21st century was keenly aware of its place in the world and determined to be a global investment haven.

He added that the Africa of the 21st century was open for trade and savvy investors knew that if they were not in Africa, they were not in business.

Over the past four years, we have helped 18 million people obtain access to electricity, 141 million people to agricultural technologies for food security, 13 million people to finance through private sector investee companies.

And 101 million people to improved transport services, and 60 million people to improved water and sanitation.

People such as cocoa farmer Antoine Mani Tonye from Cameroon who has seen healthy yields from the moment he began planting a locally adapted seed variety.

People such as millet seller Robiro Kadokah from Togo whose business has been thriving since the opening of a new highway in his area.

And people such as IT-specialist Jeanne Yamfashije from Rwanda who helps girls in her country excel in science, technology, engineering and math.

I truly believe theres never been a more exciting time to be an African. Opportunities abound all around. African economies are growing well.

 In 2019, 17 countries grew at 3.5 per cent and 20 countries grew at five per cent and above he stated.

Mr Adesina disclosed that simple reason was that he focused on solutions, not problems because his principle for development was also by coming up with ideas for the Banks High 5 strategy to light up and power Africa.

He said the high five was initiated to feed Africa, to industrialise Africa, to integrate Africa, and to improve the quality of life of the people of Africa.

(NAN)
Four persons were killed and at least 22 were injured in a road accident after an overspeeding private bus overturned and skidded a few metres on a highway and collided with a wall in Rajasthans Rajsamand district on Sunday, police said.

Station house officer (SHO) of Dewair police station Laxman Singh Chundawat quoted a police official from the Rajsamand district as saying the accident took place around 8 am on NH 8, which passes through Mada Ki Bassi village of the district.

The bus was coming from Ahmedabad and was going towards Ajmer. Prima facie the reason which has surfaced is that the driver lost the control as he dozed off while driving on high speed and as a result the bus overturned and four, including three children, were killed, Chundawat said.

Three teams of police, ambulance and other emergency response team were rushed to the spot. The traffic was halted for almost an hour. The bus was shifted with the help of a crane and the injured were rushed to a nearby hospital in Deogarh town. Of the 22 injured, including driver, eight were critical and were undergoing treatment.

The deceased were identified as Alias Malik (8), native of Gujarats Ahmedabad, Dakshita Vani (3), a native of Rajasthans Ajmer, her mother Daulat Vani (40) and Dev Pratap Singh (12), a native of Ajmer district.
EUGENE, Ore.-- As officials learn more about the spread of coronavirus, fears and misinformation about the virus are spreading as well. KEZI 9 News looked into some of these rumors so that you can better discern fact from fiction.

Are there any medicines or home remedies to boost coronavirus immunity?

Some people online are suggesting home remedies to improve your odds of not catching the virus, ranging from eating garlic to rinsing your nose with saline and spraying your entire body with chlorine or alcohol spray.

According to the World Health Organization, these methods will not kill viruses in or around your body. In fact, they can be harmful in some cases.

Others have suggested taking antibiotics to prevent or treat coronavirus. Experts say that antibiotics only work against bacteria, and are not effective against viruses, though those treated for coronavirus may receive antibiotics if hospitalized.

There is not currently any specific medicine recommended to prevent or treat coronavirus.

Conspiracy theories on the rise

Some have suggested that coronavirus was deliberately created and released, which experts and Johns Hopkins said is very unlikely. It is common for viruses to undergo changes in animals like pigs and birds before passing to humans, which is most likely where coronavirus originated.

Posts online also call upon consumers to avoid purchasing goods produced in China. Experts say coronavirus isn't known to live long on surfaces. Products shipped from China are likely in transport long enough for viruses to die. As of now, officials believe the virus is transmitted by droplets from an infected person's sneeze or cough.

What about local coronavirus rumors?

Rumors about coronavirus in Oregon have also been spread around social media.

One post claimed that Tigard business Biamp Systems laid off its entire workforce due to the virus. The audio-visual systems business said it's not true. They use contract employees and re-evaluate their employment needs based on market demands. The state agency that handles layoff notices in Oregon confirmed the rumor is false.

Another post went viral early this week claiming the first case of coronavirus was found in a child who was taken to the Kaiser ER in Hillsboro. Officials with the Oregon Health Authority and Kaiser say the post is false. The first person believed to be infected was announced on Friday and is not a child.

RELATED: Gov. Brown: Washington County resident has coronavirus
Supermodel Elle Macpherson, 55, has wished her ex-husband Gilles Bensimon a happy 76th birthday by sharing a vintage photograph of the pair.

The Australian fashion superstar was married to the French photographer from 1986 to 1989, during her years as an emerging catwalk queen.

Elle shared a photograph of the pair to Instagram, captioned simply: '1983.'

Friends: Supermodel Elle Macpherson, 55, has shared a vintage throwback of herself and ex-husband Gilles Bensimon (L) to Instagram, to wish him a happy 76th birthday. Here: 1983

Gilles, who was 39 at the time of the photo, wore a smoldering look on his face, as a very youthful-looking Elle placed her hands affectionately on the photographer's shoulder.

Elle was just 19-years-old at the time.

The photograph follows a number of intimate shots that Elle posted to Instagram just hours earlier, which were accompanied by a gushing caption.

Elle's men: Elle has had a number of high-profile relationships, including with French financier, Arpad Busson, with whom she shares two sons: Flynn, 22, and Cy, 17. Here: In NYC, 2005

'Happy birthday to the man behind most of my favorite images, my first love, married in 1986, we traveled the world together shooting for Elle magazine.

'His images still relevant [and] timeless and we are still friends 40 years after we met... happy birthday mon Gilles.'

Elle has had a number of high-profile relationships, including with French financier, Arpad Busson, with whom she shares two sons: Flynn, 22, and Cy, 17.

Split: She was married to billionaire Jeffrey Soffer (L), who she wed in 2013, but split from soon after in 2017. Here: In Miami, 2010

She was married to billionaire Jeffrey Soffer, who she wed in 2013, but split from soon after in 2017.

Elle has most recently been linked to anti-vaccine doctor Andrew Wakefield.

Elle is hugely successful in her own right, amassing a fortune of nearly $100 million from her years on the catwalk and various business ventures.

All business: Elle is hugely successful in her own right, amassing a fortune of nearly $100 million from her years on the catwalk and various business ventures, including WelleCo

Speaking to CEO magazine in February, Elle said that her success is all down to 'taking risks' in both life and business.

The WelleCo founder said she first took a risk when she moved to the U.S. at the age of 17 to try her hand at modelling.

She then 'built a career and brand from modelling' before starting a business.

'I believe in taking risks, and when you take those first steps, you can never truly know the amazing things that can happen once you trust and are committed,' Elle said.
A number of Irish builders and prospective investors have been looking at development opportunities in Barbados in recent months, Ergo hears from a range of sources.

Low-key Mayoman John Reddington, whose JRL Group booked revenue of 539m (629m) in 2018, was among a group that visited the Caribbean island, we hear.

A property source there also said they had taken a separate group of prospective investors who were from Ireland to visit the undeveloped Clearwater Bay site last year, which is now on the market for $12.2m (11.1m).

Some readers may recall that in 2007, a number of wealthy Irish and British buyers put down multi-million-euro deposits for off-plan luxury villas at Paradise Beach, which is at the other end of the plot. However, that was before the financial crash walloped both the British developer Cinnamon 88, and Bank of Scotland, which was involved in financing the scheme.

A UK tax tribunal last year heard that composer Andrew Lloyd-Webber and his wife lost over 7m on two unbuilt holiday homes there. When finished, some were set to measure a huge 20,000 sq ft and would have ended up costing up to 30m - but the Paradise Beach site was left resembling a ghost estate.

In 2012, former Tullow Oil chief Aidan Heavey sued the developers, while Eddie Jordan and Simon Cowell were also linked with purchases in the development, which had originally hoped to rival Dermot Desmond's Sandy Lane resort further along the coast.

Perhaps a compatriot will now finish the development or build something else there.

Tough week for markets as Covid-19 fear spreads

The coronavirus will undoubtedly hit Irish businesses. Ergo has heard serious concerns relating to travel companies, food businesses with exposure to China, and manufacturers which will soon run out of key components.

And there are lots of potential concerns. For example, if some of the large FDIs based here stop their people travelling, Dublin hotels will definitely take a hit.

Some of the most immediate corporate panic has been felt by those working in financial services, with markets in free fall for several days.

It is not unusual to see markets fall 10pc in a year.

However, it is very unusual to see such steep falls in such a short space of time.

Last week's stock market 'correction' has reminded brokers of the dark days after 9/11 (when the markets reopened), and the crash of October 2008.
By Kane Wu

HONG KONG (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department has expressed concern after Chinese-ruled Hong Kong arrested publishing tycoon Jimmy Lai, an outspoken critic of Beijing, and two pro-democracy activists.

The arrests come after a period of relative calm following months of anti-government protests over perceptions that China is tightening its grip on the city, though Beijing denies meddling and blames the West for fomenting unrest.

Lai and veteran democracy activists Lee Cheuk-yan and Yeung Sum, were arrested on Friday in the Asian financial hub on charges of illegal assembly, drawing condemnation from international rights groups, media said.

"We are concerned by the arrest of prominent Hong Kong businessman and publisher Jimmy Lai and two other longtime advocates for civil liberties and democracy," Morgan Ortagus, a spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department, said on Friday.

"We expect Hong Kong authorities not to use law enforcement selectively for political purposes, and to handle cases fairly and transparently," she added in a statement.

The spokeswoman also called for the rule of law and Hong Kong peoples rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression to be preserved.

The police said three local men, aged 63 to 72, were arrested for suspected participation in a non-approved gathering but did not confirm their names.

Authorities in the former British colony have arrested more than 7,000 people for involvement in Hong Kong's protests, many on charges of rioting that can carry jail terms of up to 10 years. It is unclear how many are still in custody.

The arrest of the three men was outrageous, said Chris Patten, the last British governor of Hong Kong, adding that there was no doubt its government was acting at Beijing's instructions.

"This decision will send yet another signal to the world that the Chinese Communist Party is intent on throttling decency and freedom in Hong Kong," Patten said.

Story continues

Lai, a self-made millionaire who has made financial contributions to Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement and been a target of criticism by mainland Chinese media, was arrested in 2014 for refusing to leave a key pro-democracy protest site.

After the arrest he resigned as editor in chief of Apple Daily. He has also come under scrutiny from Hong Kong's anti-graft agency, which raided his home in 2014.

In an editorial on Friday, China's state-owned Global Times tabloid called Lai "a force of evil", rather than the "hero" of democracy painted by the West.

"..he is a traitor, a criminal and a force of evil who has sowed violence and chaos in arguably one of the freest and most prosperous cities in the world," it added.

(Reporting by Kane Wu; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
Washington state reported the first coronavirus death in the U.S. on Saturday. Heres the latest news:

New Jersey still has no confirmed cases: The patient at a Monmouth County hospital with a suspected case of COVID-19 tested negative for the illness, the state Department of Health said Saturday.

No quarantine?: A U.S. Department of Homeland Security employee who traveled to China was told to return to her job in Newark earlier this month, despite protocol that mandated a 14-day quarantine period.

How to prevent coronavirus: The advice is pretty simple, and its easy for most people to follow. First up: Know the symptoms.

N.J. schools prepare: As anxiety builds, schools around the state take preventative measures and make mitigation plans.

Have questions about the virus?: Heres what you need to know.

Calls for more funding, testing: The need for more funding and rapid testing is receiving attention as the outbreak in the U.S. grows.

Trump and the hoax: The coronavirus outbreaks impact on the world economy grew more alarming on Saturday, even after President Donald Trump denounced criticism of his response to the threat as a hoax cooked up by his political enemies.

The global effect: More coronavirus cases in the US are likely, President Donald Trump says. Meanwhile, travel restrictions increase.
Chevron Corp. (NYSE:CVX), Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE:WFC), United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE:UPS) and Altria Group Inc. (NYSE:MO) have reached their three-year lows.

Chevron declined to $93.34

The price of Chevron shares declined to $93.34 on Feb. 28, which is only 3.5% above the three-year low of $90.11.

Chevron is an American energy corporation that is active in more than 180 countries. The company is one of the successor companies of Standard Oil and focuses on the oil, natural gas and geothermal energy industries.





Chevron has a market cap of $175.42 billion; its shares were traded around $93.34 with a price-earnings ratio of 61.84 and a price-sales ratio of 1.25. The trailing 12-month dividend yield is 5.20%. The forward dividend yield is 5.48%. Chevron had an annual average earnings growth of 0.70% over the past five years.

On Jan. 31, Chevron reported fourth-quarter and full-year 2019 financial results. Net loss for the quarter was $6.6 billion, or $3.51 per diluted share, compared to earnings of $3.7 billion, or $1.95 per diluted share, during the year-ago quarter. Earnings for the full year were $2.9 billion, or $1.54 per diluted share, compared to $14.8 billion, or $7.74 per diluted share, during 2018.

Wells Fargo declined to $40.85

The price of Wells Fargo shares declined to $40.85 on Feb. 28, which is only 2.7% above the three-year low of $39.75.

Wells Fargo is an American banking and financial services holding company. It is the world's second-largest bank by market capitalization and the third-largest bank in the United States by assets. The company is the second-largest bank in deposits, home mortgage servicing and debit cards.

Wells Fargo has a market cap of $168.89 billion; its shares were traded around $40.85 with a price-earnings ratio of 10.13 and a price-sales ratio of 2.16. The trailing 12-month dividend yield is 4.84%. The forward dividend yield is 4.80%.

Story continues

On Feb. 21, Wells Fargo announced it has entered into agreements with the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to resolve the investigations into the company's historical community bank sales practices and related disclosures. The company has agreed to make payments totaling $3 billion. The company has also agreed to the establishment of a $500 million Fair Fund for the benefit of investors who were harmed by the conduct covered in the agreement, which is part of the settlement.

United Parcel Service declined to $90.49

The price of United Parcel Service shares declined to $90.49 on Feb. 28, which is only 3.1% above the three-year low of $87.67.

United Parcel Service is an international delivery company and a provider of supply chain management solutions. The company is also the largest package delivery company in the world, delivering more than 15 million packages per day to 7.9 million customers in more than 220 countries and territories around the world.

United Parcel Service has a market cap of $77.68 billion; its shares were traded around $90.49 with a price-earnings ratio of 17.71 and a price-sales ratio of 1.04. The trailing 12-month dividend yield is 4.31%. The forward dividend yield is 4.48%. United Parcel Service had an annual average earnings growth of 6.90% over the past 10 years.

On Feb. 13, United Parcel Service announced that its board of directors has increased the company's regular quarterly dividend to $1.01 per share on all outstanding Class A and Class B shares. The dividend is payable on March 10 to shareholders of record at the close of business on Feb. 25.

Altria Group declined to $40.37

The price of Altria Group shares have declined to $40.37 on Feb. 28, which is only 4.5% above the three-year low of $38.57.

Altria Group is an American tobacco company. The company is one of the world's largest producers and marketers of cigarettes and other tobacco products.

Altria Group has a market cap of $75.02 billion; its shares were traded around $40.37 with a price-sales ratio of 3.80. The trailing 12-month dividend yield is 8.10%. The forward dividend yield is 8.34%. Altria Group had an annual average earnings growth of 1.00% over the past 10 years.

On Feb. 27, Altria Group announced its board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of 84 cents per common share. The dividend will be payable on April 30 to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 25.

Disclosure: I do not own stock in any of the companies mentioned in the article.

Not a Premium Member of GuruFocus? Sign up for a free 7-day trial here.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.






The text of the US-Taliban deal released by the State Department clearly said the exchange of 5000 Taliban prisoners for 1000 people held by the Taliban would occur "by March 10, 2020, the first day of intra-Afghan negotiations". The peace deal with the Taliban has been a critical foreign policy goal for President Donald Trump, who campaigned on ending the war. But the deal signed on Saturday came under renewed criticism from fellow Republicans back home. The deal was "reminiscent of the worst aspects of the Obama Iran nuclear deal", said Representative Liz Cheney, in a statement on Saturday. Cheney, a member of the House Republican leadership, warned the deal "could threaten the security of the United States". Cheney also asked for the State Department to make "verification mechanisms" and "any other side deals or annexes, public."

Loading "The American people deserve to know precisely what deals have been cut in our name with the terrorists who harboured those who attacked us on 9/11," she added. Outside the palace walls in Kabul, Afghans expressed apprehension and elation about the peace deal. "I'm not optimistic about the deal," said Qasima Khuram, a 22-year-old student working in a cafe in Kabul. Khuram, who said she had dreams of being a business owner after completing her master's degree, said she was most concerned about how women's rights would change if the Taliban assumed a formal role in any future Afghan government.

"We know their background, we know their history. So looking back at this, we know what they would do in the future," she said. Loading Just across the street, a 57-year-old man selling almonds said he would have danced once the peace deal was signed "if I knew how to dance". "This government guides people to hell," said the man, who declined to give his name for fear of reprisals. He said he had lived through Taliban rule in Kabul and during that time, he had never witnessed the levels of corruption, petty theft and crime that he had seen under the current administration.

"Hearing about the peace deal, it energised me," he said. What the peace deal signed in Doha on Saturday did not mention was the period of reduced violence that preceded the deal's signing. Following the signing ceremony, Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said the week-long period of reduced violence had "ended". Ghani, however, said on Sunday that the reduction in violence would extend and eventually transform into a ceasefire. "The reduction of violence will continue and our goal is to turn (it) in into ceasefire," he said. The top US commander in Afghanistan "has made it clear to the Taliban that this is part of the (peace) deal", Ghani continued. "If they back away from it, then (the Taliban is) openly violating the condition set for them." Responding to a question about the status of the reduction in violence agreement, General Austin "Scott" Miller said: "The expectation is Taliban violence continues to stay down and does not go back up."

So far the reduction of violence has continued to mostly hold, according to Afghanistan's acting Minister of Interior Massoud Andarabi. But Andarabi said he had received four reports of the Taliban abducting Afghan police officers within the past two days  something he believed the Taliban might be doing to exchange them with the Afghan government. A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue, said he believes the new kidnappings are intended to bolster Taliban bargaining power in the upcoming prisoner exchange. "Prisoners are going to matter going forward, and how those cards are played is going to matter," the US official said. A deepening political crisis in Kabul also had the potential to complicate the next steps after the signing of the peace deal. Ghani's main rival, Abdullah Abdullah, called the deal signing an "historic event," and said he hoped for the formation of "an inclusive, national and countrywide delegation to take part," in talks with the Taliban.
On the Facebook page created for the campaign, there's a picture of letters framed by curtains.

"They (the curtains) belonged to my grandmother, Charles Starkweathers seventh victim," Ward said. "Ive hung them in my window to remind me of hope; of paths to freedom that will continue to exist as long as we prevail; as long as we stand up for what we know to be true, continue to speak for those denied a voice everywhere, and always, always, keep fighting for justice however we are able."

The Wards were gone long before Liza Ward was born, but from what she knows about them, she said, they had a deep faith and they would have wanted forgiveness for a young girl.

Ward wrote a novel in 2004, "Outside Valentine," about the effects of tragedy on generations. Then in 2016, she agreed to appear on a crime show about the Starkweather murders, an experience she later regretted. Except for this: It sent her on a mission the next year to get better informed, to dig into the case again, reading everything she could find, then searching through the archives and poring over the transcript of Fugate's trial.

"And I drove across Nebraska with those transcripts in the passenger seat of my uncle's car and I visited every place she was," Ward said.
The morning the child left, her foster mom picked up a cellphone and started recording. She told the girl to treat the video like a diary.

Im feeling sad right now because I dont get to see you guys, the 9-year-old says in the video. You guys are my favorite people in the world. I wish I could just stay. ... I hope God can make us stay here.

A social worker picked up the little girl from school later that day in February 2018. Her foster mother hasnt seen her since.

She believes the removal was retribution for repeatedly asking her local social services agency to allow the child to see her siblings, a request she said the agency refused.

Virginia law and state social services policy require local departments to encourage sibling contact or communication, unless its not in the best interest of the child. The foster mom claims the agency knowingly violated this requirement.

The policy Where siblings are placed in separate foster homes, the local department, child-placing agency or public agency shall develop a plan to encourage frequent and regular visitation or communication between the siblings... (Code of Virginia 63.2-900.2.)

That morning, after almost a year of living together as a family, the mom tried to explain to the girl what was happening. But she just kept asking why.

She straight up told us, This is worse than when I was taken from my parents because my parents would hurt us and you would never hurt me. 

Because Virginia operates a decentralized social services system, employees at the local level are rarely held accountable for the life-changing decisions they make for Virginias families.

The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission has detailed the Virginia Department of Social Services oversight problems for nearly 40 years. Efforts at the state level are underway to correct the issue, but progress is slow.

A yearlong investigation by The Roanoke Times shows failures at Virginias 120 local departments can go unaddressed for years because the state department does not exercise authority to enforce its own policies. As a result, Virginia families, foster parents, children and social services employees can be left with nowhere to turn when problems arise in their local departments.

The girls foster mom spoke to The Roanoke Times on the condition her name not be published. She said she fears her local social services agency, located in the state departments northern region, would retaliate against her with legal action for sharing the story because she, like all foster parents, signed a confidentiality agreement. The girls identity is being protected because she is still a foster child.

Since her foster child was removed, the foster mom has appealed to legislators, the governors office, the state social services department, the countys board of supervisors and the social services commissioner to convince the local agency to reverse its decision.

Former state Del. Chris Peace said he remembers meeting with the woman to hear her story. He said he wasn't able to learn from the agency's perspective what happened.

"Her case was active and complex," he said. "If I remember correctly, there were some local agency issues."

So far, no one has been able to convince the local department or its director to change course. The foster mom said it's too late. With each day, it becomes less likely she'll see the child again.

They have no authority to force the local agencies to comply with state policies, she said. Then why do we even have state policies? If the local agencies dont have to comply, then the policies are just meaningless.

  

They started as foster parents by taking respite placements, where foster children stay for just a few days to give the parents a break or before they are placed in a more permanent home.

In March 2017, the couple received a call asking if they would be interested in a pre-adoptive placement, meaning parental rights had been terminated and the little girl soon would be up for adoption.

We almost said no, because it sounded like maybe we couldn't handle it, she said. But we fell into a family routine really quickly.

About three weeks after the child moved in, the local agency called again and asked if the family could take her brother for an emergency respite. He stayed for a couple of days and his sister was overjoyed to be with him again. The foster parents asked if he could stay with them permanently, but the agency said it wasnt possible. He was removed and placed into a new foster home.

Later, they tried to plan a visit with him, but the foster mom said the agency told them the director ordered no further contact between any of the siblings.

The little girl constantly asked about them. She bought them presents and wrote them notes. At a doctors appointment, she asked, Do you think my sisters foster parents take her to the doctor when she gets sick?

The agency rarely scheduled phone calls, which had to accommodate each foster parent's and the social workers schedule. In a team meeting, the foster mom said the girls therapists told the agency sibling contact would be beneficial. Eventually, the moms foster care licensing agency, a private group that trained and licensed her as a foster parent, told her to stop asking or the child would be removed, she said.

The policy When placement outside the extended family is necessary, we encourage health social development by supporting placements that promote family, sibling, and community connections. (VDSS foster care manual, chapter 1, page 16)

Virginia social services policy encourages local departments to create a plan that includes frequent visits or communication with siblings and to consider the wishes of the foster child in this plan. The policies say sibling contact should occur unless there are concerns that it would not be in the childs best interest.

Peace, who works as a family law attorney in Mechanicsville, said there are cases when sibling contact is not advisable. He said children, often depending on their gender or age, process trauma differently. These differences can be seen within sibling groups and some children act out that trauma on their siblings.

"Every case is different, every family is different," Peace said. "The reason is often to do with the child's or the sibling's safety."

The foster mom said she saw how well the girl and her brother got along when he spent a few days at her house. Most importantly, she witnessed how not being able to see her siblings negatively affected the girl.

The policy Foster parents and pre-adoptive parents are to be notified of every hearing in writing. Their names shall be included on the foster care plan transmittal submitted to the court. Service workers should also discuss upcoming hearings with the parents and foster and adoptive parents and encourage their attendance. (VDSS foster care manual, chapter 16, page 5)

In February 2018, the foster parents received a notice about a foster care review hearing, which are held in local courts to evaluate the foster childs plan for a permanent home and progress made in their case. The local agency told the foster mom not to attend, she said.

Virginia law and state social services policy say foster parents should be encouraged to attend these hearings and speak if the judge requests it.

The policy As placement change is a critical decision point, the service worker is required to hold an FPM when a change in placement is planned. The input and engagement of foster parents and providers in making placement decisions is vital to ensuring placement stability... (VDSS foster care manual, chapter 17, page 20)

Instead, the mom called the guardian ad litem, an attorney appointed to represent the child and make independent recommendations in their best interest. She left a message with the attorneys assistant and asked her to bring up the sibling contact issue in court.

The foster mom said she never spoke to the guardian ad litem, but two days later she received a call from social services that her foster daughter would be placed in a new home.

Before a child is removed, Virginia social services policy requires agencies to hold a family partnership meeting attended by the foster parents and the child's social worker when a change in the childs foster care placement is planned. The meeting is meant to explore all possible options to support the stability of the placement, according to the states foster care manual.

The foster mom said she did not attend a meeting before the child was moved to a new home.

The policy Upon entering foster care, children grieve the separation from ... the loss of everything familiar. This traumatic experience is then often compounded by systemic issues in foster care that exacerbate the childs traumatic response... (VDSS foster care manual, chapter 5, page 6)

Stability in foster care placements is a nationally recognized best practice. The Annie E. Casey Foundation, a philanthropic organization dedicated to child welfare research, consistently says that foster children who experience multiple placements have a much higher risk of developing behavioral problems and struggling in school.

A joint report from the foundation and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says, While there may be times when a new placement setting will be in the best interest of the child, it is generally important for states to continue to do as much as they can to keep placement setting counts to a minimum.

We both obviously were devastated, the foster mom said. And I went to therapy for a couple of months afterward trying to process what happened. That didn't help so I just kind of grieved my own way. But my husband won't even talk about it if I bring it up. He changes the subject. It really just broke his heart.

  

Virginia is one of nine states that uses a state-supervised, locally administered social services system, which creates a division between the state and local offices.

The Virginia Department of Social Services operates a central office in downtown Richmond and five regional offices in Henrico County, Roanoke, Abingdon, Warrenton and Norfolk.

Each regional office employs a director and support staff in each program area to assist local departments with policy questions or to advise them on particularly difficult cases.

There are 120 local departments tasked with providing benefits and services to local citizens. Every locality is required to operate an office, but some create joint offices. For example, Roanoke County and the city of Salem operate one social services office to serve residents in both localities.

Each local office is led by a director, who reports to a local board of social services. Local board members are appointed by city councils and boards of supervisors.

The mix of state and local authority creates a confusing bureaucratic system that can be difficult for employees, families and foster parents to navigate. The states central office, the regional offices, the localitys governing body and the local social services boards all have a level of authority over a local social services department. But unclear lines of authority leave no one directly holding local departments accountable. And in the end, local directors are free to make decisions autonomously.

State watchdog JLARC has analyzed the states social services system at least three times and each report has pointed out the states lack of authority. In a 1981 report, JLARC said the department had been trying to operationalize the system since 1977. The commission interviewed local directors for the report.

Who is in charge? one director said. With the present administrative structure there seems to be no final authority to resolve critical issues. Localities exercise autonomy and the regions seem helpless to deal with their behavior. The losers are staff in all areas of the department and the client.

A JLARC report in 2005 said the same  the lack of oversight meant the state department had limited knowledge of whether local departments were complying with federal and state requirements.

In 2018, a JLARC report on the foster care system said, VDSS has historically narrowly interpreted its supervisory responsibilities, which are set in statute, and past VDSS leaders have equivocated about the states ability to assertively supervise foster care services and hold local departments of social services accountable.

The Roanoke Times spoke with more than a dozen local directors or social services employees who confirmed the regional offices do not have the authority to enforce policies.

We have been through multiple reviews and though they may not have the ability to enforce policies, my department takes their recommendations very seriously and will implement any policies and procedures that are provided, Carroll County social services director Teresa Isom said in an email.

Other directors agreed.

They have the authority to come in and say, this isnt how I would do it and they can encourage you to do it this way, but the locality doesnt have to follow, Bedford County social services director Andrew Crawford said. The only thing a regional office can do is go to the commissioner with a problem.

According to Virginia law, the state commissioner can fire any staff member employed by a local department, including the director. The commissioner also can direct local boards to remove children from unsafe foster care placements and intervene when local departments fail to provide foster care services. But the 2018 JLARC report noted that state social services staff could not recall a single instance where these powers had been used.

Cletisha Lovelace, a spokesperson for the state social services department, confirmed in an email that as of February, those authorities have never been exercised.

JLARC reports have said regional offices are a critical component to oversight because they provide more day-to-day monitoring than is possible for staff in Richmond or the commissioner.

Regional offices conduct quarterly and annual reviews of program areas in each local department, but the state does not have a system for following up on recommendations to ensure theyve been implemented.

In 1981, JLARC staff said the state social services department needed to resolve organizational confusion and strengthen the regional offices.

More than 35 years later, the state board issued the same recommendation. In an investigative report, the board said the regional offices have very few staff who are responsible for an unworkably large region. Proper oversight would require more manpower.

But over the years, the state has done the opposite. The number of positions at regional offices has fallen, which has contributed to the lack of oversight, according to JLARC reports.

Regional staff members were scattered across the state in 16 district offices or their own homes until 1970, when the state created seven regional offices to help expand oversight for the newly implemented food stamp and Medicaid programs.

In 1980, the state social services department had 240 staff located in seven regional offices. Those staff members supported about 5,500 staff in local departments, at a ratio of one regional staff member for every 23 local workers. In 2005, 96 regional positions supported approximately 8,500 local staff, or one regional staff member for every 88 local workers, according to JLARC reports.

Today, 57 regional positions support about 11,000 local staff, or one regional staff member for every 193 workers.

  

The Cracker Barrel children's menu said, Draw yourself enjoying a big feast with your family!

The 9-year-old girl drew herself with long blonde hair, red legs and blue eyes. She drew her mom the same, just a little taller. Her dad sported spiky blue hair and broad blue shoulders.

She picked up her red crayon and wrote her initials above the drawing of herself. But then, she scribbled it out. She wrote the first letter of her first name again, but this time, a new last initial  one that matched her foster parents sitting at the table.

The policy If the child is already living in the home of the potential adoptive parents, strong consideration should be given to placement with these persons, taking into account the length of time the child has been in the home, the depth and degree of bonding that has occurred and the childs ability to move from the home and form satisfactory attachments in another home with another family. (VDSS foster care manual, chapter 9, page 32)

The little girl had been in foster care for more than six months.

When she first arrived at her new home, she had constant meltdowns. They were over small things, like what her foster mom was cooking for dinner. She would fall on the floor and refuse to move or speak. She struggled to socialize or show emotion.

But soon, she got better. Her grades improved, her tantrums were fewer.

When the day came for her to leave, her foster mom struggled to explain. She told her it wasnt always up to them what happens, that if they could have her stay, they would, that they were going to try to get her back, but it wasnt their decision.

Now, the foster mom said shes not sure her family will ever be able to take in another child.

They're basically just asking foster parents in general to take on this huge emotional investment and we have no way of protecting ourselves, she said. We were pretty much told to shut up and get in line. There was no support or advocacy.

The mom has since become active in suggesting legislation that could help fix the problem. She supports Montgomery County Democratic Del. Chris Hursts childrens ombudsman bill, which would create an independent office to investigate citizen complaints about the state and local social services departments. A similar bill was introduced by Sen. John Edwards, D-Roanoke, and passed the full House and Senate in 2008, but it was never implemented.

When Hurst reintroduced the bill last year, the House Appropriations subcommittee on Health and Human Resources voted 5-3 to pass it by for that session. He has introduced it again this year and the bill has passed the House of Delegates and the state Senate.

Last year, Sen. Bryce Reeves, R-Spotsylvania, introduced a foster care omnibus bill that implemented many of the recommendations from the 2018 JLARC report, including establishing a foster care caseload standard and creating a foster care health and safety director position.

The bill also enshrined into law an emergency regulation previously passed by the state board. The regulation allows the commissioner to take over a local department if it fails or refuses to provide foster care services or takes any action that poses a substantial risk to the well-being of a child.

But the regulation does not define when that step would be taken by the state. The commissioner said at a state board meeting in August he intends to keep the language vague because the department has never implemented something like this. The regulation would then become more specific in the procedure and could later be updated after the department learns more about how it will work.

But directors say leaving it up to interpretation could mean vastly different things when a new commissioner eventually takes the job.

JLARC reports for close to 40 years have said the state needs to define its policies and rules so they can be better enforced. A complete failure to provide services is less likely than a failure to provide certain services or a failure to provide services to some children, the 2018 report read.

For the Richmond-area foster mom, her case was a failure. She and her husband loved the little girl, helped her heal, helped her grow, until they lost her to another foster placement. The child lost her parents, then her siblings and the foster parents she grew to love.

I could talk all day about how wrong it was, what they did to us, but that just pales in comparison to what they put her through, she said. For her, that was her entire life.

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.
Advertisement

Vice President Mike Pence has warned that more US coronavirus deaths could be imminent, after a 'medically high-risk' man in his 50s in Washington state became the first person in the US to die from the rapidly-spreading disease.

In a departure from President Trump's continued line that all is well, Pence admitted 'we could have more' fatalities among the American population, in a clip from Sunday's 'State of the Union' show released Saturday night.

His comments came as fears are mounting for 50 staff and residents at a nursing facility located just two miles from the deceased male after they have shown coronavirus symptoms, while Trump urged the public not to panic and two new cases  one in Illinois and another in Santa Clara, California  were confirmed Saturday night.

Australia also confirmed its first death from coronavirus on Saturday.

The 78-year-old male victim contracted the virus on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship, where 44 American passengers also contracted the disease and were repatriated to the US.

Vice President Mike Pence admitted that more US coronavirus deaths could be imminent, as fears sweep America following news on Saturday that a 'medically high-risk' man in his 50s had become the first person in the US to die from the rapidly-spreading disease

In a departure from President Trump's continued line that all is well, Pence said 'we could have more' fatalities among the American population, in a clip from Sunday's 'State of the Union' show released Saturday night

'We know there will be more cases,' Pence told CNN's Jake Tapper in the interview clip.

When pressed by Tapper if this means there will be more deaths, Pence  who was this week handed the job of leading the US taskforce to tackle the disease  admitted: 'It is possible.'

He restated the president's point that healthy individuals will likely recover from the disease.

'The reality that Doctor Fauci (the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) and others explained to me since I took on these duties a few days ago is that for most people that contract the coronavirus they will recover,' he said.

'They will deal with a a respiratory illness, we'll get them treatment.'

However, he conceded that for Americans that have pre-existing health conditions, there could be 'sad news'.

'For people who have other conditions that would militate towards a worse outcome,' the Vice President said.

'We could have more sad news. But the American people should know the risk for the average American remains low.'

Pence's comments come as two further cases were confirmed late Saturday night, making the total number of Americans diagnosed with the virus 71 and counting

Pence's comments come as two further cases were confirmed late Saturday night, making the total number of Americans diagnosed with the virus 71 and counting.

The Santa Clara County Public Health Department confirmed its fourth case is an adult woman who lives with the woman who was confirmed to be a case on Friday and who sent shockwaves for becoming the US's second 'unknown origin' case.

The fourth case does not have symptoms and has not been hospitalized, officials said.

Officials in Illinois then confirmed the state's third case, which is being treated as another 'unknown origin' case.

Fears are now mounting for 50 staff and residents at a nursing facility in Washington state as they are now showing symptoms of the virus, after two individuals - a resident and an employee at the care home - have already been diagnosed with the infection.

Fifty-two staff and residents of the nursing facility where two new coronavirus cases have been confirmed are now showing symptoms of the disease, health officials said during a teleconference with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

At the Life Care nursing facility in Kirkland, Washington state, around 27 of the 108 residents and 25 of the 180 staff have some symptoms, including some cases where individuals have contracted pneumonia.

The CDC and local health officials are reportedly sending an emergency response team to the Life Care facility on Sunday to try to control the escalating situation.

This comes as a 'medically high-risk' man in his 50s became the first person in the US to die from coronavirus overnight Friday near Seattle, Washington state.

Healthcare workers are pictured transporting a patient on a stretcher into an ambulance at Life Care Center of Kirkland in Kirkland, Washington on Saturday

Healthcare workers transport a patient into an ambulance at Life Care Center on Saturday. The CDC and local health officials are reportedly sending an emergency response team to the Life Care facility on Sunday to try to control the escalating situation

More than 50 staff and residents of the Life Care nursing facility in Kirkland, Washington, where two new coronavirus cases have been confirmed, are now also showing symptoms of the disease

The first US coronavirus death happened overnight on Friday. The man in his 50s died in EvergreenHealth Medical Center, Kirkland (pictured Saturday)

The unnamed man died in a hospital just two miles from the nursing facility where concerns of a mass outbreak are mounting, but officials are maintaining the cases are unconnected.

President Trump sought to quell widespread panic in a press conference on Saturday where he expressed condolences to the family of the patient who died and told people to remain calm - before he made a gaffe by wrongly saying the deceased person was a woman.

The possible outbreak in the nursing facility comes as it emerged that two new confirmed cases of coronavirus in the state are linked to the home.

At a Saturday press conference, Dr. Jeff Duchin, the health officer for Seattle and King County, confirmed that one of the confirmed cases was a woman in her 40s who works at the facility, who is in satisfactory condition.

Another was a female resident of Life Care in her 70s, who is in serious condition.

The first person to die of coronavirus in the US died in EvergreenHealth hospital just two miles from the Life Care nursing facility where concerns of a mass outbreak are mounting, but officials are maintaining the cases are unconnected

Neither had a recent history of travel, suggesting these are additional cases of community spread.

'We are very concerned about an outbreak in a setting where there are many older people, as we would be wherever people who are susceptible might be gathering,' said Duchin.

'We're going to send a team into the facility tomorrow to do an assessment.'

A team of CDC workers from Atlanta are on route to the facility in efforts to control the outbreak.

Duchin added that older adults and people with underlying health conditions like diabetes, heart or lung disease should be especially careful to protect themselves by washing their hands, not touching their faces, and avoiding contact with people who are sick.

The Life Care facility provides 24-hour care for residents, including physician and nurse coverage, many of whom have long-term and chronic conditions.

News of the potential outbreak in the facility is concerning given the higher danger of coronavirus being fatal to individuals who are less healthy or already have pre-existing conditions.

A spokesperson for Life Care told DailyMail.com that the facility was not accepting any visitors or new admissions, and was monitoring all residents and associates for the virus.

They said the restricted access had only been put in place earlier that morning, the same day the two cases were confirmed and outbreak fears emerged.

Officials confirmed the death at a press conference Saturday and said a lack of availability of tests and strict criteria for testing from the CDC had delayed identification of people with the virus

At a White House press conference, President Donald Trump mistakenly said that the first patient to die from coronavirus in the US was a Washington state woman in her 50s who was 'medically high-risk'. The patient was a man

'We are very concerned about an outbreak in a setting where there are many older people, as we would be wherever people who are susceptible might be gathering,' health officials said

An ambulance driver prepares to leave after transporting a patient into an ambulance. A team of CDC workers from Atlanta are on route to the facility in efforts to control the outbreak

The Life Care facility provides 24-hour care for residents, including physician and nurse coverage, many of whom have long-term and chronic conditions. News of the potential outbreak in the facility is concerning given the higher danger of coronavirus being fatal to individuals who are less healthy or already have pre-existing conditions

A spokesperson for Life Care told DailyMail.com that the facility was not accepting any visitors or new admissions, and was monitoring all residents and associates for the virus

Medical staff wearing protective clothing and masks were pictured transporting a patient on a stretcher into an ambulance at the Life Care facility on Saturday.

The CDC is working with the facility to try to get a handle on the situation, they said, but the individual said they could not confirm reports that the CDC was sending in an emergency response team to the home.

Executive director Ellie Basham said in a statement that the facility is monitoring the situation closely.

'Current residents and associates are being monitored closely. As is normal this time of year, there are various cold and flu-like symptoms being exhibited from residents and associates,' the statement emailed to DailyMail.com read.

'The health department has advised us to monitor for an elevated temperature, cough and shortness of breath. We're consulting with the health department and possibly sending patients to a local hospital for formal COVID-19 testing.'

Several Kirkland firefighters have also been quarantined after they responded to Life Care facility over the last week, according to Seattle Times.

'It impacted multiple crews,' Kellie Stickney, a city of Kirkland spokesperson, said.

The city has not stated where the firefighters are being quarantined.

Dr. Jeff Duchin, the health officer for Seattle and King County, said the deceased man had no recent history of travel or known links to global coronavirus hotspots

Harborview Medical Center's home assessment team, including (L to R) Michelle Steik, Lucy Greenfield, and Krista Reitberg prepare to visit the home of a person potentially exposed to novel coronavirus, at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle

Washington state recorded the first death from coronavirus in the US on Saturday.

Duchin said the deceased patient was a man in his 50s with 'underlying health conditions.'

He died overnight at the Evergreen Health's hospital in Kirkland, Washington - just two miles from the Life Care facility in Kirkland where the mass outbreak is now feared.

The deceased patient, also in King County, did not have a connection to the facility, Duchin said.

However, Frank Riedo, the medical director of infection control at EvergreenHealth Hospital, did not seem to rule out the possibility the cases are related.

'At the present time, we do not see a connection between the two. But there are some evolving threads that are being investigated,' said Riedo.

'I think  what we're seeing is the tip of the iceberg. We're seeing the most critically ill individuals. Usually that means there's a significant percentage of individuals with less severe illness floating around out there. So in all likelihood there is ongoing low level transmission.'

Duchin also took aim at the CDC, saying that the lack of available tests had led to delays in the cases being confirmed and action being taken.

'If we had the ability to test earlier, I'm sure we would have identified patients earlier,' he said.

Health officials said all three new cases in Washington state had no known travel history or links to global hot zones  indicating that the deadly outbreak is now likely spreading in communities.

This now takes the number of Washington cases to a total of six, according to presumptive tests administered locally.

Speaking to the nation at a rare Saturday press conference, Trump expressed condolences to the family of the patient who died and addressed the outbreak, urging calm even as he said the virus spread seems inevitable.

'Additional cases in the United States are likely, but healthy individuals should be able to fully recover,' he said. 'Healthy people  if you're healthy, you'll probably go through a process and you'll be fine.'

Trump urged politicians and the media not to sensationalize the outbreak and provoke panic. 'There's no reason to panic at all,' he said.

Initially, there was confusion over the deceased patient's sex, after Trump said that the person was a woman in her 50s who was 'medically high-risk'. The White House said that Trump was relying on information from a briefing from the CDC.

'It was a man,' said Dr. Duchin of the deceased patient, adding that the patient was a 'chronically ill person' with 'severe risk factors.'

Worldwide, the outbreak that began in Wuhan, China has sickened at least 83,652 people and killed 2,862 in 54 countries.

Trump spoke a day after he denounced criticism of his response to the threat as a 'hoax' cooked up by his political enemies.

'Hoax was referring to the action that they take to try and pin this on somebody,' Trump explained on Saturday when asked if he regretted his words. 'I'm not talking about what's happening here, I'm talking about what they're doing.'

The EvergreenHealth hospital (above) in Kirkland. The three new cases takes the number of Washington cases to a total of six, according to presumptive tests administered locally

At Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, a home assessment team hold protective and testing supplies, while preparing to visit the home of a person potentially exposed to coronavirus on Saturday

At the press conference, Vice President Pence, who has been tapped to lead to virus task force, announced new emergency travel restrictions on Iran, Italy, and South Korea, which have been hit by outbreaks.

Any foreign national who has visited Iran in the past 14 days will be banned from entering the U.S., Pence said.

He also said that Trump has authorized the State Department to raise the travel advisory level to outbreak areas in Italy and South Korea to Level Four, the highest level.

Level Four advisories urge Americans not to travel to an area for any reason, though they do not legally forbid travel.

Health experts say that the coronavirus has a low mortality rate, resulting in death in about 2 to 3 percent of cases, the majority of which are elderly patients or those with compromised immune systems. However, it appears to be highly contagious, spreading quickly through communities. Experts say frequent hand washing is one of the most effective preventative steps that individuals can take to prevent viral spread.

On Saturday afternoon, Washington's Governor Inslee, a Democrat, declared a state of emergency in response to coronavirus, authorizing the use of the Washington National Guard, if necessary, following the confirmation of the new cses near Seattle (above)

On Saturday afternoon, Washington's Governor Inslee, a Democrat, declared a state of emergency in response to coronavirus, authorizing the use of the Washington National Guard, if necessary.

He issued a proclamation that directs state agencies and departments to utilize state resources and do everything reasonably possible to assist affected communities responding to and recovering from COVID-19 cases.

'This is a time to take common-sense, proactive measures to ensure the health and safety of those who live in Washington state,' Inslee said in a statement. 'Washingtonians can be assured we've taken this threat seriously and have been working in collaboration with our health care partners to develop plans and procedures to prepare for what could likely be a world-wide pandemic.'
The Syrian military Sunday threatened to down any aircraft over northwest Syria after Turkish drone strikes killed dozens of pro-regime forces in the embattled region.

"Syrian military high command announces the closure of the airspace for planes and any drone above northwestern Syria and especially above the Idlib region," state agency SANA reported a military source as saying.

"Any aircraft breaching our airspace will be treated as enemy aircraft that needs to be downed and prevented from carrying out its goals," the source said.

Turkey, meanwhile, said it was pursuing a military operation dubbed "Spring Shield" in northwest Syria after regime air strikes on Thursday killed 34 Turkish soldiers.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Turkish drone strikes killed 26 soldiers in northwest Syria on Saturday.

That brought the number of soldiers killed in Turkish drone strikes and bombardment since Friday to 74, said the Britain-based monitor, which relies on sources inside Syria. Ten Hezbollah fighters and four allied militiamen also died, the Observatory said.

Since December, Russia-backed regime forces have led a military offensive against the last major rebel stronghold of Idlib in northwest Syria, where Turkey supports some rebel groups.

The onslaught has caused almost a million people -- mostly women and children -- to flee their homes and shelters, the United Nations says. Neighbouring Turkey already hosts around 3.6 million Syrian refugees, and is reluctant to let more in.

Tensions have spiked in recent weeks between Ankara and Moscow, whose relationship has been tested by violations of a 2018 deal to prevent a regime offensive on Idlib. Turkey deployed troops to observation posts in northwest Syria under that deal.

Syria's war has killed more than 380,000 people and displaced millions since it started in 2011 with the repression of anti-government protests.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
She won all three of her Senate campaigns in Minnesota by more than 20 percentage points. Trump, by comparison, lost the state by only 1.5 points in 2016. Klobuchar did it by winning suburbs that normally lean right and holding her own in many rural areas.

Her strategy isnt exactly a secret. It is the same one that many congressional Democrats used in 2018, and not so different from Barack Obamas approach to his 2012 re-election. She emphasizes the pocketbook issues on which Democrats hold a huge advantage over Republicans. She doesnt make voters anxious by promising utopian dreams, like a mandatory version of Medicare that would ban private insurance. She promises to reduce the cost of medical care  and points out that Republicans will raise those costs.

Klobuchar also finds ways to demonstrate her respect to voters who disagree with her on many issues. She describes Minnesota as a proud hunting state and visits each of its 87 counties every year. She doesnt take unpopular positions on immigration, like border decriminalization.

And yet Klobuchar is hardly a centrist. She wants to raise taxes on the rich, break up monopolies, vastly expand Medicare, fight climate change, admit more refugees, allow undocumented immigrants to become citizens, ban assault weapons and require universal background checks. A Klobuchar administration would probably be well to the left of the Obama administration.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was criticised for leaving many questions unanswered, one of which surrounded the reason behind Emperor Palpatines return.

However, this very answer has now been provided in the films novel.

Advanced copies of the official Lucasfilm book were sole in Chicagos C232 over the weekend, and one excited reader posted an extract on social media that reveals Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) in Episode IX is a clone of the actual Palpatine from the original Star Wars trilogy.

Kylo Ren makes the discovery after arriving on Exegol.

All the vials were empty of liquid save one, which was nearly depleted, the book reads. Kylo peered closer. Hed seen this apparatus before, too, when hed studied the Clone Wars as a boy. The liquid flowing into the living nightmare before him was fighting a losing battle to sustain the Emperors putrid flesh.

Star Wars films  ranked worst to best Show all 11 1 /11 Star Wars films  ranked worst to best Star Wars films  ranked worst to best 11. Star Wars: Episode II  Attack of the Clones (2002) The prequel trilogy has lived on in infamy, but the true low point of this low point in the Star Wars franchise must be Attack of the Clones, the dry, crusted middle of the cinematic sandwich. While Revenge of the Sith has some sense of completion and The Phantom Menace has some sense of wonder, all Attack of the Clones has is a CGI Yoda bopping about the screen like an unswattable fly while battling Christopher Lees Count Dooku. Its a film driven by unnecessary desires: from the space politics, to Boba Fetts backstory, to Padme and Anakins romance. The latter is the most insufferable, since George Lucas never had much of an ear for dialogue, as notoriously pointed out by Harrison Ford when he declared on set: George, you can type this s***, but you sure as hell cant say it. Which leads us to one of the worst line readings in cinematic history, when Hayden Christensens Anakin laments: I don't like sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating  and it gets everywhere. Rex Features Star Wars films  ranked worst to best 10. Star Wars: Episode III  Revenge of the Sith (2005) Hollywood has increasingly made the assumption that darker means better when it comes to cinema  it explains why the Harry Potter films look like they were made while someone gradually turned down the dimmer switch on the studio lights. Of course, audiences know that darker sometimes means that your protagonist-turned-villain becomes a youngling-murdering, amateur street magician-looking sourpuss. Anakins arc here comes to a whimper of an ending, underlined by the much-derided decision to have Darth Vaders first moments onscreen involve him howling Noooooo! up to the sky like a mournful hound. That said, Ewan McGregor confirms here that he managed to escape the franchise largely unscathed, as this instalment sees him have the most fun with the clunky dialogue (see: Hello there! and I have the high ground!). Rex Features Star Wars films  ranked worst to best 9. Star Wars: Episode I  The Phantom Menace (1999) The Phantom Menace escapes slightly ahead of the rest of the prequel trilogy, if only for the fact it remembers these films are meant to be fun once in a while. The pod race  its a good scene! Darth Maul is all looks, zero follow through  its embarrassing to act like youve won, only to be cut in half and sent hurtling down an exhaust pipe  but his inclusion in the film did introduce one of the best musical themes in Star Wars history, John Williamss Duel of the Fates. However, the space politics are a particular drag here, with all the talk of trade disputes, and, of course, it's obligatory to mention the terror that is Jar Jar Binks. Rex Star Wars films  ranked worst to best 8. Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) Although its the weakest of the new generation of Star Wars films, Solo still holds up as a fun romp worthy of Han Solos rascal reputation. Alden Ehrenreich picks up on enough of Harrison Fords mannerisms to sell the character without sliding into imitation, while Donald Glover is a scene stealer from the very moment he walks on screen as Lando Calrissian. Its a lost opportunity, then, that the film is otherwise slowed down by an impulse to offer backstory to as many aspects of Hans character as possible. Did we really need to know how we got the name Solo? Really? Rex Features Star Wars films  ranked worst to best 7. Star Wars: Episode IX  The Rise of Skywalker Director JJ Abrams, like the hero of an ancient prophecy, was destined to make both enemies and allies with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. There will be arguments. And there will be arguments about the arguments. There will be obsessive deconstructions and over-interpretations of each frame and intake of breath. But, at the end of the day, this is still a Star Wars film in its very bones, muscle, and sinew. Whatever controversy Abrams might have brewed up with his artistic choices, he still captures magnificently the soul of this series: that unwavering hope that the powerless can win, despite the odds. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Star Wars films  ranked worst to best 6. Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) Theres a lot to wrap up in the concluding chapter of the original trilogy. The result is a few odd turns for the sake of plot convenience. What does one do with a character as enigmatic as Boba Fett? Why, have him topple into the Sarlacc pit within the first 20 minutes! How does one put to rest the love triangle hinted at in A New Hope? Why, insert a revelation that Luke and Leia are, in fact, brother and sister! Even the second Death Star oddly feels sillier than The Force Awakens and its third attempt at a giant ball in space, since The First Order at least had the excuse that their obsessive admiration of the Empire may have clouded their judgement. That said, theres still plenty of charm to be found here and the Ewoks arent all that bad. Before you dismiss them as irritating merchandise opportunities, its worth remembering that they have absolutely no qualms about killing and eating people. Rex Features Star Wars films  ranked worst to best 5. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) If Rogue One is any indication of Disneys plans for the franchise and its future, then theres no cause for concern. The first of the A Star Wars Story spin-offs, it shifts into gear with ease, soothing audiences by not straying too far from the familiar timeline while introducing a full set of new characters and a grittier tone. Stylistically, it feels more like a Vietnam War movie and is proof of how far a gifted director like Gareth Edwards can stray from the franchises usual formula and still feel grounded in the same world. Plus, you have to admire the guts it takes to deliver an ending like that Rex Features Star Wars films  ranked worst to best 4. Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015) Disney made a very smart move with The Force Awakens. As the first Star Wars film of a new generation, it not only had to make its own mark, but feel familiar enough that it welcomed fans back with open arms. The balance is hit perfectly here. Thats largely due to the films new trio of central heroes, who radiate the same kind of warmth, bravery, and spirit that carved a special place in peoples hearts when they were first introduced to the franchises original stars. Daisy Ridleys Rey, John Boyegas Finn, and Oscar Isaacs Poe honour Star Wars's past while striding into its unknown future. It also helps that the film has landed on a villain like Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), whose drive and complexity may see him surpass even Darth Vader by the end of his story in Episode IX. Rex Features Star Wars films  ranked worst to best 3. Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017) Any divisiveness the film attracted certainly proved one thing: heres a Star Wars film that actually took a creative risk. And what a bold, ambitious, and ultimately beautiful risk that was. Director Rian Johnson took the cinematic legacy presented before him and added a new richness to its textures. He allowed heroism to go beyond the clean divide between good and evil; through Luke and Rey, we were taught not to be ashamed of our doubts but to grow stronger because of them. We were taught not to use destiny as a crutch, but to know when to forge our own paths. The Last Jedi is a soulful film told through some of the most striking cinematography of the entire franchise. Rex Features Star Wars films  ranked worst to best 2. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) Its the place where it all began. The Star Wars franchise has only become the success it is today because of how purely revolutionary the first instalment was as a piece of Hollywood filmmaking. It is, to this day, one of the most successful examples of the modern epic, endlessly imitated but so rarely with the same heart or ambition. George Lucas tapped into one of the most timeless qualities of storytelling: its ability to let us see and understand our own world through the eyes of another. Star Wars has become so iconic because, even on such a grand scale, we know and relate to the emotions at hand  fear, love, or a desire to do whats right. Rex Features Star Wars films  ranked worst to best 1. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) The Empire Strikes Back is remarkable in its ability to pursue real emotional stakes. Its closing moments, the final note to its symphony of sacrifice and tragedy, leaves us with the single, delicate emotion that is hope, blooming in the darkness as our heroes set out to save Han and restore the Rebel Alliance. What A New Hope built up by making us fall in love with these characters, The Empire Strikes Back recouped in sharing with us their pain and their fears. Darth Vaders reveal that hes Lukes father has, of course, found its place in history, but theres an equal sense of emotional resonance in the moment Leia and Han depart, moments before hes trapped in carbonite. When Leias I love you is returned by Hans I know  a line written by Harrison Ford himself  were reminded of how magical Star Warss sense of storytelling can be, condensing everything that these two characters feel for each other into five simple words. Rex Features

It continues: What could you give me? Kylo asked. Emperor Palpatine lived, after a fashion, and Kylo could feel in his very bones that this clone body sheltered the Emperors actual spirit. It was an imperfect vessel, though, unable to contain his immense power. It couldnt last much longer.

The book will be officially released on 17 March, the same day the film becomes available to stream digitally.

While the film has its many fans, there are numerous people who criticised director JJ Abrams failure to answer questions that are now being provided in tie-in materials.
By Express News Service

VISAKHAPATNAM / TIRUPATI: A 35-year-old man from Taiwan, who was suffering with cough and sore throat, was admitted to the isolation ward at the SVR Ruia Government General hospital in Tirupati on Saturday for further tests on suspicion that he might be infected with the coronavirus (COVID-19). Similarly, in Visakhapatnam, a native of Anakapalle who recently returned from South Korea and complained of dry cough, was admitted to the isolation ward in Chest Hospital.The Taiwan national, Chen Shih Shun, was staying in Chittoor district for the past 10 days. He had come to repair machines at a private company in Palamaneru, where he was staying.

District Medical and Health Officer Dr M Penchalaiah said Shun visited the hospital on Saturday evening, complaining of cough and sore throat. After observing the symptoms, the doctors kept him under observation at the special isolation ward in Ruia Hospital. Samples were collected from him and have been sent for tests to determine whether he has been infected with the coronavirus, said Dr Penchalaiah. He added that as of now, coronavirus is not suspected.

Meanwhile, a 24-year-old from Anakapalle who returned from South Korea on Friday was also admitted to the isolation ward following complaints of dry cough. He works for a mobile phone company in Delhi, and was sent to South Korea on deputation However, fearing the outbreak of the virus there, he returned to his hometown. State coordinator for coronavirus K Rambabu said the youngster complained of dry cough in the morning, and was admitted to the isolation ward at Chest Hospital for observation. Samples were sent to Pune for tests.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 20:43:12|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

MOSCOW, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Local workers with the Turkish office of Russia's news service provider Sputnik were threatened and attacked in the Turkish capital Ankara, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.

On Saturday, the perpetrators chanted slogans containing threats and asked the Sputnik journalists to stop their professional activities, the ministry said in a statement, adding the Sputnik journalists have been held by the Turkish security forces since Saturday night.

The situation has become more complicated as the journalists cannot be contacted, said the ministry.

The attack on and detention of Sputnik's Turkish employees were a serious violation of the journalists' rights, it noted.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has urged the Turkish authorities to intervene to ensure the safety of Russian media representatives and help clarify all the circumstances.

The incident took place as Moscow and Ankara have conflicting stances on the situation in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib.
DUBAI, Feb 29 (Reuters) - Kuwait called on its citizens to avoid traveling over concerns of coronavirus contamination, a health ministry official said at a media conference on Saturday.

The Gulf state has not registered any new coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours, she said.

The total number of people infected with the disease in Kuwait is 45, the health ministry said on Friday, which has reported no deaths. (Reporting by Maher Chmaytelli, editing by Louise Heavens)
The London Stock Exchange Group is on track to complete its 27 billion US dollar (21 billion) takeover of data provider Refinitiv, despite questions from European regulators.

The megamerger was endorsed by LSE shareholders in November last year, but the European Commission is scrutinising the deal.

These are two complementary businesses and, since the announcement, we expected a thorough review, chief executive David Schwimmer said on Friday.

David Schwimmer, CEO, @LSEGplc: It was another strong year for London Stock Exchange Group. https://t.co/lBzjAwvmGy pic.twitter.com/2Aes7mHiRl  London Stock Exchange Group (@LSEGplc) February 28, 2020

He said both businesses are large scale and have many different products that could be examined. A formal filing is due later this spring.

We look forward to filing with the European Commission in March, and we are still, from our perspective, on track for closing in the second half of this year.

Mr Schwimmer said the questions from the EU are the kind  we would have expected.

We are not surprised, we are constructively engaging with the regulators, and that is part of the process, he added.

Shareholders in the London Stock Exchange Group overwhelmingly backed the massive deal in November, with 99.2% of their votes behind it.

The chief executive refused to be drawn on the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, saying it is too early to say.

Some parts of the business will be boosted by market volatility, he said, while others will face problems.

LSE employees face travel restrictions to some countries, Mr Schwimmer added, but he declined to reveal any details.

Story continues

It comes as the business reported that profit before tax hit 651 million in 2019, a drop from 2018s 685 million, on revenue of around 2.05 billion, a 7.6% rise.

Adjusted operating profit was up 14% to more than 1.06 billion.

Mr Schwimmer said: It was another strong year for London Stock Exchange Group  delivering a good financial performance, making meaningful progress executing on our strategic objectives, and taking significant steps on a number of group-wide initiatives.
Google and Stadia Announce Digital Dev Summit After cancellation GDC due to Coronavirus

New Delhi, Sun, 01 Mar 2020 Arun Kumar

The much-awaiting Game Developers Conference was officially postponed on this Friday. According to the official statement, the reason for the cancellation is the Coronavirus epidemic seen throughout the world. Another Game Developers Summit held by Google and featuring Stadia has been converted into a digital experience in response. This incident has raised many questions across the digital world as well as the safety of Google for Games Developers Summits safety as well.

What Is Google for Games Developers Summit Featuring This Year?

Googles GDC has been a centre for innovation in the Android games and Cloud services market for the past several years. Last year, Google unveiled Stadia and the event began incorporating streaming from them. The GDC for 2002 is seeing its first day on Monday and will feature keynotes from many teams from all over the company. In light of the cancellation of the other GDC, this event has gained a lot of importance since it will showcase the tech coming through in the rest of the year and beyond.

What Would the Now Cancelled GDC Have Showcased?

The original GDC had a complete list of events items for its entire duration. According to the original release, the GDC would have included full days of Android development along with Google Cloud applications. Many major developers in these two domains were set to make their appearances at the event. Further, Googles Stadia, which has generated a lot of interest in the market would have been featured on the following day. This session was also packed with promising and exciting presentations. These would have included:

Bringing Destiny to Stadia: A GDC Postmortem

Bringing Vulkan Graphics Into the Mainstream

Mastering Cloud Gaming: Tales from Stadias Launch

Bringing Googles Machine Learning to Game Development

Super Charge Your Games Discoverability

The Journey of Bringing Our Unity Game to Stadia

According to a statement by Google, the company has supported the decision by the organizers as a consequence of the Coronavirus outbreak. The tentative date for the event has been scheduled for summer this year. Nevertheless, Google is proceeding with its planned event and will be releasing details on how developers worldwide can register. These details will be available on Googles official channels and through major news outlets.

What Does Googles GDS Digital Experience Can Offer?

Googles Digital Experience at the GDS will be featuring full online streaming for the duration of the event. The Livestream will be available on YouTube for both days. According to experts, Google will need to prepare adequately for the massive event. This will no doubt will be very challenging but the opportunity to make interpersonal relationships with Google and other developers is certainly unique. It is expected that the event will be a major landmark in the history of Android development, Cloud-based services and all related gaming IPs are also sure to feature prominently along with their future being showcased.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday asserted that the NDA, of which his JD(U) is a part, was "united' in Bihar as he sought to dispel "confusions" arising from his recent meetings with RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav.

Addressing a 'karyakarta sammelan' of the party here, Kumar underscored that with the state assembly having passed a unanimous resolution against the NRC and the NPR, "patience" should be kept on the CAA and "controversies" avoided until the matter was before the court.

He also told JD(U) workers "let us resolve to ensure NDA will win more than 200 seats in Bihar assembly polls"



Kumar also slammed the opposition Congress-RJD alliance over the 1989 Bhagalpur riots and pointed out that it was only after his government came to power in 2005 that the guilty were brought to book and the victims got justice.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In order to boost the khadi industry, the finance ministry has asked all government departments to mandatorily buy at least 20 per cent of their textiles requirement from KVIC, handloom clusters and registered weavers.

In order to implement this change, the Ministry of Finance has amended Rule 153 of General Financial Rules (GFR) 2017.

Till now, the central government had reserved all items of hand spun and hand-woven textiles (khadi goods) for exclusive purchase from Khadi Village and Industries Commission (KVIC).

As per the amended rule, "of all items of textiles required by the central government departments, it shall be mandatory to make procurement of at least 20 per cent, from amongst items of handloom origin, for exclusive purchase from KVIC and/ or handloom clusters".

The handloom clusters include co-operative societies, self help group federations, joint liability group, producer companies, corporations including weavers having 'pehchan cards', said a recent circular from the Ministry of Finance, Department of Expenditure Procurement Policy Division (PPD).

In the Union Budget presented to Parliament on February 1, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had increased the allocation for 'khadi, village and coir industries' to Rs 1,525.94 crore for the next fiscal.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Express News Service

KOCHI: The arbitral tribunal has directed an international private construction company to pay Rs 19.68 crore as compensation to the state government for the failure in preparing design and Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the work of certain roads in the state. The tribunal also directed the company to pay `Rs 18.34 lakh to the state as costs. This is for the first time in states history an award has been passed with the government as the claimant.

Malaysia-based Wilbour Smith Ltd had obtained tender through international competitive bidding for preparation of DPR and design-specified routes in Kerala for the upgradation of roads to international standards. The contract was awarded for Rs 1.34 crore for the Ponkunnam-Thodupuzha, Thalassery-Valavupara, Pilathara-Pappinisseri and Kanhangad-Kasaragod roads, Tiruvalla bypass and state highway to Ponnani.

But it was found that there were mistakes in the design and DPR prepared by the company during the course of execution of the works. As a result, some of the works could not be completed. And in respect to the Ponkunnam-Thodupuzha Road, the state incurred additional costs. In that circumstance, the government approached the High Court seeking constitution of an arbitral tribunal to adjudicate on the losses incurred by the government. Finally, tribunal rendered an award directing to pay the amount of Rs 19,68,89,126 as compensation, in addition to Rs 18,34,378 as costs.

For the first time in states history, the arbitral tribunal has passed an award with the govt as the claimant
Bill Weld, who served as governor of Massachusetts back in the 1990s, is seeking the Republican Partys presidential nomination this year.

Given how sleepy has been the GOPs nominating contest, this may well come as actual news for many folks. It shouldnt, though, especially for those who are unhappy with President Donald Trumps choke hold on the once-Grand Old Party.

Weld was a good, exceedingly popular governor, first elected in 1990, and reelected in 1994. He was a liberal Republican, back in a distant era when such creatures actually roamed the earth.

Now, even though hes the longest of long shots to make a serious dent in Trumps march toward renomination, Weld is hoping that lightning could strike in at least one of the states that holds primaries on Super Tuesday, March 3. Specifically, hes looking to Massachusetts, Vermont and Utah.

If he can fare well, perhaps even exceedingly well, in one or more of those states, Welds showing could make folks think twice about Trumps strengths. And then wed perhaps be looking at something of a new ballgame.

Bay State Republicans are not like most Republicans. Though the nation thinks of Massachusetts as a deep, dyed-in-the-wool blue state, it elected and then reelected Weld back in the 1990s. And weve elected, and reelected, GOP Gov. Charlie Baker in 2014 and in 2018.

Perhaps its best to think of Massachusetts as a generally liberal state, with voters possessing a genuinely pragmatic streak.

As such, registered Republicans, and unenrolled voters choosing a Republican ballot in Tuesdays primary, would do well to consider casting their votes for Weld, the former governor who maintains his maverick persona. Weld is what folks used to call a social liberal and a fiscal conservative. These days, thats fairly radical. Though it shouldnt be.

Suppose, just to allow whats likely still a bit of a fantasy, that Weld emerges from Tuesdays GOP primary with a significant share of the vote. Or, to be even more far-fetched, imagine that he comes away with a win.

Either would generate headlines across the land. Weld in Bay State Shocker. Trump Teeters in Massachusetts. A President on the Ropes?

Its perhaps only a fantasy for the anti-Trump set, but its one worth having.

And it could come to pass only if voters imagine the unimaginable and cast their ballots for Weld.
Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden talks with supporters at a campaign event at Wofford University February 28, 2020 in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

Joe Biden chalked up a comfortable win the South Carolina Democratic primary in a needed boost for a flagging 2020 presidential campaign.

The former vice president came into South Carolina looking for a clear mandate to revive his push for the White House. Once the overwhelming leader in national polls, he stumbled in early nominating contests with fourth, fifth and second place finishes in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, respectively.

Biden basked in his first primary victory of his three presidential campaigns on Saturday night, telling supporters "you launched our campaign on the path to defeating Donald Trump." As he urged Democrats in the 14 states that hold primaries Tuesday to back him, he took shots at rivals Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg without naming them.

"Just days ago, the press and the pundits declared this candidacy dead. Now, thanks to all of you, the heart of the Democratic party, we just won and we've won big because of you," he said to applause. "We are very much alive!"

Sanders finished second in the Palmetto State. Billionaire activist Tom Steyer was in third place in the early going, but did not meet the 15% threshold for statewide delegates.

Steyer, who piled his own money into South Carolina, dropped out of the race Saturday night as the state's results came in.

By the time nearly 100% of results were in, Biden had a massive lead with about 48% of the vote. Sanders trailed at about 20%, followed by Steyer at about 11%.

Biden will earn at least 36 of the state's 54 pledged delegates, according to NBC. Sanders will win at least 12. The haul will bring Biden to at least 51 national pledged delegates, second to Sanders' 57 by NBC's count.

Speaking to supporters Saturday, Sanders congratulated Biden for his win. He highlighted his early victories in the race, then added, "you cannot win 'em all."

Biden will now try to translate his triumph to success three days from now on Super Tuesday. Sanders, the national delegate leader, appears poised to widen his edge as he leads recent polls of both of Tuesday's biggest prizes, California and Texas. Surveys suggest a narrow lead for Biden in North Carolina, which awards the third most delegates that day.

After drubbings in the overwhelmingly white Iowa and New Hampshire, Biden said his campaign would get a boost when more racially diverse states had a chance to vote. Polls have found overwhelming support for the former vice president among black voters, though that base appeared to weaken after his struggles.

A majority of South Carolina primary voters, or 57%, identified as black, exit polls found. More than six-in-ten black voters supported Biden, while only 16% and 13% backed Sanders and Steyer, respectively.

The former vice president got a boost in the final days before the primary when House Majority Whip James Clyburn, a South Carolina Democrat and the highest ranking African-American in the House, endorsed him. About half of the state's primary voters Saturday, or 49%, considered Clyburn's choice important, according to exit polls.

More than half of those people voted for Biden, the surveys found.

"My buddy Jim Clyburn, you brought me back!" Biden told Clyburn after the congressman introduced him Saturday night.

Voters had a better opinion of the former vice president than any of his rivals. About three-quarters, or 77%, of exit poll respondents said they have a favorable opinion of Biden, while only 19% said they have an unfavorable view.

For Sanders, 51% of voters had a favorable opinion, while 43% had an unfavorable view.

Only about a quarter, or 26%, of respondents said they have a favorable view of Bloomberg, while 67% said they have an unfavorable opinion. The billionaire businessman will not appear on the primary ballot until Super Tuesday, three days from Saturday.

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.

Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube.
Strata Manufacturing (Strata), the advanced composite aero structures manufacturing unit of Mubadala Investment Company, has outlined its ability to expand production capabilities beyond traditional aerospace at the Unmanned Systems Conference in Abu Dhabi.

A composite manufacturing pioneer located in the heart of Nibras Al Ain Aerospace at Al Ain, Strata is the gold sponsor of the event.

During the summit, it highlighted the ability to facilitate composite production for unmanned systems and showcase advanced technologies deployed across its Made with Pride in the UAE aero structures product portfolio.

Speaking at the conference today (February 22) at Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Centre (Adnec), Strata CEO Ismail Ali Abdulla, participated in a panel of industry experts emphasising the Unmanned Systems role in supporting multi-domain operations.

The conference was held a day before the Umex Exhibition 2020, which will run from February 23 to 25 at the same venue.

Strata has established itself as a trusted partner of choice for the worlds leading aircraft manufacturers and has since developed our capabilities to provide composite manufacturing to further industry verticals, remarked Abdulla.

Our adoption and deployment of next-generation technologies is a major contributor to our diversification and expansion of Stratas Made with Pride in the UAE product portfolio, he stated.

"Stratas strategy is focused on sustaining its business by constantly investing in peoples capabilities and new technologies; this has already made a positive impact on Stratas operational blueprint. We have witnessed at Stratas manufacturing facility how Fourth Industrial Revolution solutions complement our current workforces to improve manufacturing efficiencies and quality," he added.

Aiming to highlight the advanced engagement of missions and operations in the light of 4IR, the 4th Unmanned Systems Conference hosted a world-class speaker line-up, with industry leaders converging to discuss trends and drivers, as well as opportunities and challenges poised to shape the future of unmanned systems and the 4IR.

A long-established adopter of cutting-edge technologies, Strata works with leading aircraft manufacturers including Airbus, Boeing, Leonardo, and Pilatus. Based at Nibras Al Ain Aerospace Park, Strata supports the development of a leading aerospace hub in Abu Dhabi as part of the emirates economic diversification initiatives.

Established in 2009, Strata has partnerships with the worlds leading aircraft manufacturers such as Airbus, Boeing and Leonardo-Finmeccanica Aero-structures Division as well as a Tier one supplier to SAAB and SABCA.-TradeArabia News Service
Nine Republican candidates are vying for their partys nominations Tuesday for four seats on Alabama appellate courts. No Democrats are vying for the seats. Primary primer.

AL.com election coverage. Senate candidates here. Public Service Commission president candidates here.

Supreme Court Associate Justice, Place 1 Republicans

Associate Justice Greg Shaw announced he will seek re-election (File).

Greg Shaw

Shaw seeks a third term as Place 1 justice on the Alabama Supreme Court. On his campaign Facebook page, Shaw thanks supporters for their confidence in his efforts to vindicate the rule of law.

A Birmingham native, Shaw, 62, holds degrees from Auburn University, Samford Universitys Cumberland School of Law and the University of Virginia. His wife, Samantha Sam Shaw, is a former Alabama state auditor.

When announcing his re-election bid last October, Shaw said, Serving the people of Alabama on the Supreme Court has been a tremendous honor that comes with even greater responsibility. I will once again ask the voters to place their trust in me to serve with integrity, impartiality and always place the law over politics.

A campaign ad posted on Shaws Facebook page emphasizes his experience and his respect for Alabama values. Telling of Shaws youth, the ad says, Influenced by his familys Gospel music heritage, he recognized that the law, like faith, should always treat all people equally.

Shaw served previously on the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals.

Alabama Sen. Cam Ward

Cam Ward

Ward says in his campaign ad for Place 1 on the state Supreme Court, My philosophy is simple: The Legislature should make laws. Judges interpret laws. Not the other way around.

Ward, 48, who lives in Alabaster, holds degrees from Troy University and Samford Universitys Cumberland School of Law. He is in his fifth term as a state lawmaker, serving presently in the Alabama Senate, where he chairs the Judiciary Committee. He is notable for his work as a state senator to advance prison system reform.

When Ward announced his Supreme Court candidacy last October, his campaign issued a statement describing him as a staunch advocate of limited government and protections for Constitutional rights.

Ward, in his campaign, has made a particular point to highlight his view about the sanctity of gun rights. One of his ads dwells on that subject. In it, Ward says, in part, The 2nd Amendment is important and must be protected.  Good people, exercising their 2nd Amendment rights, have stopped violent people over and over.

Court of Civil Appeals judge, Place 2 Republicans

- Phillip Bahakel is running for the Court of Civil Appeals. Contirbuted by Phillip BahakelContirbuted by Phillip Bahakel

Phillip Bahakel

Bahakel, 65, of Pelham, is a former district court judge from Jefferson County who served on the bench from 2000 until 2007.

With 40 years practicing law, Bahakel says he would use that experience and knowledge of the law and the U.S. Constitution to guide his work on the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals. This position is critical and one must be experienced in reviewing facts and evidence, and be able to apply the law as written to ensure that the right order was entered based on those factors, he told the OnYourBallot.vote/411.org voters guide. I have a strong work ethic and I believe in and will follow our Constitution to see that its principles are adhered to. He says his judicial philosophy is conservative and I follow the law and do not legislate from the bench.

Bahakel said he is self-funding his campaign, with help from donations from friends.

- Matt Fridy is running for the Court of Civil Appeals. Contributed by Matt FridyContributed by Matt Fridy

Matt Fridy

Fridy, 44, is a state legislator from Shelby County who has served in the Alabama House of Representatives since 2014.

Fridy, a life-long Republican and Reagan conservative served as vice chairman of the Judiciary Committee and chairman of the Committee on Constitution, Campaigns and Elections while in the House. He said on his campaign website that he has fought to uphold free speech, due process and the word of law, all while working to keep the government off our backs.

Fridy is an appellate lawyer and said if elected to the Court of Civil Appeals, he would adhere to a conservative judicial philosophy of interpreting the law according to its plain meaning rather than trying to enact policy.

A magna cum laude graduate of Samford Universitys Cumberland School of Law, Fridy is a former staff attorney on the Alabama Supreme Court and the Court of Civil Appeals. He also serves as an adjunct professor of business law at the University of Montevallo.

Court of Criminal Appeals judge, Place 1 Republicans

- Mary Becker Windom

Mary Becker Windom

Windom, the incumbent, assumed office in 2008. She was elected presiding judge of the court by her peers in 2012. From the Mobile area, she earned a bachelors from the University of South Alabama in 1982 and her J.D. from the Thomas Goode Jones School of Law at Faulkner University in 1999. She was in private practice before becoming an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of Alabama. Before her election to the appellate c ourt, she was Alabamas deputy attorney general. I will apply the law as it is written and not make law from the bench, she said in a statement announcing her candidacy. I will look after the rights of all, most importantly the victims of crime.

- Melvin Hasting

Melvin Hasting

Hasting earned a bachelors from UAB, and a juris doctorate from Birmingham School of Law. Since 2002, according to his website, Hasting has operated a successful sole practitioner law practice, where he has traveled statewide to represent thousands of clients, arguing in hundreds of trials. As Birmingham Watch states, He believes that justice should not be based on a persons stature or wealth or name. In 2014, Hasting lost in the Republican primary for District 9 of the Alabama House of Representatives. He lost to incumbent Ed Henry in the primary, garnering 42.7% of the vote. His campaign poster reads, Christian. Conservative. Experienced.

Court of Criminal Appeals judge, Place 2 Republicans

- Jill Ganus

Jill Ganus

Ganus was a district court judge in Jefferson County from 2017 to 2019.

After filling the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Eric Fancher Sr., Ganus was defeated in the general election in November 2018. Prior to her 2017 appointment to the court, Ganus was a member of the Hoover City Schools Board of Education. Ganus was appointed to serve as a district judge for the family court in Jefferson County in January 2006 and won election to a full term in November 2006. She was defeated in her bid for re-election in 2012.

Ganus earned a bachelors in political science with a minor in English and a J.D. from the University of Alabama. She went on to serve as an assistant district attorney in Jefferson and Tuscaloosa counties, and she was an attorney in private practice.

- J. Elizabeth Kellum

J. Elizabeth Kellum

Kellum, the incumbent, assumed her current post in 2008. Kellum earned a bachelors in political science, and a minor in history, from the University of Alabama, in 1981. Three years later, she received her J.D. from the University of Alabama School of Law. She has been a staff attorney for the Court of Criminal Appeals and the Alabama Supreme Court, followed by a stint as Alabamas assistant attorney general from 1985 to 1987. She also spent several years in private practice with the Montgomery law firm of Robison & Belser, P.A.

- Will Smith (Republican Party) is running for election for judge of the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. He is on the ballot in the Republican primary on March 3, 2020.

Will Smith

Smith grew up in Florence City Schools and both of his parents were educators. The private attorney licensed in Alabama and Georgia earned a bachelors and masters at the University of North Alabama, then graduated from Samfords Cumberland School of Law in 1992, taking home an American Jurisprudence Award. He was Lauderdale County Bar Association president in 2004 and 2005. Shortly thereafter, he was appointed to the Lauderdale County Commission. In 2008, he fell 462 votes short of becoming the first Republican elected to Lauderdale County Commission. Having successfully handled appeals in the state and federal appellate system, Smith says, Ive got the required experience and conviction to follow the rule of law.
Brisbane lord mayor Adrian Schrinner has promised to spend more than a million dollars upgrading three Brisbane scenic lookouts if he is returned to office at the upcoming council election.

Cr Schrinner has pledged $1.67 million for the projects, promising to improve facilities at the three sites.

"We love our outdoors lifestyle and visitors flock to our city for its climate and natural attractions," he said.

Brisbane's CBD as seen from Eildon Reserve

"Having green spaces so close to the city is one of the best aspects of living in Brisbane and we want residents to be able to have more to see and do."
Congratulations, ksaarch.com got a very good Social Media Impact Score! Show it by adding this HTML code on your site:

Ksaarch.com scored 62 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 3/5.0 Stars by Social Team

This CoolSocial report was updated on 9 Jun 2014, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.

The total number of people who shared the ksaarch homepage on StumbleUpon. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared the ksaarch homepage on Twitter + the total number of ksaarch followers (if ksaarch has a Twitter account). The total number of people who shared the ksaarch homepage on Delicious. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared, liked or recommended the ksaarch homepage on Facebook + the total number of page likes (if ksaarch has a Facebook fan page). The total number of people who shared the ksaarch homepage on Google Plus by a google +1 button.

Basic Information

PAGE TITLE Kelly & Stone Architects | Colorado Architect | Steamboat Springs, Colorado DESCRIPTION Kelly and Stone Architects. Located in Colorado KSA architects serves the entire state and has projects all over the American west. Custom home design, commercial architecture, and residential architectural services. KEYWORDS colorado architect, architect, architects, architectural, steamboat, steamboat springs colorado, colorado, custom home design, residential OTHER KEYWORDS design, stone architects, kelly, stone, architects, colorado, steamboat



The title found in the head section of the homepage. The keywords meta-tag 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. CoolSocial advanced keyword analysis tool is able to detect and analyze every keyword on each page of a site.

Domain and Server

DOCTYPE XHTML 1.1 CHARSET AND LANGUAGE English UTF-8English DETECTED LANGUAGE English English SERVER Apache (PHP/5.2.17) OPERATIVE SYSTEM Linux Linux

Character set and language of the site. Operative System running on the server. Type of server and offered services. Represents HTML declared type (e.g.: XHTML 1.1, HTML 4.0, the new HTML 5.0) The language of ksaarch.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 ksaarch.com by MajesticSeo. High values are a sign of site importance over the web and on web engines.

Facebook link

FACEBOOK PAGE LINK NOT FOUND

The URL of the found Facebook page. The 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. The description of the Facebook page describes website and its services to the social media users. The type of Facebook page. A Facebook page link can be found in the homepage or in the robots.txt file. Facebook Timeline is the new layout of Facebook pages.

Twitter account link

TWITTER PAGE LINK NOT FOUND
- The US federal aviation asked American airlines to exercise caution when flying over Kenyan airspace at altitudes below fl260

- The agency said terrorists may easily shoot down aircraft at a very low altitude by use of small arms or indirect fire weapons such as rockets

- The agency appealed to affected operators to inform it of their travel schedules within 72 hours before the planned flights to Kenya

Th US government has issued a security alert to all its citizens and airlines warning of possible attack in the Kenyan airspace by extremist groups.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), in a circular on Wednesday, February 26, also asked all American operators to exercise caution while flying in and out of Kenya.

READ ALSO: NCIC warns politicians against using BBI to advance own 2022 agenda

The US ambassador to Kenya Kyle McCathy. The US aviation federation has warned of a possible attack in kenyan airspace. BND News.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Moses Kuria na Kipchumba Murkomen waingia Meru kwa kishindo

Those persons are advised to exercise caution when flying into, out of, within, or over the territory and airspace of Kenya East of 40 degrees East longitude at altitudes below fl260 due to the possibility of extremist/militant activity, FAA said.

Terrorists may easily shoot down aircraft at a very low altitude by use of small arms or indirect fire weapons such as rockets and anti-aircraft capable weapons.

US naval base which the terrorists attacked in January. Photo: Daily Nation.

Source: UGC

Such weapons could target aircraft at low altitudes, including during the arrival and departure phases of flight, and/or target airports and aircraft on the ground, especially at airfields located east of 40 degrees east longitude,the US explained.

Further, the aviation agency urged all carriers to report any security related incidents they encounter within the airspace.

Mitch Mayfield, an American soldier was killed during the Manda attack. Photo: Mitch Mayfield.

Source: Facebook

The FAA appealed those who may have been affected by the advisory to inform it of their travel schedules within 72 hours before the planned flights to Kenya.

The advisory will be reviewed on February 26, 2021, a similar one was issued in December 31, 2019.

The US in Kenya has suffered in the hands of terror group al-Shabaab with the latest being an attack on its naval base in Manda Airstrip in Lamu on Sunday, January 5.

The operation which was conducted inside Somalia on Saturday, February 22, led to the death of two terrorists and one US soldier, the group may now be planning a revenge attack.

On Thursday, February 27, the US through its Kenyan embassy had issued a similar alert warning of a possible attack on a Kenyan hotel.

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.

My husband made me a chokora, used the money I sent from abroad on another woman - Nancy | Tuko TV.

Source: TUKO.co.ke
Malaysia's Mahathir Mohamad lost a power struggle Saturday with a little-known ex-interior minister named as the country's new prime minister in a surprise twist that returns a scandal-plagued party to power. Muhyiddin Yassin will be sworn in as the country's new prime minister on Sunday, royal officials said, after a week of turmoil that followed the collapse of a reformist government and Mahathir's resignation as premier. "The process to appoint the prime minister cannot be delayed because the country needs a government for the well-being of the people and the nation," the palace statement said. The king appoints the country's premier. As well as ending the premiership of Mahathir, at 94 the world's oldest leader, it also means there will be little hope of his designated successor Anwar Ibrahim becoming prime minister. The crisis began when Mahathir and Anwar's ruling "Pact of Hope" alliance, which stormed to a historic victory in 2018 against a corrupt administration, collapsed a week ago.
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.
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

San Francisco Fire Department is now battling a three-alarm fire at Toland Street and Evans Avenue near the India Basic section of the city, firefighters said.

The fire was reported at 8:49 p.m. in this light-industrial area about a block west of Interstate 280. Fire officials are asking drivers to avoid the area for the time being.

No other information was immediately available.

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.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Washington, United States  Sun, March 1, 2020 11:11 680 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2067845e0 2 World #USA,#Taliban,withdrawal,Afghanistan,Donald-Trump Free

President Donald Trump said Saturday that the first withdrawals of US troops from Afghanistan are starting "immediately," following the successful signing of a deal with the Taliban.

Asked when the drawdown would begin under the accord, Trump told journalists: "Like today, OK? Today. They'll start immediately."

The deal signed Saturday in Doha will see US troops and the smaller numbers of foreign allies pulling out of Afghanistan within 14 months, as long as the Taliban stick to commitments to negotiate with the Western-backed government in Kabul and repel international jihadist groups.

The US, which currently has between 12,000 and 13,000 troops in Afghanistan, will draw that number down to 8,600 within 135 days of the signing.
Action-packed films are director Rohit Shettys forte and the filmmaker says he is proud that his name is synonymous with high-octane stunt-laden movies. Rohit, son of legendary stuntman-actor M B Shetty, said he always knew action was his calling.

My father was doing it. My mother and I knew, I will also do it. I started at the age of 16, I am 45 today. Stunts and action have become my identity now. I never thought it would go up to this level. I am happy and proud about it. The only thing is even if others are doing action today, people say, it is Rohit Shetty style. That makes me happy and proud, Rohit said.

The director, best known for actioners such as Singham series, Simmba, and action-comedies like Golmaal films, All The Best: Fun Begins and Chennai Express, currently hosts action-adventure show Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi. His film, Sooryavanshi, with Akshay Kumar as an anti-terror squad chief, is ready for release.

Rohit said the Colors TV reality series, shot in Bulgaria, suits his personality. When I do a show like this it looks real as people relate it with me. It works for me as well. I enjoy it and look forward to it. Every year has been great. The action is great. I had explored Bulgaria in Dilwale so I know the team and it became a bit easier to design the stunts this time, he added.

For the director, safety is the top priority while doing stunts. There is a lot of calculation that goes into designing a stunt. You need to be calm and calculative, and that comes with experience. It is very important to be prepared both mentally and physically. We train ourselves physically but mental strength is more important, he said.

On the direction front, Rohits next directorial venture is the much-awaited Sooryavanshi, featuring Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif. This is the third film in the filmmakers cop universe, which will also see Ajay Devgn as Singham and Ranveer Singh as Simmba in special appearances. Sooryavanshi is slated to be released on March 24.
Regarding Graduates need less than proficiency in education chiefs plan" (Feb. 22): Do Ohio taxpayers see the irony in dumbing down Ohio students?

1. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Paolo DeMaria plans to dumb down Ohios future workforce by lowering (eliminating?) English and math proficiency standards for Ohio students.

2. The state of Ohio is offering numerous incentives, programs and services to attract new businesses to Ohio. These businesses future employees will be purposely educated to be nonproficient. What business wants dumbed-down, nonproficient employees?

The irony: Ohio taxpayers are funding both sides of this equation with literally billions of dollars for two programs that are 100 percent at odds with each other. One party wants to dumb down future workers of Ohio while the other wants to attract 21st-century, high-tech businesses to a state with prospective employees with low (the lowest in the country?) education standards for its future workforce.

Will Ohio taxpayers be blind enough to accept this?

Thomas G. Thoms,

Dayton
(Bloomberg)  A 78-year-old man with coronavirus died in a Perth hospital, marking Australias first fatality, after returning from the Diamond Princess cruise ship off the coast of Japan last month.

The man was initially sent to the Howard Springs facility in northern Australia after becoming ill on the flight back from Japan and was then moved to the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Perth where he died Sunday morning. His 79-year-old wife, who also tested positive for the virus, remains isolated in the hospital in a stable condition and there is no risk to the community, said Andrew Robertson, Western Australias chief health officer.

Elsewhere in the country, two new cases emerged in recent days in Sydney and the Gold Coast after a man and a woman returned from trips to Iran. Australia over the weekend banned incoming travel from Iran for non-nationals, and Health Minister Greg Hunt said he has asked the deputy chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, to consider the appropriate level of travel advice for Italy. Restrictions on travel from the Chinese mainland were extended last week.

Right from the outset, weve made it clear that we will take strong action, but that Australia is not immune, Hunt said in Melbourne on Sunday. There are now 27 confirmed coronavirus cases in Australia, he said.

The death comes just days after the Australian government activated an emergency plan to deal with the outbreak, when Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the risk of a global pandemic is very much upon us. The epidemic saw the U.S. record its first fatality from the virus on Saturday and cases increased in France, Italy and South Korea.

Contact editor Yang Ge (geyang@caixin.com)
American lawmakers have described the landmark US-Taliban peace deal as a step in the right direction to bring peace in war-torn Afghanistan, but expressed skepticism over the Afghan militant group adhering to its commitment.

The deal signed by Special US Representative Zalmay Khalilzad and Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Baradar in the presence of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Doha Saturday facilitates intra-Afghan dialogue in Oslo this month and the withdrawal of all US troops from Afghanistan in 14 months.

"I am very suspect of the Taliban ever accepting the Afghan Constitution and honouring the rights of religious minorities and women. Time will tell if reconciliation in Afghanistan can be accomplished with honour and security, but after more than 18 years of war, it is time to try," Senator Lindsey Graham said.

"I will support any reasonable effort to negotiate an end to the war in Afghanistan... However, any peace agreement must be sustainable, honourable and include protections for the American homeland against international terrorist organisations that are alive and well in Afghanistan," Graham said.

Noting that a reduction of US forces to around 8,600 is warranted, given the current situation on the ground, Graham said that any further reductions, however, must be conditions-based and assume that the capabilities of the Afghan security forces are sufficient to protect the Afghan people, the American homeland, and allies.

Graham also said that one should not forget that Afghanistan is the place where the planning and execution of the 9/11 began. The Taliban provided safe haven to al-Qaeda, paving the way for the deadly 9/11 attacks in 2001.

Congressman Michael McCaul, lead Republican of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said moving forward, a constructive dialogue between the Taliban, the Afghan government and other representatives from the Afghan society, including women, will be an important test for the viability of this significant effort for a lasting peace.

"The US will be working hand-in-hand with the international community during the next phase of this process. Ultimately, the success of this quest for peace depends on the Taliban upholding their commitments, McCaul said.

"While I hope the Taliban live up to their end of the agreement, including cutting ties to al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups, I have serious reservations that they can act as legitimate partners," McCaul said.

Congressman Markwayne Mullin said that now it's up to the Afghan people to take control of their country and ensure it's not a safe haven for terrorists.

Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the deal to set the stage for dialogue between the Taliban and the Afghan government is a step in the right direction.

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith said this agreement marks a beginning, not an end. There is still much work to be done to ensure safety and stability in Afghanistan and the region, particularly through continued investments by the State Department and USAID, he said.

"While I support a potential drawdown of American troops from Afghanistan, any reduction must be carefully executed to ensure stability in the region," Smith.

Republican leader Kevin McCarthy said the announcement of the deal is a positive step, but the Taliban must prove to the world they are ready for peace.

Former National Security Advisor John Bolton said that signing the deal with the Taliban is an unacceptable risk to America's civilian population.

"This is an Obama-style deal. Legitimizing Taliban sends the wrong signal to ISIS and al-Qaeda terrorists, and to America's enemies generally, he said.

As welcome as peace in Afghanistan would be, it is hard to believe it is at hand, said Richard Haas, who heads the Council on Foreign Relations think-tank.

"I see no mention of Taliban disarmament or closing its Pakistan sanctuary. The risk is the US removes capabilities in the long-shot hope the Taliban will change its ways, he said.

Vikram J Singh, who was Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan at the State Department until 2011, said lasting peace in Afghanistan is more possible today than at any time since the Bonn agreement set up a government that excluded the Taliban in 2002.

"Afghans have seen peace talks over decades, always followed by a return to war. So everyone should be clear-eyed: there is a long road ahead," he said.

"It's way too early to tell, but lasting peace is more possible today than at anytime since the Bonn agreement set up a government that excluded the Taliban in 2002," said Singh.

"The risk of failure is still high. We have to hope they (Afghans) can come together and build a new political order that holds the country together and avoids civil war," Singh said.

Responding to a question, Singh said Pakistan finally got out of the way and ensured the Taliban could engage in these talks.

"Pakistan retains the ability to either support or undermine any future deal, and Islamabad will be sure its interests are represented in any talks through Taliban negotiators. We have to hope that Pakistan's leaders are satisfied by having Taliban members included in an new, independent and sovereign Afghanistan," he noted.

India, Singh observed, has long been skeptical that any deal with the Taliban would be worth the paper on which it was written.

"The Taliban, after all, remain a reactionary and extreme Islamist movement. India can be a strong voice now for the Afghan government and all Afghans who want a modern state with equal rights for all citizens," he said.

"As with all insurgencies, all the Taliban really needed was to not lose. With Pakistan's sanctuary, economic support from the Gulf, and local support in their communities, the Taliban showed they could hold on indefinitely. Indian leaders recognize this, and they know that even though Americans and Afghans welcome peace, they all feel this a bittersweet way toward ending this war, Singh said.

Pakistan's former envoy to the US Husain Haqqani said the US-Taliban pact is not a peace deal, but it is about withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan.

"It will most likely prove to be similar to the Paris Peace Accords over Vietnam signed in 1973. That agreement facilitated US withdrawal but did not stop the Viet Cong and North Vietnam from marching into Saigon two years later," said Haqqani.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
NSW Liberal Party powerbrokers will attempt to use a party conference in May to impose a ban on property developers running in local council elections, after their repeated efforts to change the rules were blocked behind closed doors.

Debate on the ban was again delayed on Friday night at a state executive meeting in the southern highlands, amid resistance from federal minister and factional operative Alex Hawke, who is Prime Minister Scott Morrison's representative on the executive.

Federal government minister and lieutenant of Scott Morrison, Alex Hawke, opposes the ban. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The moderate faction has a "hit list" of councillors, some of whom are property developers or are believed to be property developers, whom they want to prevent re-contesting this year's council elections.

"We can't be running people if there's potential dodginess," one state executive member said. "It is infuriating. It hurts our brand, even if it's just a perception."
Spring Creek Park in Tomball has history to it dating back to the Civil War. A festival held last weekend hoped to better educate residents on the history and heritage of the park.

The festival was held Saturday at the park, 15012 Brown Road, with numerous demonstrations, games and civil war reenactments for attendees.

Related: Spring Creek Park RV, camp sites closed for repair

Two different historical markers are at the park, said Harris County Precinct 4 Assistant Superintendent of Special Events Amy Sutton. One is for a historical cemetery in the park and the other is a powder mill built along the creek at the park during the Civil War, along with a sawmill.

Anything that is historical in nature needs to be remembered Sutton said. Giving these students that up close and personal glimpse at the history and realizing that the Civil War wasnt just fought on the east coast.

Related: Tomball, county merging parks

Texas was embattled in the war too, Sutton said, and the German settlers in the area who didnt want war built the powder mill and sawmill for that reason.

Many German families opposed the Civil War and to avoid serving in the army they created a powder mill and sawmill, Sutton said. Its just remembering that and learning that there are different views of the Civil War and looking at all the different sides of things.

Historian Monty Parks said people who provided materials for the war could have exemptions from service.

Even though manpower was important, they still had to have the materials to fight the war, Parks said.

The day consisted of two battles and a skirmish, a shorter battle, as well as activities like storytelling, archery, crafts, and historic demonstrations of things like basket weaving and soap making.

Sutton said the cemetery in the park was believed to be in use between 1828 and 1930, with grave sites for Americans during the Civil War as well as Native Americans beforehand.

This was the first year the festival was held in February, after previously being held in May since 2016, as Sutton said they wanted an extra day for schools to come by themselves for demonstrations, including some Tomball ISD schools, some home schools and a special needs program from Spring ISD.

paul.wedding@hcnonline.com
Minister of Health, Hon Kwaku Agyeman Manu

01.03.2020 LISTEN

The Minister of Health, Hon Kwaku Agyeman Manu has updated Ghanaians on Ghana's preparedness towards the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Outbreak as of 25th February 2020. Writing on his Facebook page, the Minister gave a comprehensive update based on the various thematic areas as recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for COVID 19. The thematic areas included: Coordination, Points of Entry (PoE), Surveillance, Laboratory testing, Case management/Infection Prevention and Control (IPC), Risk Communication / Social Mobilization, Logistics and Partner Support. The update also had key contact persons from the Ministry and Ghana Health Service for further information as:

Dr Badu Sarkodie

[email protected]

Director, Public Health

Ghana Health Service

Dr Da Costa Aboagye

[email protected]

Director Health Promotion

Ghana Health Service

Dr Franklin Asiedu-Bekoe

[email protected]

Head, Disease Surveillance Department

Ghana Health Service

Below is the full update on Ghana's Preparedness of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Outbreak as of 25th February 2020.

Highlights

The Government of Peoples Republic of China on the 7th January 2020, reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) a confirmed novel corona virus outbreak. The virus has demonstrated efficient human to human transmission and the WHO has declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).

Consequently, the WHO requested all member states to strengthen systems for preparedness to prevent importation, ensure early detection and appropriate response to any emergence.

Using WHO's Country Readiness Checklist, Ghana assessed its capacities to respond to any suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19 and has developed a plan to address identified gaps in respect to preparedness, response and control activities.

The Government of Ghana has committed 2.8 million Ghana Cedis as initial amount to support Ghana's preparedness.

Various activities are being undertaken to strengthen systems along the thematic areas of the national strategic plans at the district, regional and national levels. These include Surveillance, Coordination, Laboratory, Points of Entry, Case Management, Social Mobilization and Risk Communication, Logistics and Finance.

There is capacity in country to test for COVID-19 disease (Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical research and Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research).

As of 27 February 2020, total of 24 suspected cases have been reported and all have tested negative for COVID-19.

Ghana is classified among 13 Priority-1 countries in WHO Africa region for being at risk, based on flights and passenger volumes.

Ongoing Preparedness Activities

Coordination

The public health emergency (PHEMs) structures

Public Health Emergency Management Structures have been activated at all levels (national, regional and districts). At the national level, the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) has met four times following activation.

Alert has been sent to all regions to update their respective preparedness plan and activate the respective Public Health Emergency Management Committees.

Stakeholder engagements have been conducted with Ministry of Health / Ghana Health Service (MOH / GHS) involving the GHS Directors at Head Quarters, Regional Directors of Health Services (RDHS); Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of Teaching Hospitals; Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG); Private Sector; National Ambulance Service (NAS); Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR); Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research (KCCR).

There have also been meetings with a number of stakeholders: WHO, World Bank, US-CDC, DFID, IOM and other Development Partners.

The Honourable Minister of Health has met and engaged the Chinese Ambassador to Ghana to enhance information sharing and discuss issues related to the safety, security, and well-being of Ghanaian Nationals in China and also discuss the requisite monitoring /surveillance activities for Chinese Nationals travelling to Ghana.

The National Technical Coordinating Committee (NTCC) has met twice to plan coordination and other national preparedness activities.

Monitoring of the national preparedness is being done through the WHO preparedness checklist.

The national Public Health Emergency Preparedness Plan has been updated and a draft COVID-19 preparedness plan has been developed.

Alerts on the outbreak have been issued by the Director General (DG) of Ghana Health Service (GHS) and circulated to all regions and districts to initiate preparedness activities and enhance surveillance for respiratory diseases.

The Director General of Ghana Health Service has held a meeting with all the Regional Directors of Health Services (RDHS) to discuss preparedness activities and planning for the outbreak.

The Regional Public Health Emergency Management Committees and structures at all levels (national, regional, district) have been activated and on high alert and all the regions have updated their plans.

The Parliamentarians and Select Committee on Health have been briefed on preparedness activities on two (2) occasions.

Points of Entry (PoE)

Stakeholder engagements have been held with the Ghana Airport Company Limited (GACL) management, Kotoka International Airport (KIA), Ghana Immigration Services, Customs Division of Ghana Revenue Authority, Tema Port etc. to strengthen COVID-19 preparedness and surveillance systems.

Screening of passengers on arrival has started and is ongoing using thermal scanning and a health declaration form (HDF).

Sensitization for points of entry (PoE) staff on surveillance, screening, case detection and Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) has been undertaken for the heads of all the 14 designated points of entry and all the KIA port health staff.

Holding rooms have been identified at the Kotoka International Airport to be utilized to hold suspected cases of COVID-19 for laboratory testing.

Alerts and health education on COVID-19 are displayed on airport screens, pull-ups and leaflets available at the KIA arrival and departure halls.

Surveillance

COVID-19 case definition has been adapted and disseminated to regional and lower levels.

COVID-19 case investigation form has been adapted and shared with the regions and districts for use.

National Rapid Response Team (RRT) has been activated.

National Level Training for Rapid Response Teams and other Health Workers

on Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) has been done.

Training of regional and district Rapid Response Teams have been planned for execution.

Clinician sensitization (Including the private sector providers) has been conducted.

Quarantine facility (a newly completed 100 bed hospital) has been identified for potential use.

Laboratory testing

Testing of suspected cases is ongoing at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research with support from WHO, CDC and US Naval Medical Research Unit 3 (NAMRU3).

Samples from 24suspected cases have been received and tested on at the NMIMR. All the 24 suspected cases have tested negative for COVID-19, and EIGHT (8) tested positive for Influenza.

Capacity to test for COVID 19 cases has also been established at The Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research (KCCR) with support from Bernard Nocht Institute.

Procurement of more reagents & primers for confirmation of COVID-19 cases is ongoing.

US Government (NAMRU-3, CDC) has provided technical support, funding and diagnostic reagents to NMIMR for testing.

Case management / Infection Prevention and Control (IPC)

Case management protocols for COVID-19 have been adapted from WHO protocols and disseminated to the regions for further dissemination to the districts and facilities.

Greater Accra Regional (Ridge) hospital and Tema General Hospitals have been designated as treatment /Isolation centres.

Technical support visits have been undertaken by the Institutional Care Division (ICD) of Ghana Health Service and WHO to the designated facilities to asses IPC measures, logistics, etc.

Staff at the two identified treatment centres (Tema and Ridge hospitals) have undergone preliminary training in case management and IPC.

Four other facilities (Ga East, Police, LEKMA and Korle-Bu Teaching Hospitals) have been identified as additional facilities to support case management.

Risk Communication / Social Mobilization

Media briefing has been conducted on preparedness activities by the Ministry of Health / Ghana Health Service.

Key messages and educational materials on COVID-19 preparedness and preventive measures have been developed and disseminated.

Preventive messages on COVID-19 and related instructions for passengers have been developed and are being broadcast on the Kotoka International Airport screens.

Four (4) press releases on COVID-19 have been issued by the Minister of Health / Ghana Health Service providing:

Information on evolution of the outbreak globally, clinical symptoms, directions on prevention and measures being taken within the country to early detect and manage possible cases.

Updates on the country's preparedness activities and on cases suspected and tested for COVID-19

Radio and television discussions and engagements on the outbreak and Ghana's preparedness activities have been started and are ongoing.

Jingles have been developed for public education in the regions and districts

Daily updates are being given.

Logistics

Five thousand (5,000) PPEs have been provided by the government and distributed to all regions, PoE, Teaching Hospitals, and treatment centres and selected health facilities and other frontline facilities.

Partner Support

The country has been working in close collaboration with partners (WHO, World Bank, US-CDC, UNICEF, Red Cross etc.) who are supporting by providing technical, logistic and financial support.

The WHO has

Donated PPEs valued at $5,000 to the GHS.

Shared WHO COVID-19 guidelines and tools on surveillance, points of entry, case management, laboratory protocols, risk communication.

Provided laboratory supplies to support sample collection and testing.

US Government (NAMRU-3, CDC, USAID)

Provided technical support, funding and diagnostic reagents to NMIMR for testing.

Supported in development and printing of social and behaviour change communication materials and training.

DFID

Support for case management technical assistance.

Contacts

For further information please contact:

Dr Badu Sarkodie

[email protected]

Director, Public Health

Ghana Health Service

Dr Da Costa Aboagye

[email protected]

Director Health Promotion

Ghana Health Service

Dr Franklin Asiedu-Bekoe

[email protected]

Head, Disease Surveillance Department

Ghana Health Service
In Delhi, hopelessness and desperation takes over in riot hit areas

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 01: Hopelessness and desperation are gradually taking over the people who are yet to get any news of their loved ones missing in the communal clashes in northeast Delhi, with some like Alam Afroz now visiting hospital mortuaries "for closure".

A distraught Afroz (52), who has been looking for his son for days, says he is unable to answer the anxious queries of his family members about his whereabouts.

"Even if his body is found in a drain, I will know at least that he is gone. Every time I go back home, my daughter-in-law and granddaughter ask if there has been any news of him and I have nothing to answer," he said.

Delhi: Normalcy limps back as people step out of their homes

IB staffer Ankit Sharma's body, with multiple stab wounds, was found in a drain in Chand Bagh a day after he went missing during the riots.

Madeena (48), whose son has been missing since Tuesday, was at the GTB hospital mortuary looking for his body after her efforts to trace him bore no fruit.

NEWS AT NOON, MARCH 1st, 2020

"I have been visiting different police stations. There is no trace of him. I don't know if he is alive or not. Even if he is found here among the dead, I will get a closure at least. Otherwise I will live in hopes forever that he will come home some day," she told PTI.

Mohammad Qadir from Bijnor too has been making the rounds of GTB Hospital since Wednesday, looking for his 18-year-old brother Aftab.

"He had gone to meet his friends that day. His friends told me that they were attacked by a mob. While the others managed to escape, he was beaten up badly. Nobody knows what happened to him and where he went.

"I have approached the police several times but they ask me to visit the police stations which have witnessed some of the worst violence and arson. I tried, but it is scary," he said.

Frantic search for the whereabouts of 22-year-old Monis also ended at the GTB Hospital morgue on Friday. Monis' mother was wailing outside the mortuary as the family was called inside. They identified his body. He was missing since February 25.

Schools in northeast Delhi to remain closed till March 7

But for the family of 35-year-old Mohammad Feroze the search didn't end at the GTB hospital. His wife Shabana said he was returning home from work, when he was beaten up.

"His phone was probably broken during that attack. He was saved by a Muslim family who gave him shelter. He called his nephew and me from their phone on February 24 but since then there has been no contact," she said.

Recalling her last conversation with him, she said, "He said he had been beaten up and couldn't talk much since there was no electricity as the wires had been damaged by rioters and the phone's battery was about to die. He said, 'This is probably our last conversation. Don't know when we will talk again'."

Shabana said they have learnt that the house where he was given shelter has been burnt down. "We don't know where he is," she said with a heavy voice.

"Feroze might be alive. But he had said that he was badly injured. He was quite weak and was suffering from tuberculosis. We will also go to Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital to look for him," said a family member.

The communal violence in northeast Delhi sparked by protests over the amended citizenship law has claimed at least 42 lives and left over 200 people injured. But the number of people who are stilling missing is unclear.

Frenzied mobs torched houses, shops, vehicles, a petrol pump and pelted stones at locals and police personnel. Jaffrabad, Maujpur, Babarpur, Yamuna Vihar, Bhajanpura, Chand Bagh and Shiv Vihar are among the areas severely affected by the riots.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Sunday, March 1, 2020, 9:24 [IST]
Mammootty, the megastar of Malayalam cinema is appearing in the role of a politician once again, in the upcoming political thriller One. The senior actor is appearing as a Chief Minister for the first time in Malayalam in the project, which is directed by Santhosh Viswanath. Recently, Mammootty revealed a new star-studded poster of One.

The new poster, which hints that One is an intense political thriller, was released through the official social media pages of lead actor Mammootty. Along with the megastar, Madhu, Balachandra Menon, Siddique, Salim Kumar, director Ranjith, and Mathew Thomas, who essay the supporting roles in the movie, are featured in the new poster.

The netizens are totally impressed with the new poster of the Mammootty starrer, which is already going viral on social media platforms. The political thriller is scripted by the National award-winning scenarist duo Bobby-Sanjay, thus marking their first-ever collaboration with the megastar and director Santhosh Viswanath.

One reportedly revolves around the clash of different political ideologies and the duties of an ideal Chief Minister. Mammootty is playing the role of Kadakkal Chandran, the senior politician who gets appointed as the Chief Minister of Kerala under a sensitive circumstance.

Reportedly, the political thriller is the first-ever Malayalam movie to be shot at the Kerala Legislative Assembly. Interestingly, major portions of the Mammootty project has been shot inside the Kerala Legislative Assembly old complex.

Along with Mammootty, One will feature an extensive star cast including Joju George, Murali Gopy, Sreenivasan, Balachandra Menon, Ranjith, Mamukoya, Salim Kumar, Suresh Krishna, Shankar Ramakrishnan, Sudev Nair, Vishnu Unnikrishnan, Nimisha Sajayan, Gayathri Arun, debutante Ishaani Krishna, and so on. The movie, which is produced by Ichais Productions and distributed by Anto Joseph Film Company is slated to hit the theatres by the first week of April.
Channel 4 head of news Dorothy Byrne has said the public are in danger of losing their trust and faith in democracy.

The veteran journalist said she was concerned by the publics low opinion of politicians.

Byrne described the Prime Minister as a known liar during her withering MacTaggart Lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival last August.

Dorothy Byrne with Lauren Laverne on Desert Island Discs (BBC Radio 4/Amanda Benson/PA)

Appearing on Desert Island Discs, she said: My job is to speak truth to power and my concern about politicians not telling the truth is not some eccentric view of my own  it is one shared by the British people.

It was really depressing when we surveyed 2,000 voters in the election campaign and only 10% said that they believed that candidates were generally telling the truth.

I think politicians have to listen  not just to me  but to the voters who are saying We dont trust you, because if the people stop trusting the politicians, they will lose their trust and faith in democracy.

We have seen that happening in America, so if we want to preserve democracy, we have got to get people to trust the politicians again.

The news chief, who was born in Paisley and raised in Blackpool, said the Conservative Party should be praised for winning a fairly fought election campaign.

But asked by host Lauren Laverne whether she thought democracy was in peril, she replied: I do, yes.

It doesnt seem to people as if it is in peril because we have just had a general election and we have got a clear winner, and we should congratulate them because it was a fairly fought election, but I am concerned by the publics low opinion of politicians.

In fact, journalists dont share the publics low opinion of politicians because we meet them and we know that in fact they entered politics because they thought that they had something to give to society.

Story continues

But when politicians dont come on to television, the most trusted medium, and explain their policies, and hold themselves accountable, and allow themselves to be challenged, I think that that is bad for democracy because the people who elected them want to hear them justify their policies and want to hear them stand up to scrutiny.

Byrne used her MacTaggart Lecture to attack abusive men in the media and reveal that she had been sexually assaulted by a former colleague.

Dorothy Byrne delivering the MacTaggart Lecture (Jane Barlow/PA)

Recalling her time at the Granada TV company, she said: Some men of power regularly assaulted women and everybody knew it and knew who they were.

I dont mean that all the men were dreadful at all. Most were fantastic. But there was a level of sexism and sexual assault that was accepted.

The wide-ranging interview also touched on her Catholic upbringing in Blackpool and her experience of depression after breaking her leg while working as a VSO teacher in Nigeria.

She spoke about how, after her family moved to England as a young girl, she became obsessed with the idea she had committed lots of sins and had to die by starving herself.

Nobody noticed and also I kept getting hungry so I did get thin but I didnt starve to death, but I was so unhappy, she said.

I am now a happy person because I realised that I had borrowed the unhappiness of the people around me.

She also recalled how she broke into journalism by penning a humorous letter to 50 local newspaper editors in the style of a Readers Digest advertisement.

She received only one response, from Rex Pardoe, editor of the Walthamstow Forest Guardian, but this secured her a job.

Byrne said she was one of those women who nearly forgot to have a baby before she became pregnant by donor insemination in her mid-40s, eventually giving birth to a girl named Hetty.

The interview also saw her discuss her experience of giant cell arteritis, which can sometimes cause blindness, and urged wider recognition of the condition.

Byrne selected tracks including US punk band Pere Ubus Non-Alignment Pact, Handels Messiah and Fela Kutis Teacher Dont Teach Me Nonsense.

Her luxury object was the voice of broadcaster Melvyn Bragg and for her book, she chose a selection of physics textbooks.

Desert Island Discs airs on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds on Sunday at 11.15am.
A bride has revealed the priest at her wedding accidentally married her maid of honour to the best man - and says the mistake convinced her to embark on a mission to warn other brides about the dark side of getting hitched.

Genevieve Lehunt Alterman, 32, from Melbourne, said you can do all the planning you want for a wedding, but you still can't control what will happen on the day itself, as she found out in no uncertain terms.

'I always saw myself as a bit of a "bridechilla", but that all changed on the day when a screaming priest said my bridal party were being difficult,' Genevieve told FEMAIL.

Shortly after the ceremony, Genevieve discovered the priest mistakenly married her maid of honour to her best man due to an error with paperwork.

A woman has shared what it was like to discover the priest at her wedding accidentally married her maid of honour to the best man (Genevieve pictured at her wedding)

Genevieve Lehunt Alterman, 32, from Melbourne, said you can do all the planning you want for a wedding, but you still can't control what will happen on the day itself, as she found out

Genevieve said she was surprised by the mishap, but fortunately it was stopped in its tracks before it became official.

'The best man and maid of honour were told to sign an area on the paperwork that they thought was for the witnesses,' Genevieve said.

'In the end it was just the paperwork that was affected, and someone in the admin team adjusted it before submitting it to Births, Deaths and Marriages.

'But it still left me feeling a bit sad after the wedding, as I felt things hadn't gone to plan and I didn't know how to deal with it.'

Genevieve (pictured at her wedding) said a lot of brides feel under pressure from looking at social media to have the perfect day, but there is no such thing as a perfect wedding

What are the laws around marriage certificates? * The standard marriage certificate is an official certified copy of the registration data held by the Registry of Births Deaths & Marriages. * Before a marriage certificate can be produced, your marriage must be registered. The marriage celebrant is responsible for registering the marriage within 14 days of the ceremony. * Marriage certificates are only available to either person named on the certificate or their authorised representative. * On your wedding day, three marriage certificates must be signed by you and your spouse, your authorised marriage celebrant and two witnesses, who must be over 18 years old. * A marriage certificate is an official recorded document issued by a government authority that proves that the couple listed on the have a legal marriage. * If there's an error on your marriage certificate, you can apply to have it corrected. Generally, you can only apply to correct your own marriage certificate. Source: Births, Deaths & Marriages Advertisement

Genevieve's bad experiences made her rethink her attitude weddings and how the entire industry is built around perfection and, to some degree, falsehood.

'So much of the wedding industry and what we see on social media conveys an idea of perfection and there is no such thing as a perfect wedding,' she said.

'Even though many other industries like fitness and beauty are being honest and more real about how things can go wrong, I found myself thinking that the same doesn't apply to weddings.'

Her experience caused the 32-year-old to launch her podcast, which aims to debunk the idea that things will be perfect and show the real side of weddings - where it won't always go to plan

Her experience resulted in the 32-year-old launching the I'm Getting Married Podcast, which aims to debunk the idea that things will be perfect and show the real side of weddings - where things never go totally to plan.

Genevieve's podcast aims to tackle the pressure brides feel head on, dealing with common wedding tropes including the 'bridezilla' and 'shredding for the wedding'.

'So often, when we look online we only see the perfection, we don't hear the stories behind the weddings,' she said.

'I wanted to make a forum where you see what really happens so women can learn from it.

'That way, when something goes wrong, you don't feel like a failure but rather you know it has happened to someone else too.'

'So often, when we look online we only see the perfection, we don't hear the stories behind the weddings,' Genevieve said (pictured at her wedding)

She said often what is shown online with weddings is 'perfection' and weddings never go completely to plan

What is important in weddings? * Suit yourself. The day is about you as a couple and so while you want people to have a good time, it's important to ultimately put yourselves first. * Manage your own mental health while you're planning and try to share the load out with your partner, maid of honour and parents. Advertisement

What is less important in weddings? * Don't do things for social media. If you are obsessed with the idea of having good photos, just dedicate one area in your reception to where people can take photos. * Don't try to please everyone. If there is something you really want, go with it. Trust your intuition. Advertisement





The 32-year-old also shared her top tips for other brides - which include thinking about the three words that are most important to you with your wedding

Genevieve's top tips for brides * Think about the three things that are most important to you, and base all of your decisions around these. * Use your three things to guide your budget and every decision you make. * Book your biggest priorities first. * Don't think about the small stuff. * Don't be afraid to speak up when something is important to you. * Once you've made the booking, stop looking. Advertisement

The 32-year-old also shared her top tips for other brides.

'Having spoken to lots of vendors for the podcast, the most important thing to think about is that you make sure you have three words that sum up your wedding,' Genevieve said.

'For me, it was all about having good food, good music and good drinks.'

Once you've got the three things that are important to you, Genevieve said it's important to base all of your decisions around these.

'Use your three things to guide your budget and every decision you make and book your biggest priorities first,' she said.

'Then, if you run out of money, then at least you've booked what is most important to you.'

Genevieve also said you need to forget about the small stuff, like tealights and centre pieces, as these are not what people notice on the big day.

'On the flip side, don't be afraid to speak up when something is important to you,' she said.

'We are often afraid to speak on account of being called a bridezilla, but if something means a lot to you, you need to speak out.'

Genevieve said you need to think 'once you're done booking, you should stop looking' as you will do your head in otherwise

Finally, Genevieve said you need to think 'once you're done booking, you should stop looking'.

'You will do your head in if you keep looking at things once you've chosen on things like your band, dress and caterers,' she said.

'Just close the door and move on to the next thing.'

Genevieve's podcast I'm Getting Married will launch on Monday 2 March. You can find it here and here. You can also follow Genevieve on Instagram here.
By Trend

Turkmenistans capital Ashgabat hosted a seminar on Turkmenistans international cooperation in the field of environmental protection and green economy, Trend reports citing the countrys foreign ministry.

The event focused on the results of the Green Central Asia high-level conference and the 9th meeting of the EU-CA working group on the environment and climate change.

The meeting was also attended by representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Environment, the State Committee for Water Management and the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan, as well as ambassadors of the European Union and the Federal Republic of Germany to Turkmenistan.

During the seminar, the participants discussed the Turkmenistans initiatives on the development of a regional strategy for adaptation to climate change, taking into account the characteristics of Central Asian ecosystems and reducing climate risks, projects for integrated water resources management, and the implementation of the Subregional Action Plan to Combat desertification.

"It was also emphasized that Turkmenistan, implementing its national development programs, fully complies with the provisions of the UN Agenda 2030 and climate change strategies".

Turkmenistan borders with Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Iran and Afghanistan and uses water resources of four transboundary rivers such as Amu Darya, Tejen, Atrek and Murghab.

The special attention is paid to improving the regional action plan for environmental protection in Central Asia and accelerating the process of accession of the regional countries to the Framework Convention on Environmental Protection for Sustainable Development in Central Asia.

Turkmenistan is affected by the problem of Aral Sea's ecology. It is most noticeable in the countrys northern Dashoguz Region, where problems have arisen with the provision of drinking water, the fight against salinization of cultivation lands, land degradation and desertification.

The State Committee for Environmental Protection of Turkmenistan, jointly with the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), implements projects on introducing the principles of green economy in the country.

The national strategy of Turkmenistan on climate change, as well as international initiatives of the country, presented at the sessions of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) Rio + 20, held in Brazil in 2012, are aimed at solving urgent problems in this sphere.

One of them is a proposal to open a regional center for technologies related to climate change of Central Asia and the Caspian basin in Ashgabat.

At this stage, Turkmenistan is studying the technical, economic, energy and environmental potential of solar power plants and the resources of other renewable energy sources in the country to address the challenges of green economy.
WATERLOO  One of the Cedar Valleys largest employers plans to triple down on hiring over the next few years.

The VGM Group has added a net 200 employees over the past four years. It figures to hire three times that many  more than 600  over the next four years, company chief executive officer Mike Mallaro said.

If that pace holds, VGM will have doubled its employment in nine years, from 2015 to 2024.

Currently about 1,050 people work for the Waterloo-headquartered medical equipment brokerage and professional services business, founded in 1986 by the late Van G Miller. Our plan is to be over 1,600 employees by the end of 2024, Mallaro said, as business volume is expected to double over that time.

Of the existing workforce, 90% of those employees are Iowans, Mallaro said, and he doesnt see that demographic changing. Most of them work in the Cedar Valley  either at the companys home office complex, jokingly referred to for years as its galactic headquarters at Ansborough Avenue and San Marnan Drive, or at two annex locations near Crossroads Center. A smaller number work from home around the area. The company has grown from Millers original 1,500-square-foot building on West Fifth Street to 350,000 square feet under roof in town. More than 200,000 of it is at Ansborough Avenue and San Marnan Drive, where an 83,000-square-foot, $23 million expansion was completed in 2017.

A younger work force flowed into those new digs as VGM tries to do its part to stem the tide of young people migrating out of the area. Sixty percent of our people are under 40, Mallaro said. Definitely, the companys gotten younger. Theres retirees, and a lot of folks youre going to hire are younger.

That leads to other things, he said. We had a baby boom, like 60 babies born last year. Well probably have another 60 born this year. Its a good thing. I think its worth noting. Theres a huge decline in birth rate since 2008 in the U.S., in Iowa, since the 2008 financial crash and loss of optimism.

However, I think this baby boom were having is the opposite, he said. Its indicative of young people in our community that are optimistic. Theyre excited about the future. Theyre building families. And theyre doing all those things young, vibrant families and people do. Its great for our community. But its also a sign of optimism about our company and this community. Thats a big deal for us.

We have a crisis in our community and our state of young people leaving, Mallaro said, where a young person moves to another Midwestern city to be with a boyfriend and girlfriend, for example. Why dont we do something about it? Its a lot harder to get someone to move back than it is to keep them here.

And theres a lot of things we can do with quality of life in our community and our state, Mallaro said, including more public amenities and recreational opportunities, like skate parks and swimming pools  that may not be used by everyone, but would be attractive to many.

Mallaro projects that additional hiring over the next four years based on projected business growth, providing a variety of services to businesses in the medical equipment field. For example the company works in worker compensation rehabilitation, procuring medical equipment to individuals recovering from work-related injuries. VGM enterprises also provide group purchasing, commercial insurance, management of health care services and networks in post-acute cases, health care distribution direct to patient homes, specialty consulting, online education, digital, print and traditional marketing and more.

Unlike a manufacturer, VGM doesnt have a product to sell, Mallaro said  just service to customers. And the employers take that seriously, he said, because theyre also owners, under an employee stock ownership plan, or ESOP.

The company is opening a secondary warehouse in Phoenix to serve the West Coast, adding to existing warehouses in Waterloo and Nashville. Those out-of-state locations, employing about 35 to 40 people each, provide easier shipping to distant locations around the country. But having them there does help jobs locally, Mallaro said. Our customer service, our systems and support, our purchasing, all those back-office functions, are done out of Waterloo. Even if we add jobs in Arizona, it does help add jobs in Waterloo.

VGM has other offices around the United States, one in Canada and one in North Liberty and one in Decorah.

Since the 2017 building expansion, more recently, VGM remodeled some of its annex space near Crossroads for about $1 million. We tried to be a place that would be attractive to young tech people and the ways they think and work, with collaboration space as well as some recreation space, Mallaro said.

Theres room to grow within the office complex at Ansborough and San Marnan. Weve grown a lot, but we have room to grow another 20% before we have to add more office space, he said.

The biggest development over the last several years has been the growth in customers, Mallaro said. Weve grown by adding thousands of new customers and, significantly, by retaining customers. We get a tremendous amount of growth from existing customers. We serve some of the largest and most sophisticated companies in our industries in the United States, a whole bunch of big Fortune 500 companies. While its challenging, Weve done a very good job serving them so were content to get a little more of their business each year.

What that means to Waterloo is the people we have here do a fantastic job, Mallaro said. They are serving these big sophisticated complex companies. And theyre doing such a damn good job of it that we continue to get more and more business from our customers. Our customers like to do business with us. They like to do business with the people that work for us. And our folks do a tremendous job. Thats a credit to the quality of person we have in our company, but also, by extension, the quality of people we have in our communities.

We really focus on the culture of the organization  the impact one person can make, valuing the individual, Mallaro said. Were employee owned. Everything you do helps the company, and that helps you, because youre one of the owners. Were in the service business. All were doing is selling peoples time and ability to meet a customer need. We focus on the culture and engagement of our employees. We cheer each other on. We celebrate great performances by our employees. We only exist to serve our customer. We have to be easy to work with, a place where the customer feels they belong with us and feel like a part of our family.

VGM, 100% employee owned for 12 years, was recently recognized by The Des Moines Register as one of the top workplaces in Iowa.

The company still plans to have its annual Heartland Conference downtown in June. About 1,000 people from 47 states came last year.

Our people love to come to Waterloo, Mallaro said, noting conferees may have a more positive impression of Waterloo than some everyday residents. They just think its the greatest little community.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
The Texas Rangers are investigating the circumstances of an inmates death in May 2019 at the Midland County jail, a Department of Public Safety official confirmed Friday. The inmate died within hours of the late Sheriff Gary Painter.

DPS Communications Officer Oscar Villarreal said the Rangers investigation into the incident is active and ongoing.

Christopher Duboise, 36, was brought to the county detention center for a misdemeanor public intoxication charge at 9 p.m. on May 23, according to a custodial death report submitted to the Texas Attorney Generals Office. He was placed on a mental health check and moved to a holding cell after attacking another inmate, the report states.

At 9:55 p.m., an officer checked on Duboise and offered him water, the report states. Seventeen minutes later, the officer discovered Duboise had used his jail uniform to hang himself from a handicap bar.

Medical staff performed CPR and used a defibrillator on Duboise, the report states, and he was transferred to Midland Memorial Hospital. He died two days later, at 9:45 p.m. May 25. Painter died in the early hours of May 26.

Judge David Cobos, Justice of the Peace for Precinct 2, said he was contacted by hospital staff to certify Duboises death. Justices of the Peace in Midland County also serve as magistrates and coroners.

Cobos was baffled when he spoke with jail personnel and learned Duboise had been released on a surety bail bond, he said. He said magistrates are normally notified when an injured inmate is transferred to a hospital.

Protocol should have been to start life-saving measures, then check in with a magistrate when hes transferred to the hospital, he said.

Cobos said he believes the Sheriffs Office released Duboise on bond in an effort to avoid classifying the incident as an in-custody death.

He contacted the Sheriffs Office and was told repeatedly it was not an in-custody death, he said. Cobos said MCSO filed the custodial death report and alerted the Texas Commission on Jail Standards about the incident after he reported it to the Rangers.

What they [the Sheriffs Office] were trying to do is hes not a prisoner, Cobos said.

Duboise was released on a $300 bail bond, according to a copy of the bond obtained by the Reporter-Telegram. However, Duboise did not sign the bond  in the space for his signature, the words unable to sign are printed.

Cobos said he was told by hospital staff that Duboise was brain-dead when he was taken to the hospital.

The Texas Code of Criminal Procedure states that bail bonds must be signed by name or mark by the principal, who is the inmate.

Brandon Wood, executive director of TCJS, said they dont recognize bonds as authentic without the signature of the inmate.

We do not believe the bond is actually valid because the statute requires the individual to acknowledge the information and sign it, he said. Thats our point of contention on these. From our point of view, we classified this as in-custody death.

Wood said the jail commission investigated whether MCSO had maintained minimal jail standards during the incident and determined that they had. That investigation focused on if jail staff observed the inmate as required and placed him in the proper area, he said. He said TCJS did not investigate the legality of releasing an inmate on bond without their signature.

Cobos said he also did not know if the actions of the sheriffs office were criminal.

Its not my role as acting coroner to say, The Sheriffs Office should have done this, he said. My job is to determine what happened to him and what caused his death.

He said he reported the incident to the Rangers after MCSO was hesitant to release information about Duboise and security footage from the night he was in custody. MCSO did give him the security footage after several days, he said, and he turned it over to the Rangers without viewing it.

I told the Rangers that if theres anything criminal, I want it pursued and the [district attorney] made aware, Cobos said.

Lt. Adam Hilliard, who oversees booking and bonding at the detention center, said the Sheriffs Office sometimes authorizes bail bonds to release inmates. He said this is often done when individuals have been in the jail for an extended amount of time on a misdemeanor charge.

Its also done if someone is in custody and we need to get them out because it could end up costing the county a whole lot of money, he said.

He said he could not comment on the specific incident because of the ongoing investigation, but its possible the Sheriffs Office did not want to incur expenses from Duboises medical procedures or pay for an assigned security detail.

It could have been because an officer would have to sit there for two to three days, 24 hours a day, taken away from regular duties for a person whos not a threat to the community, Hilliard said.

Its also possible the bond was issued without the signature in a clerical error, he said. He said there have been other instances when an inmate was released without signing a bond, and jail staff has had to ask an inmate to come back in to sign the bond.

Sheriff Richard Gillette, who was appointed by county commissioners after Painters death, said he knows very little about the incident.

When asked if the bail bond could have been an attempt to avoid reporting an in-custody death, he said, I hope thats not what the intent was.

I think Sheriff Painter would have to answer that and hes unable to, Gillette said.

Wood said in a memo from the Sheriffs Office, the jail commission was told that Painter instructed staff to release Duboise.

When reached by phone, Chief Deputy Rory McKinney said he did not know of Duboise or the incident.

Cobos said Duboise was arrested after his mother called the Sheriffs Office for help because he was acting weird and hallucinating. Sheriffs Office deputies found him walking down the street and charged him with public intoxication.

Duboises mother was interviewed by an investigator with the Rangers, Cobos said. He said he spoke with her at the hospital and she was looking for answers to explain her sons death.

She said, I wanted to help him, I didnt want him dead, Cobos said.

A toxicology report for Duboise shows he tested negative for alcohol, but positive for methamphetamine, amphetamine, fentanyl and THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. Duboise also tested positive for a medication used to treat seizures, and morphine, which was likely administered at the hospital.

Duboises death was ruled a suicide from hanging, according to an autopsy report. He had hemorrhaging of the neck muscles, contusions on the head and pulmonary congestion consistent with death from hanging, the report states.

A similar incident occurred in July in Bexar County, according to a report from television station KSAT-TV. In that case, the 19-year-old who attempted suicide was issued a personal recognizance bond and transferred to the hospital after an emergency application for compassionate release. The bond was approved by a magistrate, according to the report.
Over the next decade, there are few industries expected to grow as quickly as marijuana. Even taking into account the near-term struggles associated with getting a nascent industry off the ground, Wall Street is looking for between $50 billion and $200 billion in worldwide annual sales by 2030. That'd be up from the $10.9 billion in legal sales logged in 2018.

Among the opportunities available to pot stock investors, none is pronounced than the United States. The U.S. is likely to account for between 33% and 50% of global weed sales by 2030. To date, 33 states have legalized medical marijuana, with 11 of these states also giving the OK for adults to consume recreational cannabis. There's also a strong likelihood that these figures will increase following the November 2020 election.

Yet as of now, marijuana remains an illicit substance at the federal level.

Marijuana's Schedule I classification is a bigger problem than you may realize

Even though surveys consistently show that a majority of adult respondents favor legalizing recreational and medical cannabis in the U.S., lawmakers haven't changed its Schedule I classification. This means it's a substance that's entirely illegal, considered prone to abuse, and not recognized as having any medical benefits.

Since individual states have been allowed to regulate their own cannabis industries, this scheduling may not seem like a big deal. But make no mistake about it, the ongoing classification of marijuana as a Schedule I substance is making life difficult for direct players operating from seed-to-sale, and the ancillary players that aren't even coming in contact with the plant.

As an example, companies that sell a Schedule I substance are subject to Section 280E of the U.S. tax code. This section of the code was developed back in the early 1980s to disallow drug dealers from writing off their "business expenses" on their federal income-tax return. Inadvertently, it today keeps cannabis businesses in legalized states from taking any normal corporate income-tax deductions, save for cost of goods sold. This tends to result in very high effective tax rates for profitable pot companies relative to "normal" businesses.

Another issue with marijuana's current scheduling is that it's been exceptionally difficult for cannabis-based companies to secure traditional forms of financing, such as a credit line or a loan. Some can't even secure a checking account. The reason being that banks and credit unions report to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which is a federally created agency. Providing basic financial services to an industry that's selling an entirely illegal substance (at least federally) could be grounds for financial and/or criminal penalties.

This Schedule I classification also means that cannabis cannot be transported between states, even if those states border each other and both have chosen to legalize the substance. This requires vertically integrated multistate operators like Curaleaf Holdings (OTC:CURLF) to set up redundant operations in every legalized state. In other words, once Curaleaf's pending acquisitions are closed, the company will have more than six dozen operational dispensaries and have a presence in 19 states, but will need to also open processing sites and cultivation farms in each one of these states to control the seed-to-sale process. That's not helping multistate operators like Curaleaf push toward profitability.

These 11 words should seriously worry the U.S. pot industry and investors

However, the good news is that the 2020 elections may open the door for change. On the Democratic Party ticket, almost every remaining candidate has voiced support for the legalization of marijuana at the federal level, or gone as far as to lay out the specifics of how they'll get it done, as is the case with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). It's not a perfect green sweep -- former Vice President Joe Biden and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg are supportive of decriminalization, but not legalization -- but there's real hope that these Democratic Party candidates, if elected as president, could effect change.

On the other side of the aisle is Republican incumbent Donald Trump. Trump has previously stated his support for the right of states to make their own choices but has largely kept his views on recreational marijuana under wraps. But according to Marc Lotter, the director of strategic communications for Trump's 2020 re-election campaign, Trump's thoughts on cannabis might be the most negative of all the remaining candidates.

In an interview with KLAS-TV, a Las Vegas affiliate of CBS, Lotter tackled a question from the station's news anchor regarding Trump's stance on marijuana. Said Lotter:

I think the president has been pretty clear on his views on marijuana at the federal level. I know many states have taken a different path. I think what the president is looking at is looking at [sic] this from a standpoint of a parent of a young person to make sure that we keep our kids away from drugs. They need to be kept illegal. That is the federal policy.

Note those last 11 words: "They need to be kept illegal. That is the federal policy."

Although Lotter walked back the idea of putting words in President Trump's mouth, it would appear the administration's stance will remain to keep cannabis a Schedule I drug.

Additional evidence suggests that Trump is no fan of the green rush

Of course, we don't have to just take Trump's director of strategic communications' word for it. The president has provided compelling evidence that he's not exactly the biggest fan of the cannabis industry.

For instance, Trump appointed former Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, a Republican, as his Attorney General. Sessions was very possibly the most ardent opponent of marijuana on Wall Street. On one occasion, Sessions, who resigned in November 2018, wound up sending a letter to some of his congressional colleagues requesting that they repeal the Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment, which protects medical marijuana businesses in legalized states from federal prosecution. While Sessions was mostly unsuccessful in his fight against the U.S. pot industry, he did rescind the Cole Memo in January 2018.

President Trump has also included signing statements in passed federal funding legislation. A signing statement is something presidents include when they believe their executive authority could be impinged. A signing statement would effectively allow Trump to go back on his promise of respecting states' rights and implement federal law. While this seems highly unlikely, it nevertheless doesn't close the door on the possibility that Trump could clamp down on the U.S. pot industry.

While there's still a lot to be decided before we know who'll be president for the next four years, the prospect of real change being effected at the federal level regarding marijuana's scheduling could go way down if Donald Trump sees a second term.
There arent as many tourists, and more and more people are wearing masks, she said. The local supermarkets are selling out of masks and hand sanitizer, and my roommates and I have stocked up on all cleaning supplies for at least the next few weeks.  Id be lying if I said I wasnt a little concerned about the recent outbreak of the coronavirus, but I am doing everything I can to stay safe and healthy.
The suits worn by the first same-sex couple to get married in the state will feature in an exhibition showcasing 180 years of Queensland wedding history, due to open to the public later this year.

It is one of 10 major exhibitions planned for the year ahead at Queensland Museum, with a variety of themes that cover the state's ancient history, Indigenous history, and its modern story.

Queensland's first same-sex couple to marry, Craig Burns and Luke Sullivan, whose wedding suits will feature in a new exhibition. Credit:Gary Cranitch

Curator Dr Jim Thompson said this year would be a challenge after the enormous success of last year's NASA  A Human Adventure exhibition, which was the biggest in the museum's history.

"We want people to explore, have an experience and be curious about the world and the history of this place," he said.
An Uber driver, who once drove for Robert De Niro and Samuel L. Jackson, is still in a coma a month after he was attacked by five passengers in New York City.

Mohamad Al-Gahaffi, 54, was viciously attacked by five people on February 5 around 4.45am after he picked up the boozy group from a strip club in Queens.

During the drive, Al-Gahaffi asked the group of three men and two women to stop drinking in his car.

Scroll down for video

Uber driver, Mohamad Al-Gahaffi (left and right), 54, who once drove for stars such as Robert De Niro and Samuel L. Jackson, is still in a coma a month after he was attacked by five passengers in New York City

Authorities released footage of the attack on Saturday, but neither Al-Gahaffi or the two women were seen in the video. This still image shows the three male passengers during a brief scuffle

In the footage, two of the male passengers are seen briefly fighting as a third suspect tries to break them up. Toward the end of the footage, two of the three men are seen walking toward the corner of East 62nd Street

His plea for them to stop led to a verbal dispute that poured onto the corner of East 62nd Street and Second Avenue in Manhattan, officers from the NYPD said.

Authorities released footage of the attack on Saturday, but neither Al-Gahaffi or the two women were seen in the video.

In the footage, two of the male passengers are seen during a brief scuffle as a third suspect tries to break them up.

Toward the end of the footage, two of the men are seen walking toward the corner of East 62nd Street.

At some point, one of the male passengers, punched Al-Gahaffi in the face, knocking him to the ground. That moment wasn't captured in the footage released by police.

First responders rushed Al-Gahaffi to New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center in critical condition.

Authorities have also released surveillance images of the alleged attackers, but no arrests have been made

According to a police report, Al-Gahaffi suffered severe head trauma. He was later placed into a coma and upgraded to critical but stable condition.

Family friend, Omer Seman, 25, told the New York Post: 'I wouldnt wish this on anybody and the community wishes him well.'

Seman also said that Al-Gahaffi is beloved at his local mosque where he would occasionally lead prayer.

According to Seman, Al-Gahaffi used to chauffeur De Niro, Jackson, Mark Whalberg and other A-list celebrities in the early 1990s after he immigrated from Yemen.

At the time, Al-Gahaffi was working for BLS Limo service. He later worked as a yellow cab driver before driving for Uber.

Authorities have also released surveillance images of the alleged attackers, but no arrests have been made.

Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at www.nypdcrimestoppers.com.
STONEWALL  A controversial auction of Nazi paraphernalia took place in Stonewall on Saturday, as McSherrys Auction Service sold off a selection of military memorabilia said to belong to the son of a Second World War veteran.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 1/3/2020 (680 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

STONEWALL  A controversial auction of Nazi paraphernalia took place in Stonewall on Saturday, as McSherrys Auction Service sold off a selection of military memorabilia said to belong to the son of a Second World War veteran.

As many as 150 people, mostly older men, showed up at the auction house. Multiple people who said they frequent McSherrys auctions said turnout was average for a Saturday.

Holocaust experts from the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and the Freeman Family Foundation Holocaust Education Centre told the Free Press they were concerned about the auction earlier this week, saying the items could end up in the hands of extremists who venerate Nazi ideology. The Toronto-based Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre called for the items to be removed from the auction.

A Free Press reporter who asked to interview auctioneer Stuart McSherry on Saturday was introduced to a man who would not confirm his name and declined an interview. (The same man went on to conduct the auction.)

In previous interviews with the Free Press, McSherry initially said, "The product is just a product to me." He later said he might reconsider selling Nazi memorabilia in the future.

But the Nazi items went on the auction block as planned on Saturday, although they made up only a small fraction of the items for sale. Most of the goods were perfectly mundane: a socket wrench set, antique crockery, two bedpans, a collectible plate with an image of Fort Garry, a refrigerator. Other items included war memorabilia from the Allied forces, like a vintage U.S. war bond poster and a selection of Canadian medals.

Nestled among the knick-knacks was the Nazi memorabilia, much of which was sealed away in glass display cases. Relatively innocuous pieces such as German military helmets, bayonets and tools sat side-by-side with more objectionable items, including documents bearing Nazi insignias and what appeared to be a genuine Hitler Youth knife, a dagger issued to boys who joined the Nazi Partys youth movement.

Jared Funk was interested in the knife. He said hes not attracted to Nazi ideology, but is fascinated with the history of the Second World War. The avid collector of Second World War artifacts said he studied the Holocaust during university.

"I was enthralled with how fast a government or even a country can change from one state to another state, you know?"

Asked whether he thinks Nazi items are better off in the hands of private collectors or displayed in museums with the appropriate historical context, Funk said he sees both sides of the debate. He may even donate his collection to a museum someday, he said.

"I believe that history  whether its good or bad  should be always there because youll forget about it if we dont (preserve it)," said Funk.

"It seems like nowadays were trying to erase the history, all the bad stuff. And when you erase it, you forget about it."

Auction attendee Ray Jacobs didnt come to bid on militaria  he had his eye on an antique mantel clock  but he saw no reason Nazi items shouldnt be sold to private collectors.

"You cant change the past by trying to hide it. Theres no use in that, because then it just breeds another culture of people who dont know what happened."

Military collector Bryan Oliver prefers Canadian or British artifacts. He said hes a regular at McSherrys auctions, but has rarely seen this much German memorabilia at a single auction.

"Most of the Nazi stuff that would have come back would have been captured from guys fighting," said Oliver.

"It was legitimate stuff. I sure dont support the ideology, I personally dont want to collect it, (but) I think you should have the right to. The guys who brought it home fought for our country."

Michael Berezay picked up a small box of German military medals at the auction, including two Iron Crosses with Nazi swastika insignias. He said the medals were definitely replicas, not originals.

"Theyre too new-looking, and theyre too clean, and they went too cheap," he said.

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.

Berezay said he had no interest in collecting Nazi memorabilia himself, and only bought the medals to resell them to collectors.

"Its surprising you (news reporters) are here today, because this is definitely not the first Nazi memorabilia thats come up for sale here... Its all over the place, its so common."

Berezay said hes heard that Jewish groups sometimes buy Nazi memorabilia in order to destroy it, an idea he thinks is "brilliant."

"I get why they would want this stuff destroyed," he said.

solomon.israel@freepress.mb.ca

@sol_israel
A 78-year-old man, evacuated from the coronavirus-stricken Diamond Princess cruise liner in Japan, died at a Perth hospital Sunday, becoming Australia's first fatality from the disease, officials said.

His 79-year-old wife was also infected with the disease during the cruise and remains in a Perth hospital, a spokeswoman for the Western Australian state health department told AFP.

The couple were among about 160 Australians evacuated from the Diamond Princess last month and they tested positive for the coronavirus during their flight home.

They were immediately transferred to isolation units in the Perth hospital on February 21 while the rest of the evacuees were quarantined in a former miners' camp near the northern city of Darwin.

Andrew Robertson, Western Australia's chief medical officer, said the couple initially seemed to have only a mild version of the illness, but that the man's condition subsequently deteriorated.

He insisted both had been isolated early and that their cases posed "no risk to the general community or (medical) staff".

Earlier Sunday, health authorities in New South Wales state confirmed a 26th case of coronavirus in Australia after a man in his 40s who had travelled from Iran was diagnosed with the disease.

He was the second Australian infected in Iran. All other cases of the disease in Australia other than the Perth couple involved people who had come from China's Hubei province, where the virus was first reported.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
US says Chinese warship fired laser at American spy plane

Iran Press TV

Friday, 28 February 2020 10:41 AM

The US military says a Chinese Navy ship fired a laser at an American surveillance aircraft flying over the Philippine Sea in international airspace, reporting the alleged incident more than a week after it happened.

The Chinese naval destroyer lased the Boeing-made P-8A Poseidon aircraft in an "unsafe and unprofessional" act that violated international codes and agreements, the US Navy said in a statement on Thursday.

"Weapons-grade lasers could potentially cause serious harm to aircrew and mariners, as well as ship and aircraft systems," the statement from US Pacific Fleet said.

The statement also said the laser was detected by sensors on the aircraft, but was not visible to the naked eye, and said the incident took place about 380 miles (611 km) west of Guam.

The Poseidon crew is deployed to Kadena Air Force Base in Okinawa, Japan.

The US regularly dispatches its warships and warplanes to the East and South China Seas, which are adjacent to the Philippine Sea, as part of patrols it calls "freedom of navigation" and without seeking an authorization from China.

China has constantly warned the US against its military activities in the region. Beijing has also urged Washington on numerous occasions to stop meddling in China's territorial disputes with its neighbors.

US President Donald Trump's administration has made China a key focus for the Pentagon and seeks to redeploy American forces from other areas to confront a growing military competition with China.

The US claim that China is seeking to expand its international influence has been a common US government assertion since the administration of former President Barack Obama.

There are a growing number of disputes in the US-Chinese relationship, which include a trade war, the disputed South China Sea, and the US relationship with Taiwan, which Beijing considers a renegade province.

Trump launched a trade war with China in 2018 to restrain the country's growing economic power and to punish China for its alleged economic espionage, cyber attacks, forced technology transfer and dumping of low-priced goods made with massive government subsidies.



NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Omicron Outbreak: Night curfew in Kerala from Dec 30, no New Year celebration post 10 pm

Kerala cop kicks, beats up passenger for travelling without ticket on train, video goes viral

Complete lockdown in Kerala? Here's what Health Minister has to say

New Covid curbs in Kerala: Attendance at marriages, funerals capped at 50

Kerala: Pope Francis expels Catholic priest Robin Vadakkumchery, convicted of rape from priesthood

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Kochi, Mar 01: Adhering to a policy of 'zero tolerance' for clergy who sexually exploit minors, Pope Francis has expelled a Kerala priestconvicted of rape from all priestly duties and rights, according to church officials.

Syro-Malabar Church priest Robin Vadakkumchery is currently serving a jail term for impregnating a 16-year-old girl in Mananthavady diocese.

"Vadakkumchery has been dispensed from the exercise of priestly duties and rights. That means he has been reduced to the state of a layman", a Church official told PTI.

He was suspended from priestly duties soon after the news about his crime was reported in early 2017.

A POCSO court in Thalassery last year had sentenced Vadakkumchery to 20 years of Rigorous Imprisonment and slapped a fine of Rs three lakh on him.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Sunday, March 1, 2020, 15:51 [IST]
A CDC worker collects biomaterial from suspected 2019-nCoV patients for nucleic acid tests in a hotel for isolated people in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province Tuesday, Feb. 04, 2020.

More than 15,000 coronavirus testing kits are in the mail this weekend en route to health professionals, according to Vice President Mike Pence.

There has been a concern that capacity is limited across the country to conduct tests amid a potential epidemic. The latest numbers show only 472 people so far have been tested in the U.S, according to the CDC. On Saturday, the first death in the U.S. from the virus was confirmed in Washington state.

"The FDA has approved a testing regime that state and local officials can be using," Pence said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union." He added the government is working with another "commercial provider" to send another 50,000 kits out. He did not provide details on the timing of when those kits would be finished.

"More importantly, we have established a process in a number of cities across the country  where if someone presents in the hospital with a respiratory ailment, we want them also tested for coronavirus," Pence said. "We are going to move a lot of volume."

"We think we have addressed the issue," the vice president said.

U.S. health officials said Friday that federal agencies were increasing coronavirus testing capabilities at state and local labs, and were planning to streamline a process for the private development of test kits. So far, more than 86,000 coronavirus cases have been confirmed worldwide and at least 2,979 people have died, the overwhelming majority of them in China.

Pence late last month was put in charge of the U.S. response to the deadly coronavirus outbreak.

On Sunday, he again urged Americans that they do not need to go out and buy masks to try to prevent them from catching the virus. He said the U.S. has about 43 million face masks stockpiled today, but those need to go to health-care providers first and foremost. The government has also contracted 3M to manufacture another 35 million masks a month starting immediately, Pence said.

The risk to Americans of coming down with the coronavirus remains "low," Pence said.
The testing glitch appeared to have occurred in scaling up the manufacturing of test kits.

The kits had three components but some of the components were producing an inconclusive result for many public health labs using the test. On Thursday, the agency announced that labs with two of three working components could go ahead and use the C.D.C. tests, and it broadened the criteria for testing to include people who had traveled to countries with coronavirus infections in addition to China. But positive results still needed to be reconfirmed by the C.D.C. in Atlanta, and labs with only one working component could not conduct tests at all.

Because of these limited resources, we could not get some of our patients tested, said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville.

Dr. Schaffner said he had a patient come in earlier this week who had developed symptoms of an upper respiratory infection after traveling to Italy, where a cluster of coronavirus infections has been observed. He referred the patient to the state laboratory, but officials there said she could not be tested because she did not meet the C.D.C. testing criteria at the time.

The testing limitations may have also prevented health officials from detecting cases earlier on in California, Oregon and Washington state, where people were found to have coronavirus infections despite having no history of travel to China or exposure to anyone with a confirmed infection. Those patients did not meet C.D.C.s earlier criteria for testing. One person in Washington has since died of the coronavirus.

If we had the ability to test earlier, Im sure we would have identified patients earlier, said Dr. Jeff Duchin, the health officer for public health in Seattle and King County, Wash., where the first death was reported on Saturday.

Both C.D.C. and the F.D.A. did have the option of adopting the test approved by the W.H.O., and public health experts said it was unclear why the agencies decided not to do so.

In retrospect, it seems like a bad decision, said one high-ranking C.D.C. official who requested anonymity and was not authorized to talk to the news media.
The Congress party is likely to submit adjournment motions in the Lok Sabha seeking a discussion on the widespread violence in Delhi last week.

New Delhi: As the second half of the Budget Session begins on Monday, the Congress along with other Opposition parties plan to corner the government in both Houses with demands for the resignation of home minister Amit Shah over the Delhi riots.

The Congress party is likely to submit adjournment motions in the Lok Sabha seeking a discussion on the widespread violence in Delhi last week.

RSP leader N.K. Premachandran said he would give an adjournment motion demanding a response from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Indian Union Muslim League and CPI and CPI(M) would also give notices under rule 267 in the Rajya Sabha.

The government has miserably failed to maintain law and order. I think there must be some sort of a nexus between the rioters and a section of police officials, which resulted in gruesome killings and arson that has tarnished our image across the globe. This is a matter of serious concern for us, Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary said.

He said that the Congress will keep demanding the resignation of Union home minister Amit Shah on the floor of the House.

Senior lawyer and Congress Rajya Sabha member Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the party will take up in both Houses of Parliament the strongest possible terms for destruction of democratic values in this country.

The manner and form of protest inside or out of Parliament is a matter of coordinated strategy and not an issue to be publicly aired. But the country is assured that we will discharge our responsibilities vigorously and without fear, despite extreme and illegal intrusion and harassment, Mr Singhvi said.

Opposition parties, led by the Congress, have already approached President Ram Nath Kovind demanding that Mr Shah be removed as he is in-charge of Delhi police, which was totally unable to control the riots. A Congress delegation, including party

chief Sonia Gandhi, urged the President on Thursday over home minister Shahs alleged abdication of duty during the communal violence in Delhi and remind the Centre of its raj dharma.

The Congress president had also deputed a five-member team to visit the riot-affected areas in Northeast Delhi and submit a report to her after assessing the situation there.

The Budget Session of Parliament commenced on January 31 and continued till February 11. After a break, it will again commence on March 2 and continue till April 3.
Sen. Bernie Sanders isnt going to soften his views just because some moderates are lining up behind former Vice President Joe Biden after his landslide win in the South Carolina Democratic presidential primary and Pete Buttigiegs supporters are suddenly up for grabs.

Sanders told The Chronicle on Sunday that he wont choose a running mate who doesnt support his signature issue, Medicare for All, a government-run single-payer health system that would require Americans to give up their private health insurance.

Polls indicate that many Democrats prefer to build on the Affordable Care Act rather than replace their private insurance with a single-payer plan. That doesnt faze Sanders.

We will pick somebody who knows the experience of working families in this country, who has a history of fighting for those families, and somebody whose politics are similar to mine, Sanders told The Chronicle in an interview before taking the stage at a rally in a San Jose convention center, during which the news broke that Buttigieg was ending his campaign.

Sanders came to California a day after his first clear-cut loss of the 2020 election season, as Biden easily won South Carolinas Democratic primary. Polls still show Sanders far ahead in Californias primary, the biggest single prize among 14 states voting on Super Tuesday.

With Buttigieg, the centrist former mayor of South Bend, Ind., having pulled out, the race is reshaping into a contest between moderates Biden and former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg, and progressives Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar is barely a factor.

Sanders didnt back off of any of his signature plans Sunday in San Jose, and he railed against the Democratic establishment that he said is trying to subvert his candidacy.

I am here to ask you to help us change the political culture in America, Sanders said.

The Vermont senator could grab the inside track to the nomination with a strong performance on Tuesday. In addition to being well ahead in California, he has a lead in the second-biggest Super Tuesday state, Texas.

But even a strong showing might not be enough to propel Sanders toward the 1,991 delegates he needs to secure the nomination in July. If none of the five remaining candidates has a majority going into the convention in Milwaukee, a winner might not emerge on the first ballot. On subsequent ballots, Democratic superdelegates  who are mostly elected officials and are not pledged to any candidate  would be allowed to vote.

Sanders sounded a warning against the party trying to deny him the nomination if he comes to Milwaukee with a plurality of pledged delegates.

I think that would look terrible, and I think that would lay the groundwork for a Trump victory, Sanders said in the interview. It would reflect on the Democratic Party in a very, very terrible way.

The South Carolina results revealed a potential weakness for Sanders beyond that state. He received only 13% of the African American vote in South Carolina, far behind Bidens 61%, exit polls showed.

Sanders, however, said he wasnt concerned. He attributed Bidens dominance among black voters to the endorsement he received from South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn, the No. 3 Democrat in the House and an influential figure in the state.

Clyburn played a very significant role, Sanders said. But, he added, there is a difference in how African Americans vote in California, Michigan or North Carolina.

Sanders is the favorite of 38% of African Americans likely to vote in Californias Democratic primary, while Biden is backed by only 10%, according to a Berkeley IGS Poll released last week. Thats symptomatic of Bidens bigger problem in California, where all recent polls show him trailing Sanders by double digits.

But even as he has built his lead, Sanders has heard concerns. One Democrat who flipped a GOP-held House seat in 2018, Orange County Rep. Harley Rouda, said last week, Im a little concerned that anybody that far left is going to help me in my district  unless we can overcome the votes lost by additional ones he can bring in.

Ive heard about that, Sanders said wryly Sunday. Again, he was unmoved.

Democrats win elections when voter turnout is high, he said. Does anyone really think that a Biden candidacy will create the kind of energy and excitement we need to significantly increase the voter turnout?

Sanders predicted that President Trump would easily beat Biden in battleground Midwestern states for supporting disastrous trade deals like the North American Free Trade Agreement.

What do you think Trump will do with him in Michigan and Pennsylvania and Wisconsin? Sanders said. Hell decimate him on that issue.

John Sepassi, a 29-year-old San Francisco resident who attended the San Jose rally, said he likes Sanders crazy progressive ideas. The tech worker thinks Sanders will have trouble getting some of those ideas through Congress should he be elected, but said he is drawn to his vision and idealism regardless.

Sanders plans are going in the direction I think the country should go, Sepassi said.

He said it would be unlike Sanders, who has remained consistent throughout his career, to temper his most progressive ideas now to attract moderate voters.

In interviews Sunday, Biden called that a weakness, saying Sanders is too far left to be electable.

Americans are not looking for revolution; they are looking for results, Biden said on NBCs Meet the Press.

But Sanders supporters in San Jose like Patrick Cote, a 39-year-old Sacramento resident, said it would be a mistake for Sanders to change. Hes starting from a position of strength with the most leverage, Cote said.

Eusbaldo Arenas, 24, said he is leaning heavily toward voting for Sanders. He likes that the candidate wants to bring revolutionary ideas to the country, and said Sanders consistency is a huge appeal.

Thats always something that you want to see in a politician ... sticking their ground, Arenas said. It just makes you feel like you got someone there for you.

Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer, and Anna Bauman is a Chronicle staff writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com, anna.bauman@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli, @abauman2
Ananya Panday who has boarded the cast of director Puri Jagannadh''s pan-India feature, also starring Vijay Devarakonda, was seen enjoying a bike ride with the South star in Mumbai as a part of film shooting.

Dressed in a black top and denim shorts, Ananya looked ravishing as she sat on the fuel tank facing Devarakonda who was dressed in casuals with a woolen cap. In other pictures, Ananya is seen holding him from behind while they take a ride in the Mumbai streets. The pictures from the film set instantly went viral on social media.

Tentatively titled "Fighter", the film is being simultaneously shot in Telugu and Hindi.

Ramya Krishnan joins cast of Vijay Deverakonda and Ananya Pandays next

"Couldn''t be more excited to join a pan-India film. Thank you @purijagan, for this opportunity! Looking forward to a super fun time on the set," Panday wrote on Twitter when the movie was announced.

"Ananya, And we warmly welcome you to the Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam industries," tweeted Devarakonda.

In an interview with PTI, the "Arjun Reddy" star recently confirmed that he will dub his own lines for the Hindi version, which will be presented by Dharma Productions'' Karan Johar and Apoorva Mehta. The film will also be dubbed in other south Indian languages.

Vijay Deverakonda asked to refund remuneration following 'World Famous Lover' debacle?

The project marks the first collaboration between Deverakonda and Jagannadh, who is best known for films such as Mahesh Babu-starrer "Pokkiri" and Amitabh Bachchan-fronted "Bbudadh... Hoga Terra Baap".

Ananya Panday to have action sequences in Vijay Deverakonda's 'Fighter'?

(With PTI inputs)

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.
For her granddaughter growing up in Queens, New York, in the 1960s, Miriam Kirkaldy loomed large as the matriarch of the family and a spiritual guide for the journey of life.

She was truly a love. The neighborhood loved her. She helped everyone, Janine Fondon remembers. Because my mother worked, I was home with my grandmother, (and) she was the birthplace of inclusion (for me).

Her grandmother imparted simple, inspiring messages.

You love everyone. You work with and be friends with people. Even though some people may be hateful to you, you do the right thing, Fondon recalls of the lessons learned from her grandmother. She was wise. She authentically would help most anyone.

Miriam Kirkaldy lived long enough to see her granddaughter go off to college, but it would not be until after her death that Fondon would learn more about her grandmothers American story.

That happened in the late 1980s when the Ellis Island Immigration Museum was opened, and outreach was made to families whose ancestors had passed through its doors. Kirkaldy had come to New York in 1917 aboard a ship of emigrants from Jamaica, West Indies.

Miriam Kirkaldy, grandmother of Janine Fondon, immigrated from Jamaica to the U.S. in 1917. Her story is among those shared in the Voices of Resilience: The Intersection of Women on the Move, on display through April at the DAmour Museum of Fine Arts at the Springfield Museums.FONDON FAMILY PHOTO

Her story would see Kirkaldy find employment first as a seamstress in New Yorks Garment District and later as a domestic worker in suburban Westchester County. She would become a homeowner and send the next generation of her family off to higher education, all significant accomplishments for a woman of color in her generation.

Today, Miriam Kirkaldys story is Janine Fondons inspiration.

As the curator of an exhibit at the Springfield Museums, Voices of Resilience: The Intersection of Women on the Move, Fondon says she believes her grandmothers life exemplifies a message she is trying to deliver: This exhibit stands on the shoulders of our ancestors as we all walk into the future with the hope of collective change.

The exhibit features the stories of more than 70 women of varied ancestry who, she believes, have and are making change in a complex world. They range from some of the earliest Native American residents of this region to contemporary women who are living out dreams on Broadway and beyond.

Also inspired by her friendship with the late Lujuana Hood, founder of Springfields Pan African Historical Museum, Fondon worked with two scholars, Demetria Shabazz and Lucie K. Lewis, to prepare the exhibit.

It debuted on Feb. 15 at the DAmour Museum of Fine Arts in honor of Black History Month, with a program that highlighted its rich content in documenting the stories of the lives of many women of color with ties to Springfield and those of others with whom their lives intersected in the struggle for freedom as it played out in the Pioneer Valley.

Another strand in the exhibit relates the stories of women involved in the suffrage movement in honor of this centennial celebration of the 19th Amendment that granted women the right to vote.

Noted Shabazz, a professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, in the announcement of the exhibit, In this year when we commemorate the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution granting women the right to vote, it is important to reflect on how African-American women and other women have stepped up to shape our civic culture and political imaginary over time. From Elizabeth Mum Bett Freeman to Dr. Ruth Loving, this exhibition invites us to see women on the move for freedom and justice.

Fondon is keenly aware of the importance of sharing stories. Much of her professional life has been centered in the field of communications from New York City and Washington, D.C., to Boston and finally to Western Massachusetts. Today, she is an assistant professor and head of the undergraduate communications program at Bay Path University, a role in which she sees a new generation of young women thirsting to learn more about those who came before them.

In a state and region drenched in history, Fondon says, the stories of the women featured in the exhibit chart the course of that history.

By sharing these stories and bringing them to the top, we can learn more about where we are now, she says. My grandmothers story to me shares how we come to this country on different ships and then to Springfield. Here, like so many other places in the country, we came from different points and difference experiences.

When pieced together, those stories, in essence, encapsulate the rich fabric of life in Western Massachusetts, she believes. Its much like the Fondon family quilt that sits as a centerpiece in the exhibit gallery. Gifted to her and her husband, Tom Fondon, on the occasion of their marriage, the quilt was crafted by the wife of one of his uncles, Mable Alexander Hervey, of Water Valley, Mississippi.

That represents our family heritage, our southern extraction, Fondon says. Quilts transcend community. Its an art form that unites us in our shared experiences.

Each stitch, each piece of fabric represents a different story. Every story, everyones story is part of our communitys story.

Cynthia G. Simison is executive editor of The Republican. She may be reached by email to csimison@repub.com.
Pelosi Aims for House Coronavirus Supplemental Funding Vote This Week

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said she hopes to bring an emergency funding supplemental package to the House floor this week in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

In a letter to House members on Feb. 28, Pelosi offered condolences to the family of the Washington state man who has been confirmed as the first person to die from the novel coronavirus in the United States.

Sadly and prayerfully, today, we learned of the first death from the #coronavirus in the United States. The American people expect a well-coordinated, fully-funded response that appropriately addresses this public health crisis.  Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) February 29, 2020

An important step that Congress must take is to ensure the government has the resources needed to combat this deadly virus and keep Americans safe, she said.

To that end, House appropriators are working to advance a strong emergency funding supplemental package that fully addresses the scale and seriousness of this public health crisis, which we hope to bring to the Floor next week.

Pelosi indicated that the Houses funding proposal will seek entirely new fundingnot funding reallocated from other accounts.

Pelosi has emphasized that Congress needs to make sure that vaccines are affordable and available to all those in need, and that Small Business Administration (SBA) loans are readily available for small businesses affected by the outbreak. She added that any bill should ensure that state and local governments are reimbursed for costs they incur when assisting the federal response to the outbreak.

The White House sent a request for $2.5 billion emergency supplemental funding to Congress on Feb. 24. The Trump administration asked for about $1.25 billion in new funding, and for the rest to be reallocated from funds already budgeted by Congress, such as for Ebola preparedness, The Epoch Times reported.

Pelosi made the statement after Washington state announced the countrys first fatality from the virusa man in his late 50s with underlying health conditions.

Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), confirmed during a White House press conference Feb. 28 that the man had no history of travel to other affected countries and no known contacts with infected individuals.

President Donald Trump speaks as Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health Anthony Fauci (L), U.S. Vice President Mike Pence (2L), and Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Robert Redfield (R) look on during a press conference on the COVID-19 outbreak at the White House in Washington on Feb. 29, 2020. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)

The death came after patients in Washington, Oregon, and California tested positive for the new disease without a history of exposure to known sources of infection, officials in those states said.

This is a case of community spread of the disease, much like the case from California earlier this week, Pat Allen, director of the Oregon Health Authority, told reporters Feb. 28 about the first case in Oregon.

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci said that seniors or patients with underlying conditions are the most likely to be affected by the virus.

For the most part, the people who get in trouble and ultimately, tragically, would die from this are people who are elderly and/or have underlying conditions: heart disease, chronic lung disease, diabetes, obesitybecause of the difficulty in breathing, he said.

The total number of COVID-19 infections in the United States was at 74 as of March 1, according to data tracked by Johns Hopkins University. Most of the cases were passengers on the Diamond Princess cruise ship who returned to the United States after the ship was quarantined in Japan.

Italy, Iran, and South Korea have reported spikes in the number of cases in recent days, with travelers from those countries becoming some of the first patients in a number of nations, including as far away as Brazil and New Zealand.

The White House expanded travel restrictions from Iran on Feb. 29, barring entry to foreign nationals who have recently visited the Middle Eastern nation.

Meanwhile, the State Department urged Americans to avoid non-essential travel to Italy and South Korea, while issuing the highest Level 4: Do Not Travel advisories for Italys Lombardy and Veneto regions and South Koreas Daegu, due to local outbreaks of the virus.

Ivan Pentchoukov and Zachary Stieber from The Epoch Times contributed to the report.
Representative image

Logistics startup FarEye is in talks to raise $40 million, in a funding round led by strategic and financial investors, two people aware of the matter said, requesting anonymity.

New investors in this round will include Microsoft Ventures, the corporate investment arm of tech and software giant Microsoft; Honeywell Ventures  the investment arm of the US conglomerate which makes engineering and aerospace systems, and Eight Roads Ventures  the venture capital arm of financial services giant Fidelity.

Founded by Kushal Nahata, Gaurav Kumar and Gaurav Srivastava, FarEye helps logistics firms manage supply chains and deliveries with its software-as-a-service (SaaS) business model. It gives organisations real-time visibility and predictive intelligence to ensure on-time deliveries using mobility, data analytics and automation. Thus, it helps firms track, collaborate, predict and optimise the movement of goods.

While FarEye and Microsoft declined to comment, Honeywell did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Mint had reported on February 11 that Eight Roads may invest in FarEye.

FarEyes clients include logistics firms Blue Dart and First Flight, as well as companies from other sectors such as Tata Steel Ltd. and Landmark Group. It also generates over 70 percent of its revenue from overseas clients, including German logistics giant DHL International GmbH, multilevel marketing firm Amway Corp. and US-based retailer Walmart Inc., people cited above said.

Its existing investors include Deutsche Post DHL Group and venture capital firm SAIF Partners, from whom it last raised a $9.5 million Series C round in February 2018.

In November 2018, FarEye acquired Dipper Technologies for an undisclosed amount. Dipper runs a machine learning-based platform which seeks to predict the date and time of delivery, based on factors such as weather, road conditions and previous trips.

FarEye has always preferred getting strategic investors on board who can also help them with their overseas operations, contracts and new markets, beyond just capital, one of the people cited above said.

Logistics startups have so far tackled issues across the value chain. While e-commerce delivery firms like Delhivery and Ecom Express seek to maximise last mile penetration, firms such as Blackbuck and Rivigo bring the offline trucking logistics online, and become a marketplace to match a shipper with a trucker and provide added services such as financing, insurance and payments.

On the SaaS side, Locus also provides services similar to FarEye to automate transportation solutions. It last raised $22 million in May 2019 from Tiger Global Management and Falcon Edge Capital.

Similarly, consumer and business-facing startups such as LetsTransport and Porter work on an Uber for trucks model, where they provide trucks and vans on demand for transportation of goods.
Irish Rail have released CCTV footage of a car crashing through a barrier of a level crossing in Knockcroghery, Co. Roscommon.

In the footage the car pauses momentarily after the crash, before driving back through the broken barrier it came through.

Irish Rail have described the incident as 'dangerous and reckless', as a train had been cleared to pass through around that time.

They have asked anyone with information to contact the Gardai.
Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani said Sunday that a seven-day partial truce would continue, but he rejected a key component of a new US-Taliban deal that calls for the release of thousands of insurgent prisoners. The so-called "reduction in violence" period ran for the week preceding the signing of a historic accord between the US and the Taliban in Doha on Saturday. The agreement spells out a withdrawal timeline of 14 months for all foreign forces, provided the Taliban honour several pledges and enter talks with Kabul for a more comprehensive peace deal. "The reduction in violence will continue with a goal to reach a full ceasefire," Ghani told a press conference. "General (Scott) Miller has told Taliban to do so. It is expected (to continue)," he added, referring to the US commander in charge of foreign forces in Afghanistan. But, in a sign of a bumpy road ahead, Ghani pushed back against a clause in the deal that calls for the Taliban to release up to 1,000 prisoners and for the Afghan government to release up to 5,000 prisoners. "There is no commitment to releasing 5,000 prisoners," Ghani said. "This is the right and the self-will of the people of Afghanistan. It could be included in the agenda of the intra-Afghan talks, but cannot be a prerequisite for talks." He added that any prisoner release was "not in the authority of the US, it is in the authority of the Afghan government." The president, who is mired in a political crisis following fraud allegations in his re-election, was referring to upcoming talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government that were agreed to as part of the deal. The Taliban had until now refused to negotiate with Ghani's administration, which they considered a US puppet regime, but the withdrawal agreement hinges on Kabul and the insurgents reaching a separate peace deal through "intra-Afghan" negotiations. Ghani's questioning of the prisoner release points to tough negotiations ahead in a country where leaders seem incapable of coalescing around important issues. Washington has pointedly not yet acknowledged Ghani's win, announced last week after months of delays.
New Delhi, March 1 : Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will be facing questions on the seven-year-low growth rate of 4.7 per cent in the Budget session's second leg starting from Monday while the session may see possible passage of the Banking Regulation Act Amendment Bill to bring multi-state cooperative banks under the RBI's regulation.

Pulled down by a contraction in manufacturing, India's GDP growth slipped to a nearly seven-year low of 4.7 per cent in the third quarter (October-December) 2019, data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) on Friday showed. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, in the corresponding quarter of 2018-19, was recorded at 5.6 per cent.

The Finance Minister has termed the 4.7 per cent growth as showing "steadiness" in the economy.

In this session, the Parliament will likely clear the Bill to help prevent any further recurrence of Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank-like crisis, sources said.

The government has increased deposit insurance cover by five-fold to Rs 5 lakh to ensure the security of public money in banks.

The Cabinet had, last month, approved an amendment to the Banking Regulation Act to bring multi-state cooperative banks under the central bank's purview.

There are 1,540 cooperative banks with a depositor base of 8.60 crore having total savings of about Rs 5 lakh crore. The proposed law seeks to enforce banking regulation guidelines of the RBI in cooperative banks in order to increase professionalism and improve corporate governance, while administrative issues will still be guided by Registrar of Cooperatives.

The Finance Bill 2020 and The Direct Tax Vivad Se Vishwas Bill were introduced in the session that started on January 31 and ended on February 11. The second half of the Budget session is scheduled to conclude on April 3.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday said the politics of weaving discrimination into the "fabric of India" causes her pain.

On the occasion of the "Zero Discrimination Day" on March 1, she urged the people to uproot all forms of divisions on the basis of caste, creed, and religion from society.

Her statement came on a day when Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a pro-CAA rally in Kolkata.

Banerjee, also the Trinamool Congress supremo, has been accusing the BJP of trying to divide people along religious lines.

"Today on @UN #ZeroDiscriminationDay, it pains me to witness the politics of discrimination being woven into the fabric of India. Let us pledge to uproot all forms of division based on caste, creed, and religion from our society," the chief minister tweeted.

"We will never stand for discrimination of any kind," she added.

The 'Zero Discrimination Day' is celebrated worldwide on March 1, to stress on the right of everyone to live a full and productive life with dignity.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 01st March, 2020) The European Union and the United States should step up pressure on Russian and Syrian leaders, Vladimir Putin and Bashar Assad, respectively, to put an end to the war in Syria, German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said in an interview with the national Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper.

"The EU and the US must now step up pressure on Assad and Putin to clear the way for political talks aimed at ending the terrible war in Syria," the minister said on Saturday.

The minister added that the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the middle Eastern country affected everybody.

The remark was made in light of the escalation of the situation in the Syrian northwestern province of Idlib. In particular, tensions in the area increased on Thursday after terrorists of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group (formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra, banned in Russia) launched a large-scale attack on the positions of the Syrian government forces resulting in the deaths of over 30 Turkish personnel. The Russian Defense Ministry said Turkish troops should not have operated alongside militants.
In a shocking case of cheating during the ongoing Uttar Pradesh Board exams, the house of a school peon had virtually turned into an exam centre, where answer sheets were being written by acquaintances of candidates prompting the district administration to blacklist the school.

Ramanand, who works at Karmayogi Shripati Babu Ucchtar Madhyamik Vidyalaya (a self-financed school) located in Bhatni area of the district, is absconding.

The incident took place on Saturday at his house when the Class 10 science exam was going on.

Deoria District Magistrate Amit Kishor told PTI on Sunday, "A complaint regarding the school was received that the answer sheets of science subject were being written at the house of the school peon on Saturday. The house of peon Ramanand was raided. The exam centre has been blacklisted. From next year, it will not be holding any board examination."



He added that 10 accomplices including the school principal have been arrested and action is being initiated against them. Five men and four women were found at the place during the raid. The peon, though, is absconding.

Upon interrogation, the persons who were writing the answers inside the house said their acquaintances were appearing in the examination at the centre.

They also told officials that these activities were being done in connivance with the school principal and the peon.

"These people were caught red-handed writing the answer sheets of the science subject. Two roll numbers were found written on the answer sheets apart from the stamp of the school and all the entries on the first page. Notes, answer sheets, writing material and unfilled answer sheets were also recovered," officials said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Using a free VPN service could come at a big cost.

Many Internet users turn to Virtual Private Network (VPN) services to protect themselves from the possibility of someone snooping on their browsing activity or tracking their location.

VPNs also allow users to access region-restricted content such as television shows and movies on streaming services.

There are hundreds of VPNs to choose from, which could make it difficult for newcomers to identify a reliable and efficient provider.

Certain providers offer free VPNs, but the cost of choosing one of these could be severe.

MyBroadband spoke to four of the worlds most-reputed VPN providers  NordVPN, ExpressVPN, CyberGhost, and Surfshark  to establish why it is risky to choose a free VPN.

How a VPN works

To understand when a VPN is not functioning as it should, one should first consider how a conventional Internet connection takes place.

NordVPNs Head of Communications Ruby Gonzalez explained that since you have to be directed to websites or online resources you wish to access, you are first connected to your Internet service provider (ISP).

All your internet traffic passes through your ISPs servers, which means they can see and log everything you do online. They may even hand your browsing history over to advertisers, government agencies, and other third parties, Gonzalez stated.

ExpressVPNs vice president Harold Li detailed how a VPN circumvents this.

A VPN is a secure, encrypted connection between your device and the Internet.

It works by routing your devices internet connection through your chosen VPNs private server so that when your data is transmitted to the Internet, the destination site or service receives it from the VPN rather than directly from your computer and ISP, Li explained.

Surfsharks Gabrielle Hermier explained that the VPN servers role is to make web requests on a users behalf and create a tunnel for data to travel along without being followed around.

The VPN acts as an intermediary, therefore hiding your IP address and helping to protect your identity, Li stated.

As a VPN encrypts your Internet traffic, information that is sent over your connection cannot be intercepted by other parties that are on the same network as you, like hackers who are connected to the same public Wi-Fi spot as you.

The encrypted data looks like gibberish to anyone who intercepts it  it is impossible to read, Gonzalez said.

The big costs involved with real VPNs

In order to run an efficient VPN service, significant costs must be incurred.

CyberGhost detailed some of these, which include significant spending on human capital and infrastructure.

Here at CyberGhost VPN, we have a team of over 70 professionals working every day to make sure we offer our community the best possible VPN experience. Our extensive network also includes over 6100 VPN servers located in 90 countries. As you can imagine, this isnt cheap.

Good VPN companies operate a global server network, continually update their apps, provide customer support, and so much more. But all this costs money. And if youre getting it for free, whats the catch? CyberGhost asked.

Surfsharks Hermier said that the average cost of a server in the USA or Europe is approximately $200, while Asian servers are around $500.

Trustworthy service providers have at least a few hundred servers, which means that the maintenance of the infrastructure alone starts from $50,000 USD a month, Hermier noted.

She said that since Surfsharks user base grows each month, it has to add servers every week.

It essentially means that our costs are increasing by approximately 10% month-on-month.

CyberGhost said that while paid VPN services cover these costs by charging users subscription fees, free VPN services make their money from the user.

They also sell their in-app space to advertising agencies and other clients, CyberGhost noted.

Little to no protection for your data

The main purpose of using a VPN  to protect your data  could be nullified by the fact that free VPNs track your browsing activity, putting your information in the hands of third-party companies.

There is a saying, If the service is free, youre the product, and it is especially applicable in the industry of free VPNs, Hermier warned.

NordVPNs Gonzalez echoed this caution and said that most free VPN services tend to collect user data and sell it to third-party advertising companies or the authorities.

Before signing up, users should always check service policies and learn about how their data is being processed, Gonzalez stated.

CyberGhost said one study claimed that 74% of free VPN apps contained tracking embedded in the source code.

This means your data is getting collected and stored to be sold to advertising and analytics companies, CyberGhost said.

Data is the new gold in our privacy-invading and tracker-exploitative digital age. Weve seen online services that hide behind shady privacy policies and free products that mishandle your private information, the company noted.

It warned that is has observed companies selling data to marketers, government agencies, and other malicious parties for profit.

Weve seen these practices used to influence, categorize, and manipulate you, CyberGhost warned.

ExpressVPNs Li recommended that consumers avoid any free VPNs or a lifetime VPN subscription with a once-off fee.

Consequences of choosing a bad VPN

CyberGhost said there are a number of dangers involved with choosing a free VPN.

Firstly, this could make you more susceptible to malware.

According to a study of free VPN apps, nearly 4 out of 10 free VPN software have hidden malware inside. The risks associated with it are many, but the most concerning of all is the possibility of losing all your passwords and having your accounts hijacked, CyberGhost stated.

Additionally, the security of these free VPNs is weak, which leaves the user all the more vulnerable to online attacks from cybercriminals, hackers, and governmental spying agencies, CyberGhost said.

Another issue is that you may not be able to unblock region-restricted content. CyberGhost said that expecting this from a free unlimited VPN is wishful thinking.

Their limited infrastructure and the small number of VPN servers mean that free VPNs have almost zero chances of providing you access to geo-blocked content.

Others possible problems include massive speed drops due to below-par server infrastructure, plenty of pop-up ads sold to companies that provide revenue to the free VPN, and being redirected to partnership websites against your will.

The consequences could be even worse, Surfsharks Hermier noted.

One of the most popular free VPNs Hola (that has 50,000,000+ installs) was selling the bandwidth of users of their free service to people willing to pay through their Luminati business arm.

It essentially means that if somebody acts maliciously through this network, they might harm the wellbeing of innocent people, Hermier said.

Making the right choice

On the flip side, there are a number of key characteristics which will help you identify an adequate VPN.

Both ExpressVPN and CyberGhost emphasised the importance of choosing a provider that is based in a country with privacy-friendly legislation. Such laws will prevent international surveillance alliances from gaining access to your data.

All of the VPNs recommended products with strict no-logs policies.

ExpressVPNs Li explained why it is an important consideration.

Any VPN that is genuinely concerned about your privacy will not save logs containing information about your online activities. This means that even if it is hacked or subpoenaed for that information, it has nothing to reveal, Li stated.

Its important that their policy had been tested under real-world circumstances, and undergoneand published the results ofan independent third-party audit of its operations, Li explained. Surfshark and NordVPN shared this sentiment.

Gonzalez said NordVPN doesnt store session information, used bandwidth, traffic data, IP addresses, or any other data.

Its no-logging claims were confirmed by the industry-first audit performed by PricewaterhouseCoopers AG, Zurich, Switzerland.

According to CyberGhost, another indication of a VPNs trustworthiness is whether it releases Transparency Reports and what those reports show, CyberGhost stated.

Transparency Reports also matter a lot. They can show if any user data is being shared with the authorities.

Back in 2011, we were the first ones in the VPN industry ever to launch a Transparency Report, detailing the number of requests for data we get from various authorities.

The company now releases Transparency Reports every quarter.

A few more key considerations

According to CyberGhost and ExpressVPN, other key signs of a solid VPN to look out for are:

An extensive server network

Money-back guarantees and anonymous methods of payment

The possibility to protect more device with just one subscription

256 AES data encryption

DNS and IP leak protection

Unlimited bandwidth

Built-in killswitch

24/7 Customer Support services in multiple languages

Surfshark recommended considering the following factors:

Reliable encryption

Trustworthy security and privacy policies and tools. No-logs and anonymity policies with protection mechanisms like IP hiding and kill switches.

Versatility  Support for a wide array of platforms and operating systems.

Simultaneous connections  VPNs should also offer simultaneous connections to laptops, PC, smartphones, and extra room left for other devices.

Speed  Wide variety of servers and different configurations for different purposes

Accessibility  Wide range of server locations

Seal of Approval  Audit conducted by independent 3rd party researchers.

NordVPNs Gonzalez noted that a money-back warranty and easy-to-reach customer support could be considered as two more attributes of a reliable VPN service provider.
Shillong: After a 37-year-old man was killed by three unidentified people at his home in Meghalaya's East Khasi Hill on the wee hours on Sunday (March 1, 2020) the death toll in clash between tribal and non-tribal groups has risen to 3, police said.

The incident happened in Pyrkan village under the jurisdiction of Shella police station, Assistant Inspector General of Police Gabriel Iangrai said in a statement. No one has been arrested so far in the killing of the man, identified as Uphas Uddin, Iangrai said.

The night curfew imposed hereafter violent clashes, was lifted at 8 am on Sunday, barring in areas under the jurisdiction of Lumdiengjri and Sadar police stations and Cantonment Beat House, where indefinite curfew continued to remain in effect, officials said.

The curfew was imposed since 9 pm on Saturday, following the death of two persons in separate attacks in Ichamati area in East Khasi Hills district on Friday and at Shillong's Iewduh market on Saturday, they said.

Iangrai said an employee of the Meghalaya Basin Development Authority was assaulted on Saturday night at Mawthabah and admitted to the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences.

The situation is tense following the three deaths, especially of a Khasi Students' Union (KSU) activist in a clash between members of the students' body and non-tribals during a rally in Ichamati area, which is close to the Indo-Bangladesh border.

East Khasi Hills district authorities said the curfew was extended in areas under the jurisdiction of Lumdiengjri and Sadar police stations, and Cantonment Beat House over fears that there might be a serious breakdown of law and order in those places.

"There is a likelihood of a serious breakdown of peace and tranquillity which may lead to loss of life and property... I do promulgate curfew in these areas from 8 am on March 1 until further orders," District Magistrate Matsiewdor W Nongbri said in an order.

Mobile internet and messaging services have been temporarily suspended in six districts of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills region to curtail rumours that could deteriorate law and order, the officials said.

Clashes broke out between KSU members and non-tribals during a rally organised against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and demanding implementation of the Inner Line Permit (ILP), at Ichamati on Friday, district Superintendent of Police Claudia Lyngwa said. Eight people have been arrested in this case and a magisterial inquiry has been instituted to probe into the incident, she said.

One person was stabbed to death at the Iewduh market under Cantonment Beat House on Saturday when unidentified persons went on an attacking spree that left seven others seriously injured, the SP said, adding that no one has been arrested so far in this connection.

After the clashes, curfew was imposed at noon in the two police station areas in Shillong while night curfew was imposed in the entire city. Three companies of central forces have been deployed in the sensitive areas of the district, including in the affected areas of the city, the officials said.

Governor Tathagata Roy and Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma have appealed to the citizens to maintain peace. Both had taken to social media to issue their appeals even as mobile internet services were suspended in the six districts. Chief Minister Sangma reviewed the law and order situation in the state and appealed for peace.

"I appeal to all our citizens and people of the state to ensure that peace returns and urge upon different organisations to refrain from any violent activity. A magisterial inquiry has been set up. We have ensured that enough manpower is put in place in the affected areas," he had said. He announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh for the family of the man killed in Friday's clash.

Meanwhile, a police officer said that the state police, which has set up helpline number 1800 345 3846 for stranded tourists, has successfully escorted at least 16 tourists out of the hill town to Guwahati after receiving frantic calls for help from them.
SHILLONG: The night curfew imposed in the Meghalaya capital Shillong after violent clashes claimed two lives was lifted at 8 am on Sunday (March 1). The indefinite curfew, however, will remain in force in areas under the jurisdiction of Lumdiengjri and Sadar police stations and Cantonment Beat House.

Police officials said that the curfew was imposed since 9 pm Saturday, following the death of two persons in two separate attacks. The situation is still tense in the region as a Khasi Students' Union (KSU) activist was killed in a clash between KSU members and non-tribals during a rally in Ichamati area.

"There is a likelihood of a serious breakdown of peace and tranquillity which may lead to loss of life and property... I do promulgate curfew in these areas from 8 am on March 1 until further orders," District Magistrate Matsiewdor W Nongbri said in an order.

Violent clashes broke out between KSU activists and non-tribals on Friday (February 28) during a rally organised against the Citizenship Amendment Act and demanding implementation of the Inner Line Permit (ILP).

On February 28, a night curfew had been imposed and internet services had been suspended for 48 hours in six districts of Meghalaya after clashes erupted in Shella area.

The SMS services have been restricted to only five SMS per day in Shillong. According to the reports, incidents of vandalism and arson took place in East Khasi Hills.

The six districts affected are--East Jaintia Hills, West Jaintia Hills, East Khasi Hills, Ri Bhoi, West Khasi Hills and South West Khasi Hills.

Meghalaya Governor Tathagata Roy and Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma have appealed the citizens to maintain peace. CM Sangma reviewed the law and order situation on Saturday and appealed the citizens to maintain law and order.

"I appeal to all our citizens and people of the state to ensure that peace returns and urge upon different organisations to refrain from any violent activity. A magisterial inquiry has been set up. We have ensured that enough manpower is put in place in the affected areas," he had said.



The chief minister had also announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh for the family of the man killed in Friday's clash.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday sanctioned a relief of Rs 10 lakh to BSF constable Mohammad Anees, whose house was burnt in the communal violence in northeast Delhi.

The chief minister, who was saddened to know that the constable's house was set on fire by mob, spoke to him, a statement from CMO said.

Patnaik has also sanctioned Rs 10 lakh to the constable from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund, it said.

Anees is associated with the 9th battalion of the border guarding force deployed in Maoist affected district of Malkangiri in Odisha, according to the statement.

The battalion of BSF is responsible for overall security in the 'Swabhiman Anchal' - erstwhile cut-off area- which includes Gurupriya bridge in Malkangiri district, it said.

The violence in Jaffrabad, Maujpur, Babarpur, Chand Bagh, Shiv Vihar, Bhajan Pura, Yamuna Vihar areas of northeast Delhi has claimed at least 42 lives and left over 200 injured.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
I put the reporters notebook on the table at the coffee shop in Ferguson Library and smile as I pose the first question to Wendy Skratt.

Ready to go on the record?

She wasnt anticipating an interview. Ive known Skratt since she revived (she blanches when I give her credit) the Stamford League of Women Voters a decade ago and we collaborated on voters guides. She became president of the group in 2013, then took over as executive director of the World Affairs Forum a couple of years ago.

The thread in her work has been to facilitate nonpartisan discourse. But on March 3, her name will appear on a ballot for the first time as a candidate for the Stamford Democratic City Committee, which consists of two members from each of 20 districts to select and endorse candidates for local and state seats.

That notebook on the table is a symbol of the shift in our dynamic. Conversation becomes interview.

Are you taking a risk? I ask, then answer. I think you are.

My only risk is I have made my investment in nonpartisan spaces ... and I dont like that I have to step into the party realm.

Skratt is a champion of transparency. She uses the word often enough that I imagine a drinking game, which would empty her cup of tea before she concludes her opening remarks.

More Information March 3 primaries Democratic City Committee District 3 Terry Adams Elise Coleman Fritz Chery Gregory Bennici Voting location: South End Community Center, 34 Woodland Ave. District 9 Rodney Pratt Jeffrey Stella Cynthia King Eneida Lewis Voting location: First Church of Christ Scientist, 655 Stillwater Road District 10 Colin Coffua Neil Kahn Emily Gordon Susana Vidan Voting location: Cloonan Middle School, 11 Powell Place District 11 John Zelinsky Esther-Marie Giordano Robin J. Druckman Wendy T. Skratt Voting location: First Presbyterian Church, 1101 Bedford St. District 12 Matthew Kyek Selina Policar Lauren MacDonald Voting location: Stamford High School (rear), 84 Hillandale Ave. District 16 Caroline Smit Philip Berns Philip Bradford Elizabeth Danielle Voting location: Turn of River Middle School, 117 Vine St. Republican Town Committee: District 7 Ann Luchetta Alphonse C. Sgritta Michael Battinelli Terry Lockery Voting location: Julia A. Stark School, 38 Oscar St. District 13 Jonathan V. Portanova Ralph F. Loglisci Brad Lupinacci Voting location: Roxbury School, 751 West Hill Road District 15 Frank Cerasoli Joseph Coppola Jr. Rebecca Hamman Ralph E. Knapp Jr. Voting location: Dolan Middle School, 51 Toms Road District 18 Chris Woodside Mike Altamura J.R. McMullen Voting location: Davenport Ridge School, 1300 Newfield Ave. See More Collapse

Political party committees can be adversaries to transparency. You wouldnt know there were elections in a few days by looking at Stamfords Democratic City Committee site, or at its Republican counterpart. They are the internet equivalent of that tattered autumn lawn sign no one bothered to collect from the curb.

Political insiders count on low turnout to thwart potential competition. If you are a registered Democrat or Republican, you have the power to challenge the insiders. All you have to do is vote Tuesday to decide who will select the candidates who appear on fall ballots.

The same thinking in Greenwich was exposed three years ago when Peter Bernstein petitioned his way onto the Board of Education ballot after his party stuck to the tradition that they  not voters  choose elected officials. Bernstein won, and is now chair of the Greenwich BOE. That hardly changed anything, as Republicans running for the board last fall were again guaranteed seats. Voter choice is anathema to such insiders.

Stamford has a history of playing its own political games. Ellen Camhi was the Democratic kingmaker in a blue city until accepting a position on the state board of education in 2011. As chair of the DCC for 29 years, it was Camhi who decided when it was Dan Malloys turn to run for mayor, and David Martins. She proudly shepherded the rise of the likes of future Gov. Malloy, former state Attorney General George Jepsen and state Supreme Court Justice Andrew McDonald.

The party has struggled to redefine itself since Camhis death in 2013. Tuesday represents an invisible fulcrum. Skratt is part of the 16-member Democrats United for Stamford seeking election to the DCC. The ticket consists almost entirely of newcomers to politics. Meanwhile, another group, Democrats For Stamford (yes, the similar branding mirrors the identity crisis), is also seeking to shake up the nominating committees makeup if not its rules.

Team United hopes to end the tradition of committee members nominating themselves to city boards. As Skratt knocks on doors, she encounters residents who reflexively ask what she stands for.

The DCC has no effect on public issues, Im just looking for good people, is her stock reply.

The ideal is to lure new names to the ballot. As confusing as all this can be, the deterrent is pretty simple.

Nobody in my district is going to step up to say I want to run for the Board of Reps if they know John Zelinsky is going to endorse himself and get the endorsement of the party, Skratt explains.

Zelinsky responded in our recent news story that while he stands by the self-endorsing tradition, voters who dont like it can kick out him and his ilk in November.

What he didnt say is that they could also do it now. Zelinsky lost when he ran for the board in 1975, was appointed when a vacancy opened two years later and has maintained a stranglehold on the seat. Hes done a lot for the city, and is following the rules. But the rulebook is outdated, permitting such glaring conflicts of interest. Reform, though, has to come from the inside, as political committees are private, not public, agencies.

Skratt and Co. deserve points for unitedforstamford.org/, which acknowledges there is an election Tuesday, while underscoring their mission to support new voices. Their rivals do the same, as democratsforstamford.org/ also calls for reform.

This is how change begins. Start taking notes.

John Breunig is editorial page editor of the Stamford Advocate and Greenwich Time. Jbreunig@scni.com; 203-964-2281; twitter.com/johnbreunig.
Armenia has reportedly detected its first case of the novel Coronavirus infection, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian confirmed. The patient is a 29-year-old Armenian citizen who returned from Iran along with his wife. The case was also confirmed by Armenias Health Minister Arsen Torosoan.

Prime Minister Pashinian said in a post on social media that a confirmed case of the COVID-19 was detected in the country as of Sunday, March 1. He informed the Armenians saying, the patient has been admitted at the medical facility and his condition was improving. The preliminary tests gave a positive result for the strain of COVID-19 in Yerevan.

He further added saying, the woman who accompanied the infected Armenian man has been quarantined and the necessary health check-ups are being conducted by the health officials. It was important that the woman tested negative to the malignant pathogen, he said.

Read: From Plastic Foil To Helmets: Chinese Comes Up With Innovative Ideas To Avoid Coronavirus

Read: NASA's Aerial Images Show Decline In China's Pollution Levels Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

Health ministry calls an urgent meeting

Speaking about the evacuees flown out of Iran on the chartered planes, Prime Minister Pashinian said, passengers airlifted from Iran, country witnessing an upsurge of the Coronavirus outbreak, will be isolated in detention facilities to stem the spread of contagion. He further added, the contact trails of the infected will be investigated and those that risked exposure with the patient, will be quarantined.

Prime Minister Pashinian said that the border security officers who felicitated the entry of the Armenian man and his wife from Iran have been identified. They would be tested for Coronavirus, although, the officers on duty obliged with prior safety measures, wearing their masks when they signed the two in.

He informed that the country has started the containment efforts to curb the nationwide spread of the COVID-19. The minister of Health, Arsen Torosoan, will hold an urgent meeting to discuss the action plan to combat the Wuhan virus, he added. He also urged the Armenians to follow the public health safety protocols recommended by the Ministry of Health.

Read: Coronavirus Outbreak: Death Toll In China Climbs To 2,870 With 35 More Fatalities

Read: Coronavirus Outbreak: American Airlines To Suspend Flights To Milan

(With Agency Inputs)
Actor Daniel Radcliffe is not interested in reprising his iconic role of Harry Potter in the fantasy franchise's spin-off films, "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them".

The actor, who fronted the movie series created by JK Rowling for 10 years, said the new films are "doing fine" without the original characters.

Asked if he would return as Harry in the "Fantastic Beasts" series, Radcliffe told Variety, "I don't think so. I don't like say no to things, but it's not something that I'm rushing to do. I feel like those films have moved on and they're doing just fine without us. I'm happy to keep it that way."



"I like what my life is now. I'm not saying that I'll never go back into any franchise, but I like the flexibility that I have with my career now. And I don't want to get into a situation where I'm signed up for one series for years in advance," he added.

Based on Rowling's fantasy books of the same name, "Harry Potter" series translated into eight movie installments, released between 2001-11, and starred Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint in the lead.

A spin-off prequel series started with 2016's "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them", also penned by Rowling, marking the beginning of the Wizarding World shared media franchise.

Led by Eddie Redmayne's Newt Scamander, the yet-to-be-titled third chapter will be released in 2021.

Brazilian city Rio De Janeiro will serve as the backdrop of the new film. Returning cast members include Jude Law, Johnny Depp, Ezra Miller, Alison Sudol, Dan Fogler and Katherine Waterston.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Polish student of Jadavpur University has been asked by the Foreigner Regional Registration Office (FRRO) to leave the country after he participated in an anti-CAA rally in the West Bengal capital, varsity sources said on Sunday.



The incident comes close on the heels of a Bangladeshi student of Visva Bharati University being issued a similar directive by the FRRO after she posted photographs of an anti-CAA demonstration, held on the campus, on social media.

BCCL

A JU source said that Kamil Siedcynski, a Polish student of Comparative Literature, was asked by the FRRO to visit its Kolkata office, which he did on February 22.

"Siedcynski was served a notice by the FRRO asking him to leave the country within a fortnight on receipt of the notice for alleged conduct deemed inappropriate for a foreign national staying in India on a student visa," the source told PTI.

The JU source said several teachers and Left-leaning students of the varsity were of the view that Siedcynski was paying the price for attending an anti-CAA rally at Moulali area in the city in December last year where he was interviewed by a Bengali daily and a brief report on him was published the next day.

BCCL

"Some people probably forwarded a copy of the report to the FRRO. Siedcynski has no political leanings but his enthusiasm to attend the protest rally and click photographs landed him in trouble," the source said.

Siedcynski, who was supposed to write his third-semester examinations this year, could not be contacted.

JU vice-chancellor Suranjan Das and Registrar Snehamanju Basu also did not take calls.

The Polish student had earlier studied Bengali at the Visva Bharati University.

Recently Afsara Anika Meem, a first-year Bangladeshi undergraduate student in the Fine Arts department of the Visva-Bharati University was served an FRRO notice for reportedly engaging in "anti-government" activities.

BCCL

Both the foreign nationals have requested the FRRO to reconsider its decision and promised not to get involved in any such protests in the future, sources said.

The FRRO, in turn, has said that a final decision will be taken in Delhi, the source said quoting the two students.
- Vice Ganda and Jhong Hilario has recently gone viral after the latest episode of "It's Showtime" was posted online

- In the video, Jhong was reciting a poem he made for Vice

- However, the comedian immediately stopped him before he could even finish his poem

- The said video garnered reactions and comments from netizens on social media afterwards

PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed

Vice Ganda and Jhong Hilario are known for their hilarious arguments at the noontime show, It's Showtime.

KAMI learned that the two recently went at it again during the latest episode of the show which had Vhong Navarro, as well as the audience, laughing hard.

Watch the video below:

In the video, Vice asked Jhong if he already memorized the poem given to him for the 'Mini Miss U' segment of the show, "Nakabisado mo na ba yun first part nung tula?"

Upon saying yes, Vice then asked Jhong to show what he memorized from the poem, "Ako'y may kaibigan. Vice ang pangalan. Siya'y may mahal," however, his moment was cut short when Vice asked him to stop.

"Oh, tamang tama. Nakakabisado mo na, babalikan natin yan mamaya," Vice said. Their conversation, however, prompted Vhong to ask why Vice interrupted Jhong afterwards.

The hilarious banter between the two garnered various reactions and comments from netizens on social media after its posting.

"Nakakabitin naman Kuya Jhong."

"Kuya Jhong tuloy mo na yun tula. Nakakabitin."

"Parang mag nanay ang eksena ni Vice at Jhong hahahaha."

"Nakakatawa si meme pinutol eh."

PAY ATTENTION: Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news!

As reported earlier by KAMI, Little Yorme was recently asked on Its Showtime if he knows what the word cheeks means. He then tried to answer the question several times but he could not get it correctly. The hosts and studio audience of the said show laughed their hearts out after hearing how the viral child defined it. Vice Ganda also tried to call the attention of little Yormes parents and the mayor of Bagac, Bataan Read.

Vice Ganda is an award-winning showbiz personality in the Philippines. His real name is Jose Marie Viceral and he is one of the artists in the country who has a lot of supporters.

Jhong Hilario is one of the most popular hosts of the noontime show Its Showtime.He also was a member of the well-known boy group called Streetboys.

POPULAR: Read more news about It's Showtime hosts

Please like and share our Facebook posts to support KAMI team! Dont hesitate to comment and share your opinion about our stories either. We love reading about your thoughts!

Celebrity Tricky Questions: In this video, we asked random people to guess the celebrities by their eyes only. Let us see if you can recognize your favorite Pinoy star by his/her eyes!

Source: KAMI.com.gh
President Trump while addressing a rally in South Carolina quipped that he would never be excited again about crowds after having addressed over 1 lakh spectators in Ahmedabad's Motera Stadium earlier this week. Terming his recent visit to India "worthwhile" he was in all praise for Prime Minister Modi and called him a 'Great Guy'.

"I was with the Prime Minister of India, Modi. Great guy, loved by the people of India. And we had an amazing thing. And I went in, and here's the problem. This is a big crowd. And normally I like talking about my crowds because I get the crowds like nobody, but I just got back from 140 or 50 or 60,000 people and now I'm coming here, I may never be excited again about a crowd after going to India. Think of this, they have 1.5 billion people we have 350 so we're doing pretty well, I'll tell you what, but I love this crowd and I love that crowd too. Tell you they have a great love for ... They have a great love. They have a great leader, and they have a great love for the people of this country. That was really a worthwhile trip." US President Donald Trump

President Trump was accompanied by wife Melania and a high-level delegation, when they visited India earlier this week.

The US President addressed the "Namaste Trump" event at Ahmedabad's Motera Stadium along with PM Modi, where both the leaders had hailed the growing ties between the two countries.

Post their visit to Agra, President Trump and Melania visited New Delhi where he received a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday morning. Following this he sat down with Prime Minister Modi for delegation-level talks during which three agreements were finalised.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Aboeprijadi Santoso (The Jakarta Post) Amsterdam, The Netherlands  Sun, March 1, 2020 16:38 680 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206792ade 4 Art & Culture ze-noemen-me-baboe,Dutch,film,documentary,colonialism,Dutch-colonialism Free

She was a happy girl aspiring to be a teacher when she decided to leave her home village. Thus began the story of a girl, about 20 years old, from Central Java who went to Bandung in West Java to work for a Dutch family.

And its there  in a totally different social milieu, living with a Dutch family with five children, in which she had to take care of the youngest, a boy called Jantje  that she came to realize the various worlds she went through ever since.

First, through the world of the family she lived with, amid the Dutch community; next, the Japanese occupation, and then the fight for independence (1939-1949). It resulted in a complex relationship between her and the family.

The film Ze Noemen Me Baboe (They Call Me Baboe, 2019) is a fictional story of Alima, who seemed to enjoy her life in the colonial world, which she had never been a part of.

That life that was not quite hers, was the everyday life of caring for a child whose mom and dad were both the bosses of the family and her country.

However, she served them loyally  indeed she called them keluargaku (my family). That life that brought her on a family trip by ship via Egypt to the Netherlands. But when she returned to Java, it was only to see that the family she had served for years had been taken by the Japanese to a prison camp.

What was left for her was a different world yet again. Now she had to bow her body in order to respect the passing Japanese military and watched the local youth training the Japanese forced them to join.

What a journey of life; one, indeed, that made her increasingly conscious of her identity status.

In Java, she was accustomed to serving the family as her boss. Once in the Netherlands, she was taken by surprise, not knowing what to do, when in a shop she was kindly addressed with U (you, respectfully, in Dutch). Here, in her boss own country, she was treated as an equal.

Back in Java, as before, she watched the children play happily and the parents enjoy their privileged life when she and other Indonesians went through quite a different life as servants.

They live a life as if the world is theirs, she told her mother.

Her conclusion, thus, defines the very nature of her being a baboe  a Javanese-turned-Dutch-colonial institution that survives to this day, albeit in various forms.

Change came when her family was put in a Japanese camp, leaving her to find another job and her lover, Riboet, found death in the struggle for independence.

Caught between nationalism and loyalty, she cried when her family, once out of the camp, was taken aback to see Indonesians now ruling the country.

No, we didnt rob the country, we took it back! Alima explained forcefully.

The story is fully narrated in her perspective as told to her mother and vividly illustrated with painstaking selection of hundreds of archived films.

She was typically called baboe, someone who takes care of the boss children. The term, however, later refers to domestic helper in general. It apparently comes from the words mbak (sister) and ibu (mother) combined.

Oddly enough, though, the film seems to evade the pejorative term inlander  the native world of which baboe is part and parcel.

The filmmaker, Sandra Beerends, should be applauded for her work and achievement. The film, spoken in Indonesian with Dutch translation, is screened as part of the 2019 International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA).

The writer is journalist residing in Amsterdam
Security presence has been increased and Section 144 imposed in the Shaheen Bagh area on Sunday even though the Hindu Sena had yesterday called off a protest calling for clearing the blocked road.

People have been advised not to assemble, even as Section 144 of the CrCP has been imposed in the area.

"People are informed that Section 144 of CRCP has been imposed here and it is requested that permission for any gathering is not allowed. Violation of this may invite legal proceedings," the Delhi Police directive stated.

A large number of people, mostly women, have been holding a sit-in protest in Shaheen Bagh area since mid-December last year in protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Population Register (NPR) and the Register of Citizens (NRC).

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Scott Olson/Getty Images

SUMTER, S.C.During a low-key breakfast meet and greet with voters the day before the South Carolina primary, 18-year-old Forrest rose and asked Tom Steyer a question: he was undecided between the races three frontrunnersSteyer, Joe Biden, and Sen. Bernie Sandersso why should he support Steyer?

It was a typical question, but Steyer being ranked among the frontrunners is a distinctly South Carolina phenomenon. So far, the hedge fund billionaire has earned marginal levels of support in the first three states, and hes basically a blip on the radar in the Super Tuesday states that vote next.

But Steyer has spent the better part of his campaign for president camped out in South Carolina, pouring an enormous amount of his time and resourcesmost of it from his own personal fortunetoward winning over Democratic voters in the first-in-the-South primary, 60 percent of whom are African-American. If polls and on the ground buzz are any indication, his effort has been fairly successful.

The irony of a California billionaire whose campaigns unofficial logo is a tartan-pattered necktiehe refuses to wear anything elsebecoming a prince in this crucial early state is not lost on his supporters.

Steyer, said Sumter native Derek Quarles, 32, is the only one whos been speaking our language, rattling off the candidates policy proposals on reparations for slavery and funding historically black colleges and universities. However, when he first met Steyer, said Quarles, Id never thought hed come to South Carolina and be a leading contender for president of the United States.

But contender he isat least, of course, in South Carolina. And the candidate seems to fully love back the state where his asterisk status in the rest of the country melts away anytime he visits.

Ive been to South Carolina more than any other candidate, said Steyer, answering Forrests question. I love the people Ive met in South Carolina My wife moved here.

Story continues

His stump speech is full of talk about health care and foreign policy but also poor drinking water in the town of Denmark or gentrification in Charleston. His supporters, wearing Tom 2020 shirts and wearing black buttons that say IMPEACHEDSteyer funded a major public campaign to impeach President Donald Trumpresponded enthusiastically to the amped-up billionaire candidate whos rarely at a loss for words on the stump and sometimes cant help but shout into the mic.

Its that kind of intense attention to local issuesparticularly issues that impact the African-American communitythat have allowed Steyer to climb in the polls in South Carolina. In recent weeks, his support has crested as high as 18 percent in some surveys, still trailing Biden but edging out the actual front-runner for the nomination, Sanders.

His outreach and fine-tuned pitch aside, the sheer scale of Steyers financial investment in the state has been staggering. He has spent over $13 million on ads alone, blanketing TV airwaves and the internet.

Several supporters told The Daily Beast those ads were money well spent. William Anderson, 55, who works in manufacturing, said he first heard of Steyer when he ran a TV ad last summer touting his support of term limits for members of Congress.

Every nine to 11-year-old can tell you more about Tom Steyer than you ever want to know, joked Gibbs Knotts, a professor of political science at the College of Charleston who has written a recent book on the South Carolina primary. You cant watch a YouTube video [in the state] without Tom Steyer talking about the economy.

That lavish spending was on display more intimately at Steyers breakfast in Sumter, a mid-sized city in the center of the state where the roads into town are lined with blue Tom 2020 signs. On Friday morning, a few dozen voters gathered in an elegantly restored historic home, greeted with a generous spread of free eggs, bacon, and grits, free swag, and a large, friendly contingent of volunteers and staff.

No matter how Steyer does in Saturdays primary, he will be walking into a buzzsaw on Super Tuesday, shredding the parallel reality of his front-runner status in South Carolina. He made an explicit plea to voters on Friday to help his finish in South Carolina to matter, despite the threat of a surging Sanders and the presence of another big-spending billionaire, former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg, whos applied a similar media-saturation approach but in a dozen states.

South Carolina gets to reset this race, he said. South Carolina gets to decide that maybe what we want is a Democrat at the head of the ticket for the Democratic Party, as strange as that may seem. I believe South Carolina can show that I can pull a diverse party together.

Williams, for one, was concerned that Steyer might not sustain momentum. It worries me, he said. I hope people will do as Ive done, and give him the full benefit of consideration.

Steyer may have come closer to picking up one new supporter, at least, on Friday morning. Forrest, the high-school senior who asked Steyer why he should support him, said he was satisfied with the answerespecially on climate change.

He was still undecided, he told The Daily Beast as he darted to get a selfie with the candidate, but he was leaning strongly toward him.

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.
A rare piano that could fetch more than a million dollars at auction in Israel next week has a history as elaborate as the wood carvings adorning its frame.

The Piano of Siena's 221-year journey began in Turin and has included stops in Paris, a second world war battlefield in North Africa, New York and Tel Aviv.

Moshe Porat, an Israeli piano tuner who has researched the instrument, told AFP the light brown upright decorated with carvings of wingless cherubs, animals, flora and other instruments was a "visual masterpiece".

"Soon the next chapter will begin with a new owner," Porat said, referring to the sale scheduled for Tuesday at Winner's auction house in Jerusalem.

Turin-based harpsichord maker Sebastian Marchisio started building the instrument in 1799, according to Winner's.

Marchisio died before completing it but his descendants finished the initial build in 1825, giving it as a wedding gift to Marchisio's granddaughter Rebecca, who lived in Siena.

The unusually ornate instrument underwent several modifications before appearing at the 1867 World's Fair in Paris before being gifted to Italy's then-prince and future King Umberto I.

The exact circumstances that saw the piano fall into Nazi hands are not clear.

But following the 1942 battle of El Alamein, as the British were looking to see what the defeated Germans had left behind, "the piano was discovered in a crate with a mine detector," said Porat.

"They were astonished to see a piano inside buried in the desert's sand," he said.

The British army had no use for the piano, which had been covered in plaster.

It ended up in the hands of an Israeli merchant, who placed it outside the Tel Aviv piano workshop of Avner Carmi, whose "life was changed" when he discovered the treasure, Porat said.

Carmi removed the plaster, fixed the piano's mechanism and eventually took it to the United States, where it was displayed in New York's Steinway Hall and used for recordings in the 1950s and 1960s.

Carmi, who co-wrote a book about the piano with his wife Hannah called "The Immortal Piano," sold it to a businessman in 1996.

In an interview with AFP in his spacious mansion in the posh coastal town Caesarea, the current owner, who asked that his name be withheld, said parting with the piano was not easy.

"The more I learnt about it and its history, the more attached I became to the piano," he said.

But "everything has its time," he said.

"One needs to know how to let go of beautiful things too.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The police watchdog was labelled unfit for purpose yesterday by a former officer turned priest who was cleared after 11 years under investigation.

Andrew Birks, 44, was one of five policemen probed for misconduct over the custody death of Sean Rigg in Brixton, south London, in 2008.

The officers were referred to the IOPC, then known as the Independent Police Complaints Commission, but after two lengthy probes they were vindicated.

The police watchdog was labelled unfit for purpose yesterday by a former officer turned priest, Andrew Birks, pictured above, who was cleared after 11 years under investigation

Mr Birks launched two judicial reviews to quit the Metropolitan Police and train for the priesthood while the investigations rumbled on.

However he was barred from leaving and was suspended on full pay from May 2014 until he was cleared in March last year.

Mr Birks, now assistant curate at St Barnabass Church in Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, said: I dont think there is anybody that thinks the IOPC is fit for purpose in the current form.

Nearly everything the IOPC touches takes years to resolve. People think that if it has taken years then there must be something in it. But it hasnt taken years because of the work, it is because of the incompetency of the investigation by the IOPC.

The IOPC are so incompetent because there is no skill base. If you were in the police and dealing with a death you would have the homicide team  you wouldnt send in the shoplifting squad. Within the IOPC you are dealing with really serious offences which can be difficult  especially when the investigators have no speciality at all. The whole thing seems toy-townish.

Andrew Birks, 44, left, was one of five policemen probed for misconduct over the custody death of Sean Rigg (right) in Brixton, south London, in 2008

He likened his case to Operation Midland, Scotlands Yard shambolic VIP child sex abuse inquiry that also proved an embarrassment for the IOPC.

Writing in the Daily Mail in October, former High Court judge Sir Richard Henriques said the IOPC investigation was lamentable and inadequate.

In April 2018 another senior judge, Mr Justice Garnham, had said the IOPC was grossly inefficient in its dealings with Mr Birks.

Mr Birks, who had always intended to become a priest following a spell with the police, said: Sir Richard Henriques noticed the common denominators  the length of the time of investigations; that they were substandard and that those doing the investigations should be making decisions a lot quicker.

The taking of statements wasnt done with any sort of skill. You have two High Court judges who are saying these investigations have failed because of the skills and abilities of the IOPC.

It is an indictment of how bad things are. Every force gets these complaints and it takes ages. It wouldnt happen in any other organisation.

Every police officer should be accountable. Now if you get a complaint you know it is going to last for so long.

Mr Birks, who trained for the priesthood while suspended, is seeking compensation from both the IOPC and the Met.

He said he was diagnosed with stress and anxiety in 2016 and post-traumatic stress disorder in 2018 as a result of the delays.

He apologised to the family of Mr Rigg  while maintaining that the five officers did everything they could for him.

Mr Birks launched two judicial reviews to quit the Metropolitan Police and train for the priesthood while the investigations rumbled on. However he was barred from leaving and was suspended on full pay from May 2014 until he was cleared in March last year

I feel sorry for the family for losing their brother or son, he said. And I feel sorry they have had to wait for this length of time for any kind of closure.

Whether they have received it after this time is a doubt. Nobody should have to wait that long to have answers about how their brother died.

Relatives campaigned vigorously for justice follow the death of the 40-year-old musician, who had schizophrenia.

Mr Rigg was behaving erratically when he was arrested and taken in a police van to custody, where he collapsed and died.

In a statement, an IOPC spokesman said of the criticism: These views do not reflect or take into account the totality of our work into police misconduct and corruption and the impact we have had on improving police practice, nor does it reflect our current operations.

We have acknowledged, on a number of occasions, that we want our investigations to be quicker and we are making great strides to do so.

Where investigations are complex, or where there are related proceedings  for example criminal or coronial hearings  the IOPC cannot control or influence the timings and our investigation may be paused.

The IOPC has apologised to the Rigg family and to Mr Birks for any unavoidable delays.

On Friday, the body released a report explaining how it intends to improve in the wake of Operation Midland. It said it would now be able to reopen misconduct probes if there are compelling reasons to do so.

In October, MPs on the Commons home affairs committee announced they would investigate the running of the watchdog, including its probe into Operation Midland.

Mr Birks said he would be willing to give evidence.
We are living, Pope Francis has said, not so much through an era of change as a change of era  one in which expectations and opportunities have been transformed.

The financial crisis and other failures of leadership from a past generation of political and business leaders have turned people against distant and unaccountable power-brokers. Citizens want to bring de-mocracy back home.

Bringing institutions back closer to the people they are supposed to serve is a critical demand for this new age. And putting the people's priorities at the heart of a re-energised democracy means addressing inequalities and divisions.

This re-invigorated commitment to help undervalued communities and those families who have been overlooked goes hand-in-hand with a new approach to the accelerating pace of technological change.

Our aim is to secure a comprehensive free trade agreement and find common ground on issues such as our fisheries, security and aviation, says Michael Gove

Nations which are flexible and nimble are best equipped to ensure new technologies can be harnessed in a way which benefits all  not just those with connections.

These new political realities can be seen worldwide, and they are particularly powerful in Britain. They lay behind the vote to leave the EU and Boris's victory in the General Election, and mean we can now ensure the UK shapes this new era in a positive way.

And we can use our recovered sovereignty to be a force for good in the world and a fairer nation at home. We are entering a new chapter in the history of these islands.

This week, the Government will take significant steps to shape that future. We will set out our proposals for trading with the US, the world's biggest economy and our strongest ally. In Brussels tomorrow, the Prime Minister's chief negotiator, David Frost, will open talks with our EU partners about the shape of our new relationship, based on free trade and friendly co-operation.

Our aim is to secure a comprehensive free trade agreement and find common ground on issues such as our fisheries, security and aviation. I believe we can secure a great new deal but it is vital we are clear from the start that these talks are taking place in new times.

Yes, we want the best possible trading relationship with the EU. But we will not trade away our newly recovered sovereignty.

The vote to leave the EU and Boris's victory in the General Election means we can now ensure the UK shapes a new era in a positive way, says Michael Gove

The UK's approach to the future relationship was clearly set out by the Prime Minister during the Election campaign and again in his Greenwich speech last month.

First and foremost, we see it as one based on friendly co-operation between sovereign equals. Just as we respect the EU's sovereignty, autonomy and legal approach, so we expect them to respect ours. That means there must be no obligation for our laws to be aligned with those of the EU or its institutions, including the Court of Justice.

Rather, each side will respect the other's independence and the right to manage its own borders, immigration policy and taxes.

And we see the new relationship developing along the lines of the EU's existing relationships with other dynamic sovereign states like Canada, Japan and South Korea. Because we will be seeking simple, streamlined and well-understood arrangements, agreement can be reached quickly. This will help both sides meet the aim, set out in the Political Declaration last October, of concluding a 'zero tariffs, zero quo-tas' free trade agreement.

Independence means not only full control of our borders, but also our waters. We can manage our precious maritime resources in a better way for the environment and jobs. Access to fish in UK waters will be for us to decide  a new approach which is both greener and fairer.

Both the UK and the EU uphold desirable standards on social and environmental protections. Indeed, the UK has a proud record of exceeding EU standards and having led the way to improving global standards in a number of key areas. On workers' rights, for example, the UK offers a year of maternity leave  with the option for parents to convert this to parental leave. The EU minimum is just 14 weeks.

And on environmental standards, we were the first country in the world to introduce legally-binding greenhouse gas emission targets, in the 2008 Climate Change Act. More recently, we were the first major global economy to set a legally-binding target of net-zero emissions across the economy by 2050. Far from diluting existing protections, we wish  as our Environment Bill shows  to go further and faster than the EU in helping the natural world.

Clearly and emphatically, the British people decided the next chapter in our island story meant taking back control. This new era requires politicians to bring power home and to ensure the rules governing countries are made by those who are directly accountable to the electorate. That is the way to ensure every citizen's voice is given equal weight, and which allows us to adapt most nimbly and flexibly to technological change. That is what we are delivering in ways that will benefit the whole of the UK.

In coming months, as the British chair of the joint UK/EU committee overseeing the Withdrawal Agreement, I will be making sure we continue to seek the best possible relationship with our friends and allies in Europe. But we would be neglecting our duty to the British people if we did not always put their welfare first. Because that remains the most important deal of all.
Turkey is not seeking an adventure or an opportunity to expand its territories but simply protecting its territorial integrity against the Assad regime, Erdogan says.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday that Ankara has asked Moscow to stay out of its fight against Assad regime forces in Idlib as Turkish forces continued to target regime positions in northern Syria.

"I asked Putin for Russia to leave Turkish forces alone to fight the regime, we can't seem to understand Russia's intentions there," Erdogan told a group of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) deputies at a meeting in Istanbul, Daily Sabah wrote.

Read alsoTurkey says will not stop Syrian refugees reaching Europe after troops killed  Reuters

Erdogan said that he conveyed this demand to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in their recent phone call, which took place after Thursday's airstrike by regime forces that left 36 Turkish soldiers dead.

The president said Turkey is not seeking an adventure or an opportunity to expand its territories but simply protecting its territorial integrity against the Assad regime.

"If we do not clear our borders from terrorists now, we might have to fight bigger wars inside Turkey later on."

He added that the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) managed to break the siege in the south of Idlib completely and blamed the regime for pushing Turkey to take military action against it at such large scale.

Read alsoIn retaliation move, Turkey bombs Assad's forces in Idlib overnight Friday (Photo, video)

Erdogan added that he told both Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump during separate phone conversations on Friday night that their countries did not fulfill promises made to Turkey in the region. Russia and the U.S. agreed on plans to remove the PKK-linked People's Protection Units (YPG) and their weapons from the border with Turkey.

Erdogan also said the TSK has destroyed seven chemical sites, and nearly 300 military vehicles, including 94 tanks, and killed more than 2,100 Assad troops.

"Several sites, including airfields, ammunition depots, air defense systems, hangars and chemical weapon production facilities were put under heavy fire and destroyed," Erdogan said.

"As of yesterday evening, seven warehouses with chemical materials have been blown up," he said.

Erdogan also vowed to allow refugees to travel on to Europe from Turkey which he said can no longer handle new waves of people fleeing war-torn Syria.

The president said nearly 4 million people moving towards Turkey's border to flee regime violence and 1.5 million Syrians are already located at the border. He said the European Union did not keep its promise of allocating 25 million euros to share the financial burden of refugees on Turkey.

"We cannot handle a new influx of refugees but we cannot leave those people at the mercy of the Assad regime either."

"What did we do yesterday (Friday)? We opened the doors," Erdogan said in Istanbul in his first comments after the escalation of clashes between the Turkish forces and the regime in northern Syria on Thursday. "We will not close those doors...Why? Because the European Union should keep its promises."

The Turkish leader also said 18,000 migrants have amassed on the Turkish borders with Europe since Friday, adding that the number could reach as many as 30,000 on Saturday.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, March 1, 2020 17:05 680 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206794f6a 1 City anies-baswedan,Jakarta-administration,Jakarta-Health-Agency,coronavirus,COVID-19,Wuhan-coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus-Indonesia-zero-case Free

Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan has issued a gubernatorial decree on increasing the capitals alertness in response to the global outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

In the decree, issued on Tuesday, Anies urged all city officials  including mayors, agency heads and district and subdistrict heads  to step up efforts to educate the public about the deadly virus.

We are supporting and organizing events to educate the public about how to mitigate the risks of COVID-19 infection in Jakarta, Anies said in the decree.

In addition, Anies said the city administration would form a special COVID-19 command center for preventing, monitoring and addressing a potential outbreak.

However, he said Jakarta residents should not be unduly alarmed.

Go about your day as usual and dont spread news that has not been confirmed as true, he said on Sunday as quoted by Antara news agency.

The decree comes amid the viral circulation of a photograph that reportedly shows a Jakarta Health Agency report on a possible outbreak in the city.

The post, which has since been mostly removed from social media, shows a presentation slide depicting a pie chart with the caption COVID-19 cases based on case criteria, with 32 cases marked as being under supervision and 115 cases as being monitored.

The agency issued a statement to clarify the image on Friday, stating that the term COVID-19 cases on the slide only meant patients who had exhibited symptoms of the disease and had recently traveled to affected countries.

The Jakarta Health Agency hereby states that all lab test results have shown that there are no COVID-19 patients in Jakarta, the agencys disease control and prevention division head, Dwi Oktavia, said in the statement.

She acknowledged, however, that 115 people were being monitored and that 32 people were under supervision, but did not detail whether these people had been tested for the disease or not.

Dwi Oktavia did not immediately respond to The Jakarta Posts requests for comment. (rfa)
Oman has suspended Italian tourism flights to its Salala airport for a month to curb the spread of the coronavirus, the civil aviation authority said on Sunday.

Italy has reported 34 death from the coronavirus, and almost 1700 cases

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 13:55:35|Editor: yhy

Video Player Close

WASHINGTON, Feb. 29 (Xinhua) -- The United States signed a deal with Afghan Taliban on Saturday, framing American troops' future exit from Afghanistan and intra-Afghan negotiations.

Though the agreement provides hope for the United States to end its almost two-decade war as well as lasting peace in the conflict-stricken country, thorny issues still remain, said experts.

OPENING THE DOOR

Representatives of the United States and the Taliban signed the long-awaited pact in the Qatari capital city of Doha, calling for a gradual withdrawal of the U.S. troops if the Taliban negotiates with the Afghan government and cuts ties with terrorist groups.

According to a joint statement released by the U.S. and Afghan governments on Saturday ahead of the signing, the United States is going to reduce its troops in Afghanistan from about 13,000 to 8,600 within 135 days after signing the agreement.

Further withdrawal will depend on Taliban's meeting of conditions related to counter-terrorism, the statement added.

Speaking at a press conference in the Afghan capital of Kabul on Saturday, Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani expressed confidence that the country will "have a national consensus on peace."

"We have the political will and the capacity to make peace because of the resilience of our society, the dynamism of our economy and the capability of our state. Afghanistan is a sovereign state. It is an independent country," he said.

The pact came after over one year's on-and-off negotiations between the two sides and a "seven-day reduction of violence" across Afghanistan.

"The agreement is Washington's best hope of ending the longest American war," noted Carter Malkasian, who served as senior adviser to U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 2015 to 2019.

"The United States has missed too many opportunities over the course of its long Afghan war. It need not do so again," Malkasian added.

According to the deal, the United States is going to reduce its troops to 8,600 in Afghanistan within 135 days, and will, together with its NATO allies, completely pull out the remaining troops in the following 14 months if the Taliban sticks to its commitments.

Besides, the pact also sets the stage for intra-Afghan talks which are expected to begin in early March.

The value of the agreement lies in "opening the door to an Afghan peace process," said Laurel Miller, director of the Asia Program at the think tank International Crisis Group.

NOT A "PEACE DEAL" ITSELF

Experts also cautioned that it is a step toward negotiations but not a "peace agreement" itself.

Important though it is, the agreement is not actually a peace deal, said Miller. "It is a chance to get one," she added.

"The agreement will break the logjam of the Taliban's longstanding unwillingness to sit in talks with the Afghan government and other Afghan power brokers without first achieving an American commitment to withdraw forces," she noted.

The deal itself would neither end the war nor bring all American troops home, wrote John Allen, president of the Brookings Institute, in an article published at the think tank's website.

To Allen and two other co-writers of the article, what is more essential is the second phase of the deal which includes a complete U.S.-NATO troop departure and a real Afghan power-sharing agreement.

"At present, we are a long way from any such agreement -- even though President Trump would love to be able to announce a U.S. withdrawal by November," noted Allen, taking into account the upcoming U.S. elections at the end of the year.

"It is to be hoped that this U.S.-Taliban agreement will indeed lead to vastly decreased violence and casualties on both sides," said James Cunningham, a former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan.

FUTURE THREATS

Experts think the next stage of talks will be really tough as they will have to tackle thornier issues, which could consume a year or even longer.

"The withdrawal of U.S. military personnel could allow a terrorist threat to grow," Malkasian wrote in an article published at Foreign Affairs magazine.

To Cunningham, now a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, what America needs is "caution and realism."

"That ... requires that the United States, under either a Republican or Democratic president, dispense with the argument that the 'forever war' in Afghanistan can be ended without regard to the consequences for Afghanistan and the impact on U.S. security," he said.

"America might find a way out of this war, at least temporarily -- but Afghanistan most likely will not, and the region could again descend into the type of anarchy that allowed al-Qaeda to establish a foothold there more than 20 years ago," said Allen.

"That is not an experiment that anyone should want to run," he noted.
Braemar Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:BHR), which is in the reits business, and is based in United States, saw significant share price movement during recent months on the NYSE, rising to highs of US$10.23 and falling to the lows of US$7.27. 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 Braemar Hotels & Resorts's current trading price of US$7.36 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 Braemar Hotels & Resortss outlook and value based on the most recent financial data to see if there are any catalysts for a price change.

Check out our latest analysis for Braemar Hotels & Resorts

What is Braemar Hotels & Resorts worth?

Good news, investors! Braemar Hotels & Resorts is still a bargain right now. According to my valuation, the intrinsic value for the stock is $9.53, which is above what the market is valuing the company at the moment. This indicates a potential opportunity to buy low. However, given that Braemar Hotels & Resortss share is fairly volatile (i.e. its price movements are magnified relative to the rest of the market) this could mean the price can sink lower, giving us another chance to buy in the future. This is based on its high beta, which is a good indicator for share price volatility.

Can we expect growth from Braemar Hotels & Resorts?

NYSE:BHR Past and Future Earnings, March 1st 2020

Investors looking for growth in their portfolio may want to consider the prospects of a company before buying its shares. Although value investors would argue that its the intrinsic value relative to the price that matter the most, a more compelling investment thesis would be high growth potential at a cheap price. However, with an extremely negative double-digit change in profit expected over the next couple of years, near-term growth is certainly not a driver of a buy decision. It seems like high uncertainty is on the cards for Braemar Hotels & Resorts, at least in the near future.

Story continues

What this means for you:

Are you a shareholder? Although BHR is currently undervalued, the adverse prospect of negative growth brings about some degree of risk. I recommend you think about whether you want to increase your portfolio exposure to BHR, or whether diversifying into another stock may be a better move for your total risk and return.

Are you a potential investor? If youve been keeping an eye on BHR for a while, but hesitant on making the leap, I recommend you research further into the stock. Given its current undervaluation, now is a great time to make a decision. But keep in mind the risks that come with negative growth prospects in the future.

Price is just the tip of the iceberg. Dig deeper into what truly matters  the fundamentals  before you make a decision on Braemar Hotels & Resorts. You can find everything you need to know about Braemar Hotels & Resorts in the latest infographic research report. If you are no longer interested in Braemar Hotels & Resorts, 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.
City stops funding rape shelter over refusal to admit men who identify as women

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

The Vancouver City Council has voted to deny funding for a womens rape shelter over its policy of only allowing women into its peer counseling program, arguing that it discriminates against men who identify as women.

Vancouver Rape Relief in British Columbia  the oldest shelter of its kind in Canada founded 47 years ago  saw its funding withdrawn this week by council members who argued that their policies of protecting female victims have resulted in a "lack of inclusivity," reports say.

The Vancouver City Council voted against renewing the shelter's grant over its sex-specific policy, allowing only women to access its peer counseling area.

Vancouver Rape Relief will still be allowed to conduct its affairs as it chooses, council member Sarah Kirby Young told CityNews, but they won't be allowed to receive city funding.

"What it does is affirm that the city has an inclusive welcoming policy and that when we are providing city funds and taxpayer funds to organizations we want them to be ones that are inclusive of all people."

The effort to strip the organization of its $34,000 grant was spearheaded by left-wing politician Morgane Oger. Oger, a man who identifies as transgender, has long claimed that Vancouver Rape Relief has engaged in hateful prejudice against people based on their "gender identity," which in 2016 was added as protected grounds to Canada's human rights law and criminal code through bill C-16.

Vancouver Rape Relief is of a progressive radical feminist bent in its approach to serving the community, stressing that while they have services available to everyone regardless of how they may identify, the peer-counseling aspect is reserved for women.

"Just like any other oppressed group has the right to come together to work on that particular piece, so do women as a class," said Karla Gjini of Vancouver Rape Relief in an interview with CityNews.

Unlike third wave liberal feminism, radical feminists have long contended that women have been and continue to be oppressed and discriminated against on the basis of their biology, not a self-constructed identity, and that including males who declare themselves female in the legal definition of woman is foolish and represents an existential threat to their hard-won sex-based rights and female-only spaces.

Vancouver Rape Relief has long maintained that forcing females  particularly those recovering from rape and other forms of male violence  to share intimate spaces with males, even if they present as female, is disrespectful of the victims and often serves to re-traumatize them.

"Being born female still means being trained, socialized and forced to submit to male domination. The fact that we are born female and raised as girls to adulthood as women shapes our lives in profound ways," the shelter said in a March 2019 online statement following a previous city council vote to terminate their city funding.

"Being girls and women in this world often impacts both how we look and how we act in private and in public; what we are allowed to do, encouraged to do and rewarded for; and also what we are discouraged from doing, prohibited to do or punished for."

In August the shelter was vandalized, with phrases such as "Kill TERFS" and "Trans power" scrawled on the windows of their facility and a dead and decaying rat was nailed one of the doors.
I first read "Drugs Without the Hot Air," David Nutt's astoundingly good book about drug policy back in 2012 ; in the eight years since, hardly a month has gone by without my thinking about it. Now, there's a new, updated edition , extensively revised, and it's an absolute must-read.



Nutt came to fame when he served as the UK "Drugs Czar" under the Labour Government in the late 2000s; especially when Home Secretary Jacqui Smith fired him for his refusal to lie and say that marijuana was more harmful than alcohol, despite the extensive evidence to the contrary (Smith also threatened Nutt for publishing a paper in Nature that compared the neurological harms of recreational horseback riding to harms from recreational MDMA use, a paper that concluded that if horses came in pill form we might call them "Equasy").



Since then, Nutt  an eminent psychopharmacologist researcher and practioner  has continued to campaign, research, and write about evidence-based drugs policy that takes as its central mission to reduce harm and preserve therapeutic benefits from drugs.





Like the first edition of Drugs Without the Hot Air, the new edition serves three missions:

1. First, to describe how a wide variety of drugs  benzos, cocaine, opoiods, cannabis, etc, but also alcohol, caffeine and nicotine  work in the body, in clear, nontechnical language that anyone can follow.

2. Next, to describe the harms and benefits of drugs, considered both on individual and societal levels  and also to describe what the best medical evidence tells us about maximizing those benefits and minimizing those harms.

3. Finally, to recount how governments  mainly in the UK but also in the USA and elsewhere  have responded to the evidence on drug mechanisms, harms and benefits.





Inevitably, part 3 becomes an indictment, as Nutt describes in eye-watering, frustrating, brutal detail how harmful, incoherent, self-serving and cowardly government responses to drugs have been, and how many lives they have ruined  through criminalizing harmless conduct, through treating medical problems as criminal ones, and through badly thought-through policies that caused relatively benign substances to be replaced with far more harmful ones (for example, Nutt traces the lethal rise in fentanyl partly to the successful global interdiction of opium poppies).

One important difference between the new edition and the original is visible progress on this last. In the years since Nutt was fired for refusing to lie about science, he has founded Drugscience, a research and advocacy nonprofit that has scored significant policy wins and made real therapeutic breakthroughs through hard work and rigour.





I don't think you could ask for a more sensible, clear-eyed, and useful book about drugs, from the ones your doctor prescribes to the ones your bartender serves you to the ones you can go to jail for possessing. Nutt is not just a great and principled campaigner, nor merely a talented and dedicated scientist  he's also a superb communicator.





Drugs Without the Hot Air is part of an outstanding series of technical books  mostly about climate change  that have greatly influenced my thinking. The publisher, UIT Cambridge, has several more that I recommend.

Drugs without the hot air: Making sense of legal and illegal drugs [David Nutt/UIT Cambridge]
If theres one thing you can depend on from Capitol Hill, its the desire to import more overseas workers and push for amnesty for the millions of unlawful aliens in our country (including lifetime valid work permits).

Annual congressional attempts to pass immigration legislation that expands the workforce  and greatly increases the nations population  are as certain as rain. The strategy, so far unsuccessful, is for a prominent Republican to endorse the proposed bill. With Republicans on board, the media can then label the legislation bipartisan, a helpful tool in selling the bill to unsuspecting, under-informed readers.

See the roll call of prominent Republicans who have been all-in on the worst of bad immigration bills over the last 15 years:

 The 2005 McCain-Kennedy bill was obviously pushed by John McCain.

 The 2013 Gang of Eight bill included McCain, Marco Rubio, Jeff Flake and Lindsey Graham.

 The I-Squared Act, championed by former Senate Judiciary Chair Orrin Hatch, would have increased the H-1B visa cap by 110,000.

 The 2019 Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act would eliminate the per-country numerical cap for employment-based immigrants, which Utahs Mike Lee heartily backs.

Invariably, the Republicans joined with the most pro-immigration Democrats to support the expansive immigration bills. In 2005 it was Ted Kennedy, while in 2013 it was Richard Durbin, Chuck Schumer, Robert Menendez and Michael Bennet. Kamala Harris filled the role in 2019.

This year, the most prominent and loudest cheerleader for more immigration is former South Carolina representative and current acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney. Before a private UK audience, Mulvaney said: We are desperate  desperate  for more people. We are running out of people to fuel the economic growth that weve had in our nation over the last four years. We need more immigrants.

Todays specific amnesty agenda calls for the Senate, in a push that current Senate Judiciary Chair Graham is spearheading, to adopt an upper chamber version of Zoe Lofgrens (D-Calif.) agriculture amnesty, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act. Its a cheap labor, indentured servitude bill that would allow an estimated 1.5 million aliens access to Green Cards in exchange for their labor for a fixed period, between four to ten years.

The federal government has not given the slightest indication that it can properly manage any immigration bills, let alone a farm worker amnesty. In 1986, President Ronald Reagans Immigration Reform and Control Act included the Special Agricultural Workers provision. SAW was a disaster, so bad that The New York Times wrote that it was one of the most extensive immigration frauds ever perpetrated against the United States government.

Mulvaneys comment that the country is in dire need of more people is a complete lie. Ask commuters driving to work if the nation needs more people. More to the point on employment, despite the rosy reporting on jobs, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that millions of prime working-age people continue to be unemployed or under-employed. Nevertheless, every year more than 1 million legal immigrants get work permits, and about 750,000 guest workers receive employment-based visas. Then, there are the tens of thousands of workers who come unlawfully.

The unasked and therefore unanswered question in the Mulvaney mystery is whether President Trump encouraged his chief of staff to promote immigration. President Trump has made several references to his expansive immigration vision, including his State of the Union bombshell that he wants the highest [immigration] numbers ever.

For months, the presidents son-in-law Jared Kushner has been touting an immigration bill that would, among its other anti-American worker features, increase high-skilled labor or so-called merit-based immigration  a terrible outcome for U.S. tech workers that would flood the market with cheap labor.

If President Trump wins re-election, in his second term hed be unencumbered by his campaign pledge to hire American that helped put him in the White House. Depending on whether Trump decides to defend American workers or cave to demands from big business for low-cost labor, the next four years could signal an immigration apocalypse.

Joe Guzzardi is a Progressives for Immigration Reform analyst who has written about immigration for more than 30 years. Contact him at jguzzardi@pfirdc.org.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
British forces have been deployed to West Africa to stop it turning into an Islamic State and Al Qaeda caliphate rife with battle-hardened extremists.

Dozens of troops from 1 Scots Guards and the Royal Marines are training three African nations in Senegal to tackle soaring numbers of diehard jihadists.

Countries such as Mali in the Sahel region are at the epicentre of the worlds fastest-growing Islamist insurgency. Thousands of extremists from IS, Al Qaeda and local groups are working together for the first time to wage mass terror. Foreign fighters have fled Syria to the lawless region, taking bomb-making skills with them. UK officials fear more could follow and plot overseas attacks.

Operation Mansio: British troops (pictured) provide counter-terrorism training to Nigerian, Cameroonian and Moroccan forces in Senegal. Some 30 troops are stationed around these soldiers and in a huge exercise last week, UK forces guided the African soldiers as they attacked and detained members of a terrorist cell

The threat of a new Syria emerging in Africas ungoverned desert and scrubland has become a major security concern for the UK Government.

Colonel Matthew Botsford, who oversees the British military training team in Nigeria, said: What none of us want to see is a caliphate anywhere near West Africa that imposes its own regime and Islamic law. Thats the worst case for us.

He said skills and experience are being transferred from Syria and Iraq to West Africa as IS is pushed out from the Middle East.

The colonel added: Recent events in the UK over the last couple of years have proved that there is a link to Africa to the UK and back to Africa. Slavery, drugs, money, trafficking, you name it. The UK wants to play a part in ensuring that link is broken and it doesnt manifest itself on the streets of Germany, France or UK.

Nigerian Navy Special Boat Service troops (pictured) exercise under the supervision of British special forces during US military-led annual counterterrorism exercise in Thies, Senegal, on February 18. The threat of a new Syria emerging in Africas ungoverned desert and scrubland has become a major security concern for the UK Government

Brigadier Gus Fair, who overseas specialised teams of British military trainers across the world, added: The potential for it [terror] to spread here absolutely is increasing. He said the aspiration was to avoid a perpetual crisis by being pre-emptive.

Some 30 British troops are currently stationed in Senegal training around 80 Nigerian, Moroccan and Cameroonian soldiers, many of them elite forces.

In a huge exercise last week, UK forces guided the African soldiers as they attacked and detained members of a terrorist cell.

Royal Marines also trained members of Nigerias 707 special forces brigade and their special boat service on a shooting range. After completing the training, the African troops will be despatched to their home nations to defeat a whole host of terrorist groups, including IS, Al Qaeda and Boko Haram. Later this year, 250 personnel from the Light Dragoon Guards and the Royal Anglian Regiment will head to Mali as part of a UN peacekeeping mission.

US General Dag Anderson, commander of special operations in Africa, warned a spectacular terror attack could happen if the threat was not crushed.

Royal Marines also trained members of Nigerias 707 special forces brigade as part of the operation. After completing the training, the African troops will be despatched to their home nations to defeat a whole host of terrorist groups. Pictured: British and Malawian troops during an anti-poaching demonstration exercise on September 30

He said: We know Al Qaeda especially has the will and desire to attack the West.

He warned that an attack like September 11 was their ultimate goal which they could achieve if they were allowed a safe haven. The US was very concerned over Al Qaedas ability to bring terror groups together, he added.

Lieutenant Michael Olatoye, of Nigerias special forces brigade, said many of his comrades had been murdered by Boko Haram, and added: We are praying with time all this [extremistm] will be wiped out.

Colonel Djibril Diawara, commanding officer of Senegals naval support group, said: We have a spreading threat in this region which is now affecting many countries and which shows the enemys ability to grow.
(Bloomberg) -- A SpaceX prototype for its Starship SN1 super-rocket blew up during a pressure test on Feb. 28, according to a report from GeekWire.

The prototype, which was destroyed during a test at the companys facility in Boca Chica, Texas, near Brownsville, imploded as it flew into the air and quickly fell to the ground, according to Saturdays report.
Latest News MFAA calls submissions for 2022 Excellence Awards The association also reveals a new award

Playing it safe? Here are 50 of most consistent suburbs to invest in Hotspotting founder claims investors should look into stable markets, not booming ones

Heritage Bank has boosted its broker services with the appointment of new business development manager, Michael Scott.

Scott will provide support for brokers in Victoria as well as Heritages broker partners in South Australia.

He has over 20 years experience in the retail banking sector and has also managed his own broking business.

Most recently, he held senior business development and sales management positons at ME Bank. He was the first person to be appointed to its broker channel and also held leadership roles in mobile banking as well as a state leadership role in Tasmania.

As a mutual bank Heritage has a strong reputation based around people, something Im very passionate about, Scott said.

Its very special to work in an organisation that is really is invested in best interests of its customers.

Heritage was one of the first mutual banks to actively work with brokers and has done so for over 20 years now. Im looking forward to strengthening relationships with brokers in Victoria and South Australia and sharing the Heritage difference.

Head of broker distribution Stewart Saunders said the addition of Scott to the team would bolster Heritages capability to service mortgage brokers around the country.

Were delighted to have Michael on the team, his wealth of knowledge and experience will go a long way in enhancing the people first experience we provide to our brokers and customers," he said.

The broker market is extremely important to Heritage. Aside from helping more customers, working with brokers has enabled us to deliver a national presence that would otherwise not have been viable for a smaller mutual lender to access.

Were investing in enhancing our services to brokers including significant improvements in our home loan origination, digital platforms for brokers, as well as on the ground support with our BDM team. We have a very exciting year ahead.
JOHANNESBURGHundreds of foreign migrants have been removed from central Cape Town by South African authorities following a months-long stand-off.

The migrants, who were moved in an operation Sunday, had demanded to be relocated to other countries, claiming they had been threatened by xenophobic violence last year. But the group lost their court bid to compel the government to fly them to what they said would be safer countries, including the U.S. and Canada.

The foreigners had camped outside the Central Methodist Church at Cape Towns Green Market Square. South African authorities said they will verify their identities and will process those seeking asylum.

The Nigerian government last year evacuated about 600 of its citizens from South Africa following violent demonstrations against foreigners.

The removal of the foreigners was largely a calm operation, with the authorities getting little resistance from the migrants, except for some heckling and chanting.
Indiana's 19th CERFP unit trains in Alaska for Arctic Eagle 2020

By Sgt. Tackora Hand, 120th Public Affairs Detachment February 28, 2020

ALASKA -- The Indiana National Guard's 19th CBRNE Enhanced Response Force Package practiced search-and-extraction measures in Alaska as part of Arctic Eagle 2020, which brought together Guard units from 15 states to work with local, state and national agencies for several weeks.

"In this environment, the training got our team talking and thinking about different ways to approach our current mission," said Sgt. Cory Seifer, the noncommissioned officer in charge of the reconnaissance squad with the 19th CERFP. "We don't always think about what would happen if we were called to support disasters in arctic conditions, and now we have that realistic experience to take back to our unit."

In 2004, Congress authorized the activation of 12 National Guard CERFPs. Congress increased the authorization to 17 strategically located CERFPs throughout the United States. All 17 align with corresponding Federal Emergency Management Agency regions.

"We are part of FEMA Region V, so it is not unrealistic that we would need to operate in this type of environment," said Sgt. Sara McMahon, the noncommissioned officer in charge of breach and break with the 19th CERFP. "This exercise was a way for us to learn more about our equipment capabilities, specifically what would and wouldn't work in constant below freezing temperatures."

FEMA Region V serves Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin.

The CERFP assists civil authorities during domestic incidents, searching collapsed buildings and structures, rescuing trapped victims, performing medical triage and mass decontamination.

Testing and validation of equipment are crucial to the success of domestic and foreign National Guard missions. To ensure collaboration and realistic training, the exercise forced participants to break out of their original teams and conduct missions with new members.

"Our mission here was to conduct search-and-extraction procedures," said Cpl. Shelbylynn Hulse, the bravo team leader assigned to the 19th CERFP. "We were able to do that and more. My favorite part was being exposed to working dogs. Learning how to act around them and complete our mission was fun."

The teams included FEMA Task Force One from Utah, active-duty Marines and National Guard members. During a real disaster, the CERFP supports the local incident commander and emergency first responders.

Exercise Arctic Eagle 2020 began Feb. 20 and ends March 7.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






A Polish student of Jadavpur University has been asked by the Foreigner Regional Registration Office (FRRO) to leave the country after he participated in an anti-CAA rally in the West Bengal capital, varsity sources said on Sunday.

The incident comes close on the heels of a Bangladeshi student of Visva Bharati University being issued a similar directive by the FRRO after she posted photographs of an anti-CAA demonstration, held on the campus, on social media.

A JU source told PTI that Kamil Siedcynski, a Polish student of Comparative Literature, was asked by the FRRO to visit its Kolkata office, which he did on February 22.

"Siedcynski was served a notice by the FRRO asking him to leave the country within a fortnight on receipt of the notice for alleged conduct deemed inappropriate for a foreign national staying in India on a student visa," the source said.

The JU source said several teachers and Left-leaning students of the varsity were of the view that Siedcynski was paying the price for attending an anti-CAA rally at Moulali area in the city in December last year where he was interviewed by a Bengali daily and a brief report on him was published the next day.

"Some people probably forwarded a copy of the report to the FRRO. Siedcynski has no political leanings but his enthusiasm to attend the protest rally and click photographs landed him in trouble," the source said.

Siedcynski, who was supposed to write his third-semester examinations this year, could not be contacted.

JU vice-chancellor Suranjan Das and Registrar Snehamanju Basu also did not take calls.

The Polish student had earlier studied Bengali at the Visva Bharati University.

Recently Afsara Anika Meem, a first-year Bangladeshi undergraduate student in the Fine Arts department of the Visva-Bharati University was served an FRRO notice for reportedly engaging in "anti-government" activities.

Both the foreign nationals have requested the FRRO to reconsider its decision and promised not to get involved in any such protests in the future, sources said.

The FRRO, in turn, has said that a final decision will be taken in Delhi, the source said quoting the two students.
Even as residents of 650 Parliament St., displaced for 18 months after a fire, prepared to return home beginning Monday, a panel of experts at the University of Toronto warned that similar calamities are waiting to happen in a city with a large and aging stock of residential towers.

650 Parliament is the tip of the iceberg. We feel like youve been living on borrowed time with these towers  the time to act was 10 years ago, said Jim Heid, a sustainable development adviser and one of the experts on a panel, convened Friday at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto.

The panel capped a weeklong visit from Urban Land Institute experts, sponsored by the City of Toronto.

There are an estimated 1,200 residential rental towers in Toronto, said Graeme Stewart, a principal at ERA Architects, director of the Centre for Urban Growth and Renewal, and one of the speakers at the panel.

The residential tower boom of the 1960s and 70s, built to house a rapidly growing population in Toronto, created a pool of affordable rental units that exists to this day. Sixty years later, the towers need major investments to continue providing that housing.

Recent funding from the provincial and federal governments  including from the National Housing Strategy  have helped take care of a significant portion of the public housing towers, according to Stewart.

But the privately held residential towers also need updating, which they are unlikely to get unless private owners are motivated to do so.

Most of our work in the last three or four years has been focused on the non-profit and social (housing) stock, said Stewart. The next chapter is, theres thousands of buildings in private ownership that are constrained and really need some support.

Private owners are facing retrofits that could cost $10-$15 million. There were tax incentives and a streamlined planning process to encourage the building of the towers. Now private owners need tax incentives and a streamlined planning process to encourage them to retrofit, Stewart said.

That one building put so much pressure on the housing system and cost the city significant dollars, Stewart said of 650 Parliament.

What happens if two buildings go offline or 10 buildings go offline? The housing situation is so precarious it cant handle that. Were at the point where this is a public-interest issue.

Panelist Purnima Kapur, the former executive director of the New York City Department of City Planning, said Torontos one per cent vacancy rate is a signal that the situation is dire.

She agreed the city needs to examine its approval process and also look at ways to encourage developers to build rental housing, by reviewing HST requirements and making borrowing capital less expensive for them.

City manager Chris Murray, who attended the session, said the city needs to take action on the issue.

650 Parliament was a very important lesson for us, he said, adding that inexpensive rental units are integral to Torontos growth.

When your growth is being basically driven by  and were incredibly proud of it  by immigration, making sure that people when they come to this city, or to this region for that matter, have that safe, entry level housing that they can afford in order to begin their lives here, that is not just an ethically important thing to do, its an economically important thing to do.
South Korea Reports 3 Additional Deaths, Over 500 New Cases of Coronavirus

South Korea reported 586 new cases of the novel coronavirus and three additional deaths on March 1, bringing its nationally tally to 3,736 known cases and 20 fatalities.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported 376 new cases of the virus on Sunday morning, before reporting 210 more cases in the afternoon.

One death involved an 83-year-old man in the city of Daegu, who had a stroke and suffered from hypertension before being infected with the virus, according to local outlet Yonhap News Agency. Daegu is about 186 miles southeast of the capital Seoul.

An 86-year-old woman who had the disease died of dyspnea early Sunday. She also had diabetes and hyperlipidemia. The third death involved an 80-year-old man who had long been suffering from hypertension.

Of the 586 new cases, 469 are in Daegu and 67 are in the broader North Gyeongsang province. Seoul has 10 new cases and the coastal city of Busan has three new cases.

Since Feb. 21, South Korea has reported triple digits in new cases every day, and it reported a record daily of 813 new cases on Saturday.

Among the new infection cases reported on Sunday, one case involves a 45-day-old baby, whose parents had already tested positive for the virus, according to local outlet Yonhap News Agency. Her father, who tested positive last Thursday, is a follower of the Shincheonji Church.

There are now 2,705 cases in Daegu, and about 73 percent of these cases are connected to the church, according to KCDC.

Many of those cases related to the church have been traced back to a 61-year-old female follower of the church who tested positive for the virus on Feb. 18 as the countrys 31st confirmed case.

On Saturday, South Koreas justice ministry reported that 3,600 followers of the church returned from China between July 1 last year and Feb. 27 this year, according to Yonhap. Among these followers, 42 had traveled to Wuhan, where the outbreak began in December last year.

The U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) reported on Saturday that the wife of a U.S. soldierwho is stationed at Camp Carrol and tested positive for the virus days agohad also tested positive.

The patient has not been in contact with any other USFK or USFK affiliated personnel since going into quarantine, USFK said, adding that she had been in self-quarantine since Feb. 26 following the confirmation of her husband being sick with the virus.

Two other USFK-related individuals are infected with the virus. One is a 61-year-old woman, a widow of a retired soldier, and the other is a male South Korean employee at Camp Carroll.

Camp Carroll is located in the village of Waegwan, about 12 miles from the city of Daegu.

Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department has raised its travel advisory for Daegu to Level 4, the highest of a four-level system, urging people not to travel to the city due to the level of community transmission of the virus and imposition of local quarantine procedures.

The State Department has a Level 3 travel warning to other parts of South Korea, calling for travelers to reconsider travel to the East Asian country.
Ming-Chi Kuo got tongues wagging this week with an investor note tipping the first ARM-based Mac will arrive in early 2021. While most people expect Apple to dip their toes in the water with a MacBook Air-like model, a wholesale transition from Intel x86 to to ARM in quick time is feasible.

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

During the week, well-connected Apple rumor monger Ming-Chi Kuo told investors that Apple will be moving to release its first ARM-based Mac in early 2021. Various other rumors have also tipped an Apple laptop with an ARM-based chip for going as far back as 2011! The reasons for doing so have become increasingly obvious given the excellent performance and battery life that we have found Samsungs Galaxy Book S capable of delivering in our recent testing. However, what has been unclear is whether Apple plans on making a wholesale transition from Intel x86-based chips to ARM64-based chips for its entire product line as it did with its previous transition from IBM PowerPC-based chips to Intel. It is feasible, and heres why.

Apple has a long history with ARM-based chips. In fact, ARM was a spin-off of UK-based Acorns chipset business after the Apple worked with the company to develop chips for its Newton PDA. Apple later relied on its shareholdings in ARM to help keep the company afloat during the 90s when it was in danger of going under. Later, Apple again started using ARM chips in its first iPhone before acquiring PA Semi and Intrinsity to start development of its first custom ARM-based designs that would appear in later iPhones and the first iPad. As we know, the combination of ARM and iOS, along with ARM and Android has gone on to completely dominate mobile computing, at Intels (and Microsofts) expense.

When Apple announced its decision to switch from IBM PowerPC chips to Intels x86 chips in 2005, it took at least two years before its product line of MacBooks (previously known as PowerBooks) and Mac desktops made the full transition. It took this drastic step because Motorola (which did most of the design work on the PowerPC chips Apple was using at the time in conjunction with both Apple and IBM) hit a wall from a performance-per-Watt perspective. As Apple was selling a lot of MacBooks, it was starting to fall behind what Intel was able to deliver in terms of performance-per-Watt at the time and it was starting to really bite.

Intel had just developed the first of its Core series designs and these were an ideal fit for what became Apples new MacBooks. They also offered much better performance-per-watt meaning better battery life as well as, you guessed it, thinner and more portable designs. Intels desktop chip offerings were also more than fit-for-purpose so Apple really was left with little choice but to pull the trigger. Of course, such a fundamental architecture change meant compatibility issues despite Apples very clever PowerPC code translation layer dubbed Rosetta helping to smooth things over somewhat. However, high-performance apps from developers like Adobe had to re-write their code for x86 native support, which took a couple of years.

This time around, the need to transition to from Intel chips to ARM-based chips like Apples class-leading A-series designs found in the iPhone and iPad isnt quite as necessary -- the PC competition is still using the same chips as Apple in its MacBooks. However, one commonality with the PowerPC to Intel transition is that ARM-based chips are now offering substantial performance-per-Watt advantages over Intels current designs. This was in clear evidence in our recent testing of the ARM-based Samsung Galaxy Book S which has proven to be thinner, lighter and faster than Apples MacBook Air, while also offering up to twice the battery life at 25 hours. When Apple has chipsets that are significantly more capable than the Snapdragon 8cx in its arsenal you can bet that it will want to leverage them in a MacBook at the very least.

With so many apps already natively coded to run on the ARM architecture thanks to the wild success of iOS/iPad OS on the iPhone and iPad, it is also clear that Apple also has significant advantage over Windows 10 on ARM in this regard as well. Apples Catalyst has also recently made it very easy for developers to turn iPad apps into Mac apps with the likelihood that universal app binaries are on the cards that could also speed the transition of native x86 Mac apps to run natively on ARM. This is of course assuming that Apple is looking to transition the full Mac operating system across to the ARM architecture as it has at least a couple of options moving forward in this regard. This includes making a MacBook-specific version of iPad OS (iBook OS?) that supports proper mouse input, for example.

Lets assume, for arguments sake, that Apple is going to port macOS to run natively on ARM-based MacBooks in the first instance. We already know that Apples chips are comparable in performance to Intels low to mid-range mobile chipsets and can even give some of Intels higher-end mobile chipsets a shake. These new ARM-based MacBooks have the potential to be thinner, lighter, faster than comparable Intel chipsets while also offering the possibility of substantially better battery life. Fanless MacBook Pro models could also be on the cards which would again have positive impacts on battery life, as well as overall design portability.

But what about the rest of Apples Mac lineup? Although we havent seen chips from Apple that would or could power a Mac mini or even an iMac, there are already plenty of ARM-based chip designs out there that could. These include 32-core ARM-based server chips like those from Ampere and Amazon as well as multi-CPU ARM-baser server designs out there also giving Intel nightmares  the appeal here is also performance-per-watt as these too draw less overall power in server farms and are thus cheaper to run. Apple could also scale up its ARM designs as well if it wanted, while its integrated GPU designs are also equally capable of being scaled up. Given the scalability of ARM-based designs, desktop ARM-based Macs could happen sooner rather than later.

Another reason Apple might want to go down the ARM64 route is the for the same reason that it chose to develop its own ARM-based chips for its iPhones and iPads  control over both the software and system architecture. This puts Apple much more in control overs its fate and we know how much Apple likes to control every aspect of what it does. In fact, this is perhaps the biggest reason why Apple would want to make the effort to go down the ARM64 route for as much of its lineup as is possible. The added ability to eke out even more profit margin is something that would appeal to CEO Tim Cook. The only outlier would be its Mac Pro/iMac Pro range. However, given that the clientele for these machines is substantially smaller, Apple might be happy to stick with Intel for Mac Pros for the time being. Or, Apple could eventually swap out Intel designs here for its own chip designs here as well or phase out the Mac Pro line. The company certainly has the resources, and the luxury, of taking any path it chooses.

Whichever way you look at it, ARM-based Macs are incoming. Just how quickly, how completely, and how Apple goes about managing the transition are the only obvious questions remaining to be answered. If it does decide to go all the way, x86 app emulation is well within the capabilities of Apples chipsets and software architecting. Most people expect Apple to start with a MacBook Air-like device, but it is possible it could go hard at its lineup just as it did with the PowerPC to Intel transition and make a much more wholesale transition and more quickly than expected for the reasons outlined here. There are many good reasons for doing so and I think that Apple could well go a lot harder at introducing ARM-based Macs than expected. Apples WWDC 2020 in June is where it is expected to announce its ARM plans. It could be the most exciting Apple developer conference in years (potential coronavirus disruptions notwithstanding).
New Delhi [India], Mar 1 (ANI): It is not just the common people who are complaining of police not responding to their distress calls during the recent communal riots in Delhi. It emerges now that the Delhi Police let down their own too.

Mehmood Khan, a 66-year-old retired sub-inspector of Delhi Police says that he made several calls to the police control room after the violence broke out in his area but got no response.

He says that he saw a crowd of thousands while he was returning from a mosque in the Ganga Vihar area on the evening of February 24. Sensing trouble, Khan fled to the nearby Kabir Nagar, a Muslim majority area, along with his family.

He said that he received calls on February 25 that a mob had gathered outside his house and was ransacking his house. Again, Khan made frantic calls to Delhi Police control room as well as some of his acquaintances in the department, but nobody came to his help.

"I made at least 9-10 calls to the police control room and to police officials but no one answered. I worked for Delhi Police for 40 years and till today no one from the department has come to visit me or even called to ask as to what happened to me and my family," said a visibly disappointed Khan.

He has also claimed that the rioters looted cash amounting to Rs 8 lakh and the gold jewellery which was recently bought for the wedding of Khan's granddaughter. The mob also vandalised his four-storeyed house, though the mob somehow stopped short of setting the building on fire.

Khan's neighbours claim that they begged with the rioters to not set the building on fire.

Mehmood Khan's family is the only Muslim family in the Hindu dominated locality of Ganga Vihar.

Chowdhary Pritam Singh, Khan's 72-year-old neighbour said, "We are brothers and we would remain so no matter what. When we saw the rioters coming, all of us stood together to protect his house. With folded hands, we told them he is our brother, please don't do this. Please go."

The storm has passed, but it has left Khan - and hundreds like him - bruised, shattered and betrayed.

At least 42 people have died and more than 200 people have sustained serious injuries in the communal violence that rocked north-east Delhi for four days.Two Special Investigation Teams (SIT) have been constituted under the Delhi Police's Crime Branch to investigate the violence.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the next of kin of the people who lost their lives in violence. He has said that Rs 5 lakh will be provided in cases of permanent incapacitation, Rs 2 lakh for serious injuries and Rs 20,000 for a minor injury.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Kolkata: As the Union Home Minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah visited Kolkata to attend a public meeting on Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) on Sunday (March 1), BJP workers were seen raising controversial slogans, Desh Ke Gaddaro ko, Goli Maaro Salon ko (Shoot the traitors..) at the rally.

Around 2 pm, a BJP rally was on its way from to the venue of the public meeting, when suddenly they saw that on the opposite flank some anti-CAA protestors were raising slogans against Shahs visit.

The BJP workers immediately started raising Desh Ke Gaddaro ko, Goli Maaro Salon ko slogans. The officials from Kolkata Police rushed in to prevent BJP workers from advancing towards the anti-CAA protestors.

The anti-CAA protestors were put inside a barricade to prevent them from spilling outside and advancing towards the BJP supporters.

Later, the BJP supporters were escorted back to the original route of the rally leading to the Shahid Minar.

While BJP remained tightlipped on the issue, Left and TMC leaders condemned the sloganeering.

This apart, Shahs visit was marred by protests being staged by Left, Congress and other students organisations throughout the day.

However, police prevented all agitators from going close to the Home Ministers convoy.
MG Chetan By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: Just three days after their engagement, 27-year-old software engineer BV Girish was elated. He and his fiancee Shubha Shankaranarayan, a 21-year-old law student, were going for out for dinner to a posh restaurant. Afterwards, they headed home on his scooter but stopped at the Air View Point on Ring Road as Shubha wanted to watch planes landing at HAL Airport. As they stood watching at around 9.30 pm, Girish sustained a fatal blow on the left side of his head and collapsed. Shubha stopped a car and took Girish to Manipal Hospital. At 8.05 am the next day, doctors declared him dead.

Girishs father Venkatesh filed a complaint with the Viveknagar police the same day. Investigating officer KA Nanaiah recorded Shubhas statement, but no clues were available for several days. But Nanaiah, who went through videos of the engagement ceremony held on November 30, 2003, found Shubhas behaviour unusual. Police were not accustomed to analysing mobile phone call details report (CDR) in those days. But Nanaiah decided to verify call details of Shubhas mobile phone, which eventually cracked the case.

Shubhas CDR revealed she was in constant touch with Arun Varma (19), two years her junior in BMS College of Law and Varmas presence near the scene of crime was established through his mobile phone.

Police picked up Varma, then a first-semester student, for interrogation. But Varma cooked up a story saying he was not in Bengaluru when the incident took place. Although the police did not buy it, he was let off. After he left the police station, he placed a call to Shubha - which the police tracked - and told her about the inquiry. Police built their case further and arrested Shubha, her boyfriend Varma, his cousin Dinesh alias Dinakaran, and the latters friend A Venkatesha, who actually dealt the fatal blow on Girishs head.

They were arrested on January 25, 2004, over 50 days after the murder. The fact that Shubha had orchestrated the murder of her innocent fiance to continue her relationship with Varma sent shock waves across India. Girish was working with a well-known MNC and his family was devastated by his death.



Investigation revealed that Shubha had confided with her beautician that she did not like Girishs simpler lifestyle and wished he would die so she could be with Varma. She told this to her beautician thrice, including on the day of her engagement, and said she would anyway elope with Varma one day even after the engagement.

She had openly told two of her friends that she did not like Girish, but neither thought Shubha would go to the extent of planning a murder. Shubha and Varma plotted to murder Girish. Her phone analysis showed Shubha messaged every little detail about their movements to Varma after their dinner. When she messaged they were at the view-point, Varma brought Venkatesha on a bike and the latter hit Girish on the head with a two-wheelers shock absorber. They dumped the weapon into bushes in a military area nearby where the police later found it.

It was one of the early cases in which the court admitted technical evidence of the exchange of phone calls and SMSs among the four before and after the murder. They found 73 calls exchanged among them on the day of the incident. In May 2010, a Fast Track Court convicted all four of murder, and sentenced them to life imprisonment. Shubha was also convicted of destruction of evidence. The Karnataka High Court upheld the order in July, 2010. Currently, Shubha is out on bail, which Supreme Court granted her in August 2014.


Pune's Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope has detected a massive cosmic explosion 390 million light-years away. According to researchers, this is the second-largest explosion in the universe

It looks like our very own Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope in Pune has actually detected a gigantic explosion that took place at the centre of the Ophiuchus Galaxy. Located about 390 million light-years away from Eart, the explosion was picked up by the GMRT in Pune. This breakthrough was achieved by a team of international astronomers as they confirmed the detection of the explosion.

Experts say that this is the second-largest explosion after the Big Bang. If what they say is accurate then this is the largest explosion in the known universe that we have been a witness of. The explosion was originally observed by NASAs Chandra X-Ray telescope and was confirmed after studying combined data using Punes Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope, the Murchison Widefiled Array (MWA) and the XMM-Newton X-Ray telescope.

An official from the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA) issued a statement which said, Using GMRT data, the researchers got an improved radio image of the radio source. It complemented well with the frequency coverage of the Australian MWA telescope while providing higher resolution for a more detailed look at the cluster.

Researchers say that the explosion and subsequent cavity was a result of a massive wave of energy that was released when the explosion first took place. It left a dent-like structure.

NCRA Director Yashwant Gupta says, It is like mining the archived data and re-using them. Even in the future, we can use such archived data for some bright ideas or newer discoveries. We expect more discoveries and interesting results to emerge using GMRTs archived data
He, however, described the road to success a very tough battle before directing party workers to get ready for a battle.

Union home minister Amit Shah being garlanded during a rally at Shaheed Minar Ground in Kolkata on Sunday. Soon after delivering his speech at a pro-CAA rally in Kolkata, Mr Shah went to the Kalighat Temple, which is only a few metres away from West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjees residence. (Photo: PTI)

Kolkata: Exuding confidence on the saffron surge, Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday predicted that the BJP would come to power in West Bengal next year by dethroning the Trinamul Congress. He, however, described the road to success a very tough battle before directing party workers to get ready for a battle.

Ruling out the possibility of dynasty politics, Mr Shah also declared that no Shehzada but a son of the soil would become the next chief minister of the state. He tore into Trinamul Congress supremo and CM Mamata Banerjee after her tweet on discrimination, while claiming that her fierce movement against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) would fail.

PM Modi brought CAA that gave millions of refugees citizenship here in Bengal. Mamata Di opposed it. There were riots in Bengal. Trains and railway stations were burnt, Mr Shah said, adding that Mamata wont be able to stop the Centre from granting citizenship to refugees.

While speaking at the inauguration of NSGs 29 Special Composite Group Complex, Mr Shah also cautioned those planning to break and harm the country and destroy its peace to fear the National Security Guard (NSG).

We want peace in the entire world. In our history of 10,000 years, India has never attacked anyone. We would not allow anyone to disrupt our peace. And anyone who

takes the lives of soldiers will have to pay dearly. People who want to divide the nation and disrupt its peace, they should fear the presence of NSG, he said at the inaugural function.

In another part of the city, several BJP workers were heard shouting the controversial Goli Maaro slogans at Esplanade en route to the partys mega rally at Shahid Minar Ground, from where Mr Shah kickstarted the partys campaign Aar Noi Annay (No More Injustice). Waving BJP flags, they chanted, Desh Ke Gaddaron Ko, Goli Maaro Saalo Ko (Shoot the Traitors of the Nation), stumping the police.

Addressing the rally Mr Shah said, Mamataji would now wait and watch how the BJP comes to power with a thumping majority in the next Assembly polls. In 2014, the BJP got 87 lakh votes here. But in 2019, we got 2.30 crore votes here resulting in 18 MPs with us. I am confident that the progression which started with 18 seats in the Lok Sabha polls and is continuing, is not going to stop.

He told the BJP workers, It will rest with a BJP government formation with two-third majority in the next Assembly polls. It is a very tough battle. You will have to fight it for Bengals development. The entire leadership, including me, will be in shoulder to shoulder with you for this. The thought of appointing a Rajkumar as a successor can not happen in Bengal.

The Union home minister added, No Shehzada (Prince) would become the next Bengal CM. A son of the soil, who will emerge as a leader, will become the next Bengal CM. Spelling out a mobile number: 9727294294, he asked the crowd to dial it in support of the CAA which, he assured, would give citizenship to refugees.

Pinning hope on the BJPs victory in 2021, Mr Shah asserted that it would give citizenship to the refugees while ending a host of issues: injustice to the people, corruption, syndicate nexus, extortion, deterioration in law and order situation, industrialisation and infiltration under the Trinamuls rule of a decade.

His blistering attack on the Trinamul chief was significant as Ms Banerjee, in an oblique reference to the CAA, tweeted in the morning, Today on @UN #ZeroDiscriminationDay, it pains me to witness the politics of discrimination being woven into the fabric of India. Let us pledge to uproot all forms of division based on caste, creed, and religion from our society. We will never stand for discrimination of any kind.
This is likely to lead to personal information being inadvertently accessed or to the personal information data being used for a purpose other than the notified purpose (particularly in relation to the data analytics performed by the retail business intelligence team)," the report said. Alinta declined an interview request but responded to a series of questions, including whether it had been warned it may be breaching Australian privacy laws. It said it "takes compliance with privacy laws seriously and we require a similar standard from all third-party contractors''. It confirmed it conducted a privacy audit by an "independent third party" and described the report as highlighting "a number of positive aspects of our approach alongside a number of opportunities to improve". It said the report suggested "the need for a privacy management framework, privacy officer, encryption standards and data strategy were highlighted and have been progressed". Privacy expert, Dr Vanessa Teague from Melbourne University, assessed the EY report and described Alinta as having a cavalier attitude to privacy.

Dr Teague said protecting personal information was important because if someone gained access to identity-proving information such as a driver licence, passport or Medicare number, they could use it to impersonate the owner online. This is often used for financial fraud, such as taking out a loan or credit card in your name. The innocent party might lose a great deal of money and end up apparently 'owing' what they never borrowed, she said. Chow Tai Fook was given the green light to buy Alinta for $4 billion in April 2017 on the proviso it would satisfy a series of conditions that werent made public. A year later it was given approval to buy the $1 billion Loy Yang B, an electricity power generation plant in Victoria which generates almost one-fifth of Victorias power.

The leaked material features highly-sensitive internal documents including a list of more than 10 secret FIRB conditions, which largely relate to data security. Conditions include that data - including bulk customer data, personal information or electricity or gas data - must be stored within Australia, can only be accessed within Australia and not be taken outside of Australia. It says that third-party providers must also comply with the FIRB conditions. The FIRB was set up in 1975 to advise the Treasurer on large foreign takeovers and critical infrastructure. In 2018, FIRB made decisions on more than 11,000 proposals worth $163 billion and knocked back only five. There clearly wasnt much pre-vetting or due diligence done in the sale of Alinta otherwise how could they [the government] allow a company with such a reckless approach to privacy and data be sold to an overseas company, the whistleblower said. A statement from a Treasury spokesperson in response to a series of questions sent to FIRB said it wasnt its practice to comment on foreign investors or compliance matters. It said Alinta was engaging constructively with FIRB to implement remedial activities endorsed by FIRB. Whilst FIRB is engaging with Alinta it would not be appropriate to comment further, the statement said.

FIRB promotes critical infrastructure and data security as a high priority. In a speech in August 2019, FIRB chairman David Irvine paid homage to foreign investment, including Chinese investment, but pointed out that many countries, like China didn't allow foreign ownership in key sectors. In recent years, the FIRB has seen an increased number of foreign investment proposals seeking access to data centres and other facilities, that house, or have access to, sensitive private data about Australians. Consistent with our preference for mitigation, rather than prohibition, the development of data security conditions continues to be a key area of focus for the FIRB. An email from Alintas legal department in October 2019 flagged potential issues with one of FIRB's conditions that requires Alinta - and third party contractors - to store Alinta data in Australia. The email said Electricity Monster, a third party used by Alinta and other companies including French-owned SimplyEnergy, to sign up retail customers, stored customer information in New Zealand and backed it up in Singapore. The email said, Electricity Monster does not currently have plans to provide an onshore data storage solution.

The email noted that the issue had been raised with one of the sales managers who wanted to get in a room to understand the FIRB conditions and impact on the sales team. It said: is this something that we can sit down and discuss..? Alinta operates call centres in Perth and the Philippines. It said customer data was stored in secure data centres in Australia. Another document, titled FIRB Remedial Conditions - Timelines & Milestones, reveals Alinta has a long way to go to comply with some of the conditions. For instance, it sets itself a June 2020 milestone to complete a review of all third party agreements to identify FIRB compliance and to implement processes to ensure it has appropriate security controls in place to prevent the export of bulk personal data records and reach a compliant state.

Then there is a June 2019 EY internal privacy review, which included a set of recommendations, many of which should already be in place, but are yet to be implemented. They include that Alinta introduce a privacy management framework which clearly defines roles and responsibilities for the management of privacy at an organisational level and defines Alintas position on privacy compliance. When asked if it was complying with FIRB conditions, it said, "Alinta is treated as being in compliance with the conditions imposed by FIRB while it continues to implement remedial activities endorsed by FIRB". It said the expectation of FIRB was never that Alinta trigger multiple breaches of its contractual obligations to be fully compliant with all conditions on day one. "The expectation is, however, that Alinta Energy take steps to transition themselves into full compliance with all conditions within a reasonable timeframe having regard to these arrangements, and that is what has been occurring in a planned and monitored way." It said "remedial activities" would be completed by the end of the year, almost four years since FIRB and Mr Morrison approved the takeover and conditions. Under Chow Tai Fook, Alinta has aggressively signed up new customers, setting itself a target of 2000 customers a day. It recently slowed to less than 1000 a day. As customers surged, so did complaints. In 2015-2016, pre-ownership change, Alinta customer complaints were 377 compared with 2486 in 2018-2019, according to statistics from the Australian Energy Regulator.

Complaints include misleading sales tactics to sign up customers. In a statement, Alinta said complaints data indicated its current complaint rate was "statistically similar to its competitors or the industry average". It said it takes customer service seriously. "It's the key to us continuing to succeed in the energy market." The White family describes Alinta's customer service as "disgusting". A third-generation dairy farming family, they were blindsided in late 2019 when a bankruptcy notice was served on 80-year-old David White after the family says it missed a $2000 payment on an electricity bill. There was no letter saying, you know, your account will be disconnected. It went from nothing to bankruptcy, right before Christmas, said Mr White's daughter-in-law, Carolyn Waite. Alinta Energy pursued 80-year-old David White (right), and his family (left) for bankruptcy while bushfires threatened their dairy farm in King Valley in Victoria's High Country. Picture: Ron Ekkel Credit: The family sold assets to repay the outstanding debt of more than $20,000 to remove the bankruptcy threat. But in mid-January, as they were fighting bushfires, Alinta returned, this time demanding they pay its legal bill or the bankruptcy proceedings would continue.

I explained the situation and that now was not the time to be calling. But she [the lawyer from Alinta] would not take no for an answer about $7000 in lawyers' costs that we had outstanding with Alinta, Ms Waite said. I needed to get my kids out, I needed to make sure our livestock was safe. The cows needed to be milked, and we did not know what would happen over the next few days with the weather conditions that were predicted There was no emotion from her whatsoever. She couldn't care less. Alinta declined to comment on the White family, citing privacy reasons. It said bankruptcy notices were used as a last resort. On January 31, the Federal Circuit Court ordered the dismissal of the bankruptcy petition and that Alinta pay the Whites costs of $6824.80. We were treated like we didn't matter. We were just another number... There was no compassion. It was like speaking to a robot. There was nothing there. It was pretty disgusting, she said.
Charlie Mullins has stepped down from running Pimlico Plumbers and put his son in charge after building it into a 100million company.

Mullins is regarded as Britain's richest plumber, having made a 70million fortune from a firm that unblocks pipes for London homes including those of celebrity clients such as Keira Knightley, Daniel Craig and Dame Helen Mirren.

Now, 41 years after founding the business, the 67-year-old has taken a new role as chairman, with son Scott, 48, stepping up to chief executive.

Charlie Mullins has stepped down from running Pimlico Plumbers

The family-owned firm has also rebranded from 'Pimlico Plumbers' to 'Pimlico' as it branches out into other trades such as carpentry, air conditioning and commercial heating services  necessitating a respray of the company's fleet of 300 blue vans.

The one-time Tory donor and anti-Brexit campaigner received a 3.7million dividend for his final year in charge after the company made pre-tax profits of 4.7million, up 7 per cent on the year before, on revenues of 44.8million.

Pimlico plans to double its number of apprentices over the next 12 months from 70 to 140. They can expect a 40,000 starting salary once qualified.

However, Scott Mullins said Pimlico is struggling to attract 'quality' recruits due to a 'serious skills shortage'.

He added: 'The Government and schools have to start helping businesses offer apprenticeships and promoting to youngsters that there's more than university, otherwise we are really going to have a problem.'
Mike Pence has admitted that the United States could see more deaths from the coronavirus.

Speaking on CNNs State of the Union the vice-president, who has been put in charge of administration efforts to protect Americans from the deadly virus, acknowledged there could be more sad news, but insisted the risk to most people was still low.

He was speaking after the first confirmed death from the virus in the United States.

A man in his 50s who had underlying health problems succumbed to the illness in Washington state, where at least two other cases have been confirmed and 50 people in an elderly care home who are suffering from respiratory illness are being monitored.

Mr Pences assessment appeared to reflect a new sense of seriousness from the administration.

The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea Show all 11 1 /11 The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea Visitors with suspected symptoms of the new coronavirus, inside of a car, bottom right, get virus test by members of medical team as others queue in their cars at a "drive-through" test facility at Yeungnam University Medical Center in Daegu on 27 February 2020 AP The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea Workers move equipment into containers set up as a makeshift medical facility to accommodate COVID-19 patients at a hospital's grounds in Daegu, South Korea on Friday 28 February 2020 AP The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea People wait in line to buy face masks in front of a store at Dongseongro shopping district in Daegu on 27 February 2020 AFP via Getty Images The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea Medical workers wearing protective gears comfort each other outside a hospital in Daegu, South Korea, on 28 February 2020 REUTERS The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea Medical staff in protective gears arrive for a duty shift at Dongsan Hospital in Daegu South Korea on Friday 28 February 2020 AP The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea A South Korean health worker sprays disinfectant as part of preventive measures against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, at a residential area near the Daegu branch of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Daegu on 27 February 2020 AFP via Getty Images The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea A man wears a mask and goggles as he waits in line to buy face masks from a post office near the Daegu branch of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Daegu on 27 February 2020 AFP via Getty The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea South Korean medical workers wearing protective gear visit a residence of people with suspected symptoms of the COVID-19 coronavirus to take samples, near the Daegu branch of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Daegu on 27 February 2020 AFP via Getty Images The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea A South Korean health worker sprays disinfectant as part of preventive measures against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, at a residential area near the Daegu branch of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Daegu on 27 February 2020 AFP via Getty Images The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea A South Korean army vehicle sprays disinfectant on a road to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 in Daegu, South Korea on Thursday 27 February 2020. AP The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea Troops set up makeshift partitions and beds at the Armed Forces Hospital in Daegu South Korea 28 February 2020 EPA

At a political rally on Friday, Donald Trump referred to the crisis as a hoax, although he insisted at a White House news conference the following day that he was referring to alleged efforts by the Democrats to talk up the risk in order to discredit him. Dr Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told reporters that he was not being muzzled following reports that the vice-president was controlling the flow of information to the public.

Asked by host Jake Tapper whether there could be more deaths from Covid-19, Mr Pence said: It is possible.

The reality that Dr Fauci and others explained to me since I took on these duties a few days ago is that for most people who contract the coronavirus, is that they will recover. They will deal with a respiratory illness, we will get them treatment.

But for people that have other conditions, that would militate toward a worse outcome, that we could have more sad news.

But the American people should know that the risk to the average American remains low.

He also stressed that it was not necessary for people to go out and buy masks.

At the news conference on Saturday, Mr Pence announced a series of travel restrictions designed to contain the spread of the virus in the United States.

These include stronger advice not to travel to parts of Italy and South Korea which have seen outbreaks, and a ban on entry to the US to anyone who has visited Iran in the previous 14 days.

 Donald Trump confirms first US coronavirus death

On Sunday morning, Mr Trump tweeted an additional measure, writing: Coronavirus: In addition to screening travelers prior to boarding from certain designated high risk countries, or areas within those countries, they will also be screened when they arrive in America.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, 15 people have tested positive for coronavirus after being tested in the United States. Another 44 Americans who were on the Diamond Princess cruise ship and were repatriated have had the coronavirus, as have three Americans brought back from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak.
A breast cancer survivor has revealed how recreating famous movie characters helped her through her gruelling treatment.

Bethany Pendergrass, 40, from Albuquerque, New Mexico, decided to cut her hair short in May 2018, shortly after feeling a lump when adjusting her bra, and finding out she had stage two breast cancer.

After a friend told her she looked like Fraulein Maria, played by Julie Andrews in the musical The Sound of Music, Bethany shared a snap online as a joke, and soon realised she could use pictures to document her cancer treatment and create a positive outlook on life.

Now, 21 months after her diagnosis, and with her latest scan showing 'no evidence of disease,' Bethany has told Femail she is working on her last picture in order to close the chapter on that part of her life.

Bethany Pendergrass, 40, from Albuquerque, New Mexico, explained how recreating famous movie character helped her through her breast cancer treatment. Pictured left: Miss Piggy, and right, Bethany recreating the look

Pictured: Charlize Theron as Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road, and right, Bethany recreating the look on Instagram

'Through research, I had learned that a number of individuals impacted by cancer recommended keeping a journal. I knew I didnt want to keep just any journal,' she said.

'I wanted a clever way to document my journeyto take a challenging experience and turn it into something positive. My pictures kept me focused on the positive.

'They gave me an outlet to share my experiences and even to work through the emotions that come with a cancer diagnosis,' she added.

A 'no evidence of disease' result means that there is no physical trace of the disease through examination or imagery.

It means a complete remission, but does not mean the cancer is cured, and in some cases, the cancer can come back.

Bethany starting recreating the character as a way to keep a weekly log of her treatment, from May 2018 til now (pictured left: Uncle Fester from the Addams Family, and Bethany redoing the character right)

Bethany took her first picture as Fraulein Maria (Julie Andrews) from the Sound of Music as a joke after cutting her hair before starting chemotherapy, but stuck to it throughout her treatment

The cancer survivor went through chemotherapy, 30 rounds of radiation and two surgeries in the span of 21 months

Bethany says that she knew she had cancer after finding a lump by accident in April 2018, but still cried when she received the official diagnosis.

'It wasnt so much that I was afraid I couldnt do it, it was more that I knew I had to do it, and I knew it was going to be hard. I had to choose to be strong,' she said.

The pictures helped her cope with her heavy treatment, which consisted of chemotherapy and two surgeries.

Bethany underwent one lumpectomy with reconstruction on both breasts, and later a right side mastectomy and reconstruction with expander placement when the cancer returned, as well as 30 rounds of radiation to treat the condition.

The pictures, shared weekly on Instagram, are accompanied by Bethany's reflection on her days (pictured as Jack Nicholson in the Shining)

The survivor offers brutal insight into her daily life with cancer. She explains that the pictures remind herself that she is strong (Marilyn Monroe on the left and Bethany's take on the silver screen icon on the right)

Bethany still has infusion of cancer medicine every three weeks and has another surgery planned in the Spring (pictured top: Janet Leigh in Psycho; bottom: Bethany recreating the iconic shower scene)

Throughout her treatment Bethany shared a weekly picture to her Instagram for 82 weeks, which boasts 2,173 followers, and chose a different character each time.

Eight most common signs of breast cancer  A change in size or shape  A lump or area that feels thicker than the rest of the breast  A change in skin texture such as puckering or dimpling (like the skin of an orange)  A redness or rash on the skin and/or around the nipple  Your nipple has become pulled in or looks different, for example changed its position or shape  Liquid that comes from the nipple without squeezing  Pain in your breast or your armpit thats there all or almost all of the time  A swelling in your armpit or around your collarbone Advertisement

Her collection includes pictures of herself as Janet Leigh in Pyscho, Marilyn Monroe, Charlize Theron in Mad Max: Fury Road, as well as Alfred Einstein or Miss Piggy.

Sometimes self-deprecating, sometimes glamourous, Bethany's pictures are accompanied by an account of the treatments and setbacks of the week, giving a brutally honest insight into life with cancer.

'The pictures and words I write are reminders to me,' she explained.

'I will be able to look back on them and remember that I am a strong personI am a survivor and a fighter. My final picture will be with my oncologist and my radiation oncologist,' she added.

Whilst her last PET scan showed no evidence of the diseases in her body, Bethany still has one more surgery in the spring to replace the expander currently in her breast with an implant.

She also still receives infusion of Herceptin and Perjeta every three weeks - two drugs used in the treatment of breast cancers - every three weeks.

In early February, Bethany shared the result of her PET scan with her followers, beaming as she danced and held signs which read there was no evidence of disease.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Ohio State University and Walsh University have joined Kent State University in bringing home students studying abroad in Italy because of the coronavirus outbreak in that country.

Ohio State University posted a notice on its Office of International Affairs website Friday, stating that the school would be reaching out to all students traveling in Italy, to begin preparations for their return to the United States.

The Walsh University students studying in Rome will come home Monday, a news release on the universitys website states. There are currently no reported coronavirus cases in the area where the students were studying; the move back to the U.S. is precautionary.

The Walsh students returning from Rome are being asked to stay off campus and to self-monitor themselves for coronavirus symptoms for a minimum of 14 days, according to the news release.

Walsh University is also cancelling a Global Learning experience in Guadalajara, Mexico as a precaution. Two Walsh students already in Mexico studying at a partner university will remain there until further notice, the university said.

Kent State University announced Saturday that it was requiring all students in Florence, Italy to return to the United States due to the developing coronavirus crisis.

All three of the universities decisions stem from the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions Friday issuance of a Level 3 travel health warning, which recommends that people avoid all nonessential travel to Italy.

Italy has nearly 1,700 coronavirus cases as of Sunday, according to a CNN report quoting the countrys Civil Protection Authority.
After passing from the Parliament of India, there is a continuous opposition to the Citizenship Amendment Act. He was sent to judicial custody after a sedition case was filed against Amulya Leona, who raised slogans of 'Pakistan Zindabad' from the platform of AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi during a protest against the CAA. Now the court has extended judicial custody of Amulya till March 5.

For your information, let us tell you that Amulya's statement was criticized by his father too. His father had expressed his displeasure over Amulya's sloganeering saying that I will not tolerate what Amulya said. Amulya's father said that what his daughter did at the anti-CAA rally was absolutely wrong. It will not be tolerated. Talking to the media, he said that I had told him many times not to join Muslims, he did not listen. I refused to give him provocative statements many times, but he did not listen.

Amulya had raised slogans of 'Pakistan Zindabad' in protest against CAA, NRC and NPR in a program organized in Bengaluru on 20 February. During this, AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi was also present. He immediately condemned this act of Amulya and said that he does not agree with it and assures that we are for India. The event was organized under the banner 'Save the Constitution'. When the organizers invited Amulya to speak on the stage, he appealed to the people to raise slogans of 'Pakistan Zindabad' with him. Owaisi was also present on the stage during this. As Amulya did this, Owaisi immediately snatched the mic from him, while others tried to take him down from the stage. Despite all this she continued to raise slogans. Later, the police intervened and brought him down from the stage.

Also Read:

Rashmi Thackeray is Sena mouthpiece Saamanas new editor

Kishan Reddy speaks on Delhi violence, says, "Truth to unveil conspiracy"

Kerala assembly become E Assembly, can chat during session

PM Modi extends birthday wish to Nitish Kumar
In an earlier draft of Baazigar, Kajols character Priya was supposed to kill Shah Rukhs Ajay.

Shah Rukh Khan, at this stage in life, doesnt want to play a negative character, a role he aced in one of his initial films. We are talking about Abbas Mustans Baazigar (1993) that made him an overnight superstar.

Recently, speculations about Shah Rukh Khan playing Mogambo to Ranveer Singhs Mr India went viral, but thankfully, this turned out to be a wishful thinking. Sources say Khan turned down the role of Mogambo, knowing very well that it would be foolhardy of him to take on an iconic role which late actor Amrish Puri immortalised. Also, Khan, at this stage in life, doesnt want to play a negative character, a role he aced in one of his initial films. We are talking about Abbas Mustans Baazigar (1993) that made him an overnight superstar.

Before signing Khan, the team had a tough time convincing actors to come on board for a role where the hero commits three murders on the go. We went to Anil Kapoor who was reigning at the box-office then. He thought it was too negative for him. Salman Khan was excited about the script but he was doing a Rajashri film, remembers the films director Abbas Burmawala adding that there was an additional pressure on them for killing the hero in the end. Dilip Tahil who played Ajays nemesis Madan Chopra recalls,On watching the rushes, the distributors couldn't believe that the hero killed one of his leading ladies. Many predicted that the film would bomb. To be honest, when I saw the scene where he throws Shilpa off the terrace, I was a little worried. It defied all the laws of filmmaking. Raj Kapoor had famously said that 'you should never kill young love' but Shah Rukh was confident and stuck to his conviction. He told all of us to not worry about the success of the film.

The film was inspired by the 1956 Hollywood thriller A Kiss Before Dying. But unlike the original plot where his character murders for money, the film was to be adapted for Indian audiences as a revenge drama. Distributers were apprehensive whether the film will work with SRKs dying. In the earlier version, Kajol's character was supposed to kill Ajay, which would be similar to the Hollywood film's plot, adds Burmawala.

The directors had also decided to cast Sridevi for both the rolesKajols and Shilpas but later, decided to go for fresh faces. Sridevi was at her careers peak then and if we have to throw her off the cliff, it wont go down well with the audience and the sympathies would be towards her, not the hero.
Meerut, March 1 : After the coronavirus scare it is now swine flu that is raging on in Uttar Pradesh. The death toll in the state has reached nine, six of which are from Meerut alone, and 17 Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) jawans have tested positive for swine flu in the district in the past 48 hours.

Meerut Chief Medical Officer Raj Kumar said, "Out of the 27 PAC jawans of the Sixth Battalion admitted to the Lala Lajpat Rai Memorial Medical College (LLRMMC) with complaints of fever, cold and other similar symptoms, 17 have tested positive for swine flu. Hence, around 370 jawans in the battalion were given Tamiflu tablets and instructed to remain on the campus to prevent further spread of the infection. With this, the total number of swine flu cases in the district has gone up to 71." The official said, "We have added 40 more beds in the isolation ward of the LLRMMC taking the total number to 56." The district hospital and other private hospitals have also been asked to increase the number of beds in the isolation wards.

In the wake of the rising number of swine flu cases, doctors have advised that only one member of the family should be involved in taking care of the infected patient to avoid spread of the disease. People have been asked to wash hands frequently, wear a mask when in the vicinity of the patient and take care of cleanliness in the patient's room.
One of the biggest problems with the way that most people save for retirement is that they fail to take taxes fully into consideration. With traditional IRAs and 401(k) plans, you typically set aside pre-tax money into a tax-deferred account that shelters your money from tax as long as it stays in the account. But once you start taking withdrawals in retirement, that's when the tax bill hits, and if you're not prepared for a substantial portion of your withdrawals to end up paying Uncle Sam, the tax implications can come as a major shock.

To follow is to use Roth IRAs for all or part of your retirement saving. These retirement accounts don't give you an upfront tax break, but they do let you take withdrawals during retirement on a tax-free basis. Moreover, if you started with a traditional IRA but want to switch to a Roth, you can by doing what's called a Roth conversion. Although some investors gave up on Roth conversions after tax reform changed one of their most beneficial aspects, it still makes sense under certain conditions to convert a traditional IRA or 401(k) to a Roth -- especially after big downturns like the one we've seen recently.

How Roth conversions work

If you have money in a traditional IRA, then you can convert all or a portion of your account to a Roth IRA whenever you want. Thereafter, the money in the newly formed Roth IRA will have the same beneficial tax provisions as any other Roth, and any further growth in the assets in the Roth IRA typically won't get taxed when you make withdrawals in retirement.

However, there's a catch when you convert existing traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs. You have to include the value of the assets you convert as taxable income for the tax year in which you make the conversion. Effectively, the decision you have to make is whether it makes sense to pay taxes now at whatever rate of tax applies in your current financial situation, or wait until later to pay taxes when you withdraw money in retirement. A big part of that question depends on how much you expect your money to grow after making the conversion.

Until a couple years ago, you used to have an opportunity to get what amounted to a free look at a crystal ball. Old tax laws would let you undo your Roth conversion at any time before the extended due date for your tax return for the tax year in which you made the conversion. That gave taxpayers up to 21 months to see what would happen to their converted account. If the value went up, then they could leave the conversion in place. If it went down, though, they could undo the conversion with no tax consequences at all. It was a winning strategy all the way around.

Unfortunately, lawmakers removed the ability to recharacterize Roth conversions in the tax reform package in late 2017. Now, once you do a conversion, you're stuck with it -- even if the value of the converted assets keeps going down.

When Roth conversions still make sense

Even without the ability to undo them, Roth conversions can still be a great way to tap into tax-free growth. In particular, if you expect that the current low income tax rates aren't likely to last, then doing a Roth conversion effectively locks in those tax rates in exchange for paying no taxes during your retirement.

The reason why it's important to look at Roth conversions right now is that with the stock market having entered a correction, the value of your IRA assets is probably down from where your account started the year. That means you can convert your IRA to a Roth with less of a tax hit, and if the stocks bounce back after you convert, then the resulting gains will be tax-free.

Falling markets can be tough to endure, but they do open the door to some retirement planning. By looking at the possibility of a Roth conversion, you can take advantage of low stock prices and buy yourself a future tax break more cheaply.
A British family has told how emergency crew in hazmat suits raced to their home after they returned from Italy with coronavirus symptoms.

Callum and Jessica Luana Kerslake, from Hull, were in Venice with their two children when they developed high temperatures, a cough and dizziness.

The father-of-two says it felt like his 'eyes were on fire' and 'every hair on his body stood on end' when he fell ill just hours after arriving in Italy, The Mirror reports.

The family flew into London's Standsted airport on Thursday wearing surgical masks and returned to their home in Hull - but were raced to be tested when their symptoms persisted.

The British family has told how emergency crew in hazmat suits raced to their home in Hull yesterday after they returned from Italy with coronavirus symptoms

Callum and Jessica Luana Kerslake, from Hull, were in Venice with their two children when they developed high temperatures, coughs and dizziness

An ambulance crew wearing protective suits took them them to a contagious disease centre three miles from their home on Saturday to take swabs for the highly contagious virus.

The family of four have now been told to self-isolate in their home until they get the results.

Mr Kerslake, 24, said he had flown to meet his wife Jessica, 21, in Dola, in Venice, but quickly fell ill - despite airport security twice taking his temperature.

He told the publication: 'We've never been so sick. I felt like every pore in my body was opening and my eyes felt on fire. Every muscle ached and I couldn't move.'

Upon returning home, they were forced to call NHS 111 after Mrs Kerslake began to develop symptoms and they were raced to hospital to take nose swabs

The family flew into London's Standsted airport on Thursday wearing surgical masks and returned to their home in Hull - but were raced to be tested when their symptoms persisted

The father says his children Sophie, three, and 11-month-old CJay had temperatures of up to 40C and 'can't stop coughing'.

Upon returning home, they were forced to call NHS 111 after Mrs Kerslake began to develop symptoms and they were raced to hospital to take nose swabs.

Mr Kerslake said: 'When I'd mentioned we'd been to Italy the woman started asking loads of questions. Ten minutes later we got a call saying an ambulance would arrive.'

The father-of-two says it felt like his 'eyes were on fire' and 'every hair on his body stood on end' when he fell ill just hours after arriving in Italy

The family have now been told to self-isolate until the results come through, with Mr Kerslake admitting it's 'really scary' not knowing if they have coronavirus.

He is now calling for the government to check passengers arriving back into the country from infected areas.

He told the publication: 'When I arrived in Italy two different staff took my temperature before I was allowed in, but I walked through Stansted unchecked'.

The British Government prepares to bring in new emergency powers to help stop the virus spreading after ten cases were reported in just three days

The British Government is preparing to bring in new emergency powers to help stop the virus spreading after ten cases were reported in just three days - and 1,000 were tested in the last 24 hours alone.

Emerging clusters in Italy and in Iran, which has had 43 deaths and 593 cases confirmed, have led to infections of people in other countries.

Health chiefs have urged people aged over 60 to avoid crowds amid wide-spread coronavirus panic as an infant school worker is revealed as one of three new UK patients.

The World Health Organisation issued the drastic warning which also urged people in this age group to skip routine appointments at doctors' surgeries and hospitals.
Doha, Qatar

Acknowledging a military stalemate after nearly two decades of conflict, the United States on Saturday signed a peace agreement with the Taliban that is aimed at ending America's longest war and bringing U.S. troops home from Afghanistan more than 18 years after they invaded in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The historic deal, signed by chief negotiators from the two sides and witnessed by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, could see the withdrawal of all American and allied forces in the next 14 months and allow President Donald Trump to keep a key campaign pledge to extract the U.S. from "endless wars." But it could also easily unravel, particularly if the Taliban fail to meet their commitments.

At the White House, Trump told reporters the U.S. deserves credit for having helped Afghanistan take a step toward peace. He spoke cautiously of the deal's prospects for success and cautioned the Taliban against violating their commitments.

"We think we'll be successful in the end," he said, referring to all-Afghan peace talks and a final U.S. exit. He said he will be "meeting personally with Taliban leaders in the not-too-distant future," and described the group as "tired of war."

He did not say where or why he plans to meet with Taliban leaders. He said he thinks they are serious about the deal they signed but warned that if it fails, the U.S. could restart combat.

"If bad things happen, we'll go back" in with military firepower, Trump said.

Pompeo was similarly cautious.

"Today, we are realistic. We are seizing the best opportunity for peace in a generation," Pompeo said in the Qatari capital of Doha. "Today, we are restrained. We recognize that America shouldn't fight in perpetuity in the graveyard of empires if we can help Afghans forge peace."

Under the agreement, the U.S. would draw its forces down to 8,600 from 13,000 in the next three to four months, with the remaining U.S. forces withdrawing in 14 months. The complete pullout would depend on the Taliban meeting their commitments to prevent terrorism, including specific obligations to renounce al-Qaida and prevent that group or others from using Afghan soil to plot attacks on the U.S. or its allies.

The deal sets the stage for intra-Afghan peace talks to begin around March 10, with the aim of negotiating a permanent cease-fire and a power-sharing agreement between rival Afghan groups. It's perhaps the most complicated and difficult phase of the plan. It does not, however, tie America's withdrawal to any specific outcome from the allAfghan talks, according to U.S. officials.

Pompeo said that "the chapter of American history on the Taliban is written in blood" and stressed that while the road ahead would be difficult, the deal represented "the best opportunity for peace in a generation."

At a parallel ceremony in Kabul, U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani signed a joint statement committing the Afghan government to support the U.S.-Taliban deal, which is viewed skeptically by many war-weary Afghans, particularly women who fear a comeback of repression under the ultra-conservative Taliban.

President George W. Bush had ordered the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in response to 9/11. Some U.S. troops currently serving there had not yet been born when al-Qaida hijackers flew two airliners into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, crashed another into the Pentagon and took down a fourth in Pennsylvania, killing almost 3,000 people.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

It only took a few months to topple the Taliban and send Osama bin Laden and top al-Qaida militants scrambling across the border into Pakistan, but the war dragged on for years as the U.S. tried to establish a stable, functioning state in one of the least developed countries in the world. The Taliban regrouped, and currently hold sway over half the country.

The United States has spent nearly $1 trillion in Afghanistan, two-thirds of that on defense, most of it for its own soldiers but also for the Afghan Security Forces. More than 3,500 U.S. and coalition soldiers have died in Afghanistan, more than 2,400 of them Americans.

But the conflict was also frequently ignored by U.S. politicians and the American public as the memory of the attacks on that crisp, sunny morning faded, despite having changed how many Americans see the world.

While Pompeo attended the ceremony in Qatar, he appeared to avoid any direct contact with the Taliban delegation. The deal was signed by U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who then shook hands. Members of the Taliban shouted "Allahu Akhbar" or "God is greatest." Others in attendance, including the Qatari hosts, applauded politely.

"We are committed to implementing this agreement," Baradar said in brief comments. "I call on all Afghans to honestly work for peace and gather around the table for peace negotiations."

Some Taliban celebrated the deal as a victory. "Today is the day of victory, which has come with the help of Allah," said Abbas Stanikzai, one of the Taliban's lead negotiators.

For Afghanistan's government, the real job ahead will be cobbling together a negotiating team to sit across from the Taliban. The talks are to determine the face of a post-war Afghanistan.
His Excellency, Mr. Jamil bin Mohammed Ali Humaidan, Minister of Labor and Social Development, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Family Bank, opened today, Thursday, the new headquarters of the bank in the diplomatic area, in the presence of the members of the banks board of directors, along with a number of executive heads of banks contributing to the bank. The family, personalities and economic activities. On this occasion, a number of bank employees who were appointed ten years ago were honored, in addition to honoring a number of the bank's distinguished clients.



In a statement to him on this occasion, Humaidan affirmed, "The initiative to establish the Family Bank as the first social bank in the Kingdom of Bahrain in the year 2010, and in partnership between the Ministry of Labor and Social Development and each of the Royal Charity Organization, the Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait, Ithmaar Bank, Ahli United Bank, and Kuwait Finance House, come To support and strengthen the social security network, by empowering individuals and families of low-income groups, entrepreneurs, senior citizens, housewives and the category of job seekers, to support their small and micro productive home projects, by activating the micro-lending mechanism as more Successful means to support the beneficiary category projects, in order to provide them with the opportunity to obtain financial services and facilities that contribute to the establishment and development of their own projects, indicating that the projects that are funded include the productive activities of those enrolled in the "Step for Home Projects" program.



Minister Humaidan stated that "the bank has achieved during the past ten years an evolution in the business sector in Bahrain, by contributing with business leaders in achieving various success stories, and improving the income level of hundreds of individuals and families with low incomes through financing their ideas and projects, to raise the level of their income, In addition to providing them with appropriate consultations and assistance to advance their business and activities, providing them with the necessary plans to market their products, and training them in basic business management skill.



He pointed to an increase in the number of beneficiaries of the bank's financing and consulting services, as in 2012 they numbered (344) beneficiaries, while 2019 saw an increase in their number to become (6000) beneficiaries, in amounts exceeding 13 million Bahraini dinars, in an effort to facilitate the establishment of micro enterprises Small and Medium and Small, as a continuation of the system of financial services provided by the bodies supporting small and medium enterprises in Bahrain.



The Minister of Labor and Social Development stated, "The Family Bank has become an Arab prestige because of its prominent role in the field of economic empowerment of the family, by supporting micro projects, especially after winning the award of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President of the United Arab Emirates, The ruler of Dubai, to support youth projects as the best initiative for small and medium enterprises in the Arab world, in the year 2013 AD.



The Family Bank finances the micro-finance of citizens and is consistent with the directions of empowering the target groups and unleashing their capabilities and improving their living standards, where the bank aims primarily to develop the middle class and empower citizens of recipients of social assistance and facilitate entrepreneurship and their own professional projects, where the bank completes in this direction the services system Provided by the Bahraini government and supporters of small and medium enterprises.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip has called for NATO support for Ankara's activity in the Syrian northwestern province of Idlib during the recent phone talks with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, Turkey's presidential office said, Sputnik reported.

"During phone talks, [Erdogan and Macron] have discussed the Syrian crisis, the refugee problem, relations between Turkey and France and regional issues. President Erdogan said that the Syrian regime paid a heavy price for the odious attack on our military in Idlib. He expressed his desire to clearly and concretely see NATO solidarity not only in rhetoric but also at the level of action," the office said in a statement.

According to the statement, the humanitarian crisis will only deteriorate if attacks by the Syrian government troops are not stopped. The president added that the influx of migrants would naturally affect borders between Turkey and Europe.

Within the context, he called on the EU to comply with its obligations regarding refugees and support Turkey by fairly sharing responsibilities.

The presidential office added that Ankara expected certain proposals from France and other European countries regarding Syrian refugees, as it was a common issue for the region.
It would be an irresponsible decision, said Natalia Bernal, a law professor and abortion opponent. It is only going to increase the amount of damage done to women.

The courts decision, which cannot be altered by other legal bodies, could come as early as Monday.

And it will stem not from a case brought by an abortion rights advocate, but from one brought by Ms. Bernal, who had sought a total ban.

A Colombian who lives in France, Ms. Bernal had asked the court to eliminate the few exceptions in existing Colombian law that allow for legal abortions. Instead, the court decided to consider broadly legalizing the practice.

The courts decision to take on her case has intensified an already fierce debate in Colombia over the legal and moral implications of the procedure. In recent weeks, activists on both sides have descended on the capital, Bogota, clashing over whether the state or individual women should decide when an abortion can be performed.

Colombias Constitutional Court has long been viewed as among the most liberal in the region, and in particular is known for broadly defining womens rights. But its final decision in this case is far from certain.
North Korea's supreme leader Kim Jong-un has called for stronger efforts to guard against global coronavirus outbreak, saying there will be "serious consequences" if the epidemic outbreak spreads to the country. North Korea has not reported a single case of COVID-19, which has killed more than 2,800 people and infected over 84,000 people in dozens of countries since it emerged in neighbouring China, Al Jazeera reported. However, a news report on Saturday claimed that Kim Jong-un sanctioned for the execution of the first person who tested positive for the deadly virus.

During a meeting of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, Kim called for the country's anti-epidemic headquarters to strengthen screening and to seal off all "channels and space through which the infectious disease may find its way," the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Saturday. "In case the infectious disease spreading beyond control finds its way into our country, it will entail serious consequences," KCNA quoted Kim as saying.

READ| From plastic foil to helmets: Chinese comes up with innovative ideas to avoid coronavirus

Pyongyang has been pushing a tough anti-virus campaign it has described as a matter of "national existence". The country has shut down nearly all cross-border traffic, banned tourists, intensified screening at entry points and mobilised tens of thousands of health workers to monitor residents and isolate those with symptoms. It has also placed hundreds of foreigners in quarantine to prevent an outbreak. Experts say an epidemic in North Korea could be dire because of the country's chronic lack of medical supplies and poor healthcare infrastructure.

Meanwhile, the German Embassy, French Cooperation Office, and Swiss Development Cooperation are in close cooperation with each other to evacuate all quarantined foreign diplomats from North Korea. The exact number of foreign diplomats stationed inside North Korea is unknown but is estimated to be just a few hundred. The country previously announced that all foreigners would be quarantined for 30 days, after quickly closing its borders at the onset of the coronavirus outbreak.

US to help North Korea

The United States promised to support and encourage the aid work in North Korea to counter and contain spread of novel coronavirus, COVID-19, in the region. Citing Norths vulnerability to the deadly virus, State Department spokesperson Morgan Orgatus, in a statement, said that the US strongly support and encourage the work of national and international health organisations to combat coronavirus. The United States is ready and prepared to expeditiously facilitate the approval of assistance from these organizations, said Orgatus.

Over 1,300 new coronavirus cases have been confirmed outside China in the past 24 hours taking the number of those infected with the virus outside the Asian nation to 6009, announced the World Health Organization (WHO) on Saturday. Of the 6009 cases outside China, 1318 are new cases of COVID-19, the WHO situation report (with data reported by 10 am on February 29) said. There have been a total of 86 deaths from the coronavirus disease outside of China, 19 of them occurred in the past 24 hours. According to the situation report, Mexico and San Marino reported their first coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours. A total of 53 countries, apart from China, have been affected. Over 85,400 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed globally.

READ| NASA's aerial images show decline in China's pollution levels amid coronavirus outbreak

READ| Free Gorakhpur 'chicken mela' to dispel coronavirus fears proves big hit; blocks roads

(With AP inputs)
The last Democratic presidential primary debate before Super Tuesday, a contentious affair, reflected the state of the race. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, the front-runner after a big win in Nevada, faced withering attacks from his competitors as they tried to slow his momentum toward collecting enough delegates to win the nomination.

Editorial cartoonists seized on Sanders description of himself as a democratic socialist"; his past views of leftist dictatorships, including Fidel Castros Cuba; the FBIs warning to Sanders that Russia is trying to influence the election on his behalf; and worries from party moderates that Sanders is too liberal to win the general election against President Donald Trump.

The widening outbreak of a novel coronavirus, COVID-19, also inspired many editorial cartoons this week. Most focused on the Trump administrations response, criticized as tardy and disorganized. Financial markets tanked, despite Trumps assurances that the U.S. government has a handle on the problem.

Other topics in the cartoons include Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinsteins conviction by a New York jury on criminal sexual assault and rape charges; and sexual harassment accusations against Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg.

Cartoons were drawn by Bill Bramhall, Dan Wasserman, Dana Summers, Drew Sheneman, Scott Stantis, Walt Handelsman, David Horsey, Phil Hands, Joel Pett and Joey Weatherford of Tribune Content Agency; and A.F. Branco, Mike Luckovich and Michael Ramirez of Creators Syndicate.

View more editorial cartoon galleries.
Nepal's Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli will undergo a second kidney transplant at a state-run hospital in Kathmandu on March 4, his party's spokesperson informed on Sunday.

Oli will be admitted to the Tribhuwan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH) in Maharajgung on Monday itself for the kidney transplant, Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Spokesperson Narayankaji Shrestha said.

67-year-old Oli had last undergone a kidney transplant in India in 2007 after both his kidneys failed to function. Since then, he has travelled abroad on several occasions for health-checkups and underwent multiple rounds of dialysis.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pakistan will close its border with Afghanistan for seven days from Monday to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus, the Interior Ministry said on Sunday, as the authorities ramped up efforts to stop the new cases of infection.

The announcement came a day after two more people tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Pakistan, taking the total number of infections in the country to four.

The border at Chaman in Balochistan will remain closed for seven days from March 2 "in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus on both sides of the border in the best interest of the people of the brotherly countries", said a statement issued by the Ministry of Interior.

"During the period, necessary measures will be taken to safeguard the health of the people of both countries," it said.

The authorities have shut schools in the southern province of Sindh, including in Karachi where the first case was reported, and the southwestern province of Baluchistan, which borders Iran, The Express Tribune reported.

They have also begun to trace nearly 8,000 pilgrims who recently returned to the country from Iran.

The authorities have kept more than 200 of the pilgrims in quarantine at the Taftan border and have stepped up scanning measures at airports and other border crossings, including in western Afghanistan, said government health adviser Zafar Mirza.

On Wednesday, a young man from Karachi tested positive for the coronavirus, becoming the first confirmed case in Pakistan. Shortly after, another case was confirmed. Both of them had returned from Iran.

Pakistan on Thursday announced to suspend all flights to Iran, the new hotbed of coronavirus epidemic, as authorities scrambled to screen hundreds of people who had recently arrived from Tehran.

The land and rail links with Iran - where the coronavirus outbreak has claimed 43 lives and infected 593 people, the highest outside China - have already been snapped due to the scare of infection.

The novel virus reportedly first originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December last year and has killed 2,870 people and infected 79,824.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Doha, March 1 : The international community has welcomed the signing of the historic US-Taliban peace agreement as an important step in achieving a lasting political settlement in Afghanistan.

Representatives of the US and the Taliban on Saturday signed the long-awaited deal in the Qatari capital city of Doha, calling for a gradual withdrawal of American troops if the militants negotiates with the Afghan government and cuts ties with terrorist groups, reports Xinhua news agency.

According to the deal, the US is going to reduce its troops to 8,600 in Afghanistan within 135 days, and will, together with its NATO allies, completely pull out the remaining one in the following 14 months if the Taliban stuck to its commitments.

The pact also sets the stage for intra-Afghan talks which were expected by March 10.

Speaking at the White House on Saturday, US President Donald Trump said that the first withdrawals were starting "immediately" and he expected to "personally" meet Taliban leaders in the near future.

Meanwhile, the Taliban said in a statement that it had reached an agreement "about the termination of occupation of Afghanistan".

"The accord about the complete withdrawal of all foreign forces from Afghanistan and never intervening in its affairs in the future is undoubtedly a great achievement," it added.

Addressing the signing ceremony, Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani expressed hope that "this historic agreement will contribute to achieving peace, stability and prosperity in the region and the world".

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday welcomed the "efforts to achieve a lasting political settlement in Afghanistan" following the deal.

"The Secretary-General welcomes efforts to achieve a lasting political settlement in Afghanistan. Today's events in Doha and Kabul mark important developments in this regard," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.

"The Secretary-General stresses the importance of sustaining the nationwide reduction in violence, for the benefit of all Afghans. He encourages continued efforts by all parties to create an enabling environment for the intra-Afghan negotiations and a comprehensive peace process," the statement said.

Calling the signing of the deal the beginning of a "reconciliation process," Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said that his country was committed to playing its role in ensuring the agreement holds and succeeds in bringing peace to Afghanistan.

"We welcome the Doha Accord signed between US & the Taliban. This is the start of a peace & reconciliation process to end decades of war & suffering of the Afghan people," he tweeted.

Saudi Arabia on Saturday also welcomed the signing of the deal.

The deal would contribute to bringing stability back to Afghanistan and promote regional and international security, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Former Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal on Sunday expressed grave concern over the communal riots in northeast Delhi that claimed 42 lives, saying no one could think such incidents would take place after the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

Appealing all to maintain communal harmony in the country, he said, "Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians are brothers."



Badal, who was addressing a party rally in Bathinda, said, "No country can progress if it does not take care of sentiments of its citizens, especially its minorities, including Sikhs, Christians and Muslims".

"Be it the Centre or the state governments, winning their trust (of minorities) is important. What happened in Delhi is very unfortunate. One could never think that in our country after 1984 such incidents would take place. But such incidents are deeply painful," the Akali Dal patriarch said.

Expressing concern over the riots, he said, "The situation which the country is going through is worrisome because if there is communal discord, there cannot be anything more bad than this."



At least 42 people have been killed and over 200 injured in the communal riots that broke out in northeast Delhi on Monday after clashes between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control.

He said he would also appeal to Akali Dal workers and party leaders that they should make their contribution to ensure peace and communal harmony is maintained.

Invoking Sikh Gurus teachings, Badal said they also preached unity of all religions.

Last month, while addressing another rally in Amritsar district, Badal had said minorities have to be taken along to successfully run a government, asserting that all religions should be respected.

His remark at that time had come against the backdrop of criticism of the Bharatiya Janata Party, an old ally of the Shiromani Akali Dal, over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).

The SAD had earlier wanted Muslims to be included in the CAA, a legislation which seeks to give citizenship to the persecuted minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, at the Bathinda rally, Badal also made an indirect reference to 'Taksali' Akalis or the old guard, which have left the party and have been vocal against the way the Badals run the affairs of the SAD.

Hitting out at them, Badal said, "Party is like a mother. One mother is who gives you birth, the other mother is the land which feeds you, while party is that mother in which you get love and respect. Without party, no one can become a chief minister, a minister or get any self-respecting position."



In a veiled dig at the SAD (Taksalis), Badal said when they were in the parent party (the SAD) they were made ministers and given plum posts, but they "betrayed" it.

He said they were playing at the hands of those forces who are anti-Punjab and always think how to weaken the state.

"I want to tell them that they will not gain anything. Their only rant is remove Sukhbir (Badal, who is SAD president). When I was the chief minister and SAD president, I told them (the Taksalis who have now floated separate outfit) that I cannot handle both CM and party president posts. At that time they all told me that Sukhbir should be made SAD chief to which I agreed."



Asserting that for him, his party has always been supreme, Badal said, "For me, party comes before family, my relations. Whatever party says, I always abide by that.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
And next on stage, its The Seymour Sisters!

They may look like a wannabe cabaret act, but this is actually actress Jane Seymours unusual way of paying tribute to her late mum, Mieke Frankenberg.

Former Bond Girl Jane, 69, posed with sisters Sally, 68, and Anne, 66, for an Instagram snap in identical dresses to recreate their childhood days  when Mieke would often dress them the same, as if they were triplets.

Jane Seymour (centre) posing with sisters Sally (left) and Anne (right), all wearing identical outfits in a tribute to their late mum, Mieke Frankenberg

Jane (right) captioned the throwback picture: 'Keeping the tradition alive! My mother used to dress us as triplets sometimes when we were younger.'

Jane also added a throwback picture from their childhood  again in identical outfits  with their beloved mum.

For their latest picture, the sisters wore matching flowing blue dresses by fashion label Everything But Water, and Jane wrote: Keeping the tradition alive! My mother used to dress us as triplets sometimes when we were younger. Sometimes sisters just love the same beautiful @everythingbutwater dress!

And despite her illustrious career, she clearly isnt flashy with her purchases  the frocks are a bargain at just 76 each!

He's sold out arenas on the UK leg of his world tour, but James Blunt may want to rethink his sales strategy towards US fans as he prepares to take his show across the Pond.

Were playing the whole of America, the former Army officer, 46, told fans at Nottinghams Motorpoint Arena last week.

Actually the fun bits which is only New York. Dont tell Trump!

Crush of the week... A real Bulgari dazzler

As heiress to one of the worlds finest jewellery houses, youd expect Carlota Bulgari to be dripping in diamonds. But the great-granddaughter of founder Sotirios Bulgari has an aversion to bling.

Carlota Bulgari, the great-granddaughter of founder Sotirios Bulgari, pictured at the Bulgari Milan SS 2019 Dinner Party in September 2018 in Milan, Italy

I only wear jewellery for special occasions, she reveals. The stunning Italian worked for Diors jewellery team before heading to the Far East to work for Vogue China.

But since then, Carlota, 22, has followed an unorthodox artistic path, explaining: I make sculptures that are alive  its very non-traditional.

That should certainly keep her busy until its time to take the reins.
The influx has come since Turkey vowed to open its doors for migrants to travel the EU.

Greece says it has stopped nearly 10,000 migrants crossing over the land border from Turkey.

Separately, Greek police say at least 500 people on seven boats have reached the Greek islands of Lesbos, Samos and Chios, where camps for migrants are already severely overcrowded.

Turkey has vowed to open its doors for migrants to travel to the EU.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says it cannot deal with the amount of people fleeing Syria's civil war.

His decision came after at least 33 Turkish soldiers were killed in air strikes in Idlib province in northern Syria this week.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has called a meeting for his country's national security council later on Sunday.

The EU's border protection agency Frontex said it was on "high alert" on Europe's borders with Turkey.

Turkey is hosting 3.7 million Syrian refugees, as well as migrants from other countries such as Afghanistan - but had previously stopped them from leaving for Europe under an aid-linked deal with the EU.

But Mr Erdogan accused the EU of breaking promises made in 2016, when Ankara agreed to help shore up the EU's south-western border.

What's happening in Greece?

Almost 10,000 migrants have been blocked from entering Greece in the last day, the Greek government has said.

Some migrants tossed stones, metal bars and tear gas canisters when stopped at the border.

Seven boats carried more than 300 people to Lesbos, four arrived on Samos with 150 and two on Chios with a combined total of 70 to 80 people, a police official told the Reuters news agency.

Groups of migrants have also been seen wading through a river to Greek soil at Kastanies.

Many blocked migrants have been sent to Evros, an area along the Turkey border.

Greek deputy defence minister Alkiviadis Stefanis accused Turkey of encouraging migrants to make the trip.

"Not only are they not stopping them, but they are helping them," he told Greece's Skai TV.

There were clashes between migrants and Greek police on Saturday after President Erdogan effectively gave the all-clear for migrants to head for the EU.

The EU said it was assisting Greece and Bulgaria - which also borders Turkey - in protecting the bloc's parameters. BBC
KALAMAZOO, MI -- Despite months of prayers, vigils and public protest, the Sisters of St. Joseph motherhouse was laid to rest.

A string of cars slowed down to take in the view of the historic motherhouse in pieces on Sunday, March 1.

The motherhouse and four other buildings on the former Nazareth College campus have been slated for demolition since April. The plan encompassed more than 394,000 square feet and 18 total floors.

Demolition plans elicited an emotional response from the community over the past year.

The city of Kalamazoo Historic Preservation Commission had a failed campaign to create a new local historic district covering buildings on the former Nazareth College campus.

A vocal group of opponents formed the Save Nazareth campaign of peaceful protests, monthly prayer vigils and lawn signs that dotted the community. A change.org petition to preserve the buildings history amassed nearly 3,000 signatures.

The cupola dome atop the former Nazareth motherhouse in Kalamazoo was removed Thursday, Dec. 19, and remains wrapped up in front of the debris.

While other religious relics went to the Catholic Diocese of Kalamazoo and Kalamazoo Valley Museum, the cupola was not claimed or re-homed, said Eileen M. Biehl, communications specialist for the Congregation of St. Joseph in Cleveland.

The deconstruction company, Melching Demolition from Muskegon, has assumed responsibility for everything left in the building, Biehl said.

Everything in and on and about the buildings is theirs to re-purpose and reuse as they determine," she said. We removed everything we could re-purpose on our own out of the building.

Melching Demolition did not return phone calls about where the cupola will go prior to publishing.

Neither the museum nor the diocese were offered the cupola, according to each of their respective spokespeople.

Among the sacred items transferred to the Catholic Diocese of Kalamazoo were the Holy Stairs, spokesperson Vicki Cessna said.

The 28 stairs  a replica of a similar staircase in Rome known in Italian as the Scala Sancta, or Holy Stairs  represent the stairs Jesus ascended and descended before his crucifixion. Just like the ones in Rome, Nazareths Holy Stairs contain relics preserved in each step.

The diocese does not have any immediate plans for the stairs, Cessna said.

The Kalamazoo Valley Museum accepted a number of objects from Nazareths history room including Nazareth Academy memorabilia and medical instruments from the Saint Camillus School of Nursing, Ascension Borgess Hospital and Borgess School of Nursing.

The original 11 sisters came from Watertown, N.Y., in 1889 to launch what is now Borgess Medical Center, the areas first hospital, in a two-story mansion on Portage Street, according to Kalamazoo Gazette archives.

When more sisters joined the hospital added an orphanage and a school. Nazareth Academy opened in 1897 and Nazareth College opened in 1913.

By the early 1960s nearly 1,000 nuns served more than 30 communities in Michigan, operating a college from the grounds of their massive, 237,000-square-foot motherhouse.

Crews tore into the dormitories of the former Nazareth College in October. Previously, the buildings were used as office space for the Kalamazoo County Community Action Agency.

The Dillon Hall apartments, still operating and sponsored by the ministry of the Congregation of St. Joseph, will not be demolished, Dillon Hall property manager Michele McCurdie told MLive in October.

We will be the last building standing," McCurdie said.

Also on MLive:

Nazareth motherhouse part of Kalamazoo history, more than home for nuns

West Lake Drive-In is closing  unless a buyer is found

Demolition begins on century-old Christian Science church building in Kalamazoo
Trump: US Will Screen Travelers From High-Risk Countries Upon Arrival

President Donald Trump on Sunday wrote that passengers traveling from certain high-risk countries will be screened before boarding as well as when they arrive in the United States.

The administration on Saturday expanded travel restrictions on Iran, where dozens of deaths have been reported in recent days, and raised an advisory that Americans should refrain from going to parts of Italy and South Korea, where the COVID-19 coronavirus has triggered quarantines.

Northern Italy has been particularly hard-hit by the outbreak, prompting quarantines in Lombardy and around Veneto, while the southern South Korean city of Daegu has also implemented quarantines of its own. Early on in the outbreak last month, the U.S. implemented travel restrictions on people who had been to China within the previous 14 days, and officials, including Trump, last week indicated that the restrictions on China would stay in place for the foreseeable future.

In addition to screening travelers prior to boarding from certain designated high-risk countries, or areas within those countries, they will also be screened when they arrive in America, Trump wrote on Twitter on Sunday.

Coronavirus: In addition to screening travelers prior to boarding from certain designated high risk countries, or areas within those countries, they will also be screened when they arrive in America. Thank you! @VP @SecAzar @CDCgov @CDCDirector  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 1, 2020

It comes as the United States reported its first COVID-19 fatality on Saturday. Trump and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials confirmed that a man with an underlying health problem died in a Seattle-area hospital.

Our hearts go out to the family of the patient who died as well as the families of the people who are caught up in this outbreak, said top CDC official Dr. Nancy Messonnier in a statement to media outlets. The health of the residents, staff and community of this skilled nursing facility are a top priority. We will work with Public HealthSeattle and King County to support the care of the patients, the safety of the health care workers, and the well-being of the people in the surrounding community.

Dr. Frank Riedo, Medical Director of Infection Control at EvergreenHealth Hospital speaks about the first patient death from novel coronavirus in the United States during a news conference in Seattle, W.A., on Feb. 29, 2020. (Ryan Henriksen/Reuters)

Earlier, the CDC misidentified the person as a female but later issued a correction. Washington state, in the meantime, declared a state of emergency and is investigating a long-term health care facility in King County.

A health care worker in her 50s who worked at the LifeCare Center in Kirkland, Washington state, also tested positive for the mysterious new virus, which has its origins in mainland China. About 50 patients associated with LifeCare are being tested for COVID-19, officials said on Saturday.
Dr Tim Leunig, an economic adviser to Chancellor Rishi Sunak, said agriculture was 'not critically important'. (Getty)

A government adviser has been heavily criticised for claiming Britains farming industry is not important in a series of leaked emails.

Messages seen by the Mail on Sunday revealed Dr Tim Leunig, an economic adviser to Chancellor Rishi Sunak, described the food sector as not critically important to the countrys economy.

He also claimed that agriculture and fisheries certainly isnt.

Dr Leunig suggested Britain could follow Singapore in not needing a farming industry, adding that the Asian nation is rich without having its own agricultural sector.

NFU President Minette Batters blasted the adviser over the email. (Getty)

Shortly after details of the exchanges were published, Dr Leunig was branded completely out of touch by National Farmers Union (NFU) president Minette Batters.

Ms Batters told Sky News Sophy Ridge on Sunday: Singapore has 5 million people, and doesnt have any farmed landscape so it actually has to import all its food.

Here 75% of Britain is a farmed landscape, we have a fantastic maritime climate in which to produce our food, and we have 60 million-plus people here to feed so theres a sort of moral imperative, if you like, for us to be able to produce food in this country.

So absolutely we need our farmers and were the bedrock of the largest manufacturing sector providing all those raw ingredients and currently at 60% self-sufficiency.

We have to see this as an opportunity and comparisons with Singapore are just completely out of touch with where this country is.

The Government distanced itself from the comments made by the Treasury adviser although the published opinions are likely to propel industry fears that ministers could discard safeguards for farmers and fishermen in the forthcoming post-Brexit trade talks with the US and the European Union.

Read more: Channel 4 show which called for end to farming criticised by head of Natural England

A spokesman said: We have made clear the comments are not in line with Government policy.

Sources claimed that the remarks were made in personal emails and that Dr Leunig was not speaking in his Treasury role.

Treasury adviser and academic Dr Leunig is said to be close to Dominic Cummings, the Prime Ministers chief adviser in Downing Street.
It is possible that when Mother Earth beholds us, she does not worry about climate change.

She may just think: Its going to be so easy to get rid of them. Theyll do most of the work themselves. And in 1,000 years, things will get back to normal.

Some of the busiest worker bees buzzed around the State Capitol recently. I speak of the hundreds who showed up to defend their right to a religious exemption to the recommended childhood immunization schedule while, at the same time, they send their kids to public schools.

Sign up to get Colins newsletter delivered to your inbox, for free

The big joke is the term religious. Apart from Christian Science, theres isnt a substantive current of anti-immunization in religion, unless you count the First Church of Jenny McCarthy or the Holy Sepulcher of Jim Carrey.

These are not, in the main, religious people. They are indulgers in fashionable quackery. They are the sort of people who reject the notion of injecting something artificial into their childrens bodies. Their prophets are D-list celebrities, unfunny comedians and second-tier Kennedys.

Even so, the bill sent out of committee in Connecticut General Assembly, grandfathers in the existing public school population of the Children of Hooey, some 7,800 irresistible little unvaccinated moppets. I assume grandfathers in refers to the probability that they will eventually transmit whooping cough to their grandfathers, although, say what you want about us boomers, we got our shots. We were around to see the last trickle of kids with polio. Our parents didnt need a lot of convincing.

I turned 65 last year. Time for my first pneumonia shot. Oddly enough, I didnt ask the nurse for a little time to look up what Rob Schneider and Alicia Silverstone thought about it.

And if those people dont kill us, behold the galaxy of guardians appointed to save us from the coronavirus/COVID-19 threat.

President Donald Trump has been sounding, as somebody pointed out on Twitter, a lot like the mayor of Amity in Jaws. Remember that guy? Mayor Larry Vaughn? Its a beautiful day, the beaches are open, and people are having a wonderful time.

Trump has minimized the problem while also promising to take it seriously. He knew he needed a point person. Someone whose scientific credentials were impeccable, whose global health experience was vast and whose clear-eyed leadership transcended all partisan considerations.

Unfortunately, he had already cashiered most of those kinds of people. Im talking about those deep state epidemiologists and deep state global health security experts. Im talking about people like deep state Admiral Tim Ziemer who occupied just such a post on the National Security Council but whose position and staff were eliminated in 2018. Deep State Tim? With his expertise and all? Who needs that?

Anyway, Trump appointed Vice President Mike Pence as the point person last week after having told people, according to the New York Times, that Pence didnt have anything else to do.

I dont know about you, but thats the guy I want. The guy staring blankly out his window.

You almost cant blame the Connecticut anti-vaxxers for not trusting any authorities. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, a former Eli Lilly president, testified to a House committee about the virus last week while, sitting behind him, one of his staffers kept touching her mouth and nose.

Didnt these people watch Contagion? Kate Winslet plays an Epidemic Intelligence Service doctor who keeps telling people not to touch their faces! But they do anyway, and everybody dies including her. (The real HHS also says dont touch your face, but somehow it carried more weight coming from Winslet.)

Also testifying to congress was acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, who got into a back and forth with John Neely Kennedy, a Republican senator from Louisiana. In response to the basic questions from Kennedy (How is it transmitted?) Wolf answered with squirmy inanities (A variety of different ways.) From there, the exchange threatened to veer into Saturday Night Live Celebrity Jeopardy territory. Name a letter of the alphabet. There are a variety of letters.

You know who does seem to have great command of the facts? President Trump. At his news conference Wednesday he said, We have had tremendous success, tremendous success, beyond what people would have thought. At the same time, you do have some outbreaks in some countries  Italy and various countries  are having some difficulties.

Talk about a firm grasp. Italy and various countries have a disease that can be transmitted in a variety of different ways.

And then came the big reveal: I want you to understand something that shocked me ... I was really amazed and I think most people are amazed to hear it.

I was watching live and got squirmy. Whenever he starts out like that, what comes next is something that everybody else knows, like the fact that Abraham Lincoln was a Republican or that France was our ally in the American Revolution.

He continued, The flu ... kills from 25,000 to 69,000 people a year. That was shocking to me.

Most people know that influenza is a deadly disease. The death rate is 0.1 percent, as opposed to the ballpark rates of 2 to 4 percent from COVID-19. The truth is, nobody knows yet what the death rate from the novel coronavirus is or, for that matter, whether were dealing with its final iteration. Its a new virus, having mutated to achieve transmission to humans, and it may not know what it wants to be when it grows up.

I know this is subjective, but I feel surrounded by lunkheads. I want somebody smart to be in charge of all this potential danger.

So Im back in Elizabeth Warrens camp. I want her to be president basically now.

Shes really smart, and you just know shes spent her whole life telling people to wash their hands.

And dont touch your face.

Colin McEnroes column appears every Sunday, his newsletter comes out every Thursday and you can hear his radio show every weekday on WNPR 90.5. Email him at colin@ctpublic.org. Sign up for his newsletter at http://bit.ly/colinmcenroe.
VIRGINIA BEACH  In the Trump era, the suburbs have been Democrats surprising superpower.

A revolt by college-educated voters, largely women, in suburbs from Virginia Beach to Oklahoma City, from Houston to Southern California, delivered the House majority to Democrats in 2018. Driven by anxiety over guns, health care and the environment, and recoiling from President Trumps caustic leadership, suburban voters are widely seen as a critical bloc for any Democratic victory in 2020.

But there are some early signs that the rise of Senator Bernie Sanders, by far the most liberal Democratic front-runner since George McGovern in 1972, is causing stress with the partys suburban coalition and especially its core of college-educated white women and older voters, many of whom are politically moderate.

And after Saturday nights big win by Joseph R. Biden Jr. in South Carolina, Mr. Sanders will face an invigorated former vice president as well as other moderates, like former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, in Tuesdays primaries in Virginia, Texas, and additional states with swaths of suburban voters.

Anne Poague, a retired nurse who lives in Virginia Beach, in a House district that a Democrat wrestled from a Republican incumbent in 2018, noted that Mr. Trumps top argument for re-election would be the economy  with Mr. Sanders as a perfect foil.
China in Focus (Feb. 29)

Exclusive: Internal classified documents obtained by NTD reveal a province close to Beijing ordered a city to destroy data on the coronavirus epidemic.

China has published its very first coronavirus patient autopsy. Heres what they know about the way the virus infects organs.

The United States suffered its first fatality from the novel coronavirus. The man is from Washington state, where the governor has declared a state of emergency.

The Trump administration is expanding travel restrictions on Iran. They also said Americans should not travel to regions in South Korea and Italy.
Pictured: Kaydence Mills before she went missing

A man and woman have been charged with murder and torture in relation to the disappearance of a two-year-old girl almost four years ago.

Kaydence Dawita Mills was last seen in 2016, but police did not start searching for her until last year after members of her family expressed their concern to a guidance counsellor at the local school in Chinchilla, regional Queensland.

An ongoing investigation has been underway ever since, but on Sunday police moved their search to the banks of the Condamine River.

A 40-year-old Chinchilla man and a 28-year-old woman from the same area were both charged with murder, torture and interfering with a corpse.

Both are known to Kaydence, who would now be five.

Police also searched a Chinchilla home, where they excavated the backyard.

Cadaver dogs were used in the search, but Kaydence was not found.

'Investigators are searching the property and speaking to a number of persons who may be able to assist with the investigation,' a police spokesman said.

Kaydence pictured before she went missing. She was the middle sibling of five children

Some of Kaydence's family members described her to the Courier Mail as a 'beautiful little girl' who walked with a limp.

Kaydence was the middle sibling of five children.

'There's a little girl and she's missing and we don't know what's happened to her,' the family member previously told the Daily Mercury.

'It needs to be brought out of the dark because it's been hidden in the dark for too long.'

The man and woman charged in relation to her disappearance will appear in the Dalby Magistrates Court on Monday.

Crime Stoppers 1800 333 000
American Airlines is suspending flights to Milan after the U.S. State Department announced on Saturday that it was raising its travel warning for parts of Italy amid the coronavirus crisis.

The airline said it would suspend flights between the U.S. and Milan. The flights will be grounded until April 24 from New York-JFK and Miami.

The company said the decision had been made after a reduction in demand.

Hours before the announcement on Saturday Vice President Mike Pence said the travel advisory alert was being raised to 'Level 4 - Do Not Travel' for the Veneto region and Lombardy, of which Milan is the capital, in Italy.

Hours before American Airlines' announcement on Saturday Vice President Mike Pence said the travel advisory alert was being raised to 'Level 4 - Do Not Travel' for the Veneto region and Lombardy, of which Milan is the capital, in Italy

Travelers wearing masks at Miami International, one of the airports where flights to and from Milan will be suspended

The government said the decision was made 'due to the level of community transmission of the virus and imposition of local quarantine procedures.'

Milan is the capital of the Lombardy region.

Pence said on Saturday the U.S. State Department would work with Italy to coordinate medical screening for anyone traveling to the United States.

The Level 4 warning is the most severe that can be issued.

Worldwide, the outbreak that began in Wuhan, China, has sickened at least 83,652 people and killed 2,862 in 54 countries.

As of Friday, the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases stood at 62, according to the CDC.

The majority were people who were evacuated to the U.S. under medical supervision from virus hotspots, including three from Wuhan and 44 from the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

The airline said the decision had been made after falling demand. The coronavirus scare has led to a sharp reduction in air travel demand in the U.S. as major companies such as Amazon order freezes on all non-essential employee travel

Health experts say that the coronavirus has a low mortality rate, resulting in death in about 2 to 3 percent of cases, the majority of which are elderly patients or those with compromised immune systems.

The outbreak is leading to sharp reductions in air travel demand in the US, with major companies such as Amazon ordering a freeze on all non-essential employee travel. The result is clear in photos showing empty airplane seats and deserted terminals.

In China, the impact has been even more severe, with air travel plummeting 80 percent at the country's busiest airports and mass cancellations of both domestic and international flights.

The reduction in global airline capacity, measured by how many seats remain grounded, is now greater than after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, industry analysts say.

After 9/11, airline revenue dropped an estimated $19.6 billion in 2002 dollars. The coronavirus crisis could cost the industry an estimated $29.3 billion in lost revenue for 2020, according to the industry group IATA.

The group said on Friday that countries with confirmed virus cases in excess of 90 China, Italy, Iran, Japan, Singapore and South Korea  represent 25 percent of global airline passenger numbers and 20 percent of global passenger revenues.

'Back after 9/11 at the end of 2001, it really took about nine months before we saw the industry recover from the impact of the events,' said Wall Street Journal aviation correspondent Benjamin Katz.

'Now, with the coronavirus, it's a very different situation and it's difficult to give an assessment, but analysts are expecting with the coronavirus this could actually last quite a bit longer,' he continued.

With the extent of the crisis still unknown, experts cautioned that the full impact on airlines remains to be seen.

'If we look back in ten years time, will this be seen as a blip or a game changer?' IBA Aviation Consultancy CEO Phil Seymour told the Journal.
Editor-in-chief of Sputnik Turkey Mahir Boztepe has been detained in Istanbul, reports RIA Novosti.

Turkish police officers today arrived in the office of Sputnik Turkey in Istanbul and demanded a meeting with the news agencys representatives. At that moment, the only people in the office were the on-duty employees. The police declared that they wouldnt leave the office until they met the news agencys representatives, the news agency reported.

Currently, head of the representation of the news agency Maksin Durnyov is meeting with the news agencys lawyers, as well as representatives of the Consulate General of Russia and Turkish police officers, Sputnik added.

On Saturday, aggressive demonstrators barged into the apartments of employees of Sputnik Turkey who said they were citizens of Turkey and threatened with screams. They intimidated the journalists by threatening to settle scores with them and demanded that they stop working. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, in the evening, the journalists were transported to Turkeys power structures, yet there is still no contact with them.

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called on the Turkish authorities to interfere, ensure the journalists safety and help clarify all the details of the incident.
A Bryan man was arrested early Saturday after he was trying to set a car on fire outside a College Station apartment complex, authorities said.

According to College Station police, authorities were dispatched to an apartment complex at the intersection of Dartmouth Street and Harvey Road at around 1 a.m. A caller told dispatchers that a man was trying to set a car on fire.

A report notes authorities arrived within one minute, and an officer could detect the odor of smoke. Robert William Taylor, 28, was standing next to an older model Chevrolet Camaro and a pile of ashes, authorities said.

Taylor initially told police someone else had lit the fire, but police said the people Taylor described could not be located. Taylors personal belongings were found resting on the car, a report notes.

A woman said she had been taking trash to the dumpster when she saw Taylor carrying a flaming object through the parking lot. She briefly spoke to him, and he said he wanted to blow up himself and the car, and he advised her to move her vehicle and belongings, a report notes.

Taylor is charged with arson, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison and $10,000 in fines. He remains in the Brazos County Jail on $10,000 bond.
Alessandra Ambrosio recently partied it up in Brazil for another decadent Carnaval.

But the retired Victoria's Secret Angel has since returned to her daily routine at home in Los Angeles.

The bombshell flaunted her taut midriff in a chic workout look Saturday as she stepped out for the gym.

Gym bunny: Alessandra Ambrosio flaunted her taut midriff in a chic workout look as she stepped out for the gym on Saturday

The 38-year-old sported a cropped grey tank top with a white stripe down the front and matching high-waisted leggings with white stripes down the sides.

She finished the ensemble with white aviators, gold jewelry, white sneakers and a grey sweater wrapped around her waist.

Ambrosio took a sip of her coconut water as she stepped into the gym, carrying her phone on a crossbody strap.

The model beauty recently returned from Rio de Janeiro, where she put on a sizzling display at Carnaval.

Workout look: The 38-year-old sported a cropped grey tank top with a white stripe down the front and matching high-waisted leggings with white stripes down the sides

Accessorizing: She finished the ensemble with white aviators, gold jewelry, white sneakers and a grey sweater wrapped around her waist

The Daddy's Home star looked stunning in photos she posted from the lavish festivities.

She left little to the imagination in a metallic gold ensemble, complete with a sunburst crown and feathered floor-length wings.

The look evoked images of her from her days as a Victoria's Secret Angel, before she retired in 2017.

Several models took a stand earlier this month against the toxic environment she faced with the lingerie brand.

Ambrosio was not one of the 100 models to sign the Model Alliance's open letter to CEO John Mehas, accusing the company of 'misogyny, bullying and harassment.'
Police in authoritarian Kazakhstan detained dozens of people in the Central Asian country's largest city Sunday, after an activist's death in jail triggered diplomatic condemnation and calls for anti-government rallies.

AFP correspondents in Almaty saw around 40 people detained by police close to the city hall, where two opposition groups had called for anti-government rallies.

Elsewhere in the city, 26 members of Oyan Qazaqstan, one of the groups that called for a rally, were detained in the morning before they had a chance to reach the protest site, a member of the group told AFP.

"According to our information, they have not been released yet," Dimash Alzhanov, one of Oyan Qazaqstan's founding members, told AFP by telephone.

One man who AFP correspondents saw bundled into a van full of detainees by black-clad police appealed to "the lawmakers in the European parliament", which sent a delegation to Kazakhstan last month.

"My constitutional rights are being violated. This is the 21st century!" the man cried out as he was shoved into the van.

Two journalists were also amongst those detained on Sunday.

The protests were called after Dulat Agadil, a prominent activist, died in detention hours after he was detained by plainclothes police on Monday night.

Both the United States and the United Kingdom raised concern over his death this week and called for a "thorough" investigation.

Activists have cited video footage of Agadil's corpse with bruises as evidence that he was beaten in detention, rather than dying of heart failure, as police said on Tuesday.

The state prosecutor's office on Friday called on citizens not to make "hasty conclusions" about the bruises, which the office said was common on corpses.

Kazakhstan regularly cracks down on citizens who attempt to hold rallies, citing laws that make public assemblies subject to permits from the authorities.

The country is in the process of changing its legislation on public assemblies, and a draft of the new law has been released for public discussion.

But civil society groups in the Central Asian state have expressed dissatisfaction with a new draft law, which they argue would introduce additional restrictions.

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

The communal frenzy in northeast Delhi has left many children of both communities orphaned and they are struggling to come to terms with their loss.

Many are too young to even comprehend whats happening around them even as the families that have lost their breadwinners stare at a bleak future, finds Sana Shakil

Shifas last memory of her father Mudassir Khan is a video call. But at least, the 15-year-old has a memory. Mudassirs youngest daughter Inaaya is all of 15 days  too young to know her father, who was killed in the orgy of mindless communal violence that erupted in the northeastern part of Delhi last Sunday.

Family of deceased Mudassir Khan that includes his 8 daughters the youngest being just 15-days-old- is struggling to process the loss at Old Mustafabad in New Delhi. (Photo | Shekhar Yadav, EPS)

Thirty-five-year-old Mudassir, a small-time scrap dealer in old Mustafabad, has left behind his old parents and wife Imrana to take care of his eight daughters.

But an inconsolable says she doesnt know how she will do that, let alone fulfilling his dream of making their two teenaged daughters a doctor and a teacher.

Our marriage of 16 years was perfect. I have studied only till Class 8. How will I take care of them? Nobody has offered me any support, she says.



On February 24, Imrana and her mother-in-law repeatedly urged Mudassir not to leave home for work. But being the sole breadwinner in the family, he perhaps did not have the luxury of sitting at home and losing out on business. He left home, stayed at a relatives place for the night at Kabir Nagar. He was shot dead while coming back home next day.



ALSO READ | Fringe right-wing group calls off proposed protest against Shaheen Bagh stir

Abbu called ammi and daadi on the 24thHis last call was a video call with ammi and me on the 25th. His hand was injured... He said the situation was worsening, said Shifa, the eldest among eight siblings.

Everybody is trying to console us. Everyone is trying to make sense of it, added her sister Fiza, 13, struggling to hold back tears.

Papa used to hug me every day, said Shifa. Fiza recalls how abba would tease her about her weight.

In another locality, Maujpur, another 15-year-old, Khushi is too disconsolate to even talk. Her father Vir Bhan, was shot dead by rioters on February 24 when he was going to get medicines for his wife.

Khushi, who a relative says was her fathers favourite child, is still battling to come to terms with the loss.

Bhan is survived by an ill wife, a 25-year-old daughter who got recently, and a 20-year-old son, apart from Khushi.

Bhan was the only earning family member. We do not know if the children will be able to continue their education, said Bhagat Singh, his brother-in-law.

The stories of Shifa, Fiza and Khushi echo across many households on both sides of the divide. In at least four other cases, the orphaned children are between 20 days to 15 years old.

While families have been left distraught, the children orphaned by the violence are staring at a bleak future.

While time may heal their wounds on the surface, the shock of seeing their loved ones being brutally murdered, their houses being gutted and their universe being turned upside down can see many of these children left traumatised through their lives.

It takes a lifetime to heal



With the latest communal violence being compared with the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, this newspaper also spoke to some of the victims who were children at that time and are still scarred by the memories of the horror that was unleashed in the capital over 35 years ago.

Mohinder Singh, now a businessman, was an 11-year-old when the genocide of the Sikhs riots took place.

Singh saw his father Ameer Singh being assaulted to death by a frenzied mob in Paharganj on November 5, 1984, when the family was trying to flee to Punjab to save their lives.

He still gets nightmares about the day but says he has not given up on humanity.

Family members of auto driver Babbu who was killed in the communal riots is

survived by his parents a disabled wife and three minor children at Khajuri Khas

in New Delhi. (Photo | Shekhar Yadav, EPS)

I still remember the horrific incident and even the slogans that my fathers killers were chanting. My mother was a housewife till the time he was alive, but to feed me and my five siblings, she started working. How else could we have survived? We were removed from private schools and put in government schools. I could not complete my education as being the eldest, I wanted to help the mother in running the house. It has been very difficult but we learnt to survive. We hold no enmity against any community, says the 47-year-old.

Nirpreet Kaur, who was then a 16-year-old, now provides assistance to the victims of 1984 riots. She says politicians and police were to be blamed for the riots then and now. Nirpreet, who witnessed her father being butchered and her house being reduced to ashes, says it takes a lot to move on.

The riots changed my life and the lives of many others. We had all the amenities and suddenly we became beggars, but the biggest loss was my fathers death. It takes decades and sometimes a lifetime to move on. I would appeal everyone to come and help the families, especially the children, of the recent violence.

Psychological support must



Experts agree that the kind of frenzy seen in the latest riots can leave the children, especially those orphaned, scarred for their life. While those in the position of authority have already faltered on controlling the situation in time so as to prevent casualties, the least they can do now is provide succour to the children to come out of the psychological trauma.

According to psychologists, the impact of violence on children increases with direct exposure and society  government, relatives, mediatogether needs to ensure that children are not reminded of the violence. Several videos have emerged showing how the violence has wrecked the lives of hundreds of people.

There is a need to provide help to children orphaned by the riots so that they dont grow up to be traumatised adults, say experts.

Experts have called for banning of telecast and circulation of videos showing violence.

We need to have a government set-up in violence-hit areas where people should be provided psychological support and government should be stringent in banning all forms of videos showing violence. People do not know the kind of damage they are causing by circulating these videos which young children have easy access to, said Dr Kushal Jain, Director, Centre for Behavioural Sciences.

He added that discussing traumatic incidents before children should be avoided.



It is difficult, but we need to protect the children. Relieving those incidents, again and again, will create painful memories that will be difficult to forget and move on in life.

Some children may get over it and realise that it could happen to anyone but some will latch on to these for life and constantly blame the other community for destroying their lives. This is something that can be a new source of fanaticism in the country, if not dealt with properly.

Whether the traumatic experience of a riot festers communal feelings in young minds or not, it can definitely leave some of them struggling throughout their lives to reconcile with their loss.

Shareef Khan, whose mother Khairun Nisa, elder brother Salim Khan and uncle Safdar Khan were killed in the Gulberg Society in the 2002 Gujarat riots, is now 31 years old and says he is still struggling to come to terms with the tragedy.

Shareef, who was then a 13-year-old boy and has lived in a relief camp for about two years says, I have never visited the area where they were killed and I get nervous around strangers. I was very close to both my mother and my brother. I just hope and pray that what I face, no one else faces that kind of future.

Making sense of loss



The rioters unfortunately spared no thought for the innocent children. At New Kardam Puri, five-year-old Wania and two-year-old Moosa refuse to eat without their abbu. Wania, is sure that her abbu, Furqan, a handicraft artisian who was hit by a bullet when he went out to get groceries, will return on her birthday.

The kids are shocked. We do not know how to break the news to them. But we think they might have begun to make sense of the tragedy. Their mother is in shock and they see her crying. Wania has gone very quiet and has high fever, said the victims sister Shabana.

Lane after lane in northeast Delhi, where some of the poorest people live, apprehensions about the future haunts the affected families, both Hindu and Muslim. Five-year-old Zainab looked clueless of what was happening around her at home in Kabir Nagar.

Wearing a blue salwar kameez, she roamed around with her cousins. Moments after her father Ishteyaques body was taken away for burial.

Nafisa, mother of Ishteyaque, an electrician, says Zainab repeatedly asks her to make phone calls to him.



The riots have changed the lives of many others who are struggling to process the loss such as the children of Sanjeet Thakur, Vir Bhan, Dinesh Thakur, Alok Tiwari, Mubarak Ali, Dinesh Kumar Musharraf, Deepak Kumar and Irfan who are all aged less than 10.
Your browser does not support the audio element.

For many people in Vietnam, as well as surrounding countries, the Mekong Delta is incredibly important as any changes to the region and its related ecosystems can have drastic consequences.

Saline intrusion, which is the movement of ocean saltwater into riverine freshwater, has been one of the major issues of concern for residents in the Mekong Delta region, the scientific community who are interested in Mekong issues, and the Vietnamese government alike in the last couple of years.

For areas dependent on farming, such as those in the Mekong Delta, saline intrusion can be disastrous.

Though not a new phenomenon, it has been occurring earlier and reaching further inland over the last few years.

To grasp a better understanding of the problem as well as available courses of action to minimize its damage, Tuoi Tre News reached out to Eslami Sepehr, a senior researcher and advisor for Utrecht University and Deltares, a research institute based in the Netherlands.

Please introduce yourself and explain your involvement in the study of saline intrusion in the Mekong Delta. What did you observe during your field trip to the Mekong Delta?

I am a coastal engineer and (funny enough) before I started researching the Mekong Delta, I was a consultant in the dredging (sand mining) industry. Over the last five years, I have invested everything in my power to understand what is happening in the Mekong Delta. First, it was a research project, and I was approaching it from a practical point of view. However, when I visited Vietnam a few times and got to know the people, it became emotional. I started to care about the whole thing personally.

I have spent a lot of time in the Mekong Delta, traveling along its branches and enjoying the scenery of the Mekong over a lot of beers. It started with studying salt intrusion in particular, but after a while I started to realize that there are more complicated questions than just the physical processes.

Eslami Sepehr, senior researcher and advisor for Utrecht University and Deltares, is seen in this provided photo.

The Mekong Delta of Vietnam has experienced drought in the past, and, as a consequence, there was saline intrusion. What drives this years unusual and severe saline intrusion in the Mekong Delta?

Climate change is real and is hitting each and every community around the world. In this region, this year, the monsoon transition was earlier, and there were fewer tropical cyclones. But it is so essential to distinguish what climate change does and what is caused by humans. Historically, more or less every ten years there was a drought in the Mekong. Due to climate change, this phenomenon is now more irregular.

Another important factor is the role of the Tonle Sap Lake [in Cambodia]. Typically, during the wet season, the Tonle Sap Lake is filled, and, during the dry season, it drains into the Mekong Delta. Thanks to this, there have always been two sources of freshwater for the delta in the dry season: the Mekong Delta  which accounts for some 70 percent, and the Tonle Sap Lake  which supplies the remaining more or less 30 percent.

Last year, there was an early monsoon transition, which meant an early drop in the rainfall. This meant that during the wet season, less water reached the Tonle Sap Lake, so there was less water to combat salt intrusion during the dry season. This is what happens during any normal drought in the Mekong.

However, a few things have changed in the region over the last two decades. Firstly, due to upstream dam constructions, the water levels during the wet season in Cambodia are much lower than they were before. The floodwaters still pass the dams, but not like they once did. The dams minimize the number of bigger flood pulses, so water levels never reach high enough in Phnom Penh to be able to overflow to the Tonle Sap Lake and store water for the dry season.

Overall, this makes the system more vulnerable. While climate change is causing irregular processes, the system is much more susceptible to change. The commencement of Xayaburi Dam in October was the final bullet in the head of the system as it dampened the water levels further, which meant no water to the lake during a drought year, and eventually resulting in significant/earlier salt intrusion.

This was just about the upstream discharge or freshwater supply. I havent said anything yet about what happens in the delta itself. So, in any delta, salt intrusion is the response to the balance of upstream discharge, ocean forces (water level and tide), and the topology (geometry) of the rivers (bed levels, channel width/slope/length, etc.).

Its important to note that rivers consist of water and sediment. They are both essential to the life of the natural system. Its just that the changes in water are more easily noticed than sediment.

Unfortunately, dams not only kill the flood pulse, they also block sediment. Sediment for water is like humidity for air. When the air is dry, it gets its humidity from anything. Thats why people die in the desert. Its not heat, its the loss of humidity to the thirsty air. The hungry river, deprived of its sediment by the dams, picks it up wherever and however possible. This means river bed erosion, and riverbank erosion. Analysis shows that the amount of sediment in the system has declined by 90 percent due to the dams.

At the same time, while the river is hungry and trying to catch sediment from wherever, sand mining is happening in humongous magnitudes. In the Mekong Delta, the amount of sand regularly extracted is a couple of times (between two and five times) more than the sediment supply. What does this mean? Accelerated river bed and riverbank erosion.

Sand mining on the Mekong in Tan Chau Town, An Giang Province in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam, June 2016. Photo: Buu Dau / Tuoi Tre

Can you explain why dams and sand mining are related to saline intrusion? Why does climate change not play a significant role?

From the three elements that could change salt balance in the Mekong Delta, freshwater supply is changing mainly due to the dams. At the same time, the rivers are getting deeper in the delta due to sediment starvation from the dams and sand mining.

Because of the deeper rivers, the tides are rising. The rising tides create a feedback loop to salt intrusion. Larger tides bring more salt into the delta. The larger tides also have other implications. They amplify erosion, and they also contribute to city flooding.

So, climate change impacts the system in two ways: rising sea level (by 2-3 millimeters yearly), and more wet season discharge and irregular drought. Meanwhile, human impacts result in no water in the Tonle Sap Lake, the delta subsiding by 10-20 millimeters per year due to excessive groundwater extraction, the river beds getting deeper by rates of 200-300 millimeters per year (2-4 meters in the last 15-20 years), and tides rising 20-30 millimeters a year due to river deepening.

For all of these reasons, when it comes to saline intrusion, the climate change impact is hardly five percent.

An animation illustrates how fresh and saline water mix with tides along the Dinh An estuarine channel in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. Video: Eslami Sepehr

Saline intrusion seems to be unavoidable for the Mekong Delta, how do you think people can mitigate its impact, both in the short term and in the long term?

In the short term, during the current drought, people have to follow the government's guidelines since I know the government is working hard on managing the water resources. This means that there will be some compromise in agricultural production. With some simple measures, such as freshwater storage, household use may not be a problem.

But in the long term, businesses have to adapt since it seems like we cannot go back in time. The hydropower development doesnt seem to be slowing down. Replacing the existing sand mining practices seems to be a timely process, and the sediment that is gone will not come back unless the dams are removed.

So, the only remaining option is convincing businesses to reduce agricultural water demand through modernization of agriculture practices and switch to salt-friendly measures like aquaculture, but only in a sustainable manner. Otherwise, the water quality issue will bite back even worse than salinity.

In the long term, what should Vietnam do to reduce the severity of saline intrusion?

Vietnam should first recognize that hydropower development and sand mining are like growing cancers, and at some point a price will have to be paid. So, first Vietnam should stop investing in upstream dams in Laos and Cambodia.

Next, alternative sources of sand have to be found. There is definitely a way to go around the existing problem, but first it has to be acknowledged. This is also something that Vietnam should do in coordination with the upstream countries through active diplomacy.

An animation illustrates how fresh and saline water mix with tides in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam along seven main estuarine channels. Video: Eslami Sepehr

How has the Netherlands maintained its fast growth while moving to completely ban sand mining?

The Netherlands, together with upstream countries like Germany and Switzerland, recognized sand mining as a major threat to the function of the river. Therefore, in the early 20th century, they started to look for alternative sand, and they found it in the ocean. Of course, it was more expensive to extract it. You need bigger ships to go offshore. You need more advanced equipment and more skilled human resources. But, with the existing technology, the costs can be reduced.

This is not to say that Vietnam can necessarily find its sand offshore, maybe it can be found inland. Sometimes, you dont have everything you want, but, given the state of scientific advancement these days, if you approach it systematically, you can definitely achieve it. The problem with river sand is that its cheap (at first glance) and its high quality. But we have to consider all the land that is sliding in the river, all the houses that disappear, all the people that have to move to big cities and all the businesses that have to change or go down.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!




Renowned South Korean director Hong Sang-soo on Saturday (Berlin time) won best director at the Berlin International Film Festival for his latest film, "The Woman Who Ran."







At the awards ceremony held at Friedrichstadt-Palast in Berlin, the director's 24th feature film was awarded the Silver Bear prize for best director at the 70th edition of the Berlin film fest, which kicked off on Feb. 20 and closes on Sunday.







Hong is the second South Korean filmmaker to earn the prize in the category, following Kim Ki-duk for "Samaritan Girl" in 2004.







"I'd like to thank everyone who've worked for me for this film, the film festival and the jury," Hong said in an acceptance speech.







And he introduced his actresses, including lead Kim Min-hee, who received a round of applause from the audience.







"The Woman Who Ran" is a story about a woman who meets three friends while her husband is on a business trip and enjoys her conversations with them.







This marks Hong's fourth title that has competed for a prize at the Berlin festival, after "Night And Day" (2008), "Nobody's Daughter Haewon" (2013) and "On the Beach at Night Alone" (2017). Kim, known to be in an extramarital relationship with the director, was awarded best actress for her role in "On the Beach at Night Alone."







Hong's win at Berlin is another achievement for South Korean cinema, following Bong Joon-ho's "Parasite"'s glorious run, including the top honor at the Cannes Film Festival last year and best picture at this year's Oscars.







Meanwhile, the Berlin festival's highest prize of Golden Bear for best film went to "There Is No Evil" by Mohammad Rasoulof and the grand jury prize was given to "Never Rarely Sometimes Always" by Eliza Hittman. (Yonhap)


Supermarkets are running out of stock as people across Australia panic buy supplies amid a potential coronavirus outbreak.

The deadly virus has infected more than 85,000 people across 59 countries and killed almost 3,000 - mostly in mainland China.

But authorities are increasingly concerned about the threat of a worldwide pandemic, and Australians have been racing to stores to prepare for the worst.

Coles in Claremont, Perth, was brimming with people on Saturday as they stocked up on essential hand sanitiser, toilet paper, tinned food and bottled water.

The aisles in Coles in Claremont were unusually empty on Saturday as shoppers stockpiled the essentials

The disease has spread to 59 countries globally and killed almost 3,000 people worldwide

Throughout the region grocers and pharmacies have run out of hand sanitiser. Some stores don't expect more stock until mid week.

One shopper said the hysteria surrounding the outbreak was most concerning.

'There's so many people grabbing stuff. It's kind of intimidating,' Lucy Bell told 7News.

'It kind of worries me, seeing that.'

Shelves in the store were unusually empty as customers purchased multiple boxes of bottled water and packets of toilet paper.

Another woman said it was the same story at her local Coles, too.

'Toilet paper, nappies, pads all bare at my Coles tonight. Absolutely disgusted,' she wrote on Facebook.

Shoppers in North Sydney said they were having the same issues with general items.

Rice, flour and toilet paper were 'the first to go' in the area.

Customers were 'disgusted' at the low supply levels in store when they went to do their groceries

Some stores claim they won't be able to restock essentials until mid week, because Western Australia has a long weekend

FOOD AND HOUSEHOLD ITEMS TO STOCKPILE IN A PANDEMIC Extra prescription medications, asthma relief inhalers Over-the-counter anti-fever and pain medications Feminine hygiene products Family pack of toilet paper Vitamins Alcohol-containing hand rub Household cleaning agents and soap Tissues, paper towel Cereals, grains, beans, lentils, pasta Tinned food  fish, vegetables, fruit Oil, spices and flavours Dried fruit and nuts Ultra-heat treated or powdered milk Soft drink or candy/chocolate for treats Pet food and care Source: Virology Down Under by University of Queensland virologists Dr Ian Mackay and Dr Katherine Arden Advertisement

One of Australia's leading survivalists said people should start bulking up their weekly shop before the virus' spread leads to food supply shortages.

'We should always be prepared for food shortages - not just from coronavirus but civil incidences, extreme weather and power outages which will cut us off from supply,' Western Australian survival instructor Bob Cooper told Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday.

Mr Cooper said Australians should start thinking about whether their food cupboards could sustain them if the supply chain is broken.

'You need to think about things that have a long shelf life: dried fruit, dried foods, cereals, pasta will also last a long time,' he said.

'Packets of flour will also allow to make your own bread.'

The hysteria comes as Australia recorded its first coronavirus death on Sunday.

A 78-year-old man who contracted coronavirus on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship off Japan boarded the doomed cruise in Perth with his wife Iris, who also contracted the virus.

The man died at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital early on Sunday morning after being flown to Perth on February 21.

Lucy Bell (left) was shopping at Coles and said watching all the panic buying made her nervous
Fresh from his victory in the South Carolina primary, former vice-president Joe Biden has slammed Donald Trump's reaction to the coronavirus crisis.

Addressing the president's reference to the crisis as a "hoax" during a political rally on Friday, Mr Biden said: "The idea that Donald Trump said just several days ago this was a Democratic hoax -- now what in God's name is he talking about? What in God's name is he talking about?

"Has he no shame?"

The Democratic presidential hopeful contrasted the actions of the current administration in trying to restrict the spread of Covid-19 with those taken by the Barack Obama government he served in over Ebola.

He was speaking after vice president Mike Pence, who has been put in charge of dealing with the crisis, said it was possible that the US could see more fatalities following the first death from coronavirus on American soil.

The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea Show all 11 1 /11 The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea Visitors with suspected symptoms of the new coronavirus, inside of a car, bottom right, get virus test by members of medical team as others queue in their cars at a "drive-through" test facility at Yeungnam University Medical Center in Daegu on 27 February 2020 AP The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea Workers move equipment into containers set up as a makeshift medical facility to accommodate COVID-19 patients at a hospital's grounds in Daegu, South Korea on Friday 28 February 2020 AP The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea People wait in line to buy face masks in front of a store at Dongseongro shopping district in Daegu on 27 February 2020 AFP via Getty Images The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea Medical workers wearing protective gears comfort each other outside a hospital in Daegu, South Korea, on 28 February 2020 REUTERS The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea Medical staff in protective gears arrive for a duty shift at Dongsan Hospital in Daegu South Korea on Friday 28 February 2020 AP The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea A South Korean health worker sprays disinfectant as part of preventive measures against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, at a residential area near the Daegu branch of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Daegu on 27 February 2020 AFP via Getty Images The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea A man wears a mask and goggles as he waits in line to buy face masks from a post office near the Daegu branch of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Daegu on 27 February 2020 AFP via Getty The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea South Korean medical workers wearing protective gear visit a residence of people with suspected symptoms of the COVID-19 coronavirus to take samples, near the Daegu branch of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Daegu on 27 February 2020 AFP via Getty Images The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea A South Korean health worker sprays disinfectant as part of preventive measures against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, at a residential area near the Daegu branch of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Daegu on 27 February 2020 AFP via Getty Images The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea A South Korean army vehicle sprays disinfectant on a road to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 in Daegu, South Korea on Thursday 27 February 2020. AP The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea Troops set up makeshift partitions and beds at the Armed Forces Hospital in Daegu South Korea 28 February 2020 EPA

Mr Biden told CNN's State of the Union: "I heard the vice president say they set up an office in the White House. We had an office in the White House, dealing with a pandemic that could have been incredibly dangerous and affected the world  Ebola  we set up an entire mechanism of how to deal with future outbreaks of pandemic diseases.

"They eliminated that office when they came in play. They cut the funding for CDC [Centers for Disease Control], they tried to cut the funding in terms of HHS [Health and Human Services].

"Look, we knew this was coming back as far as January. They didn't even being to prepare the testing kits. This is something that's kind of elementary."

He added: "The fact is that other nations have had thousands of tests so far. What are we doing? Why are we just getting started?"

Mr Biden said he would also have insisted there were American scientists in China and Europe helping to get across the crisis

At a rally in North Charleston, South Carolina, on Friday Mr Trump accused Democrats of politicising the crisis. Referring back to the Mueller investigation into links with Russia and to his impeachment over his efforts to pressure Ukraine into digging up dirt on his political rivals, the president said of coronavirus: "And this is their new hoax."

Two of this top officials appeared to follow suit.

Mick Mulvaney, the acting chief of staff, told an audience at the CPAC conference of conservative activists: "The press was covering their hoax of the day because they thought it would bring down the president."

Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state, refused to say the coronavirus was not a hoax when asked by Democratic congressman Ted Lieu at a hearing on Capitol Hill.

However, when asked at a rare White House news conference on Saturday, held to discuss his administration's response to the crisis, about whether he still thought it was a hoax, the president insisted his words had been taken out of context and that he had been referring to the Democrats' reaction to it.

Mr Trump said: "No no no. 'Hoax' referring to the action they take to try and pin this on somebody, because we've done such a good job."

According to the Centers for Disease Control, 15 people have tested positive for coronavirus after being tested in the United States. Another 44 Americans who were on the Diamond Princess cruise ship and were repatriated have tested positive for coronavirus, as have three Americans brought back from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak.

 Donald Trump confirms first US coronavirus death

On Saturday it was announced that the first person in the United States had died from Covid-19. The man in his late 50s had underlying health problems, officials in Washington state said.

At least two other people in the state are known to have coronavirus while 50 people at an elderly care home are being tested.
Iranian Coronavirus Death Toll Rises To 43

By RFE/RL February 29, 2020

Iran's Health Ministry says nine people have died from the new coronavirus in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of deaths to 43 amid 593 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the Islamic republic.

Spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour gave the new figure on February 29.

"We have had 205 new cases of COVID-19 within 24 hours", he said, while urging people to stay away from mass gatherings and limit their travel.

Iran has the highest death toll outside of China, the epicenter of the outbreak.

The BBC's Persian service said a count conducted by its unnamed sources in several hospitals suggested at least 210 people had died in the country as of late on February 27. The Health Ministry vehemently denied the report.

The rapid spread of the outbreak forced the cancellation of Friday Prayers in many mosques across the country.

Asadollah Abbasi, a spokesman of the parliamentary presidium, was quoted as saying on February 29 that five of 100 lawmakers in the Majlis, or parliament, had tested positive for the virus.

He said the other lawmakers will also be tested.

Iran's government spokesman will hold his weekly news conference online due to the outbreak, the semiofficial Mehr news agency reported on February 29.

Iran has become the main hot spot of the virus in the Middle East, and the country's officials have been accused of hiding the true scale of the outbreak.

Authorities canceled Friday Prayers in Tehran and 22 provincial capitals in response to the looming pandemic, while the Health Ministry advised against all public events, such as weddings or funerals. Schools and universities, along with cultural gathering places such cinemas, theaters, and concert halls, have all been closed.

Meanwhile, Azerbaijan said on February 29 it had closed its border with Iran for two weeks to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

In Bahrain, authorities threatened legal prosecution against travelers who came from Iran and hadn't been tested for the new coronavirus, and also barred public gatherings for two weeks.

The tiny island state off the coast of Saudi Arabia has been hard-hit with cases and shut down some flights to halt the spread of the virus.

All of Bahrain's cases link back to Iran.

Qatar announced on February 29 its first coronavirus case, a Qatari citizen who was on an earlier evacuation flight from Iran.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia announced on February 29 it would bar citizens of the Gulf Cooperation Council member states from Islam's holiest sites in Mecca and Medina over concerns about the virus' spread. The council is a six-country group including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Elsewhere, Pakistan confirmed two more cases of coronavirus on February 29, bringing the total number of positive cases to four since February 26, when the first two cases were reported in the country.

COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus, has infected some 83,000 people in dozens of countries, causing 2,800 deaths. Most of the cases and deaths were reported in China, where the disease emerged in December.

The virus has now reached every continent except Antarctica.

With reporting by AP, Reuters, dpa, BBC, IRNA and ISNA

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ iranian-coronavirus-death-toll- rises/30461420.html

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

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Online streaming giant Netflix's first made-in-Africa production, Queen Sono, a spy thriller starring South Africa's leading actress Pearl Thusi, launches on Friday.

The new series, one its first investments on the continent, premiered in Johannesburg on Thursday night.

Created and directed by leading local satirist and actor Kagiso Lediga, Queen Sono is part of Netflix's broader "Made in Africa, Seen by the World" strategy.

Shot at more than 37 locations including in Kenya, Zanzibar, Nigeria and South Africa -- Queen Sono is the first original script-to-screen series from Africa.

Netflix's Africa manager Dorothy Ghettuba describes the movie as "a gripping action pact thriller (that) ... follows the life of Queen Sono, a highly trained secret spy who works for South Africans".

"I have always been the face of a strong African woman; it's not new to me but I'm now representing a character on screen who is, I think reflecting all the women in Africa that are strong, black African women," said Thusi, who is also a star of US FBI thriller series "Quantico".

The production shows "exactly what we wish to do which is telling stories about Africa by Africans," said Ted Sarandos, chief content officer at Netflix.

For creator and director Lediga "there are so many stories, there are so many great film makers on the continent, I can't wait to see what comes up after this".

After attending the premier Lufuno Mutheiwana, 48, who works at a retail store, said it was time Africa tells its own story.

"It shows that we as Africans we can to do things by ourselves, we don't need Europeans or Asians or anyone to tell our own stories. We understand ourselves and we can actually tell our story better than anybody else".
Syrian media says no one hurt in the Turkish attack over Idlib with pilots parachuting to safety.

Antakya, Turkey  Turkeys military shot down two Syrian government fighter jets over northwest Idlib, hours after forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad brought down a Turkish drone over the region.

In a Twitter post on Sunday, Turkeys defence ministry said its forces struck two SU-24 aircraft in response to the downing of the drone.

Syrias SANA news agency confirmed the aircraft were hit over northwestern Idlib province, but said no one was hurt in the attack. The pilots used parachutes and landed safely, it added.

The shootdowns came as Turkey announced a full-scale military operation dubbed Spring Shield against Syrian targets.

The Syrian militarys Al-Nayrab airport, on the outskirts of Aleppo city, was hit by air attacks making it out of service, Turkeys state-run Anadolu news agency cited local sources as saying.

Syrian forces used the airbase for attacks against the Turkish armed forces and civilians in Idlib, the news report said.

The regimes range of action has been further restricted as the Al-Nayrab military airport has been made unusable, sources were quoted as saying.

Al Jazeera was unable to independently confirm the report.





Amid the escalating tensions, the Syrian government closed the airspace over Idlib, with one official telling SANA any aircraft that violates our airspace will be treated as a hostile flight that must be shot down and prevented from achieving its objectives.

Forces loyal to al-Assad, backed by Russian airpower, have renewed an offensive to capture Idlib from opposition forces, who are backed by Turkey.

Since the operation intensified in December, Syrian government forces have rapidly advanced into the last opposition stronghold, retaking the strategic M5 highway and solidifying control over parts of Aleppo province, which borders Idlib.

Turkey says the operation violates deals signed with Russia in 2017 and 2018 to set up de-escalation zones in the region.

Tensions have escalated in recent days after 34 Turkish troops were killed in Syrian government air raids on Idlib on February 27. The toll was the biggest military loss the Turkish military has suffered since it intervened in the Syrian conflict in 2016.

In response, Ankara said it struck scores of Syrian government targets and neutralised 2,212 soldiers.





Speaking in Hatay on Sunday, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said Ankaras response also destroyed eight Syrian helicopters, 103 tanks, 72 artillery and rocket launchers, and three air defence systems.

Following the heinous attack on February 27 in Idlib, operation Spring Shield successfully continues, Akar said in a video shared by the defence ministry.

Damascus is yet to comment on the Turkish claims.

We have no intention of clashing with Russia. Our aim is to stop massacres Syrian regimes massacres, radicalisation and migration, Akar was quoted as saying by Turkish media.

He went on to pledge retaliation against attacks on Turkish forces and its observation posts in Idlib and said: Turkey will only target Syrian regime soldiers and elements in Idlib who attacked Turkish troops  Turkey expects Russia to use its influence to end to Syrian regime attacks.

There was no immediate comment from Russia.

Horror story

The renewed hostilities in Idlib has displaced nearly one million people, mostly women and children, according to the United Nations. About 300 civilians have also been confirmed killed.

Syrian civil defence rescuers told Al Jazeera that four civilians were killed, including a child, in an air attack on Sunday by government forces near the town of Maaret Masreen in Idlib.

Mark Lowcock, head of UNs humanitarian agency, has described the situation as the biggest humanitarian horror story of the 21st century and called for an immediate ceasefire.

At a pro-Turkish demonstration in Idlibs Hazzaneh town, Hussein al-Hamad said Ankara intervened in Idlib based on the request of the free Syrian people.

We are in full support of the Turkeys armed forces operation in Idlib and God willing we will liberate all the towns in the province, al-Hamad told Al Jazeera.

Turkeys strong intervention confirms the continuation of battles to wrest control of the fallen areas from the Syrian regime forces and its Russian allies and Iranian militias.

Idlib resident Othman Abu Fadi also reacted positively to Turkeys military operation.

We are all hopeful that something positive will happen to relieve the Syrian people of their suffering  We need an ally like Turkey to actively push back the Syrian government force, Fadi told Al Jazeera.

The morale was low when we learned of the regimes advancement into Idlib, but with the rebels taking back control of Saraqeb, our faith in the opposition groups has resurged, especially with their positions in Jabal Zawiya and Sahl-al-Ghab. We hope in another months time Idlib will be under full control of the rebels.
At the current toll of 3,066 Trinidad and Tobago now has the highest number of Covid-19 deaths in the Caricom region, both numerically and number of deaths per million people.

This unenviable standing could quickly change, depending on when new variants take hold and the impact they have on any given country.
Miss something this week? Don't panic. CBC's Marketplace rounds up the consumer and health news you need.

Want this in your inbox? Get the Marketplace newsletter every Friday.

Canadian Transportation Agency flooded with 3,000 complaints over delayed flight compensation

The federal government introduced new regulations on Dec.15 requiring airlines to pay up to $1,000 in compensation for flight delays and cancellations that are within the airline's control and not safety-related. But already there's been push-back about how airlines are doling out the compensation. And the CTA has promised an investigation. Read more

David Donnelly/CBC

There's a new way to quickly test for Listeria

A team of Western University scientists have developed a rapid test kit for Listeria, a bacteria that can cause serious illness, in an effort to increase safety and cut costs for food manufacturing companies. Dr. Michael Rieder says that many food manufacturers are required to ship food samples out to get tested for bacteria, but by the time results arrive, it's often too late and products are already on shelves. The new kit may help eliminate this discrepancy. Read more

Submitted by Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry

Air Canada cancels flights to China until April as government braces for domestic coronavirus outbreak

Air Canada is extending its suspension of flights between Canada and mainland China until April as the number of coronavirus cases  and the number of countries affected  continues to grow. The airline announced this week that service to Beijing and Shanghai will be cancelled until April 10. Read more

Chinatopix/The Associated Press

Canadians finding hundreds of dollars in unclaimed cheques on CRA website

Andriy R/Shutterstock

A little-known feature on the Canada Revenue Agency's website is netting some Canadians hundreds of dollars they are owed from uncashed government cheques. Here's how to find it: log in and go to the bottom of the "related services section" on the right side.

CBC News

What else is going on?

Air New Zealand to test out bunk beds in economy class Good news for travellers who think economy airline seats are small enough to make you feel like cattle: now you can opt for a capsule hotel in the sky instead.

Story continues

Canada to conduct flight tests on grounded Boeing 737 Max fleet The country's top aviation officials said Canada will conduct its own flight tests to examine whether the grounded Boeing 737 Max fleet is safe to fly after two deadly crashes.

Canada poised to lose lobster edge in China in wake of U.S. trade deal Canadian lobster fishers may soon lose their edge in the Chinese market thanks to a rule change that could exempt Maine lobster from punitive tariffs.

The latest in recalls

These snowboard bindings have been recalled due to a fall hazard. These steaks and tuna loins have been recalled due to elevated levels of histamine. These profiteroles and eclairs have been recalled due to a possible Salmonella contamination.

This week on Marketplace: Broken appliances with David Common

CBC

Have you ever had to toss an old appliance into a place like this? How old was it? We surveyed Canadians across the country about appliance breakdowns, and found that nearly half have had an appliance break down when it was between five and 10 years old. And only about a fifth of those people were completely satisfied with their experience dealing with their appliance's manufacturer. It's the people versus the appliance giants on this week's Marketplace. We got the idea from you  thanks to hundreds of emails we received about your appliance nightmares. Follow along as four Canadians with broken appliances try to get their machines up and running. Some find a way; others aren't so lucky. But there's a place in the world where repairing appliances might be a whole lot easier. We travel to Sweden for a look at how things are done in Europe. In our survey, we also asked you which brands seem to break down the most. Want the answers? Tune in to find out. Watch our full investigation and past episodes of Marketplace anytime on CBC Gem. -David
New Delhi, March 1 : National capital's IGI Airport intends to enhance the passenger experience and somewhat augment its revenues via soft infrastructure that provides services which are associated more with online industry like baggage pick-up and shop-and-drop.

Accordingly, IGIA has gone beyond than just providing traditional side services and facilities like food outlets or retail points by introducing mobile application based solutions, baggage services and more.

"The Delhi Airport has been going the extra mile to enhance overall travel experience of its passengers," said Videh Kumar Jaipuriar, Chief Executive at Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) which runs the IGIA.

According to industry insiders, new and innovative offerings are increasingly coming up at facilities like airports, as latent business potential and an assured captive population at these sites, making them hot-spots for e-based services.

In one such offering, Delhi airport has launched an AI-based mobile app -- HOI -- to enrich passenger experience by integrating self-check-in process and enable paperless journey for the fliers.

As per specifications, the mobile app allows passengers to check important travel details, track real-time flight information, receive travel alerts and reminders and navigate through maps.

Furthermore, the airport operator has started to provide another service, whereby passengers' baggage is picked up from their doorstep and delivered back to them at departure zone against a fee.

Passengers arriving at Delhi airport can get their baggage delivered to locations in NCR region, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Lately, the airport has also launched a Sakha Cab service for women passengers amongst others.

Besides the new services, DIAL has kicked off the next phase of airport expansion which is expected to enable IGIA to handle 100 million passengers per annum (MPPA) in the next three years.

An estimated Rs 9,800 crore is being spent on the expansion plan which envisions an enhanced air-side capacity to handle around 140 million passengers.

Additionally, the expansion drive will make IGIA the only airport in India to have four runways.

The project under Phase 3A is expected to be ready by June 2022. The new air-side infrastructure, such as the dual elevated eastern cross taxiways will be constructed in this phase.

Another key feature of the plan is the new integrated Terminal 1 with 40 million passenger handling capacity. The integrated terminal will have several passenger-friendly facilities, such as facial recognition system and aero bridges.

On the city-side, a flyover at Aerocity metro station would be constructed to reduce travel time from T1 to T3.

(Rohit Vaid can be contacted at rohit.v@ians.in)
Slovakia's Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini conceded defeat in Saturday's general election as partial official results showed the OLaNO centre-right opposition party outpacing his populist-left Smer-SD by nearly five percentage points.

"Congratulations to the election winner, good health, good luck," Pellegrini told OLaNO leader Igor Matovic, adding "he has good marketing, but we will be interested in how he will handle his office".

"Marketing only helps to get to power, but it is not enough to govern," Pellegrini told reporters in Bratislava early Sunday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi on Sunday discussed the latest developments concerning the new coronavirus with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and Health Minister Hala Zayed, a statement from his office said.

El-Sisi and the officials discussed the latest developments concerning the worldwide outbreak of the virus and the health ministrys plan and precautions taken to face the virus nationwide, according to the statement.

He asked officials to raise the degree of readiness in accordance with the World Health Organization's standards through coordination and cooperation between state institutions.

He also called on the officials to launch ongoing awareness campaigns targeting citizens from different segments of society, in order to provide them with all the accurate information and statements.

He also called the officials to tighten health screening and controls at Egypt's ports and airports.

Following the meeting, Zayed announced that she would be traveling to China on Sunday evening.

According to the ministry, she will hold a press conference at Cairo airport to explain why she is heading to China.

Egypt has seen one confirmed case of the viral disease so far; officials said last week that the case, a foreign national, had subsequently tested negative while in quarantine.
Sam Millsaps voice still breaks when he talks about the realization that Ruben Cantu, a former special education student later convicted of murder, was likely innocent when he was executed by the state in 1993.

I didnt say anything about the Cantu case for about six weeks after I realized how serious my error had been, said Millsap, the former Bexar County district attorney whose office charged Cantu with capital murder. I got up and I started talking, and I realized the toll that it had taken. I simply couldnt talk about it without sobbing.

Its been 15 years since I was confronted with what happened in that case, Millsap added, pausing briefly. And Im going to stop talking right now because its still emotional for me. It always will be.

Millsaps account was a brief but moving moment during a panel Saturday for advocates, lawyers and officials in town for a one-day conference hosted by the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, a statewide advocacy group. Millsap was joined by current Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales, a vocal advocate for criminal justice reform who has vowed to use the death penalty in only the worst of the worst cases.

On ExpressNews.com: Both Bexar County DA candidates would seek death penalty

The presentation was a striking reminder of how public sentiment in support of the death penalty has waned over the last three decades, especially as alternative sentences such as life without the possibility of parole have become available. Prior to 2005, when Gov. Rick Perry signed a law allowing juries to sentence defendants to life without parole, the alternative was life in prison with the chance for parole after 40 years.

Opponents of capital punishment argue that the practice is unfairly applied based on race and poses the risk of killing individuals with claims of actual innocence, like Cantu. Studies show that the appeal process in capital cases costs more than housing an inmate for life and that the death penalty does not deter violent crime.

Studies have also found that forensic disciplines formerly thought to be reliable  including the analysis of bite marks, shoe and tire impressions and blood splatter  are more subjective than scientific. A 2009 report by the National Academy of Sciences questioned if there is science in any given forensic science discipline.

Cantu was 17 when he was accused of shooting a victim nine times with a rifle before emptying at least nine more rounds into the only eyewitness, a man who barely survived to testify. The case was initially closed after the eyewitness, Juan Moreno, viewed a lineup of photos, including one showing Cantu, and did not identify him as a suspect.

Police reopened the case the next year after Cantu shot an off-duty officer in civilian clothes at a bar  a crime he admitted to after, he said, the man showed off a gun in his waistband and threatened him. Again, Moreno was interviewed by police. He did not identify Cantu.

The next day, after being brought into the police station, Moreno, an undocumented immigrant at the time, identified Cantu as the shooter. Cantu was arrested and later convicted, despite the lack of any physical evidence tying him to the scene. He maintained his innocence till his execution in 1993.

Twelve years later, after a Hearst Newspapers investigation raised serious questions about Cantus guilt, Millsap admitted that he never should have sought the death penalty in a case based on the testimony of a single eyewitness. He remains a vocal opponent of the death penalty.

On ExpressNews.com: With a mans execution days away, his victims react with fury or forgiveness

Gonzales commended Millsap for his willingness to admit publicly that he was wrong. He said its important for prosecutors to be transparent and candid, to put their egos aside and make decisions for the right reasons.

If we got it wrong, we need to be able to admit we got it wrong, Gonzales said. We need to make sure that we have the proper evidence to review convictions to make sure they were based on a sound investigation and not junk science.

Gonzales, like Millsap, said his view of the death penalty has evolved over the years. In 1992, as a young assistant district attorney in Harris County, he said it was common for prosecutors to seek the death penalty once a week. He said that experience  along with his upbringing in a modest, single-parent home on the West Side and a Marianist education at St. Marys University  helped shape his views on the need for criminal justice reform.

I thought this cant be the right way to do it, Gonzales recalled. It cant be that everybody needs to be executed and everybody needs to have the book thrown at them.

Today, as the top law enforcement official in Bexar County, Gonzales said he reviews evidence in every capital murder case with 10 officials from his office. In the last year, the committee has reviewed 28 cases.

Of those, Gonzales chose to seek the death penalty twice: in the case of Brian Flores, then accused in the 2015 deaths of two teenagers, and Otis Tyrone McKane, who is suspected in the 2016 killing of San Antonio Police Detective Benjamin Marconi. Flores case was later resolved after he pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Gonzales also was one of a few prosecutors last year who urged Gov. Greg Abbott to postpone the execution of Rodney Reed, who was convicted in the 1996 rape and murder of a Bastrop woman. Gonzales said he was compelled to write a letter in Reeds support because of new evidence that had emerged and serious questions about Reeds guilt.

I wish more prosecutors had stepped forward, Gonzales said. I wish more prosecutors had said, Whats the harm in looking? Whats the harm in waiting to see that we got this right?

Gonzales, who admitted he does have moral qualms about the use of the death penalty, said it is possible that his view of capital punishment could continue to evolve.

Im not at the point yet where I can say I will never use the death penalty, he told the crowd. Maybe one day.

Emilie Eaton is a criminal justice reporter in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | eeaton@express-news.net | Twitter: @emilieeaton
Istanbul police on Sunday detained the editor-in-chief of the Turkish edition of Sputnik, the Russian website said, amid growing tensions between Ankara and Moscow.

"Sputnik Turkey's editor-in-chief Mahir Boztepe has been detained. He is being taken to the Istanbul police headquarters," the website said.

Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of Rossiya Segodnya which owns Sputnik, confirmed the detention on Twitter, and criticised the earlier detention of three other journalists in Ankara.

"Three others were at the police station in Ankara since yesterday where last night nationalists entered their apartments. Turkey, what's going on???" Simonyan tweeted.

She added that Ankara police had said the journalists were not in custody.

"Yet at the same time, we haven't had any contact with the same three since last night -- when they went to the same police station to complain about the nationalists who entered their homes." Sputnik said that the three journalists had been taken to an Ankara court for questioning and that Turkish police were searching the Russian website's Istanbul office.

Sputnik also said a meeting was underway in Istanbul between an agency representative, their lawyer, officials from the Russian consulate and Turkish police.

The Turkish branch of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) tweeted on Sunday that police took statements from the three journalists in Ankara after Sputnik published an article in English titled: "The 'Stolen Province': Why Turkey Was Given A Corner Of Syria By France 80 Years Ago." Colonial power France ceded the southern region to Turkey in 1938.

The Russian foreign ministry earlier criticised the detention of the three journalists.

The ministry said that "protesters" entered the journalists' homes and threatened them.

"We call on the Turkish authorities to intervene and ensure the safety of Russian media journalists," it said in a statement.

The relationship between Russia and Turkey has been strained since attacks blamed on the Russian-backed Syrian regime killed dozens of Turkish soldiers last month in the northwestern rebel-held Syrian province of Idlib.

While Ankara backs Syrian opposition fighters, Russia is a close ally of Damascus and has provided air power during the recent assault on Idlib.

Ties between the two countries deteriorated after Turkey shot down a Russian plane in 2015, but a rapprochement in 2016 led to closer links in multiple areas including energy and in Syria.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Planning a wedding isnt easy. When it comes to wedding dress shopping, a bride usually starts looking at least six months in advance.

But for some Bay Area brides, that carefully selected wedding dress has been abruptly canceled or delayed due to coronavirus, so much so that theyve had to go out and find another dress.

People have been coming in and saying they don't know if their dress is going to get here, so theyre shopping now to have a backup plan or completely replace it, said Emilie Louie, owner of Emerald City Gowns in Berkeley. Last weekend, someone called me in a panic. Their wedding is in April and the bride was just notified that [the original bridal shop] was uncertain if it would get there.

Many businesses that get supplies and products from China are being impacted by the spread of the virus, though media coverage has been widely focused on the tech industry. While not getting your wedding dress on time is certainly not a big deal compared to those who are falling ill, the overall economic impact on the small-business community could be far-reaching.

Louies store specializes in vintage, high-end consignment and designer samples, so dresses are bought off the rack and theres no special ordering. While she has plenty of inventory now, shes worried about the trickle-down effect the virus is having on the industry. She said shes concerned about seamstresses having to make alterations on a tight deadline since dresses will be coming in late and stores losing money by having to refund customers.

San Franciscos Off The Rack Bride, a wedding dress boutique that sells dresses directly from the store, has seen an increase in calls from panicked brides searching for alternative options. Much of the bridal industrys dresses are custom made and have to be ordered, and while not many dresses are made in China, fabric or tools from China may be needed, throwing off the whole supply chain.

Off The Rack Brides sister store, couture retailer Bridal Galleria, has been warning brides that there could be supply-chain issues for certain designers it carries, and that it's checking with all of their manufacturers regularly.

Buyer Grace Young said she has received calls from at least six brides who have had to find alternative options in an off-the-rack store from what they originally had purchased somewhere else. She said shes thankful the store already had so much inventory, as she expects the trend could continue.

Shes not so bullish on the couture side of the business, and is concerned about how the effect of the fears around the virus will affect them. While none of their high-end designers are based in China, those designers may require materials like lace and embroidery from China.

Some of their designers have stopped taking rush orders as a precaution.

Young had a call this week from a bride that wanted to know whether her dress was coming from China, because she was concerned the virus could live on the dress. Thats so absurd, but you can really feel the fear. Its irrational, but its real, she said.

Shes mostly worried about the ripple effects that the virus could have on her business.

We were feeling really good about the beginning of the year, January and February were looking great, and then all of a sudden we get this Solano County case, Young said. It may affect our buying. If there are less customers or people postpone their weddings, its going to impact how many dresses I buy for the store.

Young said they get a good amount of customers from China every year visiting to buy their dress, as the United States is known for their bridal couture. Since residents may not be able to travel to buy their dress, they may postpone the wedding altogether.

She said theyve also had to alter the way they do business in the store. Were trying not to shake hands as much, but its hard since wedding dress buying is an intimate business, Young said, noting they've bought more hand sanitizer for the store. Even with flu season every year, we try to be more careful, but there's a heightened sense of caution now.

For now, Young said shes been following the news closely and trying not to speculate too much. Who knows whats going to happen? What if theres an outbreak in Canada or in Israel where a lot of our designers are? she said. Fear breeds irrationality, but thats going to impact the global economy.

Tessa McLean is a digital editor at SFGATE. Email: tessa.mclean@sfgate.com | Twitter: @mcleantessa
Finance Minister on Sunday asked civil accounts officers to focus on bringing in more efficient and adaptive technologies to further smoothen the working of the Public Financial Management System (PFMS).

Speaking at a function here to mark the 44th Civil Accounts Day, she said there is so much more to be accomplished and officers need to be responsive to the changes.

The minister further said the officers are not only competent accounts persons, but also competent professionals.

"Even as we are talking of technology, that itself is a challenge. Everyday it changes, newer versions come in, rapid changes are happening and therefore to keep on top of it is a big exercise. You have to constantly keep changing the milepost, bring in more and more efficiency and adaptive technology," Sitharaman said.

She also said that they have "revolutionised" technology-driven PFMS and it has empowered India to be accountable, responsive and transparent.

"Today all over the world DBT (direct benefit transfer) and GST (Goods and Services Tax) are being talked about as one of the silent revolution that democracy can show off to the world," the minister added.

She said the officers have shown that public finance is not opaque, but efficient and responsive to the public.

"This is biggest revolution. The Rs 1 lakh crore you have saved through DBT, these are not just symbolic. The Rs 1 lakh crore being saved for the public (is) by efficient use of without making anyone feel sorry," she said.

Through efficient use of technology, this service has proven that corruption and wrongdoing can be removed from the system, she added.

PFMS is designed to help the government agencies for processing payments, tracking, monitoring, accounting and reconciliation.

It tracks funds disbursement and ensures that state treasuries are integrated with the Centre to ensure money is sent as and when required.

Speaking at the function, Expenditure Secretary T V Somanathan said integration of PFMS with railways, defence and postal service needs to be taken forward and the officers should expeditiously implement further ongoing initiatives so that it realises its full potential.

"I would like to draw your attention to huge volumes of data PFMS have within it which can be effectively use to improve the quality of expenditure," he said.

He added greater attention is required to ensure timely payments.

Expenditure payments and tax refunds should be paid promptly without any kind of unnecessary delay, he said.

"I am aware that in most of these systems, there are multiple agencies involved and you are often at the tail end and the delay can be for various reasons beyond your control, but there is one element of the system which is in your control and what I would like you to do is to make sure that, that element of system is never a source of delay or complaint," he added.

He asked the officers to be very responsive to complaints received with regard to payment delays.
LEAP YEARS occur once every four years, and next Saturday marriage proposals may well be in the air, and reluctant bachelors keeping out of sight. This is the perfect chance for a woman to take matters into her own hands and get down on one knee and propose marriage to her beloved on February 29.

The custom of women proposing marriage is believed to have been introduced to balance the traditional roles of men and women in a similar way to how leap day balances the calendar.

I recall the how many days in a month rhyme from my school days which goes as follows,

Thirty days has September, April, June, and November.

All the rest have thirty-one, except February which has twenty-eight,

Except in Leap Year once in four when February has one day more.

The name leap year comes from the fact that while a fixed date in the Gregorian calendar normally advances one day of the week from one year to the next, the day of the week in a leap year will advance two days (from March onwards) due to the extra day added at the end of February (thus leaping over one of the days in the week). For example, Christmas fell on Tuesday in 2001, Wednesday in 2002, and Thursday in 2003 but then leapt over Friday to fall on a Saturday in 2004.

Why is February 29, not February 31, a leap year day? All the other months have 30 or 31 days, but February suffered from the ego of Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus. Under Julius Caesar, February had 30 days, but when Caesar Augustus was emperor, he was peeved that his month August, had only 29 days, whereas the month named after his predecessor Julius - July - had 31. He pinched a couple of days for August to make it the same as July, and it was poor old February that lost out.

A person born on February 29 may be called a leaping or a leaper. In common years, they usually celebrate their birthdays on February 28. In some situations, March 1 is used as the birthday in a non-leap year, since it is the day following February 28. Technically, a leaping will have fewer birthday anniversaries than their age in years. This phenomenon is exploited when a person claims to be only a quarter of their actual age, by counting their leap-year birthday anniversaries only. People born on February 29 are all invited to join The Honour Society of Leap Year Day Babies.

According to the Guinness Book of Records, there are Leap Day World Record Holders both of a family producing three consecutive generations born on February 29 and of the number of children born on February 29 in the same family. In some places, leap day has been known as Bachelors Day for the same reason. A man was expected to pay a penalty, such as a gown or money, if he refused a marriage proposal from a woman on Leap Day.

In many European countries, especially in the upper classes of society, tradition dictates that any man who refuses a woman's proposal on February 29 must buy her 12 pairs of gloves. The intention is that the woman can wear the gloves to hide the embarrassment of not having an engagement ring. During the middle ages there were laws governing this tradition.

In Scotland, it used to be considered unlucky for someone to be born on leap day, just as Friday 13, is considered an unlucky day by many. Greeks consider it unlucky for couples to marry during a leap year, and especially on Leap Day. Leap day is also St Oswalds Day, named after the archbishop of York, who died on February 29, 992. His memorial is celebrated on February 29 during leap years and on February 28 during common years.

Looking back through ancient Irish history, it is said that the tradition began in 5th century Ireland when Saint Brigid of Kildare bitterly complained to St. Patrick that women had to wait far too long for men to propose. Initially, he granted women permission to propose only once every seven years, but at Brigid's insistence, he relented and allowed proposals every leap day. The folk tale suggests that Brigid then dropped to a knee and proposed to Patrick that instant, but he refused, kissing her on the cheek and offering a silk gown to soften the blow. It was said he was probably too busy saving Ireland from the snakes, for romance, and marriage.

The Irish tradition therefore dictates that any man refusing a woman's leap-day proposal must give her a silk gown. The tradition was then taken to Scotland by Irish monks. Back in 1288, the Scots passed a law that allowed a woman to propose marriage to the man of their dreams in a Leap Year with the law also stating that any man who declined the proposal on this day would have to pay a fine. The law was allegedly passed by an unmarried Queen Margaret (although records show she may only have been five years old at the time) and she put in place a rule that all those women proposing must wear a red petticoat while doing so. The fine to be paid if a man declined could range from a kiss to payment for a silk dress or a pair of gloves.

If you think these stories sound unrealistic, you're not the only one with doubts, as scholars have pointed out in Scotland. Queen Margaret would have been just 5 years old when the alleged leap-year proposal law was enacted, making it unlikely that she fretted over a woman's right to request a hand in marriage. Plus, historians have been unable to find any reference to the supposed law on the books. The roots of the Irish tradition are dubious as well. Saint Brigid was just 9 or 10 years old when St. Patrick died in 461 A.D. - though some put this date closer to 493 A.D. - making the pair's friendship unlikely.

What is it about leap years that makes people superstitious about marriage? In Greece, getting married in a leap year is considered inauspicious, and the relationship is thought likely to end in divorce. Women in Finland are advised to propose only on leap-year day Feb. 29 for good luck. If her boyfriend should refuse, he is required to pay her a fine of enough money to buy fabric to make a skirt.

A prayer has been written by a female cleric for people planning a leap year day marriage proposal. The prayer, for 29 February, asks for blessings on the engaged couple. It reminds them that wedding plans should not overtake preparations for a lifetime together. The prayer has been taken from Pocket Prayers of Blessing by the Venerable Jan McFarlane, Archdeacon of Norwich:

God of love, please bless N and N as they prepare for the commitment of marriage. May the plans for the wedding not overtake the more important preparation for their lifetime together? Please bless their family and friends as they prepare for this special day and may your blessing be upon them now and always. Amen. Ireland's folklore is full of wonderful, funny, strange, but sometimes out-dated traditions and in this year of 2020, we have 366 days, and one of the most well-known traditions to carry out and observe, enjoy.
Trump Faces Political Threat From Coronavirus

By Steve Herman February 28, 2020

Donald Trump's presidency is facing one of its biggest challenges from the spread of the new coronavirus, which threatens to infect the healthy U.S. economy.

Trump on Friday, in remarks to reporters and at a political rally, downplayed the potential seriousness of the novel coronavirus, known as COVID-19, comparing it to influenza and complaining of U.S. media coverage of and Democrats' attention to the potential pandemic.

"Now the Democrats are politicizing the coronavirus," Trump said at a political rally in South Carolina. "This is their new hoax."

Investors are not regarding it as a hoax. U.S. stock indexes logged their worst weekly decline Friday since the 2008 financial crisis, in large part due to fears about looming economic impact of disease's global transmission.

"We are totally prepared," Trump said at his campaign rally. "The press is in hysteria mode."

Departing the White House for his trip to South Carolina, Trump singled out one cable broadcaster for particular criticism.

"CNN is a very disreputable network," Trump said before boarding the Marine One helicopter. "I think they're doing everything they can to instill fear in people."

As U.S. stock prices continued to plunge, White House national economic director Larry Kudlow told reporters Friday that the country's economy remained fundamentally sound and "I don't think people should panic."

Kudlow, who is a member of the administration's newly formed coronavirus task force, said that while there was currently no evidence of major supply chain disruptions, "that may be ahead of us."

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell issued a statement while trading was still underway Friday afternoon, saying the central bank would use its tools and "act as appropriate to support the economy."

Powell said the "fundamentals of the U.S. economy remain strong," but "the coronavirus poses evolving risks to economic activity" and the Fed "is closely monitoring developments and their implications for the economic outlook."

Trump has repeatedly complained the Fed has not been aggressive enough in cutting rates.

"I hope the Fed gets involved and gets involved soon," Trump said to reporters on Friday afternoon. "They've done this country a great disservice."

The Trump administration will invoke special powers through a law called the Defense Production Act (DPA) to rapidly expand domestic manufacturing to acquire 300 million N95 protective masks, as well as masks and gloves  all at an estimated cost of $500 million.

"We intend to use [the DPA] to acquire anything we need to acquire. We won't use it unnecessarily," Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told White House reporters on Friday.

Donald Trump Jr., one of Trump's sons, accused members of the Democratic Party of wanting the coronavirus to kill "millions of people," which he told Fox News Channel was a "new level of sickness" among opposition politicians.

'Outrageous'

Democratic U.S. Representative John Garamendi called Trump Jr.'s comment "totally outrageous."

Appearing on MSNBC, the California lawmaker said: "I can assure you that there's not a Democrat or Republican in Congress that wants anybody to be sick."

Leaders of the Democratic Party, which controls the House and is in the minority in the Senate, have been critical of what they characterize as a tardy and disorganized response by the Trump administration to the threat from the coronavirus.

"This situation demands more transparency from the government, and the American people need to hear the unfiltered truth directly from the scientists and health experts," said Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democrats' leader in the Senate. "President Trump and his team have to stop blaming everyone but themselves, focus less on political rallies and more on solutions to combat the spread of coronavirus."

Azar said that the Trump administration was requesting a total of $1 billion to support development of a COVID-19 vaccine.

"The situation demands more support from Congress," he said.

Administration officials say they want Trump to be able to sign a supplemental spending bill for funds to combat the coronavirus no later than the week after next.

The officials are rejecting criticism they had previously cut funds for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention budget on infectious diseases.

The acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russ Vought, called such media reporting "flat out inaccurate."

Global figures

Globally, there were more than 83,000 known cases of COVID-19, with about 2,900 reported deaths.

In the United States, there were more than 60 cases, including in California and Oregon several possible transmissions of the coronavirus in the community.

About half of the U.S. cases were passengers evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Yokohama, Japan. The vessel had previously visited China, the source of the outbreak.

"We haven't lost anybody yet and hopefully we can keep that intact," Trump said to reporters before heading to the South Carolina rally. "A lot of that is attributable to the fact we closed the border very early. Otherwise, it could be a different story."

Hundreds of U.S. nationals have been repatriated from mainland China on State Department-chartered flights. They were then placed in 14-day quarantines on airbases in California.

A whistleblower complaint, according to media reports, alleged federal employees sent to military bases did not follow safety protocols while interacting with those individuals and the government workers subsequently were not tested for COVID-19 before departing the bases and then were sent home on commercial flights.

"We are fully investigating the allegations in the complaint," Azar told reporters on Friday.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






As our country continues to reckon with changing norms of gender and sexual identity, it's becoming more common to find people who think that transgender men and women should be able to serve in the military.

Perhaps more importantly, trans people now also have the voices of hundreds of heterosexual, lesbian, gay and bisexual service members who would welcome them into their military ranks.

This is according to a first-of-its-kind study funded by the Department of Defense, which examined survey data from 486 non-trans, verified active-duty service members across the four major branches of the U.S. military.

Their responses forcefully contradict the myth that transgender service members degrade unit readiness, or "burden" or "disrupt" the military, as President Trump tweeted in 2017 when he banned trans people from joining the armed forces.

Aaron Belkin, the executive director of the nonpartisan Palm Center, said this in a press release highlighting the findings:

"This research ... gives the lie to the claim that transgender Americans disrupt the cohesion or readiness of the U.S. military. If the military really cares about cohesion, it should read the research it funds or stop wasting taxpayer money." The study, "Support for Transgender Military Service from Active Duty United States Military Personnel," was recently published in the peer-reviewed journal Sexuality Research and Social Policy.

Going back decades, the rationale for bans of various types  including against women and people of color  has been that unit cohesion relies on homogeneity. This has led to the evolution of myths that our nation's service members must share the same muscle mass, body composition, religious beliefs or culture.

But, of course, race, gender, geographic origin and religion have always mattered little in what makes excellent military personnel. (Did you know that the U.S. military now formally recognizes Heathens, Druids and Wiccans in addition to Atheists and Agnostics?)

In the proverbial foxhole, what matters to service people is faithfulness to each other built over months and years of training together, loyalty to their mission and a deep calling to serve and protect their country.

What's inside a service person's undergarments has little impact on any of this.

Notice I didn't say "no impact."

The truth is that, while two-thirds of all non-trans military people surveyed support transgender service, there are some variations in how individual subgroups responded.

Not surprisingly, 82% of lesbian, gay and bisexual respondents supported transgender military service, compared with 57% of heterosexual/cisgender respondents.

And lesbian, gay and bisexual service members and women service members reported the greatest support of transgender service (81% and 75%, respectively), while heterosexual and male service members indicated the lowest support (56% and 62%, respectively).

Black and Latinx service members reported the highest support (69% and 75%, respectively) for transgender people serving. No doubt this is because black and brown people know what it's like for people to conflate "different" with "lesser."

On a particularly bright note, the researchers found that there were no statistically significant differences in support for transgender service between the four branches of the military.

Most "new" groups gain wider acceptance as soon as they become more visible in communities.

This is particularly tricky for trans people, because some can "pass" as their true gender identity and there's nothing in it for them but potential sorrow if they come out to friends, co-workers and others. Others will never be able to transition to their desired gender to the point of fitting unambiguously into what society expects to see when they think of "men" and "women."

And still others will choose to exist in some state of in-between that makes sense for them, regardless of what society's neat categories demand.

All should be welcomed into the diverse branches of our military.

None of them ask for special treatment. Just fair and respectful treatment so that they can focus less on where they'll be using the bathroom or sleeping and more on training to defend our country.

Esther Cepeda's email address is estherjcepeda@washpost.com or follow her on Twitter @estherjcepeda.

Love 1 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1
US, Afghan Taliban Peace Deal Set for Signing

By VOA News February 29, 2020

After nearly 19 years of fighting, representatives of the United States and Afghan Taliban are expected to sign a peace deal Saturday in Doha, Qatar.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will be among those witnessing the signing of the agreement, which is intended to lead to talks between the Taliban and Afghan government officials on ending their conflict, and at drawing down the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan to 8,600 from 13,000.

U.S. President Donald Trump called on the Taliban and the Afghan government to "seize this opportunity for peace," and said if they live up to the commitments, "we will have a powerful path forward to end the war in Afghanistan and bring our troops home."

Defense Secretary Mark Esper will also issue a joint declaration with the government of Afghanistan, according to Trump's Friday statement.

A reduction of violence agreement between the U.S. and Taliban went into effect seven days ago, and its success paved the way for Saturday's signing.

Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai told VOA's Afghan service "We are very happy to see the signing taking place on Saturday. It's a welcomed thing. And from that point on, we hope that the intra-Afghan dialogue will start as soon as possible so Afghans can sit together and bringing lasting peace to our beloved country."

The talks between the Taliban and Afghan officials are supposed to begin with in 10 days.

The head of strategic relations at Afghanistan's Ministry of Peace Affairs, Najiyah Anwari, said, "The delegation of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan government will be inclusive ... in a way that it is able to represent Afghanistan well and to keep the achievements of Afghan people and their demands in past two decades and fight for it."

Former Taliban attorney general and deputy minister of justice Mawlavi Jalaluddin Shinwari told VOA that for their part, "The Taliban in the intra-Afghan talks want the participation of influential individuals in other words, the anti-Taliban leaders who have fought against the Taliban before."

Under the agreement, Afghanistan is to release 5,000 Taliban from government jails, while the Taliban agree to not allow extremists use Afghanistan to plot attacks against the United States or its allies.

The U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, which started nearly 19 years ago, after the September 11, 2001, attacks, has cost Washington almost $1 trillion and the lives of about 2,400 military personnel.

VOA's Eunjung Cho and Bezhan Hamdard contributed to this report.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






An online broker part-owned by one of the Emirati billionaires at the centre of the NMC Health scandal has had its licence suspended in two countries for a string of compliance breaches.

The Mail on Sunday can reveal that Australia-based AxiCorp, in which Khalifa Bin Butti has a stake, had its licence suspended in Australia and New Zealand for failing to comply with financial services laws.

Bin Butti, who was ejected from the board of embattled FTSE 100 hospitals operator NMC last month after a share ownership scandal, sold One Financial Markets, a British trading site he founded in 2007, to AxiCorp last year.

Khalifa Bin Butti, who was ejected from the board of embattled FTSE 100 hospitals operator NMC last month, has an equity stake in AxiCorp

As part of the deal, Bin Butti took an equity stake in AxiCorp, which runs foreign exchange broker AxiTrader and One Financial Markets.

In Australia, AxiCorp's licence was suspended in January for four months by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission. AxiCorp has appealed the decision and has been granted a stay of suspension pending a review, allowing it to continue to operate for now.

The regulator said it was suspended for a series of breaches around compliance, including 'deficiencies and systemic failures in AxiCorp's compliance regime'.

Last August, it was suspended for 'material breaches' by New Zealand's financial regulator.

A spokesman for Bin Butti declined to comment on AxiCorp.

NMC is under investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority and its shares were suspended last week after financing deals involving Bin Butti were uncovered.

Last week, Bin Butti said he was not given a 'reasonable opportunity' to help with NMC's investigation and denied wrongdoing.
New Delhi, March 1 : The Delhi Police has arrested two persons for kidnapping a foreigner. The victim, a Bulgarian national, has been safely rescued.

Police said a ransom call of Rs 2 crore was made by the kidnappers. Weapons have also been seized from the possession of the captured kidnappers.

"Bullets were also fired in the exchange of fire between the police and the miscreants during the rescue operations," DCP Anto Alphonso of Dwarka told IANS on Sunday.

"Cash has also been recovered from the accused. Arms and a car have also been seized by the police from the possession of the miscreants. Further investigation is going on," the police officer said.
Violence between the two sides erupted days earlier when Syrian airstrikes killed 34 Turkish soldiers in the province of Idlib.

Turkey said Sunday it has "successfully" continued its military operation against the Syrian regime in northwest Syria.

The announcement comes as the Russian-backed Syrian military closed its airspace in flashpoint areas, as tensions rise with neighboring Turkey, which supports rebels groups in the region, Deutsche Welle said on Sunday.

Read alsoRussia should stay out of Turkey's fight against Assad regime, Erdogan tells Putin  media

"We don't have the desire or intention to clash with Russia," Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Sunday, marking the first time Ankara has confirmed a full and continuing operation.

Violence between the two sides erupted days earlier when Syrian airstrikes killed 34 Turkish soldiers in the province of Idlib. Turkey retaliated with deadly airstrikes targeting regime forces.

Syrian state media said that Turkish forces shot down two Syrian jets on Sunday, but the pilots ejected with parachutes. Earlier Turkish media claimed that one jet was shot down.

The Syrian army earlier said it had downed a Turkish drone over the town of Saraqeb.
Tajiks voted in parliamentary elections on March 1 in which President Emomali Rahmons ruling party was widely expected to secure a sweeping victory, with only one opposition party participating in the vote.

It was the authoritarian Central Asian nations first parliamentary elections since a ban was imposed nearly five years ago on the Islamic Renaissance Party (IRPT), a leading opposition group.

Just before polls closed, Tajikistans Central Election Commission said over 75 percent of eligible voters -- some 3.7 million voters -- cast ballots, well above the 50-percent mark to make the vote valid under Tajik law.

The Social Democratic Party (SDP) was the only opposition group that contested the elections. The party has never entered parliament.

The election commission said preliminary results would be released on March 2.

Election commission Chairman Bakhtiyor Khudoyorzoda earlier told reporters that 3,412 polling centers had created "conditions for a transparent and fair election."

None of the votes of the past two decades have been deemed free and competitive by Western observers, which again this year includes the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).

In an instance of one of the most widespread problems, proxy voting, an RFE/RL correspondent saw a single voter cast 22 ballots.



One video that appeared online showed a single person ticking dozens of ballots for the ruling party, and another clip showed a Tajik migrant in Russia saying he was told to vote for the ruling party or lose his job.

President Rahmons Peoples Democratic Party is widely expected to retain a majority in the 63-seat Majlisi Namoyandagon, the lower house of parliament.

Rahmon, who has ruled since taking power in 1992 with the country embroiled in a five-year civil war, turned up to vote early in the day, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reported.

Six other smaller parties took part in the elections.

The SDP registered five candidates after it was forced to reduce the initial eight-strong party list due to lack of money to pay the nearly $600 application fee per nominee.

The SDP was unable in past elections to pass the 5 percent minimum barrier to get a seat in the legislature. The party has blamed it on Tajik authorities failure to hold free and fair elections.

Past elections in Tajikistan were marred by allegations of fraud, including ballot-box stuffing, multiple voting, and the disregard of the vote-counting procedures by election officials.

The government has long been criticized for clamping down on opposition groups and critics.

Opposition movement Group 24 was banned as an extremist organization in 2014, and the IRPT was branded a terrorist organization the following year after losing its final two seats in parliament in the 2015 elections. Both deny the allegations.

Muhiddin Kabiri, the IRPT leader, said the opposition urged its supporters to vote for the Social Democrats instead of simply ignoring the elections.

We know that these elections wont be transparent and democratic, but we still want to use this very small window of opportunity to try to convince people once again that the only peaceful way to bring changes to society is through the elections, Kabiri told RFE/RL on February 27.

Parliament in Tajikistan is seen as rubber-stamp body, while real political power is consolidated in the hands of President Rahmon.

The Central Election Commission said 241 candidates were registered to participate in the elections.

Forty-one lawmakers will be elected from single-mandate districts, and the other 22 seats are determined by the party list system.

In the single-mandate districts, a candidate must receive 50 percent plus one of votes to win outright in the first round.

If no candidate reaches that level, the two candidates with the most votes will compete in a second round.

According to the Central Election Commission, there are 4,793,282 eligible voters, including labor migrants residing abroad.

Widespread unemployment has forced hundreds of thousands of Tajik to become migrant workers in Russia.

Tajikistans embassy in Moscow said it has prepared five polling stations in Russia for Tajik migrants workers to vote.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Tajik Service
Greece has blocked nearly 10,000 migrants trying to enter from the Turkey border over the past 24 hours, a Greek government source said Sunday.

A massive influx of migrants swelled along the border over the weekend after Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to open its frontier to Europe.

He is seeking to pressure EU governments over the Syrian conflict after an airstrike in Syria's Idlib province on Thursday killed dozens of Turkish soldiers.

A Greek government source said Sunday its army and police had stopped thousands from entering its territory.

"From 0600 (0400 GMT) Saturday morning to 0600 Sunday morning, 9,972 illegal entrances have been averted in the Evros area," the government source said, referring to the northeastern region along the Turkey border.

Huge crowds tried to cross into Greece via the Kastanies Forest in the early hours of Sunday, the source said.

Greek authorities said 73 migrants had been arrested, but added that they "weren't from Idlib, but from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia".

Some 13,000 migrants have gathered along the Turkish-Greek border, including families with young children, the International Organization for Migration said Saturday.

Greek security forces are patrolling the Evros river shores -- a common crossing point -- and have issued loudspeaker warnings not to enter Greek territory.

On Saturday clashes erupted along the border, where Greek police fired tear gas at migrants who in turn lobbed rocks at officers.

Erdogan threatened to open Turkey's gates for some of the 3.6 million refugees it is harbouring as a way to pressure EU countries over the conflict in Syria.

Turkey and Russia, who back opposing forces in the conflict, have held talks to defuse tensions after the air strike left 34 Turkish troops dead, sparking fears of a broader war and a new migration crisis for Europe.

The UN says nearly a million people -- half of them children -- have been displaced by the fighting in northwest Syria since December, forced to flee in the bitter cold.

In 2015, Greece became the main EU entry point for one million migrants, most of them refugees fleeing the Syrian civil war.

EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen expressed "concern" on the unimpeded flow of migrants from Turkey to the bloc's external borders in Greece and Bulgaria.

"Our top priority at this stage is to ensure that Greece and Bulgaria have our full support," she tweeted Saturday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Police will soon be using a new high-tech scanner that can 'frisk' suspects without them knowing.

Hailed as a breakthrough in the war on gun and knife crime, the portable device can detect a concealed weapon through a suspect's clothing - from a distance of up to 20 yards.

The device can check groups of people or even whole crowds as they arrive at concert venues or sporting events, without the need for time-consuming searches by hand.

Called Sword, the system uses the same technology as an airport scanner but shrunk to the size of an iPad or tablet.

The portable device, called Sword can detect a concealed weapon through a suspect's clothing - from a distance of up to 20 yards (pictured, police officer standing next to medical equipment on the ground at the scene of a multiple stabbing in Barking)

Created by a Californian tech entrepreneur, it is due to be showcased at a Home Office security and policing exhibition in Hampshire this week.

But it is understood that at least one UK police force has already placed an order.

Sword fires harmless electromagnetic radiation at people walking past it. Linked to a databank, it can recognise the outline of knives and guns and a positive match will trigger an alert to the police, showing them what is being carried and where it is hidden.

A 10in screen shows no intrusive images until it spots a weapon.

Facial recognition databanks can then be used to identify an offender who has no idea he has been 'searched' from a safe distance .

Police can then arrest the suspect or perform a targeted stop-and-search. The device was developed by former intelligence operative Barry Oberholzer, 36, who was inspired by the Bataclan terror attack in Paris in 2015 to find a way to turn the tables on those plotting mass killings.

The system has generated 5.4 million worth of worldwide sales with another 27.2 million in the pipeline.

The move comes following rising incidents of knife crimes. In February, Sudesh Amman was shot dead by police after going on a stabbing rampage through Streatham in London

Pictured: Police officers on the scene outside an Iceland supermarket after Sudesh Amman went on a knife rampage down Streatham High Road, Lambeth

The machine is designed to be able to 'learn' new shapes and will soon also be able to detect explosives.

Doug Sear, sales director of UK distributor Emergency Protection, said: 'This will help break down the suspicion around stop-and-search because it takes the guesswork out of it.

'It's not looking for a type of person, it just sees the weapon.'

Graeme Pearson, security lecturer at Glasgow University and former head of the Scottish Crime & Drug Enforcement Agency, said: 'In theory, this could remove a great deal of heat around the issue of human rights in stop-and-search.

'And many criminals will be unnerved and deterred from carrying weapons if they know that something that is effective and hard to spot is being used by the police.'

In 2018/19, there were 43,516 knife crimes in England and Wales, up 82 per cent on 2013/14 and the fifth consecutive annual increase. Gun crime is also on the rise, with 6,734 crimes in the year to June 2019.
Democratic candidate Pete Buttigieg, who turned heads early in the campaign as a fresh face in the race for the White House, has ended his bid for the party's presidential nomination.

The 38-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana's run ended two days before Super Tuesday, March 3, a bonanza of primaries in key states ahead of the election.

Buttigieg is heading back to South Bend where he will give a speech suspending his campaign, the aide said, following a fourth-place finish in Saturday's South Carolina primary.

He narrowly won the Iowa caucuses and finished a close second in the New Hampshire primary.
A woman lights a candle in front of a memorial before a ceremony for Ottawa area victims of Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752, at Ottawa City Hall on Jan. 19, 2020. (The Canadian Press/Justin Tang)

Champagne to Visit Kyiv, Ukraine Pledges Help With Airline Compensation for Iran Plane Crash Victims

OTTAWAUkraines ambassador to Canada says his government will help Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne secure compensation from Ukraine International Airlines for the families of all those killed on Flight 752, including 55 Canadians.

Champagne will be in Kyiv March 3 for the start of a two-day visit that will include a meeting with the head of the airline, where he will try to speed up delivery of the compensation it must pay under international aviation law to the victims families.

Envoy Andriy Shevchenko said his government sees no obstacles to the airline meeting its international legal obligations to compensate families.

This carrier is committed to all the international rules and applications that apply to such situations, the ambassador said in an interview Friday.

If there is anything the government (of Ukraine) can do on this, it will be, of course, done.

Champagne and his Ukrainian counterpart, Vadym Prystaiko, will be joined via teleconference by the foreign ministers of Sweden, Britain and Germany for a separate meeting about pursuing compensation from Iran.

Those countries all lost people in last months shootdown of the passenger jet by the Iranian military.

The Ukrainian airline will also be seeking compensation from Iran for the families of its own victims who died in the crash, Shevchenko said.

The carrier has found itself in a very difficult position, he said.

They have obligations they have to fulfil but also they expect compensation from Iran. Of course, they have lost people of their own. But when it comes to international obligations, there has been a very clear signal from the airline they are committed to that.

The conference call that Champagne and Prystaiko will host from Kyiv is part of the ongoing efforts to project solidarity to Iran as the five countries pursue compensation.

Champagne said earlier this week that Irans admission that it shot down the jet has financial consequences.

Shevchenko said it is now more important than ever that the five countries project unity to Iran.

We understand that Iran might want to have separate tracks of conversations with the countries involved, he said.

We understand that we are dealing with many families and they will be looking for their own legal path. But its in the interest of all of us that we make sure we speak with one voice and we co-ordinate well on the issue of compensation.

While in Ukraine, Champagne will also visit the 200 Canadian Forces personnel deployed there on a training mission that is due to end in March 2022.

The troops are part of Canadas efforts to bolster Ukraine against Russian aggression following the Kremlins annexation of Ukraines Crimea region in 2014 and its backing of Russian separatist militias in the eastern party of the country that has claimed thousands of lives.

Shevchenko said Ukraine wants to see Canada extend its military presence in his country.

There are so many things we can do after 2022, so we have to think strategically how we can build on that trust and co-operation we already have.

Thats the same message Champagne will be receiving in Latvia when he begins his three-country swing through eastern Europe on Monday.

In Latvia, Champagne will visit the 600 Canadian troops who have been leading a NATO battlegroup in that country since 2017. The mission is to continue until 2023.

Karlis Eihenbaums, Latvias ambassador to Canada, said his country would like to see that mission extended because the problems with Russia, including its ongoing disinformation campaigns, show no signs of abating.

The battle group, which includes soldiers from several other countries, is one of four such forces in the Baltics and Poland that were established to respond to Russias moves against Ukraines border.

Champagne wraps his trip with a visit to Poland on March 6.

My visits to Latvia, Ukraine, and Poland will be important opportunities to discuss the close ties between Canada and these three countries and our shared priority of promoting security and prosperity in the region in the face of rising threats, Champagne said in a statement Friday.
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is spreading rapidly across the globe. Since COVID-19 is a new disease, scientists are racing to determine the nature of the virus and how it affects the human body. Now, a team of scientists, have shed light on how the virus affects the respiratory tract. The study provides essential information and descriptions of the early phase pathology of COVID-19 infection.

The team, composed of clinicians and researchers from the University of Chicago Medicine and the Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University in China, has described the pathology of the severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The research is published in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology, the official publication of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer.

This scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (yellow)also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus that causes COVID-19isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells (pink) cultured in the lab. Credit: NIAID-RML

In the study, the team described two patients who recently had lung lobectomies for adenocarcinoma. They were found to have COVID-19 at the time of the surgery. The doctors found that apart from having the lung tumor, the lungs of both the patients had edema, focal reactive hyperplasia of the cells in the lungs with patch inflammatory cellular infiltration, and proteinaceous exudate.

"Since both patients did not exhibit symptoms of pneumonia at the time of surgery, these changes likely represent an early phase of the lung pathology of COVID-19 pneumonia," Dr. Shu-Yuan Xiao, from the University of Chicago Medicine in Chicago, said.

The patients

The first was an 84-year-old female patient who was admitted for a lung tumor measuring 1.5 centimeters in the right middle lobe. A chest CT scan has shown the tumor, but due to underlying health conditions such as hypertension and type 2 diabetes, the patient's condition deteriorated, and she died.

After her death, it was known that the patient was exposed to another patient in the same room who had been found to be infected with COVID-19.

The other patient was a 73-year-old male who was scheduled for lung cancer surgery. He had a small tumor in the right lower lobe. The patient had hypertension for two decades, but he took medicines for it. After his lung surgery, the patient developed cough and fever, with muscle pain and chest tightness. The patient tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 but had recovered after spending twenty days in the hospital.

Studying specimens

Although there had been many studies discussing the clinical features and CT scans of patients stricken with COVID-19, there are no pathologic studies conducted. The researchers said that since the disease emerged suddenly, it has overwhelmed healthcare systems, especially in China.

Further, the urgency of the situation and the outbreak would make an invasive diagnostic procedure less of a clinical priority. The specimens gathered from the patients were accidental findings, showing what changes happen in the first stages of the disease.

The researchers found that even before patients developed symptoms, there had been early lung lesions. This means that even before the symptoms occur, changes are happening in the lung tissue of patients infected with COVID-19, which has a long incubation period of three to 14 days.

The findings of the study emphasize that it would be difficult to contain the virus and prevent its spread because, during the early stages of the disease, there are no symptoms. Many health workers in Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the virus have been infected, mainly because they saw patients without enough protection. More than 15 doctors had died of COVID-19 from infection when they took care of patients with the virus.

"We believe it is imperative to report the findings of routine histopathology for better understanding of the mechanism by which the SARS-CoV-2 causes lung injury in the unfortunate tens and thousands of patients in Wuhan and worldwide," Dr. Xiao said.

Currently, there are ongoing tests and postmortem biopsies to provide more data on the late changes of the disease and its effects on the lungs.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has infected nearly 87,500 people worldwide, a majority in mainland China and 2,990 deaths at the time of writing.
The first Australian to die from coronavirus has been identified as Western Australian tourism giant James Kwan.

The 78-year-old died at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in the early hours of Sunday morning.

He was evacuated from Darwin with his wife Theresa, who has also tested positive to the virus, earlier this month and arrived back in Perth on February 21.

My husband passed away peacefully knowing that his family loved him, Mrs Kwan said in a statement from the hospital.
A section of BJP workers on Sunday raised the incendiary "goli maro..." (shoot the traitors) slogan on their way to a rally addressed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The group, carrying party flags, were heard shouting the slogan en route to the Shahid Minar ground.

When contacted, a senior officer of the Kolkata Police declined to comment anything on the incident, but said "strict action will be taken against anybody trying to disrupt the law and order situation in the city".

The home minister is on a day-long visit to Kolkata.

There has been a controversy over raising of such slogans during BJP rallies during Delhi Assembly polls and protests in favour of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) due to allegations that they provoke violence.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
With the cold weather settling over much of the U.S., View compiled a list of reasons you might be feeling the winter blues and how you can co
TICKERS: MTDR

Source: Streetwise Reports (3/1/20)

Matador Resources' Q4/19 performance and its 2020 guidance are reviewed in a Raymond James report.



In a Feb. 25 research note, Raymond James analyst John Freeman reported that Matador Resources Co. (MTDR:NYSE) ended 2019 with a beat on both volumes and EBITDA in Q4.

Freeman relayed that the Dallas-based company's quarterly volumes exceeded the Street's expectation by 7%, driven by shorter-than-expected shut-in times, improved well performance and accelerated turned in lines (TILs). Whereas the early TILs increased capex, 2% above consensus' forecast, the outperformance in volumes more than made up for it. EBITDA in Q4/19 surpassed the Street's forecast as well, by 12%.

Freeman reviewed expectations for Matador in 2020. The energy company intends to maintain, through the year, the six rigs it has working now in the Delaware Basin. It intends to complete 69 gross, or 58 net, operated wells and participate in a significant number of non-operated wells.

Matador's guidance for 2020 production is 75,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day, higher than that of 2019 and 3% higher than the Street's projection. Exit rate guidance is "massive," 87,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, 9% above consensus' forecast, the analyst noted. These achievements should more than offset expected capex during the year of $815 million, which is 2% higher than consensus' projection. "The extremely strong Q4/20 run rate (oil volumes up 22% over Q4/19) should set Matador up with strong momentum into 2021," commented Freeman.

As for the spending gap, Freeman indicated that Matador intends to work toward narrowing it by achieving further efficiencies, divesting of additional non-core assets and monetizing mineral interests.

Raymond James has an Outperform rating but no target price on Matador Resources. Its stock is trading at around $9.64 per share.

[NLINSERT]

Disclosure:

1) Doresa Banning compiled this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise Reports as an independent contractor. She or members of her household own securities of the following companies mentioned in the article: None. She or members of her household are paid by the following companies mentioned in this article: None.

2) The following companies mentioned in this article are billboard sponsors of Streetwise Reports: None. Click here for important disclosures about sponsor fees.

3) Comments and opinions expressed are those of the specific experts and not of Streetwise Reports or its officers. The information provided above is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security.

4) The article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility. By opening this page, each reader accepts and agrees to Streetwise Reports' terms of use and full legal disclaimer. This article is not a solicitation for investment. Streetwise Reports does not render general or specific investment advice and the information on Streetwise Reports should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Streetwise Reports does not endorse or recommend the business, products, services or securities of any company mentioned on Streetwise Reports.

5) From time to time, Streetwise Reports LLC and its directors, officers, employees or members of their families, as well as persons interviewed for articles and interviews on the site, may have a long or short position in securities mentioned. Directors, officers, employees or members of their immediate families are prohibited from making purchases and/or sales of those securities in the open market or otherwise from the time of the interview or the decision to write an article until three business days after the publication of the interview or article. The foregoing prohibition does not apply to articles that in substance only restate previously published company releases.

Disclosures from Raymond James, Matador Resources Company, February 25, 2020

ANALYST INFORMATION

Analysts Holdings and Compensation: Equity analysts and their staffs at Raymond James are compensated based on a salary and bonus system. Several factors enter into the bonus determination, including quality and performance of research product, the analyst's success in rating stocks versus an industry index, and support effectiveness to trading and the retail and institutional sales forces. Other factors may include but are not limited to: overall ratings from internal (other than investment banking) or external parties and the general productivity and revenue generated in covered stocks.

The analyst John Freeman, primarily responsible for the preparation of this research report, attests to the following: (1) that the views and opinions rendered in this research report reflect his or her personal views about the subject companies or issuers and (2) that no part of the research analyst's compensation was, is, or will be directly or indirectly related to the specific recommendations or views in this research report. In addition, said analyst(s) has not received compensation from any subject company in the last 12 months.

RAYMOND JAMES RELATIONSHIP DISCLOSURES

Certain affiliates of the RJ Group expect to receive or intend to seek compensation for investment banking services from all companies under research coverage within the next three months.

Raymond James & Associates, Inc. makes a market in the shares of Matador Resources Company.

Additional Risk and Disclosure information, as well as more information on the Raymond James rating system and suitability categories, is available here.
In a recent development in the Turkish and Syrian rift, 19 Syrian regime soldiers were killed in Turkish drone strikes on Sunday. According to the reports, 19 Syrian regime soldiers died after Turkey carried out drone attacks on a military convoy in the Jabal al-Zawiya area and a base near Maaret al-Numan city. A war monitor reported the latest incident hours after Turkey shot down two Syrian warplanes.

Read: Turkey Announces Military Operation Spring Shield Against Syrian Regime

The latest escalation between Turkey and Syria comes after 34 Turkish soldiers died in an attack last week that Ankara alleges was carried out by Damascus. Following the attack, Turkey on March 1 launched a new military operation against Syria dubbed 'Spring Field'. According to the state news agency, the Syrian military high command announced the closure of the airspace for planes and any drone above northwestern Syria and especially over the Idlib region earlier on Sunday.

Read: Greek PM Calls National Security Council Meeting As Turkey Refuses To Seal Borders

Turkey-Syria conflict

As per reports, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants Syrian troops to withdraw beyond the borders that Turkey and Russia outlined in a 2018 agreement. Back in 2018, Turkey and Russia collaborated together to set-up a 'de-escalation zone' in Idlib in order to stem the violence in the region. The latest escalation between Turkey and Syria threatens the fragile agreement between Ankara and Moscow.

Read: UN Says 13,000 Migrants Mass At Turkey's Border With Greece

Image Credit: AP


OTTAWAUkraines ambassador to Canada says his government will help Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne secure compensation from Ukraine International Airlines for the families of all those killed on Flight 752, including 55 Canadians.

Champagne is in Kyiv on March 3 for the start of a two-day visit that will include a meeting with the head of the airline, where he will try to speed up delivery of the compensation it must pay under international aviation law to the victims families.

Envoy Andriy Shevchenko said his government sees no obstacles to the airline meeting its international legal obligations to compensate families.

This carrier is committed to all the international rules and applications that apply to such situations, the ambassador said in an interview on Friday.

If there is anything the government (of Ukraine) can do on this, it will be, of course, done.

Champagne and his Ukrainian counterpart, Vadym Prystaiko, will be joined via teleconference by the foreign ministers of Sweden, Britain and Germany for a separate meeting about pursuing compensation from Iran.

Those countries all lost people in last months shootdown of the passenger jet by the Iranian military.

The Ukrainian airline will also be seeking compensation from Iran for the families of its own victims who died in the crash, Shevchenko said.

The carrier has found itself in a very difficult position, he said.

They have obligations they have to fulfil, but also they expect compensation from Iran. Of course, they have lost people of their own. But when it comes to international obligations, there has been a very clear signal from the airline they are committed to that.

The conference call that Champagne and Prystaiko will host from Kyiv is part of the ongoing efforts to project solidarity to Iran as the five countries pursue compensation.

Champagne said earlier this week Irans admission that it shot down the jet has financial consequences.

Shevchenko said it is now more important than ever that the five countries project unity to Iran.

We understand that Iran might want to have separate tracks of conversations with the countries involved, he said.

We understand that we are dealing with many families and they will be looking for their own legal path. But its in the interest of all of us that we make sure we speak with one voice and we co-ordinate well on the issue of compensation.

While in Ukraine, Champagne will also visit the 200 Canadian Forces personnel deployed there on a training mission that is due to end in March 2022.

The troops are part of Canadas efforts to bolster Ukraine against Russian aggression following the Kremlins annexation of Ukraines Crimea region in 2014 and its backing of Russian separatist militias in the eastern part of the country that has claimed thousands of lives.

Shevchenko said Ukraine wants to see Canada extend its military presence in his country.

There are so many things we can do after 2022, so we have to think strategically how we can build on that trust and co-operation we already have.

Thats the same message Champagne will be receiving in Latvia when he begins his three-country swing through eastern Europe on Monday.

In Latvia, Champagne will visit the 600 Canadian troops who have been leading a NATO battle group in that country since 2017. The mission is to continue until 2023.

Karlis Eihenbaums, Latvias ambassador to Canada, said his country would like to see that mission extended because the problems with Russia, including its ongoing disinformation campaigns, show no signs of abating.

The battle group, which includes soldiers from several other countries, is one of four such forces in the Baltics and Poland that were established to respond to Russias moves against Ukraines border.

Champagne wraps his trip with a visit to Poland on March 6.

My visits to Latvia, Ukraine and Poland will be important opportunities to discuss the close ties between Canada and these three countries and our shared priority of promoting security and prosperity in the region in the face of rising threats, Champagne said in a statement on Friday.

Read more about:
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 13:29:33|Editor: yhy

Video Player Close

RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb. 29 (Xinhua) -- Two people were killed and at least 16 others remained missing on Saturday after a shipwreck in northern Brazil.

According to local authorities, some 60 to 70 people were traveling in the ship, which was sailing on the Amazon River from Amapa state to its neighboring Para state.

The ship's maximum capacity was 242 and authorities confirmed that it was a registered vessel for transporting both passengers and cargo.

The cause of the shipwreck remains unclear, but it was reported that the weather was stormy and the wind was strong at the time of the accident.
This is the tip of the iceberg, he said.

The health officials reported two cases of COVID-19 virus connected to a long-term care facility in the same suburb, Life Care Center of Kirkland. One is a Life Care worker, a woman in her 40s who is in satisfactory condition at a hospital, and the other is a woman in her 70s and a resident at Life Care who is hospitalized in serious condition. Neither had traveled abroad.

In addition, over 50 individuals associated with Life Care are reportedly ill with respiratory symptoms or hospitalized with pneumonia or other respiratory conditions of unknown cause and are being tested for COVID-19, Seattle and King County officials said. Additional positive cases are expected.

Amy Reynolds of the Washington state health department said in a brief telephone interview: "We are dealing with an emergency evolving situation."

Health officials in California, Oregon and Washington state worried about the novel coronavirus spreading through West Coast communities after confirming at least three patients were infected by unknown means. They had not visited an area where there was an outbreak, nor apparently been in contact with anyone who had.
Sputnik said the assailants accused the journalists, who are Turkish citizens, of being Russian spies

Russia's Foreign Ministry is protesting attacks on three journalists of the country's Sputnik news agency in Turkey and their subsequent detention.

Government-owned Sputnik, which operates news websites in about 30 languages, said angry mobs tried to break into the apartments of three staffers in the Turkish capital Ankara on Saturday night, threatening physical violence and demanding they stop their work.

Sputnik said the assailants accused the journalists, who are Turkish citizens, of being Russian spies.

The journalists went to police to report the attacks and the agency lost contact with them, Sputnik said.

``The attacks on employees of the Turkish bureau of Sputnik and their detentions is a gross violation of the rights of journalists,'' the Russia Foreign Ministry said in a statement Sunday, and called on Turkish authorities to intervene. The media group Rossiya Segodnya, which includes Sputnik, called for the journalists' immediate release.

Turkish authorities haven't commented on the matter.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Three people were killed after two goods trains collided near a village in Madhya Pradesh's Singrauli district early Sunday morning, police said.

The mishap took place around 4.40 am when a coal-laden train heading towards Uttar Pradesh from Amlori mine in Madhya Pradesh collided with an empty goods train near Ghanhari village, located around seven km from Singrauli, additional superintendent of police Pradeep Shende said.

Thirteen wagons of one of the trains and an engine jumped off the tracks following the collision.

Three bodies have been pulled out from the engine so far, the official said.

The deceased were yet to be identified, he said, adding that as per initial findings, the bodies might be of two drivers and a points-man.

The track on which the accident occurred is managed by the National Thermal Power Corporation for coal transportation from Madhya Pradesh to Uttar Pradesh, Shende said.

Initially, it appears the accident might have occurred either due to an error on part of the drivers or because of some fault in signaling, he said.

The mishap has not affected rail passenger traffic as it occurred on the track exclusively used by the NTPC to ferry coal for power generation, the official said.

Meanwhile, East Central Railway's Chief Public Relations Officer Rajesh Kumar in a statement said the Indian Railways has nothing to do with the accident.

He said the accident took place in the Merry Go Round system completely owned and operated by NTPC, Rihand.
Families will have the opportunity to enjoy a full production starring their favorite characters from 'Nick Jr.' this weekend.

"Nick J. Live! Move to the Music" takes the stage Feb. 29 and March 1 at The Chicago Theatre.
Challenging West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said that she can do whatever she wants but she will not be able to stop the BJP government from granting citizenship to refugees.

I want to tell you Mamata didi, whether you like it or not, you will not be able to stop us from granting citizenship to refugees living here for 70 years... Do whatever you want Mamata didi, you will not be able to stop us, said Shah. He was addressing a BJP rally in Kolkata.

He further alleged that not only did the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo oppose CAA, also but incited riots and arson in Bengal in the name of anti-CAA protests.

Modi ji brought CAA which will grant citizenship to crores of Bengalis. But Mamata didi opposed it. She orchestrated riots in Bengal. Trains were burnt, said Shah.

Lashing out at the West Bengal Chief Minister on her home turf, Shah further said that Muslims in the country were being misled that they will lose their citizenship under the CAA.

Seeking to address the concerns of minority communities in Bengal, Shah said that they will never lose their citizenship.

I want to tell all the minorities in West Bengal that you will never lose your citizenship because of CAA. CAA is a law for granting citizenship and not for taking it away, said Shah.

The refugees in Bengal faced the problem of not being granted citizenship. When Narendra Modi brought CAA Congress, Communists and Mamata opposed it in unison. They (the opposition) claimed that (with CAA) the Muslims of the country will lose their citizenship, he added.

Shah also said that the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya will be built within a few months.

Claiming that BJP will come to power in Bengal with a thumping majority in the 2021 Assembly elections Shah said that the next Chief Minister of the state will be a son of the soil.

No prince will be the next Chief Minister of Bengal but a grass-root leader, son of the soil will be the next Chief Minister, said Shah.

Shah also assured that the Bharatiya Janata Party will form the next government in Bengal with two-third majority after the 2021 assembly polls.

"Aar Noi Anyay will be a major problem for Mamata," said Shah.

"Mamata didi goes to every village and asks 'Didi Ke Bolo,' they wonder what to answer. Today I have come here to tell you that don't sit quietly. Whenever Didi asks 'Didi Ke Bolo,' you say, 'Aar Noi Anyay', meaning, we will not tolerate this injustice," he said at the rally.

"Give Modi government five years and we will make the state 'Sonar Bangal'. Join the 'Aar Noi Anyai' campaign which we have launched today, and make this state, an atrocity free state, " he said.
Hoang Ngoc Vinh, former director of the Department of Vocational Training, talks of the creation of the Ministry of Education-Science and Technology.

Hoang Ngoc Vinh, former director of the Department of Vocational Training.  Photo baoquocte.vn

What do you think about the proposal to merge the Ministry of Education with the Ministry of Science and Technology?

Before designing a machine, the first thing we have to do is clarify its mission. The key mission for the establishment of the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) was to cover social policies and employment. I think that the assignment to deal with occupational training for MOLISA was a bad call. Job creation evolves to meet the demands of the economy. However, in Vietnam, MOLISAs key mission is to develop employment policies, issues relating to the social security and market information. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) and the General Department of Vocational Training have been assigned two missions: to prepare human resources for the country and to oversee national education, from kindergarten to post graduate. Given the importance of this task, vocational education was transferred from MOLISA to MOET.

Some major Vietnamese research institutes are under the management of the Ministry of Science and Technology, yet their co-operation with universities remains very loose. This is a key reason why research institutes are not able to ask universities to share their human resources and abilities. Vice versa, universities are not able to make the best use of modern laboratories at many research institutes.

We are now in the age of the Industry 4.0, so it is good time for tertiary education and vocational training to re-organise their structures with fewer staff. This is food for thought for all agencies.

How do you respond to claims that say the Ministry of Education is already wearing too many hats?

Im sorry to say that such thinking is out-dated. The management of general education has been assigned to all provincial education departments. The MOET is assigned to only perform tasks under State management in a certain field, including the educational development strategy, management and inspections. Vietnamese universities have started to enjoy self autonomy, and it is not the MOETs task to interfere.

Do you think transferring training missions from the MOET to the Ministry of Science and Technology is sensible?

We should merge the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Education and Training and the General Department of Vocational Training into one ministry under the name the Ministry of EducationScience and Technology. Why do I think that? Because the Vietnamese education system is strongly inter-linked from kindergarten to university. There is a loophole that needs to be closed to link schools with the labour market.

What will be the impacts of the transfer of educational training missions from MOET to Ministry of Science and Technology?

It is only a temporary policy. The most important point I want to emphasise here is how to generate co-ordination between schools, occupational training and tertiary education. If everything goes smoothly, the number of Vietnamese ministries will drop to 19 ministries as proposed by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Right now, Vietnam has 22 ministries and ministerial level agencies.  VNS

Vietnam needs new policies to find talented staff Vietnam needs to have a law on appreciating and using talented peoole, according to Le Thanh Van, a National Assembly Deputy.

Vocational training sector seeks to develop Vietnam's vocational training sector is seeking to fix its long-term problems and develop into a strength.
Hanoi has called on other localities to help ease the overloading at Covid-19 quarantine centres in the area.

Quarantine area in Hanoi

During the meeting with Nguyen Duc Chung, chairman of Hanoi's People's Committee, the city's steering committee for prevention and control of Covid-19 said that they had worked with the Department of Health to quarantine Vietnamese people returning from South Korea in recent days. Medical checks and accommodation were implemented more smoothly.

However, sometimes thousands of people returned to Vietnam on the same day, putting pressure on the workforce. There are still 400 people waiting at Noi Bai Airport to be brought to quarantine areas. The military command in the capital has had to search for other quarantine areas in neighbouring provinces.

Brigadier Doan Ngoc Hung, deputy head of Hanoi Police Department, asked provinces that have people returning from outbreak areas to bring their residents to quarantine areas in their hometowns to help ease pressure on Hanoi.

According to Hung, the quarantine areas in Hanoi are overcrowded while more people are expected to arrive in Hanoi from South Korea.

According to the Department of Health, there is no confirmed case yet as of 3 pm on February 28. Suspected cases' houses and where they have visited will be disinfected and those who have close contact will also be monitored.

2,178 people who have visited the outbreak areas have been monitored and quarantined. Out of them, 1,899 people have been released. The Department of Health and the police are working together to quarantine 41 people who have been in South Korea and 36 people who recently returned from China.

There are 12 people with coughs upon returning to Vietnam who were brought to the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases. Three more quarantine areas will be opened at the military training camps for 1,000 people. Hanoi City Police Hospital received 119 people to their quarantine area, 29 of them have been released. Dtinews

Coronavirus costs Vietnam VND150 billion in lost revenue per day The fast spreading novel coronavirus has sent State budget revenues from exports and imports plummeting, with tariff collections averaging a mere VND1.3 trillion per day over the past two months, down by VND150 billion year-on-year.
Rose McGowan says she had to forgo having children so she could 'keep on fighting' against Harvey Weinstein, and insisted she won't be free of the disgraced mogul until one of them is dead.

The American former actress, 46, was one of the leading activists of the global #MeToo movement after accusing Weinstein of sexually assaulting her in the 1990s.

Weinstein was convicted last Monday of sexual assault and rape, more than two years after allegations of the disgraced movie mogul's sexual misconduct sparked the #MeToo movement.

McGowan claimed she never felt able to have children, because she wouldn't have been able 'take down' the mogul if she had others depending on her.

In an interview with The Guardian, she told that her battle against the producer has been 'very calculated', but insisted it will not be over until 'he's dead  or I am'

Rose McGowan (pictured) says she had to forgo having children so she could 'keep on fighting' against Harvey Weinstein, and insisted she won't be free of the disgraced mogul until one of them is dead

Weinstein (pictured) was convicted last month of sexual assault and rape, more than two years after allegations of the disgraced movie mogul's sexual misconduct sparked the global #MeToo movement

'If I had had a child, I couldn't have taken Harvey Weinstein down, said Rose, 'So I had to forego that so I could keep on fighting. I had to basically have no dependants. It's been very calculated.'

She added: 'I probably am not going to be free of him until he's dead or I'm dead'.

The 67-year-old producer was acquitted of the most serious charge of predatory sexual assault but faces a lengthy jail term that could be up to 29 years and Rose said to finally get a conviction was like '500,000lb lifted off her shoulders'.

She told that the years prior to his conviction felt like her 'cells were dissolving', because she was constantly working at a 'high anxiety level'.

McGowan was pictured speaking to reporters outside New York Criminal Court on the first day of Weinstein's sexual assault trial in Manhattan

Weinstein arriving at New York City Supreme Court on Monday before he was found guilty of third-degree rape and committing a first-degree criminal sexual act

Harvey Weinstein (center) being led out of Manhattan Supreme Court by court officers after a jury convicted him of rape and sexual assault last Monday

Last year, Rose insisted she is 'not ashamed' to admit she once had an abortion, after she posted on Twitter that she had undergone the procedure after her own birth control failed.

'I have had an abortion and I support this message,' she tweeted in response to the stats, posted by UltraViolet. 'I am not ashamed, nor should you be. That 60% of those who choose to have abortions are already mothers says a lot- they understand more than anyone.

'I was on birth control and it failed. I realized I could not bring a child into my world and simultaneously change the world. I do not regret my decision and it was not made lightly.

'If you do not want an abortion, don't get one. My body, my choice, my life. '

McGowan made the revelation on Twitter last year, after reading a statistic about abortion

On the day of the conviction, McGowan claimed that Weinstein was running a 'rape factory' and feared he would be exonerated in his New York trial, and also admitted said she feared he would hire a hitman to kill her in the wake of her claims.

McGowan told GMB today the guilty verdicts were a 'huge moment' and that she hoped it would lead to more predators being convicted.

McGowan said: 'This is a huge victory for all of us who have ever been affected by Harvey Weinstein. This affects so many. It's a huge moment. I thought he was going to exonerated.'

'I never really had hope you see. I realized the last time I had hope was the moment before I was raped by him and after that it became survival.

'I didn't have hope but not because of the jury, I'm very grateful to that jury for getting further than most jury's get in rape cases.

'I was worried, it's hard to speak publicly about it without getting sued. But it's an extraordinary moment and it's a watershed moment.

'It's a never-ending kind of situation. This is an unbelievable achievement to have a woman who was raped by an accuser in court and saying ''you did this to me''. That is a privilege. There's an astounding number of victims who never get any kind of measure of justice.

'So, I found it, we were winning by even having it in court. That's how little we've been taught to expect.'
If it isnt coronavirus, it is going to be something else. Are we going to be ready for it?

When Governor George W. Bush of Texas decided to run for president, he had some big ideas about education and entitlement reform, about encouraging Americans to invest and build an ownership society in which not just the affluent investing classes would have a substantial personal stake in the economy.

While he was planning to build his ownership society, Osama bin Laden was planning 9/11.

And so George W. Bush, the would-be education president who had made noninterventionist noises about those entangling foreign alliances and nation-building abroad that so trouble some of our paleoconservative friends, became a wartime president, as we used to say before they were all wartime presidents. Like his father before him, Bush came into the presidency with very pronounced small-r republican inclinations and brought to his public career a very old-fashioned sense of modesty. (Borrowing from Churchill, Bushs opponents would insist that his modesty came from having so much to be modest about.) He ended up transforming the presidency into something more imperial (from imperator, commander-in-chief) than any chief executive since Franklin Roosevelt might even have dreamt of.

When he was asked about the greatest challenge facing a statesman, Harold MacMillan is said to have answered, Events, dear boy, events. Bushs presidency was bookended by 9/11 and the financial crisis. Neither of those was exactly his administrations fault  there is a good argument that the events of September 11, 2001, were set in motion in 1979 and that the United States had been an undercard contender in them until 9/11, while the subprime meltdown and financial crisis resulted from a string of policy errors extending all the way back to the 1930s. Bush might have had better or worse policies when dealing with these events, but dealing with them was not what he had in mind when he ran for president.

Story continues

Donald Trumps conception of the presidency is, to put it generously, peculiar and unique to him. Trump was quite the Twitter warrior when it came to the Obama administrations handling of the Ebola outbreak in 2014 and, as a Howard Hughes-class germophobe, he ought to be pretty well positioned to bring some energy and focus to the coronavirus. Maybe he will, or maybe Captain Chaos will keep letting his freak flag fly  who knows?

Donald Trump is not the only American with a distorted view of what the presidency is and what the president ought to be expected to do and to be able to do. The American president is not a prince, potentate, or pope, not an ersatz emperor or a democratic demi-monarch. He is the chief administrator of the national state. State is a word that has a whiff of evil attached to it: Trump and his cheerleaders bawl about a conspiratorial deep state that opposes him, libertarians warn against statism and statists, progressives whimper about state violence and the like. And students of American history know that the scope and character of the national state was the defining issue of post-revolutionary politics: Under the Articles of Confederation, there was hardly any national state at all; Antifederalists and Jeffersonian democrats were suspicious of giving the state too much power, while Alexander Hamilton and likeminded nation-builders (nationalists, Rich Lowry would say) set about building a powerful state.

Francis Fukuyama, in his magisterial Origins of Political Order, outlines three contributors to political stability: accountable government, the rule of law, and state-building. State-building is at heart a risk-mitigation project, something that is implicit in theories of government going back to Thomas Hobbes and explicit in the modern social insurance model of the welfare state, in which the state takes a prominent role in providing for those common hazards of life against which few can make adequate provision, as F. A. Hayek put it. The rule of law makes relations among citizens and between citizen and state predictable, creating procedures for justice that supplant clientelism and vendetta. Accountability in the democratic West normally is ensured by elections, but Fukuyama argues, not unpersuasively, that there is a kind of accountability at work even in stable autocratic regimes such as the one in Beijing, which is being tested by the coronavirus, just as we are likely to be tested.

None of this is a brief for limited government or for expansive government  for a small state or for a large one. It is, rather, a brief for a state with well-defined roles and responsibilities, one that has adequate resources and authority to execute its duties in relation to these. It is in no way contradictory or inconsistent to advocate a settlement under which the national government has no role whatsoever in, say, K12 education or the management of churches or newspapers, and in which it is very limited in its role in building highways or regulating trade  but at the same time has a great deal of power and authority when dealing with an epidemic or other public-health crisis and a relatively free hand in matters of national security. (This strikes many people as obviously reasonable and unobjectionable, which is why our reflexively sneaky progressive friends are always trying to redefine gun control or climate change as public-health and national-security issues.) It is perfectly defensible to favor a smaller welfare state and a bigger budget for the Centers for Disease Control.

But our heroic, god-emperor conception of the presidency prevents the emergence of that understanding of the state. If the presidency is a kind of sacral kingship and the state is mainly a vehicle for the apotheosis of our national demigod, then it must be very difficult to achieve a schematic reimagining of the state as a series of discrete means directed at a series of discrete ends. Barack Obama promised to fundamentally change the country, and Donald Trump promised to Make America Great Again. But these are slogans, not a program for responding to unpredictable epidemics.

And epidemics are unpredictable  as are the most important things for which we rely on the state for mitigation. Perhaps there is a straight line (an almost straight line) leading from the Mosaddegh coup detat to 9/11, but if there is one, the dots can only be connected retrospectively. We cannot know what is coming in any specific way. But we know trouble is coming, because trouble is always coming. Winter is always coming, which is why it is better to have a government of Aesops thrifty ants rather than one of spendthrift, deficit-happy grasshoppers. Maybe we dodge a bullet on coronavirus. Maybe we dont.

But we are not likely to dodge every bullet. The world of November 7, 2000, was radically different from the world of September 11, 2001. That was not the first time our world has been suddenly reordered by unforeseen events. It will not be the last. We have literal and metaphorical viruses  a world full of them.

Being lucky is not the same thing as being smart. And there is a kind of compound interest on being smart: It is good to do the smart thing today, but it is better to have done it ten years ago.

More from National Review
Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

As a three-year letterman for the Santa Fe basketball team, Mario Herrera earned several all-tournament honors.

But the Demons, then playing under coach Lenny Roybal, never reached the state tournament.

Still, those were the good old days, he said.

For Herrera, a 5-foot-9-inch guard, his graduation in 2010 pretty much put an end to his playing days.

Something else from his high school days, however, stuck with him.

I wanted to be a cop ever since high school, Herrera said. I went to NMSU and UNM, and college just wasnt for me. I remember our freshman year (of high school) there was a career fair at the gym. There were a few police officers there, and one of them had a canine and stuff. Thats when I started thinking about it. Ever since, I wanted to do it in the back of my mind.

He left college and got a job at the Santa Fe County jail and worked there for a year before applying for the New Mexico State Police Academy.

In December 2014, he started his training and graduated in 2015. The training procedures Herrera underwent included emergency rescue techniques, something he had occasion to use recently.

An Espanola native, he is now stationed in the town where he was born and raised.

And on Super Bowl Sunday, while the rest of the country was watching San Francisco and Kansas City play the biggest game of the year, Herrera was on the job. And that was a good thing for the Corona family.

At first, I was doing my daily stuff, traffic enforcement, he recalled. I had just cleared from the Walgreens on Riverside; I overheard on the radio dispatch that somebody in the Hernandez area on NM 84, about five miles north of the city limits, that somebody had a baby that needed help.

A father of a 3-year-old daughter, and with a son on the way, Herrera knew the fear the family must be going through.

When you hear parents needing help with their children, it hits home with me, he said. A baby choking. I can just imagine how scary it was for those parents.

Herrera hit his lights and siren, and took off to the rescue.

I knew I could get there faster than an ambulance, he said. In my mind, I just wanted to help the parents any way I could. I didnt care how fast I was going. I wanted to get there as fast as I could to help that baby.

He knew the family was traveling in a black Chevy and, when he saw it, he pulled it over in the median.

Both doors of the car flew open, Herrera said. As I ran up to the vehicle, it was quiet. The baby wasnt making any noise. The mother had told dispatch that he was turning purple, but I didnt notice when I grabbed the baby. I just began administering first aid.

That pretty much entailed turning the baby over and swatting him on the back.

Then I heard the baby start crying, Herrera said. Something had happened when he started crying, and I lifted him up and turned him over. I saw thick spit and a little plastic star that he was choking on. And he was good. Once I heard him crying, I knew we were good.

The parents cries of anguish quickly turned into cries of joy. They had just gotten married the day prior and the star that 11-month-old Elikiah was choking on came from Stephanie Coronas wedding bouquet.

Once the parents cries turned from scared cries to happy cries, that feeling was unexplainable, Herrera said. There was an instant change in their demeanors. Thats the best reward I could receive from this.

Helping change a familys life in such a dramatic way is just part of the job, he said.

As far as law enforcement and my brothers in the district, we dont look for recognition, Herrera said. Ive seen them do a lot of stuff to save peoples lives. When we do get recognition for the good stuff, its pretty cool to have positive attention on law enforcement. Whenever there is positive recognition brought upon law enforcement, it always makes us feel good.
The agreement includes a Taliban commitment to start direct negotiations with the Afghan government over a cease-fire and political settlement of the war within 10 days. Those negotiations, tentatively to be held in Norway, are already complicated by political upheaval in Kabul, where President Ashraf Ghanis recent reelection is under challenge and there are major fights over the composition of a negotiating team. The agenda for the talks is massive, including a comprehensive cease-fire, the role of the Taliban in a future government, and rights for women and civil society. No format has been established, and there is no deadline for completion.
OTTAWA COUNTY, MI -- In an attempt to swerve away from a deer Sunday morning, the driver of a 2008 Chevrolet HHR crossed the center line and caused a head-on collision in Chester Township.

Ottawa County Sheriff Deputies were dispatched at 6:40 a.m. March 1 to 24th Avenue, north of Truman Street, in response to reports that a man was pinned in his car, according to a press release.

The driver, a 26-year-old Fremont man, was headed south on 24th Avenue when he swerved to miss a deer in the road, causing him to collide with a northbound 2009 Chevrolet Silverado, according to the press release.

After the collision, the driver of the Chevrolet HHR was momentarily pinned down in the vehicle. However, he was able to get out on his own before first responders arrived on scene, according to the press release.

His injuries were not life-threatening and he was transported to a nearby hospital by ambulance, according to the press release. He was driving on a suspended license and was also cited for driving left of center.

Both male occupants of the Silverado, a 53-year-old and 68-year-old from Conklin, complained of minor pain. They declined treatment.

Also on MLive:

Children ejected from van hospitalized after I-96 rollover

Traffic backup from I-96 rollover causes fatal crash

Kalamazoo police search for suspect involved in Portage Street shooting

Coronavirus Q&A, 15 things to know about COVID-19s spread
Union Home Minister Amit Shah offered prayers at Kalighat temple here on Sunday.

Earlier today, Shah attended the inaugural function of 29 Special Composite Group complex of Security Guard (NSG) in Rajarhat.

Without naming anyone, Shah here said that people who want to create a "divide" in the country and "disrupt peace" must fear the Security Guard (NSG).

"We want peace in the entire world. In our history of 10,000 years, India has never attacked anyone. We would not allow anyone to disrupt our peace. And anyone who takes the lives of soldiers will have to pay dearly. People who want to divide the nation and disrupt its peace, they should fear the presence of NSG. If they still come, it is the responsibility of the NSG to fight them and defeat them," he said.

"Under Prime Minister Modi, we are following the policy of zero-tolerance against terrorism and NSG takes the leading role in delivering upon it. After PM Modi came to power, a distinct differentiation has been made between India's defence and foreign policy, which wasn't like this in the past," he added.

The Home Minister also exuded confidence that the Centre will meet the expectations of its security organisations and added that "wars are won by the bravery and not equipment."

Talking about the expansion of the NSG, the Union Home Minister said, "The nation decided to expand the network of NSG after the Mumbai attacks. NSG has finely proven its presence in the entire country gradually. After today's inauguration, the coordination will only get better.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
United States President Donald Trump has said he would "never be excited about a crowd again" after his visit to India where he addressed a rally of over 1,00,000 people.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump wave to the crowds during the 'Namaste Trump' event at Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad.. Photograph: ANI Photo

During his maiden visit to India on February 24-25, President Trump and First Lady Melania were given a rousing welcome in the presence of more than one lakh people at the Motera stadium in Gujarat's Ahmedabad city.

Addressing a rally in South Carolina on Saturday, the US president recalled the mega 'Namaste, Trump' event at the Motera stadium and said, "In India, I hate to say this to you, they actually have 129,000-seat stadium. Did you see it? The place was packed, and they did better than most."

"They gave me credit for 100,000. That was not bad. It's 129 (thousand)... The stadium holds 100 (thousand). They had a field that's about three times...it's cricket. It's the biggest stadium. And they had 129," he said.

Trump said he shared the stage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is a "great guy" and is "loved by people of India".

"We had an amazing thing. And I went in, and here's the problem. This is a big crowd and normally, I like talking about my crowd because I get the crowds like nobody. But, I just got back from 140 or 50 or 60,000 people and now I am coming here. What does this place hold, 15? It's hard to be enthused. You understand that?

"I may never be excited again about a crowd after going to India. Think of this, they have 1.5 billion people. We have 350, so we are doing pretty well, I will tell you what, but I love this crowd and I love that crowd too," the US president told his supporters amid a rousing applause.

According to data by Broadcast Audience Research Council, the mega event at the world's largest cricket stadium on February 24 had a total of 11.69 billion viewing minutes across India.

The BARC estimated that 46 million people watched the event on 180 television channels across the country.

Trump arrived in Ahmedabad around noon on February 24 where he and Melania were given a grand reception. From Ahmedabad, he and his delegation travelled to Agra where they visited the Taj Mahal.

Trump arrived in Delhi on the evening of February 24. Prime Minister Modi and President Trump held comprehensive talks on February 25 during which they decided to elevate the ties to Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership, reflecting growing congruence of interests in strategic areas.

The US president and his delegation left India on the evening of February 25.

Trump told the rally that Indians "have a great leader, and they have a great love for the people of this country (US)."
Kathmandu, March 1

The government has expressed deep concerns regarding the widespread coronavirus infection and assured it would adopt serious caution and preventive measures against it.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Saturday called a meeting of concerned ministers, urging them to take necessary measures.

After the reports of the virus spreading across Europe and the Middle East, where many Nepalis live, the World Health Organisation has also put Nepal in the high-risk zone.

The meeting formed a high-level committee led by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Ishwor Pokharel to discuss the prevention and precaution measures against the widespread virus.

The committee will closely observe the activities in the countries connected to Nepal via airways and formulate necessary preventive measures.

According to a source, the meeting discussed the need for monitoring and even banning flights to and from the countries that are under serious threat of the virus. The committee is doing its homework on the matter currently.

PM Oli has directed that every passenger arriving in Kathmandu be checked as well as directed the Tribhuvan International Airport to keep the necessary equipment and doctors for the much-required examination ready.

The virus that outbroke from the Wuhan city of China in December last year has so far has not spread epidemic in Nepal. A man who was suspected to have contracted the virus has already recovered after treatment. The other two suspected patients tested negative for coronavirus.
Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury will complete their trilogy after the Wilder camp officially triggered his rematch clause.

Fury's promoter in the United States, Bob Arum, confirmed the heavyweight rivals will meet again in July.

Arum told Ringside Reporter: 'Wilder and his representatives formally notified us last night that they have accepted the rematch and are going forward.

Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder are set to fight for a third time in the 'middle of July'

Fury celebrates his brilliant seventh round stoppage of Wilder in Las Vegas last Saturday

Wilder and Fury are now set to fight for a third time this summer after the clause was triggered

'It's going to happen in the summer, before the Olympics. Middle of July.'

The pair drew their first fight in 2018 before Fury stopped Wilder in the seventh round to win the WBC heavyweight title in Las Vegas last Saturday.

Wilder had 30 days to call for a rematch and now his camp have 'formally notified' their intention for the deposed world champion to step into the ring with Fury for a third time this summer.

It will delay the prospect of an all-British heavyweight unification fight between Fury and Anthony Joshua, who holds three belts.

Joshua is now expected to fight the Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev in a mandatory IBF bout in London in June.

Wilder, 34, came out with a string of excuses for his defeat to Fury, the most bizarre of which was his 45lb ring walk costume, that apparently 'weakened' his legs.

Wilder had previously blamed the weight of his ring walk outfit for his poor performance

He was also thrown off balance by a cut in his ear and was left furious at his trainer Mark Breland for throwing in the towel in the seventh round.

Breland, who has worked with Wilder since he entered the professional ranks in 2008, was sacked as a result of his decision.

Wilder had issued a very strong hint that he would trigger the rematch clause in a video posted on social media on Saturday.

He promised to 'rise like a phoenix from the ashes and regain the title'.

Wilder added: 'Your king is here and I'm not going anywhere, for the way has just begun.

'I'm a king that will never give up and will fight to the death. I am a warrior, I am strong and I will be back.'

Wilder has vowed 'the war has just begun' following his defeat by Fury last weekend

The Bronze Bomber was battered from pillar to post in a resounding defeat in Las Vegas

In a 90-second video clip, Wilder said he will 'rise like a phoenix from the ashes' to regain belt

Arum also works with Pulev and warned Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn that the Bulgarian will be the one fighting Fury at the end of the year.

He said: 'I told Eddie Hearn, I said "stop looking at a Tyson Fury fight this year. You've got to fight Pulev in June and Joshua is going to get knocked on his a***.

'I guarantee you that Pulev will knockout Joshua like Tyson Fury knocked out Wilder.

'So, yes, I will look to make a Pulev-Fury fight to unify all the belts by the end of the year, but Mr Hearn will have nothing to do with it.'

However, Arum added: 'If Joshua beats Pulev and Fury beats Wilder, then why not do a Joshua-Fury fight at the end of the year.

'And we would certainly then sit with Eddie and work it out. So everybody is saying the same thing. But again, these fights have to play out first.'
On February 18 - 20, Chairperson of the Federation Council (the Upper House or the Senate), Valentina Matviyenko, headed a Russian delegation on a three-day working visit aimed at strengthening parliamentary diplomacy with Namibia and Zambia. This visit showed Russia's overwhelming commitment to pursuing its strategic interests and supporting its African allies.

According to an official release from the Federation Council, the visit was within the broad framework mechanism of parliamentary consultations between Russia and African countries. The key focus area was on political dialogue, economic partnership and humanitarian spheres with Namibia and Zambia.

Political dialogue: Russian delegation held talks with Zambia's President Edgar Lungu at State House in Lusaka, Zambia. The delegation referred to their visit "as a reciprocal visit" and emphasized a commitment to strengthen political dialogue, and reaffirmed interests in broadening economic cooperation during their discussions separately with Zambian President Edgar Lungu and Namibian President Hage Gottfried Geingob. The Russian delegation also interacted with Speakers of the National Assembly in both countries.

Zambia's Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr. Patrick Matibini, visited Moscow in April 2018. Zambia had also sent a delegation to the inaugural Russia-Africa Summit last October.

Valentina Matviyenko recalled that during the first Russia-Africa summit held in Sochi, a number of mutually beneficial contracts were signed. She further noted the previous meeting between Namibian President Hage Geingob and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Sochi, where the two exchanged views, particularly on energy, gave new impetus for further broadening cooperation.

According to its results, a political declaration was adopted, which enshrined an agreement on the regular holding of the summit every three years. This signals the fact that relations have entered a new stage. "In this way, a permanent, ongoing dialogue format has been created, which parliamentarians should also join in," reteirated Matviyenko.

Economic cooperation: The Heads of State and Speakers of parliaments in Namibia and Zambia together with the Russian delegation exchanged views on ways to invigorate bilateral economic cooperation and other areas. The parties reaffirmed their mutual intent to continue close interaction on regular basis. In Zambia, they stressed the potential to boost trade and cooperation in health, heavy-duty industry, agriculture and defence, and security sectors. There was an in-depth discussion construction of nuclear plant.

The Zambian Government hopes that upon commissioning of this project, excess power generated from this plant could be made available for export to neighbouring countries under the Southern African Development Community Power Pool framework arrangement.

Under the agreement that was concluded in December 2016 on the construction of the nuclear plant estimated at US$10 billion. The processes of design, feasibility study and approvals regarding the project concluded. Russia was unprepared to make financial commitment, and Zambia lacks adequate funds to finance the project.

Russia and Zambia will find options for financing nuclear science and technology in the African country, Chairperson of Federation Council Matvienko said at a meeting with Zambian President Edgar Chagwa Lungu. "Now the start of the construction of a center for nuclear science and technology has been suspended due to financial issues. I would like to say that the request submitted to the Russian president is being carefully considered by the ministries and departments. I'm confident that we will jointly find options to promote funding to roll out the construction of a center for nuclear science and technology," she said.

According to the Russian official, there are necessary conditions for the development of cooperation on high technology between Russia and Zambia. She called the construction of a center for nuclear science and technology a priority bilateral project. "We know that Zambia considers the construction of a center for nuclear science and technology as the first step in the development of the peaceful use of the atom and plans to consider the construction of a nuclear power plant in the future. Of course, this will qualitatively change the economy of Zambia: not only it will be able to fully meet its electricity needs, but also to export it to other countries," Matviyenko continued.

In Namibia, they also held series of talks with government officials. "Inter-parliamentary relations are an integral part of the Russian-Namibian political dialogue. We expect that the visit of the delegation of Russian parliamentarians will give an additional impetus to providing more effective support from the legislators for joint economic projects that can be developed both at the interstate level and between the business structures of the two countries," said Valentina Matvienko.

Conclusion: While the significance cannot be under-estimated, it is also not worrisome that the trip, full of diplomatic symbolism, overwhelming enthusiasm, and renewed promises, concluded without any new major policy announcement. On the other hand, it signals another bid by Moscow to boost relations with these southern African countries.

Namibians were full of respect and praise for the delegation. State House of Zambia issued an official statement that said the high-level visits between Zambia and the Russian Federation "is a demonstration of the warm relations that exist between the two countries." Without doubt, both Namibia and Zambia still have full-fledged hope to scaling up traditionally diplomatic ties with the Russian Federation.
Computers today have truly made our lives a whole lot simpler. However, the computer that we use today, it always wasnt like this. Computers in the very initial stage of their lives didnt have graphical screens and user interface and they obviously werent used for recreational purposes.

Wikipedia

They were used only for one thing -- calculations. And one man named Alan Turing was the one to create the worlds first modern computer, that actually went on to save millions of lives during World War II.

A child with a stellar aptitude for science and mathematics

Alan Turing was born on June 23rd 1912 in Britain. Since an early age, he showed strong aptitude towards science and mathematics. Much like every genius, he loved coming across problems that were difficult to solve to find a solution to them.

After being an ace student during his schooling years, he went on to study at Kings College, Cambridge from 1931 to 1934 where he was awarded first-class honours in Mathematics. In 1936 he also published his paper  On Computable Numbers, with an Application to the Entscheidungsproblem where he proved that some decision problems are "undecidable": there is no single algorithm that infallibly gives a correct "yes" or "no" answer to each instance of the problem.

He displayed this with the help of a mechanical computation device that he called the Turing Machine that eventually showed that it is not possible to decide algorithmically whether a Turing machine will ever halt.

He later went on to study at Princeton University in the US under the guidance of Alonzo Church from 1936 to 1938 where he attained his PhD from the Department of Mathematics at the aforementioned institution.

Breaking German codes, saving lives

Just before World War II began, he came back to the UK and continued working at Cambridge. He later got an opportunity to participate in a top-secret activity at the British Cryptanalytic Headquarters to crack German codes called Enigma. He worked with his team at Bletchley Park starting in September 1938.

Wikipedia

Alan, with his team, elaborated upon the early computer designed by Poles, working to break the German Enigma machine codes. This, along with Turings stellar ability to understand patterns and codes, the team were able to break several other German codes, including the famous U-boat codes that basically ordered German submarine fleet to attack their enemies and destroy their resources.

With time, Germans became smarter with codes getting more complex. Turings team at Bletchley Park created more complex machines to take down German communications. On average, they were solving over 80,000 encryptions every month.

His contributions not just shortened World War II by nearly two years, but it also saved millions of lives that had been lost either by German attacks or extension of the war period.

For his work during the war, Alan Turing was awarded the Order of the British Empire by the King -- which like his work was kept top secret for several years.

Turing and homosexuality

Turing was gay -- and this too at a time when being homosexual was considered as a criminal activity. One day, when he came home, he saw everything was out of place as if it was robbed. He called the police for registering the complaint, and during the investigation, they found out that he was a homosexual.

They arrested Turing and was put in front of the court. The judge offered him two options -- either go to jail or consider probation. He picked the latter, and as a part of probation, he was forcefully given hormone therapy (as at that time homosexuality was considered as an illness and this was considered as a cure). This took a severe toll on his wellbeing, by not only destroying his libido but also making him feel weak.

With his conviction, he lost his job at the secret facility, he was barred from working at any government facility and even his security clearance was revoked.

On June 8th 1954, he was found dead in the room with a half-eaten Apple besides him. While the cause of death was denoted as cyanide poisoning, they never really tested the apple. According to sources, he loved Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and his death was considered a reenactment of the death of Snow White.

Wikipedia

Apology and pardon by the British government

In August 2009, British programmer John Graham-Cumming raised a petition urging the British Government to apologise for prosecuting Turing -- a man that saved the entire nation from turning into ashes. On September 10, 2009, Prime minister Gordon Brown issued an official apology for acts done to Turing.

In 2011, William Jones and John Leech issued another petition requesting the British government to pardon him for his conviction of gross indecency. While this request wasnt considered in the beginning, several dignitaries signed the petition including physicist Stephen Hawking. On 24 December 2013, Queen Elizabeth II signed a posthumous pardon for Turing's conviction for "gross indecency", with immediate effect.
United States President Donald Trump said on February 29 that the first withdrawals of the American troops from Afghanistan are starting immediately after the successful signing of the peace deal with Taliban. At the White House conference when Trump was asked when would the drawdown begin under the US-Taliban agreement, he reportedly told the journalists, Like Today, OK? Today. They'll start immediately.

The US signed a landmark deal with the Taliban on February 29 which laid out the timetable for America's full troop withdrawal from Afghanistan within the period of 14 months marking US' exit from its longest war. According to international reports, the accord is expected to lead the way for a dialogue between the Taliban and the Afghanistan government, and if it turns successful, it would end an 18-year-long conflict.

The deal was signed in a conference room of luxury Doha hotel, with Taliban fighter-turned-dealmaker, Mullah Baradar alongside Washington's chief negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad and the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo. Reportedly, as Baradar and Khalilzad finally inked the accord, the people in the room shouted, Allahu Akbar. Before that Pompeo had also urged the insurgents to keep your promises to cut ties with Al-Qaeda.

Read - Donald Trump Warns Taliban, Says 'will Go Back If They Fail To Take Control'

Embrace a new future: Trump

According to international reports, Trump also urged the citizens of Afghanistan to embrace the chance for a new future. He further added that if both the Taliban and Kabul's government manage to live up to these commitments, they will have a powerful path" forward in order to end the war in the country and bring American troops home. However, Afghanistan which have been excluded from the direct US-Taliban talks remains in an unclear position while also being gripped by a fresh political crisis and contested election results.

Read - 'Momentous Day': Mike Pompeo Hails Historic US-Taliban Peace Deal

But, the US Secretary of Defence, Mark T Esper also met with Afghanistan's re-elected President Ashraf Ghani and according to the joint statement issued, they both discussed the progress in the peace process after the successful implementation of the reduction in violence. Furthermore, Washington has reaffirmed its commitment with partners at Afghanistan as the conditions-based US-Taliban agreement is implemented. According to the official website, Esper and Ghani agreed that the US-Taliban peace deal marks the start of achieving a lasting peace for Afghan people, and security and stability in Afghanistan.

Read - Trump To 'personally Meet' Taliban; Expects 'regional Nations' To Fight War On Terror

Read - US-Taliban Truce: India Reiterates Support For 'Afghan-led, Afghan-controlled Process'

(With agency inputs)
Two new cases of coronavirus have been reported in Chicago and Rhode Island on Sunday, bringing the total number of Americans known to be infected with the pathogen to 73.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar confirmed the latest infection in Chicago during an appearance on Fox News Sunday, saying that authorities are now working to trace the source of the latest instance.

So far, there are at least five reported cases nationwide - one in Chicago, one in Washington State, one in Oregon, and two in California - where authorities do not know how the virus was contracted, according to the federal government.

Also on Sunday, the Rhode Island Department of Health announced the first presumptive positive case of coronavirus.

The patient is in their 40s and had traveled to Italy in mid-February, the state agency said.

'RIDOH is coordinating closely with the hospital where this person is currently being treated and all infection control protocols are being followed,' the department said in a statement.

Alex Azar, the secretary of health and human services, said on Sunday that a new case of coronavirus was confirmed overnight in Chicago

Four other cases were confirmed late Saturday night and into Sunday morning, making the total number of Americans diagnosed with the virus 73 and counting

The Rhode Island Department of Health announced on Sunday the first presumptive case of coronavirus in the state. The patient is described as a person in their 40s who just returned from a trip to Italy, the site of the largest outbreak of coronavirus in Europe. The image above shows an unidentified tourist in the Piazza del Duomo in Milan on Saturday

'The Rhode Island Department of Health has been preparing for weeks to ensure that we have a structure in place to, to the best of our ability, limit or prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Rhode Island,' said Nicole Alexander-Scott, the director of the department.

'We fully anticipated having a first case of COVID-19.

'We are not seeing widespread community transmission in Rhode Island, and the general level of risk for Rhode Islanders is still low.

'However, everyone in Rhode Island has a role to play in helping us prevent the spread of viruses, just like the flu.

'It is very important that people wash their hands regularly, cover their coughs and sneezes, and stay home if they are sick.'

The Trump administration on Saturday announced measures aimed at curbing the spread of coronavirus, including new restrictions on Americans and other who have traveled to Iran.

The government is also advising citizens against travel to certain parts of Italy and South Korea, where significant outbreaks of the pathogen have been reported.

We've had 23 cases here in the United States that are not a result of us repatriating individuals from Japan or China, Azar told Fox News.

Of those individuals, we've got cases in Chicago as well as Washington and Oregon where we do - and two in California where we do not yet know why they contracted the novel coronavirus.

The Chicago Tribune on Sunday reported that the third case of coronavirus was confirmed in Illinois.

A suburban Cook County resident was found to be a presumptive case of novel coronavirus, the Illinois Department of Public Health announced.

The patient is hospitalized in isolation, and protocols by the Centers for Disease Control have been implemented.

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has asked hospitals across the state to do more testing to improve surveillance for the virus.

The state was the first in the nation to provide for testing, according to the Tribune.

The governor announced on Friday that there were now three labs in the state that could test for coronavirus - one in Cook County, one in Springfield, and a third in Carbondale.

Officials said that the two other Illinois patients found to have the coronavirus have since made a full recovery.

Meanwhile, panic is setting in for residents on the West Coast as California becomes a coronavirus hotspot, Washington state reports the first US death from the virus and Oregon officials announce that an elementary school employee has tested positive for the disease.

Anxious shoppers descended on California supermarkets, stocking up on supplies like bottled water, canned food and Clorox wipes.

More than half a dozen California residents have been diagnosed with the disease in recent days.

Late last week, two Northern California residents were revealed to be confirmed cases despite having no known contact with anyone else who was infected.

Scroll down for video

Panic is setting in for residents on the West Coast as California becomes a coronavirus hotspot, Washington state reports the first death from the virus and Oregon officials announce that an elementary school employee has tested positive for the disease. A Los Angeles resident leaves a Burbank Costco with a cart full of toilet paper, bottled water and cleaning products

Anxious shoppers descended on California supermarkets (San Francisco shoppers pictured), stocking up on supplies like bottled water, canned food and Clorox wipes. The state has become a coronavirus hotspot, with more than half a dozen residents diagnosed with the disease in recent days

In Seattle, some shelves were emptied completely as residents rushed to stock up on supplies on Saturday

Shoppers visit a Costco Wholesale in Tigard, Oregon, on Saturday after reports of Oregon's first case of coronavirus was announced in the nearby Oregon city of Lake Oswego on Friday

Shoppers stockpiled on food, water and other supplies at a Costco Wholesale in Tigard, Oregon, on Saturday

State officials say they are bracing for similar cases of people contracting the disease from an 'unknown origin' and nervous locals are taking no chances.

At a Costco Wholesale market in Los Angeles Saturday morning, a swarm of shoppers loaded up carts with essential items to prepare for a possible period of quarantine.

According to the chain, water, paper towels and Clorox disinfecting wipes were the most in-demand products.

Meanwhile, cars queued at the adjoining gas station, making sure their vehicles were filled with fuel.

On social media, residents further north shared shocking photos and videos from Costco centers in San Francisco.

Shelves were depleted of tinned food, while some shoppers climbed up onto shelving in order to reach remaining supplies of rice.

It comes on the same day that Santa Clara County - located close to San Francisco - confirmed a fourth person had tested positive for coronavirus.

Shoppers with empty carts waited patiently in line to enter a Los Angeles Costco to stock up on Saturday

Some Twitter users described the shopping chaos as worse than Black Friday, as residents climbed up on to shelves to reach depleting supplies

Costco Wholesale market in Burbank was bustling on Saturday, despite no residents of Los Angeles County having been diagnosed with coronavirus

It was a family affair for these shoppers who left the supermarket with two carts full of supplies. Water, paper towels and Clorox disinfecting wipes were the most in-demand products of the day

Fathers got down to business pushing along carts that carried their sons, as well as Clorox wipes and rubber gloves

One Los Angeles local used a trolley to push their sanitary items and bottled water to their car

Residents waited in long lines to pump their vehicles with gas, amid fears daily life will be severely disrupted by the spread of coronavirus

There were similar scenes in Mountain View, California, where vigilant shoppers wore face masks as they stocked up on supplies.

A 'medically high-risk' man in his 50s became the first person in the US to die from coronavirus on Friday near Seattle, Washington.

Fears are now mounting for 50 staff and residents at a nursing facility in Washington state as they are now showing symptoms of the virus, after two individuals - a resident and an employee at the care home - have already been diagnosed with the infection.

At the Life Care nursing facility in Kirkland, Washington state, around 27 of the 108 residents and 25 of the 180 staff have some symptoms, including some cases where individuals have contracted pneumonia.

The CDC and local health officials are reportedly sending an emergency response team to the Life Care facility on Sunday to try to control the escalating situation.

In Oregon, officials reported their first coronavirus case on Friday. The infected person works at an elementary school in the Portland area, which will be temporarily closed, authorities said.

'The case was not a person under monitoring or a person under investigation. The individual had neither a history of travel to a country where the virus was circulating, nor is believed to have had a close contact with another confirmed case  the two most common sources of exposure,' the Oregon Health Authority said in a statement.

The Lake Oswego School District sent a robocall to parents saying that Forest Hills Elementary will be closed until Wednesday so it can be deep-cleaned by maintenance workers.

Health authorities planned to spend the weekend scrambling to find everyone the unidentified person, who has been hospitalized, had been in contact with.

Hours before the case emerged, the state ramped up efforts to combat an outbreak amid potential challenges, including closing schools, businesses and events, and sustained shortages of medical supplies.

'State and local authorities are responding quickly to this case,' Oregon Gov Kate Brown said during a news conference. Brown urged people not to panic.

There were similar scenes in Mountain View, California, where vigilant shoppers wore face masks as they stocked up on supplies

Shoppers in Mountain View weren't taking any precautions - with several seen sporting face masks as they made a dash to Costco

The majority were people who were evacuated to the US under medical supervision from virus hotspots, including three from Wuhan and 44 from the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

The Santa Clara County Public Health Department confirmed its fourth case is an adult woman who is the second 'unknown origin' case in the US.

The fourth person does not have symptoms and has not been hospitalized, officials said.

Despite frantic buying, President Donald Trump urged for the public to remain calm during a press conference on Saturday.

He told the media not to sensationalize the outbreak and provoke panic.

'There's no reason to panic at all,' he said.

'Additional cases in the United States are likely, but healthy individuals should be able to fully recover.

'Healthy people  if you're healthy, you'll probably go through a process and you'll be fine.'

At the press conference, Vice President Pence also announced new emergency travel restrictions on Iran, Italy, and South Korea, which have been hit by outbreaks.

One social media user shared a photo of a San Francisco Costco swarming with people at 8.45am

The line stretched back deep inside the underground parking lot as panic set in for San Francisco residents - with four people from nearby Santa Clara County diagnosed with coronavirus

Shoppers faced lengthy lines at the check out as cashiers were kept busy, scanning an endless stream of bottled water and Clorox wipes

Along with toilet paper and bottled water, this Los Angeles local made sure to purchase some snacks in the event he's housebound by quarantine rules

Clorox wipes were one of the most popular items on Saturday, with residents ready to wipe down surfaces to stop a possible spread of coronavirus

Any foreign national who has visited Iran in the past 14 days will be banned from entering the US, Pence said.

He also said that Trump has authorized the State Department to raise the travel advisory level to outbreak areas in Italy and South Korea to Level Four, the highest level.

Level Four advisories urge Americans not to travel to an area for any reason, though they do not legally forbid travel.

Worldwide, the outbreak that began in Wuhan, China has sickened more than 86,000 people and killed more than 2,900 in 54 countries.

Health experts say that the coronavirus has a low mortality rate, resulting in death in about 2 to 3 per cent of cases, the majority of which are elderly patients or those with compromised immune systems.

However, it appears to be highly contagious, spreading quickly through communities.

Experts say frequent hand washing is one of the most effective preventative steps that individuals can take to prevent viral spread.

An elderly shopper (left) sought the assistance of a Costco employee to help load up her cart with bottled water. Others (right) needed no help as they took what was needed and rushed to the register

An elderly couple were seen loading up the trunk of their car at a Costco in Burbank, Los Angeles

Along with items such as bottled water and Clorox, one man purchased pasta, cereal, veggie crisps and bread

Trunks laden down with bottled water and toilet tissue was a familiar sight across the Costco parking lot

Shoppers in Honolulu, Hawaii, also lined up outside their local Costco in a bid to stock up on supplies amid coronavirus fears
The patient at a Monmouth County hospital with a suspected case of the coronavirus tested negative for the illness, the state Department of Health said Saturday.

The announcement means there are still no confirmed cases in New Jersey of the virus, which causes the illness COVID-19. There are also no other people in New Jersey who are awaiting testing for the illness state health officials said.

The patient had been isolated at Bayshore Medical Center in Holmdel while being tested by the New Jersey Public Health Environmental Laboratories, officials said. Hackensack Meridian Health, the group that runs Bayshore, said the staff followed protocols when handling the patient.

The care team at the hospital followed the protocols established by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, ensuring the patient was isolated and treated appropriately, Hackensack Meridian Health CEO Robert Garrett said in a statement. We are very appreciative of all the efforts of the hospital team members and medical staff. We extend our best wishes to this patient for a speedy recovery.

Five other people in New Jersey have been tested for the virus in recent weeks, but officials say all of their test results came back negative. The state health department says there are 195 asymptomatic people in New Jersey who are self-quarantined based on their travel history, but none of them are considered high risk.

On Saturday, a person in Washington state was the first person in the United States to die from coronavirus.

There were 86,000 confirmed cases of the virus as of Saturday evening, according to the Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering. Of those, 39,761 people recovered, while 2,941 died, the data show.

The New Jersey health department said Friday that a laboratory in West Trenton would be able to test for coronavirus without having to ship out samples to the Centers for Disease Control. Conducting tests at the states Public Health Environmental Laboratories would reduce the amount of time it takes to receive results from a matter of weeks to days, officials said.

Testing for the virus will not be performed on people with mild illness who are not at high risk for the disease, the state health department said.

Response preparations have been taking place in New Jersey since January. The department has shared state and Centers for Disease Control guidance with hospitals, local health officials, K-12 schools, universities and businesses.

Most New Jersey residents are at low risk for novel coronavirus, state Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said in a statement. If individuals are having symptoms, the illness is much more likely to be caused by common respiratory viruses such as flu or the common cold.

Hackensack Meridian Health took precautions with the patient when it was initially unclear whether or not he or she had coronavirus. Protective equipment was used, certain visitors were restricted and all materials used in treatment were disposed of, said Hackensack Meridian Health Chief Physician Executive Daniel Varga.

People in the area of Bayshore Medical Center are being monitored by county officials.

Thirteen people were being monitored by the Ocean County Health Department for the virus. All but four completed the monitoring process as of Thursday, a spokesman for the county agency said. None showed any symptoms of the virus and the four remaining people are slated to finish being monitored by the end of the weekend.

The 13 people were identified through their recent travel history, and the individuals were in daily communication with us and were given instructions should they demonstrate any symptoms  which fortunately never occurred, Ocean County Health Department spokesman Brian Lippai said.

Monmouth County had been monitoring nine people, but they were extremely low risk, and basically self-monitoring, said Monmouth County Regional Health Commission spokesman David Henry.

Gov. Phil Murphy spoke Friday night with Vice President Mike Pence, who President Donald Trump put in charge of the federal response to the virus.

The vice president praised New Jersey for taking aggressive and proactive measures to combat the public health threat and reiterated that the Trump administration stands ready to support New Jerseys efforts in this fight, Murphys office said.

A website and telephone hotline were created by the state to answer questions about the virus. The hotline phone number is 1-800-222-1222.

State Department of Health officials recommended that medical attention should be sought for those who exhibit fever symptoms, have traveled to China or been exposed to people known to have the virus within the past 14 days. People who meet those criteria should call ahead before visiting the doctors office or emergency room to inform them about possible exposure.

Rebecca Panico may be reached at rpanico@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @BeccaPanico.
The Church of Pentecost, Teshie-Nungua Area on Monday, February 24, 2020, launched the Environmental Care campaign various Zonal centres in the Area.

This was immediately followed with Public Education in various schools and public areas in the Teshie, Nungua and Klagon and its environs led by the Area Head Apostle Dr. Alfred Koduah.

Public education is also ongoing in the mass media with Officers from PIWC Sakumomo visiting Ahotor FM to encourage residents of the communities to practice good sanitary habits.

At the launch of the Campaign in the Sakumono Zone at the F. E Antwi Temple, The Municipal Chief Executive for Tema West Municipality of the Greater Accra Region, Hon. Mrs. Adwoa Amoako urged society to see environmental sanitation as their obligation to ensure clean surroundings as well as protect them from diseases.

She also urged society to take great care of the environmental health and sanitation since they are powerful drivers for human development as they affect the quality of life.

Mrs. Amoako said this in a speech read on her behalf at the launching of the Environmental Care Campaign at the Lashibi district of the Church of Pentecost on Monday, February 24, 2020.

According, this is due to the fact that I cut across all sectors of the economy and should, therefore, be given the required attention.

This effort by the church could not have come at a better time when everybody including international, national and local organisations are calling

The environmental Care Campaign is a collective effort between the Church of Pentecost and Zoomlion Ghana Limited.

It is against this background that the Akufo Addo administration has taken it upon itself to make Accra the cleanest city in West Africa, Mrs. Amoako said adding, This programme cannot be achieved if we as a people do not change or attitudes towards issues related to sanitation in our environment.

The United Nations in its global development goals of 2015 mandating countries to work toward achieving universal access to basic sanitation by 2030.

According to Mr. Amoako, since sanitation is a way of life, and quality of living should be expressed in clean homes, offices, markets, rams, schools, communities among others.

She said the Tema Municipal Assembly has taken upon itself to prosecute sanitation offenders who cause a public nuisance.

This, she said, has proved good results and has reduced environmental sanitation issues in the municipality. Mrs. Amoako said the municipality is ready to support the church in this laudable effort.

The Member of Parliament for Banda, Hon. Ahmed Ibrahim urged the church members to portray Christ by keeping clean surroundings while urging their neighbours to do same.

The District Pastor for Lashibi, Pastor David Alex Adwere who chaired the occasioned entreated all church members to participate in the sanitation programme of the Church. He said in 2019, the church held clean up exercises in various communities but felt the need to add public education to it so attitudes could be affected.

He said the issue of noise, soil and water pollution among others is a serious issue that must concern all Ghanaians.

He said the environmental care campaign is the initiative of the Chairman of the Church of Pentecost, Apostle Eric Nyamekye and is part of the Vision 2023 of the Church of Pentecost.

The Resident Pastor for PIWC Sakumono, Pastor Anthony Owusu Sekyere Kwarteng urged all to imbibe sanitary habits long after the cleanup exercises.

A cleanup exercise will be held in the Ledzokuku-Krowor Municipality by the Teshie-Nungua Area and other parts of the country.

The meeting was attended by a representative of the MP for Tema West, the Municipal Environmental Health Officer, Assembly members, Head Teachers of schools and Unit committee members of the Municipality.
By Chris Kirkham, Fanny Potkin and Neil Jerome Morales

(Reuters) - Juul Labs Inc is halting sales in Indonesia, citing concerns that it can't stop retailers from selling its high-nicotine e-cigarettes to young people in a largely unregulated tobacco market.

Juul disclosed its Indonesia plans to Reuters as the news organization was inquiring about the company's marketing to younger customers there and in the other two Asian countries where it operates - the Philippines and South Korea. A Reuters review of Juul's Asia marketing found that the firm has promoted e-cigarettes in ways similar to those that raised the ire of regulators in the United States.

Juul said in a statement that it would suspend Indonesia sales "indefinitely" until it could ensure that online and traditional retailers there will "increase and enforce age restrictions and compliance measures."

The firm's decision to retreat from the world's fourth most populous nation - which has not been previously reported - marks a major setback for Juul's larger plans to expand in Asia. The region has been seen as critical to the company's growth amid mounting U.S. legal and regulatory problems over its role in the nation's youth vaping epidemic.

Juul had launched in Indonesia just seven months ago because it was attracted to the nation's permissive regulatory environment, according to a former employee and another source familiar with its Asia sales strategy. The company had targeted customers aged 19 to 35, according to those two sources and a current Juul employee.

A Juul spokesman said the company only wants adult smokers to use its products.

The Indonesia decision comes after Juul said last month that it was "reviewing our strategies and operations" in South Korea - where the company has faced regulatory scrutiny - because of disappointing sales. Juul has also held off on planned expansions in the Netherlands and New Zealand. The company said it is taking a "methodical approach" in reviewing its overseas operations on a country-by-country basis.

Story continues

In Asia, Juul has continued to sell the fruit- and dessert-flavored nicotine "pods" that it has voluntarily pulled from U.S. store shelves amid a hail of criticism over their appeal to youth. In Indonesia, Juul has marketed its products in movie theaters and malls frequented by young people, selling its e-cigarettes at kiosks and in sleek, Juul-branded retail shops that mimic Apple stores. The firm has also hired "ambassadors" - often attractive young women - to promote Juul in bars and nightclubs. As recently as last month, Juul was installing kiosks in Jakarta office buildings catering to young tech employees and running advertisements for Juul flavors in office elevators.

Retailers in Indonesia and the Philippines have allowed online sales of Juul devices and pods with no age verification, according to a Reuters review of Juul products advertised for sale on Asian e-commerce platforms. Juul said it did not authorize any sales without verification and has a team that works to remove unauthorized online listings.

Juul did not answer detailed questions from Reuters about its Asia marketing efforts and their appeal to young people. The company said in a statement that it is "committed to advancing the long-term potential for harm reduction for adult smokers while combating underage use."

In recent months, the company's stricter approach to marketing in the United States has made it difficult for those in overseas markets such as Indonesia to market in the same way and meet sales targets, the employee said. The company has taken a more cautious approach to international expansion under new CEO K.C. Crosthwaite, the person said, compared to an earlier approach of opening new markets as fast as possible.

The company is exploring expansions in Vietnam and Japan later this year, the employee said. A Juul spokesman confirmed the company is monitoring the regulatory environment in Vietnam but said it currently has no plans to launch there. The spokesman declined to comment on Japan.

A LOSING BET ON INTERNATIONAL MARKETS

International expansion has been seen as crucial to Juul's future as the company's U.S. problems have caused investors to slash growth forecasts. Marlboro maker Altria Group Inc - which bought a 35% stake in Juul Labs Inc in December 2018 for $12.8 billion - has since marked down its value by a total of $8.6 billion.

Altria executives were initially bullish on Juul's international prospects. In an earnings call soon after the Juul deal, Altria CEO Howard Willard said he expected Juul's international revenue and profits to eventually be "as large as or larger than the U.S. opportunity."

Those prospects have dimmed, however, as some overseas regulators took note of the widespread criticism of Juul in the United States. India banned e-cigarettes last fall, citing the U.S. epidemic of youth use, and countries such as Malaysia are considering similar restrictions.

But Indonesia - until now - had been seen as one of the company's biggest opportunities. The country of nearly 270 million people has among the world's highest smoking rates and weakest regulations, imposing no penalties for selling cigarettes to minors.

In an interview with Reuters in July, when Juul launched in Indonesia, the company's executive running the Asia Pacific region, Ken Bishop, acknowledged that attracting young adult smokers was important to its success there.

"That is typically where we see the initial interest," he said, adding that eventually the product would appeal to "any demographic" including longtime smokers.

Bishop also emphasized the importance of preventing sales to teenagers.

MARKETING AT MOVIES, DANCE CLUBS

Just before a November screening of the movie Charlie's Angels in downtown Jakarta, Indonesia, teenagers who filled the theater watched one ad for an e-commerce site that featured Korean boy band BTS, another for spicy instant noodles, and a third for Juul e-cigarettes.

"Odor-free, tar-free, mess-free," the voiceover said as colorful displays of mint and mango flavors for the "#1 Vaporizer in America" flashed across the screen.

Juul said that Charlie's Angels was a 17-and-up film in Indonesia and that it has stopped cinema advertising in the last two months. Juul did not answer questions on what age group it aimed to reach with the movie ads or why it stopped them.

Juul hired its 150 "brand ambassadors" through a marketing firm to promote its products in night clubs, restaurants, supermarkets and convenience stores, according to the three people familiar with its Asia marketing strategy. Through a contract with Indonesian marketing firm Nava Plus, the ambassadors charged 2000 rupiah (the equivalent of $0.15 in U.S. dollars) for sample hits on a Juul at places such as the swanky Omnia Bali nightclub. Nava Plus did not respond to requests for comment.

Such efforts reflected the goal of reaching customers in their 20s and early 30s by pitching the device as a trendy lifestyle product, according to the three sources. The campaign mirrors early U.S. promotions at music festivals and other events catering to young people, which have since become a focus of government investigations into Juul's marketing.

Juul has denied it ever targeted teenagers in any country, but the company has acknowledged that those early U.S. campaigns focused on young adults aged 25 to 34 - a strategy company executives later called a mistake.

Instagram posts last August promoting Juul's largest Asia store in Town Square Cilandak, a Jakarta mall, evoked a club scene, with dance music playing in the background of a promotional video with the staff, and slogans reading "come now and feel the experience." Juul said the Instagram post was developed by the mall, not the company, without explaining how Juul store employees were featured without its consent. The company said it requested that the post be taken down after Reuters inquired about it.

The Town Square store is located across from an ice cream shop. Near another Juul store, in the upscale Plaza Indonesia, a miniature train takes children through the mall.

Juul has also launched its own branded stores and kiosks in Indonesia, South Korea and the Philippines, which have a sleek, modern vibe. Buyers can engrave their names for free on Juul devices, and the shops are staffed by vendors who are typically in their 20s, wearing black-and-white uniforms embroidered with the Juul logo. They almost invariably serve customers about the same age, three clerks at Juul stores in popular Jakarta malls told Reuters.

The flavors Juul stopped selling in the United States amid criticism remain a hit among young Juulers in Asia. Sungwon Cho, a 26-year old photographer in Seoul, started using Juul in April because it was more convenient than traditional cigarettes and "didn't smell bad."

"I like the sweet taste," he said. "It feels like I am vaping a candy or jelly."

(Reporting by Chris Kirkham in Los Angeles, Fanny Potkin in Jakarta and Neil Jerome Morales in Manila. Additional reporting by Sangmi Cha in Seoul, and Stanley Widianto and Jessica Damiana in Jakarta.; Editing by Vanessa O'Connell and Brian Thevenot)
There is a real cruelty to what's happening here.

Sitting on the riverbank in a small Turkish town on the border with Greece, I'm watching scores of migrants arriving on foot and on buses.

These are people who have been encouraged towards Turkey's border with Greece; led to believe, by the Turkish government, that the border with Europe is open.

More than that, though, they are being offered free transport in their thousands to the frontier.

There is no crossing here; just a river. Greece and the EU is enticingly close, 50 metres away.

On a loudspeaker from the other side, an armed Greek border guard tells them not to cross.

Among them is Suhaib Hamad, from Iraq. He's been in Turkey for several years and says he can't get asylum. Europe is where he thinks the opportunities are.

Next to him is 22-year-old Ahmad Natsheh from Gaza. He is broken. "I will kill myself here if I do not cross and if the UN will not accept me then no one will accept me because I have no money and no passport," he says.

"I have nothing. I do not have family; I have no one in this country. No one to support me. If God will receive me I will go to God."

Up the bank, we passed belongings left by some who did manage to cross overnight. Beyond, in the woods, we came across a group of Afghans who had been trying to make a life in Turkey.

"[We] have left everything behind - look at them now," one says, pointing at his group. "They only have a rucksack. That's all. They left everything and have come because Erdogan said the border was open. Where is it open?!"

Despite speaking fluent Turkish, they think life will be better in Europe.

For the Turkish president, that drive and hunger for a new beginning is a political bargaining chip.

Turkey is hosting an estimated five million refugees. More could come as the Syrian war endures. The Turkish president wants to force the EU to take more of them.

At the official crossing further north, the cameras are now being held well back. But footage filmed by the migrants at the crossing shows clashes. Rocks are thrown at Greek guards who fire tear gas back.

Story continues

The Greek border police have orders to hold the line. Greece is already overwhelmed by refugees who have crossed illegally over the past few years and who are blocked from moving on into the rest of Europe. Politically, European nations are very reluctant to share out the refugee burden.

The Turkish government claims that 100,000 people have crossed into Greece in the past two days - a wildly exaggerated figure designed to spook European leaders.

The official border crossings are secure. But some are crossing elsewhere.

They are encouraged not only by the Turkish government but also by their own social media groups, often run by smugglers, which buzz with images and video showing the migrant movement westwards. We even found old videos, from 2015, presented as new, showing migrants successfully passing over the borders.

We crossed over to Greece at a terminal further south to gauge the number of arrivals for ourselves. We'd been sent a video with a location, filmed by migrants, showing scores arriving on the Greek side of the river bank.

By the time we arrived at the same spot there were only a few signs of them being there. The Greek police were there but wouldn't be drawn on how many had crossed. "I cannot comment on anything," a plain clothes officer told us.

The Greek government says the numbers cited by the Turkish authorities are wrong. "No one can cross the Greek borders," it said in a statement. "All those attempting illegal entry are effectively prevented from entering. Numbers cited by Turkish authorities are entirely false and misleading."

Further to the south, boats have been leaving the Turkish coast for the Greek islands.

About 500 people have arrived onto the Greek Islands in the past 24 hours. That is not an unusually high figure.

They were heckled by some Greek islanders as they tried to disembark. The islands are already overwhelmed by refugees and some are violently opposed to more arriving.

Back to the north on the river border we met another group - Iranians this time. Among them was a man with his teenage daughter who told us he's a political opposition activist.

He was scared to be identified and was clutching a bag of papers detailing what he said was his torture in Iran. He told us he hoped it would help his asylum claim in Europe.

And then with the others in his group, he wandered on.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 13:51:35|Editor: yhy

Video Player Close

NEW DELHI, March 1 (Xinhua) -- India has welcomed the signing of the U.S.-Taliban peace agreement and the issuance of a joint declaration between the Afghan and U.S. governments, saying that New Delhi supports all opportunities that could bring peace, security and stability in Afghanistan and end violence.

"India's consistent policy is to support all opportunities that can bring peace, security and stability in Afghanistan, end violence, cut ties with international terrorism, and lead to a lasting political settlement through an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled process," said External Affairs Ministry Spokesman Raveesh Kumar on Saturday.

"We note that the entire political spectrum in Afghanistan, including the government, the democratic polity and civil society, has welcomed the opportunity and hope for peace and stability generated by these agreements," he said in a written statement.

As a contiguous neighbor, India will continue to extend all support to the government and people of Afghanistan in realizing their aspirations for a peaceful, democratic and prosperous future where the interest of all sections of Afghan society are protected, the spokesman said.

Meanwhile, India's Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla visited Afghanistan on Feb. 28-29 and conveyed New Delhi's support for Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled process for ensuring inclusive peace and reconciliation.

This was his first visit abroad after taking over as India's foreign secretary a month ago.
The United Nation called Sunday for calm and urged states to refrain from "excessive" force, as thousands of migrants have flooded to Turkey's border with Greece in a bid to enter the EU.

The UN refugee agency said it was "calling for calm and easing of tensions on the border."



"While states have a legitimate right to control their borders and manage irregular movements, they should refrain from the use of excessive and disproportionate force and establish a system to seek asylum in an orderly manner," UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch said in an email to AFP.

A massive influx of migrants swelled along the border over the weekend after Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to open its frontier to Europe as tensions mount over its deepening conflict in Syria.

The International Organization for Migration said late Saturday that some 13,000 migrants have amassed at the Turkey-Greece border, including families with young children who spent the night in the cold.

An estimated additional 2,000 migrants arrived at the Pazarkule border gate Sunday, including Afghans, Syrians and Iraqis, according to an AFP reporter.

Greece said Sunday it had blocked nearly 10,000 migrants at its border, after clashes erupted there Saturday with Greek police firing tear gas at migrants who in turn lobbed rocks at officers.

Baloch said UNHCR staff in Turkey's western provinces of Izmir, Canakkale and Edirne were "monitoring the increased movements of people, assessing their situation, (and) providing humanitarian assistance where needed.

The operation, in cooperation with the Turkish Red Crescent, IOM and UNICEF, was also informing people on the move about the risks they would face "when trying to cross the border, by sea or land, irregularly," he said.

While urging states to refrain from using excessive force, UNHCR was also calling on asylum-seekers to "respect the law and refrain from creating situations threatening public order and security at borders and elsewhere," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Former Vice-President Joe Biden posted a decisive win in the South Carolina primaries Saturday that is expected to re-energize his flagging campaign and potentially reshape the Democratic race for the presidential nomination.

Just days ago the press and the pundits had declared this candidacy dead, said Biden at a victory rally in Columbia, the capital of South Carolina. Now, thanks to you  the heart of the Democratic Party  we havent just won. We won big, and we are very much alive.

Bidens emphatic victory effectively ended Senator Bernie Sanders winning spree that started in Iowa and continued through New Hampshire to Nevada last week. The former vice-president won 48% of the popular beating the senator, who came second, by almost 30 points.

The Democratic race for the presidential nomination now moves to the Super Tuesday primaries/caucuses in 14 states on March 3, which together hold 34% of the 3,979 delegates who will elect the nominee at the partys convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in July. The winner needs more than 1,981. Sanders leads in the delegate count with 57; Biden is second with 51.

The former vice-president entered the race as the frontrunner and remains to lead in the aggregate of polls, but has conceded the that status to Sanders, who has been surging in polls and, more importantly, won three of four nominating contests held thus far, narrowly.

The decisive win in South Carolina is expected to bring Bidens campaign more energy  he certainly looked more pumped up at the victory rally that he has in a long time  and more money; for a leading candidate he has been unusually cash-strapped and often called broke.

The former VP is appealing to moderates in the party has had to compete for their support with former mayor Pete Buttigieg, senator Amy Klobuchar and billionaire Michael Bloomberg. Tom Steyer, the other billionaire in the race dropped out after the South Carolina primary.

Progressives, including Indian American lawmakers Ro Khanna and Pramila Jayapal, have backed Sanders and Senator Elizabeth Warren. But with Warren performing poorly in the primaries and caucuses, progressives are rallying around Sander.
After a week-long reduction in violence across war-torn Afghanistan, the much-awaited peace deal between the United States and the Taliban was sealed on February 29. The ceremony was held in Qatar's capital Doha. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met a 31-strong Taliban delegation and called it a 'momentous day'. The deal marked a historic step in more than 18 years of conflict in Afghanistan and is further expected to pave the way for a deal that might see an end to the war.

While speaking at the ceremony, Pompeo said, US will closely watch the Taliban's compliance with their commitments, and calibrate the pace of our withdrawal to their actions. This is how we will ensure that Afghanistan never again serves for international terrorists.

READ: Afghan Peace Deal: 5,000 Taliban PoWs To Be Released; US To Withdraw In 14 Months

The new peace deal agrees on the complete withdrawal of US and NATO troops within 14 months if the Taliban abide by the agreement. Furthermore, under the agreement, the militants also agreed not to allow al-Qaeda or any other extremist group to operate in the areas they control. US has also agreed to refrain itself from the use of force against Afghanistan or intervening in domestic affairs. It has also committed to seeking annual funds to train, equip and advice the Afghanistan security forces.

The US-Taliban peace deal also proposes an intra-Afghan dialogue with the government in Kabul and the release of 5,000 Taliban members from prison. According to a joint statement, the Afghan government will also engage with the United Nations Security Council to remove Taliban members from sanctions list by May 29.

READ: Taliban Orders Its Fighters To Refrain From Attack Ahead Of Peace Deal: Report

'Powerful path forward'

A day before the signing of the deal, Trump in a statement said, Soon, at my direction, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will witness the signing of an agreement with representatives of the Taliban. He added, If the Taliban and the government of Afghanistan live up to these commitments, we will have a powerful path forward to end the war in Afghanistan and bring our troops home.

According to Trump, the new peace-deal represents an important step to peace in a new Afghanistan which is free from al-Qaeda, ISIS and any other terror group that would seek to bring harm. Trump said, These agreements are a result of the strenuous efforts of those who fought so hard in Afghanistan for the United States of America. Earlier on Saturday, the Taliban even ordered its fighters to refrain from any attacks.

READ: NATO Chief Visits Afghanistan As US, Taliban To Sign Deal

The Taliban, who ruled Afghanistan with a harsh version of Islamic law from 1996 to 2001 and hosted al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, reportedly even said that they no longer seek a monopoly on power, however, the militant group continued to control or hold sway over roughly half of the country.

Before signing the agreement., there were also fears that a full withdrawal of some 20,000 NATO troops, including about 12,000 US forces, would leave the Afghan government vulnerable, or unleash another round of fighting in a war that has reportedly killed tens of thousands of Afghans and also claimed the lives of 2,400 US servicemen and women.

READ: Afghanistan's Future In The Balance As US, Taliban Sign Deal
Meet the Press anchor Chuck Todd pressed Vice President Mike Pence on Sunday to name some names after the veep groused that there was irresponsible rhetoric from Democrats on the coronavirus, with Todd further telling Pence that it feels like Team Trump is gaslighting the public.

Pence, who was recently tapped by President Donald Trump to lead the administrations response to the coronavirus crisis, made the rounds on the Sunday news shows to promote the administrations efforts. After reassuring viewers during his Meet the Press appearance that the risk of contagion remains low for Americans, Pence was then questioned on complaints by the president and his allies that Democrats are rooting for the virus.

Noting that Pence has gone out of his way to call on everyone to not politicize the outbreak, Todd went on to play a series of clips from conservatives claiming Democrats are weaponizing the virus to seek political gain. The montage also included the presidents son Donald Trump Jr. insisting that Dems want millions of people killed in order to stop Trumps streak of winning.

Obamas Ebola Point Man: Trumps Got a Coronavirus Credibility Problem

None of this seems to match the facts, Todd said. What facts are there that Democrats are doing this?  Seems like people are asking questions, and they're concerned about the virus. This, this implies some sort of political motivation, which is kind of gross.

Pence, meanwhile, claimed that there was a lot of irresponsible rhetoric on the left, prompting Todd to demand that the vice president name some names.

Because this is justit just feels like gaslighting, the NBC News anchor continued. Please name some names. Imwe're all bigwe're all big people here. Name some names.

Eventually, Pence cited a column by New York Times opinion writer Gail Collins in which she said the disease should be renamed Trumpvirus, calling Collins a prominent liberal journalist who was looking to blame the president.

Story continues

Does that apply, does that apply to all people, Todd wondered aloud, adding: This doesn't help. This does not help us, no?

This is decisive action to protect the American people, Pence responded. And when you see voices on our side pushing back on outrageous and irresponsible rhetoric on the other side, I think that's important, and I think it's justified.

Todd wanted to know how this keeps the country united and focused on fighting the virus, specifically pointing to Trump Jr.s remarks and asking Pence how those are helpful.

After Pence brushed off the presidential scions over-the-top comments while focusing again on Collins column, Todd questioned whether Pence believed that the entire Democratic Party was doing this.

Do you think there've been irresponsible voices on your side? Todd further asked. Do you think Rush Limbaugh saying weaponization of this? What evidence is there?

Well, look. I have great respect for Rush Limbaugh, and he's a strong conservative commentator, Pence replied.

He also told people that this wasn't anything to worry about, Todd shot back. Was he wrong about that?

Pence immediately deflected, fuming that Democrats have become reflexively critical of Trump while claiming that all Trump wants when it comes to the response to the disease is for Americans to know were all in this together.

So attacking Democrats is a way to do that? Todd declared.

Pence remained undeterred, however, and insisted that there was no issue with the rhetoric coming from the right.

I never begrudge people responding to unwarranted, unjustified attacks, he concluded. But I promise you, we're going to continue to focus on the mission the president's given this taskforce and given this government.

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.
01.03.2020 LISTEN

The current polarised Ghana on all fronts - politics, religion, ethnocentrism, and even amongst the creative art industry, can be likened to an apothecary who embarked on a suicide mission. And it's also interpreted as the bane to our progress vis-a-vis our bequeathed resources.

The Apothecary, one the current generation call: pharmacist, druggist, or a "drugstore owner", used his gracious welcome by unsuspecting kinsmen of once a great Kingdom to pay them with evil, one that boomeranged to his (the Apothecary) bosom more deadly.

From whence came the Apothecary, his birthplace, the people there held a long time battle with these kinsmen who threw caution into the wind and hosted him (the Apothecary). These unsuspecting good men behaving like the 'hen who goes to the hawk for healthcare, not knowing she's the chief meat for the supposed healer.

The Apothecary administered drugs to them on request to heal all ailments. Be it a pain in the head, that of the leg, or a paralysing disease that needed the intervention of an expert in medicine or an all-powerful God to heal with a magic wand.

It didn't take long, the strong and the industrious amongst the kinsmen either died, or added more sickness to the one they'd approached the Apothecary to be freed from.

Amongst the Kinsmen, there was one who befriended a son of the Apothecary, who doubles as an apprentice at the drugstore. They were childhood friends, but schooling separated them in their teenage days. That of the Kinsmen became restlessly hungry for knowledge. He sojourned to the length and breadth of every corner of the world to grab it when knowledge was sold or given freely.

On his return to his nativity, amongst the Kinsmen, he noticed how stunted they have grown, the alarming speed with which they were racing to outjump the other into death. And his friend, the son of the Apothecary, always walking stupor in his drunken pace. He saw the other siblings of now a drunkard apprentice either lost the sanity or respect in the eyes of men. No one took their words for serious, or meaningful.

One, a female, who entered in a bad marriage with an unfulfilled promise of travelling overseas with the husband, as the husband lived there, is now walking in the streets acting and saying words that she only understands. She's mad.

The other, a boy, who whiles growing up was seen with a mark of future great, due to how he came tops in class, is now not only a prodigal but has completely lost his senses that qualifies him to live among his fellow men. His is either saying something gibberish or entering where dead bodies are laid in state, fighting the innocent lifeless body with risible claims that: they were the murderers who laid siege and killed students and farmers. Bereaved families don't only angrily give him some knocks in the bushy head, but throw him out from the respected place of the pall, where the resting souls are accorded respect by the living.

To talk about the wife of the Apothecary, readers should have near them handkerchiefs to wipe their tears. She died with an unexplained disease that it's still believed the Apothecary carry, and is still spreading amongst the Kinsmen, one he does through promiscuity. Her (Apothecary's wife) belly protruded, with the limbs becoming as thin as an elephant who has swapped the legs for those of the mosquito. Totally bedridden. Before a forced swallowed morsel gets to her stomach, she must be rushed to the lavatory, or soil herself. The day she died, her remains were concealed in a casket, and no living soul, not even his drunkard son, with a Dutch-courage, the power of alcohol, wanted to be scared seeing her scary skeleton carcass.

The now drunkard son of the Apothecary, after losing his mother, the only comforter in adversity, at the town square, after challenging to victory all the alcoholics in the kingdom, boasts and liken his victory to that of his father's unchallenged power to snatch all women from their husbands in the kinsmen, and those who muster a least courage to challenge, poisoned to death, in the drug unsuspectingly purchased from the drugstore.

He started naming those who died recently amongst the Kinsmen and did well for the people with their generous giving. One, a leader of a youth group, who was almost the husband to all the widows. He literally fed them all as would her wife and household. Out of envity, not getting the advantage to exploit the hopeless widowed single mothers, for his unsatisfying appetite for what the renowned Ghanaian musician Daddy Lumba said: "a hidden deep treasure in between the legs of women; the Apothecary, claims his son, poisoned to death this local hero.

As those who when drunk reveal secrets, this son of the Apothecary let out freely the evil they do in darkness against the very people who hosted them with good heart.

His friend, who all this while had suspected this, and never took in anything bought or given freely by the son of the Apothecary, though never drink in public, was a witness to this scene. Emotionally, as seen in caring seers, asked the friend: "how sure are you that your current predicament, one that's also taking away your family bit by bit, is not orchestrated by my kinsmen, amongst them who learnt of your evil deeds and either sought power from a powerful Deity or with a hand-dipped in concoction, doctored your food. Which is better, my kinsmen dying at younger age or you losing your senses and dying of mysterious deaths?"

The son of the Apothecary wept uncontrollably upon hearing this. His father who sowed the seed of evil was informed of the revelations of his evil deeds. The kinsmen, even amongst them who might have learnt of the secret and paid the evil family back, picked their armoury. They directed their path to the drugstore to lynch the remnants of the Apothecary's household who are even better dead than a hopeless living.

Right there, a lord, amongst the kinsmen, intervened.

Since he was away at the time the Apothecary struck the hornets' nest, he's comparable to the proverbial "stranger whose tongue brings together, rivals".

Without fear of what the Kinsmen will do to him, he stood in between them and their hated prey, with this Oracle:

"My fellow Kinsmen, the Apothecary and his family judging by their current situation, will die come what may. You own this land. Let not your actions spill devil's blood on it, one that would dent the history of this land. A land that once was a pilgrim's pride.

Let's join hands now and save those on the throes of death. Now we're armed with such revelations. Who knows the next amongst us to go.

It's possible to live sometimes defeating prophecies of impossibilities. My learning as a lord in my sojourn has given me cure to all ailments, one powerful than that of the Apothecary's. Those who are still living but paralysed by the poison of the Apothecary would be rekindled to action when my medicine is applied. Lastly, the family of the Apothecary, himself included, would be healed with my medicine, and they would live to witness a rebuilt Paradise in this once great kingdom with people rejuvenated in strength for action".

*INTERPRETATION:*

The kingdom with the kinsmen is Ghana. Once a pilgrim's pride, and now a pale shadow of her beautiful past, owing to the unknowns, subculture, defeat of Ghanaianism through lightgasing and self- hatred; we've imported, adopted, and adapted.

The Apothecary is the imported evils of polarised religious system. Christians see Muslims as devils, and vice versa. We see that in the preachings and the doings of the pastors and the imams. It's not oblivious to us. We know how our preachers preach divisiveness instead of unity, one that would be the common denominator upon which our growth would hinge. Unity, is replaced with doctrines that creates chasm in our front, leaving in its wake self-seeking captains of one ship that pushs-and-pulls left to derail on a journey that promises to end well, into a Paradise.

Not only the named religions, it's so with all the imported once. - Everyone says: my religion is the sacrosanct, not yours. Everyone claims the superiority of his or her religion above the other, blinding us to the real enemy we're to join hands and fight and defeat. The illiteracy level. Lost of morality, the near extinction of our traditions and culture. Hunger, lack of befitting accommodation. Our inability to negotiate for best trade practises, opening our abundant resource to exploitation, siphoning, and irrigation that turn arid lands into verdant, in Europe and America, and now Asia.

Where does that lead us? To the muddy field of divisive partisan polity of the country. One that though synchronized with ethnocentrism has become the devilish of all the Apothecary that is sinking our country Ghana.

Imagine Richard Quarshigah praising the ruling government, NPP, for approving a loan facility that paves the way for his Keta constituency to get a portable water, and his colleague sitting by him in the Parliament house seeing his words as damaging to the opposition party, NDC, and walk out of the chamber. No room for unity amongst people with a Commonwealth. Such had never been the dream of our forebears when they poured their blood as a sacrifice for the establishment of Great Ghana.

Why? It's a continuation of the old battle, the nemesis, old rivalry.

Not Ghana first, our political parties first. "They did same to us, we must pay them in their own coin. Who cares if Ghana suffers?"

Here comes the lord, the One Ghana Movement (1GhM). We hold the key to the warehouse in whose custody the rebuilding materials to salvage the sinking Ghana are stored. The medicine that cured the kinsmen and the household of the Apothecary is the magic wand that Ghana needs to thrust herself to her deserving status.

It's a collective thing. Unity for purpose. Ghana can be great again.

Join the One Ghana Movement now. What undergirds the vision and the mission of our movement is restoring Ghana to her greatness in line with the dictates of the NEW WORLD ORDER.

*#1GhM*

*#WeAreRebuildingGh*

*Written by: Charles Yeboah (Sir Lord)*

*The Founder of One Ghana Movement*

*Contact/WhatsApp: +233249542111*

*Email: [email protected]*
The coronavirus, which surfaced in a Chinese seafood and poultry market in December 2019, has spread to nearly every country, upending life and derailing the global economy. The virus has killed more than 1.6 million and sickened more than 76 million over the last year. The World Health Organization has declared the situation a global pandemic.

Several world leaders, including President Donald J. Trump and Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain, contracted the virus during the uphill battle to mitigate its spread within their borders, proving even the most powerful could fall to the virus grip.

In early December 2020, nations began the race to secure vaccines and a few Western countries began administering shots to its most vulnerable populations, in an effort to bring the virus under control.

Heres a timeline of the outbreak over the past year.

Dec. 31

Chinese authorities treated dozens of cases of pneumonia of unknown cause.

On Dec. 31, the government in Wuhan, China, confirmed that health authorities were treating dozens of cases. Days later, researchers in China identified a new virus that had infected dozens of people in Asia. At the time, there was no evidence that the virus was readily spread by humans. Health officials in China said they were monitoring it to prevent the outbreak from developing into something more severe.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: A week after deadly communal violence erupted in northeast Delhi, the situation in affected areas was peaceful but tense on Sunday as four more bodies were fished out from drains in Gokalpuri and Shiv Vihar and heavy police deployment continued.

In parts of northeast Delhi, people complained of cash crunch as several bank branches and ATMs have remained closed in the aftermath of the riots.

The Delhi Police said it has registered 254 FIRs and arrested or detained 903 persons in connection with the violence so far. Forty-one of the cases were registered under the Arms Act.

No untoward incident has been reported from the northeast district over the past three days, an official said, adding police are urging residents to not pay attention to rumours and report them to authorities.

Three bodies were fished out from two drains in Gokalpuri on Sunday while one body was pulled out out from a drain in Shiv Vihar, police said.

However, it is yet to be ascertained if they are linked to the riots and authorities have not updated the death toll figure.

Several bodies of riot victims have been found in drains since Wednesday including of IB staffer Ankit Sharma after violence ebbed.

Panic spread across several parts of west Delhi on Sunday evening following false rumours of violence. Delhi Metro also shut down entry and exits of seven stations without giving any reason.

However, Delhi Police swiftly denied any incident and appealed to all to remain calm. Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar visited some of the riot-hit areas, including Brahmapuri, and consoled the people affected by the worst violence in three decades in Delhi.

"It is very disturbing to see that so many people are badly affected. We have to relieve them of trauma and bring their lives back on track. Everyone should come together to do this," he told reporters.

Schools are closed in Northeast district till March 7. On Sunday, the CBSE said any further delay in conducting board exams in violence-affected areas may hamper chances of students in admission to professional courses like medical and engineering, but added that it is ready to conduct fresh exams for students who will not be able to appear as per schedule.

Aadil Khan, a resident of Jafradbad, said that several bank branches and ATMs located at B Block of Yamuna Vihar, were closed since the deadly communal violence erupted on February 23.

Mohammad Alam, 27, a mobile recharge shop owner in Shiv Vihar --- one of worst violence-affected areas --- said his shop remained shut for the last four days.

"The business has been hit badly due to closure of banks and ATMs. People don't have cash," Alam told PTI.

Kailash Kumar, who lives in Mustafabad, said his family would leave the city for their hometown in Uttar Pradesh's Ghazipur, but he could not draw cash for travel.

Kumar said that apart from banks and ATMs, most of grocery shops remained shut due to which there is shortage of essential commodities.

The violence in Jaffrabad, Maujpur, Babarpur, Chand Bagh, Shiv Vihar, Bhajan Pura, Yamuna Vihar and Mustafabad areas of northeast Delhi claimed at least 42 lives and leftover 200 injured.

A large number of properties have been damaged. Frenzied mobs had torched houses, shops, vehicles, a petrol pump and pelted stones at locals and police personnel.

Police said they are conducting flag marches in violence-affected areas. However, there was an eerie silence in the narrow bylanes that were teeming with people and hawkers barely a week back.

In Shiv Vihar, among the worst-hit areas, the roads were deserted and almost all the houses locked. In Mustafabad, people were wary of stepping out of their homes.

"Though there is a police presence, tension is lingering. We celebrated Eid, Holi, Diwali together. I have never faced such a situation in my life. There is grief, mistrust, disbelief. Those who indulged in violence did not belong to the area, they came from outside," said Mohammad Yunus, 45.

Yunus, who owns a garment store in Shiv Vihar, said he was saved by his Hindu neighbours during the violence and they tore the shop's name-board to protect the business from rioters.

Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the AAP government is putting in best efforts to provide relief to the people affected by the riots.

Taking to Twitter, Kejriwal said he is personally trying to ensure that relief reaches each person in need, asserting that the government wants people to return to their homes and be welcomed by their neighbours.

Anxious relatives of people missing during the violence continued to queue up at the GTB hospital mortuary, where bodies of riot victims were kept.

With a photograph of her youngest brother, Salman (25), in her hand, Nabi Jan frantically went around the mortuary hoping that he was not among those killed.

"Salman worked as a labourer and had gone to Gokalpuri on February 26. He kept a phone, but it is switched off and there is no clue of what happened to him," Jan said.

None of the bodies in the mortuary was of his brother, he said. A woman, whose 19-year-old son has been missing from northeast Delhi's Mustafabad area, fell unconscious after seeing a corpse at the mortuary.

Her family later confirmed that her son's body was not in there. Sources said till Saturday six bodies were unidentified at the mortuary, out of which two were later identified and claimed.

One of the bodies was charred. Lawyer Mamtesh Sharma and paralegal volunteer Asha Mittal, manning the Shahdara District Legal Services Authority (SDLSA) help desk, said they were coordinating with hospital authorities and police to provide assistance to people seeking information about their missing family members.

"So far, around 35 families contacted us. Some have identified bodies, while others were directed by us to look into the wards where injured are admitted. Also, we are coordinating with police to find out if anyone missing was detained by them," Sharma said.

Meanwhile, human rights activists wrote to the Delhi Police Commissioner demanding that the names and addresses of those arrested in connection with the violence in the national capital be publicised as mandated by the law.

In a letter, signed by activists Anjali Bharadwaj, co-convenor of the National Campaign for People's Right to Information, advocate Prashant Bhushan, CPI leader Annie Raja, Amrita Johri among others, said Section 41-C of the CrPC mandatorily requires that a police control room be established in all districts and section 41-C(2) demands that the names and addresses of all persons arrested be displayed on the notice board outside the control room.

Acting Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava visited DCP Amit Sharma who is undergoing treatment after suffering serious injuries in the clashes.

Shrivastava has been given the additional charge of Delhi Police Commissioner, following Amulya Patnaik's retirement on Saturday.

Shrivastava visited Max Hospital in Patparganj and inquired about the health of Sharma, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara), who suffered injuries to his head and hand in violence in Gokulpuri on February 24.

"His health has improved and he was likely to be shifted to the ward later today. He has undergone the surgery. He is having his meals now and recovering from the serious injuries," a family friend said.
Lafarge Africa Plc, a cement manufacturer company in Ogun State has explained why the firm invited an Italian, who was later diagnosed with coronavirus, to Nigeria.

The company through its Industrial Director, Segun Soyoye, said the Italian came to Lafarge facilities at Ewekoro to inspect some installations of machines bought from a Swedish firm.

He disclosed this at their facility during an on-the-spot-assessment by the host state government, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), and the World Health Organisation (WHO) teams.

Mr Soyoye also said that the guest house where the Italian was lodged is 5km to the manufacturing plant in Ewekoro.

The Italian came for a business visit. He was in Lagos on Monday and slept at Airport Hotel, Ikeja. Our driver took him there, and when we observed abnormal temperatures and symptoms, we quickly instituted an Emergency Response Team which is led by the Company CEO; we have to find a way of analysing and identifying not only the Italian but also the other contacts, Mr Soyoye was quoted as saying by the government-owned News Agency of Nigeria.

The official also said 39 people suspected to have had contact with the Italian have been quarantined.

Today (Saturday) is Day 3; they will be there for 14 days. We will continue to observe them, we have their database, showing their biodata and other information, he said. The doctor is here and what he is doing is to check them on a regular basis. So far everybody is stable, they are not symptomatic, we are providing everything for them over there.

The other thing that I have not said is that the clinic that was used for the infected person is closed, disinfected and we moved everybody out.

All the guys on duty that day, they were also quarantined, so they will be there for 14 days as well, Mr Soyoye said.

Lafarge management and the Ogun State Government also debunked the closure of the cement production company.

The state government through Ogun Commissioner for Health, Tomi Coker, commended Lafarge Africa for the quick and proactive measures taken so far.

She also said an Emergency Operation Committee had been activated to manage any development that may arise from the reported cases of coronavirus.

Also, Ibrahim Mamadu, the Team Leader of World Health Organisation (WHO) Nigeria, also commended the internal processes undertaken so far by Lafarge Africa to contain the deadly disease.

He, however, advised the company and others to acquire digital thermometers to check body temperatures instead of infrared thermometers for accurate body temperature readings.
President Donald Trump has returned after completing his 36-hour visit to India. There was too much hype about Trumps visit to India for the last almost a month. In todays world, diplomatic, strategic and economic relations with different countries have a special significance. In such a situation, the visit of the president of the worlds most powerful country is considered to be an important event. The significance of this visit grew even more as the Parliament recently passed an important resolution and abolished Article 370, the root of a major dispute, going on since independence.

Pakistan has been making incessant efforts of encouraging separatism and terrorism in Kashmir and elsewhere, raising the boggy of Kashmir dispute. With the abolition of Article 370 and thereby, special status to Kashmir, the path of peace has become clear in Kashmir. However, to give rest to all controversies, it was necessary to create an atmosphere in favour of stability in Kashmir, at the international level too. By saying that whatever India does for Kashmir, will be good, all controversies have been put to rest by President Trump.

Donald Trump also repeatedly cited his friendship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi before and during his visit to India. It is understandable that this kind of harmony between the heads of government of the two great nations is a good sign. Trade wars between US, China and India have been going on for a long time. President Trump has a consistent complaint with China that it is destroying employment opportunities for Americans by dumping its cheap goods in the US. So he is determined to take every step to save his countrys employment and economy.

At the same time, the United States holds a grudge against India  that India sells all kinds of goods to America without tariff hindrances; however, very high import duties are imposed. For a long time, the US has been continuously raising import duties on goods coming from China and India. A few months ago, the US removed GSP, a provision granting trade concessions to India, affecting exports of nearly $ 5.6 billion from India. Just a few days before Trumps visit to India, the US removed India from the category of developing countries and placed it in the category of developed countries. The effect will be that the trade concessions India receives from US, as a developing country will end.

The United States also complains that India has banned the import of milk products from America. At the same time, US companies have been complaining that India has imposed price controls on health devices, including cardiac stunts, knee implants etc., due to which their business interests are hurt. On the other hand, India has imposed various types of curbs on American e-commerce companies for some time. The US also complains that Indias patent law is contrary to the interests of their companies.

India has clearly explained to the US that we cannot accept their demands because as far as dairy is concerned, the US milk supplies come from non-vegetarian cows, which cannot be allowed due to religious and cultural reasons. Moreover, dairy provides livelihood to nearly 10 crore subsistence farmers. On the other hand, due to the discounting of e-commerce by American e-commerce companies, small shopkeepers in India are fast losing their employment. So it is necessary to impose curbs on these companies. As far as our intellectual property law, including patents, is concerned, it is very important for our public health and the protection of farmers; and therefore, it cannot be changed under any circumstances. Not only this, control over the prices of essential medical devices is absolutely necessary to provide affordable medical facilities to the poor in the country.

Amidst the plethora of grievances, the US has always been under the impression that they can get any agreement inked in their favour, by way of arm twisting and threats of sanctions, they have been practising in the past. There is no dearth of experts who would legitimise any agreement with US in the name of diplomacy. However, experience during Modis regime has been different. This time too, a few days before Trumps visit, it became clear that even a limited trade agreement between India and the United States would not become a reality. Before coming to India, Trump had also announced that India was not agreeing on trade deal and it would not be possible.

He said, despite that he would come to India because he likes Modi. At the end of Trumps visit, it is clear that India will not compromise its interests under any circumstances. As Trumps visit drew to a close, New York Times ran a headline, As Trump Visits India, a Trade Deal Remains Elusive. President Trump and Prime Minister Modi have plenty in common, but that doesnt include a desire to quickly lower trade barriers between the two countries.

America should not forget that India is also an important market for it. Indias ever-growing civil aviation sector has proved to be a boon for the United States, and, in the next few years, India is going to buy 300 Boeing aircraft worth $40 billion from USA. Today America has become a very important oil exporting country to India. In such a situation, the trade deficit that America is complaining about is going to end soon.

Washington has to understand that good relations with India and America are absolutely necessary to create international balance. That is why it is becoming clear in the Indo-US joint press release that the two countries will work together in the field of defence. Increasing strategic co-operation between India and the United States will improve the balance of power in the continent; and China, which is constantly increasing its strategic presence in the region, will also get appropriate response.

It is worth noting that for some time, under the Belt and Road Project, China has been pushing the developing countries into a debt trap in the name of infrastructure. Through this, it is becoming a threat to the peace of the region by capturing assets of strategic importance in those countries. A strategic partnership between India and the United States can be considered an appropriate response to China. Strongly rejecting the unfair trade and economic demands of the US and not signing trade agreements without causing any rift in Indo-US relations, Modi has written a new chapter in Indo-US relation, based on equality and mutual benefit and not on coercion and arm twisting.

(Dr. Ashwani Mahajan is an Associate Professor, Department of Economics, P.G.D.A.V. College, University of Delhi)
It may be a public university, but UC Berkeley announced Saturday it has embarked on a $6 billion private fundraising campaign that is the largest in its history.

The money would go toward such ambitious goals as providing campus housing for all first- and second-year students and hiring 100 new tenure-track faculty by 2025.

Financial aid for graduate and undergraduate students would receive boosts as well. The campaign will also fund at least one major new building on the historic campus  a home for the newly created Division of Computing, Data Science and Society.

We are raising funds for our core needs and activities, Chancellor Carol Christ said in a statement released to coincide with the announcement of the campaign.It may seem ironic, but it is the support from private sources that helps us to secure and sustain our public character.

The public launch comes six years after development officers and campus dignitaries began quietly soliciting pledges for what is called Light the Way: The Campaign for Berkeley. Since then, $3.4 billion has been raised  including an anonymous donation of $252 million for the new department conceived around data science.

That anonymous gift will go toward constructing a home for the department on the Hearst Avenue site that last held Tolman Hall. That 1963 structure, which had housed the psychology department and the Graduate School of Education, was demolished last year after being deemed seismically unsafe.

The campaigns other physical impact will be to help build thousands of new student housing units.

Though Cals undergraduate population now tops 31,000, with another 12,000 graduate students, the campus has fewer than 10,000 beds available for its students. Christ wants to double the number of beds that the university can offer students.

As part of this effort, Light the Way funds would be used to provide housing for all first-year transfer students as well as freshmen and sophomores.

The commitment to hire 100 new tenure-track faculty, meanwhile, speaks to UC Berkeleys determination to continue to be seen as one of the nations top educational centers.

This isnt easy, given that the state university receives just 14% of its budget from the state, compared with roughly 50% in the late 1980s.

During the past five years, the tenure-track faculty population fell slightly as student numbers increased.

The new campaign should provide funding for 100 additional full-time faculty, bringing UCs numbers above 1,500, while also providing them with resources for research.

Part of Berkeleys mission is to provide students with access to the leading minds in their fields, Ben Hermalin, a vice provost, said in the statement released Saturday. Without more professors, either class sizes get enormous or we ration the number of students who take courses or even major in certain fields.

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.

In its announcement, UC billed the campaign as the highest set by any U.S. public university without a medical school.

To reach the end of the 2023 deadline for hitting $6 billion, Berkeley will need to raise nearly $700 million annually.

As daunting as these numbers sound, theyre exceeded by several of Cals most vaunted private rivals.

Stanford University raised $6.2 billion in its five-year Stanford Challenge that ended in 2012.

Harvard University holds the record for such campaigns: it raised $9.6 billion in a campaign that lasted from 2013 until 2018.

John King is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jking@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @johnkingsfchron
SENECA FALLS  The Cayuga Nation Police Department arrested members of three other Native American nations in response to violence that broke out minutes after a press conference held by Cayuga Nation chiefs Saturday morning.

The press conference took place on a road off Route 89 in Seneca Falls adjacent to the property that was previously controlled by a Cayuga Nation group that doesn't recognize Clint Halftown, the nation's federal representative, as the nation's leader. Halftown's Cayuga Nation Council ordered its newly created police department to raid the site on Feb. 22 and take back the properties. It also demolished several structures, including a gas station/convenience store, schoolhouse, day-care center and sugar shack.

The seven Cayuga Nation chiefs who held the press conference oppose Halftown, and they brought supporters to Saturday's event from other American Indian nations that make up the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.

Saturday's press conference was called by the chiefs to address the recent incident, but after they were done speaking to the crowd that had gathered, the group crossed caution tape and walked onto the property. They were immediately confronted by a large group wearing Cayuga Nation Police jackets, and fighting broke out.

Punches were thrown and people were dragged to the ground. The fighting lasted about 10 minutes before the nation police used pepper spray to disperse the crowd.

After the pepper spray was deployed, people with their faces stained orange from the spray staggered around, arms flailing, shouting for water as they struggled to see. People were given water bottles to douse their eyes.

Throughout the altercation, a small presence of local and state law enforcement was off to the side, monitoring the situation but not intervening. A section of Route 89 was closed to traffic as a result of the situation.

On Saturday afternoon, the Halftown-led council announced that its police force arrested three people at the scene: Austin Glass, an Oneida Indian nation member, charged with damaging a Cayuga Nation marked police vehicle; Hajenhne Brown, a member of the Onondaga Nation, charged with trespassing and assault on a Cayuga Nation police officer; and Travis John, a Seneca Nation member charged with assaulting police. It also said a non-Indian person at the scene, Charles Bowman, assaulted a nation police officer and said "his prosecution has been referred to the Seneca Falls Police Department," according to a press release.

The Seneca Falls Police Department said that it had established a command post in anticipation of the gathering and responded to the scene after receiving reports of physical altercations. According to a news release, officers from multiple law enforcement agencies responded and "diffused the altercations and separated the opposing sides. Police remained on scene to keep the peace until tensions were de-escalated and attendees left the area." After the fighting ended, protesters screamed and hurled obscenities at the group with Cayuga Nation Police uniforms. Two people had blood on their faces after the fighting stopped. No medical personnel were at the scene. The SFPD said that no local or state law enforcement agencies took anyone into custody and that anyone wishing to provide information is asked to call the department (315) 568-4850.

The Halftown council said one of the Cayuga Nation police officers was taken to the hospital with unspecified injuries, and that additional charges may be brought. The council has established its own police force and court system in recent years, and has a contract with a Pennsylvania jail for holding defendants.

The authority of this police force isn't clear. In December, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of New York had warned lawyers for both factions within the Cayuga Nation not to escalate their dispute.

During the press conference on Saturday, the chiefs talked about their view that the Seneca Falls site belongs to the Cayuga Nation as a whole, and is not a place that Halftown can unilaterally control.

Halftown has labeled the group that has opposed him and run the operations at the Seneca Falls site as "trespassers" who have been breaking tribal law and stealing from the nation's citizens. A lawyer for the opposition group has called the Halftown council's actions "viciously unlawful."

Lee Alcott, one of the attorney's for the Halftown-led Cayuga Nation Council, issued a statement on behalf of the council early Saturday afternoon condemning the actions of the opposition group:

"This morning our Nation, Officers of our Police Department and others, including members of state and local law enforcement, were the victims of a group of vicious criminals, including members of the Mohawk and Onondaga nations, as well as other Indians who traveled from Canada, for the sole purpose of creating chaos on our property and inflicting serious injury. As you know, we had regained possession of these properties peacefully and without injury and hoped to maintain the peace, but peace has never been the way of those who continue to oppose our lawful government.

"We had been informed that certain members of the Cayuga Nation intended to stage a protest at our property, and we were prepared to honor that protest in a respectful manner. Instead, however, it looks like this group put out a call to other Indian nations, including the Onondaga Nation, who have no business in our affairs, and solicited their help in bringing what are nothing more than thugs to our reservation. We are grateful for the assistance of local law enforcement who clearly saw these people for the violent criminals they are and we call upon the so-called 'Unity Council' and their attorney to stop this once and for all before someone is more seriously injured or worse."

Joe Heath, an attorney representing the opposition group, countered with his own statement later Saturday:

"This morning, Halftown's all non-indigenous police force attacked Cayuga and Haudenosaunee citizens as they peacefully came onto the properties which Hafftown has leveled. These indigenous people have a much superior right to be on Nation property than the mercenaries who attacked them.

"This violence by the mercenaries is a continuation of their vicious raid a week ago, when they put guns to people's heads, handcuffed them and forced them out of the buildings, so that they could destroy them. In addition their destruction of commercial properties, Halftown ordered the destruction of the Longhouse, a cultural and spiritual center, a day care center, and six cabins, from which the residents were forced at gun point.

"For Halftown to claim that Onondaga and Mohawk citizens were trespassers, while hiding behind an all-white, hired police force is an absurd Orwellian twist of reality."

Heath later said that Charles Bowman had been kicked in the face by Cayuga Nation police while trying to defend a woman. He was not charged, Heath said, "as those police have no jurisdiction over non-Indians."

Cayuga Nation standoff Cayuga Nation Police Department officers guard the property in Seneca Falls seized Feb. 22 by the Clint Halftown-led Cayuga Nation Council fro

Love 4 Funny 15 Wow 12 Sad 19 Angry 44
Freeman Dyson, a mathematical prodigy who left his mark on subatomic physics before turning to messier subjects like Earths environmental future and the morality of war, died Friday at a hospital near Princeton, N.J. He was 96.

His daughter Mia Dyson confirmed the death.

As a young graduate student at Cornell in 1949, Dyson wrote a landmark paper  worthy, some colleagues thought, of a Nobel Prize  that deepened the understanding of how light interacts with matter to produce the palpable world. The theory the paper advanced, called quantum electrodynamics, or QED, ranks among the great achievements of modern science.

But it was as a writer and technological visionary that he gained public renown. He imagined exploring the solar system with spaceships propelled by nuclear explosions and establishing distant colonies nourished by genetically engineered plants.

Life begins at 55, the age at which I published my first book, he wrote in From Eros to Gaia, one of the collections of his writings that appeared while he was a professor of physics at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton  an august position for someone who finished school without a doctorate. The lack of a doctorate was a badge of honor, he said. With his slew of honorary degrees and a fellowship in the Royal Society, people called him Dr. Dyson anyway.

Dyson called himself a scientific heretic and warned against the temptation of confusing mathematical abstractions with ultimate truth. Although his own early work on QED helped bring photons and electrons into a consistent framework, Dyson doubted that superstrings, or anything else, would lead to a Theory of Everything, unifying all of physics with a succinct formulation inscribable on a T-shirt. In a speech in 2000 when he accepted the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, Dyson quoted Francis Bacon: God forbid that we should give out a dream of our own imagination for a pattern of the world.

Relishing the role of iconoclast, he confounded the scientific establishment by dismissing the consensus about the perils of man-made climate change as tribal group-thinking. He doubted the veracity of the climate models, and he exasperated experts with sanguine predictions they found rooted less in science than in wishfulness: Excess carbon in the air is good for plants, and global warming might forestall another ice age.

In a profile of Dyson in 2009 in The New York Times Magazine, his colleague Steven Weinberg, a Nobel laureate, observed, I have the sense that when consensus is forming like ice hardening on a lake, Dyson will do his best to chip at the ice.

Dysons distrust of mathematical models had earlier led him to challenge predictions that the debris from atomic warfare could blot out the sun and bring on a devastating nuclear winter. He said he wished that were true  because it would add to the psychological deterrents to nuclear war  but found the theory wanting.

For all his doubts about the ability of mortals to calculate anything so complex as the effects of climate change, he was confident enough in our toolmaking to propose a technological fix: If carbon dioxide levels became too high, forests of genetically altered trees could be planted to strip the excess molecules from the air. That would free scientists to confront problems he found more immediate, like the alleviation of poverty and the avoidance of war.

Freeman John Dyson was born on Dec. 15, 1923, in the Berkshire village of Crowthorne, England. His father, George Dyson, was a composer and conductor. In the family archives is an unfinished novel Freeman began writing when he was 8 years old about an imaginary expedition to the moon to observe the impending impact of an asteroid. (Later in life he probably would have devised, at least on paper, a means of heading off the celestial crash.) The boys reading included, in addition to Jules Verne, nonfiction by James Jeans and Arthur Eddington, British physicists with a flair for popularization and a literary bent.

After finishing high school at Winchester College, where his father taught music, he entered the University of Cambridge, Trinity College, and excelled in mathematics.

Looking for a way to serve the war effort while satisfying his pacifist leanings, he took leave in 1943 to work as a civilian scientist for the Royal Air Force Bomber Command. He was charged with using mathematics to plan more efficient bombing campaigns. Years later, in an interview with the physicist and historian Silvan Schweber, he agonized over what he saw as his own moral cowardice, comparing himself to Nazi bureaucrats calculating how to murder most economically.

Excited by the theoretical frontiers opened by wartime research on nuclear fission, Dyson returned to Cambridge and concentrated on becoming a physicist. With a bachelors degree in mathematics, he entered the graduate physics program at Cornell in 1947, studying under Hans Bethe, who had been a leader of the Manhattan Project.

It was while touring the United States the following summer that Dyson resolved a pressing problem in theoretical physics.

Richard Feynman, a young professor at Cornell, had invented a novel method to describe the behavior of electrons and photons (and their antimatter equivalent, positrons). But two other physicists, Julian Schwinger and Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, had each independently devised a very different way. Each of these seemed to satisfy the requirements of both quantum mechanics and special relativity  two of natures acid tests. But which one was correct?

While crossing Nebraska on a Greyhound bus, Dyson was struck by an epiphany: The theories were mathematically equivalent  different ways of saying the same thing. The result was QED. Feynman called it the jewel of physics  our proudest possession.

By the time Dyson published the details in 1949, a doctorate must have seemed superfluous. He was appointed professor of physics at Cornell in 1951. Teaching, he soon realized, was not for him. In 1953, he became a scholar at the Institute for Advanced Study, where he spent the rest of his career.

Dyson did not begrudge Feynman, Schwinger and Tomonaga the Nobel they received in 1965. I think its almost true without exception if you want to win a Nobel Prize, you should have a long attention span, get hold of some deep and important problem and stay with it for 10 years, he told The Times Magazine in 2009. That wasnt my style.

He preferred to move from problem to problem, both theoretical and practical. In the late 1950s, consulting for General Atomics in San Diego, he helped design the Triga reactor, which is used for scientific research and nuclear medicine, and worked on Project Orion, which aimed to explore the solar system with an enormous spaceship powered by exploding nuclear bombs.

With the signing of the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1963, Dysons dreams of reaching Saturn by 1970 were put to rest. Despite his disappointment, he came to support the treaty and, sometimes as a member of Jason, an elite group of scientific advisers, consulted with the government on disarmament and defense.

But his interests were not moored to the earths surface. Any advanced civilization, he observed in a paper published in 1960, would ultimately expand to the point where it needed all the energy its solar system could provide. The ultimate solution would be to build a shell around the sun  a Dyson sphere  to capture its output. Earthlings, he speculated in a thought experiment, might conceivably do this by dismantling Jupiter and reassembling the pieces.

In the late 1970s Dyson turned full force to writing. Anyone with an interest in science and an appreciation for good prose is likely to have some Dysons on the shelf: Disturbing the Universe, Weapons and Hope, Infinite in All Directions, The Sun, the Genome and the Internet.

He also entered literature in a different way. He appeared in John McPhees book The Curve of Binding Energy (1974), a portrait of Ted Taylor, the nuclear scientist who led the Orion effort, and in Kenneth Browers The Starship and the Canoe (1978). In a memorable scene, Brower wrote of Dysons reunion with his son, George, who had turned his back on high technology to live in a treehouse in British Columbia and build a seafaring canoe. George Dyson later returned to civilization and became a historian of technology and an author. Dysons daughter, Esther Dyson is a well-known Silicon Valley consultant.

They survive him, as do his daughter Mia; his second wife, Imme Dyson; their three other daughters, Dorothy Dyson, Emily Dyson Scott and Rebecca Dyson; a stepdaughter, Katarina Haefeli; and 16 grandchildren. Dysons marriage to mathematician Verena Huber-Dyson ended in divorce. She died in 2016.

George Johnson is a New York Times writer.
On Dec. 31, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed an executive order establishing 12 weeks of paid parental leave for full-time state employees. The governors executive order came on the last day of 2019, a year during which both the city of Albuquerque and University of New Mexico extended similar paid parental leave benefits to their employees. Additionally, a new federal policy will extend paid parental leave to federal employees beginning on Oct. 1.

We thank our local, state, and institutional leaders for taking such important steps to ensure that over 100,000 public-sector employees in New Mexico have access to paid parental leave. (The governor and Legislature should) act to expand these protections in both scope and reach. In order to provide the greatest benefit to all New Mexico workers and businesses, it is up to our elected officials to support and pass a Paid Family & Medical Leave Act.

A Paid Family & Medical Leave Coalition, which is made up of 25 organizations and supported by the Southwest Womens Law Center, has developed a proposal with Rep. Christine Chandler, D-Los Alamos, and Sen. Jacob Candelaria, D-Albuquerque, that will cover all other employees who dont have this benefit yet. The Paid Family & Medical Leave Act, (which stalled in the House Rules Committee this session), would create a state-administered trust fund for eligible workers that ensures that no one has to choose between their job and caring for a new child, a family member with a serious health concern, or their own medical condition. Employee and employer contributions would fund compensation payments and administration of the fund. After contributing to the fund for at least six months and submitting an application to N.M. Workforce Solutions, workers will receive a percentage of their average weekly wages for up to 12 weeks of leave. Self-employed individuals can opt into the program. Employees and self-employed individuals will receive leave compensation payments directly from the Trust Fund. During an employees leave period, employers will benefit from wage savings, which may be used to pay overtime wages for current employees, hire a temporary replacement, or to invest in other ways.

Both employers and workers benefit from Paid Family & Medical Leave programs. Other states that have implemented their own PFML programs have seen measurable decreases in infant mortality, child-abuse injuries, and nursing home usage among the elderly. These programs are also associated with reduced caregiver stress, improved parental physical and mental health, and higher breastfeeding and immunization rates for infants.

Employers who offer paid family and medical leave have a competitive advantage in hiring and retention. PFML programs are effective in improving worker performance and engagement. Workers who take paid leave are more likely to be employed by the same business two years later, less likely to take sick leave when they return to work, and more likely to report high morale and workplace satisfaction. Like the public sector in New Mexico, large corporations understand this competitive edge. These corporations are increasingly likely to offer private paid leave programs to attract and retain high-quality workers. However, few of our homegrown New Mexico businesses are large enough to easily absorb the costs of offering this benefit.

New Mexico is proud to offer entrepreneurs, start-ups and small businesses an opportunity to innovate, experiment and grow right here in the Land of Enchantment. PFMLA can support small business, improve recruitment and retention, and promote innovation by allowing entrepreneurs to take business risks without fearing the loss of income if they or a loved one become unexpectedly ill. By committing to PFMLA, our state can take the burden off small-business owners, leveling the playing field and creating a safety net for business owners and their workers.
Health authorities on Sunday confirmed the first coronavirus related death in the country.

A 78-year-old man from Perth, the capital of West Australia, lost his life at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in the early hours of Sunday morning, Sydney Morning Herald reported.

He was evacuated from Darwin with his wife, who has also tested positive for the virus, earlier this month and arrived back in Perth on February 21.

They were two of 164 Australians flown out of Japan and placed in isolation at Howard Springs after being quarantined aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship. His wife, meanwhile, remained in a stable condition in the hospital.

The Morrison government has put a travel ban on people arriving from Italy and Iran, with effect from Sunday, due to the country's "high death rate" from coronavirus as it tries to stem the flow of the disease into Australia.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt on Sunday said he had asked deputy chief medical officer, Professor Paul Kelly to consider the appropriate level of travel advice for Italy.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 20:35:11|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- "It's been a hard journey for everyone," U.S. President Donald Trump said at the White House after his government signed a peace deal with the Taliban on Saturday in a bid to end the 18-year war in Afghanistan.

The deal, signed after over 2,400 U.S. soldiers and tens of thousands of Afghan civilians were killed in the long-running war, opens a door to enduring peace in the conflict-stricken country. Still, plenty of uncertainties remain.

The first problem is the fragile trust between the two signing parties. That will confuse the implementation process as both sides were still harboring doubts and hurling threats against each other before and during the signing.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper warned in Kabul that the United States would "not hesitate to nullify the agreement" if the Taliban does not honor its commitments, while admitting that "this is our chance to bring troops home from Afghanistan for good."

Taliban Spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told the British newspaper Financial Times that the group's leadership did not foresee any problems in implementing the deal but warned if any party violated the terms "we would naturally return to finding a solution through military and jihadi means."

Another concern would be the absence of the Afghan government at the signing table. Kabul will talk with the Taliban under the newly-signed agreement.

The Taliban in the past refused to negotiate with the Afghan government, calling it a U.S. "puppet." Whether the Taliban will sit down with the government as promised would have a great impact on the future of the deal.

Talking to each other is only the first step. The current Afghan government and the Taliban differ greatly in how to run the country. Thus, it is going to be arduous for the two sides to compromise on a power-sharing structure.

The third problem would be a concern for terrorism. As one of the prerequisites for a gradual withdrawal of the U.S. troops, the Taliban has promised to cut ties with terrorist groups. However, it is highly likely that neither al-Qaida operatives nor the Islamic State militants will sit on their hands and watch.

Therefore, foreign troops in Afghanistan should withdraw in an orderly and responsible way to ensure a steady transition, and avoid a security vacuum.

The deal did not come easily, and has seen by many as a historic starting point for Afghanistan to forge lasting peace and stability.

The war has been too long, almost two decades since the United States first marched in. The chance to end it seems to be within reach now. It is time for all related sides to seize it.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 16:24:50|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

YANGON, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar's government on Sunday donated 200 tons of rice to China as a humanitarian assistance in the battle against the COVID-19 epidemic.

The donated rice was handed over to Chinese Ambassador to Myanmar Chen Hai at the Shwe Pyi Thar Industrial Zone (4) in Yangon region.

"Myanmar and China have a very long friendship and it has been promoted from one stage to another. Whatever happens in China, we feel the same as we have a fraternal relationship. We believe that China will overcome this outbreak as soon as possible," Aung Htoo, deputy minister of commerce told media.

Ambassador Chen expressed thanks to the government and people of Myanmar for supporting China during the battle against the COVID-19 outbreak.

The donated rice will be delivered to Hubei province.
Indias ambassador to Qatar, P. Kumaran, was among the host of diplomats present at the ceremony where the deal was inked.

New Delhi: In a guarded reaction to the peace deal between the US and the Taliban, India Saturday said that its policy has consistently been to support all opportunities that can bring peace, security and stability in Afghanistan and ensure the end of terrorism.

Ministry of external affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said: Indias consistent policy is to support all opportunities that can bring peace, security and stability in Afghanistan; end violence; cut ties with international terrorism; and lead to a lasting political settlement through an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled process. We note that the entire political spectrum in Afghanistan, including the government, democratic polity and civil society, has welcomed the opportunity and hope for peace and stability generated by these agreements.

As a contiguous neighbour, India will continue to extend all support to the government and people of Afghanistan in realising their aspirations for a peaceful, democratic and prosperous future where the interest of all sections of the Afghan society are protected, he added.

After months of negotiations, the US and the Taliban signed a landmark peace deal in the capital of Qatar, Doha, Saturday, effectively drawing the curtains on the United States 18-year war in Afghanistan since 2001. Indias ambassador to Qatar, P. Kumaran, was among the host of diplomats present at the ceremony where the deal was inked.

As a contiguous neighbour, India will continue to extend all support to the government and people of Afghanistan in realising their aspirations for a peaceful, democratic and prosperous future where the interest of all sections of the Afghan society are protected, he said.

Days before finalisation of the peace deal, India had conveyed to the US that pressure on Pakistan to crack down on terror networks operating from its soil must be kept up though Islamabads cooperation for peace in Afghanistan is crucial.
A large group of students, human rights activists and diaspora group representatives gathered outside the Indian High Commission on Saturday for a protest against the CAA and the associated violence in Delhi

London: A large group of students, human rights activists and diaspora group representatives gathered outside the Indian High Commission on Saturday for an emergency protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the associated violence in Delhi.

The India Society at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), South Asian Students Against Fascism and South Asia Solidarity Group were among the groups behind the protest.

The London protest was called alongside similar demonstrations in around 17 cities across Europe, including Paris, Berlin, Brussels and Geneva, with the central message of: We stand in solidarity with the victims of communal violence in Delhi. If the world does not take note and react urgently, the consequences will be disastrous, SOAS India Society said in a statement.

The protesters chanted slogans and demanded the resignation of Home Minister Amit Shah, for alleged gross failure to maintain peace, and the arrest of BJP politicians accused of instigating violence in Delhi. They also called on the UK government to issue a strong condemnation of the Narendra Modi government for the violence on the streets of the Indian capital.

The protestors also sought to highlight the many heartening instances of Hindus, Dalits and Sikhs protecting their Muslim neighbours, and Sikh gurdwaras opening their doors for victims fleeing violence in Delhi.

Over the past week, parts of the Indian capital have witnessed sectarian violence in reaction to CAA, an act passed by the Indian Parliament last December to grant citizenship rights to persecuted minorities from neighbouring countries. Critics fear the act, and a proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC), would discriminate against the country's Muslims.

The government has sought to allay fears by stressing that no Indian Muslim would be impacted by the act and Home Minister Amit Shah has blamed the Opposition for stirring up the violence by spreading misinformation.
We think intelligent long term investing is the way to go. But that doesn't mean long term investors can avoid big losses. To wit, the Alibaba Pictures Group Limited (HKG:1060) share price managed to fall 50% over five long years. That's not a lot of fun for true believers. We also note that the stock has performed poorly over the last year, with the share price down 28%. Shareholders have had an even rougher run lately, with the share price down 19% in the last 90 days.

See our latest analysis for Alibaba Pictures Group

Alibaba Pictures Group wasn't profitable in the last twelve months, it is unlikely we'll see a strong correlation between its share price and its earnings per share (EPS). Arguably revenue is our next best option. When a company doesn't make profits, we'd generally expect to see good revenue growth. Some companies are willing to postpone profitability to grow revenue faster, but in that case one does expect good top-line growth.

In the last half decade, Alibaba Pictures Group saw its revenue increase by 53% per year. That's well above most other pre-profit companies. Unfortunately for shareholders the share price has dropped 13% per year - disappointing considering the growth. This could mean high expectations have been tempered, potentially because investors are looking to the bottom line. Given the revenue growth we'd consider the stock to be quite an interesting prospect if the company has a clear path to profitability.

The image below shows how earnings and revenue have tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).

SEHK:1060 Income Statement, March 1st 2020

Balance sheet strength is crucial. It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on how its financial position has changed over time.

A Different Perspective

We regret to report that Alibaba Pictures Group shareholders are down 28% for the year. Unfortunately, that's worse than the broader market decline of 8.5%. However, it could simply be that the share price has been impacted by broader market jitters. It might be worth keeping an eye on the fundamentals, in case there's a good opportunity. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 13% over the last half decade. We realise that Buffett has said investors should 'buy when there is blood on the streets', but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality business. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Alibaba Pictures Group better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for Alibaba Pictures Group you should be aware of.

Story continues

Of course Alibaba Pictures Group may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of growth stocks.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on HK exchanges.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
Two high school classes and their teachers have been quarantined in Switzerland after a student tested positive for the deadly new coronavirus, regional authorities said Sunday.

The move at the Bienne technical high school marks the first measures against COVID-19 that affect a school in Switzerland, where over 20 people have tested positive since a first case emerged less than a week ago.

Authorities in the canton of Bern, where the school is located, said Saturday that a 21-year-old woman had been found to have the virus, after she returned from a trip to Milano in Italy, which has been hard-hit by the outbreak.

As a result, two classes had been placed in quarantine for the next 15 days, authorities said Sunday.

According to the ATS agency, 45 students and nine teachers were affected.

A luxury resort hotel in Bad Ragaz in St Gallen has also ordered five employees into quarantine after they came into close contact with a person who tested positive in Zurich, the Blick daily reported Sunday.

Switzerland's confirmed cases of COVID-19 are spread across 12 cantons, including five cases in international hub Geneva.

So far, no transmission has been detected in Switzerland, with all those confirmed to have the virus in the country apparently infected in Italy, which has clocked more than 1,000 infections and 29 deaths.

In a bid to rein in the spread, Switzerland on Friday suspended all events with more than 1,000 participants until March 15, forcing the cancellation of the Geneva International Motor Show.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

Several people were using Espanola Public Schools to make money, especially if they were connected to people on the school board or in the school district, according to documents from the state Attorney Generals Office.

At least one company with a contract had the school district as its only client and didnt have a commercial location.

Several companies were keeping all invoices under $5,000  some of them at $4,999  to avoid requiring school board approval. There were also complaints that work wasnt getting done and that products werent being delivered to schools.

The improprieties contributed to the state Public Education Department temporarily taking over the districts finances for nearly three years.

The issues have also culminated in criminal charges filed by the Attorney Generals Office against at least three people, including former Rio Arriba County Commissioner Barney Trujillo, who is facing three counts of unlawful interest in a public contract and failing to disclose campaign contributions in relation to a questionable marketing contract he had with the school district.

Married couple Lianne Martinez and Joseph Torres are each facing 15 counts of fraud between $500 and $2,500, fraud over $2,500, making or permitting false public voucher, racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering and conspiracy to commit fraud.

Documents from the state Attorney Generals Office say their company, Enviro-Kleen, made about $18,000 in illegal profit by overcharging the district on six different invoices. They each face up to 33 years in prison.

Audit reveals irregularities

EPS employee Paula Johnson came upon the questionable procurement practices when she conducted an audit of the districts warehouse in April 2015. The Attorney General documents the Journal obtained dont say specifically what Johnsons position was, but says she approved payments and conducted audits as part of her job duties.

In particular, there is a pattern of vendors that are politically connected submitting multiple invoices that are just under the EPS discretionary purchasing threshold of $5,000, the documents say. Johnson brought the irregularities to the attention of then-Superintendent Danny Trujillo, who ordered her to shut down the audit. She then went to the Attorney Generals Office.

Agents with the Attorney Generals Office interviewed Johnson in May 2016. She said the school districts procurement policy was all about political connections, and it all started when Adan Cordova came on board as the districts facilities manager.

Cordova had engaged in a number of questionable procurement practices, Agent Jon Bergevin wrote in a summary of the interview with Johnson. His entry into the facilities manager position began a pattern of politically connected vendors receiving non-competitive contracts/purchase orders, often several, for services just under the discretionary spending limit of $5,000.

Cordova hired his fathers company, Cordova Lath and Plaster, to do work for the district. All seven purchase orders were just under the $5,000 threshold  with three of them at $4,999  and totaled about $28,000.

Based on the invoice amounts, it appears that these were structured to award a large sum in smaller increments to avoid any procurement, including quotes, bids, or proposals, Bergevin wrote.

Cordova said in a recent phone interview with the Journal that he was told to keep amounts under $5,000 if the district needed something immediately and didnt want to wait for the next school board meeting. He said he doesnt remember who told him to do it this way, but that they were from the procurement section of the school district.

He defended the practice by saying the school board could later review what the district spent money on, but also admitted that the board could do this only after the work was already paid for.

The board could always review it, so it wasnt like we were hiding anything, Cordova said. All it was, was expediting things that needed to get done right away.

Cordova denied giving work to friends or political affiliates.

Im not buddies with anyone, he said. I have no political ties to anybody. I was there to do a job. I have supervisors who asked me to do this work or that work.

City Councilor Robert Seeds Espanola Cleaning Company had a cleaning contract with the district, even though schools have janitors and maintenance staff, and there were complaints that some schools were not adequately cleaned, according to the AGs investigation.

This contract was awarded at $4,999 to avoid triggering the procurement process, thus ensuring that the ECC was awarded the contract, Bergevin wrote.

A woman who answered the phone at Seeds towing company this week said Seeds was out of town and wasnt available.

Questionable contracts

Enviro-Kleen didnt manufacture anything; the company just ordered products from a supplier and had them delivered to the school district. The companys agreement with the district allowed it to mark items 10% above the listed price.

Based on available information, Enviro-Kleen does not ship, transport, package, install, or manufacture any janitorial supplies, the AG documents say.

But the company was marking items up to 68% on a total of six invoices, according to documents.

These prohibited activities establish Enviro-Kleens actions as a pattern of racketeering activity, which has resulted in illicit profits of approximately $17,978.99 from January 2015 to April 2016, the documents say.

There are also allegations that former school board members Pablo Lujan and Annabelle Almager were taking kickbacks from Martinez and Torres in exchange for getting the contract. Bergevin spoke with Yolanda Salazar, who is now the school board president, in October 2016. She worked with Martinez at Presbyterian Espanola Hospital and told Bergevin about a previous conversation they had.

During the conversation, Martinez told Salazar that her husband (Torres) has to give them money, Bergevin wrote. Torres gave Annabelle Almager and Pablo Lujan $500. The transaction with Lujan and Almager occurred at Torres home. The implication was that Torres was obliged to make the payments because of his contracts with the Espanola Public School District.

Salazar could not be reached for comment last week.

School board member Ruben Archuleta told agents in February 2016, when he was just elected to the school board, that contracts were given out for things that could have been done in-house and that bond money was used inappropriately to fund the contracts.

These questionable contracts are awarded to the associates of Barney Trujillo and Pablo Lujan; in exchange, some of the profits from the contracts are shared with Barney Trujillo and/or Pablo Lujan, Bergevin wrote. Archuleta described the two as receiving a cut of the work.

Archuleta told the Journal last week he doesnt clearly remember what he told agents, but he likely told them about alleged kickbacks. Paula Johnson also told agents that she heard board members got kickbacks from Torres.

Barney Trujillo could not be reached for comment last week, but Lujan denied either giving contracts to friends or receiving kickbacks from anyone.

We were friends prior to this, Lujan said in a recent phone interview. We talked. Thats all it was.

Torres was interviewed in January 2017 as agents were executing a search warrant on his Espanola home. He said he knew Pablo Lujan, but denied giving money to an elected official.

Torres said he had little involvement in the Enviro-Kleen business and that Martinez mostly ran things. The business was run out of the Chacoma Lane house agents were searching.

Enviro-Kleen LLC does not currently (have), nor has it ever had, a store front or commercial location, the documents say.

There were also complaints that some items schools had ordered were not delivered.

Additionally, Espanola Public School Board Ruben Archuleta and another district employee informed me that there were complaints in the smaller outlying schools that there were no paper towels or tissue for the students, Bergevin wrote. It is possible that these products were never delivered.

Torres and Martinezs attorney, Dan Cron, sent a reimbursement check for $16,626 to the district later that month with a letter saying Enviro-Kleen may have accidentally overcharged the district for shipping costs.

Cron could not be reached for comment last week.

Other companies involved

Paula Johnson told investigators Torres had at least four companies that conducted business with the school district: Enviro-Kleen, Conectas, Painted Rock Group and Norteno Publishing.

Conectas is a print shop with a storefront on Riverside Drive in Espanola, according to the documents. The company also did printing jobs for the school district on a case-by-case basis, not on a contract, and received over $60,000 for lobbying and printing services between December 2013 and June 2016, the documents say.

Painted Rock was paid nearly $16,000 after it was subcontracted to work on an elementary school playground and on portables at the high school.

The state Public Education Department took over the districts finances in November 2016, in part due to procurement practices. The district got control back last year.
Your tax-deductible gift today powers our reporters and keeps us independent. We rely on you, our reader, not paywalls to stay funded because we believe important news and information should be freely accessible to all.

Start your day with LAist Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe

Just about noon Saturday, an explosion and fire rocked an industrial block in downtown Los Angeles, sending a plume of smokehigh in the air above the 700 block of S. Kohler Street. The "major emergency" sent 140 firefighters to the scene.

"Firefighters encountered three men, two of them burned critically, injured as a result of the fire," said Los Angeles Fire Department spokesperson Brian Humphrey. "L.A. firefighters were able to hold the fire to the building of origin in roughly 60 minutes. The building however was destroyed in the fire."

The specific business operating at the time of the explosion is currently unclear. A sign on the building appears to belong to Radix, a wholesale textile company.

Humphrey says the cause of the fire is under active investigation.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his rival Benny Gantz were wrapping up another bitter election campaign on Sunday, a day before voters were to cast their ballots for the third time in 12 months.

Netanyahu, Israels longest-serving leader, has been charged on several counts of corruption but is battling fiercely to maintain his grip on power.

After inconclusive elections in April and September, the latest opinion polls put the two opponents neck and neck in a gruelling political triathlon.

According to the projections, Netanyahus right-wing Likud and Gantzs centrist Blue and White alliance would win 33 seats each in the 120-member Knesset, Israels parliament, in Mondays polls.

That result would be almost identical to the previous round, after which each leader tried and failed to form a government.

In separate television interviews on Saturday evening, Gantz and Netanyahu ripped into each another.

Netanyahu told private Channel 12 that his opponent, a decorated former head of Israels armed forces, was not fit to be prime minister of Israel.

He is weak, hes not a leader, the incumbent said.

The same interviewer earlier asked Gantz if he would join a coalition under Netanyahu if the third round also failed to produce a clear winner.

There is no situation in which I will sit under Netanyahu as prime minister when he has three charges against him, Gantz replied.

Turnout

The opinion polls show that even with their respective allies  the right and Jewish Orthodox parties for Netanyahu and the centre-left for Gantz  neither side could gather the 61 seats necessary to form a viable coalition.

With a country largely jaded by three general elections in less than a year along with municipal polls in between, voter turnout is the great unknown.

That has forced candidates to put added energy into bolstering turnout.

I am encouraging citizens to get out and vote, Gantz told public radio Sunday.

You cant just sit at home clicking your tongue, saying, Oy vey! Whats happening here? Voting is critical, he said.

Story continues

Arab votes

In the September election, turnout unexpectedly increased 1.5 percent to 70 percent compared to April, largely due to an unexpected surge in Arab votes.

Israeli Arab parties, united in the Joint List alliance, garnered 13 Knesset seats, making them the third-largest grouping, after Blue and Whites 33 and Likuds 32.

This time around they hope to do better still, due to Arab voters opposition to US President Donald Trumps controversial Middle East peace plan, which is supported by both Netanyahu and Gantz.

We want the fall of Netanyahu because he is the greatest inciter against Arab citizens and the godfather of the Deal of the Century, Joint List leader Ayman Odeh said, using a common nickname for the Trump plan.

The plan endorses the Jewish states major priorities at the expense of the Palestinians, who gave no input to the Trump initiative and rejected it immediately.

On Sunday Netanyahu pledged to annex key parts of the occupied West Bank within weeks if re-elected.

In an interview with Israeli public radio, he said annexation of the strategically crucial Jordan Valley and other parts of the West Bank was his top priority.

That will happen within weeks, two months at the most, I hope, he said in the interview aired 24 hours before polls were scheduled to open.

But former defence minister Avigdor Lieberman, also an ex-Netanyahu ally, publicly accused the prime minister of engaging in empty political rhetoric.

Lieberman, who heads the nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu party and may again be in the position of kingmaker following Mondays vote, said he had ironclad information that Netanyahus comments on the Jordan Valley were at least partly insincere.

A few days ago, it became clear to me that he sent a message to (Jordans) King Abdullah, (saying) Dont worry, its just elections, there will be no annexation of the Jordan Valley, Lieberman said in a TV interview.

Coronavirus effect

There is another new element in this third round  the novel coronavirus.

Over the past 10 days, electioneering has shared media headlines with the global COVID-19 epidemic which has reached Israel with six officially confirmed cases of infection.

Officials have warned that fears of new coronavirus transmission in densely packed polling stations could impact voter participation.

Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan has warned against potential attempts to spread false rumours about the outbreak in order to diminish voter turnout.

Netanyahus trial

Netanyahus graft trial opens on March 17 in Jerusalem. In November, the 70-year-old, who has spent 14 years as prime minister, became the only head of government in the history of Israel to be indicted while in office.

Accused of receiving improper gifts and offering a media mogul lucrative regulatory changes in exchange for favourable coverage, he was charged with corruption, embezzlement and breach of trust.

Research shows that Israeli voters, including Netanyahu supporters, care about the criminal allegations against him, said the president of the Israeli Democracy Institute think-tank, Yohanan Plesner.

The numbers indicate that about a third of those who self-identify as right-wing voters are very uncomfortable, or think it is impossible, for someone to continue to serve as a prime minister after being indicted, Plesner told AFP.

But that does not necessarily mean that they are going to change their voting patterns, he added, explaining that personal affinity for the prime minister and his policies may prove paramount.

Plesner explained that 70 percent of Likud supporters have simply rejected the indictments as baseless and politically motivated.

That position is ludicrous, he said, but noted that Netanyahu had skillfully managed to persuade some that he was engaged in legitimate political wheeling and dealing, not corruption.

At the Gantz rally in Tel Aviv, Avi Regev, a long-time Netanyahu supporter, explained why he had decided to switch sides and become a Blue and White activist.

Bibi was a wonderful prime minister, said Regev, using the premiers nickname.

But, Regev argued, Netanyahu had pivoted from being focused on Israels priorities to being consumed by his personal concerns, now including his corruption trial.

Today, its more, Is it good for Bibi or not? This I dont like, he said.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
Its all about priorities.

Or, in this case, perhaps misplaced ones.

As the number of homicides in Albuquerque has soared, with a record 82 in 2019, the percentage of those solved by arrest has plunged. According to city budget documents, APDs homicide clearance rate as reported in the FBIs Uniform Crime Report hovered around 80% from fiscal 2009 to 2016. But in each of the last two calendar years, the percentage of solved homicides dropped to about 50%.

And while APD maintains a website of Active Homicide Investigations, it lists just 25 cases  all of which occurred in 2018 between January and August. No more recent cases are posted. Why? In fact, APD says it does not even have collective data to show how many murders over the years have gone unsolved.

There is not enough space to list all of the many unsolved cases here. And there is no way to adequately address the open wounds of families and loved ones left behind, or the scars left on the community. But among the most alarming are:

 Jacqueline Vigil, 55, who was shot and killed in her driveway in an upscale neighborhood on Albuquerques West Side last November as she was leaving home before dawn to go to her gym. Jacque was the mother of two State Police officers and worked in a child day care center. She was the kind of person who sent Bible verses to friends and loved ones twice a day.

 Roy Caton Jr., a beloved, retired University of New Mexico professor and Korea veteran who was found brutally murdered in his university-area home in August, a block from the place where he taught for much of his life. He taught chemistry to many students who went on to become doctors, dentists and nurses. In the words of a former colleague, he really impacted the community.

 Victoria Martens, the 10-year-old girl brutally murdered, dismembered and set on fire in 2016. It was one of the most shocking killings in the citys history, and like the deaths of Vigil and Caton is in the unsolved category. Because of the botched homicide investigation, chances are no one will ever face murder charges for her death. (Three people have been arrested in the case, and two convicted of lesser charges. The police investigation into a fourth suspect stalled in 2018.)

Given the rising death toll and shocking circumstances of some of the cases, its fair to ask whether Albuquerque is dedicating enough resources to solving these crimes  and hopefully deterring others in the process.

APD says it now has 11 homicide detectives  up from five in 2017. Compare that to the 53 sworn officers and 31 civilians in the new APD Accountability and Oversight Division organized under Mayor Tim Kellers administration in response to the court-approved monitoring of city police.

Internal Affairs is one component of that division and includes one commander, three lieutenants, five sergeants, 18 detectives and eight civilians. There are four openings for additional detectives. So at full force, APDs unit that investigates cops would have twice the number  thats 100% more  of detectives the department now has investigating homicides.

This isnt to say compliance with the reform agreement and internal investigations isnt important. It is. But as the city has ramped up hiring in APD, partly by upping salaries and through intense recruiting, its time the City Council asked Police Chief Michael Geier to show up at a public meeting, address the homicide clearance issue and answer questions. Allocation of resources is an important part of the oversight job we elected councilors to do, and its time for them to do it in a way the community can share in the information.

Because there are real consequences to the lack of resources investigating homicides.

A 2018 Washington Post analysis of 8,000 homicides found that for cases that arent solved within one year, only 5% ultimately lead to an arrest. As for caseloads, APD says some of its veteran homicide detectives have more than 20 open cases. The federal Bureau of Justice Assistance guide on best practices says a homicide unit is optimally staffed when each detective is lead investigator on an average of three to four new homicide cases per year.

Its nearly impossible to improve clearance rates when youre dealing with large caseloads, as you are forced to just triage and you cant dig into the investigation, says Lt. Detective Darrin Greeley of the Boston Police Department in the 2018 federal report.

But this is about more than statistics. And Jacque Vigils husband Sam makes the case for more resources.

Im very frustrated, not with the actual detectives working on the case, because I think their plates are so full that its ridiculous, he says.

They are doing as much as they possibly can with very little resources  There are other victims. Its not just Jacque.

The friends and loved ones of Jacque Vigil, Roy Caton, Victoria Martens and all the other homicide victims in Albuquerque deserve some answers. Along with all the other residents of a city battered by violent crime.

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.
The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) recently hosted a Youth Circle at its Umm Lulu offshore platform  one of the worlds largest offshore platforms, to examine opportunities for Emirati youth with the company.

The event was part of Adnoc's continued investment in the development of Emirati youths to build long-term resilience and ensure Adnoc remains an integral part of the UAEs economy.

Held under the theme The Role of UAE Youths in Driving Sustainable Business, the Youth Circle examined ways UAE youths can develop their leadership skills to strengthen their contribution to the delivery of Adnocs 2030 strategy, said a statement.

It also reviewed opportunities for youth professional development and ways to encourage Emirati youths to work in remote sites to give them practical experience as they develop their leadership skills.

The event, the first in Adnocs series of Youth Circles for this year, was organised by Adnocs Youth Council and hosted by Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and Adnoc Group CEO, with Shamma bint Suhail Faris Al Mazrui, UAE Minister of State for Youth Affairs, and Saeed Al Nazari, Director General of Federal Youth Authority, attending.

Addressing the Youth Circle, Dr. Al Jaber said: Adnoc is proud to play a leading role in developing and empowering the next generation of highly skilled and talented Emirati youths who will be the driving force of Adnoc and the UAEs future success. We are pleased that many of our youths are managing key projects across our offices and sites, and actively contributing to our strong operational and financial performance.

In todays complex and fast-evolving energy landscape, the youth will play an even more crucial role in ensuring we thrive and remain a key contributor to the UAEs economy.

Dr Al Jaber called on the youth to take advantage of Adnocs bespoke leadership and professional development programs to unlock their full potential. He highlighted that in line with the wise guidance of the UAEs leadership, Adnoc is providing opportunities for Emirati talent across its value chain and focusing on leveraging state-of-the-art technologies and artificial intelligence to equip the youth with the skills required to have flourishing careers.

Dr Al Jaber underscored Adnocs unwavering support to promoting diversity and womens empowerment, in line with the leaderships vision to enable everyone to fully contribute to the continued progress of the nation. He noted women today occupy 15 percent of senior leadership positions at Adnoc.

Dr Al Jaber stressed the need for the youth to gain practical experience in the oil and gas sector to enrich their knowledge and build successful careers. He stressed the importance of maintaining the highest health, safety, and environment (HSE) standards and reinforced Adnocs focus on people, performance, profitability, efficiency, sustainability, and the future.

Al Mazrui said: Hosting the Youth Circle offshore today, echoes Adnocs commitment to providing its youth with the optimal conditions to grow, learn and thrive. Youth are the growing majority of Adnocs employees and we are proud to witness their leading role in shaping the oil and gas industry of our nation today."

Al Mazrui concluded by expressing her pride in the unsung heroes and youth who work across various disciplines and positions, asserting that they are more than capable of leading the UAEs energy industry and supporting the countrys economy, in line with the highest international standards.

Al Nazari said: Today, we are pleased to be among the creative young cadres in the oil and gas sector. Harvesting these fields will not bear fruit without their hard work and perseverance. Our leadership taught us that investing in people is the most valuable resource in investing in a successful future. He added the Federal Youth Authority is proud to work with ADNOC, which has empowered youth in various energy fields. - TradeArabia News Service
Four new cases of COVID-19 were diagnosed in the GTA on Sunday, as the number of countries reporting infection surpassed 60, with some shuttering schools and banning public gatherings to get ahead of the coronavirus epidemic that has claimed more than 3,000 lives worldwide.

The newly diagnosed in the Greater Toronto Area include the 50-year-old brother of a man who became infected after travelling to Iran, and a man in his 40s whose wife, 34, was diagnosed Saturday. The couple had recently travelled to Iran with their toddler.

A man in his 60s who returned from Iran on Feb. 23 was also diagnosed Sunday. He sought treatment at North York General Hospitals emergency department on Friday, after developing a cough.

A woman in her 70s from Newmarket tested positive after coming into contact with someone who contracted the virus in Egypt. She was tested and assessed at Southlake Regional Health Centre on Saturday.

All four are in self-isolation. There have been 15 cases in the province.

More than 88,000 people worldwide have contracted the virus.

A study by Chinese researchers published Friday in the New England Journal of Medicine, analyzing 1,099 patients at more than 500 hospitals throughout China, calculated a death rate of 1.4 per cent, substantially lower than earlier studies that focused on patients in Wuhan, where the outbreak started and has been most severe.

In Hamilton, a McMaster University student has been in self-isolation since Friday awaiting test results. The student developed flu-like symptoms after travelling to Italy during reading week. The student was at the Burke Science Building last Tuesday. Officials at the university, attended by 30,000 students, said the building and all public spaces have since been thoroughly cleaned.

Meanwhile, Metrolinx is using data from Presto cards to identify approximately 35 people who rode a bus with the 34-year-old York Region woman who contracted the virus in Iran. The woman took the eastbound GO bus No. 40 at about 3:55 p.m. on Wednesday from Pearson airport to Richmond Hill Centre.

The following day, she went to Mackenzie Health hospital in Richmond Hill with a dry cough, runny nose, shortness of breath and a headache.

Dr. Karim Kurji, York Regions medical officer of health, said the region is not seeing any evidence of community transmission at the moment.

It is important to emphasize that these cases are all travel-related and we are working towards containing any risk to the community  a goal we have already achieved for several of these cases, said Kurji in a statement. We wish to stress that we are not seeing any evidence of community transmission within York Region and we are striving to keep it that way.

There have been no reported cases of community transmission in Toronto.

Geographic clusters of infection have emerged in Italy, Iran and South Korea, which has confirmed the second-largest number of virus infections outside mainland China. In all, 4,212 cases have been reported in South Korea, with 22 fatalities.

The United States, meanwhile, recorded its first two deaths, a man in his 50s in Washington state who had underlying health conditions but who hadnt travelled to any affected areas, and a man in his 70s from a nursing facility near Seattle.

China on Sunday reported 202 new cases in an update on Monday. The countrys cases hit 80,026 and remain almost entirely confined to the hardest-hit province of Hubei and its capital, Wuhan.

Irans death toll from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, climbed to 54 as the number of confirmed cases jumped overnight to 978 people. The new figures represent 11 more deaths than reported on Saturday and 385 new cases.

The outbreak in Iran has prompted its neighbours to seal their borders to Iranians, while other Gulf states have halted flights to Iran.

Tokyo Disneyland and Universal Studios Japan announced they would close, and big events were cancelled, including a concert series by the K-pop supergroup BTS.

Panic-buying of daily necessities emerged in Japan, while tourist sites across Asia, Europe and the Mideast were deserted. Schools in Hong Kong and Japan are closed, and a high school in Dublin has been closed for 14 days after a student tested positive. He is being treated in hospital.

In Paris, priests stopped placing sacramental bread in worshippers mouths. The archbishop of Paris advised parish priests to place the bread in the hands of parishioners. France closed the Louvre Museum with workers concerned about the large flow of tourists.

Thailand reported its first death from the disease on Sunday, a 35-year old Thai man who worked as a salesperson and had contact with foreign tourists.

Italian authorities say the country now has more than 1,100 coronavirus cases, with 29 deaths so far.

With files from Margaryta Ignatenko, Jacob Lorinc, The Hamilton Spectator and The Associated Press

Read more about:
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson proposed to partner Carrie Symonds late last year, his pregnant fiancee revealed on social media to her friends after the couple formally announced their engagement.

Symonds, who turns 32 later this month, confirmed their baby will "hatch" in early summer which would mean around June.

In a post on her private Instagram account on Saturday, she said: "I wouldn't normally post this kind of thing on here but I wanted my friends to find out from me.

"Many of you already know but for my friends that still don't, we got engaged at the end of last year and we've got a baby hatching early summer. Feel incredibly blessed."



The timing of the engagement raises the possibility that Johnson proposed when the couple were on their Christmas vacation on the Caribbean island of Mustique in December last year.

According to 'The Sunday Times', the pregnancy had been an open secret in government circles as Symonds kept a low profile in recent weeks and friends talked about a baby shower.

The makes Johnson, 55, the first sitting UK Prime Minister to divorce, marry and have a baby while in office at 10 Downing Street, where the couple have been living since July last year.

The of the impending wedding and baby were made public soon after Johnson's divorce from his Indian-origin ex-wife Marina Wheeler got finalised last month.

Wheeler, whose mother Dip Singh hailed from Punjab, is a barrister and columnist who has four grown up children with Johnson. Their eldest daughter Lara is a few years younger than Symonds.

Johnson and Wheeler had separated in 2018 and announced their divorce plans soon after reports of Johnson's affair with Symonds became public.

Symonds, a former communications chief for the Conservative Party, first met the future Prime Minister during his London mayoral re-election campaign in 2012.

She now works as a Senior Adviser for ocean conservation charity Oceana.

"Carrie previously led communications for the Conservative Party in the UK where she helped promote policies on the environment and animal welfare," notes her profile for the charity.

"Carrie is passionate about protecting the oceans and marine life, particularly by reducing plastic pollution," it adds.

His marriage to Symonds will be Johnson's third, following his divorce from first wife Allegra Mostyn-Owen and then second wife Marina Wheeler, and their child will be his sixth, four with Wheeler and a fifth following an affair with art consultant Helen Macintyre.

David Cameron was the last UK Prime Minister to have a child while living in Downing Street when his wife Samantha gave birth to their fourth child, Florence, in 2010. A decade earlier in 2000, former Prime Minister Tony Blair and wife Cherie had their fourth child, Leo, at Downing Street.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Egyptian Public Prosecution renewed on Saturday the imprisonment of two journalists and a former MP for 15 days pending investigations in the case known in the media as the Hope Plan cell.

The three defendants are journalists Hossam Moenes and Hesham Fouad Abdel-Aleem in addition to former MP in the 2012 People's Assembly Ziad El-Aleimy.

In June 2019, the Interior Ministry announced the arrest of three among others in light of uncovering a hostile scheme dubbed "Hope Plan".

According to the ministry statement, the scheme was organised by fugitive Muslim Brotherhood leaders in coordination with those who claim to represent civil political forces.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


New Delhi, March 1 : The Congress has launched an attack on the Union Government over Income Tax raids in Chhattisgarh for the past 4 days and termed it as "Coercive & Insecure Centrism". The Congress said Constitution has been trampled, federalism demolished and democracy attacked.

"Over the last four days, multiple raids on various locations have been carried out by the Income Tax Department in the state of Chhattisgarh. Unfortunately, for the Modi Government, the clumsy method, manner and timing of these raids have exposed their mal-intentions and designs before the entire nation," alleged Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala.

The Congress alleged that the Income Tax raids in Chhattisgarh were carried out after the Bhupesh Baghel government launched an investigation into irregularities of the previous BJP regime.

"Is this a Cover-up Corruption exercise by Union BJP Govt? Can the Modi-Shah government share the basis on which these raids are being conducted?" asked Surjewala.

"Unsurprisingly, and most importantly, the raids have begun only after the economic offences wing of the State Government launched an investigation into alleged acts of corruption that took place under the purview of the previous BJP Government. The persons targeted are also chosen to send a clear message to the State Leadership." said Surjewala.

"We as a country, which have become familiar with these tactics over the last five and a half years. But Modi-Shah duo, in their zeal and desperation to intimidate, have done the Nation a huge disservice," alleged Surjwala.

"when we say that Constitution is a Federal Constitution, it means that the Provinces are as sovereign as the Centre. In other words, barring the provisions which permit the Centre to override any legislation that may be passed by the Provinces, which have a plenary authority to make any law for the peace, order and good government of that Province," the congress leader reminded.

The party also alleged that the Government is using the elite CRPF and deploying it with the Income tax department, without the knowledge of the state government.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Ary Hermawan (The Jakarta Post)  Mon, March 2 2020

OK, heres the deal. If you believe in an interventionist God who cares about national boundaries and will answer your prayers to protect this country from a plague, thats your business.

But let me tell you this: Indonesia is unlikely free of the COVID-19 coronavirus that has infected thousands of people in over 50 countries. And you need to be concerned that, as of now, the government has not been fully transparent about how it is handling the situation.

Indeed, the government has screened people arriving at airports and seaports, imposed an entry ban on travelers from China, isolated patients suspected of carrying the deadly virus and tested them for confirmation.

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
COLUMBIA, S.C.  Joe Biden scored a thundering victory in South Carolinas Democratic primary Saturday, riding a wave of African American support and ending progressive rival Bernie Sanders winning streak.

Bidens win came at a do-or-die moment in his 2020 bid as the moderate Democrat bounced back from underwhelming performances in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada. The race now pivots immediately to a new phase when 14 Super Tuesday states, including California, take the campaign nationwide early this week.

We are very much alive, Biden declared at an exuberant post-election rally. For all of you who have been knocked down, counted out, left behind  this is your campaign.

Sanders claimed second place, though his loss gave a momentary respite to anxious establishment Democrats who feared that the self-described democratic socialist would finish February with four consecutive top finishes.

Billionaire Tom Steyer took third place, his best showing of the campaign, but he formally suspended his campaign. The San Francisco financier spent more than $24 million on television advertising in South Carolina  more than all of his rivals combined  but never found a clear lane in the crowded contest.

Steyer rose to national prominence as a climate change activist and by investing heavily in a campaign to impeach President Trump. His presidential run was heavily focused on South Carolina, where he sought to appeal to black voters by decrying yawning inequalities in American life that he said were caused by racism.

Am I going to continue to work on every single one of these issues? Steyer said in announcing his departure. Yes, of course I am. Ive never stopped.

With 92% of precincts counted, Biden had 49% of the vote, followed by Sanders with 20%, Steyer 11%, Pete Buttigieg 8%, Elizabeth Warren 7%, and Amy Klobuchar with 3%.

Bidens allies almost immediately cast the South Carolina victory as proof that he should stand as the clear alternative to Sanders.

The South Carolina primary was the first major test of the candidates appeal among black voters. And while it gave the 77-year-old Biden a win when he most needed it, he must still prove that he has the financial and organizational resources to dramatically expand his campaign in the next 72 hours. He will also be under pressure to rely on his decades-long relationships with party leaders to create a new sense of inevitability around his candidacy.

Even before news of Bidens win was declared, Mike Bloomberg announced his own plan to deliver a three-minute prime-time address Sunday night on two television networks. He didnt say how much he paid for the air time, which is unprecedented in recent decades.

Bloombergs campaign privately acknowledged that Biden was likely to get a bump in momentum out of his South Carolina win, but they still believe Bloomberg can win in a handful of states that vote on Super Tuesday, including Arkansas, Alabama, Oklahoma, Virginia and North Carolina.

And Sanders was already peeking ahead to Super Tuesday as well, betting he can amass an insurmountable delegate lead at that point. After two consecutive victories and a tie for the lead in Iowa, the 78-year-old Vermont senators confidence is surging.

Sanders congratulated Biden on his first win and said it was nothing for his own supporters to worry about.

Tonight, we did not win in South Carolina. That will not be the only defeat. A lot of states in this country. Nobody wins them all, he told a crowd in Virginia, one of 14 states to vote this week.

Moments after Bidens victory was confirmed, former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe formally endorsed the former vice president and encouraged the Democratic Partys moderate wing to unite behind him. On CNN, he called on several candidates to get out of the race  not after Tuesday, but tomorrow.

Biden needs help. Compared with his rivals, hes barely running any television advertising in Super Tuesday states. Both Sanders and Bloomberg have many more staff and volunteers.

With few other options, Bidens team hopes to lean on his growing team of high-profile endorsers, including McAuliffe, to tap their own political networks and help spread his message in the media.

Not ceding anything, Buttigieg is fighting to prove he can build a multiracial coalition. And with the help of super PACs, Warren and Klobuchar vowed to keep pushing forward no matter what.

Trump was paying close attention to the Democratic race. Speaking before conservative activists earlier in the day, the president conducted a poll of sorts by asking his audience to cheer for who would be the best Democratic contender for him to face in November. Sanders was the clear winner.

How could you be easier to beat than Joe? That guy cant put two sentences together, Trump told attendees of the Conservative Political Action Conference in suburban Washington.

South Carolina represented much more than the fourth state on the Democrats months-long primary calendar. It served as the first major test of the candidates strength with African American voters, who will be critical both in the general election and the rest of the primary season.

Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez cautioned Democrats that its still early in their presidential primary.

Speaking at a North Carolina Democratic Party fundraising gala, Perez noted that to win the nomination, a Democrat must win 1,991 delegates  and only a fraction of those have been allocated in the partys first four primaries.

Steve Peoples, Meg Kinnard and Bill Barrow are Associated Press writers.
This is the moment Oprah Winfrey crashes to the ground in front of a crowd of shocked fans as she spoke about 'balance' in Los Angeles.

The TV host, 66, is seen delivering her speech on Saturday during her 'Oprah's 2020 Vision: Your Life in Focus' tour in California.

'Here's my definition of what wellness means to me,' she says as she strolls down the stage.

'Wellness to me means all things in balance. And balance doesn't mean all things are equal or at peace at all times.'

After she delivers the line the crowd is heard gasping as she loses her footing and falls to the floor.

As she recovers her composure the talk show host blames her heels for the fall, quipping: 'Wrong shoes!'

A stage worker rushes on stage to assist Winfrey as the audience applauds.

'Thank you so much,' she says.

Winfrey went on to carry out a portion of the show barefoot before putting on a more sensible pair of shoes.

Oprah Winfrey at her 'Oprah's 2020 Vision: Your Life in Focus' tour on Saturday. 'Balance doesn't mean all things are equal or at peace at all times,' the TV star says before crashing to the ground

Jennifer Lopez, who was a guest star at Oprah's event, herself suffered a fall during a performance in 2018. Like Winfrey, she got back up and resumed the show

After resuming her speech she jokes: 'It's nice to be talking about balance and fall.'

In the tour on wellness, the motivational speaker tries to inspire attendees to live healthier lifestyles.

Her tour features guest appearances from stars including Lady Gaga, Michelle Obama, Jennifer Lopez and Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson.

In 2018 Lopez also suffered a fall during a performance in Las Vegas. Like Winfrey, the pop star got back on her feet and resumed the show.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday arrived in the city on a day-long visit, as opposition parties protested against the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act and raised 'Go Back' slogans outside the airport.

Shah was greeted by the West Bengal BJP leadership, led by state party president Dilip Ghosh.

Hundreds of protesters of the Left Front and Congress, holding black flags and anti-CAA posters, demonstrated outside gate number 1 of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport.

Police had put up a barricade to prevent them from crossing over to the entrance of the airport.

Shah is scheduled to address a rally at the Shaheed Minar Ground, where the state BJP will felicitate him for the passage of the amended citizenship law in Parliament. BJP national president J P Nadda will also attend the public meeting.

This apart, the home minister will inaugurate a new building of National Security Guards at Rajarhat, and hold closed-door meetings with the state BJP leadership along with Nadda.

Shah will also visit the Kalighat Temple in south Kolkata.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Thomson Reuters logo is seen on the company building in Times Square, New York.

Media giant Thomson Reuters has canceled non-essential business travel for its employees to mainland China, Hong Kong and South Korea over mounting fears of the deadly coronavirus outbreak, a spokesperson confirmed to CNBC.

"Thomson Reuters has halted all non-essential travel to China, Hong Kong and South Korea. All other travel remains under constant review," the spokesperson said.

The parent of Reuters News joins a growing list of major corporations that are halting employee travel due to virus concerns, including Amazon, Facebook and News Corp. The company is headquartered in Ontario, Canada, and has roughly 25,800 employees worldwide.

Companies are canceling international travel and conferences and hotels are reporting a significant rise in group cancellations. Alaska Airlines and JetBlue have also scrapped flight cancellation fees as more people grow reluctant to travel.

There are more than 87,000 confirmed cases of the virus worldwide and at least 2,990 confirmed deaths, most of which are in China, where the virus originated.

The virus last week wiped out $1.7 trillion in U.S. stock market value in just two days as investors fled riskier assets amid growing fears of a global growth slowdown.
Vietnams central coastal city of Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City were both named among the top 25 trending destinations in the world for 2020 by the worlds largest travel platform TripAdvisor.

Ngu Hanh Son (The Marble Mountains), a must-see place to visit in Da Nang city

Ranked seventh in the list, Da Nang City is described as laid-back and friendly. According to the website, culinary tours are a hugely popular way to experience the literal flavour of Da Nang.

It also recommends for tourists to stuff themselves with bold noodle soups and savoury street foods and explore the limestone caves and Buddhist grottos of the Marble Mountains.

Meanwhile, in the 12th place, Ho Chi Minh City is praised for its charming French colonial architecture and wide boulevards.

Places of interests that visitors shouldnt miss in the city as suggested by TripAdvisor include the War Remnants Museum, Jade Emperor Pagoda, and frenetic Ben Thanh Market.

The trending destinations vote is a new category within the 2020 Travellers Choice Awards for Destinations conducted by TripAdvisor. It recognises destinations that saw the biggest increase in positive reviews, booking interest and searches over the last year.

The port city of Kochi (or Cochin) in India came top of the list, followed by Luzon Island in the Philippines, and Porto in Portugal. Nhan Dan

Nha Trang among top 10 destinations for diving in 2020 US magazine Forbes has listed Hon Ong (Whale Island) in the central province of Khanh Hoa among the 10 must-dive destinations this year.
Donald Trump said Sunday that people arriving in the U.S. from countries that are at high risk for coronavirus will be screened both prior to leaving the country and when arriving.

He also thanked Vice President Mike Pence, who is leading the task force on coronavirus, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, the Centers for Disease Control and its Director Robert Redfield for the work combating the spread.

'Coronavirus: In addition to screening travelers 'prior to boarding' from certain designated high risk countries, or areas within those countries, they will also be screened when they arrive in America. Thank you! @VP @SecAzar @CDCgov @CDCDirector,' the president posted to Twitter Sunday morning.

The president's tweet comes as he continues to downplay the spread of the virus after the first U.S. fatality related to coronavirus happened overnight Friday in Washington state.

Donald Trump said Sunday morning that the U.S. would be screening people traveling from high risk countries for coronavirus both before they left those countries and upon entering America

The tweet comes as the president continues to downplay the threat of coronavirus in the U.S.

Trump held a press conference Saturday to address coronavirus after the first American died after contracting the virus

The president has also floated other restrictions on international travel to decrease chances of spreading the virus further, including closing the U.S. border with Mexico.

During a press conference Saturday at the White House, Trump said he was considering closing the border with Mexico, but didn't rule out restricting travel from other countries, as well.

'This is not a border that seems to be much of a problem right now,' he said in regards to Mexico. 'We're thinking about all borders.'

There are more than 70 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the U.S., even though Trump boasted during his rally in South Carolina on Friday that there were only 15 cases.

According to officials, the man who died from coronavirus in Washington was in his 50s with preexisting conditions.

During the press conference Saturday, Trump misidentified the deceased as a woman.

Pence was tasked with leading the efforts to combat the spread of coronavirus, despite seemingly no background in the field.

The vice president warned in a pre-recorded interview set to air Sunday morning that there could be more U.S. deaths related to coronavirus.

Pence admitted 'we could have more' fatalities among the American population, in a clip from CNN's State of the Union.

Trump urged the public not to panic as two new cases  one in Illinois and another in Santa Clara, California  were confirmed Saturday night.

Australia also confirmed its first death from coronavirus on Saturday.
It's been a tough year for the S.C. Military Base Task Force.

More than a dozen bills proposed in 2019 made little traction in the Statehouse. And Task Force Chairman Bill Bethea is concerned that several crucial items could be caught in the cogs of committees in 2020, too.

"The Legislature has been consumed by the budget," Bethea said. "The Senate was totally engrossed in the education bill, and now there's focus on Santee Cooper. It's been hard to get the ball rolling."

The Military Base Task Force mission statement says the groups purpose is to enhance the value of our states military installations and facilities, as well as the quality of life for our military personnel and their families. It was created under the guidance of former Gov. Mark Sanford to protect the state's military bases from potential closure. It also works as a liaison between the bases and the Statehouse.

But many bills from last year's legislative agenda are still on hold.

"We've been trying desperately to get these done," Bethea said. "We've got to play catch-up."

The Task Force is prioritizing five pieces of legislation, one of which is getting close to becoming law. Some of them are also backed by Department of Defense initiatives and the Navy. They range from exempting military retirees from taxes to regulating wind energy in the state.

Here is what the Task Force wants to get turned into law this year:

Decreasing spouse unemployment

A spouse who is living with a service member who is relocated to or stationed in South Carolina can be issued a professional and occupational license that they held within their previous states within 15 business days of a completed application, under a bill proposed last year.

The spouse needs a valid license in another state that's in good standing, a background check and an application fee.

"When people are looking to move or retire after their service, this is one less obstacle for those who served our country to have to overcome," Rep. Micah Caskey, a Columbia Republican and former captain in Marine Corps, said in a statement to Palmetto Promise Institute. "We should absolutely take the steps towards making the transition as easy as possible."

Unemployment for military spouses is high, 16 percent nationwide, according to a U.S. Chamber of Commerce study.

This bill has been a pet project for the Military Base Task Force for more than a year, and it's nearly across the finish line. On Thursday, the state Senate unanimously approved the conference report, which paves the way for it to become law.

Retiree tax exemption

South Carolina is paving the way to exempt all military retiree income in tax year 2021.

Introductory bills in the House and Senate would continue a phase-in of exemptions through tax year 2020. Individuals under 65 who have military retirement income in 2019 may deduct an amount of South Carolina earned income not to exceed $14,600. It will increase to $17,500 in 2020.

People over 65 who have military retirement income in 2019 may deduct an amount not to exceed $27,000. That will increase to $30,000 in 2020. There are at least 21 states that tax income but do not tax military retirement income.

Sign up for our SC Military Digest newsletter Get exclusive military reporting, updates from Palmetto State bases, headlines from around the globe and more delivered to your inbox each Tuesday. Email

Sign up!

Senate and House versions of the bills are currently sitting in committee.

Restricting drones

As hobbyist drones increase in popularity, military bases throughout the state are concerned about potential security risks posed by the aircraft.

A bill presented last year by state Rep. Alan Clemmons, R-Myrtle Beach, would make it illegal to operate an unmanned aircraft within 500 horizontal feet or 400 vertical feet from a state or federal military installation without permission.

This is also of concern to the bases in the state that have aircraft, such as Shaw and Charleston Air Force bases.

The violation will be a misdemeanor subject to a $500 fine or imprisonment for not more than 30 days. It was approved by the Senate and was referred to the judiciary committee in the House.

NCIS and S.C. laws

State Sen. Katrina Frye Shealy, D-Lexington, proposed a bill last year that would identify Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents as federal law enforcement officers and give them the jurisdiction to enforce criminal laws in the state under certain circumstances. NCIS requested to be added to the state's list defining what agencies qualified as Federal Law Enforcement Officers.

It was approved by the Senate but is still waiting to be read by the House Judiciary Committee.

Regulating wind turbines

As developers eye the S.C. coast as prime real estate for wind turbines, the military wants to get ahead of potential dangers.

Concerns about wind farms being built in flight paths, too close to bases, or along the shore where installations like Parris Island call home, have been legitimate concerns for the military for years. The Navy also wants to renew a five-year permit that allows a sea and air warfare-training range along 50,000 square miles off the East Coast, including South Carolina, starting 12 miles out.

Concerns include low-altitude maneuvers by jet fighters and the use of radar.

A bill proposed last year by state Sens. Paul Campbell, R-Goose Creek, and Ronnie Cromer, R-Prosperity, amends the Utility Facility Siting and Environmental Protection Act to establish a procedure and requirements related to permitting, construction, operation or expansion of a proposed wind energy facility in the state or the waters off the coast.

"These amendments assure that it shall not encroach upon or otherwise have a significant adverse impact on the mission, training or operation of any military installation or branch of the military as determined by the Department of Defense," the bill states.

Bethea said, the S.C. Military Base Task Force isn't opposed to wind energy, but that the locations can't interfere with bases.

"There's places where you can put them where they won't be a risk to operations," he said.

The bill is still waiting to be read by the Senate Judiciary committee. The Department of Defense has made regulating wind energy near military bases a 2020 initiative.
As the United States recorded its first coronavirus death -- and the number of infections grows worldwide -- many people are wondering what symptoms to be on the lookout for and how to protect themselves.

There are now 71 confirmed and presumptive positive cases of coronavirus in the United States. Here's what you should know to keep yourself safe:

What are the symptoms

Coronavirus makes people sick, usually with a mild to moderate upper respiratory tract illness, similar to a common cold. Its symptoms include a runny nose, cough, sore throat, headache and a fever that can last for a couple of days.

For those with a weakened immune system, the elderly and the very young, there's a chance the virus could cause a lower, and much more serious, respiratory tract illness like a pneumonia or bronchitis.

How does it spread

Transmission between humans happens when someone comes into contact with an infected person's secretions, such as droplets in a cough.

Depending on how virulent the virus is, a cough, sneeze or handshake could cause exposure. The virus can also be transmitted by coming into contact with something an infected person has touched and then touching your mouth, nose or eyes. Caregivers can sometimes be exposed by handling a patient's waste, according to the CDC.

The virus appears to mainly spread from person to person.

"People are thought to be most contagious when they are most symptomatic (the sickest)," the CDC says. "Some spread might be possible before people show symptoms; there have been reports of this occurring with ... coronavirus, but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads."

How is it treated

There is no specific antiviral treatment, but research is underway.

Most of the time, symptoms will go away on their own and experts advise seeking care early. If symptoms feel worse than a standard cold, see your doctor. Doctors can relieve symptoms by prescribing a pain or fever medication. The CDC says a room humidifier or a hot shower can help with a sore throat or cough.

People with coronavirus should receive supportive care to help relieve symptoms. In some severe cases, treatment includes care to support vital organ functions, the CDC says.

People who think they may have been exposed to the virus should contact their healthcare provider immediately.

How long is the incubation period

Quarantine is usually set up for the incubation period -- the span of time during which people have developed illness after exposure. For coronavirus, the period of quarantine is 14 days from the last date of exposure, because 14 days is the longest incubation period seen for similar illnesses.

How can you can prevent it

There is no vaccine to protect against it, at least not yet.

The US National Institutes of Health is working on a vaccine but it will be months until clinical trials get underway and more than a year until it might become available.

Meanwhile, you may be able to reduce your risk of infection by avoiding people who are sick. Cover your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze, and disinfect the objects and surfaces you touch.

Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth. Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.

Awareness is also key. If you are sick and have reason to believe it may be coronavirus, you should let a health care provider know and seek treatment early.
Sudeep and director Anup Bhandaris collaboration has generated a lot of buzz amongst fans and industry experts. Titled Phantom, the Sandalwood biggie will also feature Rangitaranga star Nirup Bhandari. The team will commence shooting in Hyderabad from tomorrow. In the meantime, Sudeep has already completed shooting for the poster and teaser of the film.

Producer Manjunath Gowda revealed, We have finished shooting for the poster and teaser in Hyderabad. Primary filming will begin on Monday. We have been working extensively on the preparations for the film. In fact, a massive set has already been created in Hyderabad, while another is in the works in Bengaluru. Shivu, our art director, is putting it together to facilitate smooth transition from the Hyderabad schedule to the one in Bengaluru. (sic)



According to a few media reports, Tollywood star Samantha Akkineni is being considered for the leading ladys role. However, an official announcement regarding the female lead and the remaining cast is being awaited from the makers.

In the meantime, the makers of Kicchas next film Kotigobba 3 released its first teaser of the auspicious occasion of Maha Shivaratri. The action-packed sneak peek has received a thunderous response from fans on social media. Directed by debutant Shiva Karthik, the action extravaganza also stars Madonna Sebastian, Shraddha Das, Aftab Shivdasani and P Ravishankar in the lead roles. Check out the teaser here:

ALSO READ: Sudeep And Darshan Starrers Kotigobba 3 And Roberrt To Clash At The Box Office In April?

ALSO READ: Bigg Boss Kannada 7 Contestant Harish Raj Opens Up About His Experience In The House
The man was feeling no pain, grinning boozily and teetering slightly as he leaned toward me on the sidewalk. Sister, he said, pointing to my sign, If we vote, well win. I promised him Id remember that.

Those words buoyed me that steamy night last July as I wound my way through a partying, if politically indifferent, Art Crawl crowd on Hamiltons James St. N., my Democrats Abroad sign  U.S. citizens: Register to vote!  feeling a little lighter now.

Those words buoyed me through another whiplash year of U.S. politics. The crimes committed against decency, accountability, honesty, against democracy itself, have filled the pages of this newspaper. No need to repeat them nor the names of the perpetrators, even as we watch the Nightmare in the White House grow increasingly unhinged and unrepentant since his exoneration last month.

Because if we vote, well win.

Americans will vote in presidential primaries from coast to coast on Tuesday  Super Tuesday  from California (my home state) to Maine, from Texas to Minnesota, 14 states, plus American Samoa, that can begin turning our southern neighbour in a smarter, kinder direction. And lets be clear: the world. Because for better or worse, what happens in the U.S. does not stay in the U.S. We all have a stake.

Which is why thousands of Americans living abroad  folks whove built lives elsewhere  will also be voting on Super Tuesday in the Democrats Abroad (DA) global presidential primary. Given time zones and the special challenges in voting from some countries, DAs primary runs until March 10. One can vote online as a member of Democrats Abroad or the old-fashioned way, in person.

In Canada alone, voting centres will welcome voters in 11 cities at 19 different events during the week. Toronto, Hamilton, Burlington, Mississauga, Kitchener-Waterloo and St. Catharines are among the local hosts. (To find a voting centre near you, click here. To vote online, click here.

Still, too many expat Americans dont realize theyre eligible to vote. Some are accidental Americans, born outside the U.S. to at least one American parent, or who moved from the States at a young age. Some expats feel theyve been away too long or that their vote wont do much.

Theyre wrong.

In 2016, at least 2.7 million American voters abroad sat out the election, silently conceding to taxation without representation and relinquishing their power to shape what came next. Imagine how different these last three years would have been. The Dreamers could now be headed toward citizenship. The U.S. could still be part of the Paris climate accord and the Iran nuclear deal. Obamacare would be a work in progress, not a work in dismemberment. We have to make that difference in 2020.

What buoys me in the early weeks of this election year is the ferocity of engagement. And not just from Americans. The chair of the Democrats Abroad Edmonton chapter told me recently that the voter registration table they set up on campus at the University of Edmonton is also drawing Canadian students, many of whom push their American friends toward the table, urging them to exercise their birthright.

Like the man said, if we vote, well win.
The police on Saturday busted an interstate gang of vehicle-lifters, who were also involved in forging documents such as PAN cards, driving licences and Aadhaar cards. The four suspects were arrested by the crime branch of Palam Vihar after a tip-off.

Two printers, a laptop, a grinder machine, four keys, credit cards, four driving licences, two Aadhaar cards and a few PAN cards were recovered from their possession.

According to the police, the suspects confessed to stealing at least half-a-dozen cars. Their criminal records are being verified. The police said the suspects, identified by their first names as Shaukat, Sanjay, Tinku and Aarif, are all from Nuh and Palwal,

Subhash Boken, spokesperson, city police, said, that the men confessed to stealing cars in Sikanderabad in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Nuh and Gurugram.

The suspects used to sell the stolen cars by forging their documents. They were part of a nexus with scrap dealers, Boken said.

A preliminary probe has revealed that Shaukat was the mastermind of the gang and committed several thefts with the help of Sanjay and Tinku.

A police officer privy to the investigation, requesting anonymity, said the trio had taken Aarifs help to forge Aadhaar and PAN cards. They used several fake Aadhaar cards to avoid being identified and traced. The gang had stolen five cars in recent months and sold them in neighbouring states, the police officer said.

The police said the men were produced in a district court and remanded to custody for two days.

On Thursday, the police had arrested two men, accused of being involved in at least 16 criminal cases including vehicle thefts, attempts to murder, carjacking, smuggling of cattle and illegal possession of arms. Two cars, seven motorcycles, a gun and two live cartridges were recovered from their possession.
Addressing the event, Vietnamese Ambassador Dang Xuan Dung praised that Vietnam-Cuba ties is an exemplary relationship which symbolises brotherhood, comradeship and international solidarity.

The special ties, founded by Vietnamese President Ho Chi Minh and Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro Ruz, have been nurtured and consolidated by leaders of the two countries for the past 60 years, he stressed.

The Vietnamese diplomat expressed his thanks to the Cuban Party, Government and people for their valuable support, solidarity and fraternity with Vietnam during the countrys past struggle for national independence as well as during its present cause of Doi Moi (Reform) and national construction.

He reaffirmed the strong support of the Party, Government and people of Vietnam for Cubas revolution and socio-economic model update.

He also rejoiced at the robust development in the bilateral ties, expressing his hope that the Vietnamese and Cuban Embassies in Argentina will continue tighten their cooperation and mutual support, contributing to the solidarity between the two peoples.

For his part, Cuban Ambassador Orestes Pedro Pablo Prada highlighted the model relationship between Vietnam and Cuba, which has been tested over the decades.

The ambassador said Vietnam and Cuba will continue to stand side by side with each other in the path of socialism building despite the changes of the era, calling for younger generations of the two nations to promote the bilateral solidarity and friendship.

Staff members of the two embassies brought to the exchange traditional art performances, such as Cuban salsa and bamboo pole dancing of Vietnam, as well as delicious dishes of the two countries.
Pope Francis today made his first public appearance in four days following what the Vatican has called a 'slight indisposition' that forced him to cancel some audiences and activities.

The 83-year-old Roman Catholic leader appeared at the window of the Vatican's Apostolic Palace to address thousands of people in St. Peter's Square for his weekly Sunday noon message and blessing.

It was his first public appearance since an Ash Wednesday Mass in Rome, during which he was seen coughing and sneezing.

Despite recovering enough to make his weekly Sunday address, Francis was forced to cancel a planned spiritual retreat due to start later today.

He made the surprise announcement to the crowd of pilgrims: 'Unfortunately a cold will force me not take part this year.'

Pope Francis leading his Sunday Angelus prayer from the window of his office overlooking Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican today

Pope Francis coughs as he recites the Angelus noon prayer from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter's Square

People wearing protective face masks during the Pope Francis' Sunday Angelus in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican today

A coughing Pope Francis told pilgrims gathered for the traditional blessing today he is cancelling his participation at a week-long spiritual retreat in the Roman countryside because of a cold.

The pope's is illness came to light last Wednesday, a day after he was pictured kissing heads and touching faces as he met with crowds in St. Peter's Square, saying he had solidarity with those suffering from coronavirus.

As a result Pope Francis postponed his official appointments on Friday and was 'working from home', the Vatican said.

A day earlier he cancelled a scheduled appearance at mass because of the 'mild ailment' as it was described by the Vatican.

He was forced him to spend Thursday around his Saint Martha's guest house in the Vatican.

But he still continued celebrating the morning mass and receiving visitors even as public events were cancelled and schools closed across swathes of Italy this week because of the coronavirus outbreak.

He met with the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church head Sviatoslav Shevchuk and was meant to join the entire Roman Curia - the Holy See's administrative institutions - at the retreat on Sunday.

Faithful wearing protective masks in St. Peter's Square today as the pope spoke for the first time in public for four days after suffering from 'a cold'

Francis leading his Sunday Angelus prayer from the window of his office. It was his first public appearance in four days

A coughing Pope Francis told pilgrims today gathered for the traditional Sunday blessing that he is cancelling his participation at a week-long spiritual retreat in the Roman countryside because of a cold

He was also due to celebrate a daily mass in a chapel and listen to the teachings of a Jesuit preacher while seated alongside members of the Curia.

The 83-year-old appeared earlier in the week to be suffering from a cold. He was seen blowing his nose and coughing during the Ash Wednesday service, and his voice sounded hoarse.

The Vatican has not specified what was ailing Francis. However, amid fears in Italy over an outbreak of coronavirus, spokesman Matteo Bruni dismissed on Friday speculation that the pope was anything more than slightly unwell.

'There is no evidence that would lead to diagnosing anything but a mild indisposition,' he said.

However, the Pope Francis announced during his speech he will be cancelling a planned retreat due to a 'cold'.

Francis (pictured last week) was seen coughing and wiping his nose during the Ash Wednesday mass which opens Lent

Pope Francis giving his speech on Wednesday during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican

On Sunday afternoon, Francis and senior Vatican officials were due to travel to a Church residence south of Rome for their annual week-long Lenten spiritual retreat.

But today he said the illness he is suffering from will force him to skip the week-long Lenten spiritual event that had been due to start later in the day.

He told thousands of people in St. Peter's Square: 'Unfortunately a cold will force me not take part this year [in the retreat]. I will follow the meditations from here.'

The pontiff appeared to still be suffering from the effects of his illness and was seen coughing as he recited the Angelus noon prayer from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter's Square.

It is the first time in his seven-year papacy that he has missed the spiritual exercises that he initiated early in his pontificate to mark the start of each Lenten season.

Italy is suffering the worst outbreak of coronavirus in Europe, registering more than 1,100 confirmed cases since February 20. At least 29 people have died.

Francis is missing a part of one lung. It was removed when he was in his early 20s in his native Buenos Aires after an illness.
Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad said on Sunday that the communal violence in Delhi has shattered brotherhood in the country and appealed to all to maintain peace and "uphold humanism".

"The violence in Delhi continued for three days, and the Union Home minister was there. They had the power to stop the violence in a span of an hour, but it was not stopped.

"It shattered the brotherhood in the country. I would appeal to all to maintain peace, unity and uphold humanism," he said.

The riots in northeast Delhi last week, which was sparked by protests over the amended citizenship law, and has left 42 dead and over 200 injured.

About his visit to the state capital, Azad said his aim was to strengthen his outfit and chalk out a strategy for "a movement" in Uttar Pradesh against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, National Population Register and any nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Asked whether he has been placed under house arrest, Azad said, "I do not know, but force has been deployed. It seems that I have been placed under house arrest. Rest you can enquire from the Lucknow police."



A senior police officer, however, said, "He has not been placed under house arrest. We had knowledge that he will be in the city and we came here to ensure peace is maintained."



When asked whether he would be allowed to go to the Ghantaghar area in the old quarters of the city where anti-CAA protests have been going on, the police officer said, "He has not been barred from going anywhere.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bahrain's Ministry of Health yesterday (Feb 29) registered three new Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases - one male and two female Bahraini nationals - arriving at Bahrain International Airport via indirect flights from Iran, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 41.

The ministry highlighted that the patients have been transferred to an isolation centre for further treatment, noting that all COVID-19-infected patients are in a stable condition and receiving ongoing care from a specialised medical team, said a Bahrain News Agency report.

The Ministry of Health began implementing a mobile testing process for citizens returning from Iran during February, in order to ensure full medical examinations are carried out as per official measures applied to combat the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19).

The mobile testing units will provide citizens with the comfort of being tested in their areas of residence and allow for efficient medical examinations to be carried out across the Kingdom, to ensure all citizens remain safe.

The Ministry further emphasised that all the individuals that will test negative are instructed to follow the health guidelines outlined by the Ministry, which include self-isolation for a total of 14 days, while being granted a paid medical leave for 14 days and a specialised medical team will follow up with them accordingly.

The ministry has urged all citizens and residents returning from Iran to isolate themselves immediately and call 444 to schedule medical examinations.
People stand on the steps to Westminster Bridge opposite the Houses of Parliament in London on Sept. 3, 2019. The weekend Britain left the EU, Conservative MP Erin O'Toole called for the implementation of CANZUK, a campaign for a new alliance between Canada, the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Post-Brexit Push Afoot to Create New Alliance Between Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand

CANZUK would see free movement, trade, and foreign policy cooperation between the 4 nations

Now that Britain is finally out of the European Union, there are calls for Canada to do more to strengthen ties with its traditional ally.

Conservative MP and leadership candidate Erin OToole says instead of putting effort into such endeavours as pursuing a seat at the U.N. Security Council, Canada should be focused on coordinating with our allies and re-stimulating those alliances.

OToole, the shadow minister for foreign affairs, is a supporter of CANZUK International, an organization advocating facilitated migration, free trade, and foreign policy coordination between the natural allies of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

The weekend Britain left the EU, OToole called for the implementation of CANZUK, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has expressed interest in the idea.

The idea of CANZUK is realpolitik. Its something that the circumstances call for, an aspirational multilateralism, OToole told The Epoch Times.

While multilateral institutions like the U.N. allow for too many bad actors, an alliance like CANZUK is something that involves democracies that are like-minded, with common interests and values, and that would be able to work towards common goals.

According to CANZUKs website, the campaign advocates closer cooperation between the four Commonwealth countries so they may build upon existing economic, diplomatic, and institutional ties to forge a cohesive alliance of nation-states with a truly global outlook.

The Express reports that the initiative has the backing of Johnson, who said last year, If we can do something better with Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, we certainly should. British MP Bob Seely, chair of the CANZUK All Party Parliamentary Group, told The Express that the Foreign Office is looking at it. We have the EU and U.S. trade deals to focus on this year, but many of us in Britain and abroad would like to put this plan on the front burner, he said.

Canadas Conservative Party has already formally adopted the CANZUK proposal as official party policy.

After Brexit happened, I had many journalists from publications in the U.K. call me about CANZUK. Its all about working together to turn a concept into a reality, OToole said.

CANZUK founder and chief executive James Skinner said the ideal free trade agreement between Canada and the U.K. would resemble the Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement between New Zealand and Australia that came into effect in 1983.

Under our proposals, Canada and the U.K. would join this agreement and benefit from the removal of barriers to commerce and tariffs, Skinner said in an interview.

The trade agreement would also follow similar protocols whereby citizens of the four countries would offer skills recognition for CANZUK citizens. This means that those qualified in a profession in any of the four countries would be able to practise that profession in the other countries without the requirements of re-testing, sitting examinations, and redoing certifications.

Britain recently announced a new post-Brexit immigration policy to be implemented in January 2021, to be shaped around a points-based system, which Skinner thinks would make it easier to facilitate more migration between the CANZUK countries.

We are content with the U.K.s policy implementing a points-based system, as this is the system adopted within Australia, he said.

Despite this system, Australia still embraces facilitated migration with New Zealand, as the points-based system is the foundation of controlling migration from countries outside of a diplomatic agreement, he explains.

Therefore, if the U.K. adopts a point-based system, it will set the foundation for implementing facilitated migration with Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, similar to the Trans-Tasman Travel Agreement existing between Australia and New Zealand.

Diplomatically, Skinner believes CANZUK will provide other efficient means for the participating countries to coordinate better and assess threats.

The four countries are already part of the Five Eyes Intelligence Alliance (along with the United States), which is the most comprehensive effective security, signals, and human intelligence alliance in the world, he said. Combining this relationship with increased diplomatic ties alongside NATO and the United Nations Security Council would ensure increased security for CANZUK citizens and a safer world promoted by four like-minded nations.

With each country governed under some variation of a Westminster system, to help them maintain the alliance and help it coordinate on crucial security issuessuch as such as whether Chinese telecom giant Huawei should have access to 5G networksOToole says the best approach would be to avoid big government entities and just have a small group of elected parliamentarians from each country work together to avoid the problems of overreach that can plague multilateral institutions.

He emphasizes focusing on increased cooperation and collaboration between the Five Eyes alliance, especially on things such as cyber security, particularly as it regards China.

As for criticisms that CANZUK is an effort to create a new Anglosphere out of nostalgia for the British Empire, or that its anti-American, OToole says thats not what the endeavour is about.

Its an alliance between countries that share a deep history with one another, a belief in human rights, and a belief in the rule of law. Were also all parliamentary democracies. Id be open to other Commonwealth democracies like India being involved down the line as well, he said.

CANZUK is an opportunity for countries of the English-speaking world who have fought together before and believe in freedom and liberty to come together, he said.
The morning after his first presidential primary win in the 2020 race, Joe Biden insisted he hasnt exhausted his campaign in South Carolina. However, doubts emerged that he can compete against a crowded Democratic field led by Bernie Sanders.

Mr Biden announced a $5m (4m) fundraising surge as his campaign looks to build on his South Carolina win with positive results in crucial Super Tuesday elections, but his relatively late boost is nowhere near Mr Sanders fundraising. The Vermont senators campaign says it raised more than $46.5m from more than 2.2m individual donations in February alone.

Mr Sanders also has a double-digit lead ahead of the former vice president in early polls in delegate-rich Texas. The candidates are neck and neck in North Carolina, among the 14 states that hold their primaries on 3 March, vying for a share of nearly one-third of all delegates that will select the nominee at the partys convention this summer.

Asked whether moderate candidates need to drop out to consolidate their votes around the former vice president, Mr Biden told CNN that he hasnt had any conversations along those lines but claimed that its going to be much more difficult to win back the Senate and keep the house if Bernie Sanders is at the top of the ticket.

On NBC, Mr Biden called Sanders policies very controversial, pointing to his signature Medicare for All healthcare plan, and insisted that voters are not looking for revolution, they are looking for results, theyre looking for change, theyre looking for movement forward.

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

But exit polls in Biden-favoured South Carolina showed that a majority of Democrats in the state support Medicare for All, while Mr Biden trails Mr Sanders in several national polls ahead of Tuesdays votes.

Asked if he believed Donald Trump would defeat Mr Sanders if he became the partys nominee, Mr Biden said: I do.

Everybodys going to look at Bernies record as closely as theyve looked at mine over the last five months, and I think theyre going to see some stark differences in where we stand, Mr Biden said.

Mr Bidens win in South Carolina was fuelled by his relationships with vital political figures in the state, and the backing of older moderate black voters, giving him a dominant 44-point lead against Mr Sanders, who captured 17 per cent of black voters compared to Mr Bidens 61 per cent.

Mr Sanders won with black voters under 30, however, underlining the not-so-monolithic utility of candidates reliance on the black vote in the 2020 election.

Asked by Chuck Todd on NBCs Meet the Press how he plans to sustain that kind of support nationwide, as Mr Sanders overtook the candidate in Super Tuesday polls, Mr Biden said: Just watch me.

I take nothing for granted, he said. But if we win, its going to be because of the message we have and because were going to get something done.

Mr Biden said he believes he can emerge as the victor before the convention.

He said: Were moving into constituencies that, when they hear me, have always been mine  diverse communities: white, working-class folk, African Americans and Hispanics, people in the middle class, women in the suburbs. There are places Ive always been very strong my whole career.

Fox News host Chris Wallace challenged his success in the south, pointing out that the candidate hasnt held a rally in a Super Tuesday state in more than a month and only started running television ads in California this past week, while the Sanders campaign has spent more than $13m.

Wallace asked Mr Biden what his campaign will do if hes clobbered on Tuesday.

Mr Biden said: It surely doesnt help, but theres a lot of big states coming up after that. A whole range of states that are still in play.
San Antonio Spurs fans were out in force to cheer on Patty Mills, Dejounte Murray, Lonnie Walker and crew as they took on the Orlando Magic at the AT&T Center Saturday night.

Although the Spurs were without star LaMarcus Aldridge they managed to pull out a close 113-114 win.
Organisations representing the Jewish community have accused the University of Sydney's student-run newspaper of "textbook anti-Semitism" over a satirical photograph in its weekly publication.

An image published in a satire section of Honi Soit last week shows a blackboard with the words: "Should we get the Jews back for what they did to our absolute boy [Jesus]? Yes or No?". Pictured next to the blackboard are containers where students can vote for an answer with paddle-pop sticks.

The Australian Union of Jewish Students political affairs director Gabi Stricker-Phelps, daughter of former Wentworth MP Kerryn Phelps, said the image was "an instance of a student newspaper openly laughing about taking retribution against Jews", while her colleague Daniel Elberg labelled it "textbook anti-Semitism".

"As a student at the University of Sydney I hope that there will be serious consequences for such irresponsible and reckless writing," Ms Stricker-Phelps said.

But the student editors of Honi Soit, which is published independently by the university's student council, defended their publication against allegations of anti-Semitism.
NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana visits Hamburg

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

28 Feb. 2020

Visiting Hamburg on Friday (28 February 2020) the NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana delivered a speech at the General Staff College of the German Armed Forces and said that in an increasingly complex and uncertain world, NATO Allies need to be prepared to respond to threats coming from all directions.

Noting that since Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014 Allies have implemented the largest reinforcement of collective defence since the Cold War, Mr. Geoana said that NATO has delivered on the new Readiness Initiative to field 30 air squadrons, 30 combat vessels, and 30 land battalions within 30 days . He said that last year NATO opened two new NATO commands, one in Ulm in Germany and another in Norfolk in the United States, in order to improve the Alliance's ability to move forces rapidly across Europe and the Atlantic.

Highlighting that Germany leads NATO forces in Lithuania, the Deputy Secretary General said that Germany is the second largest contributor to the Alliance's training mission in Afghanistan and that Germany supports NATO's other missions and activities, including maritime operations. Mr. Geoana said that all Allies have stepped up their investment in NATO's security with more cash and with new capabilities and contributions to NATO missions and operations. He underscored that burden sharing is also about nations taking action where and when necessary. Mentioning NATO's missions in Afghanistan, in the Western Balkans and in the east of the Alliance, he thanked the servicemen for their professionalism and bravery.

In the evening, Deputy Secretary General Geoana was signing the Golden Book in the Hamburg City Hall and addressing the traditional Hamburg Matthiae Banquet (Matthiae Mahl) with German Minister of Foreign Affairs Heiko Maas, the First Mayor of Hamburg Peter Tschentscher and the President of the Hamburg Parliament Carola Veit.



NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






The CBI has arrested and detained some suspects in connection with the killing of BJP worker Yogesh Gowda in Karnataka's Dharwad in 2016, officials said on Sunday.

New Delhi: The CBI has arrested and detained some suspects in connection with the killing of BJP worker Yogesh Gowda in Karnataka's Dharwad in 2016, officials said on Sunday.

These are the first arrests in the case, they said.

The agency sources said that its operation of further rounding up of suspects based on questioning of detained and arrested persons is spread across various states and is likely to continue during the night, hence the details cannot be shared.

Gowda, a BJP zilla panchayat member, was killed in his gym on 15 June, 2016 by unidentified men, they said.

The agency took over the probe on the recommendation of the Karnataka government, they said.

It is alleged that Gowda was running a gym at Sapthapura in Dharwad. He was a friend of Basavaraj Shivappa Muttagi, the prime accused, for the past 10 years with different political inclinations.

Gowda came to know about a land purchase deal by Muttagi. Gowda had threatened Muttagi that he should not purchase the land as it was under the former's custody and if he still proceeded, he would kill him.

The Karnataka Police had already completed the probe and filed a charge sheet against six accused on 9 September, 2016.

It is alleged that Muttagi hatched a criminal conspiracy to kill Gowda.

When Gowda came to his gym on 15 June, 2016, accomplices of Muttagi sprinkled chilli powder on his face and hacked him to death, police said.

The killers escaped on three two-wheelers. The case is under trial in the District and Sessions Court, Dharwad.

After the change in the Karnataka government, the matter was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Photo: The Canadian Press Foreign Affairs Minister Franois-Philippe Champagne responds to a question during Question Period in the House of Commons in Ottawa, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

OTTAWA - Ukraine's ambassador to Canada says his government will help Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne secure compensation from Ukraine International Airlines for the families of all those killed on Flight 752, including 55 Canadians.

Champagne is in Kyiv March 3 for the start of a two-day visit that will include a meeting with the head of the airline, where he will try to speed up delivery of the compensation it must pay under international aviation law to the victims' families.

Envoy Andriy Shevchenko said his government sees no obstacles to the airline meeting its international legal obligations to compensate families.

"This carrier is committed to all the international rules and applications that apply to such situations," the ambassador said in an interview Friday.

"If there is anything the government (of Ukraine) can do on this, it will be, of course, done."

Champagne and his Ukrainian counterpart, Vadym Prystaiko, will be joined via teleconference by the foreign ministers of Sweden, Britain and Germany for a separate meeting about pursuing compensation from Iran.

Those countries all lost people in last month's shootdown of the passenger jet by the Iranian military.

The Ukrainian airline will also be seeking compensation from Iran for the families of its own victims who died in the crash, Shevchenko said.

"The carrier has found itself in a very difficult position," he said.

"They have obligations they have to fulfil but also they expect compensation from Iran. Of course, they have lost people of their own. But when it comes to international obligations, there has been a very clear signal from the airline they are committed to that."

The conference call that Champagne and Prystaiko will host from Kyiv is part of the ongoing efforts to project solidarity to Iran as the five countries pursue compensation.

Champagne said earlier this week that Iran's admission that it shot down the jet has financial consequences.

Shevchenko said it is now more important than ever that the five countries project unity to Iran.

"We understand that Iran might want to have separate tracks of conversations with the countries involved," he said. "We understand that we are dealing with many families and they will be looking for their own legal path. But it's in the interest of all of us that we make sure we speak with one voice and we co-ordinate well on the issue of compensation."
A bill to repeal religious exemptions for vaccines that are mandatory for children to attend school is the right direction  but it contains a serious flaw.

An Act Concerning Immunizations to protect the public health by ensuring adequate and appropriate immunizations of children grandfathers in non-vaccinated students already in the educational system as early as day care.

This dilutes the bill to such a degree it is nearly ineffective.

The move to grandfather in exemptions for unvaccinated students is not for medical reasons  it is purely political. Democrats added that in hopes to secure Republican votes and make HB 5044 a bipartisan bill.

That strategy didnt work coming out of the Public Health Committee Monday  not one Republican of the nine on the committee voted for the bill (and two Democrats voted against it). It stands to reason, then, Republicans are unlikely to support the bill in the full House.

Democrats should stand up for the original intent of the bill  to better protect children and the population at large  and remove the grandfathered exemptions.

The issue is one of the most heated and emotional of this General Assembly session, right up there with tolls. A public hearing last month went for 21 hours with nearly 500 people signing up to testify. When the committee voted Monday, thousands came to the Capitol to protest.

Objections center mainly on parents saying they should decide whats medically best for their child, not the government. Earlier concerns by some that vaccines could cause autism have been thoroughly debunked by scientific studies, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states.

Present state law requires immunization against a handful of communicable diseases, such as measles and polio, as a condition of attending school. Exemptions can be given for medical or religious reasons. The state Department of Public Health estimates as many as 7,800 children received a religious exemption in the 2018-19 school year.

But no major religion expressly forbids vaccinations.

Lawmakers must be sensitive to the views of parents, but their obligation is to the safety of the general population.

The non-medical exemptions came into focus last year with a measles outbreak in New York and some cases reported in Connecticut. Measles, a disease that can lead to dire consequences including death, was thought to have been eradicated. But an increase in exemptions opened the door to its return.

The states Public Health department reported last year that 134 schools had fewer than 95 percent of the students vaccinated against measles. That percentage is critical because it is the threshold necessary to maintain herd immunity.

Without that immunity, measles or other diseases can erupt and affect not only children but also others they come in contact with, such as family members with auto-immune diseases or health compromised by cancer treatments, for example.

This is not a minuscule threat. The global coronavirus outbreak makes evident the need for government to be proactive and nonpolitical in protecting public health.
Kolkata: The Left Front and the Congress organised rallies in protest against the visit of the Union home minister Amit Shahs visit to Kolkata on Sunday. In response, the supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) raised the controversial desh ke gaddaron ko goli maro (shoot the traitors) slogan, stirring a fresh row.

Soon after the Union minister landed in Kolkata around 11 am, protesters, standing outside gate 1 of the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata, shouted Amit Shah Go Back slogans . Throughout the day. protest rallies continued across the city as anti-BJP supporters can be seen carrying black flags, shouting slogans and releasing black coloured hot air balloons.

Dozens of BJP supporters, who were heading towards the Shahid Minar ground, where Shah was addressing the public rally, raised slogans --- Desh ke gaddaro ko, Goli Maro salo ko (shoot the traitors).

While the Congress demanded that the BJP supporters should be immediately arrested, the Left parties threatened to move court if the police doesnt take any action. Senior leaders of the BJP could not be reached as they were holding closed-door meetings with Shah till reports last came in. The ruling Trinamool Congresss (TMC) top brass refused to comment saying the party would come up with a statement. No statement, however, was issued by the TMC till late on Sunday.

We will be taking action, said Sudheer Kumar Neelakantam, deputy commissioner (central division) of Kolkata Police. He, however, refused to divulge any details on the kind of action that will be taken.

We know what damage the slogan has caused to Delhi. We will wait for the police to take action. If they dont act we will move court, said Md Salim, CPI(M) politburo member.

Senior Congress legislator, Manoj Chakraborty, demanded immediate arrest of the BJP supporters. After Delhi, Shah has now targeted Kolkata to spread violence..., said Adhir Chowdhury, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha.

BJP leaders were not available for comments.

The controversial Goli Maro slogan was also raised by Union minister of state for finance Anurag Thakur in January during an election rally in Delhi.

Left parties have decided to organise a counter rally on Shahid Minar ground on Monday to protest against Shahs visit and the controversial slogans raised by BJP supporters.
There was no drama this time, and no delay: Within one minute of the polls closing on Saturday, all the major networks called South Carolina for Joseph R. Biden Jr. It was the first state the former vice president has ever won in three presidential campaigns, and it was a landslide.

Mr. Biden carried nearly half the vote and every county in the state  as resounding a win, if not more so, as the one Senator Bernie Sanders scored in Nevada a week earlier.

We are very much alive, Mr. Biden declared on Saturday night.

That is the big headline from the final primary before Super Tuesday. But there are other ramifications from the South Carolina results that will reverberate across the rest of the Democratic presidential race. Here are five takeaways:

Biden now has a claim to be the stop-Sanders candidate.

Mr. Biden certainly took a circuitous route to his first victory: fourth place (Iowa), fifth (New Hampshire) and second (Nevada). But the former No. 2 to the nations first black president consolidated support among African-American voters in South Carolina, carrying more than 60 percent  well more than triple Mr. Sanderss share.

The question going forward is if that depth of support will prove isolated to South Carolina, where Mr. Biden had deep roots and the timely endorsement of Representative James E. Clyburn, the highest-ranking African-American in Congress and a state power broker.
After hesitating for seven days, the Bauchi State Government has finally reacted to a PREMIUM TIMES story exposing the state governor, Bala Mohammed, for awarding a N3.6 billion car-supply contract to a company he has interest in.

The story, which was published on February 22, gives a detailed account of how Mr Mohammed awarded the contract to Adda Nigeria Limited, a company in which he is a director, in contravention of public procurement and code of conduct laws.

The action also contravenes the ICPC Act, which forbids conflict of interest and gratification.

But in a statement on Saturday, the state government denied wrongdoing, without adducing evidence to back up the claim.

In justifying what is generally seen as extravagant purchase, the state government claimed that when Mr Mohammed came into office, he met critical human resources being incapacitated logistically, either because of rickety vehicles left behind by the Mohammed Abubakar administration or the absence of any means of transportation at all.

This claim is, however, incorrect as a follow-up story by PREMIUM TIMES has shown how the then outgoing administration awarded a contract to supply Mr Mohammeds government with new vehicles.

In the countdown to the handover, the outgoing government on May 9, 2019 issued a contract for the supply of vehicles at the sum of N75.7 million to Westwood Motors Limited.

In May, just days before Mr Mohammed took over, another contract was awarded to the same company, for new vehicles specifically for the use of the incoming governor and his deputy. The vehicles cost about N419 million.

Sources in the Bauchi government house confirmed delivery of the two batches of the vehicles at the time.

The previous administration had also bought official cars late in 2018 which were recovered by the government under Mr Mohammed after a brief use by outgoing officials.

Due process

The statement, which was signed by Mr Mohammeds spokesperson, Mukhtar Gidado, also claimed that due process was followed in awarding the contract to Adda Nigeria Ltd.

The vehicle purchase passed through the crucible of both legislative and executive scrutiny and, indeed, complied with all extant procurement laws, Mr Gidado wrote.

Mr Gidado claimed the state assembly approved the reviewed budget, without giving details of when that was done.

For a state that has all its most recent budget documents, including that of 2020, online, it is curious that the said amended budget is not anywhere in the online platforms where the other budgets are published.

PREMIUM TIMES also recalled that the Bauchi State House of Assembly was not properly constituted as it was rocked by a crisis at take-off.

At the time of its inauguration in June, 13 members of the 31-member strong Assembly elected Abubakar Suleiman of the APC, who is seen as amenable to the PDP, as the speaker.

But 17 other members who belong to the APC later opposed the move and convened to announce Damina Kawuwa as the authentic speaker.

The factionalisation led to instability in the assembly and led to the House of Representatives intervening in the crisis alongside that of Edo State.

The Bauchi assembly was only properly constituted following the inauguration of 18 warring members following a truce on August 3.

READ ALSO:

It is therefore suspicious that an assembly that was not properly constituted could amend a budget or approve a loan request, as Mr Gidado claims.

Governor denies directorship

The statement also refuted the allegation that Mr Mohammed is a director of Adda Nigeria Limited, as stated in the story.

The government claimed that the Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed listed among the directors of the company was not the governor.

The specimen signature appearing against the name of the said Alhaji Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed of ADDA Motors Ltd, affixed on Form CAC 7 of the company during incorporation, is entirely different from the signature of Senator Bala Mohammed, CON, Governor of Bauchi State, the official said.

He, however, failed to provide any evidence about the so-called Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed.

Advertisements



Mr Gidado also did not deny that the address, 227 Gombe Road, is a family residence of Mr Mohammed.

All vehicles delivered

Mr Gidado said contrary to allegations as contained in the story, the vehicles were fully delivered to the state government.

We make bold to say that all the 105 vehicles were duly supplied and faithfully distributed to the three arms of government.

Mr Gidado, however, only listed some of the beneficiaries of the vehicles in the statement.
The EU's border protection agency Frontex said Sunday it is on "high alert" on Europe's borders with Turkey as thousands of migrants seek to enter the bloc, adding it is deploying support to Greece.

"We... have raised the alert level for all borders with Turkey to high," the Frontex spokeswoman said in a statement to AFP.

"We have received a request from Greece for additional support. We have already taken steps to redeploy to Greece technical equipment and additional officers," she added.

Thousands of migrants were getting unimpeded passage across Turkey to the borders of European Union member countries Greece and Bulgaria.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he "opened the gates" for them after dozens of his troops were killed in airstrikes in northern Syria by Damascus's Russian-backed regime.

He is seen to be using the migration flow to try to pressure the EU and its NATO member states to lend him support in Turkey's military operation in Syria.

Frontex said it was monitoring closely the situation along the Greek and Bulgarian borders with Turkey and "we are looking into other ways of supporting EU countries bordering Turkey".

The statement added: "We are in close contact with Greek authorities regarding additional support we can provide in this rapidly evolving situation."



It said it was also monitoring the situation in Cyprus, an EU member state whose northern part is controlled by Turkey and only recognised by Ankara.

The agency noted that it was already staffing operations in Greece and Bulgaria.

Its current biggest deployment is in the Greek islands, where it had 400 personnel, and a small contingent in the Evros region on the Greek-Turkey border. It currently has 60 officers in Bulgaria, it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
California reported its second case of community transmission of the coronavirus Friday, and Oregon and Washington announced others just hours later, providing fresh evidence that the deadly virus is circulating in the United States.

Authorities in Santa Clara County, Calif., said a 65-year-old woman had come down with the covid-19 disease without traveling to any countries hit hard by the outbreak or coming in contact with anyone known to have the infection.

In Oregon, officials said a person from Washington County, in the northwest part of the state, had tested positive under similar circumstances. The positive test was conducted by the state's laboratory and is considered "presumptive" until it is confirmed by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In Oregon, officials said a person from Washington County, in the northwest part of the state, had tested positive under similar circumstances. The positive test was conducted by the state's laboratory and is considered "presumptive" until it is confirmed by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The unnamed Oregon individual is an employee of Forest Hills Elementary School outside Portland but has a job that "does not typically come into contact with students," the Lake Oswego School District wrote to parents in an email obtained by local news. The "few individuals" who did have close contact with the infected person were asked to stay home from work or school for two weeks.

The school will remain close through Wednesday as it is cleaned, the district told parents.

In Washington, state health officials said a high school student in Snohomish County, just north of Seattle, received a "presumptive" positive test in another case of unknown origin.

The Jackson High School student was not in school most of this week, but was on campus briefly Friday morning, according to a statement from Everett Public Schools. Students who were in contact with the patient will remain home for 14 days while health authorities monitor their symptoms, and the school will close for three days, the school district said.

The developments mean the virus is spreading in at least four separate communities - two of them about 90 miles apart in California, and two others further up the West Coast. On Wednesday, authorities revealed the nation's first case of community transmission, a woman in Solano County, California.

There is no apparent connection between the new California patient and anyone else with the disease, including the Solano County case and two previous cases in Santa Clara County, said Sara Cody, the Santa Clara County health officer.

"I think there's a strong possibility that there's local transmission going in California," said Jennifer Nuzzo, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. "In other words, the virus is spreading within California, and I think there's a possibility other states are in the same boat - they just haven't recognized that yet."

Two students in Palo Alto, a city of 67,000 in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, also may have been exposed to the virus, according to a letter to parents from the schools superintendent Friday.

The children are from the same family. One is in high school and the other is in middle school.

The school system said that "as a precautionary measure, the district immediately took action and the two students were sent home and will be excluded from attending school until we receive more information."

The virus that has been reported in 56 countries is now reaching into the heart of Silicon Valley, home to some of the world's largest technology companies - including Google, Apple and Tesla - and San Jose, a city of 1 million people. Santa Clara County is home to 2 million residents.

The three tech giants and other companies based in Santa Clara County did not respond to requests for comment on whether they are taking new precautions in response to the local case.

In a news release, Cody described the newly diagnosed Santa Clara County patient as "an older adult woman with chronic health conditions who was hospitalized for a respiratory illness."

The virus is known to cause more severe illness in older people and those with underlying illnesses such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. But the symptoms are milder in more than 80 percent of current patients.

Cody said at a news conference that the woman came to a hospital complaining of difficulty breathing. A physician treating her notified the county health department Wednesday evening because the patient's symptoms seemed compatible with covid-19. The doctor asked for a coronavirus test, which came back from the county's lab Thursday evening, Cody said.

Little else is known about the woman's case, including her condition or how long she was in the community while infectious.

In Oregon, officials were trying to determine the number of close contacts the patient had, to help determine the potential spread of the disease.

"Contact tracing is our top priority right now," said Oregon Health Authority Director Patrick Allen.

The Oregon patient, whose age and gender were not disclosed, is at Kaiser Permanente Westside Medical Center in Hillsboro, health officials said.

In Washington, health officials said the student who tested positive was a minor and had visited Seattle Children's North Clinic on Feb. 24. Officials said they were tracing people who may have been exposed to the patient.

"Given the extent of global spread, we expect to identify more individuals with covid-19 in Washington," State Health Officer Dr. Kathy Lofy said in a statement.

To date, the virus - which originated in Wuhan, China - has sickened more than 84,000 people and has killed more than 2,800, mostly in China. Outbreaks in some places, such as South Korea, Iran and Italy, have been particularly severe.

Santa Clara health officials warned residents in a news release that "now is the time to prepare for the possibility of widespread community transmission." The county will be conducting surveillance to determine how widely the disease has spread, she said.

"I understand this may be concerning to hear, but this is what we have been preparing for," Cody said. "Now we need to start taking additional actions to slow down the spread of the disease."

Public health measures, such as contact tracing, isolation and quarantine, have helped slow the spread, she said, but other public health measures are now needed.

"What we know now is the virus is here and present in some level," she said. "But we still don't know to what degree."

On Tuesday, the CDC warned Americans to prepare for the inevitable spread of the virus in their communities. If transmission becomes more widespread, that could mean school closings, companies mandating telework and limits on or postponements of mass gatherings, said Nancy Messonnier, a top CDC official.

The CDC has also been under intense pressure to step up testing for the virus to determine how far the disease has spread. The agency promised Friday that it would be providing more test kits to states in coming days to allow for more rapid identification of infected people.

The discovery of two more cases "supports what we are trying to do with basic infection control and case identification," said Saskia Popescu, senior infection prevention epidemiologist for Honor Health, a hospital system in Phoenix. "We need to focus on pragmatic and scientifically based measures and not hit the panic button. We know how to protect ourselves."

Cody advised people to wash their hands and try not to touch their faces. Families should discuss supplies that might be needed if someone needs to stay home for a week or two. Schools should explore online learning, she said.

"I do understand the whole situation may feel overwhelming, and it's difficult to think about the possible disruption in our everyday lives, especially when we are still uncertain about what this may look like," she said. "But we do need everyone to start thinking about what actions they can take now so we can be prepared for the possibility of further spread of the virus in our community."

- - -

Greene reported from Seattle. The Washington Post's Christina Passariello and Heather Kelly in San Francisco and Derek Hawkins, Amy Goldstein, Meryl Kornfield and Ashley Parker in Washington contributed to this report.
The riots in Jaffrabad, Maujpur, Gokalpuri, Khajuri Khas and Bhajanpur in northeast Delhi have left 43 people dead and over 250 injured.

NEW DELHI: While the BJP high command and party spokespersons have either remained silent or subtly endorsed the role of Delhi Police in handling the riots that erupted in northeast Delhi on February 25, Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari on Saturday fired the first salvo, saying police failed to assess the situation and demanded action for the lapses.

Mr Tiwari, a member of Parliament from northeast Delhi, is the first saffron leader to back the claims of many riot victims and echoed the wails that went unheeded despite repeated phone calls to the police control room and even directly to senior cops. Coming down hard on Delhi Police, whose commissioner of police Amulya Patnaik didnt visit the riot-hit areas even once, said, Aaklan lagane mein chuk ho gayi. Unhone (police) socha hoga ki jaise Shaheen Bagh me chal raha hai waise hi yaha bhi log shanti se baithenge (Police failed to anticipate the violence. They probably thought that like anti-CAA protestors are sitting peacefully in Shaheen Bagh, protester in northeast Delhi will also sit peacefully). But violence spread here very fast. Investigation must be done for lapses and those responsible must be punished.

The MP said that he received thousands of distress calls from several areas with people saying that they need more police force in their areas.

The riots in Jaffrabad, Maujpur, Gokalpuri, Khajuri Khas and Bhajanpur in northeast Delhi have left 43 people dead and over 250 injured.

Earlier, Mr Tiwari had spoken up against the vitriolic campaign carried out by a section of BJP leaders during the Delhi Assembly elections. Criticising hate speeches, the Delhi BJP chief wanted that a proper forum or agency beset up which would clearly identify hate speeches and take action against those indulging in it.

BJP leader Kapil Mishra, who had unsuccessfully contested the recent Assembly polls from Model Town, led a gathering in support of the CAA at Maujpur Chowk in the Jafarabad area on Sunday, after which violence erupted between pro and anti-CAA groups.

Addressing the gathering, Mr Mishra had issued an ultimatum to the police to vacate the roads blocked by anti-CAA protesters in Jafarabad and Bhahanpura areas within three days and warned that he would be back on the streets if no action was taken.

When asked about Mr Mishras hate speech, Delhi BJP president said, Who will decide whether a speech comes under hate speech or not. One agency should be constituted which will look into all speeches and BJP does not support any hate speech.

He added that once hate speeches and those giving hate speeches are identified, they should be barred from fighting polls, irrespective of the party.
Health officials in the Dominican Republic on Sunday reported the first confirmed case of the new coronavirus in the tourist-rich Caribbean, a 62-year-old Italian citizen.

Public Health Minister Rafael Snchez Crdenas said the man had arrived in the country on February 22 without showing symptoms.

He was being treated in isolation at a military hospital and has not shown serious complications.

The announcement came shortly before the Braemar cruise ship that had been denied entry to the Dominican Republic due to the virus fears apparently at last found a place to dock the Dutch territory of St. Maarten.

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines said at least some of the passengers would be flown to Britain aboard chartered airliners. Other passengers, who had been scheduled to board the vessel on Friday in the Dominican Republic, were being flown to St. Maarten to embark there.

Dominican officials had barred the ship due to reports that a few of those aboard had a flu-like illness, but the cruise line said none had symptoms consistent with the new virus.

It was one of at least three cruise ships turned away from Caribbean ports over the past week due to concerns over possible viral infections, though no passengers on any of the ships has been confirmed to have the disease.

The broader Latin America region has reported several other cases of the COVID-19 illness since midweek. Mexico has reported four cases, Brazil two and Ecuador one, all involving people who had traveled recently to Europe.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Panic gripped the residents of several parts of west Delhi on Sunday evening following false rumours of violence but the Delhi Police denied any incident and appealed people to remain calm.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said it had shut down the entry and exit gates of seven metro stations but did not give any reason. The stations were later reopened.

"A rumour has been noticed that there is some tension in Khyala-Raghubir Nagar area of West District. There is no truth behind it. All are requested to keep calm as the situation is absolutely normal & peaceful," DCP West Deepak Purohit said.

"There are some rumours regarding some communal tension in Tilak Nagar and Khyala area. It is intimated that there is No tension in Tilak Nagar and Khyala and whole west Distt area. Nothing to worry about," he added.

Police said some "unsubstantiated reports" of tension in southeast and west districts were circulated on the social media.

"It is to reiterate that these are all rumours. Don't pay attention to such rumours. Delhi Police is closely monitoring accounts spreading rumours and taking action," they said, adding that rumours about tension in Dwarka and Badarpur areas were also "unsubstantiated".

Shopkeepers downed shutters and people rushed to reach home early in several areas including Subhash Nagar, Tilak Nagar, Janakpuri and Khyala in west Delhi.

Tilak Nagar MLA Jarnail Singh too urged people to remain calm.

"I reached at the site as soon as I heard of the rumour of riots, shops were shut people were in a state of panic but no one saw any riots happening. It was a conspiracy to spread rumours and spoil the atmosphere. I appeal to people to maintain peace and brotherhood and do not believe the rumours," he said.

Rajesh Sharma, a resident of Subhash Nagar, said he had gone to a mall in west Delhi when at around 7:45 pm, he witnessed sudden commotion.

"The outlets inside the mall began shutting down and the situation remained tense for nearly 20 minutes before the police arrived and assured everyone that the situation was normal," he said.

Meanwhile, the metro stations which were briefly shut down included Tilak Nagar, Nangloi, Surajmal Stadium, Badarpur, Tughlakabad, Uttam Nagar west and Nawada metro stations.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The UK's only working sled-dog centre will close next month 'due to climate change' amid fears the Cairngorms could be snow-free by 2080 if temperatures continue to rise.

The Cairngorms Sleddog Centre, which has been open for 20 years, has decided to hang up its dog harness as rising temperatures turn the snow-covered slopes into barren mud and trigger its 20 Alaskan huskies to moult in the middle of winter.

The business, which has been visited by Sir David Attenborough and Bear Grylls, is thought to be the first in Britain to shut due to climate change.

The Cairngorms Sleddog Centre, in Scotland, is to shut after more than 20 years of business 'due to climate change'. Its huskies are pictured above last month

The business was launched when the Cairngorms had five months of snow cover a year (Pictured: Huskies at the centre enjoy the snow in a photo posted in 2011)

Huskies at the centre push their way through the barren Cairngorm peaks today

Alan Stewart, 64, who owns the business told the Sunday Mirror: 'Climate change has finished us off. This year, instead of snow, we just have mud.

'I've seen flies in the middle of winter because the place is so warm. Craziest thing of all is I've got huskies moulting in the middle of winter - that tells you what nature is saying to them, to us.

'To train dogs professionally you need several months of snow but even in Europe you cannot get enough snow.'

Mr Stewart first moved to set up the centre in Aviemore, Scottish highlands, because it could get five months of snow a year.

And it isn't the only business struggling in the National Park, which attracts two million tourists a year to ski and walk on its once snow-carpeted peaks.

Bosses at the Aviemore ski resort had to bring in a snow machine to spew almost 100 tonnes of artificial snow onto their piste every day for more than a month before it opened.

The sun melts snow on the Cairngorms this morning. Snow cover in the area has declined by half since 1969 according to a study conducted by the Scotland Rural College

Alan Stewart, 64, pictured with one of his 20 huskies. He opened the sleddog centre

Cairngorm mountain ski centre worker of 25 years, Jim Coorfoot, said that stormy weather hitting the peaks is literally 'stripping away the snow'.

'Normally there is a reliable source of snow at the top of the mountain,' he said, 'but we have had to switch that to the bottom with the use of a machine.

'Typically at this time of year the slopes would be covered but the weather now is just so unpredictable.'

The President of Ramblers Scotland and a winter walking enthusiast, Ben Dolphin, told the BBC that he didn't know any walker who would feel 'at ease' with the snow fall on the Cairngorms over the last two years.

'Its not just the lack of snow,' he said, 'it's the high night-time temperatures, and the longevity and persistence of mild weather patterns'.

'These recent winters do feel different. I've been up here a lot over the years, always January or February, and I've never seen it look as snowless as this.'

A husky at the centre. The dogs have started moulting in winter due to the rising temperatures

Huskies pictured racing through the Cairngorms National Park last month

The Cairngorms National Park Authority warned there 'is likely to be a substantial decline in the number of days of snow cover' from 2030 in a report published last year.

And Scotland's Rural College has warned that rising temperatures could leave the Cairngorms devoid of the white stuff by 2080.

Snow cover in the park has already halved since 1969.

Scotland's Rural College based its predictions on temperature readings from Whitehillocks, on the eastern edge of the Cairngorms, and Balmoral.


First COVID-19 case in U.S., with no links to China

People's Daily Online

(CNTV) 08:14, February 28, 2020

U.S. public health officials are reporting the first case of COVID-19 in a person who hasn't travelled to any affected regions and has no known contact with anyone who has the virus.

The patient is a resident of Solano County California, north of San Francisco.

That's the same county as Travis Air Force base, one of the U.S. quarantine centers.

In a White House press conference on Wednesday, President Trump said, "We are very very ready for this for anything whether it's going to be a breakout of larger proportion or whether or not we're at that very low level."

He also announced Vice President Mike Pence would lead the federal response to the crisis.

Public health officials warn the virus will likely spread in the U.S.

"This virus doesn't respect borders. It does not distinguish between races or ethnicities. It has no regard for a country's GDP or level of development. The point is not only to prevent cases arriving on your shores. The point is what you do when you have cases," said the Director General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus,Trump defended travel restrictions that essentially bar entry to foreign nationals who have recently been in China.

The WHO does not recommend closing borders and China has objected to the move.

Trump also said because the outbreak seems to be easing in China it may be possible to lift those travel restrictions soon but added he may put in place similar measures for people who have travelled to other countries experiencing outbreaks.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






It was on a flight to a friend's wedding that two sleep-deprived new fathers turned a conversation about the difficulties of parenthood into a lucrative lightbulb moment.

Perth friends Ricky Hee and Alexander Djojoutomo began talking about a way to hasten the bottle-cleaning chore when an idea came to them.

Recognising there was a gap in the market, the two men decided to launch a business, and the Bottle Bath was born.

Friends and father Rickey Hee and Alexander Djojoutomo (pictured with their daughters Alana and Chantelle) were on a flight to a friend's wedding when they agreed they needed to sold the problem of waching baby bottles

The product is a three-in-one cleaner which washes, sterilises and then dries baby bottles after use.

Its design includes a clear cleaning dome, a clean water tank, a menu button and a base unit.

'We were new dads, and hands on dads, and we noticed we spent a lot of time cleaning bottles,' Mr Hee told Daily Mail Australia.

'You get stuck in the kitchen for longer than expected so we started to talk about whether there was a product out there to make it easier.'

They knew they were onto a solid idea when they found bottle cleaners hadn't changed much over time.

'New parents have a lot to learn and we figured this product would help ease some of the stress of being a first-time parent,' Mr Hee said.

While sleep deprived and on the plane they both agreed bottle cleaning took up more time than necessary and decided they would 'try and fix the problem' before starting to design (pictured)

After drafting some design ideas they knew they needed expert help and financial backers to bring the Bottle Bath to market.

However Mr Djojoutomo said they weren't going to take just a rough design and some notes to investors and expect an investment

'It wouldn't have been fair,' he said.

Instead each man invested $100,000 each into the idea over the next four years.

First they created their company, Altelle, which they named by combining the names of their eldest daughters Alana and Chantelle.

Lacking the engineering skills required to mass produce the product, they partnered with Singapore engineering firm ORCA Applied Engineering Solutions.

Over the past 18 months ORCA and Altelle worked on the industrial design for the Bottle Bath and tested multiple iterations.

Once they had settled on a design and moved toward making a prototype they were again deciding if finding investors was their next step.

Instead of finding traditional investors the men decided to launch a Kickstarter campaign where anyone could 'back them'.

They reached their desired total of $81,000 within 10 days of launching the campaign.

After investing $100,000 each into the idea and working with designers the Bottle Bath prototype was finally created (Mr Hee and Mr Djojoutomo pictured with the prototype)

'It's sort of like a pre-order system we have set up so the people who back us will be the first to get it,' Mr Djojoutomo said.

It was a big leap of faith for both men who said it was the largest investment either of them had made.

'Month after month we were putting more money into it and I felt like a gambler,' Mr Hee said.

'But then my wife told me a gambler expects instant gratification and what we were doing was a calculated risk.

'We are simply just dads trying to find a solution to a problem.'

Mr Djojoutomo said the journey from concept to prototype had been long and tough but 'rewarding at the same time'.

'It's a bit surreal, it has become our baby and now it feels like it has graduated kindergarten and is moving into school,' Mr Hee said.

The Bottle Bath will ship its first batch this July and both men said once parents got their hands on the product it would be a game changer.

The first batch will consist of 1000 units which will sell at $AUD720 so if all 1000 sold in Australia the friends stand to make $720,000.
Saturday Sunday lockdown in Delhi: Know timings, guidelines, rules, What is allowed, what is not allowed

DDMA orders DMs to number all shops within 24 hours as odd-even rule being violated in markets

Three more bodies found in violence-hit part of Delhi, overall deaths 46

India

pti-PTI

New Delhi, Mar 01: A week after deadly communal violence erupted in northeast Delhi, the situation in affected areas was peaceful but tense on Sunday as three more bodies were fished out from drains in Gokalpuri and Shiv Vihar and heavy police deployment continued.

In parts of northeast Delhi, people complained of cash crunch as several bank branches and ATMs have remained closed in the aftermath of the riots.

The Delhi Police said it has registered 254 FIRs and arrested or detained 903 persons in connection with the violence so far. Forty-one of the cases were registered under the Arms Act.

No untoward incident has been reported from the northeast district over the past three days, an official said, adding police are urging residents to not pay attention to rumours and report them to authorities.

Three bodies were fished out from two drains in Gokalpuri on Sunday while one body was pulled out out from a drain in Shiv Vihar, police said. However, it is yet to be ascertained if they are linked to the riots and authorities have not updated the death toll figure.

Several bodies of riot victims have been found in drains since Wednesday including of IB staffer Ankit Sharma after violence ebbed.

Panic spread across several parts of west Delhi on Sunday evening following false rumours of violence. Delhi Metro briefly shut down entry and exits of seven stations without giving any reason. However, Delhi Police swiftly denied any incident and appealed to all to remain calm.

Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar visited some of the riot-hit areas, including Brahmapuri, and consoled the people affected by the worst violence in three decades in Delhi.

'It is very disturbing to see that so many people are badly affected. We have to relieve them of trauma and bring their lives back on track. Everyone should come together to do this,' he told reporters.

Schools are closed in Northeast district till March 7.

On Sunday, the CBSE said any further delay in conducting board exams in violence-affected areas may hamper chances of students in admission to professional courses like medical and engineering, but added that it is ready to conduct fresh exams for students who will not be able to appear as per schedule.

Aadil Khan, a resident of Jafradbad, said that several bank branches and ATMs located at B Block of Yamuna Vihar, were closed since the deadly communal violence erupted on February 23.

Mohammad Alam, 27, a mobile recharge shop owner in Shiv Vihar --- one of worst violence-affected areas --- said his shop remained shut for the last four days.

'The business has been hit badly due to closure of banks and ATMs. People don't have cash,' Alam told PTI.

Kailash Kumar, who lives in Mustafabad, said his family would leave the city for their hometown in Uttar Pradesh's Ghazipur, but he could not draw cash for travel.

Kumar said that apart from banks and ATMs, most of grocery shops remained shut due to which there is shortage of essential commodities.

The violence in Jaffrabad, Maujpur, Babarpur, Chand Bagh, Shiv Vihar, Bhajan Pura, Yamuna Vihar and Mustafabad areas of northeast Delhi claimed at least 42 lives and left over 200 injured.

A large number of properties have been damaged. Frenzied mobs had torched houses, shops, vehicles, a petrol pump and pelted stones at locals and police personnel.

Police said they are conducting flag marches in violence-affected areas. However, there was an eerie silence in the narrow bylanes that were teeming with people and hawkers barely a week back.

In Shiv Vihar, among the worst hit areas, the roads were deserted and almost all the houses locked. In Mustafabad, people were wary of stepping out of their homes.

'Though there is police presence, tension is lingering. We celebrated Eid, Holi, Diwali together. I have never faced such a situation in my life. There is grief, mistrust, disbelief. Those who indulged in violence did not belong to the area, they came from outside,' said Mohammad Yunus, 45.

Yunus, who owns a garment store in Shiv Vihar, said he was saved by his Hindu neighbours during the violence and they tore the shop's name-board to protect the business from rioters.

Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the AAP government is putting in best efforts to provide relief to the people affected by the riots.
Runners participate in a preview of the 5th Annual Lucky Charm 5k/10k led by Fleet Feet of Mechanicsburg. Runners were invited to test out this years revised 5K route while also testing out their St. Patricks Day running regalia.

The wearing of the green transforms into the running of the green as hundreds of runners sporting St. Patricks Day finery fill the streets of Harrisburg on several lucky dates leading up to and including the 5th Annual Lucky Charm 5k/10k by Fleet Feet Mechanicsburg on Saturday, March 21. Lucky Charm is the cornerstone in a series of races designed for the running community, as well as the greater Harrisburg community, to celebrate and add community spirit to festive holidays throughout the calendar year. Participation in Lucky Charm has grown from 500 runners in 2016 to 1,300 runners expected this March. The race officially opens Harrisburgs St. Patricks Day Parade at 2 pm, organized by the Harrisburg Downtown Improvement District. Runners, walkers and spectators are invited to participate in the following events: Saturday, March 7, 4-6 pm, Lucky 7 10K Preview Run:Its not quite seven miles to match the date (its 6.2 to be exact), but this preview run familiarizes runners with a revised 10K route while spreading pre-St. Patricks Day cheer by running in green. Free and open to the public; run led by Fleet Feet Mechanicsburg. Meeting and ending at Hop, Vines & Spirits Tasting Room, 17 N. 2nd Street.Saturday, March 21, 12 pm:The 5th Annual Lucky Charm 5k/10k opens the 2020 race season with a fast, flat course through Harrisburg that begins and ends at 2nd & Strawberry Streets by Strawberry Square, then winds up and down State Street in the shadow of the state capital, loops around City Island and features runners crossing the iconic Walnut Street pedestrian bridgeand for 10k runnerstravels alongside the Susquehanna River. All participants receive a commemorative finishers medal specially designed for this 5th anniversary year; a race t-shirt; a free beer at Hops, Vines & Spirits; and more. Runners are encouraged to pre-register online at fleetfeet.com/s/mechanicsburg. The Fleet Feet Mechanicsburg race series includes: Lucky Charm 5k/10k SMT Turkey Trot 5k Santa Shuffle 5k New Year Run Challenge With an exciting new holiday race being announced later this year!For more information, contact Fleet Feet Mechanicsburg, 6416 Carlisle Pike, Mechanicsburg; 717-691-3000; fleetfeet.com/s/mechanicsburg.
The new coronavirus has reached Oregon, and the situation is changing fast. Heres what we know as of March 1.

The lone case: Oregons first and so far only coronavirus patient worked at Forest Hills Elementary School in Lake Oswego but did not have a job with close student contact. School and health officials still have not identified the person or said anything about the persons condition.

Who else: The Lake Oswego superintendent said a limited number of people had contact with the person. She did not identify who they were, their relationship to the patient or how many. Their last possible close contact with the person was Feb. 19. An Oregon person who was under investigation as a possible case of COVID-19 has tested negative for the disease. Seven other people who are showing symptoms of the disease and may have been exposed have undergone testing but the results arent known yet, officials said.

More results expected: The Oregon Health Authority plans to release new test results Sunday for people potentially exposed to coronavirus. The state lab is collecting samples between 10 a.m. and noon, with results expected to be publicly released in the afternoon.

CORONAVIRUS IN OREGON: FULL COVERAGE

Deep clean: A team from contractor ServPro was onsite and evaluating Forest Hills Elementary on Saturday for a deep clean and could start as early this weekend, district officials said.

Other schools: The Lake Oswego School District has no plans to close other schools. Forest Hills is closed through Wednesday.

A negative test: A second person who was under investigation for the illness, unrelated to the Forest Hills employee, tested negative on Saturday, officials said. At least seven other tests are pending and 88 people are being monitored for the disease, according to the Oregon Health Authority.

Portland Public Schools: The district sent an email to families late Saturday saying they continue to monitor the situation in Lake Oswego, and we are in continual contact with government agencies and our public health partners, including Oregon Health Authority, Multnomah County, and the Oregon Department of Education.

They asked students, families and staff to support our proactive efforts by washing hands frequently, covering mouths when coughing or sneezing, and using hand sanitizer, and said anyone experiencing cold or flu symptoms should follow guidelines and stay home.

Transmission risk: Health experts repeated that coronavirus is most dangerous for old people and those with underlying conditions. The vast majority of cases are mild. The virus is thought to be spread from person to person when in close contact  within about 6 feet  through droplets emitted when a person coughs or sneezes. It may also be possible to catch the virus by touching a surface that has the virus and then touching the mouth, nose or eyes.

Best advice: Stay home if sick, call your doctor if you have trouble breathing or other significant symptoms and determine if you need to seek further treatment or can stay home. Kids in the metro area with any symptoms should stay home. Do not go to a doctor if your only reason for going is fear of a coronavirus infection.

Whats next: The Oregon Health Authority says it will let people know almost immediately after it learns of any new cases. They announced Saturday that a person under investigation unrelated to the Forest Hills employee tested negative.The state is now able to do its own tests for coronavirus, meaning that officials dont have to wait days for the CDC to tell them if someone is sick.

Coronavirus quarantine kit: Dont panic, but do stock up. Heres a quick list of supplies to have in your home in case of a broader outbreak or quarantine, and links to buy each one.

How to prevent coronavirus: The advice is pretty simple, and its easy for most people to follow. First up: Know the symptoms.

More Washington cases: Washington health officials confirmed Sunday that there were two more confirmed cases of coronavirus in the Seattle area. That brings the total confirmed cases in Seattle to six and in Washington state to eight. Also Sunday, researchers said it was possible that coronavirus had been circulating undetected in Washington for as many as six weeks.

Trump and the hoax: The coronavirus outbreaks impact on the world economy grew more alarming on Saturday, even after President Donald Trump denounced criticism of his response to the threat as a hoax cooked up by his political enemies.

Remembering the flu: With Americans increasingly nervous about what to expect from the novel coronavirus pandemic, public-health experts and historians have pointed to the worldwide 1918-19 Spanish flu outbreak as an example of what not to do.

More coronavirus news:

Best advice for those worried about coronavirus in Oregon: Stay calm

Second person under investigation in Oregon tests negative for illness

Lake Oswego church taking precautions in light of Oregon coronavirus case

-- Fedor Zarkhin

fzarkhin@oregonian.com

desk: 503-294-7674|cell: 971-373-2905|@fedorzarkhin

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
Arcoma AB (STO:ARCOMA), which is in the medical equipment business, and is based in Sweden, received a lot of attention from a substantial price movement on the OM over the last few months, increasing to kr22.90 at one point, and dropping to the lows of kr17.80. 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 Arcoma's current trading price of kr17.80 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 Arcomas 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 Arcoma

What's the opportunity in Arcoma?

The share price seems sensible at the moment according to my price multiple model, where I compare the company's price-to-earnings ratio to the industry average. In this instance, Ive used the price-to-earnings (PE) ratio given that there is not enough information to reliably forecast the stocks cash flows. I find that Arcomas ratio of 44.32x is trading slightly above its industry peers ratio of 40.77x, which means if you buy Arcoma today, youd be paying a relatively reasonable price for it. And if you believe Arcoma should be trading in this range, then there isnt really any room for the share price grow beyond the levels of other industry peers over the long-term. Is there another opportunity to buy low in the future? Since Arcomas share price is quite volatile, we could potentially see it sink lower (or rise higher) in the future, giving us another chance to buy. 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.

Can we expect growth from Arcoma?

OM:ARCOMA Past and Future Earnings, February 29th 2020

Investors looking for growth in their portfolio may want to consider the prospects of a company before buying its shares. Although value investors would argue that its the intrinsic value relative to the price that matter the most, a more compelling investment thesis would be high growth potential at a cheap price. Arcomas earnings over the next few years are expected to double, indicating a very optimistic future ahead. This should lead to stronger cash flows, feeding into a higher share value.

Story continues

What this means for you:

Are you a shareholder? ARCOMAs optimistic future growth appears to have been factored into the current share price, with shares trading around industry price multiples. However, there are also other important factors which we havent considered today, such as the financial strength of the company. Have these factors changed since the last time you looked at ARCOMA? Will you have enough confidence to invest in the company should the price drop below the industry PE ratio?

Are you a potential investor? If youve been keeping tabs on ARCOMA, now may not be the most optimal time to buy, given it is trading around industry price multiples. However, the positive outlook is encouraging for ARCOMA, which means its worth further examining other factors such as the strength of its balance sheet, 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 Arcoma. You can find everything you need to know about Arcoma in the latest infographic research report. If you are no longer interested in Arcoma, you can use our free platform to see my list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 21:50:20|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 29 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of residents and local officials have rallied in San Francisco Chinatown to protest against what they say is racism targeting the Chinese community in connection with the global coronavirus outbreak.

Officials from major Chinese community organizations including the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (CCBA), the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, the "Comfort Women" Justice Coalition (CWJC), and other local groups came together to oppose racial profiling and bigotry against Chinese Americans.

California Senator Scott Wiener and San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin appeared at the rally to show solidarity and support for Chinatown businesses and merchants.

"San Francisco is a city of tolerance and a city of acceptance. But the one thing that we will not tolerate and people will not accept is xenophobia and racism," said Peskin, who represents Chinatown and other parts in the city.

He urged San Franciscans to "be local, buy local and shop local" by backing Chinatown shops and merchants, which have seen a decline in tourism and business due to fears of COVID-19.

"There is nothing to fear but fear itself," he stressed.

Wiener expressed his solidarity with the Chinese community, opposing hatred and stereotyping against Chinese Americans.

Another San Francisco supervisor Sandra Fewer, who is a first-generation Chinese American, told the audience that the Chinese community is the "strongest" when people stay together.

"And together, we can keep people safe, and we can also have a healthy economy," she said, asking San Francisco Chinese Americans to be united and not be divided by fear.

Retired San Francisco judge Julie Tang, who is also co-chair of the CWJC, said, "We are here to really demand not only economic justice, but also freedom from racism, discrimination and xenophobia."

"We are saying no to all these horrible things that are happening as a byproduct and a fallout of the coronavirus," she added.

After the rally at Portsmouth Square in Chinatown, local officials and business leaders led the protesters in a demonstration that marched through the streets of Chinatown to the downtown business district of Union Square.

Kevin Chen, owner of the famed Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Company in Chinatown, told Xinhua that his store has also experienced a downturn in business as fewer customers and tourists were willing to go out shopping amid panic about the coronavirus.

"We marched here at Union Square to tell other communities in the city that we are Chinese, not viruses," he said. "The virus happened to occur in China, just as it could have in any other place in the world."

Amy Townsend, a tourist visiting from the south-central state of Oklahoma, said she had heard about businesses suffering in Chinatown because people were fearful of the virus.

"We felt really badly about that, because it really doesn't make sense to me," she said. "Everybody should know that we don't support bigotry or racism against the Chinese community."

"I'm very much in support of the Chinese people and, actually, we were planning on going later today to Chinatown, shopping or dining," she added.
KASTANIES, Greece  Thousands of migrants and refugees massed at Turkeys western frontier Sunday, trying to enter Greece by land and sea after Turkey said its borders were open to those hoping to head to Europe. In Syria, Turkish troops shot down two Syrian warplanes after the Syrian military downed a Turkish drone, a major escalation in the direct conflict between Syrian and Turkish forces.

Turkeys decision to ease border restrictions came amid a Russia-backed Syrian government offensive into Syrias northwestern Idlib province. That offensive has killed dozens of Turkish troops and led to a surge of nearly a million Syrian civilians fleeing the fighting toward Turkeys sealed border.

Turkey backs the Syrian rebels fighting in Idlib province, and has sent thousands of troops into the area. Idlib is the last opposition-held stronghold in Syria, and is dominated by al-Qaida linked fighters.

A Turkish official said the fighting in Idlib was directly linked to Turkeys decision to open the gates for refugees to Europe. He said Ankara had changed its focus to preparing for the possibility of new arrivals from Syria instead of preventing refugees who intend to migrate to Europe.

Europe and others must take robust action to address this monumental challenge, said Fahrettin Altun, the communications director for Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. We cant be expected to do this on our own.

Erdogans decision open his countrys borders with Europe made good on a longstanding threat to let refugees into the continent. His announcement marked a dramatic departure from a previous policy of containment, an apparent attempt to pressure Europe into offering Turkey more support in dealing with the fallout from the Syrian war to its south.

Under a 6 billion euro deal in 2016, Turkey agreed to stem the tide of refugees to Europe in return for financial aid, after more than a million people entered Europe in 2015. Turkey has since accused the EU of failing to honor the agreement, and Erdogan has frequently threatened to allow refugees into Europe unless more international support was provided.

Turkey already hosts 3.6 million Syrian refugees, as well as many others from Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Turkey borders Greece and Bulgaria, both European Union members.

On the Greek-Turkish land border, Greek army and police patrols using tear gas and stun grenades to thwart attempts by thousands to push into the country overnight.

Officials said the situation was much calmer Sunday morning. But in the afternoon, authorities used tear gas and water cannons to push back another crowd attempting to cross. Migrants threw rocks and other objects, and one policeman was injured. Greek authorities said they stopped about 10,000 crossing attempts Saturday, and another 5,500 on Sunday.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis convened the defense and foreign affairs committee Sunday evening. Afterward, a government spokesman said Greece was starting a one-month freeze on accepting asylum applications from migrants who enter illegally.

Europes border agency Frontex said it was redeploying equipment and additional officers to Greece.

A Greek government official said the Turkish authorities also fired teargas at the Greek border, using drones flying close to the border. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasnt authorized to discuss the matter with the media.

Stavros Zamalides, the president of the Greek border community of Kastanies, said Turkish soldiers used wire cutters to actively help people cross.

The United Nations migration organization reported at least 13,000 people had massed on Turkeys land border by Saturday night, the vast majority apparently from Afghanistan.

In Istanbul, a steady stream of buses, taxis, cars and minibuses were ferrying hundreds more throughout Sunday to Edirne, a town near the border with Greece. The vehicles werent part of any regular bus route.

Those boarding the buses  the vast majority Afghans  said they were heading to Greece and eventually hoped to get to Germany.

On the Greek islands, more than 500 people had arrived from the nearby Turkish coast by Sunday evening, a clear increase in the usual number of people who arrive on eastern Aegean islands from Turkey.

Existing migrant camps on the islands are already dramatically overcrowded, and tensions there have mounted.

In a small harbor on Lesbos, angry local residents refused to allow migrants  including families with young children and babies  to disembark from a dinghy that had just arrived. Groups who arrived on other parts of the island remained there for hours because locals prevented buses from reaching them to transport them to the main camp.

On Sunday night, a former staging area used for new arrivals on Lesbos was set on fire.

More than 19,300 people already live in and around islands migrant camp, which has a capacity of 2,840. Protests by island residents last week over the situation degenerated into clashes with riot police on Lesbos and Chios.

Greece said it was using all available means to tell migrants that the countrys borders were closed, including text messages to foreign mobile phones in the border area.

In Syria, fighting escalated on the ground and in the skies between Turkish and Syrian troops. Russia, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar Assads government, remained largely on the sidelines through the weekend even as a Turkish-led counter offensive blunted and in some cases reversed Syrian government advances.

But the head of the Russian militarys Reconciliation Center in Syria, Rear Adm. Oleg Zhuravlev,, warned Turkey that its aircraft could be in danger if they fly over Syria.

In view of the sharp exacerbation of tensions in the air space over Idlib, the Syrian government was forced to declare it closed, Zhuravlev said in a statement released late Sunday. In this situation, the Russian troops command cant guarantee security of flights of Turkish aircraft in the skies over Syria.

Syrias official news agency SANA said the four pilots in the two jets shot down Sunday had ejected and landed safely. Turkeys Defense Ministry said it had hit the two SU-24 aircraft as well as Syrian air defense systems after one of its aerial drones was downed.

Earlier Sunday, Syria said northwestern airspace was closed and any aircraft or drone that entered will be treated as hostile and shot down.

The Syrian announcement followed two days of Turkish drone strikes in Idlib province. Syrian activists said the strikes killed more than 50 Syrian government forces and allied fighters. Turkey has lost 54 soldiers in February, including 33 killed Thursday in a single airstrike. Outraged, Erdogan announced his countrys European borders were open Saturday.

The crisis in Idlib stems from a Syrian government offensive with Russian military support, which began Dec. 1. Turkey is worried it might come under renewed international pressure to open its now-sealed border with Syria and offer refuge to hundreds of thousands more Syrian civilians.

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, speaking from a military headquarters near the Syrian border, said Turkey aimed to confront Syrian government forces rather than Russian troops. He called on Moscow to persuade Assad to withdraw to 2018 cease-fire lines on the edges of Idlib.

Referring to losses inflicted on Syria, he said Turkey had neutralized more than 2,200 Syrian troops, 103 tanks and eight helicopters. The operation is Turkeys fourth in the war-torn country since 2016.

Altun, the Turkish communications director, claimed 80,888 migrants had left Turkey for Europe in the past several days. There was no evidence to support his claim. Greeces Foreign Ministry tweeted that these numbers were false and misleading.

___

Wilks reported from Ankara, Turkey. Robert Badendieck in Istanbul, Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, Elena Becatoros in Athens and Zeina Karam in Beirut contributed to this report.
Tony Hetherington is Financial Mail on Sunday's ace investigator, fighting readers corners, revealing the truth that lies behind closed doors and winning victories for those who have been left out-of-pocket. Find out how to contact him below.

Ms J.G. writes: In 2016, I set up my own limited company and used an accountant to complete tax returns. In December 2018, I paid corporation tax of 2,133 as well as my own personal tax, but I realised the costs associated with a limited company were high in relation to the amount I was expecting to earn so with the help of my accountant, I closed the company in March last year.

Final corporation tax due stood at 2,232 and I have tried repeatedly to pay this, but now the company is closed, the Revenue just does not accept it.

First budget: The new Chancellor Rishi Sunak

This really does come under the heading of 'You Just Couldn't Make It Up!' A taxpayer fighting with the Revenue, not to pay no tax or less tax, but pleading to be allowed to hand over 2,232.

With the brand new Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, just days away from unveiling his first Budget, you might think that every penny would count, and a couple of thousand pounds would count even more. Not so, apparently.

What really counts, it seems, is getting your company's tax reference right, and since the company no longer exists, neither does its reference number. Even after I alerted officials at the Revenue head office, things did not go smoothly. A letter from the taxman told you that 'as the company has been dissolved, there is no longer an entity to chase for the debt'.

The letter explained: 'Normally, HMRC would object to the company being dissolved, so the debt could be enforced on the directors. This did not happen in this case. As you are no longer a director, HMRC cannot legally enforce the debt.'

But there was nothing to thank you for offering to pay the tax, and to avoid the need for any enforcement action at all. And the use of the word 'debt' left you concerned that somehow a black mark might end up on your personal credit file.

Officials were quick to assure me that there was no risk to you personally or to your credit rating. Last Wednesday, they told me: 'We will be in touch with Ms G to explain how she can make the payment. We are sorry for the inconvenience caused.'

An hour later, you received a call from a rather irritated Revenue officer who asked you to tell her what the problem was. You did, and she then agreed to accept the 2,232 but she also wanted 11 interest for late payment. You flatly refused to pay the interest, and last Thursday your bank transferred the tax payment to the Revenue's account.

Strictly speaking, the tax debt was not yours. You were being more than honest in taking on the moral obligation to pay it. But if the irritated officer gets back to you for the 11 interest, do let me know. This would make it even harder to believe.

BT cut me off... after 50 years

D.E. writes: After being a BT customer for 50 years, I received an email to say another customer wanted my line and number, and asking if this was acceptable. I said no, and BT told me it was all a mistake. But a week later I received a letter asking me again. I said no again, and BT said it was a mistake. But a few days later my phone was cut off, along with my broadband, BT Sport and Eurosport. I rang BT on my mobile and they said it would take more than a fortnight to reconnect me, and then they demanded 142, saying I had broken my contract.

BT cut off our reader, who had been a customer for 50 years, but after our intervention it restored all their services and awarded them 200

After I contacted BT, it said it would reconnect your phone urgently. It gave you a different phone number, but no broadband or other services. And you received a confusing flurry of messages promising service or calls on different dates, not all of which happened. Worst of all, quite unbelievably, one letter from BT told you that someone else was moving into your home and wanted your phone.

Behind all this mess was not BT itself, but the John Lewis Partnership (JLP). It told BT one of its customers was moving to your address and wanted the phone. You managed to stop the first two applications but when JLP applied again, it sneaked through. BT cut off your phone and because you were under contract, it billed you for 142.

JLP told me: 'Due to human error, BT were incorrectly notified of a line transfer at Mr E's address.' BT has scrapped the 142 bill, restored all your services, and awarded you 200 to make up for this catalogue of very stressful errors.

If you believe you are the victim of financial wrongdoing, write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TS or email tony.hetherington@mailonsunday.co.uk.

Because of the high volume of enquiries, personal replies cannot be given. Please send only copies of original documents, which we regret cannot be returned.
PHILIPSBURG:--- On Saturday morning Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs chaired a specially convened Council of Ministers (COM) meeting with representatives from a number of Government ministries as well as with other stakeholders such as Port St. Maarten, Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM Airport) and the St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC).

The meeting was called to get an update on the nations national preparedness and response plan for the coronavirus COVID-19. At the same time, those present in the meeting received an update from SXM Airport representative on their response in dealing with two French nationals who were classified as probable cases of coronavirus COVID-19.

Collective Prevention Services (CPS), a department of the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour (Ministry VSA), was also informed of the probable cases and has been in regular contact with French St. Martin health authorities as they await official information on the status of the couple. Once this information is made available, it will be communicated to the community.

CPS continues to work very closely with ports of entry to ensure the health safety of the public and visitors.

Like many countries, Sint Maarten is monitoring the progression of COVID-19 and Ministry VSA continues to work on preparedness and response measures.

Listen to the Government Radio station  107.9FM - for official information, statements and news updates or visit the Government website: www.sintmaartengov.org/coronavirus or and Facebook Page: Facebook.com/SXMGOV

CPS reminds the public to take the necessary measures to protect your health and the health of others by doing the following: Washing your hands frequently with soap and water or using alcohol-based hand rub; Maintaining a safe distance between yourself and anyone who is coughing or sneezing; Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth; Practice respiratory hygiene; cover your mouth and nose when you sneeze or cough; Seek medical care if you have cough, fever or difficulty breathing.

For more information, you can call CPS 520-4523, 520-1348 or 520-5283 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Thirteen Canadians who work with an Alberta-based humanitarian organization are among 15 people detained in Ethiopia, the charity said Saturday.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 29/2/2020 (680 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Thirteen Canadians who work with an Alberta-based humanitarian organization are among 15 people detained in Ethiopia, the charity said Saturday.

Canadian Humanitarian said a group of 10 Canadian volunteers, three Canadians on staff and two Ethiopian staff members were in custody in the African country on allegations they were practising medicine without permission and had dispensed expired medication.

The charity disputes those allegations.

"We are vigorously defending the actions and decisions of our team knowing that every decision was made by highly trained and certified Canadian medical professionals and that their mission on this trip was to provide essential medical care to the citizens of Ethiopia who need it most," Canadian Humanitarian said in a statement on its website.

It said the group is made up of doctors and other medical professionals who jump through every possible bureaucratic hoop to provide care.

"Just like all of our trips, our team and organization followed all necessary steps and protocols to ensure our group had all permits needed to provide medical support and care while in Ethiopia," the charity said.

"While we cannot comment on the specifics of the expiry of the medication, we can with confidence say that all medicine and care offered by our team was safe."

Canadian Humanitarian said it's working with Global Affairs Canada and the Canadian Embassy in Ethiopia to resolve the issue.

"We are working hard to resolve this as quickly as possible, ensure the fair and humanitarian treatment of our team in accordance with internationally recognized laws, and expedite their safe return to Canada," the statement reads.

Stay informed The latest updates on the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 delivered to your inbox every weeknight. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Global Affairs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Canadian Humanitarian is described as a registered charity based in Medicine Hat, Alta., which sends volunteers abroad to provide medical and dental support, along with other humanitarian services.

"The group of volunteers currently detained are in Ethiopia to offer these services to our various local partner communities, with whom we have had long-standing, positive, and collaborative relationships for over 15 years," the statement reads.

"We trust the integrity of these positive relationships with both local and national authorities to ensure the best and quickest resolution to this situation."

The charity said it would not be commenting further to protect the privacy of those involved.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 29, 2020.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party will turn West Bengal into "Sonar Bangla" and develop it on all counts if given an opportunity for five years by the people in the state. He asked people to counter Mamata Banerjee's slogan 'Didi Ke Bolo,' by saying 'Aar Noi Anyay', meaning, we will not tolerate this injustice.

"Give BJP five years and we will make the state 'Sonar Bangla'," Shah said while addressing a public meeting at Shahid Minar here.

The Union Home Minister said that people should join the 'Aar Noi Anyay' (No more injustice) campaign and make West Bengal an atrocity-free state.

"Mamata didi goes to every village and asks 'Didi Ke Bolo,' they wonder what to answer. Today I have come here to tell you that don't sit quietly. Whenever Didi asks 'Didi Ke Bolo,' you say, 'Aar Noi Anyay', meaning, we will not tolerate this injustice," he said.

The senior BJP leader claimed that the BJP would form the next government in the state. "The BJP will form a government with a two-thirds majority in the next Assembly elections in West Bengal in 2021. In the 2019 general elections, BJP got 2 crore 30 lakh votes as compared to 87 lakh votes that it got in 2014. Due to the blessings of the people of Bengal, BJP crossed the 300 mark in 2019," he added.

He further said that it is the BJP's endeavour to develop the state on all counts.

"Our endeavour is to develop Bengal. We are committed to removing exploitation of poor in the state. Our endeavour is to improve the law and order of the state, end the syndicate, stop infiltration. We strive to give citizenship to our refugee brothers and sisters," he said.

Shah further said that the next Chief Minister of West Bengal will be a son of the soil and not some political heir.

"Modi Ji has taken many issues apart from development related to the safety and security of the country after he held reins of the government in 2019. This is Shyama Prasad Mukherjee's land who sacrificed his life in Kashmir for the integrity of the nation. We removed the Article 370 and 35A to propound the idea of 'one nation, one chief'. We are also committed to building a Ram Temple in Ayodhya," the Union Home Minister said.

Giving a clarification on the CAA issue, he said, "When we brought CAA, the opposition including Mamata Banerjee and Communists raised a scare that the citizenship of Muslims will be taken away. This is entirely untrue. Mamata Banerjee had earlier herself advocated for citizenship to persecuted minorities from neighbouring countries. After coming to power, she forgot her commitment."

He pointed out that West Bengal has lagged behind on development indicators under Mamata Banerjee's rule.

"In Mamata didi's rule, West Bengal has lagged behind other states. The state is on number 20 as far as development indicators are concerned. Every fifth person is below the poverty line. 70 per cent of farmers are under debt. Prime Minister Modi wants to grant Rs 6,000 to every farmer under PM Kisan Samman Nidhi but Mamata didi does not let it reach the farmers," he said.

"Today West Bengal has debts of Rs 3,75,000 crore. The consumption of electricity is 30 per cent less than the average. Industries are closing down," he pointed out.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Once considered a long-shot to be a major partys presidential nominee, Bernie Sanders is undoubtedly the Democratic front-runner with less than two weeks before Michigans primary election.

Much has changed in the four years since the democratic-socialist from Vermont pulled off a surprise upset in Michigans 2016 presidential primary -- Sanders now leads in the delegate count, national polls and matchups against his Democratic rivals and President Donald Trump in Midwest battleground states. Supporters shouldering the progressive movement in Michigan said Sanders grassroots political operation never left, putting him in a strong position to secure a second Michigan victory on March 10.

Bernie Sanders has run an incredible campaign that never stopped organizing, never stopped being engaged at the grassroots level across this country since 2016, said Johnathan Kinloch, chair of the 13th Congressional District Democratic Party and third vice chair of the Michigan Democratic Party.

Im not surprised that he has the momentum and wind behind him. Bernie Sanders didnt just depend upon the wind, Bernie Sanders created the wind.

Theres still a long way to go before the Democratic primary is settled, but Sanders is charging ahead of his competitors. He bolstered closely contested finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire with a dominating victory in Nevada. He came in second behind former vice president Joe Biden in South Carolina.

Sanders contention that he is building a multiracial, multigenerational, people-driven movement will be put to the test in the 14 Super Tuesday states voting on March 3. Then comes Michigan.

Sanders won across Michigan in 2016 but came out ahead by less than 17,200 votes because he lost the densely populated Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. Sanders campaign has kept a focus on Southeast Michigan, opening field offices in Detroit and Dearborn and picking up the endorsement of U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, and state Rep. Abdullah Hammoud, D-Dearborn.

Hammoud, who was inspired by Sanders to for office in 2016, said Michigan Democrats are motivated to remove President Donald Trump but are also seeking a candidate who will fight for their values. Sanders proposes raising taxes on the wealthy to create new social programs and cancel student debt, place all Americans on a government-run health care system, end for-profit prisons, boost enrollment in labor unions and raise the pay of teachers and minimum wage workers.

Sanders message has been consistent, its been authentic and its been genuine, Hammoud said. He has the most diverse coalition of support, more than any other candidate. Theres a reason hes winning the Latino vote, the Arab vote, Muslim vote, and every age group below the age of 65, regardless of his age.

Michelle Deatrick is the co-founder of Our Revolution Michigan, a local chapter of a national grassroots organization formed to carry on the work of Sanders 2016 campaign. She said an army of local organizers and progressive activist groups are reaching across the state to engage first-time voters on college campuses and mobilize people of color on behalf of Sanders.

The grassroots movement that caused him to win in this state never went away," Deatrick said. "A lot of the new surge of energy and support for the senator is because theres lots of new people who are volunteering and doing great work. I think were really positioned to make this happen.

The senator visited Michigan six times in the last year, most recently holding a rally in front of 4,700 people that opened with a performance from rock legend Jack White. The campaign held more than 1,500 voter-engagement events, most organized by volunteers.

Lansing-area supporters gathered at a church-turned eclectic business incubator and art house Thursday to recruit volunteers for Sanders before the South Carolina primary. Ross Fisher, 27, said theres a palpable difference in Sanders popularity among Michiganders.

The campaign last time was always a big underdog, it was kind of running from behind and just trying to catch up, Fisher said. This time, getting these wins initially going into Michigan is big.

Sanders stands out

One major difference from 2016 is the size of the Democratic primary field. Nearly 30 candidates entered the 2020 race, and Sanders still faces seven competitors who remain in the race before Michigans primary.

Matt Grossman, director of Michigan State Universitys Institute for Public Policy and Social Research, said Sanders remains the favored candidate to win Michigan. A February poll conducted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison found Sanders with a strong lead in Michigan, with a 9 point lead over former Vice President Joe Biden.

His biggest competitor and threat for the last year, Joe Biden, is not looking very good at all, Grossman said. His main competitor in speaking for the left side of the party, Elizabeth Warren, has not done as well as expected in early states. (Sanders) is in pretty good shape, not because hes accumulated a majority, but because hes by far in the best position to do the best in the next couple of weeks.

Biden led the historically large Democratic primary field in polls taken throughout 2019 but began to drop off when states started voting.

Opposition to Sanders from moderate Democrats is split among Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar and Tom Steyer -- with Mike Bloomberg set to join the ballot next week -- making it difficult for any single candidate to gain enough momentum to challenge the front-runner.

Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are running on progressive policy platforms, though Warrens calls for big structural change differs in tone from Sanders calls for political revolution." Morning Consult polling consistently shows Sanders is the second choice for Warren voters, and vice versa.

Branden Snyder, executive director of Detroit Action, said Democrats are looking for a candidate to challenge the status quo. Snyder said his organization is working to expand the Democratic electorate with first-time voters and people of color to create a multicultural populist movement."

What I think a lot of our folks who gravitate towards Sanders and Warren are trying to make a different argument to, is that the last administration -- as well as what Biden is offering -- doesnt do anything to rectify that structural imbalance of how politics has been played here in the state, the city and the country, he said.

Hammoud said too many people in Michigan struggle financially and cant afford health care, housing or access to higher education. As a millennial facing $345,000 in student debt, Hammoud said Sanders promise to provide loan relief and free college resonates with a lot of his peers.

He was the candidate of choice because the values he spoke to, the principles he fought for, resonated, Hammoud said. It was reflective of the life Ive had growing up in a poor working-class family ... Here was somebody who was actually speaking to me and the values which I was brought up in.

Sanders supporters said his uncompromising support for progressive policies is a major reason for his appeal.

The Michigan Democratic Partys Progressive Caucus endorsed Sanders in October 2019, saying he represents a citizens movement that is fed up with the outsized influence billionaires and corporations have on democracy. Progressive Caucus Chair Tanya Reza said theres a growing sense of urgency about the increasing gap between the richest and poorest Americans and the looming threat of climate change.

Hes unapologetic about saying Im a democratic socialist," Reza said. I think a lot of progressives across the state admire, appreciate and agree with that sentiment. Times are a-changing."

Campaigns are spending more time appealing to Michigan college students who have fewer reasons not to vote thanks to new laws that allow no-reason absentee voting and election day registration. Younger voters are more likely to support the 78-year-old Sanders and generally have a lower opinion of how well capitalism is working.

Ruby Schneider served as chair of the College Democrats at the University of Michigan throughout 2019. She said the Sanders and Warren campaigns have been the most visible on U-Ms campus.

Bernie Sanders really addresses a lot of the concerns that a lot the young people on our campus are elevating, she said. I think for a lot of folks, that is why he is appealing. Theyre feeling heard and like he is one of the candidates who is bringing their problems to the national stage.

Republicans go on offense

Many Democrats are backing the candidate they believe can beat Trump in November, said Mara Zumberg, a 27-year-old Sanders volunteer. One of the most effective ways shes swayed voters is by explaining that Sanders beat Trump in nearly every poll taken since the start of 2020.

Some Democrats fear Sanders policies will turn off independent voters in Midwest battleground states. Other Democratic candidates argue they need to bring in moderate Republicans who have been turned off Trump in the last four years.

Moderate Democrats wonder if Sanders support for Medicare for All will tank his chances in the general election. Replacing private insurance with government-run health care appears unpopular with swing voters in crucial battleground states of Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, according to a December 2019 poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Cook Political Report.

In earlier-voting states, Medicare for All was scorned by some union leaders that worked hard to negotiate affordable and comprehensive health care plans for their members. Michigans union leaders have largely remained silent on the issue.

Trump told supporters at a December 2019 rally in Battle Creek that far-left Democrats are pushing a socialist takeover of healthcare that will take away your coverage and take away your doctor." Vice President Mike Pence called out Sanders by name during a February rally in Oakland County.

Republicans have begun to attack Michigan Democrats in competitive districts as Sanders rises in the polls.

Democrats representing Michigans formerly Republican 8th and 11th Districts havent embraced Sanders. U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Holly, does not plan to endorse a candidate, while U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Rochester Hills, supports Bloomberg.

Snyder said Democrats shouldnt ask voters to make their choice based on conjecture about what could happen in November.

Were making this electability argument in old models and talking to folks in Macomb County -- white working-class voters -- when the reality is that if we put forward a candidate who actually inspires folks and actually talked about values and things that people cared about, and double down on turning out our base, we can actually have a fighting chance," he said.

Detroit resident Earl Johnson is planning to vote for Sanders, saying he values the candidates honesty. However, hes not sure that Sanders can win back swing states that carried Trump to the White House.

Id be voting with my fingers crossed, Johnson said.
Experiencing chronic job insecurity can change your personality for worse, suggests a study.

In addition to the mental of the individual, job insecurity can also prove to be detrimental for the personality of those experiencing the condition, the study conducted by the researchers of RMIT University's School of Management was published in the Journal of Applied Psychology.

The researchers found that those who remain exposed to job insecurity for over four years became less emotionally stable, less agreeable and less conscientious.

One of the researchers Dr Lena Wang from RMIT University's School of Management said the study built on a growing evidence base about the negative consequences of job insecurity.

"Traditionally, we have thought about the short-term consequences of job insecurity - that it hurts your well-being, physical health, sense of self-esteem," said Wang.

"But now we are looking at how that actually changes who you are as a person over time, a long-term consequence that you may not even be aware of," Wang added.

The study used nationally representative data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey in relation to answers about job security and personality for 1,046 employees over a nine-year period.

It applied a well-established personality framework known as the Big Five, which categorises human personality into five broad traits: emotional stability, agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion and openness.

The results showed that long-term job insecurity negatively affected the first three traits, which relate to a person's tendency to reliably achieve goals, get along with others and cope with stress.

Wang said the results went against some assumptions about job insecurity.

"Some might believe that insecure work increases productivity because workers will work harder to keep their jobs, but our research suggests this may not be the case if job insecurity persists," said Wang.

"We found that those chronically exposed to job insecurity are in fact more likely to withdraw their effort and shy away from building strong, positive working relationships, which can undermine their productivity in the long run," Wang added.

Previous research has shown that insecure work - including labour-hire practices, contract and casual work and underemployment - is on the rise in Australia and globally.

The HILDA data drew on responses from employees from a broad cross-section of professions and jobs, who were asked about how secure they perceived their jobs to be.

The lead author of the study, professor Chia-Huei Wu belonging to Leeds University Business School, said that types of job insecurity might include short-term contracts or casual work, jobs threatened by automation and positions that could be in line for redundancy.

Wu also said that there are ways that employers can support workers who are feeling worried about their jobs.

"This is as much about perceived job insecurity as actual insecure contracts. Some people simply feel daunted by the changing nature of their roles or fear they'll be replaced by automation," said Wu.

But while some existing jobs can be replaced by automation, new jobs will be created.

"So employers have the ability to reduce that perception, for example by investing in professional development, skills and training, or by giving career guidance," added Wu.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
It was a busy Leap Day in New Jersey delivery rooms this Saturday.

Doctors and nurses delivered seven Leap Day babies, known as leaplings," this Feb. 29 at Newark Beth Israel hospital alone, said hospital spokeswoman Patricia Mitrano. And another 22 babies were born at Hackensack Meridian Health hospitals across the state.

One of those newborns was Melanie Kelley, born at 7:30 a.m. Saturday in Newark and weighing 6 pounds, 1 ounce. Mother Maliza Kelley said her baby girl was a pleasant surprise because she was born more than two weeks before her expected due date of March 17.

And while the parents could save money on birthday gifts three out of every four years, Kelley said she and new dad Tyree Lewis already decided to celebrate Melanies birthday every March 1. Theyll plan bigger bashes every four years, Kelley said.

I think its so adorable because her due date was St. Patricks Day, but instead she was born on Leap Day, Kelley said.

Being a leapling is a rare designation. The odds of being born on Feb. 29 are 1 in 1,461.

Since a year is actually 365.24 days long, we add a day  Leap Day  to the end of February every four years to keep our seasons where they are.

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.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 1 claimed that the current price of oil was acceptable to Russia and that it possessed the tools to react to any changes that might occur because of the spread of Coronavirus around the world. Putin also added that it views the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) as an effective mechanism to preserve the long-term stability of oil prices.

Current prices 'acceptable'

According to reports, Putin also added that over the years the OPEC has already established itself as an effective tool in maintaining long-term stability of the global energy market. As per reports, Putin was speaking in a meeting with ministers in Moscow on March 1.

Read: Thousands March In Memory Of Slain Russian Opposition Leader

President Putin also added that while Russia has large financial reserves to help it tackle any negative impact in the market, it doesn't mean that Russia can avoid taking any action. Putin also added that cooperation with foreign partners must also be discussed.

According to reports, OPEC+ countries are scheduled to meet on March 5 in Vienna. Saudi Arabia is expected to demand that oil production be reduced in order to compensate for the drop in demand for oil due to the Coronavirus outbreak. Russia, who is one of the most important non-OPEC members has till now blocked any such move.

Read: Russian News Agency Staff Attacked, Detained In Turkey

What is OPEC?

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is an organisation founded by five countries, Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela in September 1960. They were later joined by Qatar (1961), Indonesia (1962), Libya (1962), the United Arab Emirates (1967), Algeria (1969), Nigeria (1971), Ecuador (1973), Gabon (1975), Angola (2007), Equatorial Guinea (2017) and Congo (2018).

All the member countries combined account for 44 per cent of global oil production and 81.5 per cent of the world's "proven" oil reserves. This staggering numerical advantage allows OPEC to usually play a dominant role in influencing global oil prices.

Read: Trump Pushing For Three-way Arms Control With Russia, China

Read: US President Donald Trump Pushing For Three-way Arms Control With Russia, China
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 22:17:23|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

PHNOM PENH, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's Ministry of Information on Sunday called on authorities to take urgent action against fabricators of fake news over COVID-19, saying that those ill-intentioned individuals are trying to cause chaos and misunderstanding.

In its press statement, the ministry named seven Facebook account and page holders for posting false statements about the COVID-19 with false claims that foreigners infected and died of the virus in the country.

"The above-mentioned news postings are fake news and attempting to mislead the public, so we urge people not to share those pieces of fake news because they can face legal action," the statement said.

"We also call on the authorities at all levels to take urgent action against those Facebook account/page owners for posting fake news," it added.

Cambodia confirmed the first and only case of COVID-19 on Jan. 27. The victim is a 60-year-old Chinese man from the central Chinese city of Wuhan. He was discharged from the hospital on Feb. 10 after fully recovering from the disease.

Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen wrote on his Facebook page on Sunday that so far, there has been no new confirmed case of the virus in the kingdom.

Ministry of Health secretary of state and spokeswoman Or Vandine said on Friday that the Southeast Asian country continues to strengthen thermal scanning at all airports, ports and border checkpoints to prevent the virus from spreading to the kingdom.
Nikes European headquarters in the Netherlands will be closed on Monday and Tuesday after an employee was infected with the coronavirus.

Dutch news agency ANP, citing an internal email, reported overnight that the office in Hilversum would be disinfected. The employee was staying home in isolation for 14 days, it said.

The place is on lockdown, a security guard at the location told Reuters.

Roughly 2,000 Nike employees from 80 countries work at the site.

Dutch health authorities have reported ten coronavirus infections since Friday.

Reuters
One Oregon patient who was under investigation as a possible case of COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus, tested negative for the disease, state officials said Saturday.

The negative result is unrelated to the first presumptive case in Oregon, according to the Oregon Health Authority.

Seven other people who are showing symptoms of the disease and may have been exposed have undergone testing but the results arent known yet, officials said. Three other people who were tested had results come back negative and the one other person tested so far tested positive, as was announced Friday: a worker at Forest Hills Elementary School in Lake Oswego.

CORONAVIRUS IN OREGON: FULL COVERAGE

At least 88 other people are being monitored for the disease due to travel to a country where the illness is circulating, close contact with someone who has been stricken with the virus or a severe respiratory illness that has required hospitalization and has no other known diagnosis.

State officials said they will continue to approve tests for people who meet the testing criteria, a number that is likely to increase.

-- Kale Williams

kwilliams@oregonian.com

503-294-4048

@sfkale

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
A claim by the President - Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo on the 20th February 2020 that 13,800 toilets had been built in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) 2020 is a total exaggeration and an utmost fabrication.

On the contrary, out of the 13,800 figure put out so far by the president, we at the Environmental and Mining Policy Institute (EMPI) can certainly confirm that our checks indicate that, of the total number of 13,800 quoted by the president, only 8500 representing 62% can be accepted as true. The excess number of 5300 is a fudge.

In his SONA on the 20th February 2020, the president said in fulfilment of our manifesto commitment of toilets for all, we have built thirteen thousand, eight hundred (13,800) toilets, which is largely responsible for this development. Mr Speaker, we have not stopped building toilets, we will build more.

On the issue of sanitation in general, the president said Mr Speaker, we are seeing an improvement in the quality of our nations sanitation, even though we still have a lot more to do. According to the Northern Regional Environmental Health Unit, in the three Northern Regions, (Savannah, North East and Northern), the number of Open Defaecation Free Communities (ODF) has increased from five percent (5%) as at June 2016 to some fifty-eight (58%) as at July 2019.

The latest data from the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources shows that ODF communities in Ghana as a whole have increased from four hundred and ten (410) in 2016 to over five thousand (5,000) communities. Now, that is progress, and it did not just happen, it took hard work, commitment and the provision of infrastructure.

The only way the president could justify this number is to add the about 6000 toilets nationwide that were awarded for contract by Ghana First Company Limited in 2018. After one year of the award of such contracts, some of the contractors numbering 130 have accused the company of fraud ( https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/130-contractors-accuse-Ghana-First-Company-of-scam-776444 ) because of their inability to receive payments.

Ghana First Company Limited [GhFCL] ,a waste Management firm by Mr. Frank Akulley signed a memorandum of understanding with Thermodul System GmBH, a German Company and subsequently entered into a PPP agreement with the Government through the Local Government Ministry and the Sanitation Ministry to construct 20,000 units of modern automated toilet facilities across all Metropolitan, Municipal and Districts across the country at cost of $300,000,000 .

The Company subsequently opened tender for the construction of the first set of the facilities with target of constructing 10,000 of its Toilet facility model and put into operation by 2025.

By: Kwaku Boateng, President - Mining and Environmental Policy Institute +233-246-550-550
Healthcare workers transport a patient on a stretcher into an ambulance at Life Care Center of Kirkland in Kirkland, Washington, on Feb. 29, 2020. (David Ryder/Getty Images)

US Coronavirus Cases Jump to 72 as Community Spread Reported

West Coast Reports an Uptick in Cases

A top U.S. health official said officials are starting to see community transmission of COVID-19 coronavirus cases in United States as the number of countrywide cases has risen to 72 as of Sunday.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, explained on Sunday that there has been an increase in cases of the virus that cannot be traced to anyone. This is in contrast to previous cases, where patients had a connection to an infected person from a hard-hit area such as China or the Diamond Princess cruise ship held off Japan.

While its not a surprise to federal health officials, Fauci said it will make it more difficult to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

This was something that was entirely expected when you have diffuse infections throughout the worldas youve just mentioned, South Korea, Iran, Italy, in places like thatsooner or later there are going to be cases in your country that you cant directly trace to anyone, Fauci told Fox News on Sunday. That becomes much more challenging about identifying the source.

Iran, South Korea, and Italy in recent days have seen an uptick in COVID-19 cases, ranging in the thousands. In Italy, the cases are centered in the countrys northern Lombardy and Veneto regions, while in South Korea, Daegu has been the most impacted.

Community transmission cases with an unknown origin have been reported in Washington state, where the first American fatality from the coronavirus was also confirmed, and in nearby Oregon. Health officials will now have to conduct much more intensive contact tracing in addition to the isolation, said Fauci, who is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

A stretcher is moved from an AMR ambulance to the Life Care Center of Kirkland where one associate and one resident were diagnosed with the novel coronavirus in Kirkland, Washington, on Feb. 29, 2020. (Jason Redmond/AFP via Getty Images)

The viral outbreak began in China and has infected tens of thousands of people around the worldnamely inside mainland China. According to an Associated Press tally, there have been 72 cases and one death confirmed in the United States.

Rhode Island on Sunday confirmed its first coronavirus case, saying it was a woman in her 40s who had traveled to Italy in mid-February. Health officials in Illinois also confirmed a third case in Chicago overnight.

The remaining cases were mostly reported on the West Coast, including 12 confirmed in California and six from around the Seattle area, including the lone fatality. Wisconsin, Oregon, Texas, Arizona, and Massachusetts have also reported cases.

The majority of the U.S. cases are evacuees who held on the Diamond Princess, a cruise ship that was placed under quarantine by Japanese health officials in February before the State Department evacuated hundreds of Americans. An elderly Hong Kong man is believed to have spread the COVID-19 virus on the vessel before health officials intervened.

Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), speak to the media about the Zika virus, during a briefing at the White House on Feb. 8, 2019. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

On Sunday, President Donald Trump announced the United States will implement more extensive screening requirements for people who are traveling from coronavirus-impacted areas.

A day before that, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency to prepare for what he called a possible pandemic situation. Washington state health officials said they would investigate a longterm health-care facility in Kirkland, near Seattle, after two people contracted the coronavirus there.

As for what Americans might expect, Fauci said that people really need to realize more COVID-19 cases will be confirmed in the United States.

Its unrealistic to think its not going to happen, he told Fox. It is how we handle it thats important.
Clarksville, Tn. --- Chattanooga racer Arva Lee "Booger" Brooks picked up the $5,000 Super Late Model "Tuckasee Toilet Bowl Classic" Saturday leading all 30 laps of the A-Main Feature.

Driving Jason Welshan's Hidden Hollow Motorsports #29, Brooks held off a top field of competitors that included Illinois Brian Shirley and Donald McIntosh.

Friday night's preliminary $3,000 winner Tanner English of nearby Benton, Ky., finished 9th Saturday to the Savage housecar "RW Properties, C&J Trucking and Robert Skinner Racing" sponsored Brooks.

Racing primarily in the Sportsman and Hobby around the Chattanooga and Cleveland area, Brooks has only recently been given the opportunity to pilot Welshan's creation after racing for Gar Dickson for a few years. Brooks was 4th in Friday's "Golden Plunger" 25 lap weekend opener.

Three area tracks open next Friday and Saturday with big SLM shows. Duck River Raceway Park in Shelbyville, Tn., opens Friday with a World of Outlaws $10,000 Main Event on Friday, with the series traveling to Maryville, Tn., Saturday for the "TN Tipoff Classic" at Smoky Mountain Speedway.

Dalton/Chatsworth North Georgia Speedway host their own Ultimate SLM $4,000 season opener next Saturday as well.

All tracks have social media pages about their respective races on Facebook and/or Twitter.
Tehran, March 1 : Iran's Foreign Ministry on Sunday said the so-called peace deal between the Taliban and the United States is an attempt by Washington to justify its illegal presence in Afghanistan.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran considers the US measures as an attempt to legitimize the presence of its forces in Afghanistan ... The United States has no legal status to sign a peace deal or decide on the future of Afghanistan," the ministry said in a statement, Xinhua news agency reported.

"We believe that the United Nations has appropriate capacities to facilitate the intra-Afghan negotiations and also to oversee and guarantee the implementation of the achieved agreements," it said.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran believes that a sustainable peace agreement in Afghanistan will be achieved only through the talks among Afghan political groups, including the Taliban," it added.

The neighbouring countries of Afghanistan should also be taken into consideration in the peace talks for Afghanistan, it said.

The United States and the Taliban signed on Saturday the long-awaited deal in the Qatari capital city of Doha, calling for a gradual withdrawal of the US troops if the Taliban negotiates with the Afghan government and cuts ties with terrorist groups.

According to the deal, the United States is going to reduce its troops to 8,600 in Afghanistan within 135 days, and will, together with its NATO allies, completely pull out the remaining troops in the following 14 months if the Taliban sticks to its commitments.
Novak Djokovic has been pictured on a tennis court in Melbourne today as he began training for the Australian Open at midnight - hours after a judge slapped down the government's attempt to rip up his visa, though with the threat of deportation still hanging over his head. 'I'm pleased and grateful that the judge overturned my visa cancellation. Despite all that has happened, I want to stay and try to compete,' Djokovic said in a tweet alongside an image of himself on court with his team. I remain focused on that. I flew here to play at one of the most important events we have in front of the amazing fans. For now I cannot say more but thank you all for standing with me and encouraging me to stay strong.' The judge's ruling freed Djokovic from migrant detention where he has been languishing for the last six days in a 'torture chamber' hotel alongside refugees, but does not spell an end to the drama as he still faces being kicked out of the country by immigration minister Alex Hawke who has the power to rip up individual visas. Mr Hawke declined to use those powers on Monday night but insisted he is still actively considering the move, leaving a Sword of Damocles hanging over Djokovic's head even as he prepares to compete at the Open in a bid to become the most-decorated men's singles player of all time. Speaking at a press conference in his native Serbia after the verdict, Djokovic's family (bottom right) blasted his treatment by Australian authorities which mother Dijana said amounted to 'torture'.
Exhibitors at the 13th edition of the Global Educational Supplies and Solutions (GESS) exhibition in Dubai see bright business prospects in the Middle East, as schools throughout the region look to enhance their competitiveness by adopting innovative solutions and latest technologies.

Business owners say the many public and private sector initiatives undertaken during the past few years - such as establishing quality assurance authorities, building guidelines, and encouraging technology-

driven education and smart initiatives, among others - have all combined to help improve the quality of education.

In addition, exhibitors welcome having a platform such as GESS, where they can meet key decision-makers from a burgeoning education market and who are increasingly allocating budgets to acquire a wide range of products and solutions.

Weve worked very hard to set up this platform where companies can explore new or enhance existing business by connecting them with the right people. Our key buyers programme has been the conduit through which we have made this happen, and we are glad that exhibitors are finding the right audience at the event, said Sarah Palmer, Marketing and Conference Director, Tarsus, organisers of the event.

For his part, Eng. Mohammad S. Almadani, Chief Executive Officer of Classera Middle East, said GESS Dubai is an important part of their expansion strategy in this part of the world. We are here with the mission to transform the education by using technology in close cooperation with ministries of education in the region. It is the most significant show for us, not just in the UAE, but throughout the whole Middle East.

Headquartered in Silicon Valley, the US-based company has local offices in Jeddah, Oman, Cairo, and Dubai. Classera has the biggest market share of K-12 using its smart learning solutions in the Middle East, Almadani said.

Dr John Collick, Head of International Education Strategy at Promethean, said, We established business in the Middle East many years ago. We see a significant year on year growth of our company and expect a huge opportunity in developmental projects in the region which is why we participate in GESS Dubai.

The company already has projects in the region. Last year, the global education technology provider had been appointed by the Egyptian Ministry of Education as a strategic partner to enhance teaching digitally and learning throughout the country. The partnership will see the Promethean ActivPanel upgrade 26,000 existing school classrooms and installed in new Intelligent Classrooms, which will be constructed over the next three years to bolster the countrys education provision.

Besides the UAE, education suppliers are also setting their sights on opportunities now opening up in Saudi Arabia. Representatives from the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority shared updates on the kingdoms education-focused initiatives at the event, saying deals have been closed and licences issued to several prominent education institutions, such as GEMS Education, Kaplan, Astrolabs and Education First, among many others.

Seven more deals are in the pipeline with US- and UK-based institutions, with an expected combined capital investment of over $1 billion to be poured into Saudi Arabias education sector.

For the past few years, GESS has become the go-to platform for education start-ups keen to showcase their products to a growing market. Face-Up Co-Founder & COO David Spunar said: The feedback is good, we received a good number of enquiries and hope to get the right partner in the region.

Launched three years ago, FaceUp is a web and mobile platform through which students can anonymously report bullying and other issues their peers are facing to their school counsellors.

Touch Education is another start-up from Lebanon. Its Chief Executive Officer Moussa Sweidan said: In a world of rapid change, young people need the right mix of skills to thrive. Although academic skills are important, they are not sufficient to foster thoughtful, productive and engaged citizens.

Robotics is a solution by Touch Education, a forerunner in education technology. The Robotics programme has been developed as a result of collaborative innovation within the renowned education sector.

She said: In Lebanon, we have many schools using our products. We are focusing on KG students. Every group works with one robot.

The three-day education conference and exhibition recently concluded at the Dubai World Trade Centre. It was held in partnership with the UAEs Ministry of Education and also supported by the

Ministry of Education Bahrain, Ministry of Education Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Arab Bureau of Education for Gulf States (ABEGS), British Schools in the Middle East (BSME) and Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) as Knowledge Partner.

We are delighted to see another successful edition of GESS Dubai. The aim of the event is to help improve educational services in the region by providing a platform to share knowledge and best practice as well as key products and solutions that will improve the delivery of education across classrooms in the region, added Palmer, who announced that a special GESS Leaders in Education Edtech Summit will be held in Dubai on October 6-7 later this year, hosted by the Middle East School Leadership Conference, and designed specifically for educators who directly influence purchasing as well as school owners who direct strategy and training in the edtech sphere.-- Tradearabia News Service
Iran's reaction to US offer of help with coronavirus fight

ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency

Sat / 29 February 2020 / 10:36

Tehran (ISNA) - Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Seyyed Abbas Mousavi has denounced the US government's expression of readiness for assisting Iran in the fight against the novel coronavirus as a ridiculous and hypocritical move and part of a political and psychological game.

In a statement, Mousavi responded to the US secretary of state's claim about helping Iran in the battle with the coronavirus, which has been publicized in the media and has been widely advertised before informing Iran.

The Iranian spokesperson slammed the US state secretary's claim as a propagandistic and hypocritical move that has been made with political objectives with the purpose of deceiving the world public opinion.

"The claim of helping Iran in the fight against coronavirus, made by a country that has exerted massive pressures on the Iranian people with its economic terrorism and has even blocked the (Iranian) purchase of medicine and medical equipment, is a ridiculous claim and a political-psychological game," Mousavi added.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran is in close contact with many countries in order to satisfy the country's pharmaceutical and health demands and to combat the coronavirus, and so far a considerable part of the country's critical needs, including 100,000 (COVID-19) diagnostic kits, surgery masks, medical ventilators etc. have been supplied from the friendly countries, and other consignments are also on the way which will be publicized in due time," he noted.

"The fight against the coronavirus, which has now become a global epidemic and has engulfed many countries, requires a global resolve and widespread international cooperation, not theatrical moves that are made with political purposes and the abuse of the suffering and pains of the patients and those hurt," the Iranian spokesperson added.

End Item

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Maharashtra Legislative



Assembly Speaker Nana Patole on Sunday said he would support the demand of OBC leaders to boycott the exercise to conduct the General Census 2021 if a caste-based enumeration is not allowed.

Speaking at an event here, the Speaker said leaders cutting across the party lines had demanded that a delegation be sent to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for allowing the caste-based Census to find the population of people from Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

"OBC leaders have decided that if the caste Census is not conducted they would boycott the General Census (exercise) and I would support them.

"If a government does not follow the norms of the Constitution, then an individual has the freedom to boycott (any exercise mandated by the government). We will follow the mantra of Mahatma Gandhi," he said.

Patole said since the prime minister belongs to a backward community (OBC) he should understand the pains of the people.

The Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on January 8 unanimously passed a resolution urging the Centre for a caste-based Census to find out the population of OBCs across the country.

The resolution was moved suo moto ("on its own") by the Speaker.

Referring to that resolution, Patole said the state government can examine if a separate Census exercise can be undertaken in Maharashtra like the demands made in Tamil Nadu and Bihar.

Patole also said a "right" decision would be taken on the Citizen Amendment Act (CAA) in the state legislature which is currently in session.

Patole, a former BJP MP, had quit the saffron party following differences with the Prime Minister on agrarian issues, and rejoined the Congress in December 2017.

The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in the state comprises the Shiv Sena, the NCP and the Congress.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prince Harry will continue to support a British youth club charity despite quitting as a senior royal, it has been revealed.

The Duke of Sussex, 35, has 'personally confirmed' to the organisation's chairman John Roberts, that he will be 'continuing support for OnSide' - which provides safe environments for young people.

It comes after Prince Harry and wife Meghan, 38, announced in January that they would be splitting their time between North America and the UK after stepping back from royal life.

Speaking to FEMAIL, Mr Roberts, 46, founder of AO.com, said: 'I can confirm that Harry has personally confirmed his continuing support for OnSide.'

Prince Harry (pictured visiting the OnSide Youth Zones facility in Dagenham in April 2019) will continue to support a British youth club charity despite quitting as a senior royal

It is one of the first UK charities, in addition to his private patronages, that Prince Harry has publicly committed to in his new independent role, which will likely see him living mainly in Canada.

The charity, which has built 12 youth clubs in England, appears to be close to Prince Harry's heart, with the royal having visited the various facilities at least three times.

He most recently visited the OnSide Youth Zone in East London's Barking and Dagenham in April 2019, having previously visited Wigan Youth Zone in July 2016 and the Hive Wirral Youth Zone in January 2019 with the Duchess of Sussex.

During the January visit, the duke told youngsters: 'The more we can build these the better  especially for you guys.'

The Duke of Sussex, 35, has 'personally confirmed' to the organisation's chairman John Roberts (pictured), that he will be 'continuing support for OnSide' - which provides safe environments for young people

Prince Harry plays rugby with children as he opens 'Future', the new Youth Zone in East London's Barking and Dagenham in April 2019

OnSide Youth Zones pride themselves in providing a safe environment where young people can come and enjoy themselves, build key skills and raise their aspirations and confidence to create a happier and healthier generation.

Meghan and Prince Harry will undertake three joint engagements in the UK in early March, before they officially stepping down as senior royals.

Their final official engagement is expected to be March 9, when they will join the Queen at Westminster Abbey to mark Commonwealth Day.

The Duke of Sussex started a wall climbing competition at the centre while enjoying his visit in April 2019

From March 31, when they officially quit the royal family, Harry and Meghan will stop using their HRH titles and withdraw from royal duties, including official military appointments.

Going forward, Harry will retain the ranks of Major, Lieutenant Commander, and Squadron Leader - but his honorary military positions will not be used during a 12-month trial period.

However the couple will be allowed to maintain their private patronages and associations.
Yesterday, February 28, 2019, an article captioned, I Dont Care If Im Fired; I'll Go And Work In My Father's Farm  Auditor-General, caught my attention on ModernGhana news. I could clearly see the honesty in this man, Mr. Daniel Yaw Domelevo, yet facing obstacles in serving the nation.

He said something significant I will never forget, Once you do good in society, society will not like you. Especially in our country Ghana, we have lived with the wrongdoing to the point where we have accepted it as a norm. That's true.

The crime and corruption committed by politicians and elites that occupy high positions in Ghana, in the context of their profession or their public responsibilities, have increased rapidly since the country attained its independence over six decades ago.

Ghanaian political leaders will do everything to ruin the economy of the country, just for their own selfish gains, without taking its long term impact on the poor population into consideration. Ghana is deeply corrupt without a remedy because crime and lies are considered the norm.

The Ghanaian justice system does very little in the fight against organized crime, fraud, and corruption committed by top politicians and elites in the country, however, very active in delinquent crimes, which often leads to the imprisonment of goat and chicken thieves.

These white-collar criminals often evade the law, because they feel right to do so since no one holds them responsible for the crime they commit. I must say that there is something rotten at the heart of our rule of law in Ghana.

Sometimes, I wonder what people expect to read from me because I am not prepared to praise or recommend every politician in Ghana.

A reasonable question Ghanaians should have asked the current government is how can Ghana rank third on the world corruption list if Akufo Addo means to fight corruption as promised?

In this world, you can't get justice if you have no money and you lose all your friends if you speak the truth, therefore, I am not expecting anyone to like me for what I write.

Akufo Addo has created a nepotistic-dynasty form of government in the country. This is true, yet people who are not interested in the truth will attack you with false names. How do you expect Ghana to a successful country?

With the kind of resources in the country, including the discovery of oil, Ghana should have been a very great country politically and economically, instead, the countrys economy is getting worse each day amidst a severe unemployment crisis and poor medical facilities.

It's true that a greater percentage of Ghanaians now like lies than the truth and will even kill you for speaking the truth if they get the opportunity but not because of fear or the threat of death, we are not going to serve our nation in whatever we do.

Hate and jealousy can be very strong but not powerful enough to stop or kill someone who is determined to walk on the path of truth.

Mr. Domelevo, thanks for your great words which inspired me to write this article.
California Officials Sue to Strike Down Pro-Union Gag Law

Elected officials in California are challenging a controversial state law that deprives them of their ability to speak critically about labor unions by prohibiting statements deemed to deter or discourage public employees from seeking union membership.

I was elected by the people to ask tough questions and discuss public policy issues in an open dialogue without fear of legal action, said lead plaintiff Jeffrey Barke, a physician who is a member of the Rossmoor Community Services District and who used to be an elected member of the Los Alamitos Unified School District Board of Education.

This law makes it impossible for me and other elected public officials to represent our constituents fully and candidly, he said in a statement.

Public employee unions in California have positions on many issues that directly affect the budgets and policies in every school, city, and county in the state.

This law unfairly censors any discussion of those positions and of the unions that support them.

The federal civil rights lawsuit against the gag law comes nearly two years after the Supreme Courts landmark ruling in Janus v. AFSCME restored the First Amendment rights of government employees and hindered union recruitment. The new legal proceeding, known as Barke v. Banks, was filed Feb. 21 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

The high courts June 2018 decision in Janus overruled Abood v. Detroit Board of Education (1977), which held that in the interests of promoting labor peace and avoiding free riders, public-sector unions could collect forced agency fees in lieu of member dues from non-members in union shops to finance their collective bargaining activities. Janus held that such agency fee arrangements, which reimbursed the union for expenses incurred during bargaining, grievance adjustment, and contract administration, were unconstitutional.

Government unions dont have to refund agency fees to public employees who were forced to pay them before Janus, the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the 9th and 7th Circuits have both held, The Epoch Times previously reported.

The new legal action aims to revive the First Amendment rights the elected officials say were taken away from them by the 2017 law known as California Government Code Section 3550, which was enacted soon after the Supreme Court decided to hear the Janus case. They say the law is redundant, even punitive, because state law already forbids government officials from discriminating against or interfering with employees who exercise their labor rights. Merely informing an employee of his rights under Janus could be construed as violating the state law, they say.

Section 3550 itself states that, A public employer shall not deter or discourage public employees or applicants to be public employees[,] from becoming or remaining members of an employee organization, or from authorizing representation by an employee organization, or from authorizing dues or fee deductions to an employee organization.

Californias Public Employment Relations Board (PERB), which enforces collective bargaining statutes covering state employees, was named as a defendant in the suit.

PERB has no comment at this time, J. Felix De La Torre, the boards general counsel, told The Epoch Times.

The plaintiffs argue Section 3550 prevents them from doing their jobs.

Under PERBs broad remedial mandate, the Board may issue cease and desist orders, obtain injunctions, and ultimately seek contempt sanctions from a court in the event it believes that statements by public officials continue to violate Section 3550, the legal complaint states.

The law is chilling free speech, the plaintiffs say.

The plaintiffs fear that the laws complete lack of guidance as to the scope of its prohibited conduct, combined with the threat of being enmeshed in unfair labor proceedings for statements made at a school board meeting or in communications with teachers, parents, or the public, is already causing them to refrain from commenting on topics that might trigger Section 3550s speech prohibitions.

Lawyers are reportedly advising public officials to avoid discussing the issue to prevent unions from suing them or seeking contempt citations from the courts. The California School Boards Association has reportedly advised school board officials to be mindful of any comments that you may make that could be construed as deterring or discouraging union participation as we expect this limitation will be broadly construed.

The lawsuit was filed by two nonprofit groups.

Based in the nations capital, the Center for Individual Rights describes itself as a nonprofit public interest law firm dedicated to the defense of individual liberties against the increasingly aggressive and unchecked authority of federal and state governments.

California Policy Center, based in Tustin, California, describes itself as an educational nonprofit focused on public policies that aim to improve Californias democracy and economy.
After 50 years of debate, I believe we are just a few years away from expanding Heathrow and unleashing Britains potential. Last weeks Court of Appeal ruling, however, added at least another 12-month delay. What is another year after more than 50, you might ask.

Well, it is another 12 months of firms in Liverpool or Teesside having to export their products through Paris or Amsterdam, or tourists from China and South America having to go through France to get to Belfast or Inverness.

It is another 12 months of giving control over our trading network to our competitors and friends in the European Union.

Make no mistake, Heathrow is more than just another airport. As the UKs only hub airport, we connect passengers and goods from all over Europe to global markets.

By pooling demand, we can support daily, year-round flights to long-haul markets such as Mexico City or Tokyo, carrying British exporters and their products around the world, and bring in tourists, students and inward investors to spend their money here.

John Hollande-Kaye, CEO at Heathrow Airport, says we will become little Britain, not global Britain if we do not expand the airport with a third runway

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell with protesters opposing the expansion of Heathrow Airport outside the High Court last week

A computer generated image released by Heathrow airport on June 18, 2019 shows what the airport will look like in 2050 following the completion of a third runway and new terminals

These trading networks are the lifeblood of the UK economy and Heathrow is its beating heart.

We are really good at our role. We have more regular long-haul destinations than any other airport in the world, apart from Charles de Gaulle, an airport in Paris that has four runways. Like Paris, Heathrow is one of the biggest in the world, but in contrast to Paris, we are rated by passengers as one of the best in the world for service.

Thanks to 12 billion of private investment in recent years, we are a national asset that Britain can be proud of.

More significantly, we are the UKs biggest port by a long way, handling 40 per cent of British exports to non-EU markets in 2019. Why so much? Because the UK economy today is increasingly based on things that need to get to their destinations quickly, products that are delicate or of high value.

Think pharmaceuticals, high-tech engineering parts or fresh Scottish salmon. These travel under your feet in the cargo holds of passenger planes.

So whenever Heathrow opens a new passenger destination in India or China, we are also opening a direct trading route, adding arteries to our nations economic heart. No other airport in the UK does this. In fact, we handle more exports in the space of a few weeks than Gatwick, our second largest airport, handles in a year.

WHY am I so confident that Heathrow will expand, despite last weeks ruling? Because it is essential and, in todays global economy, it is critical. These trading routes really matter, because the world economy is changing.

Future economic growth will come from the Americas, India and China, not the Old World economies in Europe. We need to be adding more destinations and frequencies to those markets and we need to be better connected to them than our rivals in Europe.

Yet today Heathrow is full. Our beating heart is congested.

We have been at full capacity for 15 years and, in that time, I have had to turn away requests to open new routes and destinations from dozens of airlines in India, China and other emerging economies.

We are always the first choice for international routes, meaning that Heathrow is the most valuable destination in the world.

Campaigners cheer outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London on February 27

Campaigners outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London as the Court of Appeal blocked a new third runway at Heathrow in a ruling on February 27

But what if they cannot get to Heathrow? They go to Paris, Frankfurt or Amsterdam. Bear in mind that the first two operate four runways and the Dutch one uses six! Within two years, Paris will overtake Heathrow as the biggest airport in Europe. Within ten years we will have dropped to fourth place.

This is a tragedy. Heathrow can easily be the biggest and best- connected airport in the world. Further, because international businesses like to base themselves next to a well-connected airport, an expanded Heathrow would help make Britain the best place in the world for commerce.

Why does this matter? Why shouldnt business people in Newcastle or Belfast travel through Paris instead? I can tell you that it absolutely does matter. This is about the UK as a newly sovereign nation being in control of its trade routes.

The Prime Minister has just started negotiations with the EU and is doing the same with other big economies. How can he stand strong when dealing with India, if business people in Ahmedabad or Kolkata have to travel through Paris to get to the UK?

And what happens when Paris starts to get full and decides to stop the Liverpool flight because they are adding a new route to India? Or when we get into a trade war with Europe, and they decide to cut off our routes?

What was impossible to imagine five years ago is an economic reality these days as trade has become an economic weapon. Why would we take back control from Brussels with one hand and give it to the French with the other?

That is why I say, No Heathrow expansion, No Global Britain.

Unless we start expanding the UKs only hub as quickly as possible, we will be Little Britain, not Global Britain. We will be Levelling Down, not Levelling Up.

Even in these times, when we are concerned about the climate, there are some vital cities that have no choice but to be connected by air.

It will be many years before Belfast, Aberdeen or Inverness enjoy a high-speed rail link to the UKs hub airport. It is air travel to Heathrow that makes these cities the vital economic centres they are, and the Government should guarantee these connections will remain in place so that businesses can invest with the confidence that they wont be cut off.

I HAVE heard some people say that the UK should set an example to the world by stopping flying altogether. That is not a lead that India, China or the US are ever going to follow.

Instead, we should show how we can still fly, even in a world in which carbon emissions are dramatically reduced.

Heathrow and the UK aviation sector have shown real global leadership, committing to net zero emissions by 2050 and by publishing a plan to get there.

The solution lies in changing the design of aircraft and aeroplane engines, and in using new power sources such as biofuels from waste, synthetic fuel, hydrogen and batteries for short haul. These technologies all exist today, but they need to be deployed more rapidly.

Failing to build a third runway wont help the global climate. We have already seen that not a single ounce of carbon was avoided when the Coalition Government blocked Heathrow expansion in 2010. British passengers just flew through Amsterdam instead, boosting the Dutch economy at the expense of our own.

I have been asked many times this week whether the man who said he would lie down in front of the bulldozers could ever support Heathrow expansion. My answer is that a Prime Minister facing the most critical economic challenge in our history should not be bound by a throwaway comment he made as a newly elected MP.

Rather, he should be bound by his promise to the British people that he would bring us economic prosperity, that he would level up those in danger of being left behind, and that he would tackle climate change. Only Heathrow expansion will help him deliver all three.

We should all be asking him to live up to that promise, and make this a truly Global Britain.
A centre-right opposition party focused on rooting out graft was on course to form Slovakia's next government on Sunday after voters ousted the governing populist-left in a general election marked by an angry backlash over the 2018 murder of a journalist probing corruption in the eurozone state.

Vowing to push through anti-corruption measures in the judiciary and police, the leader of the winning OLaNO party Igor Matovic galvanised voter outrage over the murder of journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee, and the high-level graft their deaths exposed.

The killings -- allegedly a hit ordered by a businessman with connections to politicians -- triggered the largest anti-government protests since communist times and led to the toppling of the powerful head of the populist-left Smer-Social Democracy (Smer-SD) Robert Fico as prime minister in 2018.

Fico's party colleague Peter Pellegrini took over as premier, but he conceded defeat overnight, congratulating Matovic on his stunning victory in Saturday's vote.

"People want us to clean up Slovakia. They want us to make Slovakia a fair country where laws will apply to everyone," Matovic told reporters overnight as results showed his party skyrocketing to victory by more than quadrupling its seats.

"It was the death of Jan Kuciak and Martina Kusnirova that woke up Slovakia," he said, vowing that his administration will have "zero tolerance for corruption."



But according to Bratislava-based political analyst Juraj Marusiak, the centre-right OLaNO's win should not be seen as an outright rejection of populist

He characterised Smer-SD's ousting as a "victory of right-wing conservative populism" reminiscent of the rise of right-wing populist parties in neighbouring EU countries.

"In this respect, the situation in Slovakia resembles that of its neighbours, Hungary or Poland or the Czech Republic," he said, but characterised OLaNO as more a "heterogeneous, protest-type party" than other governing right-wing parties in the region.

OLaNO took 25.02 percent for 53 seats in the 150-member parliament, full results from the Saturday election showed, and is expected to seek coalition partners to clinch a majority of 78 or even a constitutional majority of 90.

Matovic said he expected to open talks with all parties except the outgoing Smer-SD, which won 18.29 per cent for 38 seats, and the far-right Our Slovakia LSNS, which received 7.97 per cent for 17 seats.

Matovic said he would seek talks with the We Are Family conservatives, who scored 8.24 percent for 17 seats, as well as the liberal Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party and the fellow liberal "For the People" party of ex-president Andrej Kiska -- which got 13 and 12 seats respectively.

But on Sunday he insisted he was "not sure" he would become PM, saying it "depends if we can agree" with coalition partners and that the president "has the power to decide otherwise."



President Zuzana Caputova, a liberal, said Sunday on Facebook that she would announce her "next steps" on Monday, while Matovic said earlier she had already invited him to talks via telephone.

Under the constitution, there is no deadline for the formation of a government. The president is required to call the first session of the new parliament within 30 days after official election results are published.

An eccentric self-made millionaire and former media boss, Matovic set up "Ordinary People and Independent Personalities -- OLaNO" a decade ago.

Analysts suggest that Matovic, a 46-year-old media-savvy but unpredictable politician, has a good shot at becoming premier if he manages to unify the splintered opposition.

"There is a chance that this new government will last until the end of its term," said Slovakia analyst Tomas Koziak, the Rector of the University of Political Sciences based in Kutna Hora, Czech Republic.

"These parties have been in opposition for a very long time, therefore their top politicians are thirsty for power. Power is the strongest glue," Koziak told AFP.

The murder of Kuciak and his fiancee became a lightning rod for public outrage at graft in public life.

The fallout helped propel Zuzana Caputova, a liberal lawyer and anti-graft activist, out of nowhere to win last year's presidential race in the country of 5.4 million people.

The turnout for Saturday's vote was 65.80 per cent, full results showed -- the highest in nearly two decades.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Coronavirus fears are crippling Spring Break plans as universities across the country cancel study abroad programs and Florida officials say they're treating the global outbreak as a 'hurricane threat' ahead of an influx of visitors this month.

Schools including Syracuse, Florida International University and New York University have cancelled study abroad programs in Asia as well as northern Italy amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Some schools who have cancelled programs and called back students include Elon, Sacred Heart University, Fairfield University, the University of Georgia, Villanova, Gonzaga, University of Colorado Boulder, New York University, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Auburn University and the University of Tennessee.

Several schools are also encouraging students who are traveling for spring break in general to take extra safety precautions.

All the while Florida is bracing for an the wave of annual Spring Break revelers to touch down in the sunshine state.

Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez is treating the virus as a potential emergency.

'I liken this to a hurricane threat,' Gimenez said at a press conference Thursday.

Scroll down for video

Coronavirus fears have led universities across the country cancel study abroad programs in Asia and northern Italy. Young travelers pictured wearing protective masks against the coronavirus at a railway station in Florence, Italy

Schools including Syracuse, Florida International University and New York University have cancelled study abroad programs in Asia as well as northern Italy. A tourist pictured with a protective mask in Florence on Tuesday

As of Sunday afternoon there were 73 cases of coronavirus reported in the US. So far there have been no cases reported in Florida

The coronavirus, which started in Wuhan, China and has since led to 88,251 global cases and 3,000 deaths, and has 73 confirmed cases in the US as of Sunday afternoon. The first US death took place Saturday evening in Washington state.

As of Sunday the coronavirus is yet to be confirmed in Florida but 173 people in the state are under public health monitoring for the virus that started in China and has since criss-crossed across the globe.

So far in Florida 15 people have tested negative for COVID-19 and five results are pending, according to the Miami Herald.

Giminez is urging the public and residents to follow basic flu-season protocols including frequently washing hands, using hand sanitizer and not reporting to work if ill.

'We want to remind people to wash their hands regularly. Use hand sanitizer. Cover their face with an arm,' Gimenez said in regard to public sneezing and coughing. 'A nod is better than a handshake or a kiss.'

Gimenez said he has met with a strong of county and government entities including the school system, PortMiami and the Miami International Airport to assess how the city will respond to the fast-spreading disease in light of spring break travel.

Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez said he is treating the coronavirus outbreak like a 'hurricane threat' in Miami as Florida braces for an influx of Spring Break travelers this month

He shared this tweet Friday reiterating that Florida has no confirmed cases of the virus

Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez says Florida will amp of safety measures as thousands will flock to the state for Spring Break festivities. Spring breakers pictured on Miami Beach, Florida last year

'We havent come up with any specific recommendations yet. Those are things were going to be discussing in the next week. Are there any precautions, is there anything different, were going to do with spring break or with Ultra,' Gimenez said Thursday. Spring breakers in South Beach, Miami pictured last year

Giminez said officials are concerned over how coronavirus may effect large events including Miami's Ultra fest which begins March 20 and the county Youth Fair in the Kendall area, which starts March 12.

'We havent come up with any specific recommendations yet. Those are things were going to be discussing in the next week. Are there any precautions, is there anything different, were going to do with spring break or with Ultra,' Gimenez said Thursday.

While no officials plans have been made for the Ultra electronic music festival in regards to safety measures, Ultra said it plans to have extra hand-sanitizing stations at the three-day event and will promote health tips related to corona for attendees.

'There are no plans to cancel, postpone, move or scale down the 2020 production,' the festival said.

'The health and safety of our attendees, artists and staff are of paramount concern to us and we will continue to follow the recommendations of the experts respecting issues on public health.'

Disney Parks is also taking preventative measures ahead of a surge of Spring Break travelers that will head to the sunshine state this month.

Ultra Music Festival said it will not cancel its three-day event but will boost health safety measures by installing extra hand-sanitizing stations. Fans at the festival in 2018 pictured above

Revelers at the Ultra Music Festival in 2016 pictured above

Disney confirmed Wednesday that some third-party Epcot workers were asked to stay home after they returned from a trip to Italy.

More than 20million people alone visited the Magic Kingdom, the world's busiest park, in 2018, according to estimates.

'If theres a serious U.S. outbreak, it would manifest, in my opinion, at about the time the destination parks are really starting to kick in with Easter and spring break,' Dennis Speigel, president of the International Theme Park Services consulting firm, said to the Orlando Sentinel.

Florida finally confirms it has tested 20 people for coronavirus and is monitoring 173 more after refusing to disclose if there were any suspected cases Florida officials kept silent for weeks on how many people were being tested in the state for the novel coronavirus. On Friday officials finally confirmed that they tested 20 people. Fifteen of those patients tested negative and the other five are pending results. Now the Florida Dept. of Health is monitoring 173 people for symptoms - all of whom recently returned from China. About 700 people have been placed on watch in recent weeks after returning from 'high-risk' areas, Florida Surgeon General Scott Rivkees said Friday. There is yet to be a confirmed case of coronavirus in Florida Advertisement

'That could be horrible. Spring break, that is one of the biggest periods,' he said.

In late January Disney indefinitely closed its Asian resorts because of the virus.

New Disney CEO Bob Chapek said in a CNBC interview Tuesday: 'While this is certainly a bump in the road in terms of the coronavirus, well come through this like weve come through every other challenge that weve had, and that affinity for the brand and our storytelling will way outlast any short-term blip that we have from corona.'

SeaWorld theme parks said they haven't seen any 'discernible impact to our business' from the virus, CEO Serge Rivera told investors Wednesday.

SeaWorld Orlando and Universal Studios say they're in contact with health officials to assure the safety of visitors and employees.

'We are communicating with our team members and reinforcing our best-practice health and hygiene procedures. We are also educating them on basic preventive measures. We will continue to monitor the situation and be ready to act if needed,' Universal said in a statement.

Miami has been put on high alert to avoid contracting cases of the virus.

Disney confirmed Wednesday that some third-party Epcot workers were asked to stay home after they returned from a trip to Italy. In late January Disney indefinitely closed its Asian resorts because of the virus

SeaWorld Orlando and Universal Studios say they're in contact with health officials to assure the safety of visitors and employees

On Friday Governor Ron DeSantis held a press conference with Vice President Mike Pence to discuss coronavirus preparedness.

'We are going to make sure states like Florida, and your local health officials, have the resources to be able to be prepared for any eventuality,' Pence said.

Florida has faced an issue with processing rest results. On Friday officials with the Florida Department of Heath said that they are now able to test people for the coronavirus in state labs in Tampa, Jacksonville, and Miami and results should take 24 to 48 hours to process instead of three to five days.

While Miami International Airport does not have direct connections to Asia, where the global spread of coronavirus began, it does shuttle millions of passengers, 52 percent of which were international travelers, according to 2019 data.

PortMiami, a popular destination for people traveling by sea, may be a place to watch out for.

Two cruise ships that were denied entry at two Caribbean ports over a suspected case of coronavirus will return to PortMiami on Wednesday after it was determined a crew member only had influenza, according to PortMiami director Juan Kuryla.
Coronavirus, Furlough Threat Provoke Anxiety at US Bases in South Korea

By William Gallo February 28, 2020

The U.S. military in South Korea, whose motto is "Ready to Fight Tonight," has been forced into battles on two nontraditional fronts: a highly contagious virus that is spreading rapidly throughout the country, and the looming threat that thousands of South Korean workers on U.S. bases could soon be furloughed because of a cost-sharing dispute with Seoul.

U.S. Forces Korea this week placed its bases on high alert after a service member and two other people who had visited the base contracted the coronavirus. In response, the U.S. and South Korea quickly postponed planned joint military exercises, imposed temperature checks and other measures for those entering base, and restricted off-base travel for troops.

Separately, the U.S. military said Friday it had notified 9,000 of its Korean employees they could be furloughed in 30 days, if the U.S. and South Korea fail to reach a deal on how to split the cost of the U.S. military presence.

U.S. military officials say they are confident they can contain the virus and are searching for alternative funding sources to delay the furlough but some experts warn the twin threats could affect morale on U.S. bases and hurt the U.S.-South Korea relationship.

"U.S. forces in Korea, and the alliance, are under significant pressure. At a certain point, morale and battlefield effectiveness will start to be impacted," Van Jackson, a former Pentagon official focused on Asia, said.

Some Korean workers on U.S. bases agree.

"It's just demoralizing," said one local employee at Camp Humphreys, the largest U.S. base in South Korea. The employee, who did not provide a name because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said he was "confused, frustrated and disappointed" about the possibility of being furloughed.

"I love working for USFK, but maybe I need to look for another job," he said.

Virus worries

The most urgent concern for many is the coronavirus outbreak, which has exploded across South Korea over the past 10 days. South Korea now has more confirmed coronavirus cases than any other country except China, where the virus originated.

In some ways, communities such as military bases could be particularly susceptible, because the virus could spread more easily among people living in close quarters, said Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

"When you have a lot of people living in close proximity, there's just more likelihood that they can come in contact with the virus through being near somebody who's coughing or sneezing or touching contaminated surfaces," Nuzzo said.

Since many U.S. military personnel frequently travel, there is an added danger that the virus could spread to U.S. bases around the world.

Preventative steps

As a precaution, the U.S. military in South Korea has severely restricted off-base travel for service members. The military has also prepared hundreds of rooms inside isolated barracks for personnel who may need to quarantine themselves. Each soldier would have his or her own fully equipped room, which would include amenities such as private bathrooms, refrigerators, and WiFi.

U.S. Army Colonel Lee Peters, a spokesman for U.S. Forces Korea, told VOA it is difficult to estimate the number of U.S. troops who have been isolated because there are multiple levels of quarantine. He said officials are for now emphasizing personal hygiene and other basic preventative measures.

"It doesn't look like it's impacting the young, the vibrant, the healthy. And that's what we are in the military," Peters said. "We are strong. We are resilient. We are prepared to fight any enemy."

Peters said the U.S. military in Korea currently does not have the capability to test for the coronavirus. Instead, tests of U.S. personnel are going through the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, though officials should soon receive their own testing kits from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Peters said.

Cost-sharing crisis

U.S. military officials in Korea are also dealing with the effects of a contentious cost-sharing dispute between Washington and Seoul. U.S. President Donald Trump has demanded that South Korea increase its contribution by five times.

Since the latest cost-sharing deal expired at the end of the year, U.S. officials say "residual funds" have been used for the salaries of Korean civilian employees, who work in areas such logistics, administration, and food service. That money will soon run out and furloughs will begin April 1 without an agreement. U.S. military officials say they are still trying to determine who would be subject to the furlough.

Toughened stance

Even after six rounds of talks, the U.S. and South Korea are showing few signs of making major concessions. Instead, both sides are taking their own steps to relieve pressure in the event no deal is reached.

The Pentagon this week insisted it will continue to fund what it deems critical USFK cost-sharing contracts and key positions that "that provide health, safety and readiness services."

South Korea's Foreign Affairs Ministry Friday declared Trump's latest offer unacceptable but it proposed to first resolve the issue of Korean employees' wages while broader negotiations continue.

Neither country appears to have much political space to maneuver, in part because South Korean legislative elections are just weeks away and Trump is embarking on his own reelection campaign.

"I do think it will hurt the alliance because it undermines trust and reliability," warned James Schoff, who focuses on U.S. policy in Asia as a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

"These new U.S. demands are a product of one thing  Trump  and they have not been well explained or signaled over time. ... We don't know yet how long this will go on and how nasty it might get," he said.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Minnesotas shift to a Super Tuesday primary has the states voters in demand as the presidential campaigns of Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Bernie Sanders vie for a top finish, while several other campaigns look to peel off some Democratic delegates as a consolation.

President Trump is assured a victory as the only named candidate on the Republican ballot.

But no candidate had locked down the Democratic race, even with Minnesota-born and three-term Sen. Klobuchar on the ballot.

Klobuchar, who has represented Minnesota in the Senate since 2007, had a modest 29 percent to 23 percent lead here in a recent MPR News/Star Tribune poll over Sanders, the Vermont senator who won Minnesotas DFL caucuses four years ago and has become the national front-runner. But 21 percent of voters were undecided, leaving the outcome of Tuesdays primary up for grabs.

Both sides are pouring resources into Minnesota in the final days before Tuesdays primary, which will allocate 75 pledged delegates for the Democratic National Convention that will choose the partys nominee this summer.

ADVERTISEMENT

Sanders chose Minnesota to host his final campaign rally before 14 states vote in "Super Tuesday" primaries, a sign of the importance his campaign puts on Minnesotas race despite primaries the same day in bigger states such as California and Texas.

Klobuchar, meanwhile, will swing back to Minnesota for a rally on Sunday night in St. Louis Park, and will also be in her home state for what her campaign is billing a "victory party" on election night.

Both candidates are also running TV advertising trying to sway Minnesotans.

"It's tough coming into one of your rivals' home state," said Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, a prominent supporter of Sanders. "Amy's very popular But I think he'll perform very well, and probably exceed expectations."

Justin Buoen, Klobuchars campaign manager, said the Minnesota senator is "going to run an aggressive campaign everywhere in the country, including her home state."

"We're confident that we're going to do well here in Minnesota, but we're not taking anything for granted," Buoen said. "That's why Amy's coming here Sunday, and that's why we're airing ads."

Other campaigns push for delegates

Meanwhile, other Democrats on the ballot arent writing the state off altogether, even if their hopes of outright winning seem slim. Thats because the Democratic primary allocates delegates proportionally among all candidates who get at least 15 percent of the vote statewide, or in any of the states eight congressional districts.

A strong third- or fourth-place finish from candidates such as Massachusetts U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg or former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg could net them delegates to the Democratic National Convention that will choose the partys nominee this summer.

ADVERTISEMENT

Warren, Bloomberg and Buttigieg are all putting resources into Minnesota despite trailing in the polls here.

State Rep. Rick Hansen, DFL-South St. Paul, is a supporter of Pete Buttigieg, who isnt planning a Minnesota campaign stop this weekend but who is advertising on Twin Cities TV stations.

"I think it's an important state for him," Hansen said of Buttigieg. "He's got to hit those 15 percent marks, and that's our focus, to make sure we're viable here."

Warren isnt planning on visiting Minnesota this weekend, either, but a group supporting her is running advertisements, and actress Ashley Judd is visiting the state to host several pro-Warren events.

"I think there's been a strong surge in the [Warren] campaign that we'll see reflected in the results on Super Tuesday," said Warren supporter Erin Maye Quade, a former state lawmaker.

Most votes not yet cast

The final sprint for votes makes sense for candidates because most Minnesotans are waiting until Super Tuesday to cast their votes.

Early voting began six weeks ago, but through Friday, only around 57,000 Democrats had cast absentee ballots in the 2020 primary. Another 24,000 had requested absentee ballots but not yet returned them, according to the Minnesota Secretary of States office.

This year is the first time in decades that Minnesota has held a presidential primary, but early voting figures so far are far below total turnout in comparable recent elections.

ADVERTISEMENT

In 2016, for example, 207,000 Democrats turned up to participate in Minnesotas party caucuses, which Sanders won over eventual nominee Hillary Clinton. Early voting this year is just over a quarter of that 2016 total. Caucuses put a higher burden on participants than voting in a primary does, and so total 2020 turnout is expected to far exceed 2016s caucuses.

Two years ago, Democrats voted in an August primary to choose their partys nominees for governor and other statewide offices. The governors race, lower-profile than the 2020 U.S. presidential campaign, drew 583,000 Democratic voters. This years early voting is just 10 percent of the 2018 primary.

Besides Sanders and Klobuchar, the Democratic primary ballot features 13 other candidates and an option for "Uncommitted." That includes some candidates who have dropped out of the race since qualifying for Minnesotas ballot, such as New Jersey U.S. Sen. Cory Booker and tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang.

Active candidates listed on Minnesotas ballot are:

Former Vice President Joe Biden



Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg

Former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg

Hawaii U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard

Minnesota U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar

Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders

Businessman and activist Tom Steyer

Massachusetts U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren

The Republican primary ballot lists President Trump and a write-in option.

Visit mnvotes.org to learn more about voting in the 2020 primary.

This story originally appeared at: https://www.mprnews.org/story/2020/02/28/klobuchar-sanders-sprint-to-finish-in-minnesota of story Questions or requests? Contact MPR News editor Meg Martin at newspartners@mpr.org  2019 Minnesota Public Radio. All rights reserved.


Rep. Deb Haaland has campaigned for Sen. Elizabeth Warren in Iowa and New Hampshire as one of the national co-chairs of Warrens presidential campaign.

She told the Journal she hasnt given up hope that Warren could win the Democratic nomination despite a surge by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in early primary and caucus states.

The nomination process is far from over, Haaland said last week. The vast majority of delegates still have not been awarded. Im whole heart in support of Elizabeth Warren. Im working hard for her. I love her ideals.

The first-term Democrat was back on the campaign trail for Warren last week, stumping for Super Tuesday votes in Colorado. Haaland believes momentum has shifted Warrens way after her debate performance in Las Vegas on the eve of the Nevada caucus.

She went to a rally in Seattle after the debate and had a tremendous amount of support, Haaland said. She also received a lot of money in donations after the debate.

HAALAND LEARNS OF EDUCATION NEEDS: Haaland hosted an education roundtable Monday at Atrisco Heritage Academy High School in Albuquerque with teachers, school counselors, principals and administrators.

She said educators discussed their concern about a loss of federal funding in different areas.

They stressed a need for more Title I funding (assistance for local educational agencies and schools with high numbers or high percentages of children from low-income families), she said. They want more funding for counselors. They feel everything is on the teachers shoulders right now.

Haaland said the Trump administrations effort to cut the number of people on the federal food stamp program and its impact on New Mexico students was also discussed.

This roundtable gave me the opportunity to listen to the folks who spend a lot of time with our kids and learn more about what students, teachers and schools in New Mexico need, Haaland said. Ill be taking what I learned back to Washington, working on proposals that will create opportunities for the future.

CHASE, HERRELL NAMED YOUNG GUNS: The National Republican Congressional Committee doesnt appear to be taking sides in the heated battle for the Republican nomination in the 2nd Congressional District race for the seat held by Democrat Xochitl Torres Small.

The NRCC named both Roswell oil and gas executive Claire Chase and former state Rep. Yvette Herrell as contenders in its Young Guns program.

These hardworking candidates have proven their ability to run strong, competitive campaign operations, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy said in a news release. Were going to ensure these contenders are victorious in November by forcing their Democratic opponents to own their partys radical socialist agenda.

The campaigns of both candidates have locked horns over questions of loyalty to President Donald Trump and have attacked each other in campaign ads.

State Republican Party Chairman Steve Pearce didnt voice too much concern about the clashes between the campaigns, which also includes Las Cruces businessman Chris Mathys. The most important thing for us is to get behind the eventual nominee, Pearce said in a recent interview with the Journal.

He said he is not surprised with the amount of money pouring into the district race, which is the most expensive congressional race in New Mexico. The candidates have raised more than $4.2 million, and outside groups have been spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to influence the race, which is one of the most watched in the country.

Thats the way it was when I held the seat, Pearce said. I always had to raise more than $1 million. I was always a target.

Scott Turner: sturner@abqjournal.com
If you pay attention to the news ahead of Super Tuesday, youre likely to hear about a critical bar that the candidates face, a baseline test that could reshape the large field of Democrats seeking the partys nomination.

Its called the 15 percent rule, and heres how it works.

Whats at stake?

Well, the nomination, of course. To get there, candidates must capture one more than a majority of the 3,979 pledged delegates  1,991, to be precise  at the convention this summer in Milwaukee.

During the primaries, the candidates are competing for two major pools of delegates.

One pool, known as at-large delegates, are allocated statewide; another, known as district-level delegates, are awarded by congressional district. In each case, a candidate must win at least 15 percent of the vote to be eligible for those delegates.

Candidates who fall short of the threshold statewide could still win district-level delegates if they capture more than 15 percent of the vote in a congressional district. But in a relatively large field, not everyone will be able to clear that bar in each state or congressional district, and those who dont will be shut out.
RTHK: Tom Steyer drops out of Democratic race

Billionaire activist Tom Steyer dropped out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination on Saturday after a disappointing finish in the South Carolina primary.

Steyer spent more than US$20 million on advertising in South Carolina but was heading to a third-place finish behind former vice president Joe Biden and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

"We were disappointed with where we came out," Steyer said in a speech to supporters.

"I said if I didn't see a path to winning I'd suspend my campaign," he said. "And I can't see a path where I can win the presidency." (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2020-03-01. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Weve had a lot of people say they want to help  but not just at (military) funerals," Joy Symonds said. "A lot of people kept saying why couldnt we have been there before the funeral? I know theres opportunities out there to be there for veterans.
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the Security Council in Moscow

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia can cope with the recent decline in oil prices as the coronavirus has spread internationally but offered a chink of light to OPEC as the producer group pushes for deeper supply cuts.

Moscow has been resisting further curbs, arguing that reduced output by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, known as OPEC+, will not necessarily revive demand, sources said.

OPEC+ is due to meet in Vienna this week to decide on production policy when its existing supply pact expires at the end of March.

Several key members of Saudi Arabia-led OPEC are leaning towards a bigger than previously expected output cut, four sources with knowledge of the talks have told Reuters, but Russia has yet to make clear its stance on proposals for further cuts.

"I want to stress that for the Russian budget, for our economy, the current oil prices level is acceptable," Putin told a meeting with Russian energy officials and producers to discuss the coronavirus and its implications.

The price of Brent crude slumped to $50.05 on Friday, its lowest since late 2018, on fears that the coronavirus outbreak will trigger oil demand destruction.

Russia, which has more than $560 billion in its reserves, envisages in its budget an average Brent crude price of $42.40 a barrel, Putin said.

"Our accumulated reserves, including the National Wealth Fund, are enough for ensuring a stable situation, the fulfilment of all budget and social liabilities, even under a possible deterioration of the global economic situation," Putin said.

FORECASTING DIFFICULTY

He added, however, that this does not set aside the need for action, "including together with foreign partners".

Putin also highlighted the difficulty in forecasting moves in oil prices and acknowledged that Russia needs to be ready for various scenarios.

OPEC+ has "proved to be an effective instrument to ensure long-term stability on global energy markets", he told the meeting, with his comments released on the Kremlin website.

Story continues

"Thanks to that, we have obtained extra budget revenues and, what is important, provided a possibility for upstream companies to confidently invest in promising development projects."

Putin asked meeting participants for their views on further possible action on the global oil market and said he hoped that steps taken by Russia to prevent the spread of the coronavirus were effective.

"The situation is under control overall," he said.

Russia has limited entry for Chinese, South Korean and Iranian citizens and said it will deport 88 foreign nationals for alleged violations of quarantine measures.

Three Russian nationals are receiving treatment in Russia after contracting the virus on a cruise ship in Japan, authorities have said. Two Chinese nationals were taken to hospital in Russia with the virus but have since recovered.

Last week the rouble slid beyond 67 per dollar to its weakest since early 2019 and the stock market dropped, pricing in a global sell-off and another increase in tensions with Turkey over Syria.

(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin and Andrey Ostroukh; Writing by Polina Ivanova and Andrey Ostroukh; Editing by Susan Fenton and David Goodman)
In Mumbai, slums, lacking in basic infrastructure and amenities like water and electricity continue to proliferate, even as huge numbers of luxury housing units remain unsold.

Mumbai, the countrys financial capital, is also home to Asias largest slum, with a majority of its citizens living in this and the many other slums that co-exist alongside the citys many luxury skyscrapers. Over the years, successive state governments have announced many grandiose plans to replace these slums with low cost housing. But the slums, lacking in basic infrastructure and amenities like water and electricity continue to proliferate, even as huge numbers of luxury housing units remain unsold.

In fact, Greater Mumbai has the highest share of slum households in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR  79% with 11,01,655 households) as per the 2011 census. The per capita living space in Greater Mumbai is the lowest at 4 to 6 sq m. Much studied and even romanticised in films like Slumdog Millionaire and books like Shantaram, these slums have become an integral part of Mumbais ecosystem.

The acute shortage of housing, however, exists not just for those living in poverty, but also for middle income groups. Successive governments of all political parties have failed miserably to implement their grand election manifesto promises to deliver affordable housing for the common man. The much-touted Slum Redevelopment Scheme initiated in 1995 had envisaged delivering low cost homes to 15 lakh households, but managed to build only about 1.5 lakh homes despite the favourable economic and real estate market conditions then.

Activists believe that weak political will and collusion with the builders lobby is mainly responsible for the states failure to deliver affordable housing to all. The Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA), the states nodal agency for housing has been rendered toothless due to some tweaks in government policies that conveniently favour the corporate builders lobby.

Consider this: MHADAs housing stock in Mumbai has declined sharply and it is no longer able to build and sell houses at affordable rates. Earlier known as the Bombay Housing Board, MHADA was set up in 1976 with the aim of providing quality affordable housing for all. Earlier Mhada would build flats on land that it obtained almost free from the government, which sharply reduced the cost of making the flats available for people, said Vaishali Gadpale, chief public relations officer of MHADA. But, now government lands are no more granted to us for affordable housing.

Also, MHADA no longer has sufficient housing stock, thanks to the scrapping of an earlier provision that said private builders had to compulsorily allocate a part of their housing units through MHADA for public housing. Builders do not have to hand over flats to us any more, instead they just pay us a premium, said Gadpale.

The genesis of the problem of disappearance of cheap houses from Mumbai is the repeal of the Urban Land Ceiling Regulation Act, 1976 in 2007, said Chandrashekhar Prabhu, housing activist, architect and ex-president of MHADA. That Act ensured that government land was available for affordable housing. But, the greedy builders lobbied with the political parties who got it scrapped. This has been the singular nail in the coffin of affordable housing in Mumbai. With no land, MHADA is left with nothing to build on.

Liasas Foras, the real estate data analytics firm, estimates that land constitutes 50-60 percent of the entire housing cost. In Mumbai, cost of land has increased 9 times since 2005-2014, while financing costs have shot up close to 7 times, according to their Housing Charter, 2018 report.

Activists like Vishwas Utagi  General Secretary, Nivara Abhiyaan, Mumbai  claim that not only does the state fail to frame pro-poor policies, it goes out of its way to benefit corporate builders.Instead of giving 2808 hectares of land that had been leased by British and Indian government for doing business,creating jobs and affordable housing for their workers, the state chose to hand it over to private corporate builders on a platter, allowing higher floor-space index (FSI) for private housing to make big money, said Vishwas.

When the activists contested it in the Bombay High Court, the Devendra Fadnavis-led government passed a resolution on 1 August, 2019 to give that land to private builders by charging a single premium claiming that the land had been lying idle. The government seems to play no role in the housing sector today, except in helping builders. Though there is a huge demand for low cost housing, no one is building these, Vishwas added.

He also alleges that the builders lobby does not let MHADA reduce the prices of its flats and the government seems to be succumbing to the pressure. Builders have grabbed huge tracts of government land and are jacking up land prices. Politicians too seem to be working in tandem with these corporate builders, as the failure to frame housing policies for the poor would suggest. Unless there is a peoples movement for affordable housing, nothing will change.

MHADA, however, claims that its flats continue to be cheaper and popular thanks to their low profit margins. We are the largest land bank in the city, said Gadpale. We invite tenders to redevelop housing on land owned by us. While private builders build it for us, we handle the pricing and allotment process, even as we continue to be land owners. Our houses are affordable because of our pricing policy  this involved pricing at land cost plus cost of construction with a 15% profit margin in case of higher income group (HIG) housing and 5% profit margin for the MIG housing.

With access to new land denied, MHADA has now shifted its focus to redeveloping houses on its own land and expects these projects to generate a lot of houses in the affordable housing sector. Currently, MHADA is overseeing redevelopment of about 16544 tenements from 207 chawls spread over 92 acres in Central Mumbai, built by the Bombay Development Directorate (BDD) in the 1920s. While private builders are implementing this project, MHADA will handle pricing and the allotment. Though this project is meant to rehabilitate about 16,000 households, it is expected to generate 8000 additional houses for the open market, said Gadpale.

As the new three-party Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra settles down, it remains to be seen how much things change, or remain the same, on the affordable housing front.
Whether for or against the pension reform under debate in parliament, French unions have all reacted in shock and dismay to Prime Minister Edouard Philippe's decision to push the bill through without a vote, after opposition MPs introduced tens of thousands of amendments to slow down the process.

Edouard Philippe said Saturday that the government would use Article 49-3 in the French constitution to bypass parliament and approve the law without a vote, after opposition lawmakers introduced some 40,000 amendments, making it impossible to properly debate the legislation.

That trade unions called the move unjust, scandalous and incomprehensible.

The head of the CFDT, Laurent Berger, said the decision went against social justice. The moderate union has not been against the reform, which the government says will simplify pensions in France and make them fairer across the board, but had asked for changes to the bill.

The union had called for a recognition of difficult jobs, to allow people to retire earlier. Pushing through the law without debate and no modifications means the government will not deliver on its promise to take changes into account, according to the CFDT.

For the hardline CGT union, which has consistently called for the reform to be dropped entirely, the decision to use Article 49-3 is profoundly scandalous, according to its head, Philippe Martinez.

The move is typical of this government, which forces when it cannot convince.

The head of the far-left Force Ouvriere union, Yves Veyrier, tweeted that the government's decision is incomprehensible and unacceptable in the current context of a country needing national solidarity, in the face of a growing threat from the coronavirus.

New demonstrations

Martinez said that the CGT, FO and other unions against the pension reform, will meet Monday to organise a new national day of protest as early as next week. The unions had planned a day of mobilisation for 31 March, but Philippe's announcement has raised the urgency to move it earlier.

Unions organised ten general strike days between 5 December and 20 February, to accompany a historical transport strike against the pension reform.

Already on Saturday night, a few hundred people gathered near the National Assembly in Paris to voice their opposition to the government's decision to resort to Article 49.3.

And the headquarters of Edouard Philippe's campaign for mayor of Le Havre in local elections later this month were painted with slogans overnight, by demonstrators angry at the decision.
Amidst protests against the new



citizenship law, Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil on Sunday accused the "Leftists, urban and rural Naxals" of trying to destabilise the country and mislead people over different issues.

The former Maharashtra minister also said that as the government has crushed the Naxals in the last five years, "silent Naxalism" has started and misleading people was part of it.

He said the Congress, NCP and the Muslim community should realise that the Leftists were trying to disturb the country's peace and push their own agenda.

Patil was addressing a press conference during his visit to the Saibaba Samadhi in Shirdi town in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra.

"Muslims in the country, Congress and NCP are not able to understand that Leftists, Maoists, urban Naxals and rural Naxals, who are on the rise, want to destabilise the country. Urban Naxals are trying to mislead the people on various issues," he said in response to a query on the forces behind the anti-CAA protests.

"I appeal to our opponents Congress and NCP that elections and running a government are different things. Sometimes you win, sometimes we. But they should take note of the incidents that are destabilising the country," he added.

Patil said members of the Muslim community should tell in a debate what their problems are (concerning the CAA).

"It is being fed in your mind that you have a problem. Anywhere it is being said that (PM Narendra) Modiji is going to build a jail in Delhi and Muslims from across the country will be put there. Is it possible? So how does this get into the minds of Muslims?" he added.

"In this, Muslims are harming themselves...disturbing the long-established brotherhood. This disturbance will make life difficult. They don't realise that they are being trapped.

"Congress, NCP don't realise that they are opposing the CAA in favour of Muslims, but the Leftists are benefiting from it. They want to disturb the country. It is not about any political party. It is all the agenda of the Leftists," he said.

"For years, despite using guns, they did not get success through rural Naxals. The government completely drove them away. In five years, the Naxals were finished. Now 'silent Naxalism' has started and misleading people is part of it," he alleged.

When asked whether the use of abusive language allegedly by BJP leader Narayan Rane and his politician sons against Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut suits the party's culture, Patil said he hasn't noticed anything like this.

"The BJP believes in culture, but it does not mean that we are cowards. Everyone has a different personality. If anyone says anything wrong, then the party will act against it. I have not noticed anything like it," he said.

"If Shiv Sena does whatever it wants, and if Raut writes whatever he wants in the editorial of 'Saamana' (Sena mouthpiece)...does it suit their culture?" he asked.

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






By Kaushik Basu




The Kardashian West family is currently in France for Paris Fashion Week.

But Kim Kardashian, 39, took to Instagram on Sunday to share a sweet throwback of herself and son Saint West enjoying a dirt buggy ride on their Wyoming ranch in the US.

Pouting at the camera the mother-of-four looked fresh-faced and flashed a peace sign as she took a selfies with her eldest son Saint, four.

Off for a ride: Kim Kardashian, 39, took to Instagram on Sunday to share a sweet throwback of herself and son Saint West enjoying a dirt buggy ride on their Wyoming ranch in the US

The picture of the mother and son gained over 2.1m likes within the first seven hours of being posted.

In September, Kanye West bought the $14million ranch in Wyoming for his family - filled with lakes, horse stables and even a restaurant.

The 9,000 acre Monster Lake Ranch is near to the city of Cody, to the east of Yellowstone National Park, TMZ reports.

West reportedly owns 4,500 acres of the property, with the rest leased from the federal government.

Monster ranch: Kanye West and Kim and their children; North, Chicago and saint (left to right) at the ranch in Wyoming. Pictured in September

The lush greenland features two lakes where the family can go fishing for trout, as well as magnificent views of the mountains and several horse barns filled with animals.

A day before Kim shared an insight into her Paris Fashion Week looks, with a sultry behind-the-scenes snapshot from a recent photoshoot.

In the candid portrait, Kim can be seen highlighting her signature curves in a a black peplum-style corset.

Oh La La: Kim took to Instagram on Saturday morning to share a sultry portrait in a peplum-style corset and nylon arm-length gloves

Kim's raven tresses flowed down in waves from a neat middle part, while she sported cateye liner and a glossy nude lip for the day's shoot.

She gave a vintage edge to her ensemble with a set of nylon arm-length gloves and a pair of black seamed tights.

In the photograph, Kim can be seen standing before an industrial clothing rack that showcased outfit change options for the Keeping Up With The Kardashian's star.

The options visible included a black leather moto jacket and a pair of black leather arm-length gloves, but Kim appeared to be feeling herself in nylon.

Curvy: Kim stripped down her underwear and showed off her enviable curves as she brushed her teeth

Multi-tasking: In one shot added to the SKIMS Instagram story featured Kim in a nude toned bra and panty set as she sat on the floor checking her phone

Kicking back: The intimate photos shared to the SKIMS Instagram story showed Kim in her home lounging around in various colors of the Cotton Collection

Kim is more than comfortable stripping down to her intimates, so it is no wonder the brunette beauty happens to be the proud owner of a hugely successful loungewear and intimates brand SKIMS.

The line, which launched in fall 2019, hit Nordstrom department stores earlier this month.

Kim has been busy promoting the brand's latest Cotton Collection on, both, her personal Instagram page and the official SKIMS account.

Grabbing grub: One picture featured Kim grabbing a snack from her fridge

Comfortable: A portrait of Kim sporting pieces from the SKIMS Cotton Collection was shared to the brand's official Instagram page on Friday

Cotton Collection: The SKIMS CEO has been busy promoting the brand's Cotton Collection which is toted as being 'breathable and comfortable'

Variety: Earlier in the day, the SKIMS CEO modeled the brand's Thermal Leggings and Cotton Plunge Bralette in white

It was selfie Saturday on the SKIMS Instagram page, when the brand owner shared as slew of portraits of herself in various colors and styles from the cotton collection.

On Friday evening, the brand's Instagram shared a portrait of Kardashian wearing the Cotton Collection for herself.

In the social media post, Kim is pictured looking down at herself, as she slips into a pair of grey boxers and coordinating bralette.

The SKIMs Cotton Rib Boxer and the Cotton Triangle Bralette retail for $32, each.

Earlier in the day, Kim posed with her morning coffee cup in hand as she modeled the SKIMS Thermal Leggings and favorite Cotton Plunge Bralette in white.

Helping hand: Sister Kylie Jenner gave SKIMS a major shout-out as she posed in pieces from the Cotton Collection on Friday

Wowing in white:The 22-year-old wowed in a white toned set complete with SKIMS Cotton Thermal Leggings and Bralette

The Cotton Collection is toted as being 'breathable and comfortable' and considered 'essential loungewear.'

Although Kim may be her own best advertisement, she enlisted the help of sisters Kylie Jenner and Kourtney Kardashian to help her nail in that final sell for prospective SKIMS shoppers on Friday.

The SKIMS CEO shared her sisters modelling the pieces from her line on her Instagram story.

Artsy: Kourtney Kardashian took an artsy approach as she posed in her swimming pool in the SKIMS Cotton Collection

Major serve: The 40-year-old showed off her stellar frame in a pair of SKIMS biker shorts and the Plunge Triangle Bralette

In the story posts, Kylie was seen on her balcony rocking the two-piece neutral look; she is seated on the ground with her backside on her legs - which showcased her pert derriere.

The 22-year-old picked up the camera in the clip and walked back into her home as she showed off her flat midriff and ample cleavage.

Kourtney was photographed posing in a pool in the brand's cotton boxers and matching bralette in charcoal gray; a second pictured showed Kourtney standing presumably before she went in to water, since she was dry.

Good impression: Sofia Richie remarked that she 'can't get over @SKIMS' on Instagram Friday

Kim also had the endorsement of Sofia Richie who took a mirror selfie while wearing a sleeveless SKIMS top with coordinating leggings, adding a pair of brown and black sunglasses.

She styled her blonde tresses in a center part and accessorized with an array of gold necklaces for the image, which she captioned: '@kimkardashian I can't get over @skims so good.'

The 21-year-old star, who is the daughter of Lionel Richie, was also seen walking outdoors in the ensemble as she showed off her look.
The Management of Lafarge Plc has revealed that the Italian who brought Coronavirus to Nigeria first slept at the Airport Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos before coming to the company in Ogun State.

The 44-year-old Italian was diagnosed of the deadly disease on Thursday, a situation that has sent panic across the nation.

Industrial Director, Lafarge Plc, Segun Soyoye, said the Italian came to Lafarge facilities at Ewekoro to inspect some installations of machines bought from a Swedish firm.

He spoke at the Lafarge facility during an on-the-spot-assessment by the Ogun State Government, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) teams at the weekend.

Soyoye added that the Italian did not go behind Lafarge guest house at Ishofin Estate before he was evacuated having developed abnormal temperatures that suggested he had been infected with Covid-19.

The Italian came for a business visit. He was in Lagos on Monday and slept at Airport Hotel, Ikeja. Our driver took him there, and when we observed abnormal temperatures and symptoms, we quickly instituted an Emergency Response Team which is led by the Companys CEO; we have to find a way of analysing and identifying not only the Italian but also the other contacts, he said in a report by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

According to him, the contacts are now 39 and we have quarantined them, the house and clinic as well as the vehicles. We dont take chances that is why they are put there.

They will be there for 14 days. We will continue to observe them, we have their database, showing their biodata and other information. The doctor is here and what he is doing is to check them on a regular basis. So far everybody is stable, they are not symptomatic, we are providing everything for them over there.

The other thing that I have not said is that the clinic that was used for the infected person is closed, disinfected and we moved everybody out.

All the guys on duty that day, they were also quarantined, so they will be there for 14 days as well, Soyoye said.

Also, Mr Ibrahim Mamadu, the Team Leader of World Health Organisation (WHO) Nigeria, also commended the internal processes undertaken so far by Lafarge Africa to contain the deadly disease.

He, however, advised the company and others to acquire digital thermometers to check body temperatures instead of infrared thermometers for accurate body temperature readings.

Follow Us on Facebook  @LadunLiadi; Instagram  @LadunLiadi; Twitter  @LadunLiadi; Youtube  @LadunLiadiTV for updates
Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said Saturday that the Trump administration is "about to finalize a leasing plan" to sell rights for oil drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Bloomberg reports.

The intrigue: Some of America's biggest banks are cutting off financing for Arctic oil and gas projects.

Details: The Interior Department completed an environmental study of drilling in the Arctic refuge last year, per Bloomberg. Formal conditions for guiding development on leases sold in the region are still being developed.

Go deeper: A new phase in the Arctic drilling battle
01.03.2020 LISTEN

Moralising the way diseases and viruses are transferred is a very human, and particularly nasty trait. We dont need this kind of riff-raff on our shores, screamed The New York Times in 1892 in response to Russian Jewish immigrants arriving at Ellis Island by boat. (The occupants hosted lice which, in turn, led to typhus.)

Italian immigrants in the United States would be also accused as being the bearers and spreaders of polio in 1916. Given that many, as a study by Alan Kraut from 2010 documents, lived in tightly concentrated neighbourhoods, and because immigrants were viewed by many as a marginal and potentially subversive influence upon society, the incidence of Italian polio made a dramatic impact upon the imagination of a public already shaken by the virulence of the epidemic and the youth of its victims.

In more recent times, the jaundiced eye nervously looked to the origin of AIDs, seeing dark Africa, exotic primates, bestiality. Ebola, as sociologist Kevin J.A. Thomas notes, received much the same press. When it infected some 28,000 across 10 countries some five years ago, many people were surprised to learn that four of these cases were diagnosed on US soil.

Follow the virus, find the maligned scapegoat. For COVID-19 (2019 novel coronavirus), a not negligible spray of suggestions claim that China, from eating habits, to politburo to laboratory, is responsible for cultivation and transmission. One purportedly scientific paper authored by Botao Xiao and Lei Xiao claimed that the supposed origin of the virus  bats carrying CoV ZC45  were originally found in Yunnan or Zhejiang province, both of which were more than 900 kilometres from the seafood market [in Wuhan]. As the authors observed drily, The probability was very low for the bats to fly to the market.

That paper has since been withdrawn, but the Wuhan Institute of Virology looms large in the conspiratorial consciousness. Why, for instance, did it have the highest security level  biosafety level 4? What were its researchers doing studying coronaviruses from bats? Speculations, claims Jon Cohen in Science, have included the possibility that the virus was bioengineered in the lab or that a lab worker was infected while handling a bat and then transmitted the disease to others outside the lab.

Such accounts of attribution have paved the way of fanciful presumptions. As a group of 27 public health scientists wrote in rebuke in The Lancet, The rapid, open, and transparent sharing of data on this outbreak is now being threatened by rumours and misinformation about its origins. We stand together to strongly condemn conspiracy theories suggesting that COVID-19 does not have a natural origin. The point to keep reiterating, urged the authors, is that this coronavirus originated in wildlife as have so many other emerging pathogens.

In the case of coronavirus, the xenophobes have come out barracking, and bigotry has taken root. At the Royal Childrens Hospital in Melbourne, Australia, staff have faced irate patients beside themselves at being treated by those of a certain race. (While not always reported, the imputation about Chinese appearance is never far away.) The Australasian College of Emergency Medicine has also issued warnings of a spike in racist abuse in emergency departments across the country.

Dr Stuart Lewena, director of emergency medicine at the RCH, spoke of a particular incident. One of our staff let us know that she had a family refuse to let her provide care for their child on the basis of her race, and what they declared was their concern that she was a risk of spreading coronavirus to them and their child. To date, the state of Victoria has seen seven of Australias 23 confirmed cases of COVID-19. None of these have been transmitted locally within Australia.

Such instances have not been confined to hospital wards or those in need of treatment. Earlier this month, a woman wearing a face mask was allegedly assaulted in the New York City subway at the Grand Street station in Chinatown. An eyewitness reportedly claimed to hear the words diseased b---- uttered.

In the detritus of the social media sphere, campaigns combating coronaracism have also found legs. #JuNeSuisPasUnVirus made its debut on French twitter feeds in January 2020, and was duly replicated on other platforms such as Instagram. Australias own modest contribution to this came from Avani Dias, a journalist pushing the hashtag #DontDumpTheDumplings on February 13. This was, at least in part, intended as a remedy for dramatic declines in the patronage of Chinese restaurants in Sydneys Chinatown. As Victor Tan, manager of the New Chilli House, told the radio program Hack, We may not be killed by the virus but instead killed by the business environment.

An even more concrete suggestion is to circulate material  visual and textual  that focuses on efforts at combating COVID-19. Leave aside the ghoulish images of alien bats and desperate masked Asian faces; focus, instead, on what Amanda Darrach of the Columbia Journalism Review calls the logistics of providing care  an aspect of the story that involves Chinese people as medical professionals and activists.

The great COVID-19 legacy will leave far fewer deaths than common influenza when the panic has dissipated. But fingers of stern accusation will continue being pointed, perceptions muddled by race and behaviour will continue to thrive, and losses, be it in terms of personal liberty or finance, will be tremendous.

Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He lectures at RMIT University, Melbourne. Email: [email protected]
(Newser)  Chicago schools are dropping Columbus Day in favor of Indigenous Peoples Day, but political and civic leaders have vowed to push back. The Chicago Board of Education voted 5-2 on the move Wednesday to recognize the people already living in America when Christopher Columbus landed in 1492, KMOV reports. "I think it's great, changing the name of the holiday," Chicago charter school teacher Erin Walker tells NBC Chicago. "That's what (the celebration) is really all about." But Sergio Giangrande, who leads a committee on Italian Americans, called it a "slap in the face" to the 500,000-plus Italian Americans living in Chicago.

story continues below

"For Italian Americans, who endured horrific discrimination and continue to be the subject of stereotypical degradation in popular culture, Christopher Columbus is a symbol for the resilience of a people that have helped shape the cultural landscape of this great nation," Giangrande said. "It's time for war." But Andrea Mitchell, a parent who supports the change, tells the Chicago Tribune that Italian Americans can celebrate other historic accomplishments that don't involve "the erasure and decimation of the history and culture of others." Mayor Lori Lightfoot and one city alderman are opposed to the change, with Lightfoot telling the Tribune that the two holidays should be celebrated on different days. The board's decision follows similar moves in other school districts and cities. (Read more Columbus Day stories.)
Skittish about buying a nonrefundable plane ticket given the growing travel fallout from the coronavirus epidemic?

American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and other carriers, worried about soft ticket sales, are taking the unprecedented step of broadly waiving those hefty ticket change and cancellation fees for new ticket purchases.

JetBlue started the trend last week because of "evolving coronavirus concerns'' and was quickly joined by Alaska Airlines, which calls it a "peace of mind'' waiver.

American was the first of the big three U.S. airlines to announce a fee waiver, on Sunday.

On Monday, Delta joined the club, but with a twist: its fee-free waiver only applies to international flights while the other carriers' policies include those flights and flights within the United States.

"We realize customers have questions about the ongoing COVID-19 or coronavirus outbreak and the possibility of further government travel restrictions,'' the airline said in announcing the policy.

On Tuesday, United added its own waiver for new tickets.

"We know people are taking a second look at their travel plans right now, and we want you to have flexibility when planning your next trip,'' the airline said in announcing the new policy.

At least one lawmaker thinks the airline's waivers don't go far enough. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) on Tuesday urged airlines to allow travelers holding any tickets, regardless of when they were purchased, to change or cancel their tickets without paying a change fee.

Southwest Airlines, the country's largest domestic carrier, is the only major U.S. airlines that doesn't charge change fees. Travelers can cancel or change any Southwest ticket, even those that are nonrefundable, and receive the value of the ticket for future travel.

Anxiety abounds: Coronavirus fears putting vacations in limbo

An American Airlines Boeing 777 lands at Miami International Airport on Feb. 24, 2019.

How do these free changes work? And are they really free?

Story continues

There is fine print, of course. The biggest, in all the change-fee waivers to date: you can't buy a nonrefundable ticket under this policy and request a refund if your plans change or you don't want to travel. You can change or cancel the ticket for free. If you cancel, you'll receive credit for a future flight.

An airline-by-airline look:

American Airlines: American's waiver allows travelers who purchase tickets between March 1 and March 16 to change or cancel them without paying fees that start at $200 per person. The new policy covers tickets purchased for travel through late January 2021.

On American, the fee will be waived for changes made up to 14 days prior to travel. So if you buy a ticket for a summer trip and need to change it for lingering coronavirus concerns or any reason, you just have to change it at least two weeks before departure to avoid the fee.

Fare differences will apply: If you nab a $250round-trip ticket from Chicago to Orlando and the going rate is $400 when you change the ticket to another date, you'll pay an extra $150.

Delta Air Lines: Delta's waiver covers travelers who buy tickets between March 1 and March 31 for international travel, including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Flights within the U.S are not covered. Tickets can be purchased for travel as far out as February 2021. Fare differences apply to changed tickets.

United Airlines: United's waiver covers travelers who buy tickets between March 3 and March 31 for travel to any destination. Travelers can change their ticket to another flight (fare differences apply) or cancel the trip and receive a credit that is good for a year from the date the ticket was purchased.

JetBlue Airways: JetBlue's temporary change fee waiver, which applies to tickets purchased between Feb. 27 and March 11, covers travel through June 1. Travelers will receive credit for a future flight. Fare differences will apply on the new tickets.

Alaska Airlines: Alaska's waiver covers tickets purchased Feb. 27 through March 12 for travel through June 1. Fare differences will be apply on any changes.

British Airways: British Airways' "Book with Confidence'' policy covers tickets purchased between March 3 and March 16. Changes can be made any time before departure, but any fare difference will apply.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus travel: United, American, Delta waiving change fees
The offices of the Indonesian Embassy and the Indonesian Investment Promotion Centre (IIPC) in South Korea's capital city of Seoul have been temporarily closed after a COVID-19 case was reported in a nearby area.

The Indonesian Embassy complex and the IIPC office are located near Yeouido, Seoul's main investment and financial district, where an employee of state-run Export-Import Bank of Korea was found to have COVID-19 on February 27.

Indonesian Ambassador to the Republic of Korea Umar Hadi said the closure is only temporary.

With the office closure, public service counters for the handling of visas, passports and consular services in the embassy will be closed temporarily. Extra safety measures to disinfect the embassy complex and the IIPC office are ongoing, he noted.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Negotiations were held in Minsk with participation of delegations of two countries

Andriy Yermak, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Reuters

March 1, a meeting was held between head of Ukraine's President's Office Andriy Yermak and deputy head of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation Dmitry Kozak in Minsk. The press service of the Presidents office reports this in its Telegram channel.

"Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak in Minsk met with the deputy head of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Kozak," the statement reads.

It is also noted that representatives of the Ukrainian and Russian delegations took part in the negotiations. During the meeting, the parties discussed the exchange of prisoners in the format of "all for all."

Yermak noted his intention to conduct the next exchange in March. The meeting participants emphasized the need to continue negotiations and implement the agreements that were reached during the summit in the Normandy Four format.

As we reported before, Andriy Yermak unveiled a declaration for 2019.

So, according to a published declaration, the head of the Presidents office owns an apartment of 107,8 square meters, Toyota Camry (2015), a number of corporate rights, and three government securities worth $40.
February 29, supporters of the independence of the region from Spain gathered in the city of Perpignan (southern France) at the call of the former leader of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemon, as the DW reported.

It was expected that about 70,000 people would take part in the action. However, according to local authorities, about 100,000 people attended the rally, and the organizers of the event announced 150,000 participants.

Most of the protesters came from Catalonia by buses, trains, and cars. Demonstrators waved the flags of the Catalan independence movement and held portraits of Puigdemont.

Puigdemon called on his supporters to constantly mobilize against the monarchist regime, which is the direct descendant of Francoism, referring to Spanish dictator Francisco Franco.

The Catalan politician first came so close to the Spanish border after being forced to flee to Brussels due to persecution by Madrid for holding a referendum on the independence of Catalonia. Previously, he did not risk visiting France, whose government works closely with Madrid. However, now the former Catalan leader has immunity as a member of the European Parliament.

As we reported before, a Spanish court investigation on the intervention of Russian special services in the attempt to declare the independence of Catalonia concerns the activities of a citizen of Ukraine and a citizen of Russia, arrested October 4, 2019 in the province of Girona.
Police are growing 'increasingly concerned' for a climber caught up in an avalanche in the Scottish mountains after the search ended with him still missing.

Andrew Vine, 41, was last seen on the West Face of Aonach Mor, in the Scottish Highlands, at around 1pm on Friday.

John Stevenson, leader of Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team said Mr Vine and his climbing partner had finished a climb when it appears they were hit by an avalanche.

Andrew Vine, 41, was last seen on the the West Face of Aonach Mor, Scotland, at around 1pm on February 28. The man, of Manchester, is thought to have finished a climb with his partner before being hit by an avalanche

Mr Stevenson added: 'She must have gone several hundred meters - we don't know how far he went. She may have been partially buried - we don't know. Either way she is very lucky.'

'We will have to assess things to see when we can resume the search. We need the weather to settle down.'

Mr Vine's wife is in the area and being kept informed while the other climber was airlifted to the Belford Hospital in Fort William. Her condition is unknown.

Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team joined the Search and Rescue Dog Association and other rescue teams - for a six-hour hunt on Friday (pictured, file image of a Lochaber mountain)

Mr Vine, who was visiting Scotland with a Manchester-based climbing club, had previous experience of expedition mountaineering in many parts of the world including the Indian Himalaya and Alps.

He is described as white, 5ft 11ins, medium build with ginger/brown hair and beard.

The climber was last spotted wearing a red jacket, yellow 'La Sportiva' boot, black trousers and carrying a yellow rucksack.

Lochaber MRT resumed the search today for Mr Vine after being helped by Cairngorm and Glencoe MRTs on Saturday using probes to try and find the man who is thought may be buried under snow

Brian Bathurst, deputy team leader of Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team, said the search for Mr Vine was 'very difficult' because of the weather conditions. It comes when there have been three deaths on Scotland's mountains in the last few weeks, and four walkers rescued without equipment (pictured)

Brian Bathurst, deputy team leader of Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team, said the search for Mr Vine was 'very difficult' because of the snow conditions.

Mr Bathurst and 11 other members of Glencoe MRT searched with the Search and Rescue Dog Association and other rescue teams - for six hours on Friday.

He added: 'We swept the whole coire and did find an avalanche tip, but it was getting dark. We searched on though, but with no results unfortunately.'

Mr Vine's location remains unclear due to heavy snowfall and snow drift - leaving conditions 'particularly difficult'.

Lochaber MRT resumed the search today after being helped by Cairngorm and Glencoe MRTs using probes to try and find the man who is thought may be buried under snow, yesterday.

What equipment and knowledge do mountaineers need to climb Ben Nevis in winter? At 4,413ft, the conditions on the summit of Ben Nevis will always be much colder and more treacherous than they are at sea level. That means that yesterday the summit of the mountain was experiencing winds of 80mph and a minus 20C wind chill while conditions at sea level were a relatively benign minus 4C with 40mph winds. On the summit it will have been difficult for the students to stand, and their feet would quickly have started to suffer frostbite in trainers. White out conditions would also have made keeping their bearings almost impossible. Outdoor experts say that even experienced mountaineers would think twice about going out onto Ben Nevis in such conditions. Those that do will be equipped with crampons, ice axes, thick mountain boots and several layers of high-tech clothing. They will also have a map or GPS system and the ability to navigate at night and during a whiteout. Advertisement

Cairngorm MRT were called out to search for three people lost on the Cairngorm Plateau, on Saturday night.

While the 12-strong team were looking for the lost trio they also came across two others who also reported being lost during the initial call out.

All were safely escorted off the hill.

Team leader Willie Anderson said: 'We got the call about 9pm and it was getting very windy and very cold. But we found the five in the ski area. They were cold but fine. It really is winter conditions now.'

Meanwhile an injured walker on Ben Nevis was also helped by rescuers on Saturday evening.

Lochaber MRT said the hiker had become 'temporarily misplaced' while descending the UK's highest mountain and 'ended having a tumble' in the area of Antler gulley.

There have been three deaths on Scotland's mountains in the last few weeks.

Four men, three of whom were wearing trainers, were rescued from Ben Nevis last month.

In 2019, there were 11 deaths over the entire winter - including three climbers who died in an avalanche on Ben Nevis.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at Fort William immediately via telephone number 101 quoting incident number 1915 of 28 February, 2020.
Minister of State (MoS) for Home G Kishan Reddy has said that the riots in Delhi were aggregated by the rumours spread by political parties, news media, and social media.

READ: Odisha CM Offers Rs 10 Lakh Relief To BSF Jawan Whose Home Was Burnt In Delhi Violence

Reddy said, "During last week we have witnessed disturbances in Delhi. Unfortunately, many innocent people lost their lives & property, including a brave constable. Rumours unleashed by a section of political parties, social media & media added fuel to fire." He added that the Central government is working hard to find and identify the conspirators of the riots.

"Modi government is determined to go to the bottom of the truth to unveil conspiracy, if any, to trigger riots. I will reiterate, CAA is not to take away the citizenship of any Indian but to give citizenship to persecuted religious minorities in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan."

More than 40 people died in the Delhi riots, with multiple protests continuing throughout the week.

READ: Delhi Police Imposes Section 144 At Shaheen Bagh, Even As Hindu Sena Calls Off Protest

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the families of people who died in the violence. He said that 5 lakh will be provided in cases of permanent incapacitation, Rs 2 lakh for serious injuries and Rs 20,000 for a minor injury.

Additionally, the Delhi government has offered Rs 25,000 ex-gratia to the people whose houses have been burnt down by rioters. As the situation in violence-hit north-east Delhi improved, the prohibitory orders imposed under Section 144 of the CrPC were relaxed for four hours on Saturday.

READ: Delhi Violence Victims Lead Peace March To Pay Tribute To Those Killed, Kin Share Ordeal

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday announced Rs.10 lakh from the CM Relief Fund to BSF jawan Mohammed Anees after his house was burned down. Anees is currently working in 9th Battalion of BSF deployed in Naxal affected Malkangiri, Odisha. BSF Deputy Inspector General has announced that BSF engineers will repair Anees' house at Khajuri Khas area.

READ: NHRC Deputs Fact-finding Teams To Probe Violence In Northeast Delhi
Kolkata, Mar 1(UNI) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday lambasted West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for pushing the fate of refugees in India towards uncertainty.

"Why are you hurting interests of our refugees?" he asked Mamata Banerjee while addressing "Aar Noy Annay" rally, in front of the iconic Shahid Minar, aimed in favour of the Citizenship(Amendment) Act and the upcoming Municipal polls in the state which are expected to indicate BJP's prospects in 2021 assembly elections.

Shah accused the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of "triggering riots" and "burning trains" to oppose the citizenship law.

" Why Mamata didi can't stop it(riots)?" Shah questioned, referring to the widespread violence that erupted post the passing of CAA in December last year.

"I want to ask Mamata Didi -- why are you hurting the interests of our refugees?" Amit Shah said.

"You only care about infiltrators. Refugees are being misled and scared... Hindus who fled our neighbouring countries who were raped and threatened and killed... should they not get citizenship?" he said criticising Mamata Banerjee's stand on the controversial law that expedites the process of giving citizenship to the minorities of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who had taken refuge following religious persecution before December 2014.

"I thank Bengal for 18 seats in 2019 (Lok Sabha elections). Mamata used to say we will lose our deposits. The BJP got two-crore plus votes in Bengal. Mamata-ji, just wait, in 2021 (Assembly) election, we will win Bengal with clear majority," the minister said.

The minister, credited with crafting the two stupendous victories for the party in 2014 and 2019, and a string of state elections, tweaked the slogan of "parivartan" (change) used by Mamata Banerjee to topple the 35-year Left citadel in 2011.

"Aar noy (no more) tolabaji (extortion), appeasement, infiltration, violence... this is the slogan that will change the government of Bengal," he said, launching the "Aar noy onnay (no more injustice)"

campaign, crafted on the lines of Ms Banerjee's "Didi-ke bolo" campaign. With specific phone numbers, both focus on public feedback.

MORE UNI PC-BM-SJC AND
Vanessa Bryants legal team is speaking out about the allegations that Los Angeles County Sheriffs deputies shared photos of the helicopter crash site where Vanessas husband Kobe, 41, and their daughter Gianna, 13, along with seven others were killed on Jan. 26.

Our client, Vanessa Bryant, is absolutely devastated by allegations that deputies from the Lost Hills Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department and Los Angeles County Fire Department publicly disseminated photos from the helicopter crash site, her lawyer, Gary C. Robb, said in a statement on Sunday.

Mrs. Bryant personally went to the Sheriffs office on January 26th and requested that the area be designated a no-fly zone and protected from photographers, Robb said. This was of critical importance to her as she desired to protect the dignity of all the victims, and their families. At that time, Sheriff Alex Villanueva assured us all measures would be put in place to protect the families privacy, and it is our understanding that he has worked hard to honor those requests.

First responders should be trustworthy, Robb added. It is inexcusable and deplorable that some deputies from the Lost Hills Sheriffs substation, other surrounding substations and LAFD would allegedly breach their duty. This is an unspeakable violation of human decency, respect, and of the privacy rights of the victims and their families. We are demanding that those responsible for these alleged actions face the harshest possible discipline, and that their identities be brought to light, to ensure that the photos are not further disseminated. We are requesting an Internal Affairs investigation of these alleged incidents.

The statement concluded, Mrs. Bryant is grateful to the individual who filed an online complaint exposing these acts of injustice, and for the choice to protect human dignity.

Vanessa also shared the statement on her Instagram page.

Story continues

The Sheriffs Department is aware of recent media reports alleging deputies shared images from the January 26th, 2020 helicopter crash, which tragically claimed the lives of nine people. The facts surrounding these allegations are currently under investigation, as are the effectiveness of existing policies and procedures, the Los Angeles County Sheriffs office said in a statement. The Sheriff is deeply disturbed at the thought deputies could allegedly engage in such an insensitive act. A thorough investigation will be conducted by the Department, with the number one priority of protecting the dignity and privacy of the victims and their families.

Vanessa Bryant | FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty

L.A. County sheriffs deputies shared graphic photos of the helicopter crash, according to the Los Angeles Times, which also reported that the sharing of crash scene photos and the victims remains were topics of discussion among first responders two days after the Jan. 26 crash in Calabasas, California.

Patti Giggans, who is the chair of the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission, called the alleged behavior completely unprofessional and very regrettable in a statement to the Times on Friday.

RELATED: Vanessa Bryant Delivers Heartbreaking Tribute to Kobe and Gianna at Celebration of Life

Last week, Vanessa, 37, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the helicopter company that owned the aircraft in the tragic crash.

In a complaint obtained by PEOPLE that lists Vanessa and her daughters as plaintiffs, the mother of four is suing Island Express Helicopters and claims that pilot Ara Zobayan of Huntington Beach, California, who was piloting the flight at the time of the crash and died, failed to properly monitor and assess the weather prior to takeoff, failed to abort the flight when he knew of the cloudy conditions and failed to properly and safely operate the helicopter resulting in a crash.

Gianna and Kobe Bryant | Ethan Miller/Getty

RELATED: Vanessa Bryant Files Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Helicopter Company After Kobe & Gianna Killed

The complaint also claims that Island Express Helicopters knew or should have known that Zoboyan had been previously cited by the FAA for violating the visual flight rules minimums by flying into an area of reduced visibility from weather conditions.

Vanessa and her daughters are seeking general, economic and punitive damages.

In response to the lawsuit, a rep for Island Express Helicopters told PEOPLE, This was a tragic accident. We will have no comment on the pending litigation. Lawyers for Island Express Helicopters did not immediately reply to PEOPLEs requests for comment.

If you would like to help the families of the victims of the crash, consider donating to the Mamba on Three Fund. Contributions to the Mamba Sports Foundation will help support youth sports.
A 22-year-old man flung shoe at the ruling Nepal Communist Party chairperson, Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda", during a public function here on Sunday.

It was not immediately clear why the youth, who hailed from remote mountainous Jumla district, threw the shoe.

Prachanda, a former Nepal prime minister, narrowly escaped the shoe attack, party leaders said.

The incident took place when Prachanda was coming back to his seat after addressing the event, organised to mark the 1st death anniversary of communist leader Bharat Mohan Adhikari, they said.

The youth, a son of a former Maoist combatant, has been arrested and kept at Singh Durbar Police Circle, police said.
A vile cartoon depicting 17-year-old climate crisis activist Greta Thunberg getting sexually assaulted has shocked residents of Alberta, Canada. The cartoon, which was being printed and circulated on a decal stickers, has been linked to a local oil company which decided to print its name on the bottom of the cartoon.

The image depicts the naked backside of a girl with braids with the name "Greta" written on her lower back. Two strange hands appear to be pulling at Greta's braids from behind. "X-Site Energy Services" is printed at the bottom of the sticker.

According to an investigation by Huffington Post, the cartoon was circulated among employees to be worn on helmets and other accessories as a promo sticker at a number of job sites. The cartoon has caused outrage in Canada due to its resemblance to child pornography.

When asked, the manager of X-Site said he was unaware of the sticker and added that in any case, Greta was 17 and was not a child.

Thunberg herself responded to the cartoon on Twitter.

They are starting to get more and more desperate...This shows that were winning. https://t.co/NLOZL331X9 Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) February 29, 2020

On Friday, Quebec's New Democratic Party MP Alexandre Boulerice raised the issue of the graphic decal in Canadian Parliament, asking the House to denounce the cartoon. He also called the image "disgusting".

However, according to local reports, Alberta Royal Canadian Mounted Police following an investigation found the image of the 17-year-old to not be pornographic in nature. The investigation concluded that the image neither contained child pornography or depicted "a non-consensual act that would be a direct threat to the person."

The image, nevertheless, drew outrage on social media.

She is a 1,000 times braver and smarter than any of the loser rejects that try to denigrate her. Unlike them, she will be remembered as a hero when history proves that she was right. https://t.co/ujRKkbRM1o Janet Wagner (@JanetWagner21) February 29, 2020

Someone DREW A CARTOON of Greta Thunberg, a teenager, being violently raped. Naturally, some oilfield companymen decided to PRINT IT ON A PROMO STICKER WITH THEIR LOGO. Men love to laughingly remind us that if we speak out, we deserve whats coming to us. https://t.co/DusntoCTIh feminist next door (@emrazz) February 28, 2020

Some oil company had stickers made depicting Greta Thunberg (who is a minor) being sexually assaulted and the name of an oilfield company printed boldly across the bottom of the decal. This is the company's response: pic.twitter.com/6EcJclHJHH Lass  (@kneazlegirl) February 29, 2020

Someone made a sticker of Greta Thunberg being raped, alongside an oil company logo. When asked a manager clarified, Shes not a child, shes 17. Its hateful, but please stop being shocked. This happens all day, everywhere, to outspoken girls and women. https://t.co/Mw1gHHKJhx Soraya Chemaly (@schemaly) February 28, 2020

Thread about abuse of young female activists: This latest disgusting attack on @GretaThunberg is proof that some people will stop at nothing to try to bring young women down.This violent misogyny is unacceptable, & unfortunately not rare. It must end.https://t.co/VsR6g9WfMj Jamie Margolin (@Jamie_Margolin) March 1, 2020

Since 2019 when the recently turned 17-year-old Swede started to demonstrate outside the Swedish Parliament as a mark of protest against the government's inaction against climate crisis, thousands across the world have showered her with support and love. But while she inspires millions, Thunberg continues to be one of the most harassed climate change activists with even the President of the United States taking pot shots at her.

A sticker suggestive of assault and rape of Thunberg, a minor, is deinitely a new low for her trolls as well as climate change deniers.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Pazarkule, Turkey  Sun, March 1, 2020 17:19 680 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206796c53 2 World #Turkey,#migrants,greece,border,syrian Free

Around 2,000 more migrants reached the Turkish border with Greece on Sunday after Turkey opened its gates to Europe saying it could no longer cope with refugees from war-torn Syria.

Since dozens of Turkish troops were killed in northwest Syria last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has launched reprisal attacks against Syrian regime forces and increased pressure on Europe over the conflict.

Around 2,000 people including women and children arrived on Sunday morning from Istanbul and walked through a field towards the Pazarkule border gate, an AFP correspondent said. The group included Afghans, Syrians and Iraqis.

Thousands who were already at the border had spent the night in very cold temperatures and lit fires to warm themselves up, the correspondent added.

A small group of migrants threw stones at a Greek police car on the other side of the border where skirmishes occurred the day before as the Greeks refused to let them cross.

Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu claimed on Twitter that 76,358 migrants had left Turkey by Sunday morning via Edirne province where Pazarkule is located.

Edirne, which is in northwest Turkey, borders Greece and Bulgaria. AFP was unable to immediately verify Soylu's claim.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) late Saturday said around 13,000 migrants gathered along the Turkish-Greek border.

Turkey hosts around 3.6 million Syrian refugees and in recent years, the number of Afghans entering Turkey has jumped.

More than 200,000 Afghans were caught in Turkey in 2019, double from more than 100,000 in 2018, according to official figures.

Erdogan on Saturday said Turkey had "opened the doors" and did not plan to close them because "the European Union should keep its promises".

He was referring to the 2016 deal with Brussels to stop the flow of refugees in exchange for billions of euros.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday said the EU was watching "with concern" and stood ready to deploy its Frontex border guard agency to respond.

Ankara seeks to pressure Western governments into supporting Turkey in Syria after 34 Turkish troops were killed since Thursday in northern Syria's Idlib region.

Turkish forces retaliated and continued to hit Syrian regime positions this weekend after Erdogan warned Damascus would "pay a price" for its aggression.
BEND, Ore. (AP)-- The families of a skier and snowboarder who died on the same day at a central Oregon ski area jointly filed a wrongful death lawsuit seeking $30 million.

The lawsuit filed Thursday contends Mt. Bachelor failed to warn of the risks of tree wells after weeks of snowfall.

Tree wells are voids that form beneath trees and can kill people who fall into them. Twenty-four-year-old Alfonso Braun of Bend and 19-year-old Nicole Panet-Raymond of Eugene suffocated in tree wells in separate incidents on the mountain in 2018.

Mt. Bachelor President and General Manager John McLeod said those types of incidents caused by natural hazards on the mountain are fortunately rare.
Of the 125 people quarantined in



Maharashtra so far for possible exposure to novel coronavirus, 121 have tested negative and test reports of four are awaited, the state health department said on Sunday.

It said that so far as many as 61,939 travellers have been screened for the infection at the Mumbai international airport.

Passengers arriving from 12 Covid-19 affected countries/regions- China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Nepal, Indonesia, Vietnam, Italy, Iran and Malaysia- are being screened at the Mumbai airport.

As many as 125 travellers who had arrived from Covid- 19-affected areas were quarantined in hospitals across the state, but 121 of them tested negative for the virus as per the National Institute of Virology (NIV) reports, it said in a statement.

Those who are suspected to have contracted the deadly infection are sent to isolation facilities for treatment. However, no case of coronavirus infection has come to light in the state so far, it added.

At present, seven persons have been quarantined- five in Mumbai and one each at Pune and Nashik. Reports of swab samples of four of these passengers were awaited from the NIV, it added.

According to officials, a man who was quarantined in Nashik for possible infection after his return from Italy, has tested negative.

The man, who hails from Chandrapur district, had returned to India on February 26 from Italy, where he had gone for studies, an official said.

"He was quarantined as a precautionary measure as he showed symptoms of coronavirus. His samples were sent to Pune for testing. However, he was found negative for the infection," the official said.

The department said that all travellers from Wuhan city of China- the epicentre of the outbreak of epidemic- are being isolated and tested, irrespective of whether they show any symptoms or not.

Follow-up at home is conducted for the travellers from Covid-19-affected countries who do not show any symptoms during the screening at the airport.

"Till date, out of the 370 travellers, 241 have completed their follow-up of 14 days," the department said.

It said that there are 170 travellers, who have come to India from Iran after February 1. All of them have been advised home isolation for 14 days from their date of departure from Iran.

"Local health authorities will daily contact them for their health status. If any of them develop symptoms like fever, cough, cold will be admitted at identified isolation wards and will be tested for COVID-19," an officer said.

The department also appealed all such travellers from Iran are appealed to self report to local health authorities if for any reason they have yet not been contacted by local health authority.

The state COVID-19 control room number is 020- 26127394, the department said in the statement.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

GAZIANTEP, TurkeyOver the last several days Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has pulled out all the stops in his attempts to deal with the Syrian crisis, even shooting down fighter jets from the Assad regime air force.

It's a very high-risk strategy in a complicated conflict that's less a chess match than a game of deadly tic-tac-toe, with every option blocked until nobody wins.

Erdogan's campaign is an attempt to exert maximum pressure on his two purported allies, the adversaries Russia and the United States, using the Americans to influence NATO and the European Union (EU).

On Sunday afternoon, Turkish air defense systems shot down two Syrian regime Sukhoi Su-24 fighter jets that had been bombing Turkish and Free Syrian Army (FSA) positions in Idlib provinceSyrias last rebel stronghold, which straddles the countrys northwest border with Turkey.

Syria Hears the Death Rattle of the Arab Spring as Assad and Putin Forces Advance

This follows an intense Turkish bombing campaign carried out Saturdaythe day after Russian airstrikes killed 33 Turkish soldiera. Ankara's drones launched devastating strikes against Russian-backed Syrian regime forces at the sprawling Abu Dhuhur and Kweiris military bases, in addition to a chemical weapons production site south of Aleppo city, all deep in Assad controlled territory.

By Sunday evening, Turkish backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebel forces had recaptured 30 villages lost the previous week to a Russian-backed Assad regime advance in the southern Idlib countryside.

To try to protect themselves from the prospect of further Turkish strikes, Syrian regime soldiers on the ground began burning tires Sunday to hide their location from the ever present Turkish drones circling the skies.

This string of Turkish gains began on Thursday morning, when Turkish and FSA forces in the east Idlib countryside recaptured the strategic town of Saraqib. Located along the M5 highway linking Syrias capital Damascus to the countrys commercial hub of Aleppo, the town had fallen to pro-Assad forces just three weeks earlier.

Story continues

The recapture of Saraqib represented the first significant victory for Turkey and its FSA proxies since August 2019 when Russian-backed pro-Assad forces launched a campaign that has since succeeded in taking control of more than one third of former rebel held territory in Idlib province.

The temporary momentum created by the liberation of Saraqib and other towns in Idlib gave Turkey and its proxies some breathing room as the former continues to solicit aid from abroad for its campaign to hold off Russian-backed aggression. But such aid may not be forthcoming, and, following an initial lull in pro-Assad attacks amid a renewed wave of talks, the Russian-led advance will likely resume soon. By Saturday evening after the killing of the Turkish soldiers Russia had moved two warships equipped with cruise missiles toward the Syrian coast as part of the ongoing escalation.

Part of the Americans' unwillingness to aid the Turkish campaign militarily may be related to rumors that the United States has made its support contingent on guarantees that Ankara cancel its 2019 purchase of Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile defense system and take instean for an American variant, the Patriot air sefense System. From Washington's perspective, such a move would serve as an indication of Turkeys willingness to end its much-touted rapprochement with Russia in favor of a closer relationship with the United States.

Turkish media reported that as recently as Feb. 21, U.S. officials had confirmed Turkey's request Patriots be deployed to its border with Syria in order to guard against Russian air strikes in Idlib. But in an indication of Russias leverage, despite the ongoing conflict in Idlib and Turkeys recent request to the United States, Ankara repeatedly has rejected American demands to annul its purchase of the Russian S-400 system.

Doing so would anger Moscow and potentially jeopardize Turkeys economic ties to Russia, in particular in the energy sector, where last January Putin and Erdogan met in Istanbul to celebrate the inauguration of the TurkStream pipeline. Capable of transporting 31.5bn cubic meters of Russian gas to eastern Europe via Turkey annually, completion of the pipeline took 5 years and represents both a major boon to Turkeys economy and an indication of closer ties between Ankara and Moscow. Ankara and Washington, meanwhile, remain at an impasse.

REFUGEES

Perhaps for this reason, as Turkish drones combed the skies in Idlib and Aleppo on Saturday, back in Istanbul President Erdogan resorted to more sordid means of generating leverage among western countries.

On Friday, Turkish officials announced the temporary opening of Turkeys border with Bulgaria and Greece for as many as 25,000 Syrian refugees in a last ditch attempt to force the EU, NATO and the U.S. to contribute more tangible military support for its campaign in Idlib.

On Saturday, Erdogan called the decision a logical Turkish response to the EUs failure to live up to its promises to help Turkey bear the financial burden of hosting refugees both within its borders and in Idlib.

I want to say something a little strange here, Erdogan said, I told [German Chancellor] Angela Merkel recently: take a good look at these refugeesyouve promised us billions [of dollars] over the years to help us build a safe zone in Syria, but at the end of the day youve given us nothingSo I told her, if you dont give us the money, well send the refugees your way. The line met with widespread applause from those in the audience. So what did we do yesterday? he concluded. We opened the gates.

The prospect of a new wave of refugees arriving at the EUs frontiers has already jolted right-wing sentiment in Europe, with new hashtags such as #Nexit and #Italexist emerging in recent days calling for the renewed withdrawal of the Netherlands and Italy from the European Union. Combined with fears over the unchecked spread of novel coronavirus across the Schengen zone, millions more refugees could be the spark needed to smash what remains of the EU. Coincidentally this also happens to be a Russian objective.

Turkeys campaign of maximum pressure also comes as Erdogan faces immense domestic strain to successfully balance competing, often contradictory priorities. These include both stemming the flow of Syrian refugees into the country amidst a widespread xenophobic backlash and guarding against the threat of cross-border attacks from Syrian Kurdish militants all the while reducing Turkeys military footprint inside Syria itself.

Backed into a corner and terrified of the prospect of returning to government held territory in the event of a Russian-Assad takeover, as many as 4 million Syrian rebels and the civilians they live among in Idlib would have nowhere to flee except to Turkey. But Turkeys overstretched bureaucracy is incapable of welcoming any new waves of displaced people, while Erdogan himself lacks the political capital to do so. Erdogan noted that 3.4 million Syrians live within our borders, and we cant handle another wave, but added, "we also cant leave these people at the mercy of the Syrian regime.

Its fair to say that until recently, Erdogan pursued a balancing act between Russia and the western powers: growing closer to Moscow via expanded cooperation in the energy and defense sectors while adhering to the terms of a 2016 agreement with the EU to host those 3.4 million Syrian refugees who would otherwise flood western Europe. However Russias campaign in Idlib appears to have successfully begun to tip that balance by significantly raising the cost to Turkey of stemming the flow of refugees into Europe.

The United States and NATOs failure to share some of the burden in stemming Russian aggression against Turkish assets in Idlib may be remembered as the final straw that forced Turkey to begrudgingly surrender to Moscows advance and effectively ditch its alliance with the west. By threatening to empty out its refugee population, Erdogan seeks both to appease his domestic critics and exploit Europe and the wests deepest fears of instability and destabilization in a counterintuitive attempt to salvage its relationship with countries of the NATO alliance.

DOMESTIC POLITICS

Erdogans failure to thread the needle on these issues may mean the eventual unseating of the Presidents long ruling AK Party, which has dominated Turkish politics in one form or another since 2002.

Turkeys opposition, in particular the Kemalist CHP, which dealt a stunning defeat to Erdogans AK Party via its victory in Istanbuls June 2019 local elections, has been extremely critical of Turkeys current strategy of backing the FSA in Idlib, which they claim has come at too high of a cost. Opposition parties in general have portrayed Syrias refugee crisis largely as the result of Erdogans adventurism abroad, wielding the presence of Syrians in Turkey as a club against the President, claiming the former are to blame for the countrys recent economic downturn. Many in Erdogans own AK Party, otherwise supportive on other issues, have also begun to agree, calling for refugees to be deported back to Syria.

Turkish opposition parties have unsurprisingly also been amongst the most vocal to condemn the 28 February 2020 killing of 33 Turkish soldiers, attributing blame to Erdogan and his policy of intervention. They have instead largely called for Ankara to abandon its support for the anti-Assad FSA rebels, withdraw Turkish troops from the country and normalize relations with the regime in Damascus, the latter of which in theory could secure the border against future outpouring of migrants. However ceding to the oppositions demands and pursuing rapprochement with Assad flies in the face of Erdogans Islamist AK Party base, which remains supportive of Syrias fledgling rebel movement.

Furthermore, entrusting the Assad regime with border security carries with it additional risks: both Russia and the regime in Damascus are largely understood to be silent partners if not open allies of the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, an offshoot of the PKK, a Kurdish separatist militia in Turkey that has been recognized as a terrorist organization by the United States and UN. Any partnership with Assad that indirectly strengthened the YPG-PKK and led to an uptick in attacks inside Turkey would spell political ruin for Erdogan or any other Turkish official. And so, Turkeys military remains in Syria, propping up the FSA along its border as the best defense against both armed Kurdish groups and a new waves of refugees.

GOING FORWARD

On Feb. 3, several days after the regimes capture of Maarat al-Nuaman, another strategic town located along the M5 highway, President Erdogan announced that Turkey would grant Russian and pro-Assad forces until the end of February to withdraw to their positions before the launch of the most recent round of hostilities in August. Many derided the announcement as wishful thinking, and as of now any hope that either Russian or pro-Assad forces will comply with the demand remains far off. However as the Daily Beast went to press Turkish military forces continued to expand their bombing campaign of Syrian regime infrastructure, extending their scope to include bases located in the immediate suburbs of Aleppo city itself.

Nevertheless, increasingly weak at home, its unclear the extent to which Turkey will be able to maintain its pressure on Russia and Assad in the event Ankara fails to secure tangible western military assistance for its campaign. If such aid remains unforthcoming, Turkeys President will find himself in a particular bind. Unable to engage Russian and pro-Assad forces long term due to domestic opposition, Turkey will also be unable to absorb the new wave of refugees that would almost certainly pour across its border were Russia and Assad to continue their advance.

The only third option for Turkey would be to both surrender before the Russian advance while allowing those Syrians that do arrive to move freely to Turkeys border with the EU and attempt to cross into Europe, a reasonable prospect from the Turkish perspective considering the US and Europes failure to help prevent their displacement to begin with.

The Final Battle for Syria Has Begun

It was this prospect in particular that Turkey sought to give Europeans a taste of 28 February 2020, when hundreds of Syrian refugees were filmed by state media being transported for free from Istanbuls Fatih neighborhood to the Turkish border town of Edirne, in a highly publicized media stunt that many viewed as a direct message to EU nations. A regional Arabic broadcast journalist reporting from Edirne, when asked about the role of Turkish police or border security in dealing with the situation, would describe the following, the Syrians here are being transferred across the border illegally by smugglers, however its all under the watchful eye of Turkish security services.

Though loathe to be coaxed into propping up Turkeys pro-Russian government under duress, many western nations may not have a choice. Should Turkey on its own be unable to hold off Russias assault going forward, a pipeline of people heading towards Greece and Bulgaria will likely begin to emerge in the coming months. Attempting to contain or prevent their arrival and create a backlog at the border will likely require draconian measures and violence. Whether the EU can stomach that, is anyones guess.

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.
Acting Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava on Sunday visited DCP Amit Sharma who is undergoing treatment after suffering serious injuries during clashes over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in northeast Delhi, officials said.

Shrivastava has been given the additional charge of Delhi Police Commissioner, following Amulya Patnaik's retirement on Saturday.

Shrivastava visited Max Hospital in Patparganj and inquired about the health of Sharma, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara), who suffered injuries to his head and hand in violence in Gokulpuri on February 24.

A 2010-batch IPS officer, he was admitted to Max Hospital, Patparganj on Monday and underwent a surgery.

The officer's vehicle had been set afire by protesters.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A note by a hospital in California released late on Wednesday suggested that the United States government health officials under the authority of President Donald Trump were deliberating for nearly a week before administering a coronavirus test to a patient suspected of carrying the illness.

Since the patient did not fit the existing CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] criteria for Covid-19, a test was not immediately administered, said the note, which went on to explain how the patient turned out to be the first person in the US to contract the virus from a local community rather than carry it in from abroad.

Its no mystery why Trump may have potentially wanted to suppress information about the spread of the virus, which has hammered the stock market just as the 2020 presidential election campaign gets underway. In a tweet, Trump raged that news channels were doing everything possible to make the Caronavirus [sic] look as bad as possible, including panicking markets, if possible.

On Saturday, facing a potential political crisis, Trump to the podium to address the coronavirus outbreak, before veering off towards talk about the new Afghanistan peace deal.

The administrations handling of the virus illustrates the dangers of the politicisation of everything under Trump and his ilk across the world.

Just a couple of years ago, Trump looked to gut the CDC, including its pandemic response team, attempting to slash $1.2 billion from the agencys budget and use the savings to reward the military contractors that are the pillars of his Republican Party.

Proposed CDC budget: unsafe at any level of enactment, Tom Frieden, the former head of the agency, wrote back then. Would increase illness, death, risks to Americans, and health care costs.

Even as late as two weeks ago, Trump was pushing to slash government spending on healthcare research and public health, as well as reducing US funding for the World Health Organisation, the commendable United Nations agency now on front lines of fighting coronavirus.

US officials have repeatedly criticised other countries for their handling of the coronavirus. Trumps secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, took Iran and China to task last week for being less than forthcoming about the outbreak of the disease, which has struck both countries hard.

All nations, including Iran, should tell the truth about the coronavirus and cooperate with international aid organisations, he told reporters.

But while authoritarian regimes with little history of transparency or accountability are ill-equipped to deal responsibly with crises that require public trust and professionalism, so too are democracies dominated by cynical populists like Trump or Boris Johnson.

Such characters have shown a willingness to twist the truth for political gain at times of crisis, even at the cost of human lives.

As if to confirm Trumps cynicism, he has named his obsequious vice president Mike Pence the point person for the US response to the coronavirus. Pence is not a public health professional, nor even a doctor like sometimes White House ally Senator Rand Paul. Hes a former governor and rightwing radio host who allegedly badly bungled his home state of Indianas response to a HIV crisis.

Pences only qualification appears to be unswerving loyalty to the president, and a willingness to lie for him, which makes him not so different than the Communist Party apparatchiks in China, or the clerical loyalists to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Iran, accused of downplaying coronavirus for political ends.

 Pence admits US could see more coronavirus deaths

According to the New York Times, one of his first orders of business was to get the nations top health officials to stop talking about coronavirus, as if the prayers Pence hoped would ward away HIV during his tenure as governor of Indiana would work better than the needle-exchange programmes he rejected.

In addition to rejecting science, Trump, along with like-minded rightwingers across the Atlantic like Hungarys Victor Orban, have already exploited the coronavirus epidemic to justify their hostility to immigrants, which they often equate to germs or infestations in racist tropes that harken back to the darkest moments of the 20th century.

The free circulation of goods and people, immigration policies and weak controls at the borders obviously allow the exponential spread of this type of virus, Aurelia Beigneux, a member of the European Parliament from Frances far right, said during a rally in February.

Loudmouth populists like Trump and Johnson may be more entertaining than straitlaced professional politicians, and for the media, they draw more readers and viewers than Germanys Angela Merkel or the Netherlands Mark Rutte. But real the cost of having such ideologues in charge is needless suffering and death.
Its just as well that Donald Trump wears a bulletproof vest under his shirt, otherwise the Indian prime ministers repeated bear hugs might have bruised his ribs by now.

Narendra Modi probably clings to Trump to show everybody how close he is to the American president. But the expression on the latters face says: Get this guy off me!

I know Im going to get a lot of flak from Indian readers for daring to suggest that their prime minister comes across as a bit of a clown at times, but the truth has to be faced. When I wrote a piece a fortnight ago bemoaning Indias slide into violent nationalism, my inbox was flooded with indignant emails defending their country. One Indian reader had the temerity to ask what gave me the right to write about India. I replied that I considered myself free to write on any subject, and hardly needed his permission.

Over the years, it would appear that Indian skin has become thinner, and the chip Indians carry on their shoulders has got bigger. A few years ago, I met the Economist correspondent in Delhi who had come to Lahore to cover our general elections. When I asked him how covering India compared with writing about Pakistan, he replied: When I do a negative story about India, all the Indians I know are furious; but when I am critical of Pakistan, my friends here all agree with me.

So why are Indians so sensitive to criticism? Why cant they take a joke at their expense? I suspect this has to do with the fact that India has been ruled by Muslims and Brits for close to 1,000 years, and won independence just over seven decades ago. This has made them averse to criticism. And the Hindutva poison being injected into the mainstream has only made matters worse.

Some years ago, when I wrote a column critical of Pakistan  something I frequently do  Indian readers would write admiringly that they didnt think articles like mine were permitted in Pakistan. But as soon as I was critical of India, I would receive a flood of complaints.

These days, we are witnessing large-scale killings of Muslims by BJP thugs in the Delhi district of Maujpur. These attacks have been aided and abetted by the police. A newspaper cameraman described how he was stopped several times by RSS bullyboys who demanded to know if he was Hindu or Muslim. One hoodlum threatened to pull off his trousers to check if he had been circumcised. As I write this, over 30 people have been killed in these sectarian riots.

But before the Maujpur riots, we witnessed the Shaheen Bagh sit-in that was spearheaded by women who had never before participated in any form of political action. Irfanullah Farooqi writes: At Shaheen Bagh, the script is rewritten simply because the protester is endowed with a very different vantage point of belonging. Moreover, when the spectrum has a 90-year-old woman at one end and a 20-day-old infant on the other, it is bound to offer us a new grammar of protest, a new language of resistance.

As this protest movement grows and spreads, thinking Indians need to ask what dark hole Mr Modi is dragging their country into. Do they really need a leader who will abandon the secular path Indias founding fathers had laid out? Clearly, this is a matter for Indians to decide. However, as I live in the neighbourhood, Indias destiny is a matter of concern to me, whatever my Indian detractors may think. Indeed, given Indias size and power, the entire region has cause for apprehension.

It would seem that under Mr Modi, Indias trajectory is fixed, given the huge support he is getting from his RSS/BJP/Hindutva supporters. Just as the Gujarat police were told not to intervene in the anti-Muslim pogrom unfolding before them, so, too have the Delhi police remained passive witnesses as barbaric BJP thugs beat Muslims and tore down mosques.

Mercifully, many decent Indians  Hindus and Muslims alike  are resisting the Hindutva onslaught. But given the power of the Indian state, I doubt if they will be able to succeed.

Can the world do anything to stop the carnage? I doubt it. While people in Maujpur were being killed, Donald Trump was holding talks with Modi. Instead of reprimanding him, Mr Trump sold India $3 billion worth of arms. Other Western countries will similarly defer to Indias size and power, and avoid criticism. Had Pakistan committed similar atrocities against its minorities, all hell would have broken loose. I am not suggesting that we treat our non-Muslims well, but the large-scale mayhem we are witnessing in Delhi today is very rare.

So I will request Indian readers to please refrain from shooting off nasty emails as I plan to make good use of my delete button.

By arrangement with Dawn
Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Do you remember Peggy Joseph? She was the young voter who heard candidate Barack Obama speak in 2008 then said on camera, I wont have to worry about puttin gas in my car, I wont have to worry about payin my mortgage.

By 2013, Josephs tone had turned dramatically.

She was asked by filmmaker Joel Gilbert, Did Obama pay for your mortgage and did he pay for your gas?

She responded with a laugh: Absolutely not! Mortgage got worse and gas prices got higher  At that time we needed a change but a change for the better not the worse.

In her mind, President Obama was similar to the Wizard of Oz. Said Joseph, I started getting a little more educated about politics, I started reading more. I learned never to trust the Wizard, its within ourselves.

Of course, Barack Obama never promised to pay our mortgage and put gas in our tanks. It was just the feeling you could get when he painted a picture of how America would look under his leadership.

On the other hand, he did promise universal healthcare.

And there were the free cell phone claims that added to some of the mythology.

And Obamas policies did trigger numerous articles over the years, with titles such as:

Other articles, however, strongly dismissed such accusations, mocking the idea that Obama was anything close to a socialist (see here and here).

In fact, Rich Rubino, writing in the Huffington Post in April 2013 in an article titled, Barack Obama: A Socialist He Is Definitely Not, said this: Critics of Barack Obama often label him as a socialist, a term of derision in American politics. Socialism is viewed by many Americans as an extreme brand of liberalism. Accordingly, as a political tactic, Republicans try to tether Democrats to this label, just as Democrats try their best, equally unfairly, to tether Republicans to the most extreme forms of conservatism.

But today, socialist is not a term of derision used only by enemies of the Democratic party. It is a term of honor used by the Democratic presidential frontrunner, Bernie Sanders.

It is a term of pride. A calling-card. A foundational campaign philosophy.

Bernie Sanders is an out and proud socialist.

As Michael Kruse explained in Politico in 2015, Sanders, then 73, has been preaching socialism for nearly half a century, and he cites Eugene Debs, the five-time presidential candidate of the Socialist Party of America, as his hero. But he hasnt always embraced the label.

Back in 1976, Sanders said, I myself dont use the word socialism, because people have been brainwashed into thinking socialism automatically means slave-labor camps, dictatorship and lack of freedom of speech.

And he reiterated that position in different forms in the years following. But by 1989, he said, In Vermont, everybody knows that I am a socialist and that many people in our movement, not all, are socialists.

Today, this Sanders quote sums things up well: I am a socialist; of course I am a socialist. To hold a vision that society can be fundamentally different, to believe that all people can be equal - that is not a new idea.

It is certainly not a new idea.

But it is a failed idea  that is, as far as the socialist method of making everyone equal.

Of course, the concept sounds grand and wonderful. As one professor described the Sanders vision, What being a socialist means is  that you hold out  a vision of society where poverty is absolutely unnecessary, where international relations are not based on greed  but on cooperation  where human beings can own the means of production and work together rather than having to work as semi-slaves to other people who can hire and fire.

And this is the concept that has gripped many of his devoted followers. Together, we can make the world a better place for everyone.

But lets not fool ourselves. It is not so much a glorious, altruistic vision of equality that fuels the fire of many a Sanders voter. It is the promise of free college tuition. It is the prospect of taking money from the very rich and distributing it to the hardworking poor.

It is the idea that the custodian should sit on the board of the company that owns his building, lecturing the fat cats on the plight of the average Joe and Jane.

It is the lure of the free handout.

Free healthcare.

Free advanced education.

Maybe even your mortgage paid and gas in your car.

And who, pray tell, will pay for it? They will!

Unfortunately, they sounds great until you realize that they is me. And thats where the rubber meets the road. Thats where the Bern becomes the burn. And thats where we must learn the lesson of history, even recent history.

In short, we do well to remember the story of Peggy Joseph.

A word to the wise is sufficient.
- Heart Evangelista is known for her wealthy and luxurious lifestyle

- The Kapuso artist has recently buzzed the online community with the price of her watch

- The said watch is from French luxury jewelry brand, Van Cleef & Arpels

- Aside from this, the price of the watch is said to be a 9 digit figure when converted to Philippine peso

PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed

Kapuso star Heart Evangelista is no stranger to various luxury fashion brands and houses that sells products at a whopping price point.

Even though the actress-vlogger's luxurious lifestyle is not a secret to her fans and the online community, netizens still get stunned by Heart's clothes and jewely from time to time.

KAMI learned that one such product is that of a $119,000 watch which Heart recently wore and posted via her Instagram story.

An Instagram page called '@heartevangelistacloset' is an account dedicated to the clothes and jewelry which Heart wears and shares on her personal social media account.

According to the page, the watch Heart wore is the Lady Arpels Pont des Amoureux Jour from the Poetry of Time collection of French luxury jewelry house, Van Cleef & Arpels.

Furthermore, in Swiss Luxury's website, the watch is currently being sold at $127,000 which is PHP 6,472,419.11 when converted.

PAY ATTENTION: Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news!

As reported earlier by KAMI, Heart Evangelista is known for responding to some negative comments about her on social media. Recently, a netizen posted an intriguing statement and she called the actress artificial. The netizen clarified that she does not hate the gorgeous celebrity but she just could not help but think of her personality. Heart was able to read the intriguing comment and she had a viral response to it.

Heart Evangelista has established herself as one of the most classy showbiz personalities in the Philippines. She is married to Sorsogon Governor Chiz Escudero.

POPULAR: Read more news about Heart Evangelista

Please like and share our Facebook posts to support KAMI team! Dont hesitate to comment and share your opinion about our stories either. We love reading about your thoughts!

Celebrity Tricky Questions: In this video, we asked random people to guess the celebrities by their eyes only. Let us see if you can recognize your favorite Pinoy star by his/her eyes!

Source: KAMI.com.gh
The Supreme Court will on Monday consider 'in chamber' the curative plea of one of the four death row convicts, Pawan Kumar Gupta, in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case, a day before their scheduled hanging.

The curative petition will be considered by a bench of justices N V Ramana, Arun Mishra, R F Nariman, R Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan in the chamber of Justice Ramana.

Pawan, 25, against whom the death warrant has been issued for execution on March 3 along with the three other condemned prisoners, has claimed juvenility to seek commutation of sentence to life imprisonment.

He has filed the curative plea through lawyer A P Singh seeking setting aside of the apex court's earlier verdicts on appeals and review petitions in the case.

Advocate A P Singh said he has filed an application in the apex court registry on Sunday seeking an oral hearing on Pawan's curative plea in the open court.

Pawan is the last death row convict in the case to move the top court with his curative plea, the final legal remedy available to a person.

A 23-year-old physiotherapy intern, who came to be known as 'Nirbhaya' (fearless), was gang raped and savagely assaulted in a moving bus in South Delhi on December 16, 2012. She died a fortnight later.

Pawan and another convict Akshay Singh also moved a trial court here on Saturday seeking stay on the execution of death warrants.

The trial court has issued notice to Tihar Jail authorities on the pleas, directing the officials to file their response by Monday.

While Akshay has claimed that he has filed a fresh mercy petition before the President of India, which is pending, Pawan said he has moved a curative plea before the Supreme Court.

Akshay has said that his earlier mercy petition that was dismissed by the President did not have complete facts.

In the curative plea before the apex court, Pawan has pleaded that his age on the day of offence was 16 years and two months as per the school records last attended by him and "the age has not been determined in accordance with the procedures laid down under the Juvenile Justice Act".

This information was suppressed by the State throughout the proceedings, Pawan has claimed.

He was the lone convict who had not exhausted his legal remedies of filing a curative petition and subsequent mercy plea with the President.

The trial court on February 17 issued fresh date for execution of death warrants for March 3 at 6 am for the four convicts -- Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan Kumar Gupta, Vinay Kumar Sharma (26) and Akshay Singh (31) -- in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case.

The mercy petitions of three convicts -- Mukesh, Vinay and Akshay -- have already been dismissed by the President.

The apex court had earlier dismissed separate pleas filed by Mukesh and Vinay challenging the rejection of their mercy petitions by the President.

Akshay has not yet challenged the rejection of his mercy petition.

Six people, including the four convicts and a juvenile, were named as accused. Ram Singh, the sixth accused, allegedly committed suicide in Tihar jail days after the trial began in the case.

The juvenile was released in 2015 after spending three years in a correctional home.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In 1835, President Andrew Jackson wrote his Letter to the Cherokee Nation, which briefly argued the benefits of removal west, which ultimately became the Trail of Tears. Jackson didn't flat-out lie, but he was disingenuous. Flash forward 185 years. and we have Elizabeth Warren's Letter to the Cherokee Nation, a turgid document that reads like a badly written law review article, which if anything is more disingenuous and dishonest than Jackson's infamous letter. As a peek into the mind of the Democrats' former presidential frontrunner, and the hypocrisy of the left in general, it is scarily revealing.

Don't follow the link above to read Warren's letter if you value your leisure and sanity. I've done it for you at some cost, not only in time and mental anguish, but also in some very good bourbon. It's a ponderous epistolary monstrosity, clocking in at twelve densely written single-spaced pages, with 89 (!) footnotes. Varying in tone from groveling to obstinate, choleric to good-humored, prickly to pleasant, it seeks to exonerate Warren from her claims of Cherokee ethnicity while establishing her bona fides as a champion of American Indian interests.

In reality, the letter shows Warren for what she is: a dishonest, striving narcissist with a strongly authoritarian bent, very much in the do-as-I-say, not-as-I-do philosophy of the modern left. It is carefully structured to defend Warren's deliberate false claims of Cherokee heritage, which at the very least suggests she was a diversity hire at both Penn and Harvard, both of which listed her as a "minority professor." She claims in the letter that she "never benefitted financially or professionally" from her false claims, citing a fawning 2018 Boston Globe article, which is sort of like "my lawyer says I didn't do it!"

While it can't be conclusively proven that Warren's false claims resulted in her hires and advancement, it can't be disproven, either, regardless what her acolytes in the media claim. That she did it in a professional context shows that Warren herself believed that the claims would be advantageous, or she wouldn't have made them. For a ruthlessly ambitious person like Warren, any other conclusion is nonsensical.

Warren also addresses her DNA test in a highly disingenuous manner. First, she implies that the DNA test actually produced results that support her claims, when in fact it was just the opposite. Rather, Warren, demonstrating her fundamental dishonesty, initially touted her DNA test results because they revealed a smidgen (probably less than 1%) of possible Native American heritage, a claim that was initially supported by friendly media. Only when conservative media and politicians mocked the plainly ridiculous claim did Warren back off. But in the letter, there is no mention of this  only that "DNA does not determine tribal citizenship" and that she "caused real harm" to American Indian communities by making the claim.

More hypocritical still is Warren's newfound avowal that she is a "white woman, and that is how I identify." Warren is at pains in the letter to apologize for identifying as a Cherokee and describes in painful detail all the Cherokees she's apologized to, from tribal chiefs to tribal citizens, publicly and privately, presumably genuflecting all the way.

But why by Warren's own standards and those of the far left was she wrong? Isn't identification in most other leftist contexts an entirely subjective endeavor? Warren cries now that she was wrong to identify as a Cherokee, based upon what she says were her own honest subjective beliefs, based upon family lore she learned as a child. Yet Warren has no qualms about accepting the subjective ideation of a nine-year-old boy that he's actually a girl. Not only that, but she's declared that if elected, such a child will help select her education secretary.

Yet sex is far less mutable and far more biologically defined than race or ethnicity. Race itself is arguably a purely human construct. Sex most definitely is not. Warren was careful to say in her Cherokee letter that DNA does not define American Indian ethnicity (which is the position of the tribes), but ethnicity and race are a far cry from sex. Sex clearly does biologically define human beings, regardless of subjective sexual tastes, desires, or the ideation of individuals as to what sex they think they should be.

Warren takes the position that her honestly held but false subjective belief that she was an American Indian was a horrible error. So does she endorse puberty-retarding hormonal treatments and even surgical procedures (such as mastectomies) on minors based upon the subjective ideations of children that they are the wrong sex? And how can she even promote as she does "gender-affirming procedures" for transsexuals in her Medicare for All proposals? That's worse than Warren's dishonesty regarding her heritage.

Image: Edward Kimmel via Flickr.
A Comparative Literature student in Kolkata's Jadavpur University has been sent a notice by the Foreign Regional Registration Office (FRRO), under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, and asked to leave the country immediately, said Jadavpur University sources.

The student has been identified as Kamil Siedcynski, a from Poland.

He had participated in rallies against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Kolkata, the sources added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Two countries have been added to the list of nations and regions imposing entry restrictions or stricter quarantine procedures on travelers from South Korea over coronavirus fears, the foreign ministry in Seoul said Sunday.



As of 5 a.m. Sunday, 78 countries and regions have moved to bar the entry of people traveling from South Korea or to strengthen quarantine steps.



The ministry said Angola is now one of 35 countries to keep out South Koreans or foreigners who've recently visited South Korea. Angola's ban will take effect Tuesday.



Nigeria has joined the list of 43 countries and regions that have imposed stricter quarantine measures, requiring travelers from South Korea to be quarantined for 14 days, with or without symptoms of the novel virus.






Most people would have never heard of Sir Philip Rutnam, 54, before his highly unusual resignation yesterday morning.

Critics of Boris Johnson's Government and his sweeping reforms to the troubled immigration system will have a new hero following the incendiary walkout, but they will be choosing an unlikely champion in the man paid more than the Prime Minister, yet lucky not to have been axed on numerous occasions.

For those who have kept a keen eye on Whitehall over the past decade, the name Rutnam is a byword for bungled advice and toxic clashes with Ministers.

Dubbed 'Sir Calamity' by exasperated Downing Street officials, Rutnam  who was paid 175,000 with a gold-plated pension as Home Office Permanent Secretary  always seemed to be 'missing' when his neck was on the line.

Home Secretary Priti Patel's permanent secretary Sir Philip Rutnam resigned today with an extraordinary blast at his former boss over a 'vicious and orchestrated' campaign against him

In the rare times he has been under pressure, in a classic mandarin style he had always been able to brazen his involvement out, often leaving MPs gobsmacked by his excuses.

In the wake of the Windrush immigration scandal that ousted former Home Secretary Amber Rudd, Rutnam was hauled before the Commons to explain his role in the affair. 'I've been in the department for a year  I'm not an expert on the immigration system,' was his curt reply.

That 2018 appearance before the Home Affairs Select Committee has become something of parliamentary folklore after Rutnam twice scolded his political interrogators for not providing him with their questions before he appeared.

A former Home Office insider said Rutnam, whose Who's Who entry says his hobby is 'taking family up mountains', had been 'nowhere to be seen' during the scandal and two more junior officials were moved on instead.

They blasted: 'Then, just like now, he oversaw a culture of politicised leaks and egotistical briefing from the department and has managed to avoid taking any responsibility or face any consequence for the Windrush scandal, instead staying in the role he gets paid more than the Prime Minister for, and throwing his deputy and others under the bus.'

But after the Tories' Election victory in December, Rutnam must have realised he was on thin ice. Senior figures in the Tory party had previously called for his head, including Johnson ally Shaun Bailey.

Allies of the Home Secretary declared victory last night, claiming the former banker 'knew he was toast' and had 'jumped before he was pushed'

The candidate for London Mayor said Rutnam had to go to 'restore confidence in the Home Office'.

Born in South London, Rutnam attended Dulwich College, the same school as Nigel Farage. His career path was that of a consummate mandarin. Public school, Cambridge and a spell at the Treasury.

He briefly worked in finance for Morgan Stanley before becoming a quango-crat and a senior official at the Business department.

Earlier in his career, he had been humble enough to admit when he was wrong. During the 2012 West Coast rail fiasco, he was forced to admit 'deeply regrettable and completely unacceptable mistakes', adding that 'more important than the role of Ministers is the role of senior officials, starting with me'.

However, in true Whitehall fashion, such remarkable disasters did not stop him climbing the greasy pole.
Representative image

Yerevan, Mar 1 (AFP) Armenia on Sunday confirmed its first case of coronavirus, an Armenian citizen who recently returned from Iran and who was in stable condition in hospital.

Around 30 people who had been in contact with the patient had also been placed in isolation, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Facebook.

Neighbouring Azerbaijan registered its first case of the COVID-19 virus on Friday, a Russian who had also arrived from Iran. On Saturday, Azerbaijan suspended all flights to Iran.

Georgia also has confirmed three cases and has temporarily banned Iranian nationals from visiting, along with suspending air links with China.

The number of novel coronavirus cases in the world has risen to more than 87,000, including 2,990 deaths, across 64 countries and territories since it first emerged in China in December.
Three medical research baboons that briefly escaped captivity face a lifetime of invasive experiments, campaigners have claimed.

The male and two females escaped from their truck in a car park at Sydney's Royal Prince Alfred Hospital where the male was due for a vasectomy Tuesday afternoon.

They were safely captured by their handlers after a 90-minute standoff that was filmed by shocked bystanders.

Officials have confirmed the baboons are being used for animal testing for research into ailments such as kidney disease and diabetes.

Around 300 primates, including baboons, marmosets and macaques, are tested on each year in Australia, according to Humane Research Australia.

In 2016, gruesome reports emerged of experiments being performed on primates.

One baboon named Conan died after having a kidney from a genetically modified pig transplanted into him in 2014, according to Humane Research Australia.

The campaign group said two macaques and two marmosets have also died in brutal fashion due to medical experiments in the past four years.

One macaque was found in a barrel in a pool of blood and the other was found unable to move in its cage, the group said.

One marmoset died from a bleeding in her bowel in and the other after vomiting up clear foamy liquid, according to the campaign group.

There is no suggestion those animals have the same owner as the escaped baboons.

When the story about Conan was reported by the Sydney Morning Herald in 2016, officials said using baboons in experiments was saving human lives.

A spokeswoman for the Sydney Local Health District said: 'The colony has helped medical researchers conduct important research which has contributed significantly to paving the way for new treatments of disorders such as pre-eclampsia, complicated diabetes, kidney disorders and vascular diseases.'

On Tuesday evening Humane Research Australia demanded an end to the 'cruel' practice.

Humane Research Australia CEO Helen Marston said: 'Sadly, the three baboons captured will now face a lifetime of imprisonment, being subjected to invasive experiments.

'While the industry is shrouded in secrecy, much of this research is funded by taxpayers through the National Health and Medical Research Council.'

Police at the scene where the baboons escaped in Camperdown in Western Sydney. Officers used a tarpaulin to contain the animals before experts from Taronga Zoo arrived

There were 272 baboons, marmosets and macaques used in experimental procedures in Australia in 2017, which are the latest statistics available.

The experimental baboons are bred at a facility in Wallacia in Western Sydney, while the marmosets and macaques are bred in Gippsland in Victoria.

The animals are subject to various trials including testing radioactive substances, pregnancy hypertension and preeclampsia, with varying levels of success.

It was reported the baboons escaped because the door lock on their truck was faulty.

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard confirmed to The Daily Telegraph that the escaped baboons were bred in a colony to be used for medical research.

Mr Hazzard said the baboons are subject to various tests to pioneer treatments and further our knowledge of diseases.

'The research includes reproductive issues, kidney disease, gestational diabetes, a whole range of research areas and with the conclusion of the research they return to the colony in Western Sydney and they usually just live their lives out until old age.'

He said the 15-year-old male baboon was being accompanied by his two wives to keep him comfortable before his vasectomy operation.

The baboon will have his vasectomy after being recaptured, then live at the sanctuary until his death as his research days are over.
U.S. health officials predict more novel coronavirus infections in next few days

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 14:11, February 29, 2020

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- California's health officials predicted that more novel coronavirus cases will be confirmed in the coming days after dozens of health workers exposed to the possible first community spread case of COVID-19 in the United States.

Peter Beilenson, Sacramento County's top health official, was quoted Friday by the Sacramento Bee newspaper as saying that he expected that a few of employees from UC Davis Medical Center, where a woman infected by the virus was treated, to test positive.

The patient, who lives in a 100,000-population community named Vacaville located between the cities of San Francisco and Sacramento, had not been exposed to the virus through travel or through any contact with any infected individual, according to the authorities.

The woman was admitted to the NorthBay VacaValley Hospital, a small hospital near the Vacaville in Solano County, on Feb. 15 with cold or flu symptoms. She was transferred to the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento on Feb. 19 due to the seriousness of her condition. Tests taken on Feb. 23 showed that she was suffering from the novel coronavirus.

In total, more than 100 employees of three hospitals are believed to have been exposed. In addition to those at the Vacaville hospital and UC Davis Medical Center, another three employees recently were sent home from Kaiser Permanente South medical center in Sacramento.

"I expect there will be a few positives, probably asymptomatic," Beilenson said, adding that he based the prediction on early data indicating 80 percent of people infected by the new virus have mild symptoms or none at all.

Meanwhile, Solano County Health Officer Bela Matyas also expected more cases to emerge.

"The best guess is that there are people who are not showing symptoms, but, are, nevertheless, infected. That's a very normal way for diseases to spread," Matyas said.

At a press conference on Thursday afternoon, Matyas noted local authorities changed their approach to the virus from containment to control, saying that "we recognize that if we do have community spread, that it becomes necessary to consider more aggressive protection of our critical resources."

That not only means testing and screening, but also being more rigorous at the hospital level, as Matyas said, to "universally assume the possibility" that a patient seeking care and has flu- or cold-like symptoms may carry the virus.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Are you a techie who knows how to write? Then join our Team! English native speakers welcome!

Earlier today, Xiaomi surprised owners of the Redmi Note 8 Pro by finally releasing the stable global Android 10 update . The company is on a roll, apparently, and has now begun to deliver the much-anticipated Android 10 update to owners of the Mi A3 .

The update weighs in at 1.3 GB and brings all the usual Android 10 features, with the changelog highlighting Dark Theme, Gesture Navigation, and Privacy Controls.

Xiaomi has said that this update may not get to all Mi A3 owners immediately, and there may be a reason for thatin typical Xiaomi fashion, it appears to be extremely buggy. Owners of the Mi A3 are complaining abouty a number of bugs including:

Fingerprint reader not working properly

Phone bootlooping randomly after calls

Corrupted SD card, or MicroSD bugs

Camera app crashing in Pro Mode

We recently had some strong words to say over Xiaomi's insistence on releasing buggy Android One OS updates. That trend started with the Mi A1 back in 2017, and it's a shame to see it continue till now. The company took its sweet time with the release of this update for the Mi A3, and owners of the phone are likely to be relieved ifa tad disappointedat how drawn out the saga was. The number of bugs available on this build is unlikely to thrill owners of the phone, though.

Considering how buggy it is, it would be wise, perhaps, for owners of the A3 to remain on Android Pie until a more functional build is released.

The Mi A2 received its taste of Android 10 last month, and with the Mi A3 getting its share now, that leaves the Mi A2 Lite as Xiaomi's last Android One phone that's yet to receive Android 10. The Mi A1, of course, will not be receiving the update, as it's already gotten two OS upgrades.
State-owned SAIL has made a payment of about Rs 19 lakh to the Chhattisgarh government to remove over 2,000 trees at its Rowghat iron ore complex so that the steel-maker can construct an approach road to the long-stalled project.

The Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) is now hopeful of beginning mining-related activity at the block in two-three months, a company official said.

Beginning operations at the Rowghat iron ore mine in Kanker district of the state is extremely important for SAIL as the Dalli-Rajhara mines, from which the company's Bhilai unit sources iron ore, are fast depleting, the official said.

The company would also expand the capacity of Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) to 12 MT from over 7 MT at present as part of its overall expansion plan of 50 million tonnes by 2030.

The state government had sent a demand note of over Rs 18.5 lakh to remove about 2,000 trees on the approach road to the Rowghat block.

Replying to a query, SAIL confirmed "it has deposited Rs 18,92,216/- today (Saturday) for felling of 2034 trees for making of approach road on area of 3.82 hectares to Anjarel block of Rowghat (area identified for interim mining)."



SAIL said following the payment, the state government will be removing the trees but it has given no timeline for finishing the work.

Another official said the company is ready to deposit money for removing another 10,000 trees on the actual mining block but it will happen only after the state government sends in another demand note.

He further said iron ore reserves at Dalli-Rajhara mines would finish in a few years and with reserves of about 500 million tonne, Rowghat can fulfil the iron ore demand of BSP for another 50 years.

"The initial plan is to begin interim mining. We will mine about 3 lakh tonnes of iron ore. The number is small but at least it will be like stepping foot in the region," he said.

The Rowghat mine is spread over an area of 2,000 hectares.

Meanwhile, an official said a railway line project between Rowghat and Dalli-Rajhra stretch in Chhattisgarh is expected to reach near the approach area within three months. The rail track is being laid down to carry the iron ore from Rowghat to BSP.

The official added that SAIL Chairman A K Chaudhary "was recently here and he has asked the concerned officials to finish the work as soon as possible."



Mining at the site could not begin for the past few years due to Naxal activities in and around Rowghat, which is said to be the second largest iron ore deposit in the state.

The company had received the environment clearance (EC) and forest clearance (FC) for the Rowghat mine by 2012. However, it could not start any activity related to mining as the project required felling of around 1.5 lakh trees which faced opposition in the Naxal-affected region.

Earlier, SAIL had also asked the Centre to provide security so that it can begin operations at the site.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Former members of Shincheonji Church and activists demonstrate in front of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seoul on Thursday, condemning church founder Lee Man-hee for playing a role in spreading the coronavirus. / Yonhap





By Kim Se-jeong







Suwon District Prosecutors' Office is investigating Shincheonji Church founder Lee Man-hee for his alleged role in the fast spread of the coronavirus in Korea, the office said Sunday.







Of 3,526 confirmed patients, 2,113 are Shincheonji members, according to the government, Sunday.







Last Thursday, a group of former Shincheonji members filed a criminal investigation with the prosecutors' office accusing Lee of disrupting the government's effort to contain the virus.







"By submitting fake documents, he has impeded the government in its epidemiological efforts against the new coronavirus," the group said in front of the district prosecutors' office. Failing to comply with the government in the infectious disease-led crisis can be punished with up to two years' jail.







Initially, the church refused to share the list of more than 200,000 church members with the government. Under growing pressure, the church finally handed the list to the government, but still drew criticism because it was allegedly incomplete and inaccurate.







The group claimed Lee was behind the church's misinformation attempt.







On Sunday, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon also asked chief prosecutor Yoon Seok-youl to detain Lee quickly.






Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Mike Harrison (Reuters) London  Sun, March 1, 2020 08:47 680 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206777adb 2 People Boris-Johnson,United-Kingdom,Prime-Minister,Carrie-Symonds Free

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his girlfriend Carrie Symonds announced on Saturday they are expecting their first child together and are engaged to be married.

The couple have been living together in Downing Street since Johnson became prime minister in July, with Symonds the first unmarried partner to live openly with a British leader in recent history.

"The prime minister and Miss Symonds are very pleased to announce their engagement and that they are expecting a baby in the early summer," the couple said in a statement.

The 55-year-old Johnson took office in July and led his Conservative Party to a decisive election victory in December.

The announcement means he will become the first British prime minister to marry in office for 250 years.

The couples relationship was the subject of scrutiny during his bid to take over from Theresa May as prime minister last summer after police were called to Symonds home by a neighbour who heard an apparent row between them.

Symonds, 31, said in a message posted on Instagram that she had kept news of her engagement secret until now.

"I wouldn't normally post this kind of thing on here but I wanted my friends to find out from me," she said.

"Many of you already know but for my friends that still don't, we got engaged at the end of last year... and we've got a baby hatching early summer," Symonds said, adding: "Feel incredibly blessed".

Johnson was congratulated by members of parliament, including his former finance minister, Sajid Javid, who resigned after losing a power struggle over who should control Britain's economy.

"Wonderful news!," Javid said on Twitter.

Read also: UK will be more welcoming to Indonesians after Brexit, ambassador says

Third marriage

Johnson, known for his rumpled appearance and flamboyant oratory, was previously married to Marina Wheeler, and they had four children together. They announced in September 2018 that they had separated and would divorce after 25 years of marriage.

The couple reached a financial settlement earlier this month, British media have reported.

Johnson has fathered one other child. He has always refused to say how many children he has. During the election campaign, Johnson said that he would not "put them on the pitch".

Johnson was married to Allegra Mostyn-Owen before Wheeler, so Symonds will be his third wife.

Johnson's most notable action so far in office has been to fulfill an election campaign pledge to "get Brexit done". Britain finally left the European Union at the end of January, more than three years after Britons voted in a referendum to leave the bloc.

Johnson will be the first British leader since Augustus Henry FitzRoy, who was prime minister between 1768 to 1770, to remarry in office.

Recent British prime ministers' wives have had babies while their husbands were in office

Former Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron's wife Samantha had a baby daughter, Florence, in 2010.

Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair's wife Cherie had a son, Leo, in 2000.
SUMTER, S.C.  In October, Pete Buttigieg said he would do better with South Carolinas black voters once they got to know him better.

When he came back in December, he was still working on introducing himself to the black electorate.

And in late January he admitted he was scared that at his rallies in South Carolina, where roughly 57 percent of the Democratic electorate is black, most attendees were white.

Those fears were borne out on Saturday, when Mr. Buttigieg was trounced in South Carolinas primary and earned just two percent of the vote from African-Americans, according to early exit polling.

What support he received came mostly from young black voters; he appeared to have barely any votes from African-Americans who are 60 and older, according to the exit polling. Black voters decisively backed former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who won the primary; Senator Bernie Sanders and the hedge fund billionaire Tom Steyer drew low double-digit support from African-Americans.
British nationals trapped in a quarantined hotel in Tenerife are free to return to the UK if they test negative for coronavirus, the government has said.

Holidaymakers at the H10 Costa Adeje Palace had previously been told they would have to remain in quarantine until 10 March, after at least four guests were found to be infected.

But now Tui says Public Health England has told its customers stuck in the hotel that they are free to return home if they test negative for the virus.

The travel company said it is making arrangements for guests who test negative to be brought back to the UK.

Tui and Jet2 had previously refused to repatriate the 160 British nationals stuck in the hotel until the government confirmed it was safe to do so.

Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty Show all 10 1 /10 Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty A man wearing a face mask crosses a road in Wuhan, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus outbreak. Reuters Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty A view of the empty entrance to the UniversitA Cattolica (Catholic University) in Milan, northern Italy, on 24 February, 2020. EPA Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty Empty streets in Daegu, South Korea, on 23 February, 2020. EPA Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty Empty streets in Daegu, South Korea, on 23 February 2020. EPA Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty A lone sanitation worker sits near the closed Hankou Railway Station in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, on February 24, 2020. Reuters Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty A view of a deserted street in Codogno, northern Italy, on February 23, 2020. EPA Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty Italian police officers set a road block in Codogno, Northern Italy, on Monday, Feb. 24, 2020. AP Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty A supermarket closed in Codogno, one the northern Italian towns placed under lockdown, on February 23, 2020. EPA Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty A lone cyclist wearing sanitary masks pedals in the center of Codogno, Northern Italy. LaPresse via AP Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty An empty road at the entrance of the small Italian town of Codogno on February 23, 2020. AFP via Getty

A Department of Health spokesperson indicated the individuals would not be quarantined upon their return to the UK.

Professor Yvonne Doyle, medical director at Public Health England (PHE), said any individuals who have returned from the coronavirus-hit hotel are advised to self-isolate until 10 March.

If they develop symptoms in that time, they should call NHS 111 and they will be tested for Covid-19, Prof Doyle said.

Spanish authorities have said that the risk of infection for any Brits staying at the hotel is low, according to PHE.

In a letter to the British tourists at the hotel, PHE said: "We recognise that this has been a challenging time and the UK Government is working with your tour operator, flight carrier and the Spanish authorities to support your return home.

"To provide reassurance to you and to the flight carrier, you will be asked to have a COVID-19 test. If the result is negative and you remain well and are assessed as asymptomatic at the airport, you will be able to fly home. On your return, you are asked to self-isolate, even if you do not have symptoms, until 10 March."

One holidaymaker, who preferred not to be named, told the Press Association that some guests at the four-star hotel had been swabbed on Saturday.

I got a call from a Tui rep saying that were low risk and theyre testing us to try and get us home, they said.

I dont know how long the test results take, theres rumours its 72 hours but I dont know.

Some guests have previously criticised the quarantine measures. A British man claimed nobody felt safe after Spanish authorities said guests without symptoms could move freely around the hotel, including the pool and bar.

Additional reporting by PA
Turkey's defense minister said on March 1 that his country was "successfully" continuing its military operation in northwestern Syria against the Russian-backed regime in Damascus and that Ankara doesn't have "the desire or intention to clash with Russia."

Within hours of that statement, reports from Syria claimed that Turkish forces had downed Syrian warplanes as concerns mounted of an escalation of direct clashes between NATO member Turkey and forces of Russian ally Syria.



Turkish military forces announced an intensification of their campaign via Operation Spring Shield after 34 Turkish soldiers were killed in a Syrian air strike in the Idlib region, where Russian air power has been used to help forces loyal to embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.



"Following the heinous attack on February 27 in Idlib, Operation Spring Shield successfully continues," Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar was quoted by AFP as saying via state news agency Anadolu, adding, "We don't have the desire or intention to clash with Russia."



Idlib is part of the last remaining Syrian territory held by Turkey-backed rebels.

Later on March 1, after Syria's government said it was closing the airspace in the northwestern part of the country, Damascus alleged that Turkey had "targeted" two of its jets over Syrian airspace.



A rebel group and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said the two planes had been "downed."



Syria's official news agency, SANA, said the four pilots ejected and landed safely.



Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan -- whose country is a NATO member -- said on February 29 that he told Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone conversation that Moscow should stand aside in Syria to let Turkey deal with Syrian government forces.



The Russian Foreign Ministry said the same day that the two sides had agreed to reduce tensions while continuing military actions there.



Erdogan reportedly also spoke with other world leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Russia's state news agency Sputnik said on March 1 that the head of its Turkey operations had been "taken into custody" by police in Istanbul.



RT and Sputnik chief editor Margarita Simonyan claimed the organization had been unable to contact employees in Ankara after attacks by "rioters" who were trying to break into their apartments.



That information could not immediately be confirmed.



Turkey had responded to the death of dozens of its troops in the air strike this week in Syria with deadly bombardments of its own in the Idlib region.



Syrian and Russian warplanes on February 29 kept up air strikes on the Idlib city of Saraqeb, the Syrian Observatory war monitor reported. The city is located on a key highway that has been a flash point of fighting in recent days.

Turkey on February 29 heaped pressure on the international community to confront anew the flow of migrants from war-torn Syria, with President Erdogan announcing an "open door" policy that would not prevent migrants on Turkish territory from continuing on toward the European Union.



That sparked a flood of attempts at illegal crossings into Greece and possibly Bulgaria that put the EU's border authority, Frontex, on "high alert" on March 1.

Based on reporting by AP, AFP and Reuters
Bhubaneswar, March 1 : Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday sanctioned Rs 10 lakh to BSF constable Mohammad Anees, whose house was burnt in the violence in northeast Delhi.

The Chief Minister sanctioned Rs 10 lakh from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund to the constable.

"Naveen Patnaik was saddened to know that house of Constable Mohammad Anees, 9th Battalion BSF was burnt down in recent communal violence in Delhi," said a statement from the Chief Minister Office.

Patnaik also spoke to the BSF constable and consoled about the unfortunate incident.

The BSF jawan is working in the 9th Battalion deployed in the Maoist affected Malkangiri district of the state.

The battalion is responsible for the overall security of Swabhiman Anchal, which includes the Gurupriya bridge in the Malkangiri district.
Cong accuses BJP of using Tek Fog app to propagate agenda on SM, seeks intervention by SC

BJP set to pull out all stops in UP, SP main contender

Bengali actor who joined BJP resigns over hate filled situation

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Kolkata, Mar 01: A popular Bengali actor, who joined the BJP in 2013, has resigned from the primary membership of the party expressing dismay over the "recent hate-filled situation" in the country.

She put in her papers on Friday. The BJP, however, hoped she will reconsider the decision.

"I had joined the party with a lot of hope and optimism. But, the recent violence in Delhi, the growing atmosphere of hatred and violence, made me feel disturbed," Subhadra Mukherjee told reporters on Saturday.

Delhi govt to launch WhatsApp number to lodge complaint about hate messages

Mukherjee, who has already sent in her resignation letter to BJP state unit president Dilip Ghosh, also said, "Why should brothers cut each other's throats in the name of religion? I was disturbed after hearing the news of deaths of over 40 people."

The actor said she did not want to be associated with "this brand of politics" where people can be judged by their religion and not as fellow humans.

NEWS AT NOON, MARCH 1st, 2020

Referring to Mukherjee's statement, senior BJP leader Shamik Bhattacharya told PTI that the party has never "diluted" its ideology over any issue.

"We have spoken on the issue of differentiating between refugees and infiltrators since the 50s. We also believe in the inclusiveness of India and the violence in Delhi was not the handiwork of the BJP," Bhattacharya said, adding, he was no aware of Mukherjee's decision.

"We hope she will reconsider her decision," he said.

Mukherjee, who has worked in a number of movies and TV serials, however, clarified she was not against the new citizenship law if it did not discriminate between citizens based on religious identity.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Sunday, March 1, 2020, 11:36 [IST]
A cat walks with the help of a prosthetic two-wheel device, at a veterinary hospital in Chongqing mu... Read More

A cat walks with the help of a prosthetic two-wheel device, at a veterinary hospital in Chongqing municipality. The cat's rear legs lost the ability to walk after falling from the ninth to the fifth floor of a building. It has, since, undergone four major surgeries which included removing parts of its organs.

Read Less
The first photos purported to be disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein inside Bellevue Hospital have emerged, showing the producer sitting with his head in his hands while watching TV.

The photographs, obtained by Pix11 and shared with DailyMail.com, show the 67-year-old fallen Hollywood giant for the first time since his rape conviction last week.

Weinstein was seen sitting alone hunched on a leather chair with his wheelchair visible next to him on Friday morning.

He was wearing a simple white T-shirt with what appears to be a hospital bracelet or cast on his wrist rubbing his head as he looked downcast.

Scroll down for video

The first photos purported to be disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein have emerged, showing the producer watching TV in the prison ward of New York's Bellevue hospital on Friday morning, four days following his rape conviction

The film producer rubbed his head with his hand and hunched over in his seat. His wheelchair was visible next to him and he appeared to be alone

Following his guilty conviction, Weinstein was rushed to Bellevue hospital on Monday for heart palpitations and high blood pressure, where he's remained since. Weinstein pictured in court Monday clutching onto his walker

The film titan was convicted last week of committing a criminal sex act in the first degree and rape in the third degree in the assaults of Miriam Haley and Jessica Mann and was ordered to be held in jail.

Instead of going to the notorious Rikers Island prison, Weinstein was taken from the Manhattan courthouse to NYC Health and Hospitals/Bellevue on February 24 for heart palpitations and high blood pressure, where he's remained since, according to his attorneys.

At Bellevue Weinstein is reportedly allowed to roam around at his own free will.

'He is free to roam and is not handcuffed. He is being treated like any other person,' a source said.

'He is waking with the aide of a wheelchair. He is holding on to its handles to go to the TV room, using it as a walker, where he spent about an hour this morning and then walked himself back,' the source added.

The source says that it's very clear 'Harvey does not want to go to Rikers.'

Weinstein is reportedly given around the clock protection by Department of Correction ESU (Emergency Service Unit) officers.

On Monday February 24 the film titan was convicted of committing a criminal sex act in the first degree and rape in the third degree in the assaults of accusers Miriam Haley and Jessica Mann and was ordered to be held in jail

Weinstein pictured being led out of Manhattan Supreme Court by court officers after his guilty conviction

Following his guilty conviction on Monday February 24 Weinstein was ushered into this ambulance and escorted to the hospital from the Manhattan courthouse

However, it's not clear exactly what condition Weinstein has nor when he will be moved to Rikers.

Weinstein's lawyer Arthur Aidala visited the movie mogul in the hospital on Friday. A spokesman for the convicted rapist said he is 'mentally down'.

Aidala was spotted buying snacks for his client on the same day that doctors ordered a CAT scan for Weinstein.

Weinstein is spending his time in the hospital reading books about Winston Churchill and speaking with his two young children and ex-wife Georgina Chapman, the source said.

However, Weinstein has not had visits from any of his five children.

'He feels bad that they might have to bear the mark of being his children and he doesn't want that pain for them but doesn't want to lose them in his life either,' Spokesman Juda Engelmayer said to CNN.

Engelmayer, who also paid a visit to Weinstein's hospital bed Friday, said the disgraced Hollywood producer has struggled to come to terms with the jury's decision.

'He doesn't understand how the jury didn't understand that he's not guilty of these crimes,' said Engelmayer, according to Page Six.

'He's not in the best spirits.'

Weinstein was convicted by a jury of sexually assaulting former production assistant Mimi Haleyi in 2006 (left) and raping aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013 (right)

He's currently being held at the Bellevue Hospital Center in Manhattan in the prison ward

Aidala was pictured in the lobby of Bellevue Hospital, Manhattan, Friday morning, where Weinstein has been in custody since Monday after he started suffering from heart palpitations and chest pains as he was being transported to Rikers Island

Engelmayer sought to dispel rumors that Weinstein's diversion to hospital - instead of Rikers Island correctional facility - has left him with a sweeter deal.

'He's emotionally down, he's mentally down. He's in a prison,' he said.

'Let's dispel any notion he's in some cushy place. His hospital room is a cinder block room with a hospital bed and a very wide open stainless steel toilet with no lid and open glass windows all around. Any cops or hospital staff can see in when they walk by.'

Yet, Weinstein has come under fire for his 'special treatment' after claims emerged he was staying in a large hospital suite with his family instead of the grim Rikers Island cell he's supposed to be in.

He is due to be sentenced on March 11 and he faces up to 29 years in prison.

His legal team had initially said after his conviction that they were trying to get him released on bond prior to his sentencing.

Weinstein was supposed to be jailed at the notorious Rikers Island, New York City's biggest lock up

But Aidala now says that might not be the case due to separate charges Weinstein is facing in California.

Aidala told Bloomberg on Friday that he fears the convicted rapist could be arrested by Los Angeles authorities if they try to get him out on bail while he awaits sentencing in New York.

'This is all new uncharted territory,' said Aidala.

'He's got his case in LA, and we're trying to figure out - if we get him out - they could immediately move to get him in their custody once a judge here grants him bail.'

In the California case, Weinstein is accused of raping one woman in a Beverly Hills hotel and groping another woman, model Lauren Young, while masturbating in a hotel bathroom on consecutive nights during Oscars week in 2013.

He is charged with forcible rape, forcible oral copulation, sexual penetration by use of force and sexual battery by restraint.

The charges, which were announced the night before his New York rape trial started on January 6, could land Weinstein an additional 28 years in prison if convicted of the most serious counts.

Weinstein's lawyer Donna Rotunno told DailyMail.com that their team haven't yet started thinking about the LA case.
He gave the statement while addressing JD-U) workers meet at Patnas Gandhi Maidan on the occasion of his 69th birthday.

Patna: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday said that the JD-U in Bihar would contest the Assembly elections with NDA and win more than 200 seats.

He gave the statement while addressing JD-U) workers meet at Patnas Gandhi Maidan on the occasion of his 69th birthday. While showcasing the achievements of his government, Mr Nitish Kumar said, The state government has worked for the upliftment of every class in the state. There has been development with justice here. In the field of education also, the scenario has changed. Uniform and cycle distribution schemes have increased the confidence of students, especially girls, who can be seen attending classes even in rural areas, chief minister Nitish Kumar said.

The meeting at the Gandhi Maidan also saw participation of booth level workers from across the state.

The rally organised by the JD-U is being seen as a major show of strength ahead of Assembly elections slated to be held in October-November this year. According to JD-U leaders here, the mammoth political event ahead of state elections will serve as a befitting reply to Opposition parties which has been involved in a campaign against the NDA.

Earlier, people used to talk only about jungle raj in Bihar, but now law and order has improved. The crime ratio in the state is among the lowest in the country, chief minister Kumar said.

Mr Nitish Kumar, during the event, also said that the state legislative Assembly recently passed a unanimous resolution against NRC and NPR and there was no need to lose patience on the issue of CAA since the matter was before the court.

The NPR will be done on the basis of 2010 format and a resolution regarding the issue has been passed in the state Assembly, chief Minister Kumar said.

Bihar had become the first NDA-ruled state to pass a resolution to implement the NPR in 2010 format with the inclusion of transgender column. The Assembly has also passed a resolution that NRC will not be implemented in Bihar.

The NPR work has to be completed across the country between April 1 and September 30. In Bihar, the exercise to update the NPR will take place between May 15 and 28.
By PTI

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday appealed to the External Affairs Minister to take necessary steps and arrange for safe return of hundreds of fishermen, including Keralites, trapped in Iran following coronavirus scare.

In a letter to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, he said the state government has received information that more than hundred people, including around 60 from Kerala, were trapped in Azalur in Iran.

"When contacted by state government officials, it has been stated by the persons trapped in Azalur that more than a hundred persons are there out of which around 60 are reported to be from Kerala," Vijayan said in the letter.

He said it was learnt that they were unable to return to India on account of the COVIT19 spread.

"I request you to direct the (Indian) Embassy officials (in Iran) to take necessary steps and arrange for the safe return of these persons," Vijayan wrote.

Earlier, the Fisheries Minister J Mercykutty Amma had said the state government will take all necessary steps to bring fishermen from the state stranded in Iran.

She said the state government will collect details of Keralites trapped in Iran and coordinate with the Indian embassy there through NoRKA (Department of Non-Resident Keralite Affairs).

A video of the Kerala fishermen seeking help was forwarded to the families of the fishermen and media houses in the state.

One of them is heard saying in the video that they were unable to move out of their rooms due to the restrictions imposed by the Iran government due to the coronavirus scare.

"Like us many people are from India are stranded here. We are short of food. We tried to contact our sponsor. But he asked us to contact the government authorities," the man said.

The fishermen were in Iran, working for a fishing company for last many months. Most of the Keralites are from Pozhiyur and Vizhinjam areas in Thiruvananthapuram.

The Tamil Nadu government had on Friday taken up with the Centre the issue of over 300 stranded fishermen from the state in Iran and sought steps for their immediate evacuation.

According to Chief Minister K Palaniswami, 450-odd Indians including fishermen from Tamil Nadu were working in various fishing vessels berthed and operating in Iranian ports.
3.7k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Former Vice President Joe Biden blew out Bernie Sanders in South Carolina, and his win provided some insight into where the primary could be going.



1). Joe Bidens campaign is alive and well  Biden dominated the primary with African-American voters, which punched a hole in the idea that Sanders had expanded his appeal and coalition. The Biden campaigns argument was that when the primary shifted to states that looked more like the composition of the Democratic Party, Biden would do very well. Biden matched or surpassed the scale of the Sanders victory in Nevada and showed that he might be the only moderate candidate with appeal to the rank and file who cast most of the primary who can be the nominee.

2). The Democratic primary is far from over  Bernie Sanders hasnt fixed the weaknesses that plagued his campaign in 2016, and Super Tuesday just became a lot more complicated with Bidens big win. Joe Biden is going to get a ton of free media out of his big win in South Carolina. The contest is split. The muddle scenario for Super Tuesday will involve multiple candidates in multiple states qualifying for delegates. If Klobuchar wins Minnesota and Warren wins Massachusetts along with multiple candidates qualifying in California, the party will be on course for a convention that will have no nominee heading into Milwaukee.

3). Biden versus Bloomberg  Mike Bloomberg has had two bad debates in a row. His poll numbers are sliding. Joe Biden is on the exact opposite path. The Bloomberg campaign thinks that they can win multiple states in the South on Super Tuesday, but if they dont, it will be lights out for Bloomberg. A key beyond how many candidates qualify for delegates in California is the battle between Bloomberg and Biden in the South.

Joe Bidens big win shows that the Democratic base is here, and they arent into Bernie Sanders.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

Follow Jason Easley on Facebook
ALEPPO  The good news is that the Syrian government reopened the crucial M5 highway connecting Damascus and Aleppo to commercial buses and trucks Feb. 22. But regaining control of the route from opposition forces has uprooted about a million people since December  many of them for the third or fourth time.

Nothing can describe the humanitarian catastrophe caused by the regime forces, said Mayas Doghaim, who was displaced from the Maarat al-Numan area southeast of Idlib. Doghaim, who works for Al-Hayat University for Medical Sciences, told Al-Monitor, The regime forces and their allies are the undisputed barbaric invaders of our modern era. People who had a home and a roof over their heads are today homeless, left only with memories in displacement camps.

Since 2012, the M5 has been controlled by various rebel groups. President Bashar al-Assad's regime started regaining parts of the highway in 2014, but only during the latest offensive was it able to take full control.

Regime forces and armed groups backed by Russia and Iran took over the M5 on Feb. 10 after beating the opposition south and west of the city of Aleppo. On Feb. 15, the regime began repairing the road and by Feb. 22, the Syrian Ministry of Transportation announced the highway was officially open to traffic and "at the full disposal of citizens."

The M5 is one of the most important land routes in Syria, connecting the country's largest cities. Since 2012, the regime has had to rely on longer alternatives via secondary roads.

Though it's of strategic importance to the Assad regime, the 280-mile (450-kilometer) M5 has been a curse for hundreds of thousands of people in villages and towns along the road in rural areas of Aleppo and Idlib provinces. The regime's latest offensive, which began in May, forced them to flee.

By August, the regime controlled areas in northern Hama province and the city of Khan Sheikhoun, south of Idlib. It recaptured Maarat al-Numan on Jan. 28. In mid-February, regime forces advanced to seize more villages in western Aleppo province.

Al-Monitor met Mohammad Hallaj, director of the Syrian Response Coordinators team in Syria, who said, There are still no reliable statistics on the numbers of displaced people who fled the area on both sides of the M5 highway in the countrysides of Idlib and Aleppo. But the number is definitely more than a million.

He added, It's well known that a large number of villages, towns and farms have been emptied of their inhabitants since regime forces took control of the area. Add to this, regime forces have bombarded people's homes and properties in aerial and ground attacks. They also destroyed most service facilities such as hospitals and schools  causing a great tragedy to hundreds of thousands of people who were displaced from their homes to the camps north of Idlib and Aleppo.

Mahmoud Talha from western Aleppo province, a correspondent for several local news agencies such as Sham News Network and Thiqa News Agency, told Al-Monitor, Throughout the years of the Syrian revolution, the wave of displacement from both sides of the M5 highway is by far the most substantial. Huge numbers of people have fled their homes for the unknown, leaving behind their dreams and memories. It's unbelievable that the world is standing idly by, watching this human tragedy in 2020.

The war has uprooted an estimated 13 million people since it began in 2011. Hundreds of thousands have died.

Abdel-Raouf Ahmed, displaced from western Aleppo, is currently residing in al-Bab in northeastern Aleppo. I lost my house," he told Al-Monitor. "I heard after we fled that Russian planes destroyed it almost completely. I lost all hope of returning to my hometown as long as the region remains in the grip of regime forces. I am now searching to rent a place to live with my family.

Maj. Yusuf Hammoud, spokesperson for the opposition's Syrian National Army, told Al-Monitor, The objectives of the Assad regime go far beyond controlling the M5 highway. This is manifested in the policy of systematic destruction and displacement during the regime's latest offensive. The regime has been pursuing a retaliatory policy ever since the Syrian revolution erupted."

He noted that Russia, Assads staunch ally, seeks to control all of Idlib and perhaps the entire area currently outside the regime's control. Russia wants Assad to remain at the helm and push the opposition outside Syria, even if that means millions of people."

Sahel Abo Abdel Rahman, a photojournalist who was displaced from western Aleppo, told Al-Monitor that the majority of people uprooted by the regime along the M5 highway were unable to take much of anything with them.

They were forced to flee amid intensive shelling and a scarcity of transport trucks, he said. The regime forces stole civilians properties, from shops to homes. This is part of the Assad regimes policy of displacement, destruction and systematic impoverishment of hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilians.

Abdel-Wakeel Chahoud, a teacher who had to leave Kafr Nabl, south of Idlib, blames Russia for the chaos. The goals of the regimes allies are not limited to the [M5], but extend to the entire province of Idlib.

Chahoud concluded, The world must put an end to our suffering and save us from Russia and Iran.
North Dakota's court system would collect race data on criminal defendants under a rule proposed to the state Supreme Court.

Judges and other officials say race data would drive statistical analysis for potential policy solutions to any real or perceived biases in North Dakota's criminal justice system.

"Race data is critical to criminal justice policy making decisions and will be used solely for this purpose," the rule's purpose states.

The court on Feb. 19 referred the proposal back to its Minority Justice Implementation Committee, the group of court, legal and corrections officials that put the proposal forth in December. The committee will now consider public comments submitted on the rule.

First steps

State Court Administrator Sally Holewa said the court has never specifically collected race data.

That's mostly because the court has no research analysts on staff to evaluate such data and also because of a concern that race data might be viewed "in a vacuum" without other elements such as a person's criminal history or full circumstances of a case, she said.

"But on the flip side, without that race data, we also don't have any response when people come back and say, well, there seems to be some sort of systemic prejudice going on here," Holewa said.

The two-page proposal outlines six race categories, how prosecutors and clerks of court would collect race data and how that data would be accessed. Race data wouldn't be accessible to the public unless compiled in a final report, or for research upon request and payment of a fee.

"It's basically just to try to get a handle on this type of information, the races we're dealing with and numbers and all that," said Bottineau-based Northeast District Judge Anthony Swain Benson, who chairs the committee.

"That's the purpose of the rule, is to see if there's a disproportionate handling of one race or one group of individuals ... so we can make changes or policy changes or shift things if needed, but the first step is getting that information, finding out if that's the case," he added.

Native Americans are North Dakota's largest minority group, making up 5.1% of the state's population in 2018, according to state Census Office Manager Kevin Iverson. Non-Hispanic whites made up 84% of the state.

Years of work

Roots of the proposed rule reach back more than a decade, to a 25-member group of court, corrections, legal and tribal officials formed in 2009 to study racial and ethnic bias in North Dakota's courts. The group issued a final report in 2012, which bore the Minority Justice Implementation Committee in 2013 to oversee the report's recommendations.

The committee began discussing race data collection in 2016 and formed a related data collection subcommittee in 2018.

Devils Lake-based Northeast District Judge Donovan Foughty co-chaired the North Dakota Commission to Study Racial and Ethnic Bias in the Courts. Criminal penalties have consequences that aren't equal for everyone, he said.

"If your circumstances in life are significantly different, the laws and the punishments that we often impose are significant also," Foughty said. "Because you don't have the resources to pay the fines and fees, you may end up in jail because you're noncompliant with an order.

"And how does that impact minorities? How does that impact the individual that doesn't have the resources that I have?" he said. "So those are things that we should be looking at, and how does the system work as it relates to different groups?"

Other areas

Race data is collected in other arenas, including juvenile cases, which are confidential, and also in traffic tickets, jury management and North Dakota's corrections system, such as parole and probation outcomes.

Native Americans and African Americans are overrepresented in the state's prisons, according to Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Director Leann Bertsch.

Native Americans made up about 22% of the 1,778 inmates in the department's custody on Friday, according to a report of race by facility. African Americans made up about 11%. Whites made up about 61%.

Native Americans made up about 35% of women in the department's custody, according to the report.

The answer to why minorities are overrepresented in the prison system is "very complex and multifaceted," Bertsch said. Some of it's tied to poverty and other socioeconomic factors, she said.

North Dakota's top corrections official sees the proposed rule as "a great first step" that she supports. But Bertsch noted the perceived concern of collecting race data from people who might question if providing that information would lead to them being treated less favorably.

"I think the concern is how you do it and how you do it in a very sensitive manner," she said.

The Supreme Court received three public comments on the proposed rule, all generally in support, but two expressing concerns for the proposed race categories as too limiting and not allowing respondents to self-identify their race or ethnicity, such as Hispanic.

The rule's race categories are white, black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and multiracial.

The North Dakota Commission on Legal Counsel for Indigents, which provides legal representation to needy defendants, implemented a new case management system last fall. Deputy Director Travis Finck said the system has the capability to track race if clients opt to provide that information, but the commission has no specific policy for race data and doesn't report it.

The Minority Justice Implementation Committee will review the proposed rule's public comments at its May 21 meeting, after its data collection subcommittee discusses the comments at its March 16 meeting. North Dakota's Supreme Court eventually will consider adopting the rule.

Reach Jack Dura at 701-250-8225 or jack.dura@bismarcktribune.com.

Love 5 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
During the 2010 census, the first with a dedicated strategy to connect with tribal communities, nearly 5% of Native Americans were never counted.

The U.S. Census Bureau is working to change that to make sure all Native Americans are included in the 2020 census, the official count of U.S. residents every 10 years.

Data is only as good as its participation, said Shana Radford, tribal and congressional partnership lead at the U.S. Census Bureau. Its very important for everyone to stand up and be counted.

Radford, 36, who grew up on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation and later Umatilla Reservation near Pendleton, is tasked with engaging tribes across Oregon and Idaho to help them participate in the upcoming census.

She works to educate the tribes on why it is important to be counted.

Accurate census data is tied to the amount of federal funding tribal communities can receive for essential services such as health care, education and housing.

We need to make sure the communities have accurate data, Radford said.

Some tribal members initially do not see the importance of being included in the census count, because tribal nations have their own enrollment system and citizenship program that counts members, Radford said.

But there are people on the reservations that are not in the tribe, Radford said. We just try to educate the tribes on why its important.

Another barrier is the fact that some rural tribal communities do not have internet access. And some tribal members feel limited by the race question on the census form. In past census questionnaires, Native Americans were only able to list up to two tribal affiliations.

The Census Bureau addressed the question of race on the form this year. People will be able to list the origins of their race. As an example, a white person can also add that they are Irish.

For Native Americans, they can list up to six tribal affiliations on the census form.

We expanded the response for the 2020 census, Radford said. Its up to the individual to self report how they want.

Radford said the tribes have taken initiatives to brainstorm ideas and share them with Radford.

Tribal councils across Oregon and Idaho have assigned census liaisons to work with Radford. Working with the liaisons has become a productive partnership, Radford said.

We are not the ones that come up with the solutions, Radford said. Its really the tribes. We are here to support and make sure they have the most accurate information.

In Warm Springs, Radford coordinated with the confederated tribes to help them develop a tribal complete count committee.

The Census Bureau has helped tribal, state and local governments start the community-based committees to promote the census through local outreach efforts. Complete count committees are being established in communities across the country.

They know how to reach communities within the tribes, Radford said.

In March, census workers will hand-deliver letters to the members of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs asking them to respond online, by phone or by mail to the census.

When tribal members start responding to the census, it will mark a years long effort by Radford and other tribal partners in the Census Bureau.

Radford felt especially connected to the work she did in Warm Springs, since it is a place she called home as a child.

Im really honored to know and work on behalf of the tribes, she said. Im really looking forward to a successful count.
Feb 29 (Reuters) - Canada's province of Ontario confirmed its eighth case of the COVID-19 disease caused by the newly-identified coronavirus in its capital city of Toronto, health officials said late on Friday.

The infected individual was identified as a man in his 80s who had a travel history to Egypt, officials said in a statement.

After the man arrived in Toronto on Feb. 20, he presented himself at Scarborough Health Network's General Hospital's emergency department on Thursday, the statement added.

According to the statement, he was isolated as he was tested for COVID-19 and discharged home the same day feeling well for self-isolation.

The Toronto Public Health service is actively tracing the man's contacts, the statement said.

(Reporting by Aishwarya Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
- Kenya Airways Board chairperson the cash injection will cater for overhaul of 11 engines on its E190 Embraer fleet

- Joseph said plans were underway to refurbish two old Boeing 737-700 aircraft for improved efficiency and a better passenger experience

- The recently confirmed Jambojet boss Allan Kilavuka as its new chief executive officer for the troubled national carrier

The government has approved KSh 5 billion loan request from Kenya Airways to facilitate the scheduled engine overhaul programmes on its planes.

In a statement on Friday, February 28, KQ disclosed the cash injection will cater for purchase of at least 11 engines on its E190 Embraer fleet in order to maintain highest levels of safety and reliability.

READ ALSO: Health CS Sicily Kariuki hands over docket to newly appointed Mutahi Kagwe

President Uhuru leaving for the US in 2019 aboard Kenya Airways. Photo: Uhuru Kenyatta.

Source: Facebook

READ ALSO: MCAs wa Nairobi watakikana Ikulu kufikia 8:45 Jumamosi

"I would like to thank the government for making these funds available to us. As an airline, we need to be efficient across all operations but more importantly across our fleet," the board chairperson Michael Joseph said.

Joseph said plans were underway to refurbish two old Boeing 737-700 aircraft for improved efficiency and a better passenger experience.

KQ board chairperson Michael Joseph announced there were plans to refurbish two Boeing aircraft. Photo: Daily Nation.

Source: UGC

"We also plan on undertaking refurbishments on our two Boeing 737-700 aircraft. The refurbishment will guarantee our a better experience on their flights with us," he added.

As TUKO.co.ke reported earlier, the board named Allan Kilavuka as the new chief executive officer for the troubled national carrier.

Allan Kilavuka is the incoming CEO for Kenya Airways. Photo: Allan Kilavuka.

Source: UGC

Until his appointment, Kilavuka was acting in the same capacity while holding his role as Jambojet CEO, a low-cost subsidiary of KQ.

He took over from Sebastian Mikosz who resigned in May 2019 on "personal grounds", effective December 31, 2019.

I have made the decision to shorten my contract term and I have decided to resign on personal grounds effective December 31, 2019, Mikosz said.

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.

My husband made me a chokora, used the money I sent from abroad on another woman - Nancy | Tuko TV.

Source: TUKO.co.ke
New Yorks top judges very publicly support the bail reforms that went into effect on Jan. 1.

But it hardly sounds as if they they are enthralled with the policy change that has drawn fire and praise from people on opposing sides of the issue.

In his testimony before a joint committee of state lawmakers conducting a recent budget hearing, the states chief administrative judge, Lawrence Marks, said he preferred a bail system like that in New Jersey  one that allows for judicial discretion  as opposed to the current version.

And in her State of the Judiciary on Wednesday, Chief Judge Janet DiFiore called for judicial discretion to be restored at applicable bail hearings, saying its elimination can be counterproductive to the cause of reform.

DiFiore then went further, hinting ever so subtlety that the need for bail reform was perhaps not as dire as it may have seemed.

DIFiore said what has been overlooked in the debate over bail reform is the fact that New Yorks judges had already cut back dramatically on cash bail in recent years.

She noted that the percentage of cases in which bail was set plummeted in New York City from 48 percent in 1990 to 23 percent in 2018. She said that in 2018, 76 percent of defendants were released without bail, which was well above the national average of 50 percent. She noted that New York Citys jail population has been shrinking steadily and that the number of defendants held in pretrial detention was at its lowest level in a decade.

If one did not know better, one night think DiFiore was less of an advocate for bail reform and more like the longtime former district attorney of Westchester County that she is.

Indeed, prosecutors such as Albany County David Soares, in his recent role as president of the District Attorneys Association of the State of New York, were very supportive of reforming the cash bail system  just not the way it was done in the state budget in 2019.

And DiFiore made it clear in her speech that bail reform was needed. She said the old system was unfair and discriminatory toward minorities. She praised Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie for their leadership in making the change.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

But she made it clear that the bail reform itself should be reformed in her opinion.

She said: History has taught us that any time responsible leaders undertake enormous change, there will always be  in any discipline  consequences that were not, or could not, have been anticipated, and certainly that were never intended.

None of this should be entirely surprising given that in 2019, DiFiore proudly highlighted the work of the New York State Justice Task Force, which spent 21 month examining the issue, looking at the bail systems in all 50 states and speaking to various stakeholders on the issue.

The task force recommended bail reform  and judicial discretion when applicable.

DiFiore and Marks position might be distressing to champions of the new system. Its now really new.
Washington: Former US vice-president Joe Biden has kept alive his hopes of winning the Democratic Party's presidential nomination by scoring a resounding victory in the South Carolina primary.

The major US television networks declared Biden the winner just moments after polls closed in South Carolina on Saturday (Sunday AEDT), foreshadowing an easy win for the 77-year old.

With 99 per cent of precincts reporting, Biden was on 49 per cent of the vote compared to Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders on 20 per cent.

Speaking to supporters in Columbia, the state capital, an energised Biden said: "For all those of you who've been knocked down, counted out, left behind, this is your campaign."
The European Commission announced Friday it was mobilizing an additional 10 million to respond to one of the worst Desert Locust outbreaks in decades in East Africa. The outbreak could have devastating consequences on food security in an already vulnerable region where 27.5 million people suffer from severe food insecurity and at least 35 million more are at risk.

Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen, stressed: This crisis shows, once again, how fragile food systems can be when facing threats. The EUs approach, in line with the Green Deal, puts sustainability at its heart. We must enhance the capacity to collectively respond to these threats and we also have a responsibility to step in now with resolve to avoid a major crisis, tackle the root causes of this natural disaster, and protect livelihoods and food production.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has formulated a response plan, but country interventions must be rapidly scaled-up to support national governments of the affected countries. A narrow window of opportunity exists now to contain this disastrous outbreak and protect the livelihoods of millions of vulnerable people across East Africa and beyond.

The EU response, working alongside partners in the Global Network against Food Crises, has been swift. This partnership includes the EU, FAO, the World Food Program and other stakeholders and was created to facilitate sustainable solutions to food crises across the globe.

The EU had earlier mobilized 1 million from humanitarian funds to assist the countries affected by the locust invasion.

The situation has rapidly deteriorated over the past month in East Africa. The long rainy season which will start in March, will bring with it a new wave of breeding and further spreading in the region. Damages to crop and pasture are already being reported across Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia, the three most affected countries, but losses may quickly spread to other neighboring countries, particularly Djibouti, Eritrea, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. Yemen, Sudan, Iran, India and Pakistan are also at risk.
Speaking at the event, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong asked localities across the country to absolutely end illegal fishing in foreign waters by May 2020.

As planned, the European Commission (EC) will conduct the third round of inspection over Vietnams exploitation of seafood.

In order to have the ECs IUU warning lifted, Vietnam has strived to follow its nine recommendations by adopting and applying the Law on Fisheries 2017, he said.

Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)



Cuong requested that all vessels with a length of over 15m must be equipped with global positioning systems (GPS) between now and April 1st, 2020.

State management agencies must reach consensus on equipment standards and technology, he added.

At present, 61 fishing ports in 28 coastal cities and provinces are qualified for tracing the origin of aquatic products.

According to Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien, there are 125 fishing ports and 146 anchorages across the country, but only 46 percent of the ports and nearly half of the anchorages have met set standards.

Cuong asked units concerned to build a plan to improve fishing ports and anchorages between now and May 2020, thereby suggesting the government adding it into the medium-term capital use plan.

The move is meant to restructure the fishery towards reducing fishing output and increasing aquaculture, he said.

On the occasion, the minister also urged ministries, agencies and localities to instruct farmers to follow the ECs recommendations on IUU combat./.
Billionaire activist Tom Steyer, who poured millions of dollars into his Democratic presidential campaign, ended his bid tonight after a disappointing finish in the South Carolina primary.

After spending nearly $24 million on television advertising in the state, Steyer finished behind Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, landing him in third place on Saturday night.

The final stretch of Steyer's presidential campaign was focused on South Carolina, where he sought to appeal to black voters by decrying inequalities in American life that he said were caused by racism.

The 62-year-old, who spent eight months on the campaign trail, said after the disappointing results rolled in: 'Honestly, I can't see a path where I can win the presidency.'

He added: 'The people who have endorsed me have stood up in a very red state where I have seen things that have broken my heart.

'This has been a great experience. I have zero regrets. Meeting you and the rest of the American people was the highlight of my life.'

He also couldn't resist a swipe at President Trump, saying: 'Every Democrat is a million times better than Trump. Trump is a disaster.'

Billionaire activist Tom Steyer, who poured millions of dollars into his Democratic presidential campaign, has dropped out after a disappointing finish in the South Carolina primary

The 62-year-old, who spent eight months on the campaign trail, said: 'Honestly, I can't see a path where I can win the presidency.' He added: 'The people who have endorsed me have stood up in a very red state where I have seen things that have broken my heart.' Pictured: Steyer hugging South Carolina state Rep. Russell Ott

Steyer also couldn't resist a swipe at President Trump, saying: 'Every Democrat is a million times better than Trump. Trump is a disaster'

After spending nearly $24 million on television advertising in the state, Steyer finished behind Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, landing him in third on Saturday night

With a net worth estimated by Forbes as $1.6 billion, Steyer was a presence in the Democratic contest well before he made his candidacy official in July 2019, blanketing the airwaves with $10 million in television ads advocating for Trump's impeachment.

Steyer said he got into the race because he didn't think racial injustice was being addressed in the country.

On Saturday, he said he will continue to work to address that issue. He also thanked his supporters and pledged that he would never forget South Carolina, where he focused most of his presidential efforts.

He told his supporters at his election night party: 'I'm not leaving. We are already working to figuring out ways to make sure that we stay in South Carolina.

'When the Lord closes a door, he opens a window. I will find that window and I will crawl through it with you. I promise you that. I love you very much. '

He added on Instagram: 'Tonight, I suspended my campaign for President of the United States. I have always said that win, lose, or draw, I am in this fight.

'This primary remains a journey towards the necessary defeat of Donald Trump and his corrupt administration. Together, I still believe we will beat him and restore power to the people.'

Andrew Yang, who dropped out of the race on February 11, said on Twitter: 'Tom Steyer is a great American and patriot who has spent years fighting for racial justice and addressing climate change. He is going to keep fighting. Non sibi Tom. See you soon.'

On the night before the election, Steyer held a rally at a college campus in Columbia, inviting rapper Juvenile to appear. He joined the rapper for a spirited rendition of 'Back That Azz Up' onstage

Steyer's daughter, Evie, hugs her mother, Kat Taylor, as Steyer announced he was dropping out of the race

On the night before the election, Steyer held a rally at a college campus in Columbia, inviting rapper Juvenile to appear.

He joined the rapper for a spirited rendition of 'Back That Azz Up' onstage.

Steyer grabbed the mic, bent his knees and stuck out his behind to the rhythm of the 1999 hit, that taught a generation of how to 'drop it like it's hot.'

Steyer's campaign had put together a line-up of Juvenile, Adams and DJ Jazzy Jeff for the event, taking place a day before South Carolina voters head to the polls.

The rally was held at Allen University, a private, historically black university in South Carolina's state capital.

Officially in the contest in July, Steyer said he was prepared to spend $100 million toward his presidential ambitions and would remain committed to giving at least $50 more million this election cycle to outside groups he helped create, including Need to Impeach.

But Steyer's wealth was characterized as a liability in a puritanical Democratic primary, with both Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren decrying the presence of billionaires in the 2020 race.

Warren, who didn't mention Steyer by name, tweeted after he announced his candidacy: 'The Democratic primary should not be decided by billionaires, whether they're funding Super PACs or funding themselves.'

Sanders said that while he may 'like Tom personally,' he is 'a bit tired of seeing billionaires trying to buy political power.' Both also mentioned it in fundraising appeals.

Steyer said he got into the race because he didn't think racial injustice was being addressed in the country. He said he will continue to work to address that issue. He also thanked his supporters and pledged that he would never forget South Carolina, where he focused most of his presidential efforts

But Steyer's wealth provided him with the ability to campaign nationwide, hiring full complements of state-based staff and continuing to flood the airwaves. Through Feb. 25, Steyer had spent about $186 million on ads, according to the tracking firm Advertising Analytics, though that figure would soon be dwarfed by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's even more massive spending.

Steyer's late entry caused him to miss the first few Democratic debates, but he began qualifying for the debates starting with the fourth one and made every stage but one from then on, appearing with his trademark red tartan tie. He earned fewer airtime minutes than others but made his mark particularly as it pertained to his top issue, climate change.

Even still, Steyer continued to pivot back to his criticism of Trump, reiterating his pre-candidacy calls for ousting the Republican from the White House, either electorally or via impeachment, as that process got underway in Washington.

On the trail, Steyer focused much of his effort in South Carolina, home to the first Southern primary, as well as the first state to test a candidates performance with a heavily black electorate. His wife relocated to the state for the duration of his campaign, and he spent almost $24 million on TV advertising - more than all the other candidates combined - in his quest for his first top finish in four contests, targeting minority-owned media in particular with a half-million-dollar spend on black radio.

Andrew Yang, who dropped out of the race on February 11, said on Twitter: 'Tom Steyer is a great American and patriot who has spent years fighting for racial justice and addressing climate change. He is going to keep fighting. Non sibi Tom. See you soon'

He racked up notable endorsements, including the chiefs of the Legislative Black Caucus and Democratic Black Caucus, as well as the Greenwood, South Carolina, woman behind President Barack Obamas vaunted campaign chant, 'Fired up, ready to go.'

In his policy rollouts and campaign speeches in the state, Steyer frequently noted his view that race, and what he saw as race-based injustices, were an undercurrent for many societal problems, including access to health care, environmental well-being and the need for criminal justice reform.

'Theres a significant racial component in almost every single policy area,' Steyer told reporters during a South Carolina bus tour in mid-January. 'I think that theres been a desire for a long time to bury this and not talk about it, and hope that it goes away. Its not going away.'

But the road wasnt always smooth, there or in other early voting places. A top Steyer aide in South Carolina was forced to resign in November after it was revealed that he accessed volunteer data from the campaign of Democratic rival Kamala Harris, who dropped out in December. And a few days later, a top Steyer aide in Iowa resigned after The Associated Press reported he had privately offered campaign contributions to local politicians in exchange for supporting Steyer.

While his first political bid, the presidential effort was not the first time Steyer had considered running for office. He eyed bids for governor of California in 2018 and the Senate in 2016.
Ranking high among the President's powers and responsibilities is the job of communicator in chief. In times of triumph and clear and present dangers, the public looks to the President for cues on how to act, what they should feel and what they should do.

In the aftermath of the Challenger explosion in 1986, people shared grief and were reassured by President Ronald Reagan's address to the nation. George W. Bush grabbing the bullhorn at ground zero in 2001 reminded the country that together we would all get through this tragedy. For Bill Clinton, it was the Oklahoma City bombing response, and for Barack Obama, his powerful speech and song in Charleston, South Carolina, in the aftermath of the shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church.

And yet for every powerful moment, there are as many misses. George W. Bush's "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq and in 2005 his quote to the embattled FEMA director after Hurricane Katrina, "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job," created a political hole that Bush 43 never quite climbed out of. And in the midst of a serious economic crisis in the late 1970's, Jimmy Carter's "malaise" speech hit all the wrong notes for rebuilding confidence in America's economy.

The point is that communicating matters. Words and optics make a big difference, not only politically, but in solving whatever crisis faces the country. President Donald Trump faces one of those moments right now with the spread of the coronavirus. To date, he's done almost everything wrong. He has consistently underplayed the potential for a serious public health crisis here at home. Worse, he has made a series of off-the-cuff remarks on a complicated scientific problem that has undermined the work being done both at the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Compounding the problem is his apparent emphasis -- too often -- on the economy and the stock market instead of the public health issues. Is there anyone who really doubts by now that for Trump his own political fortunes, which are tied to economic and market performance, take precedence over protecting the health of all Americans? But that approach has failed spectacularly because the markets are looking for the same thing the public wants and needs -- reassurance that there is a plan in place to deal with the potential pandemic.

Making matters even worse, Trump has made this a political football by going after the Democratic leaders in Congress and not contradicting conservative commentators who are making outrageous claims about Democrats rooting for the virus to spread to gain political advantage. Trump went as far as to say Friday night at a rally in South Carolina that coronavirus is the Democrats' "new hoax."

Like all Presidents before him, his ability to govern (and in Trump's case, be reelected) will be judged by his performance during crisis in the next weeks and months. There are several steps he should take immediately that will both help solve the problem and boost his political standing.

First, he must stop speaking off the cuff. His comments have ranged from uninformed to the ridiculous. Saying things like, "A lot of people think that (the virus) goes away in April ... as the heat comes in," undermines his ability to be the communicator in chief.

Since we know he won't stop tweeting, he should use that platform to put out sound and vetted advice on what average Americans can do, what they should worry about and what they shouldn't. In any crisis, the person or organization that consistently delivers accurate and useful information controls the narrative. The President is uniquely positioned to fill that role.

Second, it's right to coordinate all information through a central source, with the White House being the logical place. But to be effective, you have to provide information through briefings on a regular basis.

A communications team drawn from the medical community needs to brief the press every day. Flood the zone with information, become the trusted source of what people need. Let the political and legislative people be involved where appropriate, but let the experts drive the information flow. Information, not spin, is the way forward. It's not a zero-sum game. You don't win by proving you're better than your political opponents. You win by winning the public's trust to solve the problem

Third, Trump should suspend or scale back the political activities of the administration. It was a terrible look this week as the President simultaneously sought to calm the country and markets while meeting with social media personalities Diamond and Silk and other right-wing leaders as part of the CPAC conference. The Vice President putting off his first task force meeting until after the same divisive political conference also didn't help.

The President should not be running around the country holding rallies and should not be using the bully pulpit to castigate Democrats on this important issue. Bring the Democrats in, make them part of the solution. In the end, it's the President who will get the lion's share of the credit -- and the blame.

Fourth, optics matter, optics reassure. The President needs to be seen directing the massive resources of the federal government that are arrayed against the spread of coronavirus. It's not enough to be solving the problem, the President needs to provide evidence that the government is doing everything it can, and he is the force driving the process. And it's not just optics.

The President, through his public actions, has a unique ability to actually activate and drive the response. Put simply, when the President says we are going to do something, the government responds.

Fifth, he needs to be straight with the American public. People want to know how serious the problem is, what is being done and what they can do about it themselves. They don't want platitudes and will severely penalize any politician who pretends there is no real problem when everyone knows there is.

It runs against all elements of Trump's makeup, but a little humility, honesty and rolling up of the sleeves -- doing the work of government and being seen doing it -- would go a long way. These are not the times for self-congratulation and claiming that only one man can solve the problem. It's a potential crisis that will force Trump to act differently if he hopes to survive politically.

Finally, the economy is based on fundamentals and perception and emotions. Trump needs to level with the American people about the impact of the virus. Bragging about how strong we are runs counter to what people are seeing. Acknowledge the pain this virus will cause, and be clear about what the government can and can't do. Remember what Bush 43 said in the aftermath of 9/11: We will need to change the way we fight terrorism, but if everyone stays home and doesn't go out and spend and live, the terrorists have already won.

It is unlikely the President can grow into this model overnight. But his reelection may depend on it, given the far-ranging impacts of a possible pandemic. President Clinton had a simple credo that he followed consistently: Good policy always makes good politics. President Trump would be wise to follow that advice.
Being a person from the third gender or someone who does not identify any gender can be problematic, especially in legal or judicial system where the law recognizes only the two genders.

Recently a transgender thief avoided jail because she didn't have the paperwork to prove she is a woman and couldn't be sent to a male prison, according to a Mirror UK report.

Argus/Sussex News and Pictures

Leila Le Fey threatened a shop worker with a claw hammer to steal wine at a Budgens in Brighton, and for this she was sentenced to six months in prison.

She was taken into custody but got out after an hour as her barrister, Rebecca Upton, argued that as Le Fey did not have certified evidence of her gender reassignment, she would have to go to the male-only Lewes Prison.

Daily Mirror

Brighton Argus reports that Ms Upton told Lewes Crown Court that as prison rules meant that Le Fey could not be kept in solitary confinement she would be a vulnerable prisoner. She reportedly said, "The only way Le Fey could prove her new gender would be an 'undignified examination', one which court staff were not prepared to do."

Usplash/Representative Image

The judge suspended her jail sentence for six months but she must attend 30 rehabilitation sessions. Well, may be here her nonconformity actually played in her favor.
A recent gas crisis in the Kurdish region of Iraq shows just how dangerous intra-Kurdish conflict can be.

In early February, the oil- and gas-rich Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) woke up to a major energy crisis.

Its residents faced an acute shortage of propane gas canisters for cooking and heating, which led to prices jumping threefold. The crisis hit in the middle of winter as temperatures dropped below zero, stirring public anger.

KRI residents had every right to be angry. Like many previous failures in basic service provision in the region, this one also had to do with corruption and clashing business interests of powerful political blocs.

The problem started on February 1, the date that the Sur Gas company, which in 2019 won a tender to distribute liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from the Khor Mor gas field in Sulaymaniyah province, was supposed to begin operations.

First, the office of the company was raided by unknown armed men and then its trucks were shot at and stopped, cutting off the supply of gas to the rest of the region.

According to media reports, the attacks were related to a dispute over the tender between the people who stood behind Sur Gas and Golden Jaguar, the company that held the contract previously. The two companies are allegedly tied to different factions within the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK)  the two most powerful parties in the KRI.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) threatened to send police units to the gas field to secure the area and make sure the trucks make it through. The issue was eventually resolved after the intervention of Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani of the PUK, which allegedly led to the conclusion of a deal between the various sides to the dispute.

In statements, various officials admitted for the first time that mafias were in control of the energy sector and that needed to change. For years, the KRI has suffered from the fragmentation of public authority due to deep partisanship, which has led to the emergence of multiple centres of power, especially in the regions controlled by the PUK  namely Sulaymaniyah province.

The security sector has been weakened by the continuing division along partisan lines within the intelligence, police and Peshmerga, the KRIs military force. Apart from the Peshmerga units loyal to the KDP and the PUK, there are various powerful figures within the political elite who have their own private militias.

This has made the formal government institutions and police powerless in holding to account politically connected individuals who act outside of the law. It has also allowed for unhinged corruption propagated by vast clientelistic networks which swallow much of the funds accumulated from the sale of the KRIs natural resources.

As a result, public infrastructure projects and social provision in the KRI have suffered, which has angered the local population. Despite KRG officials constantly promising 24-hour electricity, the KRI still gets only an average of six hours of power from the government, roads are in bad shape, there are severe problems with water utilities and sewage, and poverty and unemployment are on the rise.

Over the past decade, there have been repeated popular protests across the region against corruption and substandard service provision. While Iraqs Kurds have not joined en masse the protests in Baghdad and the south of the country, this does not mean that the region is safe from similar violent upheaval. There have already been some protests in several areas in the KRI.

If the corruption and infighting between Kurdish officials over the control of natural resources continue, they could undermine the stability of the KRI and damage its reputation on the global stage.

The KDP and the PUK have been dragging their feet about taking action against corruption and the politicisation of security institutions. The KRGs signature legislation  the Reform Law  does not really address the issue of corruption in the natural resources sector despite the new cabinets anti-corruption mantra since its formation last year.

In addition, powerful figures within these parties have also sought to hinder the unification of the Kurdish security forces, including interior ministry forces, counterterrorism forces, intelligence, and the Peshmerga, because they want to retain personal control over them in order to continue their corrupt profiteering.

The Kurdish public increasingly views Western countries as the protectors of the KDP and the PUK who prey on the regions wealth and use these Western-trained and equipped forces to quash public dissent and protests.

The West, especially the United States, has tried to help the KRG unify the KDP and the PUK forces under the command of the ministry since 2007. However, these efforts have so far failed, not only because of the hostility between the two main parties but also because of Washingtons unwillingness to leverage its military and financial aid to get them to accept reforms.

If the situation continues to deteriorate in the KRI due to KDP-PUK tensions and this threatens US interests by making the region more susceptible to Iranian influence, the US may be compelled to take action. One tool available to US decision-makers is the Magnitsky Act, which allows for sanctions of corrupt officials in foreign countries.

The Act has already been used against Iraqi nationals. Last year, three Iraqi militia leaders and one businessman were sanctioned over corruption and violence against protesters in Baghdad.

Given that much of KDP and PUK wealth is invested in the West, sanctions passed under the Magnitsky Act could severely hurt senior Kurdish officials.

It is time the Kurdish political elite realise that it is in their direct interest to give up on their narrow personal interests and allow for the strengthening and depoliticisation of KRG institutions, the unification of security forces and the reform of the natural resources sector. It is urgent that both the KDP and the PUK take action in this direction, especially now, as Iraq faces major internal instability, a government formation crisis, widespread protests and the fallout from the US-Iran escalation.

As for the US  if it wants stability and security to prevail in the KRI, it must side with the people and formal government institutions by sending a clear, credible message to corrupt officials who seek to exploit its natural resources for personal gain. If left unresolved, such infighting has the potential to trigger intra-Kurdish conflict with wider ramifications for regional and international security.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.
Image of the coronavirus. (Photo by HANDOUT/National Institutes of Health/AFP via Getty Images)

The first case of coronavirus has been confirmed in the Republic of Ireland.

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre was informed of the confirmed case of Covid-19 on Saturday.

The patient, a male in the eastern part of the country, is currently receiving "appropriate medical care".

The case is associated with travel from an affected area in northern Italy, rather than contact with another confirmed case in Northern Ireland.

The man came forward himself with symptoms. Tests confirmed he had the virus only hours before the announcement was made and authorities then began the process of tracing those he may have come into contact with.

It is understood health officials are attempting to trace those who may have come into contact with the man.

Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer with the Department of Health, said: This is not unexpected. We have been preparing for this eventuality for many weeks now.

Public health protocols have been in place since January and are operating effectively.

The health service is well used to managing infectious diseases and has robust response measures in place.

Stormont Health Minister Robin Swann said: We will continue to co-operate on contact tracing and other vital steps as we work relentlessly to mitigate the spread of COViD 19.

Earlier today, the First Minister, deputy First Minister, Taoiseach, Minister Harris and myself spoke together by teleconference. We underlined our commitment to continued cooperation between respective Departments and public health organisations on both sides of the border. I also spoke with Minister Harris again this evening."

Positive test results had been anticipated on both sides of the border and we have repeatedly made clear it was a question of when not if Robin Swann

At a hastily convened press conference on Saturday night, Dr Holohan said the likelihood of more cases of Covid-19 happening in Ireland was "moderate to high."

He said the man, who is the first case in the Republic, had returned to Ireland from northern Italy. He praised the man for following the official advice of coming forward when he noticed he had symptoms.

He refused to inform the small number of journalists of any personal details relating to the man or his movements.

He declined to say if he was on the same flight from Italy as the woman who flew into Dublin and was diagnosed in Northern Ireland.

Dr Holohan said it was vital that anyone who has been to affected areas and who has symptoms has confidence that their privacy will be tightly safeguarded by health authorities.

Unless people are assured of privacy, they will not come forward to be tested, he said.

He refused to say if a second airline cabin crew would need to go into isolation the same way as the original crew on the woman's flight.

In an earlier statement, Dr John Cuddihy, Director of the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, said: "The HSE is now working rapidly to identify any contacts the patient may have had, to provide them with information and advice to prevent further spread.

It is important to note that the risk of transmission through casual contact is low."

Minister Harris said: "This is not unexpected. We have been preparing for this since January.

"I would strongly encourage people to follow the guidance and advice of the National Public Health Emergency Team, led by the Chief Medical Officer."

Over 100 tests have been carried out on people in the Republic so far.

It is the second case of coronavirus on the island of Ireland, after the first case in Northern Ireland was confirmed earlier this week.

The woman had arrived at Dublin Airport from northern Italy before travelling to Belfast by train.

It is understood she has been treated at home.

People who sat within two rows of the person on the plane from northern Italy to Dublin were contacted.

Read More

The woman followed advice in reporting concerns to a GP and "self-isolated" at home whilst awaiting

Symptoms of the coronavirus include a cough, shortness of breath, fever and breathing difficulties.

The number of people sickened by the virus climbed to more than 85,000 globally on Saturday and there were more than 2,850 deaths, most of them in China.

Schools and universities will stay closed for a second consecutive week in three northern Italian regions in an effort to contain Europe's worst outbreak of coronavirus.

Italy's neighbours are also taking measures to contain the spread of the virus. France on Saturday put a temporary ban on public gatherings with more than 5,000 people, while Switzerland on Friday banned events expected to draw more than 1,000.
Open source

Turkey launched a Spring Shield large-scale military operation in northwestern Syria. This was announced by Turkish Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar, as Anadolu reported.



Akar said the operation was launched "in response to a sneaky airstrike on the positions of the Turkish military, which killed 36 soldiers on February 27 in the de-escalation zone."



"Turkey does not pursue the goal of armed confrontation with Russia in Syria. Our task is to prevent the crimes of the Bashar al-Assad regime, eliminate radicalization and prevent migration. The Turkish armed forces are based on the right to self-defense. Our goal is only Assads supporters who attacking the location of the Turkish military," Akar said.

Related: Turkey says thousands of migrants have crossed to EU



The Turkish Minister of Defense informed that since the beginning of the operation one drone, eight helicopters, 103 tanks, 72 howitzer artillery installations, three air defense systems have been destroyed, 2,221 Syrian regime soldiers have been neutralized.



The media later reported that Turkey shot down two Syrian fighters. Previously, fighter pilots managed to eject.

The situation in Idlib escalated after several dozen Turkish soldiers were killed in Syrian Idlib by the army of Bashar al-Assad and the troops of the Russian Federation.



After the attack, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu held a telephone conversation with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.



The Turkish army retaliated against the positions of Bashar al-Assads troops in Idlib, in revenge for the deaths of more than three dozen Turkish soldiers in this Syrian province.
As Delhi gets back on its feet after days of deadly violence that left close to 50 dead and more than 250 injured earlier this week, those providing relief are facing a rather grave challenge.



In northeast Delhi's Karawal Nagar - one of the areas worst-hit by communal riots - goons are snatching away relief material and threatening those who are trying to help the ones affected by riots.

In a distress call, a journalist on Twitter, requested Delhi Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal, and Deputy Chief Minister, Manish Sisodia, to deploy their volunteers.



In Karawal Nagar area goons are snatching away relief material and threatening those who are trying to help riot affected people. @ArvindKejriwal @msisodia can you PL put yr volunteers there because there is no point telling this to @DelhiPolice  vineeta pandey (@p_vineeta) March 1, 2020

This is happening in front of cops pic.twitter.com/5TUofMmPZ1  vineeta pandey (@p_vineeta) March 1, 2020

The relief convoy was encountered by a mob who threatened to kill those providing relief material and burn them alive. On Twitter, journalist, Vineeta Pandaey, shared that all of this happened while Delhi Police was deployed there.

The relief material convoy has refused to go in the area due to death threats, despite heavy police and paramilitary presence.



Twitter

Karawal Nagar, Bhajanpura, Shiv Vihar were among the areas where deadly riots unfolded starting February 23. Mob ran amok and set ablaze houses, schools, vehicles and a mosque. Many lost their lives and loved ones in the communal riots. CM Kejriwal announced that the Delhi government will also provide compensation and help those affected by the clashes.
Garba Shehu, presidential spokesman, has accused the media of paying more attention to coronavirus outbreak than malaria. Coronavi...





Garba Shehu, presidential spokesman, has accused the media of paying more attention to coronavirus outbreak than malaria.





Coronavirus has made national and international headlines daily since the disease first broke out in China late 2019.





The first case in Nigeria was recorded on Friday in Lagos following the arrival of an Italian from Milan, Italy.





Shehu, in a Facebook post, asked when the media will bring to spotlight, the daily 822 malaria deaths peculiar to Nigeria.





This mornings newspapers, all of them have Coronavirus as the lead, cover story. When will they bring the spotlight to bear on 822 who are killed by malaria everyday in Nigeria? Shehu asked.





Meanwhile, Nigeria has been grappling with the outbreak and spread of Lassa fever across 115 local governments in the country.





According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), 118 people have died of Lassa fever since the beginning of 2020.





The NCDC gave the number of suspected cases to be 2,633, confirmed cases, 609 and nine probable cases.





The centre said the disease has spread to 27 of the 36 states of the federation.








"Earlier, it was difficult to find brides given the water scarcity in the villages... now, the situation has changed," says a villager in remote Buldhana district of drought-prone Vidarbha region in Maharashtra.

Not just about adequate water supplies, similar happy notes resonate among the villagers when it comes to good crops and rising cattle numbers.

A brain child of Union minister Nitin Gadkari, 'Jal Kranti' initiative has also made the villages supply aggregates for highway construction.

Farmer suicides are a thing of the past and no more dependence on water tankers for drinking water needs, according to the villagers.

Rather, multiple crop pattern and multiplying cattle population, which was on the decline some time ago, and even, fisheries are providing livelihood opportunities, they said.

In the words of Gadkari, it is not only about water supplies but also vehicles on roads in the area that is a reflection of better economic prospects.

"Wherever work was taken up, wells have been recharged... earlier, there was no scooter, no motorcycle in the area. Now, it has 18 two-wheelers, 4 four-wheelers, 24-hour water supplies, cultivation... changing Wardha's economy," he said.

'Jal Kranti', now being implemented in 283 villages, is credited for changing the economy of these villages by rejuvenating water bodies and simultaneously supplying aggregates for highway network.

Generally, aggregate is earthwork or soil needed to construct highways.

Under the project, aggregates and soil are excavated from dried up water bodies like ponds and wells, free of cost. They are then used in lieu of soil for highway projects in areas like Buldhana where average rainfall remains scanty.

Areas like Buldhana barely receive 700 to 800 mm of rainfall, lesser than for entire Vidarbha region, which accounted for maximum of 2,239 suicides by farmers out of the 5,763 across the country in 2018.

"A total of 34 of the 61 percolation tanks in Buldhana alone have been excavated by NHAI while the rest has been done by Maharashtra government PWD department," a senor NHAI official said.

A percolation tank is an artificial reservoir that taps surface water run-off and allow it to percolate within the permeable land.

It is seen as an effective method for ground water recharge.

Around a percolation tank at Sindi Harali, there was multiple crops, including wheat, sugarcane and barley.

"We could hardly reap soybean crop... it depended on scanty rainfall. For drinking water, we were dependent on tankers... Now, things have changed. We are yielding two crops. Our wells have been recharged. The pond is full," 75-year-old Sripad Jadav of Shelud said.

Bhikaji Jadav said the pond is full even though it is Febraury whereas tankers used to arrive in the villages starting in January. A total of about 20,000 villagers are depended on the tank in Chikhali Taluka.

Madhao Kotasthane said villagers are now buying sprinklers, which costs Rs 40,000.

60-year-old Bimalbai Sukhdeov pointed towards her field and said, "prosperity has reached our village. See the crops."



Under the Buldhana project, so far 12 national highway projects totalling 491 kilometres have been constructed.

"Around 52.10 lakh cubic meter material has been extracted from rivers, ponds and small irrigation projects thereby creating 5,510 thousand cubic metre (TCM) storage capacity in the district.

"This has benefited about 5 lakh population. As many as 22,800 wells were recharged due to it and 81 water supply schemes were benefitted. It also resulted in an increase of about 1,525 hectares area through recharged wells" Balasaheb Theng, former Chief Engineer, PWD Nagpur, said.

At another recharged tank Lanjud, villagers, mostly belonging to Shetkari community, said the tank has changed the lives of people in 12 villages -- Chilhali Kd, Chilhali Bk, Lanjud, Saujatpur, Amboda, Amsari, Sutala Bk, Pahujira, Morgaon, Parkhed, Pimpri, Ghatouri and Wadi.

Ramdas Madhav, 62, said the villagers mostly depended here on cattle breeding for livelihood and the livestock was about 2 lakh and growing.

"Earlier, scores of cattle had died in want of water", he said.

Sagar Nanaware, project manager of infrastructure firm Iron Triangle that executed excavation work on behalf of NHAI, said that about one lakh truckloads of earthwork were excavated from the Lanjud tank.

An NHAI official said the aggregates were used for building the new NH 53 (earlier NH 6) in six months.

Another villager said that pisciculture (fish farming) has been undertaken in the pond with monthly yield of about a tonne, bringing employment to many.

At Hiwarkhed where a tank was rejuvenated, Ashok K Hatkar, a local farmer, said it has benefitted at least 10 villages.

A total of 60 such projects have been completed in entire Maharashtra.

"Buldhana was one of the 4-5 districts in Maharashtra which faced farmer suicides. Water level had gone 400 metres down. Wherever work was taken up wells have been recharged, pumps which worked for one hour have been working for 12 hours," Gadkari said.

"At Wardha, Akola, a river was rejuvenated... nine check dams were built there... earlier, there was no scooter no motorcycle in the area. Now it has 18 two-wheelers, 4 four-wheelers, 24 hours water, cultivation ... changing its economy," he noted.

According to him, the work undertaken by the NHAI has resulted in Rs 900 crore worth of work in the area of water conservation.

Excavation or dredging ensure rain water harvesting and also helps in recharging of ground water.

Besides, large scale desilting was done to remove deposits in tanks river etc which obstruct absorption of water.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
MILAN  Coronavirus infections in Italy rose 50% Sunday and the U.S. government issued its strongest travel warning yet, advising Americans against any travel to two regions in northern Italy that have been hard hit by the virus that first emerged in China in December.

Authorities said the total number of people infected in Italy had risen to 1,694, a 50% jump from just 24 hours earlier. Five more people infected with the virus have died, bringing the deaths in Italy to 34, while 83 people have fully recovered.

Italian health authorities said the increases were expected, since it takes as long as two weeks for containment measures to take effect, and because Italy has a large number of elderly people. Still, the numbers highlighted the rapid impact the virus is having on Italy, the epicenter of the outbreak in Europe.

''This acceleration was expected, unfortunately,'' said Giovanni Rezza, director of the infective illness department at the National Health Institute. He said it would be another week or 10 days until the spread of the virus slowed down in the country.

With numerous cases in other European countries traced back to Italy, many countries have issued travel warnings for the 11 Italian towns that have been on lockdown since the virus exploded there on Feb. 21. But none have gone as far as the U.S. government, which on Sunday urged Americans not to travel to the regions of Lombardy and Veneto, raising the warning to the highest level. It is one step shy of the U.S. travel advisory for China, which urged Americans to leave the country.

In the wake of the warning, Delta and American Airlines have both suspended flights to Italy's financial capital of Milan, which can have a potentially devastating business impact beyond just tourism. Already a major furniture and design fair has been postponed due to the virus until June.

Tourism officials said an earlier U.S. travel warning covering all of Italy was potentially calamitous to the industry, which represents 13% of gross domestic product in a country famed for its world-class museums, archaeological sites, art cities and natural beauty.

More than 5.6 million Americans visit Italy every year, representing 9% of foreign tourists and the second-largest national group behind Germans, according to the most recent statistics.

China accounts for the vast majority of the 88,000 people infected by the virus and the 3,000 killed by it.

Lombardy, which includes Milan, accounts for over half of the cases while Veneto and Emilia-Romagna have 15% and 17%, respectively. All three regions have closed schools for at least another week. In Veneto and Lombardy, closures also have hit museums, theaters, cinemas and most public offices, emptying cities like Milan, where many companies have permitted office workers to telecommute.

Earlier Sunday, the French community church in Rome, St. Louis of the French, closed its doors to the public after a priest was infected with the new virus.

The church in the historic center of Rome is famous for three paintings by the Baroque master Caravaggio, making it a destination for tourists and the faithful alike. A sign on the door Sunday noted in French that the church had been closed as a precaution by the French Embassy for both Masses and tourist visits until further notice.

The Religious Information Service news agency reported the church was closed after a 43-year-old priest who had returned to Paris was hospitalized after being infected. It carried a statement by the archbishop of Paris, Michel Aupetit, who said the priest, who had been living in Rome, returned to Paris by car in mid-February and tested positive for the virus on Friday. He was in good condition, Aupetit said.

It was the first church in Rome closed by the virus. Churches in much of Veneto and Lombardy have closed their doors under widespread measures aimed at containing the spread of the virus. Televised Masses have been available for the faithful.
https://www.aish.com/j/fs/Why-We-Vote-So-Much-in-Israel.html

We are voting again in Israel. Heres why Israelis love it.

We are voting again in Israel. This is only the third election for this election. If were lucky, therell be another election for this election.

In Israel we vote for parties who then decide if they want to join forces. They need to get 61 of 120 Members of Knesset to agree to form a government. Unfortunately, the only thing that these Members of Knesset will agree on is that we are probably going to have another election.

Here are some of the reasons why we Israelis vote a lot and love it:

We Love the Word Coalition

It sounds sophisticated.

We like Getting Text Messages from Politicians

Everybody likes getting texts. It makes us feel wanted. We dont know these people, but its exciting to hear that beep and see that Bibis getting in touch with me again. He wants me to vote for him. Hes very needy, always texting me. I would block him, but I feel like we are bonding.

These texts are more exciting than the stuff I get from my friends. I just got one that said its a mitzvah to vote. My friends arent creating new Jewish laws. Only politicians can do that.

We Enjoy That Blue Memory Game Set

In order to vote we have to pick out the white cards that signify our party of choicefrom the blue case and put them in a white envelope and then into a blue box. We love this because its very Zionistic.

Its also a fun game to try and find the correct letters of your party. They make it even more exciting by giving you letters to choose from that have nothing to do with the name of the party. Its fun figuring out how a letter like z represents the Likud party.

We Need a Day Off

This is the countrys way of finally giving us a Sunday. For those who are unaware, Sunday is a regular work day in Israel and some Israelis (me) complain about this mercilessly. Israels way of a giving us a day off every five or six months is to let us vote. What are we voting for? Sundays.

Voting is a Holiday

Its a festival. We love the joyous feeling. Every voting day people are nice. They say shalom. They give you stickers. They smile at you. I would vote every day if that meant that the guy working the bodega didnt look angry when I went to pick up milk.

Who doesnt love stickers?! You get a smiley with the name of the party with the politicians you hate. You get to walk around and wear the sticker and people say the Israeli adage kol hakavod (all the honor) because they think you gave blood.

You know what I would love? Scratch and sniff stickers. Every party would have its own scent. Election Day would smell like a trip to the department store.

The Country is Accomplishing Stuff

This is actually the Israeli Peoples secret plan to keep the politicians from being involved in running our country. The government is finally doing something. When the government is not being run by people, they get stuff done. The garbage is being picked up. Construction around the country is at an all-time high. Another company with the name Maccabi was started. Thats how I judge progress in Israel, when another agency acquires the name Maccabi.

Once politicians form a Knesset, its over. They get their committees going. Thats how you halt progress, with committees. Thats how you end something good, you meet about it. Just ask your shuls ritual committee.

We Believe Every Party Should Have a Chance to Win

We embrace the millennial ideology. Everybodys a winner. The first time it was Blue and White. Last time it was Likud. We should get Kadima in there and give them another chance to be winners.

People Change Their Minds

Can you imagine if you voted once and that was it? I cant. That would mean that my decision was final. I cant take that pressure. Its the same reason I cant walk into an ice cream parlor. Too much pressure. There are too many choices. If I take the nut supreme Im stuck with it. But what about peanut butter brownie fudge? Dont pretend you know what Im talking about.

Politicians change their minds too. They were representing the Russian immigrants. Then it was the pensioners. Now its about lowering taxes. Make a choice is it going to be Russians or peanut butter brownie fudge!

Parties Have to Negotiate

Have you ever been to the shuk? Have you ever negotiated in the Middle East? Negotiations for a darbuka hand drum can take a good half hour. That costs anywhere from fifteen dollars to five hundred dollars, depending on how much time you have to negotiate. Now imagine you are negotiating for the soul of Israel or at least a much larger darbuka.

These parties have to now join together on foreign policy and make decisions on domestic rules such as if Maccabi should be the name for everything in Israel. We dont take this lightly.

We Like Second Chances

If second chances are good, shouldnt third and fourth chances be better? Too many people make mistakes when voting the first time. Theyre ill informed. Now, we get to vote again and again and make a mistake this time too, just a different mistake.

By the Time I Vote Again I Might Know What is Going On

I dont know the difference between Likud and New Right or Labor and Kadima anymore. Truth: I just go into the booth and pick a white card with a letter on it. I have no idea what it means. Its a Hebrew Reish and it represents green. Theres a Hebrew Pei and Lamed and that is the Israel is our Home Party. I really dont know. I pick a different one each time. It looks like the memory game. I was never good at that game. And I was never good at Hebrew. I just hope my vote does not make a difference.

If anybody is giving out scratch and sniffs, representing Sundays and decent deals on darbukas, I am voting for them.
Bob Arum has revealed that Deontay Wilder has officially exercised his rematch clause to fight Tyson Fury for a third time.

The trilogy will take place in July before the Olympics, the Top Rank promoter has confirmed.

Fury ripped the WBC world heavyweight title from the American last week in devastating fashion with a seventh-round knockout.

But despite the damage done in the initial rematch, the Bronze Bomber will go straight into a third fight in his bid for redemption.

Wilders representatives formally notified us last night that they have accepted the rematch, Arum told Ringside Reporter Live

Deontay Wilder has now exercised his rematch clause (REUTERS)

Its going to happen in the summer before the Olympics.

Arum admitted he was unsure as to whether Wilder will have fully recovered by that point following the bruising, two-knockdown defeat, which saw him suffer a badly-cut ear and lip.

The Olympics in Tokyo are set to start on 24 July, meaning the weekend before on Saturday 18 July is the latest the fight will occur according to Arums schedule.

In the aftermath of the fight, Wilder listed off a series of excuses for his loss, primarily his ring walk costume, which he claims weighed 40 pounds and sapped energy from his legs.

I had no legs, Wilder said. Im surprised I went that long.

Recommended Everything you need to know about the Fury vs Wilder rematch

I had no legs, and I knew I was in for a fight with these legs and the condition I was in. It was crazy. But, you know, again, its nobodys fault but mine.

I wore the costume that was that heavy, and I paid the price. I traded the tribute to men and women [for] my title, and you know, as a warrior, I was gonna fight.

My job was to fight under any circumstances, as a king, and thats what I did. And I dont take nothing back.
The Prime Minister will chair Corbra tomorrow on the Coronavirus as a public information blitz is planned

Boris Johnson conceded the virus could destabilise the UK for months, but said he had no doubt that the country will get through it  and beat it. He will chair a meeting of the governments Cobra emergency committee tomorrow, but faces criticism from Labour, which says he should have got a grip earlier. A cross-government war room of experts and scientists will begin meeting this week ahead of a public information blitz designed to remind Britons how to protect themselves and others. Ministers are working on the assumption that worker absences could be significantly higher than normal; eventually, half the population could be off work because of fear of infection, suspected infection, quarantine and school and transport closures.  Sunday Times

The Home Offices Permanent Secretary quits  claiming Patel is a bully who ran a vicious campaign against him. He will sue for constructive dismissal.

The most senior civil servant at the Home Office quit yesterday and launched an astonishing broadside against Priti Patel. After months of Whitehall warfare spilled over into a lurid public briefing war, Sir Philip Rutnam  dubbed Sir Calamity  dramatically summoned the BBC to announce his walkout and vowed to sue the Government. He accused the Home Secretary of orchestrating a vicious campaign against him and claimed Civil Service chiefs had tried to buy him off in return for his silence. He went on to directly accuse Ms Patel of involvement in plots to oust him and of creating a climate of fear in her department by shouting and swearing  Mail on Sunday

Civil servants turn on Sedwill for bungling the resignation  Sunday Telegraph

Starmer calls for statement  Observer

From Windrush through West Coast Rail to police tasers: the trouble-strewn record of Sir Calamity  Mail on Sunday

The unflappable civil servant  Observer

Rudd believes he was to blame for the Windrush debacle on her watch  Sunday Telegraph

Mixed views on Patel  Observer

Harry Dunns mother claims Raab is using bankruptcy threat against them  Mail on Sunday

Dan Hodges: The Left hates Patel because she is an ethnic minority child of immigrants  and a Conservative

As The Guardian demonstrates, you can dismiss hundreds of thousands of first and second generation migrants as John Bulls patsies just for daring to support a party that isnt Labour. And this is what actually lies at the heart of the attacks being launched against Priti Patel. Yes, much of it is underpinned by racism or sexism. But even more, its the product of liberal Britains seething resentment at anyone of colour who makes a success of themselves without asking permission first.  Mail on Sunday

Sir Philip is a bleating bureaucrat  Sun Editorial

I wasnt a bully but I think Cummings is  Alastair Campbell, Sunday Times

> Today: ToryDiary  The behaviours of the civil service

Symonds announces that she is pregnant. And she and Johnson are to marry.

In a private post to friends on Instagram, Symonds, who is 32 later this month, wrote: I wouldnt normally post this kind of thing on here but I wanted my friends to find out from me. Many of you already know but for my friends that still dont, we got engaged at the end of last year and weve got a baby hatching early summer. She added: Feel incredibly blessedThe baby, who will be at least Johnsons sixth child, will be just the third born in Downing Street in 150 years. Johnson will be the first prime minister in history to score a hat-trick of a divorce, a wedding and a baby while living in Downing Street.  Sundau Times

Johnsons tangled love life  Mail on Sunday

Labour MPs say the timing is designed to get the Patel row off the front pages  Mail on Sunday

Johnsons 4 million divorce settlement with Marina Wheeler  Mail on Sunday

Rise of the Duchess of Downing Street  Sun on Sunday

He has always loved having children, the more the better as far as he is concerned  Andrew Gimson, Sun on Sunday

> Yesterday: MPsETC  Johnson and Symonds to marry. She is pregnant. Oh, and the former Home Office Permanent Secretary is suing the Government.

Sunak plans to abolish entrepreneurs tax relief in his first Budget

The plan to abolish entrepreneurs relief is part of a tax and spend statement which is likely to cause unease among the more fiscally hawkish Tory backbenchers. They have already signalled that they will rebel against any measures in the Budget which single out higher earners. Lobbying by the backbenchers has already forced the Treasury to ditch plans to cut pension tax relief from 40 to 20 per cent for high earners, while the possibility of a mansion tax on expensive homes was strangled at birth in Downing Street amid fury from MPs.  Mail on Sunday

Its a big gamble for Budget debut  Sunday Times

First, Heathrow. Next, roads. Could the judges strike down the Prime Ministers infrastructure plan?

The revelation came a day after judges ruled that plans for Heathrows third runway are unlawful because ministers did not consider the 2016 Paris climate deal. It means No10 could face a lengthy and expensive court battle to deliver on their promise to beef up Britains infrastructure. Tory MP and ex Prisons Minister Crispin Blunt said it was bonkers all major infrastructure projects are now being thrown into doubt. He told The Sun: Every single major piece of national infrastructure is going to have some relationship with the delivery of our overall climate change policy.  Sun on Sunday

Fox criticises Johnson for not appealing against the decision  Mail on Sunday

Hs2 conservation measures could be sacrificed to cut costs  Sunday Telegraph

> Yesterday: Sanjoy Sen on Comment: The Boris Bridge oposal deserves to be taken seriously

Gove: Our trade talks strategy. Make no mistake, we are taking back control.

Clearly and emphatically, the British people decided the next chapter in our island story meant taking back control. This new era requires politicians to bring power home and to ensure the rules governing countries are made by those who are directly accountable to the electorate. That is the way to ensure every citizens voice is given equal weight, and which allows us to adapt most nimbly and flexibly to technological change. That is what we are delivering in ways that will benefit the whole of the UK.  Mail on Sunday

Johnson is turning security into Brexit trade talks bargaining chip  Observer

Johnson is preparing to reject demands that the UK be bound to European human rights laws  Sunday Telegraph

Gove is bringing clarity  Patrick OFlynn

Yesterday

And finallyLong-Bailey wants to go toe-to-toe against Cummings

Rebecca Long-Bailey has said she would employ ruthless campaign tactics to lead the Labour party to election victory against Boris Johnson and his special adviser Dominic Cummings. At a Labour leadership hustings in Brighton on Saturday, the shadow business secretary promised to go toe to toe with the likes of Dominic Cummings. She said this would involve establishing a media rebuttal unit to fight back against smears and placing greater emphasis on digital campaigning.  Observer
Non-government schools are set for a $3.4 billion boost over the next 10 years as the Morrison government prepares to rewrite the funding rules for the Catholic and independent sectors.

The extra funding would be distributed to private schools based on parents' taxable incomes, giving schools with a greater number of lower-income families the biggest slice.

St John's Primary School principal Kerrie Campagna says the Catholic school in Clifton Hill could face closure if the funding model for non-government schools is not changed. Credit:Paul Jeffers

About 20 per cent of wealthier and high-fee private schools would have their public funding cut, but they would share in a $1.3 billion choice and affordability fund over the next two years to ease the transition.

Those schools would also be able to ask for a review of any funding cut the new system imposes.
Kim Kardashian proved she's ahead of the fashion curve on Sunday as she stepped out in another Balmain ensemble fresh off the runway.

Earlier in the day the reality star modeled a caramel hued latex outfit which debuted on the Balmain FW 2020/21 catwalk in Paris on Friday.

And leaving her hotel once again, Kim, 39, made a jaw-dropping exit in a dramatic chocolate-hued creation, no doubt custom made for her.

Parisian chic: Kim Kardashian showcased another latex outfit from the Balmain FW2020/21 runway on Sunday

Power look: The mother-of-four poured her curves into a skintight catsuit with a gloved blazer layered over the top

The mother-of-four poured her curves into a skintight catsuit with a gloved blazer layered over the top.

Some oversize statement gold earrings added a pop of bling to her look and she strut her stuff in white strappy heels.

Kim and husband Kanye West have been longtime pals of Balmain's creative director Olivier Rousteing so it's no surprise she's got her hands on the looks first.

The Skims creator teased more looks to come as she took to Twitter telling fans: Two more Balmain latex looks coming they we're [sic] not in his show! I might just keep them coming all night'.

Kanye appeared to be very appreciative of the skintight looks as he placed a cheeky hand on Kim's derriere while they attended his Sunday Service earlier in the day.

The couple looked smitten as they left the Theatre des Bouffes du Nord in France alongside their eldest daughter, North.

Coming through: The reality star made a jaw-dropping exit from her hotel as fans and photographers waited for her

Hot off the runway: Kim's look was debuted on Friday at the Balmain Fall/Winter 2020/21 show

More to come! Kim teased fans letting them know that she'd be showcasing more looks that were not shown on the runway

Not one to stick to a conservative look, Kim, 39, wore a 'fresh off the runway' Balmain latex suit to the church service.

Although not the typical material for a holy gathering, Kim kept covered up in a high necked polo and skin tight pants under the latex blazer, complete with latex gloves and barely there heels.

Continuing her streamlined look, the reality star wore a slicked down low pony tail with a side parting and a matching latex hair tie along with a glossy lip.

Kanye, 42, opted for a similar theme with his ensemble, as he teamed a pair of black leather joggers with an acid grey T-shirt and chunky white trainers.

Killing it: Kim shared her own snaps from the day including this one of her getting out of a sleek ride in style

Showstopper: The E! star completed her look with strappy heels and some huge gold statement earrings

Loving the look: Kim's ensemble earlier in the day seemed to delight her husband Kanye West as he placed a loving hand on her derriere at his Sunday Service religious service in Paris

Stunning: Not one to stick to a conservative look, Kim, 39, wore a 'fresh off the runway' Balmain latex suit to the church service

Glamorous: Kim ensured all eyes were on her as she displayed her jaw-dropping curves in the skintight outfit

Holy look: Kim donned a high necked polo and skin tight pants under the latex blazer, complete with latex gloves and barely there heels as she was joined by daughter North, six

The couple's six-year-old daughter North was seen taking hold of her mother's rubbery hand, whilst looking stylish in an all black leather outfit.

She teamed the suit with a silvery glittered shirt and silver studded cowboy boots.

North also sported a playful space bun hairdo with jewels stuck on to her hair line and parting.

Back view: Kim showed off her famous curves in the latex suit and wore an incredibly long low pony tail complete with a latex tie

Church fashion: The mother-of-four wore a 'fresh off the runway' Balmain latex suit to the church service

Cute couple: Kim and Kanye looked smitten as they left the Theatre des Bouffes du Nord

Also attending the service in a latex get-up was Kourtney Kardashian who wore an even tighter burgundy latex pant and top.

Kourtney rounded off her look with a simple look with a pair of knee high black boots, dark rimmed sunglasses and a small black clutch.

While daughter Penelope Disick, seven, opted for a black pajama style suit, embroidered with metallic green tigers.

She completed the look with the same silver studded boots as her cousin North and adorable pig tails.

Family: Kim cut a stylish figure as she arrived to the venue with her daughter North

Kim, who was not wearing any jewelry, was seen talking to security, taking necessary precautions ahead of entering the venue.

In 2016 Kim was robbed at gun point while in Paris for the Fashion Week.

Masked men put a gun to her temple, left her tied up in the bathroom of her luxury residence and stole millions of dollars' worth of jewelry in the early hours of September 26.

Luxury: Kim was aided by two security men who held up umbrellas to ensure she wouldn't get wet

Regular: Kim has often dined at swanky resataurant L'Avenue when in the French capital

Kim reportedly 'begged for her life' and told the gunmen she had children at home when two of them entered her room and held the gun to her head.

The men stole a jewelry box worth $6.7 million and a ring worth $4.5 million, prompting fears that the valuables were personal ones, and not just jewelry Kim was borrowing for fashion week.

She bravely returned to Paris Fashion week in 2018 to overcome the trauma caused by the event.

Family worship: Also attending the service in a latex get-up was Kourtney Kardashian who wore an even tighter burgundy latex pant and top

Coordinating kids: Kourtney's daughter Penelope Disick, seven, opted for a black pyjama style suit, embroidered with metallic green tigers

Security: Kim, who was not wearing any jewellery, was seen talking to security, taking necessary precautions ahead of entering the venue

Paris Fashion Week: Kim bravely returned to Paris Fashion week in 2018 to overcome the trauma caused by the robbery while visiting in 2016

The Paris Sunday Service comes as Kanye said earlier this year he planned to take the musical worship sessions global.

Kanye's religious choir and prayer group has held services across the United States but is not yet registered under the United States code as a church.

Kim has previously described it as a musical ministry where attendees talk about Jesus and God.

A look inside: Joan Smalls was one of the famous attendees at the Sunday Service and gave her followers a look at the action inside, sharing clips of the choir performing
The government has received reports of Indians including fishermen stuck in Iran due to the Coronavirus outbreak and the embassy in Tehran is in touch with local authorities on the issue, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said on Sunday.

Indian envoy to Iran Gaddam Dharmendra had on Saturday said the authorities are working to facilitate the return of Indians who wish to go back home and discussions were underway with authorities.

Several political leaders in Jammu and Kashmir have appealed to the Centre to evacuate the people of the Union Territory, including students, who were stranded in Iran.

"Received reports on Indians including fishermen from Kerala stuck in Iran due to #COVID19. Our Embassy in Tehran is making an assessment of the situation and is in touch with local authorities," Muraleedharan said in a tweet.

Iran's health ministry on Sunday reported 11 new deaths from the novel coronavirus and 385 infections, bringing the overall number of lives lost to 54 and cases to 978.

"In view of COVID19, working to facilitate the return of those Indians wishing to go back home. Discussions underway with concerned authorities to work out arrangements. Will keep you updated (sic)," Dharmendra had said on Twitter.

Earlier, the Indian embassy in Tehran had issued an advisory for Indians residing there and assured them that they were closely monitoring the situation.

India had also issued a travel advisory on February 26 to avoid non-essential travel to Iran due to incidence of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) infections.

In addition, people coming from Iran or having such travel history since 10 February may be quarantined for 14 days on arrival to India, the advisory said.

The National Conference's Member of Parliament from Anantnag Hasnain Masoodi said he spoke to Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar about the safe return of the stranded Kashmiri students in Iran following the outbreak of the deadly virus there.

Former Union minister and senior Congress leader Saif-ud-din Soz and former finance minister Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari had also appealed to the Centre to evacuate the people of Jammu and Kashmir, particularly the students and businessmen, stranded in Iran.

"I am in touch with the MEA and have submitted details of over 240 J-K students who are stuck in Shiraz, Tehran and other cities of Iran," Bukhari had said in a statement.

Prominent Shia leader and former minister Imran Reza Ansari had said he was in touch with relevant authorities and has been assured of evacuation of J-K students from Iran.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
HALIFAXThe federal New Democrat leader made the case Saturday that his heavy focus on social programs will help rejuvenate the partys fortunes in Nova Scotia by the next provincial election.

Jagmeet Singh spoke at the partys provincial convention in Halifax, arguing his promotion of a universal pharmacare bill, a national dental-care plan and a massive investment in affordable housing are gaining traction.

The NDP formed a single-term government in Nova Scotia under former premier Darrell Dexter in 2009, but the partys 31-seat majority was wiped out in 2009, with just seven seats remaining.

The social democratic party has struggled to rebuild since then, and also failed to elect Nova Scotia MPs in the 2019 federal election.

Under Gary Burrills leadership, the provincial NDP has fallen to four seats, and last June it lost a byelection in a Halifax-area stronghold that had been held by the party since 1984.

During his speech to party delegates, Singh picked up on the recent reports of poor families in Halifax facing difficulties in obtaining affordable housing units, and promised he will press for improvement in federal funding.

I want you to know that at the federal level, we are going to fight for you. Were going to put Ottawa to work for you, the leader told delegates in his 30-minute address.

Speaking to reporters after the speech, Singh said he believes the partys political fortunes will be lifted by a focus on social supports.

Here in Halifax, you cant find rentals, and buying is out of the question for a lot of people, he said.

Were pushing at the federal level to massively invest in affordable housing. ... Were take the existing plan the Liberals have announced and tacking on an additional $6 billion for real investments and making it a lot more accessible, he said.

Asked what will help the party reverse its decline in Nova Scotia, Singh said the NDPs social programs are beginning to connect with the public.

He said seniors will be pleased by his plans to provide medications, students will appreciate policies that eliminate interest on their education debt and working class residents will appreciate housing help.

People need better housing, they need investments in health care and pharmacare and ... the NDP wants to invest, he said.

Theres been speculation among pundits a provincial election could happen by this fall, after the Liberal government recently announced a record-breaking increase in capital spending on schools, highways and other infrastructure.

Singh argues the NDP is well-positioned if there is a provincial campaign.

I think youll see a lot of changes in this campaign. Youll see, if an election is called, a very passionate team of dedicated (NDP) volunteers and activists ... championing policies for things people really want.

The partys more immediate test will come on March 10, when two provincial byelections in ridings that were held by New Democrats are scheduled.

One of them is in the Truro-Bible Hill-Millbrook-Salmon River riding vacated by former NDP politician Lenore Zann, who shifted to the federal Liberals in last years federal election.

The other became vacant when NDP legislator Tammy Martin stepped down, citing health reasons.

Read more about:
The number of people infected with the novel coronavirus in Germany jumped sharply to 129 on Sunday, official data showed, as the interior minister said he expected a vaccine by the end of the year.

The latest tally given by the Robert Koch Institute, Germany's centre for disease control and prevention, showed that the number of cases had almost doubled from 66 on Saturday morning.

Germany's most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia has emerged as a hotspot after an infected couple attended carnival celebrations there, infecting dozens of people.

The deadly virus has now reached nine of Germany's 16 states, with Frankfurt, Hamburg and Bremen among the cities reporting their first COVID-19 cases.

Speaking to the mass-daily Bild am Sonntag, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said he did not see a swift end to the virus's spread but was optimistic a cure could be found.

"I estimate that a vaccine will be available by the end of year," he said, adding that he himself had stopped shaking people's hands.

Asked whether Germany would go so far as to close off access to cities or regions, he said "such a scenario would be a last resort".

In Bavaria, machine tool manufacturer DMG Mori asked some 1,600 employees not to come to work on Monday after a worker contracted the virus.

Several hundred people meanwhile were released from quarantine in the district of Heinsberg in North Rhine-Westphalia, allowing them to leave their homes again.

The cluster there has been linked to a carnival gathering on February 15.

Four kindergarten children in Heinsberg also tested positive for the new coronavirus at the weekend, apparently contracted through a member of staff.

Germany has cancelled several major gatherings in a bid to curb the spread of the virus, including this week's ITB travel trade fair in Berlin.

The Michelin Guide restaurant star rating awards slated to take place in Hamburg on Tuesday have also been called off.

Organisers of the Leipzig book fair however said the event, which attracted over 280,000 people last year, would go ahead as planned from March 12-15.

As the coronavirus continues to disrupt air travel and supply chains around the world, Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said the government stood ready to stimulate Germany's export-driven economy if the impact worsened.

"If the situation calls for it, we have the means to launch a fiscal stimulus package," he told Die Welt newspaper.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By all accounts, the India visit of President Donald Trump was a grand success, if one were to judge it as a pure spectacle. The highlight of the trip was a public event at the Motera Stadium, where huge numbers of adoring Indians cheered the United States President. It was perhaps the largest crowd ever drawn by Trump in his short public life. Crowd size apart, how consequential was the Trump visit? Will it have any long-term impact on US-India relations?

In the weeks prior to the visit, all focus was on whether the two countries would sign a blockbuster trade deal. They did not. Apart from a $3-billion defence deal, an agreement between Indian Oil and Exon Mobil to import liquified natural gas and another agreement to collaborate on 5G technology, the two sides did not make much progress on the trade front. Considering that the bilateral trade topped $150 billion last year, the size of the deals announced during the visit, while substantial, were not chartbusters.

It is much too early to judge the historical significance of Trumps trip. It will take months and years to know its real impact. However, one can safely say that it is far less consequential for bilateral relations than the visits of some of the presidents predecessors, most notably the 2000 visit of President Bill Clinton. That visit, coming less than two years after the United States imposed sanctions on India for conducting nuclear tests in 1998, was a defining moment in India-US relations.

ALSO WATCH | Donald & Melania Trump visit Taj Mahal, pose for cameras holding hands

Other historically notable visits include Dwight Eisenhowers trip  the first time a US president set foot in India  and the 2005 visit of President George W Bush. It was the Bush visit that paved the way for the India-US Civil Nuclear Agreement, which ended Indias global nuclear isolation.

Significantly, the Trump visit differed from the previous presidential visits in one aspect. The trip was in essence a campaign stop as well. If the tens of thousands of white hats audience in Motera reminded one of a MAGA rally, it was not coincidental. Thats because the short-term impact Trump is seeking is to sway more Indian-American voters to his side. Running for a second term in November, the president is looking to expand his voters from the Indian-American community, one of the fastest growing ethnic groups in the US.

In 2016, Trump became the first presidential nominee of a major party to publicly court Indian-Americans, when he attended a rally hosted by the Republican Hindu Coalition in New Jersey. He continued to woo that community in his joint appearance with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Howdy Modi event in Houston last September, in which the two leaders addressed more than 50,000 Indian-Americans.

Most Indian-American voters live in the large states such as California, New York, New Jersey, Illinois and Texas, all states that are not in play in presidential elections because of current voting patterns. However, the community also has a significant presence in Florida, Pennsylvania, and Michigan, the battleground states that are likely to decide the presidency in the event of a close election.

In 2016, according to opinion polls, Trump received only a sixth of the Indian-American votes, despite making a big effort to reach out. One reason he was unable to make much headway the last time around was because of the popularity of his opponent.

Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton had a longer history with Indian-Americans and India, having visited the country multiple times, as the US first lady and as the secretary of state. In fact, during the 2008 Democratic primary contested between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, a campaign staffer for Obama in a memo mockingly referred to Clinton as a senator from Punjab, because of her close relationship with the Indian-American community.

This time around, Trump is likely to improve his performance among Indian-Americans for a number of reasons including the following: None of the Democrats running for president this year has the kind of relationship with India that Clinton had. The president has continued to reach out to the Indian-American community while in office. The joint appearance with Modi strengthens his ties with India.

Trump recognises that Modi remains hugely popular among Indian-Americans, especially within the influential Gujarati American community, which numbers more than 800,000. According to the 2010 Census, the Indian-American population in Florida was more than 128,000; in Pennsylvania, it was 103,000; and, in Michigan it was more than 77,000. Trump won Florida by about 113,000. His margin in Pennsylvania was a little over 44,000. Similarly, in Michigan. he won by fewer than 10,800 votes.

It is very likely that Trumps India visit moved the needle, and has consolidated his position with Indian-American voters there. And, they could help him secure the margin he needs to carry those states.

It is worth pointing out that, while in India, for once, Trump abandoned his mercurial personality, and acted like a gracious guest in deference to Modi. Known for expressing his opinion freely, solicited and unsolicited, he quite uncharacteristically chose not to comment on the controversial citizenship law. He also endorsed Modis record on religious freedom, which remains under scrutiny in the US.

In the end, the absence of a trade deal did not prevent the president from terming the visit unforgettable and extraordinary. Probably electoral calculations in the swing states in which Indian-American voters could make a meaningful difference were as much in the presidents mind as the adulation he received in Gujarat.

So, should Trump get re-elected in November with narrow margins in states such as Pennsylvania and Michigan, he will be thankful to Modi for helping him gain those decisive, extra few votes in the swing states. That just might be the most consequential outcome of Namaste Trump for him, and the ongoing relations between the two largest democracies in the world.

Frank F Islam is an entrepreneur, civic leader, and thought leader based in Washington DC.

The views expressed are personal
The first Coronavirus death in the U.S. has been reported in Washington state.

The Washington State Department of Health on Saturday reported that one patient with the infection has died in King County, Washington. The name of the patient, along with details surrounding the case, were not disclosed.

King County officials said they will hold a news conference at 4 pm ET to provide additional details.

Also Read: Bill Maher Is Chill About Coronavirus, Except That Trump Is in Charge and 'Keeps Telling Us Crazy Lies' (Video)

In addition to the one death, new cases have arisen in Washington. Officials in Washington said on Friday that a King County man in his 50s with confirmed travel to Daegu, South Korea, had tested positive, as well as a Snohomish County 18-year-old with no travel history.

The Centers for Disease Control director Robert Redfield said at a briefing Saturday that there are now 22 cases of coronavirus in the U.S.

Confirmed cases have surfaced in California, Washington, Arizona, Wisconsin, Illinois, Oregon, Texas and Massachusetts.

Also Read: Coronavirus Rocks Wall Street This Week: Apple, Disney Stocks Take Major Hits

On Friday, a second case in California was confirmed  the first being Thursday near Sacramento. The California Department of Public Health said that the individual in Santa Clara county had no known exposure to the virus through travel or close contact with a known infected individual, which makes it the second possible instance of the Coronavirus via person-to-person in the state.

This is a fluid situation but we have plans and protocols in place for public health events like this to protect the health and safety of Californians and the states visitors, said Dr. Sonia Angell, Director of the California Department of Public Health and State Health Officer, in a statement. We are actively working with the CDC, with local governments, health facilities, and health care providers across the state to respond as new cases are identified.

As of Saturday, about 2,924 people have died from coronavirus and more than 85,406 cases have been confirmed in 60 countries, with most stemming from China.

Read original story First Coronavirus-Related U.S. Death Reported in Washington State At TheWrap
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has signed a decision to implement a 2021 general economic census to gather information about producers, businesses and non-governmental organizations nationwide.

Welders are at work at a factory in Vietnam. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has signed a decision to carry out a 2021 general economic census

The economic census is aimed at evaluating the socioeconomic situation and growth trends in Vietnam, and helping make policies and plans for the countrys sustainable development, the local media reported.

The census will focus on collecting information about the identity of firms, labor and employment, incomes, executives, production costs, tax payments, research and development activities, tech applications, access to funding and power consumption, among others.

The prime minister also assigned the Ministry of Planning and Investment to develop solutions for the general economic census, to ensure the proper use of statistics from firms and utilization of technology.

The census is set to be conducted in two phases, with its preliminary results to be announced in December 2021. The official results will be released during the second quarter of 2022. SGT

Vietnam braces for economic effects of COVID-19 Vietnam will optimise external resources to spur national economy as the impact of the outbreak of coronavirus on foreign investment flows into the country is visible, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI).
A heartbroken mother has revealed how her daughter asked 'where's daddy' after he was killed alongside two others when dry ice was thrown into a swimming pool.

Valentin Didenko, 32, suffered carbon dioxide poisoning and died after dry ice was launched into a pool to create a 'steam show' during Ekaterina Didenko's 29th birthday celebrations in Moscow.

Partygoers Natalia Monakova and Yuri Alferov, both 25, were also confirmed dead at the scene. Reports claimed the pair died from pulmonary edemas after breathing in the gas.

Devastated blogger Ms Didenko shared a video yesterday announcing the loss of her partner - and revealing her daughter Nastya had asked a painful question following her father's death.

The party was for blogger Ekaterina Didenko, pictured last night (right) and this morning (left), who was celebrating her 29th birthday in Moscow

Ms Didenko is pictured holding balloons for her 29th birthday moments before the tragedy in Moscow

In the video, Ms Didenko, from Moscow, said: 'Valya is not with us any more. Or Natasha [Natalia]. Or Yura [Yuri].

'I can't tell you anything else. I have signed a ban to disclose any information. I can't say anything.

'I did not cry yesterday today I just exploded. I thought it was not true, it was a nightmare.

'Nastya woke up today - "Where is daddy?" I do not know what to say to her She is asking me: "Why are you crying?"'.

Natalia Monakova, one of the deceased, is pictured in an Instagram post before the tragedy

Yuri Alferov (pictured), 25, died last night after Valentin Didenko (not pictured), 32, poured 55lb of dry ice into a swimming pool in Moscow

Earlier, Ms Didenko had posted from hospital to say her husband was, like her, in intensive care but at this point she was unaware that he had died.

The mother-of-two, who was initially wrongly reported to have been killed, said: 'I am alive, I am behind the doors of an intensive care ward.

'I don't know who died Valya is in the intensive care, I don't know what state he is in.'

Dry ice is frozen carbon dioxide and which produces heavy vapour when put into water.

Dead bodies are pictured being removed from the sauna in Moscow where the birthday party took place

An image shows guests around the table at Didenko's party in Moscow before the tragedy

The vapour can cause high levels of carbon dioxide in the blood when released in a poorly ventilated space.

Mr Didenko wanted the dry ice 'to create an impressive steam show' as party guests jumped into the pool, it was reported.

But as soon as the ice was poured, people started fainting. Moments earlier, guests had been laughing and clinking glasses.

Mother-of-two Ms Didenko is a popular Instagram blogger with one million people following her account, which gives advice on medicines for home use.

Pictured: Guests at Didenko's party in Moscow before the tragedy took place this week

Police are pictured arriving at the scene in Moscow after the tragedy, which killed three

Monakova is pictured in an image from social media before the Moscow tragedy

A highly qualified pharmacist, she gives advice on keeping home medicine cupboards leaner and more effective while also sharing intimate moments of her own life.

In some videos she is seen filming chemical experiments with her young daughter.

The Russian Investigative Committee confirmed a criminal case was opened into causing death by negligence.

The 'preliminary reason for the death of three (partygoers) was mechanical asphyxia because their airways were blocked', reported crime channel 112.

The three victims were in the pool when the dry ice was released and could not breathe.
How can something so tiny be wreaking such havoc? SARS-CoV2 is the name of the virus that causes the new disease Covid-19, named on February 11.

It is so small that 500 million of them would fit on the full stop at the end of this sentence. David and Goliath, except David isn't even as big as an ant when compared to Goliath. And yet look what's happening. Economic turmoil. Cities and towns in quarantine. People not travelling for holidays or weddings. Sporting events cancelled. People who feel sick and who have met someone with the virus keeping themselves in isolation for 14 days. And the fear that the worst is yet to come outside China where it all started. That something so tiny can pack such a punch is a testament to how powerful viruses can be.

What is a virus?

Viruses were first observed in 1948 with an especially powerful microscope called the electron microscope. The first members of the viral rogues gallery to be seen were the viruses that cause polio and smallpox. Both are highly contagious (around three-fold more than SARS-CoV2) and wreaked havoc in humans for centuries, paralysing us, disfiguring us and killing us. Then vaccines were developed and that put an end to that, with smallpox being eradicated completely and polio almost beaten.

Apart from being able to see them, scientists also figured out what viruses were made of. They have a coat made of fat, so they don't dissolve in water, although alcohol can dissolve them, which is why alcohol hand rubs are good at killing them.The alcohol dissolves the fat. Inside the fatty bag lies their genetic material - the recipe that can be read to make more virus. They also have proteins sticking out of the bag and they use these proteins to latch on to the cells they want to infect. A bit like a key, the protein fits into a lock on the surface of the cell the virus wants to infect and opens the door.

In the case of SARS-CoV2, the proteins occur on the end of the spikes that make the crown that surrounds them. This is why it's called a corona virus. They stick the spike key into a lock called ACE2 on your lung cells and the virus then gets inside. This is why it infects your lungs: that's where the ACE2 lock is.

It needs to get inside the cell to use it as a factory to make more viruses.

The ultimate parasite

Viruses are the ultimate parasite. As far as we know they bring no benefits. A bit like unwelcome guests who come to stay, procreate in your guest room having eaten all your food and drunk your wine, and then leave without saying thanks.

The recipe that SARS-CoV2 has to make more of itself is called RNA. This is why SARS-CoV2 is a bit like flu - the influenza virus also has RNA as its recipe, as do viruses that cause the common cold and Aids. There are plenty of types of RNA viruses.

Once it's made copies of itself, it leaves and moves on to another cell. The trouble is, it sometimes kills the cell it infected - the guests leave a bomb as they depart - and that's when the trouble can begin. You start to hurt. Influenza will kill billions of cells in your lungs in a typical infection, which causes fluids to build up making it hard to breathe. That can really irritate your lungs. And then you cough it out. The virus makes you cough because it wants to spread. The drops of spit fly through the air and land on surfaces where someone else picks them up and then touches their nose or mouth and the virus enters a new body. The unwanted guests have moved next door.

This is why it's important to wear a mask if you're infected since that traps the virus. And why the number one recommendation of the World Health Organisation is to wash your hands. And why it's good to clean surfaces if you've someone in your house who's infected. Wearing a mask doesn't seem to protect people much as they fidget with it or take it off a lot. And the virus can probably get in through your eyes anyway.

Natural defence

But now some good news. Luckily evolution has helped you. Your immune system is on hand to recognise the intruder and bring out the big guns to kill it. It's like you've got on your iPhone and called for the gardai to get rid of your unwelcome guests (if possible, before they have done the deed in your guest room).

The immune system has evolved all kinds of ways to recognise and eliminate the intruder. It has special sensors for the virus's RNA which set off the alarm. It can also detect the spike protein. Your immune system can make antibodies and these latch on and stop the virus getting into cells. A bit like putting blu-tack over the key. The antibodies also help immune cells eat the virus.

Your immune system even has a way of killing the virally-infected cell. This is almost like the gardai deciding to blow up your house. It is worth it because it stops the virus (or your guests) moving into other houses in your neighbourhood. Remember, they've multiplied. So blowing up one house saves many.

If you're healthy, your immune system works a treat. The gardai are well fed, have had a good night's sleep and have the weapons to do their job. And, once the job is done, they are highly experienced. Should the unwanted virus turn up again, they can recognise and kill it on sight. This is how vaccines work. They are weakened forms of a virus, or parts of it, which train the immune system so that when the real culprit comes along, the immune system is ready to attack and you are protected.

So what can go wrong?

In the case of Covid-19 (and influenza), people who are sick with other ailments (for example cancer or heart disease) can't mount a proper defense and so the virus runs riot. Their immune systems aren't up to the job because of the other illnesses they have. Sadly, this can mean fatalities which at this stage are around 2pc and mainly involve people with other illnesses. As we age, our immune system does, too, so this puts older people at risk. We therefore need a vaccine and huge efforts are going into that with the real hope that one will be available in nine-12 months.

Doctors are also testing medicines to stop the virus from harming us. Drugs used to treat HIV are showing promise; HIV is somewhat similar because it has RNA too.

A drug used to treat malaria called chloroquine is also showing promise, as are high doses of steroids. What these drugs do is interesting. Although the immune system is failing in people who get really sick, it turns out that one part is over-active. Because the virus is running rampant, it hugely provokes this part (called innate immunity) which causes a process called inflammation to kick off - this makes your temperature go really high and causes your lungs and other organs to fail.

What people actually die of is the friendly fire caused by this over-active inflammatory response which is sometimes called a 'Cytokine Storm'. Steroids and chloroquine put that fire out and so protect you.

It's a bit like where there were two unwanted visitors in your house, there are now thousands and the gardai get their batons out and go to work on them. A melee ensues and sadly in the violence and chaos you die. Not a good result. Steroids and chloroquine are like cold water being sprayed over the gardai.

What next?

SARS-CoV2 is a new virus so we have to be vigilant. The death rate is unlikely to go up and if anything might go down as more people are found to have fought it. It also mutates at a rate slower then say HIV or influenza so it can't change itself too readily.

This means that once your immune system recognises it and eliminates it, it will recognise it again. A change might also mean it becomes more toxic, killing more, but again this is unlikely.

It may well enter the community and become just another virus that causes flu-like symptoms that we learn to live with. It might weaken as it adapts to us. Killing us is in general a bad idea for a virus - it's like those guests... why would they kill you when they want to sponge off you again? Many will develop resistance and refuse the unwanted guests entry. And when we have a vaccine, the vulnerable can be protected.

Right now though, follow the guidelines. Isolate yourself if you have symptoms and have come into contact with someone with the virus and call your GP. No need if you don't meet these criteria. Wash your hands a lot.

Soap and water is fine -work up a good lather as viruses hate soap because it dissolves them. If you're vulnerable, don't travel to places where the virus is. We all just need to keep calm, remain vigilant and wait it out. This too will pass.

Luke O'Neill is professor of biochemistry in the School of Biochemistry and Immunology at Trinity College Dublin
Last week, you might have seen that National Express Group PLC (LON:NEX) released its annual result to the market. The early response was not positive, with shares down 3.6% to UK4.24 in the past week. It was a credible result overall, with revenues of UK2.7b and statutory earnings per share of UK0.28 both in line with analyst estimates, showing that National Express Group is executing in line with expectations. Analysts typically update their forecasts at each earnings report, and we can judge from their estimates whether their view of the company has changed or if there are any new concerns to be aware of. So we collected the latest post-earnings statutory consensus estimates to see what could be in store for next year.

View our latest analysis for National Express Group

LSE:NEX Past and Future Earnings, March 1st 2020

Taking into account the latest results, the most recent consensus for National Express Group from five analysts is for revenues of UK2.85b in 2020, which is an okay 3.9% increase on its sales over the past 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are expected to increase 6.4% to UK0.29. In the lead-up to this report, analysts had been modelling revenues of UK2.93b and earnings per share (EPS) of UK0.30 in 2020. So it looks like analysts have become a bit less optimistic after the latest results announcement, with revenues expected to fall even as the company is expected to maintain EPS.

The average price target was steady at UK4.80 even though revenue estimates declined; likely suggesting analysts place a higher value on earnings. That's not the only conclusion we can draw from this data however, as some investors also like to consider the spread in estimates when evaluating analyst price targets. Currently, the most bullish analyst values National Express Group at UK5.20 per share, while the most bearish prices it at UK4.35. Still, with such a tight range of estimates, it suggests analysts have a pretty good idea of what they think the company is worth.

Story continues

One way to get more context on these forecasts is to look at how they compare to both past performance, and how other companies in the same industry are performing. We would highlight that National Express Group's revenue growth is expected to slow, with forecast 3.9% increase next year well below the historical 8.6%p.a. growth over the last five years. Compare this with other companies in the same market, which are forecast to see a revenue decline of 5.0% next year. So it's clear that despite the slowdown in growth, National Express Group is still expected to grow meaningfully faster than the wider market.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to take away is that there's been no major change in sentiment, with analysts reconfirming that earnings per share are expected to continue performing in line with their prior expectations. Unfortunately they also downgraded their revenue estimates, although our aggregation of analyst estimates suggests that National Express Group is still expected to grow faster than the wider market. Yet - earnings are more important to the intrinsic value of the business. There was no real change to the consensus price target, suggesting that the intrinsic value of the business has not undergone any major changes with the latest estimates.

Still, the long-term prospects of the business are much more relevant than next year's earnings. We have forecasts for National Express Group going out to 2022, and you can see them free on our platform here.

It might also be worth considering whether National Express Group's debt load is appropriate, using our debt analysis tools on the Simply Wall St platform, here.

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.
Get read, we're going 'Back to the Future' - again!

Actor Tom Holland has recently confirmed that there have discussions about doing a remake of the iconic film 'Back to the Future'.

The idea came about after some recreated a scene from the film but used advanced editing software to edit Tom onto Marty's face and Robert Downey Jr's face onto Doc's.

"Id be lying if I said there hadnt been conversations in the past about doing some sort of remake, but that film is the most perfect film- or one of the most perfect films, one that could never be made better." Tom said.

"That said, if *Robert Downey Jr.* and I could just shoot that one scene that they remade for fun - he could pay for it cause hes got loads of money - I would do it for my fee and we could remake that scene."

"I think we owe it to *the people who did the remake* because they did such a good job I think Im gonna speak to Robert and see if we can try to recreate something for *them*."

Check out the video that Tom's referring to in the video below...
The governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) Bono Regional Chairman, Kwame Baffoe popularly aka Abronye DC has alleged that the former President and flag-bearer of opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr. John Dramani Mahama is being financed by an international gay activist, Andrew Solomon to embark on his nationwide "Speakout Tour."

His comment comes after a news publication circulating on some online portals that the Pan Africa International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association to host homosexuality international conference in Ghana from 27-31 July 2020 in Accra.

In a statement issued and signed by the NPP controversial chairman, copied to the media, he alleged that the said conference is being sponsored by Andrew Solomon.

Abronye DC also added that Andrew Solomon is a very good friend of former President John Mahama indicating that Mr. Mahama had received so much support from Andrew Solomon.

He added that it was Andrew Solomon who edited and forwarded John Mahama's book "My First Coup D'tat."

"John Mahama has in return promised Andrew Solomon to legalize homosexuality in Ghana when voted into office which will not happen in 2020," he noted.

Abronye DC stated that Andrew Solomon is the person financing the come back of former President John Mahama.

"Andrew Solomon is the person financing the come back of President Mahama in 2020. Currently he is the one funding his tours and taking care of all his expenses", he claimed.

Find below the full statement

Kwame Baffoe Abronye Writes...



RE: Gays, lesbians and affiliates to hold first-ever international conference in Ghana

I have sighted a story on Ghanaweb.com insinuating that, Ghana is set to witness the first-ever gays, lesbians and affiliates international conference to be held in Accra between July 27 and 31 July 2020, MyNewsGh.com has confirmed.

The story added that, Under the auspices of the Pan Africa International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, it said in an announcement on its website Our 5th Regional Conference, 27  31 July 2020 in Accra, Ghana. This will the first PAI conference in West Africa.

SETTING THE RECORDS STRAIGHT

1. The above-said conference is sponsored and funded by Andrew Solomon who is an award-winning writer and an international gay activist.

2. Andrew Solomon is the person who edited and forwarded John Mahamas book my first coup dtat

3. Andrew Solomon is a very good friend of John Mahama

4. Andrew Solomon is the person financing the come back of President Mahama in 2020. Currently, he is the one funding his tours and taking care of all his expenses.

5. John Mahama has in return promised Andrew Solomon to legalize homosexuality in Ghana when voted into office which will not happen in 2020.

6. Andrew Solomon was the first person to purchase John Mahamas book at a whooping amount of dollars.

7. It is important to note that, the said conference proposed to be held in Ghana is facilitated by John Mahama and his NDC cohorts.

8. It is necessary to state unequivocally that, President Akufo-Addo has posited clearly that, he is against Homosexuality but John Mahama hasnt come out till date to declare his stance.

9. It is on record that, the NPP and President Akufo-Addo has enormous respect for the peace council, the clergy and the Islamic state and for that matter, with their prayer and support, the president of the land will continue to resist the pressure of the Lesbian and Gay society.

The president has reiterated emphatically several times that, LGBTQ will not be legalized under his watch and presidency.

In conclusion, it is clear from the above that, since John Mahama is benefiting from Andrew Solomon it is obvious that he will definitely support anything he does because of his personal interest and not for the interest of the masses.
Police said that a taxi driver, Lurshai Hynniewta from Sohra area, who was injured in the clashes, succumbed to injuries in a hospital.

The violence followed a meeting against the Citizenship (Amend-ment) Act and implementation of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) regime in the state. Ichamati, which is close to the border with Bangladesh, has a majority non-tribal population. (Photo: File/PTI)

Guwahati: Curfew was imposed in trouble-torn areas of Shillong and mobile Internet services were suspended on Saturday following a violent clash between members of Khasi Students Union (KSU), an influential tribal students body, and non-tribals in the Ichamati area of East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya leading to two deaths.

The violence followed a meeting against the Citizenship (Amend-ment) Act and implementation of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) regime in the state. Ichamati, which is close to the border with Bangladesh, has a majority non-tribal population.

The administration decided to impose curfew in trouble-torn areas after reports of clashes and two vehicles being torched by some miscreants. We also arrested eight persons from Ichamati who were directly involved in the violence which killed one person and injured several others. They are named in the FIR, said Claudia A. Lyngwa, the superintendent of police, East Khasi Hills district. He claimed that situation was tense but under control.

Police said that the violence began after a meeting organised by KSU in Ichamati. At about 3 pm, after the meeting, clashes broke out between KSU members and local non-tribals of the area. Thereafter, KSU members burnt a haystack at the edge of the market and attempted to burn a house. Non-tribals retaliated and stoned a bus carrying KSU members, the police said in a statement.

Several KSU members and policemen were injured in the clash. Vehicles were also vandalised by the mob. It is still unclear what prompted the group to attack those present in the meeting.

Most of Meghalaya is covered under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution and hence it is out of the purview of the CAA. Yet, amid local pressure, the state Assembly had passed a resolution to demand an Inner Line Permit regime to regulate the entry of non-locals. The home ministry is yet to issue a notification. The powerful KSU, which is also the part of North East Students Organisation (NESO), and other tribal groups have been pushing for ILP and spearheading a movement to mount pressure on the government to regulate the entry of non-locals in the state.

Police said that a taxi driver, Lurshai Hynniewta from Sohra area, who was injured in the clashes, succumbed to injuries in a hospital.

Four members of KSU were injured  two were sent to Ichamati CHC and discharged, two were referred to Sohra CHC. One local taxi which had gone to collect the KSU members from the Ichamati market after the clashes was damaged. The areas under curfew include Police Bazar, Jail Road, Keating Road, Polo, the whole of Jaiaw, Mawkhar, Mawprem, Umsohsun, Wahingdoh, Mission, Lumdiengiri, Qualapatty , Sunny Hills, Cantonment, Boucher road and Mawlang Hat.

The state administration decided to suspend mobile Internet services for 48 hours in West Jaintia Hills, East Jaintia Hills, East Khasi Hills, Ri Bhoi, West Khasi Hills and South West Khasi Hills districts.

Meghalaya chief minister Conrad Sangma has made an appeal for peace.
Australia has recently announced its first death from the deadly coronavirus. Authorities announced on February 1 that an evacuee 'who was in his late 70's' from the Diamond Princess cruise ship died in a hospital in Perth. His wife, who also tested positive for coronavirus is also admitted in the hospital and is currently in stable condition.

No need for panic

According to sources, the Western Australian chief health officer, Andrew Robertson, during a press conference was asked if the age or any prior health of the victim could have been a factor. Robertson then claimed that people of the victim's age were very likely suffering from other chronic ailments that can make it difficult for them to fight the virus.

As per reports, Robertson also added that there is no threat to the general community because the victim was in a negative pressure room and was then transferred to the intensive care unit before his death. The couple, including the wife who was also diagnosed with coronavirus, was among the 150 Australians that were evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, after being quarantined there for almost two weeks.

Read: 'Unbelievable!' Remarks Heinrich Klaasen As He Scores Maiden ODI Century Against Australia

Read: Jemimah Rodrigues Cheerfully Teaches Australian Kids 'Bollywood Dance' Amid The Ongoing WC

As per reports, the victim's family were able to speak to him on February 28 morning before his death on February 29. Robertson also added that he was concerned about people panicking after confirmation of the first coronavirus death in Australia, but he claimed that there was no threat and that the virus had not spread to the community. Robertson reportedly claimed that while the death was tragic, it was related to the Diamond Princess and that the community should not panic at this time.

Australia issue travel advisory

Australia has reportedly warned its citizens not to travel to Iran amid surging cases of the coronavirus in its territory, most cases linked to Iran. The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) announced on February 29, that foreign nationals travelling from Iran need to quarantine in another country before entering Australia, as per reports.

Effective from March 1, the measure requires the Australian citizens, permanent residents, and immediate families to isolate themselves for at least 14 days in case of flu-like or chronic illness symptoms upon entering Australia from abroad. According to the reports, DFAT also extended travel restrictions against the Chinese nationals with the exception of returning Australians citizens.

Read: 'Do Not Travel To Iran': Australia Warns Citizens Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

Read: Leap Day Sales In Australia: Amazing Feb 29 Deals And Offers In Australia

It, however, said that the policy will be revised basis the situation analysis before March 6. Australia's Chief Medical Officer issued an advisory stating that there was a high level of concern about the spread of COVID-19 due to transmission from returning citizens from Iran.
Officials overseeing applications for compensation received from riot-affected people in north-east Delhi are facing a tough question: how to verify the claims of those whose houses and shops were set afire?

Many such people are saying that documents  such as voter identity card, Aadhaar card, drivers licence and monthly electricity bill that carry house address  to back their claims have been gutted, according to government officials.

For relatives of the dead and those recovering from injuries in hospitals, the verification task will be easy. In the absence of any documents, hospital papers such as medical reports, diary entries of police officials and discharge slips will work. The challenge is to verify applicants who fled their homes and shops that were ransacked and set on fire, an official in the north-east district magistrates office said on the condition of anonymity.

To be sure, the government has not specified the list of documents that are to be submitted, and officials say they are accepting any credible paper that a riot victim could arrange.

As the dust settled on violence and life limped back to normalcy, 18 sub-divisional magistrates, appointed by the government, and their teams spread out across north-east Delhi to assess damages caused to properties on Sunday.

They navigated roads covered with sharp metal objects, stones and debris as the extent of the devastation became clearer days after rampaging mobs killed at least 42 people and wounded about 350.

Have you seen what hell looks like? We saw it last week, Abub Ibrar, a 35-year-old resident, said, describing a 12-hour frenzy in Shiv Vihar during which around 170 cars were burned to ashes near his house.

These vehicles were stationed at two separate parking lots in Shiv Vihar  possibly the worst-hit locality  and were set on fire last Monday. Not a single vehicle escaped the damage.

For claim settlement, the government has set up a help desk at the district headquarters in Nand Nagri, where officials are sifting through documents seeking ex-gratia compensation announced by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal last week. By 2pm on Sunday, the help desk received 72 applications; some asking for relief for injuries suffered, and some for damaged houses, shops and vehicles.

According to officials, it was decided on Saturday evening that electricity meters at vandalised households will be tracked since every such meter has a unique number. The number (also known as CA number) discloses details of people who have been allotted connections, and establishes the link between a residence and its occupants.

The idea, however, did not work out after a first few successful cases, said another government official who is part of the relief, rehabilitation and compensation exercise. Such was the condition at some places that even electricity meters were not intact.

In most houses that were torched, the damage was so intense that electricity meters were blown into pieces, said a sub-divisional magistrate who was on a field survey in the riot-hit areas on Sunday.

North-east district magistrate Shashi Kaushal said she will chair a review meeting with officials to find solutions to all challenges. Relief measures and compensations are priority issues, she added.
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 29 (Reuters) - Malaysia's Mahathir Mohamad said on Saturday he has agreed to be the prime ministerial candidate of the former ruling coalition, which collapsed this week when he resigned as prime minister.

"I am now confident that I have the numbers needed to garner majority support in (parliament)," Mahathir, now the interim prime minister, said in a statement, after meeting leaders of the Pakatan Harapan coalition.

"I am therefore prepared to stand as prospective candidate for prime minister." (Reporting by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
SAGINAW, MI  Officials with Nexteer Automotive, Saginaw Countys largest employer, are in negotiations with UAW Local 699, the union says on its Facebook page.

UAW Local 699 President Tom Hurst shared the following message from the unions Facebook page on Tuesday, Feb. 25:

Negotiations between Nexteer and your UAW bargaining team are still underway. Your bargaining team has made progress and is confident to continue to achieve a good contract. We are negotiating in the outlines of our constitution and federal law. Both parties agree to bargain fair and by the laws set forth.

The unions current five-year contract with the steering maker expires on March 20.

Hurst declined to comment further on the negotiations.

I cant speak of it because of agreements that we made entering into bargaining and federal laws, he told MLive/The Saginaw News.

A Nexteer spokesperson could not be reached for comment.

Members of UAW Local 699 hold signs as they picket outside of the Nexteer Automotive plant on Holland (M-46) in Saginaw County's Buena Vista Township, Tuesday morning, Dec. 8, 2015.Jeff Schrier | MLive.com file

Nexteer workers represented by UAW Local 699 ratified their current five-year contract in December 2015, the same month they walked off the job and onto the picket line. The UAWs 2015 strike against Nexteer lasted for less than 24 hours before the two parties reached a second tentative agreement. Workers rejected the first proposed contract by a landslide.

Nexteer is a global automotive steering company that, as of 2015, employed about 12,000, including more than 4,800 in Saginaw County at its sprawling facility along Interstate 75 in Buena Vista Township. At the time, UAW Local 699 represented about 3,350 Nexteer workers in Saginaw County and retirees. Formerly Delphi Saginaw Steering Systems, Nexteer was sold in 2010 to China-based Pacific Century Motors.

Related news:

See highest and lowest wages in Saginaw County

Nexteer layoffs are permanent and more are expected, UAW official says on social media

Nexteer Automotive moving its headquarters from Saginaw County to metro Detroit
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Amid a wave of controversy against the LGBTQ community, Councilman Joseph Borelli (R-South Shore) said his display of a tiny pride flag pin got him booted from marching in the Staten Island St. Patricks Parade on Forest Avenue on Sunday.

Borelli, wearing a small rainbow flag lapel pin on his jacket, was told by one of the parade marshals that he couldnt march, said the councilman.

They [the parade marshals] physically blocked me, said Borelli, who had planned to march in the parade despite many of the Islands politicians decision to either not march or boycott the event. They [the parade marshals] physically blocked me, my wife and two boys in strollers.

They called the police on me. I spoke to a sergeant and was not going to make the life of our cops more complicated to prove a point. ...I didnt come with it looking for an argument; my friends handed a pin to me. I really didnt think it was a big affront to the Irish," added Borelli.

The Pride Center of Staten Island has never been allowed to march under their own banner in St. Patricks Parade by the events organizers.

Borelli called the situation sad.

My friends Carol [Bullock, executive director of the Pride Center of Staten Island] and Joanne Gerenser [who runs Eden II] gave me a pride pin since I support the pride center and allowing it to march," said Borelli.

They [the Pride Center] march in the [Manhattan] parade every year without controversy. Joanne Gerenser runs Eden II and has done more for my kid and others than most people on Staten Island. Tough guys couldnt contend with a half-inch pin, he added.

Parade organizers didnt respond to an Advance request for comment about Borelli being banned from marching.

The councilman wasnt the only high-profile person barred from marching in the parade.

PAGEANT WINNERS BANNED

The head organizer of Staten Islands annual St. Patricks Parade has banned all pageant winners from marching, the Advance has learned.

As a result, the decision has thwarted Miss Staten Islands controversial plans to march in support of the LGBTQ community, after the Pride Center of Staten Island had again been excluded from participating.

Madison LInsalata, Miss Staten Island 2020, announced publicly Saturday shes bisexual, and would be wearing a rainbow colored scarf while waving from the back of a convertible along the parade route in West Brighton.

Hours after her announcement made headlines, parade head Larry Cummings placed a call to pageant director Jim Smith to inform him all pageant winners, the cars they were set to ride in and the drivers were banned from the parade for safety reasons, Smith said.

Smith said he didnt press Cummings about what he specifically was meant by safety reasons.

I didnt ask because I didnt think he was going to say that; I thought hed say she couldnt wear rainbow colors," said Smith. The fact he called at 10 p.m., I knew he wasnt going to argue with me.

Cummings did not respond to Advance requests for comment over the weekend.

LInsalata, 23, said she plans to attend the annual politicians breakfast at Jodys on Forest Avenue prior to the start of the parade, and is looking forward to hearing if any officials would speak to the ongoing controversy surrounding the parade.

Fellow Staten Island pageant winners also were banned from participating, though according to a source familiar with the pageant, Miss Staten Islands Outstanding Teen, Angelica Santos Mroczek, and Miss Richmond County, Gabby Ryan, already had decided not to march in protest of the Pride Center being excluded.

While the Ancient Order of Hibernians has been tied to the Staten Island St. Patricks Parade, the Richmond County Saint Patricks Day Parade Committee is solely responsible for the decision not to allow the Staten Island Pride Center to march under its own banner. The national AOH has actively distanced itself from the Island parade this year.

FOLLOW TRACEY PORPORA ON FACEBOOK and TWITTER
https://www.aish.com/jw/s/The-Bomb-Threat-at-My-Kids-School.html

A bomb threat made us value Jewish education more than ever.

In the past few days over 50 Jewish Community Centers in 23 states across the US have received bomb threats. These threats have been anonymous and in most cases seem to have been sent by email. Though no bombs have been discovered, thank God, Jews have had to rush out of these buildings in fear of their lives.

Watching images of children, babies and adults fleeing JCCs in fear brought back horrible memories of the time my kids' Jewish schools received bomb threats. Many years ago, over several terrifying months, Jewish schools in the Chicago area received threats and put every parent on edge.

My kids were very young at the time. Wed chosen the Jewish preschool and elementary schools they attended because they were warm and nurturing. Mu kids loved their school and the wonderful teachers, and it seemed impossible that anyone would threaten to harm them.

When the first bomb threat came, I panicked and asked another mother if we should immediately pull our kids from school. We were new moms and nothing in our previous experiences prepared us for this.

Our local law enforcement was fantastic and reassured us they were protecting our precious children. They worked very hard to eventually find the person whod written threatening letters. Even though its been many years, the trauma of those horrible few months have never really left me. Here are three lessons I learned from that agonizing experience.

Choosing Jewish Education

As our kids began to explore and learn about the world, it was crucially important to my husband and me that their world included Jewish learning as well. When our kids learned the ABCs, we also wanted them to learn the Aleph-Bet of the Hebrew language. When they read books and created plays, we wanted that world of make believe and discovery to include Jewish stories and ideas.

Every Friday, my kids preschool had a mock Shabbat dinner complete with challah and grape juice. It was the highlight of their week. My first grader learned about the weekly Torah portion and told us about it at Shabbat dinner. These were things we would never give up.

Our kids may face hatred for being Jewish, but we would never let those who hate us define the way we live.

The bomb threats made us appreciate how important Jewish education is for us. I thought about my grandmother who fled Austria just before World War II. She experienced firsthand hatred for being Jewish, and she never tried to shed her Jewish identity in order to appease anti-Semites. Being Jewish was too important.

Our kids may face hatred for being Jewish, but we would never let those who hate us define the way we live.

Sympathizing with the criminal

Just before the bomb threats were menacing the Chicago Jewish community, I got back in touch with someone Id known years before in high school. She was a Christian minister now, as was her husband. It was great to reconnect and we even got our families together for a fun day in the park.

When the bomb threats were called into my kids schools, I decided to reach out to her for support. After all, she was a religious leader in her community and a mother herself. I wanted her reassurance and support.

I poured out my heart in a long email, describing my daily fears and concerns, and how it hurt to know that someone out there hated us so much they were willing to threaten my kids. What advice and words of comfort did she have?

Ill never forget her reply. It was only one sentence long. She directed me to an anti-Israel website and said that this was her response to what I was going through. I can still remember my shock at this raw hatred. Instead of seeing me as a real person and my children as just as real and deserving of love and security as her own, she seemed to regard us as actually deserving of harm and less important than other people. This is how fanatics think, I realized, reducing other people to the status of symbols or pawns.

I discovered that not everyone cared about Jewish children being threatened. And I resolved never to look at other people in such a cold compassionless way.

Bonding with others

That terrifying time brought me incredibly close to other mothers from our school. We were in this together, and I experienced firsthand what it means to feel that All Jews are responsible for one another.

Eventually the anti-Semite threatening the schools was arrested and thank God, he never had an actual bomb. I pray that whoever called in the recent threats to the JCCs across the US is caught soon. I also fervently hope that the parents and children whove been terrified through this ordeal recover their sense of security  and that if anything positive can come out of this misery, its that they have a new, deeper appreciation of the Jewish community and of their place in it.
TOKYO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 01st March, 2020) The latest data from Japan's Health Ministry and local authorities demonstrate that the current number of the infected with the novel coronavirus in the country has reached 947, with the death toll of 12, NHK broadcasting company reported.

Most of the infected, 705, are the passengers and the crew members of Diamond Princess cruise ship, other 14 are among those evacuated from China via charter flights, and the last 228 are the ones who have got infected in Japan or Japanese tourists who have returned from China, according to the broadcaster.

Japan has already canceled public events and will close most of its schools starting Monday. Tokyo and Osaka will not hold traditional cherry blossom viewing events. Disneyland and other theme parks are closed from Saturday to mid-March.
FORMER mayor of Limerick, Cllr Stephen Keary has called for the council to be stripped of the responsibility of building houses.

Instead, the Croagh Fine Gael councillor believes a national housing agency should take charge.

Cllr Keary made the call after this weeks housing committee meeting, in which he expressed his frustration about the slow progress around the construction of houses.

Its overburdened and cumbersome with bureaucracy. Theres too much to-ing and fro-ing. I do believe the provision of local authority housing should be taken from the local authority totally and put in under the umbrella of a national building agency as they had in the 1970s and 1980s which worked very effectively, Cllr Keary, a builder by trade, said.

If you want to deliver numbers, it has to be under a different guise.

Cllr Kearys colleague in the Adare-Rathkeale district Adam Teskey lashed out at what he sees as bull and bureaucracy from the local authority.

In the Dail, Deputy Richard ODonoghue referred to a common sense approach. But that needs to prevail locally as well, where we must adopt a logical approach.

We see presentations regarding Rebuilding Ireland and we have a direct responsibility to the communities we represent. We have always supported the executive in relation to this. But Im four years in the council, and Ive not seen any houses in my area, he said.

The local councillor added: We have to start encouraging the building of homes. That generates a massive spin-off for the local economy, shops and businesses. We have seen rural Ireland decimated these last few years, and people are finding it hard. Businesses are struggling.
Sen. Bernie Sanders will head into Super Tuesday on March 3 with a second-place finish in South Carolina, where former Vice President Joe Biden claimed a decisive victory Saturday night.

The latest national polls showed the Vermont progressive with a lead over Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, whos in danger of losing her own state to the surging Sanders on Tuesday.

Associated Press projected Sanders would finish as the runner up to Biden in South Carolina just after 8 p.m.

Speaking from Virginia, Sanders told supporters We will win because we are determined that Donald Trump is a one-term president.

Sanders heads into Super Tuesday banking on growing support and high turnout after strong finishes in the first three voting states, including wins in New Hampshire and Nevada.

At events across the Bay State this weekend, including rallies in Springfield and Boston, Sanders sought to secure the progressive vote away from Warren, who has been neck and neck or losing to Sanders in recent polls among likely Massachusetts Democratic primary voters.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday wrote to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, urging him to direct Indian embassy officials in Iran to take necessary steps for the evacuation of more than a hundred Indian fishermen stranded in the Middle Eastern country amid coronavirus outbreak.

In a letter dated March 1, Vijayan informed that the fishermen -- 60 of whom hail from Kerala -- are "unable to return to India on account of the COVID-19 spread" in Iran.

"We have received information that more than a hundred fishermen are trapped in Azalur, Iran. When contacted by State Government officials, it has been stated by the persons trapped in Azalur that more than a hundred persons are there out of which around sixty are reported to be from Kerala," the letter read.

"As per the prevailing situation, it is learnt that they are unable to return to India on account of the COVID-19 spread. In this circumstances, I request you to direct the Embassy officials to take necessary steps and arrange for the safe return of these persons," it added.

Iran has reported 54 deaths from coronavirus -- the most outside of China -- while as many as 987 people have been infected from the virus, the country's Health Ministry said, as reported by the IRNA.

Vijayan's letter to Jaishankar comes a day after Indian Ambassador to Iran Gaddam Dharmendra said that the authorities are working to facilitate the return of those Indians who wish to go back to New Delhi.

"In view of coronavirus, we are working to facilitate the return of those Indians wishing to go back home. Discussions are underway with concerned authorities to work out arrangements," the ambassador said.

First detected to the Chinese city of Wuhan in December, last year, coronavirus has spread to more than 45 countries across the world, including India.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Long ago, a wise teacher told me to remember these words: Truth is the Daughter of Time, not of Authority. I had no idea how important they were. Now, after many years of experiencing official dishonesty, they are my motto.

One day, a lot of other people, in the media and politics, will accept that in the past few months they have failed in their duty to the truth, by staying silent or  worse  joining in a braying attempt to suppress crucial facts.

But by then it is quite possible that the peoples of the Western world will have been whipped into a warlike frenzy by false information, just as happened in the Iraq disaster 17 years ago. Because if nothing is done about the scandal I have been writing about, such an outcome is highly possible, even likely.

A few months ago I was told of an attempt by authority to suppress an important truth about an alleged atrocity in Syria. Claims that poison gas had been used by the Syrian state at Douma in April 2018 were not, in fact, confirmed by the scientific evidence.

This was deeply embarrassing to three governments  our own, Frances and the USA, all of which had bombed Syria soon afterwards in the unchecked belief that the claims were true.

A few months ago I was told of an attempt by authority to suppress an important truth about an alleged atrocity in Syria. Claims that poison gas had been used by the Syrian state at Douma in April 2018 were not, in fact, confirmed by the scientific evidence. (This image released early on April 8, 2018 by the Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets shows a child receiving oxygen through respirators following the alleged poison gas attack)

This was deeply embarrassing to three governments  our own, Frances and the USA, all of which had bombed Syria soon afterwards in the unchecked belief that the claims were true. (Pictured, an RAF Tornado over Damascus during the coalition attack)

All three are members of the UN Security Council, and are supposed to uphold international law with special care. But the facts suggested they had all violated that law.

I did not much welcome the knowledge. It was frightening to possess it. I knew that if I published it, I would face trouble. But I had to.

And I duly did. I was immediately smeared on social media as a war crimes denier, an absurd accusation. I was falsely accused of being a patsy for the horrible Assad regime in Syria, despite my record of hostility to the Assads going back more than 20 years.

I actually have a more consistent anti-Assad record than the British Government, which in 2002 compelled the poor Queen to invite President Bashar Assad to Buckingham Palace.

The vicious slanderers who attacked me paid no attention to my rebuttals, and repeated the smears, from behind false names. Their purpose was to scare others away from the story.

I was falsely accused of being a patsy for the horrible Assad (pictured last November) regime in Syria, despite my record of hostility to the Assads going back more than 20 years. I actually have a more consistent anti-Assad record than the British Government, which in 2002 compelled the poor Queen to invite President Bashar Assad to Buckingham Palace

I suspect there have been, and will be, other consequences. I have annoyed some powerful people. But I was a minor victim of this spiteful rage.

The brave dissenters who had protested against the hiding of the truth are very serious men, totally unpolitical scientists who simply could not abide the suppression of the evidence they had gathered and examined. They have been hosed down with slime by their former employers.

They have also been attacked by a slippery operation known as Bellingcat, which far too many journalists and politicians treat with wide-eyed indulgence, as if it was a brave independent enterprise.

Why do they never mention that it is partly funded by the US government, through its front organisation the National Endowment for Democracy? Could it be that it would not be quite such a convincing source if it was known to be subsidised by Donald Trump? I imagine so.

The two scientists remain absolutely confident that their doubts are justified.

But their reward was to be severely, publicly attacked by their former employers, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

Again, a lot of people lazily or weakly accepted this official attack on powerless individuals as true. They did not notice, or did not care, that the two men had been given no opportunity to defend themselves, that the resulting indictment was completely one-sided.

Well, it is now my privilege to publish their defence in detail.

It is on the Peter Hitchens Blog at hitchensblog.mailonsunday.co.uk/2020/02/a-and-b-respond-to-the-opcws-attacks-on-them-the-full-rebuttal.html

I hope it will stand as a vital resource for anyone seriously interested in the truth about what I regard as the biggest scandal of its kind since the dodgy dossiers and non-existent WMD that were used to hurry us into invading Iraq.

I, and others who have read it, have found it impressive and powerful. I do not think that anyone could read it without seeing that something has gone seriously wrong. Let us hope that we have enough time, before the next war, for the truth to prevail.

Coogan's Greed is bang on the money

When Steve Coogan is right about something, you know youre in trouble. The world isnt in general much like his simple-minded Left-wing picture of it. But sometimes it is.

His attack on bandit capitalism in his new film Greed is mostly a cartoon in human form. But the heart of it is horribly true.

The film brilliantly and concisely explains practices that tear the core out of established businesses and allow the pirates who do this to walk away with the cash, destroying the job security and futures of thousands.

Steve Coogan's attack on bandit capitalism in his new film Greed is mostly a cartoon in human form. But the heart of it is horribly true

It also shows what global free trade, which we are all supposed to love so much, does to those at the bottom of the pile.

How long, you wonder, before the working conditions of Bangladesh arrive in Britain, if they have not already done so?

I do often suspect that the public posing of the open-necked, funky, modern rich  on global warming, foreign aid and the rest  actually helps them behave more cruelly in their commercial lives.

Old-fashioned, stuffy, buttoned-up businesses had obligations to employees, suppliers and customers that grow rarer by the day.

Just because liberals and softies are attacking Home Secretary Priti Patel, it doesnt mean she is any good

Don't be duped by 'tough' Priti

Look, just because liberals and softies are attacking Home Secretary Priti Patel, it doesnt mean she is any good.

I have listened to Tory Home Secretaries proclaim their toughness over and over again.

Yet nothing ever happens. The Tories have been in office for 32 of the 55-odd years since Labours Roy Jenkins disembowelled our criminal justice system.

And they havent turned the clock back by ten seconds.

But, my goodness, they have emitted a lot of noisy speeches saying they would. Not the same thing.

Big Brother would adore this drugs drivel

On rereading Orwells Nineteen Eighty-Four (as we all should, very often), I was struck by a passage on what he called Crimestop, a barrier in the mind which makes people instinctively stop short of thinking dangerously, or committing Thought Crime.

This involves failing to understand the simplest arguments, if they are hostile to conventional wisdom.

An example of this is the futile report on drugs produced last week by Dame Carol Black. It blames drug abuse on deprivation through huge geographical and socioeconomic inequalities.

It treats drug-taking as a voluntary crime, as a disease to be dealt with by treatment, a formula insulting to the truly sick. Disease is compulsory. How the sick wish they could give up having cancer.

It completely fails to notice that illegal drug abuse in this country has soared because the police and courts have simply stopped bothering to enforce the laws against drug possession.

In Japan and South Korea, where they have not made this foolish mistake, the problem is much smaller. Why has our establishment been so completely brainwashed by the arguments of the drug lobbies? What will it take to open their closed minds?

If you want to comment on Peter Hitchens click here
The minister told reporters at Agra-Malwa in Madhya Pradesh, We are in the process of preparing a detailed agenda for minorities.

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh water resources minister Hukum Singh Karad Saturday hinted at a move by his government to provide reservation to Muslims in educational institutions in the state.

The minister told reporters at Agra-Malwa in Madhya Pradesh, We are in the process of preparing a detailed agenda for minorities. I cannot say much on it, but I can say that the relaxation we are planning (for minorities) will be much more than what Maharashtra has announced. A ruling Congress leader here disclosed to this newspaper that the state government will soon announce reservation for Muslims in educational institutions in the state. The opposition BJP here however declared that the party will fight tooth and nail any such move by the state government to provide reservation on religious lines. We will oppose such a move in the Assembly and on the streets. Reservation on religious lines is unconstitutional, said BJP spokesman Rajneesh Agrawal. He said that the ruling Congress had now started showing its true character by resorting to vote bank politics in the form of appeasement of minorities.
Wishing Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on his birthday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday praised him as a popular leader who has "risen" from the grassroots.

"Greetings to Bihar's Chief Minister and my friend, Shri Nitish Kumar Ji. A popular leader who has risen from the grassroots, he's been at the forefront of furthering Bihar's development. His passion towards social empowerment is noteworthy. Praying for his long and healthy life," Modi tweeted.

Kumar, who is also president of the JD(U), turned 69 on Sunday. His party is a BJP ally.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
President Donald Trump authorized the expansion of travel restrictions against Iran and the new recommendation that Americans refrain from visiting regions of Italy and South Korea impacted by the coronavirus.

Vice President Mike Pence on Saturday detailed the heightened travel warnings in a press conference from the White House.

First, the president authorized action today to add additional travel restrictions on Iran.  Iran is already under a travel ban, but were are expanding existing travel restrictions to include any foreign national who has visited Iran within the last 14 days, Pence said.



We are going to increase, to the highest level advisory, which is Level 4 advising Americans: Do not travel to specific regions in Italy and South Korea, he added. We are urging Americans to not travel to the areas in Italy and the areas in South Korea that are most affected by the coronavirus.

The president, meanwhile, said he will meet with some of the globes largest pharmaceutical companies on Monday on efforts to develop a vaccine for the novel illness. He and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar added that the administrations early action to clamp down on travel has helped keep the viruss risk to everyday Americans low.

Follow Us on Facebook  @LadunLiadi; Instagram  @LadunLiadi; Twitter  @LadunLiadi; Youtube  @LadunLiadiTV for updates
by Leonard Grandio | Mavericks Correspondent | Sun, Mar 1st 3:06pm EST

The Dallas Mavericks have listed Luka Doncic as out for todays contest with the Timberwolves due to a sore right thumb. (Dallas Mavericks on Twitter )
In UP, Nadda explains all the good PM has done for farmers

'CM refused to get on phone': JP Nadda slams Punjab govt over PM Modi's security lapse

Donald Trumps India visit possible due to PMs vibrant leadership

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Shimla, Mar 01: The recent standalone visit to India by US President Donald Trump was a result of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "vibrant leadership", BJP president Jagat Prakash Nadda claimed on Friday.

Speaking at a public meeting at Jhandutta in Himachal Pradesh's Bilaspur district, Nadda also claimed that Trump had praised Modi and India for 20 minutes during his 28-minute-long speech at Gujarat's Motera Stadium.

It was probably the first time that a US president travelled 8,000 kms to India on the request of an Indian PM without stopping over in any other country on the way, the BJP chief said.

Didn't discuss Delhi violence with Modi, it's up to India: Donald Trump backs Modi over CAA

"This speaks of India's commanding position in the world and it has become possible due to the vibrant and strong leadership of Modi," said Nadda.

NEWS AT NOON, MARCH 1st, 2020

During his 28-minute speech at the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad, Trump spent 20 minutes praising Modi and India, he claimed.

Nadda also credited Modi for the growth of the country's economy.

India has become the world's fifth-largest economy and will emerge at the top in the next few years, the BJP chief said.

The country is on its way to becoming a 5 trillion dollar economy under Modi, he added.

Nadda's remarks came on a day when official data showed that India's GDP growth slipped to a nearly 7-year low of 4.7 per cent in October-December 2019.

President Trump returns to US after 'very successful India trip

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth was registered at 5.6 per cent in the corresponding quarter of 2018-19, as per the data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO).

Nadda arrived in Himachal Pradesh on a two-day visit on Thursday. This is his maiden visit to the state since he took over the BJP's reins from Union Home Minister Amit Shah last month.

Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jai Ram Thakur, Union minister of state for finance and corporate affairs Anurag Thakur and state BJP chief Rajeev Bindal also attended the event.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Sunday, March 1, 2020, 9:15 [IST]
Turkey launches Operation Spring Shield in Syrias Idlib

Defense chief stressed that Ankara wants a lasting cease-fire and stability in Syria, however, he vowed to intensely retaliate any attack on Turkish troops and observation posts in Idlib.

Turkey launched a fresh Syria operation in the wake of the recent regime attack on Turkish troops in Idlib, said the countrys defense chief on Sunday.

Operation Spring Shield, which was launched following the heinous attack [on Turkish troops] on Feb. 27 is successfully being carried out, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said as he is commanding the operation from Turkeys southern Hatay province, bordering Syria.

"TURKEY'S TARGET WILL BE ASSAD REGIME ELEMENTS"

On the details of the operation, Akar said a drone, eight helicopters, 103 tanks, 19 armored personnel carriers, 72 cannons/howitzers/multiple rocket launchers, three air-defense systems, 15 anti-tanks/mortars, 56 armored vehicles, nine ammunition depots and 1,212 regime soldiers and elements have been neutralized so far.

Turkey launches Operation Spring Shield in Syrias Idlib WATCH

He stressed that Turkeys only target during the operation would be regime soldiers and elements in Idlib under the right to self-defense.

The operation was launched after at least 34 Turkish soldiers were martyred and dozens of others injured late Thursday in an airstrike by Assad regime forces in Idlib, a de-escalation zone in northwestern Syria, just across Turkeys southern border.

Akar said talks between Ankara and Moscow are ongoing: Our expectation from Russia at this point is to fulfill its commitments as the guarantor country, and in this context, to use its influence on the regime to make it halt its attacks and withdraw to the borders set with the Sochi agreement.





He added that Turkey does not aim a face-off with Russia and its only aim is to stop the regime massacres and to prevent radicalization and migration.
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP)  Syrias foreign minister hosted officials from Libya's east-based government on Sunday, the official Syrian news agency SANA reported.

Walid al-Moallem's meeting was the first announced visit by Libyan officials to Syria since 2011, when both countries were engulfed by so-called Arab Spring uprisings and later descended into civil wars.

While Syrian President Bashar Assad has managed to retake control of most of his country from rebels, Libya remains divided between two competing governments, one based in Benghazi in the east and the other based in Tripoli in the west.

Turkey backs the Tripoli-based government, and also backs Syrian rebels fighting against Assad.

Turkey has recently sent thousands of its troops into the last rebel-held stronghold in Syria, and the past week has seen a major escalation in direct conflict between Syrian and Turkish forces, with dozens killed on both sides.

In a further twist, Turkey has in recent weeks been sending Syrian rebels with links to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group to fight in Libya on behalf of the Tripoli-based government.

SANA reported that Sunday's meeting in the Syrian capital Damascus discussed Turkish aggression against both brotherly countries, and the danger this poses to their sovereignty, as well as to Arab national security.

They also signed a memorandum of understanding to reopen diplomatic missions, the report said.

Gulf Arab nations, once the main backers of rebels trying to oust Assad, have recently lined up to reopen their embassies in Syria, worried about leaving the country at the heart of the Arab world to regional rivals Iran and Turkey and missing out on lucrative post-war reconstructive projects.

The United Nations recognizes the Turkey-backed government in Tripoli, led by Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj, as Libyas legitimate government because it was born out of U.N.-mediated talks in 2015.

In addition to Turkey, Sarraj is backed to a lesser degree, Qatar and Italy.

The east-based government controls most of Libya and is allied with forces commanded by Khalifa Hifter. He receives backing from the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, as well as France and Russia.

Libya has the ninth largest known oil reserves in the world.
(Natural News) The first U.S. death of the coronavirus is now confirmed in Washington State, and Gov. Jay Inslee has issued a statement lamenting the sad day in our state.

Whats even more sad, of course, is the fact that the CDC withheld coronavirus tests from state-level public health labs, allowing the virus to spread while nearly all U.S. states conducted exactly zero tests. Now that states have suddenly been granted permission to start conducting tests, its no surprise that a slew of new outbreaks and infection confirmations has already begun. (See state testing statistics at Pandemic.news)

Right on cue, Washington State just declared a state of emergency.

And in another bombshell that was just released, as reported by Reuters:

Jeff Duchin, a public health official in Seattle and King County, said that 27 residents and 25 staff members of long-term care facility Life Care had some sort of symptoms.

So we may have a retirement center thats now infected with the virus.

The Trump administration seems more interested in controlling the narrative than controlling the virus

The Trump administrations response to this exploding global pandemic has been virtually indistinguishable from communist China: Downplay the problem, insist that everything is under control and try to order people around by telling them what to do.

According to various Trump administration officials, including VP Mike Pence, the U.S. Surgeon General and top CDC officials:

 Americans should NOT buy masks, since hospitals are about to run out of supply (from the Surgeon General).

 Americans should NOT buy food or cleaning supplies such as sanitizers and surface cleaners (from the insanely stupid CDC).

 Americans SHOULD blindly buy every stock in sight in order to keep Wall Streets numbers looking fantastic even while the global supply chain collapses, soon to be followed by a wave of business bankruptcies.

 Americans should WAIT for a vaccine that might take two years, and while youre waiting, be sure you DONT turn to anti-viral herbs, superfoods, natural medicines and supplements because those are unproven (FDA).

So in a way that suspiciously mirrors China marching factory workers to their homes at gunpoint, then turning around and marching them into the factories at gunpoint to save the national economy, we are now being commanded by Washington D.C. officials on what were supposed to buy, or not buy, or not do, or do, or say, etc. And of course, all the independent media sources telling the truth are universally censored by the tech giants.

And the very last thing coming out of Washington D.C. right now is the truth.

What truth is that? Its the same truth weve been reporting for weeks: There are thousands of coronavirus infections already in America. The CDC knows it, but theyre lying to the public. The risk of infection is not low for people in California, Oregon, Washington and probably Hawaii, too.

Next week we will see tens of new cases confirmed in America. The week after, it will be dozens. Over the following couple of weeks, it will be hundreds. From there, its pure mathematics how this thing explodes exponentially. Its the Italy scenario but in California, essentially.

Yet even right now in America, many pro-Trump conservative publishers are still somehow peddling the its no worse than the flu line, even though that entire charade just collapsed this morning with the death announcement from Washington.

This could be the beginning of the end of the Trump presidency

If youre tracking where all this is headed, its no joke that this could be the beginning of the end of the Trump presidency. This is the black swan event that weve repeatedly warned about, and instead of taking the black swan seriously, Trump is floundering, getting horrible advice from the NIH (Fauci), the CDC (Redfield) and the WHO (lunatic communist bureaucrats).

Things are about to get far, far worse across America with this virus, and yet our own president appears to be in a state of paralyzed denial.

The window of opportunity for Trump to start telling the truth, warn the American people to get prepared and start demanding tens of thousands of tests nationwide is rapidly slamming shut.

If Trump doesnt change course, his administration will self-destruct well before Novembers election and it will be over for Trump (and maybe even for America as a nation).

If you want the straight truth on all this, read Pandemic.news. And hear my latest podcast on all this here:

Brighteon.com/094d19c4-8d53-476c-a55e-cd31d1992223
Catholic Kwangdong University.



By Park Si-soo



A Chinese student who is self-quarantined at a dormitory associated with Catholic Kwangdong University has tested positive for coronavirus, the first Chinese citizen to do so on Korean soil.



The school and the Gangwon Province government announced the case on Sunday.



The student, 22, is being treated at Gangwondo Samcheok Medical Center.






A Massachusetts woman is facing animal cruelty charges after two horses were found living in stalls with piles of manure so high that the animals backs were pressed against the barn roof rafters, causing sores.



On Feb. 5, a team from the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals-Angell Animal Medical Center spent two hours digging the horses out of their stalls because the manure blocked the doors.

The animals are now being cared for by the MSPCA at Nevins Farm in Methuen, Massachusetts.

Nancy L. Golec, the former owner of the horses, has been charged with four counts of felony animal cruelty. Golec was arraigned Monday.

The horses, a 13-year-old Arabian named Shakira and an 11-year-old Quarter Horse/Arabian cross named Tia, were surrendered and taken by the MSPCA's equine ambulance to Nevins Farm.

Once extracted from the stalls where they had been trapped, the sores on their backs  a result of standing on piles of manure so high that their backs were pressed into the building's rafters  were made plainly visible, the MSPCA said.



Roger Lauze, the equine rescue training manager at Nevins Farm, said he hasn't seen such neglect in nearly 40 years of working in horse rescue.



"The hooves on these horses were so overgrown and disfigured that it will take years of farrier work for them to reshape  if that's even possible," he said.

Both horses had overgrown teeth, with hind legs that were caked in manure. Tia is underweight, an additional sign that she had been neglected for years, the MSPCA said.



Their overgrown and misshapen hooves contributed to imbalances that have significantly impacted their health.

"Were going to do everything possible to help them live the rest of their lives without pain, but that will be determined by the degree to which we can reshape the hooves," Lauze said.

X-rays confirmed changes to the coffin bones of both of Shakiras front hooves, but the staff are hopeful these changes will not further erode the quality of her life, the MSPCA said.

"It really depends on the extent to which her hooves can be reshaped," Lauze said.

Tias radiographs, however, show immense deformation of the coffin bones in her hind hooves, among other bone changes that could forever compromise her health.

Despite the deplorable conditions they were in, Lauze said the animals are in good spirits now.

"No matter what's been done to them, it doesn't change their attitudes and how they react to people," he said. "It's kind of amazing."

The Nevins Farm team will continue to rehabilitate both horses in hopes that they can be placed for adoption.

The organization is collecting money for the horses mounting medical bills through MSPCA at Nevins Farm Ashtons Hope Fund.
Gangster Ejaz Lakdawala's cousin



brother has been arrested from the Mumbai international airport in a case of alleged extortion of Rs one crore from a builder, police said on Sunday.

After a real estate developer from suburban Bandra lodged a police complaint on February 5, the anti-extortion cell (AEC) of Mumbai Crime Branch started an investigation and nabbed Nadeem Abdul Sattar Lakdawala (49) on Saturday, a police official said.

Ejaz Lakdawala has already been arrested in the same case by the Crime Branch, he said.

The complainant was receiving extortion calls for Rs one crore since the last six months following which he approached the police.

When the AEC officials quizzed Ejaz Lakdawala, who was alreay arrested in January by Mumbai Police, about the extortion case pertaining to the complainant, the gangster revealed the name of his cousin.

According to police, Nadeem Lakdawala provided details of the real estate developer to the gangster.

The Crime Branch swung into action and launched a massive search for Nadeem Lakdawala, but got to know he was not in India, the official said.

Later, the police issued a lookout circular against Nadeem Lakdawala and when he arrived at the international airport here on Saturday night, the police took him into custody, he said.

He was booked under Indian Penal Code Sections 387 (putting person in fear of death or of grievous hurt, in order to commit extortion), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (common intention).

During the probe, the Crime Branch came to know that Nadeem Lakdawala played the "middleman" in setting up meetings in Dubai between Ejaz Lakdawala and a few people whom the gangster was harassing, the official said.

Nadeem Lakdawala took advantage of his close relation with the gangster, he said.

After his arrest, Nadeem Lakdawala was on Sunday produced in a local court which remanded him in police custody till March 3.

The Mumbai Police earlier nabbed Ejaz Lakdawala from Patna in Bihar on January 9, and on his revelation, his associates Tariq Parveen and Salim Penwala were also arrested.

There are already seven extortion cases registered against Ejaz Lakdawala in Mumbai. Parveen is an accused in two of those cases while Penwala is an accused in three cases, official said.

Ejaz Lakdawala was earlier an aide of gangster Chhota Rajan, but parted ways with him in 2008 and formed his own gang.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Economic growth in NSW could slump to the lowest rate since the recession of the early 1990s as key industries in the state struggle with the effects of the coronavirus outbreak and summer bushfires.

Modelling by NSW treasury shows the combined impact of the bushfires and coronavirus, or COVID-19, will detract between one third of a percentage point and two-thirds of a percentage point from state growth this financial year.

Treasurer Dominic Perrottet says key sectors of the NSW economy are "feeling the pain right now" from the coronavirus crisis Credit:Nick Moir

The latest official forecast, published in December, showed gross state product growth of 1.75 per cent over that period. A detraction of one third of a percentage point  the lower end of treasurys estimate  will reduce growth to 1.4 per cent, the weakest since the global financial crisis in 2008-09.

But a detraction of two thirds of a percentage point  the higher end of treasurys estimate  will push NSW growth below 1.1 per cent, the lowest rate since Australia's last recession nearly three decades ago.
Q: Can a home health aide make it possible for an elderly person stay in his or her home despite having health challenges?

A: Many adult children are turning to home health care agencies when elderly parents need skilled nursing, help with daily activities or just companionship.

The aging-at-home trend is moving toward taking care of people in their homes, instead of moving them to facilities, which can sometimes cost more, said Lisa Zidek, president of Visiting Nurse Association of Ohio, a nonprofit that provides home health aides and skilled nurses for home care.

Home care in general is considered a less-expensive care model in the continuum, Zidek said.

About 12,000 home care agencies provided care to 3.4 million Medicare beneficiaries in 2017, the most recent year for which data is available, according to a Washington Post article. The number of home health aides is projected to grow 36% between 2018 to 2028, much faster than the average for all occupations, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Skilled nurses and personal care aides provide different kinds of assistance.

Home health skilled nursing services are typically paid for through insurance and are ordered by a physician, according to Visiting Nurse Association of Ohio. Nurses perform tasks such as managing medication and wound care, physical therapy and other skilled nursing needs for a limited amount of time. This type of assistance is typically ordered by a physician who writes an order for home health when a patient is returning home after a stay in a hospital or skilled care facility.

There are other options for home care, including private duty care, where the client usually pays out-of-pocket costs. A private duty home health aide, also called a personal care aide, provides non-medical care such help with bathing, eating, dressing, running errands or light household chores, according to Visiting Nurse Association of Ohio. The family decides how long the aide stays each day, and the relationship can go on for years. Private duty nursing is also available for chronic conditions or conditions that may not be covered by a physician order.

Caregivers can provide peace of mind, but sometimes the relationship between caregiver and patient goes wrong. In 2019, a home health aide was sentenced in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court to serve two years in prison for charges connected to taking without permission more than $200,000 from people she cared for.

There are ways to minimize the risk that comes when you hire a caregiver. The information below came from AARP, Consumer Reports, the Senior List, Visiting Nurse Association of Ohio and Visiting Angels Senior Home Care in Cleveland.

Agencies connect families with aides

Home health or home care agencies employ skilled nurses, therapists or personal care aides, and match them with clients for a fee.

Currently the state of Ohio does not have any licensure requirements for non-medical or custodial homecare agencies, said Constance Hill-Johnson, owner and managing director of Visiting Angels Senior Homecare in Cleveland, an agency that employs personal care aides. Therefore, any agency can establish their own requirements for the type of experience or certification they require of their workers.

Visiting Angels aides have either a state-issued STNA (state tested nursing assistant) credential or license, a home health aide certificate or many years of experience working in the field, Hill-Johnson said. The majority are STNA's who completed a training program approved by the Ohio Department of Health. Experience working with seniors with many different care needs and medical conditions is critical, Hill-Johnson said.

When searching for an agency, ask these questions:

Does the agency do background check on its aides?

Does the agency have insurance for aides, in case an aide is injured in the home?

Can aides run errands in their own car or a clients car?

How is it handled if an aide cancels at the last minute?

What kind of training or certification do aides have?

Independent caregivers

Personal care aides can be found through word of mouth, or recommendations from a doctor or support group. Families may employ a family friend or relative to help a loved one with daily tasks or appointments.

Mary Keating of Highland Heights used a referral in 2015 to find someone to care for her late mother. Keating hired a team of three women who cooked meals, did laundry and organized medications.

It was wonderful to know we had the best people possible and (my mother) was well cared for, Keating said. I believe it is better, if you can, to find people through your own network.

Here are tips for hiring an independent aide:

Do your own background check on potential aides before hiring.

Have a formal arrangement. Put in writing the number of hours to be worked tasks, pay and other details to avoid disputes in the future.

Dont pay under the table. Untaxed cash payments with no records can get you in trouble with the IRS.

Increase your insurance in case a caregiver is injured in your home.

What does it cost?

The median cost of a home health aide in Northeast Ohio is about $52,620 annually, according to the 2019 Cost of Care survey from Genworth, a long-term care insurance company. The website did not state whether the survey covered aides who work for agencies or are independent.

Visiting Angels charges between $23 and $27 an hour, Hill-Johnson said.

Independent caregivers charge between $12 and $50 an hour in Northeast Ohio, according to Care.com, a website that matches various types of caregivers with clients.

What does Medicare cover?

Do not assume Medicare covers your at-home care for everything. What they cover is narrow, said Ann Kayrish, senior program manager for Medicare at the National Council on Aging based in Arlington, Virginia.

Original Medicare will pay for an aide if skilled care (skilled nursing or therapy services) is required, Kayrish said. Under Medicare rules, the patient must be under a doctors care and have difficulty leaving home. The nurse or therapist can be in the home for a maximum of eight hours a day.

Medicare will not pay for an aide if you only require personal care such as bathing, dressing or cooking and do not need skilled care.

Home health care agencies must be Medicare-approved to accept Medicare payments, Kayrish said. Get a list of Medicare-approved agencies from your hospital or doctor.

Medicare Advantage beneficiaries need to be sure their home health care agency is inside their plans network.

Its an additional hurdle, Kayrish said. This is where a lot of people mess up.

New rules limit care

A change in original Medicare rules, effective Jan. 1, is making it more difficult for some Medicare recipients to access home health care.

Under the new rules, known as the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM), agencies are paid more for adults needing complex nursing care and less for patients who need therapy for chronic conditions, Kaiser Health News reported. Patients across the country are being told they no longer qualify for certain services, or that services have to be cut back or discontinued.

Home health agencies are adjusting to operating under the new rules, said Zidek of Visiting Nurse Association of Ohio. Our priority as always is to provide consistent, patient-centered home health, including therapy services, Zidek said.

Medicare recipients with concerns about the new rules can follow the suggestions at this link.

Resources

The National Association for Home Care & Hospice

Free database listing home-care agencies.

Care.com

Matches families with senior care providers

ElderCare.com

Matches families with senior care providers

Medicare's Home Health Compare

Online tool for finding and researching home health agencies in your area.

Consumer Reports Help with Home-Care Bills

Information on companion/homemakers, personal care aides and certified nursing assistants

In her column, patient advocacy writer Julie Washington will answer readers questions about navigating health-care systems. (She will not address individual treatments.) Your comments may be published in a future story or column. Send questions and comments for publication  including your name, city and daytime phone number  to jwashington@plaind.com. You can also find Julie on Twitter @JulieEWash.

Recent Health Matters columns by Julie Washington:

Common heart tests can tell your doctor a lot: Health Matters

What are the best ways to keep reusable bags germ-free? Health Matters

Solon patient doesnt understand $614 nasal spray charge: Health Matters

Lyme disease vaccine discontinued, but new ways to prevent it are coming: Health Matters

Shingles vaccine and virus: What you need to know: Health Matters
From the Archive Who Are the Wa?

UWSA members take part in a military parade to mark the army's 30th anniversary in 2019. / Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy

The United Wa State Army made headlines last week when it confirmed that it had purchased a helicopter, though it claimed the aircraft was purely for leisure and personal use. Already Myanmars largest rebel group with an estimated 30,000 soldiers and 20,000 auxiliary troops and a sophisticated arsenal of weapons, much of it purchased from China, the announcement renewed questions about how long the Myanmar government can tolerate a de facto independent state within its borders. The Irrawaddy revisits this 2017 article examining the history of the Wa region and what options Naypyitaw has for bringing it properly into the Union fold.

It seems very likely that the United Wa State Army (UWSA) will become the next target of the Myanmar governments efforts to bring the country under its control. But that does not necessarily mean that the army will launch an all-out offensive against the countrys most heavily armed ethnic army. A more likely scenario, insiders say, would be for the Myanmar military to capitalize on internal divisions within the UWSA first, play one faction against anotherand attack only when the group has been considerably weakened.

But would that work? And who, exactly, are the Wa? In the Myanmar media, they are often portrayed as some kind of Chinese group, and it has even been suggested that the UWSA may follow the secessionist example set by Crimea, which recently held a referendum and joined Russia. In a similar fashion, the UWSA could hold a referendum in the area under its control, and then decide to merge it with China.

This scenario is extremely unlikely, however, because China would never accept such a move, as it would antagonize the whole of Southeast Asia and most of the rest of the world. And, needless to say, the Wa are not a Chinese people. They are a Mon-Khmer-speaking tribe whose closest ethnic relatives in Myanmar would be the Palaung and, much more distantly, the Mon. (There are ethnic Wa across the border in China as well, where they number about 400, 000, but they are an ethnic minority in Yunnan and not related to the majority Han Chinese.)

We Are Very Wild People

But one also has to remember that the Wa Hills of northeastern Shan State have never been ruled by any central Myanmar authority. What the Wa want their future to be is, therefore, a major concern that cannot be ignored.

Even during the British colonial era, governmental presence in the Wa Hills was limited to annual flag marches up to the Chinese border. The Wa were headhunters and feared by the plainspeople, and the British troops that carried their flag up to the border were always heavily armed.

The Wa Hills were first surveyed by outsiders in 1935-36, when the Iselin Commission began to more firmly demarcate the border between the Wa Hills and China, which was finally agreed upon by the British and the Chinese in 1941. Even so, the Wa Hills were never fully explored and were only nominally under British and later Myanmar sovereignty. The first road in the area was built in 1941, from Kunlong near the Thanlwin River and into the northern fringes of the Wa Hills.

The British-initiated Frontier Areas of Enquiryset up to ascertain the views of Myanmars many minority peoples just before independencereported in 1947 that the Wa Hills pay no contribution to central revenuethere are no post officesand the only medical facilities are those provided by the Frontier Constabulary outpostsand by [non-certified] Chinese practitioners.

The Wa did, however, send three representatives from their states, as their fiefdoms were called, to the committees hearings in Pyin Oo Lwinand those talks revealed the gap between the Wa way of looking at life and the committees perception of it:

Do you want any sort of association with other people?

Hkun Sai [for the Wa]: We do not want to join anybody because in the past we have been very independent.

Sao NawHseng [for the Wa]: Wa are Wa and Shans are Shans. We would not like to go into the Federated Shan States.

What do you want the future to be in the Wa states?

Sao Maha [for the Wa]: We have not thought about that because we are very wild people. We never thought of the administrative future. We think only about ourselves.

Dont you want education, clothing, good food, good houses, hospitals?

Sao Maha: We are very wild people and dont appreciate all these things.

In retrospect, this exchange of views may appear almost farcical, but it nevertheless shows that the Wa did not think of themselves as citizens of Myanmarand that was not going to change after independence in 1948.

Kuomintang, then Communist, Control

In the 1950s, most of the Wa Hills were occupied by renegade Nationalist Chinese Kuomintang forces that retreated across the border into Myanmar following their defeat by Mao Zedongs Communists in the Chinese civil war. The Kuomintang established bases in the Wa Hills and in the mountains north and south of Kengtung, from where they tried on no less than seven occasions between 1950 and 1952 to invade Yunnan, but were repeatedly driven back to the Myanmar side of the border. The parts of the Wa Hills where the Kuomintang was not present were controlled by various local warlords.

The Kuomintangs presence in northeastern Myanmar was a major reason why China decided to support the Communist Party of Burma (CPB) in the early 1960s. Myanmar Communists in exile in China began surveying the border as early as 1963 to identify possible infiltration routes. On Jan. 1, 1968, the CPBand the Chinesemade their move. The old Kuomintang bases were some of the first targets. And while the political commissars were Myanmar Communists, the foot soldiers were almost exclusively volunteers from China.

It was only when the CPB had captured the Wa Hills in the early 1970s that its peoples army began to consist of recruits from Myanmar. Before long, the bulk of the CPBs fighting force was predominantly Wa. But China was still supplying the CPB troops with all their weapons and other equipment, which made them the most formidable rebel army in Myanmar.

By the mid-1970s, the CPB had established control over more than 20,000 square kilometers of territory in northeastern and eastern Shan State. Myanmars central authorities were as remote and alien as they had always been in regards to the Wa Hills. But it was also clear that there were severe frictions between the CPBs ageing Bamar leadership and its mostly hill-tribe troops, who had little or no sympathy for communist ideals.

Mutiny and Ceasefire

In 1989, the tribesmen rose in mutiny and drove the old leaders into exile in China. But there is every reason to believe that the Chinese had a hand in the mutiny as well. Just a few months before it broke out, the CPBs politburo had held a meeting and the then-chairman Thakin Ba Thein Tin, read out a message from the Chinese authorities. The entire CPB leadership had been offered retirement in China. It was clear that China no longer was interested in exporting revolution to Myanmar, but wanted to open the border for trade and exploit the natural resources in the frontier areas.

Thakin Ba Thein Tin was furious. We have no desire to become revisionists, he said, indicating that he considered the post-Mao leadership in China to be revisionistwhich was enough for the Chinese to encourage the rank-and-file of the CPB to rise up in mutiny.

And so the UWSA was born. Almost immediately, the newly formed group entered into a ceasefire agreement with the Myanmar government, which allowed it to retain control of its area and its weaponry in exchange for not fighting the governments army.

This led to the formation of the UWSAs current territory, which it claims consists of 13,514 square miles (35,000 square kilometers), including new areas along the Thai border that were captured in the early 1990s. With a population of 400,000 and its own local administration, schools, hospitals and even a bank, this mini-state is almost unique in recent Asian history. The closest comparison would be to the parts of Sri Lanka that were ruled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) until it was wiped out by a massive government offensive in 2009.

Chinese Influence

The currency used in the UWSAs area is the Chinese yuan, and mobile telephones are connected to Chinese networks. Chinese is much more widely spoken than Myanmar. With Chinese assistance, the UWSA has also managed to build up an army that is both stronger and better equipped than the CPB ever was. Its arsenal includes Man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS), a wide range of mortars and rocket launchers, and even light tanks and a few helicopters.

Recently, a helipad has been constructed at the UWSAs Panghsang headquarters, with a sign outside saying, in Chinese, feijichang, or airport. Even more worrying, on Oct. 30 of last year, the local Myanmar intelligence office in the garrison town of Tang-yan sent a message to the regional command headquarters in Lashio saying that the UWSA was constructing a radar and missile base in its area.

The first location was supposed to be Mong Mau in the northern Wa Hills, but when the government found out about it, U Thein Zaw, the vice chairman of the Union Peace Working Committee, was sent to Panghsang to tell the Wa not to go ahead with their missile project. The UWSA leaders said that they wouldntand changed the location to Wing Gao, closer to Panghsang.

The new facility is going to be built in partnership with a Chinese company called Liao Lian and equipment will be bought from China, Taiwan and Pakistan, the report asserts. It is not clear, however, what kind of missile it is, but given the fact that radars will be installed at the base, it is plausible to assume that it would be something more powerful than what the UWSA has in its current arsenal. The Myanmar-language report uses the term taweipyetonggyi, or long-distance missile.

So it is abundantly clear that the Wa have no intention of submitting to the authority of a country that they feel that they have never been part of. The Wa Hills have gone from being ruled by nobody to being occupied by the Kuomintang and then the CPB, and are now administered by the UWSA.

Bargaining Chip

But what are the Chinese up to and why are they making sure the UWSA is armed to the teeth? The simple answer is that China does not actually want the UWSA to fight the Myanmar army, but would like to see it strong enough to deter any attack against it.

For China, the UWSA is a useful bargaining chip when Beijing wants to put pressure on the Myanmar government not to stray too close to the West, or to protect Chinese investment in the country. The latter concern became especially important after President U Thein Seins government decided in September 2011 to suspend the US$3.6 billion Myitsone hydroelectric dam project in Kachin State. China also has to deal with ongoing protests against a copper mine project in Letpadaung, which is a joint venture between the Chinese Wanbao Mining Copper company and the Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings.

In other words, any military action against the UWSA would pit the Myanmar army against China. The Wa leaders are always accompanied by Chinese intelligence officers, and it is no exaggeration to say the UWSA is an extension of Chinas Peoples Liberation Army.

So would the Myanmar army risk a conflict with the UWSA? Sri Lankas offensive against the LTTE was successful because the Tamil militants had nowhere to retreat to when they came under attack, whereas an attack on the UWSA would force tens of thousands of refugees into China, causing further frictions between Myanmar and its powerful northern neighbor. The UWSAs MANPADS would also enable it to shoot down airplanes and helicopters.

At the same time, however, no government in Myanmar can tolerate a continuation of the present situation in northeastern Shan State: a pocket-state with its own army. But if the present government wants to succeed where all its predecessors have failedto convince the Wa that their hills are indeed part of Myanmara different approach than the military option may be needed.

A divide-and-rule scheme, which seems to be what is in the offing, may also cause resentment and divisions that could result in an even messier situation than what we have now.

But before the end of the year, some action is bound to take place in the Wa Hills. And whatever shape it takes, it will be a much more serious challenge than any of the other ethnic conflicts that have been plaguing Myanmar for decades. It will involve an area never before controlled by any Myanmar governmentand China.

This article first appeared in the June 2014 print issue of The Irrawaddy magazine.

You may also like these stories:

Secret Garden in Wa Special Region Leaves Much to the Imagination

On Union Day, Views on Aung San
People in the violence-hit Shiv Vihar and Mustafabad areas in northeast Delhi complained of cash crunch in ATMs on Sunday as they lined up to withdraw money from the machines which were either not working or not refilled with cash.

Kailash Kumar, who lives in Mustafabad, said his family plans to leave for their hometown in Uttar Pradesh's Ghazipur area in the aftermath of the violence, but he could not withdraw cash for travel.

"We remained inside our house for three days. Today, when I came to withdraw money from an ATM, I returned empty-handed. Most ATM kiosks in the area are shut," he said.

Mohammad Alam, 27, a mobile recharge shop owner in Shiv Vihar, said his shop remained shut for the last four days.

"The business has been hit. People don't have cash, but we have been receiving help from well-wishers," he said.

Many drove to the area from various parts of Delhi, carrying sacks of ration and milk cans in their vehicles.

Vijay Kumar, a 32-year-old plumber from the neighbourhood, said he could not withdraw money to buy essentials.

"My friend lent me some cash which I used to buy items of daily use," he said.

People in the area said banks have largely remained shut following the violence on February 24 and 25.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Milan: When French President Emmanuel Macron leaned in to give Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte a cheek kiss not once but on two separate occasions during a recent Franco-Italian summit in Naples, it was much more than just a greeting.

French President Emmanuel Macron puts his arm around Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte as he shakes his hand and kisses him on both cheeks in Naples on February 27. Credit:AP

It was a signal to citizens not to fear their neighbours as coronavirus spreads  and Italy is established as Europe's hotspot.

That may all change following French Health Minister Olivier Veran's advice on Saturday to cut back on "la bise"  the custom in France and elsewhere in Europe of giving greetings with kisses on the cheeks, along with shaking hands. France, which has had 100 cases and two deaths so far, made a similar recommendation during the swine flu epidemic a decade ago.

Friendly kissing in the time of coronavirus has become a fresh dilemma, especially in effusive southern Europe, with perhaps the power to reshape customs. But even more-reserved northerners are grappling with whether to forgo the hallowed handshake.
01.03.2020 LISTEN

Reports emanating from Sogakope indicate that the Assemblyman for Sogakope South, Hon. Marcus Mawuli Adzahli, popularly known as Mac Greenline, has been murdered in cold blood at his official residence.

Accurate reports say he was in his home when a group of assailants barged in on him, killing him and injured his wife.

The attackers did not take any valuable items or money.

News of his death broke out early morning of Sunday 1st March 2020 at around 5 am.

Eyewitness reports say the newly elected Assemblyman for Sogakope South was stabbed and shot.

Mac Greenline according to information gathered by our intelligence team, was last seen at Rita Store, Sogakope, after gracing the launch of this years Hogbetsotso in Tsopoli.

He spent only two months on the seat.

Mr. Japhet Festus Gbede, who filed this report said, thousands of the people in South Tongu Constituency are not happy with the recent attacks on good people of the land hence called on the Ghana Police to beef up security in the area.

He further admonished the police to bring the perpetrators to book.
MITCHELL  A fundamental change in the leadership roles of the director for Madison County Transit and the Agency for Community Transit is expected to be a big topic of discussion at the MCT board over the next few months.

On Friday the board approved a resolution allocating funding to search for a new managing director at MCT. In December, Jerry Kane who served both roles since the creation of the agencies, stepped down. SJ Morrison was named as ACT managing director in December and as MCT interim managing director in January.

MCT board members are considering splitting the duties. One position is paid through ACT, and the MCT directorship is part of that.

MCT Board Chairman Ron Jedda said he requested the resolution after Kanes announcement as part of an opportunity to take a look at any changes that might be needed. Board member Alan Adomite motioned to approve the resolution, saying he had a lot of questions.

Before we spend this money, we need to consider what we want to accomplish, Adomite said. Do we want to create a paid director? Were talking about a significant change.

Adomite said creating the new position and its support staff of a paid secretary would $250,000 to $275,000.

Vice Chairman Kelly Schmidt, who cast the lone no vote to Morrisons MCT appointment, said there was a big difference between operating buses and trail systems. MCT needed a clear vision about which direction they should move in, he said.

Adomite said the system seems to be working well at this point. The problem is nobody has said there is a problem, he added.

Jedda said an initial examination of the issue will explore how efficiently things are now operating.

Action is not expected for at least another month. If changes are made, they likely would need to be completed by the time a new budget is approved in June or July.

Also on Friday, the board approved authorizing negotiations and the possible use of eminent domain to acquire several properties. The action came after a short closed session.

One of the properties is an approximately 2-acre lot near Eastgate Plaza in East Alton that would be used for a park-and-ride lot. The other properties are part of the plans for an approximately 1.5-mile trail from an area known as Formosa Junction just outside of Troy on the Troy-OFallon Trial to Lake Avenue and Barbara Street in Collinsville.

Reach reporter Scott Cousins at 618-208-6447.
MILAN (AP)  Coronavirus infections in Italy rose 50% Sunday and the U.S. government issued its strongest travel warning yet, advising Americans against any travel to two regions in northern Italy that have been hard hit by the virus that first emerged in China in December.

Authorities said the total number of people infected in Italy had risen to 1,694, a 50% jump from just 24 hours earlier. Five more people infected with the virus have died, bringing the deaths in Italy to 34, while 83 people have fully recovered.

Italian health authorities said the increases were expected, since it takes as long as two weeks for containment measures to take effect, and because Italy has a large number of elderly people. Still, the numbers highlighted the rapid impact the virus is having on Italy, the epicenter of the outbreak in Europe.

This acceleration was expected, unfortunately, said Giovanni Rezza, director of the infective illness department at the National Health Institute. He said it would be another week or 10 days until the spread of the virus slowed down in the country.

READ MORE: Syracuse University bans university-related travel to Italy due to coronavirus

READ MORE: US schools start planning for possible spread of coronavirus

With numerous cases in other European countries traced back to Italy, many countries have issued travel warnings for the 11 Italian towns that have been on lockdown since the virus exploded there on Feb. 21. But none have gone as far as the U.S. government, which on Sunday urged Americans not to travel to the regions of Lombardy and Veneto, raising the warning to the highest level. It is one step shy of the U.S. travel advisory for China, which urged Americans to leave the country.

In the wake of the warning, Delta and American Airlines have both suspended flights to Italys financial capital of Milan, which can have a potentially devastating business impact beyond just tourism. Already a major furniture and design fair has been postponed due to the virus until June.

Tourism officials said an earlier U.S. travel warning covering all of Italy was potentially calamitous to the industry, which represents 13% of gross domestic product in a country famed for its world-class museums, archaeological sites, art cities and natural beauty.

More than 5.6 million Americans visit Italy every year, representing 9% of foreign tourists and the second-largest national group behind Germans, according to the most recent statistics.

China accounts for the vast majority of the 88,000 people infected by the virus and the 3,000 killed by it.

Lombardy, which includes Milan, accounts for over half of the cases while Veneto and Emilia-Romagna have 15% and 17%, respectively. All three regions have closed schools for at least another week. In Veneto and Lombardy, closures also have hit museums, theaters, cinemas and most public offices, emptying cities like Milan, where many companies have permitted office workers to telecommute.

Earlier Sunday, the French community church in Rome, St. Louis of the French, closed its doors to the public after a priest was infected with the new virus.

The church in the historic center of Rome is famous for three paintings by the Baroque master Caravaggio, making it a destination for tourists and the faithful alike. A sign on the door Sunday noted in French that the church had been closed as a precaution by the French Embassy for both Masses and tourist visits until further notice.

The Religious Information Service news agency reported the church was closed after a 43-year-old priest who had returned to Paris was hospitalized after being infected. It carried a statement by the archbishop of Paris, Michel Aupetit, who said the priest, who had been living in Rome, returned to Paris by car in mid-February and tested positive for the virus on Friday. He was in good condition, Aupetit said.

It was the first church in Rome closed by the virus. Churches in much of Veneto and Lombardy have closed their doors under widespread measures aimed at containing the spread of the virus. Televised Masses have been available for the faithful.
The 17th edition of Dubai International Humanitarian Aid and Development Conference and Exhibition  DIHAD, the leading humanitarian gathering in the region, will be held from March 10 to 12, 2020 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Running under the theme Aid, a focus on Africa, DIHAD 2020 aims to highlight the most critical challenges facing people in Africa while also addressing the needs of humanitarian aid workers working in trying conditions in the humanitarian continent.

DIHAD 2020 comes at a time when the vast continent totaling an estimated 1.3 billion people in 54 countries, faces multiple humanitarian challenges including conflicts, disasters, forced migration, refugees crises, undernutrition, climate change and internal displacement, which are having profound adverse impacts on the African continent.

With some predicting the continents population to reach 2.4 billion by 2050, DIHAD aims to specifically focus on the most important areas of concern in Africa, exchange and review past experiences, explore and identify best practices and focus on a viable approach towards sustainable development of the rich African continent.

This year, DIHAD is expected to attract over 6,000 visitors and participants from over 84 countries over the 3 days. While the conference features the presence of 50 world renowned experts in the field of humanitarian aid who will offer their insights and experiences on the most critical humanitarian challenges in Africa, the premier humanitarian gathering will witness 8 high quality sessions and 14 dedicated workshops about exploring news ways to address the needs of people in dire situations in Africa.

While commenting on the occasion, Ambassador Gerhard J.W. Putman-Cramer, Director of DIHAD and DISAB, said: Given the number and severity of Africas ongoing challenges on the one hand and the continents wealth in terms of resources and potential on the other, the DIHAD International Scientific Advisory Board has decided to have the 17th edition of DIHAD highlight selected areas of concern in Africa and review the aid that is brought to bear in attempts to effectively address them. We have included a vast array of partners in the discussions that are to take place during the event, including donors and recipients, aid practitioners and those evaluating the impact of aid, governments, international organisations, specialised agencies, NGOs, the Red Cross/Red Crescent movement, academics and the private sector.

He added: While best practices will be duly identified and recognised, we are hopeful that a number of constructive recommendations will result from our exchanges and that these, once implemented, will indeed have a positive impact.

In its 17th edition, DIHAD focuses its attention on many topics related to the theme Aid, a focus on Africa during a few sessions such as The Impact of Conflicts and Humanitarian Crises, The Impact of Climate Change, Population Growth, Urbanisation, Education and Employment, Aid Flows, Remittances, Trade, Investments and Economic Growth, Shaping African Futures, the SDGs and Beyond, Natural Resources, Water, Energy, and Land and Contemporary and Future Health Challenges among a few others.

In addition, DIHAD will present a Pre-Conference Workshop programme in collaboration with UNOCHA featuring discussions related to humanitarian aid in Africa such as Overview of Humanitarian Aid in Africa; A Complex Content, Challenges Facing Humanitarian Aid in Africa, and Future of Humanitarian Aid in Africa.

Running parallel to the Conference, the DIHAD Exhibition brings together 640 participating brands including National Government Authorities, International and Non-Governmental Organisations, the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement, Foundations, Charities, Academic Institutions, Aid & Relief Suppliers, the Media and the Private Sector, who will showcase their latest products and services, breakthrough innovations and technology while also giving them a chance to engage in productive collaborations and expand their businesses in the region.

Moreover, for the first time this year, DIHAD will host the UN Pavilion, where a number of reputed world agencies are participating in the Exhibition such as UNICEF, World Food Programme (WFP), UN Women, UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), UN Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration Resource Center (UNDDR), International Organisation for Migration (IOM), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), UN Population Fund (UNEPA), World Health Organisation (WHO) and UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

On the sidelines of the exhibition, more than 65 Buyers coming from leading UN Agencies, Foundations and Charities from different parts of the world will host B2B meetings with the aim of building collaborations and exploring opportunities to expand their footprint in the region.-- Tradearabia News Service
Advertisement

An estimated 75,000 migrants have crossed from Turkey into the EU three days after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared the border open.

Greek police fired tear gas and erected barbed wire along their frontier in a desperate attempt to prevent chaos and what authorities termed illegal entry into their country.

Bulgaria deployed its army to patrol the countrys 118-mile line with Ankara.

And the EUs border agency, Frontex, moved onto a high alert footing, stationing corps along the 27-nation blocs land border with Turkey and in the Greek islands.

But the efforts proved futile as migrants waded across the Maritsa river into Greece and arrived by boat on the Greek islands of Samos, Lesbos and Chios. It is unclear whether migrants have also entered Bulgaria.

Bureaucrats in Brussels said tonight they will hold an emergency meeting in the coming days as fears played out across the continent that scenes from the 2015 migrant crisis, where thousands of refugees streamed across borders to reach Germany, France and Britain, could be repeated.

Turkey, which has held back 4million refugees following a 2.3-billion deal with the EU four years ago, opened the floodgates on Friday, a day after 34 Turkish troops were killed in a Syrian regime airstrike in Idlib.

Ankara ramped up tensions with the Assad regime tonight as it bombed airports outside Aleppo, deep inside Syrian-government held territory, and shot down two of President Bashar al-Assads fighter jets. Tensions were also heightened with Moscow, which has backed the regime, as three Russian journalists were detained in Istanbul, Turkeys largest city.

It is thought Erdogan has told migrants the borders are open to force his European NATO allies and the EU to back Turkeys offensives in Syria and in response to alleged delays in paying the migrant package agreed in 2016.

Migrants pictured gathered on the buffer zone on the Greece-Turkey border this morning. Erdogan said he had 'opened the doors' following the killing of 34 Turkish troops in Northern Syria by the Russian-backed regime

A group of migrants from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine arrive in a dinghy at Mytilene in Lesbos after crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey

Migrants pictured in a makeshift tent as the wait in the buffer zone between Greek Kastanies and Turkish Pazarkule today

Rows of migrants pictured trudging through fields asthey walk to reach Pazarakule at the Turkish border with Greece

Migrants detained by Greek police in Neo Cheimonio, four miles past the Greek border, this morning

Turkish minister of the interior Suleyman Soylu tweeted that the number of migrants crossing into the EU had reached 76,358 this morning.

However, Greek authorities disputed the figures and said they had successfully repelled almost 10,000 attempts to enter the country.

Refugees were pictured attempting to swim across the Maritsa river to reach Greece this morning. Six migrants were also photographed four miles inside the Balkan nation state after they had been arrested by police.

Reporters from Reuters news agency said they watched at least 30 people swim across the Maritsa river. On the road they met a large group of people, including an Afghan mother carrying a five-day-old baby, who said they had also waded into Greece.

A text message sent to all phones on the Greek border warned that the country has increased security to maximum and ordered people not to attempt to enter.

At least 700 people reached the Greek islands on seven boats last night, Reuters reported, as residents were seen stopping migrant boats landing on Lesbos and shouting go back to Turkey!

The Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who was elected in July, chaired a meeting with his national security council this evening.

Greece has accused Turkey of inflaming the migrant crisis, after it told refugees in the country it would open the border to the EU and allegedly encouraged them to leave.

Its deputy defence minister Alkiviadis Stefanis accused Turkey of not only stopping are they not stopping (the refugees), but they are helping them.

Bulgarian defence minister Krasimir Karakachanov said there had been no crossings into his country, but that there had been tensions along the border.

Migrants crossing from Pazarkule, on the border with Greece, have clashed with riot police. Tear gas was fired into crowds including Syrians, Iranians, Iraqis, Pakistanis and Moroccans

Greek security forces' intervention in irregular migrants at the border between Turkey and Greece today

A drone photo taken from Edirne, Turkey shows smokes rising from gas canisters launched by Greek security forces following their intervention in irregular migrants at the border between Turkey and Greece

A migrant is pictured attempting to help other migrants cross the Meric (Evros) River to reach Greece and the EU in a rubber dinghy boat

Migrants are seen attempting to cross the Meric river to walk towards Turkey's Pazarkule border crossing. They appear to be using sticks to help their balance as they walk on the rocks

Migrants are seen climbing aboard a dinghy boat to enter Greece. As many as seven migrants are pictured in the boat, with many more watching from the river bank

Migrants are seen using a barge-like canal boat to cross the Meric (Evros) river stretch and enter Greece. They are seen wearing thick coats to protect themselves from Europe's winter weather

Migrants brandish their fists as they come up against barbed wire at the Turkey-Greece border today

Migrants shout and appear to be preparing to throw objects at Turkey's northwest border post with Greece today

Greece has closed its border and blocked off access with barricades and piles of barbed wire (pictured today)

Migrants run back towards the Turkish border as Greek police shoot tear gas in an attempt to disperse the crowds today

Migrants pictured on the border between Turkey and Greece today after Erdogan said he had opened Turkey's doors

Migrants pictured carrying their children as they walk on railways toward Meritsa river, near Edirne, to take a boat to attempt to enter Greece this morning

Migrants pictured walking towards the Pazarkule border with Greece this morning

Migrants, including women and children, pictured carrying their possessions as they walk to the Pazarkule border today

Migrants stumble through a frozen field this morning as they head towards the Pazarkule Turkish border post with Greece

A migrant carries bags as he walks towards the Meritsa river, Turkey, in an attempt to enter into Greece

A woman holds her toddler after making the dangerous crossing to the Greek island of Lesbos early this morning

Women and children pictured on the beach near Skala Sykamineas, Lesbos, after crossing the Aegean last night

Migrants reportedly pelted riot police with stones and tried to cut through barbed wire on the border with Greece last night.

The angry clashes came as thousands camped out at the border crossing waiting for Greece to re-open its border.

The EUs commission chief Ursula von der Leyen has said the bloc was watching the crisis unfold with concern.

Our top priority at this stage is to ensure that Greece and Bulgaria have our full support, she said on Twitter. We stand ready to provide additional support including through Frontex on the land border.

Announcing his decision to open Turkeys borders on Saturday, Erdogan said: What did we do yesterday? We opened the doors. We will not close those doors why? Because the European Union should keep its promises.

Turkey has reacted with ferocious force since the Syrian regime killed dozens of its soldiers in an airstrike in Idlib on Thursday.

At least 100 tanks, eight helicopters, 56 armoured vehicles and six air defence systems have been destroyed so far in Ankaras fourth military operation in Syria dubbed Spring Shield, said defence minister Hulusi Akar.

More than 1,000 Syrian troops have also been neutralised, Turkey said, a term which means they have either been killed or detained.

It was also claimed that bombers had rendered Nayrab military airport unusable this afternoon, and attacked the Kuweires airport, east of Nayrab.

In response the Assad regime said it had downed three Turkish drones that had been targeting its positions. It also issued a warning threatening to shoot down any aircraft in Syrias northwestern airspace.

A migrant pictured swimming back to Turkey after attempting to cross the Maritsa river this morning

Migrants helping each other out of the river after failing to reach the Greek border

An estimated 30,000 migrants gathered at checkpoints after Turkey's president claimed to have 'opened the doors' to allow as many as 4 million asylum seekers to leave the country

Migrants throw objects during clashes with Greek police, at the Turkey's Pazarkule border crossing with Greece's Kastanies, in Edirne, Turkey

Refugees and migrants gather at Pazarkule border as they attempt to enter Greece

The escalating tensions in the region and emerging second migrant crisis forced the EUs hand last night as its representative for foreign affairs, Josep Borrell, said he had called an emergency meeting of the blocs foreign ministers.

He said that fighting around the last rebel enclave in Syria represented a serious threat to international peace and security and that the EU had to redouble efforts to address this terrible human crisis with all the means at its disposal.

The meeting was also called at the request of the Greek government.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) members distribute food to migrants and refugees that gathered at the Turkish-Greek border, near Edirne, Turkey

A drone photo shows migrants moving towards, and congregating around, the Turkish side of the Turkey-Greece border at Pazarkule, Edirne, Turkey yesterday

A migrants stands during clashes with Greek police, at the Turkey's Pazarkule border crossing with Greece's Kastanies, in Edirne, Turkey yesterday

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (rear C) makes a speech as he holds a meeting with his ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party's Istanbul deputies at the Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul, Turkey yesterday

Greek police officers are pictured from Turkey's Pazarkule border crossing with Greece's Kastanies during clashes with migrants, in Edirne, Turkey yesterday

A locator map shows the crossing governate Edirne, which houses most of the borders into Greece and Bulgaria, and Lesbos, where many migrants from sub-Saharan Africa land on dinghys

Tear gas floats in the air during clashes between migrants and Greek police, at the Turkey's Pazarkule border crossing with Greece's Kastanies, in Edirne, Turkey yesterday

A map shows the border points from Turkey into Greece and Bulgaria, and from Syria into Turkey

Migrants can be seen on their way towards the Turkish-Greek border in Edime, Turkey yesterday

Syrian migrants can be seen being rescued after being stranded on an islet after they tried reaching the Greek side of the Evros River in Edirne, Turkey yesterday

A woman reacts as a dinghy transporting 27 refugees and migrants originating from Gambia and the Republic of Congo lands in Lesbos island after they were rescued by a war ship during their sea crossing between Turkey and Greece yesterday

Migrants wait as Greek anti riot police officers patrol on the buffer zone Turkey-Greece border, at Pazarkule, in Edirne district yesterday

Migrants can be seen after they were rescued when stranded on an islet while trying to paddle to the Greek side of the Evros river, in Turkey yesterday

A man takes coover behind an umbrella as he throws a mattress in a fire during clashes with Greek police in the buffer zone at Turkey-Greece border, at Pazarkule, in Edirne district yesterday

Migrants, who are trying to cross into Europe through Turkey, are pictured reaching for food aid near the Pazarkule Border in Karaagac neighbourhood of Edirne, Turkey yesterday

A Greek policeman collects tear gas canisters reportedly thrown from the Turkish side of the border during riots beween migrants and Greek police at the closed Kastanies border crossing, on the borderline between Greece and Turkey, near the Evros River yesterday

Refugees wait for attempting to pass the closed-off Turkish-Greek border and try to enter Europe, Edirne, Turkey yesterday

Refugees wait for attempting to pass the closed-off Turkish-Greek border and try to enter Europe, Edirne, Turkey yesterday while Greek border officials look on from the Greek side

Greek Police guard Kastanies border gate, Evros region, as a migrant stands in front of a fence between Greece and Pazarkule border gate, Edirne, Turkey yesterday

Greek riot policemen guard behind fences as refugees wait for attempting to pass the closed-off Turkish-Greek border and try to enter Europe, Edirne yesterday

Irregular migrants, who want to proceed to Europe, wait at the Turkish side and the buffer zone between the Greek Kastanies and Turkish Pazarkule border gates today in Turkey
TRIP REPORT

INDEX

Written by Bowden Granville





Flight JU163 Skopje - Belgrade Nikola Tesla

Air Serbia ATR72-500 YU-ALT

15:05  16:15 (actual 15:27-16:20)

February 07, 2020





After four wonderful days in Skopje catching up with old friends it was time to continue my journey up to Belgrade. Traditionally I would have taken the bus from trips such as this, however the bus between Skopje and Belgrade is around 7 hours and means one loses the best part of the day.





I booked the one-way flight with Air Serbia around a month before flying. Interestingly the price fluctuated. One day it was around 69 one-way and the next day it was 41. I booked it for 41 (48 euro or 5.700 Serbian dinars) which I think was very good value in comparison to a bus ticket. I have no idea why the price fluctuated so much online, however, I was happy to secure a good price.





I arrived at Skopjes airport at 12:30 as the friend who dropped me off had to return to work. I noticed when I arrived that public transportation to the airport is very poor. A bus apparently runs a few times a day to the city centre, but this didnt seem at all clear.





Arriving so early gave me plenty of time to experience this small and modern airport. The terminal building is spacious and very easy to navigate. I used the self-check in kiosk to print off a boarding pass. There was only one kiosk it seemed, and a gentleman flying to Zagreb on Croatia Airlines was ahead of me. The process of printing it was very fast and easy.





After getting the boarding pass I proceeded upstairs to the security control. There was no wait at all and the security staff seemed very pleasant and efficient.





After security I decided I would check out the Skopjes business class lounge. This cost 24 euros. As I had two and a half hours to kill until take off, I thought it would be a nice treat. The lady at the front desk was very pleasant and within a minute I was inside the lounge. Ive read reviews being critical of the simplicity of the lounge however for me it was fine. The lounge has views of the runway, however due to the jet bridges its not possible to see landings as flights tend to land from the south at Skopje. I helped myself to some beers and sandwiches. The sandwich was pleasant enough and there was a fully stocked bar with wines and spirits. I sat on one of the comfy chairs and read a book and enjoyed the view.









The airport was fairly quiet. When I arrived several Wizz Air flights had just taken off so there were no aircraft at all on the apron. Slowly I was joined by a few other people in the lounge. The afternoon flights were to depart to Belgrade and Zagreb around the same time. I monitored the inbound flight from Belgrade which overflew Kosovan airspace as it made its descent into Skopje.









The inbound flight landed on time and passengers were called to the gate at around 14:30. The ATR was parked on a remote stand that was accessed by going down an escalator to the ground level. An orderly line formed for boarding and the passengers seemed to be a mixture of nationalities. I noticed at least five or six Dutch speakers in the line to board.









After a very short bus transfer we boarded the 21-year-old ATR. As passengers were entering the aircraft the ground crew removed the larger trolley cases that some people had (mine included) to be put into the hold. I was happy to do this as I didnt want to have to fight my way to finding a place in the small overhead storage that an ATR has.













The flight was almost totally full. Although I didnt get up during the 52-minute flight I could only see 1 free seat. The two female cabin crew were pleasant if not particularly smiley or talkative. The legroom and seat were acceptable for the short flight. Certainly, more comfortable than many buses that make the run up to Belgrade.





Take off towards the north was around 20 minutes after the scheduled time. During this slight unexplained delay, a Croatia Airlines Dash landed from Zagreb (9A-CQD) which at 11 years old is a veritable youngster in Ex-Yugoslav aircraft.









Service was the usual Air Serbia mini bottle of water and a cookie. For a very short flight this was fine. I think that for a longer flight this is rather miserable, however in the modern world of aviation every penny counts, I guess. I didnt see anybody buy anything from the cabin crew who were especially stony-faced throughout the service.









After what seemed like no time at all it was clear we were beginning our descent into Belgrade. Dusk was approaching and the sky was full of dramatic fluffy clouds. The approach into Belgrade from the south is always a treat. This time I was seated on the left-hand side of the aircraft which gives slightly less interesting views. Avala Tower and Ada were visible on approach. We touched down 5 minutes after the scheduled time.









I was reunited with my suitcase right away and all passengers boarded a bus to be driven to the passport control/transfer doors on the ground floor. As we entered the building, I noticed that I was one of only 6 passengers to proceeded to passport control. This means around 60 people connected from Skopje to elsewhere on Air Serbias evening wave that was about to get underway.









Passport control took literally seconds and within 10 minutes of landing I was waiting outside the terminal building for the bus 72 to central Belgrade.









Air Serbias product was totally fine. The price and ease of booking on their website was all good. So good in fact I booked them again for the summer. Routing Tirana-Belgrade-Split including a 25 hour stopover in Belgrade for 98 euros.

Share your travel experience by submitting a trip report to exyu@exyuaviation.com
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Tom Metcalf, Thomas Black and Anders Melin (Bloomberg)  Sun, March 1, 2020 16:03 680 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20678fec2 2 News private-jet,Airlines,travel,coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus,COVID-19 Free

Growing fear over coronavirus is battering commercial airline stocks, but private jet operators are seeing a spike in demand as well-heeled travelers look to minimize their public exposure and find alternatives to suspended flights.

Theres undoubtedly been a rise in demand for short-notice, on-demand charter, said Adam Twidell, chief executive officer of jet charter provider PrivateFly. Weve had a very significant number of inquiries, for group evacuations, and from corporates and individuals.

Requests have included a decontamination team looking for transport within Asia and a family traveling to Bali from Hong Kong who wanted to avoid exposure to other people on a commercial flight. Charter company Victor recently had a film studio ask about flying 50 people to Los Angeles from Tokyo to limit interaction with other travelers.

Such inquiries are becoming more common after the virus, which first emerged in Central China in December, has since spread to six continents, operators say.

The number of private jet requests have gone up -- especially on long-haul flights, said Richard Lewis, U.S. president of Insignia Group, which organizes travel for wealthy clients. Theyre not willing to share the cabin with other people.

Read also: Going to a country with COVID-19 cases? Here are the Foreign Ministry's recommendations for Indonesian travelers

Not cheap

Its not cheap, but can be relatively competitive with luxury commercial travel.

The cost of flying round-trip from New York to London on a 12-seat Gulfstream IV is about $140,000, although squeezing that many people onboard removes some of the comfort factor. That compares with $10,000 for a first-class ticket flying commercial, complete with a lie-flat bed.

For individuals and companies willing to pay extra, its a way to minimize the risk of infection.

JetSet Group, a New York-based charter company that books roughly 150 flights a month, has seen business spike about 25% in the last few weeks. Fear of the virus appears to be driving the demand, said founder and CEO Steve Orfali, based on customer feedback,.

Many of his clients have medium-sized business and have to travel to see factories or stores. Others are considering it for family vacations.

When theyre going on a personal trip, they dont want to expose their family, so theyre anteing up and paying for a private jet rather than first-class tickets for everyone and risking it, he said.

People who dont normally fly private are also calling. Orfali said he hopes theyll become regular clients after experiencing the convenience and time savings of such travel.

Most operators realize the extra demand generated from the coronavirus may be temporary, especially if the outbreak continues to pummel stocks.

Read also: Four Seasons releases new itineraries for $163,000 jet trips

Heavily invested

Our clients are people who are heavily invested in the markets, said Richard Zaher, founder and CEO of Paramount Business Jets in Leesburg, Virginia. When theyre losing millions of dollars, theyre not going to necessarily want to go on vacation to a place where theyre going to spend a lot of money and also possibly expose themselves to people who may carry the virus.

This is not good for private aviation, he added.

PrivateFlys Twidell shares that concern.

Any short-term gain is obviously balanced with longer-term concerns and challenges, including the impact on the global economy, he said. Even now, while were seeing short-term additional demand, other clients are changing or canceling their travel plans.

Authorities are stepping up measures to stop the spread of a disease thats caused more than 2,800 deaths worldwide. Japanese schools will shut for about a month, while Saudi Arabia has halted religious pilgrimages that draw millions to cities including Mecca and Medina. In Monaco, the government has asked employees returning from risk areas to quarantine themselves for two weeks and the Israeli government has requested that citizens reconsider plans to travel abroad.

Routes cut

Commercial airlines have been among the hardest hit. American Airlines Group Inc., United Airlines Holdings Inc. and Delta Air Lines Inc. have lost about a quarter of their combined market value since the start of the year with analysts warning that the drubbing may get worse as the disease curbs demand for travel.

All three have suspended direct flights to mainland China through April, severing what had become a key business route. British Airways Plc and Air France-KLM have enacted similar restrictions. On Friday, United, the biggest U.S. carrier on trans-Pacific routes, pared more service to Asia, including canceling flights to Tokyos Narita Airport from Los Angeles and Chicago.

Travelers who still need to get around are seeking out private jet operators to fill the void of suspended flights.

Vimana Private Jets, which charters trips for the uber-wealthy, has helped clients with business meetings in Beijing in recent weeks. The jets dont typically stay long on the ground in China. Instead they fly to Vietnam while they wait for the return leg to mitigate the risk of infection to crew.

Fluid situation

Still, the logistics of flying into high-risk virus areas is becoming increasingly complicated, said PrivateFlys Twidell. For one, its often hard to find the aircraft or sufficient crew to fill all the requests.

Operational protocols are changing daily, Twidell said. Its a very fluid situation.

Paramount Business Jets is getting a lot of requests to fly people out of Asia, Zaher said. Its not easy. There are difficulties finding available aircraft and complying with new restrictions such as making sure passengers who have visited China have been out of the country and observed for 14 days without showing symptoms.

Our clients are requesting aircraft that havent flown to mainline China, for example, and are asking for a crew that has been temperature-checked, said Zaher, whose company arranges about 500 flights a year.

Planes and their passengers still must respect any quarantined areas, and must undergo additional screening procedures for trips to and from risk areas.

Flights coming into the U.K. from such locations are subject to inspections by port authorities, whose powers include detention of the aircraft, passengers, stores, equipment and cargo if they constitute a danger to public health, according to the Association of Port Health Authorities website.

--With assistance from Tom Maloney.
China's coronavirus death toll climbed to 2,870 with 35 new deaths, while the confirmed cases increased to 79,824 even as the infections outside the worst-hit Hubei province dropped with only three positive cases reported in a single day, continuing the trend of slowdown in the rest of the country, health officials said Sunday.

The National Health Commission (NHC) said it received reports of 573 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection and 35 deaths on Saturday from the Chinese mainland.

Among the deaths, 34 were in Hubei and one in Henan Province.

COVID-19, which at one time started spreading rapidly all over China, showed a declining trend with three new confirmed cases reported outside Hubei on Saturday.

Of the 573 confirmed cases, 570 were reported from Hubei and its capital Wuhan, which remained a battle ground for the virus ever since it originated from there in December last year.

Meanwhile, 132 new suspected cases were reported, it said, adding that the number of severe cases decreased to 7,365.

Among the 79,824 confirmed cases, 2,870 people have died, 35,329 patients are still being treated while 41,625 have been discharged after recovery.

However, some recovered patients are showing relapse of the virus.

The commission added that 851 people were still suspected of being infected with the virus.

The commission said 51,856 close contacts were still under medical observation.

By the end of Saturday, 95 confirmed cases including two deaths had been reported in Hong Kong, 10 confirmed cases in Macao and 39 in Taiwan, including one death.

Meanwhile, an official report on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) released jointly by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and China's National Health Commission identified the infection as a zoonotic virus, meaning an infectious disease caused by bacteria, viruses, or parasites that spread from animals to humans.

The report, which is based on analysis of data the WHO and Chinese health authorities gathered from February 16-24, said human-to-human transmission is largely occurring in families.

The report also found that people with COVID-19 generally show symptoms within five to six days, on average, after contracting the infection, and most people infected have mild symptoms and could recover.

However, individuals, including people aged over 60 and those with underlying conditions such as hypertension face the highest risk of severe conditions and even death, the report said.

COVID-19 is transmitted through droplets and fomites during close unprotected contact with those who are infected with the virus.

Airborne transmission has not been reported for COVID-19 and it is not believed to be a major source of transmission based on available evidence.

The lockdown of virus-hit Wuhan and 18 other cities in Hubei with over 50 million people since January 23 has effectively prevented further exportation of infected individuals to the rest of the country, the report said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Turkey hits two Assad regime jets in Idlib

Turkish Defense Ministry says jets are downed after attacking Turkish jets

Turkey downed two regime fighter jets in Idlib, northwestern Syria, after assault on Turkish jets, the countrys Defense Ministry said on Sunday.

REGIME AIRSTRIKES HAD MARTYRED 34 TURKISH SOLDIERS

[] Two SU-24 regime jets were downed after attacking our jets, the ministry said in a written statement.

Turkey downs 2 Assad regime jets in Idlib WATCH

It added that an air-defense system, which downed a Turkish armed drone, and two other air-defense systems were also destroyed.

Turkey announced Sunday that it launched Operation Spring Shield in Idlib, following a deadly regime attack on Turkish troops late Thursday.

The regime airstrike martyred 34 Turkish soldiers, while injuring dozens of others.
TOWAMENCIN  As a developer proceeds with plans for a new Wawa fuel station and convenience store in Towamencin, a tricky legal issue may be the last hurdle.

Attorneys representing the Wawa project made the case to Towamencins supervisors that a section of township codes governing property easements should be changed.

Based on this longstanding precedent, zoning ordinance section 153-619 as it relates to private easement is invalid, unenforceable, and in violation of Pennsylvania law, said attorney Julie Von Spreckelsen.

Since 2017 developer The Verrichia Co. has been working on plans for a Wawa fuel station and convenience store on the northeast corner of Sumneytown Pike and Forty Foot Road, and showed the latest version of those plans to the supervisors Wednesday night. Along with discussion on the plans themselves, the developers team also presented a validity challenge to that section of the township codebook, which says nothing shall be permitted to be placed, planted, set or put within the area of any public or private right-of-way or easement including, but not necessarily limited to, a utility easement, a drainage easement, a sanitary sewer easement, a stormwater management easement, a snow storage easement or a pedestrian easement without written consent from the owner of the easement.

Von Spreckelsen told the board that the developer behind the Wawa project has been in litigation with developer PSDC, which owns the parcels surrounding the planned Wawa, over an access easement through their property, thanks to that or private provision in the current code.

PSDC has not given permission, written permission, or written consent per section 153-619 of the zoning ordinance, and that the land development plans are not in compliance with that section of the zoning ordinance, Von Spreckelsen said.

Case law clearly holds that municipalities are not permitted to consider private easement rights of individuals before granting subdivision and land development approval. Private easement rights are not the proper subject, but rather must be decided by the courts, in private civil actions, she said.

As she spoke, Von Spreckelsen handed the board a packet of court cases backing that decision, and said review letters from the township engineer cited a need for Wawa to secure an access easement from PSDC. In response, the Wawa team filed a validity challenge claiming the ordinance needs to be changed, and suggested removing two words could clear up the issue.

When you get into the body of that provision, we struck the words or private, so that this provision in your ordinance will still exist, but only as it relates to public easements, she said.

At the end of that section, where it says You need written consent from the owner of the easement, we dont know who the owner is, because you cant own an easement. An easement is non-possessory, you cant own an easement, so we tried to clarify that by saying this is the public entity,' Von Spreckelsen said.

Attorney Joe Walsh, arguing on behalf of the township, said the case law cited by the Wawa team related to a case regarding a deed restriction, not easement access.

The applicant went to the zoning hearing board saying there was a hardship on him because of these deed restriction, that would not let him build a store, he said.

The court found those deed restrictions were a product of a private contract. They were not part of the zoning ordinance, Walsh said.

Since the ordinance was passed properly, Walsh argued to the board, no case law repudiates the boards ability to pass those statutes. Both the workmanship and Montgomery County planning commissions have been asked to review the issue and chose to take no position, Walsh said, and no change to an ordinance should be made just to facilitate one particular project.

It would be, I think, ill-advised for this board to cure this particular ordinance, simply for this particular development, because it may have adverse effects throughout the township with respect to other easements that are privately owned, he said.

Von Spreckelsen counted by noting a case from Ambler Borough from 2016 regarding a similar situation, where a court upheld a conditional use application that had objections related to an easement.

The court noted the easement at issue was private, and therefore was not required to be included in the applicants preliminary and final land development submission, she said  it was the exact case that we have here, almost.

If youre going to deny our plans, when we get to it next, we dont know how to comply, Van Spreckelsen said.

Attorney Bill Dion, representing the developer, said he had his team had made every effort to comply with all township and consultant review letters, comments and feedback, but couldnt proceed without clarity on the easement issue.

You cannot continue to be silent about this. You have to tell me what I need to do, you have to, Dion said.

I have nothing but respect for your staff, for your consultants, theyve helped me work through all of the issues, but on this  nothing, he said.

By requiring the Wawa developer to secure the easement from PSDC, Dion told the board, the township and its consultants were weaponizing the zoning code against that particular project  and PSDC could face the same if and when they need similar easements on the Wawa property.

By saying I need something from him, which I dont believe I do, youve given him all the power. And guess what? That pendulums going to swing back to me, and then youve given me leverage, he said.

i sure hope you dont come to me on March 25, with a written decision, and then basically say to me Good luck in court. that would be a shame, because everything else, Ive worked through with you, but this is the one item no ones told me how to comply with, Dion said.

Township solicitor Jack Dooley said the board would render a written decision on the validity challenge during their March 25 meeting. The supervisors next meet on that night and on March 11, both at the township administration building, 1090 Troxel Road. For more information visit www.Towamencin.org.
New Delhi: The Border Security Force (BSF) constable Mohammad Anees whose house was burnt in the northeast Delhi riots, will be given a compensation of Rs 10 lakh as announced by Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday (March 1), according to the news agency PTI.

A statement released by the CMO said that the chief minister was saddened to know about the incident and also spoke to the BSF trooper personally.

The relief money was sanctioned from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund.

Anees is presently posted with the 9th battalion of the border guarding force deployed in Maoist affected district of Malkangiri in Odisha, according to the statement.

Earlier, officers of the BSF on Saturday reached out to Anees and promised him that the force would help to repair the house and also offered financial aid as a 'wedding gift'. BSF DIG Pushpendra Singh Rathore visited Anees in the Khajuri Khas area, where nine other houses were also torched by angry mobs.

The violence had broken out between pro and anti-CAA protesters in the northeast district of Delhi earlier this week that claimed at least 44 lives and has left more than 250 injured while also unleashing large scale destruction of property.

The Delhi Chamber of Commerce has projected that the initial loss caused by the violence is nearly Rs 25,000 crore. About 92 houses, 57 shops, 500 vehicles, 6 godowns, 2 schools, 4 factories, and 4 religious places were burnt down during the riots. The schools in the riot-hit areas will also remain closed until March 7 in view of the prevailing tensed situation, said the Delhi government on Saturday.

Some of the most affected areas are Jaffrabad, Maujpur, Babarpur, Chand Bagh, Shiv Vihar, Bhajan Pura, and Yamuna Vihar.

The Delhi Police has registered 167 FIRs and arrested or detained 885 people in connection with the northeast Delhi violence.
Operatives of the Inspector-General of Police Special Intelligence Response Team who launched investigation to track a suspected cyber thief were shocked to their bone marrows to discover that it was just a teenager who carried out the act.

The suspect, Chigemezu Arikibe, 19, was tracked and arrested in Imo State.

He was arrested for defrauding a Cambodian woman of the sum of $75,000.

Akiribe was said to have opened fake Facebook and Instagram accounts, using the name and pictures of an American pilot and then he met the victim, Sophanmia, on a dating site and introduced himself as an American pilot working for a British airline.

The suspect would later offer to send Sophanmia expensive gift items from America and also the sum of $500,000.

He told her to invest the money in real estate business in Cambodia.

The police said: The suspect informed the victim that he would send the items and money in a box through a courier agency and that she would pay for its clearing.

A courier agency from Indonesia contacted the victim and made her pay a delivery fee of $75,000, while the supposed gifts and money never got to her.

The victim in her quest to get the gift and money from the bank, took loans from the bank, which she also sent to the fraudster.

She later alerted the Nigerian Embassy in Cambodia after she discovered that the said pilot, who claimed to be an American, was calling her from Nigeria.

The Nigerian Mission in Cambodia, after listening to Sophanmia, analysed the data she provided to them.

The IGP, Mohammed Adamu, was alerted.

The IGP instructed IRT Unit, headed by a Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, to track down the suspect.

He was eventually tracked to Ibitolu area of Imo State, where he lives.

The Police further said: The suspect was arrested in possession of the SIM card and phone used in committing the crime.

When Police went through the phone, they saw chats between the suspect and woman.

Upon interrogation, the suspect confessed to everything.

He also said there was someone in Indonesia who assisted him to pull out the money from a US bank account.

He claimed to be an American, which was why the suspect gave the woman an American bank account.

The worst was that the woman went and borrowed the money from the bank.

Arikibe, a secondary school certificate holder, said: It was Ugochukwu my friend who taught how to do internet fraud.

Ugochukwu used to communicate with white people on the internet, and whenever he was chatting with them, I would be watching.

I watched him for a week and started mine.

I opened a fake Facebook account with the name: Frank William.

On Instagram, I opened an account with the name Patrick William.

I used a picture of a pilot, which I saw on Instagram, as my DP.

I downloaded and uploaded the pilots picture on my fake Facebook and Instagram pages.

I also used the same picture on Instagram.

The pilot later discovered that I used his pictures and started complaining.

He was all over the social media, complaining.

He even said that he has been arrested three times by the police for defrauding people, but that he wasnt the one.

My Facebook account was later blocked.

I then focused on Instagram, where I met the client that paid me this money.

I followed her and we started chatting.

I told her that I was an American and a pilot.

We started discussing about life.

I told the woman that I wanted to send her some gifts and a large sum of money.

I told her that I wanted to send expensive clothes, shoes, wristwatches and $500,000 to her.

I told her that the $500,000 should be invested in real estate business.

I sent her pictures of the items, which I wanted to send to her.

I also told her that the money would be inside a box.

I told her that I would send the money through a courier company and that she would have to pay customs tax.

My friend in Indonesia acted like the courier company and contacted her.

She was given the first bill of $800, which she paid.

The delivery guy in Indonesia called the woman again and told her that the goods had been seized.

He asked her to pay $2,700.

She paid the money and he then asked her to pay another $6,200.

She paid several other money to have the goods released.

She ended up paying the sum of $75,000.

I got my share.
WASHINGTON  Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced an agreement with the University of Southern California that requires the school to overhaul its processes for responding to sexual assaults after the department found systemic failures in its response to abuse allegations against a former gynecologist, George Tyndall.

The agreement requires the university to review the actions of current and former employees involved in the Tyndall matter to determine whether they should be disciplined, and to make reasonable efforts to contact and offer remedies to nine patients who may have been harmed over Tyndalls 31-year medical career, and possibly to others.
Celtic scraped their way into the semi-finals of the William Hill Scottish Cup with hard-fought 1-0 win over St Johnstone.

The Hoops were dumped out of the Europa League at the round-of-32 stage by Danish side FC Copenhagen on Thursday night but did not show the angry reaction boss Neil Lennon was looking for in a goalless first half at a blustery McDiarmid Park.

The visitors improved after the break and finally found the breakthrough  just when Tommy Wrights men looked reinvigorated  in the 81st minute, Hoops attacker Ryan Christie curling in a free-kick from wide from which appeared to get straight through and into Zander Clarks net, although defender Christopher Jullien also claimed the goal.

It was Celtics 34th straight win in a domestic cup competition and, amid their current period of domination in Scotland  the Parkhead club have won the last three Scottish Cup finals  and given Rangers quarter-final loss to Hearts on Saturday, they will be big favourites to make it four in a row.

Lennon returned defender Nir Bitton, Christie and striker Leigh Griffiths to the side, the latter pairing up with 27-goal Odsonne Edouard.

Defenders Scott Tanser and Liam Gordon came back into the Saints team which had already lost 7-0 and 3-0 to the Hoops this season and, in wet and windy conditions, they gave as good as they got in the first half after Christie fired wide in the third minute from the edge of the box.

Midfielders Matt Butcher and David Wotherspoon both had efforts for the home side who tried to take the fight to Celtic. In the 12th minute some clever build-up work at the edge of the Saints box ended with Edouard playing in Callum McGregor, but the midfielders low drive from 14 yards was stopped by Clark.

After St Johnstone striker Callum Hendry headed a Wotherspoon free-kick just past the post, the Perth keeper saved a tame volley from Edouard at the other end.

Five minutes from the interval there was a rare moment of excitement when Celtic keeper Fraser Forster turned a powerful drive from Drey Wright round the post before tipping Jamie McCarts header from Butchers corner over the bar, but the home side failed to capitalise.

The away fans, taking up three of the four stands, were more impressed with the start of the second half. Christie and winger James Forrest combined in the St Johnstone box before the latter fired an angled drive wide of the far post, with Edouard curling a shot wide moments later.

Clark then pushed away a left-footed effort from Forrest with Griffiths waiting to pounce, the Hoops striker then slashing a shot high over the bar after another searching run from defender Kristoffer Ajer had opened up the home defence.

As Celtic turned the screw, and before Tom Rogic replaced Griffiths, Christie flashed a shot from 12 yards past the far post. However, Butchers shot on the turn at the other end, which also went close, was a moment of respite. Back came Celtic and Clarks reaction save from Christies close-range drive in the 67th minute was quite magnificent.

He then tipped Edouards back-heel from a Forrest cross on to the post before Parkhead defender Jullien was unable to turn the ball over the line.

It was Celtics turn to come under pressure but with 10 minutes remaining, after Jamie McCart was booked for a foul on Forrest wide on the right, Christies curling delivery ended up behind Clark, with Jullien claiming a touch, and Celtic marched on once more.
Inflammatory slogans such as shoot the traitors were chanted during a peace march organised on Saturday in the heart of New Delhi in the aftermath of the communal rioting that left at least 42 people dead and more than 450 injured in the national capital, even as SN Shrivastava took charge as the police commissioner with a vow to restore peace .

On a relatively peaceful Saturday, meanwhile, it emerged, that at least 87 people suffered gunshot wounds in the rioting, of whom at least 20  including one policeman  succumbed to bullet injuries, investigators said. The police said no deaths had been reported on Saturday from riot-hit areas, but a shop was set on fire in the Welcome neighbourhood of north-east Delhi.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kapil Mishra, who has faced flak for allegedly making provocative statements in the lead-up to the rioting in northeast Delhi, was present in Jantar Mantar, from where the peace marchers set off for Parliament Street.

Families of some of the victims of the communal violence also participated in the march, held in the presence of around 100 police personnel, although it had not received formal permission from the city police. The police took no action against either the sloganeers or the organisers of the march. Similar slogans were chanted at the Rajiv Chowk Metro station in the morning by a group of six students, who were immediately removed by Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and handed over to the Delhi Metro Police for questioning.

Two video clips of the two separate incidents of the slogan chanting surfaced on social media, triggering criticism of the Delhi Police, already under fire for failing to act promptly to stanch the rioting. Deputy commissioner of police (Metro) Vikram Porwal said the six students were found shouting desh ke gaddaron ko, goli maro saalon ko (shoot the traitors) at the Metro station.

We detained them and questioned them. The boys were found to be students. They had no criminal antecedents. All of them were released after due verification, added Porwal.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said in a statement: In reference to a video clip going viral on social media, showing sloganeering by some passengers at Rajiv Chowk Metro station, it is to state that this incident happened today around 10:52am.

The DMRC and CISF staff immediately handed them over to the Delhi Metro Rail Police for further necessary action. Under Delhi Metro O&M Act 2002, any kind of demonstration or nuisance is prohibited in Delhi metro premises. Any passenger indulging in such act is liable to be removed from the Metro premises, DMRC spokesperson Anuj Dayal said. O&M is short for operation and maintenance.

At Jantar Mantar, slogans of Jai Shri Ram and Bharat Mata ki Jai were also raised as around 1,200 people gathered at the venue holding the tricolour, the police said. One of the participants, Sumit Malhotra, who identified himself as a social activist, said the march had been organised by the Delhi Peace Forum, a little known group, and messages to join the march in Jantar Mantar were being shared on social media groups for the past three-four days. Malhotra confirmed that BJP leader Kapil Mishra participated in the event at Jantar Mantar and also that shoot the traitors slogans were raised by some people as the march was in Connaught Places inner circle.

Many people joined the march mid-way and some started shouting such slogans. We along with some police personnel immediately responded and stopped them from raising such inflammatory slogans, said Malhotra, adding that the march culminated peacefully at Parliament Street, a short distance away.

Deputy commissioner of police (New Delhi) Eish Singhal said of the slogan shouting, We have not received any complaint in that regard. No case has been registered. Shrivastava, who on Saturday took charge as acting chief of Delhi Police, replacing Amulya Patnaik, who retired, said cases of rioting and murder were being registered and the strictest possible action would be taken to ensure that violence doesnt flare again.

My first priority is to restore peace and bring back the communal harmony in the city. All those involved in the riots will be punished, said Shrivastava.

Until Saturday evening, Delhi Police had registered 203 cases in connection with the rioting, including 24 of murder and 36 others under various sections of the Arms Act. The remaining cases were of rioting, attacking police personnel, arson and damaging property, the police said.

The police said they had registered separate cases against 13 social media account holders on various platforms  Twitter, Facebook and Instagram  for posting provocative content having the potential to trigger communal violence.

Two special investigation teams (SITs) probing the communal violence have arrested 39 people, some of them with a criminal background. The police seized 39 firearms, after raids in various parts of Delhi and adjoining states. Joint commissioner of police (eastern range) Alok Kumar said the investigators were collecting details of cases against the criminals.
Ways to make an ever-popular New Year's resolution a reality

Getting started on a healthy program can be easy with some professional help.
Highfield Energy, an Irish developer of renewable energy projects, has announced a joint venture with the Temporis Aurora Fund to finance 200 megawatts (MW) of new onshore wind assets in Ireland.

The joint venture between the company and the fund will provide Highfield with the financial backing to develop wind assets across Ireland over the next five to eight years. An industry source said 200MW of development would involve an investment of around 300m.

Temporis Investment Management, which has bases in both Cork and London, manages approximately $600m (546m) worth of assets.

It started the Temporis Aurora Fund with a mandate to back the development of new renewable projects in Ireland.

The Aurora Fund plans to deploy 125m worth of equity over its 12-year life. The fund has been backed by the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) and AIB, as well as institutional investors from the US, UK, Denmark and Germany.

Peter Kavanagh, managing director of Highfield Energy, said the joint venture would give his company the ability to plan for long-term projects.

"It means we can get on with developing the projects now. It gives us strong financial backing over the next five to eight years," he said.

"Development projects take time; they require sustained effort and investment. For developers, partnering with the right kind of capital, which understands development, that's really key."

Kavanagh said the joint venture had already started working together on plans for future projects.

The projects will serve both the State-backed Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) auctions and the emerging market for corporate power purchase agreements.

The RESS, the final terms and conditions of which were released last week, will establish a system of auctions to provide State support to renewable electricity projects in Ireland.

Kavanagh welcomed the RESS. "We can move forward now and deliver," he said.

"It's going to be a competitive process, so if you are not competitive, you won't get the support. It's a big change in the Irish market; it's really about trying to pick winners now."

The joint venture will not be competing in the first auction. However, Highfield itself will be bidding, with Kavanagh adding that he plans to bid around 300MW worth of solar projects in the first auction.

Highfield Energy develops, constructs, owns and operates electricity generation projects with a particular focus on renewables.

The company currently has more than one gigawatt of utility-scale wind, solar and energy storage projects within its portfolio, and is focused on the Irish market.
UPDATE: The woman died Saturday night.

Authorities are investigating a double stabbing in Amesbury that left a woman with life-threatening injuries.

Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett and Amesbury Police Chief William Scholtz said officers were called around 4:05 p.m. Saturday to a report of a stabbing on Chester Street.

Police found a woman and man had been stabbed.

The woman was flown to a Boston hospital with life-threatening injuries, according to the district attorneys office. The man was taken to Portsmouth Hospital with serious injuries.

Authorities said a suspect is in custody but did not release the suspects name as of Saturday night.
The Canadian government and big oil corporations are inflicting harm on First Nations and all Canadians.

In recent weeks, the Indigenous people of Canada and their allies have rallied in support of the Wetsuweten First Nation, after the Canadian government and Coastal GasLink Pipeline ignored an eviction notice issued by Wetsuweten hereditary chiefs, who are fighting to stop the construction of a pipeline on their traditional territories in northern British Columbia (BC).

The chiefs hold authority over their land and say they were not properly consulted over the 670km (416 miles) Coastal GasLink Pipeline, that would ship natural gas from the north of BC to the coast.

First Nations shut down ports, highways and government offices and blockaded railways. These actions proved effective. Canadian National Railway (CN Rail) cancelled more than 400 trains, ultimately leading to a loss of 100 million Canadian dollars (about $745m) for Canadas forest sector, which includes lumber and wood products, over two weeks and, additionally, for every day of rail blockage, about 425 million Canadian dollars ($317m) worth of manufactured goods transported that way sit idle.

The original people finally have their oppressors attention.

But the settler government will not address the intent of the blockades  that Wetsuweten sovereign title rights and Indigenous human rights be honoured and respected.

Instead, politicians began demonising Wetsuweten and Indigenous peoples in general. Conservative leader Andrew Scheer said they were holding the Canadian economy hostage and dubbed First Nations peoples radical activists.

Yet it was not just conservatives attacking Indigenous people. Neoliberals joined in. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took a confrontational stance, saying rail blockades must come down now and claiming the situation was untenable even though he had not met the Wetsuweten leadership.

It was not long before the mainstream media joined in on the feeding frenzy. Blockades were blamed for hundreds of layoffs, even though CN Rail had already planned to lay off as many as 1,600 rail workers months before the blockades were put in place. Also, some unions reportedly view the blockades as labour actions, like strikes, and respect them as such. Others support them outright. A media release from the National Farmers Union (NFU), whose members depend upon rail transport for their livelihoods, expressed solidarity with the Wetsuweten and Indigenous land protectors.

Blockades were also blamed for causing a potential shortage of chlorine, which is used to treat municipal drinking water. Meanwhile, First Nations communities like Grassy Narrows have not had safe drinking water for 50 years, thanks to industrial pollution.

A CN Rail executive even dismissed the victim role that his corporation is being cast in, refusing to revise a 2020 profit guidance as a result of the stoppages, claiming they would weather the blockades just fine.

Also seemingly absent from the mainstream media is the news that behind the scenes, Trudeau had reportedly brokered a deal for CN Rail that allowed it to use Canadian Pacifics network to reroute freight around blockades to deliver essential goods.

So what is the truth?

While it is obvious that the Indigenous blockades occurring throughout Canada rattled the foundations of the current colonial regime and successfully garnered international interest, it appears that Trudeau and company are exacerbating the effects of the nonviolent direct actions of First Nations done in solidarity with the Wetsuweten to push anti-Indigenous propaganda and gather public support for increasingly unpopular fossil fuel extraction projects that are no longer financially lucrative and are quite literally dying on the vine.

Teck Resources Ltd recently cancelled a planned $15.6bn tar sands mine in northern Alberta. The corporation cited uncertainty about Canadas climate policy, but honestly, going forward with the project would have simply been economically unsound. Trudeaus administration bought the Trans Mountain Pipeline, and now it looks like that was an unwise investment.

The cost for Trans Mountain has jumped from $7.4bn to $12.6bn. TC Energy (formerly Transcanada) recently announced that they are unsure as to whether they will move forward with completing the $8bn Keystone XL pipeline. Even now, a Crown corporation is considering providing TC Energy with a bailout loan to complete Coastal GasLink, the very pipeline being forced through Wetsuweten territory.

The anti-Indigenous language being spouted by settler government leaders and the spread of misinformation, as well as the omission of notable facts regarding the Wetsuweten and Indigenous-led blockades and demonstrations, has real consequences.

Indigenous people throughout Canada are now being subjected to violent racist attacks online and in-person and white supremacist vigilantes are now using it to propel their hateful message and target Indigenous people.

Curiously, a common refrain throughout Canada about the Wetsuweten and the subsequent solidarity actions is that Indigenous peoples are not following the rule of law. Nearly 200 Canadian lawyers and legal academics answered this argument by issuing a statement that declared it is not Wetsuweten hereditary chiefs who are breaking the law, it is the settler government of Canada.

In Delgamuukw-Gisdaywa vs the queen, a Canadian High Court acknowledged that the Wetsuweten people, represented by its hereditary chiefs, had never surrendered title, maintained jurisdiction over their unceded lands, and that they must consent to any projects that cross their territory. The RCMP also violated the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) when it forcibly removed Wetsuweten matriarchs from their ancestral lands.

Canada continues to be duplicitous. Wetsuweten hereditary chiefs were set to meet the settler government. Government officials pulled out at the last minute.

It is not the Wetsuweten or other First Nations who are hurting Canada. It is the settler government and its agents that are inflicting all this damage and expense. As Wetsuweten Hereditary Chief Woos stated, Theres a difference between inconvenience and injustice  Dont confuse one with the other.

Trudeau and other Canadian leaders speak of reconciliation, but refuse to honour Indigenous sovereign Title, human rights, and international law. They talk about transitioning away from fossil fuels that cause climate change, but they are still in bed with big oil and use the RCMP to enforce their construction, brutalising Indigenous people and posing unnecessary risks to their land and water in the process.

It is time for the Canadian government and the big oil corporations they are propping up to take accountability for the harm they are inflicting upon First Nations, as well as Canadian citizens.

The Indigenous people of Earth have become the conscience of humanity. In this dire season, it is time to listen to them.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.
Almost 100 wealthy and powerful foreigners who have recently visited China have been authorised to bypass a strict coronavirus travel ban and sneak into Australia.

The Australian Border Force Commissioner has given 99 foreign business leaders and diplomats the green light to enter Australia in the last four weeks as the number of confirmed cases across the country grows to 26.

It comes on the same day Australia reported its first death from the deadly virus after a male passenger, 78, who was on board the doomed Diamond Princess cruise ship while it was quarantined off Japan died in hospital in Perth on Sunday.

The federal government has confirmed Australian Border Force Commissioner used his discretion to permit entry to 99 foreigners on 28 occasions, the Sunday Telegraph reported.

A strict coronavirus travel ban for foreign visitors who have travelled to China remains in place. Pictured are visitors arriving in Brisbane before the ban was enforced

They included diplomats who are residents in Australia and Chinese citizens receiving treatment in Australia or visiting sick family members.

It's understood they all passed an initial health screening before being requested to to isolate themselves for 14 days.

A Department of Home Affairs spokesman told the publication the Commissioner authorised clearance to enter Australia for those with 'compelling or compassionate circumstances' and where health authorities supported the request.

Daily Mail Australia contacted the Australian Border Force and Department of Home Affairs for further comment.

It's been four weeks since Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a ban on foreign travellers who have left or passed through mainland China from arriving on our shores.

The Australian Border Force Commissioner used his discretion to permit entry to 99 foreigners into Australia during the ban. Pictured are foreigner travellers before the ban was enforced

The travel ban remains in place after it was extended for the third time this week, which now also includes foreigners coming to Australia from Iran.

The travel ban does not apply to Australian citizens, permanent residents and their immediate families as well as airline staff.

Universities' plans have been thrown into chaos with up to 100,000 international students are unable to return to Australia in time for the start of semester.

Some Australian universities have delayed the start of the semester this month due to the travel ban.

There are 26 confirmed cases in Australia, 11 of whom have recovered, after two new infections were confirmed in Victoria and NSW on Sunday.

The Chinese travel ban remains in place after it was extended for the third time this week

Almost 100 foreigners who have recently visited China have been given clearance by Australian Border Force officials to enter the country (stock image)
By Express News Service

KALPETTA: Pope Francis has defrocked Roman Catholic priest Robin Vadakkumchery of the Mananthavady diocese in Kerala, who was convicted by the Thalassery POCSO ( Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) court for raping and impregnating a minor in 2016.

Only the Pope has the power to defrock a priest in the Catholic church.

Fr Robin, who was a teacher at the school where the survivor was studying, allegedly raped her several times in 2016 and impregnated the then 16-year-old girl. The girl gave birth to a child on February 7, 2017. On February 27, 2017, Mananthavady diocese suspended Fr Robin from priesthood and formed a committee for further investigation.

Meanwhile, the Thalassery POCSO court found him guilty in the case as the DNA of the child matched with Robin's. The court awarded him 20 years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 3 lakh. The POCSO court has also acquitted five nuns from the Christu Raj convent and one administrator on charges of conspiracy and forgery of documents.

A statement by the Public Relations Office of Catholic Diocese of Mananthavady on Sunday said the Pope dismissed Vadakumchery on December 9, 2019, and the decree was handed over by the Mananthavady diocese last month. "An official communication that the decree was signed and accepted was sent to Rome," said Fr Jose Kocharackal, PRO of Mananthavady diocese.


Pete Davidson has revealed he was 'forced to apologize' for poking fun at Congressman Dan Crenshaw's appearance during an episode of Saturday Night Live.

The comedian caused controversy in November 2018 for joking that Crenshaw - a veteran who lost his right eye in an IED blast in Afghanistan - looked like 'a hitman in a porno movie'.

Davidson, 26, subsequently said sorry for the gag when he appeared alongside Crenshaw, 35, in the following week's episode of SNL.

But in his new Netflix special, Alive From New York, the funnyman says he wasn't really interested in apologizing for making fun of the wounded veteran's looks.

'I got in trouble last year because I was making some jokes,' he states in the special.

'I didn't think I did anything wrong. It was like words that were twisted so that a guy could be famous... So I made fun of this guy with an eye patch and then, like, I kind of got forced to apologize.'

'People were like, 'You hate America!' And I'm like, 'No, I just didn't want to be incorrect about how he lost his f---ing eye,' he continues.

'My roommate thought I should apologize so that I didn't get shot in the face'.

In his new Netflix special, Pete Davidson says he was 'forced to apologize' to Congressman Dan Crenshaw for mocking his appearance

Crenshaw appeared on Fox and Friends Friday, and hit back at Davidson for rescinding his apology

Crenshaw, who serves as a House Representative for Texas' 2nd Congressional District, hit back at Davidson in an interview with Fox and Friends on Friday.

'It's like our comedic careers are joined at the hip because he can't stop thinking about me. It's a little sad, ' he tartly told the cable news channel.

But the Congressman said he wasn't going to let the incident get him down, and would continue to think back fondly on their joint appearance on SNL.

'We had a really good moment, you know, at that time in 2018. America liked it. The left and right liked it. So, you know, we don't really want to ruin that.'

'To be fair, if we took everything that comedians said on a Netflix special seriously, man our country would be in a world of hurt. I would like to remember the guy that I saw in person and hung out with that night. '

Saturday Night Live's Pete Davidson apologized for mocking Dan Crenshaw for his war injury during a joint appearance on SNL in November 2018

During that appearance on SNL with Davidson, Crenshaw ended his segment with an appeal for civility in the nation's discourse.

'There's a lot of lessons to learn here,' Crenshaw stated. 'Not just that the left and right can agree on some things, but also this - Americans can forgive one another.'

'We can remember what brings us together as a country and still see the good in each other. It's a good time for every American to connect with a veteran'.

'Maybe thanks for your service, but I would encourage you to say something else: 'Never forget'.

'When you say 'never forget' to a veteran, you are implying that as an American, you are in it with them, not separated by some imaginary barrier between civilians and veterans, but connected together as grateful fellow Americans.

'Never forget the sacrifices made by veterans past and present.

'And never forget those we lost on 9/11, heroes like Pete's father.

'So I'll just say: 'Pete, never forget'.'

Davidson, whose father, Scott Davidson, was a New York City firefighter who died in the September 11 terrorist attacks, replied: 'Never forget.'

'And that is for both of us,' Davidson stated as the pair shook hands.
Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL) on Sunday reported a 46.26 per cent drop in domestic sales at 7,269 units in February.

The company had sold 13,527 units in the domestic market in February 2019, HCIL said in a statement.

Exports stood at 64 units last month, it added.

"Our despatches were limited and in line with our plan of total supply availability for the month," HCIL Senior Vice-President and Director (Marketing and Sales) Rajesh Goel said.

The company is determined to enhance the supplies with subsequent introduction of BS-VI versions of other models and bring down the waiting period for customers, he added.

"Since we have been supplying only BS-VI cars from January onwards and dealers were aggressively liquidating their BS-IV stock, our channel is left with negligible stock of BS-IV cars as of February end," Goel said.

The company said it has been producing only BS-VI models at both its plants since January this year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-02 00:09:35|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

DUSHANBE, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Tajik President Emomali Rahmon on Sunday met here with Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, with both sides reaffirming commitments to strengthening ties.

During the meeting, Yang recalled that last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Rahmon agreed to jointly build the China-Tajikistan development community and security community, outlining a new blueprint for developing relations between the two countries, which he noted are good neighbors, friends, partners and brothers.

China is willing to work with Tajikistan to implement the consensus reached between the two heads of state, unswervingly support each other, deepen practical cooperation, safeguard common security and strengthen communication and coordination in international and regional affairs, Yang said.

Over the past years, the two sides have seen fruits yielded in their jointly building the Belt and Road, and they should further synergize development strategies, elevate cooperation, and enhance people-to-people exchanges to further benefit the two countries and peoples, Yang said.

Yang briefed the Tajik president on the progress China has made in its all-out fight against the novel coronavirus under Xi's leadership, as well as on the anti-virus measures adopted in tandem with those aimed at promoting economic and social development.

China thanks Tajikistan for sending medical equipment to assist its anti-virus efforts, Yang said, adding that China will continue working with countries including Tajikistan in fighting the coronavirus and safeguarding regional and global public health security.

For his part, Rahmon spoke highly of China's anti-virus fight. The Chinese people will definitely defeat the virus under President Xi's leadership, he said.

Rahmon said Tajikistan considers it as a foreign policy priority to develop relations with China, which is a close neighbour and reliable strategic partner of Tajikistan.

Tajikistan is willing to well implement the key Belt and Road cooperation projects, deepen security cooperation between the two countries and people-to-people exchanges, so as to inject new impetus into the development of the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership.

Also on Sunday, Yang met with Tajik Deputy Prime Minister Azim Ibrohim.
BOSTON - The Boston Celtics had the ball, down one, with 24.3 seconds on the clock, and a timeout in hand. They had time and options as they tried to complete an improbable win over the Houston Rockets.

Obviously, it didnt work out for them, and in the immediate aftermath of the loss, second-guessers questioned whether Brad Stevens should have taken a timeout to reset after Jaylen Browns progress was stopped by Robert Covington.

Stevens said no.

We felt like calling an action we were comfortable with and looking at multiple options, which they blew up a couple of the options with their defense, he said. But like Jaylen going to his right hand for a pull-up jump shot, its hard to get a good look in those moments. And he got a clean look at the rim and we believe in him and trust him.

Stevens has called timeouts in similar situations before. Hes not opposed to stopping a sloppy play in its track to start over or call something new. But Jayson Tatums account of what happened shows the play ran mostly the way it was supposed to run.

We were running one of our set plays where I throw it to Gordon (Hayward)," he said. "I was supposed to come off a flare and you can either do a dribble handoff with the guy in the corner, (Jaylen Brown), or come off a ball screen that Theis sets. JB got a good shot. Something he can hit. It just didnt go in.

Heres a look at the play.

Tatum: We were running 1 of our set plays where I throw it to Gordon, I was supposed to come off a flare and you can either do a dribble handoff w/the guy in the corner JB, or come off a ball screen that Theis sets. JB got a good shot. Something he can hit. It just didnt go in pic.twitter.com/Wm0lWwdfdB  John Karalis  (@RedsArmy_John) March 1, 2020

You can see how Tatums account jives with how it played out. The Rockets did a good job denying Tatum off the screen, so the next option was Brown coming up from the corner. Rather than throw himself into Covington and hope for a foul, he opted for a step-back jumper.

It felt good, Brown said. Thats a shot Ive been shooting all season, Ive been working on, it just didnt fall.

Gordon Hayward agreed.

Were trying to get something out of a play that we run and that was a good look as well. he said. We competed out there, fought back to give ourselves a chance and had our opportunities.

Stevens opted not to call a timeout in that moment, instead trusting his players to run a set play and get a good shot. Had the shot fallen, few would question his decision.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Paul Fletcher's semi-professional theatre debut didn't go so well. Encouraged by their law revue successes at the University of Sydney, Fletcher and a small crew of fresh-faced graduates had decided to write and produce The Fax of Life, a satirical comedy performed at Sydney's Playhouse Theatre in early 1990. The show tanked  poorly attended, loss-making and unappreciated by critics. "It was something of a nightmare for the quartet," lamented The Sydney Morning Herald at the time. Paul Fletcher (dark suit) and Craig Hassall's play "The Fax of Life" tanked in 1990. Credit:Philip Wayne Lock "It was a disaster," says Fletcher, now 55 and the Morrison government's Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts. A second production, Annually Fixated, was reviewed as a "zany contribution to the silly season" and fared better. For two co-writers, Rake creator Peter Duncan and former Opera Australia boss Craig Hassall, the plays were the beginning of successful careers in the arts. But Fletcher went into a job at corporate law firm Mallesons and towards a life in business and politics. Fletcher's theatrical history contrasts with his very sober public persona today. A self-confessed nerd, the moderate Liberal MP holds a consequential and highly technical portfolio, making decisions that will shape the future of the internet and media in Australia. Publicly, he is serious to the point of dour. "Competent but boring", is how many describe him.

Advertisement

But those that know him say this isn't fair. Labor frontbencher and former NSW premier Kristina Keneally, who has known Fletcher for decades, says he can "come across as a little intimidating when you first meet him because he is so intelligent and taciturn". "But underneath his quiet and thoughtful demeanour lurks a wickedly dry sense of humour," she says. During Keneally's stint as a host on Sky News, she had two goals when inviting Fletcher on as a guest. First, yielding a useful nugget of information. The other was making him crack a smile. "Occasionally I succeeded on both," she says. Fletcher was born in the rural English town of Devizes in 1965, but spent most of his childhood in Adelaide and the eastern suburbs of Sydney, with a computational engineering professor father and school teacher mother. Since 2007, he has been married to jewellery designer Manuela Zappacosta and has an 11-year-old son and 23-year-old stepson. Fletcher has always been brainy and ambitious. He was dux of Sydney Grammar in 1982, received first class honours in both law and economics, was a Fulbright scholar and has a MBA from Columbia University in New York. He also joined the Young Liberals at 16, was a champion debater, and got elected to positions in student politics.

Advertisement

After an unsuccessful preselection bid for the southern Sydney seat of Cook in 2007 (subsequently won by Scott Morrison), Fletcher entered federal politics in 2009 as the member for Bradfield in northern Sydney, becoming parliamentary secretary to then communications minister Malcolm Turnbull in 2013 and later urban infrastructure minister. He was first elevated to cabinet in 2018 as social services minister before Morrison put him in his current role last year. In the ego-rich environment of politics, Fletcher is not the most colourful performer. MPs of various political stripes are known to compare him to The Simpsons' "Blue-Haired Lawyer" character  a grey-suited and bespectacled corporate archetype. Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts, Paul Fletcher. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen But those who have worked closely with him in business and politics universally agree he retains a potent sense of humour: wicked, dry, at times "absurdist". ASIC corporate affairs boss Bruce Meagher, who was a runner-up at the 1986 World Universities Debating Competition alongside Fletcher, says the MP is "one of the funniest people you have ever come across". Liberal senator Andrew Bragg rejects outright the narrative that Fletcher is a humdrum public speaker. "If we had more people who were able to understand and communicate the detail like he can, that would be good for the country," Bragg says.

Advertisement

Fletcher says he just takes his job seriously. "Every now and then, you might be able to say some more light-hearted things say in the context of a speech but I guess I probably am a bit more serious-minded," he says. (According to a colleague, a favoured Fletcher joke goes something like this: "Everyone talks about economic reform and productivity but no one has taken me up on my proposal to introduce legislation compelling Chinese restaurants in Australia to number their menus to an agreed standard. Think of the productivity improvements!") His wife Manuela says her husband is "quite reserved" in public life. Privately, he is more open and less combative. "I tend to win the arguments at home," she says. "Paul is quite a sensitive person. You find all deep thinkers are quite sensitive because they feel the ills and injustice of the world." Fletcher likes to go to the gym, bushwalk, kayak and spend time with family. He enjoys pasta, a glass of wine and he still goes to the theatre. His favourite books include Robert Caro's epic biographical series about Lyndon Johnson, William Manchester's The Last Lion about Winston Churchill, and John Lukacs' Five Days in London, May 1940 about Britain's decision to fight the Germans. Broadcast News, the 1980s romantic comedy, is a favourite film. "And anything with Helena Bonham Carter," he adds. While Fletcher may not be the most explosive communicator, he has an alarmingly good memory. One long-time friend and colleague says Fletcher has the "helicopter" quality, an ability to absorb a lot of information and work out what matters. He has high expectations of those around him and is forensic  even pedantic  about detail. He doesn't hold back if people fail to meet those standards and is said to have a short fuse, but is also loyal and encourages young talent.

Advertisement

Julie Inman Grant, Australia's eSafety commissioner (a world-first office Fletcher helped create as parliamentary secretary to Turnbull), says her minister is heavily involved in policy. (Something that wasn't often said about his predecessor, Mitch Fifield). "He is one of the most hands-on ministers I've ever worked with, which is a good thing. He keeps us all on our toes," she says. Education Minister Dan Tehan says his cabinet colleague will consider all the key information and use his intellect to lay out a well-reasoned argument. "His isn't the crash through approach. His is an approach where he will kill you with reason and that makes him very formidable," he says. Some colleagues consider him conflict-averse. And his clinical, technical approach might not always be enough to win an argument in politics, where battles can be decided by emotion and narrative. His fixation with numbers and detail does come through in his personal life as well. He wears a Garmin watch that allows him to track his fitness and is enthused about the family's new solar panels and the app that allows him to see how much money they are saving on energy bills. Fletcher's entry into the communications portfolio is, in a way, a fulfilment of destiny. He is an unusually qualified minister, having worked as a senior adviser and ultimately chief of staff to Howard government communications minister Richard Alston in the late 1990s and then forging his reputation in the corporate world as an executive at Optus between 2000 to 2008. He even wrote a book on broadband: Wired Brown Land, published in 2009.

Advertisement
Dhinesh Kallungal By

Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: If you are an NRI and have plans to visit Kerala or take your family to your immigrant country for the upcoming summer vacation, it would be ideal to rethink your travel plans. Amid the looming threat of novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the chances of being quarantined either here or the host country are high. A senior officer in the Health department said the state government is preparing to face such a situation, and considering the prevailing and evolving scenario, chances are high for NRIs or their families to get stuck either here or the host countries.

Situation is not alarming at present, but there is all likelihood of it worsening towards the end of March. Normally in the summer season, there is steady traffic between cities in West Asia and Kerala, with Keralites employed there either coming to the state on leave or taking their families to these cities. If the situation worsens, the state will have to quarantine people coming from the affected countries in West Asia or they will have to face problems while returning to the immigrant country after the leave, said the officer.

Since West Asia employs lakhs of Keralite immigrants, home quarantine is the only solution. Further, as the families and close relatives of the affected person would be the first to face the risk of contracting the virus, the department suggests avoiding holidaying this summer, he said.

According to the Office of Health Minister K K Shailaja, the people who come from the affected countries with fever are being quarantined. But certainly, the department will have to take measures like large-scale quarantining if the situation worsens in West Asia, it said. State nodal officer for Public Health Emergencies Dr Amar Fettle said, even now, the people coming from affected countries are advised to avoid public gathering, appearing and travelling for a certain period. It would be ideal to avoid holidaying, be it in Kerala or the immigrant country, during the upcoming summer vacation, he said.

Jithu U, an immigrant worker in Kuwait, said, I was planning to visit home by the first week of April and had booked a ticket earlier. But I am a bit apprehensive about travelling now as I am not sure if I would get stuck anywhere  either in Kerala or Kuwait. A delay in reporting back for duty will also prove costly for us due to the economic crisis in West Asia, he said.

Countries wary

Outside China, COVID-19 confirmed in 53 countries

Among West Asian countries, which employ around 30 lakh Keralites, Iran, Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE, Iraq, Oman and Lebanon have started quarantining suspected carriers

Saudi Arabia on Thursday indefinitely suspended visas for Umrah pilgrimage as fears of a pandemic deepen

Control room activities stopped

TPuram: The office of World Health Organisation India said as the situation in Kerala has stabilised, contact tracing, isolation and response activities have been scaled down. It also said the state has stopped the control room activities and handed over surveillance and response to the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme. Meanwhile, department officials said that extensive awareness and communication activities will continue as before to build awareness.

In Kochi, 9 more in observation list

Kochi: The Ernakulam district administration said nine more people have been added to the observation list for coronavirus on Sunday. Seven are being home quarantined and two have been kept under observation at hospitals  one at the isolation ward of Government Medical College, Kalamassery, and another at a private hospital. A total of 47 have been home quarantined in the district. Meanwhile, one was sent home after his blood samples tested negative.
Google

A university admissions recruiter in the US has been fired after asking a group of high school students to line up according to their skin colour and hair texture.

Students at Harding Charter Preparatory High School in Oklahoma City claim the recruiter, who was visiting on behalf of Oklahoma Christian University (OC), instructed them to follow the exercise without any explanation during an assembly on 24 February.

He barely talked about the school itself, Rio Brown, a student at the school, told KFOR-TV. I could already see through his BS basically ... he wasnt really knowledgeable how to speak to people even in a diverse school.

Mr Brown said the recruiter, a white man, made the students play a little game in which he told them to line up from darkest to lightest skin complexion.

Then, he asked those present to reshuffle and rank themselves according to who had the nappiest hair, claims student Korey Todd.

He told us to line up, he said. Nappiest hair in the back and straightest hair in the front.

That is when I felt uncomfortable. I was like okay, this isnt right.

Teachers left. They were crying, and they were offended. Their faces just look disgusted. I know they had a talk with him after, like, Thats not OK.

A spokesperson for OC said the university has since fired the recruiter, who has not been identified.

The OC admissions counsellor who visited Harding Charter Preparatory Academy on Monday is no longer an Oklahoma Christian University employee, the spokesperson said.

OC admissions leadership did not approve the inappropriate activity in advance and has communicated closely with Harding administration since the visit. Admissions staff are scheduled to visit the academy Monday to apologise to Harding students and staff on behalf of the University.

Harding Charter also released a statement in which the school condemned the recruiters behaviour.

Our community, from its inception, has valued diversity, inclusion, and a safe and supportive learning environment, the statement read. We will continue to do so.

Read more

Cambridge college apologises after black student grabbed by staff
Armenias government closed all schools, universities and kindergartens until March 8 after reporting the first case of coronavirus in the country on Sunday.

Authorities also quarantined three dozen people who have been in contact with a 29-year-old Armenian man who tested positive for the virus overnight.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said in the morning that the infected man and his wife were among Armenian nationals evacuated from neighboring Iran on a special Tehran-Yerevan flight on Friday.

His condition is good, Pashinian wrote on Facebook. He had a fever when he went to hospital. He does not have a fever right now  Incidentally, the patients wife tested negative.

All necessary measures are being taken to prevent the spread of the virus, he said, adding that all individuals who have been in risky contact with the patient will be isolated.

Health Minister Arsen Torosian told reporters afterwards that 32 persons have been taken to a disused hotel in the resort town of Tsaghkadzor and placed under quarantine there. They include passengers of the Tehran-Yerevan flight who sat close to the infected man and an ambulance crew that transported him to a Yerevan hospital, he said.

Torosian said it makes no sense to quarantine all Armenians who have returned to Armenia from Iran since the recent outbreak of coronavirus there. At least 130 of them were airlifted from Tehran this week.

The Armenian government decided on February 24 to partly close Armenias border with Iran and cancel regular flights between the two for at least two weeks due to the rapid spread of the virus in the Islamic Republic. The border remains open for commercial cargo shipments mostly carried out by Iranian trucks.

According to Torosian, Iranian truck drivers physical contact with people in Armenia has been minimized. A spokeswoman for the Armenian Ministry of Health said on Saturday that the drivers are under the 24-hour surveillance of Armenian medics and are not allowed to leave their vehicles without police escort.

Pashinian announced later in the day that classes in Armenian kindergartens, schools and universities have been suspended for one week. We need some time to understand whats going on, he said in a live video addressed aired on Facebook.

Despite the prime ministers calls to maintain calm, the news of the first coronavirus case detected in Armenia triggered panic buying of foodstuffs in some supermarkets in Yerevan. There were also reports that holidaymakers began cancelling hotel bookings in Tsaghkadzor for fear of being infected by the people quarantined at the secluded local hotel.

Pashinian aired another Facebook address to try to allay his fears, saying the 32 individuals are held in complete isolation from the outside world. The prime minister said that he, his wife and young children will travel to the popular ski resort 57 kilometers north of the Armenian capital in evening and spend a night there to show that the epidemiological situation in Tsaghkadzor has not worsened.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 22:31:24|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, inspects Wuhan Women's Prison in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, March 1, 2020. Sun Chunlan Sunday stressed giving full play to the role of medical personnel sent to Hubei Province, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, in containing the epidemic. Sun, who is leading a central government team guiding the epidemic control work in Hubei, made the remarks during a video conference with representatives of more than 340 medical teams that arrived in Hubei from across the country. (Xinhua/Li He)

WUHAN, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan Sunday stressed giving full play to the role of medical personnel sent to Hubei Province, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, in containing the epidemic.

Sun, who is leading a central government team guiding the epidemic control work in Hubei, made the remarks during a video conference with representatives of more than 340 medical teams that arrived in Hubei from across the country.

Acknowledging the prominent contributions made by the medical teams, Sun, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, noted that the speedy gathering of over 40,000 medics on the anti-epidemic frontlines demonstrated the strength of the country's system and has won international acclaim.

More efforts should be made to optimize medical resource allocation, strengthen safety protection for the medical personnel and strictly implement incentive measures so that the medical teams will maintain their morale in the battle against the epidemic, Sun said.

The central government team Sunday inspected the epidemic control work at a local social welfare institute and a prison, stressing enhanced containment efforts in densely populated areas and the adoption of precise isolation and treatment measures in such places.
I reland has confirmed its first case of coronavirus.

A man has tested positive for the Covid-19 pathogen in the east of the Irish Republic, Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan announced on Saturday.

It joins a host of countries to confirm their first cases on Saturday, including Luxembourg, Ecuador, and Qatar.

The virus has caused nearly 80,000 infections and 2,835 deaths in China, according to official figures.

A man wearing a facemask in the arrivals hall of Terminal 2 at Dublin Airport. / PA

It has spread to at least 46 countries, where more than 3,700 cases and 50 deaths have been reported, according to the World Health Organisation, which raised its global spread and impact risk alert to "very high" on Friday.

Northern Ireland said the regions first case of coronavirus, which was reported on Thursday, has been confirmed by laboratory tests.

Meanwhile, Three more patients have tested positive for the coronavirus in England, bringing the total number of UK cases to 23 while the US has confirmed 22 cases and its first death.

In Ireland, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre was alerted to the first case in the country on Saturday.

Irish Minister for Health Simon Harris (centre) holds a leaflet which forms part of the public awareness campaign for COVID-19 (Coronavirus) in the baggage hall of Terminal 2 at Dublin Airport. / PA

It is associated with travel from an affected area in northern Italy, rather than contact with another confirmed case.

Dr Holohan said the patient was receiving appropriate medical care.

"This is not unexpected. We have been preparing for this eventuality for many weeks now," he said.

"Public health protocols have been in place since January and are operating effectively.

A sign which forms part of the public awareness campaign for COVID-19 (Coronavirus) in the arrivals hall of Terminal 2 at Dublin Airport. / PA

"The health service is well used to managing infectious diseases and has robust response measures in place."

Dr John Cuddihy, director of Irelands Health Protection Surveillance Centre, said: The HSE (Health Service Executive) is now working rapidly to identify any contacts the patient may have had, to provide them with information and advice to prevent further spread.

It is important to note that the risk of transmission through casual contact is low.

Meanwhile, Brazil's Health Ministry on Saturday confirmed the country's second case of the fast-spreading new coronavirus, diagnosed in a patient in Sao Paulo who had recently visited Italy.

Authorities said they were gathering information and more details would be provided later. Brazil's first case of the novel coronavirus was confirmed on Feb. 26, during the country's carnival holiday, a peak time for domestic travel.

Luxembourg also confirmed its first coronavirus case on Saturday, the RTL news outlet reported.

The patient was a man in his 40s who had recently travelled to Italy and returned via Belgium's Charleroi airport, Health Minister Paulette Lenert said, according to RTL.

Qatar also reported its first case on Saturday.

Ecuador also confirmed the first case, reported in the Andean country, its health minister said on Saturday.

The patient is an elderly female Ecuadorean residing in Spain, Catalina Andramuno, the health minister, told reporters. The patient arrived in Ecuador on February 14 on a direct flight from Madrid without showing any symptoms, but soon felt ill and went to a hospital where she was diagnosed with the coronavirus.

"The patient is currently in intensive care at one of the hospitals we had designated to attend to coronavirus," Mr Andramuno said, adding that the government was monitoring people who may have come into contact with the patient.
01.03.2020 LISTEN

Several types of research have been undertaken in the mainstream sciences to investigate the level of difficulties associated with the study of concepts in biology, chemistry, physics, computer studies and a host of others. What has been lacking in literature have been researches related to the social sciences and humanities on concept difficulties related to the study of such course.

Funded by the World Bank Africa Centre of Excellence ( Lagos State University) and the Okebukola Science Foundation, a number of researches have been conducted on the science, with one in the humanities (public administration).

In a study of 650 students from five African universities (University of Professional Studies Accra, University of Ghana, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, Crawford University( Igbesa) and the Lagos State University, results of groundbreaking research found that the most difficult concepts in the study of public administration is politics. Using mean ranks, the study suggests the following results;

Table 1: Ranking of Difficult Concepts in the Study of Public Administration

Table 1 - Mean rank analysis of difficult concepts in Public Administration (N = 650)

S/N. Difficult concepts Mean Ranking B8 Politics 1.83 1st B1 Bureaucracy 1.81 2nd B7 Public Policy 1.77 3rd B6 Decentralization 1.74 4th B5 Governance 1.62 5th B9 Public Personnel Administration 1.58 6th B3 Corruption 1.49 7th Topic Arms of Government 1.48 8th B2 Ethics 1.42 9th B10 Defining Public Administration 1.39 10th

Source: Indigenous (Cultural) Knowledge Related To the Concept of Politics as a Difficult Topic in Public Administration

The table shows the ranking of the difficult concept in the study of Public Administration. The study shows that Politics with a mean of 1.83 is perceived as the most difficult concept in the study of public administration. Public Policy, Decentralization, Governance, Public Personnel Administration, Corruption, Arms of Government, Ethics and Defining Public Administration followed in the order of difficulties in understanding by African university students studying public administration (Awaah, 20202).

[KO1]

The study suggests that to make politics easy to understand, African university teachers should adopt the Cuturo-Techno- Conceptual Approach (Okebukola, 2015) in teaching the course. The study explained the approach as emphasizing on using examples and explanations that are related to the students cultural environment to aid understanding.

For instance, the study argued that politics is not new to Africans. Before the advent of western political systems, Africans had their indigenous ways of getting into political office; majorly through the clan and chieftaincy systems. In West Africa just as it pertained in many parts of Africa, ascending to the positions of a chief or head of a kingdom had criterion that one had to meet just as it is with qualifications for being elected in modern-day political office. For instance, among the Gurune speaking people of northern Ghana, some key qualifications included being whole-bodied, not of a questionable character, must have a wife, not impotent, must be from the royal clan, be of sound mind, and not leprous amongst others. If one did not meet any of these criteria, such a person would be disqualified from being enskinned a chief. This aspect of indigenous criteria for qualifications into chieftaincy can be likened to modern-day vetting on the pre-established criteria for getting into a political office like being a citizen, clean police records, declaration of assets amongst others (Awaah, 2020).



The paper further argues that in modern-day politics as taught in the classrooms, dispute is an integral part of the systems and such disputes take the wisdom of the courts to settle. This is not new to Africans. In time past, the elders and chiefs in Africa were repositories of traditional wisdom and would sit in the compounds of the chief to adjudicate matters relating to sub-chiefs and other subjects. When the matter was higher than a given chief, the matter would be referred to as the overlord of the given traditional area. It is common knowledge that, in matters pertaining to some tribes in the Upper East Region of Ghana, when disputes arose and the immediate chief of the locality lacked the jurisprudence to mediate the matter, the matter was sent to the Nayiri (overlord of Mampurrgu) for settlement. This practice is still prevalent with the Mole  Dagbani group of Ghana (bid).

The author further argues backs his script with narratives from oral tradition of one such dispute within the Dagbon kingdom - the people of Dagbon could not resolve the matter pertaining who became the next chief or overlord of Dagbon (Yaa-Naa) within a given period. It was agreed before the Dagbon state that, the matter be referred to the Nayiri for settlement. This reflects the dispute settlement systems of modern-day politics when matters begin from lower to higher courts depending on the magnitude of the dispute. Of particular interest in this narration is that, when the Dagbon state agreed to refer the matter to the Nayiri, the youngest contender for the skin knowing he is the least advantaged in the race went to Nayiri ahead of the appointed date. He enquired of the Nayiri what name would be one appropriate and impressive for the next chief of Dagbon (Yaa-Naa).

Oral traditions has it that, the Nayiri, not knowing his motive mention Nyo-u din galsi ni dei bobri transliterated as the chest that is big will get decorations. The phrase actually connotes the virtue of patience and unity as it really means one needs patience to get power or acclaim. Subsequently, the day for the real adjudication came and all contenders were seated before the Nayiri. Amongst other criteria, all contenders were asked to suggest their skin names, the youngest knowing the mindset of the Nayiri mentioned Nyo-u din galsi ni dei bobri. He was crowned the chief of Dagbon. Oral tradition has it that, he was one of the key chiefs in the history of Dagbon to bring developments into the area. Apart from settling the dispute, this further reflects the concept of modern-day lobbying as pertains in politics, for Naa Zangina would have missed out on the chieftaincy if he did not lobby the Nayirri.

The full article is published in the book, Breaking Barriers to Learning: the Culturo-Techno-Conceptual Approach and would be available on amazon.com for sale shortly.
New Delhi, March 1 : The police in the capital have arrested two persons for allegedly kidnapping a foreigner. The victim, a Bulgarian national, has been safely rescued.

The police said a ransom call of Rs 2 crore was made by the kidnappers.

Weapons have also been seized from the possession of the captured kidnappers.

"There was an exchange of fire between the police personnel and the accused during the rescue operations," DCP Anto Alphonso of Dwarka told IANS on Sunday.

"Arms, a car besides some cash have also been seized by the police from the accused. Further investigation is going on," the police officer said.

Joint Commissioner of Police (JCP) Shalini Singh said the foreign national was kidnapped from outside an ATM kiosk on February 27.

"The kidnappers than called the foreign national's friend and placed a ransom demand of Rs 2 crore," Singh said.

The kidnappers, identified as Anup and Naveen, asked the foreigner's friends to meet them along with the ransom money at a secluded place on Najafgarh-Jharoda road.

JCP Singh said a police team was already present at the meeting spot.

"The kidnappers tried to flee as they suspected the police presence. However, the police personnel managed to nab them," the police officer said, adding the foreigner was rescued safely.

She also said that three police personnel suffered injuries while trying to free the foreign national from the kidnappers' clutches.
By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis announced on Sunday that a cold he is suffering from has forced him to skip a Lenten spiritual retreat with senior Vatican officials near Rome for the first time in his papacy.

The surprise announcement, which will keep him from attending a gathering he holds dear, marked the first health scare for the 83-year-old pontiff since his election in 2013.

As of late Saturday night, the Vatican said that the pope would be taking part in the retreat, indicating that the decision to skip it was a last-minute one. The retreat was due to start on Sunday afternoon.

The pope made the announcement to thousands of people in St. Peter's Square during his first public appearance since last Wednesday, when he was seen coughing and sneezing.

"Unfortunately a cold will force me not take part this year (in the retreat). I will follow the meditations from here," he said, departing from his prepared address.

Francis coughed several times while making his brief address on Sunday and sounded like he had a stuffy nose. Francis is missing a part of one lung. It was removed when he was in his early 20s in his native Buenos Aires after an illness.

The Vatican had previously said only that Francis was suffering from a "slight indisposition" that forced him to cancel most audiences in the past three days.

"I will unite myself spiritually with the (participants) and all people who are living moments of prayer. I will do the spiritual exercises from home," he said.

The respected website Il Sismografo, which follows Church affairs, said it was the first time since 1950 that a pope has missed a Lenten retreat.

Home for the pope is Santa Marta, the Vatican guest house where he lives in simple quarters after opting not to use the spacious papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace.

CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK IN ITALY

The pope has been taken ill at a time when Italy is battling a surging outbreak of the potentially deadly coronavirus. His spokesman Matteo Bruni dismissed on Friday speculation that Francis was anything more than slightly unwell.

Story continues

"There is no evidence that would lead to diagnosing anything but a mild indisposition," he said.

A number of people in St. Peter's Square to hear the pope wore surgical face masks.

Italy has registered more than 1,100 confirmed cases of coronavirus since Feb. 20 and at least 29 deaths - the worst such contagion in Europe.

After his election, Francis broke with the tradition of his predecessors, who held the retreats in the Vatican, and moved them to a Church property in the town of Arricia, south of Rome.

The cancellation was a personal setback for the pontiff, a member of the Jesuit religious order, which, like other groups in the Church, places great significance in holding retreats and spiritual exercises away from one's normal workplace.

Some Lent Ash Wednesday services were cancelled or limited in areas of northern Italy hit by the spread of the virus.

The pope skipped a few events at the start of his papacy in 2013 and 2014 but the cause was believed to be of an intestinal nature.

Francis also suffers some leg pain due to sciatica, for which he undergoes regular physical therapy and which explains his occasional difficulty climbing steps.

(Reporting by Philip Pullella; Editing by Crispian Balmer and Susan Fenton)
NEW YORKThe number one job of Chinese state-run news outlets is to export propaganda and infiltrate the United States and other countries in the West with class struggle ideology, according to an analyst.

This analysis comes after the Department of State recently designated five Chinese media entities as foreign missions and capped the number of personnel that the entities can have working in the United States at any given time.

Heng He, a senior political analyst on China for The Epoch Times, said the designation is not a matter of freedom of speech, but a matter of infiltration by a hostile foreign power.

Not only [do they] export the human rights violation, [they] export their values, and they will have a strong influence on our society, on our values, Heng He told NTD.

Heng He added that the United States is built upon the values of its Founding Fathers, such as all men are created equal, but the Chinese regimes ideology is much different.

They believe they need [to] change the world, [to] destroy the whole world and establish a totally new world, and the new world [would be] based on the Marxism, Leninism, and in China, its Mao Zedong thought, and those are the class struggle. They make enemies, and they ask the people to make enemies [with] each other and then fight each other. Thats called class struggle, he said.

Class struggle is a tactic the regime uses to gain and maintain power by designating a certain class or part of society as enemies of the state.

For example, the Chinese Communist Party has persecuted Uyghur Muslims living in the Xinjiang region of China for decades. In 2009, bloody clashes erupted in Xinjiangs capital, Urumqi, stemming from the systematic discrimination of the Uyghurs.

China blamed Uyghur separatists for the deaths and justifies its persecution by saying it is necessary to prevent Islamic extremism.

The persecution is part of a larger campaign by the regime to suppress any ethnic, cultural or religious identities that might compete for popular loyalty with the Chinese Communist Party, according to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

Currently, there are and estimated 1.5 million Uyghurs, who are or have been detained in internment camps in the Xinjiang region. The estimate is based on satellite images, public spending records, and witness accounts.

Not only does the regime use propaganda within China to cover up its human rights abuses, but it also extends its influence overseas.

According to Heng He, the regime takes advantage of western societies freedom of speech to promote its agenda. None of the five media outlets immediately responded to requests for comment.

Inside the party, there is a department designated to control all the media. Its called [the] Department of Propaganda, Heng He said. Of course, they changed the name. They changed the name [to the] Department of Publicity. But, you know, [the] Department of Propaganda is exactly word by word translated from Chinese. They just want to hide their real nature.

The agencies classified on Feb. 18 as foreign missions are Xinhua News Agency, China Global Television Network (CGTN), China Radio International, China Daily Distribution Corporation, and Hai Tian Development USA, which distributes Peoples Daily in the United States.

As foreign missions, the Chinese state-run media outlets are now required to report information on their personnel and real estate to the U.S. government, under the Foreign Missions Act of 1982 (pdf), which serves in part to protect national security interests.

The designation also allows for more transparency in dealing with these agencies that are not independent journalistic outlets but organs of the Chinese one-party state propaganda apparatus, according to a State Department official.

On Monday, the State Department placed a cap on the number of employees these five media agencies can have in the United States.

In addition to spreading Chinese Communist Party ideology, the personnel of these state-run media agencies sometimes serve another purposeto work as undercover intelligence collectors, according to the analyst.

Heng He reports that the Chinese regime sent an intelligence agent disguised as a reporter to the United States, who later defected to the United States. Heng He said this type of espionage is a common practice of the Chinese Communist Party.

Furthermore, Heng He explains that Chinese state-run media broadcast forced confessions of foreigners or dissidents.

For example, a former British Consulate employee in Hong Kong told UK regulators on Nov. 27, 2019 that he was tortured by Chinese police for information on protesters, and that CGTN aired his forced confession.

At this time, its not even propaganda; its part of the suppression machine, said Heng He.

In 2018, the Justice Department told Xinhua and China Global Television Network to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 (pdf). That is the same act that prevented Nazi propaganda from being spread in the United States.

The analyst said this law hasnt been enforced since World War II because there hasnt been a need to worry about foreign propagandauntil now.

Follow Kevin on Twitter: @KRHogan_NTD
Sana Khan EXPOSES Boyfriend Melvin Louis for CHEATING on her | FilmiBeat

Sana Khan got emotional at the trailer launch event of her upcoming web series Special Ops. The actress is seen thanking filmmaker Neeraj Pandey but is unable to hold back her tears for having given her the opportunity to star in the show. The former Bigg Boss 6 contestant was then consoled by co-star Gautami Kapoor.

In a video shared online, before breaking down on stage, Sana thanks the show creator and says Thank you Neeraj sir to see myself in this poster. The actors gathered around her and the audience applauds Sana while the host of the event tells her, It absolutely happens, we are humans.

For the uninitiated, Sana broke up with her long-time boyfriend and dancer Melvin Louis a while ago. The Jai Ho actress has ever since been in an emotional state and has confessed to having suffered from anxiety and depression. Check out the video here:

In a recent interview, Sana had opened up about the heartbreak and its effect on her health and wellbeing. Sana had said, "I'm suffering from depression and anxiety. I'm healing and taking care of myself. My family is there. I was on sleeping pills from 20 days. Luckily from last 2 days, I'm sleeping without any pill and I'm really happy about that. But obviously, when people write on my page saying 'Move on', I want to tell them that its not easy. Cheaters move on fast. People who are committed, take time." (sic)

It must also be recollected that Sana had previously shared screenshots of an article and revealed that Melvin is a compulsive liar and cheater. Calling him disgusting, she also mentioned in her former posts on social media that he had cheated on her with multiple girls.

ALSO READ: Sana Khan On Her Break Up With Melvin Louis: 'I'm Suffering From Depression And Anxiety

ALSO READ: Sana Khans Shocking Revelations On Melvin: He Made One Small Girl Pregnant; Flirted With Students!
Amaravati, March 2 : Months after he took voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) from the IAS, former Union Finance Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg who served under Modi government at the Centre has been appointed as advisor to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy for resource mobilisation.

Garg has been assigned the rank of a Cabinet Minister, as per an order issued by Principal Secretary (Political) Praveen Prakash. He will hold the post for two years. Garg is an IAS officer of the 1983 batch of the Rajasthan cadre.

Garg, who was Finance and Economic Affairs Secretary, opted for early retirement from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in July last year after the presentation of the Union Budget.

Garg had been transferred as Power Secretary after which he demitted service. Garg maintained that the VRS application was sent before the transfer.

Garg has been quite vocal in about the economic policies of the government in recent months. He had also presented a note on reforms that the government should undertake to the Centre.

There were differences in the government as Garg is believed to be the architect of the budget proposal to raise $10 billion by selling sovereign bonds in external currencies, for the first time, a move that has faced severe criticism from several experts, including former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Raghuram Rajan.

Garg was also at loggerheads with other members of the Bimal Jalan panel, set up to decide RBI's economic capital framework, and had submitted a dissent note to the panel.

"The VRS application was submitted late on Wednesday. The process requires a notice-serving time of three months. However, he (Garg) had requested to be relieved with immediate effect," a government official aware of the development said, requesting anonymity.

The state government also appointed 2009-batch IAS officer Kartikeya Misra as Special Secretary for resource mobilisation and institutional finance in the Finance Department.

He will be in charge of new revenue-generating projects taken up by various departments, an order issued by Chief Secretary Nilam Sawhney said.

Misra has also been given the full additional charge of MD, AP State Financial Corporation.
ANNE DRAGO, Stonington, Girls Basketball, Senior; Drago was named to the all-tournament team at the WCCU Holiday Basketball Tournament. In two games, she scored 38 points and had eight rebounds.

DANTE WILK, Westerly, Boys Basketball, Senior; Wilk was named MVP of the WCCU Holiday Basketball Tournament after the Bulldogs beat Chariho in the title game. Wilk had a combined 35 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists and eight steals in two tournament victories.

TYLER LABELLE, Chariho, Boys Basketball, Junior; LaBelle scored 41 points in two games to earn all-tournament honors at the WCCU Holiday Basketball Tournament. LaBelle had 22 in a win against South Kingstown and 19 in a loss to Westerly.

ADDIE HAUPTMANN, Wheeler, Girls Basketball, Senior; Hauptmann scored 32 points in two games in the Montville Christmas Tournament. She also had 20 rebounds, seven assists and eight steals.

Vote

View Results
How a furniture shop owner modified a Maruti Eeco car for the Pulwama attack

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 01: The National Investigation Agency has arrested a key person in connection with the Pulwama attack. The Over Ground Worker (OWG) has been identified as a Shakir Bashir Magrey, a resident of Kakapora, Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir.

Bashir a furniture shop owner is accused of providing shelter to the suicide bomber, Adil Ahmad Dar. He is also accused of providing logistics to the bomber. The Pulwama attack had claimed the lives of 40 CRPF jawans.

It was in the year 2018 that Bashir was introduced to Dar by a Pakistani terrorist, Mohammad Umar Farooq. During his interrogation, he said that on numerous occasions he had collected arms, ammunition and cash and delivered it to those involved in the Pulwama attack. He also said that he had harboured Dar and Farooq in his house from 2018 onwards until the attack that took place in February 2019. He assisted them in the preparation of the Improvised Explosive Devices, he also revealed.

NIA makes big breakthrough in Pulwama attack case: Man who shielded bomber arrested

His shop is located near Lethpora bridge, and as advised by Mohammad Umar, he started conducting reconnaissance of the movement of CRPF convoy on Jammu-Srinagar Highway in January 2019, and informed Mohammad Umar and Adil Ahmad Dar about it. Further, he was also involved in modifying the Maruti Eeco car and fitting the IED in it in early February,2019.

NEWS AT NOON, MARCH 1st, 2020

During investigation, the make, model and number of the car used in the attack was quickly ascertained by NIA to be a Maruti Eeco car through forensic examination of the tiny remnants of the car, which were seized from the spot during extended searches. This has been corroborated by accused Shakir Bashir Magrey. The explosives used in the attack were determined to be Ammonium Nitrate, Nitro- Glycerin and RDX through forensic investigation. Investigation has also confirmed the identity of the suicide bomber to be Adil Ahmad Dar through DNA matching with that of his father.

Other key terrorists involved in the attack have been found to be Muddasir Ahmad Khan, (JeM's Divisional Commander of South Kashmir killed in an operation by security forces on 11-03-2019) Pakistani terrorists viz. Muhammad Umar Farooq and IED expert Kamran, (both killed on 29-03-2019) the owner of the car viz. Sajjad Ahmad Bhat r/o Marhama, Anantnag (killed on 16-06-2019) and Qari Yassir, JeM's Commander for Kashmir (killed on 25-01-2020).
A Legal icon, Chief Wole Olanipekun(SAN) has said that he would speak about the judgement review sought at the supreme Court by the Al...





A Legal icon, Chief Wole Olanipekun(SAN) has said that he would speak about the judgement review sought at the supreme Court by the All Progressives Congress Governor-elect in Bayelsa State, Chief David Lyon, at the appropriate time.





Olanipekun, who was the head of the legal team for Lyon, who sought review of the judgement earlier delivered against the APC , said he did no wrong by his action.





He spoke in Ikere on Sunday , during a thanksgiving service commemorating an ultra modern 1,600 capacity church auditorium the legal practitioner donated to Saint Peters Anglican Church in the town.





In the suit, Olanipekun appeared alongside Chief Afe Babalola(SAN) and Lateef Fagbemi(SAN), to seek the review, which the supreme Court had dismissed and awarded N30m fine against each of the litigants lawyers to be paid directly to the Peoples Democratic Party in the issue.

The supreme Court had disqualified the APC candidate on the basis that his deputy, Chief Degi Biobarakuma-Eremionye forged his academic certificates and the court subsequently declared the candidate of the PDP, Chief Duoye Diri, winner of the poll and was sworn- in as the Governor.





Speaking on the issue, Olanipekun said: I have never regretted any of my actions since I started my legal practice, because I always abide by the ethics of the job.





The truth about the matter will be revealed soon, but I have the conviction that I have done no wrong, because this is a profession I love so much.





I saw legal profession as a ministry. I am convinced and knew that what we did was within the best tradition in law, I can tell anyone about this.





 But I will speak about the whole thing at the appropriate time, I wont say more than that now, he said.





On the killings of Christains by terrorists in the North, Olanipekun advised the church against being antagonistic, neither should they act cowardly in handling of the vexatious matter.





I could see the leadership of the church are not speaking up loud enough. Though, I believe we need prayers to overolcone insurgency and terrorism. I know the Christains must be cautious about their actions, but they should not act cowardly.





But I know that no matter how strong the evil forces are, they wont overrun the power of God, because the power of God is not run through the power of man.





Olanipekun added that the Church auditorium he built and donated was part of his contributions to the spiritual growth of his people and for the development of tourism potential of the state.





You are all aware of Saint Peters Basilica in Vatican city, Saint Paul Church in London and many others.that are tourist centres . There is no tourist that will come to Ikere today that wont ask of this church and that is the joy and benefit of it, he stated.




Post the success of Oh Baby, director Nandhini Reddy is said to be working on her next project. According to a few media reports, the breezy romantic entertainer will star Naga Chaitanya in the lead role. The yet-untitled project will be produced by Swapna Dutt and Priyanka Dutt. The music for the film will be composed by Mickey J Meyer.

Nandhini who is currently working on the script recently took to social media to clear the rumours about her next project. The director tweeted, Stories should be written by writers or directors but our media friends seem to be feeling creative these days...... kanivvandi.....waiting for your next creative story on me .Meanwhile the real news on my film I will announce shortly. (sic)

In the meantime, Naga Chaitanya is currently busy completing Shekar Kammulas upcoming film. Produced by Narayan Das K Narang and Puskur Ram Mohan Rao, Love Story stars Sai Pallavi as the female lead. The movie will see the lead duo play a couple who move into the city from the village and how it impacts their relationship. Naga Chaitanya is said to have undertaken special training to perfect the Telangana dialect his character will be speaking in the film. Love Story is all set to hit the silver screens on April 2.

It must be recollected that Nandhini Reddys last directorial Oh Baby had Samantha Akkineni in the lead role. The movie was an official remake of the South Korean comedy-drama movie Miss Granny. Oh Baby saw Samantha play the younger version of veteran actress Lakshmi who played the senior version in the remake. The film comprised of film Mickey J. Meyers music and was produced by People's Media Factory and Suresh Productions.

ALSO READ: Has Rashmika Mandanna Agreed To Work With Naga Chaitanya?

ALSO READ: Samantha Akkineni To Act In A Horror Thriller For The First Time; Details Inside
KASTANIES, Greece  Thousands of migrants and refugees massed at Turkeys western frontier Sunday, trying to enter Greece by land and sea after Turkey said its borders were open to those hoping to head to Europe. In Syria, Turkish troops shot down two Syrian warplanes after the Syrian military downed a Turkish drone, a major escalation in the direct conflict between Syrian and Turkish forces.

Turkeys decision to ease border restrictions came amid a Russia-backed Syrian government offensive into Syrias northwestern Idlib province. That offensive has killed dozens of Turkish troops and led to a surge of nearly a million Syrian civilians fleeing the fighting toward Turkeys sealed border.

Turkey backs the Syrian rebels fighting in Idlib province, and has sent thousands of troops into the area. Idlib is the last opposition-held stronghold in Syria, and is dominated by al Qaeda linked fighters.

A Turkish official said the fighting in Idlib was directly linked to Turkeys decision to open the gates for refugees to Europe. He said Ankara had changed its focus to preparing for the possibility of new arrivals from Syria instead of preventing refugees who intend to migrate to Europe.

Europe and others must take robust action to address this monumental challenge, said Fahrettin Altun, the communications director for Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. We cant be expected to do this on our own.

Erdogans announcement marked a sharp departure from the previous policy of containment, an apparent attempt to pressure Europe into offering Turkey more support in dealing with the fallout from the Syrian war to its south.

In 2016, Turkey agreed to stem the tide of refugees to Europe in return for financial aid. Turkey already hosts 3.6 million Syrian refugees, as well as others from Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

On the Greek-Turkish land border, Greek army and police patrols used tear gas and stun grenades to thwart attempts overnight and into Sunday by thousands to push into the country. Migrants threw rocks and other objects, and one policeman was injured.

The United Nations migration organization reported at least 13,000 people had massed on Turkeys land border by Saturday night. On the Greek islands, about 500 people arrived from the nearby Turkish coast by Sunday. Existing migrant camps on the islands are already dramatically overcrowded.

Syrias official news agency SANA said the four pilots in the two jets that were shot down Sunday ejected and landed safely. Turkeys Defense Ministry said it hit aircraft after one of its drones was downed.

Costas Kantouris and Andrew Wilks are Associated Press writers.
Four people were killed, including three children, and 21 others injured when a speeding private bus overturned in Rajasthan's Rajsamand district on Sunday, police said.

Jaipur: Four people were killed, including three children, and 21 others injured when a speeding private bus overturned in Rajasthan's Rajsamand district on Sunday, police said.

The bus was heading to Jaipur from Ahmedabad when it overturned near Mada ki Bassi area, they said.

The injured were rushed to a primary health care centre in Devgarh for treatment, police added.

The deceased were identified as Priyanka (27), her daughter Dakshita (3), Aalia (7) and Dev Pratap (13).

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot expressed his condolences for those killed in the accident.

"My thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved families. May God give them strength to bear the loss. Wishing speedy recovery to injured," he said in a tweet.
The mother and daughter were speaking Spanish while walking home from dinner in a Boston neighborhood, where more than half of the residents are Latino and more than half were born in another country.

Suddenly, two women attacked the mother and daughter on the street  punching, kicking and biting them, according to prosecutors and the mother.

The two women yelled: This is America! Speak English! according to the mother, who asked to be identified only as Ms. Vasquez to protect the identity of her daughter, who is 15, and to prevent her from being harassed.

On Thursday, prosecutors filed felony hate-crime charges against the two women  Jenny Leigh Ennamorati and Stephanie M. Armstrong, both 25 and both of Revere, Mass.  in connection with the Feb. 15 assault in East Boston.
This browser is no longer supported at MarketWatch. For the best MarketWatch.com experience, please update to a modern browser.
After a short recess, the Karnataka Legislature will meet again from Monday for the budget session, with the state budget to be presented by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on March 5.

The legislature had recently met for the first session of the year from February 17 to 20, which saw Governor Vajubhai Vala addressing the joint sitting of the assembly and legislative council.

The session, scheduled to go on till March 31, might be a stormy one with opposition Congress and JD(S) likely to corner the BJP government on a host of issues.

The opposition is like to rake up issues including comments by ruling party MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal against centenarian freedom fighter H S Doreswamy and also on alleged diversion of Rs 25,000 crore reserved for loan waiver.

The session will see the government replying to the debate on the Governor's address to the joint sitting of the state legislature on February 17.

On March 3 and 4, a special discussion on the Constitution is likely to take place to commemorate 70 years since the adoption of the Constitution, on the initiative of the Assembly SpeakerVishweshwar Hegde Kageri.

Highly-placed sources said the BJP is likely to push for a resolution in favour of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) at the end of the debate on the constitution.

This is expected to face stiff resistance from opposition parties.

Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, who also holds the Finance portfolio, will present the first budget of the BJP government after coming to power last year, on March 5.

This will be the fifth budget to be presented by the 78-year old Lingayat strongman.

The session is likely to witness the Congress demanding revoking assembly membership of Yatnal for his comments against Doreswamy calling him a "fake freedom fighter" and "Pakistani agent."



Congress leaders and MLAs on February 26 had protested in front of the Gandhi statue at Vidhana Soudha, seat of the secretariat here, during which Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah had even declared they will not allow the House to function.

On his part, Yatnal is defiant and has made it clear there was no question of him withdrawing his statements against Doreswamy.

Several BJP legislators too have come out in defence of the VijayapuraCityMLA, questioning the Congress and the freedom fighter for their alleged comments against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Veer Savarkar.

The JD(S) has decided to raise the farm loan waiver issue, with former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy recently accusing the BJP government of diverting Rs 25,000 crore reserved for the purpose.

He had alleged the government has dropped the names of over a lakh farmers from the loan waiver scheme citing document issues and termed the move as nothing but "cheating" the ryots.

However, the Chief Minister termed such allegations as baseless and made it clear that all farmers who have submitted documents would be benefited.

The opposition, especially Congress which has termed the government as ineffective and called Yediyurappa "weak", is expected to continue to corner it on the state's finances and "failure" in getting Karnataka's share of central funds on time despite the BJP being in power at the Centre.

They are likely to highlight reports about cut in central funds to the state and alleged shortfall in tax devolution to Karnataka during 15th Finance Commission.

Anand Singh's appointment as Forest Minister despite several cases pending against him, including under the Karnataka Forest Act, is also likely to be raked up by the opposition.

Several key bills are likely to be tabled and taken up for consideration during the session.

The government has already tabled bills like- Karnataka Municipal Corporations (Amendment) Bill and National Law School of India (Amendment) Bill seeking to reserve 25 per cent of the seats at the premier law school for local students who have studied in the state for ten years.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A few months ago, the Congregation for the Oriental Churches in Vatican had dismissed Sister Lucy Kalappura's first appeal challenging her expulsion by Franciscan Clarist Congregation (FCC).

Kochi: The Vatican has rejected the second appeal filed by a Kerala nun against the decision of Franciscan Clarist Congregation to expel her for "failing" to provide explanation for her lifestyle, which allegedly violated church rules, sources close to the nun claimed on Sunday.

A few months ago, the Congregation for the Oriental Churches in Vatican had dismissed Sister Lucy Kalappura's first appeal challenging her expulsion by Franciscan Clarist Congregation (FCC).

The nun filed the second appeal with the Vatican alleging that the 'disciplinary action' was taken for participating in protests by a group of nuns seeking arrest of a bishop accused of raping a fellow nun. "The sister has received a communication in Latin from Vatican saying that the appeal was rejected," George Moolechalil of "Justice for Sister Lucy,"a social media platform supporting the nun, told PTI.

The nun has authorised Moolechalil, who is also the leader of Kerala Catholic Church Refromation Movement (KCRM), to communicate with media on her behalf. He termed as "unilateral" the decision taken by the Vatican on her second appeal.

The nun had written to Congregation for the Oriental Churches, seeking an opportunity to her to appear in person before the Supreme Tribunal of the Segnatura Apostolica in Vatican to present her views. But, she was denied an opportunity to present her views, he said.

He also said the nun would continue her legal fight in the courts in the country against the alleged move to force her out of the FCC convent she is staying in Wayanad.

A spokesman of the Mananthavady diocese said the FCC congregation has not received any communication from Vatican in this connection. "She may have got communication from Vatican as she filed the appeal not through the system in the congregation," the spokesman said. He said if her second appeal was also rejected, she cannot continue to stay as a nun in the convent.

A lay woman cannot stay in the convent meant for nuns, he said about the Sister Lucy's status in the convent.

Sister Lucy Kalappura, who took part in a protest by nuns belonging to Missionaries of Jesus Congregation, seeking the arrest of Bishop Franco Mulakkal, accused of raping a nun, was expelled by the FCC in August last year.

In its notice to the nun in January last year, the congregation had termed as "grave violations," Sister Lucy possessing a driving licence, buying a car, taking a loan for it and publishing a book and spending money without the permission and knowledge of her superiors.

The nun had dismissed charges levelled against her by the congregation, saying many of them were a "deliberate attempt to paint her in bad light." The FCC, under the Roman Catholic Church, had said the nun was issued "proper canonical warnings," but did not show the needed remorse.
Starting from Sunday, passenger flights from South Korea to Hanoi's Noi Bai and Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Son Nhat airports would be diverted to smaller airports.

Passengers scheduled for Noi Bai will have to land at Van Don Airport in Quang Ninh Province, around four hours drive away, while those to Tan Son Nhat will have to travel a similar extra distance to Can Tho Airport in the namesake Mekong Delta city.

According to the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV), the decision to have Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat airports stop receiving flights from areas with the Covid-19 epidemic in South Korea was made in accordance with regulations on disease prevention and control as directed by the government.

The novel coronavirus in South Korea has spread quickly to make the country the second biggest epicenter after China, with 3,526 infections as of Sunday, including 17 deaths.

The flight suspension decision would only apply to passenger flights, and the crews of affected flights would be instructed to redirect their destinations prior to departure.

Cargo flights from South Korea would still be allowed to land in Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat Airports as scheduled.

Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs says about 200,000 Vietnamese citizens are studying and working in South Korea, with 8,285 living in Daegu City, and 18,502 in North Gyeongsang Province, the two localities hit hardest by the virus.

Over the past few days, the country's two largest airports have been receiving a large number of passengers from South Korea, causing the medical quarantine facilities in the cities to be overloaded.

HCMC received over 6,800 people from South Korea between February 23 and 29 while Hanoi received around 2,000 on February 27 and 28.

The cities are considering establishing field hospitals to accommodate the passengers, with HCMC planning one near Tan Son Nhat Airport as around 7,000 Vietnamese from southern provinces living in South Korea are expected to return home in the coming days.

Airlines have been required to inform all passengers traveling from South Korea to Vietnam to be truthful when filling in their health declarations, as well as recommend them to take the 14-day quarantine period into consideration when booking flights.

Vietnam has recorded a total of 16 Covid-19 patients, all of whom have recovered and been discharged from hospitals. The country has reported no new infection case since February 13.

The global death toll on Sunday climbed to near 3,000, mostly in China, followed by 43 in Iran, 29 in Italy and 17 in South Korea. The U.S., Australia and Thailand have reported their first deaths.
This is the worst place in the world: US faith leaders meet victims of Boko Haram, Fulani herdsmen

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

American faith leaders met with representatives of Nigerian communities devastated by Boko Haram and Fulani tribesmen as well as key figures within the Buhari administration as part of a fact-finding mission to investigate reports of escalating insecurity in the West African country.

Johnnie Moore, an evangelical communications executive and president of the Congress of Christian Leaders, and Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights group, traveled to Abuja on Feb. 17 and met with dozens of victims of terrorism from five different Nigerian provinces for three days.

After our journey there, we want the world to know that you havent heard half of it, the faith leaders said in a joint statement. The terrorists aim is to ethnically cleanse northern Nigeria of its Christians and to kill every Muslim who stands in their way.

In addition to victims, the two met with the chiefs of staff for both President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as part of their quest to determine the severity of the situation. They also met with four Muslim leaders.

Their trip came as thousands have been killed by Boko Haram (an Islamic militant group in Nigerias northeast with a splinter faction that has claimed allegiance to the Islamic State) and radical Fulani herdsmen who have in recent years increasingly raided predominantly Christian farming villages in the countrys Middle Belt.

Reports of barbaric overnight raids, attacks, abductions, executions and displacement of civilian communities have become more and more common. In Nigeria, over 2 million people have been displaced.

Moore and Cooper stressed that if things do not change immediately, portions of Nigeria and the broader Lake Chad region may soon become the most dangerous place on the planet.

This portion of Africa will be ground zero for the next generation's war on terrorism, and the humanitarian cost of letting these problems fester and multiply in the near term could result in disaster for much of Western Africa, they said.

Moore, who also serves as a commissioner on the bipartisan U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, made the trip in his private capacity. He has long traveled the world to advocate for persecuted believers. Cooper, a longtime Jewish human rights activist, is the associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and also the director of its global social action agenda.

Although Moore had been to Nigeria several years ago, he was shocked by how much worse things have gotten there.

People are dying every single day and they don't have to be. More can be done, Moore told The Christian Post. This is not a poor country. [It's] the wealthiest country on the continent.

Considering Nigeria was placed on the U.S. State Departments special watch list for religious freedom over the governments inability to thwart attacks and hold perpetrators accountable, Moore and Cooper came to the conclusion after their meetings that the status quo is unacceptable.

The scale is just incomprehensible. It seems very, very clear to us that for various reasons, the government is failing at its fundamental responsibility to protect its citizens, Moore said. That's not to say that there arent people in the government who are good people who are trying to do something about it. They were obviously willing to meet with us. They were willing to answer our direct questions that we asked them.

But I can tell you, across every facet of Nigerian society, whether the religious leader was Muslim or Christian or whether the victim was describing something that happened to them in the center of the country or at the hands of ISIS or Boko Haram in the northeast, it was really clear that everyone felt like the government wasn't doing enough or wasn't able to do enough.

Among the many people they met with was a girl who had been kidnapped by Boko Haram and was recently released. They also met with villagers whose entire villages had been razed, and a pastor whose church was destroyed twice. That pastor recently brokered a deal for the release of two of his parishioners kidnapped by Boko Haram.

The faith leaders heard a 9-year-old girl talk about how she saw her parents and siblings killed with machetes. Moore and Cooper also met with about 20 people from one village victimized by Fulani herdsmen attacks in the Middle Belt.

Some of the people they met with would be better served in a hospital because they were displaying signs for trauma, Moore said.

Many have claimed that the violence in the Middle Belt is part of decades-long farmer-herder clashes, downplaying the religious element of the brutal Muslim Fulani attacks in recent years on predominantly Christian communities. While some have downplayed the religious elements baked into the violence in the Middle Belt, Moore and Cooper said the religious components cant be ignored.

We invited the representative of a village who had been attacked. He brought with him the entire village. We had 20 people in that hotel room, Moore explained. These people absolutely felt that this wasn't just about what they had that the other guys wanted. This was about a certain type of religious community that was trying to ethnically cleanse their communities from their villages.

In their meeting with the four Muslim leaders, Cooper and Moore explained that the imams did not downplay the religious factor behind attacks, especially those carried out by Boko Haram.

Their statement didn't include: This isn't about religion. What it did include is what we often hear is that these are actors who are co-opting our religion who are invoking our faith in ways that are not authentic, Cooper explained.

And the second point they make is that  in their estimation, there have been many, many more Muslim victims of [Boko Haram] terrorism than there are Christian. I can't verify yet the veracity of that statement, but that's certainly their perception.

They weren't saying, Hey, hold on! These people aren't operating as Muslim players, Cooper continued.

They are Muslims who are inappropriately invoking Allahu akbar and the selection process when they come upon a mixed group. If you can't recite whatever you have to recite, you are going to be executed on the spot. They didn't deny any of that. They just said, Hey, our communities themselves are often victimized by the same forces and yes, they invoke Islam but they do so inappropriately.

Moore and Cooper stressed that the problems of insecurity in Nigeria are only getting worse and is starting to impact the entire West African region, not just Nigeria.

In recent years, there has been increased extremism seen in other countries in the region like Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Niger and Mali.

In Nigeria, one of the most troubling statistics is that millions of children are out of school because of the violence.

They are potential recruits for the alphabet soup of terrorism out there, Cooper said. You don't have to be a brain surgeon or Ph.D. or a DHS operative to know that. We've seen the script before. We're now in a whole different zip code in a different continent.

The two men are calling on the Nigerian government to provide basic protections to its citizens and ensure that children can return to school.

Otherwise, you're putting a Band-Aid on four or five different parts of the country, Cooper argued. And then when we all wake up, we have  God forbid  another Afghanistan.

Instead of waiting for international governments and bodies to act on the situation, Cooper and Moore implored Christians in the U.S. and the West to figure out ways they can help protect their brothers and sisters in Nigeria.

Churches are always targeted around Christmastime, Cooper said. There might be some things that can be done privately, from sister churches in the U.S. and elsewhere, to sort of take care of some basic security needs.

It isnt that I'm writing off the international community. It is that there are certain things that just keep happening over and over again. Maybe if there's an initiative of faithful American Christians over there, that may wake up the dead in the government who might say, Hey, wait for a second, why are you guys coming over to help? We should be doing it.

While the U.S. government placed Nigeria on its special watch list and added Nigeria to President Donald Trumps travel ban, Moore said he has been pleased with the U.S. response so far. However, he is disappointed in the responses of American churches.

I am very, very disappointed in the silence of Christians for their brothers and sisters on that continent, he said. And I hope that all of this provokes some of these leaders not only to raise their voice louder but to do more themselves and not just wait for the governments of the world to act.

I just cannot believe that Christian leaders and churches aren't talking about this in every congregation in every corner of the [United States]. Boko Haram killed more Christians than ISIS in the year of the height of ISIS. This is the worst place in the world, at least in the northeast, where these terrorists are.
Srinagar: An associate of a Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militant who was killed in an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir's Ganderbal district in November 2019 was arrested by security forces on Sunday (March 1, 2020).

During the investigation of the case pertaining to operation Kullan in which one LeT militant was killed on November 12, 2019, it has been revealed that two militants were brought to Ganderbal district by Fayaz Ahmed Bhat, a resident of Akhal area of Kangan, a police official said.

He said Bhat is an activist of Hurriyat Conference."Bhat has been found to have established contacts of militants with (the) locals of Kullan area where they had (taken) refuge on different occasions and (the) said person also ferried (the) militants from Bandipora to Ganderbal at the behest of Pakistani handlers," the official said.

Bhat was arrested and a Chinese grenade was recovered from his possession, he said.

"Previous record also shows that the said person was involved in grenade lobbying at Kangan police station in the year 2008 and an FIR under the Explosive Substances Act was registered against him. He had remained in jail for a considerable period and was also booked under the PSA (Public Safety Act)," the official added.

While one LeT militant was killed in the encounter, another militant Nisar Ahmad Dar, who had escaped from the encounter site, was arrested by police from a hospital here on January 4.
But Easy Women encompasses a story of sex addiction and a broken marriage, and Stoller and Zimmerman have not succeeded in making this dark material seem part of a continuum with the frothier content. When the play veers between comedy and seriousness, the effect is jarring. Moreover, in an ill-conceived choice, semi-humorousness infuses a key scene involving a seduction so aggressive, and so lopsided in its power dynamic, that it is almost an assault.
Amid concerns of the coronavirus, Temple University has closed its satellite campus in Italy and is asking students studying there to return home.

The Philadelphia-based universitys campus in Rome will be closed for the remainder of the spring 2020 semester, NBC 10 of Philadelphia is reporting.

This comes as travel restrictions and warnings have been put in place for numerous countries, including a warning against unnecessary travel to Italy.

For you, this means you will need to make arrangements to gather your belongings, leave Italy, and return home as soon as possible, Temple told students in an update posted to its website.

Students have a round-trip ticket from Rome that they received when enrolling in the study-abroad program, reports indicate.

Right now, they are telling us to pack our things up and leave Italy right away, Temple student Emma Stevens told Action News 6 ABC. Im taking it step by step. So far its not too costly.

Colleges and universities throughout the U.S. are weighing similar concerns about bringing home their students studying overseas.

Similarly, Penn State has restricted university-affiliated travel to South Korea and canceled several spring break classes in some Asian and European countries, the Centre Daily Times is reporting.

While the new coronavirus has extended its reach across the world, geographic clusters of infections were emerging, with Iran, Italy and South Korea seeing rising cases, The Associated Press is reporting.

The United States recorded its first death, a man in his 50s in Washington state, who had underlying health conditions but who hadnt traveled to any affected areas.

According to the AP, the list of countries hit by the virus has climbed past 60. More than 87,000 people worldwide have contracted the virus, including nearly 3,000 deaths.

This post has been updated with additional information.

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.
During this years CPAC convention, Donald Trump riled the crowd by calling Mitt Romney a low life and attacking teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg before hugging an American flag and telling the fabric he loves it.

I love you baby, Mr Trump told the flag as he held tight to it, mimicking a move of his that has been mocked the past. He also kissed it.

Mr Trumps speech in Maryland came at the tail end of the conservative conference, which is held each year and features speakers from across the Republican world.

Whereas the convention was hostile territory for Mr Trump just four years ago when he was still a candidate for the Republican nomination, the event has now turned decidedly in his favour even as he struggled to pronounce words like alien and recidivism on stage.

As coronavirus concerns swept the country, Mr Trump kept the address light, leaning on some of his favourite attacks and jokes that he has used time and again on the campaign trail and at rallies across the country.

Of Ms Thunberg, whom he has publicly beefed with over her advocacy for climate change action, the president complained once again she had beat him as Time person of the year.

On Mr Romney, who was the sole Republican to vote in favour of his impeachment, Mr Trump called him a low life and elicited some boos from the forum where the Utah senator was once a welcome face.

And he spared no words for the Democratic presidential candidates who he has put a target on as they jostle for their partys nomination.

He mocked Michael Bloombergs height. He claimed Democrats want to turn the US into Venezuela. At one point he began to bash Joe Biden, before trailing off into a compliment of his wife before getting distracted again and bashing the media.

Look what I did to her! She choked. You know, she went out and got a test because I was killing her, he said of Elizabeth Warren before using a racial slur he frequently employs to denigrate her.

But, then at the end, Mr Trump diverted from his normal rally speech. He did not promise to make America great again.
Healthy Harvest of North Iowa, in partnership with several North Iowa organizations and businesses, is hosting "The Gathering: Coming Together Around Local Food," 8 a.m.-2 p.m. on March 14 at the Olsen Building at the North Iowa Events Center, located at 3700 4th St SW in Mason City.

This interactive gathering will feature a Winter Marketplace, a series of 20-minute mini-workshops, and a Kids Edition space with hands-on educational activities. This event is free and open to the public.

The Marketplace will be filled with over 30 local food and farm businesses promoting and selling locally produced meats, produce, honey, eggs, baked goods, and other products. Recipe samples and demonstrations will be hosted on-site, as well as concessions from the Cedar Valley Ex-Press food truck.

The Kids Edition activities will allow youth to explore their food and where it comes from through hands-on learning, thanks to volunteers from several local area organizations.

The mini-workshop schedule aims to expand knowledge on buying, using and growing local food.

The Gathering is a partnership between Healthy Harvest of North Iowa, Ag Ventures Alliance, ISU Extension and Outreach  Cerro Gordo County, and the North Iowa Corridor Economic Development, with Alpha Media Group Mason City as our media sponsor.

More event information, including a full list of marketplace vendors, can be found on the events Facebook page or at https://www.healthyharvestni.com/thegathering.

Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
One transgender barista said his supervisors kept writing Jessica instead of Jay on his work schedule.

They stared at his stubble and frowned at his deepening voice. A manager even laughed when he told her to stop referring to him as she, said the barista, Jay Kelly, who works at a Starbucks at Orlando International Airport in Florida.

Its like a bullet to my heart, he said. They look at me like Im disgusting or like Im not human or a type of animal that doesnt belong in that airport.

Mr. Kelly, 25, is one of some 300 employees who responded to a union survey about conditions working for HMSHost, a travel food service company that has long operated Starbucks and other coffee shops in airports nationwide. His allegations and others  including that dozens of employees were told to speak English  were made in a report the union released amid tense negotiations with HMSHost, and as labor groups reach out to marginalized people to increase their membership.
Opposition parties said on Sunday they will raise the issue of Delhis communal riots, which have killed at least 42 people and injured about 350 others, and seek answers from the central government over alleged police lapses when the second leg of Parliaments budget session begins on Monday.

The communal riot, Delhis worst in at least three decades, broke out last week, with clashes between Hindu and Muslim groups in several neighbourhoods of north-east Delhi leaving dozens dead. The Delhi Police were widely criticised for not acting against rioters on Monday and Tuesday  the 48 hours when the violence was at its peak.

The Congress is likely to submit adjournment motion notices in both Houses of Parliament on Monday, demanding a debate over the clashes in the national capital, a senior party leader said on condition of anonymity. Leaders of the Trinamool Congress, the CPI and the CPI(M) said they planned to raise the issue in Parliament and demand answers from home minister Amit Shah.

The Congresss leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the party will strongly raise the issue of the communal riots and demand Shahs resignation over the alleged police lapses. The government has miserably failed to maintain law and order. I think there must be some sort of a nexus between the rioters and a section of police officials which resulted in gruesome killings and arson that has tarnished our image across the globe. This is a matter of serious concern for us, he said.

While the Opposition also plans to target the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government over the state of the economy and farm issues, government managers have prepared a list of about 25 bills, including those on labour reforms and surrogacy regulation, for passage, people aware of the developments said. The finance bill will also be passed during the session.

The list of key pending bills also includes The Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019, that envisages a Data Protection Authority to overlook the scope of usage of personal data. The Direct Tax Vivaad Se Vishwas Bill to set up a resolution mechanism for direct tax disputes, and the contentious Industrial Relations Code Bill that redefines the role of trade unions are also part of the list.

The budget session of Parliament commenced on January 31 and continued till February 11. After a break, it will again commence on March 2 and continue till April 3.

Speaking about the plan to raise the issue of riots in Parliament, CPI(M) MP KK Ragesh said: Left parties will strengthen the voice of the Opposition in Parliament and raise the issue of Delhi violence in both the Houses. I have given a notice under Rule 267 to the Rajya Sabha chairman to discuss the issue in the House.

CPI general secretary D Raja said his party will demand that Shah answer for the inaction of the Delhi Police, which comes under the ministry of home affairs. The violence in Delhi will be raised in Parliament by our party. We will also reach out to other parties on the issue, he said.

A senior leader of the Trinamool Congress told PTI on condition of anonymity that his party also planned to raise the issues.

The remarks came even as Union minister Anurag Thakur on Sunday demanded strict action against those involved in the violence in north-east Delhi. From Monday, Parliament session will begin, questions are raised there also from economy to various other issues and on that platform, answers will be given on various matters, he said in Chandigarh.

Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has previously hit out at Congress president Sonia Gandhi, questioning the rival partys stand on the issue.

At a rare press conference after a meeting of the Congress Working Committee on Wednesday, Sonia Gandhi repeatedly demanded Shahs resignation over the issue of the riots.

A Congress delegation that included Sonia Gandhi urged President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday to call for the home ministers resignation over his alleged abdication of duty during the communal violence.

The Congresss senior leader in the Rajya Sabha Abhishek Singhvi said the wanton destruction of democratic values will be taken up in the strongest possible terms. The country is assured that we will discharge our responsibilities vigorously and without fear, despite extreme and illegal intrusion and harassment, he added.

A Congress functionary familiar with the developments said the party will also raise the issue of the sudden transfer of Delhi high court judge S Muralidhar, who had made strong observations in court over the violence.

The Centre on Wednesday notified the transfer of justice Muralidhar to the Punjab and Haryana high court. The Supreme Court Collegium had recommended his transfer on February 12.

Political analysts said that most of the issues raised in Parliament are likely to see heated debates between the ruling side and the opposition benches.

During the session, 55 Rajya Sabha seats will be up for grabs in the biggest biennial polls since Prime Minister Narendra Modi won his second term. The elections, slated for March 26, may see a net loss of four seats for the BJP-led NDA and a gain of two seats for the Congress and its allies. Parties friendly to the BJP parties may see a net gain of two seats in this round.
Jeffrey Epstein installed a 'ten-person shower for orgies' on his Caribbean island and filled the walls of the bathroom with pictures of naked girls, it has been claimed.

Steve Scully, 70, who maintained the phone lines and internet on Little St James in the U. S. Virgin Islands, made the revelation to The Sun On Sunday.

It comes a week after Steve - who worked for the tycoon as a phone and internet specialist between 1999 and 2006 - claimed that he saw Prince Andrew 'groping' Virginia Roberts at the paedophile's Caribbean island home.

Prince Andrew has strenuously denied having any sexual contact with her.

Jeffrey Epstein installed a ten-person shower for orgies on his Caribbean island (pictured) and filled the walls of the bathroom with pictures of naked girls, it has been claimed

Steve Scully, 70, who maintained the phone lines and internet on Little St James in the U. S. Virgin Islands, made the revelation to The Sun On Sunday. Pictured: Jeffrey Epstein

Father-of-three Steve told the publication that Epstein had remodeled his bedroom several times and during these renovations he put in a 'ten-showerhead shower - for group showers'.

'There were more pictures in the bathroom than anywhere else  including of young, barely clothed or semi-nude girls,' he added.

Steve also claims that Epstein would have his Boeing 727  nicknamed the Lolita Express  park at the private terminal in St Thomas and take young girls to his island by helicopter.

It comes after Ms Roberts - now known as Ms Giuffre - also claims she was coerced into having an orgy with Andrew on Epstein's luxury hideaway.

Steve Scully, 70, also previously said he saw the Duke of York fooling around by the pool on Little St James (pictured) for several minutes with a bikini-clad blonde he insists was sex slave Ms Roberts

It was on this sun-kissed bolthole where Mr Scully insists he saw Andrew and Ms Roberts getting intimate some time between 2001 and 2004.

Mr Scully said: 'He was grabbing her ass and stuff like that. They were kissing.

'He was grinding against her and groping her.'

As he watched the couple, Mr Scully said he was acutely aware how much younger the woman was, and that she 'stood like a kid would stand behind a parent'

This made him feel uncomfortable as he believed their relationship 'wasn't appropriate'.

But Mr Scully also claimed that the woman believed to be Ms Roberts was not resisting the advances from Andrew, whose face was a picture of 'excitement'.

Andrew's relationship with the now dead paedophile has dogged the royal, 60, over the last 12 months.

Ms Roberts claims the prince abused her three times - once at Epstein's New York apartment, once in the Caribbean, and once at the London home of Ghislane Maxwell, Epstein's alleged madam. Prince Andrew strongly denies the claims.

Prince Andrew and Virginia Roberts, aged 17, in London. A witness claimed he saw the couple getting intimate on Jeffrey Epstein's private island

Speaking about her first alleged encounter with Andrew in London, she said she was taken to Tramp nightclub where she recalls dancing with the 'sweating' prince.

After leaving the nightclub, Ms Roberts said: 'In the car Ghislaine tells me that I have to do for Andrew what I do for Jeffrey.'

Her lawyer has previously described Mr Scully as a 'significant witness'.

Andrew has been attacked by US attorneys for Epstein's alleged victims for not cooperating with the case.

Last week a school bus urging him to comply drove outside Buckingham Palace.

Buckingham Palace declined to comment.
Help India!

As the true extent of the pogrom against Muslims in Delhi is coming to light, it is evident now that the most extreme violence occurred in Shiv Vihar area of East Delhi. There were only a few homes of Muslims in this area and two mosques. Everything without exception was set ablaze. The national media of the country has apparently not reached here yet. If they did reach there, then the real situation of the ruin here is not being told. For Twocircles.net, Aas Mohammed Kaif visited the area and captured the images of ruins on Saturday, February 29, 2020.  Ed

Support TwoCircles



This photo is from Phase 6 area of Shiv Vihar. The Medina Mosque was badly burnt here. There is Baghel House nearby and flames also reached this house. Two youth Vijay and Harendra were showing us this house. They both smelled of alcohol, we also saw the bottle of English wine on the side of the street near their house. Many women who had taken refuge in Chaman Park claimed that the attackers were very drunk. This bottle of English liquor was found lying on a pile of ashes.

This is Malik House in Phase 7, Shiv Vihar area. The owner of the house is Sadiq Khan and this was the most luxurious house on the 25 Feet Road. The house is now completely ruined. Some of the neighborhood residents told us that This house was stoned by a mob of Hindus and it was burnt in anger. More than two dozen houses of Muslims have been burnt in Shiv Vihar. Saira, who lives in Shiv Vihar and took refuge in Chaman Park, told us that Sadiq Khan used to work for people and was helping the community. He was intentionally targeted by the mob.

These are the remains of the vehicles in the house. One of these vehicles is a five-wheeler. One of them is an Avenger bike. There are two Scooties and a Passion bike. It is not clear what the other vehicle was. The Avenger bike was Sadiqs sons first bike. Scooty used by his daughter. The advertisement promotional line of Avenger bikes which is a youth favorite is Feel like God. The rioters are said to have told the Muslims in Shiva Vihar, Call your God and after this house they also burned the mosque of Khuda.

There has been unilateral violence in Shiv Vihar. The houses were burnt systematically after marking them as Muslim residences. Mosques were set on fire, houses were looted, bullets went off, lives was taken away. This continued unabated for several days. The violence relented when a crowd of Muslims from Mustafabad reached Shiv Vihar to rescue the trapped people. This picture is of a Hindu street. The street has been completely closed. Ashok Kumar, a resident found outside the street, said that Muslims should not come to attack, so we have defended it. We asked him why all the houses of Muslims in Shiv Vihar are burnt? They replied that they set their houses on fire themselves.

The Medina Mosque is completely gutted. It is in Phase 6 of Shiva Vihar. The Muslims who took refuge in Shiv Vihar at Chaman Park weep after remembering it. The CCTV camera is hanging on the mosque door. There is no single Muslim in the entire Shiva Vihar area. This locality has become completely Muslim free. says Mushahid, who is fixing the electric wires here, with his team.

Aulia Mosque, the second mosque of Shiv Vihar, was also burnt. An attempt was made to blow the gas cylinder inside the mosque with a blast. This mosque is at the entrance of Shiva Vihar 200 meters from Mustafabad. The Muslims who have left from here hardly come back now. The houses are not in such a condition that they can live in them. A Mustafabad girl Sumayya told us that at the very end of the street in Chaman Park there is a temple at which a stone was not thrown in this Muslim majority area while mosques were burnt in the Hindu-dominated area.

This is an inside picture of the Auliya Mosque. There are four cylinders of LPG gas in it. There is an oil canister. If these cylinder burst, perhaps there would be media reports that gunpowder or explosives were stored in the mosque. None of these cylinders broke. The police did not reach to save the mosque.

This photo is of Chaman Park. All the victims of Shiv Vihar have been sheltered by the residents here. About twenty years ago, due to cheap land, these people had settled in Shiv Vihar with mixed population. Most of these girls go to school. CBSE exams are going on in Delhi. Many girls cant even take the exam. Riot kills many dreams. Arshi, 14, says, It was not a riot, we were attacked, brother.
COLUMBIA, S.C. - Joe Biden emerged victorious Saturday from South Carolina's frenzied Democratic primary, notching an overwhelming win that seems certain to reignite his campaign and could open a path to the party's presidential nomination.

With 86% of returns in, the former vice president was winning every county in the state and had more than twice as many votes as Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who was running second.

Even as votes were being counted, California billionaire Tom Steyer, who spent more time and money in South Carolina than any other candidate, announced he was dropping out of the race after failing to win any delegates.

Biden's thumping victory - his first in his three presidential campaigns - reestablishes him as a top-tier candidate as the race heads to Super Tuesday on March 3, when California and 13 other states will vote.

"For all those of you who've been knocked down, counted out, left behind, this is your campaign," Biden said in Columbia on Saturday night. "The press and the pundits had declared this candidacy dead. Now, thanks to all of you, the heart of the Democratic Party, we just won and we won big because of you. And we are very much alive."

ADVERTISEMENT

The resounding win gives Biden a burst of momentum for the massive contests on Tuesday, after which the still-crowded field of candidates could narrow further. Other than Biden, only Sanders and former New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who was not on the ballot here, are heading into Super Tuesday on firm footing.

After struggling for weeks, Biden had the most on the line in South Carolina. He needed to win big - not just squeak out a win - to lure back voters from other candidates running as pragmatists in contrast to Sanders' progressive agenda.

"This is the moment to choose the path forward for our party," Biden said. "The decisions Democrats make all across America in the next few days will determine what this party stands for, what we believe, and what we'll get done."

Candidates had thrown elbows, saturated the airwaves and spent with abandon here. They campaigned until they were hoarse, rallying voters and making promises until the last minute. They worked especially furiously to mine support from black voters, the majority of those casting ballots here.

Biden's long-touted "firewall" in South Carolina appeared in danger of collapse after he suffered tough defeats in the first three contests - Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada. But a turnaround appeared possible when the state's moderates grew anxious that Sanders, a self-declared democratic socialist, might capture the nomination, and looked to Biden as a less risky choice.

Biden ultimately won in a blowout, with two thirds of South Carolina's black voters supporting him, as well as two-thirds of all voters over the age of 65, according to exit poll results. He won across several other demographics, including whites and voters with-and without-college degrees.

Biden's campaign clearly got a shot of adrenaline after he was endorsed by the state's most influential Democrat, Rep. James E. Clyburn, the third-ranking Democrat in the House. Exit polls suggested the Clyburn nod had a big influence on voters. Voters were also reassured by Biden's performance in a fractious candidates' debate on Wednesday.

Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and other candidates who had competed with Biden for those votes failed to match his inroads with blacks, who make up roughly 60% of Democratic voters here.

ADVERTISEMENT

Those voters sent a clear message to the rest of America: They would not be swayed by the verdict of overwhelmingly white Iowa and New Hampshire, or even of more diverse Nevada, states that boosted Sanders and knocked Biden on his heels.

But South Carolina's primary is the first true test of the candidates' strength among black voters - which Biden argues is key to retaking the White House.

"With the Biden movement, it may have started off slow like it's going nowhere, but it's getting higher ... and higher," said Brooks Harrison, 68, a preacher and the owner of East Side Soul Food in Charleston, who said he voted for Biden first thing in the morning.

With South Carolina, he said, "now we're getting down to the nitty-gritty."

The fluidity of the race here reflected the deep state of anxiety in the Democratic nomination battle nationwide.

Exit polls showed that many voters were undecided until the moment they went to the polls.

At the polling station at Marshall Elementary School in Orangeburg, Larry Preston, 42, shook his head no when asked whether any of the Democrats can win the White House.

"I told my wife that if they couldn't get Trump out with impeachment, we're probably stuck with him for another term," said Preston, who voted for Steyer.

ADVERTISEMENT

Biden hopes the momentum from Saturday will help him edge out other moderates on Super Tuesday, when other large, diverse and delegate-rich states - including Virginia, North Carolina, Massachusetts and Texas - are up for grabs.

That would, in theory, leave him and Bloomberg fighting for the moderate votes against Sanders. After Biden's victory Saturday, Terry McAuliffe, the popular former governor of Virginia, endorsed him.

Bloomberg, who did not enter the race until late November, will first appear on ballots Tuesday. His unprecedented spending - he has poured more than half a billion dollars into his bid already - confronts Biden and other moderates with a formidable threat. But his first debate was widely seen as a disaster, and his second as only adequate, lowering his chances.

"Mike Bloomberg has not been on the ballot yet," Kevin Sheekey, Bloomberg's campaign manager, said in a statement Saturday night. "Mike is the only candidate to campaign in all 14 Super Tuesday states over the last two months and we look forward to Tuesday."

The battle between Biden and Bloomberg could widen the opening for Sanders, whose dominance among progressives positions him for an intimidating Super Tuesday delegate haul. With his huge war chest and sturdy infrastructure throughout Super Tuesday states, Sanders heads into Tuesday's contests better positioned than anyone else.

"There are lots of states in the country. Nobody wins them all," Sanders said at a rally in Virginia Beach, Va., following his loss in South Carolina. "I believe very strongly that the people of this country on Super Tuesday and after are gonna support our campaign because we are more than a campaign, we are a movement."

The Vermonter is dominating in California - the crown jewel of Super Tuesday - where a University of California, Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll conducted for the Los Angeles Times found him ahead of his nearest rival by 2 to 1, leaving him poised to vacuum up the lion's share of the state's delegates.

Sanders is also worrying rivals in other big states. He drew what his campaign estimated was more than 13,000 people to the Boston Common on Saturday afternoon; polls show him running neck-and-neck with Warren in Massachusetts, her home state. Polls showed Sanders also overtaking Biden in delegate-rich Texas.

"I'll be the first to say that the first four contests haven't gone exactly as I'd hoped," Warren said while campaigning in Texas Saturday. But she vowed to push on.

The prospect that Democrats will arrive at their nominating convention in Milwaukee this summer with Sanders holding the largest number of delegates - but not the majority needed to clench the nomination - continues to grow.

That scenario would invite a contentious floor fight in which Democratic centrists could try to consolidate behind a consensus choice, and hundreds of party leaders who are designated "super delegates" could ultimately decide the outcome.

The possibility of such a messy situation has stepped up pressure on Buttigieg and Klobuchar to exit the race. Klobuchar's hopes were so dim in South Carolina that she barely campaigned here, focusing on Super Tuesday states. And Buttigieg's confident predictions of black support did not materialize.

Both candidates face stiff headwinds on Super Tuesday. But the muddled field could encourage them to stay in the race, since any delegates they gather could position them to play an influential role in a brokered convention - or even emerge as a compromise choice.

Steyer dropped out after focusing all his efforts in Nevada and South Carolina, where he spent $186 million on ads. He failed to win a single delegate in either state.

"I said if I didn't see a path to winning that I'd suspend my campaign," he said Saturday night. "And honestly, I can't see a path where I can win the presidency."

---

(Halper reported from Columbia, Beason from Orangeburg. Staff writer Eli Stokols contributed from Charleston, S.C. and Arit John contributed form Los Angeles.)

---

(c)2020 Los Angeles Times

Visit the Los Angeles Times at www.latimes.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
In a presidential election year, Tuesdays are very important. The biggest is the first Tuesday after November 1, or Election Day. On that day, as you probably know, Americans vote for a president usually from the major-party candidates. But first, through June, voters will help political parties pick their nominees. Mostly that happens on Tuesdays, and that process happens in a lot of states this Tuesday. Its known as Super Tuesday, and we thought it would be a good point to kick off KidsPosts look at the 2020 presidential election.
More than 2,700 cruise tourists arrive in Patong

PHUKET: Officers from the Phuket Public Health Office along with medical staff from Patong Hospital were on hand to check more than 2,700 people disembarking cruise ships at Patong Beach yesterday (Feb 29).

tourismmarinehealthpatongCoronavirusCOVID-19

By The Phuket News

Sunday 1 March 2020, 03:39PM

The MSC Splendida brought 1,440 tourists and 1,122 ship crew and staff. Photo: Royal Thai Navy

Present as a part of the screening team were personnel from the Royal Thai Navy Third Area, based at Panwa Cape. Being screened at the pier at the southern end of the beach were 2,706 people in total  144 tourists who arrived on the Star Clipper and 1,440 tourists and 1,122 ship crew and staff arriving on the MSC Splendida. Both ships arrived on day stops. The Star Clipper arrived from Malaysia and departed to return to southern waters at 6pm, while the MSC Splendida arrived from Singapore and departed for Sri Lanka at 10pm. Capt Kriangkrai Lai-ngen of the Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command explained that officers boarded the ships to screen the tourists first, and then when tourists reached the port, another group of officers screened their body temperatures again. No tourists from either cruise ship were found to be suspected to being infected with the coronavirus [COVID-19] even though they had arrived from a risk country like Singapore.
LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / March 1, 2020 / Compare-autoinsurance.org (https://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.

It's no longer a secret the fact that the Internet can quickly simplify our way of shopping. Furthermore, some offers are available only when shopping online. Using online quotes will help drivers find affordable coverage options. But where to get online quotes from? Find out more and get free online car insurance quotes and compare prices at https://compare-autoinsurance.org/.

There are two main options for getting multiple quotes:

Directly from an insurance company's website. The online user who visits the insurer's official website will have to fill a specially designed questionnaire. This form is designed to reflect the company's offers, including discounts and bundling options. After the questionnaire is completed, the rate calculators will handle the next part of the process. Each company can design a dedicated webpage, with different interactive menus, options to change coverage parameters and update the quotes, warnings and other sections. An online questionnaire might be more complex, but it will offer more accurate quotes.

Using brokerage websites . These websites work with multiple insurance companies and promote their products. After providing the ZIP code, they display all available companies in the area. On some websites, it is possible to get estimates, based on the input data, while other brokerage websites redirect the users to other insurance companies.

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.

Story continues

"Online car insurance quotes do not force you to buy anything. They just help you review the current car insurance market and make a smart choice!" 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/578498/Car-Insurance-2020-Tips-The-Best-Places-To-Get-Free-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online




Saturday Night Live skewered Democratic candidate Joe Biden for his campaign gaffes just hours after his victory in the South Carolina primary.

Guest host John Mulaney posed as the Democratic front runner in the show's cold open, parodying a White House press conference on the coronavirus.

'Speaking of number one. Guess who just kicked butt in south cracker barrel,' he says, after Biden won South Carolina on Saturday.

The show took aim at the former vice president for claiming that he was arrested while trying to visit Nelson Mandela when he was in prison in South Africa in 1989.

Guest host John Mulaney (left) posed as the Democratic front runner Joe Biden, ridiculing his claim that he was arrested while trying to visit Nelson Mandela in prison in South Africa in 1989

'Here's a true story based loosely on fake events,' Mulaney says as he imitates Biden making wild claims about his relationship with the late anti-apartheid revolutionary

The show's cold open parodied a White House press conference on the coronavirus crisis

He made the much-scrutinized claim three times in a month before finally admitting that it was false.

'Here's a true story based loosely on fake events,' Mulaney says as he imitates Biden making wild claims about his relationship with the late anti-apartheid revolutionary.

'Me and Nelson Mandela were palling around South Africa green book style. We have one elephant between us, who do we run into but the Ebola monkey?,' he quips.

'Weird story longer, I wrestled that sucker to mercy. That's how I convinced Mandela he was okay.'

After making the claim three times in the last month, Biden finally backtracked on Friday, saying that he was not arrested

Biden, 77, admitted on Friday that he was not arrested when he tried to visit Mandela in prison.

He backtracked on the claim on CNN, saying instead that he was separated from members of the Congressional Black Caucus by 'Afrikaners with guns.'

'I wasn't arrested, I was stopped. I was not able to move where I wanted to go,' he said, when asked directly if it was true he had been arrested.

He also changed the location of where the incident happened, having at first claimed it was 'on the streets of Soweto,' moving it to an unnamed airport. And he dropped a claim that he was with 'our UN ambassador' at the time.

In Saturday Night Live's parody of the White House press conference, Beck Bennett played Vice President Mike Pence.

Bennett's Pence told the media: 'Most of you know me from the phrase 'even if Trump was removed, we'd still be stuck with Mike Pence.''

Kenan Thompson played Dr. Ben Carson, 'the brain surgeon they put in charge of house development.'

Thompson's Carson showed a picture of a cartoon to demonstrate what the virus looked like.

'It looks like this,' he says, showing a picture of Stitch from Disney's Lilo & Stitch.

The Trump administration has faced criticism for its handling of the coronavirus. President Trump today misidentified the first fatality in the U.S from the disease, saying that the male victim was a woman.
New Delhi, March 1 : The Indian Youth Congress (IYC) will organise a protest outside Parliament on Monday to demand resignation of Home Minister Amit Shah for his abdication of duty during the recent communal violence in Delhi.

The IYC also wants immediate registration of FIRs against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders -- Kapil Mishra, Anurag Thakur and Parvesh Verma -- for hate speeches.

"The protest, led by IYC chief B.V. Srinivas, will start at 12.30 p.m. from Raisina Road. The Congress will move adjournment motion in the House to press for resignation of the Home Minister," said IYC spokesperson Amrish Ranjan Pandey.

The Congress said on Sunday it would raise the issue of Delhi violence during the Parliament session, which re-starts on Monday after recess.

Earlier, a delegation of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), led by interim party chief Sonia Gandhi, met President Ram Nath Kovind and sought ouster of Shah.

More than 40 people were killed in the northeast Delhi violence that erupted on February 23 after pro- and anti-CAA groups clashed.
He came. He saw. He conquered! This can be a fitting Shakespearean description of United States President Donald Trump's action-filled 36-hour India visit! Trump, known as the CEO-type transactional President, lived up to his image during his India visit (February 24-26).

Delhi to DC, and back

He came as a politician in search of Indian votes from among the four million-odd Indian diaspora in the US presidential elections in November this year, and he did reasonably well. He chose to ride on his personal chemistry with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and did well in buttering both sides of his toast towards that objective. That explains his eulogies of Modi as "a strong leader", "a tough negotiator" and "a very religious man". In these words, he wrote a blank cheque to the politician Modi which he can encash any time --and encash he will, beginning with the Bihar elections six months later.

Significantly, Trump extended a rare favour to Modi. Something what he doesn't normally do. He left Indian shores without criticising Modi or his controversial policies like the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, or CAA, or scrapping Article 370. Also, the diplomatic symbolism consciously played out by Trump must not be lost sight of. He is the first American President to have visited India without visiting Pakistan. He came directly from Washington DC and went straight back to the American capital without any stopover in between. That is quite a record and an important diplomatic symbolism.

Trump chose to ride on his personal chemistry with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and did well in buttering both sides of his toast towards that objective. (Photo: Reuters)

In fact, Trump proved to be a strategic asset for PM Modi. He didn't go ballistic on burning issues like the CAA protests and the ugly riots in Delhi, the worst the national capital has witnessed since the November 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

He dismissed the Delhi riots as "a few attacks" and said at a press conference in the US embassy in Delhi that he didn't discuss these issues with Modi. Moreover, he described the Delhi violence as India's internal matter. Trump's words, nay his every alphabet, were music to Modi's ears. But a crucial question arises: Who benefits more - Trump or Modi? The US or India? It was an out-and-out Trump trophy ahead of his re-election campaign. India was just a facilitator. Trump obliged Modi by keeping mum on controversial issues like CAA or the Delhi riots, though his rival Democrats promptly pounced upon the issue and presidential-hopeful Bernie Sanders severely criticised Trump for keeping quiet on Article 370 and CAA.

Besides, his views on radical Islam enthused New Delhi no end when he said that the US and India were united in fighting this menace. While claiming that the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) had been "100 per cent destroyed" because of his administration's tough stand, Trump also said that his administration had been working with Pakistan to crack down on terror groups operating on the Pakistan border. "We are beginning to see signs of big progress," he said.

Diplomatic Trump

Though Trump eulogised Modi throughout his brief Indian visit and took care not to criticise the government on any issue, he sent subtle messages to the Opposition as he spoke of India transforming itself into an economic power house in the past decades. Not just that, he also praised India for taking 216 million people out of poverty in the past decades, thus not restricting his certificate just to the Modi era!

An important feature of Trump's India visit is that even during this trip which was entirely political from his perspective and geared to his re-election bid six months later, he didn't lose focus on the biggest American strategic imperative: Countering and containing China.

Trump played his China card very subtly and dexterously. Let's elaborate on this important point. For example, while complimenting India for becoming an economic powerhouse in the past seven decades, he mentioned that India's rise has been peaceful and not through "coercion" like the case with another power. Read China for "another power" in this context.

He talked about the Strategic Quadrilateral and dwelt upon the need for India to come forward and do its bit.

Advantage India

For the uninitiated in international diplomacy, the Quadrilateral, or simply the Quad, is a four-nation strategic architecture comprising the US, Japan, Australia and India, largely to counter China. Moreover, Trump talked about the Blue Dot Network (BDN), a strategic issue duly reflected in the joint statement released at the end of Trump's India visit. Herein, he urged India to pro-actively participate in the BDN, which is supposed to be a rival to China's ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (or BRI).

Though unlike BRI, the BDN is only a certification authority for infrastructure projects and doesn't extend loans or finance infrastructure or any other projects. Unlike the BRI, which has at least 73 countries as its partners, the BDN currently comprises just three countries - the US, Japan and Australia. The US wants India as the fourth member state. India has formally stated its position of not joining the BRI, but hasn't opened its cards yet about the BDN. In all probability, India would join the BDN architecture in due course.

Trump must be complimented for projecting and propagating the well-known strategic imperative of countering China. At the same time, he carefully did so without referring to China by name. Who won and who lost in the strategic game of one-upmanship, as Trump came calling to India? India can rightfully claim the tag of being a winner in the diplomatic sense for the reasons cited above. It must go to India's credit that despite his previous track record, Trump didn't embarrass the hosts. On the contrary, he went on eulogising Modi and India! This in itself is a big achievement from the Indian perspective.

(Courtesy of Mail Today)

Also read: Coming up Trumps
Senior Congress leader and former



Maharashtra minister Naseem Khan on Sunday questioned Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's "silence" on the violence in the national capital.

"Why is the Delhi chief minister silent?" he asked in a statement.

Khan also sought to know what transpired at the meeting Kejriwal held with Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Shah recently held the meeting with Kejriwal to discuss the prevailing situation in the national capital after violence in northeast Delhi over the amended citizenship law claimed several lives.

"He has not spoken anything on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah when Delhi was burning," Khan said.

"The people, who have lost their family members in the violence, won't get them back now. Hence the announcement of compensation is not going to help them in any way," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said that all passenger flights to and from Italy, Iraq and South Korea had been halted due to the coronavirus outbreak, Trend reports citing Reuters.

The measure will be effective 12 a.m. on Sunday, he said, adding the land crossings between Turkey and neighbouring Iraq had also been closed.

Turkey had previously halted passenger flights to and from Iran and China.
The Golden Bear, the top prize of the Berlin International Film Festival, went to dissident Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof, who is persecuted in his home country.

"This is for a filmmaker who couldn't be here tonight," said actress Salar Khamseh as she held the Golden Bear that went to There Is No Evil.

The winner of the Golden Bear wasn't at the ceremony to pick up the award himself, as Iranian authorities banned dissident filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof from traveling abroad, as well as from making films, in reaction to his 2017 film, A Man of Integrity, which won a major award at the Cannes film festival.

Two years later, the director was also sentenced to one year in prison, although it is not yet clear when he will actually be imprisoned.

Rasoulof managed to direct his Golden Bear-winning film by creatively bypassing Iranian officials' censorship. The work, combining four short films, shows different ways of dealing with the death penalty.

Eliza Hittman won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize, the festival's second most important award, for her teen abortion drama, Never Rarely Sometimes Always. The work, which had premiered at Sundance in January, was at the top of many critics' list. Ahead of the festival, president of the jury Jeremy Irons was criticized for past comments on abortion, and he had to distance himself once again from his own statements at the beginning of the Berlinale.

A German critics' favorite, Berlin Alexanderplatz by Burhan Qubani, didn't pick up any of the coveted Bears. Similarly, Kelly Reichardt's First Cow was often named among the top candidates for a Berlinale top award, but left empty-handed.
 Close UK weather: The latest Met Office forecast

The Met Office issued weather warnings for snow and ice as the UK emerged from its wettest February on record.

Many places had a chilly start to the day after waking to a touch of frost and ice on Sunday.

A snow warning was scaled back to cover western and higher parts of Scotland until midnight, while new warnings for ice were issued from midnight until 10am on Monday for Scotland, the north of England, the Midlands, Northern Ireland and Wales.

Earlier warnings for 70mph winds initially covered much of the UK but were later stood down.

There were still 79 flood warnings and 166 alerts in place for England on Sunday afternoon, as well as four warnings and nine alerts in Wales, and five warnings and five alerts in Scotland.

Thousands of businesses and homes were flooded in February as three successive storms saw areas deluged by more than a months worth of rainfall in just 24 hours.

A UK average of 202.1mm of rain fell last month, surpassing the February 1990 record of 193.4mm.
New York, March 1 : Former US Vice President Joe Biden has scored a runaway victory in the Democratic primary in South Carolina for the party's presidential nomination resetting his campaign after bad losses in three states.

"We are very much alive," Biden told his supporters on Saturday night after TV networks declared him the winner based on exit polls.

"Pundits had declared this candidature dead, but we won big," he said.

Early results showed him leading with about half votes in the state and the self-described democratic socialist trailed him with about 20 per cent of the ballots, a setback after getting the most popular votes in the three states.

Although his performance in South Carolina infused optimism in the campaign of Biden, who was once described as a front-runner, the big test for him and other candidates will be on Tuesday when 14 states will be holding their primaries.

In the other polls held so far, Biden ended up fifth in New Hampshire, fourth in Iowa and second in Nevada.

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who is opposed by the party establishment, is leading in polls in three large states -- California, Texas and Virginia -- where the "Super Tuesday" polls will be held, according to RealClear Politics (RCP) which aggregates polls.

Billionaire Michael Bloomberg who has spent about $380 million of his own money in TV ads and social media campaign across the country will be on the ballot on Tuesday, having skipped the first four polls.

Another billionaire, Tom Steyer, who spent about $18 million for TV ads in South Carolina, dropped out of the race after getting only about 11 per cent of the votes.

President Donald Trump poured scorn on Bloomberg, tweeting: "Sleepy Joe Biden's victory in the South Carolina Democrat Primary should be the end of Mini Mike Bloomberg's Joke of a campaign. After the worst debate performance in the history of presidential debates, Mini Mike now has Biden split up his very few voters, taking many away!" Sanders is also ahead in national polls followed by Biden and Bloomberg, according to RCP.

After the South Carolina poll showed his momentum stalling, the veteran politician told his supporters that his campaign will march ahead on Super Tuesday.

"We are more than a campaign, we are movement of millions of people who demand social justice," he said at a campaign stop in Virginia.

Former Mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Pete Buttigieg grabbed national attention by running neck and neck in Iowa and New Hampshire, the first to hold the party poll.

But those states are about 90 per cent white unlike the rest of the country.

He ended up fifth in South Carolina with about 8 per cent of the votes in early results.

African-American voters, who are the steadfast base of the Democratic Party, made up 55 per cent of the voters in the South Carolina primary, according to exit polls, and they overwhelmingly went for Biden.

The 78-year-old Sanders is the most popular candidate among young people with his radical agenda that includes free college, government-run healthcare and minimum wage of $15 per hour.

His challenge will be to get African-Americans to vote for him, although he did well with the Latinos in Nevada, where they were the biggest minority bloc.

The party establishment is against Sanders because they fear that his radical policies and self-identification as a socialist would turn off moderate voters in the November general election giving Trump a victory.

It also feared that Democrats running for Congress may be pulled down by their placement on the ballots with him.

A recent assessment by the intelligence agencies that Russia was helping Sanders was leaked to the media, but it does not seem to have blunted his appeal.

The centrist Biden has been the establishment candidate and Bloomberg, who is right of centre, is waiting in the wings.

He is the owner of the news financial service that bears his name and is a former mayor of New York.

Hindu-American candidate Tulsi Gabbard polled only about 1 per cent of the votes in South Carolina and about that or less in the other three states.

Gabbard, who supported Sanders in the 2016 poll against Hillary Clinton, is running for only national recognition with no chance of victory.

Also in the fray are Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, a leftist who shares many ideological points with Sanders, and Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, who positions herself along with Buttigieg as a centrist alternative to Biden.

(Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis)
A woman was arrested in Aloha early Saturday morning after her boyfriend told police she stabbed him in the neck, officials said.

The Washington County Sheriffs Office said employees at a Chevron station on Southwest Tualatin Valley Highway in Aloha reported a man bleeding from the head and neck.

When deputies arrived, they said the man told them his girlfriend had stabbed him. The man is expected to survive.

Officials said not long after the man was found, a woman reported that after an altercation, her boyfriend had stabbed her at a home on Southwest Rosa Road in Aloha. According to officials, Peeler was uninjured.

According to the release, deputies quickly concluded these events were related."

After collecting evidence from the crime scene, police arrested Sabrina D. Peeler, 36.

Sabrina Peeler booking photo

Peeler was booked in the Washington County Jail on charges of attempted murder, unlawful use of a weapon and first-degree assault.

-- Lizzy Acker

503-221-8052, lacker@oregonian.com, @lizzzyacker

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
RTHK: Trump aides defend US coronavirus response

Vice President Mike Pence on Sunday defended the US administration's handling of the coronavirus epidemic after the first confirmed death on American soil and rising criticism of the state of US preparedness.

Pence and Health Secretary Alex Azar made the rounds of Sunday talk shows with the message that risks from the disease remain low for most Americans, while promising to make up for testing shortfalls.

"We could have more sad news, but the American people should know the risk to the average American remains low," Pence said on CNN's "State of the Union."

The assurances came a day after officials confirmed that a man in his 50s, with no known contact with persons infected abroad, had died in the northwestern state of Washington after becoming infected with the virus.

Azar told "Fox News Sunday" the man was in a hospital to which a nursing home, hit by a coronavirus outbreak, had sent patients.

"So right now there's a large investigation going on in the nursing home, the hospital, contact tracing to try to determine where that disease was introduced and how it might have spread," he said.

The United States has had 70 confirmed coronavirus cases in all, including 47 patients who were repatriated from virus hotspots in Asia and quarantined for 14 days on their return, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Pence put the number of cases among repatriated Americans at 46.

Twenty-three other people have been infected in the United States, a man in Chicago being the latest confirmed US case, according to Azar.

The spread of the virus through communities would be an ominous development that would almost certainly intensify the epidemic in the United States.

US health authorities have been slow to distribute coronavirus testing kits, however, making the dimensions of the problem uncertain.

"It's a very fair question, and it's one of the first issues that governors I spoke to raised with me," Pence said when asked on CNN why the US was so far behind other countries in producing testing kits.

He said more than 15,000 testing kits were released over the weekend, the federal Food and Drug Administration has approved a testing regime, and the government was working with a commercial provider to produce an additional 50,000 kits.

President Donald Trump put Pence in charge of the US response last week, amid rising complaints that the administration had been slow to prepare for the virus's spread.

Trump himself had been criticised for seeming to low-ball the risk, even as experts from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned of a looming health emergency.

Former vice president and Democratic candidate Joe Biden attacked what he described as Trump's "incompetence" in dealing with the epidemic, accusing him of muzzling the government's top experts.

"I see no preparedness other than political talking points," he said on ABC's "This Week."

Democrats also have roundly attacked proposed Trump budget cuts for the CDC and for eliminating in 2018 a senior White House position for a director in charge of global health security.

Right-wing commentators, meanwhile, have accused Democrats of "weaponising" the health crisis while the president's son Donald Trump Jr accused them of hoping the virus "kills millions" to hurt his father.

In defending the administration's response, Pence credited Trump with acting quickly to establish quarantines for Americans brought back from China and Japan.

"The coronavirus remains low - and that is largely owing to the decision the president made, the energetic efforts of CDC and local health officials, and we'll continue to lean in that in a hopeful way," the vice president said. (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2020-03-01. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
A Marietta, Georgia man died in a fiery two-vehicle crash Wednesday in Alabama while returning home from his aunts funeral, according to multiple media reports.

David Longon Cranford, 65, was driving back to Georgia after attending the funeral in Etowah County, radio station WEIS reported. Authorities believe he suffered a medical emergency shortly before the crash.

The incident happened about 12:30 p.m. on U.S. 278 near Ala. 11, Coroner Jeremy Deaton told the radio station. Cranfords van collided with a tractor-trailer, with both of them erupting into flames.

Cranford was ejected from his van and was pronounced dead at the scene, WEIS reported.

The coroners office and Alabama State troopers will investigate the crash.

2020 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Atlanta, Ga.)

Visit The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Atlanta, Ga.) at www.ajc.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Some old buildings are said to have ghosts. Napas Gordon Building has a ghost hallway.

The hallway is whats left of the original second story in the 91-year-old downtown Napa building. The vintage doors in the hallway were once entries to private offices. Today, those doors remain, but only for looks.

Behind the doors is a completely open space, waiting to be claimed by new tenants. Until then, the hallway looks like something from a movie set  a place where someone like detective Sam Spade might have an office.

Todd Zapolski, managing partner of Gordon Ventures, hosted an event Wednesday night to celebrate his re-launch of the property. The 20,000-square-foot Gordon Building is located at the northeast corner of First and Coombs streets.

This is pretty special, Zapolski said. He is proud to have preserved a beautiful piece of architecture, he said.

For decades the property stood mostly vacant; then in 2014, significant damage as a result of the Napa earthquake caused it to be red tagged and unable to be occupied.

As part of the seismic strengthening, the restoration has painstakingly repaired the buildings Italian fire-brick exterior and grand interior, retaining its classic charm.

This has been an extensive project, and weve been careful to maintain the Gordon Buildings grace while making significant structural improvements, said Zapolski, who is offering new space for a flagship retailer and offices.

I feel fortunate to have had the chance to contribute to the longevity of this local treasure, and to begin welcoming the thriving business that will be the foundation of its long future, he said.

Constructed in 1929, with an addition in 1935, the building is on the National Register of Historic Places. It was built by Samuel Gordon, a businessman who came to the United States from Russia as a young boy and worked in San Francisco before moving to Napa a century ago.

He was said to be inspired by the architecture of the Old World and was particular about the buildings design.

Today, the Gordon Building stands out as an example of Spanish Colonial Revival style and is notable for its terra cotta siding and ornate floral details. Inside, gracious touches continue with high arched windows and an elaborate staircase.

The building was always very personal for our family, and we spent a lot of time there, recalled Charles Gordon, son of Samuel Gordon.

Gordon attended the Wednesday opening with his wife Connie. The two actually met in the building when Connie was working inside one of the offices upstairs. Gordon was charmed by Connie and kept making excuses to visit the office she worked at.

In addition to their namesake building, the Gordon family also previously owned the Merrills building (now part of the Archer hotel) and the Napa Register building (now the Beckstoffer building) at First and Coombs.

But this is our favorite, said Connie Gordon. Not just because the two met there, but because its a really unique building with a lot of character.

My father was a humble man who didnt like the limelight, but he had a vision for Napa, Gordon said. Were proud of the propertys heritage and so pleased the building will have a new chapter.

Even though his family sold the Gordon Building in the 1980s, Gordon said this building means a lot to us.

The Gordon Building is now owned by Gordon Ventures, a partnership of Zapolski Real Estate, Trademark Property Co., and The Doctors Company.

The partnership bought the building in 2013 from George and Jacqueline Altamura of Napa.

Gordon praised Zapolskis efforts. Its beautiful, he said. Hes done a wonderful job.

I love it, said Connie Gordon. Its gorgeous.

Once a hub of activity, the building previously housed a popular soda fountain and lunch counter on the main floor. Upstairs were medical offices for doctors and specialists in the days before Napa had a regional medical center.

Later, the building had a candy shop and offices for engineers and attorneys. Plans for the building now include ground-floor flagship retail space, along with state-of-the-art offices on the second floor.

Other elements from the Gordon Buildings history also remain  including a faux mezzanine built for a supposed movie theater  one that was never built. Vintage elevator doors also remain in place, next to newly installed modern lifts.

Thats whats fun about historic buildings, said Zapolski. You just work with what youve got.

The entire project is estimated to cost $12 million-$15 million, said Andrew Mazotti, director at Zapolski Real Estate.

The group has become a key player in downtown Napa real estate. Zapolski Real Estate and Trademark Property Co. are also the developers of First Street Napa project west of the Gordon Building.

You can reach reporter Jennifer Huffman at 256-2218 or jhuffman@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.
A large number of properties were damaged in the violence which broke out in Jaffrabad, Maujpur, Babarpur, Chand Bagh, Shiv Vihar, Bhajan Pura, Yamuna Vihar and Mustafabad areas of northeast Delhi on Monday

Two more bodies were fished out from the drains in the violence-hit Gokalpuri area of northeast Delhi on Sunday even as the situation remained peaceful yet tense.

While one of the bodies was recovered from the Bhagirath drain at 10 am, another was recovered at 3 pm from the drain flowing in front the Gokulpuri Police Station, reported News18. However, it is yet to be ascertained if they are linked to the riots and authorities have not updated the death toll figure. The identities of the victims are yet to be ascertained. The bodies have been sent to the GTB Hospital for post-mortem.

On Wednesday, Intelligence Bureau staffer Anikt Sharma's body was recovered from a drain in Chand Bagh. The 26-year-old had reportedly been stabbed multiple times.

Meanwhile, the situation in the riot-hit areas continued to be tense yet peaceful, with vehicles and people visible on the main road under heavy deployment of security.

"The situation is under control now. There is adequate force deployed in all areas of northeast district. We are holding talks with locals and trying to rebuild confidence,"a senior police officer told PTI. The official added that no untoward incident had been reported for the past three days and urged residents not to pay heed to rumors and report them to the police.

However, tension prevailed in areas such as Mustafabad and and Shiv Vihar, with locals continuing to be wary of venturing out into the streets. In Shiv Vihar, among the worst-hit areas, lanes were deserted and almost all the houses locked.

"Though there is police presence, tension is lingering. We celebrated Eid, Holi, Diwali together. I have never faced such a situation in my life. There is grief, mistrust, disbelief. Those who indulged in violence did not belong to the area, they came from outside,"Mohammad Yunus, a garment shop owner, told PTI. Yunus, 45, said he was saved by his Hindu neighbours during the violence and they tore the shop name board to save the business from rioters.

Acting Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava visited DCP Amit Sharma, undergoing treatment at a hospital in Patparganj after suffering serious injuries during the violence in Gokulpuri on 24 February. A 2010-batch IPS officer, Sharma underwent brain surgery.

Soon after taking charge as police chief on Saturday, Shrivastava said his priority is to restore peace and ensure communal harmony in the National Capital. Police have started a massive outreach programme and senior officers have been meeting with people to build confidence.

A large number of properties were damaged in the violence which broke out in Jaffrabad, Maujpur, Babarpur, Chand Bagh, Shiv Vihar, Bhajan Pura, Yamuna Vihar and Mustafabad areas of northeast Delhi on Monday. Atleast 42 were killed and 200 people were injured, many with bullet injuries, after frenzied mobs torched houses, shops, vehicles, a petrol pump and pelted stones at locals and police.

With inputs from agencies
Federal stimulus measures worth up to tens of billions of dollars are needed economists say as they warn more Australian companies are likely to announce profit warnings due to coronavirus.

"The problem for Australia of course is that our economy was already struggling to some degree before the bushfires and now more importantly before coronavirus came along," said AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver.

"The case for a broad-based stimulus, I think, is significant now. And the other problem is if they don't do something, all the pressure falls on the RBA," he said.

Global sharemarkets have fallen sharply over the past week in response to the widening coronavirus outbreak. Credit:Peter Braig

To have an impact Dr Oliver said federal government stimulus measures would need to be worth "at least" $10 billion, and probably around $20 billion, with the latter figure equal to about 1 per cent of national gross domestic product (GDP).
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
President Ram Nath Kovind arrived



here on Sunday on a two-day visit to Chhattisgarh during which he will take part in the convocation ceremony of a central university in Bilaspur.

Governor Anusuiya Uikey, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, Chief Secretary R P Mandal and other senior officials received the president at the Swami Vivekanand Airport in the state capital Raipur after he arrived at around 11.30 am, a government official told PTI.

Soon after his arrival, Kovind left for Bilaspur district in a helicopter, he said.

The president will meet Chief Justice and Justices of the Chhattisgarh High Court there in the evening over high tea, the official said.

On Monday, Kovind will address the convocation ceremony of the Guru Ghasidas University in Bilaspur at 10 am.

After the function, he will return to Raipur and leave for Delhi around noon, he added.

Multi-layered security arrangements have been made for the president's visit, a police official said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 04:18:48|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

CHICAGO, Feb. 29 (Xinhua) -- Fears over the coronavirus epidemic not only rattled U.S. stock markets, but also badly shook Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) agricultural futures in the past week amid massive fund selling.

The most active corn contract for May delivery was down 12.5 cents, or 3.28 percent, to close at 3.6825 U.S. dollars per bushel, while May wheat was down 27 cents, or 4.89 percent, to settle at 5.25 dollars per bushel.

Only soybeans for May delivery managed to close the week ending Feb. 28 with a moderate 2.25-cent gain, or 0.25 percent, at 8.9275 dollars per bushel.

As the World Health Organization raised the risk of global coronavirus spread to "very high" level, commodity markets, including the CBOT, took a big hit amid growing concerns about the impacts on world trade, demand and logistic disruptions.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Thursday released its latest export sales report, showing a bearish picture in general for the period of February 14-20.

Net U.S. corn sales were reported at 864,600 metric tons for 2019/20 marketing year, down 31 percent from the previous week and 26 percent from the prior four-week average.

Meanwhile, net wheat sales were pegged at 381,800 metric tons for 2019/20, up 10 percent from the previous week, but down 23 percent from the prior four-week average.

U.S. net soybeans sales stood at 339,300 metric tons for 2019/20, down 31 percent from the previous week and 38 percent from the prior four-week average.

Amid sluggish export sales and downbeat trade outlook, CBOT corn and wheat futures posted losses during most days of the week. Some bargain buying failed to push up the prices significantly.

Expectations for higher world wheat supplies, falling European grain prices added pressure on Chicago wheat. The FOB offers for Russian and Romanian wheat for March deliver reportedly slid 3-4 U.S. dollars to about 217 dollars per metric ton, compared to 230 dollars in late January.

A strong dollar has also made U.S. wheat less competitive, said market analysts.

As for CBOT soybeans, reports that Argentina has suspended export registrations, and will likely to raise export taxes on its soybeans supported Chicago oilseed futures.

Hopes for more purchases from the world's leading soy buyer China have also offset some losses of CBOT soybeans.
Health tourism on labour wards could be a far bigger problem than officially recognised, according to newly-released figures.

One in every 20 women giving birth in the countrys biggest hospital trust is not eligible for free NHS care, the statistics reveal.

Last year the Department of Health and Social Care decided against rolling out systematic eligibility checking of NHS maternity patients  partly because trials of the scheme appeared to show health tourism was not a big issue.

Maternity tourists are each billed around 6,000, typically covering ante-natal care and the delivery. It means Barts is likely to be owed almost 4.5 million by the women [File photo]

But Barts NHS Trust, which runs five hospitals and cares for 2.5 million people across East London, has released figures suggesting about five per cent of pregnant women who gave birth last year were potentially health tourists.

During the financial year 2018-19, trust staff helped deliver 14,842 babies.

Some 739 mothers were not eligible for free maternity care and were invoiced but the figures do not reveal how many paid.

Former NHS cancer surgeon J Meirion Thomas said: These figures show health tourism in maternity departments isnt trivial, as health mandarins seem to have mistakenly concluded, but is actually a major issue.

The Department of Health needs to get a grip and roll out patient-checking nationwide, rather than sticking its head in the sand.

The NHS will never refuse to treat a pregnant woman. However, under regulations that came into force in 2017, hospitals should try to identify those who do not qualify for free care and bill them.

Eligibility is usually based on whether a patient is ordinarily resident in the UK.

Those on short-term visas should pay an annual fee of 300 or 400 to use the NHS.

Maternity tourists are each billed around 6,000, typically covering ante-natal care and the delivery. It means Barts is likely to be owed almost 4.5 million by the women.

But Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust in South London billed health tourist mothers 1.2 million in the five years to April 2019 and only recouped 30,000.

Last year, Barts overspent its budget by 85 million. Its deficit for this year is currently about 120 million.

The Barts maternity figures came in a response to a Freedom of Information request from Keep Our NHS Public which wants the fees scrapped.

Jackie Applebee, a GP in Tower Hamlets, said the fees deter the most vulnerable from seeking the medical care they need through fear of destitution and deportation.

A Barts spokesman said it does not have discretion to waive charges that apply for patients not eligible for free NHS care. Anyone needing immediately necessary or urgent treatment will always be treated. All maternity care is considered immediately necessary.
Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev blamed "criminal groups" for the deadly ethnic clashes in the southern region of Zhambyl that claimed 11 lives on February 7-8.

During a visit to the Jambyl region, Tokayev said the clashes were caused by one group trying to take over another group's cross-border smuggling business.

"In a word, because of control over sources of illegal income, a conflict arose between the two criminal groups," the presidential press service quoted him as saying on March 1.

Kazakh authorities had earlier said that a road-rage brawl involving police officers and three Kazakh citizens from the ethnic Dungan minority -- a Muslim group of Chinese origin -- was thought to have triggered the clashes.

The deadly violence spread into the villages of Sortobe, Masanchi, Auqatty, and Bulan-Batyr.

Meeting with residents who survived the violence, Toqaev on March 1 called on law enforcement to punish perpetrators "regardless of their ethnicity."

"Without this, we will not be able to restore order in the country," he said.

More than 30 houses, 17 commercial buildings, and 47 vehicles were destroyed or damaged during the violence.

More than 23,000 people, mostly Dungans, fled villages where the violence erupted.

Many of them ended up in the Chui region of neighboring Kyrgyzstan.

Kazakh officials said the majority of the displaced Dungans returned to Kazakhstan several days later.

Many senior regional officials, including the local police chief, were sacked by Kazakhstan's government in the aftermath of the clashes.

Dungans, also known as Hui, are Sunni Muslims who speak a dialect of Mandarin that also uses words and phrases borrowed from Arabic, Persian, and Turkic.

Their ancestors fled from China to Central Asia, which then was part of the Russian empire, in the late-19th century after the Chinese governments violent crackdown of the Dungan Revolt of 1862-1877.

The total number of Dungans now living in former Soviet republics is about 120,000.

Most reside in Kyrgyzstan's northern region of Chui and Kazakhstan's neighboring region of Zhambyl.

With reporting by Reuters and AFP
To counter Mr. Putnam, Ms. Granger secured the coveted endorsement of Mr. Trump and energized her campaign operation, lining up endorsements from anti-abortion rights groups like the Susan B. Anthony List and high-ranking colleagues including Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the No. 3 Republican, to help her raise campaign money.

In interviews with more than two dozen district officials, Texas strategists and voters, Ms. Granger was widely viewed as having the upper hand with her high name recognition and an extensive record of securing projects for her district, which includes a large presence by the military contractor Lockheed Martin, a joint reserve base and other defense priorities. But, they acknowledge, Mr. Putnam has mounted a formidable challenge  and some voters are drawn to a new candidate.

While Ms. Granger is a lifetime Fort Worth resident, Mr. Putnam recently moved from Colleyville, a smaller Dallas and Fort Worth suburb outside the 12th District, where he served three years on the City Council. Mr. Putnam could have run for Congress there; Representative Kenny Marchant, the Republican who has served there since 2005, has announced he is retiring. But that district is far less conservative, and Mr. Putnam, who now lives at a property in Fort Worth and attended college there, said he felt he was a better fit for Ms. Grangers district.

For now, Mr. Putnam and his allies are working to turn Ms. Grangers long legislative record against her. While Mr. Putnam is supported by anti-spending activists, one of his principal criticisms of Ms. Granger is that she has not secured enough federal money for the border wall that is Mr. Trumps signature campaign promise.

Mr. Putnam told voters at an event last month that Mr. Trump had endorsed Ms. Granger only because of the politics of impeachment. He noted that the president had tweeted his support for the congresswoman on the eve of the House vote on articles of impeachment to ensure Ms. Granger would stick with him and vote against the charges. (She did, along with every other House Republican.)
Ah, travel. Its so aspirational. So enchanting. So desirable. I have devoted my life to exploring the world, but in doing so I must point out that sometimes, travelling is anything but enjoyable. In fact, it can sometimes be a hell even Dante couldnt conjure.

Lets start with the actual travel part, shall we? There is a great saying that its not the destination but the journey that matters. And to that I say, like hell it is!

I have devoted my life to exploring the world, but in doing so I must point out that sometimes, travelling is anything but enjoyable. Credit:iStock

Even if I were trapped in a world with Coldplay on constant repeat, I cant imagine a punishment like some of the flights I have taken  mostly in the middle seat of the middle row on long-haul economy.

But worse is when that row is the very last on the plane, sharing a wall with a bank of toilets where you can not only hear whether its a one or a two being evacuated, its followed by a crescendo of noisy flushing and a deodoriser mist so noxious it would make napalm smell like cologne in comparison.
Karnataka: BJP leaders rally around MLA who called freedom fighter, Pak agent

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Bengaluru, Mar 01: The BJP leaders in Karnataka rallied behind Vijayapura MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal amid a controversy over his remarks that centenarian freedom fighter HS Doreswamy was a "Pakistani agent."

The saffron party leaders have extended support to Yatnal, days after he called Doreswamy a "fake freedom fighter" who behaves like a "Pakistani agent".

Yatnal made the comments at a press conference on February 25 while reacting to a query on a public meeting organised by the Congress titled 'Save the Constitution'.

Shoot at Sight law for those who speak ill of India: Karnataka minister BC Patil

"There are many fake freedom fighters. There is one in Bengaluru. Now we have to say what Doreswamy is. Where is that old man? He behaves like a Pakistan agent," Patil had said.

"Doreswamy is an elderly person and senior to all. He had participated in various agitations. He should also see what to talk and who will be hurt with those statements. We have all seen what he said about Prime Minister Narendra Modi," Primary and Secondary Education Minister S Suresh Kumar told reporters in Kodagu on Saturday reacting to Yatnal's outburst against Doreswamy.

NEWS AT NOON, MARCH 1st, 2020

Noting that the statements were made in bitter taste, Kumar said, "If you speak unpleasant (things), you will hear unpleasant."

Bellary City MLA G Somashekara Reddy too backed Yatnal saying that the his statement was appropriate. "There is nothing wrong in his statement. It is absolutely correct. I support him. It is not just okay to be a freedom fighter, but he should be a 'Deshbhakt' (patriot) too, who respects the unity and integrity of the nation."

On Friday, another BJP Minister KS Eshwarappa slammed Doreswamy alleging that he had visited Amulya Leona's residence and shared a good relationship with her family.

Leona had raised 'Pakistan Zindabad' slogans at an anti-CAA event here on February 21, taking everybody present by shock and dismay.

"We respect Doreswamy but he dances to the tune of Congress and supports whatever their leaders say," Eshwarappa said.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Sunday, March 1, 2020, 10:47 [IST]
TDT | Manama

Bahrain Airport Company and stc Bahrain signed a five-year concession agreement for the operation of a retail store at Bahrain International Airports (BIA) new Passenger Terminal Building. The store will offer staff and international visitors a range of telecommunications products and services. BAC Chief Executive Officer, Mohamed Yousif Al Binfalah and stc Bahrain Chief Executive Officer, Nezar Banabeela signed the deal in the presence of Minister of Transportation & Telecommunications and Bahrain Airport Company (BAC) Chairman, Kamal bin Ahmed Mohammed.

Commenting on the deal, Al Binfalah said: The launch of the new Passenger Terminal Building will increase BIAs capacity to 14 million passengers a year, many of whom will be international visitors. We are confident that stc Bahrains range of products and services will make it easier for these visitors to stay connected to their personal and professional lives while in Bahrain. We look forward to working with stc Bahrain and delivering a comfortable, convenient, and hassle-free airport experience.

Banabeela said: With its state-of-the-art facilities and strong retail presence, the new Passenger Terminal Building will offer travellers an improved airport experience with greater convenience. stc Bahrain continues to invest as an economic enabler, offering the most innovative technologies and services to meet the demands of customers and support Bahrains transition into a key aviation and tourism hub. Upon landing, the first thing many passengers do is turn on their mobiles phones, which can result in costly roaming charges.

Passengers can avoid such fees by purchasing a local pre-paid SIM card at the Arrivals Area, enabling them to enjoy swift and seamless coverage from the moment they arrive in the Kingdom. Alongside stc Bahrain, Batelco and Zain Bahrain will operate retail outlets and offer their services at the new terminal, ensuring broader and faster mobile coverage for travellers and tenants.
Nebraska

Illinois U-Turn Five years ago, an executive order from former Gov. Bruce Rauner established the Illinois Department of Innovation and Technology (DoIT) to take control of the IT functions of the states various departments. Kirk Lonbom, then state CIO, faced the gargantuan task of consolidating IT staff scattered across 38 agencies.



Before Lonbom retired in December 2018, he cited many notable accomplishments as part of the states IT centralization effort. Staff from 10 state agencies had assimilated into DoIT, and employees from 14 more departments were expected to move to DoIT within six months. Illinois saw cost savings of roughly $70 million through a new data center, a new open data portal and a new data dashboard, he reported.



But in 2019, under the leadership of Gov. J.B. Pritzker and CIO Ron Guerrier, the state made a U-turn of sorts in regard to its IT structure. Guerrier, who came into his role with more than 25 years of private-sector IT experience, halted the staff consolidation process. Instead, he felt a more federated model would put IT staff members in a better position to address agency-specific issues.



Theres no way a centralized DoIT team could meet all the needs of all the agencies, given all their disparate, different and unique challenges, he said. What Im asking the team to do is where theres commonality, leverage the commonality, but where its something very unique to the agency, well work as a team to find those unique solutions.



Staff morale seemed to play a significant role in Guerriers more federated approach as well. He said the stress level of state agency heads took a nosedive after they learned that no more moves to DoIT were planned. And while Guerrier wants to make sure that he can vet particular ideas, he also believes in the idea of sharing power and responsibility.



I want to make sure [staff] feel empowered to do what they need to do for the betterment of the state, he said. In my estimation, strategies will die if people are not tied into it.





Seattle

Mississippi

Consolidated. Federated. Hybrid.Which option is best, and more fundamentally, what does each one look like? The question of how government IT should be structured has no easy answer. It depends on who you ask, and a long list of variables: leadership, staff, services, governance, infrastructure, ideology and multiple other factors across every agency in a municipality or state. And so, settling on an overall IT structure is like making dozens, if not hundreds, of critical decisions. And what goes without saying is that nobody is starting with a blank canvas.In recent years, U.S. governments have tended to favor a centralized, or consolidated structure for information technology, where a single entity handles most IT services for all departments. Of the 15 states that transitioned to a different IT structure between early 2016 and the end of 2018, 13 moved in this direction, according to data collected by the Center for Digital Government.*But not everyone wants to fully centralize. Five of the 13 states switched to a more hybridized system, where individual agencies still hold some authority over their IT. Moreover, consolidating IT requires years of patience and persistence. As put by Mississippi CIO Craig Orgeron, one of the countrys longest serving state chief information officers, What I know about consolidations from other states that have done them is that theyre very, very difficult, and theyre very, very painful, he said, adding, Not that theyre not good to do.We reached out to a number of city and state tech leaders about how their IT operation is structured and why. Heres what we found.In 2017, the Cornhusker State completed its IT consolidation under the leadership of CIO Ed Toner . As with other similar initiatives, cost savings was a major driver. The state eliminated more than 10 percent of its server farm through consolidation, and Toners team also set up eight service centers that support clients in different regions of the state, reducing the travel time to deliver services. We were traveling as much as six hours just to do a simple support call, Toner said.Additionally, thanks to the new service-center model, annual surveys have shown increased customer satisfaction. Toner said the average customer satisfaction rating  based on a scale of 1 to 5, with the latter indicating excellent service  was 4.7 last year.The restructuring also presented unexpected opportunities. Nebraska IT decided to create a centralized compliance team by combining different agency staff members, such as HIPAA experts from health and human services, IRS 1075 experts from revenue and CJIS experts from the state patrol. This idea has led to enhanced professional development. Everyone is an expert in their own field, Toner said. But at the same time, since theyre all now together, Ive got a person who was an expert on IRS 1075 who now is an expert on HIPAA rules. Toner called this amalgamated group a SWAT team for audit and compliance response that is tackling audits more efficiently than ever.Nebraska IT has enjoyed several other advantages related to consolidation, including improved application management. But greater control comes with greater pressure. If something goes wrong, Toner knows where the blame will go. You manage everything that happens in the state now, and so there is no finger pointing.  We know its us. Or at least our fingerprints are on there somewhere.Toner, who came to Nebraska IT from the private sector, likened his organization to a private company that must focus on customer satisfaction to avoid going out of business. Its not much different with a consolidated state, because if they dont think theyre getting the level of service they deserve, then this whole thing could fall apart.As far as the challenge of merging operations and resources is concerned, Toners perspective again draws on his experience in the private world. To encourage buy-in, he recommends building a strong business case using every piece of available data before proposing any action.But did he have an easier time of it given the relatively small size of the population, and therefore the state workforce, in Nebraska? He doesnt think so. Bigger agencies tend to be more mature, he said, and get on board more quickly with change.They also may be really good at what they do, and so you have to be willing to adopt their standards when their standards are better than yours, he said.When Saad Bashir, former CIO of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, took over as Seattles chief technology officer in 2019, he inherited a centralized IT enterprise. There were still small pockets of tech staff in different departments, but all corporate IT functions rested in one agency for the purposes of consistency, cost control and client experience.Bashir found, however, that more change was needed. Although [the city] had made such a huge change three-and-half years ago  organizational change management practices perhaps were not put into place at that time, Bashir said. And so there were still a lot of what I call small dragons that were not addressed  there was a sense that we were still a shop of many different smaller IT shops.One of Bashirs ideas made headlines. In May 2019, Seattle eliminated 14 IT positions, ranging from directors to middle managers. The idea was to remove hierarchies that had developed over time in order to fully unlock the decision-making power of the organization, Bashir said.But the biggest shift in 2019 was transforming the way Seattle IT was perceived. After hundreds of conversations with both IT staff and clients, Bashir realized his agency was sort of a bottleneck when it came to receiving and acting on client requests. We had become such a big, insular department. We did not have the pulse of the organization. We couldnt predict what our clients were looking for, and that, according to Bashir, affected morale.In response, Seattle IT made various adjustments. It combined similar types of client-facing functions that were previously fragmented across the department, and created governance structures to foster a more participatory environment. It also heavily invested in bolstering its staffs skills  both technical and soft. It overhauled processes to ensure, for example, that tech was being introduced and patched on an appropriate and timely schedule.Bashir opined that every public-sector entity is facing similar issues, but many shy away from making the tough decisions, either by developing strategic plans or asking for millions of dollars before they do anything.I dont believe that its a question about money or its a question about having some consultants do a big long-term strategy for us, Bashir said. We are talking about some really bread-and-butter type stuff, opportunities that we have in front of us.What kind of IT structure does Mississippi have? From a people and money perspective, IT is decentralized or federated. Each agency has its own IT personnel and its own appropriation for technology. There is not an omnibus technology bill that would represent the people and the money in terms of the spend, CIO Orgeron said.When it comes to IT functions, the picture gets more complicated. Orgerons agency, the Mississippi Department of IT Services (ITS), runs and administers all telecommunications programs, whether theyre related to telephony or the Internet, even though state dollars for telecommunications go to the other agencies before finding their way to ITS. His agency also represents the only state data center, with two mainframes and thousands of servers.Outside of those major examples, individual agencies are doing their own thing. The compute side of the business is not consolidated, Orgeron said. There is a tremendous amount of infrastructure sprawl across the agencies and thats really a product of the last 15 or 20 years.In other words, the only way Mississippi could identify the IT infrastructure throughout the state would be by survey. Orgeron candidly said that the state just doesnt know the answer about some of its IT tools because of the lack of standardization. Im not saying its good or bad, Orgeron explained. Im just saying there isnt any sort of scale to any of those solutions.Philosophically, Orgeron doesnt believe consolidation is always the right approach. For one thing, consolidation doesnt automatically drive efficiency. For another, Orgeron predicts the commoditization of the cloud through companies like Amazon and Google could change the IT landscape of Mississippi pretty dramatically and relatively quickly. Something that would take Orgerons agency three or four days to accomplish could be done in 15 to 20 minutes thanks to tremendously scalable cloud solutions.I see the way were structured now more as a strength than I have in the past, he said. Because it allows a centralized IT organization like us to basically build an ecosystem  which can be consumed, and it can be built without many, many millions of dollars of capital investment, which can take years to do on the government side.In other ways, the decentralized aspect of Mississippis IT structure will continue to pose different challenges. In October 2019, state auditor Shad White released a report indicating that many agencies in Mississippi were operating like state and federal cybersecurity laws do not apply to them. Whites audit came about as part of a 2017 state law that speaks to what departments need to do with cybersecurity while also acknowledging the individual governance of each agency.Orgeron wasnt surprised by the lack of uniform security standards across the state. These agencies are like individual organizations or companies, he said. Theyre managed differently. They have different skill sets. Theyre funded differently. So I think what [the audit] teased out is potentially the need for not an intrusion into each agency but a more standard look at what is the baseline for a security program in each agency.When youre in Orgerons position, you cant force a mandate on issues like cybersecurity. You have to work within the existing political structure.Government Technology's
A strange incident took place at Jimmy's Fruit Mart in Newtown, Wellington, New Zealand on November 25 when a man and the shopkeeper got into a heated argument over the price of the fruits. According to the reports, Cesar Robert Scanlan, 43, was charged for assaulting the fruit vendor with a bunch of bananas. The district judge of Wellington expressed his shock over the incident where bananas are being used as a weapon.

READ: Banana Powder: Know Uses Of This Makeup Miracle For Indian Skin Tone

Scanlan pleads guilty

The allegations against Scanlan could have imprisoned Cesar for a year but police prosecutor Sergeant Mike Stonyer asked to reduce the punishment to disorderly behaviour which carries a maximum fine of NZD 1,000 (Rs 45,000), according to the reports. Scanlan further pleaded guilty. The strange incident took place at Jimmy's Fruit Mart in Newtown on November 25 when both Cesar and the shopkeeper Dinesh Patel got into an argument over the price of the fruits.

As the argument escalated, Scanlen picked up bunches of bananas and attacked Patel which resulted the shopkeeper falling down and getting injured. As per the reports, the district court judge ruled out to give Scanlan a suspended sentence of six months after he was found guilty. He directed if Scanlan is found repeating the offence in the next six months, he will be resentenced.

READ: How To Make Banana Custard Cake With Vanilla Buttercream Frosting At Home

Artwork sold for $120,000

In another strange incident, the New York-based performance artist who ate the famous $1,20,000 banana at the Art Basel exhibition in Miami Beach told an international media outlet that he would have eaten the banana sooner, only he was 'not too hungry'. David Datuna the performance artist further went on to say that he is not sorry for destroying the piece by eating a part of it. The strange artwork was installed by an Italian artist, Maurizio Cattelan who named his masterpiece 'Comedian'. The incident was caught on camera by a visitor at the museum who had posted it on Instagram, in turn, making it viral.

READ: Banana Cake Recipe With Cream Cheese Frosting, A Delicious Dessert Dish To Try At Home

READ: New York Performance Artist Who Ate $120K Banana Art Says He's 'not Sorry'
Priti Patel doesnt like to dwell on the racism she used to experience as a child. She doesnt talk about it much, a close friend told me. But she used to get a lot of name-calling at school and when she was out with her parents. She has told me it was pretty horrible.

That was back in the late 1970s and early 80s, and when she was appointed Home Secretary a few months ago, Patel was entitled to think such abuse was in the past. But as has just been dramatically demonstrated, if she did, she was wrong. Even before Sir Philip Rutnams explosive resignation, Patel was being lined up for a ritualistic, progressive punishment beating.

Priti Patel should go back to where she came from. Better yet, she should never have been allowed here in the first place. That was according to Will Straw, the former executive director of Britain Stronger in Europe.

At last, a compelling reason to support this policy, he tweeted, in response to an article headlined: Home Secretary Priti Patel admits own parents may not have been allowed into UK under her new immigration laws.

Home Secretary Priti Patel delivers a speech during the National Police Chiefs' Council and Association of Police and Crime Commissioners joint summit, at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, in London

She is also an emotionally unhinged, self-obsessed thug. At least in the eyes of New European journalist Zoe Williams, who last week detailed her tantrums, her alleged bullying and swearing, bouts of narcissistic rage in which everybody is stupid apart from her. Interestingly, this vitriol echoes the criticism levelled by Sir Philip, who strenuously denies any form of negative briefing against his Minister.

Worst of all, Priti Patel is from a Ugandan-Indian family. Not just anyone with an Indian background, but one who actually has the temerity to serve as a Conservative Cabinet Minister. Which as far as the in-house magazine of liberal Britain, The Guardian, is concerned, is one of the worst crimes of all. How did British Indians become so prominent in the Conservative Party? the paper wailed last week, before commissioning Neha Shah, an activist and researcher at Oxford University to supply the answer.

The old colonial tactics of divide and rule, Shah concluded, while adding bafflingly: The Home Secretary, Priti Patel, and the three other British Indians appointed to Johnsons Cabinet will only embolden Tory racism.

Lets imagine for a second if a senior member of Vote Leave had tweeted about barring a senior black or Asian Labour politician from the country. Or a journalist from a Conservative- supporting paper had used such vicious language about a female Labour Cabinet Minister. Or a Conservative- supporting newspaper produced a headline: How did Muslims become so prominent in the Labour Party?

Actually, we dont need to imagine. As the liberal Left were queuing up to stick their hand-stitched brogues into Britains first female Asian-heritage Home Secretary, her opposite number Diane Abbott was announcing her own retirement from front-line politics. Abbott is a divisive figure, but Ive always liked and respected her.

When she was elected as the first black woman MP, she represented a challenge to the political elite that was years ahead of its time.

But she also made mistakes. And when she did  and her critics highlighted them  the response from the liberal Left was instantaneous and ferocious. Abuse of Diane Abbott driven by racism and misogyny, says [Chuka] Umunna  The Guardian. Diane Abbott may be flawed. But this is bullying  also The Guardian. Diane Abbott accuses BBC Question Time of legitimising racism  Labour MPs spokesperson claims she was mocked and interrupted more than other panellists  you guessed it, The Guardian.

To be honest, I believe many of these charges are accurate. Much of the abuse Abbott received was racist and misogynistic. But if were going to acknowledge that, we also have to be honest about the campaign now being waged against Priti Patel  by both her enemies and those who are supposed to be her allies. People who have worked with her say she has a robust manner. But anyone who wants to drive through change in a major department of state cant do so without having finely chiselled elbows. And if you follow the career of any senior woman MP, the allegation that she is a bully is never far behind.

Its worth remembering Patel is not the first Home Secretary who has fallen foul of Sir Philip. His officious and obstructive manner brought him into conflict with Amber Rudd, who also mysteriously found herself the subject of negative briefing as the Windrush crisis unfolded.

RUTNAM abandoned her during Windrush, a Rudd ally says. He p****d off Amber and he p****d off Priti. Hes got an equal opportunities attitude towards p*****g off his Ministers.

Patels critics are also wrong on a key point. Her parents wouldnt have been stopped from entering the UK under her new immigration proposals, because they were Indian Ugandans escaping the regime of a man who used to boast about eating the flesh of opponents. They werent coming to the UK as economic migrants, but fleeing for their lives.

Home Secretary Priti Patel arrives at the National Police Chiefs' Council and Association of Police and Crime Commissioners joint summit, at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, in London

Yet strangely, Patels enemies dont feel encumbered by these facts. Remember the woke brigades instruction to those of us that havent shared the lived experience of Britains migrant communities that we must check our privilege before passing comment. Well, dont worry, because so long as its a black or Asian Conservative Cabinet Minister youre attacking, you get a pass.

In fact, they dont have to be a Cabinet Minister or an MP at all. As The Guardian demonstrates, you can dismiss hundreds of thousands of first and second generation migrants as John Bulls patsies just for daring to support a party that isnt Labour. And this is what actually lies at the heart of the attacks being launched against Priti Patel. Yes, much of it is underpinned by racism or sexism. But even more, its the product of liberal Britains seething resentment at anyone of colour who makes a success of themselves without asking permission first.

Only Labour can be trusted to unlock the talent of black, Asian and minority ethnic people, Jeremy Corbyn boasted before the Election. But Priti Patel didnt want or need his help. And thats something the modern missionaries of the liberal Left simply cannot forgive. Because if she can succeed without their patronising beneficence, so can anyone else.

I cant see why youre laughing, Andrew Marr famously taunted Patel, before he and the BBC were forced into a grovelling apology. I can. Priti Patel will continue to laugh defiantly in the faces of the racists and the sexists and the entitled liberals and the usurped Sir Humphries. Lets hope she has the last laugh.
The highly variable colour patterns seen on African monarch butterflies (Danaus chrysippus) which warn predators that the insect is toxic, may arise from its interaction with a bacterium that specifically kills males of the species, a new study says.

Scientists, including Simon Martin of the University of Edinburgh in the UK, said that all female butterflies in this East African population have two unusual features in their chromosomes, which are coiled threadlike structures in the cell's nucleus which carries the genetic information in the form of genes.

They said these butterflies have a new arrangement of their chromosomes in which those containing genes that contribute to colour patterns are fused to those of their sex-determining chromosomes, forming a new one called the neo-W chromosome.

According to the study, published in the journal PLOS Biology, the butterflies are all infected with a bacterium called Spiroplasma which kills all of their sons.

However, the researchers said it was unclear until now whether the two features were linked, and whether these could explain the highly variable colour patterns seen in the butterflies that changed from season to season.

In the study, the scientists analysed the entire DNA sequence of the bacteria and the female butterflies' chromosomes.

They found that the neo-W chromosome alters colour patterns, and has spread rapidly through the population, aided by the male-killing bacteria.

Since the bacterium only allows female offspring, the study said, it promotes the survival of one particular colour pattern gene that is always passed from mother to daughter.

But the question still remained how the East African butterfly population remained so variable when the females all carried the same colour gene.

The scientists found that this female colour gene has only a weak effect on the offspring's traits that is overridden by colour genes from the father.

They said father butterflies with different patterns will produce daughters with different patterns.

According to the study, seasonal fluctuations in wind patterns may also affect which subspecies of male immigrants end up in this region, leading to seasonal changes in female colour patterns.

It noted that even though they always resemble their father, the infected hybrid daughters, unable to produce sons, represent a genetic dead-end for the fathers' genes.

So the scientists said the fathers' colour pattern genes only survive for one generation before being wiped out.

"The relatively fast emergence and spread of a new chromosome, combined with the short life cycle of the butterfly, allows us to study how the microbe is altering the evolution of the butterfly, almost in real-time," Martin said.

"We are continually discovering new ways in which microbes manipulate their hosts, and male-killing is just one example of this. It makes you wonder to what extent the evolution of other organisms -- even humans -- is affected by such unseen forces," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bank Holidays March 2021: On these dates banks will remain closed in India, check full list here

India's first bad bank or NARCL is here to tackle NPA, free up lenders: Details here

Bank holidays in March 2020: 13 days of no work! Check full list here

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

New Delhi, Mar 01: Banks during the month of March 2020 will remain closed for 13 days of the total 31 days on account of regional festivals, national holidays and including Saturdays and Sundays. The major festival in March 2020 is Holi, which will be celebrated on March 10 and and is listed in Reserve Bank of India's bank holidays list.

Majority of the banks will remain closed to observe the festivity and others few will remain shut for two days.

Bank holidays 2020: Check full list

Besides this, there are some regional holidays such as Sarhul (in Jharkhand), Gudhi Padwa in some southern and western states.

Here is the full list of Bank holidays in March 2020:

March 1 is a Sunday

March 5 is a Wednesday and Panchayati Raj Day in Odisha

March 6 is Friday when Mizoram will be celebrating Chapchar Kut festival

March 8 is a Sunday

March 9 is Monday when Uttar Pradesh will be observing Hazrat Ali anniversary

March 10 is holi

March 14 is second Saturday

March 15 is Sunday

March 22 is Sunday

March 23 is Monday when Haryana will be observing Shaheed Bhagat Singh Day

March 25 is Wednesday and Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur and Jammu & Kashmir

March 26 is Thursday and Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand will be observing Cheti Chand anniversary

March 27 is Friday and Jharkhand will be observing Sarhul festival

March 28 is fourth Saturday

March 29 is Sunday

Bank strike in March 2020

Also, Banks may remain shut for three more days due to the bank strike, which might be called by the bank employees over a salary hike demand. The bank strike is likely to be from 11 March to 13 March.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Sunday, March 1, 2020, 13:11 [IST]
Unnikrishnan S By

Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Jagajeev Netto, a fisherman from Pozhiyoor village bordering Kerala and Tamil Nadu, was just 21 when he decided to take up the offer to go to Iran on a fisherman visa on October 30, 2019. The offer was given by his neighbour Antoney who had returned after a four-month fishing stint in Iran. He is among the 60-odd Malayalis who have been stuck in Iran because of COVID-19.

Antony managed to earn `1.25 lakh which looked attractive as we could not make any money from fishing here, said James Netto, father of Jagajeev, ruing the familys decision to send their eldest child to the far-off coast. Both James and Jagajeev made a living by fishing. While James focused on the coast of Beypore, Jagajeev ventured into Munambam side in the south. But fishermen like James think the catch had dwindled post-Ockhi cyclone.

James and wife Sherly of Puthuval Purayidam at Paruthiyoor in Pozhiyoor has four children. Sherleys gold jewellery was pawned to arrange for the visa. But Jagajeev has managed to send home only `40,000 so far. It could be due to a bad season, but I want my child back safely. said Sherly.

According to her, she was not aware of the situation there till Sunday. The couple spent anxious hours with their neighbours and contacted their ward member Pozhiyoor Johnson to reach out to Shashi Tharoor, MP.

Jagajeev is part of the fishermen group who catch fish from the waters of Iran. They take the catch to Dubai after a 12-hour journey. But the Dubai authorities denied them entry following the COVID-19 scare a five days back. They returned with the catch to Iran. But it took some time to finally sell it there, said James who has been in touch with his son over phone.

Daredevils of Pozhiyoor

Fishermen from coastal villages between Pozhiyoor and Colachal in Tamil Nadu are sought after in Gulf countries for their deep-sea fishing skills. Their trips crossing international waters to Sri Lanka, Middle East and Diego Garcia, the UKs military atoll located south of the equator, are considered daredevilry. Fishers here are fearless and dont get easily scared by rough sea conditions, said T Peter, general secretary, NFF.
YEREVAN, MARCH 1, ARMENPRESS. An Armenian citizen who arrived to Armenia on February 28 on the special flight from Iran has been tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-2019).

The case was confirmed early morning Sunday, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced on social media.

He said the patient sought medical treatment himself. The man, 29, was tested twice.

The patients wife, who arrived with him on the same flight, tested negative. The patient is feeling well, he said.

Pashinyan said the government is now taking the necessary measures as envisaged by WHO rules.

All direct contacts, including a cab driver and the border officer at the airport, of the patient will be quarantined.

PM Pashinyan said the authorities had taken all necessary safety measures on the flight.

A total of 30 people will be quarantined on March 1, he said. They will be provided with high-level isolated accommodation services.

The ruling Civil Contract party will convene a meeting on March 1 to discuss the possibility of cancelling the scheduled procession in honor of the victims of the 2008 unrest on the same day. The Prime Minister said he favors a cancellation.

All necessary measures are being taken to prevent an outbreak. On 12:00 Minister of Healthcare Arsen Torosyan will convene a press conference and will give updates. I call for maintaining calm, trust only official information and follow the preventive measures advised by the Ministry of Healthcare, PM Pashinyan said.

Last week Armenia closed its border with Iran for two-weeks. The closure does not cover citizens of both countries willing to repatriate. Two special flights were organized to repatriate Armenian nationals from Tehran. They were screened and accompanied by healthcare workers.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
TEHRAN, Iran - A member of a council that advises Irans supreme leader died Monday from the new coronavirus, becoming the highest-ranking official within the Islamic Republics Shiite theocracy to be killed by the illness ravaging the country.

The death of Expediency Council member Mohammad Mirmohammadi came as Iran announced the virus had killed at least 66 people among 1,501 confirmed cases. There are now 1,700 cases of the new coronavirus across the Mideast. Of those outside Iran, most link back to the Islamic Republic, which after China has the highest death toll from the COVID-19 illness caused by the virus.

After downplaying the coronavirus as recently as last week, Iranian authorities now say they have plans to potentially mobilize 300,000 soldiers and volunteers to confront the virus.

Yet experts still worry Irans percentage of deaths to infections, now around 4.4%, is much higher than other countries, suggesting the number of infections in Iran may be much higher than current figures show. Saudi Arabia and Jordan meanwhile announced their first cases of the virus Monday.

Mirmohammadi, 71, died at a north Tehran hospital of the virus, state media said. His mother had reportedly died of the coronavirus in recent days as well.

Mirmohammadi, though not particularly well-known to the Iranian public, served as a top official in the presidencies of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Ali Khamenei, now the countrys supreme leader. The state-run IRNA news agency described Mirmohammadi, whose father also once served on the Expediency Council, as having a close relationship to Khamenei.

The Expediency Council advises the supreme leader, as well as settles disputes between parliament and the Guardian Council, Irans constitutional watchdog that also oversees the countrys elections. The 45-member Expediency Council, which also includes former hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and officials close to Khamenei, last met in February with Mirmohammadi on hand.

Mirmohammadis death makes him the highest-ranking official within Irans theocracy to be killed by the virus. The virus earlier killed Hadi Khosroshahi, Irans former ambassador to the Vatican, as well as a recently elected member of parliament.

Iran stands alone in how the virus has affected its government, even compared to hard-hit China, the epicenter of the outbreak.

Those sick include Vice-President Masoumeh Ebtekar, better known as Sister Mary, the English-speaking spokeswoman for the students who seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979 and sparked the 444-day hostage crisis, state media reported. Also sick is Iraj Harirchi, the head of an Iranian government task force on the coronavirus who tried to downplay the virus before falling ill.

Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei, himself addressing journalists by teleconference over concerns about the virus, acknowledged the challenges remaining for the Islamic Republic.

We will have two difficult weeks ahead, he said.

Health Ministry spokesman Ali Reza Raisi, who gave the new figures for the virus Monday, said that Irans armed forces and its Basij, the all-volunteer arm of its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, stood ready to mobilize 300,000 troops to help combat the virus. Already, Guard vehicles have been spraying disinfectant on streets in major cities.

Those troops would help sanitize public areas, as well as running down leads on who infected people had contacted before falling ill, Raisi said.

Judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi, no relation to the health ministry official, acknowledged some people had begun stockpiling medical supplies for profit in the country. He urged prosecutors to show no mercy for hoarders.

Hoarding sanitizing items is playing with peoples lives and it is not ignorable, Raisi said.

Aid has been reaching Iran, despite international firms worried about conducting business with Tehran after the U.S. unilaterally withdrew from Irans nuclear deal with world powers and imposed sanctions. Some 7.5 tons of aid from the World Health Organization flew into Iran from the United Arab Emirates.

The WHO said a team of experts flew into Tehran Monday evening to help local health workers respond to the outbreak and deliver medical supplies. It added a WHO worker in Iran was sick with the virus as well.

Meanwhile, France, Germany and the United Kingdom said they would urgently fly laboratory tests for the virus into Iran, as well as protective body suits and gloves. They also offered close to 5 million euros ($5.5 million) in financial support.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif thanked those donating supplies and said Tehran still needed protective gear, ventilators and test kits.

While Iran has closed schools and universities to stop the spread of the virus, major Shiite shrines have remained open despite civilian authorities calling for them to be closed. The holy cities of Mashhad and Qom in particular, both home to shrines, have been hard-hit by the virus. Shiites often touch and kiss shrines as a sign of their faith. Authorities have been cleaning the shrines with disinfectants.

Police have arrested one man who posted a video showing himself licking the metal enclosing the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, the most-important Shiite saint buried in the country, according to reports by semiofficial news agencies. In the video, the man said he licked the metal to allow others to visit the shrine with peace of mind.

Meanwhile Monday, the virus outbreak saw itself dragged into the yearslong boycott of Qatar by four Arab nations over a political dispute.

A prominent columnist at Dubais government-owned Al-Bayan newspaper on Twitter falsely called the virus as being a plot by Qatar to hurt the upcoming Expo 2020 worlds fair in Dubai and Saudi Arabia. Noura al-Moteari later described the tweet as satire to The Associated Press after it gained widespread attention.

The Dubai Media Office similarly described the tweet as being written in a cynical style while distancing the Arabic-language daily from al-Moteari.

Noura is a freelance writer and is not an employee of Al-Bayan nor does she represent the publications views, it told the AP.

The tweet comes after Qatar expressed disappointment Sunday that nearly all of its Gulf neighbours snubbed invitations to attend the weekend peace signing ceremony between the U.S. and the Taliban.

___

Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writers Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, Omar Akour in Amman, Jordan, and Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed.
CHICAGO  Chicagos public schools will no longer observe Columbus Day, replacing that October school holiday with Indigenous Peoples Day, with civic and political leaders promising to challenge the decision.

Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans president Sergio Giangrande is calling the decision made Wednesday a "slap in the face" of the more than 500,000 Italian Americans in Chicago.

Giangrande says his group, which sponsors the citys annual Columbus Day parade, is moving to reverse the school districts decision.

For Italian Americans, who endured horrific discrimination and continue to be the subject of stereotypical degradation in popular culture, Christopher Columbus is a symbol for the resilience of a people that have helped shape the cultural landscape of this great nation, Giangrande said in a statement.

The 5-2 vote by the Chicago Board of Education follows similar efforts to recognize the negative effect of Columbus arrival in the western hemisphere on the indigenous population. South Dakota changed Columbus Day to Native American Day in 1990. Several cities have followed South Dakotas lead.
When we dont have the courage to admit we are bigots, we take the circuitous route by claiming our objections are based on costs and the rumors we hear from other bigoted observers. That is what is happening in North Dakota in the refugee resettlement program.

The first unfounded rumor I heard was from someone who insisted that the Muslims working at cash registers wouldnt process pork. At a store last week, l waited for the Muslim clerk to throw my pork chops on the floor in disgust. Nothing happened.

Refugees have been accused of refusing to learn English, an important step in acculturation. However, English classes have been provided, and the refugees know that to make it in America they will have to get past the language barrier.

This little rumor reminds me of the ethnic pockets in North Dakota that held on to their native languages when they came to the states. More than a few main streets ran on German and Norwegian well into the '60s. And the streets of Pisek hummed with Czech.

Then there are those dark-colored people driving better cars than some of our home folks. It is obvious that these refugees are getting free cars from the government. Wait a minute!

Refugees are responsible for their own transportation, and some happy salesman at a local car dealership  bet on the come that these folks are going to work and pay for their vehicles.

Maybe we see a rare refugee with a decent car, but we dont see others walking through the winter storms or riding bicycles on the slippery streets.

Then theres the rumor that most of these refugees have criminal backgrounds and it would be best to buy several more guns if one moves in next door. This is a wicked rumor emanating from Washington, claimed by policy officials who have no statistics to back these allegations with facts.

The screening process takes care of the vast majority of prospective immigrants who intend harm.

First, the United Nations investigates prospective refugees before turning them over to countries for resettlement. An initial security check is conducted by the U.S. State Department, followed by in-person interviews by the U. S. Department of Homeland Security.

Meanwhile, agencies work oversees to coordinate medical screening and cultural orientation. Then the Department of Homeland Security conducts another security screening. If dangerous people slip through, we have our own government officials to blame.

With this tight screening system, it is possible that as many bad refugees get through as quack doctors, fake scientists and shyster lawyers get through their screening processes.

Refugees coming to North Dakota have spent an average of over 19 years living in limbo. The 60% who are women and children can be stricken from our list of suspects. Ninety-eight percent had North Dakota connections before arriving in the United States.

The majority of refugees were not Somali in 2019 -- they were from the Congo. In 2018, the majority were Bhutanese. In 2019, only five were Somali. By religion, 85% were Christian and 15% were Muslim.

When we get past the bigotry into the specifics, we find very little to justify our hostility for these people who have been in no-persons land for two decades. All they want is a home.

Its time for a little story about refugees.

This unwhite family was traveling down Highway 83 between Minot and Bismarck when the water pump squealed to a stop, forcing the vehicle off the road. Hoping for help, the family was joyful when a late-model Buick came over the rise.

The circuit-riding preacher looked briefly, thought about the third church that was expecting him, and bypassed the problem. Next came a priest, but he had just gotten his neat outfit back from the cleaner so he bypassed the problem. Next came a roughneck from the Bakken, hurrying south to Kansas to see his family.

He stopped, got out a big roll of duct tape and closed the water system while spitting snoose and unabashedly swearing a blue streak. He was a pagan, for sure.

Remember in church when we heard original version, we cheered the pagan because he did the right thing.

As the richest people on the planet, it is time for us to do the right thing. If not us, then who?

Lloyd Omdahl is a political scientist and former North Dakota lieutenant governor. His column appears Sundays.

Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2020 > AAP Has Successfully Forged a Model for Regional Forces to Emulate

Months after the Bharatiya Janata Party rode to electoral victory in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, a fledgeling new activist outfit, christened the Aam Aadmi Party, won the Delhi State Assembly elections with an aplomb that was rare in modern Indian electoral history67 of 70 seats.

Who would have thought that in the aftermath of the second Modi triumph at the Centre five years later, the 2020 Delhi Assembly elections would offer such a deja vu moment? And how: After all the blood and gore that came with the Rightwing assault by Hindutva, the AAP, the band of merry and undeterred Ninjas has once again trounced the so-nationalist nose, garnering an astounding 62 out of 70 seats.

That this has been demonstrably the result of a sweet quotidian compact between a truly peoples party and the people at large must bode very well for those pundits whose cynical knowledgeability often gets the better of their faith in a truly democratic politics. As indeed it bodes well for the republic at large.

My takeaway from the happening is best stated in the words of a citizen who spoke to Anjali Aitwal at NDTV:

The results have proved that true nationalists are not those who refused to fly the tricolour at Nagpur for fifty-two years and who call peopleincluding a Kejriwalterrorists at the drop of a hat; true nationalists are those who work to alleviate ordinary citizens real and concrete needs without favour or discrimination.

Golden words that politicians and their followers might truly hold close to their hearts.

Accused of dispensing freebees, yet another AAP voter spoke thus on behalf of the accused AAP Governmentwhat you see as freebees are social welfare measures that any caring government owes to the hard-working mass who produce wealth for the polity and the state, underscoring cannily that Delhi still remains only the second State with a surplus of revenues in the countrytestimony to good governance.

As to the no-holds-barred calumny against Shaheen Bagh, that the AAP candidate from the Okhla constituency, which Shaheen Bagh is a part of, has won with the largest margin of anya whopping 71,000 votesis telling. Considering that, in this constituency of a lakh and ten thousand voters, only 45,000 are Muslims, it is a so salutary conclusion that the defeat of the Hindutva campaign has come indeed from Hindus themselves.

A circumstance that emphatically underlines the reality that Shaheen Bagh has never been a Muslim event but a grand coming together of citizens from all denominations and persuasionsa fact anathema to the Hindutva propagandists who left no gruesome stone unturned to project Shaheen Bagh as a conspiracy mounted by the usual suspects within the country.

The secularism at Shaheen Bagh has thus been as self-evident and sentient as the AAPs refusal to make any strident protestations of its own commitment to secularism. That a visit to the Hanuman temple can be a normal aspect of that point of view has been another calming rebuff to those who tend to claim suzerainty over the Hindu faith. Indeed, nothing could be more telling about this than the statement made by the RSS ideologue, Bhayyaji Joshi, who said that opposing the BJP was not tantamount to opposing Hinduism.



Wherever one interacted with ordinary voters at nukkads and street corners, disgust with the politics of polarisation was fearlessly articulated. At many places, Hindus who had voted for the BJP voiced resentment at the suggestion that they could not be real Hindus if they did not climb the Hindutva bandwagon, or sufficiently suspect Muslims of being enemy agents about to reduce Hindus to a dangerously emaciated minority.

As I had occasion to state in a previous column, that the Modi-Shah duo seem to finally have brought about a fine unintended consequencethat of cementing a secular solidarity among citizens at large, thanks in no small part to their sectarian insistence on the CAA legislation and their intent to follow up with a patently devious purpose in carrying out a nationwide NRC. This countrywide repudiation of a religion-based principle of citizenship has thus had the most salutary effect of awakening the polity at large to a new insidious subversion of the republics raison detre.

And in that process, Shaheen Bagh must be counted as a vanguard that has bolstered a nationwide secular resolve like never before in recent years.

That the entire artillery of the Hindutva campaignall the way from the Prime Minister to the Home Minister to a bevy of other ministers and elected representatives, supported by leaders of allied partieshas been so conclusively defeated by the sanity of the common Indian is indeed a watershed moment of incalculable possibilities. The question must now be about how sensibly and with how much hard work and organisational skill pro-secular republic political forces across the country harvest the events in Delhi to yield a lasting nationwide fruit in the months to come.

That the Congress party should have so obviously held back its horses to facilitate the defeat of the Hindutva forces is indeed a most constructive political omenone that all regional forces may emulate in their own time and place as other elections follow.

For now, let us give thanks to the phenomenal ingenuity and grit of the AAP for having firmly put in place successful politics of honest hard work on behalf of the citizenry at large without turning away from the boldly unprecedented measures they have taken in school education, health care, in quotidian domestic budgetary support to services like electric power and water supply, in womens safety concerns etc. without denting the capacity of the state to bolster its revenues, warding off corruption and unwarranted expenditure on class-based fanfare.

Think how much more the republic needs of the same.

(Courtesy: thewire.in)

The author, who taught English literature at the University of Delhi for over four decades and is now retired, is a prominent writer and poet. A well-known commentator on politics, culture and society, he wrote the much acclaimed Dickens and the Dialectic of Growth. His book, The Underside of ThingsIndia and the World: A Citizens Miscellany, 2006-2011, came out in August 2012. Thereafter he wrote two more books, Idea of India Hard to Beat: Republic Resilient and Kashmir: A Noble Tryst in Tatters.
Chevron Corp. requested traders and different body of workers at its Canary Wharf place of business in London to paintings from home as a precaution after an employee used to be examined for the coronavirus, consistent with an individual accustomed to the subject.

The lockdown was prompted by an employee coming down with flu-like symptoms after returning from a country where there has been a coronavirus outbreak, according to reports.

Chevron's office is located in the dense Westferry Circus business district of Canary Wharf, home to various banks including Citi, HSBC and Barclays.

The UK's Department of Health and Social Care reported Tuesday that almost 6,800 people have been screened for coronavirus in the country, though so far only 13 have tested positive.

"Chevron continues to monitor the situation very closely, utilising the guidance of worldwide and local health authorities", Chevron said in a statement, noting that it would not provide personal details about the employee.

In the meantime, Chevron is "taking precautionary measures to reduce [its employees] risk of exposure", a company spokeswoman said. "It is our policy to not provide details of our employees". About 120,000 workers pass through the district daily.

Asia's energy trading hub was impacted two weeks ago when Royal Dutch Shell Plc sent home some staff from its trading desks in Singapore after an employee had contact with a coronavirus case.

The UK Foreign Office has now warned against all but essential travel to the quarantined towns in the country, and said that anyone returning from those towns must self-isolate.
Every day, hundreds of people gather on the edge of the Tigris River in southeast Turkey. They stand and watch as a 12,000-year-old town slowly disappears.

Rising water levels from the Ilisu Dam are flooding the ancient town of Hasankeyf. Turkish government officials approved plans for the dam in 1997. It was built to produce electricity for the area.

But the effects of the flooding will force out nearly 80,000 people from 199 villages. Even officials in neighboring Iraq are worried. They fear what the project will do to water supplies from the Tigris.

After years of delays, the dam started filling last July. Water levels in and around Hasankeyf have already risen about 15 meters. The levels continue to rise by around 15 centimeters a day.

The dam forms part of Turkeys Southeastern Anatolia Project. The effort is designed to increase economic activity in the poor and underdeveloped area.

Locals have moved out of Hasankeyf. Many of them moved to a new town, Yeni Hasankeyf, on a nearby hill. Yeni means new in Turkish. The town will sit along a newly created waterway once the dam is completely filled.

For now, locals can still see the stone supports of an ancient bridge that once crossed the Tigris. They also can see a modern-day bridge. But both structures are slowly disappearing.

Dirt has been left at both ends of the modern bridge, which leads into Hasankeyf, to prevent people from entering the town. Village guards wait at the end of it.

The water has come up on the shores of the town near the end of the bridge, swallowing some houses. Parts of roads in the town are also under water.

News reporters were turned away from another entrance to Hasankeyf. Police told them that only locals moving their belongings and people with permission from local officials could enter.

Once the dam is filled, proposed plans for the area include tourist boats that will travel between the new town and a part of the old town that will remain above the water. Several historic structures -- including a massive tomb, an ancient Turkish bath and an historic Islamic center -- have already been moved to Yeni Hasankeyf.

The Ilisu Dam will produce 1,200 megawatts of electricity, making it Turkeys fourth-largest dam in terms of energy production.

The historic Hasankeyf fortress is where where Romans, Mongols and Seljuk Turks fought or settled centuries ago. Below it, a canyon containing hundreds of caves in which people once lived and worked has been filled with concrete. A waterway was built on top of the hard surface to make rain water flow into the dam.

The dam is now 20 to 25 percent full, reports the Hasankeyf Coordination group. The water will likely rise another 50 meters in coming months, reaching just below the top of the fortress.

Dusty beautiful caves

Eyup Agilday, a 27-year-old shepherd, recently moved to the new town. He still visits the old village each day to take care of his sheep. He left the animals behind because there is no land for farming in the new town.

When I see Hasankeyf being left under water, I am torn up inside. We have memories there but our history is there as well. We are talking about 12,000 years, Agilday said. He added that around five families were still coming to the town to take care of their animals.

Ramazan Sevik, who is from the nearby village of Gercus, came with his two children to visit the town before it is gone.

We saw the history here but our children didnt see those dusty beautiful caves. Theyll only a see a version of it with make-up, the 45-year-old said.

Those who opposed (the project) were accused of being political, Sevik said. Even if youre an environmentalist, a patriot, or animal lover, they labeled you as something else when you said Stop! to the project.

He added, Now, were watching history slowly disappear.

Im Ashley Thompson.

The Reuters news agency reported this story. Ashley Thompson adapted it for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

_____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

shore - n. the land along the edge of an area of water (such as an ocean, lake, etc.)

tourist - n. a person who travels to a place for pleasure

tomb - n. a building or chamber above or below the ground in which a dead body is kept

bath - n. a public building where people in the past went to wash or soak their bodies

fortress - n. a place that is protected against attack : a fortified place

canyon - n. a deep valley with steep rock sides and often a stream or river flowing through it

cave - n. a large hole that was formed by natural processes in the side of a cliff or hill or under the ground

make-up - n. substances (such as lipstick or powder) used to make someone's face look more attractive

label - v. to name or describe (someone or something) in a specified way
Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and Mashreq announced the regions first blockchain data sharing platform, now live in production, to support licensed businesses and corporates opening digital bank accounts instantly.

In continuation of the consortium formed back in July 2019 between DIFC and Mashreq, the initiative known as Know Your Customer (KYC), along with the DIFC incubated FinTech firm, norbloc, was unveiled as a market-first of its kind in the Middle East.

DIFC and Mashreq took a strategic decision to harness this promising technology by focusing on a specific use case to enhance both the quality and integrity of corporate KYC information as well as quality of customer experience when opening bank account, which complement the ease of doing business in DIFC.

The platform is now live and available to all UAE-based corporates and banks. DIFC and Mashreq take the recent KYC consortium announcement forward and announce the region-first live connection, built on the same chosen platform norbloc Fides.

Growing from an initial Proof of Concept to confirm the possibility of using cutting-edge blockchain technology, the KYC platform is now ready and open to all licensing authorities and financial institutions in UAE to join DIFC and Mashreqs live blockchain experience for full-scale adoption under a unified nation-wide umbrella.

The platform will make it easier and faster for new companies to do business in the UAE, removing existing paper-based KYC processes.

Arif Amiri, Chief Executive Officer, DIFC Authority said: As the leading financial centre in the MEASA region, we take great pride in continuously enhancing and evolving the DIFC ecosystem in order to provide a world-class environment for our partners and community to conduct business. This initiative provides financial institutions and businesses a platform in order to seamlessly undertake operations.

We place a high importance on strategic collaboration with industry-leading financial institutions as part of our commitment to Emirates Blockchain Strategy 2021 that will accelerate seamless transactions and improve the efficiency of working processes for Government entities and professionals at the Centre.

As we enter a new period of growth and expansion, our core focus on FinTech and blockchain are major steps on our journey towards transforming the future of finance.

Ahmed Abdelaal, CEO of Mashreq, said: In a true milestone for the banking sector in the UAE, Mashreq continues to lead the way in implementing emerging technologies into practical use for our customers. The programme aligns with the UAE Blockchain Strategy 2021, earmarking the beginning of a journey towards a broader vision of forming a Consortium of Banks, Government Bodies as well as other Licensing Authorities, for seamless sharing of customer KYC data, thus leading to increased transparency, added security and a better customer experience.

As a digital leader, Mashreq will continue to innovate and elevate the banking experience for our customers and invest in solutions that make our operations more efficient and seamless, ultimately positioning the country as a global financial hub. The initiative also marks our commitment to fulfilling the vision of the UAE Banks Federation, Smart Dubai and UAE Central Bank to serve the greater good and promote ease of business, he added.

This first-to-region digital account-opening product for businesses and corporates provided through partnership between DIFC and Mashreq, is a testament of the great potential of using blockchain technology. DIFC prepares the KYC record during the corporate licence application and is shared electronically via blockchain with Mashreq, with customer consent, simplifying the process of opening a bank account. This single KYC solution for corporate entities, is a scalable ecosystem solution, available to all qualified financial institutions/licensing authorities and supports connectivity with other similar initiatives when they follow the footprints of DIFC and Mashreq into production.

As part of leading innovation in the region, DIFC and Mashreq transformed their business operations and IT platforms to ensure seamless connectivity between the two organisations and digitised the entire front and back end onboarding and KYC processes, to provide a true digital experience to customers.

To achieve this milestone, DIFC and Mashreq collaborated to define the business and operating framework, technical architecture, customer data protection schedules, Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery plan and set-up the blockchain connectivity. Norbloc provided the Blockchain platform (Fides), Gowling WLG assisted in drafting the legal agreements, while Deloitte supported Mashreq with the overall governance and programme management.

As part of DIFCs legal framework, its Data Protection Law embodies international best practice standards, and is consistent with EU regulations and OECD guidelines. It is designed to balance the legitimate needs of businesses and organisations to process personal information while upholding an individuals right to privacy.

Based on the experience and learnings from the production implementation, DIFC and Mashreq have also conceptualised a consortium framework covering key tenets required for large-scale

adoption by other participants joining the ecosystem. Key aspects around consortium governance (ownership structure, oversight, decision making process), business model (participation criteria, commercial model) and operating model (technical considerations,

operating guidelines, change management, data confidentiality, dispute management, liabilities and indemnities etc.) are defined and ready for ecosystem scale up.

DIFC and Mashreq invites all other banks and licensing authorities to join the ecosystem and take advantage of the efforts and learnings to provide a seamless best-in-class experience to their clients. A new technology architecture that has the ability to be faster, more secure, more efficient than the current onboarding verification procedures with enhanced transparency. -- Tradearabia News Service
BUFFALO  Albany Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger, who is temporarily leading the scandal-plagued Buffalo Diocese, is facing calls to step down from his post in western New York after he held a private service last week attended by some priests who the diocese has found to be credibly abused of sexual abuse.

Scharfenberger has apologized for the decision twice over the past week, releasing a lengthy statement on Sunday after leaders of the group Road to Recovery, which advocates for survivors of sexual abuse, held a press event in Buffalo urging his resignation. After the news conference, Scharfenberger again expressed regret for "the pain and further disillusionment that this private gathering of priests, which included those not in good standing with the diocese, has caused to victim-survivors who rightly demand justice and accountability for the horrific and lasting harm they have experienced."

The bishop reiterated that the private mass, held at the beginning of Lent and attended by at least two priests that the Buffalo Diocese has placed on its list of credibly accused priests, was not an indication that their status within the church had changed. Each diocese maintains a list of credibly accused priests and clergy, whose status has been determined by internal diocesan review boards.

Once placed on the list, which is not indicative of criminal charges, the accused are barred from celebrating sacraments publicly. They can still attend private services, though, as their case is evaluated by the Holy See  the government of the Roman Catholic Church based in Italy.

But survivors said the decision to hold the private mass deepened still-open wounds, with one alleged victim telling WKBW Buffalo that "[it] feels like justice was ripped away."

I welcome an opportunity to meet with those who have every right to express their views  however critical of me personally  with the hope that we can find a constructive path forward in our constant effort to convey true repentance and bring about lasting reform and renewal of this local Church," the bishop said Sunday.

Scharfenberger has led the scandal-plagued Buffalo Diocese since December following the resignation of its former Bishop Richard Malone, who had been widely accused of mishandling abuse allegations. Scharfenberger has tried to address the issue in both the Buffalo community and in Albany, recently holding several services for survivors of sexual abuse.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

His efforts have received mixed responses from victims  some appreciate the extended hand, while others question why it has taken so long to confront the long history of abuse within the church.

Scharfenberger's interim Buffalo appointment coincides with the recent enactment of the state's Child Victims Act, which in August opened a one-year "look-back" period allowing survivors of all ages to lodge previously time-barred claims against their alleged abusers. Since then, more than 1,600 claims have been filed under the law statewide, including more than 250 against the Buffalo Diocese and about 65 against the Albany Diocese.

Facing mounting pressure and financial liability, the Buffalo Diocese filed for bankruptcy on Friday. The Albany Diocese is not expected to make the same decision.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday claimed that over 18,000 refugees had crossed the western border that it shares with Greece after Ankara opened its gate amid a new military campaign in north-western Syria. According to reports, Erdogan did not provide any evidence to support his claim but said that Turkey is not obliged to look after and feed so many refugees.

Erdogan's claim came after chaos sparked at the western border where Greek troops prevented migrants from entering Europe by firing teargas and stun grenades.

Read: UN Chief Calls Syrian Crisis 'humanitarian Nightmare', Says There Is No Military Solution

Escalation in Syria and refugee crisis in Europe

Erdogan had long threatened to open its western border allowing migrants to cross to Europe, with which it had signed an accord in 2016 promising to prevent migration in return of financial support. Erdogan complained that funds meant to support the refugees were arriving too slowly from Brussels. However, media reports suggest that the new shift in Ankara's policy is because Turkey is trying to secure support from NATO and the European Union over its new military campaign in north-western Idlib province, Syria's last rebel-held region.

According to reports, the Turkish military is supporting the rebels in Idlib who are facing an onslaught from Assad's regime forces that are backed by Russian airpower.

Read: 'Situation In Idlib Will Only Be Resolved When Syrian Troops Withdraw': Turkey's Erdogan

As per reports, pro-Syrian government forces launched an offensive in Idlib against the rebel fighters, forcing people to cross the Syrian-Turkish border. Turkey launched the new military campaign in Idlib after 33 Turkish soldiers were killed in an airstrike on Thursday night.

Ankara, which is already providing Syrian refugees shelter in Turkey saw a new wave of migration after the airstrikes. As per reports, Turkey on Friday ordered its police, coastguard and border guards to stand down, meaning a passage for migrants to cross to Europe. Turkey reportedly provided buses to the migrants to help them cross over to Europe.

Read: Turkey Hits 115 Syrian Government Targets, Destroys 101 After Attacks On Soldiers

Erdogan wants Syrian troops to withdraw beyond the borders that Turkey and Russia outlined in a 2018 agreement. Back in 2018, Turkey and Russia collaborated together to set-up a 'de-escalation zone' in Idlib in order to stem the violence in the region. The latest offensive launched by the Syrian government threatens the fragile agreement between Ankara and Moscow. Erdogan had earlier warned the Syrian government and had set a deadline to withdraw until the end of February.

Read: Russia Backed Regime's Offensive In Syria Displaced 7 Lakh Since December: UN

(with inputs from agencies)

Lead Image Credit: AP
'It is never pleasant to watch human decency sacrificed on the altar of a political party's internal discipline Harm was done to a girl of 16 on Gerry Adams's watch and his party is woefully incapable of dealing with the implications of the injustice done to her - not just in 1997 when it happened, but now... All of them are damaged by their unswerving support for Adams. But the most blemished is Mary Lou McDonald." The words of Martina Devlin, writing in 2014 for the Irish Independent, what Una Mullally contemporaneously referred to on Twitter as a "bang on" piece about my case.

Devlin described McDonald as having a "compassionate vacuum towards a woman who underwent the two ordeals of sexual abuse and speaking publicly about it. That's not going to be forgotten about anytime soon", she said.

Fast-forward to February 2020, where Mullally was quoted in Reuters as saying that McDonald had positioned herself as a "progressive feminist, female leader who is very much chiming with the times".

Really? My view of feminism is standing up for women. Mary Lou McDonald did not stand up for me. In fact she sat down, in the Dail, when she refused to leave her seat over a row in the chamber at the height of publicity around my case. Some accused her of deliberately trying to deflect from my issue with dramatics - which she denies. She wasn't long wrapping up her protest when I tweeted that I would go and sit in the Dail myself until Sinn Fein started treating me properly.

While no one could doubt Una Mullally's feminist credentials, and she has called out my treatment in the past, the level of cognitive dissonance within other sections of Irish feminism in general is astounding at times, none more so than the platitudes afforded to McDonald during the election campaign, and in its aftermath. There is no doubt she is capable and intelligent, and can deliver a rehearsed speech aimed flawlessly at the jugular, but is this enough to make her a feminist's feminist?

The National Women's Council, Ireland's greatest (funded) feminists, tweeted on February 9: "Congratulations Mary Lou on your outstanding election to the 33rd Dail and for your leadership as the first woman president of SF in this historic election that is set to change the political landscape in Ireland. #Femgen #ge2020."

Hashtag "Femgen"? Don't make me laugh.

Separately, with the exception of good organisations, such as the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, Foyle Women's Aid, the Cork Sexual Violence Centre, and Reclaim the Night Belfast who supported me throughout, there are other individual feminists who rush to be appalled on a #metoo hashtag, yet sidestep the issue of Sinn Fein and its questionable treatment of victims. There are acceptable abuse victims whom they all readily support, and then there are the inconvenient ones.

''Women's rights are human rights'' does not extend, it seems, to this woman. My rights were taken on a sofa in Ballymurphy 23 years ago, repeatedly. They were taken again in 2000 (after the Good Friday Agreement) when the IRA forced an investigation and brought me face to face with my abuser to read our body language to determine who was telling the truth. They were again stripped from me with an instruction not to talk about it. From 2010-2014, my rights were sidelined when those who could have provided evidence to help convict my abuser didn't, and when those who could have cooperated with the police wouldn't. And, when I eventually waived anonymity and the weight of the entire republican movement came crashing down on me, some feminists who hated rape, but supported Sinn Fein, managed to deftly look the other way. No #metoo solidarity there. No SF denouncing the graffiti which appeared in huge letters about me in the area that I was raped; no attempt to curb the deliberately planted whispers and rumours; no disciplining those in the party who maligned my character on social media; no suspension of those former IRA people turned SF activists who ran a kangaroo court into my rape.

There were no Shinner feministas calling out the politicians from the party, including its current and past presidents, on their response to this rape victim when she went public.

A week after I waived anonymity, Sinn Fein held a public meeting in Belfast, with a specific invitation to media, where Gerry Adams was given a round of applause for, among other things, saying the following: "I am very conscious that a young woman is at the centre of this" and further stating that the assertion (which had been made by some, including by me) that Sinn Fein had engaged in a cover-up of abuse was "a vile slur on the thousands of decent upstanding republican people right across this island". He outlined a Sinn Fein position that was directly in contrast to my IRA allegations and I saw this as a further attempt to publicly smear my credibility. Mary Lou McDonald sat in the front row and clapped that particular speech. There's feminism for you.

For four years they reiterated the "we believe she was abused but we don't know anything about the IRA" line. Four years. And then came the Ombudsman investigation which turned up intelligence from 2000 that the IRA had indeed investigated my abuse. And out came Mary Lou McDonald - not to apologise for the way she and her party treated me, but for there not being "processes in place at the time". What the hell does that statement even mean?

And the woke feminist brigade said: "Sure isn't she a great woman for apologising to her? Good old Mary Lou, that's it all sorted now."

Except it was not, and it is not. Sinn Fein treated a rape victim appallingly in public, and some of their online brigade continue to do so. Some people have short memories. I don't.

Ironically, it took a male feminist to shame them. In 2016, Eamonn McCann tweeted: "The number of Shinners still spitting bile at Mairia Cahill for coming forward about rape compounded by paramilitary abuse is sickening."

There is no wriggle room for those who consider themselves feminist when it comes to Sinn Fein, or those who succumb to the fashionable Mary Lou bandwagon. Those who vote for them lose any agency or authority when it comes to calling out violence against women, if they have never called out SF's response and withdrawn support over their continued treatment in plain sight, of this woman. What's that Martin Luther King once said about injustice anywhere being a threat to justice everywhere?

I await with interest those writers and women's rights activists who ignore this point, and trip over themselves to tweet platitudes at Sinn Fein; yet turn up with their banners as next weekend's International Women's Day approaches. By their hypocrisy, ye shall know them.
Workers wearing protective gear prepare food orders outside a restaurant only offering take-out to prevent people gathering due to the coronavirus outbreak, in Beijing on March 1, 2020. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Ontario Reports Three New Cases of Novel Coronavirus, BC Reports One New Case

Health officials in two provinces confirmed four new cases of the novel coronavirus in Canada on Saturday, but insisted the disease is not widely circulating in this country despite the influx.

The new cases, three in the Greater Toronto Area and one near Vancouver, bring the total number of confirmed or presumed COVID-19 infections in Canada to 20.

Of the Ontario cases, two women, a 34-year-old from York region, north of Toronto, and a 51-year-old from east of the city, had recently made separate trips to Iran, health officials said. A 69-year-old man, who is married to the older of the two women, had not recently travelled, so officials say its likely he caught the virus from his wife upon her return.

The British Columbia patient is a woman in her 60s from Tehran, Iran, who travelled to B.C. to visit family and developed symptoms a few days after arriving.

At this time, the virus is not circulating locally, a statement from Ontarios Ministry of Health said. However, given the global circumstances, Ontario is actively working with city and health partners to plan for the potential of local spread.

None of the Ontario patients were showing severe symptoms, officials said, noting they are all self-isolating at home.

North of Toronto, York Region Public Health said the patient from there was not wearing a face mask when she flew to Pearson Airport from Iran, with transfers in Qatar and Copenhagen.

Officials said they were looking to speak with anyone who travelled business class on flight AC 883, QR 163 and QR 484 on Feb. 26.

Dr. Karim Kurji, York Regions Medical Officer of Health, said the woman also boarded a GO Bus after arriving at Pearson. He asked anybody who sat on the upper level of GO Bus #40 at around 3:55 p.m. on Feb 26 to contact health officials.

I have to emphasize, that often when we do this sort of contact tracing, the individuals that we find usually do not develop symptoms, said Kurji, who said that he still wants people who were on the bus and flights to get in touch to be safe.

We consider the risk level (in the bus) to be much lower than a plane, theres more ventilation, the period of travel is much less in time.

British Columbia Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said the province is focused on containment and testing, but also has a pandemic stockpile in the province in case the situation gets worse.

B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix noted that more than 1,000 people have been tested for the virus, which he said is a higher number than other jurisdictions, including the entire United States.

Officials in both provinces said some of the first people to contract the virus have fully recovered. Ontarios Ministry of Health said three of the first people to contract COVID-19 no longer have the illness, while four people in B.C. no longer have the virus.

There have been a total of 11 reported cases in Ontario and eight in B.C. since the outbreak began. Another patient in Quebec is presumed to have the virus after receiving positive test results locally, but the diagnosis still has to be confirmed by the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg.

In the United States, the governor of Washington has declared a state of emergency after a man died there of COVID-19, the first such reported death in the United States. More than 50 people in a nursing facility are sick and being tested for the virus.

So far in that country, 62 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19.
Our weekly roundup of books that should be on your radar.

We love stories, and even in the age of Netflix-and-chill, there's nothing like a good book that promises a couple of hours of absorption  whether curled up in bed, in your favourite coffeehouse, or that long (and tiresome) commute to work. Every Sunday, we'll have a succinct pick of books, across diverse genres, that have been newly made available for your reading pleasure. Get them wherever you get your books  the friendly neighbourhood bookseller, e-retail website, chain store  and in whatever form you prefer. Happy reading!

For more of our weekly book recommendations, click here.

***

 FICTION

Soar

By Amit Majmudar

Penguin Random House India | Rs 499 | 256 pages

Writer Amit Majmudars Soar is the humorous story of a Hindu-Muslim friendship. It follows Bholanath and Khudabaksh, two soldiers in the British Indian Army, sent to Europe to fight in WWI. When a mission in a surveillance balloon goes awry, the two, along with an angry squirrel, are set adrift. They float over a continent torn by war, learn about the worst humankind is capable of, and how true friends can soar above it all.

Read more about the book here.

Mrs A's Indian Gentlemen

By Dawood Ali Mccallum

Hachette India | Rs 450 | 376 pages

Author Dawood Ali McCallums novel is set in 1943 against the backdrop of WWII, when the British government is looking at the empire to provide certain expertise. As a result, railway engineer Imtiaz Billy Khan, logistics expert Vincent Rosario, and Math prodigy Akaash Ray are in Swindon as lodgers of Mrs A. A hilarious account of cultures colliding, they navigate new food and toilets, secret assignments, and a mutual distrust of each-other.

Read more about the book here.

 MEMOIRS and BIOGRAPHIES

Taken at the Flood: A Memoir of a Political Life

By Vasanth Kannabiran

Women Unlimited | Rs 375 | 184 pages

In this memoir, feminist, activist, and writer Vasanth Kannabiran recounts some of the most important moments of her life as it interweaves closely with politics. From the days of the 1975 Emergency to the aftermath of communal violence in 1984 in Hyderabad, from the historic peace talks between the Naxals and the government, to the Rameeza Bee rape case  she presents her perspective on each incident.

Read more about the book here. Read an interview with the author here.

I Could Not Be Hindu: The Story of a Dalit in the RSS

By Bhanwar Meghwanshi; Translated by Nivedita Menon

Navayana | Rs 399 | 240 pages

JNU professor of political thought Nivedita Menon translates Bhanwar Meghwanshis memoir from the Hindi, as he talks about what it means to be an untouchable in the RSS which he joined at age 13, and what it means to become Dalit. Through participating in riots and going to jail, being intoxicated by the idea of Hindutva and ready to die for the cause of a Hindu Rashtra, he remains a "lesser Hindu". Eventually, he turns into a Sangh critic, becomes an Ambedkarite invested in Dalit activism, and makes it his mission to expose Hindutva hypocrisies.

Read more about the book here.

 NON-FICTION

Indias Founding Moment: The Constitution of a Most Surprising Democracy

By Madhav Khosla

Harvard University Press | Rs 599 | 240 pages

Researcher and Associate Professor of Political Science at Ashoka University, Madhav Khoslas book details how Indias Constitution came into being and was instituted. It explores the means used by Indias founders to foster a democratic ethos, creating a self-sustaining politics that could respond to the most inhospitable conditions. The book also reminds readers of the potential and challenges of self-rule today.

Read more about the book here.

Origins of Art: The Gond Village of Patangarh

By Kodai Matsouka, Bhajju Shyam

Tara Books | Rs 1,200 | 200 pages

Japanese photographer Kodai Matsouka and artist Bhajju Shyam visit Patangarh, in the Dindori district of Madhya Pradesh, home to the art tradition of the Pardhan Gond community. The form has been around for about 35 years, and the book studies its evolution and its close link to the village. Besides their verbal and visual collaboration, the book is also furnished with art and illustrations created by the communitys artists.

Read more about the book here.

Calling Elvis  Conversations with Some of Musics Greatest: A Personal History

By Shantanu Datta

Speaking Tiger | Rs 399 | 230 pages

Journalist Shantanu Datta has been engaged in music reportage in India for the past three decades. Here, he compiles detailed interviews he conducted with artists who played in South Asia, like Pink Floyds Roger Waters, Jethro Tulls Ian Anderson, Dire Straits Mark Knopfler, Dr L Subramaniam, John McLaughlin, and Sting among others. His conversations offer insights into these musicians minds, and allow some of Dattas own life to emerge as well.

Read more about the book here.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 21:03:15|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- With growing efforts in intellectual property (IP) protection, China has ranked first in the world for several consecutive years in terms of the number of patent and trademark applications it holds, winning high praise from the international community.

Statistics show that by the end of 2019, China had registered the world's largest number of invention patent applications for the ninth consecutive year, and the largest number of trademark registration applications for the 18th consecutive year.

According to data from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) from 2017 and 2018, China was the second largest applicant for international patent applications submitted through the Patent Cooperation Treaty, and the third largest for trademark registration under the Madrid System.

Hailing the rapid development of IP cause in China as remarkable, WIPO Director General Francis Gurry said the country has recognized that IP protection is critical to improving economic competitiveness and has made IP an important driving force for innovation.

Renata Righetti Pelosi, president of the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property, pointed out two reasons for the rapid development of IP cause in China.

On the one hand, the needs of economic operators in China have increasingly overlapped with those in the world, and the two sides have reached more consensuses on IP protection, Pelosi said.

On the other, China has many IP talents with a global vision, who are leading the rapid growth of this sector, she added.

Bastiaan Koster, former president of the Bureau of Federation of International IP Attorneys, said it is not easy to make such great achievements in IP in a large country like China.

"Given the success story of the IP system in China and the very short time it was obtained, I am confident that the IP system will continue to improve at its current pace. The rest of the world can be assured that their IP rights will be well protected and enforceable in China," Koster added.

Beate Schmidt, president of the German Federal Patent Court, said China has achieved great development in the field of IP since it established its own intellectual property system in the 1980s.

No other country embraced the idea of IP protection and its importance for economic development so quickly and consequentially as China did, Schmidt said.

Since the first ever Chinese patent act came into force in 1985, China has continuously developed and improved its IP protection, said Joseph Straus, a professor of law at the University of Munich, adding that its efforts can stand scrutiny compared with the development of IP in some developed countries.

"In my view, China is changing significantly on the IP landscape front and China is a market that I think is just too big to ignore," said Randall MacEwen, president and CEO of Ballard Power Systems, a leading high-tech fuel cell provider.

Around 12 million university graduates are produced every year in China, providing a very large educated workforce, MacEwen said at the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January, adding that the country ranks among the top countries for the number of international patent filings, as well as annual research and development expenditures.

In addition, China is now enjoying a highly entrepreneurial environment in terms of the number of incubator companies and companies that are moving to high scale volumes in a relatively short period of time, he noted.

Some media and professional organizations believe that China's effective efforts in IP protection have created a favorable business environment, making the country a magnet for global innovation.

In an article titled "China's Record on Intellectual Property Rights Is Getting Better and Better," U.S. news magazine Foreign Policy wrote last October that China's IP regime has made significant strides in just a few decades.

"China's world leadership in patent quantity signals its commitment to develop a robust innovation ecosystem at home. Minimum damage payouts for violations have continually increased, as have durations of patent protection," the magazine said.

Harvard Business Review, a general management magazine, wrote that "in some ways China's IP regime is actually more optimal for IP-intensive businesses -- including foreign ones -- than the IP regimes in prominent rich nations."

The waiting time to grant patents in China is shorter than those in European and American countries, and invention patent examination appears to be of higher quality in China than at some national offices in Europe, it added.

In the 2019 Global Innovation Index rankings published by the WIPO and other institutions, China rose from 35th in 2013 to 14th in 2019, and ranked first among middle-income economies. It also has the fastest progress in the world in this regard.

According to the 2019 China Business Environment Survey, released by the U.S.-China Business Council, 58 percent of U.S. companies believe that China has strengthened IP protection in the past year, the highest level since the survey was launched in 2011.
South Africa is set to evacuate 151 citizens from the Chinese city of Wuhan as a new virus continues to spread across the globe, authorities said on Sunday.

The South Africans will be evacuated in a military operation that will see them quarantined for 21 days after they arrive in the country, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said.

All of the South Africans returning are healthy and have tested negative for the virus, but as a safety precaution they will be under quarantine upon their arrival in South Africa, Mkhize said. The airlift would take place in about 10 days, he said.

South Africa is the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to evacuate its citizens from China and affected areas.

The decision to evacuate the citizens follows pleas from families of South Africans still held up in Wuhan, the city identified as the main source of the outbreak.

South Africa's health care facilities are ready to receive the evacuated South Africans, though these sites wouldn't be made known, Mkhize said. He said the country has prepared to deal with the new virus and has designated selected public hospitals to deal with any possible infections.

South Africa hasn't recorded any confirmed COVID-19 cases within its borders.

Three countries in Africa Algeria, Egypt and Nigeria have reported cases of the disease. Other African countries are on alert, with some health experts saying several national health systems on the continent are weak in disease surveillance and control.

South Africa confirmed last week that two citizens who had been working on the Princess Diamond cruise ship have the virus and will continue to receive treatment in Japan.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A 36-year-old patient, who was admitted to the Government Medical College in Ernakulam upon his return from Malaysia, did not die of novel coronavirus, Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja said on Sunday, citing test reports.

"The second test result for COVID-19 (coronavirus) from the Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune is also negative. The first test result of the deceased was negative," Shailaja said.

Thirty-six-year-old Jainesh, who had arrived from Malaysia, was kept on a ventilator following pneumonia. He had landed at Kochi airport on February 28 and thereafter, he was taken to the medical college.

Jainesh, who hails from Kannur district passed away on Friday midnight. The Hospital Medical team had cited acute pneumonia and respiratory failure as the cause of death on Friday night.

Currently, in Kerala, 206 people are under observation for coronavirus in various districts of the state. Of these, 193 are under home quarantine and 13 in hospitals.

A total of 488 samples of suspected cases have been sent to the Institute of Virology (NIV) for examination. Of these, 471 samples tested were negative.

"There is no concern for the health of anyone currently admitted to hospital," said Health Department.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Eskom has a bad track record with keeping its promises to South Africans.

From the recent holiday load-shedding debacle to its declaration in 2016 that load-shedding would not return to South Africa, the power utility has struggled to keep to its commitments.

The threat of load-shedding has loomed over South Africa for 13 years, and it will not be lifted any time soon.

Eskom has contrived various plans and solutions over the years, but each has inevitably failed in sustainably restoring stable electricity supply.

We have listed all Eskoms load-shedding promises over the last 13 years which it ended up breaking.

The power utilitys electrical output capacity in giga-watt hours is also listed for each period, based on data from its integrated reports.

November 2007  Medupi and Kusile will be finished by 2015

Electrical output capacity  239,108GWh

Load-shedding caught South Africa by surprise in late 2007.

No longer able to meet the growing electricity demand while still conducting maintenance on its power plants, Eskom was forced to sporadically implement load-shedding.

Carte Blanche reported at the time that part of the problem was due to a shortage of coal, and Eskom was also criticised for exporting power to Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

Eskom had foreseen the power shortage, but the government had not heeded the power utilitys appeal for additional financial support or its projections.

President Thabo Mbeki issued a formal apology for this oversight in December 2007.

We were wrong. Eskom was right, Mbeki said.

After load-shedding was first implemented, Eskom began work on its Medupi and Kusile power stations.

Medupi was originally named Project Alpha, and was expected to add 4,764MW of power to the grid with a budget of R69 billion.

Kusile was code-named Project Bravo  it was planned to deliver 4,800MW of power for a price of R100 billion.

The power utility said these power stations would be completed by 2015 and would greatly assist in resolving South Africas energy problems.

Due to limited skills, poor planning, labour strikes, and unrealistic timelines, these power plants were delayed for years and have still not been completed.

Medupis completion date has been pushed to 2021 and Kusile is scheduled to be completed in 2023.

Load-shedding continued regularly until May 2008, when Eskom managed to temporarily alleviate the problem.

January 2009  Kusile will start producing power in 2013

Electrical output capacity  228,944GWh

In 2009, the country celebrated that there had not been any rolling blackouts since May 2008.

Eskom CEO Jacob Moraga said on 25 January 2009 that the first unit at the Kusile coal power station would begin adding power to the grid in 2013.

However, the first unit at Kusile was only bought into commercial operation in August 2017.

Only three of six power generating units at Kusile are currently synchronised with the national power grid.

July 2013  No more load-shedding, we are confident

Electrical output capacity  216,561GWh

On 10 July 2013, Eskom CEO Brian Dames assured South Africans that they will not experience power cuts going forward, adding that the power utility was confident it would not resort to load-shedding.

We are busy building, on our side, the new projects and we are busy running our current fleet and maintaining that. We are confident that we will keep the lights on, Dames said.

Eskom had not suffered load-shedding since 2008, granting it a five-year reprieve from regular rolling blackouts.

In March 2014, however, Eskom was forced to implement load-shedding once again due to a shortage in supply.

Dames resigned within the same month load-shedding returned, citing personal reasons. He was replaced by Collin Matjila.

March 2014  Load-shedding is temporary

Electrical output capacity  216,561GWh

On 6 March 2014, Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa said Eskom had assured the government that load-shedding was temporary.

Molewa attributed the power cuts to wet coal and handling issues, refusing to acknowledge that there was a major energy supply issue.

It is as temporary as temporary can be. Once we get back to normality of drier weather this problem will be over, Molewa said.

We do not believe we have a crisis in energy at this present time. Eskom did indicate that we do have enough and adequate energy in the grid.

Despite this assurance, Eskoms electricity generation became steadily less reliable and power cuts continued, with stage 3 load-shedding being implemented in December 2014.

December 2014  There is no power crisis at Eskom

Electrical output capacity  226,300GWh

Eskom CEO Tshediso Matona said on 8 December 2014 that there was no power crisis at Eskom.

Matona took over as Eskom CEO from Collin Matjila, who served as acting CEO from April 2014 to September 2014, and his tenure would last a total of seven months.

There is no crisis at Eskom. I think the way Eskom gets reported on creates the perception of a crisis, Matona said.

He said the power system would remain tight until the Medupi and Kusile power stations started producing power.

The activation of these power stations has been delayed, however, and Eskom has found itself in a crisis of electricity supply.

The cost of Medupi had escalated, increasing from R69 billion to R154 billion in 2015, and the increasing cost of coal contracts also ate away at Eskoms finances.

Constant strikes by engineering and steelworkers also greatly impeded the progress at both Medupi and Kusile.

February 2015  It will take two years to fix Eskom

Electrical output capacity  226,300GWh

Energy department director Wolsey Barnard told media in 2015 that the power crisis at Eskom was expected to be resolved in 20-30 months.

Its going to take in the vicinity of 20 to 30 months, Barnard said. But for the next couple of months, were going to pay severe attention to get maintenance up, get normality up in the supply.

The government said it was crucial to address infrastructure maintenance backlogs, which were causing severe problems with electricity generation.

Barnard added that Eskoms situation could be greatly improved by diversifying its energy mix. He remains a director at the Department of Energy today.

May 2015  No load-shedding this winter

Electrical output capacity  226,300GWh

Eskom CEO Brian Molefe said on 29 May 2015 that there would be no load-shedding during the winter season, stating that most of the maintenance work was done in summer.

Molefe was seconded from Transnet to take over Eskom in April 2015. He served as chief executive for over a year until November 2016, when he resigned after being implicated in public protector Thuli Madonselas State of Capture report.

[There will be] no planned load-shedding this winter, Molefe said. Limited maintenance will be done during this period as most work was done in summer, he said.

Molefes promise was broken in record time, with stage 2 load-shedding being implemented on 8 June 2015.

June 2015  Maintenance without load-shedding

Electrical output capacity  238,599GWh

Eskom CEO Brian Molefe stated on 14 June 2015 that the power utilitys new plan was maintenance without load-shedding.

Molefe said that Eskom aimed to continue to maintain its power generation infrastructure while removing the need for load-shedding.

Molefe said that with Eskoms installed capacity of 43,500MW, and the average power demand in winter 33,000MW, they hoped to implement a maintenance budget of 9,500MW.

This would eliminate the need for risk maintenance of 6,000MW.

Eskoms plan was to deal with a backlog of work needed on power stations which had accumulated over the years and had resulted in decreased electricity supply.

Despite this plan, Stage 1 and stage 2 load-shedding continued regularly from June to August 2015.

September 2015  In two years, you will forget these problems ever happened

Electrical output capacity  238,599GWh

Reporting on his progress in turning around state-owned enterprises in September 2015, then-deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa assured the NCOP that in two years all of these problems would be resolved.

In another 18 months to two years, you will forget the challenges that we had with relation to power and energy and Eskom ever happened, he said.

Ramaphosa did not then elaborate on the plan to solve the problems at Eskom, only assuring the NCOP that the issues would be resolved.

Eskom is another utility that has faced challenges. But even Eskom is being turned around, Eskom said. And we all know the challenges that Eskom faces and weve never hidden them.

2015 was the initial completion date set for the Medupi and Kusile power stations, but they continued to suffer delays due to worker strikes, design flaws, and poor planning.

At this point, Medupi was expected to be completed in 2019 and Kusile had an expected completion date of 2020.

After September 2015, South Africans did not suffer load-shedding again until 2018, when Ramaphosas promise was eventually broken.

May 2016  We will never have load-shedding again

Electrical output capacity  220,166GWh

President Jacob Zuma met with Eskom management on 6 May 2016 and assured South Africans that they will not experience load-shedding ever again.

I am going to tell people there will never be any load-shedding, I have been here, I have seen it, Zuma said.

Load-shedding returned to South Africa for a brief period in June 2018 and was later implemented more heavily in November 2018.

August 2016  Load-shedding is history

Electrical output capacity  220,166GWh

Eskom CEO Brian Molefe was confident when addressing Parliaments Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises on 31 August 2016, stating that Eskom was on firm footing.

Plant availability is 80% and more, which is almost a miracle, considering where we were a year ago, he said.

We do not anticipate load-shedding and the new build programme will meet its deadlines. We are prepared to meet excess supply of electricity.

Plant availability refers to the amount of time a plant is able to provide electricity over a certain period.

The build programme Molefe was referring to included the revised deadlines for Medupi and Kusile. Medupis Unit 5 was set to come online in March 2018, and Kusiles Unit 1 was expected to come online in the second half of 2018.

Stage 1 load-shedding returned to South Africa in June 2018.

April 2019  No more load-shedding from today

Electrical output capacity  218,939GWh

From August 2016 until June 2018, South Africans did not suffer any load-shedding. Stage 1 load-shedding was implemented in June and July 2018, and power cuts became more frequent in November 2018.

After the return of load-shedding and its acceleration in February and March 2019, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan revealed Eskoms plan to fight load-shedding in South Africa.

Gordhan said Eskoms goal was to ensure there would be no more load-shedding from 3 April 2019.

This was proved wrong when Eskom implemented stage 2 load-shedding on 16 October 2019.

December 2019  No load-shedding over the holidays

Electrical output capacity  218,939GWh

President Cyril Ramaphosa promised South Africans on 11 December 2019 that there would be no load-shedding over the holiday season.

It will not be a dark Christmas  management has promised us there will be lights, he said.

Despite this, Eskom implemented load-shedding on 4 January and 8 January 2020.

Load-shedding continued to be implemented in South Africa as the electricity crisis worsened, peaking at stage 6 load-shedding on 9 December 2019.

Plans to improve

Power cuts continued on an almost daily basis well into February 2020, with Eskom stating that load-shedding is expected to continue for the next 18 months.

Eskom appointed a new CEO  Andre de Ruyter  on 15 January 2020, who planned to implement regular load-shedding in an effort to conduct much-needed maintenance on the power utilitys hardware.

As of February 2020, the Medupi and Kusile power stations are still not completely online and are only expected to be fully-commercialised in 2021 and 2023 respectively.

In an effort to curb the effect of load-shedding, municipalities including the City of Cape Town have asked to buy power from private generation companies.

The Department of Energy has since stated that it will implement a number of measures to aid municipalities and private companies in coping with load-shedding.

Minerals and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe recently stated that energy regulator NERSA has already approved 75 applications from private companies wanting to generate energy for self-use.

He said applications came from individual households and companies, and that most of them were mining companies.

Cabinet has also approved allocations for wind power and other renewable technology to form a greater part of South Africas energy mix.

This could diversify South Africas energy supply and improve its reliability while reducing reliance on Eskoms struggling power infrastructure.
A couple, wearing protective facemasks amid fears about the spread of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus, walk past a temperature screening check at Changi International Airport in Singapore on February 27, 2020. (Photo by Roslan RAHMAN / AFP) (Photo by ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

SINGAPORE  The Ministry of Health (MOH) on Sunday (1 March) confirmed four new cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus in Singapore.

Of these, three are linked to the cluster at Wizlearn Technologies. Contact tracing is underway for the remaining case to establish any links to previous cases.

Two more patients have been discharged from the hospital. This brings the total of those who have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged to 74, more than half of the total confirmed cases.

Case 103, 104, 105: Linked to Wizlearn Technologies

Three of the four new cases announced on Sunday (1 March) are linked to the Wizlearn Technologies cluster. None of them had recent travel history to mainland China, and South Koreas Daegu city and Cheongdo county. All had their infections confirmed on 1 March morning and are warded in isolation rooms at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID).

Case 103 is a 37-year-old female Singapore Citizen who had been in Batam from 21 February to 23 February. She is a family member of Case 93, and is linked to Case 101.

As she had been identified as a close contact of Case 93 and had reported not having any recent illness, she was issued a home quarantine order on 26 February. On 29 February, she revealed that she had onset of symptoms on 20 February. She also said that she had sought treatment at a general practitioner (GP) clinic on 25 February. She was immediately conveyed to NCID in an ambulance and was isolated.

Prior to hospital admission, she had gone to work at Asia Asset Recovery Pte Ltd (2019 Bukit Batok Industrial Park A). She stays at Bukit Batok Street 31.

Case 104 is the 25-year-old female Myanmese foreign domestic worker employed by Case 103. She too had been in Batam from 21 February to 23 February. As she had been identified as a close contact of Case 93 and had reported not having any recent illness, she was issued a home quarantine order on 26 February. On 29 February, she revealed that she had onset of symptoms on 23 February. She was immediately conveyed to NCID in an ambulance and was isolated.

Story continues

Prior to hospital admission, she had mostly stayed at home at Bukit Batok Street 31.

Case 105 is a 49-year-old male Singapore Citizen. As he is linked to the cluster at Wizlearn Technologies, and had reported not having any recent illness, he was issued a home quarantine order on 27 February. On 29 February, he revealed that he had onset of symptoms on 26 February and had sought treatment at a GP clinic on the same day. He was immediately conveyed to NCID in an ambulance and was isolated.

Prior to hospital admission, he had attended a business meeting at Toa Payoh Hub (490 Lorong 6 Toa Payoh) with Case 95. He stays at Upper Bukit Timah Road.

Case 106: 54-year-old Japan national, Singapore Work Pass holder

Case 106 is a 54-year-old male Japanese national who is a Singapore Work Pass holder. He has no recent travel history to China, Daegu and Cheongdo. He was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 1 March morning and is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID.

7 in ICU; most remaining cases stable

Of the 32 confirmed cases who are still in hospital on Sunday (1 March), most are stable or improving. Seven are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

As of noon, the ministry MOH has identified 3,133 close contacts who have been quarantined. Of these, 367 are currently quarantined, and 2,766 have completed their quarantine.

It reiterated its advice for Singaporeans to defer all travel to Hubei province, home to Wuhan where the virus originated, and all non-essential travel to mainland China.

In addition, the MOH advised members of the public to avoid non-essential travel to Daegu city and Cheongdo county in South Korea following a spike in the number of coronavirus cases in the country.

It also reminded the public to continue to exercise caution when travelling to the rest of South Korea.

COVID-19s death toll surpasses SARS epidemic

The novel strain belongs to the same family of coronaviruses as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed nearly 800 people globally during a 2002-2003 outbreak and also started in China.

It likely originated from Wuhans Huanan Seafood Market, where live animals or products  such as foxes, wolf puppies, giant salamanders, snakes, porcupines, and camel meat  are sold.

Declared a global emergency by the World Health Organisation (WHO), COVID-19 has spread to 50 territories beyond mainland China. The WHO also said that cases being transmitted by people who have never travelled to China could be the "tip of the iceberg".

To date, the virus has left more than 2,800 people in China dead and sickened over 87,000 globally. Over 100 deaths related to the outbreak have been reported outside mainland China.

At 3,736 confirmed infections including 20 deaths, South Korea has the second-highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases after mainland China. Italy has the third-highest number with 1,128 cases, including 29 deaths. Iran has the most deaths outside of China with 54.

The global tally also includes cruise ship Diamond Princess, moored off Japan, which accounted for 705 cases, including six related deaths so far. Five Singaporeans who were on board the quarantined cruise ship have been allowed to disembark it.

Patients suffering from the new strain may exhibit fever and symptoms of lower respiratory illness  such as coughing or difficulty in breathing  as well as pneumonia-like symptoms like a runny nose, sore throat, and headache.

However, some who have died from it have not displayed symptoms of fever, according to details released by Chinas National Health Commission, potentially complicating global efforts to check for infected travellers as they arrive at airports and other travel hubs.

Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore

Related stories:

COVID-19: Singapore confirms 2 new cases, total at 98; new cluster of 4 cases

COVID-19: NS men can book IPPT again as FCCs resume operations

President, political office holders to take 1 month pay cut: DPM Heng

COVID-19: How it's spreading in Singapore and the world
'When we got in the car on the day of our escape, I turned to Latifa and said, 'We're like Thelma and Louise'," says Tiina Jauhiainen, with a small smile at the bittersweet memory. "But then Latifa cried out, 'No, no, don't say that! Their story doesn't have a happy ending'."

That was two years ago, on February 24, 2018, the day that Princess Latifa bint Mohammed al-Maktoum, daughter of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, ruler of Dubai and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, tried to escape her life as a Dubai princess, with the help of her best friend Tiina. At 32, it was the first time Latifa had ever been in the front seat of a car, having always had a driver and travelled in the back.

The escape was the result of a seven-year plan that involved driving into Oman, taking a dinghy into international waters and boarding a yacht to Sri Lanka, from where Latifa hoped to fly to the United States and claim political asylum.

"Latifa was initially relieved when we got to the boat, but every day she was growing increasingly worried that her father might already be after her," says Tiina. "At times the days on the boat felt really, really long. It got hotter the closer we got to India and the boat was full of cockroaches. Escaping on a yacht sounds glamorous, but it was the opposite. We spent most of our time downstairs, trying to contact journalists on our phones, as Latifa felt that might protect her."

But after eight days on board the yacht, captained by Herve Jaubert, a Frenchman whose help Latifa had enlisted after she read about his own escape from Dubai, the princess's short-lived freedom came to an abrupt end off the coast of Goa, when the two women heard gunshots from the upper deck.

"Latifa immediately realised they'd come after us," recalls Tiina. "We were downstairs hiding in the bathroom. We were scared, hugging each other. There was nowhere to go." The cabin began to fill with smoke - "We later realised they were stun grenades," explains Tiina - and the pair were forced on to the upper deck, where they were met by several commandos pointing machine guns at them.

"It was pitch black with the red lights of the laser sights pointed at different parts of our bodies. I was pushed to the floor, in a pool of blood [several crew members had been injured]. They tied my hands, and shouted, 'Close your eyes! Don't move or we'll shoot you.' We were taken back to Dubai. That was the last time I saw Latifa. She was being dragged off the boat, kicking and screaming, yelling that she was seeking political asylum. They ignored her. The whole situation was so unreal. I wish I'd said something, but I was paralysed. They threatened to shoot my brain out if I spoke. It was shocking. It was beyond my comprehension."

Along with Jaubert, Tiina was taken to a national security prison, where she was kept in solitary confinement for several weeks. "[I was] in a cell, which was freezing cold with the fluorescent lights always on. There was a hatch in the wall that they'd open to give me food," she says. "It was mental torture. I was sleep-deprived and the guards told me I'd 'stabbed the ruler of Dubai in the back', so I'd get the death penalty, or a life sentence. They tried to make me do a false confession, saying I'd tried to cheat Latifa into escaping. Sometimes they'd get so angry I felt like they were about to hit me."

Tiina was released after a video that Latifa had made with Tiina's help prior to the escape went up on YouTube, and it was made public that the pair had tried to leave the country. The powerful film, which has since been seen by more than four million people, begins: "If you are watching this video... either I'm dead or I'm in a very, very, very bad situation." Latifa goes on to recount what happened to her after her previous escape attempt, and describes her father as "the most evil person I have ever met". There has never been any response to the video, except a short statement from her family, released in December 2018. "Her Highness Sheikha Latifa is now safe in Dubai," it claimed.

Sheikh Mohammed, 70, is largely credited with turning Dubai into the global, glamorous city it is today. A keen equestrian who was partly educated in England, he is the founder of the Godolphin racing stable, owns a 75m (89m) estate in Surrey and is an acquaintance of the Queen.

Since he began ruling Dubai in 2006, he has launched a number of major businesses including the Emirates airline and the Jumeirah Group, lifting his family's worth to an estimated $4bn (3.6bn), all while managing to regularly post his own poetry on Instagram to his 4.9 million followers.

Yet behind his public image as a progressive ruler of a forward-thinking country lies a more controversial side. Campaign group Human Rights Watch has called the UAE "hypocritical", and says that any attempt to paint the government as tolerant is "laughable". In recent years, there have been a number of high-profile cases of people - including British academic Matthew Hedges, who was accused of spying - being imprisoned and allegedly badly treated at the hands of the country's security services. The country's laws are among the strictest in the world: people can be detained for free speech-related offences, and sodomy carries a 10-year prison sentence.

The Emirates also enforces the law of male guardianship, where women can effectively only work with their husband's permission, must have a lawful excuse if they refuse to have sex with their husband, and must grant full custody of their children to their husband if they want to divorce him and remarry. Rape victims are also often ostracised for going public.

The oppression of women in the UAE appears to extend to the royal family itself. Each of the Sheikh's wives has her own separate home, and they are not encouraged to mix with each other. In some ways, the expectations of them as royals mean they have even more restricted lives than 'normal' UAE women - Latifa has alleged she had no freedom to travel, work or even have relationships.

"People think, 'Oh she's just a spoilt princess'," says Tiina. "But she's not. She's like anyone who deserves a chance to be free. Some people say she had access to money and was able to do a lot of activities, like skydiving, which she loved. But that was just a distraction from her reality. She didn't want to stay at home. She didn't even call her home a home. She called it a house, and hated it. She was treated like a minor, and felt like she was suffocating. Her mother was also very religious, so anything like dancing or music was haram (forbidden)."

Tiina, now 43, never imagined she'd ended up befriending an Arab princess. She was born in Finland, where her parents have a flower business, and went to university in London, before moving to Dubai in 2001. She first met Latifa in 2010, after being hired as her capoeira (a Brazilian martial art) instructor. The pair slowly became friends, learning skydiving together, with Latifa going on to become a qualified instructor, with more than 2,500 jumps to her name. "It gave her a sense of freedom and adrenaline, and a reason to get up in the morning," says Tiina.

"All she ever wanted was a normal life. To work. To study. To travel. Our goal was to see the world. I wanted to show her my favourite country, Nepal, and she was desperate to go to Hawaii. We used to talk a lot about what we'd do after our escape. But it did take years for her to trust me fully and open up. She'd lived such a difficult life. It was like she was a prisoner in a gilded cage, with no freedom."

When Latifa, now 34, finally shared her story with Tiina, she told of the contrast to the superficially luxurious appearance of her life as an Arab princess, living in her mother's private palace, complete with a staff of 100 and its own gym. In spite of her wealth, she hadn't left the country in over two decades, and claims she wasn't allowed even to visit friends' houses.

She wasn't permitted to study - "her dream had been to study medicine," says Tiina - and unlike most of her half-siblings, no plans had been made for her or her full sisters to marry, which Tiina believes is due to her and her sister Shamsa's previous attempts to flee. Latifa had tried to escape once before, as a teenager, by riding into Oman on horseback. After being captured at the border, she was imprisoned for three-and-a-half years, when she alleges she was tortured. "One person would hold her, and the other would cane her feet," says Tiina. "She was given no fresh clothes, toothbrush or anything to wash with."

Her older sister's story is even more harrowing. It appears Princess Shamsa ran away from her family's Surrey estate back in 2000, when she was 18, after being told she wasn't allowed to go to university. Two months later, she was found in Cambridgeshire, and taken back to Dubai. It is now 20 years since Shamsa was last seen in public.

"She was imprisoned for eight years after the escape in Dubai," says Tiina. "She and Latifa used to be really close, but when she was released, she was never the same. Latifa always wanted to help her, though. Helping Shamsa was one of her motivations to leave in 2018, because you can't help someone else until you help yourself."

There has been huge interest in Latifa's case, including a BBC documentary that was broadcast in 2018. Then, last year, a third princess changed the narrative in a case that has made global headlines. Princess Haya bint al-Hussein, the sixth wife of the Sheikh - one of Latifa's stepmothers - managed to leave Dubai in July, taking her two young children with her as she went first to Germany and then the UK. She has now filed for divorce, and is living in a London mansion with her children, while fighting for their legal custody against the Sheikh in the High Court.

Unlike Princess Latifa, whose Algerian mother is considered one of the Sheikh's 'lower' wives, Princess Haya has always had privileges and freedoms that many women in Dubai are denied. A princess in her own right, she is a daughter of the late King of Jordan; she was educated at private schools in England, studied at Oxford and is a renowned Olympic equestrian. She also claims she is the only woman in Jordan licensed to drive heavy trucks.

Her marriage to the Sheikh, which took place after the death of her father, was said to be a love match: they bonded over their interest in horses. It isn't known exactly why she made the decision to leave, but it is believed that she was recently made aware of information concerning Latifa's story, and that could have caused her to flee out of concerns for herself and her own young children.

There are reporting restrictions on Haya's court case, but it is known that she has applied for a forced marriage protection order to protect her children from being sent to Dubai and forced into marriage, and a non-molestation order, designed to protect against violence or harassment by a partner, ex-partner or family member.

Meanwhile, the only proof Tiina has that Latifa is alive are some photos of her taken in Dubai in late 2018 - she is with former Ireland president Mary Robinson, who is a friend of Princess Haya's. Latifa looks confused and doesn't seem to be aware of the photos being taken.

Tiina believes that until recently, Princess Haya may have believed the Sheikh's version - that Latifa was making up her claims. But not any more. "I'm obviously hoping this unfinished case will have an impact. If Haya talks about her reasons for leaving, it gives her leverage to help Latifa," she says.

David Haigh, a human-rights lawyer who helped Tiina create the #FreeLatifa campaign, adds: "We've spent a lot of time helping Haya and her legal team. We're hopeful that when she's able to talk publicly about what happened to her and her reasons for leaving, she'll be able to help Latifa in the way we have helped her and her family. For us this is a huge step. She's one of the most high-profile women in the Arab world."

It is the first sign of good news that Tiina has had in the last two years. She has been living with friends in London, without a stable job, while her life has been taken up with trying to campaign for Latifa's freedom.

"Anniversaries and birthdays are hard," she says. "Nothing is happening. It's sad. It's changed my life completely. I'll never give up hope. But it's coming to a point now where I have to think about myself too."

Tiina hasn't suffered any repercussions from Latifa's family, but she claims that many of her friends in Dubai were arrested and questioned during the time she was detained. One close friend, she says, was even deported. She's now concentrating on human rights work to help other women who are oppressed in the Middle East. It's something that she and Latifa discussed doing together after their escape, and something Latifa touched on herself in her video.

"There's only so much you can do when you're trapped in a country and trapped by all these restrictions," says Latifa in the film. "I'm feeling positive about the future and I'm feeling like it's a start of an adventure. It's a start of me claiming my life, my freedom, freedom of choice. I don't expect it to be easy - nothing's easy - but I expect it to be the start of a new chapter in my life and one where I have some voice, where I don't have to be silenced."

Tiina hopes that Latifa's story will move other Arab women to speak up about the way they are treated.

"Latifa isn't the only one who is suffering. There are many other women in similar situations, being oppressed because of inequality, not having the choice to study or work. She's one of those women. It's pretty normal over there for a female to be under house arrest for rebelling. And if Latifa as a princess is treated like this, imagine how they're treated.

"I hope Latifa's story sparks a new movement. It's time for a #MeToo of no longer tolerating this kind of abuse in the Gulf. I think it's time for women to speak out. I know it's what Latifa would want. In her video, she says even if her escape attempt wasn't successful, she didn't want it to be in vain."

Latifa's story has already inspired a fourth former Dubai princess - another woman once married to Sheikh Mohammed - to speak out. Randa al-Banna, from Lebanon, met the Dubai ruler in 1972 in Beirut when she was just 16. She married him shortly after and they had a daughter together.

But within a matter of years she left him. She was able to divorce him and says her "punishment" was not being able to see her daughter Manal, now in her 40s.

She stayed silent ever since out of fear of repercussions against herself or the children she later went on to have. But she was inspired to speak out after hearing of Shamsa and Latifa.

It has been reported that she repeatedly texted the Sheikh begging him to release Latifa. He never replied.

"First Shamsa, then Latifa, and now Randa," says Haigh. "They all have similar stories - 'I was abused, I had my daughter taken off me, they threatened me, they did this and that'. And these are the ones we know about. How many more are there that we don't? It's about time we looked beyond the facade and glitz and glamour of Dubai, and questioned what's really going on."
Egypt's Minister of Defence Mohamed Zaki has left for the Pakistani acpital Islamabad, with a high-level military delegation on an official visit for a few days to enhance bilateral military ties.

The defence minister is scheduled to meet senior statesmen and officials of the Pakistani Defence Ministry during the visit to boost cooperation ties between the armed forces of both sides in many areas.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Georgia gets another crack at 'Bama for college football title
Chad Zander made certain he wasnt going to miss the first screening of the Bitterroot-based western Trail of Justice.

Two hours before the free showing of the movie was set to run, Zander staked out his place at the front of the line at Hamiltons Pharaohplex Cinema.

I knew a lot of the actors from church, Zander said. I wanted to make sure that I was going to get in.

While no one ended up being turned away, by the time the doors finally opened the line stretched back almost to the end of the theaters parking lot.

The movies director, Nick DeBoer, and co-producers and actors Luke Valimont and Christian Jessop, couldnt have been happier with the turnout for the production theyve spent the last three years of their young lives working on.

Beautifully filmed entirely in Montana with the help of hundreds of volunteers from the Bitterroot and beyond, the Western takes place in the 1800s as it follows four cowboys whose lives take a dark turn when tragedy strikes. Told in the family-friendly fashion of old-time Western movies, its story is one of justice, revenge and forgiveness.

Steve Jarvis of Hamilton played the lead role of the movie's complicated villain.

Jarvis played a minor part in the young mens first Western several years ago and was sufficiently impressed with their talents that he invested in this second film and agreed to play a bigger role.

The 56-year-old businessman with offices in Hamilton, Missoula and Chicago said hes been acting his whole life in one form or another as part of his career, but this was something different.

For one thing, it involved horses.

My wife and daughter are the horse people in our family, Jarvis said. I can ride, but Im not a horse person. There was this scene where everyone else on a gelding. They put me on this crazy mare that was trying to kill me. I had to jump off and then I forgot all my lines. I just started screaming gibberish at people.

Jarvis was impressed with both the professionalism and ingenuity of the three young filmmakers and their desire to create something that could be enjoyed by the entire family.

They wanted to do a movies that are clean and wholesome, he said. Theyre not filled with sex or with everyone dropping bad language. Theres a lot of shooting and cowboy stuff. It has a lot of Old Testament kind of violence. Its just a good old-fashioned Western.

The fact the three want to focus their filmmaking in Montana is the perfect match for that genre.

We live in the best movie set every created, Jarvis said. Its such an awesome opportunity to show those Old West values that are really important to a lot of people.

Larry Garcia of Hamilton has known Valimont since he moved the Bitterroot Valley. A native of Lodgegrass, Montana, and member of the Crow Tribe, Garcia said Valimont reached out to him early in hopes of finding Native Americans interested in playing roles in the movie.

His grandmother, mother and uncles have played roles in other films, including "Little Big Man," starring Dustin Hoffman. Garcia was impressed by the filmmakers desire to portray Native Americans in a positive way.

They have a heart for Indian people, Garcia said. They didnt want the typical Hollywood portrayal of Indians riding around the wagons. I was super honored that he would ask us to be involved. Its huge for us Natives to get our culture out there in a positive way.

The Native Americans in the movie responded by bringing their own regalia and language. Garcia said he used the same pattern of war paint that his great-grandfather, White Man Runs, wore as a scout for Custer at the Little Big Horn battle.

That was pretty cool, he said. There was nothing Hollywood about it.

Steve Roberts of Hamilton was the filmmakers' first investor, and helped them launch the project to create a full-length film.

I saw their first work and was impressed by their drive and talent, Roberts said. I, and others, encouraged them to take a shot to show their talent and perhaps launch a career they would be passionate about.  Im thrilled to see these young men and women attack such a difficult project and see it through to completion.

Montana Film Office Commissioner Allison Whitmer attended Saturdays screening and was impressed by the large number of people  both young and old  who turned to support the young filmmakers who had been awarded a Big Sky Film Grant to pay for the project.

Its exactly the kind of audience that you want, Whitmer said. Its a shared community experience.

The Big Sky Film Grant is awarded to Montanans looking to make films in the state, which is exactly the goal of the three Bitterroot-based filmmakers of Trail of Justice.

Im looking forward to seeing what they will come up with next, Whitmer said.

Robert Cantrell of Stevensville loaned the trio some of his horses that he uses as part of his Hidalgo Trail Rides based at Lolo Hot Springs in the summer. He and his son, Erik, both wrangled the horses and played small parts in the movie.

I got to ride a horse fast, Cantrell said. In one scene, I was dressed as an Indian and rode through a town shooting at people. It was fun.

Cantrell also gained a whole new respect for Westerns that include a large group of riders, with some being shot from their horses. He helped stage those scenes for this film.

Thats not an easy thing to do, he said.

Somewhere between 200 and 300 people, mostly from the Bitterroot, volunteered their time to help produce Trail of Justice. Many attended Saturday's showing to see the final result.

As the credits rolled at the end, Cantrell pointed up toward the screen as his name flashed there.

And when the lights came on, he said: I really liked that.

The filmmakers want to do a few more screenings in Montana and hope the film will be accepted in international, national and state festivals.

It was just awesome that this many people showed up today to watch our film, Jessop said.

You must be logged in to react.

Click any reaction to login. Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Hong Kong: CE visits ethnic minorities

Chief Executive Carrie Lam visited several ethnic minority grassroots families in Yau Tsim Mong district today.

She gave them face masks, daily necessities and leaflets with health information prepared in the languages they are familiar with.

Noting that some residents worked in the security and construction sectors, Mrs Lam said the Governments Anti-epidemic Fund will provide each cleaning worker, toilet attendant and security worker engaged under government and Hong Kong Housing Authority service contracts with a monthly allowance of $1,000 for no fewer than four months.

Cleaning and security staff of private residential and composite buildings will also be given a $1,000 monthly allowance for four months.

The fund will also provide a subsidy of $1,500 to each eligible registered construction worker to buy personal protective equipment and antiseptic supplies.

Mrs Lam also expressed concern about the home learning situation of the children she visited during the class suspension.

She pointed out that the fund will provide an additional $1,000 to each Student Grant recipient for the 2019-20 school year to alleviate the burden on parents in buying learning materials or e-learning devices.

The Chief Executive appealed to the whole community, regardless of their background and race to fight the disease together.

This story has been published on: 2020-03-01. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Subhadra also offered to tender her resignation in person if her decision would not be accepted by the party.

Kolkata: Actor-turned-politician Subhadra Mukherjee, who has worked in several movies and telly soaps, quit the BJP on Saturday in protest of the carnage that took 42 lives in Delhi.

Sending her resignation West Bengal BJP president and Midnapore MP Dilip Ghosh she made it clear that she would not continue in a party which has faces like Anurag Thakur and Kapil Mishra who have come under the scanner for their provocative speeches triggering the riot.

Subhadra also offered to tender her resignation in person if her decision would not be accepted by the party.

The actor, who joined the BJP in 2013, said, The BJPs style of organisation attracted me to the party then. But in recent years, I have noticed that things are not going the right way. I felt that a sense of hatred and judging people by their religion is taking over the ideology of BJP. After giving several thoughts, I have decided to quit.

Blaming the incidents in the national capital behind her decision to quit, Ms Mukherjee questioned the inaction against BJP leader Kapil Mishra and Union minister Anurag Thakur for the hate speech.

Several innocent people were killed in the violence. Innumerable houses were burnt. The riot has created a division among the people. BJP leaders like Thakur and Mishra are still free as they have not faced any action from neither the party nor the police for their hate speech. The riot scenes have shocked me. I decided to not to continue with a party which can not take a strong decision against its own leaders already on the dock.

Although, the Bengal BJP leader hailed the CAA, she, however, slammed its misuse.
New Delhi, March 1 : East Delhi MP Gautam Gambhir on Sunday appealed to people to remain calm and not to fall prey to rumours.

"I urge all Delhiites to not fall prey of any rumours around and maintain peace and harmony. Everything is normal," he said in a tweet.

The tweet comes in wake of spreading rumours of riot-like situations in various parts of Delhi which the police has denied.

"Some unsubstantiated reports of tense situation in SouthEast & West District are being circulated on social media. It is to reiterate that these are all rumours. Don't pay attention to such rumours. Delhi Police is closely monitoring accounts spreading rumours and taking action," the Delhi Police said in a tweet.

"Concerted efforts were made over the evening by mischievous and anti-social elements to create panic in Delhi by spreading false rumours of rioting over various social media platforms..

"In truth, there was nothing..," the Special Cell said in a tweet.

Earlier on Sunday evening, the Delhi Metro closed a few stations, but announced within half an hour that had been reopened. Some of these stations were: Tilak Nagar, Nangloi, Surajmal Stadium, Badarpur, Tughlakabad, Uttam Nagar West and Nawada stations.

The DMRC's sudden decisions came around 8p.m.

There were reports of tension in Rohini and Uttam Nagar areas, which the Delhi Police quickly denied.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) tweeted: "Rumour is the biggest enemy. A rumour has been noticed that there is some tension in Khyala-Raghubir Nagar area of West District. There is no truth behind it. All are requested to keep calm as the situation is absolutely normal and peaceful." The DCP South-East also maintained that the situation is normal. The police have warned the rumour mongers of legal action and asked the citizens to stay alert.

"Delhi Police is closely monitoring the Social Media accounts spreading fake news/rumours. Action will be taken. Please convey to police on Control Room Number 112," the Delhi Police tweeted.
New Delhi, March 1 : With Airtel and Tata Teleservice having submitted their self assessment figures on AGR which though are subject to DoT reconciliation, the government will ask Vodafone Idea this week to apprise them of their numbers and submit the dues simultaneously.

The prospects of any major relief to the telcos before the Next Supreme Court hearing on March 17 is dim and official sources said they have to pay first as per their self assessment, as it's not an overnight issue and they should have been prepared for it and provisioned.

"Airtel and Tata Teleservice have submitted as per their assessment and we will get back to them on their numbers but Vodafone has now to submit its assessment numbers so that we have time and numbers to consider for any relief even after the next hearing in the Supreme Court. But first pay," a source said.

On Saturday, Airtel submitted Rs 8000 crore more as AGR dues, including Rs 5,000 crore extra, subject to DoT reconciliation. The telco had earlier paid Rs 10,000 cr as AGR dues. Airtel said Rs 18,000 crore is the full and final figure. However, DoT's AGR figure stood at Rs 35,500 crore for Airtel. For Tata Tele which paid Rs 2197 crore, the figure stood at a little over Rs 14,000 crore.

Vodafone Idea so far has paid Rs 3500 crore, its figure as per government is Rs 53,000 crore and VIL is currently doing self assessment and is yet to give full and final figure as per its own calculations.

On Friday, Digital Communications Commission (DCC), the inter ministerial panel of Telecom Ministry could not take any decision on possible relief to the financially distressed telecom sector with officials saying more data are required for reconciliation of AGR numbers.

The DCC meeting that lasted two hours will be held again in the coming days. "No decision has been taken on any relief to the telecom companies, sources said, adding, the department needs more data, and that there will be more meetings and reconciliation of AGR figures.
The second part of the Budget Session of Parliament begins on Monday with the opposition sharpening its attack on the Modi government over its handling of the Delhi riots that left 42 persons dead, even as the economy passes through a delicate phase.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi chaired a meeting of the Parliament Strategy Group on Saturday and directed party leaders to question the Modi government on its response to the rising tensions in the national capital and also call for the resignation of Home Minister Amit Shah.

However, the much-debated opposition unity was found lacking last week when Congress and other opposition parties approached President Ram Nath Kovind separately to with petitions against the Modi government in connection with the Delhi riots.

Congress leaders will be submitting notices for adjournment of the scheduled business before both the Houses of Parliament and take up discussion on the Centre's handling of Delhi riots.

It will be a tough balancing act for the opposition on holding the government accountable for its response to the riots and its handling of the economy. The GDP numbers released last week showed that the Indian economy registered its slowest growth  4.7%  in the third quarter of the current fiscal in the last six years.

We will continue to raise the demand for resignation of Home Minister Amit Shah in Parliament, Congress Leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said here.

In the Lok Sabha, government has listed a discussion on the demand for grants for Railways, on Monday, while the Rajya Sabha is expected to take up legislative business on the day in reconvenes for the remainder of the Budget Session.

The budget exercise would see the Lok Sabha discuss the demand for grants of ministries of Railways, Social Justice and Empowerment, Tourism, Health, External Affairs and Housing and Poverty Alleviation.

The Rajya Sabha will discuss the functioning of the ministries on Rural Development & Agriculture, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Law and Justice and Railways.

The Budget Session of Parliament began on January 31 and broke for recess on February 11 to allow parliamentary standing committees to examine the budgetary demands of various ministries made in the Union Budget presented on February 1.

The second part of the Budget Session will begin on March 2 and continue till April 3.
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe (PANA)  At the second forum on science, technology and innovation in Africa 2020, held in the Zimbabwean city of Victoria Falls, African countries have been urged to strengthen their capacities in the domains of fundamental sciences and engineering, Member States must strengthen their capacities in the domain of fundamental sciences and engineering by inspiring of their national heritage, their priorities and their geographic advantages so that Africa can fully draw from the possibilities offered by the emerging technologies," said the meeting convened in line with the sixth African regional forum for sustainable development (FRADD-VI) held this week in Victoria Falls
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

San Francisco firefighters have contained a four-alarm blaze that has destroyed a towing warehouse, the adjoining Bonanza restaurant and an upstairs residential unit near the intersection of Toland Street and Evans Avenue, firefighters said.

The blaze was contained at about 11:35 p.m. Saturday after being first reported at 8:49 p.m., according to Lt. Jonathan Baxter, in a light-industrial area near the India Basin area.

The main warehouse there collapsed, but Baxter said nobody was hurt and the fire is under investigation. Two people who lived in the residential unit were displaced and are receiving assistance from the American Red Cross and city services.

The owner of the restaurant was able to escape the blaze but it isn't clear if he was one of the residents of the upstairs unit. Baxter said crews will remain on the scene overnight and through the morning.

High winds that blew smoke across nearby Interstate Highway 280 earlier, prompting its temporary closure, had died down by 10 p.m., Baxter said. It had also blown down nearby power lines that caused power outages around the south part of San Francisco, Baxter said.

A power pole fell onto SFFD firefighting equipment, Baxter said; PG&E was responding to repair the lines. As of 1 a.m., 20 customers in the area of the fire were without power with an estimated restoration time of 1:45 a.m., per PG&E's outage website.

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.
TEHRAN, Iran, March.1

Trend:

The National Committee on Combating Coronavirus in Iran and the Law Enforcement Force are cooperating in mass decontamination of Tehran, said the operation commander.

"The special units are carrying out the necessary decontamination measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus," said Alireza Zali, Trend reports citing IRNA.

Zali noted that three major universities in Tehran took part in the operation today.

"The working hours of public and private offices have been reduced," he said.

"Organizations are required to issue leave for hemophilia patients, those suffering from Thalassemia and special diseases alongside with pregnant women," he said.

The number of people who have died from the new coronavirus (Covid 19) in Iran has reached 54 people.

So far, the number of people infected with coronavirus in Iran has reached 978.

Iran is one of the recent countries, affected by the rapidly-spreading coronavirus. The country continues to apply strict measures to contain the further spread.

Reportedly, the disease was brought to Iran by a businessman from Iran's Qom city, who went on a business trip to China, despite official warnings. The man died later from the disease.
Britain is ready to quit the European Convention on Human Rights which blocked the deportation of dangerous foreign criminals, setting up a row with the EU and within Tory ranks.

UK negotiators are said to be ready to reject clauses requiring the country to sign up to the set of rules in any future trade agreement with Brussels.

Critics of the ECHR, who include Home Secretary Priti Patel and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, argue that it prevents Britain from deporting dangerous foreign criminals convicted by UK courts.

The Tories have been promising to replace the Human Rights Act, with enshrines the ECHR into UK law, since David Cameron was prime minister.

Home Secretary Priti Patel (left) is among the fiercest critics of the convention, with Dominic Cummings right) previously branding the current system 'absolutely f***ing mad'

A Government source told the Sunday Telegraph 'we will uphold human rights in our way', but any changes are likely to lead to a furious row within Government and Parliament.

The EHCR was a major post-war achievement whose architects included senior Tory politicians of the time.

In August last year Mr Cummings, who is increasingly entrenching his power in No 10, branded the whole system 'absolutely f****** mad', adding: 'We're going to change it.'

The Prime Minister's most senior aide stunned civil servants while discussing crime policy around the Cabinet table weeks after Mr Johnson took power.

He warned that voters believe politicians are 'crazy' for not punishing foreign criminals hard enough.

Mr Cummings complained that too many foreign criminals who commit serious offences in the UK avoid deportation and even if they are kicked out, many of them return.
Readers with a copy of The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy might remember the famous travel guide came with DON'T PANIC helpfully printed on its cover.

With financial markets across the world seeing dramatic falls as a result of coronavirus, investors would do well to adopt the same motto.

In the early days of the virus, the markets reacted and then seemed to steady themselves, leading to a belief that this was a temporary blip and things would soon return to normal.

Market panic: Markets took fright last week as the virus continued to spread around the world

But markets once again took fright last week as the virus continued to spread around the world  from Italy to Brazil  and equities across Europe, Asia-Pacific and the US all plunged.

Companies such as easyJet, British Airways and TUI all suffered huge share price falls while others forecast profit warnings as a result of the negative impact of coronavirus on retail sales, supply chains and manufacturing  leading to fears that dividends will be slashed further down the line.

With some financial experts predicting that coronavirus, combined with political tensions and troubled trade talks, could drive us towards a global recession, should investors remain calm?

Why are markets so jittery?

With the slowing down of reports of new cases in China, it seemed markets were relaxed about coronavirus and had stabilised after the initial reaction.

But last week, it emerged that there were now more coronavirus cases outside China than inside, and every continent on Earth bar Antarctica was affected by the disease.

Companies started reporting the impact of coronavirus on their businesses with tech giant Apple leading the way, warning that it was going to miss revenue targets and a global shortage of iPhones was likely  due to its Chinese factories being shut.

Impact: Luxury goods company Burberry, which has a big Chinese fan base, announced that coronavirus was having a 'material negative effect' on business

Travel companies were the next to be hit. EasyJet shares dropped more than a quarter of their value in less than a week as holidaymakers and business travellers postponed their trips, wiping 1.5billion off its value, while shares in British Airways' parent company IAG also fell sharply  as did stocks in Ryan-air, TUI and Jet2.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, says: 'The travel sector could bear the brunt of the coronavirus impact, as people stay at home rather than taking on a perceived greater risk of infection by going on holiday.'

He adds: 'We're not that far away from a busy period for the travel sector as a large number of people like to go away at Easter time. Travel companies will be praying the virus is contained as quickly as possible.'

Leisure companies such as P&O Cruises owner Carnival, Wynn Resorts and Disney also saw significant share price falls, but other sectors are far from immune.

Luxury goods company Burberry, which has a big Chinese fan base, announced that coronavirus was having a 'material negative effect' on business, with many of its stores in China closed, while LVMH and L'Oreal have also taken a hit.

The world's largest drinks maker AB InBev said its first-quarter profits were going to be down by 10 per cent after the virus hit beer sales during Chinese New Year, while UK drinks producer Diageo, which makes Guinness, Smirnoff, Johnnie Walker and Tanqueray, said its profits were going to be down between 140million and 200million as bars and restaurants across China were forced to close.

Aston Martin was hoping to turn the troubled company around thanks to strong Chinese demand which is now in doubt, while clothing retailer Primark, owned by Associated British Foods, is having to put contingency plans in place so its manufacturing network is not affected. Hotel companies such as Marriott and Intercontinental Group are also likely to be affected.

Should investors run for the hills?

If you sell now, you will be crystallising any potential losses. If you hold on for the long term though, the market should recover. It will require nerves of steel but try not to get caught up in the panic.

Emma Wall, of Hargreaves Lansdown, says: 'Coronavirus is impacting markets and will continue to do so.

Stay calm: If you hold on for the long term though, the market should recover

That does not necessarily mean long-term investors should be overly concerned. Timing the market is notoriously difficult and even professionals get it wrong. Trading on news events can often lead to bad outcomes  panic selling often locks in losses and jumping back into the market is hard to do.'

If you are investing into an Isa or pension, with a long-term view of ten years of more, the best course is to stick with it, says Wall.

She adds: 'Within four years of the global financial crisis in 2008, both the FTSE 100 Index and the S&P 500 Index had shrugged off the losses.'

Is it time to snap up some bargains?

It might be tempting to pick up some so-called bargains as shares fall in value  but with such a roller-coaster ride, it's difficult to call the bottom of the market.

Professional traders live by their wits and need an iron nerve to play the markets. So retail investors should keep a cooler head and invest for the long term.

Demand: Reckitt Benckiser has said demand for its brands Dettol and Lysol has shot up, particularly in China

Jason Hollands, of wealth manager Tilney, says: 'Sharp slides in markets ultimately reward long-term investors who are prepared to go against the herd and invest new money at lower stock prices than they may have paid just weeks earlier.'

He adds: 'This does not mean investors should throw caution to the wind and aggressively pile in, as markets may worsen before improving, but there is a case for steadily feeding new cash in to the market over the coming weeks and months.'

If you haven't been put off by recent market volatility, defensive stocks such as utilities, healthcare and drinks manufacturing could prove attractive  although they are not immune from share price corrections.

Reckitt Benckiser has said demand for its brands Dettol and Lysol has shot up, particularly in China, where it has outstripped supply. But the company's shares still fell back.

Hollands remains bullish, saying: 'UK equities continue to offer relatively better value than other developed markets and provide the support of attractive dividends.

'My top picks for UK equity funds include Liontrust Special Situations and Evenlode Income, both of which have strategies that avoid exposure to sectors and businesses that are highly sensitive to the economic cycle.

'In the case of Liontrust Special Situations, this has historically proven a resilient performer in tough market conditions, a vindication of a focus on companies with robust earnings and high barriers to competition.'

Funds focused on capital preservation or investing in a range of assets can add diversification to an equity portfolio.
If you were planning a relaxing gondola ride around the canals of Venice or a luxury cruise in the next few months, it is safe to say that your dream holiday is looking a lot less idylic now.

With the coronavirus on the brink of escalating into a full-blown pandemic, many people are probably anxious to avoid bustling city centres, busy airports, packed train stations and crowded cruise ships.

Even if you consider the risk to yourself is low and decide to go ahead with your holiday anyway, your trip could be cancelled or severely curtailed now that the raging infection has swept into about 50 countries.

Face of fear: A tourist in Venice wears a protective mask as well as the usual covering for the carnival which had to be cut short because of the coronavirus threat

Wherever you want to go your plans could be wrecked, whether it is a sporting event being postponed, such as the Six Nations rugby match in Dublin between Ireland and Italy, or attractions being closed, such as museums, theatres and churches in Milan.

Either way, you need to ensure your travel insurance will cover you if you do not want to travel or you are scheduled to go somewhere where coronavirus has taken grip  and do not allow yourself to be short-changed.

Remember, companies have a legal duty of care to their customers. So demand hard cash if your trip is cancelled or disrupted.

Here is some crucial advice to help you protect your money, and not just your health.

I'm supposed to be travelling overseas in the near future. Am I covered if I cancel?

First check the Government website for advice on whether your chosen destination is one that you really should stay away from. If you find there are no restrictions in place and you do not already have travel insurance, you will be covered if you buy some now  even if the travel guidelines covering your destination are subsequently changed.

However, if you insist on travelling to a country or region against Government advice  areas such as Hubei Province in China or certain villages in Northern Italy that are now in lockdown  then you risk invalidating your travel insurance. But it depends on the individual provider, so you might still have a chance to claim money back in some circumstances.

If you insist on travelling to a country or region against Government advice  areas such as Hubei Province in China or certain villages in Northern Italy that are now in lockdown  then you risk invalidating your travel insurance

Some travel policies include cancellation if the Foreign Office advises against 'all but essential travel' to the destination, while a few will cover for cancellation due to any cause beyond your reasonable control or for 'travel disruption'.

This is usually an add-on to a basic policy which would cover you if Foreign Office advice changed while you were travelling.

There must be no travel restrictions in place at the time the policy was purchased.

Contact your tour operator or airline to reschedule or seek a refund for your trip. Airlines such as Virgin Atlantic and British Airways have suspended flights to mainland China and passengers are entitled to a full refund.

Virgin advises contacting your travel agent to discuss rebooking and refund options if you booked through them, or send a text message to Virgin's customer care team if you booked directly, on 07481 339184.

British Airways says you can refund your ticket online using its 'Manage My Booking' system, or call 0800 727 800. The airline promises: 'We'll do everything we can to help customers,' so take them at their word.

I don't want to travel now. Can I cancel my cruise, flight or package holiday even if it's not in a coronavirus affected area?

The majority of travel insurance policies provide cancellation cover  but be warned, this is only for a list of limited reasons.

They include death, injury or illness of you, a travelling companion or a relative not travelling with you. But while most will cover you if you are called for jury service or made redundant, for example, the cover does not include stopping a trip due to the fear of an epidemic or pandemic. Bizarrely, this is dismissed as a 'disinclination to travel'.

The only exception would be those with underlying health problems who have a letter from their doctor confirming they are advised not to travel to an area due to their condition.

The Guinness Six Nations match between Ireland and Italy, scheduled for March 7 in Dublin, has been postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak

I'm worried about my upcoming cruise holiday. What are my options?

Many cruise ship operators are amending their itineraries to avoid coronavirus affected areas or cancelling some routes altogether. They are also refusing to take passengers on board from affected areas and are stepping up deep-cleaning. Contact your cruise company to see how your holiday will be affected. Many are offering full refunds or cruise credits for cancellations and changes close to the departure date.

I was going to the Six Nations rugby match in Dublin. How does its postponement affect my flight plans?

Contact the airline to see if you can get a refund or reschedule the flight  and check to see if you are covered for any costs through your travel insurance provider. But if there is no Foreign Office advice against travel, the airline might refuse a refund  or could charge you for the rescheduling of flights.

If I'm quarantined on holiday, am I covered for any missed excursions already booked?

Some travel insurance providers, but not all, will provide you with cover for any pre-booked and paid-for missed excursions, up to a pre-determined limit on the policy.

Can I claim on my travel insurance if my holiday is cut short?

If you are quarantined on holiday, you generally cannot claim for curtailment as even though your trip may be ruined, technically you have not cut it short. But there is some small comfort. On a small number of policies, a daily benefit might be payable if you are admitted to hospital or confined to your holiday accommodation on medical advice.

Always check your insurance policy wording for the exact level of cover. Unsurprisingly, the more expensive the insurance, the more cover you are likely to have.

The majority of travel insurance policies provide cancellation cover  but be warned, this is only for a list of limited reasons

I'm quarantined in my hotel and can't go home when I was supposed to. Am I still insured?

Contact your travel insurance provider and tell them about your situation. Some insurers will extend the cover free of charge while others might charge an additional premium depending on the length of the extension.

If I am quarantined on holiday and then again for another 14 days on my return, can I claim for loss of earnings?

Unfortunately not. This is known as 'consequential loss' and there is no cover for this under a travel insurance policy. Government advice is that employers should treat cases of self-isolation as sick leave, so you should be paid as usual and then get statutory sick pay if you go over the company's sick leave limit.

What happens if I'm travelling through an area I think is risky, such as Italy, even if I'm not staying there?

If you are concerned about passing through an area  flying to Rome, for example, to board a cruise ship in Civitavecchia  you have no right to a refund or replacement flight unless you have bought a flexible ticket which allows changes or cancellation.

Some airlines, such as Virgin Atlantic, are offering customers the chance to reroute flights if they are concerned.

What if I'm supposed to be flying via a restricted area and my flight is cancelled?

If, for example, you have a flight booked from Heathrow to Sydney, changing planes at Shanghai and the flight from Heathrow is cancelled, the airline is obliged to get you to Sydney via another route or provide a refund.

If you have booked two separate flights to make the same journey and the first leg is cancelled, then the airline has no responsibility for the onward journey so you will get a refund for the first flight but will miss the second and not be entitled to a refund.

What steps do I need to take right now?

If you did not buy travel insurance when you booked, then buy some right now, checking the level of cover provided. It will not cover you for travel restrictions already in place. But it could protect you against any new restrictions.

Ask about adding 'travel disruption' cover. If you already have insurance, then check your travel insurer's website to see if they have provided any key details about coronavirus  or contact them directly. Also, see if you can add 'travel disruption' cover.

It is worth remembering that you should also contact your travel agent, tour operator, airline, holiday accommodation provider and anyone else involved in the chain to see what costs (if any) you can recover.

Columbus Direct's Stuart Lloyd says many companies, especially where the holiday is sold under an ATOL Licence, have a duty of care to the customer  refunding costs or rescheduling or rerouting trips.

If holidaymakers decide to go ahead with their trips, as long as these are to areas the Foreign Office has not advised against travelling to, any medical costs will be covered and assistance provided if they are then diagnosed with the virus while abroad.
I use the word hack advisedly in this column. It sets off alarms forStaff Writer Lucas Ropek and columnist Dan Lohrmann, who think in terms of white, gray and black hats in their coverage of cybersecurity. And the words use here should not be confused with a life hack, that broad basket of shortcuts and novel productivity tricks some people use to get through an average workday.There are other variations on this theme, often combining playful ingenuity and applied innovation. Consider Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak before Apple during their phone phreaking phase  hacking into telecommunications systems, especially to obtain free calls  in the early 1970s.Wozniak is credited with designing the first digital blue box, an electronic device that generates the same tones employed by a telephone operators dialing console to switch long-distance calls, allowing the user to make free calls illegally. Wozniak used his Blue Box to satisfy his curiosity about how telephone networks worked. He gleefully concedes that the Blue Boxes made a great platform for pranks, which he employed liberally at the time. For his part, Jobs saw a business opportunity and sold them dorm room to dorm room. For the engineer and the marketer, it was the precursor to a breakthrough in the computer industry.A half-century later, the legal cost of long distance has been driven to zero. Blue Boxes are now museum pieces. But phreaking is more than a footnote to history, because what we cannot afford to lose is the curiosity to explore, to disrupt and, in the spirit of Woz and his fellow phreaks, to prank.Take a couple of recent examples.Exhibit A: The Smart Potato, spotted at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas with tech components imported from France by inventor and entrepreneur Nicholas Baldeck. Built off the back of a classic Idaho russet potato, Baldeck integrated an antenna he calls the Neuraspud that, along with a companion smartphone app, uses artificial intelligence to tap the superior decision-making powers of the potato. If it sounds like a Woz-worthy prank, heres your prize: Baldecks point is that much of todays ballyhooed tech doesnt do anything useful, or anything at all. But if his products Indiegogo campaign  which had reached $5,831 at the time of this writing  cracks six figures by the time it closes, Baldeck says the second release will be Potato Blockchain.Exhibit B: The Google Maps Hack project looked innocent enough. Picture a small red wagon pulled down an otherwise empty Berlin street by an artist named Simon Weckert. The artist had packed the wagon full of 99 borrowed smartphones. From the sidewalk, it looked benign. But as Weckert pulled the phone-laden wagon up and down random streets, the distinctive red lines signifying massive traffic jams emerged on Google Maps. There was latency, but slowly and surely, the wagon and its digital payload tricked Google Maps. The company concedes its algorithms cannot yet filter for a red wagon full of phones.Are these modern hacks completely benign? Perhaps not. If they are not, it is because the larger environment is more toxic than it was when Wozniak and company were pranking in the early 70s. But Wozs characteristic curiosity, creativity and inventiveness become all the more important as the problems we face become more complex, the landscape becomes more crowded and the common expectation too easily defaults to theres an app for that.Weckert reminds us that his wagon and phone experiment was about more than having a little fun at Googles expense. Paraphrasing media philosopher Marshall McLuhan, we shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us. Weckert says, I have the feeling right now that technology is not adapting to us, its the other way around.
Erica Carr and Nicholas Mallick

Jan. 25, 2020, in Philadelphia

Hello there

From the age of 5, Nick knew he would join the Army. He jumped in after high school, and learned to jump out of airplanes. The paratrooper did one tour in Iraq and two in Afghanistan. On that third tour, in 2012, his base was attacked.

They filled an entire truck with explosives and rammed it into our base, he remembers. The percussive waves threw Nick into a wall. He ignored the pain in his back. In 2013, a new recruiting assignment sent him back to his native California. In 2016, Nick finally saw a doctor, who gave the sergeant first class the news he had been trying to avoid: Multiple compressed disks meant he was no longer fit for duty. Nick was medically discharged, and devastated.

Having no idea what he wanted to do with the rest of his life, Nick applied for any job he felt qualified for, including a security guard position at Prime Healthcare in Ontario, Calif. The HR person who called back said she was impressed by his resume and had a different job in mind. Nick became an executive assistant to the then vice president of revenue cycle.

Erica grew up in Northeast Philadelphias Morrell Park neighborhood. After graduating from Archbishop Ryan, she took a unit clerk job with Prime Healthcare at Lower Bucks Hospital. In October 2016, her boss invited her to interview for a promotion and help start a new Prime Healthcare location in Denville, N.J. A little nervous about the meeting, Erica walked into the Denville office lost in thought.

Nick had been working on-site for a few days, thought he knew everyone, and did not recognize this woman. Army habits die hard.

Excuse me, he said. Who are you?

Im Erica, she said. Erica Carr.

Nick recognized her name and knew his boss was interviewing her. He also thought she was very pretty. Oh, OK, he said. His eyes returned to his work, but his ears were wide open when Erica told another employee that one of her tires needed a patch, but she didnt have time to deal with it, and hoped adding air would suffice.

Ill make an appointment for you to get your tire fixed while youre here tomorrow, he offered.

The next day, Sheila offered Erica her current position: director of revenue integrity. Knowing they were returning to their respective states, Nick asked for her number. Thinking it was a work thing, Erica gave it without thought. She was at a Sixers game when Nicks text landed: Did you get your tire fixed, Maam?

Swooning over Nicks thoughtfulness  and perhaps a bit tipsy  Erica showed her friend Sarah his communique. Im going to marry this man! she said. OK, psycho! said Sarah.

For two weeks, they flirted by text. On Nov. 1, Nick returned to North Jersey to help establish the office. Erica took him to Dalessandros for a first-date cheesesteak. They visited the Rocky statue then spent two hours talking and walking around Kelly Drive.

Things were going so great [that] I invited him to my aunts house for dinner, and that didnt scare him off, Erica said.

On the contrary, Nick was delighted to meet her Aunt Jackie, her mother, Patrice, her stepfather, Hans, and her siblings, Angela and Connor. We had such great chemistry and were having such an amazing time, so I thought, Why not? Lets see where it all goes. 

Every weekday, they worked together and had dinner together. They spent every weekend together. We went from 0 to 100, Erica said. We were in an official relationship by Nov. 11."

Love came quickly, too.

We can have everything go wrong in our day, and shes OK just going with the punches, Nick said admiringly. Shes funny  shell make me laugh like no other. And shes a kid at heart, who still likes to play and have fun.

He makes me smile, and never, ever makes me doubt anything about myself, said Erica. I just feel safe with him, and happy. He feels like home.

The first week in December, Nick returned to California, gave his boss three-weeks notice, and put the house he had just closed on in October up for rent.

Erica bought a one-way ticket to California, where she met Nicks father, James, his Aunt Tina, Uncle Bob, and cousin, Breanna. Then, Erica, Nick, and William the Yorkie drove back across the country to her Trevose apartment.

About eight months later, Nick, who is now 33, and Erica, now 26, moved to Hackettstown in Warren County, N.J. He now works at Picatinny Arsenal as an explosives technician  a civilian position. Erica has since earned a bachelors in health administration and a masters in business administration from Western Governors University.

The engagement

Nick used airline miles to take Erica to Punta Cana for her March 2018 birthday.

He told her they were going to a special restaurant, then veered toward someone on the beach, saying he had to ask for directions. Erica could see they were setting up a table. Oh, this guy! Erica thought to herself. Hes trying to surprise me with dinner on the beach for my birthday!

Before they reached the spot, Nick stopped walking.

What are you doing, man? Erica asked. Im hungry! Lets go!

Then she noticed candles stuck in the sand, outlining a big heart. Inside the heart were the words, Marry Me!

Erica full-on ugly cried. Nick knelt on the sand and asked the question. She said yes, and they celebrated with the dinner shed predicted.

It was so them

The couple were married by the Rev. John Donia, Ericas high school religion teacher, in a traditional Catholic ceremony at St. Augustines Church near Old City. Her late grandparents, John and Annamarie, who helped raise her, were included in the prayers of the faithful. A locket with their pictures was tied to Ericas bouquet.

The reception for 190 was held at the Cescaphe Ballroom. Behind the couples sweetheart table was a fallen-comrade table in honor and memory of Nicks friends who lost their lives, and all fallen U.S. soldiers.

The brides sisters toast brought down the house. After proclaiming Erica the very best big sister and telling Nick she loves him, too, Angela told him there is a no-return policy and hes stuck with Erica. Ericas mom and brother then joined Angela for a family rendition of Aint No Mountain High Enough.

Awestruck

Erica spent the moments right before the ceremony watching Nick through the gap between the churchs double doors. Then, the doors opened and as her mother walked her down the aisle toward him, she thought, Oh my God. Im going to marry this person who I knew was right for me the moment we connected.

After the cake-cutting, Nick, a bit of an introvert, took a moment alone to absorb everything. From a bridal suite window overlooking the reception, he saw his new wife dancing and having an amazing time. To see how happy she was, to know I was able to give her exactly what she wanted, that was my favorite part, he said.

The budget crunch

Bargains: The brides uncle owns a photo booth. The venue and DJ gave a winter-season discount, and using the venues florist shop partner, Beautiful Blooms, also yielded savings.

A splurge: Dollars saved elsewhere funded a photography budget bump for Alex Schon, whose work the bride had been stalking on Instagram. I would go over my budget for him any day, she said.

Honeymooning

Two spring weeks in Dubai and the Maldives, where Nick looks forward to diving and Erica to watching the sun set over the Indian Ocean from their villa, drinks in hand.

Behind the scenes:

Officiant: The Rev. John Donia, Downingtown, Pa.

Ceremony: St. Augustines Roman Catholic Church, Philadelphia.

Reception venue and food: Cescaphe Ballroom, Philadelphia.

Music: St. Augustines. musicians and DJ John Alexander, Powered by Eclipse, Philadelphia

Photography: Alex Schon Photography, Philadelphia.

Photo booth: Phlash Photo Booths, Philadelphia.

Flowers: Beautiful Blooms, Philadelphia.

Brides attire: Designed by Allure, purchased at Ashleys Bridal in Warminster, Pa.

Grooms attire: Ashleys Bridal.

Hair/Makeup: Capelli & Trucco, Philadelphia. https://www.capelliandtrucco.com/

Transportation: Cescaphe Trolley, Philadelphia.
Columbia: Former vice president Joe Biden won the South Carolina primary on Saturday, reviving his flagging campaign and positioning himself as the leading rival to front-runner Bernie Sanders in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

All of the major television networks projected the 77-year-old Biden as the winner in South Carolina just minutes after polls closed in the state at 7:00 pm.

The networks did not provide any vote totals but the early projections were an indication that Biden had scored a decisive win in the state where he was counting on heavy support among African-American voters.

A South Carolina victory was seen as crucial to Biden's hopes of challenging Sanders, the 78-year-old senator from Vermont, for the spot on the Democratic ticket in November against Republican Donald Trump.

Sanders has been the clear front-runner in the race; having won both New Hampshire and Nevada after finishing in a virtual tie in Iowa with former South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg.

Biden finished fourth in Iowa, fifth in New Hampshire and second in Nevada and he desperately needed a win in South Carolina ahead of next week's "Super Tuesday," when 14 states go to the polls.

One-third of the delegates who formally choose the Democratic nominee at the July party convention will be up for grabs on Super Tuesday.

"The biggest question is whether this will slingshot Joe Biden into victory in some Super Tuesday states," said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

Biden, who served for eight years as vice president to Barack Obama, America's first black president, was the favorite in South Carolina, the first state with a substantial African-American electorate to hold a primary contest.

Speaking before the result was announced, Biden said he hoped South Carolina would propel him into national contention.

"I think I'll do well," he said. "It's been the launching pad for Barack and, I believe, for me."

'AUTHENTIC'

Biden had been leading in the South Carolina polls a dozen points ahead of Sanders and 20 points up on billionaire activist Tom Steyer, who was gunning for a third-place finish.

Steyer has spent $23.6 million on ads in South Carolina, nearly 10 times the number two spender, Buttigieg, according to Advertising Analytics.

Biden and Steyer have primary night rallies scheduled in South Carolina but the other candidates have moved on already to the Super Tuesday states. Sanders was campaigning in Virginia, Senator Elizabeth Warren was in Texas and Buttigieg was spending the day in Tennessee and North Carolina.

Billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who is not on the ballot in South Carolina, spent the day in Virginia and North Carolina. At one polling place in a suburb of the state capital Columbia, about 20 people were lined up at 7:00 am when the doors opened.

Samantha Rogers, a 67-year-old retiree, said Biden is the right candidate to take on Trump. "He's more experienced. He's for all people, not just African-Americans. He's for everyone," said Rogers, who is black.

But for 21-year-old student Andrea Green, "Bernie is telling the truth. He's authentic."

Despite his South Carolina victory, Biden and fellow moderates including Buttigieg and Senator Amy Klobuchar may well face a Sanders buzzsaw come Super Tuesday, with the self-declared "democratic socialist" leading in the two biggest prizes, including crown jewel California.

Sanders is dominating there with 32.5 percent support, according to the RealClearPolitics polling average, with fellow progressive Warren second.

Biden is a distant third with just 12.5 percent, in danger of missing the 15 percent threshold for earning delegates from the state. In Texas, the other Super Tuesday delegate gold mine, a new CNN poll showed Sanders ahead of Biden by six points.

The senator also tops polls in Super Tuesday states Colorado, Maine, North Carolina, Utah, Virginia, his home state of Vermont and Warren's Massachusetts. Some of the races are tight.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Catherine Marciano (Agence France-Presse) Vatican City, Holy See  Sun, March 1, 2020 13:37 680 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2067873b4 2 Art & Culture Vatican,Vatican-Apostolic-Archives,Pope,Holocaust Free

The Vatican unseals the archives of history's most contentious popes on Monday, potentially shedding light on why Pius XII stayed silent during the extermination of six million Jews in the Holocaust.

Two hundred researchers have already requested access to the mountain of documents, made available after an inventory that took more than 14 years for Holy See archivists to complete.

Award-winning German religious historian Hubert Wolf will be in Rome on Monday, armed with six assistants and two years of funding to start exploring documents from the "private secretariat" of the late pope.

Wolf, a specialist on the relationship of Pius XII with the Nazis, is anxious to discover the notes of the his 70 ambassadors -- the pontiff's eyes and ears during his time as head of the Catholic Church between 1939 and his death in 1958.

An attendant opens the section of the archive dedicated to Pope Pius XII on February 27, 2020 in the Vatican Apostolic Secret Archive, at the Vatican, the central archive of the Holy See where are kept all the documents concerning the government and pastoral activity of the Roman Pontiff and offices of the Holy See. - The March 2 unsealing of the archives of Pope Pius XII, the controversial World War II-era pontiff, whose papacy lasted from 1939 to 1958, has been awaited for decades by Jewish groups and historians. The controversy over Pius XII hinges on whether the head of the Catholic Church, a former diplomat of the Holy See in Germany, remained too silent during the Holocaust, never publicly condemning the Nazis. (AFP/Alberto PIZZOLI)

There should also be records of urgent appeals for help from Jewish organisations, as well as his communications with the late US President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The unsealed archives additionally cover a post-World War II era in which writers were censored and some priests hounded for suspected communist sympathies.

The Vatican first published the essentials covering the Holocaust four decades ago, an 11 volume work compiled by Jesuits.

But some crucial pieces are still missing, including the pope's replies to notes and letters -- for example, those about Nazi horrors.

The Jesuits already published "documents the pope received about the concentration camps, but we never got to see his replies," Wolf said in an interview.

"Either they do not exist, or they are in the Vatican," he told AFP.

Historians have already examined the 12 German years of Eugenio Pacelli, the future pope's real name which he used while posted there as the Holy See ambassador in 1917-1929

There, he witnessed the rise of Nazism, then returned to Rome to become the right-hand man of his predecessor Pius XI, elected in 1922.

Past archives have revealed exchanges in which he was alerted about the extermination of European Jews once he himself became the pope.

A picture taken on February 27, 2020 shows a copy of the SS newspaper "Das Schwarze Korps" dated from July 22, 1937 with a satirical cartoon showing Cardinal Pacelli embracing a woman, with traits representing France and communism, in the Vatican Apostolic Secret Archive, at the Vatican, the central archive of the Holy See where are kept all the documents concerning the government and pastoral activity of the Roman Pontiff and offices of the Holy See. (AFP/Alberto PIZZOLI)

"There is no doubt that the pope was aware of the murder of Jews," Wolf said.

"What really interests us is when he learned about it for the first time, and when he believed that information."

Read also: 'Secret' no more: Pope renames historic Vatican archives

Cryptic Christmas message

On December 24, 1942, Pius XII delivered one of history's most debated Christmas radio messages.

Buried in its long text was a reference to "hundreds of thousands of people who, without any fault of their own and sometimes for the sole reason of their nationality or race, were doomed to death or gradual extermination".

Was his message -- delivered in Italian and aired just once, and which never explicitly mentioned either the Jews or Nazis -- heard and understood by German Catholics?

This undated photo provided by Italian news agency Ansa shows Pope Pius XII (carried at C on chair) blessing young people belonging to the Gioventu Catholic Action at St. Peter's Square in the Vatican. (AFP/ STRINGER / ANSA)

"The only ones who heard it were the Nazis," said Wolf, noting that the radio waves were scrambled and that the pope could have spoken German -- if he had really wanted to reach the German faithful.

"After the war, Pius XII told a British ambassador: 'I was very clear.' And the ambassador will say in reply: 'I did not understand you'," the historian said.

Those who rise to the pope's defense note that Pius XII was a former diplomat who was trained in prudence, anxious to remain neutral in time of war, and concerned about being able to shield Catholics from the unfolding devastation.

He simply could not be any more explicit, Pius XII's supporters say. Historians estimate the Church hid around 4,000 Jews in its Roman institutions during the war.

"Quite a few Jews were saved in convents," David Kertzer, an American historian who won the Pulitzer Prize for a book about the era, told AFP.

"But why were they murdered by people viewing themselves as Christians?"

For Kertzer, the reasons behind the "silence of the pope" are key.

"He wasn't happy about mass murder. He seemed upset. He knew by 1941," said Kertzer.

And yet "never uttered the word Jew".

Wolf, the German historian, added that Pius XII "remained very withdrawn after the war, saying nothing about the Holocaust".

He also never recognized the creation of the State of Israel in 1948.

"Why?" Wolf asks.
After deboarding the train, they continued chanting pro-CAA and provocative slogans like Shoot all the traitors.

During Delhi polls, Union minister Anurag Thakur and his men had raised the slogan, Goli maro saalo ko. Saalo ko has now been changed to saron (all) ko. (Photo: PTI)

NEW DELHI: The venom of hate mongering which was spilled during the Delhi poll campaigning continues to spread in the national capital. Only the slogans have become more chilling, dangerous, and they have come closer.

Inside Rajiv Chowk Metro station on Saturday, some opposing and targeting those protesting against the Citizenship Amen-dment Act began shouting, Desh ke gaddaor ko, goli maro saron ko (Kill all the traitors). During Delhi polls, Union minister Anurag Thakur and his men had raised the slogan, Goli maro saalo ko. Saalo ko has now been changed to saron (all) ko.

Six men, wearing saffron T-shirts and kurta, started the sloganeering when a train was about to halt at the Metro station on Saturday. After deboarding the train, they continued chanting pro-CAA and provocative slogans like Shoot all the traitors.

Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel, responsible for the security of the Delhi Metro, intercepted the protesters and handed them over to the Delhi Police.

While some commuters joined the CAA supporters in their sloganeering, others were quick to get their cameras out to make videos. Many at the station were seemingly taken aback by the spontaneity and the unusual choice of the venue.

"On Saturday, at about 10:25 hours, six youths were seen shouting slogans at Rajiv Chowk metro station, Delhi. They were immediately intercepted by CISF personnel & thereafter handed over to Delhi Metro Rail Police officials for further action. Metro Rail operation remained," the CISF said in a statement.

A senior CISF official said the youths were raising pro-CAA slogans. DCP (Metro) Vikram Porwal said, "We have detained six men and they are being questioned".

A video of the sloganeering has gone viral on social media. Anuj Dayal, Executive Director, Corporate Communications of DMRC, said, "In reference to a video clip going viral on social media, showing sloganeering by some passengers at Rajiv Chowk Metro station, it is to state that this incident happened today morning at the station and DMRC/CISF staff immediately handed them over to the Delhi Metro Rail Police for further necessary action."

Under Delhi Metro (Operation and Maintenance) Act 2002, any kind of demonstration or nuisance is prohibited in Delhi metro premises. Any passenger indulging in such act is

liable to be removed from the Metro premises, according to the Act.

Incidentally, there was a "peace march" organised at the Jantar Mantar against "jihadi terrorism" in northeast Delhi, which was also attended by BJP leader Kapil Mishra who had allegedly made provocative statements on Sunday before the riots broke out in the national capital this week.

The men who were detained were found to be students, and had no criminal antecedents. They were released after due verification, said DCP (Metro) Vikram Porwal.
New Delhi, March 1 : Congress leader Udit Raj on Sunday invited netizens' derision for tweeting a wrong photograph of the recent Delhi riots. According to Twitterati, the photograph is from Bangladesh.

While Spaminder Bharti accused him of spreading fake news, another Twitter user wrote that the photograph was clicked when the police in Bangladesh thrashed children during a strike called by garment workers.

After the riots, the Congress leader had tweeted: "Remember murder of a child, death of women and a person's body doesn't tell only that the administration has fallen, but the country has fallen." The three days of violence in northeast Delhi claimed 41 lives, including a Head Constable and an Intelligence Bureau staffer. The riot erupted on Sunday night and turned deadly by Monday.

The most affected localities included Bhjanpura, Chand Bagh, Maujpur, Kardampuri, Jafrabad, Ashok Nagar, Shiv Vihar, Karawal Nagar and Brahmapuri.
Bhim Army Chief Chandrashekhar Aazad to launch political party soon

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Lucknow, March 1: Ahead of Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections 2022, Bhim Army Chief Chandrashekhar Aazad will float a political party a new political outfit to meet the aspirations of the Dalits.

Though the formal announcement of his party would be made in March, its is most likely to exist parallel to the organisation in its current form.

Speaking about this, Aazad said, as quoted by New18, "I had wanted to announce the formation of a political party back in December, but then this unconstitutional law came into place. To fight against the CAA was more important than fighting elections."

How Bhim Army supporters instigated the violence in northeast Delhi

"Now they can arrest me, beat me in jail and abuse all kinds of human rights. I only want to enter politics so that these things can change and people have their rights. Everything else remains unchanged, my work will continue to be the same. I will continue to fight for my people,"

The Bhim Army chief is a popular Dalit icon. Azad, Satish Kumar, and Vinay Ratan Singh founded Bhim Army in 2014, an organization that works for the emancipation of Dalit Hindus through education in India. It runs free schools for Dalits in the western Uttar Pradesh.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Sunday, March 1, 2020, 14:58 [IST]
Minister of State for Finance, Anurag Thakur on Sunday refuted the claims that he had raised slogan "Desh ke ghaddaron ko..." during the assembly elections and said that people should first enhance their knowledge as half knowledge is dangerous.

When reporters said that he had raised 'desh ke ghaddaron ko...' slogan during Delhi elections, Anurag Thakur said: "You are lying. You people should first enhance your knowledge. Half knowledge is dangerous. The matter is sub judice so I'm not commenting further."

Thakur held a meeting with businessmen, representatives of industry, chartered accountants and tax officials at a dialogue ceremony organized by CII in Chandigarh earlier today and addressed the media persons here, according to the Office of the Minister of State for Finance

During the meeting, he invited their suggestions and feedback on various economic policies and subjects and presented the government's side as well.

"This is an attempt by the Modi government that we reach the entrepreneurs and traders, solve their issues. As our tax base has increased, there has been an increase in the number of individuals taxpayers and not only this, tax collection has also increased. There have been more than Rs 1 lakh crore tax collections in the last four months," said Thakur.

"The economy is constantly improving. We also announced the corporate tax rate cut in Goa. The most attractive tax rate worldwide is to pay only 15 per cent tax for new manufacturing units instead of 30 per cent. This will lead to new manufacturing units, employment will increase, country's income will increase and what we envision to create a $ 5 trillion economy and the goal we have set, we will achieve it by 2025," he added.

The Union Minister added that the Centre is going to bring "Vivaad Se Vishwaas Scheme" and it will be for direct taxes. The individual taxpayer or corporate taxpayer who think that he has to end his old lawsuit and disputes will have to submit tax before March 31. He doesn't have to give any penalty or fine, he added.

"Several agencies including IMF and economic survey they have asserted that India is bound to grow in the financial year 2020-21 @6 per cent to 6.5 per cent that clearly indicates that the world has confidence in India and Indian economy. Modi government is taking all the steps in that direction from banking to the taxation departments to attract the new investments. If you look at the FDI inflow into the country, in the last five years we have received more FDI than UPA's 10 years of rule," said Thakur.

Speaking about the violence that recently erupted in the North- East parts of Delhi, Thakur stated that strict action should be taken against those who instigated or were involved in Delhi violence.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 17:36:56|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

HONG KONG, March 1 (Xinhua) -- A spokesman of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government on Sunday condemned rioters' acts of vandalism in Mong Kok Saturday night, which breached public peace and jeopardized the safety of residents.

Rioters began to gather around Nathan Road and Prince Edward Road West on Saturday evening, blocking roads, setting fires, vandalizing public facilities, hurling petrol bombs and attacking police officers with bricks and hard objects. Several police officers were injured.

The police used minimum necessary force to conduct dispersal and arrest operations. A total of 115 people were arrested for illegal assembly, arson and attacking police officers.

The spokesman also condemned the attack on a clinic in Kwai Chung early on Sunday morning as it was hurled at with petrol bombs.

Hong Kong experienced a series of violent demonstrations last year, hitting hard the economy and people's livelihood, the spokesman said. "Coupled with the COVID-19 epidemic, Hong Kong is facing unprecedented challenges to the economy and well-being of the entire community."

To cope with the difficulties, the HKSAR government has set up a anti-epidemic fund worth 30 billion Hong Kong dollars (3.85 billion U.S. dollars) and announced 120 billion dollars of counter-cyclical measures in the newly released Budget Speech to stimulate economic development and relieve people's hardship.

"At this difficult juncture, a small number of radicals still conducted violent acts of vandalism which disregard law and order. Their behaviour is outrageous," the spokesman said.

"We strongly believe that Hong Kong people will stay united and fight against the disease together, help the Hong Kong community to withstand the current difficulties and gear up for a brighter tomorrow."

Financial Secretary of the HKSAR government Paul Chan said Sunday that persistent social incidents will impact consumption and related industries and foreign investors will question if Hong Kong is still a safe place for businesses.

Chan said he hopes the social incidents can calm down at an early date.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- While the Pride Center of Staten Island has again been barred from marching under its flag in the Staten Island St. Patricks Parade, the LGBTQ community will still be represented during the event if Madison LInsalata has her way.

On the eve of the annual celebration, LInsalata, Miss Staten Island 2020, has come out as bisexual and plans to participate in the parade while wearing a rainbow scarf in hopes of making a statement that sparks constructive conversation in the community.

LInsalata, who had previously only shared her sexuality with close friends and members of her family, said she felt it was important for her to come out publicly before openly supporting the Pride Center as an ally during the parade.

It would have felt disingenuous. I felt that it was necessary for me to come out and say that I was bi publicly because I wanted it to be clear that Im part of this community," she said.

LInsalata had originally planned to wave two prides flags while participating in the parade.

As soon as I knew for sure the Pride Center wasnt allowed to march, I ordered pride flags on Amazon because I knew that I wanted to make some sort of statement, she said. It would have made me sick to my stomach if I would have sat back and done nothing on that day knowing that the Pride Center wasnt allowed to walk."

However, LInsalata worried that she too could be barred after a friend said the flags might violate parade rules, so instead of flags, she decided that she would wear a rainbow-colored scarf, and perhaps some additional rainbow accessories, in hopes of sparking a productive conversation within the community.

I had thought that by wearing those colors tomorrow it would be something that could really spark a conversation amongst people, and even if they dont get the chance to talk to me and hear what I have to say about it, maybe they see it and someone wonders why is she wearing that? or why isnt she allowed to wave a flag? Thats what I think will make the most impact. Just having politicians and us not marching wont change peoples opinions," she said.

LInsalata will also be joining local elected officials at Jodys Club Forest for the annual political breakfast that takes place before the parade.

Ill get the chance to talk to them and theyll get the chance to hear what I have to say, and thats whats really important to me, said LInsalata.

LInsalata said it was hurtful that many Staten Islanders still openly discriminate against members of the LGBTQ community.

To be honest with you, I think its something unfortunately that Ive gotten used to. I hate that thats the truth, she said. Its hurtful. It really is unfortunate that were the last borough to not include the Pride Center despite having a Pope that talks about being inclusive to all different types of people, including those that are a part of the LGBTQ community.

LInsalata, a musical theater teacher, said she has received overwhelming positive feedback since publicly coming out, though she wasnt initially sure that would be the case.

Ive received some texts from parents of my students, which is really nice, she said. I was definitely a bit worried at first about, just knowing that Staten Island tends to be a little more on the conservative side. I was, of course, worried that by me coming out and saying this that there might be some business Id lose or people who might feel uncomfortable.

Not to say that I think anyone I work closely with would think that way, but it was something that went through my head. So it was really nice to hear from parents who were supportive, she added.

Staten Island is the only remaining borough in New York City that does not allow the LGBTQ groups to march under their banner in the St. Patricks Parade. Parade organizer Larry Cummings previously told the Advance, Heres the deal, its a non-sexual identification parade and thats that. No, they are not marching.

Cummings did not respond to a request for comment regarding LInsalatas involvement in the parade.

RESPECT OTHERS DECISION NOT TO MARCH

Despite pageant requirements obligating Staten Islands beauty queens to march in the annual parade, two other winners have chosen to remain on the sidelines and stand in solidarity with the Pride Center.

Angelica Mroczek, Miss Staten Islands Outstanding Teen 2020, recently told the Staten Island Advance that she would not be marching in Sundays parade due to the ongoing exclusion of the LGBTQ community.

To put it bluntly, that the Pride Center of Staten Island is excluded In the St. Patricks Day parade is a travesty, Mroczek said. It is a tradition for the Miss Staten Island pageant titleholders to march in the Staten Island St. Patricks Day parade. As the reigning Miss Staten Islands Outstanding Teen 2020, I have made the decision to not march this year. The pageant executive director Jim Smith, who is a gay man and who my family has known for 30 years, respects my decision.

Mroczek says she has since discussed her decision with LInsalata and that the two mutually respect each others choice to spread the same message of solidarity in different ways.

When SILive.com published my op-ed on Feb. 23 about my decision to not march because of the parade organizers exclusion of the S.I. Pride Center, Madison reached out to me and shared her decision, as a member of the LGBTQ community, to march. She respects my decision and I respect hers. We are in solidarity in the same message, just in different ways. Im proud to have Madison as my Big Sister in our year of reign in the Miss America Organization," Mroczek said.

Miss Richmond County 2020, Gabrielle Ryan, told the NY Post that she too would be boycotting the parade, in part due to her mother, Larissa Ryan, being gay and of Irish descent.

Accepting this title means standing up for what is right and challenging what is wrong, and not just using it as an opportunity to take photos in a pretty crown," Ryan told the Post.

Smith, the pageant organizer, told the Post that he stands by the girls decision to boycott the parade and stand up for what they believe in.

You cant force the girls to do it. Theres a lot of support in our community for their decision, said Smith.

LInsalata says that she wholeheartedly supports the other womens decisions not to participate, but felt as though it was her obligation to come forward and further the conversation surrounding LGBTQ rights.

I want it to be known that I support the other two girls, and I wasnt coming out for buzz or for any sort of attention. It was just because I wanted people to know that Im choosing to be in the parade still only because Im proud to be Miss Staten Island and I want people to know that this is something we need to discuss and can change if we arent afraid to talk about it to their faces. I didnt want to hide anymore," LInsalata said.
DUBAI, Feb 29 (Reuters) - The central bank of the United Arab Emirates advised banks to reschedule loans and reduce fees and commissions on Saturday as part of measures to mitigate the economic effects of the coronavirus outbreak.

The country is a regional business hub and major transit point for passengers travelling to China and other destinations in Asia.

"Financial institutions are expected to implement measures such as re-scheduling of loans contracts, granting temporary deferrals on monthly loan payments, and reducing fees and commissions for affected customers," it said in a statement. (Reporting by Davide Barbuscia, writing by Maher Chmaytelli, editing by Alexander Smith)
Photo taken on Aug. 5, 2019 shows China's national flag and the flag of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) on the Golden Bauhinia Square in Hong Kong, south China. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaochu)

The commissioner's office made it clear that the United States is pointing fingers at the HKSAR government's law-based governance on the pretext of human rights and freedom, which is a blatant interference in Hong Kong affairs and in the HKSAR's rule of law and judicial independence.

HONG KONG, Feb. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Office of the Commissioner of the Chinese Foreign Ministry in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Saturday urged the United States to immediately stop condoning anti-China and trouble making suspects in Hong Kong.

The spokesperson of the U.S. State Department made unwarranted remarks and voiced "concern" about the Hong Kong police's recent legal action against Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, widely known as one of the "black hands" behind Hong Kong's months-long unrest, and several others in accordance with the law.

In a statement issued on Saturday night, the commissioner's office in reply expressed strong disapproval and firm opposition, making it clear that the United States is pointing fingers at the HKSAR government's law-based governance on the pretext of human rights and freedom, which is a blatant interference in Hong Kong affairs and in the HKSAR's rule of law and judicial independence.

"Hong Kong is a city governed by the rule of law. No one is above the law, and all individuals should take legal responsibility for their actions," the statement said.

Some American politicians have openly glorified Jimmy Lai Chee-ying and his ilk -- who have long been engaging in anti-China and trouble-making activities in Hong Kong -- as "advocates for civil liberties and democracy" while acting as the judge and firing accusations at the Hong Kong police who have taken the action against the suspects in strict accordance with the law, it said.

The statement emphasized that China is firmly committed to safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests, and to opposing any external interference in Hong Kong affairs.

The statement again urged the U.S. side to immediately stop condoning anti-China suspects who have tried to mess up Hong Kong, stop undermining the rule of law and judicial independence in the HKSAR, and stop meddling with Hong Kong affairs and China's internal affairs as a whole. Otherwise, the Chinese people, including the Hong Kong compatriots, will definitely fight back.
She was recently in Germany for the Berlinale, Germany's premier film festival.

But Elle Fanning returned to sunny Los Angeles this weekend, and she was well-prepared for the lengthy flight.

The 21-year-old was spotted Friday night with a pillow tucked under one arm as she emerged from the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX.

In transit: Elle Fanning returned to sunny Los Angeles this weekend, and she was well-prepared for the lengthy flight

Wearing her signature blonde hair down, the little sister of Dakota Fanning pulled along a black carry-on bag and a Gucci Flora tote.

She threw a powder blue overcoat on top of a pale pink turtleneck, clashing a pair of dark trousers with light sneakers.

Elle was in the German capital to attend the Berlinale premiere this Wednesday of her upcoming movie The Roads Not Taken.

Prepared: The 21-year-old was spotted Friday night with a pillow tucked under one arm as she emerged from the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX

Written and directed by Sally Potter of Orlando fame, the drama stars her as the daughter of a lead character played by Javier Bardem.

Although the film has a top flight cast including Laura Linney and Salma Hayek, its Berlinale reviews have left it with a 29% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Elle's upcoming work includes a movie called The Nightingale in which she and Dakota will play estranged sisters navigating the dangers of life in Vichy France.

Only the best: Wearing her signature blonde hair down, the little sister of Dakota Fanning pulled along a black carry-on bag and a Gucci Flora tote

The director is French film star Melanie Laurent, who starred in Quentin Tarantino's 2009 movie Inglourious Basterds also about the Nazi occupation of her country.

Elle was the leading lady of Melanie's previous directorial effort Galveston, a well-reviewed thriller that also starred Ben Foster.

This is also not the first time Elle has worked with her sister - she made her film debut as a younger version of Dakota's character in the 2001 drama I Am Sam.
Aboriginal elder Michael Kulka overheard a conversation between students that stopped him in his tracks while on a recent visit to the local primary school at Mossman, an hour north of Cairns in far north Queensland.

It wasnt the topic of the discussion that struck him, but the fact that the children were speaking in snippets of his native language, Kuku Yalanji.

Mossman State School began teaching the local Kuku Yalanji language through weekly lessons in 2018. Credit:Rhett Wyman

The words transported him back to his own early childhood, growing up on the banks of the Daintree River surrounded by traditional language and culture. As a boy, he would paint himself in white clay and sneak up on the old girls while they were fishing in the river, earning him the nickname he still bears today: Uncle Spook.

When he was around five years old, his parents stopped speaking Kuku Yalanji in line with discriminatory government laws that banned cultural practices.
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe (PANA) - The Sixth African Regional Forum for Sustainable Development (ARFSD) advocates for the mobilization of national resources for the achievement of sustainable development goals in Africa through recommendations made by participants at the meeting in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
Last week, a couple of bills scaled second reading in the House of Representatives. Below are the reports and other major activities of the House.

To the consternation of many Nigerians, the House reintroduced a bill seeking immunity from prosecution for presiding officers of the National and State Assemblies, as currently enjoyed by the president, vice president, state governors and their deputies. The bill, which scaled second reading on Tuesday, seeks to amend Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution to extend the privilege to the lawmakers.

Also read for the second time was another bill seeking to establish South-West Development Commission. This followed move to establish similar commission in other geopolitical zones of the country. The same move is on in the upper chamber.

As in the Senate a fortnight ago, a bill to overhaul the provisions of the Police Act scaled second reading in the green chamber. Among other things, the bill seeks to legalise community policing and extend the tenure of the Inspector-General of Police by one year to five years.

On Thursday, another bill seeking to set aside support fund to tackle insecurity in the country scaled second reading. The fund is to be sourced from the National Sovereign Wealth Fund (NSWF), Value Added Tax, among others. Nasiru Ahmed (APC, Kano), a lawmaker who saw no reason for the fund, said rather than the fund, lawmakers should donate their salaries to tackle insecurity.

Worried about the slow pace of work on three critical projects and a perceived conflict of interest due to Julius Bergers involvement in the projects, the House also mandated its works committee to investigate the projects.

Then on Friday, the House committee on agriculture summoned the management of the Bank of Agriculture (BOA), Kaduna, to clear issues on the banks inability to recover a 81 billion loan it disbursed to farmers under the CBNs Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP). They gave this directive during an oversight visit to the headquarters of the bank in Kaduna on Friday.

Days of scrutinising the National Assembly website by this newspaper showed that six lawmakers, months after they were sacked by the courts, and another lawmaker who died, still have their names on the website. It was also found that the site does not list all federal constituencies and lawmakers. Of the 360 members in the country, the site lists 356.
It seems the surgeon general has had it. And he has a simple request for Americans: Stop buying face masks. He was so serious about that message that he wrote it in all caps. Seriously people, Surgeon General Jerome Adams wrote on Twitter, STOP BUYING MASKS! Adams went on to note that masks are NOT effective for the general public and the demand from those who dont need it puts healthcare providers at risk.

The best way to protect yourself and your community is with everyday preventive actions, like staying home when you are sick and washing hands with soap and water, to help slow the spread of respiratory illness.

Get your #FluShot- fewer flu patients = more resources for#COVID19  U.S. Surgeon General (@Surgeon_General) February 29, 2020

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

In a subsequent tweet, Adams said that the best thing people can do to protect themselves from the coronavirus is to wash their hands regularly and stay home if they are feeling sick. Adams is hardly alone in his sentiment. Vice President Mike Pence espoused much the same message during a White House briefing alongside President Donald Trump. The president mentioned masks, Pence said. This morning we talked a great deal about additional medical supplies. Let me be very clear, and Im sure the physicians who are up here will reflect this as well: The average American does not need to go out and buy a mask.

Healthcare professionals and government officials around the world have been calling on people to stop buying masks as some are taking advantage of the situation and sharply increasing prices, particularly on N95 masks. A 10-pack of those masks that sold for $18.20 a month ago now costs $99.99 on Amazon, notes CBS News. Other retailers that sell for far lower prices are largely out of stock. In Italy, Milans deputy chief prosecutor said officials had decided to open an investigation amid reports of severe price gouging. We have decided to open an investigation after media reports of the insane prices fetched up by these products on online sales websites in the last two days, Tiziana Siciliano told Reuters.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

The World Health Organization has also warned of a decrease in supply. There are severe strains on protective equipment around the world, said Dr. Michael J. Ryan, executive director of the health emergency program at the World Health Organization, during a briefing on Friday. Our primary concern is to ensure that our front line health workers are protected and that they have the equipment they need to do their jobs. But despite all the warnings and assurances that they are ineffective for regular people, it seems unlikely to decrease demand since going out to buy masks is more about psychology. The coronavirus is coming, and we feel rather helpless, William Schaffner, a preventive medicine professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, told CNN. By getting masks and wearing them, we move the locus of control somewhat to ourselves.
India has a uniquely vast user demographic  1.3 billion Indians speak between 22 officially recognized languages and 720 dialects. Every 40 km we get introduced to a new dialect and 122 languages are each spoken by more than 10,000 people.



With 560 million internet subscribers, second only to China; India is clearly one of the largest and fastest-growing markets for digital consumers. As per Statista, Indias internet users is projected to grow to 666.4 million by 2023.

Twitter

McKinsey Global Institute estimates that by current trends India will double the number of smartphones to between 650 million and 700 million by 2023.

While India continues to digitise activities at a rapid pace, language continues to be a barrier to adoption and help language first customers progress into the transactional phase.

According to Statista, the number of English internet users in 2016 across India stood at about 175 million and was projected to increase to 199 million in 2021. For Indian language users, this number was about 234 million users in 2016, projected to reach around 536 million in 2021.

malwarebytes

What this means for businesses seeking to make serious inroads in India as an emerging market is that they need to be able to effectively communicate with potential customers in the language of their choice.

According to data from 2001 Census, thirteen languages (scheduled languages of the constitution) account for more than 1% of Indian population each, and between themselves for over 95% of linguistic reach. This language diversity creates a huge gap in language equality and the ability to access digital services.

With internet users leveraging local languages increasing at the rate of 47% year on year, localisation will be key to India going truly digital.

In the past four years, India has seen a huge increase in the use of digital payments. Estimates from a report by MEITY indicate that consumer transactions in the month of January 2019 alone stood at INR 1 Lakh crore over 67 crore transactions. The report sees a potential of USD 1 Trillion digital opportunity by 2025.

ghl

For the fintech / BFSI industry looking to enhance user experience  the foundation of it comes by engaging in the consumers local language. This will help in winning trust of the first-time digital language first customer. And it is not about just translating the content, its much more. The financial fraternity needs to think and innovate keeping in mind the entire customer journey be it the engagement process - by a bank, e-wallet provider or an ecommerce platform right from -

- Creating a login

- Receiving and OTP

- Registering the account (banks/ ewallets) to choosing categories to shop from (ecommerce)

- Engagement on the platforms as desired from paying bills to transferring funds to shopping

- Logging out

A KPMG 2017 report state that 58% of Indian language Internet users continue to transact through traditional channels on account of language barrier.

We do believe that starting point of Indias digital financial inclusion begins with breaking down each step of a financial transaction and deciphering it for a literate Indic language digital customer.

Integrating seamless digital banking facilities in regional languages for a first-time mobile user will be a key enabler for Indias striving e-wallets and e-commerce Industry as well.





pymnts

The reality is evident by the number of user-generated videos in local languages providing step by step walkthrough of application menus that are primarily in English. Ensuring that all communications with users are in a language they are comfortable with can help increase financial and digital literacy, helping prevent fraud.



There needs to be a strong focus on enabling digital literacy and local language content to ensure we are able to connect and serve the unserved and underserved population of India today.

Indias sixty million micro, small, and medium-size enterprises in the informal sector still primarily depend on cash transactions and their own sources of finance for growth. Digital payments across government and businesses across both urban and rural parts as well as new mechanisms to underwrite credit and to handle scoring, pricing and risk management across the portfolio of credit services will need to be put in place to leverage this burgeoning opportunity.

The need for a local language online world has never been more urgent. Indian language users have very little information available on the Internet in their chosen languages and the verity of these as sources is dubitable, at best.

While the RBI has outlined a set of policies and a regulatory framework to help increase adoption of digitals services, lack of transparency and a need for intermediaries will continue to persist in the absence of a strong supportive multi-lingual policy framework.

As India continues to evolve and add more internet subscribers, digital inclusion will require a focus on enabling access in the language of choice.142 banks on the UPI platform are actively engaged with over a 1000 FinTech partners to help increase their spread and increase the delivery of services to customers. With over 38 crore Jan Dhan Yojana accounts, reports estimate that 23% of these accounts still remain dormant. The gap in achieving financial inclusion is evident.

With adult literacy rates at 64% across rural India, and 84% in urban India, and with rural schooling still being local language centric, the need to enable access to products and services in local languages becomes even more evident.

Additionally, while literacy rates seem to be increasing, enabling voice-activated services can increase customer comfort to access and use these services while mitigating known risks relating to intermediaries and agents, money laundering, consumer protection and knowledge of payment systems and their regulation.

Small steps can be a giant leap in building a digital financial inclusive India-

As industry experts say Phygital is the future- ask your customers for their language preferences and start sending user communication (notifications or SMSs) in Indian languages.

BCCL

Start creating awareness by identifying digital and traditional print/TV mediums properties for advertising in Indian languages.

Financial institutions would do well to start thinking about how to create end to end Indian language experiences or flow for its Indian language users.

Start with top 2-3 languages spoken in India (Hindi, Bengali & Telugu), which will help you reach out to more than 55% of India.

Invest in language technology to achieve scale and speed especially where dynamic data is involved. Ensure it is domain and context sensitive.

Voice and text and text-based solutions can coexist in India  give the option to your Indian language users. For example, the seller/ supply side and not just demand side of businesses has legitimate Indian language needs that can make processes even more efficient.
The Sonoma County Water Agency has begun inflating its rubber dam on the Russian River near Forestville in response to a month of dry weather, officials said Friday.

The rubber dam, typically inflated in spring or early summer when demand for potable water increases, is being put to use now because of the lack of measurable rainfall in February and warm temperatures, coupled with increased water demand at a time when the river is relatively low.
(CNN) -- Donald Trump said Saturday at the White House that additional cases of novel coronavirus were "likely" as the President offered condolences to the first coronavirus death in the United States, describing her as a "medically high-risk patient in her late 50s."

"She was a wonderful woman," the President said, but he did not detail how she contracted the disease. The President's update followed a briefing from his coronavirus task force earlier in the day.

"Additional cases in the US are likely," Trump said, "but healthy individuals should be able to fully recover."

During the remarks on Saturday, Vice President Mike Pence said the US would be expanding travel restrictions from Iran "to include any foreign national who has visited Iran within the last 14 days." He also said the US would heighten a travel advisory for specific regions of Italy and South Korea.

"We are urging Americans to not travel to the areas in Italy and the areas in South Korea that are most affected by the coronavirus," Pence said.

Based on CNN's count, using information confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Protection and state health agencies, there are now 67 confirmed cases of novel coronavirus in the United States. The majority of those cases were repatriated passengers from the Diamond Princess Cruise ship.

There are four instances of possible community spread transmission of coronavirus -- two in California, one in Oregon and one in Washington.

Less than an hour before Trump was scheduled to speak, the Washington Department of Health confirmed the first coronavirus death in the United States.

"It is a sad day in our state as we learn that a Washingtonian has died from COVID-19. Our hearts go out to his family and friends," Gov. Jay Inslee said in a statement.

The President and his allies have consistently downplayed the effects of coronavirus, despite CDC officials saying they expect to see community spread within the country.

Trump has rarely delivered remarks to the press from the White House briefing room, but his Saturday appearance marks his second time in the room in less than a week.

The President said at a rally in South Carolina Friday that Democrats are now "politicizing" the virus. "Now the Democrats are politicizing the coronavirus," Trump said. "They have no clue, they can't even count their votes in Iowa."

"This is their new hoax," Trump added.

Worldwide, the virus has killed at least 2,922 -- including 2,835 people in China -- and there have been 85,055 confirmed cases.

A senior administration official told CNN on Friday that Trump's mid-March meeting with leaders of southeast Asian countries in Las Vegas had been postponed.
The Taal Volcano in the Philippines is more than 10,000 kilometres from Yellowknife  but that hasn't stopped Yellowknife's Filipino community from feeling it's impact.

The eruption of the volcano on Jan. 13 displaced upwards of 125,000 people and has stretched the capacity of the region's emergency shelters.

Many Filipino-Canadians know those in the affected regions, said Lea Barbosa-Leclerc, the president of the Philippine Cultural Association of Yellowknife.

Those who don't can vividly remember when disasters displaced their own families in the past, like during 2013's Typhoon Haiyan  which devastated Barbosa-Leclerc's own home region.

So now, Yellowknife's Filipino association is joining those in Windsor, Ontario and Winnipeg in raising funds to support relief efforts in the Batangas region of the Philippines.

The association is hosting a spaghetti dinner at a local Yellowknife parish hall, offering three courses for $10 per plate.

A photographer will offer photo sessions for the same price, and all proceeds will be donated to the Batangas Red Cross, which is delivering disaster relief in the area.

Rignam Wangkham/CBC

Barbosa-Leclerc said, in times of crisis, the Filipino-Canadian community pulls together.

"Our culture, we always see it as we take care of our own, and we help each other," she said.

Barbosa-Leclerc said the fundraiser is already helping build connections, as officers from the association come together to cook giant batches of spaghetti and sauce.

Food has been donated by a number of local businesses, including Trevor's Independent, Northern Food Services, Northwest Distributors, and McDonald's.

"Yellowknife has been very generous with us," she said. "Any service space that you go into, from coffee shops to big places  there are always Filipinos out there. Our government, [in] the Northwest Territories, there are Filipinos out there.

"So we are everywhere, and we are very grateful that Canada and the Northwest Territories have really embraced us."

The event begins at 6 p.m. at the St. Patrick's Co-cathedral Hall in Yellowknife.
Danielle Rose Foster and Douglas Wesley Graham were married Feb. 29 at the Fairmont Washington D.C. Georgetown hotel. Darryl Graham, a brother of the groom, received authorization from the District of Columbia to officiate.

Mrs. Graham, 32, is the director of national accounts for the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions for Hilton Worldwide. She graduated from Cornell.

She is a daughter of Rosemary Foster and Bruce R. Foster of Morganville, N.J. The brides father is the chief financial officer of FCNA Partners, an independent forensic consulting and accounting firm in Florham Park, N.J. Her mother is a stay-at-home parent.

Mr. Graham, also 32, is an enterprise solution architect for DXC Technology, a company in Tysons, Va., that provides information technology and consulting services. He graduated from the University of Central Florida.
Three successive storms have battered Britain  prompting the Met Office to brand this month the wettest February on record.

Thanks to storms Ciara, Dennis and Jorge, the country has seen an average of 202.1mm of rainfall over the month, surpassing the previous record of February 1990 when 193.4mm fell, the Met Office said.

The rainfall saw numerous rivers burst their banks following record river levels in the Midlands, Yorkshire and Lancashire  with severe danger to life flood alerts issued.

Across the country 90 flood warnings are currently still in place alongside 215 flood alerts.

And following rainfall from Storm Ciara and Storm Dennis, it was estimated that up to 3,300 homes in England had been flooded, and a further 1,000 homes in Wales  with much of the country bracing for further damage from adverse weather conditions as Storm Jorge threatened to bring gusts of up to 70mph on Saturday night.

Winds from Storm Jorge were expected to peak on Saturday night, with coastguard chiefs issuing warnings to keep away from harbour walls, cliffs and exposed beaches during the storm.

Ireland is expected to bear the brunt of the winds. Galway and County Clare have been issued with red warnings, however it is expected that the high winds will tail off into Sunday. Meanwhile parts of Scotland were told to expect possibly heavy snowfall.

Chief Meteorologist at the Met Office, Frank Saunders said: From Saturday Storm Jorge will bring strong winds and heavy rain to parts of the UK, with potentially heavy snowfall being a hazard for parts of Scotland.

Areas above 400 metres could see accumulations of 20-30 cm of snow, with lower areas, roughly above 250 metres, seeing accumulations of up to 10 cm.

On Saturday and Sunday, the majority of the UK is covered by Yellow weather warnings with some areas being covered by more than one warning, indicating multiple weather hazards.
Russia says agreed with Turkey to reduce tensions in Syria's Idlib

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 29 February 2020 11:23 AM

Russia says it has agreed with Turkey to ease tensions in Syria's embattled Idlib province, the last major terrorist stronghold in the war-torn country.

In a statement released on Saturday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Moscow and Ankara had during high-level talks reached a consensus on reducing Idlib tensions.

"On both sides, the focus has been on reducing tensions on the ground while continuing to fight terrorists recognized by the United Nations Security Council," the statement read.

Get out of our way in Idlib: Erdogan to Putin

Speaking in Istanbul on Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that he had asked his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to step aside in Idlib and leave Ankara to deal with Damascus alone.

"I asked Mr Putin: 'what's your business there? If you establish a base, do so but get out of our way and leave us face to face with the regime,'" Erdogan said, recalling his Friday's telephone conversation with the Russian president.

He further complained that Turkey can no longer handle new waves of refugees and would let them travel on to Europe.

"What did we do yesterday (Friday)? We opened the doors," he said. "We will not close those doors ...Why? Because the European Union should keep its promises."

Erdogan also estimated that 18,000 migrants have amassed on the Turkish borders with Europe since Friday, warning that the number could reach as many as 30,000 on Saturday.

Tensions surged in Idlib on Thursday after dozens of Turkish soldiers were killed in an airstrike by Russian-backed Syrian forces.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that the targeted Turkish troops "were in the battle formations of terrorist groups."

On Friday, Turkey, which backs anti-Damascus militants, hit 200 Syrian government targets, "neutralizing" 309 soldiers.

Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said that the Turkish military had also destroyed five Syrian government helicopters, 23 tanks, 10 armored vehicles, 23 howitzers, five ammunition trucks, two air defense systems and three ammunition depots.

Drone footage released by the Turkish military showed blistering attacks on tanks, howitzers and soldiers.

However, a senior Turkish official, who was speaking on condition of anonymity, claimed on Saturday that Turkey had destroyed "a chemical warfare facility, located some 13 kilometers south of Aleppo," along with a large number of other Syrian government targets.

The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights challenged the claim, saying Turkey had struck a military airport in eastern Aleppo, where there are no chemical weapons.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his partner Carrie Symonds announced their engagement on Saturday evening, adding that they are expecting a baby in early summer, setting up Johnson to be the first prime minister to divorce and marry while in office.

Johnson and his second wife, Indian-origin Marina Wheeler, are at an advanced stage of divorce. They reached a financial settlement earlier this month as a precursor to the formalisation of their divorce.

Johnson, 55, and Symonds, 31, moved into Downing Street when he became prime minister in July 2019.

It will be Johnsons third marriage; he first married Allegra Mostyn-Owen in 1987; it was annulled in 1993. He then married Wheeler in 1993, with whom he had four children.

In a post on her Instagram account with an image with Johnson, Symonds wrote: Many of you already know but for my friends that still dont, we got engaged at the end of last year... and weve got a baby hatching early summer. Feel incredibly blessed.

A former Conservative Party communications chief, Symonds was first romantically linked to Johnson by the media in early 2019, but her association goes back to when she worked on his successful re-election bid as London mayor in 2012.

Both former prime ministers Tony Blair and David Cameron had children while in Downing Street.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Prasun Sonwalkar Prasun Sonwalkar was Editor (UK & Europe), Hindustan Times. During more than three decades, he held senior positions on the Desk, besides reporting from Indias north-east and other states, including a decade covering politics from New Delhi. He has been reporting from UK and Europe since 1999. ...view detail
At least 13,000 people have been massed at Turkeys border with Greece after Turkeys president officially declared its western borders open to migrants and refugees hoping to head to the EU.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogans decision to open his countrys borders with Europe made good on a long-standing threat, following an escalation in fighting in Syria which has seen thousands of civilians flee an offensive by government forces.

Mr Erdogans announcement marked a dramatic departure from current policy and an apparent attempt to pressure Europe.

The UNs International Organisation for Migration said on Sunday that by the previous evening, its staff working along the land border had observed at least 13,000 people gathered at the formal border crossing points at Pazarkule and Ipsala and multiple informal border crossings, in groups of between several dozen and more than 3,000.

Greek authorities fired tear gas and stun grenades on Saturday to prevent repeated crossing attempts by a crowd of more than 4,000 people massed at the border crossing in Kastanies, and fought a cat-and-mouse game with groups cutting holes in a border fence in a bid to crawl through.

A migrant carrying his belongings walks towards the border (Emre Tazegul/AP)

Others were making the short but often perilous sea crossing from the Turkish coast to the Greek islands. At least three dinghies carrying migrants arrived on the Greek island of Lesbos on Sunday morning.

Turkeys decision to open the borders with Greece came amid a military escalation in north-western Syrias Idlib province that has forced hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilians to flee fighting, with many of them heading north toward Turkey.

In Syria, the government said it was closing its airspace for any flights or drones across the countrys north-western region. It said any aircraft that penetrates Syrian airspace will be treated as hostile and shot down.

The announcement came after two days of Turkish drone attacks in Idlib province that Syrian activists said caused heavy losses to Syrian government forces. These confrontations have added to soaring tensions between Turkey and Russia, which support opposing sides in the Syrian civil war.

Story continues

Any jet that violates our airspace will be treated as a hostile target that must be shot down and prevented from achieving its goals, the Syrian military statement said.

The statement came shortly after the Syrian army shot down a Turkish drone over the town of Saraqeb in Idlib, according to military-run media.

Turkish defence minister Hulusi Akar, speaking from military headquarters near the Syrian border, said Turkey aimed to confront Syrian government forces rather than Russian troops. He called on Moscow to persuade Syrian President Bashar Assad to withdraw to 2018 ceasefire lines on the edges of Idlib.

Referring to losses inflicted on Syria, he said Turkey had neutralised more than 2,200 Syrian troops, 103 tanks and eight helicopters.

The Spring Shield operation, which was launched following the abominable attack in Idlib on February 27, continues successfully, Mr Akar said, referring to air strikes that killed 33 Turkish soldiers.

The operation is Turkeys fourth in the war-torn country since 2016.

Young children were among those fleeing violence in Syria (Emre Tazegul/AP)

Meanwhile, Greek deputy defence minister Alkiviadis Stefanis said there were around 9,600 attempts to illegally cross Greeces border during the night but all were successfully thwarted. Previously several dozen migrants had managed to make it through.

Greek officials said they arrested 66 migrants on Friday, 17 of whom were jailed for entering the country illegally. All Afghans, they were the first migrants sentenced for illegal entry since 2014. On Saturday, Greece arrested another 70 people who tried to cross the land border illegally.

The mass displacement in Idlib has raised the possibility that Turkey might come under growing international pressure to open its border with Syria and offer refuge to desperate Syrian civilians. Nearly 950,000 displaced civilians have been pushed toward the Syrian-Turkish border amid the cold winter weather.

On Saturday, Mr Erdogan said Turkey would not stand in the way of refugees and migrants already in the country who hope to head to Europe.

We will not close the gates to refugees, he said. The European Union has to keep its promises. We are not obliged to look after and feed so many refugees.

Under a 6 billion euro deal in 2016, Turkey agreed to stem the tide of refugees to Europe in return for financial aid after more than a million people entered Europe in 2015.

It has since accused the EU of failing to honour the agreement. Mr Erdogan has frequently threatened to open the gates and allow refugees and migrants to head to Europe unless more international support was provided.
Lenders missing out on lucrative green energy loan contracts have accused a Commonwealth body that injects billions of taxpayer dollars into renewable energy projects of having a sweetheart deal with one company and locking others out of the market.

There is growing unrest in the green loan sector over the Clean Energy Finance Corporation's relationship with fintech company RateSetter after they teamed up to win two major contracts with state governments worth more than $100 million that did not go out to tender.

Credit:Justin McManus

The CEFC hit back on Sunday, saying it was not encouraging states to make RateSetter the exclusive provider of finance for solar and battery programs.

But an email from a senior public servant in South Australia's Energy Department, seen by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, reveals that the state government was under the impression RateSetter was the CEFC's preferred partner.
A cyclist has been left fighting for his life after a collision in north London.

Police were called to Meridian Way, near the junction of Ardra Road, in Edmonton shortly before 4pm on Friday.

The cyclist, a 67-year-old man, was found with life-threatening injuries.

He was treated at the scene by paramedics before being taken to hospital, where he remains in a critical condition.

The driver of the car, a Renault Laguna, stopped at the scene and is assisting officers with their enquiries.
Joe Biden, long considered the Democrats' frontrunner, finally won a state, as South Carolina was called for the former vice president the minute polls closed.

'Just days ago the press and the pundits had declared this candidacy dead,' Biden said. 'Now, thanks to you - the heart of the Democratic Party - we havent just won. We won big, and we are very much alive.'

Biden used his speech at his Columbia, South Carolina headquarters Saturday night to knock around the self-proclaimed democratic socialist, who was trailing him by around 30 points with about three-quarters of the vote in.

'If Democrats want a nominee who's a Democrat, a life-long Democrat, a proud Democrat, an Obama-Biden Democrat, join us,' he told his crowd.

He said with a Biden nomination the Democrats could take the White House from President Trump, keep the House in Nancy Pelosi's hands and grab the Senate from the Republicans. 'We have the option to win it big or lose it big,' he said of the November 2020 election.

'Most Americans don't want the promise of revolution. They want more than promises - they want results,' he said. 'False promises are deceptive. And talk of a revolution isnt changing anyones life,' Biden stated, knocking Sanders.

Joe Biden proclaimed that his campaign was 'very much alive' after beating Bernie Sanders soundly in South Carolina

South Carolina primary winner Joe Biden (right) enters his Columbia, South Carolina primary night party with wife Jill Biden (left) and daughter Ashley Biden (center)

Joe Biden's win was helped by the endorsement of Rep. Jim Clyburn, the third most powerful Democrat in the House of Representatives, who named Biden his chosen candidate in Charleston on Wednesday

Joe Biden (right) holds onto Rep. James Clyburn (left), the powerful South Carolina congressman whose Wednesday endorsement helped put the former vice president over the line in the Palmetto State

Daughter Ashley Biden (left) and wife Jill Biden (center left) watch as Joe Biden (right) delivers remarks to supporters after winning the South Carolina primary Saturday night in Columbia. Rep. James Clyburn (center right) introduced the ex-veep

A grinning Joe Biden (center) and clapping James Clyburn (right) addressed a crowd in Columbia Saturdah night, as Biden's wife Jill (left) smiled for the crowd

Joe Biden's daughter Ashley (left) wipes away a hear as her father speaks as his wife Jill (right) watches him make his victory address in Columbia, South Carolina

Ashley Biden (left) and Jill Biden (right) applaud for Joe Biden, who won the South Carolina Democratic primary easily on Saturday night

Biden also suggested in his speech that with this one win, he was starting to lock the Democratic nomination up.

'The moment to choose the path forward for our party has arrived. Maybe sooner than anyone guessed or wanted. But its here,' he told the crowd.

'And the decisions Democrats make all across America in the next few days will determine what this party stands for, what we believe, and what we will get done,' he added.

At Biden's headquarters in Columbia, South Carolina supporters screamed when Biden was called the winner the minute polls closed, as MSNBC played on the jumbotron at University of South Carolina's volleyball center.

Directly after, Jazzy Trinity, the band playing the event, started performing 'I Gotta Feeling' by the Black Eyes Peas.

Biden's win was called with 0 per cent reporting because exit polls had signaled such good news for the former vice president.

More than half of those who cast ballots were black, a stronghold for President Obama's vice president.

Nearly half say that Rep. James Clyburn's endorsement - which was for Biden - was an important factor in their vote, according to the Washington Post.

And about half said they wanted the next president to return to Obama's policies, rather than dramatically shaking up the country, which is in line with what Biden's has proposed.

Clyburn introduced Biden Saturday night and will campaign for him in North Carolina too.

'We have as our candidate a real good man,' Clyburn told the crowd.

'You do not have to be bombastic to get your point across. You don't have to call people names to have your positions understood. You don't have to tell falsehoods in order to make headlines,' the South Carolina Democrat said.

Clyburn then had 'good man' Biden, accompanied by his wife Jill and daughter Ashley, take the stage.

Biden said of Clyburn, and the voters of South Carolina, 'you lifted me and this campaign on your shoulders'

'I will never forget what you have done for us,' Biden said.

President Trump's campaign manager Brad Parscale responded to the news of Biden trouncing Sanders by saying, 'Once again, President Trump is the clear winner because not one of these candidates has a chance at beating him in November.'

President Trump took it a step further, suggesting Biden's win essentially snuffed out any hope for Mike Bloomberg winning the Democratic primary.

'Sleepy Joe Bidens victory in the South Carolina Democrat Primary should be the end of Mini Mike Bloombergs Joke of a campaign,' the president tweeted. 'After the worst debate performance in the history of presidential debates, Mini Mike now has Biden split up his very few voters, taking many away!'

South Carolina could finally give Joe Biden a win. The former vice president was photographed Saturday at a polling site in Greenville, as Democratic voters from the Palmetto State choose their primary pick

Joe Biden's supporters let out loud cheers when the jumbotron in the volleyball center at the University of South Carolina broadcast that the ex-vice president easily won the state's Saturday primary

President Trump floated that Joe Biden's win in South Carolina essentially ended the campaign of Mike Bloomberg, another 2020 Democrat trying to attract the support of moderates and independents

Joe Biden supporters react to the news that their candidate won the South Carolina, with the race called as soon as polls closed at 7 p.m. EST

A Joe Biden supporter cheers in victory as the vice president wins his first Democratic primary of the 2020 contest

Joe Biden supporters await the vice president's speech Saturday night in Columbia, South Carolina

A supporter of Joe Biden reacts to the result that her choice candidate won the first-in-the-south primary Saturday in South Carolina

A campaign volunteer sports a 'We're Ridin' With Biden' t-shirt at Joe Biden's Columbia, South Carolina election night party Saturday

In protest, Bloomberg's campaign manager Kevin Sheekey sent out a statement that began, 'Mike Bloomberg has not been on the ballot yet.'

Biden had been trying to recover from his fourth place finish in Iowa and his fifth place loss in New Hampshire, as the Real Clear Politics polling average has Bernie Sanders nationally more than 10 points ahead of the former vice president.

One week ago, Biden had his best showing yet - second place in the Nevada caucuses, though he came in far behind Sanders. He earned about 20 per cent of the vote to Sanders' 47 per cent.

'Well, you all did it for me!' Biden told a crowd of supporters gathered at a union hall in Las Vegas. He spoke as NBC News was calling the caucuses for Sanders.

'Now we are going on to South Carolina to win and we're going to take this back,' Biden announced. Biden had previously called South Carolina his 'firewall.'

Upon the race being called for Biden, former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe endorsed Biden on CNN and said he would campaign with him over the next three days.

'I've always said that our best leader is one who can build a broad coalition, including African American voters who are the heart of the Democratic Party. After South Carolina, it is clear Joe Biden is that leader,' McAuliffe said in a statement, sent out by Biden's campaign.

Sen. Tim Kaine, a Democratic senator from Virginia, is also backing Biden.

Virginia voters head to the polls Tuesday, as part of 'Super Tuesday.'

South Carolina was once again be a bump in the road for Sanders, who lost the first-in-the-south primary to Hillary Clinton four years ago by a whopping 47 points.

'I am very proud that campaign so far,' Sanders told a crowd of cheering supporters in Norfolk.

'We have won the popular vote in Iowa. We have won the new Hampshire primary. We have won the Nevada caucus. You cannot win 'em all,' he said.

Bernie Sanders spent Saturday night in the 'Super Tuesday' state of Virginia and congratulated Joe Biden for his win there, while also telling supporters 'nobody wins' every state

Democratic hopeful Tom Steyer decided to bow out of the race Saturday night after the results showed he wouldn't be winning any delegates in a state he had pinned his presidential hopes to

Sanders observed there are a 'lot of states out there.'

'And tonight we did not win in South Carolina,' the Vermont senator said. 'There are a lot of states in this country. Nobody wins them all,' he reiterated.

'I want to congratulate Joe Biden on his victory tonight,' he said, to only a smattering of applause. 'And now we have to win super Tuesday in Virginia!'

Tom Steyer, the billionaire who funded the 'Need to Impeach' effort against President Trump and never held elected office, was in third place when he decided to exit the race, making the announcement after Biden finished his remarks.

Pete Buttigieg, the 38-year-old openly gay former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, was in fourth place, followed by Elizabeth Warren in fifth and Amy Klobuchar in sixth.

Warren had memorable debate performances in both Nevada and South Carolina, going after billionaire candidate Bloomberg, who decided to skip the first four states, instead laying the groundwork for a 'Super Tuesday' delegate haul.

Polls showed Bernie Sanders (right) in a comfortable second place leading up to voting day in South Carolina. He held his last South Carolina rally Friday afternoon in Columbia, where he appeared alongside rapper Big Mike (left)

Bernie Sanders got crushed in South Carolina four years ago, losing to Hillary Clinton by about 47 points

Pete Buttigieg looked to be in a battle for third place in the state. He held a town hall Friday night in Columbia that attracted just over 1,000 people and attended a canvass kick-off event in the capital city Saturday morning, before leaving to campaign in Super Tuesday states

Elizabeth Warren hoped to get some momentum from two memorable debate performances, where she went after billionaire candidate Mike Bloomberg, who is not competing in the South Carolina primary

Tom Steyer's (left) South Carolina primary eve event featured the rapper Juvenile (right) and a joint performance of the 1999 hit 'Back That Azz Up'

'Super Tuesday' is this Tuesday and Democratic voters from 14 states will select their candidates of choice.

Hoping that she might see some momentum out of the back-to-back debates, Warren stuck around South Carolina Saturday and continued to campaign.

Warren failed to break 10 per cent.

At the same time, Sanders headed to Warren's home state of Massachusetts, to see if his neighborly status as the senator from Vermont could attract a sizeble amount of the state's voters, who will vote Tuesday.

USA Today reported that more than 10,000 people showed up Saturday in Boston to hear Sanders speak.

Sanders' last event in South Carolina didn't draw anywhere near that amount of people.

He chose his final event to take place in Columbia, the state's capital and the home of the University of South Carolina, as well as several other schools, on Friday afternoon.

There, he invited actor Danny Glover and rapper Big Mike, along with a number of black local officials, to help him earn over more of the important African-American vote in the southern state.

Killer Mike, a supporter of Sanders' since 2016, specifically tailored his message to black voters.

'Listen to me black people in South Carolina. I'm talking to black people in South Carolina,' the rapper told the crowd. 'If it rhymes with slow, don't vote for it. If the name is "Mike" don't vote for it.'

As South Carolina voters headed to the polls, Bernie Sanders held a rally that attracted 10,000 people in Boston, Massachusetts. He'll be in Virginia Beach, Virginia around the time South Carolina's polls close

Only polling in the single digits in South Carolina, Amy Klobuchar headed to Richmond, Virginia Saturday to campaign in the 'Super Tuesday' state instead

While polling indicates that Sanders has made some progress in earning the support of black voters nationally, in South Carolina Biden had the benefit of the high-profile endorsement of Clyburn, the third most powerful Democrat in the House of Representatives.

Clyburn put his weight - and his political machine in the state - behind Biden on Wednesday.

'But I want the public to know that I am voting for Joe Biden, South Carolinians should be voting for Joe Biden,' Clyburn said at the press conference announcing his decision.

The other candidates have worked to get the support of members of the black community too.

Before dropping out, Steyer's last big effort was his Friday night event at Allen University, a historically black college in Columbia.

There, he invited the rapper Juvenile to come play for his crowd of mostly college-age supporters. The billionaire candidate also put out a spread for attendees that included fruits, cheese, charcuterie and a mashed potato bar.

After a sound snafu prevented Juvenile from performing his full set before Steyer's speech, the rapper and the candidate came out onstage at the end of the night and performed Juvenile's 1999 hit 'Back That Azz Up' together.

Juvenile later told the press that he was giving Steyer his endorsement, because of the policy proposals the candidate pitched that were aimed at the black community.

Midwestern candidates Buttigieg and Klobuchar have struggled to add black voters to their base.

Klobuchar, hoping for better luck in the Super Tuesday states, headed to Richmond, Virginia on Saturday.

Buttigieg held a final event in Columbia, South Carolina Friday night - a town hall that attracted a little more than 1,000 people. He held a canvassing event with supporters Saturday morning.

He saw bigger crowd on Saturday, however, as the young mayor stumped in Nashville, Tennessee.

Earlier in the week in Charleston, Buttigieg attracted protesters from 'Black Voters Matter,' as he tried to march in solidarity with fast food workers asking for a minimum wage bump to $15 an hour.

'Pete can't be our president, where was $15 in South Bend?' the protesters shouted.

Indiana law prevents mayors from setting their own minimum wage.
All pupils and staff of a secondary school in the east of the Republic of Ireland have been reported as 'close contacts' of the confirmed case of coronavirus in the country.

The principal, staff and parents of pupils of the school have been notified.

Following risk assessment, all pupils and teachers are being treated as close contacts of the confirmed case, the National Public Health Emergency Team have confirmed.

The school will close for the duration of the incubation period, which is 14 days.

All pupils and teachers are being asked to restrict their movements until the end of the incubation period and will receive guidance on the meaning of restricted movements.

Public health doctors will actively follow-up with all students and teachers on a daily basis over the coming 14 days, a spokesperson said.

Dr. Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer with the Department of Health, said: Contact tracing has assessed that close contacts of this patient includes pupils and teachers of a secondary school. Public health doctors are in direct contact with pupils, their parents and the staff involved.

"Patient confidentiality in this case, and in all cases, should be respected. The Department of Health will provide updated information as necessary.

The Department of Education said: The Department of Education is available to assist the school in any way necessary. The Departments of Education and Health are in regular contact.

"The closing of this school was a decision made on public health grounds after risk assessment deemed it appropriate. All other schools will remain open. The Departments will continue to communicate with all schools on this issue.

Yesterday it emerged that a patient, a male in the eastern part of the country, is currently receiving appropriate medical care after testing positive for Covid-19, the HSE revealed.

The man had been in Northern Italy and did not contract the virus from contact with another confirmed case here, including the case confirmed in Northern Ireland on Thursday. He came forward himself with symptoms. Tests confirmed he had the virus only hours before the announcement was made and authorities then began the process of tracing those he may have come into contact with.

Dr Tony Holohan, chief medical officer with the Department of Health, said the likelihood of more cases in Ireland is now "moderate to high" but added that, for members of the public who had not been out of the country, the likelihood of contract the virus was still extremely low.

Dr Holohan said: "This is not unexpected. We have been preparing for this eventuality for many weeks now. Public health protocols have been in place since January and are operating effectively.

"The health service is well used to managing infectious diseases and has robust response measures in place."

Dr John Cuddihy, director of the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, said: "The HSE is now working rapidly to identify any contacts the patient may have had, to provide them with information and advice to prevent further spread.

"It is important to note that the risk of transmission through casual contact is low."

It is the second case of coronavirus on the island of Ireland, after the first case in Northern Ireland was confirmed earlier this week.

The patient had arrived at Dublin Airport from northern Italy before travelling to Belfast by train.

The Irish Cabinet is expected to meet to discuss measures to contain the virus, such as curtailing public events, while the cancellation of St Patrick's Day events around the country has not been ruled out.

Government departments are being asked to provide facilities for people to self-isolate in the event of a coronavirus outbreak here, the Sunday Independent has learned.

Newly-commissioned nursing homes that are not yet in use or facilities at colleges and universities across the State could be used as spaces for people to self-isolate as a precaution in the event they cannot do so at home.

"It would be if you ended up with a lot of people who are symptomatic but do not have a suitable home setting in which to self-isolate," a Government source said.

This could include patients in nursing homes, people in Direct Provision who have to share a room with others or those caught up in the housing crisis who are also forced to share a room with others.

Departments are being asked to provide details on facilities they would be able to make available to be used as temporary isolation units. Such facilities would not be used as field hospitals for people who are diagnosed with the coronavirus. "It's not for sick people. If you are sick and need to be isolated we are prepared for that," the source said.

Government preparations for dealing with an outbreak of the coronavirus will be stepped up this week with an inter-departmental group of secretaries general to meet to assess various contingency plans.

Nursing homes will have to consider restricting visitor access to protect residents from the coronavirus, according to industry representatives, with older people and people with underlying illnesses most vulnerable to the virus.

The chief executive of Nursing Homes Ireland, Tadhg Daly, said he was also concerned about a shortage of equipment, such as face masks, to protect staff from the coronavirus.

"In the private sector, the majority have single en-suite rooms, so the level of preparedness is good," he said.

The English language school sector is expected to lose millions because of travel restrictions designed to contain the virus. Many student trips due to take place this month and in April have already been cancelled. Marketing English in Ireland estimates that more than 10,000 student trips in the coming weeks will be cancelled, at a cost of more than 8m.

The National Bus and Rail Union is calling for Perspex protective shields for drivers on the country's national bus routes. Unlike Dublin Bus vehicles, Bus Eireann services in regional areas do not have automated cash dispensers or protective shields.

The union was told last week that the Northern Irish passenger who travelled from northern Italy to Dublin Airport and then on to Belfast did not use public bus transport.

The woman is now self-isolating in Northern Ireland and the train on which she travelled to Belfast has been sanitised. It is believed that several people who had contact with the woman on her journey home from northern Italy have also been forced to isolate themselves. These include the passengers who sat two rows in front, two rows behind and across from the woman on the Aer Lingus flight to Dublin.

The cabin crew have also been placed in self-isolation for 14 days as a "precautionary measure".
https://www.aish.com/ci/s/6-Jewish-Responses-to-the-Coronavirus.html

As the virus spreads, Jewish and Israeli figures are working to help solve the disease and prevent panic.

As the coronavirus spreads across the world, people are worried. Global stock markets have plummeted over fears of its spread, and many regions have imposed draconian restrictions on travel and movement. God willing, we will soon get the virus under control. As we grapple with Covid-19s spread, here are six facts about ways Israel and the Jewish people are affected and are trying to help.

Mass Prayer at the Western Wall

Hundreds of people came together for a mass prayer service at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, Judaisms holiest site, on Sunday, February 16. Despite a huge rainstorm, Israelis and tourists gathered together to fervently pray for those infected with Covid-19. Participants recited prayers in Hebrew and also in Mandarin, as dozens of Chinese tourists who were visiting Israel took part. Among those praying were relatives of people infected with Covid-19, including relatives of three Israelis who were quarantined on a cruise ship off the coast of Japan and infected with the disease.

The Chinese people need to know that the Jewish people are thinking of them and praying for and with them, explained Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, the Chief Rabbi the Israeli city of Safed and one of the organizers of the event; May this unfortunate plague cease and vanish from the Chinese people and from the entire world."

Israeli Scientists Working on Vaccine

As medical researchers around the world race to develop a vaccine for Covid-19, some Israeli researchers think they're on the verge of a breakthrough. The Galilee Research Institute (MIGAL) in northern Israel announced on February 27 that a vaccine they are working on might be ready in three weeks. If it is, it could potentially be available to the public within three months.

MIGAL researchers have already created a virus against the coronavirus strain Infectious Bronchitis Virus (IBV), which is a separate disease from Covid-19; they are now trying to adapt it to be effective against Covid-19. MIGALs CEO David Zigdon explained that given the urgent global need for a human Coronavirus vaccine, we are doing everything we can to accelerate development. Our goal is to produce the vaccine during the next 8-10 weeks, and to achieve safety approval in 90 days.

Blaming the Jews for Coronavirus

In some quarters, people are blaming Jews for the coronavirus and accusing Jews of spreading it. Extremists hope the virus kills Jews, the ADL noted in a special report released on February 6, 2020. The report noted that anti-Semites are also using its emergence to advance their anti-Semitic theories that Jews are responsible for creating the virus, are spreading it to increase their control...or they are profiting off it.

Show of Support for Chinese Victims of Hate

Covid-19 originated in China, and some Chinese people around the world have found themselves scapegoated as somehow being personally responsible for the virus spread. On February 21, 2020, over 70 Jewish organizations in the United States, including the Rabbinical Council of America, signed an open letter to the Chinese American community.

We are writing to express our heartfelt solidarity with you during these tense and troubling times, the letter assured Chinese Americans. We are concerned about rising xenophobia aimed at Chinese people in this country and abroad over the COVID-19 coronavirus. We know that in such times, concern can quickly turn to hysteria, which can lead to scapegoating. We pledge to help ensure that Chinese people feel safe and supported, and to combat attacks and stereotyping on social media. We know from history, ours and yours, that such fearmongering can be devastating.

In a time of mass fear, the letter is a call to remind us all to be reasonable, to confront Covid-19s spread in with maturity, and to spend our energy on fighting this disease, not each other.

Promising Equipment Developed in Israel

Many people are donning face masks to protect themselves against Covid-19. Some of the worlds most effective face mask technologies are being developed in Israel.

In Jerusalems Argaman Technologies factory, workers embed copper particles inside cotton fibers, blocking germs and bacteria. Argaman founder Jeffrey Gabbay explains that these masks can remain effective for a persons entire lifetime. A recent order for 1 million masks from a buyer in Hong Kong bought all of the companys stock, though they are working to produce more masks, and hope to soon have them available for purchase around the world.

Sonovia is another Israeli company working on creating more effective face masks that block germs, and is busy creating a prototype face mask that can guard against Covid-19. Founded by two Bar Ilan University chemistry professors, the company uses ultrasonic fabric finishing technology to infuse cloth face masks with zinc and copper oxide nanoparticles that protect against viruses and bacteria. These masks guard against the flu and its hoped that further testing will render them effective against coronaviruses such as Covid-19 as well.

Theres also an urgent need to develop rapid testing capabilities to diagnose people who have Covid-19. An Israeli firm recently announced that it has created a test kit that can effectively and quickly screen for coronavirus. BATM based in the Israeli town of Hod Hasharon announced on February 27, 2020 that its kits have been proven to effectively screen for coronavirus.

Italian Rabbis Prayer for Covid-19

Many schools and businesses in northern Italy have been shut down as the region faces a major Covid-19 outbreak that has affected hundreds of people. The Jewish community in the region has been hit hard. In Milan, which is home to about 10,000 Jews, public buildings have been closed and fewer people are venturing out of doors. The citys sole Jewish school has closed temporarily, and many synagogue services have been cancelled, with people meeting privately in small groups in peoples apartments to pray instead.

Amid this uncertainty, Italian Jews are responding with prayer. On February 26, 2020, the Rabbinical Assembly of Italy published a Hebrew prayer for the victims of coronavirus, which theyre making available for people around the world to recite at home or in synagogue if they wish. We wish to express our empathy, and we share the pain for the victims and pray for the healing of the sick, wherever in the world this disease has manifested itself and will strike next. The prayer calls on God to help end the spread and the fear of Covid-19.

As Covid-19 spreads, its crucial that we all exercise caution while avoiding panic. Many common-sense actions that prevent transmission of other viruses can help slow its spread. Coughing into a handkerchief or ones elbow, disposing of tissues in trash bins, cleaning surfaces frequently and washing hands often are all potent ways we can protect ourselves.

In the meantime, we can all take pride in the way that Israeli scientists and Jewish leaders have reacted to this virus, working hard to come up with solutions and also reminding us all of the need to face Covid-19 and other problems with maturity and humanity.
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic - Health officials in the Dominican Republic and France on Sunday reported the first confirmed cases of the new coronavirus in the tourist-rich Caribbean, while British cruise ship passengers who had been trapped at sea due to virus fears were finally set to come home.

Dominican Public Health Minister Rafael Sanchez Cardenas said a 62-year-old Italian man had arrived in the country on Feb. 22 without showing symptoms. He was being treated in isolation at a military hospital and has not shown serious complications.

France, meanwhile, reported three cases on the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe, the first in one of Frances overseas territories.

The announcements came shortly before the Braemar cruise ship, which had been denied entry to the Dominican Republic due to the virus fears, at last found a place to dock  the Dutch territory of St. Maarten.

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines said Sunday that two chartered airliners would carry passengers back to Britain. Other passengers, who had been scheduled to board the vessel on Friday in the Dominican Republic, were being flown to St. Maarten to embark there.

Dominican officials had barred the ship due to reports that a few of those aboard had a flu-like illness, but the cruise line said none had symptoms consistent with the new virus.

It was one of at least three cruise ships turned away from Caribbean ports over the past week due to concerns over possible viral infections, though no passengers on any of the ships has been confirmed to have the disease.

The broader Latin America region has reported several other cases of the COVID-19 illness since midweek.

Mexicos Secretary of Health in Chiapas state reported the nations fifth case on Sunday, describing the patient as an 18-year-old woman who had been studying in Milan, Italy. Ecuadors government confirmed five new cases Sunday, with officials stating that all are related to a woman who recently returned from Italy and marked the nations first case. Brazil has reported two cases.
Harvest is under way in Victoria's vineyards to pick grapes for the next vintage, however, winemakers are bracing themselves for a drop in sales as the coronavirus outbreak slows exports to China.

China is the biggest overseas buyer of Victorian wine, accounting for $190 million in exports in 2018-19.

But producers are now anticipating a hit to their bottom line, as people stay away from hotels, bars and restaurants across China to avoid catching the virus.

Peter Dillon, chief winemaker at Handpicked Wines. Credit:Eddie Jim

Leanne De Bortoli, director of De Bortoli Wines, said the outbreak was having a double-edged effect on winemakers who also rely on Chinese tourists spending money at cellar doors.
Lawmakers of the Upper Chamber only used two of three days in the past week to deliberate on national matters.

This is because they dedicated the whole of Wednesday to eulogise their late colleague, Ignatius Longjan, in a valedictory session.

Nonetheless, the senators were able legislate on several issues, ranging from health, to economy and as usual, security.

Here are some major discussions from the Senate last week:

Monday:

 The sponsor of the bill that seeks to establish an agency for the rehabilitation of repentant Boko Haram members, Ibrahim Gaidam, has explained why he introduced the bill in the Senate.

Among other reasons, he said the commission would help repentant insurgents to re-enter mainstream politics, religion and society. It would also promote reconciliation and national unity, he said.

Tuesday:

 The Senate called on President Muhammadu Buhari to reconstitute the board of the Federal Character Commission (FCC).

This is even as the commission was alleged to be selling job slots for as high as N3 million.

 The Senate Committee on Environment expressed disappointment over the slow pace of work on the Ogoniland Clean Up project despite the release of $360 million.

The panel was disappointed that two years after the release of funds, not a single site out of the sixty-five contaminated sites marked for clean-up was certified clean.

 The Senate has fixed March 9 for the public hearing of the Social Media bill. The hearing is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. at Senate Conference Room 022, Senate New building, National Assembly, Abuja.

Wednesday

 The Senate honoured Mr Longjan as the lawmakers dedicated the whole day to a valedictory session for the late senator.

READ ALSO:

Mr Longjan died on February 9. He was 75. He represented Plateau South Senatorial District under the platform of the All Progressives Congress.

Thursday:

 The Deputy Senate Leader, Ajayi Boroffice, decried Nigerias poor preventive measures towards Covid-19 (coronavirus). The lawmaker narrated his experience on a recent trip to South Africa. He said the country has already adopted more preventive measures compared to Nigeria.

A case of the virus was confirmed in Lagos on Friday and both the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire and Information, Lai Mohammed, have asked Nigerians to remain calm and not panic.

 A bill that seeks to amend the Companies and Allied Matters Act 2004, scaled second reading at the Senate.

The bill, sponsored by the Senate Leader, Abdullahi Yahaya, seeks to, among other things, provide for the incorporation of companies.

* Find details of the proposed State Police Bill HERE.

The bill, among other things, seeks to establish the federal police, state police, National Police Service Commission, National Police Council, and State Police Service Commission for the states.
New Delhi [India], Feb 29 (ANI): Akshay Thakur, one of the death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case, on Saturday moved "complete" mercy petition, claiming that the petition filed by him earlier, and which was dismissed by President Ram Nath Kovind, was "incomplete".



Advocate AP Singh, the convicts' lawyer, today informed a Delhi court that the petition moved earlier did not have "complete facts".

He said that the mercy petition has reached the President's Secretariat today.

Singh had earlier this month said that the President of India had carried out a "complete miscarriage of justice" by rejecting the "incomplete mercy petition" of convict Akshay Thakur.

"Today, through media reports, I heard that the mercy petition on behalf of Akshay Thakur was rejected by President of India. In this regard, I want to clarify that on January 31, 2020, an incomplete mercy petition was filed before the President by the family of Akshay," Singh told reporters.

President Ram Nath Kovind had, on February 5, rejected the mercy petition of convict Akshay Thakur. So far, mercy petitions of Vinay Sharma and Mukesh Singh have also been rejected.

Meanwhile, another convict in the matter, Pawan Gupta, has filed a curative petition before the Supreme Court seeking commutation of his death sentence to life imprisonment.

This comes as a fresh death warrant has been issued for the convicts -- Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta and Mukesh Singh -- for their hanging at 6 am on March 3.

The case pertains to the brutal gang rape and killing 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. (ANI)
When Janice L. Mayer stepped down from her post as the Santa Fe Desert Chorales executive director earlier this year, the board of directors went just up the hill on the highway heading north toward the Santa Fe Opera, where Emma Marzen was serving as board liaison. They had found their replacement.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Yuliasri Perdani (The Jakarta Post) The Hague  Sun, March 1, 2020 13:50 680 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20678aa1c 1 World Netherlands,Netherlands-Indonesia Free

Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima will visit Indonesia from March 10 to 13 at the invitation of President Joko Widodo.

In the lead-up to the state visit, the Dutch Foreign Ministry recently invited The Jakarta Posts Yuliasri Perdani and several other Indonesian journalists to the Netherlands to talk with Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Stef Blok about the two countries relationship and future cooperation. Below are excerpts from the interview:

Question: Starting this year, the Netherlands has stopped sending development aid to several countries, including Indonesia. What is your hope for this new chapter of bilateral relationship?

Answer: I am very positive about it. Essentially, that is good news because Indonesia has become a middle income country, and this doesnt mean we will cooperate less. A large number of Indonesian students come to the Netherlands each year. Within Europe, we receive most Indonesian students  which makes me very happy because it is one of the strongest people-to-people bonds imaginable.

We share the same challenges in important fields like coastal protection, water purification and waste treatment. Of course, Indonesia is much bigger both in surface and population but a large part of Indonesia faces the same challenge as the Netherlands does of having a large population on a limited area of land.

For a long time, Indonesia and the Netherlands have been cooperating on the possibility of coastal protection in front of Jakarta and also on providing drinking water and treating waste.

Here in the Netherlands we are crowded with more than 17 million people on a very tiny piece of land  most of it beneath sea level. The experience we have here can be shared with Indonesia.

Indonesia and the European Union (EU) are in negotiations on the Indonesia-European Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IEU-CEPA). What do you think of this expected partnership?

I think it will be very beneficial both to Indonesia and the Netherlands if there is a trade agreement between the EU and Indonesia.

Indonesia has a strong presence as an exporting country here in the Netherlands. I believe we are the eleventh country of destination for Indonesian goods. And we are number 66 in the world according to population size  meaning we have strong trading relations. The Netherlands is also the largest European investor in Indonesia.

The trade agreement can only help us. As an EU member, trade agreements on behalf of the Netherlands are always negotiated by the EU. I understand that there will be new rounds of talks in March, and I sincerely hope that it will be successful.

What sectors will be prioritized in the agreement?

I prefer agreements to be as broad as possible. Agreements like this have to be beneficial to all parties involved  European countries and Indonesia.

There has been frictions between Indonesia and the EU over Indonesias curbs on exporting nickel and other raw materials and the EUs palm oil policy, which Indonesia has deemed discriminatory to its palm oil sector. Do you have any suggestions on how to resolve this dispute?

Of course, I regret that there is a dispute. But now that there is a dispute, it is wise that those subjects have been put in the hands of the World Trade Organization (WTO). There should be consultations now and to find a way forward.

When I visited Indonesia much more than a year ago, we spoke extensively about palm oil. And I realize that a large number of Indonesian companies  especially small holders  are very much dependent on palm oil. So the Netherlands is not in favor of a ban on the import of palm oil.

We are cooperating with Indonesia. We signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote sustainable palm oil production and especially could benefit those small holders. I am convinced that the only way forward is to work towards sustainable palm oil production.

Consumers in Europe  also in the United States and Canada  want the products they buy to be produced in a sustainable way.

The Indonesian government is in the process of moving the capital from Jakarta to Kalimantan. How do the Netherlands see it in terms of business and investment opportunities?

Creating a whole new city offers the possibility of creating a completely sustainable city. In the Netherlands, we put a lot of effort to create what people call a smart city  that means not only making the city sustainable but also integrating Information Technology (IT), for instance, to handle traffic congestion. Of course, it will be worthwhile to avoid this in the new capital.

The other sectors include water treatment and implementing renewable energy. These are challenges both for universities to contribute their knowledge and for the private sector. The new capital, no doubt, will be an interesting subject for the representatives of Dutch companies who will be joining the state visit to Indonesia.

King Willem-Alexander will visit several places in Indonesia with one of them being Lake Toba in North Sumatra. Is there any particular reason for choosing Lake Toba?

First of all, Lake Toba is very beautiful. But the region is also connected to the subject we spoke about. There is the question of deforestation and sustainability because of intensive agriculture around Lake Toba and the water is getting polluted more and more. And there again we face a very comparable challenge. The Netherlands has a very productive and intensive agricultural sector. But if the farmers don't treat wastewater in the way they should, our famous canals and rivers will get polluted.
U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad(left), and Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban groups top political leader, shake hands after signing the peace agreement (PTI Photo)

New Delhi: In a reaction to the much-awaited peace deal between the US and the Taliban, India on Saturday said its consistent policy has been to support all opportunities that can bring peace, security and stability in Afghanistan and ensure end of terrorism.

After months of negotiations, the US and Taliban signed a landmark peace deal in Qatar capital Doha on Saturday that provides for the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan.

India's Ambassador to Qatar, P Kumaran, was among a host of diplomats present at the ceremony where the deal was inked.

"India's consistent policy is to support all opportunities that can bring peace, security and stability in Afghanistan; end violence; cut ties with international terrorism; and lead to a lasting political settlement through an Afghan led, Afghan owned and Afghan controlled process," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.

"As a contiguous neighbour, India will continue to extend all support to the Government and people of Afghanistan in realising their aspirations for a peaceful, democratic and prosperous future where the interests of all sections of Afghan society are protected," Mr Kumar added.
Our Divisions

Copyright  2021-22 DB Corp ltd., All Rights Reserved

This website follows the DNPA Code of Ethics.
Having worked in Healthcare Facilities Management, I have been involved in developing maintenance programs, policies and procedures, and supervising maintenance in three hospitals in Connecticut over the span of 30-plus years. Healthcare Maintenance is far more involved than a school building, but a school building is no less important.

The issue of mold, deferred, underfunded maintenance is not unique to Stamford, it is pervasive throughout Connecticut and likely the entire country as well.

I am against the SAMG proposal to enter into a P3 agreement. There is enough blame to go around, and naming guilty parties would be a waste of ink. We know how we got here, the difficult part is determining the right way to rectify the situation, and more importantly how to prevent it from happening again.

The SAMG plan identifies 1,000,000 square feet of school space to be sold/leased back to the city. Based on cost estimates of $550 per square foot as provided by SAMG, we are talking about an estimated cost of $550,000,000 dollars to build five schools. Former Stamford Office of Administration Director Mike Handler told everyone that the city cant afford to finance/borrow that kind of money because it will have a negative impact of our AAA bond rating.

What we found in Moodys Ratings methodologies, Page 17, was that because of our long-term payment obligations, the developers funding would become city debt and would still impact our bond rating. SAMG obviously could not provide estimated lease payments, so if we were to guess, a figure of $30 per square feet over 1 million square feet would be $30,000,000 a year, $30,000,000 multiplied by the minimum lease mentioned of 45 years totals $1,350,000,000. This does not include any scheduled CPI increases spread out over the term of the lease. You can begin to see the potential impact on taxpayers.

P3 is not the answer! It doesnt address the remaining schools and their maintenance. There is no magic bullet that solves this crisis. New Haven recently completed a major 20-year capital project rebuilding or renovating 43 of their schools. Im not sure of the extent of work that was done, but I am told it was comprehensive.

Stamfords plan has to be a multi-faceted.

A. Conduct review of the 2009 EMG Report.

B. Commission an independent forensic audit of all work identified and completed under the auspices of the Stamford Asset Management Group.

C. Commission a new Facilities Assessment Report to provide a path for the future.

D. Create a cabinet level position of director of Facilities Management, Construction and Energy Management for the City of Stamford to oversee all city school buildings and other city facilities.

Taking figures from the EMG report, what I found was that the escalated cost all the work for all schools specified, spread out from 2009 through 2018 would have been about $218,000,000.00.

This report was ignored, shelved and forgotten. I wonder where we would be today if we had paid attention to the EMG report.

Moving forward, we must know whats been done. The elected boards must take ownership and visit schools to see existing conditions. It demands full transparency from all parties involved. Clear, concise progress reports should be provided to elected boards so we can follow the project process.

We must change the way we do business.

A. Audit, streamline and improve our governmental processes.

B. Audit city departments, determine what we are doing right and where improvements must be made.

C. Audit staffing levels, qualifications and job descriptions.

D. Improve staff training, certifications and licensing.

We must ask city unions to partner with us in correcting past mistakes and preventing them from happening again. We must ask all city employees to take ownership and pride in their workplace, no matter where they work.

We must develop a Facilities Maintenance Management plan, with building maintenance policies, procedures and detailed schedules for all work/projects involving city buildings and equipment. We must implement a computerized maintenance management system that can properly assign, track, record the work and provide proper reports.

Trinity Catholic High School will be closing after this year. Perhaps the City of Stamford should look into leasing or purchasing it from the Bridgeport Diocese. Just a thought, but it would make perfect swing space while we renovate other schools.

Jeff Curtis is a member of the Stamford Board of Representatives in District 14.
Yemenis encircle strategic city in al-Jawf as Saudi countermeasures fail: Report

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 29 February 2020 10:38 AM

Yemen's armed forces have encircled the strategic city of al-Hazm - the capital city of the northern al-Jawf province - as Saudi attempts to break Yemeni advances failed, a report says.

The Beirut-based al-Akhbar newspaper reported Saturday that the advances by Yemeni forces, led by the popular Houthi Ansarullah movement, continue towards the strategic city and that major Saudi positions surrounding al-Hazm have fallen.

A tribal source loyal to Ansarullah told al-Akhbar that advances are currently ongoing northwest of the city, adding that a Saudi counteroffensive seeking to recapture the al-Ghail region south of al-Hazm had failed.

The source added that the Yemeni forces have gained control over a number of positions overlooking provincial government buildings in the city.

Up to 70 percent of the province is currently under the control of the Yemeni forces, he added.

According to the report, Saudi Arabia has sent dozens of military vehicles along with hundreds of mercenaries from the central Ma'rib and southern Shabwah province in a bid to push back the Yemenis advances.

Saudi Arabia has also sought to win the loyalty of Yemeni tribes against the Yemeni forces in the region by offering money, the report added.

Yemen's al-Jawf province had been under Riyadh's control for up to 50 years.

Due to Saudi intervention and influence, al-Jawf province was effectively deprived of using its oil reserves, which are largest in Yemen, and attracting needed investment, it added.

According to the report, Saudi Arabia expelled as many as 370,000 Yemeni workers from the kingdom in 2013 to put pressure on the former Yemeni government shortly after Yemen's Safer oil company started operating the first oil well in al-Jawf province.

Saudi Arabia launched its war on Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing back to power the government of former president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and crushing the popular Houthi movement.

The US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, estimates that the Saudi war has claimed more than 100,000 lives since the war broke out.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






01.03.2020 LISTEN

The Chief Executive Officer of Obokese Foundation, Nana Obokese Ampah has expressed his appreciation to the Handwriting On The Wall Institute (HOW), United States of America and Trinity Baptist Church and Cultural Arts Centre, Cleveland, Ohio for the partnership his foundation enjoys with them.

Speaking to newsmen, Nana Obokese Ampah indicated that he hopes to see this partnership which began with the training of some selected youth from Cape Coast and Abura Asebu Kwamankese Districts, grow to affect the entire Central Region, Ghana and the world at large. "Very soon, the Obokese Foundation, Handwriting On The Wall Institute (HOW), and Trinity Baptist Church and Cultural Arts Centre will roll out training programmes across Ghana", Nana Obokese Ampah added.

Obokese Foundation is a non-governmental organisation aimed at providing entrepreneurial training to underprivileged youth in society. This he said, is his contribution towards Ghana Beyond Aid Agenda declared by His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

It will be recalled that last week the Obokese Foundation and HOW organized a graduation ceremony for some youth who received entrepreneurial training such as bead making, nail polishing, makeup and critical thinking from them.

Present at the graduation ceremony were Ms. H. ElAnee Barclay Jones, President of HOW, Okatakyi Amanfi VII, Paramount Chief, Asebu Traditional Area, Rabbi Kohain Halevi, Executive Director, PANAFEST Foundation, Mr. Richmond Yeboah, Head of Investment and Public Relations, Cape Coast Metropolitan Assembly, Mr. Obed Acquah Quansah, Regional Director, Coastal Development Authority and Mr. Aliu Sumaila, Deputy NADMO Director, Twifo Hemang Lower Denkyira District Assembly
ISLAMABAD - The United States and the Taliban signed a landmark agreement Saturday in Doha, Qatar, setting the stage for ending a nearly 19-year-old war in Afghanistan and bringing back home thousands of American troops deployed there.

U.S. chief negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad and Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban deputy chief for political affairs, inked the pact at a ceremony at a hotel in the Qatari capital where Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the foreign ministers of a number of countries were in attendance.

In a statement issued after the deal with the Taliban was signed, the White House noted President Donald Trump is making good on his promise to bring U.S. troops home from endless wars overseas by working toward peace in Afghanistan.

"An agreement has been reached with the Taliban that secures important commitments that are necessary to finally end the conflict in Afghanistan. While work remains, this progress provides a historic opportunity for peace, the statement reads.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks at a signing ceremony of the U.S.-Taliban agreement in the Qatari capital Doha, Feb. 29, 2020.

Under the agreement, Washington and its allies are committed to immediately begin withdrawal of all military forces from Afghanistan within 14 months from five bases there in return for guarantees Afghan soil will not harbor transnational terrorist groups.

Within the first 135 days, the number of American forces would be brought down to 8,600 from roughly 13,000 currently stationed in the country.

The Taliban also is committed to engage in peace negotiations with Afghan stakeholders on a permanent cease-fire and power-sharing in post-war Afghanistan. The intra-Afghan talks are supposed to begin within 10 days. In the days leading up to the those negotiations, the Afghan government is to release 5,000 Taliban prisoners while the insurgents have to free around 1,000 detainees from its custody.

"This agreement will mean nothing and todays good feelings will not last if we dont take concrete action on commitments and promises that have been made, Pompeo told the signing ceremony in Doha.

He stressed that ultimately it will be up to Afghans to determine their future through intra-Afghan talks. The U.S.-Taliban deal creates the conditions for Afghans to do just that.

The reclusive Taliban chief, Haibatullah Akhundzada, who allegedly is living in Pakistan, urged his fighters to honor the peace, declaring it a victory for the insurgent group.

Text: Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan

"This victory is the collective victory of the entire Muslim and Mujahid nation  The accord about the complete withdrawal of all foreign forces from Afghanistan  is undoubtedly a great achievement, Akhundzada asserted in a statement released to media.

Pompeo in his speech to the signing ceremony said that there will be a temptation to declare victory," but he stressed that victory for Afghans will be achieved only when they can live in peace and prosper.

The secretary acknowledged, however, the intra-Afghan dialogue process would be challenging in terms of achieving its objective.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper also has issued a joint declaration with the government of Afghanistan, reassuring the turmoil-hit nation that the U.S.-led partners will remain committed to the peace process.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Afghan opposition presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, and U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper pose for a photo at the presidential palace in Kabul, Feb. 29, 2020.

Esper told a news conference Saturday during his visit to Kabul that a lack of commitment on the part of the Taliban could force Washington to pull out of the agreement. He said the U.S. will closely watch the Talibans actions in terms of further reducing insurgent violence and showing progress in intra-Afghan negotiations to demonstrate their efforts toward peace are being made in good faith. 

Should the Taliban fail to honor their commitments, they will forfeit their chance to sit with fellow Afghans and deliberate on the future of their country. Moreover, the United States would not hesitate to nullify the agreement, Esper warned.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, while speaking along with Esper and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, said his government is ready to engage with the Taliban on a wider agenda to promote peace in the country.

"They should be ready to discuss their relationship with their state and non-state sponsors, a verifiable system for cutting off their ties with all transnational terrorist groups, their dependence and involvement narcotics and other transnational criminal organizations positively, Ghani said.

The Taliban has consistently refused to engage in peace talks with Ghani and his government, however, dismissing it as an American puppet. The insurgent group says, though, it would not oppose participation of government officials in their individual capacity in intra-Afghan talks with an inclusive delegation comprising representatives of other Afghan political, as well as civil society, groups.

A reduction of violence agreement between the U.S. and Taliban went into effect seven days ago, and its success paved the way for Saturday's signing.

FILE - Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai speaks during an interview in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sept. 24, 2019.

Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai told VOA's Afghan service, We are very happy to see the signing taking place on Saturday. Its a welcomed thing. And from that point on, we hope that the intra-Afghan dialogue will start as soon as possible so Afghans can sit together and bringing lasting peace to our beloved country.

The head of strategic relations at Afghanistan's Ministry of Peace Affairs, Najiyah Anwari, said, The delegation of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan government will be inclusive ... in a way that it is able to represent Afghanistan well and to keep the achievements of Afghan people and their demands in the past two decades and fight for it.

U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, which started nearly 19 years ago, after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, has cost Washington almost $1 trillion and the lives of about American 2,400 military personnel.
A Lake Oswego church will be changing some parts of its Sunday Mass days after the first case of presumptive coronavirus was diagnosed in Oregon on Friday, church officials said.

Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church has canceled its Sunday school programs, and parishioners will be advised not to hold hands during the Lords Prayer. The congregation will also abstain from distribution of the Precious Blood, in which parishioners drink from a chalice during the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. Furthermore, rather than hugging or shaking hands during the rite of peace, the church will have congregants perform a simple bow.

Gov. Kate Brown announced Friday that an employee at Forest Hills Elementary School had been diagnosed with the illness, though school district officials said the person did not have regular contact with students. The infected person was said to be in isolation at a hospital in Hillsboro, though their identity and condition have not been released.

Forest Hills will be shut through Wednesday as a precaution and to get a deep cleaning, the school district said.

The school at the church received a deep clean Saturday, and the parish hall was scheduled for a similar cleaning Sunday, church officials said.

We have updated our Distribution procedures for Holy Communion, the church said in an email. All liturgical ministers should take precautions when performing their duties. Avoid unnecessary contact in greeting and make use the hand sanitizers now present in multiple places in the church.

CORONAVIRUS IN OREGON: FULL COVERAGE

-- Kale Williams

kwilliams@oregonian.com

503-294-4048

@sfkale

Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox.
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) during a campaign rally on the Boston Common in Boston, Mass., on Feb. 29, 2020. (Scott Eisen/Getty Images)

Polls Suggest Sanders Will Capture the Most Super Tuesday Delegates

Presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is likely to receive most of the more than 1,300 Democratic delegates about to be pledged in Super Tuesday voting, polls show.

While Sanderss main opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, may win some of the 14 primaries and one caucus scheduled for March 3, Sanders leads polling in most of the states with larger delegate counts, particularly California, where 415 delegates are to be won, and Texas, which will pledge 228 delegates.

Sanders has polled at about 34 percent in California recently and roughly 30 percent in Texas. Hes also leading in Virginia (99 delegates), Massachusetts (91 delegates), and Colorado (67 delegates).

Biden, on the other hand, only has a lead in North Carolina (110 delegates)around 25 percent to Sanderss 23. Biden will be seeking to gain momentum after a big victory in South Carolina, which he won by more than 28 percentage points over Sanders. The RealClearPolitics recent poll average had shown him with a 15-point edge.

The polls dont give much hope to the other candidates. Under Democratic Party rules, a candidate needs at least 15 percent of the vote to gain any delegates. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is peaking above that threshold in California, Massachusetts, and Colorado, but is trailing Sanders, even in her home state, where he leads with about 25 percent to her 21.

Billionaire and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is appearing on ballots for the first time in the Super Tuesday contests, is doing well enough in polls to suggest he may collect some delegates in Virginia, Texas, and North Carolina.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) dropped out of the race on March 2. She had polled well in her home state, where she was leading the pack at about 29 percent.

While former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg got first place in the Iowa caucuses and a tie in New Hampshire, recent poll averages showed him falling short of the 15 percent mark in all the largest Super Tuesday states. On March 1, he announced his exit from the race.

Even after Super Tuesday, there are a number of states with large numbers of delegates left, including New York (274), Florida (219), Pennsylvania (186), and Illinois (155).

Contested Convention

Sanders currently holds a delegate lead with 60 pledged so far, mainly due to his win in Nevada. Biden is second with 54 delegates and Buttigieg is third with 26.

While Sanders may solidify his delegate lead on March 3, hell still have a long way to go to secure the nomination, which would require obtaining a majority of pledged delegates (at least 1,991).

If no candidate has enough delegates to secure the nomination by the July 13-16 Democratic convention in Milwaukee and if no nominee is selected in the first round of delegate voting, that would trigger a contested convention. That means delegates could engage in multiple rounds of voting, a process that could ultimately lead to a nominee who had fewer delegates than the incoming leader.

Biden has said he would contest the nomination if no one gets the majority of delegates by the convention, even if Sanders ends up with more delegates.

Update: The article has been updated to reflect that Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) dropped out of the presidential race.
The annual appearances of John Mulaney, who this weekend hosted Saturday Night Live for the third time in three seasons, have become one of the shows more enjoyable traditions in this current era of its history. The presence of Mulaney, the former S.N.L. writer turned stand-up star and ubiquitous comic talisman (Oh, Hello, Documentary Now!, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse), seems to help loosen up the cast members and bring out their goofiest material. And this time, he had extra help from some co-stars of his latest Netflix special, John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch, including Jake Gyllenhaal and this weeks musical guest, David Byrne.

But first: another opening sketch featuring S.N.L.s now familiar roster of celebrity impressionists playing the Democratic presidential contenders.

The segment was set in the White House, where Vice President Pence (played by Beck Bennett) was holding a news conference to discuss preparations for a widespread outbreak of coronavirus.

Bennett explained, Most of you know me from the sentence: Even if Trump was removed, wed still be stuck with Mike Pence. He added, I have to admit, this disease has been quite a test of my faith. Just like dinosaur bones or Timothee Chalamet.
A man who was quarantined in



Nashik in Maharashtra for possible exposure to novel coronavirus after his return from Italy, has tested negative, officials said on Sunday.

The man, who hails from Chandrapur district, had returned to the country on February 26 from Italy, where he had gone for studies, an official said.

"He came directly to his sister's place in Nashik. As he suffered from cough, cold and fatigue, the health officials of the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) conducted a medical check-up on him and got him admitted to the civil hospital here," district civil surgeon Dr Suresh Jagdale said.

"He was quarantined as a precautionary measure as he showed symptoms of coronavirus. His samples were sent to Pune for testing," he added.

A Maharashtra health department official later confirmed that he was found negative for the infection.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Heavy downpours have eased off, giving way to largely cold and bright conditions on Sunday, but hundreds of flood warnings and alerts remain in force following the wettest February on record.

Emergency teams repaired damaged flood barriers in parts of the West Midlands to prepare for high water levels on the River Severn which are expected to peak at between 5.4 and 5.7 metres on Monday afternoon, the Environment Agency said.

Meanwhile, there were no reported evacuations in deluged towns in East Yorkshire for the first night since the flooding started.

Water levels are generally dropping or remaining stable in Snaith, Gowdall, East Cowick and West Cowick, but are expected to remain high for several days, East Riding of Yorkshire Council said.

Parts of Scotland and northern England saw blustery showers, strong winds and snow on Sunday morning, with brighter, chilly conditions in southern parts.

A yellow warning for snow over higher parts of Scotland is in place from 3pm until midnight, with travel disruption likely, said the Met Office.

(PA Graphics)

From midnight, an ice warning is in force covering much of eastern and northern Scotland, Northern Ireland, north-west England and north Wales, lasting until 10am on Monday.

A UK average of 202.1mm of rain fell last month, surpassing February 1990 when 193.4mm fell, the Met Office said.

Local authorities will be faced with significant clean-up operations once flooding risks subside and water levels reduce.

Thousands of homes and businesses were flooded as areas were deluged by more than a months worth of rainfall in just 24 hours, while some 127,000 properties were protected by flood defences this winter, authorities said.

Men wade through floodwater in East Cowick, Yorkshire (Owen Humphreys/PA)

Some 15 rivers in the Midlands, Yorkshire and Lancashire recorded their highest levels on record and the Environment Agency warned the country needs to brace itself for more frequent periods of extreme weather like this because of climate change.

The downpours, which started with Storm Ciara and continued with Storm Dennis and then Storm Jorge, contributed to record river levels which saw hundreds of emergency staff working on flood defences and pumps, clearing debris and repairing damaged defences across the country.

The Government has said it is investing 2.6 billion in flood defences by 2021.

A total of 85 flood warnings were in place across England and Wales, mostly in the South West and along the English-Welsh border, and in Yorkshire, while a further 173 flooding is possible alerts are also in force.

It represented a reduction of five flood warnings and a reduction of 42 alerts since Saturday evening.

Have any outside afternoon plans for #StDavidsDay? Many places will see decent spells of #spring #sunshine, but with some blustery showers and #snow for parts of Scotland pic.twitter.com/pSlxMZag0L  Met Office (@metoffice) March 1, 2020

Towns including Ironbridge and Bewdley along the River Severn in the West Midlands, and West Cowick and Lidgate in East Yorkshire, along the River Aire, are among the worst-hit areas in England.

More than 3,300 properties in England are thought to have been flooded as a result of the combined effects of storms Ciara and Dennis, the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs said.

On Tuesday, Welsh Government minister Lesley Griffiths said local authorities in Wales had confirmed more than 1,000 homes had flooded, with reports of more than 300 businesses also affected over the previous two weeks.

The leap year does not affect the wettest February record data, the Met Office said.
Like many students his age, Hunter Martin had different plans growing up.

An avid outdoorsman, Martin once dreamed of going to college to become a wildlife biologist. After looking at potential career opportunities, however, he had his doubts.

Youre going to college and putting yourself in a lot of debt and then not coming out with a job at the end, because there are no job openings for that type of field, he said.

Amanda Ryans path was quite different. After spending three years in prison, Ryan learned the basics of building maintenance, plumbing and electricity through a course offered at the facility.

I loved working with my hands, Ryan said. I love hard work. It consistently tests you.

Both Martin and Ryan eventually found the apprenticeship program offered through Western Technical College.

Now in their second year, Martin and Ryan work most days onsite with their employers, learning on the go. Once every two weeks, Martin and Ryan spend the day at Westerns welding and apprenticeship facility on the south side of La Crosse.

Apprenticeship is post-secondary education, like a college or university, said Carl Newman, a construction electrician apprenticeship instructor at Western. Theres just once big difference  most of your training is done in the field.

Apprentices are also paid while they go to school, essentially eliminating all debt. Newman adds that nearly 100% of apprentices have a job once they complete the program, which typically lasts five years. The average salary is between $60,000 and $70,000.

They get paid to come to school, Newman said. You earn while you learn. You can come to school with no school work.

Originally used as a temporary facility, Westerns welding and apprenticeship facility was not intended as a permanent learning space.

Over time, however, the building continued to sufficiently meet the needs of students. Despite this, Western students, faculty and administration agreed that an upgrade was needed.

When I first showed up here, it looked like a warehouse garage, Martin said. Showing up, I said, Is this the right place? Is this Western? 

Right now, we lack the area to properly simulate what theyre going to see out in the real world, Newman said. Its a converted building. It was not designed specifically for apprenticeship.

Last week, Western announced a $3.5 million remodel of the facility. The project will dramatically improve the outside of the facility, providing a welcoming atmosphere for students. The interior will also be reconfigured with students in mind.

Both Ryan and Martin say the project brings to light the benefits of becoming an apprentice, and demonstrates the colleges commitment to growing the regions workforce.

Its going to get a more welcoming atmosphere, not some cold garage, Ryan said.

The nicest thing about this project is that we are getting recognized, Martin said. The college realizes that apprenticeships are a big deal and putting in the money and the support to support us.

Newman said the project will bring tangible benefits, but that it also validates the growing need for more students in the workforce.

They really get the feeling that they are not just the ones in the temporary building, he said. It will make them feel like they are Western students.

The project is scheduled to begin in May and conclude before fall semester. To learn more about Westerns apprenticeship program, visit www.westerntc.edu/apprenticeship.

Love 3 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Representative Image

Taiwanese tyre major Maxxis Group is betting big on India, where it plans to build up to five factories, as it expects the country to play a crucial role in its chase to become a top five global player by 2025, according to a senior company official.

The company, which clocked revenue of around $4 billion in 2019, is currently the world's 9th largest tyre brand and sees India along with Indonesia to play significant part in meeting its 2025 target.

The company is investing $400 million on its first manufacturing plant at Sanand in Gujarat, where it is working to hike output to 60,000 units of two-wheeler tyres per day from the current 20,000 units a day, as part of the project's phase I expansion.

"Maxxis has a group goal of growing into the top five globally in next five years. We have accomplished much in East Asia, Southeast Asia and have significant presence in Europe and in American market.

"The next major international markets for us will be two places -- one is India and the another Indonesia, the major two-wheeler markets in the world," Maxxis India Marketing Head Bing-Lin Wu told PTI.

He further said, "in achieving the group goal of 2025, India will play a pivotal role. We have estimated a certain output from the Indian market alone that will help us to achieve that target. On backward calculations four or five production units will be the minimum requirement to achieve that."

When asked about investments and timeline for setting up these plants, he said, "we will start a discussion very soon."

Also, he said the investments on the new plants would be comparably lesser than on its first plant at Sanand where the company has already made "some heavy advanced investments" on machinery for processes such as mixing, vulcanising and calendering and the "capacity of one machine is so huge that it can supply to six to seven production lines".

"In the subsequent plants, we will try to make an optimisation between our investments and utilising the current capacity of our Sanand plant," Wu said.

At present, Maxxis India supplies two-wheeler tyres to Honda, Hero MotoCorp, Yamaha and Suzuki from its Sanand plant, while it supplies four-wheeler tyres to Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki and Jeep.

Commenting on Sanand plant expansion, Lu said, "we have used half of the land (106 acres) we got from the Gujarat government for the planned 60,000 units capacity. The other half of the land, we are still deciding whether to put another 60,000 units capacity of two-wheeler or we are going to put four-wheeler tyre production."

Maxxis has set a target of garnering 15% of two-wheeler tyre market in India by 2023.

Lu said the company expects the Indian market to grow to around 10 crore units of two-wheeler tyres per year and if the company achieves its target of 15% market share "we will more or less utilise the entire capacity of our Gujarat plant and anything beyond will require expansion of production in India".

On four-wheeler tyre segment, he said the group's 2025 target and expectations from India are pinned on both two and four-wheeler tyres segment "but volume-wise, definitely two-wheeler tyres in India has more advantage than four-wheeler tyre business".

When asked about growth prospects for 2020, Lu said Maxxis expects to continue with its growth momentum from last year, despite the automobile industry suffering a downturn as it was able to enhance its original equipment manufacturer (OEM) business share.

"I will say we are still in a position to aim at high growth given that we're going to have even higher share in the existing partnership and we are looking at multiple projects simultaneously with OE (original equipment) partners," he said.
ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - As demonstrations continue across Canada in support of Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs opposing a pipeline through their territory, legal experts suggest it's time to reconsider how injunctions are employed when responding to Indigenous-led protests.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 1/3/2020 (680 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - As demonstrations continue across Canada in support of Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs opposing a pipeline through their territory, legal experts suggest it's time to reconsider how injunctions are employed when responding to Indigenous-led protests.

The protests began earlier this month when the RCMP moved into Wet'suwet'en territory to enforce a court injunction against opponents of Coastal GasLink's natural gas pipeline development in northern British Columbia. A group of hereditary chiefs rejected the court's decision on the company's application, saying it contradicted Wet'suwet'en law.

Police serve an injunction to protesters at a rail blockade in St-Lambert, south of Montreal on Thursday, February 20, 2020. As demonstrations continue across Canada in support of Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs opposing a pipeline through their territory, legal experts suggest it's time to reconsider how injunctions are employed when responding to Indigenous-led protests.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

As solidarity protests popped up on railways and roads across the country, other companies sought their own injunctions to remove the blockades, arguing the demonstrations were causing harm to business and to the Canadian economy.

St. John's-based lawyer Mark Gruchy, who represents clients charged with breaching an injunction while protesting at the Muskrat Falls hydro site in Labrador in 2016, said Indigenous resistance to resource development is too complex an issue to be addressed through injunctions in their current form.

"It's frustrating for me as a lawyer to watch, but I think there's a relatively straightforward way to really take the edge off and to change the future," Gruchy said from Happy Valley-Goose Bay, where five of his clients had just been cleared of criminal charges related to the Muskrat Falls protest. Several other people still face trials or sentencing after being charged for the same incident.

Gruchy said the concerns raised in his clients' case will continue to surface across Canada unless politicians work to "modify the tool" being used to resolve such resource and land disputes.

As an example, he proposed that in cases related to an Indigenous-led protest, injunctions could be structured to allow for mediated consultation instead of a heavy-handed order for the protest to stop.

"This issue, really, is a very sharp collision of a major political, social issue with the legal system, and I think that politicians should do their best to ... blunt the impact of that," he said. The current situation is "not good for ... the long term health of our legal system," he added.

John Borrows, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Law at the University of Victoria, said there is a precedent of a legislative solution being employed when injunctions were causing disruption.

In the mid-20th century, the widespread use of injunctions by employers against striking workers was leading to increasingly volatile disputes in British Columbia. The provincial government eventually adjusted labour legislation to outline required negotiation practices in disputes.

"It seems to have created some safety valves or more productive ways of talking through what the dispute is, and so I always wonder whether or not what we learned in other contexts could be applied in this context," Borrows said.

He said injunctions preserve the status quo, because aboriginal title issues do not need to be considered. That causes complications when complex title and governance issues are at stake, as in the Wet'suwet'en case.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Marguerite Church acknowledged the difficulty of addressing underlying Indigenous law issues in her decision on Coastal GasLink's injunction application, writing "this is not the venue for that analysis, and those are issues that must be determined at trial."

Others have said the legal tests applied when considering an injunction request favour corporations, because financial losses are more easily demonstrated than environmental or cultural ones.

A study of over 100 injunctions published last year by the Yellowhead Institute, a First Nations-led think tank based at Ryerson University, found 76 per cent of injunctions filed by corporations against First Nations were granted, compared with 19 per cent of injunctions filed by First Nations against corporations.

Irina Ceric, a lawyer and criminology instructor at British Columbia's Kwantlen Polytechnic University who worked on the study, said the use of injunctions to dispel protests has been on the rise in Canada. But the last three weeks have been "off the charts," she said, with 12 granted since protests began  more than half of them to the CP and CN railways.

She said the recently granted injunctions raise questions, because in some cases the evidence used in the applications has not been made public, and in other cases it's unclear why mischief laws would not have sufficed.

"I don't know if this is the intent, but what it does is that it gives the corporations that are impacted by these blockades the power to call the shots in terms of protest policing, which I think is really problematic," she said.

Ceric said that rather than waiting for the provinces to introduce legislation, it may take a Supreme Court of Canada challenge to change how injunctions are applied in response to Indigenous protests.

Shiri Pasternak, a criminology professor at Ryerson University and research director of the Yellowhead Institute, said legislators appear to be responding to recent events with more extreme measures rather than reconsidering how injunctions are used.

She pointed to a law introduced in Alberta this week that would heavily fine people who block roads and rail lines and said the recent proliferation of injunctions speaks to their function as a last resort for companies when negotiations with Indigenous leaders break down.

"It's just proving how instrumental this tool is for removing people from their land," she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 1, 2020.
Joe Biden scored a thundering victory in South Carolinas Democratic primary on Saturday, riding a wave of African American support and ending progressive rival Bernie Sanders' winning streak

Columbia: Joe Biden scored a thundering victory in South Carolinas Democratic primary on Saturday, riding a wave of African American support and ending progressive rival Bernie Sanders' winning streak.

Biden's win came at a do-or-die moment in his 2020 bid as the moderate Democrat bounced back from underwhelming performances in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada. The race now pivots immediately to a new phase when 14 Super Tuesday states take the campaign nationwide early next week. We are very much alive," Biden declared at an exuberant post-election rally. For all of you who have been knocked down, counted out, left behind - this is your campaign.

Sanders claimed second place, though his loss gave a momentary respite to anxious establishment Democrats who feared that the self-described democratic socialist would finish February with four consecutive top finishes.

Billionaire activist Tom Steyer, who was in a battle for third place, formally suspended his campaign. He spent more than $19 million on television advertising in South Carolina -- more than all of his rivals combined -- but never found a clear lane in the crowded contest.

Seven candidates remain in the Democrats' quest to find the strongest possible nominee to take on President Donald Trump in November. Biden's allies almost immediately cast the South Carolina victory as proof that he should stand as the clear alternative to Sanders.

The South Carolina primary was the first major test of the candidates' appeal among black voters. And while it gave the 77-year-old Biden a win when he most needed it, he must still prove that he has the financial and organisational resources to dramatically expand his campaign in the next 72 hours. He will also be under pressure to rely on his decades-long relationships with party leaders to create a new sense of inevitability around his candidacy.

The Associated Press declared Biden the winner at 7 pm EST, just after the polls closed in South Carolina. The AP based the call on data from AP VoteCast, a survey of the electorate conducted for the AP by NORC at the University of Chicago. The survey showed a convincing win for Biden.

Even before news of Biden's win was declared, Mike Bloomberg announced his own plan to deliver a three-minute prime-time address Sunday night on two television networks. He didn't say how much he paid for the air time, which is unprecedented in recent decades. Bloomberg's campaign privately acknowledged that Biden was likely to get a bump in momentum out of his South Carolina win, but they still believe Bloomberg can win in a handful of states that vote on Super Tuesday, including Arkansas, Alabama, Oklahoma, Virginia and North Carolina.

And Sanders was already peeking ahead to Super Tuesday as well, betting he can amass an insurmountable delegate lead at that point. After two consecutive victories and a tie for the lead in Iowa, the 78-year-old Vermont senator's confidence is surging.

Sanders congratulated Biden on his first win and said it was nothing for his own supporters to worry about. Tonight, we did not win in South Carolina. That will not be the only defeat. A lot of states in this country. Nobody wins them all, he told a cheering crowd in Virginia, one of 14 states to vote next week. Now we enter Super Tuesday.

Moments after Biden's victory was confirmed, former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe formally endorsed the former vice president and encouraged the Democratic Party's moderate wing to unite behind him. On CNN, he called on several candidates to get out of the race  not after Tuesday, but tomorrow.

But the Democrats' 2020 primary election isn't yet a two-person race. Not ceding anything, Pete Buttigieg is fighting to prove he can build a multiracial coalition. And with the help of super PACs, Warren and Klobuchar vowed to keep pushing forward no matter how they finished on Saturday.

Trump was paying close attention to the Democratic race. Speaking before conservative activists earlier in the day, the president conducted a poll of sorts by asking his audience to cheer for who would be the best Democratic contender for him to face in November.

Sanders was the clear winner. How could you be easier to beat than Joe? That guy cant put two sentences together, Trump told attendees of the Conservative Political Action Conference in suburban Washington. But you know he is more down the middle. Everyone knows hes not a communist and with Bernie there a real question about that.

Saturday was all about Biden and whether he might convince anxious establishment Democrats to rally behind him at last.

Elected officials inclined to embrace his moderate politics had been reluctant to support him after bad finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire and a distant second place in Nevada last week. Yet fearing Sanders' polarising progressive priorities, they're still searching for an alternative who's viewed as a safer bet to defeat Trump in November.

Senior Biden adviser Symone Sanders called South Carolina a springboard for the campaign, on par with how the state boosted the presidential aspirations of Barack Obama in 2008 and Clinton in 2016.

South Carolina represented much more than the fourth state on the Democrats' months-long primary calendar. It served as the first major test of the candidates' strength with African American voters, who will be critical both in the general election and the rest of the primary season. Biden won 60 percent of the votes cast by African Americans. He also did well with older voters, women, moderates and conservatives and regular churchgoers, according to AP VoteCast.

Sanders earned the support of roughly 15 percent of African American voters, while billionaire businessman Tom Steyer won 16 percent. There was also evidence that Bidens status as former President Barack Obamas two-term vice president helped him win over African Americans.

VoteCast found that about 4 in 10 voters in South Carolina wanted to return to the politics of the past, compared to about a third in Iowa and New Hampshire. That includes the roughly 50 percent of African American voters who said they want a Democratic presidential nominee who would emulate the Obamas presidency.

By comparison, roughly two-thirds of white voters wanted a presidential candidate who would bring fundamental change to Washington.

While voting technology was a concern in two of the last three primary contests, South Carolina uses a wide array of voting technology that presents unique challenges. Saturday's election in South Carolina marks the first statewide test of its new fleet of electronic voting machines, a $50 million upgrade from an old and vulnerable system that lacked any paper record of individual votes. The new machines produce a paper record that can be verified by the voter and checked after the election to detect any malfunction or manipulation.

Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez cautioned Democrats that its still early in their presidential primary. Speaking at a North Carolina Democratic Party fundraising gala, Perez noted that to win the nomination, a Democrat must win 1,991 delegates  and only a fraction of those have been allocated in the partys first four primaries. We have a long way to go, he said.
Duvan Zapata scored a hat-trick as Atalanta destroyed lowly Lecce 7-2 on Sunday to strengthen their grip on the Champions League spots in a Serie A weekend ravaged by the coronavirus outbreak. Eleven days after they thrashed Valencia in their last match Gian Pier Gasperini's side showed why they are considered one of the most exciting teams in Europe with a breathtaking second half display that blitzed their promoted opponents. They sit fourth, six points ahead of Roma before the capital city club take on Cagliari in Sardinia later and the same number of points behind third-placed Inter Milan, whose marquee clash with title rivals Juventus was one of five matches postponed this weekend due to the spread of COVID-19. Atalanta's travelling fans, most of whom will have arrived in Lecce from Lombardy, the country's virus hotspot, had to have their temperatures checked before they were allowed to enter the Stadio Via del Mare. The teams went into the break level as Lecce defender Giulio Donati made it 2-2 in the 40th minute. Donati had given the away side the lead early when he headed into his own net under no pressure whatsoever. However the second period was one-way traffic once Josip Ilicic classily slotted home his side's third, and Zapata -- who headed home Atalanta's second midway through the first half -- completed his treble with two goals in eight minutes to seal the three points. Luis Muriel then made it six with three minutes left when he scored on the rebound after his own shot bounced out off the post, and Ruslan Malinovskyi completed the rout in stoppage time. Duvan Zapata has now scored eight goals in 15 Serie A games this season after his hat-trick at Lecce
Chosen as Word of the Year in 2019, woke was originally used about people sensitive to social injustice and racism.

However, it has become associated with an obsession with the pursuit of grievances  real or imagined  and has created a suffocating culture of authoritarianism.

Here, Christopher Booker- in a book written shortly before his death last year- examines the havoc it is causing.

Wherever we look, tensions and divisions exist in society that would have been hard to imagine even ten years ago.

And the issues that tear us apart are numerous: the growing influence of identity politics, whereby people form narrow and rigid alliances defined by their race, sexuality or cultural background; the omnipresent influence of social media; the fanatical intolerance of animal rights activists; the rise of Islamic terrorism; the chaotic state of British politics following the EU referendum.

Random and unrelated issues? Not at all.

It is my belief they are all connected by a phenomenon that has in recent years become increasingly influential in British life: Groupthink.

These people may be convinced intellectually that their view is right but their belief cannot be tested in a way which could confirm it beyond doubt. It is simply based on a picture of the world as they imagine it to be, or, more to the point, would like it to be

Coined in the 1970s by Irving Janis, a professor of psychology, it refers to a group of individuals fixated on a particular view of the world, whether or not there is any evidence to support it.

So convinced are they that their opinion is correct that they cannot believe any sensible person would disagree.

Most insidiously, this leads them to treat all those who differ from their beliefs with contemptuous hostility. Groupthink now comprehensively governs our lives in Britain.

From the way we are ruled and policed to the way our children are educated  even to the received wisdom about global warming  Groupthink in its many guises is at the heart of it all.

We meet its followers socially, we hear and read them incessantly in some sections of the media, and we endure our politicians speaking in the cliches of Groupthink all the time.

The psychological condition from which they are suffering is contagious, extremely powerful and increasingly showing itself to be potentially very dangerous.

Meanwhile, in Bristol, police officers painted their fingernails blue to highlight the problem of slavery in nail bars. When this attracted witty comments on Twitter such as, What about nailing some criminals?, the bosses at Avon and Somerset Police reacted by issuing a statement saying: If anyone found these comments offensive, please report them to Twitter. If you feel that you were targeted and are the victim of a hate crime, please report this to us. We take this issue extremely seriously.

Groupthink is most prevalent when we come up against people who hold an emphatic opinion on some controversial subject, but who, when questioned, turn out not really to have thought it through. They have not looked seriously at the facts or the evidence.

They have simply taken their beliefs on trust, ready-made and second-hand, from others.

But the very fact that their opinions are not based on any real understanding of why they believe what they do only encourages them to insist even more vehemently and intolerantly that their views are right.

Like so much that affects our daily lives in Britain, it all began in America. In January 1987, an estimated 500 students and staff gathered at Californias Stanford University to listen to an address by the civil rights campaigner, the Reverend Jesse Jackson. What happened next had unimaginably far-reaching consequences.

As Jackson finished speaking, his audience surged angrily across the campus to a meeting of the universitys governing body, chanting words which became infamous: Hey, hey, ho, ho, Western cultures got to go.

The target of their fury was a compulsory Western culture course designed to introduce students to history, ideas and literary classics. But to the protesters, everything about it is was deeply offensive.

For example, they were incensed that set texts were all written by dead white males such as Plato and Shakespeare.

The concerns and views of women, black writers and other racial and cultural groups, they argued, had been shut out.

As a result of the protests, and in the name of the new buzzwords of diversity and multiculturalism, the university course was swiftly redesigned and new ones such as gender studies and feminist studies were introduced.

As Professor Janis saw it, Groupthink is a term of the same order as the words in the Newspeak vocabulary George Orwell (pictured above) presents in his dismaying book Nineteen Eight-Four

Political correctness as we now know it had been born.

Inevitably, the new ideas were swiftly and eagerly embraced in universities in Britain, which, of course, remain a hotbed of political correctness.

For instance, the philosophy faculty of Oxford University announced in 2018 that in order to attract more female students, its diversity and equality officer should draw up a new reading list.

The result was that after 2,500 years of civilisation, during which all but a tiny handful of the worlds leading philosophers had been men, 40 per cent of the authors on the new Oxford reading list were now to be female.

To make room for the new additions, eminent philosophers from down the ages had to be ditched. Utter madness, you may think, and you would be right. But both of these events are a perfect example of Groupthink at work.

Let us examine this insidious concept in more detail.

As Professor Janis saw it, Groupthink is a term of the same order as the words in the Newspeak vocabulary George Orwell presents in his dismaying book Nineteen Eight-Four  Newspeak being propagandistic language marked by euphemism and the inversion of customary meanings.

For Orwells seminal work centred on an imaginary totalitarian state of the future which attempted to brainwash all its citizens into a rigidly intolerant state of groupthink that obeyed all the familiar rules.

In January 1987, an estimated 500 students and staff gathered at Californias Stanford University to listen to an address by the civil rights campaigner, the Reverend Jesse Jackson. What happened next had unimaginably far-reaching consequences

It was no accident that Janis adapted Groupthink from this thinly disguised picture of life in Stalins Soviet Union, where the sense of a group mind, personified in Big Brother, was ruthlessly reinforced by means of endlessly repeated slogans, and ritualised hate sessions directed at anyone daring to dissent in any way from the partys line.

Fiction also offers a perfect short parable of Groupthink in action in Hans Christian Andersens story The Emperors New Clothes.

When the emperor parades through the streets in what he has been talked into imagining is a dazzling new suit, all his obsequious subjects rush to acclaim it as handsome beyond compare.

Only the little hero of the story points out that the emperor is not wearing any clothes at all. He is stark naked.

The idea that he is wearing any clothes is wholly imaginary. Of course, those caught up in the consensus make-believe angrily turn on the boy for pointing out nothing less than the truth.

Janis duly outlined three defining rules of Groupthink.

First, a group of people come to share a common view, often proposed by a few individuals deemed to be an authority on the subject, that is not based on objective reality.

These people may be convinced intellectually that their view is right but their belief cannot be tested in a way which could confirm it beyond doubt. It is simply based on a picture of the world as they imagine it to be, or, more to the point, would like it to be.

The second rule is that precisely because their shared view is essentially subjective and not provable, Groupthinkers go out of their way to insist that it is so self-evidently correct that a consensus of all right-minded people must agree with it.

Any contradictory evidence and the views of anyone who does not agree with them can be disregarded entirely.

The target of their fury was a compulsory Western culture course designed to introduce students to history, ideas and literary classics. But to the protesters, everything about it is was deeply offensive. For example, they were incensed that set texts were all written by dead white males such as Plato and Shakespeare

Third, and highly significant, is the rule which states that in order to reinforce the conviction of the in-group that their viewpoint is right, they need to treat the opinions of anyone who questions it as wholly unacceptable.

These people are crassly considered incapable of engaging in any serious dialogue or debate with those who disagree with them.

Those outside the bubble must be marginalised and ignored, and if necessary their views must be mercilessly caricatured to make them seem ridiculous.

If this is not enough, they must be attacked in the most violently contemptuous terms, usually with the aid of some scornfully dismissive label  such as bigot, prude, xenophobe, Little Englander or denier.

Dissent in any form cannot be tolerated, as is seen too often in daily life today.

One typical example: a market trader in the Leicestershire town of Loughborough was warned by the local council in 2017 that following a complaint, she must stop selling offensive items on her stall.

The offending objects were pottery mugs decorated with images of 12th Century monks, the Knights Templar.

Because they had murdered Muslims during the Crusades, claimed the complainant, any Muslim shopper passing the stall might be offended.

When the stall-holder ignored the warning because she felt it seemed ridiculous, the council withdrew her licence to trade anywhere in the town.

Meanwhile, in Bristol, police officers painted their fingernails blue to highlight the problem of slavery in nail bars.

When this attracted witty comments on Twitter such as, What about nailing some criminals?, the bosses at Avon and Somerset Police reacted by issuing a statement saying: If anyone found these comments offensive, please report them to Twitter. If you feel that you were targeted and are the victim of a hate crime, please report this to us. We take this issue extremely seriously.

The quick-to-take-offence brigade was now well into its stride.

A few weeks later, the Church of England instructed its 4,700 primary schools that regardless of parental wishes, boys as young as five should be told that they were allowed to wear high heels, tiaras or tutus, and that girls should not have to wear skirts, so as to avoid offending transgender children who might wish to change sex.

In 2011, FBI statistics revealed that 20.8 per cent of hate crimes were said to be motivated by sexual orientation. In Britain, a Criminal Justice Act in 2003 listed the categories of crime aggravated by hostility to a victim on the grounds of their membership of a minority group

The new rules were designed to challenge homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying.

Surreal though these stories may seem, they confirmed that society had become divided between groups of people with wholly different and incompatible views of the world.

On the one hand, a group with a rigid mindset in respect of what it is permissible for people to say, think or do.

They are constantly on the lookout for anyone or anything likely to give offence, and they express their disapproval in a series of all-too-familiar cliches.

The other group, meanwhile, stares at them in utter amazement, baffled as to how anyone could be so obsessively blinkered and so humourlessly intolerant  and to have departed so wholly from the dictates of basic common sense.

Although to Irving Janis, groupthink refers to a deterioration of mental efficiency and moral judgment, woe betide anyone who doesnt keep their dissenting thoughts to themselves. For a phenomenon with which weve all become familiar in recent years is hate crime.

Like political correctness, it originated in America, and was initially concerned with crimes against African-Americans.

The idea was that the seriousness of such offences was aggravated by evidence that they had been racially motivated.

But the list of minority-group victims of a hate crime quickly expanded to include actual or perceived crimes on grounds of gender identity, sexual orientation and disability.

In 2011, FBI statistics revealed that 20.8 per cent of hate crimes were said to be motivated by sexual orientation.

In Britain, a Criminal Justice Act in 2003 listed the categories of crime aggravated by hostility to a victim on the grounds of their membership of a minority group.

They included race, religion, sexual orientation and disability. It was not long before any such offences were being lumped together as hate crimes.

Thus, at a time when the police were deemed notoriously reluctant to investigate burglaries, shoplifting or other more common types of lawbreaking, they were only too eager to look out for instances of hate crime, to the point where, by 2013, the Crime Survey for England and Wales reported that the previous year the number of such offences had topped 278,000.

These comprised crimes that were perceived as such by any other person  not just by the alleged victim.

By 2017, new guidance from the Crown Prosecution Service advised that online hate crimes should be treated just as seriously as offences committed in person.

And that year Warwickshire Police held tea-and-cupcake parties in community centres to promote National Hate Crime Awareness Week, tweeting pictures of themselves with the slogan: Cake not hate.

If ever you wanted an example of how society has changed over the past 60 years, you need look no further than the lamentable Groupthink activities of the British police today. Meanwhile, doubtlessly, there has been no greater influence on the rapid spread of Groupthink in recent years than the internet.

With social media such as Facebook and Twitter, the internet has given a powerful new platform for people to spread their views to others.

It was no accident that Janis adapted Groupthink from this thinly disguised picture of life in Stalins Soviet Union, where the sense of a group mind, personified in Big Brother, was ruthlessly reinforced by means of endlessly repeated slogans, and ritualised hate sessions directed at anyone daring to dissent in any way from the partys line

And so we witness what is known as virtue-signalling  the desire by people to highlight a view to demonstrate that they side with those who they consider to be morally virtuous.

But even more, it allows them, often anonymously, to vent personal abuse at anyone expressing contrary opinions.

It is thanks to social media, and to this new aid to the contagious effect of politically correct Groupthink, that we have seen the emergence of what has been one of the most shocking products of the entire saga.

This was the movement to create so-called safe spaces, where students could be guaranteed protection from anything which contradicted their rigid views on all the issues of the politically correct lexicon.

By the time the safe space movement crossed the Atlantic and swept through British universities around 2015, the list of issues on which students wanted such protection had broadened from race and gender to anything from support for capitalism to climate change denial.

Under their no platforming principle, they sought to ban any lecturers or visiting speakers whose views they considered offensive.

They also demanded the right to be given trigger warnings if a set book contained passages that might be found disturbing, such as Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby, because it includes scenes of violence by men against women.

And they condemned as cultural appropriation any patronising Western borrowing of the customs or clothing of other nations.

For example, calling for canteens to stop serving Tunisian stew and the students union at the University of East Anglia banning the playful wearing of Mexican sombreros.

It was this absurd wish to be protected from anything that contradicts their own rigid ideology that caused these ultra-sensitive souls to be ridiculed as snowflakes because, as delicate individuals, any slight increase in temperature will see them melt.

But the ultimate irony is what happened to that central principle of political correctness.

These new victims who were seen as needing official protection were the mainstream snowflake students themselves  not the traditional minority victims whose interests they claim to hold so dear!

Far from liberating themselves from the repression and prejudices of the 20th Century, Groupthinkers have created for themselves  and indeed, imposed on us  a whole new social and psychological prison founded almost entirely on make-believe.

In fact, they swapped what they considered to be one set of intolerant ideologies for another. Could anything be more ironic?

Groupthink: A Study in Self Delusion  The Estate of Christopher Booker, 2020; Editor  Richard North, 2020

Extracted from Groupthink: A Study In Self Delusion by Christopher Booker. It is published by Bloomsbury Continuum on March 19, priced 20.

Offer price 14.99 (25 per cent discount) until April 30.

To pre-order go to mailshop.co.uk or call 01603 648155. Free delivery on all orders  no minimum spend.
No one is under any illusion that this will be straightforward, he told CBS Newss Face the Nation. We have built an important base where we can begin to bring American soldiers home, reduce the risk of the loss of life of any American in Afghanistan, and hopefully set the conditions so the Afghan people can build out a peaceful resolution to their now, what for them, is a 40-year struggle.
Manama

The Ministry of Health has registered 2 new Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases among a female Bahraini national and a female Saudi national arriving at Bahrain International Airport via indirect flights from Iran, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 38.



The Ministry highlighted that the patients have been transferred to a health centre for isolation and further treatment, noting that all COVID-19-infected patients are in a stable condition and receiving ongoing care from a specialised medical team.



In line with the guidelines outlined by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Ministry continues to screen all incoming passengers from COVID-19 affected countries, monitoring them for 14 days to ensure they are virus-free and do not pose a threat to the health and safety of the Kingdoms citizens and residents.



The Ministry of Health urges all citizens and residents returning from Iran during February to self-isolate themselves immediately and call 444 to schedule a medical test.



The Ministry underlined its commitment to update the public on all COVID-19-related developments, reiterating the importance of only receiving information from official, verified sources. The Ministry further underlined the importance of following the health awareness guidelines aimed at combating COVID-19, noting that it is a collective national responsibility to ensure the Kingdom remains a healthy safe community for all.
Admitting it was not possible to identify the gender of a person by appearance, Google said its image classification service Cloud Vision API would stop categorising people under gender labels (Photo | Pexels)

Chennai: Gender rights campaigns have forced tech companies developing artificial intelligence such a Google to drop gender labels in images of people, and instead use the term person. Following Googles announcement on compliance last week, Microsoft, IBM and Amazon are now under pressure to also tweak how AI labels photos of people.

Admitting it was not possible to identify the gender of a person by appearance, Google said its image classification service Cloud Vision API would stop categorising people under gender labels.

Google's move sends a message that design choices can be changed. With technology it is easy to think some things cannot be changed or are inevitable. This isn't necessarily true, AI expert Joy Buolamwini, a computer scientist at MIT, was quoted as saying by Business Insider.

The report said Buolamwini had a direct influence on Googles decision.

"I would encourage all companies including the ones we've audited to reexamine the identity labels they are using as demographic markers, Buolamwini said referring to Amazon's Rekognition, IBM's Watson, and Microsoft's Azure facial recognition, among others that she examined in her research published in 2018.

The findings showed that the AI tools used by Microsoft and IBM were more likely to misidentify the gender of dark-skinned women. This also brought into focus labelling by race, class and disability.

Another argument is that at a time when one chooses to belong to a certain gender, AI must not box them into pre-set classifications. All classification tags on humans should be opt-in, consensual, and revokable," associate professor of MIT Sasha Constanza-Chock was quoted as saying by Business Insider.

Giving an example, she said transgender Uber drivers were being locked out of the ride-hailing app because their physical appearance no longer matched photos on record.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.
The Deputy PM made the request while attending a ceremony on February 28 to present VND100 million to the Dak Lak Provincial Study Encouragement Fund.

The money was donated by the Vietnam Rubber Group through the Cong An Nhan Dan (Peoples Police) Newspapers Fund for Ethic Minority and Poor Students.

At the ceremony, Deputy PM Binh congratulated Dak Lak Province on its socio-economic achievements in 2019, calling the local authorities to fully tap the localitys potentials and advantages to make breakthroughs in the coming years.

Priorities must also be given to improving peoples livelihoods, ensuring social welfare, strengthening solidarity among local ethnic groups, safeguarding traditional culture, and boosting tourism, he stressed.

Over its 13-year operation, the Cong An Nhan Dan (Peoples Police) Newspapers Fund for Ethic Minority and Poor Students has raised nearly VND30 billion from businesses and benefactors across the country.

The money has been used to present bicycles, computers, textbooks and school supplies to disadvantaged students, thus motivating
Promising the public a sonar Bangla (golden Bengal), Home Minister Amit Shah, at a rally in Kolkata on Sunday, hit out at West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee for her resistance to the Citizenship Amendment Act and vowed to win the upcoming Assembly polls and form the government.

Promising the public a sonar Bangla (golden Bengal), Home Minister Amit Shah, at a rally in Kolkata on Sunday, hit out at West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee for her resistance to the Citizenship Amendment Act and vowed to win the upcoming Assembly polls and form the government.

Shah, speaking at the Shahid Minar ground, launched a new statewide party movement Aar Noi Annay (no more injustice), to highlight and protest the injustice caused to the people of West Bengal by the Mamata Banerjee government. Shah also vowed to form the government in the upcoming state elections. "BJP has won 18 out of 42 seats in Lok Sabha. Mamata should be careful in the coming upcoming Assembly elections, it is the BJP who will form the government here," Shah stated.

"I want to ask Mamata didi, why are you hurting the interests of our refugees?" Shah said, as per a report in NDTV. "You only care about infiltrators. Refugees are being misled and scared... Hindus who fled our neighbouring countries who were raped and threatened and killed... should they not get citizenship?" Shah asked.

"Aar noy (no more) tolabaji (extortion), appeasement, infiltration, violence... this is the slogan that will change the government of Bengal," Shah said, rolling out the campaign crafted to counter Banerjee's 'Didi-ke bolo" outreach. Both campaigns focus on public feedback and have phone numbers that the public can call, NDTV reported.

Shah further said that Mamata, who is opposing CAA, raised the issue of citizenship to refugees when she was in the Opposition. Now, she is standing with the Congress and Communists in Opposition again. There were riots in Bengal. Trains and railway stations were burnt. How have the Dalits wronged you in any way? Why are you protesting when we want to give them citizenship?" Shah asked.

I am saying we will provide citizenship to everyone. People are being told that you will have to produce documents. BJP will provide citizenship to everyone, the chief minister cannot stop us," Shah added.

Recalling the violence that occurred ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Shah said, When we came here for the election campaign, permissions were denied, stages were vandalized and false cases filed. More than 40 BJP workers lost their lives, but even after all this, Mamata di could you stop us? He added the rally was against the goons of Trinamool Congress.

Ahead of the rally, the home minister also inaugurated a new National Security Guards complex at Rajarhat. During the event, Shah said the country has zero tolerance towards terrorism and has developed a "proactive" defence policy under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He also said that India has now joined the league of countries such as the US and Israel in carrying out surgical strikes.

Shah will later hold closed-door meetings with the state BJP leadership along with party chief JP Nadda over elections to 107 municipalities and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), which are being billed as "mini-Assembly elections" ahead of the crucial 2021 Assembly poll in West Bengal. Shah will also visit the Kalighat Temple in south Kolkata.

Protests mar visit

Protests erupted before Shahs rally as Left parties staged agitations against in various parts of the city, including Park Circus and Shyambazar. Hours ahead of his arrival, members of the Students' Federation of India (SFI) gathered at the airport and took part in demonstrations against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens. Raising slogans, protesters waved black flags and held placards opposing the Home Ministers visit of Shah to the city.

As Shah arrived in the city on Sunday morning, hundreds of Left and Congress protesters, carrying black flags and anti-CAA posters, demonstrated outside the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport and raised 'go back' slogans.

Later in the day, a minor scuffle broke out between police personnel and protesters in Esplanade area when agitators tried to break the barricade and enter Shahid Minar Ground where Shah later addressed a rally, a senior police officer said.

Kolkata erupts in rage against Amit Shah's visit. Protest continues across the city against #CAA_NRC_NPR which infringes on the basic premise of our Constitution of common citizenship regardless of diversities of caste, creed, gender, ethnicity & culture. #GoBackAmitShah pic.twitter.com/2jGStfPXsC  CPI(M) WEST BENGAL (@CPIM_WESTBENGAL) March 1, 2020

CPI(M) Legislature Party leader Sujan Chakraborty led a large rally in Santoshpur in south Kolkata while Congress activists took out a protest march from Beckbagan to Park Circus and burnt an effigy of the Union home minister. CPI(M)-affiliated SFI and DYFI also took out rallies in Shyambazar, Gariahat, Behala, Kaikhali and Entally areas. Meanwhile, BJP workers also took out rallies from different points of the city.

Widespread protests continues in Kolkata over Amit Shahs pro-CAA rally. Bengal rejects #CAA_NRC_NPR which infringes on the basic premise of our Constitution of common citizenship regardless of diversities of caste, creed, gender, ethnicity & culture. #GoBackAmitShahpic.twitter.com/GxSFuX5VVs  CPI(M) WEST BENGAL (@CPIM_WESTBENGAL) March 1, 2020

With inputs from PTI
Violent murders, bombings, prostitution rings and shootings left their mark on the turbulent 1980s in Luxembourg. In the words of criminologist Armand Mergen: "It's little Chicago here recently".

Two series of events marked the culmination points of the violently stormy decade: the Bombers Affair, which we will cover in another article, and the criminal activities of the Waldbillig gang. "It's a murder and robbery series that, in its horrible extent, has been without precedent in Luxembourg," the Luxemburger Wort wrote on 7 March 1989. But what exactly had happened?

Luxembourg's collective memory was for a long time marked by the violent actions of the "Waldbillig gang," a group of rogue criminals operating in the Grand Duchy between January 1983 and October 1985. The name of the gang refers to the place of residence of the deadliest member Carlo Fett.

The 11 gang members regularly targeted several banks, jewellery stores, service stations, and cash vans - and did not shy away from resorting to violence. They conducted a total of 22 violent robberies, committed six murders, injured 13 civilians, and stole countless cars and weapons.

They amassed a fortune of more than 40 million Luxembourg francs, which is the equivalent of more than 1 million.

Attempted bank heist in Luxembourg City, police officer killed

Everything went wrong for the gang during an attempted heist on 30 October 1985. The target was an ambitious one: Central Bank of Luxembourg on Boulevard Royal in Luxembourg City. The execution of the heist was a fiasco - and led to the arrest of three members including Carlo Fett.

In the afternoon of that fateful day, the three criminals accessed the bank counters after shattering the glass doors with shotguns. Fett fired several shots at the ceiling and pointed his gun at customers. A staff member nevertheless managed to set off an alarm.

Police cars arrived at the scene just when the gang members were about to take off. Fett immediately opened fire. Police officer Patrice Conrardy was fatally hit in the head and the torso. He became the first police officer to be killed in service in Luxembourg. The robbers nevertheless did not get very far. Fett was the first one to be arrested. The same fate awaited his two accomplices shortly later after police had initiated a nationwide manhunt.

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.

Burned bodies and prisonbreak

The ensuing investigation revealed the true extent of the gang leader's proclivity for violence. Fett had murdered five other gang members in Waldbillig - most probably to settle a score. Their bodies had been burned in an oil drum and their remains buried.

The main members Carlo Fett, Jos Bernardy, Guy Hertert and Nico Reisdorff were sentenced to life in prison. Reisdorff, who later wrote an autobiography in which he detailed his troublesome childhood and gradual fall into criminal circles, spent 39 months in an isolation cell at Schrassig prison. Amnesty International contacted the Minister of Justice in 1992 and argued that the authorities were breaching human rights.

Fett managed to escape from prison on 29 May 1995 using a ladder he made himself. The investigation into the escape found that "human negligence" had been a key factor. He remained at large for 10 days but eventually got caught. He died in prison eight years later.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of attempting to divide the society by whipping up communal tensions and said the national capital was burning, in an apparent reference to the communal riots that took at least 42 lives in three days between February 23 to 25.

The second part of the budget session begins tomorrow and NCPs UPA ally, the Congress party has already declared its intentions to corner the Central government ruled by the BJP-led coalition over the riots.

Delhi polices handling of the riots has been criticized in various quarters with critics also questioning if the Centres response was inadequate. Pawars NCP, too, could raise the issue in the house tomorrow.

ALSO WATCH | Delhi violence: Sri Sri Ravi Shankar visits affected areas, meets victims

The national capital has been burning since the last few days. The ruling party at the Centre could not win the Delhi Assembly polls and tried to divide the society by promoting communalism, ANI quoted the senior Maratha leader as saying.

Several BJP leaders are under fire for alleged hate speeches during Delhi assembly elections and also for provocation in the lead-up to the violence.

The Congress has said it will demand home minister Amit Shahs resignation over Delhi violence.

The party was likely to demand a debate on the issue in both houses of the Parliament, said a senior leader.

The government has miserably failed to maintain law and order. I think there must be some sort of a nexus between the rioters and a section of police officials which resulted in gruesome killings and arson, Congress partys leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury told PTI.

Mamata Bannerjees Trinamool Congress also raised questions on home ministrys alleged failure to prevent loss of dozens of lives in the national capital.

Apart from 42 confirmed deaths, more than 450 people have been injured in the rioting and the police had registered 203 cases till Saturday evening.

Two special investigation teams (SITs) have been formed to probe the violence. 39 people have been arrested and 39 firearms seized in raids across Dehi and adjoining states. Police said it was identifying the culprits with the help of video clips of violence.

The violence took place in Jaffrabad, Maujpur, Babarpur, Chand Bagh, Shiv Vihar, Bhajan Pura, Yamuna Vihar and Mustafabad areas of northeast Delhi also resulting in a huge loss to property with houses, shops and vehicles set ablaze by the mob.
Medical staff wearing protective suits take samples from a driver with suspected symptoms of the coronavirus in South Korea (Ahn Young-joon/AP)

Twelve more people have tested positive for coronavirus in the United Kingdom, bringing the total number of cases there to 35.

Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty said three of the patients were close contacts of a known Covid-19 case that was transmitted within the UK - believed to be a Surrey resident.

Another new patient, from Essex, has no relevant travel to an affected area, Prof Whitty said on Sunday.

He added investigations were ongoing as to whether the patient had contracted it "directly or indirectly" from an individual who had recently travelled abroad.

Of the eight remaining cases, six had recently travelled from Italy, while two had been in Iran.

These patients are from London, West Yorkshire, Greater Manchester, Hertfordshire and Gloucestershire.

All of the newly identified cases are being investigated and health officials have begun tracing anyone who had close contact with them.

Meanwhile, Iran's Health Ministry has raised the death toll from the coronavirus to 54 as the number of people infected soared to 978.

Spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said new cases were confirmed in a number of cities, including Mashhad, which is home to Iran's most important Shiite shrine that attracts pilgrims from across the region.

Calls by Iran's civilian government to clerics to close such shrines to the public have not been uniformly followed.

The new figures represent 11 more deaths than reported on Saturday and a whopping 385 new cases of Covid-19 infections.

The numbers, however, bring down the percentage of deaths to infections from 20% to around 5.5%.

Iran's state broadcaster also said all flights to the city of Rasht, the capital of nothern Gilan province, had been suspended.

In France, the coronavirus epidemic shut down the Louvre Museum in Paris on Sunday, as workers who guard its art said they were fearful of being contaminated by the flow of visitors from around the world.

"We are very worried because we have visitors from everywhere," said Andre Sacristin, a Louvre employee and union representative.

"The risk is very, very, very great," he said.

There are no known virus infections among the museum's 2,300 workers, but "it's only a question of time", he said.

A short statement from the Louvre said a staff meeting about virus prevention efforts stopped the museum from opening as scheduled on Sunday.

On Sunday afternoon, would-be visitors were still queuing to get inside.
The United States, which accounted for 50% of Vietnams total export turnover from wood and wooden products last year, firmly remains the largest buyer of Vietnam's wood products.

Wood products are processed for export. The U.S. remains the largest buyer of Vietnam's wood products

Aside from the U.S., top importers of Vietnams wood products also include Japan, China, South Korea, and the European Union, reported Thanh Nien newspaper.

However, according to the Vietnam Timber and Forest Product Association (Vietfores), the spread of the new coronavirus, which is associated with the disease Covid-19, has halted the exports of many products, it was reported during the seminar, held on February 28 in Hanoi.

At the same time, the local wood-processing sector still recorded an increase in export volume and value. In the first two months of the year, Vietnams wood and wooden product exports to foreign markets brought in US$1.53 billion, up 10.1% compared to the same period in 2019.

Last year, Vietnam earned over US$10.3 billion in exports of wood and wood products. Of this, outbound sales to Vietnams top five export markets---the U.S., Japan, China, South Korea and the European Union---made up US$9.3 billion, equivalent to 90% of the total value.

However, experts at the seminar predicted that the coronavirus epidemic will have an impact on the sector.

Many paper and pulp manufacturers in China have had to suspend operations or have reduced their manufacturing due to the impact of the disease, said Vietfores chairman Tran Xuan Lap.

Last year, Vietnam shipped over US$972 million worth of wood chips to China, but the Covid-19 outbreak could slow the export of wood chips this year, he added.

Experts and representatives of businesses at the seminar also recommended local wood-processing firms seek other wood material suppliers outside China if the disease continues spreading. SGT

US$20 billion wood export target seen as difficult to reach by 2025 Without acting today to ensure the proper planning and execution, the local wood-processing sector will find it difficult to fulfill the Governments annual wood export target of US$20 billion by 2025.
State-owned Hindustan Aeronautics has started the groundwork to manufacture 10 to 12 tonne attack helicopters by 2027. These helicopters can be comparable to medium-lift military choppers used globally like the Apache of Boeing.

The aim of the project is to stop the import of more than Rs 4 Lakh core worth of attack helicopters from other countries, news agency PTI quoted R Madhavan, the Chairman and Managing Director of HAL, as saying.

Madhavan told the agency that the PSU has completed the initial design of the helicopter and that the plan is to produce at least 500 units. According to Madhavan, the first prototype is set to be ready by 2023 if the government gives the go-ahead.

"One major project we are focusing on is to produce a helicopter in 10 to 12 tonnes category to replace the Mi-17 fleet. It will be an indigenous platform with the potential to manufacture around 500 helicopters. It will stop the import of more than Rs 4 lakh crore worth of platforms from foreign countries," said Madhavan. According to Madhavan, an amount of Rs 9,600 will be required for the design and production of the prototype.

"If we get the approval in 2020, we will be able to manufacture the first chopper by 2027. We are looking at producing at least 500 helicopters of the variant. It will be a major project we are working on," he said. This project would be the biggest that HAL has taken after the development of Tejas aircraft, he added.

"We have done the preliminary design. We have also been in discussion with the Air Force and the Navy. The 10-12 tonnes category will have two basic structures on similar platforms. The naval version will have different dimensions compared to the one for the Army and the Air Force," Madhavan said on the proposed mega project.

"Like the LCH (Light Combat Helicopter) we developed from the Dhruv platform, a similar variant of 10-12 tonnes category can be produced to make it an Apache equivalent," said Madhavan,

Two twin engines would power the helicopters. The helicopter's blade would be foldable so as to allow ship deck operations. The role of the helicopter would be to support air assault, air transport, combat logistics, and combat search and rescue. Madhavan said the helicopter will have a huge potential for export.

The Mi-17 helicopters make up the backbone of the IAF's helicopter fleet and they are planned to be phased out by 2032. The HAL's product range includes a number of helicopter-like the LCH (Light Combat Helicopter) and multi-role ALH (Advanced Light Helicopter) and Chetak choppers.
TEHRAN  Irans health ministry on Sunday raised the nationwide death toll from the new coronavirus to 54 as the number of confirmed infected cases jumped overnight by more than half to 978 people.

Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said new cases were confirmed in a number of cities, including Mashhad, which is home to Irans most important Shiite shrine that attracts pilgrims from across the region. Calls by Irans civilian government to clerics to close such shrines have not been uniformly followed.

The new figures represent 11 more deaths than reported Saturday and a spike of 385 new cases of infections. The new numbers, however, bring down the death rate from infections to around 5.5%. Still, that is much higher than other countries, suggesting the number of infections in Iran may be much higher than current figures show.

Of the 385 newly confirmed cases, 170 are in Tehran, where schools and movie houses have been shuttered. Public buses and rail service are still operating, but are being disinfected daily. Authorities also doused busy streets in the capital.

Also Sunday, Irans state broadcaster said all flights to and from the city of Rasht, the capital of nothern Gilan province, had been suspended. It gave no reasons why. The area of Gilan has some of Irans highest number of infections after the capital, Tehran, and the holy city of Qom, the epicenter of the virus outbreak in the country.

The Revolutionary Guard said it plans to install mobile hospitals in Qom and Rasht. The Guard has also been photographed in state media leading disinfection efforts in some cities.

Ali Reza Jalali, the head of the Guards medical college, told state TV that Iran is going through a hard time and dangerous period. He claimed the group is researching a possible vaccine for the disease. There is currently no vaccine for the novel coronavirus.

The illness, known as COVID-19, has infected at least seven government officials in Iran, including one of its vice presidents.

After days of assurances that the virus was largely under control, officials recently acknowledged Iran is preparing for the possibility of tens of thousands of people getting tested for the virus.

The first cases were not reported in Iran until Feb. 19, the same day that two elderly infected people died. Since then, of the more than 1,100 cases in the Middle East, the majority trace back to Iran. Cases from Iran have been reported in Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan.

The outbreak in Iran has prompted its neighbors to seal their borders to Iranians, while other Gulf states have halted flights to Iran. On Saturday, the U.S. announced heightened warnings about travel to certain regions of Italy and South Korea, as well as a ban on travel to Iran.

Nasser Karimi is an Associated Press writer.
The manager of a small motel on the bushfire-ravaged south coast of New South Wales charged a guest an additional $50 fee after she left a negative review online.

Sharon Graham claims she was asked by travel website Booking.com to review Mollymook Ocean View Motel after she spent two nights there last week.

She rated the accommodation 6/10 and acknowledged the room was 'quite nice and served its purpose' but 'quite noisy' and was not cleaned during her stay.

In response, the manager of the business sent her an updated invoice for her stay - adding an additional $50 surcharge for her 'false review'.

Mollymook Ocean View Motel management are accused of adding an extra $50 to a customer's bill because she left a negative review

Sharon Graham (pictured) claims she was asked to complete the review and believes she was fair and honest

'Social media Bookings fake review,' the description of the bill read.

'Will be refunded if you remove within 24 hours, if not it will go toward legal proceedings,' the invoice read.

Ms Graham contacted the booking agent, her bank and police after the incident, she claimed.

The new invoice also included a $10 discount for opting out of housekeeping services, but Ms Graham believes this was also in response to her review.

'She didn't actually deduct $10 for no housekeeping,' she said. 'The first invoice didn't even mention that. It was only because I put in the review that she didn't do any housekeeping.'

'Social media Bookings fake review,' the description of the bill read. 'Will be refunded if you remove within 24 hours, if not it will go toward legal proceedings'

The motel responded to the review with this answer - claiming the facilities were the 'best value for money' in the region

She described the entire ordeal as 'laughable' but said the motel manager had 'messed with the wrong person'.

Ms Graham finally received a third bill which included a further $50 fee for administrative paperwork.

The bank has frozen her credit card to stop the payment from processing, she claimed.

But Ms Graham said it isn't ideal that she now has to go to the effort of replacing her cards because of the additional fees.

A constable at her local police station 'rang her [the manager] and explained that what she was doing was against the law, but she hung up on him,' Ms Graham said.

She has been advised to contact a solicitor and is considering taking her complaint to consumer affairs.

Management often respond to negative reviews by suggesting they will take legal action

Former guests rallied behind Ms Graham, with some claiming they had a similar experience at the motel.

In reviews posted online, multiple people reported unauthorised charges coming out of their account after they left.

'I had been charged $50 extra for no reasons when called later he made false excuses. Will never stay there again,' one former guest wrote online.

Another said: 'When I called and asked why I have been charged extra $50, he reacted aggressively and said its Australia... Then he said we were charged because we broke curtains. I asked which room number and he said he doesnt know that. I didnt even finish talking and he just hung up on me.'

Others claimed the motel capitalised on the devastating bushfires by hiking up the cost of rooms as evacuees desperately searched for places to stay, but management denied the claims.

An additional $50 fee was added onto a third invoice - taking the total extras bill to $100 for 'administrative letter writing'

In response to most negative reviews, a representative for the motel refuted every claim guests made.

The replies often included threats to sue the guest for defamation after the negative reviews.

South coast locals begged Ms Graham not to let the experience reflect poorly on the entire town.

After bushfires ravaged the region, which relies on tourism during the summer months in particular, there was a push for Australians to support the community by visiting as it rebuilds.

One man said there are plenty of great venues which would appreciate the support during the difficult period.

'Please come back. I promise we have some amazing accommodation spots and people that would love your business,' he wrote.

'We are really awesome people... great and accommodating.'

Another said: 'So sorry you had to experience this, our beautiful town is not like that at all.'

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Mollymook Ocean View Motel.
An 11-week-old Staffy called Athena has been reunited with her owners after she was allegedly snatched from a balcony.

The American Staffordshire Terrier was allegedly taken from the balcony of a home in the Newcastle suburb of Cooks Hill, north of Sydney, at about 2.30pm on Wednesday.

Owner David Chapman said on social media that he paid $2500 for the puppy as a gift for his children.

He pleaded with members of a local Facebook group to get in touch if they knew where Athena might be.

Athena's owner pleaded with members of a local Facebook group to get in touch if they knew where she might be

'Stolen from cooks hill yesterday,' he wrote, sharing photos of the puppy.

'If anyone has any info please get in contact ... I have video feed of the person ... I just want [the] kids' dog back.'

Police also asked the community for information on Athena's whereabouts.

On Sunday, officers intercepted a 34-year-old man with the dog in The Lake Macquarie suburb of Toronto - 40 minutes away from where she was allegedly stolen.

On Sunday, officers intercepted a 34-year-old man with the dog in The Lake Macquarie suburb of Toronto (pictured: police officer with Athena)

Athena was taken to Belmont Police Station (pictured) before she was returned to her owners

He was arrested and charged with stealing and possessing a stolen dog.

'Police will allege in court that the man saw the dog when walking past the home and stole it,' NSW Police said in a statement.

Athena was taken to Belmont Police Station before she was returned to her owners.

He was granted bail and will appear in court on Tuesday, March 10.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, March 2 2020

Men in masks: The Jakarta Police raid a warehouse in Cakung, East Jakarta, allegedly used as an illegal mask factory on Friday. The police suspect the warehouse was used to stockpile face masks, resulting in scarcity that has caused the price to increase amid fears of a coronavirus outbreak.(JP/Galih Gumelar)

The Jakarta Police have uncovered a ring of alleged illegal mask manufacturers seeking to tap into the recent skyrocketing price of masks following fears of a global spread of the novel coronavirus.

The Jakarta Police raided a warehouse in Cilincing, North Jakarta, on Thursday where investigators seized 60 boxes containing 3,000 masks.

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
Fears swirling around coronavirus has led to the cancellation of CERAWeek and sent a small group of Rice University staff members and students into self-quarantine.

The organizers of CERAWeek by IHS Markit, an oil and gas industry conference set to bring thousands of international visitors to Houston the week of March 9-13, announced Sunday morning it was cancelling the week-long event.

While travel restrictions prevented delegates from China, where the virus originated, from attending, attendees from up to 80 nations were expected to attend the conference.

"Our number one concern is the health and safety of delegates and speakers, our partners, our colleagues and vendors," IHS Markit said in a statement.

There are no confirmed cases of coronavirus in Harris County, according to Harris County Public Health.

More Information What are the symptoms of coronavirus? Novel coronavirus is a pneumonia-like respiratory illness that was first reported in Wuhan, China. Experts with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believe the illness is spread person-to-person when an infected person coughs or sneezes within six feet of another. Symptoms can appear 2-14 days after exposure, health officials said. They include: Fever Cough Difficulty breathing CDC guidance advises people who are experiencing those symptoms and have recently traveled to a country with a coronavirus outbreak, or who have been in close contact with one of those people, to call their doctors. The CDC is the only health agency that can test for symptoms of coronavirus. Officials emphasize that people should practice good hygiene and avoid people who show symptoms of illness. They can also: Avoid touching their face Avoid close contact with people who are sick Stay home when sick Frequently wash hands Clean and disinfect objects and surfaces with household cleaning supplies Wear a face mask only if they show symptoms of coronavirus See More Collapse

On HoustonChronicle.com: Coronavirus affecting U.S. churches, missionaries

Rice University asked staff members and students to self-quarantine Saturday night after a research staff member was possibly exposed to the coronavirus while traveling abroad, the university said.

The staffer was briefly on campus on Feb. 24 and 25. A group of people including research scientists, postdoctoral fellows and doctoral-level graduate students has been asked to self-isolate as a preventive measure, said Jeff Falk, a Rice University spokesperson.

Those people are staying off the main campus, Falk said.

School officials said the employee traveled overseas to a country that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have not issued travel restrictions for, but did not specify where.

In a statement Sunday morning, Harris County Public Health said it was conducting an infectious disease investigation.

The threat of COVID-19 to Houston and Harris County remains low and there is no need for the public to take additional precautionary actions at this time, the county said.

The CDC has issued warnings related to coronavirus outbreaks in China, Iran, South Korea, Italy, Japan and Hong Kong.

The university is not canceling classes or operations as of Saturday night. However, Rice students and employees are being asked to register any upcoming international travel plans on a campus website.

Your safety and security during your time abroad is important to us, an advisory at the top of the travel registry said.  All departments are responsible for ensuring faculty, staff and students document their international travel plans with the travel registry.

There are 11 known cases of coronavirus in Texas; none of the patients contracted the virus in Texas. All of the patients are in quarantine and are being treated at facilities in San Antonio.

Staff writer Sergio Chapa contributed to this story.

gwendolyn.wu@chron.com

Twitter: @gwendolynawu
Advertisement

A scientist in Washington State believes coronavirus may have been spreading for six weeks before it was detected, and there could be a 'few hundred' people currently infected amid an 'already substantial outbreak'.

At least 74 confirmed cases of COVID-19 had been reported as of Sunday afternoon with the majority being on the west coast of the United States but new cases were confirmed in Rhode Island - where a patient in their 40s had traveled to Italy in mid-February - and Illinois where the third presumptive case of novel coronavirus, was announced. Two people have made full recoveries in Illinois.

But anxious shoppers descended on supermarkets, stocking up on supplies like bottled water, canned food and Clorox wipes after more than half a dozen California residents were diagnosed with the disease in recent days.

The number of confirmed infections in Washington reached eight Sunday as two men in their 60s - both with underlying health conditions - were in critical condition. One was stable at Valley Medical Center in Renton, the other was at Virginia Mason.

Trevor Bedford of the University of Washington said the illness has likely spread within the community as none of the people confirmed to be infected had recently traveled.

Scroll down for video

A new coronavirus study 'strongly suggests that there has been cryptic transmission in Washington State (pictured) for the past 6 weeks,' a scientist has said. In three new cases confirmed near Seattle the victims don't have a history of recent travel

Arrows on a diagram show how coronavirus case WA2 stems from the same tree as WA1, the first two cases reported in the US

Travelers wear protective mask as they walk through in terminal 5 at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Sunday. In Illinois, the third presumptive case of novel coronavirus, was announced

Rhode Island Director of Health Nicole Alexander-Scott, left, and R.I. Gov. Gina Raimondo, right, face reporters during a news conference, Sunday. Alexander-Scott took questions on what she described as the state's first presumptive positive case of coronavirus. Officials said the person is in their 40s and had traveled to Italy in February of 2020

But anxious shoppers descended on supermarkets, stocking up on supplies like bottled water, canned food and Clorox wipes after more than half a dozen residents were diagnosed with the disease in recent days. A shopper is pictured in Oregon

Bedford said a team at the Seattle Flu Study had compared the first reported case of COVID-19 in the United States to the second case, and found that it was on the same evolutionary tree.

Sharing a diagram, Bedford tweeted Saturday: 'This strongly suggests that there has been cryptic transmission in Washington State for the past 6 weeks.'

Bedford posted on social media that case WA2 is likely to have come from case WA2 as they appear almost identical in make-up.

The academic also noted that they were discovered in the same area of Washington State, Snohomish County, as he put the probability value at 0.3. Anything less than 0.5 is statistically significant and effectively rules out the chance the findings are random.

'It's possible that this genetic similarity is a coincidence and these are separate introductions. However, I believe this is highly unlikely. The WA1 case had a variant at site 18060. This variant is only present in 2/59 viruses from China,' Bedford continued.

'I'd assess the p-value for this coincidence at 2/59=0.03 and so is statistically significant. Additionally, these two cases are geographically proximal, both residing in Snohomish County.

'I believe we're facing an already substantial outbreak in Washington State that was not detected until now due to narrow case definition requiring direct travel to China.'

Bedford said they will be working closely with Public Health Seattle and King County as well as the Washington Department of Health to fully investigate the outbreak.

The virus, immunity and evolution expert added that they hope to provide an update on the number of infections in Washington State soon.

'An update, because I see people overly speculating on total outbreak size. Our best current expectation is a few hundred current infections,' Bedford tweeted Saturday. 'Expect more analyses tomorrow.'

Coronavirus wasn't detected in the country before January 19 and the initial cases were in Washington

Sonya Tran, of Randolph, Massachusetts, front, and Bobby Ratanasim, of Providence, Rhode Island, behind center, wear protective masks while playing a Nintendo game, Thursday, in Boston. Tran and Ratanasim said concerns about the coronavirus played a role in wearing masks to the conference

Zhang Bin, right, walks with a friend along a street, both wearing protective masks in the Koreatown section of Los Angeles on Friday

A 'medically high-risk' male in his 50s died of coronavirus overnight Friday in Kirkland hospital EvergreenHealth

Scientists not affiliated with the research said the results did not necessarily surprise them and pointed out that for many people - especially younger, healthier ones - the symptoms are not much worse than a flu or bad cold.

'We think that this has a pretty high rate of mild symptoms and can be asymptomatic. The symptoms are pretty non-specific and testing criteria has been pretty strict, so those combinations of factors means that it easily could have been circulating for a bit without us knowing,' said Justin Lessler, an associated professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

'And that was what a lot of us was thinking was likely.'

The man who died Friday was a 'medically high-risk' patient in Kirkland hospital EvergreenHealth, just two miles from Life Care in Kirkland.

Two confirmed cases in Washington are connected to the long-term care home, Life Care where a total of 25 staff and 27 residents of the nursing facility were showing symptoms of coronavirus, health officials said Friday.

But the new cases reported Sunday were not from the Life Care Center, Katie Ross, a spokeswoman for the Washington Health Department, said.

The Washington Public Health Laboratories confirmed the test results for both cases were positive but 'haven't identified a connection', King County Public Health said in a press release.

The CDC and local health officials sent an emergency response team to Life Care to try to control the escalating situation.

Frank Riedo, the medical director of infection control at EvergreenHealth Hospital, previously did not seem to rule out the possibility the cases are related.

'At the present time, we do not see a connection between the two. But there are some evolving threads that are being investigated,' said Riedo.

'I think  what we're seeing is the tip of the iceberg. We're seeing the most critically ill individuals. Usually that means there's a significant percentage of individuals with less severe illness floating around out there. So in all likelihood there is ongoing low level transmission.'

The death was just two miles from Life Care in Kirkland (pictured). A staff member blocks the view as a person is taken by a stretcher to a waiting ambulance from a nursing facility

At the Life Care nursing facility where concerns of a mass outbreak are mounting, but officials are maintaining the cases are unconnected

'We are very concerned about an outbreak in a setting where there are many older people, as we would be wherever people who are susceptible might be gathering,' Dr. Jeff Duchin, the health officer for Seattle and King County, said.

Duchin added that older adults and people with underlying health conditions like diabetes, heart or lung disease should be especially careful to protect themselves by washing their hands, not touching their faces, and avoiding contact with people who are sick.

The Life Care facility provides 24-hour care for residents, including physician and nurse coverage, many of whom have long-term and chronic conditions.

News of the potential outbreak in the facility is concerning given the higher danger of coronavirus being fatal to individuals who are less healthy or already have pre-existing conditions.

A spokesperson for Life Care told DailyMail.com that the facility was not accepting any visitors or new admissions, and was monitoring all residents and associates for the virus.

A map shows the four previously announced 'unknown origin' coronavirus cases

They said the restricted access had only been put in place earlier that morning, the same day the two cases were confirmed and outbreak fears emerged.

Medical staff wearing protective clothing and masks were pictured transporting a patient on a stretcher into an ambulance at the Life Care facility on Saturday.

The CDC is working with the facility to try to get a handle on the situation, they said, but the individual said they could not confirm reports that the CDC was sending in an emergency response team to the home.

Executive director Ellie Basham said in a statement that the facility is monitoring the situation closely.

'Current residents and associates are being monitored closely. As is normal this time of year, there are various cold and flu-like symptoms being exhibited from residents and associates,' the statement emailed to DailyMail.com read.

'The health department has advised us to monitor for an elevated temperature, cough and shortness of breath. We're consulting with the health department and possibly sending patients to a local hospital for formal COVID-19 testing.'

Several Kirkland firefighters have also been quarantined after they responded to Life Care facility over the last week, according to Seattle Times.

'It impacted multiple crews,' Kellie Stickney, a city of Kirkland spokesperson, said.

The city has not stated where the firefighters are being quarantined.

Worldwide, the outbreak that began in Wuhan, China has sickened at least 83,652 people and killed 2,862 in 54 countries.

Community spread with no traceable origin has been identified in California, Washington, Oregon.

The US will start screening travelers for coronavirus and ramp up production of masks and test kits as the government scrambles to reassure Americans while the disease spreads and businesses cancel conferences and flights.

Donald Trump said on Sunday that travelers to the United States from countries at high risk of coronavirus would be screened before boarding and upon arrival, without specifying which countries.

Delta Air Lines Inc on Sunday said it is suspending until May flights to Milan in northern Italy where most of that country's coronavirus cases have been reported. Flights will continue to Rome. American Airlines Group Inc announced a similar move late on Saturday.

The United States has imposed limits on travelers who have visited Iran and recommended against travel to hard-hit areas of Italy and South Korea.

Trump said on Saturday that the United States was also considering shutting the country's southern border with Mexico to control the spread of the virus, adding, 'We hope we won't have to do that.'

Mexico has reported four coronavirus cases. Its foreign ministry said on Saturday that both governments are in 'close and effective communication, especially the health authorities.'

Delta Air Lines Inc on Sunday said it is suspending until May flights to Milan in northern Italy where most of that country's coronavirus cases have been reported. Flights will continue to Rome. American Airlines Group Inc announced a similar move late on Saturday

Vice President Mike Pence said the government had contracted 3M Co to produce an extra 35 million respiratory masks a month. He urged Americans not to buy the masks, which he said were only needed by healthcare workers. Honeywell International Inc is the other major U.S. mask producer.

U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams asked the public to stop buying masks, saying they're ineffective against coronavirus.

Pence, named by the president to be the point-person overseeing the government's response, said more than 15,000 virus testing kits had been released over the weekend. And, the administration is working with a commercial provider to distribute 50,000 more, he said.

The vice president said testing was among the first issues raised by governors he's spoken with so far. Several states have begun their own testing, including Washington state, Oregon and Illinois.

'We're leaning into it,' Pence said.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said more than 3,600 people already have been tested for coronavirus and the capability exists to test 75,000 people. He forecast a "radical expansion of that" in the coming weeks.

Mike Pence, whom Trump appointed last week to run the White House's coronavirus response, said Americans should brace for more cases, but that the 'vast majority' of those who contracted the disease would recover

The United States has 75,000 test kits for coronavirus and will expand that number 'radically' in coming weeks, Azar told ABC's This Week on Sunday.

He also told Fox News that clinical trials of a coronavirus vaccine would start in six weeks but that a vaccine will likely not be available this season.

Democrats, who will challenge Trump for the presidency in the November 3 election, have criticized his administration for downplaying the crisis and not preparing for the disease to spread in the United States.

Pence, whom Trump appointed last week to run the White House's coronavirus response, said Americans should brace for more cases, but that the 'vast majority' of those who contracted the disease would recover.

'Other than in areas where there are individuals that have been infected with the coronavirus, people need to understand that for the average American, the risk does remain low. We're ready,' Pence told NBC's 'Meet the Press'.
Members of All India Youth League protest against Union Home Minister Amit Shahs visit, in Kolkata on Sunday. PTI photo

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday asserted that the Narendra Modi government will not stop until and unless all refugees in the country are granted citizenship under the CAA.

Shah, addressing a rally here, also exuded confidence that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will form the next government in Bengal with two- third majority after the 2021 assembly polls.

Accusing opposition parties, including the TMC, of misguiding the refugees and minorities, Shah said not a single person will lose citizenship as a result of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

The opposition is terrorising minorities... I assure every person from the minority community that CAA only provides citizenship, does not take it away. It won't affect your citizenship, the home minister said.

We will not stop until and unless all the refugees are granted citizenship, he added.

Shah also launched the BJP's 'Aar Noi Annay' (no more injustice) campaign in West Bengal at the rally.
Several years ago, This is a Safe Space signs began to appear around the University of Northern Iowa. I thought it odd since the students are remarkably civil with each other, and surely the signs did not suggest the students would find safety from ideas. After all, UNI is a university.

I discovered last semester I may have been mistaken.

I taught a class that has been described as five theories a day for 16 weeks. It is a hard class for business students in that it deals with theory, and business people are not particularly interested in theories. The class also deals with controversial issues including attractiveness, gender, social class, race, and culture.

In the syllabus and on the first day of class, it is emphasized that some will find these topics to be sensitive. It is explained that since these are theories, no one has to believe them, and just because they are discussed the instructor may or may not believe them. It is plainly stated the class is not a safe space for ideas.

I have taught the class maybe 60 times, and students have accepted these conditions  until this year.

One student dropped the course and announced online that no one should take my class because I was a misogynist. I had covered a theory that attempted to explain gender role differences without requiring that women be victims. This is an idea shared by many feminists, but it also was one that compelled this student to drop a class and warn the world about the instructor.

Another student informed the administration that I was a racist because I mentioned the word Nazi once in a discussion of logical symmetry.

Ironically, I spent a day lecturing on Marxs ideas of class struggle without anyone complaining that I was a communist.

This leads to a survey of students at Chapel Hill University. Twenty percent of students labeling themselves as liberals thought it was appropriate to prevent other students from hearing someone expressing a view they disliked; only 3% of conservative students held this opinion, a ratio of 7 to 1.

Almost 70% of the conservative students said they censored themselves in class because they worried about the consequences of expressing certain opinions. Only 23% of the liberal students felt the same, a ratio of 3 to 1.

Three-fourths of the conservative students said other students would have a lower opinion of them if they expressed sincere political views. Only 23% of liberals felt the same; a ratio of over 3 to 1.

More than 40% of the conservative students were careful of what they posted in social media out of fear of being ostracized; only 10% of liberal students felt the same, a ratio of 4 to 1.

A recent poll from the United Kingdom found that 80% of people in the arts believed that if they deviated from politically correct views about sex, religion, and sexuality, they would be professionally ostracized.

So now I understand. My thoughtful colleagues were offering safe spaces for conservatives.

Dennis Clayson is a marketing professor at the University of Northern Iowa. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect those of the University of Northern Iowa.

Love 1 Funny 2 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Just six years ago, the largest cruise companies in the world were racing each other to China, lured by the country's growing middle class. The ships, some custom-built for Chinese taste, docked full time in places like Shanghai and Beijing, taking tourists from mainland China and other countries in Asia mostly on short cruises around the region. Now, in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak, ...
A 45-day-old baby has been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus, health authorities here said Sunday, becoming the youngest patient in South Korea.



Health authorities said the baby boy, born on Jan. 15, 2020, tested positive for COVID-19 after their parents had contracted the virus.



According to the authorities, the baby's father first tested positive for the novel coronavirus last Thursday.













The baby and her mother have entered self-quarantine at their house in Gyeongsan, North Gyeongsang Province, after doctors said they are in good condition. Health authorities said they will transfer them to a hospital after monitoring their health situation. (Yonhap)
Health officials in Rhode Island have confirmed the state's first "presumptive" coronavirus patient following reports of two more patients who have contracted the virus in Chicago, bringing the total number of cases in Illinois to three.

US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar confirmed the overnight Chicago cases to Fox News on Sunday.

The Rhode Island Department of Health says it's "coordinating closely with the hospital where this person is currently being treated and all infection control protocols are being followed". The patient had recently returned to the US from travelling to Italy and has not returned to work since arriving back in the country.

Dr Nicole Alexander-Scott says the state is not seeing widespread community transmission and is advising residents that the general level of infection is still low.

Officials have begun outreach to people who were in direct contact with the patient and are urging two weeks of self-quarantine.

Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty Show all 10 1 /10 Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty A man wearing a face mask crosses a road in Wuhan, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus outbreak. Reuters Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty A view of the empty entrance to the UniversitA Cattolica (Catholic University) in Milan, northern Italy, on 24 February, 2020. EPA Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty Empty streets in Daegu, South Korea, on 23 February, 2020. EPA Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty Empty streets in Daegu, South Korea, on 23 February 2020. EPA Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty A lone sanitation worker sits near the closed Hankou Railway Station in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, on February 24, 2020. Reuters Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty A view of a deserted street in Codogno, northern Italy, on February 23, 2020. EPA Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty Italian police officers set a road block in Codogno, Northern Italy, on Monday, Feb. 24, 2020. AP Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty A supermarket closed in Codogno, one the northern Italian towns placed under lockdown, on February 23, 2020. EPA Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty A lone cyclist wearing sanitary masks pedals in the center of Codogno, Northern Italy. LaPresse via AP Coronavirus: Streets around world left empty An empty road at the entrance of the small Italian town of Codogno on February 23, 2020. AFP via Getty

Reported infections in the US have now reached more than 70, including the death of one patient in Washington state, as officials monitor a possible global pandemic following the outbreak of the flu-like respiratory virus COVID-19.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that 15 people have tested positive for the virus after being tested in the United States, while another 44 Americans who were on the Diamond Princess cruise ship and were repatriated have also tested positive, as have three Americans who returned from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak.

The president is expected to visit CDC headquarters in Atlanta this week, though its unclear whether Mike Pence, the appointed "tsar" handling the administration's response to the outbreak, will be joining him.

His visit follows a feud with Dr Nancy Messonnier, the director of the CDC's National Center for Immunisation and Respiratory Diseases, who has contradicted the president's assurances and said that "it's not so much of a question of 'if' this will happen anymore but rather more of a question of exactly 'when' this will happen."
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Vanderbilt University student Will Newell wishes it was easier for college students like him to cast ballots in Tennessee, one of 14 states holding a presidential primary on Super Tuesday.

The campus has no locations for early voting, so students must visit an off-campus polling location to cast a ballot on Election Day. Newell drives but worries that many students who dont have their own transportation wont make it to a precinct. He said some campus groups offer rides to students, but the university itself does not provide a shuttle.

He supports a bill introduced in the Tennessee Legislature that would require early voting locations at large colleges and universities in the state. Thats not the only restriction working against college students in the state. Tennessee, where overall voter turnout is low, is among several states that does not allow a college student ID. But it does allow a handgun license.

It just makes the last part of actually getting them to the polls to vote a lot more difficult, Newell, a senior public policy and economics major, said of the ballot-casting hurdles faced by students in the state.

As Democratic candidates seek a boost from young voters in 2020, their impact at the polls could be blunted in a number of states that make voting more difficult for college students. Those include laws related to voter IDs, residency requirements and on-campus polling places. Critics say many of those laws are designed to dampen turnout among voters who typically lean Democratic.

College groups aligned with the Democratic Party are mobilizing this year in an effort to defeat President Donald Trumps re-election, said Matt Nowling, national director of communications for the College Democrats of America.

Republicans see that and theyre scared, said Nowling, a junior at Denison University in Granville, Ohio. College Democrats have been at the forefront of fighting against these issues.

Their efforts face obstacles, however.

Democrats say Republican-controlled legislatures in some states are actively trying to keep college students away from the polls. Some laws have been challenged in court, such as in New Hampshire, where a law essentially makes out-of-state college students subject to residency requirements like obtaining a state drivers license or registering their vehicles.

In Texas, Democrats have sued over a law requiring early voting locations to be open for the entire early voting period of 12 days. The law is geared to stopping rolling polling, which allowed local governments to use temporary mobile voting sites at college campuses, nursing homes and other locations.

Supporters say its a response to placement of temporary voting locations at high school events during elections that feature local bond measures requiring tax increases. The Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative think-tank , calls rolling polling a predatory practice that causes taxpayers to suffer.

You had the bad actors go out there and use mobile voting locations to target particular voters, said James Quintero, director of the foundations Center for Local Governance.

Quintero said the new law allows polling places to be open on campuses for all 12 days of early voting. But Democrats have pointed to the timing of the law, which was passed months after a dramatic spike in voter turnout in 2018.

Glen Maxey, legislative affairs director for the Texas Democratic Party, said the law hurts certain voting groups, such seniors and students.

It was very clear they were trying to stop college student voting, Maxey said.

Texas and Tennessee are among seven states where college identification cards are not allowed at polling places, with laws enacted by Republican-controlled legislatures between 2008 and 2018. The others are Arizona, Iowa, North Dakota, Ohio and South Carolina  all are states won by Donald Trump in 2016.

Bills working their way through some state legislatures also address college voting.

A law proposed by a Republican lawmaker in Arizona would prohibit students using college dormitory addresses in voter registration. The state already keeps student IDs off its list of approved voter identification. A bill proposed in the Arizona House would explicitly prohibit the use of college or university IDs at polling places.

Its not just trying to come up with laws that directly disenfranchise students, said Rachel Clay, southeast regional director for the Campus Vote Project. Its creating laws that make something thats already challenging and confusing more challenging and confusing for young people.

The Campus Vote Project was launched in 2012 by the Fair Elections Center, a non-partisan voting rights group, and has been working to increase interest in voting among college students.

Democrats are counting on increasing the college voter turnout in this years presidential election, which also could help their candidates in races for Congress and state legislatures. A report from Tufts Universitys Institute for Democracy & Higher Education showed that college student voting rates in the 2018 midterm elections doubled compared with the 2014 midterms.

Some Democratically controlled states, like California, are trying to make campus voting easier. A new law requires county elections officials to consider placing voting centres on university or college campuses. State universities also are required to designate one person per campus as a civic and voter empowerment co-ordinator.

In Tennessee, Democratic state Rep. London Lamar has proposed a law that would require county election commissions to place early voting locations at colleges or universities with at least 8,000 students.

In Lamars hometown of Memphis, Landon Shelby has to vote off-campus. Shelby, a University of Memphis junior and a Republican, said he would like to see campus polling places so students dont have to drive or hitch a ride to a precinct.

In years past, the University of Memphis has helped find transportation to the polls, but I would definitely like to see it become more common, said Shelby, secretary of student government government relations at the university.

The chances of that happening any time soon arent great. Lamars early voting legislation will face an uphill fight in the Republican-dominated General Assembly, especially in an election year.

But the bill has a Republican co-sponsor, and Lamar hopes her GOP colleagues agree that its important to simplify the voting process for college students.

The bill is about everybody being able to vote on college campuses, Lamar said. Its to ensure that the younger generation takes part in the political process.
Secretary Michael R. Pompeo At a Press Availability After the Afghanistan Signing Ceremony

Remarks

Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State

Sheraton Hotel

Doha, Qatar

February 29, 2020



SECRETARY POMPEO: Good afternoon, everyone. Today is an historic day for the United States of America and the American people. Today, we have taken a decisive step toward peace, real peace in Afghanistan. Just as any worthy journey begins, it is a first step.

Nearly 19 years ago, America embarked on a noble mission to mightily pursue the terrorist perpetrators of the September 11th attacks and their evil supporters and to prevent such a heinous attack from ever happening again. We have achieved great things. We have ensured Afghanistan isn't a haven for terrorists who can attack us, and we have bettered the lives of Afghan people, for which we are very proud.

Today, political debate in Afghanistan is free and vigorous. Today, more than 9 million students are enrolled in school; 39 percent of them are girls. Today, more than 57 percent of Afghans have access to basic health care, compared to just 9 percent in 2002. And al-Qaida  al-Qaida today  is a shadow of its former self. We have decimated its leadership and now have the Taliban agreeing that al-Qaida must never again find safe haven in Afghanistan.

But just as Afghanistan today isn't the Afghanistan of 2001, the world of 2020 isn't the world of 2001 either. Today, the United States faces national security challenges that weren't even imagined a few years ago, from Iran, from China, from Russia, and elsewhere. President Trump has recognized this new reality. He also saw that our sacrifices and gains in Afghanistan and realized the hard truth that a comprehensive, inclusive, durable peace could only be secured by the Afghan people themselves.

Today, we are realistic. We are seizing the best opportunity for peace in a generation, built on the hard work of our soldiers, diplomats, businessmen, aid workers, friends, and the Afghans themselves.

Today, we are restrained. We recognize America shouldn't fight in perpetuity in the graveyard of empires if we can help Afghans forge peace.

And we have respect. We believe that the Afghan people are ready to chart their own course forward.

Today, following the first ever weeklong break in fighting in nearly 19 years, I am proud to announce that the United States has secured separate commitments from the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Taliban to hold negotiations for peace.

Very importantly, the U.S.-Taliban agreement entails a promise from the Taliban that terrorists can never again operate from Afghan soil. We make no mistake; the chapter of American history on the Taliban is written in blood that killed many Americans, NATO allies, coalition partners, and many Afghans.

I am just as angry over 9/11 as I was the day I watched al-Qaida knock down the Twin Towers on TV. Our valiant servicemembers, intelligence warriors, and world-class diplomats who have served in Kandahar and in Helmand and all over Afghanistan know firsthand what I mean. They know what I mean exactly.

And we know exactly who we're dealing with. If the Taliban do not uphold their commitments, President Trump and his team will not hesitate to do what we must do to protect American lives.

If, on the other hand, the Taliban abide by their promises, the United States will undertake a responsible, conditions-based troop withdrawal. That withdrawal means that our men and women in uniform will incur fewer risks, our financial burden will be eased, and our brave troops will return home.

This is a hopeful moment, but it's only the beginning. There is a great deal of hard work ahead on the diplomatic front.

Finally, let me speak directly to those invested in Afghanistan.

First, to America's military and intelligence warriors, I know that some of you may be on your fifth or sixth tours of duty, maybe even more, far from the comforts of home. As the CIA director, it was my honor to join you in dealing blow after blow to this vicious enemy. Many of you wear black and silver bracelets in tribute to your brothers and sisters who died so that your countrymen might live in peace and security. We will not squander what they and you have won through blood, sweat, and tears. You've kept America safe alongside our allies and Afghan partners. You've helped give the people of Afghanistan this opportunity for a brighter future.

Second, to our NATO allies and other coalition partners who have sacrificed right alongside of us, we will continue to look to you and to all countries which support these agreements to help maintain this nascent peace. Whether it's Norway or Australia or Japan or any of our other valued friends and partners, we know you share our cautious hope.

To Afghanistan's neighbors, including Pakistan, we thank you for your efforts in helping reach these historic agreements and make clear our expectation that you will continue to do your part to promote a peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan so that the country and region can reap the benefits of lasting peace.

And to the Afghan people, this is your moment. Wars have tortured your country since 1979. No more violence. No more chaos. We'll listen, listen to the voices of all  young and old, men and women, from every region, from every tribe, from every ethnicity, and from every religion. Factions will undoubtedly emerge that want to spoil our good work. We must call them out and reject their schemes for discord.

I'll close by urging all parties to heed the wisdom of the pursuit of peace that's found in Scripture: "Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies; turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it."

Today, we have sought peace. We will continue to pursue it. Thank you, and I am happy to take a few questions.

MS ORTAGUS: Thanks. We'll start with Francesco Fontemaggi, AFP.

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. Secretary. I wanted to know exactly what will make you stop the withdrawal if the Talibans don't respect their agreement. Is it counterterrorism commitments, or is it the outcome of the negotiations, intra-Afghan negotiation, meaning that the timeline for the complete withdrawal is 14 months? Would they have to complete an agreement, intra-Afghan agreement by then, or just make progress in their negotiations? Thank you.

SECRETARY POMPEO: So we've spent many months getting to where we are today, and there are a set of interlocking understandings, implementation agreements, that are clearly spelled out. I am confident that each party that's been part of this  the Afghan Government, ourselves, the Taliban  understands precisely the commitments that they have made and the response  not only the response about the speed and magnitude of the withdrawal of not only American but coalition forces, but the other elements of support that the United States provide. We've made commitments to continue to provide that security assurances for the Afghan Government, but it is our very expectation that the Taliban will live up to their commitments.

But no one should be surprised. The United States will do whatever it takes to keep the American people safe. And so to the extent the Taliban fail to live up to their commitments, President Trump is as committed to peace as he is to ensuring that the American people never suffer an attack again from Afghanistan.

MS ORTAGUS: Thanks. We'll have Qatar TV now, Abdulla Al-Muraiki.

QUESTION: (Via interpreter) I'll just translate very quick. How do you 

SECRETARY POMPEO: Thank you.

QUESTION: (Via interpreter) Your Excellency, how do you assess the role of Qatar as an ally to the United States in various issues in the region and beyond?

SECRETARY POMPEO: So the nation of Qatar has been an enormously important partner to get us to this very moment. When we have hit bumps in the road, they have helped smooth them out. They have agreed to host a significant piece of the conversations that have taken place that have built out on the set of agreements that you see today. We appreciate that and we thank them.

I had a chance to meet with the Amir as well as with my counterpart today to thank them for the work that they have done as well as to make clear to them that we have every expectation they will continue to help us as we move along this path towards peace. They have been great partners in getting to this point, and we're counting on them to continue their efforts to deliver for the Afghan people this enormous opportunity that this moment brings.

MS ORTAGUS: Thank you. Christina Ruffini, CBS News.

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Secretary Esper, as everyone knows, is in Kabul signing a joint declaration with President Ghani, and I am wondering if that means that the U.S., that you recognize his election victory, because the statement that came out from the State Department said it was noted, but are you recognizing him as the president of Afghanistan going forward?

And my second question is: Why did you feel the need to be here to be present at the signing today, and why come all the way here and not sign the document yourself? Thank you, sir.

SECRETARY POMPEO: Yeah, the document was signed by the two gentlemen who had worked so diligently to execute it, who had worked tirelessly, who had sacrificed so much of their time and effort and who'd put the real energy into being on the ground to get us to this point. It was appropriate that the two negotiators, the two senior negotiators, execute the document that they had delivered for the benefit of the Afghan people.

I wanted to be here because this is a historic moment. This is a historic opportunity. I served as a soldier. I know the sacrifices that so many of our young men and women have made in Afghanistan, and I am determined  I am determined  to reduce their risk, to create fewer young men and women who are on their fourth and fifth and six trip to Afghanistan. I am determined to ensure that there are fewer young men and women sitting at Walter Reed and there are fewer young men and women that never return home to their families.

And that I am equally determined to make sure that there is never again a terror attack from Afghanistan. And I think we now sit on the precipice of a real opportunity, and I want to make sure that I personally do everything that I can to help our State Department get off on the right foot as we begin the difficult diplomatic effort that can lead to this peace that we're seeking.

I talked for a moment about the changes, the transitions that have taken place in Afghanistan during our time there. This is a very different country than it was when the United States went there to seek revenge for what happened in New York on 9/11. This country is very different. We've done enormous work. The American people have sacrificed a great deal, not only the blood of our soldiers but resources, time, all of the work that the intelligence teams, our diplomats have done on the ground. I wanted to be here to express my appreciation for all we have done over these decades and then to make sure that everyone understood how important this is to get this right, to be here to communicate that the United States is committed to helping the Afghans push this process forward.

Your first question really gets to the political process inside of Afghanistan. We're going to need every Afghani to join in. I talked about this in my remarks. They're all going to have to be committed. They're all going to understand there is something far bigger than being about themselves. They've got to deliver for the Afghan people.

The Afghan people want peace. You can see it. If you saw the pictures, Christina, from this week, it was glorious to watch Afghan people walking through the streets  they haven't been able to do that  to see them dancing and celebrating peace.

The Afghan people are thirsting for the very opportunity that we have now presented to them, and every Afghan leader needs to look deep into their soul and deliver this peace for Afghanistan. It is time. The opportunity is in front of us.

We now have commitments from the Taliban to break with al-Qaida. This is historic. They need to live up to those commitments. They've made commitments to continue to reduce the violence level. They need to live up to those commitments.

When they do that, they will find that there is opportunity in this place, that the international community is demanding that Afghanistan be a peaceful place, and the Afghan people richly deserve the opportunity that has been created today. And I wanted to be here to communicate that.

Thank you all very much for being with me today.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






New polls released Sunday shows Bernie Sanders winning two key Super Tuesday states: Texas and North Carolina, where nearly 340 delegates are up for grabs.

Sanders is a self-proclaimed Democratic socialist, but he is still showing as the clear winner in the deep-red state of Texas, according to the NBC News/Marist poll taken in the days leading up to the South Carolina primary election.

In Texas, Sanders is shown with 34 per cent support, and former Vice President Joe Biden is in a distant second with 19 per cent.

The win in Texas, which will award 228 delegates, would be big for Sanders, as he lost the most populated Republican state in the 2016 primaries to Hillary Clinton 65.2 per cent to 33.2 per cent.

As Sanders was proclaimed the winner in the Nevada caucuses last month, he was holding a rally in San Antonio, Texas, where he told the crowd not to tell Donald Trump how much support he had in the Lone Star State.

Two new polls show that Bernie Sanders is likely to win Super Tuesday states: Texas and North Carolina, where there are a combined nearly 340 delegates up for grabs

Sanders is shown with a commanding lead in the deep-red state of Texas, with 34 per cent to No. 2 candidate Joe Biden's 19 per cent

Joe Biden comes in second in both states in the poll, which was taken in the days leading up to the South Carolina primary

Sanders and Biden are shown in a head-to-head contest in North Carolina, with Biden falling only two per behind Sanders in a poll that has a margin of error of 5.1 percentage points

'Don't tell anybody, I don't want to get them nervous, we are going to win the Democratic primary in Texas. And you know, this is also important the president gets very, very upset easily, so don't tell him we're going to beat him here in Texas,' Sanders said to a cheering crowd as he celebrated his victory in Nevada.

Billionaire Mike Bloomberg, who has not won any delegates in the early primary contest states as he focused all his campaigning on Super Tuesday states, is projected in the poll to come in third place in Texas with 15 per cent.

According to a separate Marist poll taken the same dates as the Texas poll  February 23-27  Sanders is shown in more of a dead-heat with Biden in the North Carolina primary.

The southern state has 110 delegates to award, which is more than any of the first four early contest states have.

Sanders has 26 per cent support in North Carolina, to the 24 per cent for Biden  which is within the plus or minus 5.1 percentage point margin of error in the poll.

Bloomberg falls in third place in the Super Tuesday state, with 15 per cent.

The two polls show that Bloomberg's strategy in focusing on Super Tuesday could prove effective in officially propelling his campaign forward as it stagnated when he failed to place in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.

Billionaire Mike Bloomberg, who has not earned any delegates so far, is shown as coming in third place in both state polls with 15 per cent in each

Biden, who was the projected frontrunner throughout the campaign, was falling behind before the South Carolina primary.

He came in fourth place in Iowa caucuses, fifth in the New Hampshire primary and finally jumped to second place in Nevada.

The former vice president earned his first primary contest victory in South Carolina, where his campaign boasted of its 'firewall' of African-American supporters in the state where one-third of the Democratic primary electorate is black.

He won with nearly 50 per cent of the vote, and Sanders came in a distant second place, almost 30 percentage points behind.

Both Texas and North Carolina went for Trump in the 2016 general elections.

The president also earned nearly 50 per cent of the vote in North Carolina to Hillary Clinton's 46.2 per cent. And in Texas, he won with 52.2 per cent to Clinton's 43.2 per cent.
A second Dail vote for Taoiseach is set to go ahead on Thursday as parties continue to meet and debate policies in an attempt to form a government.

Labour has indicated that it will table a motion to the Dails business committee for the vote, which other parties are expected to allow. Fine Gael, Sinn Fein, and others have indicated their support for it.

Outgoing Labour leader Brendan Howlin wrote to Ceann Comhairle Sean O Fearghail and the committee late last week seeking the fresh vote.

The move comes amid an awareness among leaders to step up talks to form a government after the first case of coronavirus was confirmed here and as post-Brexit trade negotiations begin tomorrow.

Nonetheless, even with a fresh vote for Taoiseach, which could be agreed by an incorporeal meeting of the committee as early as tomorrow, the outcome is expected to be the same as it was on February 20, when no leader came close to securing sufficient support to lead the country.

The business committee ruled out the vote last Thursday, but Labour pushed on Friday for one to proceed.

Fine Gael will tomorrow begin two days of meetings with the Greens before holding what is being deemed a seminar or one-day policy meeting with Fianna Fail on Wednesday.

Fine Gael sources insist the talks are non-committal, given that the party intends to go into opposition.

This week isnt a negotiation, said a source. Thats why the Taoiseach was clear that he wasnt appointing a negotiating team.

Much attention will focus on the Fianna Fail-Fine Gael meeting, and whether the two sides will speed up talks, given that coronavirus has arrived on Irish shores.

Tense EU-UK negotiations on a future trade deal also begin tomorrow, amid threats from London to trigger a fresh Brexit no-deal scenario.

Wednesdays meeting between Fine Gael and Fianna Fail is expected to include discussion on affordable childcare, income tax change proposals and affordable housing. However, Government sources also stress that the talks between Fine Gael and the Greens will be equally important.

They come on the back of emerging gaps between the Greens and Fianna Fail on transport funding and climate change provisions, following tough talks between those two sides last week.

MEPs, TDs, and senators will all three groups will be updated at their party meetings in Leinster House during the week on government formation talks.

Meanwhile, Sinn Fein is scheduled to meet the Social Democrats, the Green Party, People Before Profit, Independents4Change, and other Independent TDs for talks this week.

Mary Lou McDonalds party will also hold a further open public meeting in Cavan tonight, while another one is scheduled in Galway on Friday.

Sinn Feins attempts to lead a left-leaning government have received a boost after a Behaviour and Attitudes opinion poll on the weekend put support for the party at 35%, a rise of 10 points since the election.

The surge for Ms McDonalds party saw losses for others, with Fine Gael slipping 3 points and Fianna Fail 2 since the February 8 vote. Satisfaction ratings for Ms McDonald have also surged by 13 points to 53%, 22 points ahead of her nearest rival Micheal Martin.

The Fianna Fail leader is down 15 points to 31% while satisfaction for Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is down eight points to 27%. The poll was conducted from face-to-face interviews with 917 eligible voters on February 17 to 25.
Kolkata, March 1 : Bengali actor-turned politician Subhadra Mukherjee, who has worked in some Bengali films and television soaps, resigned from the BJP in the aftermath of the Delhi violence saying she couldnt be in the same party with leaders like Kapil Mishra and Anurag Thakur.

Mukherjee quit the BJP on Friday, when she sent her resignation to state party chief Dilip Ghosh.

She said she had joined the BJP with lot of 'hopes and optimism", but got disenchanted over recent developments, which showed the "BJP was moving away from its ideology".

Mukherjee said she was for the Citizenship (Amendment) Act passed by the Narendra Modi government in parliament, but opposed to the way the BJP has been promoting it.

"It has resulted in unrest across the country. Why should we all have to show papers after so many years into independent India to prove our citizenship?" she said.

Mukherjee said the Delhi violence, which left at least 42 people dead and over 200 injured, was the proverbial last straw.

"The atmosphere is filled with hate. No action is being taken against party leaders like Anurag Tahkur and Kapil Mishra despite their hate speeches which caused a deterioration in the situation. How can I be in a party which is selective in taking action? She said she could not identify with a party which was treating people on the basis of their religion and not as fellow humans.

An inflammatory slogan "desh ke gaddaron ko goli maaro s*** ko" was chanted at a public rally addressed by Thakur on January 27 in Delhi's Rithala area. Thakur had allegedly egged on his audience to respond to the slogan.

Thakur was then barred from campaigning by the Election Commission for 72 hours in the run-up to the February 8 Delhi Assembly polls.

Mishra was also seen in video making speeches inciting mobs during the recent violence.
(Reuters) - Chris Froome and his fellow Team Ineos riders are among those who have been allowed to leave their hotel and travel home from the cancelled UAE Tour following a coronavirus scare, the team said on Sunday.

The final two stages of the UAE Tour, which featured some of the world's leading riders, was called off on Thursday because two Italian participants had tested positive for coronavirus. [nL4N2AT08L]

Authorities said on Saturday that the first 167 tests for the virus had come back negative but there have been no further updates. Some 600 riders, staff and members of the media were tested.

"All our riders and staff (are) now leaving UAE after being given the all clear," Team Ineos posted on Twitter https://twitter.com/TeamINEOS/status/1234025045061705728 on Sunday. "Thank you to all those who have helped us and looked after the team over recent days."

Team Jumbo-Visma and Israel-Start Up Nation squad also confirmed that their riders and staff had left the UAE.

Despite receiving the green light to travel home, Team UAE-Emirates decided to extend their stay in Abu Dhabi and go home "only with the safety of non-contagion".

"In the context of this global emergency, the main goal is the safety of all of us and our family members," Team UAE-Emirates, who are funded by the gulf nation, said in a statement http://www.uaeteamemirates.com/team-will-remain-uae-precaution.

"In light of some known cases of flu within our group and other teams, we will be tested again in the next few days and once the situation has improved, riders and staff will return to their families."

(Reporting by Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru; editing by Clare Fallon)
Iranian officials have announced another jump in confirmed cases and deaths from the coronavirus that is causing global havoc since its outbreak began in central China late last year.



Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur told a televised news conference that 385 newly confirmed cases of the COVID-19 illness in Iran brought the total to 978. Eleven new deaths brings the official death toll in Iran from coronavirus to 54, he said.



Those numbers are well below the level that many experts fear the Iranian contagion has reached since officials downplayed the risk of a local outbreak before -- in the case of one deputy health minister and several other prominent officials -- coming down themselves with the illness.



But even the lower figures suggest that the virus, which brings on pneumonia-like symptoms and whose deadliness is well above seasonal flu, is spreading more rapidly in Iran.



The biggest rise in newly reported Iranian cases was said to be in the province around the capital, Tehran, where 170 people tested positive for the virus.



U.S. President Donald Trump said on February 29 that he was ready to help Iran deal with its increasingly deadly outbreak of coronavirus if the country he has bitterly criticized and sanctioned asks for assistance.



"If we can help the Iranians with this problem, we are certainly willing to do so.... All they have to do is ask, Trump told the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) near Washington on February 29.



We will have great professionals over there," he added, referring to Iran, which has become the hot spot for the disease in the Middle East.



The United States, which has had no diplomatic relations with Iran since 1980, said it had formally told Tehran of its willingness to assist in the crisis. The was message sent via Switzerland, which represents U.S. interests in Iran.

Many critics and outside experts have expressed concerns that Tehran is severely underreporting the magnitude of the crisis in the country, allegations the government has vehemently denied.



The virus has hit at least 63 countries, with China -- where the outbreak began -- the hardest hit but with numbers rising elsewhere.



The virus had killed at least 2,761 people and infected 79,826 others in mainland China by March 1.



Worldwide it has infected at least 86,986 people and killed more than 100. The strongest clusters of the disease outside of China are in Iran, Italy, Japan, and South Korea.



Several top Iranian officials have contracted the virus, including Masoumeh Ebtekar, the vice president for women and family affairs, a deputy health minister, and five lawmakers.



Iran has been linked to most of the over 200 confirmed cases of the virus now spread across the region, and many countries in and outside the Caucasus, Middle East, and Central Asia have imposed restrictions on travel to and from Iran in an effort to curtail the disease's spread.



On March 1, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian in neighboring Armenia reported the small countrys first coronavirus case, that of a 29-year-old man who recently returned with his wife from Iran.



With reporting by RFE/RLs Radio Farda, AFP, and AP


Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Mexico confirmed its fourth case of the new coronavirus on Saturdayall linked to recent travel to Italyafter a young woman tested positive for infection.

Health authorities said the 20-year-old from northern Coahuila state was carrying the virus without showing symptoms.

She had recently traveled to Milan and was now under isolation in her home, according to the state government.

Another eight people are being tested for suspected infection, authorities said.

The other three confirmed casestwo men in Mexico City and one man in northern Sinaloa stateare all believed to have visited northern Italy, authorities said Friday.

Italy has emerged as one of the global hotspots of the COVID-19 outbreak with more than 1,100 cases in cities across the country's north.

The virus has infected around 87,000 people and killed nearly 3,000 since it first emerged in central China late last year.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2020 AFP
The Annual General Meeting of Festi hf. will be held on Monday 23 March 2020 at 10:00 at the companys headquarters at Dalvegur 10-14, Kopavogur, Iceland.

Agenda:

1. Board of Directors report on the companys activities in the preceding operating year.

2. CEO report and annual financial statement.

3. Annual financial statement for the previous accounting year submitted for approval and decision taken on the handling of the companys profits.

4. Decision on payment of a dividend from the operating year 2019.

5. The Nomination Committee presents its report and proposals.

6. Election of the Board of Directors.

7. Board of Directors proposal for the appointment of two members to the Nomination Committee.

8. Election of an Auditor or auditing company.

9. Decision on remuneration to the Board of Directors, the Board sub-committees and the Nomination Committee.

10. Board of Directors proposal for amendments to the companys remuneration policy.

11. Board of Directors proposal for an authorization to purchase own shares.

12. Proposal for an authorization to the Board of Directors to raise share capital in order to partially meet the purchase contract payments for the purchase of Islensk Orkumidlun ehf.

13. Amendments to the Articles of Association.

14. Other matters lawfully submitted.

Further information on the meeting, agenda, proposals and related document are attached.

Attachments
About 200 people took over a downtown street on Sunday afternoon to protest against an annual mining industry convention in Toronto.

As police officers watched, the protesters rallied on Front Street outside the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, where delegates had gathered for the opening day of the convention of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada.

The protesters held banners, chanted "Shame!" and listened to speakers condemn Canadian mining industry companies for allegedly violating human rights and environmental laws in countries outside Canada in which they operate.

"I think, every day, the ecological crisis gets worse," Kirsten Francescone, a member of MiningWatch Canada, told reporters as the rally got underway.

"We definitely cannot think that more destructive mines that violate human rights and destroy people's environments is our way out of that ecological crisis. I am really concerned that the mining industry is using this space to say that we need mining to save us from climate change. We're here to say that shouldn't be the case," she added.

"We want other kinds of ways forward for a better future for all of us."

Muriel Draaisma/CBC

Rachel Small, a member of the Mining Injustice Solidarity Network, said it is important to stand up to what she believes is violence perpetuated by the mining industry.

"We are here in front of the world's biggest mining convention," Small said.

"Toronto is here to say no to business as usual with this industry continuing. We know what the Canadian mining industry looks like. We know that their business as usual is literally leading us to an unlivable planet. We cannot allow this to continue," she said.

"We are here in solidarity with every community around the world that has faced down the barrel of a gun for daring to say no to a Canadian extractive project."

Small said the protesters came to the rally to disrupt the convention. At one point, the protesters attempted to enter the convention but were stopped by police. They did, however, block different entrances to the building for about an hour.

Story continues

She said the protest was held in part to show solidarity with the Wet'suwet'en chiefs who oppose a natural gas pipeline that would cut through their traditional territory in northern B.C.

"Canada is a country founded on the removal of Indigenous people for extractive projects. That's exactly what's happening right now on Wet'suwet'en land and that's exactly what Canadian mining projects are doing all over the world," she added.

On Sunday, one chief and senior government ministers said they have reached a proposed agreement over land title but debate continues over the pipeline. The dispute has led to solidarity protests and rail blockades across the country.

More than 50 organizations endorsed the rally.

Organizers said many of the companies that provide economic support for the Costal GasLink pipeline project in B.C. also take part in the mining convention.

Sponsors of the four-day conference include such mining companies as Vale, Hudbay, Barrick Gold, Teck and BHP.

The association has 7,500 members. In recent years, the convention has attracted more than 25,000 people from 131 countries.
Disagreements on how to deal with China among the candidates for the Democratic nomination for the presidential election have become evident during their past two debates, as the campaign heats up.



Former Vice President Joe Biden and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg are both advocating "getting tough" with China, while former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg suggested cooperation would be a more effective attitude on key issues.

One such issue is that the U.S. and the rest of the world must cooperate on climate change. "You will never solve this problem without China and India, Western Europe, and America," Bloomberg said during the Nevada debate.

By contrast, Biden criticized China for importing coal from Mongolia and threatened to impose tariffs on China if it does not listen to the United States. Buttigieg also threatened to use some kind of force against China.

"I'm a little skeptical of the idea that convincing is going to do the trick when it comes to working with China. America has repeatedly overestimated our ability to shape Chinese ambitions," Buttigieg said, before adding, "But what we can do is ensure that we use the hard tools to enforce what has to happen."

China is a rising power. Of course, it will pursue its own path with its own national interests in mind. The idea that America should "shape Chinese ambitions" is, and has been, the height of foreign policy arrogance.

There are shared interests and things that can be achieved, fully or partially, by diplomacy. Bloomberg was right to mention climate change as an example. But the U.S. should not take Chinese submission as its goal. If the U.S. has absolutist goals, then its policies will end in failure.

Threatening to use "hard tools" to "enforce what has to happen" on an issue such as climate change, which involves energy sovereignty, is an example of an arrogant policy that will end in failure.

The claim that China is the biggest producer of carbon is also misleading. China has a much larger population than any country but India, after all, so it does not make sense to compare countries with different populations and different situations in absolute terms.

If you look at carbon emissions per capita of population, China is actually not very high on the list. The activities of Chinese commerce and lifestyle within the country released 8.0 metric tons of CO2 per capita in 2018, while the United States released 16.1 tons per capita.

Chinese carbon emissions also include those of factories that produce goods for export  mostly to the United States and Western countries. The products Americans purchase that are manufactured abroad also add to the world's carbon footprint, and, because the U.S. has a trade deficit, they are importing more than they are exporting. If the price of carbon were to increase, then Americans would end up paying for it in higher prices of those goods.

Furthermore, China is already taking actions to limit its carbon footprint. It recognizes the need to limit pollution for its own good as well as that of the world as a whole. Particulate matter has been a big problem; generating more energy from clean power sources kills two birds with one stone  three birds if you also include job creation in the solar and wind sectors.

According to a chart produced by the Washington-based think tank CSIS, Chinese consumption of coal peaked in 2013 and has decreased since then. And the proportion coal makes up of China's total energy consumption has decreased from 76 percent in 1990 to 59 percent today; its coal-burning plants have been modernized to burn more efficiently.

Fifty-nine percent is still higher than many countries, and China continues to seek ways to create further reductions. However, part of the reason why it is relatively high is because China does not have abundant access to other natural fossil fuel resources as is the case with other countries. The United States is one of the largest oil exporters, for example, while China must import. It is just geographic luck that determines what is left under the ground.

Bloomberg seems to recognize China's position. He said, "In all fairness, China has slowed down."

Those three candidates went at it about China again in the next debate in South Carolina, maintaining the same positions. Overall, Bloomberg, who was attacked by Sen. Elizabeth Warren for doing business with China, had the most moderate and diplomatic position towards that country.

Biden sounded tough, but he has had experience with foreign policy both as a senator and a vice president. He understands that one can fiercely advocate national interests while also being pragmatic at the negotiating table.

Buttigieg would be the wild card. He has no experience with foreign policy (or national policy). He has only served as mayor of a small town of 100,000 people. Were his aggressive words just designed to pull in votes? Does he really believe in stepping up the intensity of America's outlook towards China?

We will only be able to know if he does get elected. Do we want to find out?

Mitchell Blatt is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:

http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/MitchellBlatt.htm

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.

If you would like to contribute, please contact us at opinion@china.org.cn.
Netanyahu says he won't try to stop prosecution if reelected: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he will face corruption accusations against him head on in court and will not seek to pass legislation to derail his upcoming trial if he wins reelection this week. After failing to secure parliamentary immunity last month, insiders had speculated that Netanyahu would attempt to pass alternative legislation if he secures a parliamentary majority. But Netanyahu denied it in a television interview two days before Israel heads to the polls in its third election in less than a year.
Coronavirus is already having a direct impact on churches and religious institutions in the United States.

American missionaries are being recalled, overseas programs canceled, and at one predominantly Chinese church in Houston, leaders say attendance has plummeted because some members fear services could make them susceptible.

Complicating the issue is the Chinese governments ban on Christian missionaries entering the country. Since that rule went into effect in 2018, those hoping to evangelize in the communist nation have done so under the guise of teaching jobs or for business opportunities. Now, many are stranded overseas while their sponsoring churches and groups work behind the scenes to return them without compromising their identities or missions.

At Houston Chinese Church, leaders said attendance at Chinese-language services has plummeted by roughly 30 percent in recent weeks.

Pastor Fred Tow said the drop is likely due to members unfounded fears of coming into contact with the illness via immigrants in the congregation or those whove recently traveled abroad. A few members flew overseas to celebrate the Chinese New Year, Tow said, and the church has asked those members to take a two-week hiatus from services as a precaution.

He said he has been advising other members to remain calm and, as part of that effort, avoid unreliable news reports.

Tow said there have been some concern that the Chinese community in Houston could face discrimination or stereotyping simply because of their ethnicity. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention addresses that very concern in a fact sheet about the stigma of coronavirus.

But Tow said hes confident that the community will persevere.

There are certain things that are within our control, Tow said. But there are things that are out of our control, and thats when we turn to the Lord. Because he is in control of all things and he protects.

The virus  labeled COVID-19 by health officials  has killed more than 2,850 people and sickened more than 83,000 globally, according to the World Health Organization.

The spread of coronavirus follows years of rising missionary activity in Asia, including China, which has increasingly cracked down on religious minorities. Christians account for roughly 5 percent of Chinas population, according to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, which continues to list China as a country of concern because of its systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom.

Much of the crackdown has been directed at Tibetan Buddhists and Uighur Muslims, but Christians have not been spared.

While religious organizations continue to send missionaries to China, they are unwilling to say so publicly out of safety considerations.

Many fear that the spread of coronavirus will accelerate those trends.

If it spreads quickly and uncontrollably, church meetings and gatherings may be banned, one missionary recently told Catholic News Service. Authorities may also use this a pretext to crack down on the church more severely.

The concerns are not limited to China. Even those in countries that allow missionary work have been reticent about the situation on the ground, fearing it could jeopardize their return flights or, once back home, arise suspicions that theyre also sick.

Earlier this week, a college affiliated with the Church of Christ had to recall students from Florence, Italy. Two of the students are Houston natives who, according to family, had been planning and saving money for years in preparation for what they thought would be a semesterlong stay.

The group arrived in early February and are expected to fly home in the coming days.

Hes just bummed, disappointed and very confused about whats next, said the mother of one student, who asked that her son not be named as a precaution. Its a lot of planning, but of course you feel for the people who are sick. You feel for everyone thats involved. Its just a bad situation all around.

On Thursday, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints discouraged international members from traveling to the United States for the faith groups annual conference in April. The move follows a recent decision to transfer more than 100 LDS missionaries serving in Hong Kong. And multiple Mormon temples in Asia have been closed.

Two Southern Baptist seminaries have also been impacted by the virus. The Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in North Carolina canceled upcoming trips to China, South Korea, Italy, Iran and Japan, spokesman Griffin Gulledge said this week.

Fort Worths Southern Baptist seminary similarly nixed upcoming trips abroad. Officials said this week that theyre exploring ways to better advise international students who regularly return to their home nations. They did not specify which countries.

Adam Greenway, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, said he and others were praying for those whove been affected, as well as for government officials.

In the midst of such public health crises, were reminded that ultimately our only hope is in the promise of eternal life offered through Jesus Christ, and we urge all to look to Him for salvation, Greenway said.

The International Mission Board, the nations largest missionary group, is fundraising to help those working in affected areas. The IMB, an entity of the Southern Baptist Convention, does not disclose where missionaries are stationed. On Friday, the mission board announced that it had created a task force to assist implications for personnel in hard-hit areas.

Wade Burleson, a former IMB trustee, compared the crisis to the outbreak of SARS in 2003. An exchange program with Japanese students at Burlesons church in Oklahoma was also canceled this week.

We are living in apocalyptic times, he said.

At Grace Covenant Church in Austin, a group of about 25 members decided against going on their trip to Thailand out of concerns that theyd get stranded or be quarantined once they return to the United States.

Theyre going to Belize instead.

robert.downen@chron.com
This article, Amazon removes 1 million products claiming to cure coronavirus, originally appeared on CNET.com.

As a novel coronavirus continues to spread globally, Amazon is clamping down on merchants looking to take advantage of people's fears about the virus.

The online retail giant removed more than 1 million listings for items claiming to cure or defend against the coronavirus, according to a report from Reuters on Thursday. The company also said it removed thousands of items from merchants for price gouging.

"There is no place for price gouging on Amazon," an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement Friday. "We are disappointed that bad actors are attempting to artificially raise prices on basic need products during a global health crisis and, in line with our long-standing policy, have recently blocked or removed tens of thousands of offers. We continue to actively monitor our store and remove offers that violate our policies."

The virus was first reported on Dec. 31 in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Since then, more than 89,000 people have been infected worldwide, with more than 3,000 deaths. Cases have been reported around the world, with notable outbreaks in countries including Japan, South Korea and Italy.

Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin and the National Institutes of Health produced the first 3D map of the coronavirus earlier this month. This will help in developing a vaccine, which the US National Institutes of Health says is a year or more away.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Facebook is another company putting its foot down on false cures. The social media company said Tuesday it'll remove ads touting cures for the virus.

Originally published Feb. 28. 6:59 a.m. PT.

Update, 10:25 a.m. PT: Adds additional background info. March 2: Adds Amazon statement.

The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.
By IANS

MUMBAI: After Vishwa Hindu Parishad raised concerns over the reports that Maharashtra's ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government is planning to give reservation to Muslims, Shiv Sena on Sunday denied any such proposal for the same.

Shiv Sena's denial came in response to Vishwa Hindu Parishad's (VHP) remarks on the issue.

VHP had tweeted, "News of Maharashtra government's decision to grant religion-based reservation to Muslims is worrisome. The appeasement of Muslims should not be done by a government led by Shiv Sena. This is the Hindu society's expectation."

Earlier, Maharashtra's Minority Affairs Minister, Nawab Malik on February 28 announced that a law will be made to give reservation to Muslims in educational institutions in the state.

"High Court had given its nod to give five per cent reservation to Muslims in government educational institutions. The last government did not take any action on it. So we have announced that we will implement the High Court's order in the form of law as soon as possible," Malik said.

"We have announced that as per the High Court's order we will give reservation to the Muslim community in education soon by making a law," added Malik.
As children, we had a great love for our country, Ghana. We sang patriotic songs like, "God bless our homeland Ghana and make our nation great and strong...." We sang many patriotic songs both at home and at school.

During our time, toys were not easily available to Ghanaian children so we fabricated our own toys, sometimes by filling a designed baby boy or girl and filling them with rags so the shape would come out. The eyes nose, mouth and ears were marked by drawing them out with pens.

Woods were cut and the Ghana flag, drawn or cut out on them. As we grew up, we made small cars with Ghanaian colours that could take four people with woods, tins and old aluminum sheets. Government officials and teachers looked on with interest and we wondered why none of them showed concern.

One Friday in the elementary school, the teacher told us to bring a craft, that is, something we made by our own hands. I made a kite and a boy who sat before me made a toy helicopter. He could be a top aircraft designer in the making, but who cared? In America and some European countries, such kids are taken from their normal schools to special schools which are solely meant for kids with high intelligence and talent. Those are children who grow up to become inventors!

Apostle Safo Kantanka is a patriotic citizen, a complete genius, but more of him later.

Indeed Ghanaians love their country but the system has no welfare for the citizens and each and every one has to struggle for him- or herself. This attitude of each one for himself or herself has encouraged corruption, selfishness and lack of vision in Ghana. Due to lack of social welfare and governmental support many Ghanaians have turned into self-made pastors and prophets who have turned religion into business. Those who are eager to use their in-born talents to create something to help society are hated, branded as "too-know" and whatever they invent or produce are shirked by Ghanaians out of jealousy and hatred. How many Ghanaians buy Apostle Sarfo's cars?

We should stop this and show our love for Ghana by patronizing made in Ghana goods.

If, indeed, Nana Addo and his government love Ghana and are eager to place Ghana in the golden pages of the automobile world, they should consider supporting Apostle Sarfo Kantanka and his inventions. Nana Addo, send these mechanical engineers to help work on these cars. This will ensure that these engineers will not just sit in the offices in Accra and just receive phone calls or append their signatures on documents. Nana rise up and put them on the field. General Motors is not for the government but for certain individuals. At a point the company almost collapsed but since the government considers it as the pride of America, they rescued the company with financial support until General Motors stood on solid grounds.

What saddens my heart is that the Apostle gave two cars free of charge to the police service to try and see the stability, effectiveness and strength of the car. After one year the police came out to declare how strong and technically composed the cars were. Sadly enough when they needed cars for the police service, they imported them from abroad. How wicked and selfish!! Is that how the police can thank Aposle Sarfo Kantanka for the two free cars?

Interestingly, this man has no University education but his products and other inventions are unique, all for his love for Ghana.

The herbalists, both literate and illiterate, are trying in their own small way to produce herbal drugs in the form of capsules, tablets and mixtures. We are in a country where pharmacists are trained mainly to sell foreign drugs. These herbalists are struggling to provide quality drugs in order to compete with foreign drugs but the problem is finishing - how to package it beautifully to face competition. This is where the pharmacists come in. For the love of Ghana, the government must make it a policy to promote herbal medicine. A factory that can go into research and production by involving pharmacists to give weight, recognition and acceptance to the final products. We must produce drugs that can compete internationally.

Many Ghanaians who travel abroad are doing exceedingly well but they seldom bring their findings, knowledge and experiences to bear on Ghana. I will illustrate this with a lovely story that happened in Germany. A Pakistani who had just completed a doctorate degree in Physics got a temporary job as a cleaner at the Atomic Energy Commission in Germany. On one of his cleaning rounds, he saw that one of the main computers was not shut down. He went near the computer, touched the mouse and saw that there was a chapter which said, "step by step production and launching of atomic bomb. He clicked to get to the page. He hurriedly copied all the information required. Within a week, he prepared and left for his country. He presented the entire document to the president. In no time Pakistan had launched a test of atomic bomb!

Beloved Ghanaians what ideas do you have to take to Ghana to speed up development rather than thinking only of building a house for yourself in Ghana.

Lastly, everyone especially MPs, the civil service and government must think more about Ghana while avoiding corruption, nepotism and favouritism. We must learn to love the nation more than ourselves. Ghana is bleeding.

Columnist: Stephen Atta Owusu

Author: Dark Faces at Crossroads

Email: [email protected]
Super Tuesday is almost upon us. Its less than three days away.

The Commonwealth of Virginia, just a few miles from where I live, is a Super Tuesday state. Even before tonight, Joe Biden was gaining momentum in Virginia. The RCP poll average had him in third place, behind Bernie Sanders and Mike Bloomberg. But this average was based on only two polls. A new poll from Christopher Newport University, puts Biden in the lead with 22 percent support. Sanders is second with 17 percent.

After Bidens resounding victory in South Carolina, I consider him the favorite to win Virginia. In fact, he has just picked up the endorsements of former governor Terry McAuliffe and Rep. Bobby Scott, a leading African-American voice in the Commonwealth. And yesterday, Sen. Tim Kaine (remember him?) endorsed Biden.

Some of the internal numbers from the latest survey seem ominous for Sanders. Among registered voters, only 9 percent say they want to see the current health care system ended promptly. Only 15 percent favor cancelling student loan debt for all borrowers.

This sample includes Republicans and independents, as well as Democrats. But if you do the math, its clear that the two Sanders initiatives cited above dont poll that well even among Democrats.

Bloomberg has been advertising heavily in the D.C. market in order to reach Northern Virginia voters. However, his campaign in the Commonwealth seems to be faltering. The brand new Christopher Newport poll found Bloomberg to be the first choice of only 13 percent of respondents. Thats more than 6 points below his RCP average from earlier surveys.

Bidens showing tonight will likely further erode Bloombergs support. His pitch that hes the only candidate who stands between Sanders and the nomination will be less persuasive now.

Amy Klobuchar is popular among the D.C. suburban Democrats I know, most of them of a certain age. And, hard as it may be to believe, Klobuchar reportedly spoke to a standing-room-only crowd at a venue in nearby Falls Church, Virginia (the seating capacity there is about 850).

However, Klobuchar is polling only in the medium single digits in Virginia. I doubt that, on Super Tuesday, she will win more than a handful of delegates other than the ones she collects in Minnesota. And its not even a sure thing that shell beat Sanders in Minnesota.

Klobuchar might well drop out after Super Tuesday. Elizabeth Warren, who is right around 10 percent in the Virginia polls, might well follow Klobuchar through the trap door.

Pretty soon, the Democratic field might be not only all white, but also all male.

However, we wont have to wait for Super Tuesday to see the back of Tom Steyer. He has just announced that hes quitting.

For what its worth, Nate Silver offered his projection as to how the Super Tuesday races will go if Biden wins big in South Carolina. It is here. I summarized it here.

Im not sure, though, whether Silvers model contemplated a South Carolina win as decisive as the one Biden achieved tonight. Silver might have been thinking in terms of a 15 point margin of victory over Sanders. As things stand now, Bidens margin is around 30 points with two-thirds of the precincts having reported.

The Democratic race could have effectively ended tonight. It didnt. And if Silver is right, it wont effectively end on Super Tuesday, either
* Malaysian authorities on Friday confirmed two more cases of COVID-19 in the country, both involving foreign nationals. Both cases had a history of recent travel to areas where cases of the virus had already been reported, the Health Ministry said in a statement.

* China and Japan agreed on Friday to step up public health cooperation to contain the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic. The pledge was made during a meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee.

* The Republic of Korea (ROK) confirmed 594 more cases of the COVID-19 on Saturday (February 29), raising the total number of infections to 2,931. Three more deaths were reported, lifting the combined death toll to 16.

* Iran's parliament, or the Majlis, stopped work on Friday over the outbreak of COVID-19, official IRNA news agency reported. At least 388 people in Iran have been infected with COVID-19, 34 of whom have died. Among the infected people are two Iranian lawmakers.

* There are almost 60 cases of COVID-19 infection in Germany, according to Susanne Wackers, spokesperson of the federal health ministry at a press conference midday Friday. Since Tuesday, the number of confirmed cases in Germany climbed sharply from 16 to almost 60.

* An elementary school in the US state of Oregon was forced to close Friday after state health officials announced the state's first presumed case of COVID-19, local media reported. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed that the United States has a total of 15 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with three cases of person-to-person transmission.

* Death toll of the collision between a train and a passenger bus in Sukkur district of Pakistan's southern Sindh province has risen to 30 late Friday night, an official said.

* The death toll during communal violence in the Indian capital city - Delhi Friday evening rose to 42, officials said. More than 350 people were injured in the violence that ravaged the city for three days.

* The Maldivian government said on Friday that it had banned the entry of cruise ships following the outbreak of COVID-19 in several countries. The Maldivian government has been taking strict measures to mitigate the outbreak of COVID-19 as the island country receives thousands of tourists every year.

* The European Union (EU) under its Public Financial Management Support Program is supporting Pakistan in improving fiscal policies and budget preparations with a grant of EUR13 million, the Ministry of Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs of Pakistan said on Friday.

* The Australian government has activated the Coronavirus Emergency Response Plan and now operates on the basis the virus is a pandemic.

* Four new cases of COVID-19 infection have been confirmed in Sweden, bringing the total of infected individuals to eleven, Region Stockholm authorities said in a press release on Friday.

* One more case of COVID-19 was confirmed in England Friday evening, bringing the total number in the UK to 20, according to the latest figures released on Friday by UK's health authorities.

* The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Italy have increased to 888, including 21 fatalities and 46 recoveries, according to the Ministry of Health on Friday.

* One more COVID-19 case was confirmed in the Austrian capital late on Friday, bringing the total number of the confirmed cases in the Alpine country to six.

* International air carriers have begun canceling flights to and from Italian destinations based on a reduction in demand after the novel coronavirus outbreak.

* The Chinese and Cambodian armies will hold a joint military training in Cambodia from March 2 to April 10, a Chinese military spokesperson has said. Code-named "Golden Dragon-2020," this year's event will focus on joint counter-terrorism combats, said Wu Qian, a spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense.

* Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Friday decided to extend the presence of armed forces in the northeastern Ceara state, which is facing strikes by military police.

* Greece's Health Ministry reported the 4th novel coronavirus case on Friday.

* The first round of Libyan political talks closed in Eneva on Friday with only part of the delegates participating in the three-day discussion, a UN source said.

* The number of people testing positive for the novel coronavirus in France increased by 19 in one day to 57 on Friday, Health Minister Olivier Veran announced at a daily press meeting. Among the new cases, 12 isolated cases are under investigation.

* Croatia's economy grew by 2.9 percent in 2019, the Croatian Bureau of Statistics announced on Friday. It's a more dynamic growth than in 2018 when GDP increased by 2.7 percent.

* Hungary's annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth was 4.9 percent in 2019, the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH) said on Friday.

* US President Donald Trump said on Friday that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will attend the signing of US-Taliban agreement, which could be one step forward to ultimate US troops withdrawal and lasting peace in Afghanistan.

* Greek authorities suspended the operation of the customs post on the land border with Turkey on Friday, as groups of refugees and migrants were gathering on the Turkish side of the border, Greek national news agency AMNA reported.

* British government announced Friday to invest BRP20 million (US$25.6 million) to improve rail connections across the country by building new stations and restoring disused ones, a move to level up transport infrastructure and boost local economies.

* The four EU members of the UN Security Council -- Belgium, Estonia, France and Germany -- plus Poland, which has left the council, on Friday asked for an immediate end to the military escalation in northwest Syria.

* Dozens of Palestinians were injured during clashes between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli soldiers that broke out on Friday in different areas in the West Bank, medics said.

* Saudi Arabia announced on Friday the suspension of the entry of Gulf nationals to Mecca and Medina as part of precautionary measures against coronavirus.

* Iraqi PM-designated Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi sent on Friday a request to the Iraqi parliament to postpone an extraordinary session to vote on Allawi's cabinet until March 1.

* At least 11 Syrian soldiers were killed on Friday by strikes from Turkish drones in the northwestern province of Idlib, a war monitor reported.

* The state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC) of Libya's UN-backed government on Friday said that the country's daily oil production dropped from over 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) to about 120,000 bpd.

* The European Union on Friday announced to provide US$11 million to help tackle desert locust outbreak in Somalia. The EU said the outbreak could have devastating consequences on food security in a vulnerable country like Somalia, where one million people are already severely food insecure and at least 2.8 million are at risk.

* Twenty-nine passengers have been rescued from militants in Afghanistan's eastern Ghazni province, the provincial government said Saturday. The passengers were traveling from Kabul to Kandahar, when a number of militants allegedly affiliated with the Taliban disembarked them from a long-distance bus in Lalum village of Muqur district, and tried to take them to an unknown area late on Friday, the government said in a statement.
Kazakh security forces detained dozens of people on March 1 in the wake of an activist's death in custody. Some were detained while speaking to journalists. Others ended up in police vans after standing in public places without actually protesting. Kazakhstan's opposition called for protests after activist Dulat Aghadil died within hours of his detention on February 24.
A mother has told of her heartbreak after she survived cancer, but had to watch her daughter die from the cruel disease, aged 46.

Christine Hanslip, 72, from Bradford, was diagnosed with uterine cancer in 2013, and tragically, exactly a year on, in May 2014, Charlotte was diagnosed with peritoneal cancer, a rare condition that affects the thin layer of tissue that lines the abdomen.

Unlike her mum, Charlotte couldn't be saved by surgery and at just 41-years-old, Charlotte was told her condition was incurable.

Tragically, Christine was forced to watch her only daughter die, just five years after the shock diagnosis.

Now, Christine and her husband Brian have become the faces of a heartbreaking TV advert that will be shown nationally throughout March promoting Marie Curie's Great Daffodil Appeal.

Christine Hanslip, 72, from Bradford, has told of her heartbreak after she survived cancer, but had to watch her daughter Charlotte, 46, die from the cruel disease. Pictured, together in hospital

Following her diagnosis, Charlotte told Christine she was really glad she wouldn't ever have to lose her, or her dad. Pictured, Christine and Brian looking through family photo albums

Christine explained: 'Following her diagnosis, Charlotte said: 'Mum, I've been trying to tell you that it's terminal. We don't know how long yet but I'm not going to be an old lady.''

'She told me she was just really glad she wouldn't ever have to lose me or her dad. But that's just not the way of things is it?'

'She had bad knees and trouble with indigestion,' explained Christine. 'One night it got so bad she couldn't eat a meal a friend had cooked for her. She wasn't the poorly type.'

'She told me she couldn't stand it and explained the pain was horrendous, so she made a GP appointment.'

Charlotte's father Brian took her to the doctors, who then asked her to come back in half-an-hour to have her bloods taken. But the next morning, Christine received a phone call from her daughter, who was crying.

'I asked her what was wrong and she said the doctor's had just rung and thought she had cancer,' explained Christine. 'Then we had to go for further tests, and they found out it was primary peritoneal cancer, and it was stage four.'

In May 2014, exactly one year after her own cancer diagnosis, Christine's daughter Charlotte received the devastating news that she too had cancer (pictured together)

Christine was having monthly checkups following her surgery to remove her cancer when her daughter Charlotte was diagnosed. Pictured, looking through photos of Charlotte

Charlotte asked for genetic testing as she thought she could have got it from her mother Christine, because of her cancer.

'I had tumours on the lining of my womb,' explained Christine. 'I had eight tumours that I had removed with keyhole surgery. But Charlotte's cancer was different. She couldn't have the same.'

WHAT IS PERITONEAL CANCER? Peritoneal cancer is a rare cancer that forms in the thin layer of epithelial cells that line the inside wall of the abdomen. This lining is called the peritoneum. The peritoneum protects and covers the organs in your abdomen, including the: intestines, bladder, rectum, uterus The peritoneum also produces a lubricating fluid that allows the organs to move easily inside the abdomen. Because its symptoms most often go undetected, peritoneal cancer is usually diagnosed at a late stage. Each case of peritoneal cancer is different. Treatment and outlook vary individually. New treatments developed in the last decades have improved survival rates. Source: Healthline Advertisement

'She had this testing done, and it showed she had the BRCA1 gene which had been passed down from her paternal side.'

'My youngest son Jamie has it, but my oldest son Toby doesn't. But the good thing is we were forewarned for the grandchildren.'

When Charlotte was first diagnosed, Christine says the doctor took her in, she had a full hysterectomy, and she was told the cancer was 'all gone'.

'What he meant was it was gone for now,' said Christine. 'But once it came back there was nothing more they could take.'

'They said it could be weeks or months until it came back. They didn't know. '

Charlotte had to have six separate rounds of chemotherapy before she could try the new PARP inhibitors in the middle of 2017.

'We set our hopes on them,' said Christine. 'It seemed to work for a bit. And then I was in the dentist's chair at the beginning of 2018 when she rang me and told me it hadn't worked. I knew there was nothing else.'

Despite the devastating odds, her family did everything they could to battle her cancer. But four years and 300 trips to the hospital later, Charlotte ran out of treatment options.

Christine and husband Brian have agreed to star in a national TV advert detailing Charlotte's tragic story for Marie Curie. Pictured, holding a photo of their 'gorgeous girl'

Christine said Charlotte (pictured) spent her last birthday having Chinese for tea, so they ordered all of her favourites

In 2018, she was admitted to the Marie Curie hospice in Bradford for palliative care. Over the next year, her mother watched on helplessly as her daughter's cancer took hold.

'Charlotte confided in me mostly,' said Christine. 'Some things she'd talk about, like what she wanted at the end, but she never talked about dying.

'That upset her. She said she didn't want to die. She used to cry over it. I was there when the solicitor came to see her, and she talked about who should have what and what she wanted after she died, like being cremated.'

'She said at the end: 'When I'm gone, just don't buy me a b****y bench.' I couldn't help laughing. That was our Charlotte, a wicked sense of humour right to the end.'

Charlotte died on 23 January 2019, aged 46, leaving Christine and Brian devastated. They'd lived on the same street as their daughter, and hadn't gone a day without seeing her in 46 years.

'I was with her,' said Christine. 'I stopped in the room with her for the last three weeks. I just pulled up one of the big chairs by her side. I didn't leave her side. I held her hand all night. If our hands got parted Charlotte's would feel for mine.'

She continued: 'I look back on my messages from the time, things I sent to people and I can trace her decline from what I was telling them.'

Charlotte took Christine to New York for her 60th birthday, and the pair 'loved the whole thing' (pictured)

Charlotte (pictured centre, with her mother Christine and father Brian) was admitted to the Marie Curie hospice in Bradford for palliative care in 2018

'She spent her last birthday at home on 3 December. She wanted a Chinese for tea, so we ordered in her favourites. Charlotte had all of it and she loved it.'

'We had a lovely day and enjoyed looking at all the presents people had bought for her. But it was just for a day. And the next morning she went back into Room 3 at the hospice, which is where she died.

'The nurses said she stopped asking about going home afterwards, and that's how they knew this was the last.

She continued: 'It was the saddest, most heart-breaking moment of my life. It wasn't how I expected it would be. You know what death is. You see enough of it on TV. But it was just, I don't know, it just happened, and then everything was different.'

Christine says she started going for bereavement counselling at the hospice following her daughter's tragic death.

'Initially I wasn't sure, but it's really helping me now,' explained Christine. 'I don't think things will ever get better.'

'There won't ever be a time where I feel like I used to, but it's learning to cope with it. Because the truth is we miss our gorgeous girl every single day.

'Every night I say a little prayer for her. It was the same thing I used to say as I left her room at the hospice in the evenings, looking through the glass of the window in the door before I came home. 'Good night Charlotte. God bless. We love you.''

Christine and Brian (pictured together with Charlotte) had to watch on helplessly as their daughter's cancer took hold - and they're now sharing their story to help other families like them

Determined to help other families like them, the couple have since agreed to star in a national TV advert detailing Charlotte's tragic story for Marie Curie.

'It affected a lot of the nurses when Charlotte passed at Marie Curie,' explained Christine. 'She was so highly thought of.'

'Even now, if you talked to some of the nurses at Marie Curie they say she always had a smile on her face. The amount of pain she was in, and she never complained, always thanked them for what they did.'

'They're all so brilliant up in Marie Curie  everyone, from the doctors to the nurses and the housekeepers. There's not one person you could say a bad word against.

'It was a family, and that's how it felt when I first went back up after Charlotte had gone. And so many people said to me, that must have been horrible for you.'

'And I said no it wasn't. I felt more at home there than at home. I felt closer to her there because during her last year she spent more time there than she did at home.'

'Every five minutes someone in the UK dies without getting the care and support they need. Marie Curie's Great Daffodil Appeal aims to change this. By donating and wearing a daffodil, Marie Curie can provide more care and support for people with terminal illnesses, and their families. www.mariecurie.org.uk/daffodil'
SYDNEY (AP)  Ben Ainslie's Britain team completed a near-perfect first round of the SailGP series on Sydney Harbour with a convincing win over defending champions Australia in the match-race final on Saturday.

The British boat, skippered by four-time Olympic gold medalist Ainslie, won the first four of the five fleet races, with Tom Slingsby's Australia taking the fifth. That win, which followed a second place in Saturday's opening fleet race, clinched a spot in the final for the Australian boat.

The Australians had a pre-start penalty before the final and Britain charged away to register a convincing win.

Slingsby and his crew started the day level on points with Japan, skippered by Australian Nathan Outteridge, who notched two third-place finishes on Saturday.

"Tommy and the Aussies are the home-town favorites, it was great to be up against them in the match race and to come out on top is a brilliant start for us," Ainslie said. "I've got to give all credit to the team, it's a team sport.

"I don't think I've ever stepped on to a boat like this where I've just been able to put it where I want to put it on the race course and the guys will take care of the rest."

After the first event of the second season, Britain sits atop the leaderboard with 47 points, followed by Australia with 42, Japan 39, Spain 31, the United States also with 31 and Denmark with 22. France rounds out the standings with 14 points.

The next round of the 2020 SailGP will be held in San Francisco on May 2-3, followed by stops in New York, Cowes, England and Copenhagen.

___

More AP sports: https://apnews.com/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Jaime Carbonell Pioneered Use of Computers for Translation

Distinguished professor founded CMU's Language Technologies Institute

February 28, 2020

Jaime Carbonell foresaw a world where people could freely communicate with each other, no matter what language they spoke. He knew that making this dream a reality would require automation, so he spent his career building machines that could understand human language.

He knew full well that earlier attempts at machine translation had largely come to naught. Nevertheless, as a young computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University in 1985, Carbonell persuaded his superiors to let him start a Center for Machine Translation. For the next 35 years, he and his colleagues would create pioneering translation systems and expand the horizons of artificial intelligence.

Carbonell, 66, died today following an extended illness. He was the Allen Newell Professor of Computer Science and had earned the distinction of University Professor, the highest academic accolade CMU faculty can attain.

Machine translation, which was high-risk research when Carbonell first championed it, is big business today, dominated by tech giants such as Google, Microsoft and Amazon. And the research center he launched would expand in 1996 to become the Language Technologies Institute (LTI), one of seven academic units in CMU's top-ranked School of Computer Science.

Under Carbonell's direction, the LTI became the largest and best-known organization of its kind. It has been a leader in areas including natural language processing, question-answering systems, and speech recognition and synthesis, and now boasts five graduate degree programs.

"He's kind of the godfather of language technologies," said Raj Reddy, the Moza Bint Nasser University Professor of Computer Science and Robotics and former SCS dean. Carbonell advised more than 60 Ph.D. recipients who continue to spread his influence through academia and industry.

But his influence extended well beyond language technologies. Carbonell made many contributions to the field of machine learning, said Tom Mitchell, Founders University Professor of Computer Science.

"He played an important and influential role in the early days of machine learning in pulling together researchers working in this area, helping to create an international research community," Mitchell said. His contributions included methods that allowed computers to reason by analogy, developing algorithms that could actively query a teacher to more efficiently learn new concepts, and applying machine learning to diverse real-world applications, ranging from information retrieval and search to protein folding.

"Jaime always had astounding levels of energy and creativity," said Robert Frederking, a student of Carbonell's who is now SCS associate dean of doctoral programs. "I have never understood how he could advise maybe a dozen Ph.D. students, run the LTI, personally be the principal investigator on several research projects, teach regularly and travel to DC frequently to work with funding agencies.

"And with all that going on," he added, "if you ran a new technical problem by him, he would usually come up with three good suggestions for solution paths to investigate."

Carbonell also advised Manuela Veloso, University Professor of Computer Science at CMU, now on leave while she directs AI research at financial services giant J.P. Morgan. She remembers him as an amazing educator and mentor.

"With Jaime I learned a lot of AI, but I also learned how to advise," she recalled. "I became a faculty member at Carnegie Mellon and I embraced a lot of what I learned from Jaime. Even now, I still look at Jaime as my advisor, and throughout my career have turned to him for different types of advice. As of now, I have graduated 40 Ph.D. students. I will always thank Jaime for having graduated me."

Carbonell grew up in Spanish-speaking Uruguay before his family moved to Boston when he was nine. He earned bachelor's degrees in mathematics and physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his master's degree and Ph.D. in computer science at Yale University.

While studying at MIT, Carbonell worked part-time translating computer manuals into Spanish and developed machine-translation tools to speed up the process. Thus began a fascination with machine translation that would become the focus of his AI research.

"We are living in a globalized society, and I think automation has to be the way to overcome language differences," he told the Boston Globe in 1996.

Carbonell, who joined CMU in 1979, led teams that developed knowledge-based machine translation of text as well as speech-to-speech translation. He invented a number of well-known algorithms and methods, including maximal marginal relevance (MMR) for summarizing text and a type of machine learning call proactive learning.

"Getting the right information to the right people at the right time in the right language in the right medium with the right level of detail" became his mantra.

Carbonell played a key role in establishing language technologies as an industry in the Pittsburgh region.

"Dr. Carbonell launched, spearheaded, and provided expert advice and support to numerous commercial enterprises, ranging from small startups to Fortune 100 companies," said Alon Lavie, a longtime LTI faculty member who is now vice president of language technologies at Unbabel. Locally, those companies included his own spinoffs, such as Carnegie Speech, Carnegie Group and Wisdom Technologies, and those he advised, such as Vivisimo and Lycos - one of the first successful search engines. Lavie's own spinoff, Safaba Translation Technologies, was acquired by Amazon and became the core of that company's Pittsburgh office.

Carbonell created the university's Ph.D. program in language technologies, and is co-creator of the Universal Library and its Million Book Project, which scanned and digitized books and made them available for free online.

Carbonell also led a project to apply machine learning techniques to data generated by the aerospace industry and explore how this might improve aircraft maintenance, operating efficiency and reliability.

When Carbonell wasn't working, he indulged a lifetime passion for chess.

Carbonell is survived by his longtime partner, Yiming Yang; mother, Nelly J. Carbonell, of Concord, Massachusetts; a sister, Ana Maria Carbonell of Berkeley, California; two brothers, Miguel G. Carbonell of Medford, Oregon, and Pablo F. Carbonell of Harvard, Massachusetts; three daughters, Diana Carbonell of Pittsburgh, Isabelle Carbonell of Santa Cruz, California, and Rachel O. Carbonell of Brooklyn, New York; a son, Ruben M. Carbonell, of Southbridge, Massachusetts; and two grandchildren. Funeral arrangements are pending, as are plans for a campus remembrance.
As the United States and Taliban signed their peace deal on February 29 after countless negotiations, Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani has reportedly said on March 1 that the partial truce will continue with goal of reaching a full ceasefire. This would further mark the end of the 18-year-long conflict with insurgents in Afghanistan. According to the international news agency, Ghani has said that in the peace accord which was signed in Doha, there is no commitment to releasing 5,000 prisoners and cited the right and self-will of Afghanistan citizens.

Ghani said, There is no commitment to releasing 5,000 prisoners. This is the right and the self-will of the people of Afghanistan. It could be included in the agenda of the intra-Afghan talks, but cannot be a prerequisite for talks.

Read - Donald Trump Says Troop Withdrawal Begins 'today' After US-Taliban Peace Deal

United States President Donald Trump said on February 29 that the first withdrawals of the American troops from Afghanistan are starting immediately after the successful signing of the peace deal with the Taliban. At the White House conference when Trump was asked when would the drawdown begin under the US-Taliban agreement, he reportedly told the journalists, Like Today, OK? Today. They'll start immediately.

The US signed a landmark deal with the Taliban on February 29 which laid out the timetable for America's full troop withdrawal from Afghanistan within the period of 14 months marking US' exit from its longest war. According to international reports, the accord is expected to lead the way for a dialogue between the Taliban and the Afghanistan government, and if it turns out successful, it would end an 18-year-long conflict.

The deal was signed in a conference room of luxury Doha hotel, with Taliban fighter-turned-dealmaker, Mullah Baradar alongside Washington's chief negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad and the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo. Reportedly, as Baradar and Khalilzad finally inked the accord, the people in the room shouted, Allahu Akbar. Before that Pompeo had also urged the insurgents to keep your promises to cut ties with Al-Qaeda.

Read - 'Momentous Day': Mike Pompeo Hails Historic US-Taliban Peace Deal

Embrace a new future: Trump

According to international reports, Trump also urged the citizens of Afghanistan to embrace the chance for a new future. He further added that if both the Taliban and Kabul's government manage to live up to these commitments, they will have a powerful path" forward in order to end the war in the country and bring American troops home. However, Afghanistan which has been excluded from the direct US-Taliban talks remained in an unclear position while also being gripped by a fresh political crisis and contested election results.

But, the US Secretary of Defence, Mark T Esper also met with Afghanistan's re-elected President Ashraf Ghani and according to the joint statement issued, they both discussed the progress in the peace process after the successful implementation of the reduction in violence. Furthermore, Washington has reaffirmed its commitment with partners at Afghanistan as the conditions-based US-Taliban agreement is implemented. According to the official website, Esper and Ghani agreed that the US-Taliban peace deal marks the start of achieving a lasting peace for Afghan people, and security and stability in Afghanistan.

Read - US-Taliban Truce: India Reiterates Support For 'Afghan-led, Afghan-controlled Process'

Read - Afghan Peace Deal: 5,000 Taliban PoWs To Be Released; US To Withdraw In 14 Months

(With agency inputs)



Image source: AP
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 11:25:21|Editor: zh

Video Player Close

YANGON, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The Myanmar-China Friendship Association has offered scholarships to 106 Myanmar outstanding students in need.

The students given scholarships this year included those who are studying in medical and engineering field as well as the postgraduates, Chairman Sein Win Aung of the association told the event on Saturday.

"Financial assistance from my parents who are farmers wasn't enough to cover all the expenses including tuition fees before. I really appreciate the assistance from the association as it means a lot for me," Oak Soe Paing, a freshman medical student, told Xinhua.

The program was handed over to the association from Su Xiuyu (Daw Zin Khine) Foundation, a Chinese educational foundation which has been extending scholarships to Myanmar students across the country since 2013.

So far this year, it has granted assistance to a total of 644 outstanding needy students from the country's states and regions.
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden won the partys South Carolina primary election Saturday evening in a major boost for the former front-runners campaign.

The former vice president will be awarded 20 of the 54 delegates up for grabs in the states primary, NBC News projected. His victory, called by the Associated Press around 7 p.m., comes just days before Super Tuesday next week, when 14 states hold primaries.

Bidens strong results were bolstered by heavy support from those ages 45 and older as well as black voters in South Carolina, the latter constituting about 50 percent of the states primary voters. Early exit polls also showed Biden with the highest favorability ratings among voters.

As results rolled in on Saturday, Biden picked up the endorsement of former Democratic Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe, who commented on his decision in a CNN appearance, saying, Its about beating Donald Trump, and to me its an electability issue.

Biden, who led the packed 2020 Democratic race for months last year, lost his front-runner status to Vermont senator Bernie Sanders in recent weeks after Sanders won both the Nevada caucuses and the New Hampshire primary.

Biden is currently polling at 18.8 percent nationally, in second place behind Sanders, who is at 29.6 percent support, according to the RealClearPolitics average of polls.

Also running in the primary are Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, billionaire Tom Steyer, former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg, who is polling in third place nationally, has decided to skip the early nominating contests and is not on the ballot.

More from National Review
A feisty spell of bowling led by Indian quicks Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah and the guile of spinner Ravindra Jadeja gave India a seven-run first innings lead over New Zealand on day two of the second Test in Christchurch Sunday. It took a polished knock from Kyle Jamieson, in his second Test, to reduce the deficit as India struggled to mop up the New Zealand tail. The last three wickets put on 82 runs, 49 of them by Jamieson to underscore his all-rounder credentials after taking five wickets in India's first innings. Jamieson also took four wickets and smashed a quickfire 44 on debut in the first innings of the first Test. New Zealand resumed the day at 63 without loss and were all out for 235 at tea as the Indian attack enjoyed their best day in the series. The Indian pace bowlers struggled in the first Test, which they lost by 10 wickets, and again in the 90 minutes New Zealand batted on day one of the second, before coming to grips with the stock New Zealand conditions of a green-tinged pitch and a moderate breeze. They found that anything pitched up and close to the off stump would put pressure on the New Zealand batsmen. Most dismissals were caught, but in the case of Tom Latham, who top scored with 52, he was bowled when he miscalculated a Shami delivery and did not play a shot only to watch the ball angle into the stumps. Shami, who also had Henry Nicholls removed by a ground level catch from Virat Kohli, along with the wickets of Neil Wagner (21) and Jamieson had figures of four for 81. Bumrah, who removed New Zealand talisman Kane Williamson for three along with BJ Watling and Tim Southee without scoring took three for 52. Jadeja accounted for Ross Taylor and Colin de Grandhomme (26) to have two for 22 as well as pulling off a sensational catch in the deep to dismiss Wagner. Latham and Tom Blundell only added three to the overnight total when Umesh Yadav claimed the wicket of Blundell (30) to get India going and Williamson (three) followed soon after. Taylor was set to rebuild the innings with Latham but on 15 he was outsmarted by Jadeja. The left-arm spinner shortened the length of a delivery when he saw Taylor start to advance down the crease and the ball was top-edged to a tumbling Yadav at point. Kohli, under pressure to succeed after the heavy first Test and his own disappointing run of low scores, grew more animated with each wicket and was especially delighted with his own diving catch to remove Nicholls for 14.
YEREVAN, MARCH 1, ARMENPRESS. Shortly after the first novel coronavirus case was confirmed in Armenia, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has announced that all educational institutions, including schools, universities and kindergartens, will be shut down for 1 week in an effort to prevent a possible outbreak.

We need to take some time to deeper understand what is happening, he said in a live Facebook broadcast.

Pashinyan said this decision technically means that the spring break will start one week earlier than expected.

The PM said that the governments anti-coronavirus task force is working round-the-clock. He called on the general public to trust only official information. We will overcome this situation with honor and come out stronger, he said.

The Armenian PM emphasized that public health is the governments top priority and that the public will be provided with all necessary information.

He said will personally tour the pharmacies in Yerevan to get to know the situation on the shortage of some items, namely masks.

He said Armenia will not impose a total shutdown of the border with Iran. Currently a partial shutdown is in force since February 24.

Speaking about the quarantine of the direct contacts of the first confirmed case, he called on the public not to make panic over the fact that the contacts have been taken to the resort town of Tsakhkadzor. 31 people have been quarantined at the defunct Golden Palace hotel in the resort town. Pashinyan said that some people started cancelling hotel reservations in other hotels in the city after the news, and emphasized that this is completely unnecessary and unsubstantiated. Pashinyan emphasized that Tsakhkadzor must resume its normal life and it shouldnt be considered as a risk zone by visitors.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
Coronavirus and conflicting information

Coronavirus inevitably dominated last week's news, and it is hard to imagine that it won't continue to for the foreseeable future. There were possible positive cases in the Balearics, but these were all swiftly declared as negative. Anything coronavirus grabs the headlines.

The national and regional governments were establishing protocols. Spain's tourism minister, Reyes Maroto, announced protocols for hotels, ports, airports and areas with high numbers of visitors. In Spain, the number of positive cases started to rise, while in the Balearics there is currently just the one. Protocols adopted by the government in Palma will include the possibility of allowing anyone else who tests positive to stay at home. Otherwise, the health ministry was keen to get proper information out to the public.

There was conflicting information about the impact of coronavirus on tourism. Iago Negueruela, the Balearics tourism minister, believed that there was no risk for the main tourism season. Then we had the Majorca Hoteliers Federation suggesting that there had been cancellations for Easter and the summer, before the national confederation of travel agencies said that sales for Easter and the summer were performing well.



Bureaucracy and the beaches

In Cala Millor and other resorts in the northeast and east of Majorca, the greater concern was about the condition of the beaches and promenades. This was because of the damage caused by Storm Gloria. Bookings for the summer will suffer unless beaches are regenerated and infrastructure repaired.

Not for the first time these problems highlighted the role of the Costas Authority and indeed of the Spanish government. Beaches are ultimately the responsibility of the Costas and therefore the state. Depending on location, promenades can also fall under the Costas. Town halls are quite willing to get on and fix things, but their hands are often tied because of Costas bureaucracy.

A good example is provided by S'Illot. Affected by Storm Gloria, it had also been harmed by the 2018 floods. Manacor town hall was having to wait for the Costas to inform it who was responsible for what in S'Illot; this went on for months. Apart from the question of Storm Gloria emergency funding from the state, there is now also the same bureaucratic issue. Bulletin readers have suggested that tourist tax revenue should be used to get the beaches and promenades back into shape. Even if the Balearic government were to contemplate this (and Manacor town hall is suggesting that it should), it's hard to know whether it can; the Balearic government doesn't have the responsibility.



Port responsibilities

Responsibilities were also a factor in Palma. The regional government requested that there be new arrangements for cruise ships as from 2022. It had to make the request, this one to the Balearic Ports Authority (APB), because it has no powers for the five State Ports in the Balearics, of which Palma is the most important. The APB is the State Ports authority in the Balearics.

The request was agreed to, and so new criteria will apply from 2022.



The ongoing airport row

Meanwhile, exactly the same situation regarding responsibilities determines what happens at the airport. The Spanish government, and that means Aena, 51% of which is still state-owned, can have the ultimate say, but the airports authority had taken note of pressure regarding its plans for Son Sant Joan by announcing that there would be a "reformulation" of the project. This wasn't good enough for opponents, and it was never likely to be good enough; a protest is to be held on Sunday afternoon.



Protesting retailers

Small retailers in Palma, who regularly complain about their lot - competition from malls, online selling and illegal sellers, plus the market liberalisation with regard to the winter and summer sales - now have more to worry about: the town hall's so-called mobility policies. Over a thousand shops closed for an hour on Thursday. This was a symbolic gesture to add to protests.

As with the town hall's terraces regulations, the administration's constant references to consensus sound like mere words.
Midlands candidates for the District 11 Congressional seat said theres a 100 percent chance the Republican primary will go into a run-off  and that they welcome that outcome.

Former Midland mayor J.D. Faircloth and former councilman J.Ross Lacy each said the probability the race will enter a run-off is 100 percent. Lacy said its not mathematically feasible that one candidate will get a majority of the vote.

I think with 10 candidates in the race, its going to be very difficult for any one individual to get that 51 percent to end things in March, said Brandon Batch. As it relates to my campaign, weve been doing everything we can to make sure that were going to finish strong.

Each candidate said they expect August Pfluger of San Angelo to finish with enough votes to take one spot in the run-off.

If I was a betting person, Id say its August Pfluger and someone from Midland-Odessa, said Faircloth.

He said he believes thats partially because Pfluger is from San Angelo and will attract voters from the eastern portion of the district.

Lacy said he would absolutely welcome the opportunity to face-off against one candidate in a run-off.

Once you get to a run-off, you get to focus on the issues and educating the voters, he said. Its a completely different race at that point.

Faircloth said the candidates largely spoke about the same things during forums, such as being pro-life, and supporters of President Trump and the Second Amendment.

I was the only one focused on national debt and I felt like I was the only one qualified, as a CPA, to go to Washington and help Trump with our national debt, he said.

Batch said it can be difficult for voters to take in each candidates message with so many in the running and determine who they believe is the best person for the job.

He said he would encourage debates if the race goes to a run-off, which he believes is a better way than forums for voters to learn about the candidates.

Its not enough to say, I support building the wall or I support the Second Amendment -- these talking points that are so easy to throw out in a forum, he said. In an actual debate, where we get to challenge each others ideas, and really get to speak to one another and speak to the public in a way that really showcases how much knowledge we have about the issues -- yeah, that excites me.

Election Day for both the Republican and Democratic primaries is Tuesday. Democrat Jon Mark Hogg is running unopposed in his partys primary.

Early voting numbers from the Midland County Elections Office show 7,164 residents of Midland County voted in the first eight days of early voting.
Param Bir Singh, a 1988-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, was on Saturday appointed as the new police commissioner of Mumbai. Singh, who was director general (DG) of the state Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), will replace Sanjay Barve who retired on Saturday. Barve was given two extensions of three months each.

The state home department issued the concerning order on Tuesday, which also announced that Bipin K Singh, additional director general (ADG) of ACB, will take over as acting DG till further notice.

Singhs name was finalised for the Mumbai Polices top job after a high-level meeting between Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and home minister Anil Deshmukh on Friday evening.

Besides the six DG-rank officers, names of a few others of the rank of ADG were also considered for the post. ADGs Rashmi Shukla, Sadanand Date, K Venkatesham were among the contenders, senior officials aware of the selection process said on condition of anonymity.

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which is a part of the three-party Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) along with the Shiv Sena and the Congress, was in favour of Singh, while Thackeray was considering other names, a senior home department official who did not wish to be identified said. The NCP has the home portfolio in the state. Ultimately, Singh was picked, the official said.

Before heading the ACB, Singh was additional director general of police (law and order) in the Maharashtra Police. He was also the Thane police commissioner; additional commissioner in the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS); deputy commissioner of police (DCP) in several zones in Mumbai; and superintendent of police (SP) in Chandrapur and Bhandara districts.

As Thane police chief, Singh was involved in cracking high-profile cases such as the arrest of Dawood Ibrahims brother, Iqbal Kaskar, in an extortion case; Mira Road call centre case; Ephedrine drug haul case; and call data records (CDR) case, among others.

Singh, however, had courted controversy last year, after he held a press conference on August 31 at the state police headquarters over the arrest of activists with alleged Maoists links. In the conference, Singh had read out letters allegedly written by these activists, who were arrested in June. Later, the Bombay high court had slammed Singh for reading out the letters, which could be used as evidence in court.
The Indonesian Ambassador to South Korea Umar Hadi recently announced that its Embassy in Seoul and the Indonesian Investment Promotion Centre (IIPC), also located in Seoul will temporarily suspend operations after a confirmed case of COVID-19 was reported in an area nearby.

The closure is 'temporary'

The Indonesian Embassy and the IIPC are locaters near Yeouido which is Seoul's main investment and financial district. It was in this area that an employee of the state-run Export-Import Bank of Korea was confirmed to be infected with the coronavirus on February 27.

According to reports, the Indonesian Ambassador to the Republic of Korea Umar Hadi claimed that the closure of the Embassy and the IIPC was only temporary and that extra measures are being taken to ensure that the embassy complex and IIPC office is disinfected.

Read: South Korea Reports 813 New Coronavirus Cases, Total Reaches 3,150

Read: South Korea Wages 'all-out Responses' To Virus With 586 New Cases

Conditions in South Korea Worsen

South Korea has reportedly announced 813 new cases of the novel coronavirus on February 29, bringing the total cases to 3,150 and with four new fatalities. The country also reported its first case of reinfection from COVID-19, Health Committee officials said.

The health officials reportedly said that a 73-year-old woman tested positive for the COVID-19 the second time after she recovered and was released from the hospital the previous week. Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said that the womans declining immune system is the reason behind the reoccurrence of the disease.

Read: Coronavirus: South Korea's Vice Health Minister Claims More Cases Possible In Daegu

Read: South Korea Virus Cases Surge As WHO Sounds Maximum Alert

According to Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), more than 90 per cent of the confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus originated in Daegu City in the North Gyeongsang province, the epicentre of the virus outbreak in South Korea. The death toll in the country has climbed to a shocking 17 and is expected to spike with the ongoing screening of more than 2,60,000 people associated with Shincheonji Church of Jesus.

(with inputs from agencies)
COLUMBIA, S.C. - Former vice president Joe Biden decisively won the South Carolina primary Saturday, as the first Southern primary contest reshaped the race and dealt a blow to the surging candidacy of Sen. Bernie Sanders.

The win pumped new life into Biden's struggling campaign, as he became the first candidate to score a clear-cut victory against Sanders this year, boosting his efforts to become the major alternative to the liberal senator. Still, Sanders, I-Vt., is polling strongly in several of the Super Tuesday states that vote this week, and it could yet prove difficult for any of his competitors to catch up.

At a minimum, Democrats now face the most unsettled contest in decades, with several candidates showing a potential to win delegates after the winnowing process of the first four primary states. The Democratic race goes national Tuesday, when 14 states and one territory will vote to award 34 percent of the convention delegates.

What's not clear is whether Biden's triumph in a state supporters have long called his "firewall," where African American voters had a significant say for the first time, will provide only a momentary lift, result in a two-person race between Biden and Sanders - or result in a long slog to the convention.

Still, it was a major win for a figure who has been in public life for 45 years, and his first primary victory in his three presidential runs. Cheers went up at 7 p.m. at a Biden election-night rally in Columbia when MSNBC called the race, and again at 7:04, when the channel was switched to CNN. Biden cast the win as the first of many number of dominoes that will now fall his way, noting that some were counting him out just days ago.

"Now, thanks to all of you - the heart of the Democratic Party - we just won and we won big . . . and we are very much alive," Biden said in a victory speech that was pointed directly as Sanders.

"We have the option of winning big or losing big. That's our choice," Biden told a raucous crowd in Columbia. "We have to beat Donald Trump and the Republican Party, but here's the deal: We can't become like them. . . . We can't have a never-ending war."

The Biden campaign hopes to use Saturday's win to consolidate support from many of his rivals, hoping that several drop out - which one of them, businessman Tom Steyer, did shortly after the polls closed. "Honestly, I can't see a path where I can win the presidency," Steyer said in announcing his decision.

Biden also plans a series of high-profile endorsements over the coming days. Rep. Robert "Bobby" Scott, D-Va., and former Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe announced shortly after Biden's win that they were backing the former vice president.

Nearly half of South Carolina voters said Rep. James Clyburn's, D-S.C., final-week endorsement of Biden was an important factor in their vote, according to exit poll results from Edison Research.

Sanders, speaking in Virginia Beach on Saturday night, sought to put the results in perspective, ticking off his previous strong performances in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.

"But you cannot win 'em all . . . and tonight we did not win in South Carolina," Sanders said. "And that will not be the only defeat. There are a lot of states in this country, and nobody wins them all."

After congratulating Biden, he proclaimed, "And now we enter Super Tuesday - and Virginia!"

For all the candidates but Sanders, a further winnowing of the field is crucial to winning the nomination. Sanders is broadly expected to come out of Tuesday with a substantial delegate lead in the race, anchored in his huge polling advantage in California. Under party rules, such leads can be difficult to overcome as the race moves on.

With most precincts reporting, Biden was poised to win about half the vote, giving him a symbolic victory over Sanders, who did not win more than 34 percent of the vote in any of the first three states. Under party rules, nominees need to secure more than 50 percent of delegates to win the nomination at the convention in Milwaukee in July.

But the continued viability of so many candidates has increased the likelihood that no candidate will be able to secure such a victory with initial pledged delegates alone, setting up the potential for either a brokered convention or a pre-convention horse trading of delegates by the candidates.

Complicating the hunt for the nomination is former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg, who has spent hundreds of millions of dollars advertising his candidacy to the Super Tuesday states, after deciding not to compete in the first four contests.

Although his rise in polls had slowed since his first debate performance, Bloomberg still appears positioned to win delegates in many early states, as he continues to swamp his rivals in spending.

His advisers vowed Saturday night that Bloomberg will stay in the race at least through Super Tuesday, when he will appear on the ballot for the first time. They cited internal campaign data showing that if Bloomberg dropped out it would strengthen Sanders, whose left-leaning policies the former mayor abhors.

"Mike Bloomberg has not been on the ballot yet," said Bloomberg campaign manager Kevin Sheekey. "Our campaign is focused on organizing Democrats and building infrastructure in states all around the country."

His campaign announced Saturday that he will buy three minutes of commercial airtime nationally at 8:30 p.m. Sunday night to present his vision for managing the current coronavirus outbreak, which claimed its first American life this past week in Washington state.

After Saturday's outcome became clear, President Donald Trump tweeted, "Sleepy Joe Biden's victory in the South Carolina Democratic primary should be the end of Mini Mike Bloomberg's Joke of a campaign."

Biden's support among black voters, who made up most of the electorate in South Carolina, appeared ready to lift a campaign that has struggled to find its footing for more than a year. Biden, a national polling leader in 2019, finished in fourth place in Iowa, fifth place in New Hampshire and second place in Nevada.

African American voters are a crucial pillar of the Democratic coalition, and Biden, along with other Sanders critics, have argued that it will be hard for the Democratic nominee to defeat Trump if he does not have enthusiastic support from the black community. Sanders has replied that he alone among the Democratic contenders has shown the ability to electrify voters and draw big crowds from a broad portion of the electorate.

Before polls closed, Clyburn, who has promised to campaign for Biden in North Carolina next, voiced strong criticism of the operation he was joining.

"If we are successful tonight in this campaign, if he has a relaunch," he told CNN, "I think we will have to sit down and get serious about how we retool this campaign, how we retool the fundraising, how we do the [Get Out The Vote]. And at that point in time, many of us around the country will be able to join with him and help him get it right."

Steyer had invested heavily in South Carolina, spending $23.6 million on advertising out of the $36 million spent by all of the candidates, according to the tracking firm Advertising Analytics. But the results showed he did not get a big return on his money.

Former South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg, who came in first in Iowa and second in New Hampshire, left South Carolina long before voting results came in, a tacit admission of his campaign's low expectations in the state.

His inability to build trust among black voters, despite his early momentum, proved damaging in the state, where he regularly appeared at events designed to appeal to black voters but failed to draw many attendees.

His campaign staff has shifted to a more target-specific strategy for Super Tuesday, advertising heavily in specific parts of the country, like the Sanders stronghold of Vermont and Norfolk, Virginia, to boost his delegate haul. The campaign, advisers say, is focused on getting to the 15 percent margin threshold required by party rules to win delegates in as many places as possible.

"I think there is going to be after Super Tuesday a real focus on narrowing the field," Michael Halle, a strategist for the Buttigieg campaign, said in a call with reporters Saturday. "The candidate or candidates who are closest to the margin are going to be able to stay in."

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., once seen as among the strongest candidates, had another disappointing showing, after finishing third in Iowa, fourth in New Hampshire and fourth in Nevada. But her campaign has been encouraged by a recent increase in fundraising following two solid debate performances, and she has been helped by an outside group spending millions of dollars in states that vote Tuesday to help her campaign.

Warren also won the endorsement Saturday of Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. Weingarten was acting in her personal capacity - her union decided to support Biden and Sanders as well as Warren - but as a major figure in the labor and education worlds, her backing could carry weight.

The other player in the race is Sen. Amy Klobuchar, whose home state of Minnesota will vote Tuesday. She also has an aggressive travel schedule over the coming days and has been competing on television in several states, both from her campaign and a supportive outside group.

The South Carolina primary provided sharply different guidance for the party than the previous three contests. But the bigger role of black voters, along with broader concerns about Sanders's effect on Democratic prospects in a general election, up and down the ballot, appeared to have given Biden a second chance.

"Look, I'm very optimistic about today, and I'm very optimistic about the process," Biden told reporters at a polling place in Greenville earlier in the day.

He said his campaign had been bringing in "about a million dollars a day over the last week or so, and if we win solidly here I think it's going to raise a lot of money as well."

"The bigger the win, the bigger the bump," he said.

- - -

The Washington Post's Chelsea Janes in Raleigh, North Carolina, contributed to this report.
Gujarat BJP leader Alpesh



Thakor on Sunday criticised his own party's government over availability of liquor.

Thakor blamed some corrupt officials and politicians for availability of the booze in the 'dry' state.

The issue of liquor consumption came to the fore after two back-to-back incidents reported from Kutch and Surat.

On Saturday, a video showing some men pouring liquor on themselves while dancing in an inebriated state during a wedding bash went viral on social media.

Kutch district police on Sunday arrested four persons upon learning that the wedding party was organised at a village in Mundra taluka some days back.

On Saturday night, Surat police raided a liquor party organised at a farm house in Dumas area of the city.

Police arrested 52 persons, including 13 young women, and seized bottles of beer and Vodka from the spot.

"I firmly believe that such incidents are happening because of some corrupt officials and politicians. New prohibition law is not proving effective because of many loopholes and poor implementation. We have to accept the fact that liquor is freely available. Home delivery of liquor is also available. The government needs to take a strict action and stop this illegal activity," said Thakor.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has said that his government is committed to the total prohibition.

"Liquor consumption is a social evil and we are committed to enforce the total prohibition in Gujarat, which is the land of Mahatma Gandhi. Officials have been directed to take strict action against the culprits," Rupani told reporters in Rajkot.

Earlier, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had claimed that despite prohibition, liquor was widely consumed in Gujarat, triggering a backlash from the Rupani government.

Notably, the state government had brought a stringent prohibition law in 2017 with the provision for up to 10-year imprisonment for the manufacture, purchase, sale and transport of liquor.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Medha Dutta Yadav By

Express News Service

The popular, creamy Mexican guacamole experience has been reconstructed with a varied range of replaceable such as peas, edamame, white beans and roasted winter squash by chefs who are short on avocado

Guacamolethe humble diphas travelled well beyond the Latin American shores and entered homes as far as Africa, India and Sri Lanka. En route, it made friends and transformed from a largely dip-cum-salad-cum-relish into a dish on its own. With the creamy avocado as its mama, mashed in with onion, garlic, tomato, lime juice, salt and pepper, the light mint-coloured guacamole has evolved to seduce diverse palates. But currently avocado is in short supply, thanks to unkind weather. The chefs of the world woke up to the challenge and new avatars are popping up.

According to a recent study by Research and Markets, the consumer base of guacamole is expanding from traditional markets and is expected to reach $1.4 billion by 2024, growing at a CAGR of around 8 percent during 2019-2024. Needless to say, short supply of the fruit drove up the prices till someone came up with a smart way to beat itmockamole.

Guacamole chaat

Its faux guacamole, to be precise, made up of other vegetables and fruits with similar textures. Guacophiles were horrified to learn that restaurants were using calabacitas (Mexican squash) for the real thing. One of the first ingredients chefs looked at as stand-ins was the green pea, soon followed by the more exotic edamame, broccoli, calabacitas squash and asparagus. Suddenly anything and everything was up for a mock.

Throw in some cumin, garlic, lemon, onions, jalapenos and with a whirr of the food processor you are good to go. Chef Rajiv Kumar, Executive Chef, Radisson Blu Resort & Spa, Karjat, says, We have created guacamoles with green apple and green guavas. Ingredients such as hung curd are used to create the sour taste; and lemon juice and Indian spices give the sweet and sour flavour. With chefs becoming more adventurous, the diner is the lucky one.

Black beans, roasted tomatoes, peppers, sesame, green apple, feta cheese, kale, and strawberries are finding their way into the guac. Chef Anas Qureshi of Molecule Air Bar, Delhi, is another kitchen maverick who has dared to go beyond the classic guacamole to experiment with other ingredients. His version is the Detox Guacamole. I have incorporated activated charcoal with avocado, coriander leaves, lime juice, rock salt and sundried tomatoes. A perfect detox solution, this dip is perfect with chips or on toast.

Last year saw the California avocado industry yielding the smallest crop in a decade due to a severe heatwave. The estimate for production, according to Fresh Fruit Portal, was 48 percent lower than the previous years yield. Industry experts believe this shortage will escalate worldwide. While many chefs are finding alternatives, some are transforming the very nature of a guac. Chef Ajay Chamoli of Connaught Club House, Delhi, says, Guacamole is more than just a dip. Chefs are in experiment mode, using it as dressing, mousse, and even sauce in pastas. I used guac in chaat since it pairs very well with the tangy sauce and sweet yogurt, and enhances the flavour with its creamy texture. Cuisine-curious India has taken to Taco Bell, nachos and tortilla chips with enthusiasm. Do this test: if the green of the guac served with the salsa is lighter, you can be sure its made with peas most likely. But nobody is complaining.

CHEFSPEAK

Today guacamoles are combined with ingredients such as black beans, roasted tomatoes, peppers, sesame, green apple and feta cheese. ANAS QURESHI

I make a guacamole panipuri using guacamole as a filling inside the puris, hence giving a Mexican twist to it. Rajiv Kumar

Many chefs are experimenting with guacamole and using it as a spread, dressing, mousse, and even as a sauce in pastas. AJAY CHAMOLI
J. David Cox, who resigned as national president of the American Federation of Government Employees on Feb. 28, abused his former personal driver for years, according to the mans mother, a current AFGE member who filed internal charges at the beginning of February.

Annette Wells, a Department of Labor employee and member of AFGE Local 12, filed charges against Cox on Feb. 13 for violating Article 10 and Article 23 of the AFGE Federal Constitution, alleging that he had used racial slurs towards her son, forced him to accompany Cox to strip clubs and bars, and sexually abused him.

In an interview with FCW, Wells said Cox had abused her son, who worked for a private chauffer service Cox used for approximately eight years, between 2009 and 2017.

"I knew that something had happened to my son," Wells told FCW. "He was somewhat in denial, and was very upset discussing the things that had happened to him. I knew about the abuse for a while, but I didnt know it was the president of my national union."

"To find out that I was paying all this money, faithfully paying dues to my union, while [Cox] was abusing my son, was devastating for me, my son, my husband, and my family."

Wells said she found out the identity of her sons alleged abuser shortly before she filed the charges on Feb. 13. In her charges, which FCW obtained, she accused Cox of violating his oath of office and of failing to uphold the AFGE oath of membership.

Wells also requested that AFGE's National Executive Council appoint an independent attorney to investigate the charges against Cox, review of all expenses Cox made regarding the car service her son worked for, and that AFGE suspend Coxs union membership in addition to his removal from office.

She also asked that an independent ethics office be established, with former National Secretary-Treasurer Eugene Hudson reinstated to his former position and installed as the Ethics Officer.

An attempt to reach AFGE for comment on Wells' allegations was unsuccessful.

As FCW first reported, Cox stepped down as AFGE national president on Feb. 28, following a months-long investigation into whether he had misused union resources to conduct his 2018 re-election campaign. Cox had been national president of the union since 2012.

Cox had been on a leave of absence since Oct. 27, after news of the harassment allegations first broke. National Secretary Treasurer Everett Kelley announced Coxs resignation in a Feb. 28 email to AFGE members.

"In accepting his resignation, AFGE concluded the processing of the November 2019 internal charges, and Cox has forfeited his right to hold or run for any AFGE office in perpetuity," Kelly wrote. In a separate statement to reporters, Kelley said he would assume the national presidency on an interim basis.

Brett Copeland, a former AFGE communications director, was one of the former staffers who came forward in October when the news of the allegations first broke. He said Cox had grabbed him during a work trip in April 2017, stuck his tongue in his ear, and told him he loved him after inviting him to his hotel room for a drink.

In an interview with FCW, Copeland said, "Coxs resignation is a step in the right direction. Im interested in seeing what Working IDEAL recommends in their report." He added that he was devastated to hear about the newest allegations.

Jenny R. Yang, a partner at Working IDEAL, a consulting company that advises organizations, is investigating AFGEs workplace culture and the harassment allegations leveled at Cox. Yang previously served as chairwoman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

A report detailing her findings is expected to be published soon.

"I am glad to hear that AFGE will make Working IDEALs report public," Copeland said. "I hope something like this never happens again. I hope that union leadership see this as an opportunity to reaffirm the unions mission and protect the dignity and safety of their employees and other union members."

Rocky Kabir, Cox's former secretary from 2016 to 2018, told FCW he too was glad Cox had resigned. Kabir had also made allegations that Cox had sexually harassed him and made him use union resources to support Cox's re-election campaign.

"[Cox] knew what he did was wrong," Kabir said. "I'm glad he no longer has the power afforded to him by his position and title. It belongs to the membership; it was never his to begin with." Kabir added that he felt particularly strongly because he came from a labor family, and that his father was a former labor lawyer and a current dues-paying union member.

Still, Cox's resignation felt bittersweet, Kabir said. When asked his thoughts about the ongoing investigation, he quoted Dante: "The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality."
Twenty four years ago, Janet Boyer went to Penn States Childrens Hospital in Hershey, pregnant with triplets.

And six leap years (or 24 years) later, Boyer and her daughters - Mackenzie, Beth and Emily Schneck - returned to Penn States Childrens Hospital to tour the expansions under way for the neonatal intensive care unit.

As is often the case with triplets, Boyer went into labor early. She checked in at 26 weeks of pregnancy, and with care from the staff at the hospital, was able to delay her delivery until February 29, 1996, at 30 and a half weeks into labor - still a premature birth for her three daughters, but fortunately one with much better prospects.

When youre talking about a 26 week baby, youre talking about a baby whose lungs are not developed, really, said Dr. Tony Ambrose, one of Boyers obstetricians, who met with Boyer and her daughters for the tour. Carol Bullock, one of the nurses on staff during Boyers labor, also joined the family for their tour.

Ambrose explained that newborns at that stage lack both the proper structure in their lungs to breathe safely, but also a chemical that helps to facilitate breathing normally.

The biggest problem with multiples is that they tend to come early, he continued, explaining that even in a NICU ward, treating premature newborns is a delicate and fraught process. Every day that a baby stays in the mom saves two or three days in the newborn intensive care unit. Newborn intensive care units are wonderful, but theyre also very dangerous places.

The new expansions to the hospital will mean making that delicate process as smooth as possible for patients and for health care providers.

Currently our NICU is on the seventh floor, and our labor and delivery is on the third floor, said Dr. Richard Legro, chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Theres about 100 yards and four floors between them.

The new layout will put the NICU on the top floor, directly above labor and delivery, separated only by a simple elevator ride. Current plans will see the new expansion finished by November of this year.

That continuity of space leads to better care for the patients, better cooperation, better understanding of how the two systems work, Legro said.

According to Ambrose, twins come in one out of 80 or 90 [pregnancies,] triplets are one in six or seven thousand. And as unlikely as it is to have triplets, Boyer gave birth to Mackenzie, Beth and Emily on a day that only occurs once every four years.

Thankfully, other than a few early concerns, the Schneck sisters were sent home healthy and had no lingering health concerns from their premature birth. Having three healthy triplets is hard enough, Boyer said.

The downfall of having multiples is that you really cant enjoy them because theres too much work, versus having just a single birth," Boyer said. "You sort of feel bad because the girls are characterized as the girls instead of Emily, Mackenzie, Beth. Or the triplets.

It has its ups and downs," Emily admitted. All of our friends would just group us together as the triplets'. But we stuck together. We had the same friends, we hung out at the same locations. We used to share the same gym membership.

As with many siblings, the trio also shared clothes, though they didnt all appreciate it.

Thats not nice, thats horrible! Mackenzie said. They still steal my stuff.

Boyer is a nurse, and fittingly enough, all three sisters went into health care in one fashion or another. Mackenzie is a registered nurse; Beth is a personal care assistant, with plans to pursue a career in therapy; Emily is a student majoring in Criminal Justice, with a minor in behavioral health.

It keeps you busy, keeps you on your feet, Beth said. I need that - to stay busy, and to help people.

Their advice for other kids born on Leap Day, who will miss out on being able to celebrate on the actual date of their birthday for three out of four years: Go big on the fourth year!

This morning we all got up to go get pedicures, with a glass of Riesling wine, Emily said. We went to the Cocoa Diner for pancakes with strawberry glaze on top and a candle in the middle, and they sang happy birthday to us. Were going to Spring Gate Winery after this, and then Texas Roadhouse.

Just celebrate it on the 28th and on March 1st, advised Mackenzie. Actually, we like to celebrate for the entire month.

Boyer had her own advice for mothers.

Follow what the doctor is telling you, take it easy, keep your appointments and stay healthy, she suggested for anyone expecting multiple births.

As for advice for parents of kids born on Leap Day: If you want to save money, only celebrate every four years!
After the surgical strike and Balakot air strike, India has joined the list of countries along with the United States and Israel, who can strike in enemy territory and avenge the death of soldiers, Union home minister Amit Shah said in Kolkata on Sunday.

Prior to the surgical strike and air strike only two countries in the world  the US and Israel - were known who can enter enemy territory and avenge the killing of their soldiers. But now I believe Indias name has been added to the list, said Shah.

He was addressing a gathering at the inauguration of 29 Special Composite Group Complex of NSG at Rajarhat in the northern fringes of Kolkata. Shah landed in Kolkata around 11 am and went straight to Rajarhat. Shah also inaugurated a series of NSG facilities at Manesar, Hyderabad, Chennai and Mumbai.

Also Watch | After surgical strike & Balakot ops, India now at par with US & Israel: Amit Shah

In the next five years all requests placed before the government by the NSG would be met. NSG will be made into a complete commando force be it training, modern weapons, facilities of family members among others. India will keep NSG at least two steps ahead of other forces in the world he added.

Shah is also scheduled to address the rally in Kolkata where he will launch a state-wide movement against the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal. The campaign titled Ar Noy Annay or no-more injustice will include a symbolic charge sheet listing her governments alleged acts of omission and commission.
The fifth edition of joint exercise Indradhanush between the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Royal Air Force (RAF) of the United Kingdom culminated here at Air Force Station Hindan on Saturday.

The joint exercise provided the participating forces an opportunity to enhance expertise in conduct of special operations.

"Ex Indradhanush-V, between IAF Garuds and RAF FP Force culminated today. Both participating forces benefitted immensely by mutual sharing of combat knowledge & experience. The joint exercise provided the teams an opportunity to enhance expertise in conduct of Special Forces Operations," the IAF tweeted.

Indradhanush is a joint air force exercise conducted between IAF and RAF to strengthen relationship and enhance operational capabilities. The aim of the exercise is to enhance mutual operational understanding, exchanging tactics, techniques and procedures.

The highlights of the exercise that commenced on February 24 were combat free fall (CFF), special heli-borne operations, air-field seizure and joint intervention drill.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Rising in the House of Commons one night this past week, Elizabeth May sought to focus the conversation on the great crisis of the moment.

"This is a very important debate and, even at this late hour, I do want to discuss the emergency," the Green Party MP said.

Officially, the topic of the emergency debate was the withdrawal of the proposal to build the Teck Frontier oilsands mine in Alberta. But that wasn't what May wanted to talk about.

"Of course, I do not speak of this non-emergency that is the focus of tonight's debate," she said. "I speak of the real emergency."

She wasn't talking about the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs or the blockades snarling Canada's railways. She also wasn't talking about the coronavirus. And when she spoke, it was too early for her to be worried about crashing global stock markets or the potential for armed conflict between Russia and Turkey.

Canada's crisis season

Instead, she reminded the House that, eight months earlier, it had declared a "climate emergency." And she read from a recent letter addressed to Justin Trudeau from a group of Nobel prize winners.

"The response to the climate crisis will define and destroy legacies in the coming years," they wrote.

Whatever her struggles as a party leader, May has served as the tireless voice of climate anxiety, forever tapping her fellow federal politicians on the shoulder.

But, in a season of crises, the climate crisis remains the largest and heaviest challenge  the enduring emergency that won't be solved in a matter of days, weeks, months or even years.

It might also be where, above all else, Trudeau most needs to make and show progress now.

The climate crisis was supposed to be what this government and this Parliament would be about. It was the issue that seemed, finally, to rise to the forefront of public concern in the latter half of 2019. And it was the biggest issue around which the Liberal minority government might find common cause with Bloc Quebecois, NDP and Green MPs.

Story continues

Since then, significant events have intervened.

Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press

First, there was the escalation of hostilities between the United States and Iran and the shooting down of PS752 by Iranian forces. Then came the coronavirus outbreak in China, a rush to evacuate Canadian citizens and the need to deal with the disease's inevitable arrival in Canada. And then the dispute over the Coastal GasLink pipeline in northern British Columbia led to rail blockades in Ontario and Quebec.

In the first eight weeks of the year, Trudeau has convened 11 meetings of the government's "incident response group"  the internal body that coordinates government action on urgent matters.

Of the three unforeseen crises of 2020, the blockades have seen the Trudeau government struggle the most to offer a response. The Conservatives have ridiculed him repeatedly as "weak." In a poll by the Angus Reid Institute this week, 70 per cent of respondents said Trudeau was doing a "bad job" dealing with the dispute, compared to just 21 per cent who said he was doing a "good job."

The average citizen tends to object to anything that resembles discord or conflict, and likely just wants the government to resolve the situation in short order. By choosing neither to order an immediate police crackdown nor to capitulate to the protesters' demands, Trudeau also has failed to satisfy those who feel most strongly about the dispute.

Evan Mitsui/CBC

Trudeau can only hope that the talks currently underway in British Columbia produce a durable resolution  and that Canadians are more charitable when they look back a year or two from now at his handling of both this crisis and the larger issue of Indigenous-Crown reconciliation.

But as these events have unfolded for Canada, the larger forces of the climate crisis have continued to push and pull on a global scale.

BlackRock, the American investment firm that manages more than $7 trillion in assets, announced in January that it would be emphasizing climate change in its future decisions. Mark Carney, the former governor of the Bank of Canada, took up his new post as the UN's special envoy for climate action and finance in February, with a focus on better incorporating climate risk into financial decision-making. Last week, economists at JP Morgan, the largest bank in the United States, sent a report to clients that warned of the potentially catastrophic consequences of climate change.

For years, climate change seemed to suffer politically from a lack of any real sense of urgency. But now the pressure is coming not only from environmental activists, scientists and progressive politicians, but from markets and corporations.

Julie Prejet/Radio-Canada

In explaining the decision to walk away from the Frontier oilsands project this week, Teck Resources chief executive Don Lindsay said that "global capital markets are changing rapidly and investors and customers are increasingly looking for jurisdictions to have a framework in place that reconciles resource development and climate change, in order to produce the cleanest possible products."

That is both an invitation for politicians to get on with the discussion about climate policy in Canada and cover for them to act  not that they should need it at this point.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau has suggested the spring budget could be focused on climate change and that could mean following through on a number of campaign commitments: new loans for home retrofits, rebates for the purchase of zero-emission vehicles, new funding for clean energy, a plan to plant two billion trees over the next 10 years.

But the Liberals also have promised significant new pieces of a broader climate agenda: new legislation that would hold the federal government accountable for meeting a series of emissions targets, a "Just Transition Act" to help displaced energy workers, new flood maps and a low-cost flood insurance program.

Trudeau's Liberals are committed to not only exceeding the current target for emissions reductions by 2030, but also to building a plan for getting the country to net-zero emissions by 2050.

That's a lot to do in what could end up being a two or three-year term. And the government has not demonstrated much momentum since last fall's election.

The climate crisis also is likely to play a significant part in how Trudeau is judged at the next federal election.

The crises of the first two months of 2020 are significant, both practically and politically. And leaders are always judged on how they handle the unexpected.

But governments also need to show progress, provide direction and lay out a credible vision. Whenever the next election comes, climate change will be a significant factor in how Canadians judge Trudeau's performance  what he has done and how he has set up Canada for the future. Canadians might wish he'd done something to more quickly resolve the Wet'suwet'en protests, but his re-election is still more likely to depend on how he has dealt with climate change and its related concerns.

Any number of unforeseen events will intervene between now and then. Crises come and go. But the climate crisis is not going away.
From Turkey's border with Greece, I write with a profound sense of deja vu.

Families from Syria, from Iran, from Iraq, from Afghanistan, from Tunisia, from Egypt, and from Morocco huddle around campfires hoping to cross into Greece.

They arrived through the day on Friday , prompted to make the journey from elsewhere in Turkey because the Turkish government had hinted, through media it controls, that the path will be clear for them to enter Europe.

But when they got there, they were met with tear gas from Greek authorities, securing their own borders.

They are now stuck in no man's land between the two countries.

Most of them have been in Turkey for months or years. They left conflicts and persecution behind. Many tried to build lives in Turkey after their initial push to Europe over the last few years was blocked.

But Turkey is overwhelmed (there are more than 3.5 million refugees here at the moment) and the migrants say they have no rights or ability to build a life there.

So when they heard the borders would be open, naturally they made the dash.

Some local Turkish mayors even offered to transport them to the border. We saw one bus arriving at the frontier with the Turkish police walking it in.

And so through the night, at the Pazarkule crossing from Turkey into Greece and the EU, they gather wood and light campfires.

There are dozens of families here with their young children in bundles.

"We are part of a game," one young Iranian woman tells me in perfect English. "They play with our body, with our mind, with our lives. It's like a game."

"We need a nationality. We need human rights... we are human," the 26-year-old adds. She explains that she had been persecuted in Iran "by the mullahs" and was unable to stay.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has choreographed the past 24 hours perfectly.

His military is under severe pressure in northern Syria. Turkey is understandably extremely concerned about the many hundreds of thousands more refugees that could cross the border from Syria if the bombardment of Idlib continues.

He wants NATO support to stem the Syrian government advance on Idlib. And the migrant tap, crude and cruel as it clearly is, is the tool to pressure the west to listen.
Ngu Hanh Son (The Marble Mountains), a must-see place to visit in Da Nang city



Ranked seventh in the list, Da Nang City is described as laid-back and friendly. According to the website, culinary tours are a hugely popular way to experience the literal flavour of Da Nang.



It also recommends for tourists to stuff themselves with bold noodle soups and savoury street foods and explore the limestone caves and Buddhist grottos of the Marble Mountains.

Meanwhile, in the 12th place, Ho Chi Minh City is praised for its charming French colonial architecture and wide boulevards.

Places of interests that visitors shouldnt miss in the city as suggested by TripAdvisor include the War Remnants Museum, Jade Emperor Pagoda, and frenetic Ben Thanh Market.

The trending destinations vote is a new category within the 2020 Travellers Choice Awards for Destinations conducted by TripAdvisor. It recognises destinations that saw the biggest increase in positive reviews, booking interest and searches over the last year.

The port city of Kochi (or Cochin) in India came top of the list, followed by Luzon Island in the Philippines, and Porto in Portugal./.
A Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader from south Bengals Birbhum district who was found dead on Saturday night was abducted and murdered, said family members and a party colleague.

Sufal Bagdi (40) was TMCs core committee member of Thiba gram panchayat area in Birbhum. His body was found 15-km away in Murshidabad district, with the upper half charred. The Police have registered a case of unnatural death and sent the body for autopsy.

My husband was murdered by the Bharatiya Janata Party because of old enmity. They even tried to deface the body so that he cant be identified, said Shyamali Bagdi, the deceaseds wife. Shyamali is also a TMC member from the Thiba panchayat.

According to family members, Sufal got a call on his mobile around 8 pm on Friday and left home on his bicycle. When he didnt return till Saturday afternoon, the family thought of lodging a missing complaint with the Labpur police station in Birbhum.

When we were going to the police station we got a call from Burwan police station in Murshidabad. We were asked to identify a body, recovered by police. It was my husbands body, said Shyamali.

The deceaseds family members are yet to lodge any missing diary or a murder complaint with the police.

We rushed to the hospital to identify the body. We didnt get the time to lodge any complaint. We will lodge a complaint against the BJP after reaching home on Sunday night, said Shyamali. The family members were at Kandi hospital in Murshidabad where the autopsy was taking place, till reports last came in.

A local TMC leader, too, alleged the involvement of the BJP in the incident.

We have information that our leader was abducted somewhere between Duttabagat and Kirnahar area in Birbhum. Local BJP leaders are involved in the incident of abduction and murder, said Sahin Kaji, president of the TMC-led Thiba gram panchayat.

Local BJP leaders of Murshidabad, however, rubbished the allegations.

None of our party activists are associated with the crime. Let the police investigate. The truth will come out, said Gouri Shankar Ghosh, BJPs Murshidabad (North) organisation district president.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo says the country must address the issue of restructuring in order to prevent a serious problem.

Obasanjo said this at the first memorial lecture Fredrick Fasehun, founder Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), in Lagos state, on Saturday.

The elder statesman, who added that the country could not afford another war, said he would keep fighting for the country until he dies.

I will continue to fight for Nigerias unity until I die. But this fight is not to make my children and my race second class citizens, he said.

When I was elected president the agitation was true federalism but now it is restructuring. If we dont address it they may go from restructuring to self-determination and this will be a serious problem.

If Boko Haram can get external support, any group that decided to go will get support from within and outside. So we must address the issue now.

The language we are using to address ourselves across the region now is uncouth and it must not continue.
New Jersey residents still pay the highest property taxes in the nation, so the governor claimed that more state spending on education was somehow property tax relief. In other words, government is determined to tax more and spend it on schools, and if the state doesnt do it, local districts surely would by raising property taxes. But the states average residential property tax has kept rising during Murphys tenure and last year hit $8,953.

Murphy wants nearly $1 billion in new and higher taxes on residents, from the lowest to the highest incomes.

He would double the states tax on cigarettes to a nation-leading $4.35 a pack (as officials consider restricting the vaping used as an alternative by many with a nicotine addiction).

He wants to increase the tax on incomes over $1 million to 10.75%, the second highest rate in the nation.

And he also wants to charge businesses that dont provide health insurance a responsibility fee of $325 to $725 for each of their employees who is covered by Medicaid, which the state under Gov. Chris Christie extended to many low-income residents through Obamacare. That plus the Democrats $15 an hour minimum wage might deter hiring the working poor.
Hindi News

Local

Chhattisgarh

Raipur

Outside The House, 2 Youths Were Shot Dead By Two Youths On The BJP Leader, Died On The Spot

      2   3  ,    

2  



 

       

   ,             

       ,        

/.                                               ,   2      2-2           



                   1                                            ,                4              2                ,                     ,                                





    ,     , 25  30    

                                     25  30                                                         3                             -           





 ,         6    

                               6                10-10              5    9      ,  ,        , ,                                                     





                                                                               22                  
Trump claims US is 'way ahead' on coronavirus response due to his actions

Iran Press TV

Friday, 28 February 2020 3:22 PM

President Donald Trump has claimed that the United States is "way ahead" on coronavirus response due to his administration's actions taken to contain the disease, as US authorities face growing criticism for not doing enough to prevent a widespread outbreak of the virus.

In a tweet on Friday, Trump, who has been under fire about the US government's response to the COVID-19 outbreak, said the "Do Nothing Democrats" were placing blame on him and countered that the virus was spreading "very slowly in the U.S. because President Trump closed our border, and ended flights, VERY EARLY."

"The Do Nothing Democrats were busy wasting time on the Immigration Hoax, & anything else they could do to make the Republican Party look bad, while I was busy calling early BORDER & FLIGHT closings, putting us way ahead in our battle with Coronavirus. Dems called it VERY wrong!" he added in a follow-up tweet.

Meanwhile, acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney accused the American press of peddling a false narrative about the Trump administration "scrambling" to contain the virus.

US Democratic presidential candidates attacked Trump's handling of the coronavirus outbreak on Thursday.

"We need a president who does not play politics with our health and national security," said Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, the national Democratic frontrunner.

The Trump administration "must stop releasing misleading, unscientific, and false information" about coronavirus, Sanders said in a statement.

His comments came after Trump held a news conference on Wednesday saying the risk from the virus was "very low" in the United States and put Vice President Mike Pence in charge of the response, citing Pence's record on an HIV outbreak in Indiana while he was governor of the state.

Sanders said that Pence was "completely unqualified" and called Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House economist Larry Kudlow "political cronies," who should be replaced by experts.

Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg said that Trump was "burying his head in the sand" over coronavirus.

"His failure to prepare is crippling our ability to respond," Bloomberg said.

Meanwhile, a World Health Organization (WHO) said that he found Trump's remarks during a news conference on Wednesday on his administration's response to the coronavirus outbreak a "little incoherent."

Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, special adviser to the director general of the WHO, said that Trump's comments indicated how little the president knew about public health.

He also pointed out that health officials still do not know vital information about the deadly virus, which has also affected at least 60 people in the United States.

"I found most of what he said a little incoherent," Emanuel said, pointing to Trump's admission that he was shocked by the number of people who die from the common flu annually.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






01.03.2020 LISTEN

Two years ago, TheAfricanDream.net interviewed Havana Chapman-Edwards aka The Tiny Diplomat before she made her first trip to Ghana to visit the St. Bakhita Orphanage in Ghanas capital city Accra. Turn full circle and in March 2020 Havana has another trip to Ghana.

Havana was living in Washington D.C., United States (US) at the time, but she travels around the world with her diplomat family. After living in 6 countries and visiting a total of over 30 countries, she has seen first hand that she cant make the world strong if she leaves people behind.

Havana and her friend Taylor Richardson aka Astronaut Starbright have since raised over $40,000 US dollars for financial support in their bid to not leave friends behind. They as well have collected books, school supplies, etc. for distribution to those that need them.

Havana is now at her next diplomatic post in Germany, and TheAfricanDream.net got the scoop about her plans to return to Ghana for the second time to bring $15,000 US dollars worth of clothing in collaboration with the Look Good Do Good initiative at KIDBOX. Havana is on the Kids Board of Directors for KIDBOX for 2019-2020. Boy this girl is on fire!

Additionally, Havana alongside 9 other young children were featured on the Today Show in the US for their philanthropic efforts as shown in her tweet below.

Havana [email protected] Meet my amazing friends on the Kids Board of Directors at @kidbox on the @TODAYshow . We cant make the world strong if we leave people behind. Thank you @DeliveringGood and KidBox for believing and investing in the kids! Full video: https://www.today.com/video/meet-10-inspiring-kids-going-above-and-beyond-with-charity-work-66277445924  9 2:12 PM - Aug 16, 2019 Twitter Ads info and privacy

See Havana Chapman-Edwards's other Tweets

Over the past few months, Havana fundraised for her upcoming trip back to Ghana through this GoFundMe page. She also donated the profits from her own clothing design, encouraging other kids in the process with her catchphrase  I may be tiny, but my voice is not .

Collaboration with Other Young People

Havana has enlisted the help of other young philanthropists for her trip. She strongly believes that people are stronger when they work together. Fighting for girls education means caring about all the different obstacles that prevent too many girls around the world from accessing an education.

She has received donations from fellow a KIDBOX board member Jahkil Jackson who runs his own non-profit Project I Am in Chicago to donate blessing bags full of toiletries essentials.

Havana is bringing a large donation of menstrual hygiene products from Nadya Okamotos non-profit organization PERIOD Movement with her for the Ghana trip.

Finally, Havana is also in her 4th year of Girl Scouts as a Brownie. She is bringing a bag full of journals and pens donated by the Girls Scouts Organization to empower the girls to write their goals and dreams for their future. TheAfricanDream.net will keep you posted as The Tiny Diplomat embarks on her sequel trip to Ghana.

Be sure to follow Havana Chapman-Edwards on her trip back to Ghana this March 2020 on Instagram and Twitter via @thetinydiplomat and remember, youre not too tiny to have a big impact!
Photo: The Canadian Press

Richard Decarie, a social conservative whose views have been condemned by some senior Conservatives, has been barred from running in the party's leadership race.

Decarie, who believes being LGBTQ is a choice and the government should defund abortion, had submitted the required application, fee and nomination signatures to run in the contest by Thursday's deadline.

He was also interviewed by the party, as per the rules.

Party spokesman Cory Hann said he can't say specifically why Decarie wasn't allowed to run, as the process is confidential.

Brad Trost, a former leadership candidate himself who had been helping Decarie's campaign, said they were blindsided by the news and had no immediate comment.

Decarie later said on Twitter that he had support from thousands of party members and the unelected Leadership Election Organizing Committee has disallowed his candidacy.

"No reasons were provided to me by the committee," he wrote Saturday afternoon. "It seems my candidacy was viewed as a threat to the establishment of the CPC and to the kind of leader THEY want to select."

Decarie noted he was the only candidate who took a strong position in support of traditional marriage and who proposed to defund abortion federally as health care.

"True Blue Conservatives, including those with traditional values, are a major force within our party," he said. "They are a force with or without my candidacy in this leadership contest.

"I continue to work with all True Blue conservatives who support and take action in the conservative movement, and within the CPC regardless of how uncomfortable this makes the unelected Red Tory elite."

The news that Decarie had been barred came via a list released Saturday by the party naming the eight official candidates now in the race, with Decarie's name absent.

Seven other candidates now have until March 25 to meet the remaining criteria to be eligible to run; one, Peter MacKay, has already submitted the full $300,000 and 3,000 signatures.

Conservative party members will elect a new leader on June 27.
U.S. officials on Friday urged Americans to reconsider travel to Italy, an escalation of its warning over a coronavirus outbreak that's infected more than 650 people and killed 17.

The U.S. State Department raised its travel warning to Italy to a level 3, its second-highest. Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention raised its warning to a level 3 (its highest), urging Americans to avoid nonessential travel to Italy.

Italy is the first European country to receive such warnings from U.S. officials. The outbreak is concentrated in the northern regions of Lombardy and Veneto. Earlier this week, government officials sealed off a dozen towns.

Elsewhere in Europe, Germany has 48 confirmed cases of coronavirus, while France has 41. Italy and South Korea have the highest number of cases outside China.

Earlier this week, universities including Villanova University in Pennsylvania and Florida International University canceled their study abroad programs in Italy and urged students and employees to return to the United States. Walt Disney World told a group of employees who had traveled to Italy to stay home.

Italy had taken Europes most stringent preventative measures against coronavirus and yet became home to the biggest outbreak outside Asia.

Buses, trains, and other forms of public transport  including boats in Venice  are being disinfected, according to Veneto regional Gov. Luca Zaia.

Keep up to date on coronavirus: Get USA TODAY's Daily Briefing in your inbox

The CDC has also issued level 3 travel advisories (its highest warning, which recommends travelers avoid all nonessential travel) for China and South Korea and level 2 advisories ("practice enhanced precautions") for Japan and Iran.

The State Department has coronavirus-related advisories for Hong Kong and Japan at level 2. South Korea received a level 3 ("reconsider travel") on Wednesday. China reached a level 4  "do not travel"  on Feb. 2.

Story continues

Korean Air said Tuesday one of its crew members tested positive for the virus, but the airline didn't disclose the flights the employee had worked on.

Worldwide, over 80,200 cases have been confirmed, with over 2,700 deaths from the virus as of Tuesday morning.

Italian doctor tests positive for coronavirus in Canary Islands

An Italian doctor staying at a hotel in Spain's Canary Islands tested positive for coronvirus and is being quarantined in a local clinic, Canary Islands president Angel Victor Torres confirmed Monday night on Twitter.

Meanwhile, guests at the H10 Adeje Palace hotel are under quarantine. Spanish news media reported that some 1,000 tourists staying at the complex are not allowed to leave.

Carnival, other popular events shut down

Venice shut down its iconic carnival Sunday  three days early  as Italy tightened restrictions on large public gatherings that could fan the spread of the virus. Zaia made the decision after the number of cases rose to become the largest number outside Asia.

Museums in Venice, a top tourist attraction year-round, were also ordered to shut down. Elsewhere, major league soccer matches have been called off and theaters, including Milan's legendary La Scala, have closed their doors.

Milan Fashion Week came to a close Monday with mixed responses to coronavirus concerns. Designer Giorgio Armani held his show behind closed doors Sunday and streamed the event from inside an empty showroom. Other designers continued as usual with packed runway shows as some audience members wore protective masks.

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus in Italy: What we know about CDC travel alert, quarantines
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.
Actor Yami Gautam has shared a clarification on being called disrespectful for rejecting an Assamese fans offering. She has said that while she didnt want to hurt anyones sentiments, its also important to raise voice against inappropriate behaviour.

Yami was at the Guwahati airport this weekend when a fan tried to put a gamosa (an Assamese scarf) around her neck, without her permission. She pushed his hand away and her assistants also told the man to back off.

On Sunday, an Assamese Twitter page expressed hurt over Yamis disrespectful behaviour. Bollywood actress @yamigautam has disrespected Assamese pride Gamosa at Guwahati airport. She rejected the Gamosa when a fan of her was trying to greet her, the tweet read.

My reaction was simply self defense. As a woman,if I am uncomfortable with anyone getting too close to me, I or any other girl has every right to express it. I Dint intend to hurt anyone's sentiments but it's very important to voice out a behavior, inappropriate in any manner https://t.co/sUc4GPxfWv  Yami Gautam (@yamigautam) March 1, 2020

Yami replied to the same, saying, My reaction was simply self defense. As a woman,if I am uncomfortable with anyone getting too close to me, I or any other girl has every right to express it. I dint intend to hurt anyones sentiments but its very important to voice out a behavior, inappropriate in any manner.

ALSO WATCH | Yami Gautam on her first TikTok video, success of Bala

Yami found support in her fans who thought what she did was right. Yami , What you did was normal and should b done since nobody has right to cross the limit of overindulgence, read a reply to her tweet. What is wrong in this, what did she do wrong..she only tried to defend her...this man was trying to go close to her without her permission, wrote another fan.

Some, however, still believed Yami could have accepted the offering. At least u should hv taken it in ur hand as a mark of respect instead of rejecting it so abruptly. Its high time u people start respecting sentiments of others. You would have landed in bussines class but tat fan of urs would hv travelled in sunlight frm a far off place, read a tweet. He was carrying gamosa mam not any other dangerous thing which can hurt you. You may can also give respect by accepting his gamosa after your self defence, read another tweet.

Also read: Shruti Haasan shares her struggle with PCOS, also reveals There was a time when I went crazy with lip fillers

Yami also shared a tweet about visiting Assam and the hospitality of its people. This is my third visit to Assam.I have always expressed my love towards Assamese culture & people. Its insensitive to react to a single-sided story & spread hate. I am present here, in this beautiful state for an important event & shall always keep coming back. Peace & Respect, she wrote.

Yami was last seen in Bala with Ayushmann Khurrana and Bhumi Pednekar. Her performance in the film was appreciated by fans and critics alike.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
By Thomas Escritt

BERLIN (Reuters) - A drama film shot in secret to evade government censorship that highlights the moral dilemmas faced by those caught in the web of Iran's capital punishment machine won the Berlin Film Festival's Golden Bear award on Saturday.

"There Is No Evil" explores the moral dilemmas thrust on those who carry out executions and the consequences of defiance for them and those around them.

Director Mohammad Rasoulof, whose film shows that there are costs to both bravery and cowardice, was not allowed to leave Iran to pick up the award: he faces propaganda charges over his earlier films.

His daughter Baran, who stars in one chapter of the four-part film, picked up the award on his behalf in the German capital and later held up before the cameras a smartphone on which the director addressed a news conference by video call.

"This film is about people taking responsibility," he said. "I wanted to talk about people who push responsibility away from themselves and say that the decision is taken by higher powers. But they can actually say no, and that's their strength."

Each of the film's chapters depicts a man chosen to carry out an execution: some refuse, some obey. But whatever path they choose, the consequences, good and bad, for them and their loved ones, echo down the decades.

Shot indoors, at night, or in remote rural locations to avoid catching authorities' attention, the film carried risks for cast and crew who had themselves taken a decision to "put their lives in danger to make this film," said producer Farzad Pak.

The jury president, British actor Jeremy Irons, hailed the way the film showed "the web an authoritarian regime weaves among ordinary people, drawing them towards inhumanity," noting that the film's lessons about individual responsibility went far beyond Iran.

Rights groups say Iran executed at least 227 people in 2019. Capital crimes include "insulting the Prophet", same-sex relations, adultery and non-violent drug offences, according to Human Rights Watch.

Story continues

Asked about suggestions circulating on Iranian social media that the film was being favored for its political message, producer Kaveh Farnam said: "Every time that an independent Iranian film wins an award the regime says that it's all worthless, they say that we're exploiting the situation in the west."

The second-place Silver Bear went to Eliza Hittman's "Never Rarely Sometimes Always", the story of two teenagers from the rural United States defying anti-abortion activists, poverty, physical and mental harassment, and expensive healthcare to obtain a pregnancy termination.

Korea's Hong Sangsoo won a best director Silver Bear for "The Woman Who Ran", a miniature about female friendship, loneliness, men who intrude, and a cat who, filmed washing itself and yawning, left audiences in stitches of laughter.

(Reporting by Thomas Escritt; Editing by Timothy Heritage and Rosalba O'Brien)
The government is collaborating with the Iranian authorities to set up a screening process for the return of Indians stranded in Iran in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Sunday.

Jaishankar's assurance came after appeals from several quarters, including Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor for the government's intervention over the issue of stranded Indians there.

"Working on the issue of Indians in Iran anxious to return due to COVID19. Have seen many tweets in this regard. We are collaborating with the Iranian authorities to set up a screening process for return of Indians," Jaishankar said in a tweet.

"Am asking our Ambassador Gaddam Dharmendra to keep all those concerned updated of the progress. Am also tracking this personally," Jaishankar said in the tweet, tagging the Kerala CM office, Office of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E K Palaniswami, Tharoor, NCP leader Supriya Sule and MoS MEA V Muraleedharan.

Earlier, Muraleedharan had said the government has received reports of Indians including fishermen stuck in Iran due to the coronavirus outbreak and the embassy in Tehran is in touch with local authorities on the issue.

Indian envoy to Iran Gaddam Dharmendra had on Saturday said the authorities are working to facilitate the return of Indians who wish to go back home and discussions were underway with authorities.

Several political leaders in Jammu and Kashmir have appealed to the Centre to evacuate the people of the Union Territory, including students, who were stranded in Iran.

Iran's health ministry on Sunday reported 11 new deaths from the novel coronavirus and 385 infections, bringing the overall number of lives lost to 54 and cases to 978.

Earlier, the Indian embassy in Tehran had issued an advisory for Indians residing there and assured them that they were closely monitoring the situation.

India had also issued a travel advisory on February 26 to avoid non-essential travel to Iran due to incidence of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) infections.

In addition, people coming from Iran or having such travel history since 10 February may be quarantined for 14 days on arrival to India, the advisory said.

The National Conference's Member of Parliament from Anantnag Hasnain Masoodi had also said he spoke to the Minister of External Affairs about the safe return of the stranded Kashmiri students in Iran following the outbreak of the deadly virus there.

Former Union minister and senior Congress leader Saif-ud-din Soz and former finance minister Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari had also appealed to the Centre to evacuate the people of Jammu and Kashmir, particularly the students and businessmen, stranded in Iran.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
29.02.2020 LISTEN

Galamseyers who were until the 2016 general elections were conducting their business smoothly albeit illegal greeted the then-candidate Akufo Addos promise of reforming illegal mining when elected with euphoria and ecstasy but now dismayed and disheartened after the introduction of the governments widely touted community mining scheme (CMS).

The New Patriotic Partys (NPP) government instituted the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Mining (IMCM) in 2017 after its historic election which in turn gave birth to community or group owned mining as an alternative to the destructive galamsey illegal mining activity.

Six months after its successful launch at Bawdie in the Wassa Akropong municipality of the Western Region amid optimistic pomp and pageantry and its expansion to some other mining districts, the New Patriotic Party governments meant well initiative of community mining concept had not only been haphazard but ensnared with chaotic maelstrom and utmost confusion.

Authoritatively and not mincing words, one would contend that there is no notable difference between the age-old galamsey methods of alluvial and changfan as against the same methods by which the community mining concept is thriving both by its method of extraction and practice.

The only dissimilarity between the two is the latter having signpost indicating their existence as against the formers unmarked sites by which the gold mining process is being carried out.

Piloting the community mining programme on Wednesday, 24th July, 2019, the president said mining will be done the right way, within the tenets of the law and will not destroy our natural resources.

Continuing, he said today, we are launching a type of mining that will benefit all of us. I am here to plead with the young men who are participating in the community mining to do their best to adhere to all the laws and do a good job, so that money will return to Wassa Amenfi. The money will come,

The NPP governments messiah (community) mining scheme vis-a-vis the galamsey in my humble observation and in the eyes of all well-meaning inhabitants of mining areas is illusioned, delusioned and trepidatiously disillusioned.

The community mining programme was meant for the initial four thousand and five hundred (4,500) small scale miners the governments claimed to have trained on responsible mining practices at University of Mines and Technology (UMaT) in Tarkwa and many others who were yet to be trained.

The programme after its implementation has been fraught with confusion and challenges because it does not differentiate between those who received the formal training at the university and those who seldom have little or no knowledge in mining as there is no indication as to if those licensed to mine without training will ever be trained on responsible mining to protect the environment and counter global warming.

It gives equal chance to people who received the UMaT training and the ones who are yet to receive the training or those who have not had any training whatsoever in responsible mining processes as community mining license and identity cards are issued for them to ply their trade without any tangible supervision.

By Kwaku Boateng, Environmental and Mining Policy Institute 0246-550-550
Welcome to the bifurcated world of Tik-Tok, an emerging social-media powerhouse that lets users create and share short videos, many no longer than 15 seconds.

From the perspective of teens, TikTok is a major new outlet for self-expression, one proudly home to the silly, the loud and the weird.

To others, the Chinese-owned online video service is an unnerving black box that could be sharing information with the Chinese government, facilitating espionage, or just promoting videos and songs some parents consider lewd.

U.S. lawmakers are worried about national security and censorship risks posed by TikToks Chinese ownership.

TikTok draws so much attention because its the first China-owned social-media service to make serious inroads in the West. Its a smash in the U.S. and other countries, attracting celebrities and companies eager to reach kids and young adults disconnected from traditional media.

But many security experts worry about the information sucked up by the service. Peoples social connections, biometric data and interests that would be useful to an advertiser could also assist a hostile government in cultivating spies or tracking dissidents, says John Dermody, a former official with the National Security Council and Department of Homeland Security.

TikTok now insists that it doesnt do so, nor would it even if the Chinese government asked it to. As for spying, the company denies it and says it stores U.S. user data in the U.S. and Singapore, not China.

But no matter what is said, it doesn't take away from the fact that to many users, whats special is TikToks goofiness and sense of fun. To use, just download the app and start swiping through videos.

You dont have to friend anyone or search for anything to watch. On this app you are likely to encounter a barrage of funny, meme-y videos from total strangers that TikTok spools up for you, personalizing the feed as you go.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 04:48:51|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

Syrian military personnel are seen in the town of Tal Toukan, the countryside of Idlib province in northwestern Syria on Feb. 5, 2020. (Str/Xinhua)

Putin and Rouhani agreed on the necessity of the full implementation of arrangements reached within the Astana format concerning primarily the fight against terrorists with respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria.



MOSCOW, Feb. 29 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani discussed the recent escalation of tensions in Syria's Idlib during a phone conversation on Saturday, the Kremlin said in a statement.

"Detailed consideration was given to the developments in Syria in the context of increasing tension in the Idlib de-escalation zone," the statement said.

The parties agreed on the necessity of the full implementation of arrangements reached within the Astana format concerning, above all, the fight against terrorists with respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria, it added.

According to the statement, some topics on the bilateral agenda were covered. 
Mr Crowley describes himself as a "serial entrepreneur" whose previous ventures include internet business Trinity Commerce, which he sold for 18 million ($30 million); Inspired Gaming Group, which was sold for 300 million; and Europe's largest Wi-Fi hotspot provider, The Cloud, which was bought by Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB for 50 million ($98 million) in 2011.

"If you're going to have an impact, then the most existential threat to the world at the moment is climate change," he said.

Mr Crowley is the founder of energy efficiency company Crowley Carbon, which is headquartered in Ireland and has set up a joint venture with Australian business Climatech to reduce the amount of carbon emitted by Australian businesses .

The Cork-based entrepreneur decided his next venture needed to be about more than making money.

"If you're going to have an impact, then the most existential threat to the world at the moment is climate change," he said, "as Australia sadly found over the last couple of months."

Crowley Carbon is focused on reducing the energy that businesses consume by ensuring the heating and cooling in buildings operates efficiently.

"I'm sure even in your offices that somebody is freezing in one part of the office and somebody is roasting in another part of the office," he said. "Quite simply we stop that from happening, and that might be that we're replacing chillers, or it might be that we're just making it more efficient."

Crowley Carbon uses sensors in buildings that harness artificial intelligence to detect issues with energy efficiency alongside analysis from teams of engineers.
Three inmates at a nearby private rehabilitation centre died in a week, sparking protests, following which the Kerala government has ordered an inquiry

Kottayam: Three inmates at a nearby private rehabilitation centre died in a week, sparking protests, following which the Kerala government has ordered an inquiry.

Health minister KK Shailaja sought a report from health officials in Kottayam district on Saturday after locals alleged foul play.

District Collector PK Sudheer Babu ordered a magisterial probe into the deaths at the Puthujeevan Trust Rehabilitation Centre in Payippad Panchayat following protests by local residents and politicians. Additional district magistrate Anil Oommen will probe the case, he said.

Locals alleged that three inmates of the centre run by the trust, headed by a retired policeman, had died in the past one week. The locals also alleged that the inmates were tortured at the facility.

According to the Centre, it has been offering services for the mentally challenged, destitutes and abandoned elderly people for over three decades.

Local people demanded a thorough probe into the cause of the deaths. According to officials, six other inmates have been admitted to various hospitals in Thiruvalla.

After an initial investigation, the district medical officer said the deaths were not due to any epidemic. As per the Health minister's directive, a panel of doctors have been constituted to study the cause of the deaths of the three people, including a woman, he said.
ALBANY  On the first official day of New York state's ban on single-use plastic bags Sunday, shoppers had to adjust to a new reality: bring your own bags, or be handed your purchase in a paper bag.

Many stores have had signs up for weeks warning people about the change while also offering reusable bags for sale. But some people Sunday were still not prepared to leave the comfort of readily-available plastic bags behind. The change is meant to reduce the estimated 23 billion plastic bags New Yorkers use per year - while still allowing for some exceptions, like food takeout, newspaper and produce bags.

"Some of the customers aren't happy with it," said Zafar Iqbal, an employee at Mobil Mart on Western Avenue in Albany. "But the law is the law, you have to respect it."

Hannaford, Price Chopper, ShopRite and Stewart's are among the retailers charging 5 cents per paper bag to recoup the increased costs associated with the new product and discourage their use. Albany County had passed a 5 cent tax that would be levied for paper bags at all retailers. Albany County Legislature Chairman Andrew Joyce said Feb. 21 he was confident a dispute over collection with the state Department of Taxation and Finance would be resolved in time for Sunday. Albany joined a handful of other counties statewide to impose such a tax, which is also meant to encourage people to bring reusable bags with them.

Former Environmental Protection Agency administration Judith Enck, who campaigned for the ban, said on Twitter Saturday she would try and stay up until midnight to celebrate the ban's official start. "This is like an environmentalists New Years Eve, minus the confetti," she wrote.

But not all customers were as eager, or prepared, Sunday as the ban took effect.

An employee at CVS on New Scotland Avenue in Albany Sunday morning was overheard explaining to a customer that a paper bag can at least break down in the environment over time, unlike a plastic one. The shopper then turned around, holding the lunch bag-sized parcel he was given, and said "now we're going to cut trees down."

The fossil fuels that are expended during the production of paper bags is one of the arguments the plastic bag industry has used in an attempt to overturn the law. State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos said Friday that the state has agreed to delay issuing any fines against retailers that are out of compliance until April 1, as first reported by Politico. The state is also fighting a lawsuit filed by Poly-Pak Industries, a plastic bag manufacturer, and the Bodega and Small Business Association that is alleging the ban is unconstitutional.

Retailers could eventually face a $250 fine for continuing to hand out single-use plastic bags and a $500 fine for other violations issued in the same calendar year.

Rensselaer resident Claude Parlemont was in Petco on Central Avenue in Colonie Sunday buying a parakeet and all the accessories he would need for his family's new pet. Parlemont said he previously worked in loss prevention at a retailer and worries that the ban will encourage people to fill up reusable bags and walk out of the store without paying.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

But in addition to that, Parlemont said "it's the worst rule," as he thinks government should not dictate what retailers can or can't use. Petco manager Chris Milazzo disagreed. "I think it's a good change," Milazzo said after ringing up Parlemont's purchase. "It's better than plastic, that's for sure."

At a Stewart's in Troy, employees took care to inform customers about the change. After ringing up each guest, cashier Antonio Lee  standing next to a sign that urged consumers to "practice using one of our reusable bags or even reusing our current sturdy plastic bags for a while"  would repeat the same line over and over again: "We charge 5 cents a bag now. Would you like one?"

Lee said the reaction from customers is often an eye roll or a gasp  despite the fact that the public has been alerted to the change through signs and state public relation campaigns for months. One woman, surprised by the new expense, stuffed her coat with her groceries instead of taking a paper bag.

"I think it sucks," said another Stewart's customer, who declined a paper bag for his purchase. "Don't they tax us enough?"

Meanwhile at the Mobil Mart in Albany, Iqbal said he's seeing different reactions to the ban. One regular customer, a truck driver, began bringing his own bag from home every morning. Another customer Sunday morning visibly frowned when told there was no more plastic bag to put his three newspapers in.

"One of my customers said plastic bags will come back, but I don't know about that," Iqbal said. "This is just the start. Let's see how it works."
New Delhi, March 1 : Ever imagined wearing a faux fur coat on a hot summer afternoon? Unthinkable, right? Now just spare a thought for your four-legged buddies in the time of the soaring mercury.

Bollywood celebrities maybe juggling between their erratic work schedules but they surely don't forget their furry friends during the hot season, and make sure to take good care of them despite their busy lives.

Heartthrob hunk John Abraham, who is an ardent animal lover, has two furry babies, Sia and Bailey. He makes sure that his pets have cold water and a comfortable place to hangout.

"Think about how hot it gets and now imagine being covered in fur like dogs! Not fun. When summer temperatures soar, I make sure my beloved Bailey and Sia always have fresh, clean water and a cool, shaded place to hangout in to prevent heatstroke," John told IANS.

Bailey and Sia are stars too, just like "daddy" John. The two have an Instagram profile with a fan following of 15.2K. Their bio reads: "Hi, I'm Bailey and this is my baby girl Sia! I was adopted by my awesome parents and we all live together".

Raveena Tandon-Thadani has often treated her fans with photographs of her cute Pomeranian named Lucifer on Instagram. The actress has even made a profile Lucifer on the photo-sharing website to give everyone an insight to her puppy's life.

Lucifer enjoys a fan following of over 1K fans on the social media website. Raveena, who is all set to make her comeback in films with "KGF: Chapter 2", just not thinks about Lucifer well-being but also other stray animals.

"I know that my companion dog Luficer's resting body temperature is already higher than humans', so it's crucial that I give him plenty of water and a cool place to hang out when it's hot. And to protect community dogs from deadly heatstroke, I put out clean, fresh bowls of water in my neighbourhood," Raveena told IANS.

Sunny Leone, who recently joined hands with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals India (PETA) for new campaign against the use of animal skin, stresses that it is important to keep companion canines cool and also to look out for strays.

Sunny told IANS: "When the weather is blazing outside, I walk my baby Lilu on grass and in shaded areas. The ground can get so hot that it burns dogs' paws and heatstroke claims countless dogs' lives every year. Any overheated dog can sustain brain damage and even die within minutes, so it's important to keep your companion canines cool and to look out for strays." Twinkle toes Madhuri Dixit Nene, an ardent animal, adopted a stray pup and named him Carmella. The puppy was adopted on her son Arin's birthday on March 17 last year.

Madhuri urged to not leave pets unattended in cars. "Would never leave my babies or Carmello in a closed car in the summer. Animals and people overheat easily. Please do everyone a favour and don't leave your loved ones unattended in a closed car," Madhuri told IANS.

Actress Richa Chaddha has always campaigned for "adopt and not shop" for pets. Her social media is full of her 'catty' companion Jugni and other animals. She stresses about putting up shelters for community dogs so that they have shade during the hot afternoons.

"My summer rule: If the ground is too hot for my feet, then it's definitely too hot for dogs, too. Hot pavement can burn the skin right off of dogs' paws. It's important to put up a shelter for community dogs so they have shade," Richa told IANS.

Sachin Bangera, director of Celebrity and Public Relations, PETA India, emphasised that dogs can die from heatstroke in just 15 minutes and that "if one sees a dog suffering, do something!" Here's to making summer 'paw' friendly!

(Durga Chakravarty can be contacted at durga.c@ians.in)
Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

So many University of New Mexico Hospital patients developed sepsis after surgeries in recent years that a federal agency in charge of compiling health data and ranking hospitals found UNMH to be one of the worst in the country for the condition.

Though the latest batch of data was updated last month, UNMH officials have known for years that they were struggling to keep patients from getting bloodstream infections after surgical procedures, said Dr. Richard Crowell, the chief quality officer for the UNM Health System.

Its been on our radar that we needed to improve, he said. Its certainly something that weve known.

UNMH had a bloodstream infections after surgery score of 9.21, which essentially reflects the rate of infection per 1,000 patients, based on data from 2016 to 2018 that was recently published by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. A Journal review of the data found that UNMH had the 10th-worst rate of any hospital in the country included on the CMS website and the worst rate in the state for post-surgery blood infections.

If (infections) get into the bloodstream thats a pretty severe infection, Crowell said.

UNMHs bloodstream infection rate also caught the attention of Beckers Hospital Review, a prominent hospital industry magazine, which published a report last month finding UNMH was one of the 12 worst hospitals in the country for that type of infection.

On the other end of the spectrum, Lovelace Medical Center in Albuquerque, with a score of 4.2 per 1,000 patients, and Cristus St. Vincent in Santa Fe, with a rate of 4.41, were the best hospitals in the state for the rate of bloodstream infections after surgery, though many hospitals in New Mexico and around the country had no data available on the CMS website. Lea Regional Medical Center in Hobbs and Lovelace Westside Hospital also scored under 5 cases per 1,000 patients, according to the CMS website.

The bloodstream infection rate is only one of more than 100 measures that are tracked by the CMS. The data can be used to compare hospitals, and it can also affect Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements. UNMH was in line with national averages for many other measures.

But Dr. Vesta Sandoval, the chief medical officer of the Lovelace Health System, said the post-surgery bloodstream infection measure can be telling because it takes multiple levels of hospital employees  from medical technicians, nurses to physicians  to try to reduce a patients chances of developing a bloodstream infection and becoming septic, a life-threatening condition that can lead to organ failure.

Of course its one piece of an entire puzzle  but it really speaks to a lot, because it takes into account the whole spectrum of care, she said. It takes  an entire team approach.

To reduce the infections, Lovelace has put in place and then updated procedures for various types of monitoring before, during and after procedures. There are also regular reviews of policies governing the removal of indwelling lines  like a catheter or an IV  and getting patients moving after procedures, Sandoval said.

She said the CMS data shows the rate at which patients develop bloodstream infections and show symptoms, so it essentially is giving the rate at which patients become septic, she said. She said surgical site infections and bacteria entering the body through indwelling lines are common causes of the infections.

UNMH officials have said the complexity of their patients cases is one of the main reasons for their high infection rate. They downplayed the significance of CMS data and said it doesnt speak to the quality of care provided at the hospital.

Crowell last week said he wasnt aware of CMS data for UNMHs rate of bloodstream infections after surgery and said the hospital uses other metrics to compare itself to peer hospitals. UNMH didnt provide the Journal with that other data.

That said, Crowell said for about five years the hospital has been working to try to reduce its rate of bloodstream infections after surgery.

The hospital has reached out to national academic medical centers around the country, other hospitals in the state and hospital associations as UNMH worked to implement best practices in the industry, he said. Crowell said theyve offered training within the hospital to try to reduce occurrences.

He said UNMHs rate is poor, in part, because the hospital treats the sickest patients with the most severe illnesses in the state. Having conditions like cancer or diabetes, or if a person is malnourished or an alcoholic, can make someone more vulnerable to a bloodstream infection, Crowell said. UNMH is the only Level 1 Trauma Center in New Mexico, so many seriously ill patients are transferred there.

People that have a lot of complicated illnesses can have a reaction that a person with fewer risk factors  might not have, Crowell said.

At Lovelace, CMS data for various measures are woven into the culture of the hospital, Sandoval said.

Were constantly discussing data with physicians and other staff so everyone is aware where the hospital is on the spectrum, she said. It is very important to the culture of our hospital.

Journal reporter Anthony Jackson contributed to this report.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-02 06:32:02|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

DAMASCUS, March 1 (Xinhua) -- At least 19 members of Syrian government forces were killed on Sunday by Turkish drone attacks in Idlib province in northwestern Syria, a war monitor reported.

The Turkish drones targeted the Syrian forces' positions in the Jabal al-Zawiyeh and al-Hamdiyeh camp in Idlib, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

With the latest casualties, around 93 Syrian government soldiers and pro-government fighters have been killed by similar attacks over the past 72 hours, said the Britain-based watchdog group.

Earlier in the day, state news agency SANA said the Syrian forces shot down three Turkish drones over Idlib. Also, the Turkish forces shot down two Syrian warplanes in the Idlib region.

The incidents are part of the serious escalation between Turkey and Syria.

Turkey's Defense Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Sunday Turkey's only target would be Syrian soldiers and elements in Idlib under the right of self defense.

He noted that Turkey does not aim at a face-off with Russia, the Syrian government's main backer.

He urged Russia to use its influence on the Syrian government forces to stop their attacks in Idlib.

Since December, the Syrian forces have been on a wide-scale offensive against the ultra-radical rebels in Idlib province, the country's last rebel stronghold, which borders Turkey.

On Thursday, at least 34 Turkish soldiers were killed in airstrikes in Idlib, which Turkey blamed on the Syrian government.
The Kerala government will take all necessary steps to bring fishermen from the state stranded in Iran following the coronavirus scare, Fisheries Minister J Mercykutty Amma said on Sunday.

She said the government will collect details of the Keralites trapped in Iran and coordinate with the Indian embassy there through NoRKA (Department of Non-Resident Keralite Affairs).

The minister also said the priority was to provide food and necessary medicines to those stranded there.

"The Indian embassy will be contacted through the Union Ministry of External Affairs. We will ensure that essential materials and food are made available to them soon. I am not sure about evacuating them now as all the flights have been cancelled," Merckutty Amma told reporters here.

A video of the Kerala fishermen seeking help was forwarded to the families of the fishermen and media houses in the state.

One of them is heard saying in the video that they were unable to move out of their rooms due to the restrictions imposed by the Iran government due to the coronavirus scare.

"Like us many people are from India are stranded here. We are short of food. We tried to contact our sponsor. But he asked us to contact the government authorities," the man said.

The fishermen were in Iran, working for a fishing company for last many months.

Most of the Keralites are from Pozhiyur and Vizhinjam areas in Thiruvananthapuram.

The Tamil Nadu government had on Friday taken up with the Centre the issue of over 300 stranded fishermen from the state in Iran and sought steps for their immediate evacuation.

According to Chief Minister K Palaniswami, 450-odd Indians including fishermen from Tamil Nadu were working in various fishing vessels berthed and operating in Iranian ports.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The UK's Opposition Labour Party on Sunday called on Home Secretary Priti Patel to address Parliament on the allegations of bullying against her following the resignation of one of her top civil servants.

Sir Philip Rutnam resigned from the important post of Permanent Secretary in the Home Office on Saturday blaming the 47-year-old Indian-origin minister for failing to engage with him or address his concerns around her conduct with officials in the department.

"The home secretary has a duty to come to Parliament on Monday to explain the allegations made about her own conduct, said Sir Kier Starmer, the frontrunner in the ongoing Labour Party leadership contest to replace Jeremy Corbyn.

Patel also faces the prospect of an inquiry following Rutnam's decision to sue the government over his alleged forced exit and Starmer called for the head of the civil service, Cabinet Secretary Mark Sedwill, to start "an immediate investigation" into the circumstances surrounding his departure.

"There are now urgent questions that must be answered and steps that need to be taken," he said.

John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, described the situation as "unprecedented", which put a question mark over Patel's longevity in the Home Office as minister.

Labour's Yvette Cooper, the chair of the home affairs select committee which holds the Home Office to account, said the row reflected extremely badly on the government".

She said: "To end up with one of the most senior public servants in the country taking court action against one of the great offices of state shows a shocking level of breakdown in the normal functioning of government.

"For the home secretary and prime minister to have allowed things to reach this point is appalling, especially at a time when the Home Office faces crucial challenges with rising violent crime, forthcoming counter-terror legislation, new immigration laws, and sensitive negotiations on post-Brexit security cooperation."



Dave Penman, general secretary of the FDA - the trade union for senior civil servants in the UK, which will back Rutnam's legal case said it is expected that Rutnam will demand a public hearing at which he can outline his case against Patel.

"The Home Office now needs to find new leadership at a time when it needs stability. Those who engage in anonymous briefings need to bear the responsibility for this destructive behaviour," he said, in reference to some unattributed media reports over the past month around clashes between the minister and her top civil servant.

On Saturday, Rutnam announced his resignation in an emotional television statement as he claimed a vicious and orchestrated campaign against him and pointed the finger of blame at Patel.

The Home Secretary [Patel] categorically denied any involvement in this campaign to the Cabinet Office. I regret I do not believe her, said Rutnam.

Even despite this campaign, I was willing to effect a reconciliation with the Home Secretary, as requested by the Cabinet Secretary on behalf of the Prime Minister. But despite my efforts to engage with her, Priti Patel has made no effort to engage with me to discuss this, he said, adding that he had very strong grounds to claim constructive, unfair dismissal, and I will be pursuing that claim in the courts.

Rutnam also referred to the tensions with Patel when he encouraged her to change her behaviour.

"I have received allegations that her conduct has included shouting and swearing, belittling people, making unreasonable and repeated demands, behaviour that created fear and needed some bravery to call out, he claimed.

The Home Office or Patel herself are yet to officially comment on the resignation.

Patel, who joined the Boris Johnson-led Cabinet in July 2019, has previously been forced to resign as Secretary of State for Development by former Prime Minister Theresa May in 2017 over a controversy surrounding some unofficial meetings with Israeli ministers and business executives during a visit to Israel.
A patient at the Summerville Medical Center has tested positive for the coronavirus, Trident Health officials said. The new case brings South 
Before Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or YouTube made their entry in the media market, the PatnaDaily had already registered its presence in...
Ajmer dargah deewan Syed Zainul Abedin Ali Khan on Sunday said there is no place in Islam for anything which weakens the atmosphere of peace.

"It is impossible to solve a problem with violence. People need to recognise the conspiracy created by instilling fear in the society for deviating people from mainstream due to political selfishness," he said in a statement.

"Anything that weakens the atmosphere of peace has no place in Islam. It is impossible to solve a problem with violence. Human history testifies that the atmosphere of peace and positivity is the basis of progress and development in the world.

"The essence of the teachings of Islam is that in a society where there is unrest, people will fall behind and out of the mainstream of the nation," Abedin said while addressing a gathering on the eve of 808th Urs.

In this traditional event, religious heads of country's various Chistiya Dargahs were also present.

Expressing concern over the current situation in the country, the dargah deewan said people are being forced to come on road by fears triggered in the society out of political selfishness.

He lamented that at a time when these fears should be mitigated, negative forces are working to deepen them.

He said negative politics paves way for only the destruction and unfortunately such politics is being seen in educational institutions also.

A society bogged down by negative politics cannot progress in any manner, he said, adding that educational institutions, which enrich the society, too are becoming the centre of political confrontation and unrest today.

"Every Indian, especially Muslims of the country need to be with positive forces and protect themselves from selfish political leaders who are concerned about their selfish interest than the society," he cautioned.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Feb. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- teTra Aviation, a team from Tokyo, Japan, has won the $100,000 Pratt & Whitney Disruptor Award in the Inaugural GoFly Prize Final Fly-Off, the world's first global competition to create personal human flyers. The team, captained by Tasuku Nakai, a doctoral student at the University of Tokyo, won the award for its teTra 3 machine.

The GoFly Prize has catalyzed the creation of personal flyers as a first step towards transforming the future of transportation with flying cars, flying motorcycles, hoverboards, jetpacks, human-carrying drones and other personal flyers. Some 854 teams comprising 3800-plus innovators from 103 countries took up the GoFly challenge and, over the past two years have been crafting their machines and testing them as manned, mannequin-bearing, and unmanned machines.

"After much anticipation, we are thrilled to announce that teTra Aviation is the winner of the Pratt & Whitney Disruptor Award," said GoFly Founder and CEO Gwen Lighter. "The team displayed the technical design and creative prowess that we set out to inspire when we created the GoFly Prize. teTra created a unique personal flyer and we look forward to supporting them as they take the next steps towards revolutionizing human mobility."

"Innovation has always been at the core of our DNA at Pratt & Whitney and we applaud GoFly's efforts to transform the industry," confirmed Geoff Hunt, Senior Vice President, Engineering. "We're proud to sponsor such an exceptional competition and we designed the Disruptor Award to recognize the team that challenged the status quo, delivered unique thinking into a complex issue and considered safety, reliability, durability and system integration."

"This is beyond my imagination," said Nakai. "The whole team is glad to celebrate this achievement. Personal flying is the future of transportation and I know there will be a day when every person will be able to take off and land anywhere."

He added, "On behalf of my entire team, I want to say thank you to GoFly and Pratt & Whitney."

Prior to the Final Fly-Off, held at Moffett Federal Airfield during Leap Day, 10 teams were named Phase I winners and were awarded $20,000 prizes for their concepts, while five teams were named Phase II winners and were awarded $50,000 for their prototype submissions. At the moment, no team captured the Grand Prize title, but GoFly looks forward to awarding that $1 million prize in the near future.

The GoFly Prize is supported by Grand Sponsor Boeing, Disruptor Award Sponsor Pratt & Whitney, as well as more than 20 national and international aviation and innovation organizations. All teams participating in the competition also benefited from the guidance and expertise of a dedicated Mentors and Masters program.

For more information about the GoFly Prize, please visit http://www.goflyprize.com .

About The GoFly Prize

The GoFly Prize is a $2+ million USD, two-year international incentive competition to create a personal flying device that can be safely used by anyone, anywhere. With Boeing as its Grand Sponsor and Pratt & Whitney as its Corporate Sponsor, The GoFly Prize will provide teams with expertise, mentorship, prizes and global exposure as they compete to create the world's first safe, ultra-compact, urban-compatible personal flying device. The multi-phase competition encourages competitors from around the world to participate in making the dream of human flight a reality. For more information or to form a new team to compete, visit http://www.goflyprize.com .

About Pratt & Whitney

Pratt & Whitney is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft and helicopter engines, and auxiliary power units. United Technologies Corp., based in Farmington, Connecticut, provides high-technology systems and services to the building and aerospace industries. To learn more about UTC, visit its website at www.utc.com, or follow the company on Twitter: @UTC.

About Boeing

Boeing is the world's largest aerospace company and leading manufacturer of commercial jetliners, defense, space and security systems, and service provider of aftermarket support. As America's biggest manufacturing exporter, the company supports airlines and U.S. and allied government customers in more than 150 countries. Boeing products and tailored services include commercial and military aircraft, satellites, weapons, electronic and defense systems, launch systems, advanced information and communication systems, and performance-based logistics and training.

SOURCE GoFly
New Delhi, March 1 : Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on Sunday met riot-hit victims in north-east Delhi, saying "government compensation is not enough, confidence has to be restored".

While visiting Brahmapuri, one of the violence-hit areas, the spiritual leader said it was very disturbing to see so many people affected.

"I am interacting with locals and listening to the experiences of riot victims. People have also told me about many instances of communal harmony during the tough times," Sri Sri said.

Referring to the help hands provided by various people to the victims, he said: "Many people have stood by the affected persons." "You should stood for humanity. This is humanity. I am here to send a message of humanity and brotherhood. It is time to heal the trauma of victims." The spiritual leader appealed to all sections of society to come together and heal the wounds of the riot-hit.

Noting the Delhi government's work, he said the government is doing its work but "compensation is not enough". "Confidence has to be restored... The need of the hour is to spread harmony and people have to come together." The spiritual leader's visit comes days after several parts of North-East Delhi witnessed incidents of stone-pelting and firing from country-made weapons, leaving 41 people dead and over 200 injured. The dead include a police head constable, an Intelligence Bureau staffer and an assortment of civilians ranging from autorickshaw drivers to small traders.

The riot erupted in northeast Delhi on Sunday night and turned deadly on Monday. The most affected localities include Bhjanpura, Chand Bagh, Maujpur, Kardampuri, Jafrabad, Ashok Nagar, Shiv Vihar, Karawal Nagar and Brahmapuri.
Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Harsh Vardhan will attend the foundation stone laying ceremony of two new medical colleges at Ramanathapuram and Virudhunagar on Sunday.

The two new colleges are part of the 11 new medical colleges the Centre recently approved for Tamil Nadu.

Speaking to reporters on his arrival here on Saturday, the minister said: "I have come to Madurai to attend the foundation stone laying ceremony for two new medical colleges at Ramanathapuram and Virudhunagar. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sanctioned the construction of 75 medical colleges in aspirational districts of the country to provide facilities to the poor. Out of the 75, the Prime Minister has gifted 11 new medical colleges to Tamil Nadu alone."

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami will lay the foundation stone for the two medical colleges. Harsh Vardhan will chair both the events at the respective collectorates.

On being asked about the AIIMS hospital which is under construction in Madurai, he said: "The basic structure of the AIIMS hospital, which was laid in Madurai last year, is nearing completion. Subsequently, the JICA Finance Company has come thrice and conducted studies on the AIIMS project."

"The funds will be released over the next few months, especially with the advanced research centre at AIIMS in Madurai, as is in Delhi. The first phase of the round-up work is nearing completion," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Indian Army has no role in the heavy deductions made by State Bank of India (SBI) for defence pensioners in month of February, informed Army sources.

The sources also declined to comment as the matter is sub judice.

Senior officials of Defence Ministry and Army are contacting SBI to resolve the issue.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged Sunday to annex key parts of the occupied West Bank within "weeks" if re-elected, as he sought to sway voters a day before the country's third election in a year.

Final polls pointed to another tight race between Netanyahu's right-wing Likud and the centrist Blue and White party, led by ex-military chief Benny Gantz.

All parties have raised concern about voter apathy amid the grinding political stalemate, putting added emphasis on turnout.

Netanyahu, Israel's longest serving premier, has been accused before previous elections of making last-minute plays to energise his right-wing base.

In an interview with Israeli public radio, he said annexation of the strategically crucial Jordan Valley and other parts of the West Bank was his top priority among "four major immediate missions".

"That will happen within weeks, two months at the most, I hope," he said in the interview aired 24 hours before polls were scheduled to open.

US President Donald Trump's widely-criticised Middle East peace plan, unveiled in late January, gave the Jewish state a green light to annex the Jordan Valley and proposed a committee to set out the exact borders of the territory in question.

"The joint US-Israeli mapping committee started work a week ago," Netanyahu said.

- Political tactic -

Former Israeli defence minister Avigdor Lieberman, also an ex-Netanyahu ally, publicly accused the prime minister of engaging in empty political rhetoric.

Lieberman, who heads the nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu party and may again be in the position of kingmaker following Monday's vote, said he had "ironclad information" that Netanyahu's comments on the Jordan Valley were at least partly insincere.

"A few days ago, it became clear to me that he sent a message to (Jordan's) King Abdullah, (saying) 'Don't worry, its just elections, there will be no annexation of the Jordan Valley'," Lieberman said in a TV interview.

Many experts agree that a unilateral move by Israel to annex the strategically important valley would inflame regional tensions and damage ties with neighbouring Jordan, one of only two Arab countries that has agreed a peace deal with Israel.

Netanyahu listed his other priorities as signing an "historic" defence treaty with the United States, Israel's key ally, and "eradicating the Iranian threat", without elaborating.

He has repeatedly pledged to stop the Islamic republic from developing a nuclear weapon and has not ruled out the use of force.

- 'Can't sit at home' -

Netanyahu said that his fourth "immediate" goal if re-elected -- despite facing trial on multiple corruption charges -- would be major economic reform to bring down Israel's high cost of living.

In November, the 70-year-old, who has spent 14 years as prime minister, became the only head of government in Israel's history to be indicted in office.

He is charged with corruption, embezzlement and breach of trust. His trial opens on March 17.

After inconclusive elections in April and September, final opinion polls forecast Likud and Blue and White winning 33 seats each in the 120-member Knesset (parliament).

Even counting their respective allies -- the right and Jewish Orthodox parties for Netanyahu and the centre-left for Gantz -- neither side is expected to secure 61 seats necessary to form a viable coalition.

Those results would be identical to previous rounds, after which both leaders tried, and failed, to form a government.

Analysts say that after trudging to the ballot boxes twice in under 12 months, few Israeli voters remain undecided.

That has forced candidates to put added energy into bolstering turnout.

"I am encouraging citizens to get out and vote," Gantz told public radio Sunday.

"You can't just sit at home clicking your tongue, saying, 'Oy vey! What's happening here?' Voting is critical," he said.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


By Trend

Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani offered his condolences over deaths from the new coronavirus in Iran and offered assistance in curbing the spread of the infection, the Kremlin said in a statement, Trend reports citing TASS.

"Vladimir Putin offered condolences to Hassan Rouhani over fatalities in the coronavirus infection outbreak in Iran and pledged help aimed at containing the spread of the infection," the statement says.

On February 19, the Iranian health ministry informed about first cases of the newly identified coronavirus. Since then, the country has confirmed 593 cases, while 43 people died from the infection.

In late December 2019, a pneumonia outbreak caused by the COVID-19 virus (previously known as 2019-nCoV) was reported in Chinas city of Wuhan, an economic and industrial megacity with a population of 12 million. The World Health Organization declared the new coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, characterizing it as an epidemic with multiple locations. Apart from China, more than 50 other countries, including Russia, have reported confirmed coronavirus cases. According to the latest reports, China has confirmed over 79,200 cases of patients infected with the novel coronavirus. The virus death toll has hit over 2,800, yet more than 39,000 patients have recovered from the disease.
Steven Spielbergs daughter Mikaela Spielberg has been charged with domestic violence, PEOPLE confirms.

An official with the Davidson County Sheriffs Office in Tennessee confirmed her arrest, and online inmate records show that Mikaela, 23, was arrested at approximately 6:30 a.m. on Saturday morning, and admitted into the Hill Detention Center in Nashville.

The official told PEOPLE that Mikaelas bond was already posted, but she will not be released until the end of a 12-hour hold period, routine in domestic violence arrests.

A rep for Spielberg did not immediately respond to PEOPLEs request for comment.

Radar Online was the first to report the news. Mikaelas fiance Chuck Pankow also confirmed the arrest to Fox News, telling the outlet in a statement that the incident was a misunderstanding.

No one is hurt, Pankow, 47, added.

Related: Making Jaws Left Scars That Took Steven Spielberg Years to Heal

RELATED: Amazing Stories Is Almost Here! See the Trailer for Steven Spielbergs Sci-Fi Series Reboot

Mikaela, who recently revealed that she is an adult film star, was adopted by the director, 73, and his wife, actress Kate Capshaw.

The couples blended family also includes son Sawyer, 27, and daughters Sasha, 29, and Destry, 23, as well as Capshaws two children from her previous marriage  Jessica, 43, and son Theo, 31  and Spielbergs son Max, 34, from his previous marriage.

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.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 11:33:22|Editor: Wang Yamei

Video Player Close

KATHMANDU, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Nepali government has deferred the international tourism promotional activities planned as a part of Visit Nepal Year-2020 due to the novel coronavirus epidemic, a Nepali Cabinet minister has said.

It is a major setback for the Visit Nepal Year campaign under which the Himalayan country targeted to attract 2 million foreign tourists, almost double from foreign tourists arrivals in 2019. Nepal had received 1.19 million foreign tourists last year, according to the Department of Immigration.

"We are postponing the international tourism promotion for the time being," Yogesh Bhattarai, minister for culture, tourism and civil aviation, said Saturday. "During this crisis period, we will introduce measures to promote domestic tourism."

Bishwombher Ghimire, program coordinator at the Visit Nepal Year Secretariat, told Xinhua on Saturday that the planned promotional campaign at Berlin Tourism Fair in Germany was cancelled after the fair itself was called off by the organizer. "The planned promotional events in China have also been cancelled," he said.

According to Ghimire, Nepali government's priority has now shifted to building necessary infrastructure to handle the possible influx of foreign tourists when the situation gets better.

During the Visit Nepal Year, Nepal's biggest hope for meeting the target of foreign tourists' inflow was on arrivals from India and China, the two largest source markets for Nepal's tourism.

In 2019, Nepal had attracted 254,150 Indian tourists and 169,543 Chinese tourists, according to the immigration office. However, after the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, most of the flights between China and Nepal have been suspended which will affect the inflow of Chinese tourists this year.

However, Nepali tourism experts say it is not time to lament about the number of tourists but to express solidarity with people affected by the epidemic. "We should use this crisis period to extend support or sympathy to the Chinese partners and we can also come up with creative ideas to focus on post crisis marketing strategies," said Deepak Raj Joshi, former chief executive officer at Nepal Tourism Board, the main tourism promotion body of Nepal.

"At this time, we can focus on the promotion of domestic tourism as we did in the past after the earthquake in 2015."

Joshi also suggested that the Nepali government should provide some incentives to the tourism entrepreneurs to help cope with the losses.
As the coronavirus continues to spread across the U.S. and the globe, medical staff are seeking to educate the public about the basics of this virus, what they can do to keep themselves well, and what things might look like if it becomes a pandemic.

Spectrum Health doctors are sharing the following tips in Q&A form:

1. Why you should wash your hands often - and dont touch your face.

Viruses spread when contaminated particles enter your system through your nose, mouth or eyes. If you limit exposure and keep your hands clean and away from your face, you lower your chances of contracting any virus. COVID-19 is no more or less contagious than the common cold. -- Dr. Russell Lampen, infectious diseases division chief.

Frequent handwashing will be your first line of defense. To stock up on handwashing supplies, check here.

"My hope is that it will feel like a bad flu season to us," said Russell Lampen, DO, division chief for infectious disease for Spectrum Health Medical Group. Photo courtesy of Chris Clark | Spectrum Health Beat

2. Wear a mask to contain your cold/flu symptoms, especially while traveling.

While there has been some controversy over whether or not healthy people should wear masks, if you are sick and going out in public, doctors say wearing a mask will at least help you contain your own symptoms.

This will help you keep your germs to yourself. If you are symptom-free, wearing a mask wont provide much protection -- unless you wear a high-end N95 mask with an air-purifying respirator and high-efficiency air filter. -- Dr. Christina Fahlsing, infectious disease physician.

If you need to stock up on disposable masks, check here.

For an example of an N95 mask, check here.

World Health Organization leaders say the illness has the potential to become a pandemic and is working with countries to prepare for that possibility. Photo courtesy of Chris Clark | Spectrum Health Beat

3. Rest assured that patients are being screened.

Spectrum Health is asking all patients about their travel history. Those considered most at risk are people who have traveled to China, South Korea, Iran, Italy or Japan or who have been in close contact with someone who has traveled to one of those areas and has been sick. -- Lampen.

Rosemary Olivero, MD, the section chief of pediatric infectious disease with Spectrum Health Helen DeVos Children's Hospital, said people can infect themselves with a virus by touching their eyes, nose or mouth. Photo courtesy of Chris Clark | Spectrum Health Beat.

4. If you feel sick, stay home.

Many cold, flu and other viral diseases spread by person-to-person contact and can be contracted by simply being within 3-5 feet of an infected person. Staying home while you are sick will give you time to rest and recuperate and will also limit exposure to others. -- Dr. Rosemary Olivero, pediatric infectious diseases section chief.

A seasonal flu shot is administered in Boston Thursday, Oct. 1, 2009. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)ASSOCIATED PRESS

5. Its not too late for a flu shot.

The flu vaccine wont impact whether you get coronavirus, Lampen said. But there is always the potential for co-infection - getting both coronavirus and influenza would deliver a double whammy to your immune system.

Getting a flu vaccine is another way to stay healthy, he said.

A passenger wearing a mask as a precaution against the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19 arrives to the Sao Paulo International Airport in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)AP

6. If COVID-19 causes severe disruption in everyday life in the U.S., how do we prepare for that?

My hope is that it will feel like a bad flu season to us, Lampen said. I think we are going to see things like the potential cancellation of extracurricular events like church services. We might see schools being closed, and maybe sporting events canceled, he said.

Spectrum Health infectious disease specialists say now is the time to prepare for these possibilities. Do you have a job where you could work from home? If so, would your employer allow that? And if you are a parent, how will you care for your children if schools and daycare operations are closed?

View of empty sun beds at La Caleta beach, near the H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel in La Caleta, in the Canary island of Tenerife, Spain, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020. Spanish officials say a tourist hotel on the Canary Island of Tenerife has been placed in quarantine after an Italian doctor staying there tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. (AP Photo/Joan Mateu)AP

7. Will there be a supply chain disruption? Will people still be able to get food from the grocery stores?

Given whats known so far about the virus and its mortality rate, Lampen does not foresee a complete disruption in the supply of goods. Its not something that should impact the availability of food and medicine.

For there to be a supply chain disruption, we would have to have a lot of people sick, he said.

He thinks it might be a similar scenario to what happened during the H1N1 influenza pandemic in 2009. That era saw events canceled and schools closed to curb the spread of the disease in areas hard hit by the virus.

Workers in protective suits spray disinfectant as a precaution against the COVID-19 at an indoor gymnasium in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)AP

8. Are we talking about a pandemic?

No pandemic has been declared by the World Health Organization. For that to happen, there would have to be intensive and widespread community transmission of the virus worldwide. However, WHO leaders say COVID-19 has the potential to become a pandemic. Its preparing for that possibility. Spectrum Healths Lampen said the WHO is trying to avoid causing needless fear while encouraging preparedness.

Staffs in protective suits escort a passenger disembarked from the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship at a port in Yokohama, near Tokyo, Friday, Feb. 21, 2020. Passengers tested negative for COVID-19 started disembarking since Wednesday. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)AP

9. How dangerous is COVID-19?

"We still dont know the true severity of it, Lampen said. Its hard to know because its such a limited population involved.

There will be a number of people who will have a mild respiratory illness that causes limited or no symptoms at all, Lampen said. And there will be a population that will be sicker and require hospitalization."

He said the elderly and adults with chronic medical conditions are the most likely to suffer serious illness.

Personnel carry new beds inside the hospital of Codogno, near Lodi in Northern Italy, Friday, Feb. 21,2020. Health officials reported the country's first cases of contagion of COVID-19 in people who had not been in China. The hospital in Codogno is one of the hospitals - along with specialized Sacco Hospital in Milan - which is hosting the infected persons and the people that were in contact with them and are being isolated. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)AP

10. What symptoms does COVID-19 cause?

According to the CDC, illnesses have ranged from mild symptoms to severe illness and death for confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases.

The following symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure.

Fever Cough Shortness of breath

People wearing face masks walk along a downtown street in Hong Kong Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020. COVID-19 viral illness has sickened tens of thousands of people in China since December.

11. How is the COVID-19 virus transmitted?

The CDC has released this updated information about how they believe the virus is spreading:

Person-to-person spread

The virus is thought to spread mainly from person-to-person.

Between people who are in close contact with one another (within about 6 feet).

Through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

These droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby or possibly be inhaled into the lungs.

Can someone spread the virus without being sick?

People are thought to be most contagious when they are most symptomatic (the sickest).

Some spread might be possible before people show symptoms; there have been reports of this occurring with this new coronavirus, but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.

Spread from contact with contaminated surfaces or objects

It may be possible that a person can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes, but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.

How easily the virus spreads

How easily a virus spreads from person-to-person can vary. Some viruses are highly contagious (spread easily), like measles, while other viruses do not spread as easily. Another factor is whether the spread is sustained, spreading continually without stopping.

The virus that causes COVID-19 seems to be spreading easily and sustainably in the community (community spread) in some affected geographic areas.

Matt Dunn, a researcher for the Center for Vaccine Research at the University of Pittsburgh, holds dead samples of the coronavirus (COVID-19) at the Biomedical Science Tower 3 in Oakland, Pa. (Nate Guidry, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP)

12. How can we protect ourselves and help slow the spread of this virus?

Stay home if youre sick. Make sure you wash your hands. Get a flu shot if you havent gotten one, Lampen said.

13. How important is hand washing?

This is your first line of defense

Not only can you get sick from people coughing and sneezing close to you, but often times, the things they cough and sneeze actually land on your body and you touch it with your hands, Olivero said. And if you put your hands on your eyes or nose or mouth, you can then infect yourself.

She suggests people use hand sanitizer and wash their hands regularly.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends people disinfect frequently-touched objects and surfaces (countertops, doorknobs, bathroom faucets) using a regular household cleaning spray or disinfectant wipes.

14. How long should you really wash your hands?

You should have running water and an adequate amount of soap. You should apply soap onto the palm of your hand and, using friction, wash your hands throughout the top of your hands, the back of your hands, in between your fingers, under your nails and around your cuticle beds," Spectrum Health infection prevention manager Doreen Marcinek, DNP, RN, explained. "Do this for a minimum of 20 seconds. An easy way to remember this is to sing in your head the song Happy Birthday.

Want to have a little more fun while washing your hands? Then hum along to these 20-second choruses from Michigan artists.

This undated electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus causes COVID-19. The sample was isolated from a patient in the U.S.AP

15. Why is there so much concern about this?

If this comes through and infects a big swath of the population - even if its like a bad flu season - it would be like getting two flu seasons back to back, Lampen said. That would tax the health care system.

For more information from Spectrum Healths medical staff, check their article on the Health Beat website. They are also offering tips for Spring Break travelers amid the COVID-19 spread.

READ MORE

6 ways Michigan residents are already impacted by coronavirus

No confirmed coronavirus cases in Michigan, but state prepares for likely spread
Opposition parties of West Bengal, the and the CPI(M), took out rallies in different parts of in protest against the one-day visit of Union Home Minister to the city on Sunday.

As Shah arrived in the city in the morning, hundreds of Left and protesters, carrying black flags and anti-CAA posters, demonstrated outside the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport and raised 'go back' slogans.

Later in the day, a minor scuffle broke out between police personnel and protesters in Esplanade area when agitators tried to break the barricade and enter Shahid Minar Ground where Shah is scheduled to hold a rally, a senior police officer said.

"Though nobody was arrested in the incident, police will act strictly if the situation goes out of control," he said.

Legislature Party leader Sujan Chakraborty led a large rally in Santoshpur in south while activists took out a protest march from Beckbagan to Park Circus and burnt an effigy of the Union home minister.

CPI(M)-affiliated SFI and DYFI also took out rallies in Shyambazar, Gariahat, Behala, Kaikhali and Entally areas.

" had shouted 'go back' slogans during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the city in January. We will not allow Shah to hold a rally here. He (Shah) is not welcome here. Hands of both these leaders are soaked in the blood of people killed in Gujarat riots. The Union home minister is equally responsible for the violence in Delhi," Chakraborty said.

The leader hit out at the government for granting permission for Shah's rally.

"The understanding between the Modi and the Mamata governments is the reason why permission was granted to hold a rally even when class 12 board examinations are around and blaring of loudspeakers is prohibited. This is a courtesy of the state government to Shah," Chakraborty said.

At Shah's rally, state BJP leaders will felicitate him for the passage of the amended citizenship law in Parliament. BJP president J P Nadda will also attend the public meeting.

"We have taken all forms of precautionary measures to counter any untoward incident during the Union home minister's visit to the city. Additional personnel have been deployed at all crucial points," a senior officer of Kolkata Police said.

The Union home minister also inaugurated a new building of Security Guards at Rajarhat and will hold closed-door meetings with the state BJP leadership along with Nadda.

Shah will also visit the Kalighat Temple in south Kolkata.
Zoopets.com.ua 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 29 Mar 2013, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.

The total number of people who shared the zoopets homepage on StumbleUpon. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared, liked or recommended the zoopets homepage on Facebook + the total number of page likes (if zoopets has a Facebook fan page). The total number of people who shared the zoopets homepage on Delicious. The total number of people who shared the zoopets homepage on Google Plus by a google +1 button. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared the zoopets homepage on Twitter + the total number of zoopets followers (if zoopets has a Twitter account).

Basic Information

PAGE TITLE           DESCRIPTION     !  , , , , ,   , , , , , , ,  ,     . KEYWORDS OTHER KEYWORDS cygnus , pavo , cygnus, pavo, cygnus, pavo, cygnus



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. 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.

Domain and Server

DOCTYPE XHTML 1.0 Strict CHARSET AND LANGUAGE Russian UTF-8Russian DETECTED LANGUAGE Russian Russian SERVER nginx admin (PHP/5.2.17) OPERATIVE SYSTEM

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. The language of zoopets.com.ua as detected by CoolSocial algorithms. 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 zoopets.com.ua 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 URL of the found Facebook page. The total number of people who like website Facebook page. The type of 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. A Facebook page link can be found in the homepage or in the robots.txt file.

Twitter account link

TWITTER PAGE LINK NOT FOUND
Retired doctors and nurses could be asked to return to the NHS while millions of workers may be ordered to work from home under a new UK coronavirus 'battle plan'.

Those who have recently stepped down could be called up after 23 cases have been confirmed in Britain, with fears that 80 per cent of the population cold contract the virus.

The government is set to publish its plan to combat Covid-19 later this week and has based the initiative on a response it had in place for a possible flu pandemic.

People wearing face masks in Trafalgar Square, London, as the first case of coronavirus has been confirmed in Wales and two more were identified in England - bringing the total number in the UK to 20

The three new cases - one in Gloucestershire, one in Hertfordshire and another in Berkshire - are being investigated and any individuals who had contact with the patients are now being traced.

Extra Cobra meetings will be held in Whitehall, with scientists and media experts working side-by-side in the Cabinet Office's so-called 'war room', BBC reports.

Posters and social media adverts will warn people to wash their hands for 20 seconds or more with soap and water and cemeteries are drawing up plans to cope with a rise in bodies, according to The Sunday Times. The paper reports that up to 500,000 people could die from the virus.

The announcement comes just days before a specially designed training clinic for just such nurses opens on Wirral.

Two separate health care businesses - both owned and run by experienced professionals - recently joined forces to assist former nurses get back into work to help resolve the NHS staffing crisis.

But now the need for staffing has dramatically increased in the wake of the Coronavirus and the new company, Love To Care Global (LTC Global) has already hit the ground running.

As well as a purpose built training centre in New Ferry - the town still struggling after a devastating gas explosion three years ago - the company, which has offices in the North West and Scotland, provides an inclusive operation with re-training for nurses and recruitment services.

'Recent figures suggest that 200,000 nurses have left the NHS since 2010 and the government has recognised that the shortage of nurses has reached a critical point,' said Mathew Alexander, a former nurse and LTC Global owner.

'I hope I am wrong but if the Coronavirus becomes a major problem in this country we are heading for a perfect storm with lack of nurses and shortage of beds. We want to do our bit to boost the numbers of nurses returning to their careers.

'I have joined forces with locally based My Nurses Life which is doing an amazing job in training nurses, so that they have the essential skills to return to the caring industry. So many have left the profession over the last decade, many because of the over-whelming stress they faced through under-staffing, which must be remedied.'

It comes after an infant school staff member tested positive in Woodley, Berkshire, on Saturday evening. Willow Bank Infant School announced that it would be closing for a deep clean as panic over the illness grips the nation.

The letter to parents of pupils at the Berkshire infant school (pictured) read: 'We regret to inform you that we were told today that one of our members of staff has tested positive for the coronavirus, COVID- 19'

The patient, from Surrey, is understood to be a man who was treated at Haslemere Health Centre before being transferred to Guy's and St Thomas' hospital in London. The health centre has opened today following a deep clean

More than 200 British tourists stranded in Tenerife as they were quarantined in a hotel have been told that they will only be able to fly home if they test negative.

The holidaymakers have been quarantined at the H10 Costa Adeje Palace since Tuesday after four Italians contracted coronavirus.

Health chiefs have urged people aged over 60 to avoid crowds amid the wide-spread panic.

The World Health Organisation issued the drastic warning which also urged people in this age group to skip routine appointments at doctors' surgeries and hospitals.

More than 10,000 Britons have now been tested for the deadly virus. Ten cases were reported in just three days - and 1,000 were tested in the last 24 hours alone.
Hours ahead of Union Home Minister Amit Shah's visit to the city, members of the Students' Federation of India (SFI) gathered at the airport and took part in demonstrations against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the Register of Citizens.

Raising slogans, protesters waved black flags and held placards opposing the visit of Shah to the city. Another protest by the All Indian Youth League was also held in the Esplanade area.

The CAA grants citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Parsi, Buddhist, and Christian refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh who came to India on or before December 31, 2014.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Segun Soyoye, industrial director of Larfarge Africa Plc, says all the 39 persons who had contact with the Italian who tested positive...





Segun Soyoye, industrial director of Larfarge Africa Plc, says all the 39 persons who had contact with the Italian who tested positive to coronavirus have been quarantined, including the driver who brought him to Ewekoro from Lagos.





The Ogun state government had earlier announced that 28 persons were in quarantine following their contact with the patient.





The Italian had gone to Larfarge Africa Plc in Ewekoro for business purposes before he was found to be a carrier of the virus.





There was news making the rounds that the driver who brought him had refused to be isolated and instead threatening to spread the virus if the government did not give him N100 million, an information that turned out to be false.

Addressing reporters after an assessment visit to the companys premises by a combined delegation of the state government, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the World Health Organisation (WHO), Soyoye said the guest house where the Italian stayed and the vehicles including the ambulance used to convey him had been sealed off.





He said the Italian was at the factory to inspect some installed machines brought from a Swedish firm, adding that the visitor did not go beyond the companys guest house at Ishofin Estate and he was evacuated as soon as he developed abnormal temperature indicative of coronavirus.





The contacts are now 39 and we have quarantined them, the house and clinic as well as the vehicles. We dont take chances. That is why they are put there, he said.





Today is Day 3.They will be there for 14 days. We will continue to observe them, we have their database, showing their biodata and other information.





The doctor is here and what he is doing is to check them on a regular basis. So far everybody is stable. They are not symptomatic. We are providing everything for them over there.





The other thing that I have not said is that the clinic that was used for the infected person is closed; disinfected and we moved everybody out.





All the guys on duty that day, they were also quarantined. So they will be there for 14 days as well.
On February 18th, the Scientology Volunteer Ministers of Florida held a seminar on the Dynamics of Existence, 1 of 19 chapters from the Scientology Handbook, at their headquarters in downtown Clearwater, to assist those wanting to bring greater balance to the different parts of their lives.

Scientology Volunteer Minister Center Clearwater Florida - Open 7 Days

PR-Inside.com: 2020-03-01 02:01:17

Press Information

Scientology Volunteer Ministers Clearwater

101 N. Ft. Harrison Ave., Clearwater, Florida 33755



Glendy Goodsell

Executive Director



email

http://www.volunteerministers.org



Published by

Glendy Goodsell

727 467 6965

e-mail

https://volunteerministers.org







# 404 Words

101 N. Ft. Harrison Ave., Clearwater, Florida 33755Executive DirectorGlendy Goodsell727 467 6965

On February 18th, the Scientology Volunteer Ministers of Florida held a seminar on the Dynamics of Existence, 1 of 19 chapters from the Scientology Handbook, at their headquarters in downtown Clearwater, to assist those wanting to bring greater balance to the different parts of their lives.L. Ron Hubbard, in studying life and developing the philosophy of Scientology, found that life force actually exists in eight distinct though interrelated areas. He called these eight divisions the  Dynamics. This is fully covered in the Dynamics of Existence chapter, which can be studied in a free online course.Each chapter of the Scientology Handbook provides workable answers to a specific problem that people commonly face in their lives. L. Ron Hubbards technology provides practical tools that anyone can use to define what they want to achieve, and work out how to accomplish it.During the seminar, a video based on the chapter was presented and the seminar leader engaged the attendees in a discussion where they gave examples of how they could apply the data.We are here to help, with the technology that Mr. Hubbard left for us, said Glendy Goodsell, Executive Director for the Scientology Volunteer Ministers of Florida. We firmly believe that to live well and be successful in any area, you must truly understand what life is. Every Tuesday evening the Clearwater Scientology Volunteer Minister Center at 101 N. Fort Harrison Avenue presents a different topic providing useful information and tools so anyone can learn how to help himself and others. Call 727-467-6965 to RSVP. The seminars are provided to the public at no charge.Scientology Volunteer Ministers:The Scientology Volunteer Minister (VM) program was launched more than thirty years ago, in response to an appeal by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. Noting a tremendous downturn in the level of ethics and morality in society, and a consequent increase in drugs and crime, Mr. Hubbard wrote, If one does not like the crime, cruelty, injustice and violence of this society, he can do something about it. He can become a VOLUNTEER MINISTER and help civilize it, bring it conscience and kindness and love and freedom from travail by instilling into it trust, decency, honesty and tolerance. The program has adopted the slogan Something Can Be Done About It. At the Scientology Volunteer Ministers center in downtown Clearwater, VMs are trained in the 19 chapters of the Scientology Handbook, basic first aid, and safety techniques.
By Express News Service

MYSURU: The Nanjangud Rural police have arrested two Bangladeshi immigrants for staying here illegally. The arrested have been identified as Mohammed Habeebulla (23) and Mohammed Abdulla (27), both hailing from Sam Nagar, Satkhira district, Bangladesh. They were staying in Immavu.

The arrests come at a time when there is buzz that a number of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants are working in various industries in Mysuru. The police were alerted by residents who grew suspicious about the youths after hearing them converse in Urdu and Hindi. Following this, the police, led by Sub-Inspector Satish, questioned the youths. Initially, the duo told the police that they were from Bengaluru, but later confessed that they were from Bangladesh.

They also said that they had come to Bengaluru for work, and later moved to Nanjangud where they had been working at a fabric industry at Tandya Industrial Area. When the police asked them to produce their passports and visas, the duo could not comply. So, the Nanjangud rural police have booked a case against them for staying illegally for the past one year. We have registered a suo motu case against them and have booked them under Section 12 of the Passport Act and Section 14 of the Foreigners Act, said a police officer.
Billmonitor, an accredited, UK-based, mobile tariff comparison service that regularly analyses consumers telecom bills, says 74% consumers in UK are on the wrong mobile contract and paying too much and getting too little value. There is no such statistical data in India, but this percentage might well be higher here, given the complexities of the present-day tariffs and the inadequacy of information to help consumers make the right choice.

Today if you look at the tariff plans displayed on the websites of telecom service providers, you will find it extremely difficult to make an informed choice because first of all the information is not complete and second of all, it is not in a consumer-friendly and easy-to-understand format.

Today the special tariff vouchers (STV), the combo vouchers (CV) and the promotional offers in case of prepaid subscribers have assumed such importance that publication of any tariff plan without this information would be absolutely meaningless. In fact, because of the tariff options given in the form of STVs and CVs, the actual cost to a customer may vary from the tariff given in the plan voucher. So it is only fair that all telecom service providers publish not just the tariff plans, but also the information on the vouchers, in a uniform format that is easy to compare and understand.

But thats not all. Given the large number of STVs and CVs offered by the service providersover 500 of them and the constant changes made in them, consumers right to informed choice requires more than just their publication in a simple, prescribed (by the regulator), format. Considering that about 92-95 per cent of consumers in India buy prepaid plans and these consumers come from varied educational and economic background, it becomes absolutely imperative that tariff plans be not just transparent, but intelligible to even those with elementary education, so that they buy what is in their best interest.

So the next step is to help consumers make sense of telecom tariff through the introduction of a tariff calculator tool that gives them unbiased and unprejudiced information on the tariff plans of service providers, compares the benefits of various offers and assists consumers in understanding the cost of enrolment and continued subscription of various plans.

The Commission for Communications Regulation, Ireland, for example, provides such facility on their website, so that consumers can make their decisions on the basis of clear, unambiguous, impartial information. Ofcom, the UK telecommunications regulator, on the other hand, has a scheme for accrediting agencies that provide price comparison services . The accreditation ensures the integrity of the data flow. Billmonitor is one such accredited agency that compares tariffs, analyses consumers telecom bills and helps consumers choose the right plan, thereby saving them considerable money .

I am really glad the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has taken note of these issues in its detailed Consultation paper on Transparency in Publishing of Tariff Offers, and proposed various solutions to bring information pertaining to telecom tariffs in line with the international standards of transparency.

The consultation is very comprehensive and timely because today most people are buying telecom services with inadequate information and without really understanding the tariff or comparing the offers of various service providers for an informed choice. I really do hope that TRAI will not only usher in more transparency in telecom tariffs, but also follow the Ofcom or Ireland model for tariff calculator .

However, I must warn consumers that service providers have a very strong lobby and have already opposed the proposals, so consumers need to counter that by fully supporting this move by TRAI to empower telecom consumers and help them make the right choice.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Mike Pence took a different approach than the president while speaking on coronavirus in an interview that aired Sunday, not attempting to downplay the threat the virus poses to Americans.

The vice president told CNN's State of the Union Sunday morning that there will be more cases and that 'it is possible' there will be more deaths.

The comments come after a 'medically high-risk' man in his 50s in Washington state became the first person in the U.S. to die from coronavirus overnight Friday.

Donald Trump, however, has attempted to downplay the threat, boasting during his rally Friday in South Carolina that there were only 15 cases in the U.S.  when there are actually more than 70 confirmed cases in the country.

Also during a press conference at the White House Saturday, Trump misidentified the first victim in the U.S. to die after contracting the virus as a woman, when it was actually a man.

Pence brushed off this mishap after it came out that the Centers for Disease Control mistakenly told the president the wrong sex of the individual.

CNN host Jake Tapper pointed out that the confusion over the sex of the individual wasn't instilling confidence in the public over the communication between the federal agency and the White House.

'It was just a miscommunication,' Pence said. 'It doesn't lessen the tragedy at all.'

Pence's comments that there could be more fatalities come as fears are mounting for 50 staff and residents at a nursing facility located just two miles from the deceased male after they have shown coronavirus symptoms, while Trump urged the public not to panic and two new cases  one in Illinois and another in Santa Clara, California  were confirmed Saturday night.

Vice President Mike Pence admitted that there could be more U.S. coronavirus deaths, departing from the president's insistence in downplaying the threat. The comments came after a 'medically high-risk' man in his 50s had become the first person in the U.S. to die from coronavirus

Pence also brushed off during his interview with CNN that aired Sunday morning that the president misidentifying the victim as female when he was actually male was 'just a miscommunication' between the CDC and White House

Pence's comments come as two further cases were confirmed late Saturday night, making the total number of Americans diagnosed with the virus 71 and counting

Australia also confirmed its first death from coronavirus on Saturday.

The 78-year-old male victim contracted the virus on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship, where 44 American passengers also contracted the disease and were repatriated to the US.

'We know there will be more cases,' Pence said in the pre-recorded interview.

When pressed by Tapper if this means there will be more deaths, Pence  who was this week handed the job of leading the U.S. task force to tackle the disease  admitted: 'It is possible.'

He restated the president's point that healthy individuals will likely recover from the disease.

'The reality that Doctor Fauci (the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) and others explained to me since I took on these duties a few days ago is that for most people that contract the coronavirus they will recover,' he said.

'They will deal with a a respiratory illness, we'll get them treatment.'

However, he conceded that for Americans that have pre-existing health conditions, there could be 'sad news'.

'For people who have other conditions that would militate towards a worse outcome,' the Vice President said.

'We could have more sad news. But the American people should know the risk for the average American remains low.'

Pence's comments come as two further cases were confirmed late Saturday night, making the total number of Americans diagnosed with the virus 71 and counting.

The Santa Clara County Public Health Department confirmed its fourth case is an adult woman who lives with the woman who was confirmed to be a case on Friday and who sent shockwaves for becoming the US's second 'unknown origin' case.

The fourth case does not have symptoms and has not been hospitalized, officials said.

Officials in Illinois then confirmed the state's third case, which is being treated as another 'unknown origin' case.

Fears are now mounting for 50 staff and residents at a nursing facility in Washington state as they are now showing symptoms of the virus, after two individuals - a resident and an employee at the care home - have already been diagnosed with the infection.

Fifty-two staff and residents of the nursing facility where two new coronavirus cases have been confirmed are now showing symptoms of the disease, health officials said during a teleconference with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

At the Life Care nursing facility in Kirkland, Washington state, around 27 of the 108 residents and 25 of the 180 staff have some symptoms, including some cases where individuals have contracted pneumonia.

The CDC and local health officials are reportedly sending an emergency response team to the Life Care facility on Sunday to try to control the escalating situation.

This comes as a 'medically high-risk' man in his 50s became the first person in the US to die from coronavirus overnight Friday near Seattle, Washington state.

Healthcare workers are pictured transporting a patient on a stretcher into an ambulance at Life Care Center of Kirkland in Kirkland, Washington on Saturday

The man in Washington state became the first in the U.S. to die of coronavirus, and now more than 50 staff and residents of the Life Care nursing facility in Kirkland, Washington, are now also showing symptoms of the disease

The unnamed man died in a hospital just two miles from the nursing facility where concerns of a mass outbreak are mounting, but officials are maintaining the cases are unconnected.

President Trump sought to quell widespread panic in a press conference on Saturday where he expressed condolences to the family of the patient who died and told people to remain calm - before he made a gaffe by wrongly saying the deceased person was a woman.

The possible outbreak in the nursing facility comes as it emerged that two new confirmed cases of coronavirus in the state are linked to the home.

At a Saturday press conference, Dr. Jeff Duchin, the health officer for Seattle and King County, confirmed that one of the confirmed cases was a woman in her 40s who works at the facility, who is in satisfactory condition.

Another was a female resident of Life Care in her 70s, who is in serious condition.

The first person to die of coronavirus in the US died in EvergreenHealth hospital just two miles from the Life Care nursing facility where concerns of a mass outbreak are mounting, but officials are maintaining the cases are unconnected

Neither had a recent history of travel, suggesting these are additional cases of community spread.

'We are very concerned about an outbreak in a setting where there are many older people, as we would be wherever people who are susceptible might be gathering,' said Duchin.

'We're going to send a team into the facility tomorrow to do an assessment.'

A team of CDC workers from Atlanta are on route to the facility in efforts to control the outbreak.

Duchin added that older adults and people with underlying health conditions like diabetes, heart or lung disease should be especially careful to protect themselves by washing their hands, not touching their faces, and avoiding contact with people who are sick.

The Life Care facility provides 24-hour care for residents, including physician and nurse coverage, many of whom have long-term and chronic conditions.

News of the potential outbreak in the facility is concerning given the higher danger of coronavirus being fatal to individuals who are less healthy or already have pre-existing conditions.

A spokesperson for Life Care told DailyMail.com that the facility was not accepting any visitors or new admissions, and was monitoring all residents and associates for the virus.

They said the restricted access had only been put in place earlier that morning, the same day the two cases were confirmed and outbreak fears emerged.

At a White House press conference, President Donald Trump mistakenly said that the first patient to die from coronavirus in the US was a Washington state woman in her 50s who was 'medically high-risk'. The patient was a man

'We are very concerned about an outbreak in a setting where there are many older people, as we would be wherever people who are susceptible might be gathering,' health officials said

A spokesperson for Life Care told DailyMail.com that the facility was not accepting any visitors or new admissions, and was monitoring all residents and associates for the virus

Medical staff wearing protective clothing and masks were pictured transporting a patient on a stretcher into an ambulance at the Life Care facility on Saturday.

The CDC is working with the facility to try to get a handle on the situation, they said, but the individual said they could not confirm reports that the CDC was sending in an emergency response team to the home.

Executive director Ellie Basham said in a statement that the facility is monitoring the situation closely.

'Current residents and associates are being monitored closely. As is normal this time of year, there are various cold and flu-like symptoms being exhibited from residents and associates,' the statement emailed to DailyMail.com read.

'The health department has advised us to monitor for an elevated temperature, cough and shortness of breath. We're consulting with the health department and possibly sending patients to a local hospital for formal COVID-19 testing.'

Several Kirkland firefighters have also been quarantined after they responded to Life Care facility over the last week, according to Seattle Times.

'It impacted multiple crews,' Kellie Stickney, a city of Kirkland spokesperson, said.

The city has not stated where the firefighters are being quarantined.

Dr. Jeff Duchin, the health officer for Seattle and King County, said the deceased man had no recent history of travel or known links to global coronavirus hotspots

Harborview Medical Center's home assessment team, including (L to R) Michelle Steik, Lucy Greenfield, and Krista Reitberg prepare to visit the home of a person potentially exposed to novel coronavirus, at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle

Washington state recorded the first death from coronavirus in the US on Saturday.

Duchin said the deceased patient was a man in his 50s with 'underlying health conditions.'

He died overnight at the Evergreen Health's hospital in Kirkland, Washington - just two miles from the Life Care facility in Kirkland where the mass outbreak is now feared.

The deceased patient, also in King County, did not have a connection to the facility, Duchin said.

However, Frank Riedo, the medical director of infection control at EvergreenHealth Hospital, did not seem to rule out the possibility the cases are related.

'At the present time, we do not see a connection between the two. But there are some evolving threads that are being investigated,' said Riedo.

'I think  what we're seeing is the tip of the iceberg. We're seeing the most critically ill individuals. Usually that means there's a significant percentage of individuals with less severe illness floating around out there. So in all likelihood there is ongoing low level transmission.'

Duchin also took aim at the CDC, saying that the lack of available tests had led to delays in the cases being confirmed and action being taken.

'If we had the ability to test earlier, I'm sure we would have identified patients earlier,' he said.

Health officials said all three new cases in Washington state had no known travel history or links to global hot zones  indicating that the deadly outbreak is now likely spreading in communities.

This now takes the number of Washington cases to a total of six, according to presumptive tests administered locally.

Speaking to the nation at a rare Saturday press conference, Trump expressed condolences to the family of the patient who died and addressed the outbreak, urging calm even as he said the virus spread seems inevitable.

'Additional cases in the United States are likely, but healthy individuals should be able to fully recover,' he said. 'Healthy people  if you're healthy, you'll probably go through a process and you'll be fine.'

Trump urged politicians and the media not to sensationalize the outbreak and provoke panic. 'There's no reason to panic at all,' he said.

Initially, there was confusion over the deceased patient's sex, after Trump said that the person was a woman in her 50s who was 'medically high-risk'. The White House said that Trump was relying on information from a briefing from the CDC.

'It was a man,' said Dr. Duchin of the deceased patient, adding that the patient was a 'chronically ill person' with 'severe risk factors.'

Worldwide, the outbreak that began in Wuhan, China has sickened at least 83,652 people and killed 2,862 in 54 countries.

Trump spoke a day after he denounced criticism of his response to the threat as a 'hoax' cooked up by his political enemies.

'Hoax was referring to the action that they take to try and pin this on somebody,' Trump explained on Saturday when asked if he regretted his words. 'I'm not talking about what's happening here, I'm talking about what they're doing.'

The EvergreenHealth hospital (above) in Kirkland. The three new cases takes the number of Washington cases to a total of six, according to presumptive tests administered locally

At the press conference, Vice President Pence, who has been tapped to lead to virus task force, announced new emergency travel restrictions on Iran, Italy, and South Korea, which have been hit by outbreaks.

Any foreign national who has visited Iran in the past 14 days will be banned from entering the U.S., Pence said.

He also said that Trump has authorized the State Department to raise the travel advisory level to outbreak areas in Italy and South Korea to Level Four, the highest level.

Level Four advisories urge Americans not to travel to an area for any reason, though they do not legally forbid travel.

Health experts say that the coronavirus has a low mortality rate, resulting in death in about 2 to 3 percent of cases, the majority of which are elderly patients or those with compromised immune systems. However, it appears to be highly contagious, spreading quickly through communities. Experts say frequent hand washing is one of the most effective preventative steps that individuals can take to prevent viral spread.

On Saturday afternoon, Washington's Governor Inslee, a Democrat, declared a state of emergency in response to coronavirus, authorizing the use of the Washington National Guard, if necessary, following the confirmation of the new cses near Seattle (above)

On Saturday afternoon, Washington's Governor Inslee, a Democrat, declared a state of emergency in response to coronavirus, authorizing the use of the Washington National Guard, if necessary.

He issued a proclamation that directs state agencies and departments to utilize state resources and do everything reasonably possible to assist affected communities responding to and recovering from COVID-19 cases.

'This is a time to take common-sense, proactive measures to ensure the health and safety of those who live in Washington state,' Inslee said in a statement. 'Washingtonians can be assured we've taken this threat seriously and have been working in collaboration with our health care partners to develop plans and procedures to prepare for what could likely be a world-wide pandemic.'
Morgan Sindall is a construction group with a heart. The company was co-founded by John Morgan in 1977 and he is still at the helm today, overseeing a business with more than 6,500 employees and turnover of 3.1billion.

The group is involved in hundreds of projects across the country, sometimes for commercial clients, often for local authorities and government.

Schemes include refurbishing halls of residence at the University of Aberystwyth, fitting out a flagship store for Microsoft, building affordable homes across the country, upgrading roads and motorways and working on regeneration projects in towns such as Salford, Slough and Aberdeen.

Building value: Midas recommended Morgan Sindall shares in 2017, when they were 14.10. Today, they are 24 per cent higher at 17.54 and should continue to increase in value

Many building firms have come a cropper by chasing sales over profit. Morgan Sindall is different. The firm shies away from high-profile, big-ticket projects, focusing instead on smaller contracts where money can be made.

In that vein, Morgan intends to make sure that there is at least 60million of cash on the balance sheet every day in 2020. This is not just hoarding money  it reassures customers and allows the company to bid for projects with long-term prospects.

Morgan is also aware of the need for a strong culture, looking after employees so they stay for longer and looking after customers so they come back for more business. The approach has served Morgan Sindall well.

Midas recommended the shares in 2017, when they were 14.10. Today, they are 24 per cent higher at 17.54 and should continue to increase in value.

Annual results last month showed an 11 per cent increase in profits to 90million and a similar increase in the dividend to 59p.

Morgan Sindall was co-founded by John Morgan, above, in 1977 and he is still at the helm today

The group also revealed a 14 per cent rise in secured orders to 7.6billion, with a strong pipeline of future projects across the business. Morgan is particularly excited by the housing division, which operates under the Lovells brand.

This subsidiary has been reinvigorated, following a slack few years. Profits surged 50 per cent in 2019 and further strong gains are expected, reflecting increased investment and new management.

Midas verdict: In 1977, John Morgan was 21 years old and his business was tiny. Last Thursday, Morgan Sindall entered the FTSE 250, even as the shares were caught up in the coronavirus panic, falling from 19.58 to 17.54 last week alone. The decline is undeserved. Existing shareholders should stick with the business. New investors could also take a closer look at this stock.
ALBANY  A longtime member of the Joint Commission on Public Ethics said the state inspector general's investigation last year into the alleged unlawful disclosure of confidential information to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo was a "sham" that led him to refuse to sign a sworn statement affirming he was not responsible for the leak.

"It was obvious there was a leak, but in the sham inquiry (the inspector general's office) took the position 'We cant confirm if there was a leak,' and that is preposterous on its face," Commissioner Gary Lavine said. "I refused to go along with a sham. I told them if they subpoena me, I will move to quash  and they never subpoenaed me."

The investigation, he said, "was diversion, actually, and it was done in my view simply to be able to say later that an inquiry was made."

He confirmed his decision to decline to sign the affidavit last week, after the Times Union  following a months-long Freedom of Information struggle with the inspector general's office  was provided copies of the affidavits that had been signed by other commissioners and employees of JCOPE, affirming they were not responsible for the leak. The inspector general's office had previously declined to identify any individuals who had declined to sign the affirmations.

Lavine believes the inspector general rejected using its subpoena power to compel him to answer that question because of his pledge to challenge it in court, which would have made the investigation public.

The controversy began within hours of a January 2019 JCOPE meeting, where records indicate the panel discussed an ethics complaint against Joseph Percoco, a former top aide to the governor. That afternoon, Cuomo allegedly confronted Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie at the Capitol about the votes of the speaker's appointees to JCOPE. The exchange took place even though it's apparent the commission had voted against investigating Percoco's improper use of government resources for campaign work.

A short time later, Heastie's top counsel Howard Vargas contacted then-JCOPE Commissioner Julie Garcia as she drove home from the meeting. Vargas, she said, told her that the governor was aware of how she and other commissioners had voted that day. Heastie also reached out that same day to another JCOPE commissioner, James Yates, but has declined to say what they spoke about. Garcia and Yates had been appointed to the ethics panel by Heastie.

Garcia quickly reported the unusual call from Vargas to JCOPE's executive director at the time, Seth Agata, who forwarded the information to the inspector general's office and requested it launch an investigation.

Despite their involvement, the probe did not include interviews with Cuomo, Heastie or Vargas.

The one-page affirmations provided to the commissioners with a cover letter from the inspector general's office stated they were conducting a "confidential investigation." The letter requested that those receiving the documents "not share, discuss, or otherwise disseminate the affirmation itself or your response."

The inspector general's office also provided copies last week of what appeared to be the reports detailing interviews with Garcia and Yates  the only commissioners who were interviewed  but the content of both documents was heavily blacked out. Two people familiar with the matter said that neither Yates nor Garcia requested those reports be redacted, and were not consulted on the decision.

Lavine, a Syracuse attorney, is an appointee of Republican Senate Minority Leader John J. Flanagan, and had previously served on the commission as a Cuomo appointee. Lavine recused himself from the closed-door meeting where Percoco was discussed, and possibly other complaints, but it's not known why he stepped aside because those matters are considered confidential by law.

In September, there was unrest within JCOPE's ranks as the inspector general's investigation languished without a conclusion. On Oct. 4, the inspector general's office sent a three-page letter to JCOPE's chairman, Michael K. Rozen, saying "the investigation was unable to substantiate whether or by whom confidential information was in fact improperly disclosed." The letter was not made public and JCOPE commissioners did not discuss the matter in an open session.

More than a month later, after the investigation had been revealed by the Times Union, the inspector general's office released its letter the day before Thanksgiving.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Lavine said the allegation and investigation underscore the need for a bill being pushed by some lawmakers to dismantle JCOPE as well as the Legislative Ethics Commission, and to replace them with a truly independent oversight body. But he said that effort  which he believes should be a priority for the Legislature this year  should also include breaking apart the inspector general's office, which has jurisdiction over all executive branch agencies, public authorities and other arms of state government.

"This isnt a Gov. Cuomo problem, this is a fundamental institutional dysfunction; it preceded him and its going to succeed him after he leaves office if something isnt done," Lavine said. "By definition the statute that created the office of inspector general made it susceptible to political considerations in its activity. Its just the way it works, the way its set up.  Its a structural deficiency."

Lee Park, a spokesman for Inspector General Letizia Tagliafierro, a former executive director at JCOPE, said the office stands by its findings. He characterized the complaint by Garcia, a former Essex County district attorney, as "third-hand" information.

"This was part of a nine-month investigation that included interviews and document reviews and analysis," Park said. "This single, third-hand and ultimately unsubstantiated allegation was thoroughly investigated."

Percoco is serving six years in federal prison for taking $320,000 in bribes and exploiting his power as Cuomo's top aide.

Chris Bragg contributed to this report.

Get state news first with our Capitol Confidential newsletter.
Its an attack, using dark money on the dark woman candidate in this race, Smith said in an interview. She denounced the ads and said she looked into whether she could legally force the PAC to stop running the spots. Smith is unhappy that party leaders have decried the ads as a smear against Cunningham but have made no public statements defending her as a loyal Democrat who was also targeted by Republicans. She is concerned that the silence of the Democratic leaders could leave the impression that she was working with the GOP.
The couple

Visually impaired Taiwo Edekere, 52, would never forget in a hurry his happiest moment at the Makurdi Registry when he signed the dotted lines while pledging his undying love for his heartthrob, also visually-challenged Grace Taiwo, 43.

The love birds found each other and stuck together despite discouragement from people who they believed disliked their union.

For the couple, only God could have made it happen for them on February 15, 2020 when they were joined as husband and wife. It was a long walk for love but worth the challenges faced.



I love her so much because I noticed that she always had soothing words whenever Im in any kind of problem. When I noticed some special qualities in her, I started wooing her, Edekere said.

Grace said, When the battle was hot, I turned down his proposal but when I discovered that those discouraging me from accepting his proposal were in turn suggesting another lady for him to marry, I accepted his proposal.

Edekere, an indigene of Edo State, and his Idoma wife, Grace, met in 2018 at the Special School for the Blind in Ekiti State where they are both teachers.

Narrating how he lost his vision and where their paths as lovers crossed, Edekere, recalled, I work with the Ministry of Education in Ekiti State as a teacher at the Government Special School for the Blind. Im from Edo State. I was born on July 5, 1968. I became blind in 1998.

I went to St. Mathias Catholic School Lagos after which I proceeded to Government College, Osborn Road in Ikoyi Lagos. I worked with the Nigerian International Bank, Victoria Island, Lagos, and thereafter put in for my ICAN course. It was in the process of becoming a chartered accountant that I became blind.

After I became blind, I went for rehabilitation at the Oshodi Special School for the Blind where I was rehabilitated and trained in Vocational Training. I was later employed as an instructor at the Government Special School for the Blind, Ekiti State, in 2008. That is where I work till date.

I met my wife after she was posted here as an N-Power staff in 2018. I got attracted when I found out that shes an educated lady and a good woman who can support me. I so much love her because I noticed that she always had soothing words for me whenever I have a problem. When I noticed all these qualities in her, I started wooing her in a bid to marry her.

He made his intention known to her by formal proposal, stressing his assurance to be a committed husband as he was no longer getting younger.



As a blind person, it is not easy to get a wife or husband. I told her I was ready to marry her. It took her about eight months to accept my proposal. It was a tug of war because after I proposed to her, some people rose up against our relationship.

Those same people who were telling her not to marry me were the same people who came from behind and were introducing another lady to me. When she got to know about it, she now said, if their person is qualified to marry me, then she too is qualified to marry me. It was at that point that she made up her mind to accept my marriage proposal, Edekere added.

According to him, the journey through courtship was good because they got to know each other better.

However, he explained that there was no opposition to their relationship either from his family or hers.



Edekere, who admitted that two visually challenged people coming together in a marriage would never be an easy task, however posited that part of their training in school had already equipped them on how to do domestic work unaided and independently.

He said, We were taught so many things. Since I got to know her, shes been wonderful. She can use the washing machine to wash clothes, she can cook using the gas cooker. Shes simply a good woman and a wife material. Though in other parts of the country, it may be strange seeing two blind people getting married but its not new in the south west and the north.

Here, you see visually impaired couple with their children. In fact, in the school where we work, some of our colleagues here are married to their blind counterparts. So, its not something so difficult or new.

On her part, the bride disclosed that she was born into the family of Mr. Samuel and Mrs. Josephine Adanu from Adoka Ipole in Otukpo Local Government Area of Benue State in 1977.

Im the third child in a family of seven. At the age of eight, I came down with meningitis while in primary school. I attended Our Lady of Perpetual Help Primary School, Ankpa Quarters. I couldnt go to school for some years after I had meningitis. When the meningitis came up the first time, my parents took me to Madonna Hospital in Makurdi, and from there, I was taken to Teaching Hospital Kano and another private hospital without any success.

It was after all these that I was taken for native medication and I got cured. The hospitals were just giving me injections and I was always convulsing. When I had the meningitis, I felt feverish and had a headache in school. By the time I returned home, it got worse.

That night, I felt like throwing up and so rushed outside but on my way in, I discovered that the light just went off. So, I said theres no light; I need light, but they said there was light. That was how I lost my sight till date, she narrated.

Sequel to her blindness in 1991, at the age of 13, Graces father enrolled her at the Child Evangelism Fellowship Ministry (CEFM), a Special School in Otukpo where she did only four years because she skipped some classes.

She then proceeded to St. Anns Secondary School Otukpo and finished in 1996 after which she got admission to the University of Jos where she studied Special Education with specialty in Visual Handicap to teach the blind.

Grace said upon graduation in 2012, she secured a part-time teaching job with the School for the Exceptional Children Aliade but the pay wasnt good so she left and applied for a job at Apa Local Government Council where she spent over two years before her employment was terminated.

She disclosed further, It was after the termination of my employment that I applied for N-Power job and I opted to work outside Benue for fear that I might not get the job if I choose Benue. So, I got the job and was posted to Ekiti State.

This is my third year in Ekiti. I teach Basic Science, Health Education and Civic Education. I met my husband already working here. Initially, when he approached me for marriage, I refused because I felt he was advanced in age but on a second thought, I felt that marriage for visually impaired persons is not an easy thing as nobody goes for them because of their impairment.

What made me accept his proposal was the fact that the same people who did not want us to get married were suggesting other girls for him to marry. I saw envy in all of that and then decided to marry him. I love him because hes an unapologetic giver, honest, a man of his words and also God fearing.

Grace adviced fellow visually impaired ladies who are not married to toe her path since they have already been trained to cope with their disability so that life can be enjoyable for them because the only thing some men do to blind women is to impregnant and then abandon them in their parents houses.

Interestingly, the couple hopes to have three children, God willing, so that they can take good care of them.

***

Via Daily Trust
Fears swirling around coronavirus has led to the cancellation of CERAWeek and sent a small group of Rice University staff members and students into self-quarantine.

The organizers of CERAWeek by IHS Markit, an oil and gas industry conference set to bring thousands of international visitors to Houston the week of March 9-13, announced Sunday morning it was cancelling the week-long event.

While travel restrictions prevented delegates from China, where the virus originated, from attending, attendees from up to 80 nations were expected to attend the conference.

"Our number one concern is the health and safety of delegates and speakers, our partners, our colleagues and vendors," IHS Markit said in a statement.

There are no confirmed cases of coronavirus in Harris County, according to Harris County Public Health.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Coronavirus affecting U.S. churches, missionaries

More Information What are the symptoms of coronavirus? Novel coronavirus is a pneumonia-like respiratory illness that was first reported in Wuhan, China. Experts with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believe the illness is spread person-to-person when an infected person coughs or sneezes within six feet of another. Symptoms can appear 2-14 days after exposure, health officials said. They include: Fever Cough Difficulty breathing CDC guidance advises people who are experiencing those symptoms and have recently traveled to a country with a coronavirus outbreak, or who have been in close contact with one of those people, to call their doctors. The CDC is the only health agency that can test for symptoms of coronavirus. Officials emphasize that people should practice good hygiene and avoid people who show symptoms of illness. They can also: Avoid touching their face Avoid close contact with people who are sick Stay home when sick Frequently wash hands Clean and disinfect objects and surfaces with household cleaning supplies Wear a face mask only if they show symptoms of coronavirus See More Collapse

Rice University asked staff members and students to self-quarantine Saturday night after a research staff member was possibly exposed to the coronavirus while traveling abroad, the university said.

The staffer was briefly on campus on Feb. 24 and 25. A group of people including research scientists, postdoctoral fellows and doctoral-level graduate students has been asked to self-isolate as a preventive measure, said Jeff Falk, a Rice University spokesperson.

Those people are staying off the main campus, Falk said.

School officials said the employee traveled overseas to a country that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have not issued travel restrictions for, but did not specify where.

In a statement Sunday morning, Harris County Public Health said it was conducting an infectious disease investigation.

The threat of COVID-19 to Houston and Harris County remains low and there is no need for the public to take additional precautionary actions at this time, the county said.

The CDC has issued warnings related to coronavirus outbreaks in China, Iran, South Korea, Italy, Japan and Hong Kong.

The university is not canceling classes or operations as of Saturday night. However, Rice students and employees are being asked to register any upcoming international travel plans on a campus website.

Your safety and security during your time abroad is important to us, an advisory at the top of the travel registry said.  All departments are responsible for ensuring faculty, staff and students document their international travel plans with the travel registry.

There are 11 known cases of coronavirus in Texas; none of the patients contracted the virus in Texas. All of the patients are in quarantine and are being treated at facilities in San Antonio.

Staff writer Sergio Chapa contributed to this story.

gwendolyn.wu@chron.com

Twitter: @gwendolynawu
2K Shares Share

If you or a loved one has ever been hospitalized, by day two or three of your hospital stay, you likely remember the doctor visiting you every day but not staying more than seven or eight minutes or 10 to 15 minutes max.

It may have felt like he or she was just dropping by and laying eyes on you. A month or two later, you get a bill with the doctor visit charge for that hospital day ranging from $200-$300.

You wonder: How the heck could a max 15-minute visit be worth that much?

Let me explain.

Before that doctor ever entered your room, he or she logged into an electronic medical record (EMR), which is basically an electronic file of all that has happened to you since the time you stepped foot in the ER.

He or she would have reviewed all the relevant notes (Doctors notes that can be five pages long, nursing notes, respiratory therapy notes, other allied health professionals notes) and information that has been entered into your file.

This includes your presenting symptoms to the ER, your vital signs, the impression of the ER doctor, every lab and diagnostic test that was done on you, and the notes and recommendations of any consultants that the ER doctor spoke to.

Your doctor will then spend a few minutes trying to make sense of all of that information and consolidating it to come up with a picture of what may be going on with you. The doctor will have to decide which pieces of information need to be honed in on and what pieces of information are unimportant.

He or she has to decide which borderline lab test can be considered normal and which borderline lab test may actually be relevant enough that it needs to be repeated.

They may then start looking up any old files that exist on you in the hospital system. In our hospital system, they can go back up to five or six years. Once your doctor finds that file, he or she then has to decide which are the important pieces of information in that file. Were any of your labs or diagnostic tests that are currently abnormal also abnormal previously as in six months ago?

The doctor will also have to check and see which consultant saw you the last time you were in the hospital so that the same consultants may be called upon again if needed for continuity of care.

And this is all before ever stepping foot in your hospital room.

Then comes the part where the doctor comes and meets you in the hospital room. The doctor talks to you and verifies that what is in the records is actually correct and that there isnt more to your story that you may have forgotten to mention initially or that may have mistakenly been left out of another persons notes.

The doctor then asks you about how you are doing currently and whether you are improving from when you first came into the hospital with the treatment being given or if you have had no improvement or if your symptoms have worsened. After that, the doctor does a physical exam and gives you an overview of the plan for that day, including any new medications and tests that they might be ordering before leaving the room.

Once the doctor steps out of the room, the visit is still not completed! The doctor will then sit down at a computer and start writing a note.

This note is a detailed documentation of the visit with the patient and a summary of the tests and treatment plan. Insurance companies continue to require greater and greater levels of documentation and details in order to reimburse the physicians as well as the hospital for your care.

After this documentation, the doctor will start placing orders for any additional tests that they want to order and also enter into the EMR any orders for new medications or to discontinue any of the existing medications.

After this, the doctor will typically try to find your nurse so that the important pieces of your plan of care are verbally reported to the nursing staff in addition to being in the EMR so that the medications can be administered, and testing can be done in an expeditious manner.

Sometimes after this, the doctor may also need to talk with the social workers or case managers for discharge planning to make sure you will have the equipment and appropriate home health care orders and any physical therapy orders that you may need after discharge.

This could involve signing forms and doing some paperwork to get your insurance to pay for home health care services. After all of this, the doctor has to find the right diagnosis codes to attach to the bill so that the insurance company reimburses the doctor and the hospital for providing care to you.

At times, if the care is more complex, the doctor may make a phone call to one or more of the consultants on your case to discuss findings and relay important information. At times the doctor may need to call your family members to update them on your progress and answer their questions as well if the patient has requested this.

This doesnt even include all the times the nurses and other health professionals page your doctor to report changes in your condition  i.e., pain, vomiting, etc., new lab results and clarification of orders.

This is what goes on into a visit that to you as a patient may just appear as a seven or eight-minute chat.

Realty is that a lot of work and coordination of care is invisible to the patient as it happens outside your hospital room.

For the hospitalists (doctors who see hospitalized patients exclusively), there is no such thing as an eight-minute visit. It is up to the public to decide how much value they are willing to place on the coordination of care and detail-oriented collaborative work from these doctors that often takes place outside of their hospital room.

Kausar Javed is an internal medicine physician.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
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(0x7f0481edaa30)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f0481e6b5a0)', '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(0x7f0481edaa30)') 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(0x7f0481e6b5a0)') 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(0x7f04819f31c0)') 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(0x7f0481e6b5a0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f0481e6b5a0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f048145f228)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f0481e9ad00)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f0481e9ad00)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0
Myanmar on Sunday donated 200 tons of rice to China as humanitarian assistance in the battle to fight against the coronavirus epidemic.

The donated rice was handed over to China's Ambassador to Myanmar Chen Hai at the Shwe Pyi Thar Industrial Zone (4) in Yangon region.

"Myanmar and China have a very long friendship and it has been promoted from one stage to another. Whatever happens in China, we feel the same as we have a fraternal relationship. We believe that China will overcome this outbreak soon," Aung Htoo, deputy minister of commerce told media.

Ambassador Chen expressed thanks to the government and people of Myanmar for supporting China during the battle against the COVID-19 outbreak.

The donated rice will be delivered to Hubei province.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Days after his visit to India, US President Donald Trump has not stopped praising India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the massive crowds that turned up to welcome him.

Donald Trump, while addressing a rally in South Carolina on Saturday, talked about the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad, where tens of thousands of people turned up to hear him speak along with Prime Minister Modi.

As he talked about the Namaste Trump event, the US president said he shared the stage with Prime Minister Modi who is a great guy and is loved by the people of India.

ALSO WATCH | What Ivanka Trump said about Namaste Trump event in Ahmedabad

And we had an amazing thing. And I went in, and heres the problem. This is a big crowd. And normally I like talking about my crowds because I get the crowds like nobody, but I just got back from 140 or 50 or 60,000 people and now Im coming here, President Trump said.

I may never be excited again about a crowd after going to India. Think of this, they have 1.5 billion people. We have 350, so were doing pretty well, Ill tell you what, but I love this crowd, and I love that crowd too That was really a worthwhile trip, he said.

Trump had reached India on February 25, accompanied by wife Melania Trump and a high-level delegation, for a nearly 36-hour visit. His first stop was Ahmedabad after which he went to see the Taj Mahal in Uttar Pradeshs Agra.

President Trump and Melania visited New Delhi in the last leg of their visit. The US president sat down with Prime Minister Modi on Tuesday for delegation-level talks during which India and America signed three agreements.

The visitors were treated to a lavish banquet hosted by President Ram Nath Kovind before they left for the US.
Ankara said March 1 that it had launched Operation Spring Shield against the Syrian Arab Army on a day that saw Turkey down two Russian-made Syrian air force jets and Russian President Vladimir Putin agree to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on March 5 over the unfolding Idlib crisis.

Turkey said it had destroyed several air defense systems, more than 100 tanks and killed 2,212 members of the Syrian forces, including three top generals in drone strikes since Feb 27.

At least one Turkish drone was shot down by Syrian forces today; Syria claimed that it shot down three. In the downing of the Syrian jets, the pilots were reported to have parachuted to safety.

The dramatic escalation pitting NATO member Turkey against the far weaker Syrian Arab army followed Feb. 27 airstrikes that killed at least 36 Turkish soldiers in Idlib, sending shock waves throughout Turkey.

Turkeys state-run Anadolu news agency said at least 21 Iranian-backed terrorists were also neutralized in Idlib, in a reference to Afghan, Pakistani and other Iranian-backed Shiite militias that have been fighting alongside Syrian President Bashar al-Assads forces in Idlib. The Turkish military also targeted Syrias Nayrab military airport in Aleppo, rendering it unusable, Anadolu said.

Earlier today, Syria said its northwestern airspace was closed and that any aircraft or drone that violated it would be treated as hostile and shot down.

As war raged on in Idlib, a humanitarian drama was unfolding at Turkeys border with Greece.

On Thursday, Turkey announced that its borders were open for millions of Syrian and other refugees in Turkey to leave. It justified the move on the grounds that it could no longer cope with the burden, with up to a million civilians fleeing regime violence in Idlib remaining massed along Syria's border with Turkey. Thousands of migrants have gathered near Greece's Kastanies border crossing, some getting there by taking free rides on buses organized by the Turkish government. Turkeys state-owned Arabic-language broadcasting channel, TRT Arabi, provided maps for migrants showing various routes to reach the border.

The Turkish interior minister said that 76,358 people had left Turkey through the western city of Edirne in Thrace. The UNs International Organization for Migration said 13,000 people had gathered at Pazarkule and Ipsala crossings on the Turkish side.

Greece has vowed to stanch the flow, firing tear gas at migrants who tried to force their way across the border at Kastanies, where some migrants pelted border guards with rocks.

The European Union called an emergency meeting of foreign ministers today while Erdogan lashed out at the EU for failing to fulfill a 2016 deal under which Turkey undertook to care for nearly 4 million mostly Syrian refugees in exchange for 6 billion euros ($6.6 billion) in financial support.

Erdogan has repeatedly threatened to flood the EU with refugees. Right now it's difficult to predict what the official EU reaction will be, said Marc Pierini, a former EU ambassador to Ankara and a Brussels-based senior nonresident fellow at Carnegie Europe.

Pierini told Al-Monitor, From what I hear around here, the effect of this new blackmail is a complete disaster. One because the Turkish leadership is officially misleading migrants, telling them that borders are open. Two because this is now an additional state-organized humanitarian disaster. There is total bewilderment in Europe at what the Turkish leadership can do when finding itself in a total, self-inflicted dead end.

Aykan Erdemir, senior director of the Turkey program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, agreed. The term that best characterizes Turkeys current foreign and security policy is kakistrocracy, that is, government by the least qualified, he told Al-Monitor. The only silver lining in the Idlib crisis is that now [the Turkish government] can blame Turkeys looming economic crisis on exogenous factors, allowing Erdogan to deny that his son-in-law Berat Albayrak, who is in charge of the economy, is to blame for his incompetence and mismanagement.

There were few signs that the Turkish government and its cheerleaders in the tightly controlled media saw things that way. We view outside criticism of our refugee policy with a sense of incredulity, tweeted Erdogans communications director, Fahrettin Altun. Those who fight over what to do with a few thousand refugees dare criticize a country with 3.7 million refugees for saying Enough's enough. The rampant hypocrisy is disingenuous and shameful.

Altun continued, Our goal has been to prevent ethnic cleansing and war crimes by the Assad regime as well as displacement and more refugees. We have been left alone in this struggle.

As Turkish forces and their Sunni rebel allies continued to inflict heavy losses on regime forces today, the tone in Turkey shifted from mourning to jubilance  and jingoism. As a Turk, I am proud that it is my government and my army that bring about this level of destruction on Assads militias from the air. First time in nine years, tweeted Hilal Kaplan, a fiercely pro-Erdogan columnist for the daily Sabah newspaper.

Aleppo is ours and so is Hatay, declared Ibrahim Karagul, a fellow Erdoganist scribe on his Twitter feed. He was responding to an article by Russias state-run Sputnik news agency, which opened to debate Turkeys 1939 acquisition of Hatay  also known as Alexandretta  in a disputed referendum following the breakup of the Ottoman Empire by the allied powers. The article is believed to have spurred todays detention of the editor-in-chief of the Turkish version of Sputnik. Mahir Boztepe was released following a phone call between Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

The emerging question is why Russia was allowing Turkey to pummel Moscow's ally. And why did Putin agree to meet with Erdogan on March 5 in Moscow after the Russian president initially said he had other plans?

After all, the consensus among military experts is that Feb. 27 airstrikes were likely carried out by Russian jets. Russia flies at night, the regime cant. The Turks were bombed at night, said Aaron Stein, director of the Foreign Policy Research Institutes Middle East Program. Both sides have chosen to blame the regime for the attack, presumably to avert a direct confrontation that neither side wants.

Still, Russia's mild reaction has surprised commentators. And so has Erdogans confidence: He said of his most recent telephone conversation with the Russian leader, "I asked Mr Putin, 'What's your business there?' If you establish a base, do so but get out of our way and leave us face to face with the regime."

Did Putin underestimate Erdogan when the pugnacious Turkish leader set a Feb. 29 deadline for Syrian forces to move out of Idlib? Is he merely letting Erdogan save face? Or does Ankara have more agency in its relations with Moscow than it is credited for? Its probably a bit of everything, said Kevork Oskanian, an honorary research fellow at Birmingham University who is writing a book titled Russian Empire. He told Al-Monitor, "Russias reluctance to intervene in the regimes favor does appear to be designed to allow Erdogan to save face while also softening Assad up for compromise. Oskanian continued, At this stage, I am wondering whether a grand bargain could yet emerge, taking into account Turkish interests in Syria  particularly regarding the Kurds  and the Russian urge to see military closure, perhaps through a managed takeover of Idlib, as the final piece of the puzzle. The preliminary result could yet be a fudge  preventing escalation but not really providing finality.

Others reckon that while Putin may well have miscalculated just how far Erdogan is willing to go, ultimately it is Russia rather than Turkey that will prevail on the terms of any de-escalation.

Erdogan is playing backgammon on Putins chessboard, said a senior Western diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity in order to speak freely. He is cornered and increasingly reckless.
Sadguru (Dr.) Charudatta Pingale, National Guide of HJS recently visited Nepal and met local devout Hindu activists at 20 places in Nepal. 3 meetings were also organized during this period while he gave guidance at 2 places. Sadguru (Dr.) Pingale was interviewed by 3 channels and he was asked questions on matters related to nation, Dharma, spiritual practice and HJS activities. Let us see some of the happenings during his tour.

Todays youth lack mental strength due to lack of knowledge and they also lack inner strength in absence of spiritual practice !  Sadguru (Dr.) Charudatta Pingale

Chitavan (Nepal) : Few local devout Hindu activists met Sadguru (Dr.) Pingale. A Buddhist Lama said that originally Buddhists and Hindus were together. He said that Buddhists were, however, proved as different from Hindus when he explained about Hinyan, Mahayan and Vajrayan. He also gave few examples of attempts made to create dispute among them under international conspiracy. He also expressed his concern over Buddhists spreading roots in Nepal and who are opposing Hindu Dharma.

Sattva-pre-dominant thoughts will be generated in a person when he becomes Sattva-pre-dominant on undertaking spiritual practice as advised by Paratpar Guru Dr. Athavale !- Dr. Madhav Bhattarai, President, Rashtriya Dharmasabha Nepal

Kathmandu (Nepal) : On 10th February, Sadguru Dr. Pingale met Dr. Madhav Bhattarai, the President of Rashtriya Dharmasabha Nepal and Dr. Kanta Bhattarai, former Minister of Nepal. Dr. Bhattarai said, while narrating his experiences on Paratpar Guru Dr. Athavale advising to undertake sadhana, Twenty years ago, Shankaracharya Swami Nishchalananda Saraswati of Puri Peetha had advised me to work but also undertake sadhana because without sadhana, the organization wouldnt be successful. As per homeopathy, a disease is created first in mind and then in body. There is anarchy in a country when citizens of that country are inclined towards materialism and have unwanted thoughts. Paratpar Guru, Dr. Athavale has advised to practise spirituality and be virtuous since virtuous thoughts would be created in peoples mind and will have good effect. Sadguru (Dr.) Pingale also extended invitation to Dr. Bhattarai for attending 9th all-India Hindu Convention.

Sadguru (Dr.) Pingale meets Prof. Niranjan Oza, President of Forum of Nepalese Media

Kathmandu (Nepal) : Sadguru (Dr.) Charudatta Pingale met Prof. Niranjan Oza, President of Forum of Nepalese Media (Nepali Prasar-madhyam Manch) when Prof. Oza expressed concern over strong influence of western culture on young generation of Nepal. Sadguru (Dr.) Pingale said, giving example of the terror presently spread through Corona virus, It has been given in the holy book written by Tembe-swami that such kind of problems have spiritual cause; but these evil energies have no effect when there is protection shield of Guru. Prof. Oza had arranged for Sadguru Dr. Pingales guidance on the topic of Present Education System for teachers of Shri Shanti Vidya Madhyamik School.

Guidance for teachers of Shri Shanti Vidya Madhyamik School (SSVMS)

Teachers carry out the process of creating individual, society and nation !  Sadguru (Dr.) Pingale

Sadguru (Dr.) Pingale said in his guidance to teachers of SSVMS, A teacher doesnt only educate children but he also carries out the process of creating individuals, society and nation. What is the purpose of education should be clear. The primary purpose of education should be to awaken human in a person and to take him to divinity. A person will not think about others interests till he doesnt become a human first and it will lead to clashes. There is spiritual cause behind everything. Spiritual practice and worship purifies mind and creates capacity to analyze everything.

Teachers asked various questions like What is the difference between Spirituality and Dharma?, Does a person become religious only after going to temple? etc and got their doubts clarified. Prof. Niranjan Ojha first introduced Sadguru (Dr.) Pingale and narrated his experiences of going to Sanatan Ashram in Goa.

Invitation to 9th all-India Hindu Rashtra Convention extended to Dr. Ramchandra Adhikari, the President of Vishwa Hindu Mahasangh, Nepal (VHMN) and its senior Vice President Bharatraj Paudel

Sadguru (Dr.) Pingale had meeting with Dr. Ramchandra Adhikari, President of VHMN and former Minister so also with senior Vice President Bharatraj Paudel of VHMN and extended to them invitation for the forthcoming 9th all-India Hindu Rashtra Convention. Dr. Ramchandra Adhikari extended invitation to Sadguru (Dr.) Pingale on behalf of VHMN for attending international conference on Sanatan Dharma-Sanskruti. Bharatraj Paudel requested Sadguru (Dr.) Pingale to guide and help in proper organization of this conference. Sadguru (Dr.) Pingale told about the manner in which awareness was being created by HJS on duties towards nation and Dharma, through such Conventions all over India.

Guidance to members of pro-Hindu organization viz. Vishwa Hindu Mahasangh (VHM) Nepal

Pokhra (Nepal) : On 17th February, Sadguru (Dr.) Pingale held guidance for activists of VHM, Nepal and activists and office bearers of District Kaski. He said,

1. Secularism has been adopted today by ignoring Dharma which can offer peace to not only human beings but also to animals. Only Dharma has the capacity through which everyone can achieve progress. Present education system helps only in getting jobs to satisfy own needs. It is taking children towards competition, jealousy, hatred, expectations and ego. Maximum cases of divorce are observed in educated class.

2. One has to create joy, peace and bliss in self before it is created in a country for which it is necessary to abide by Dharma and undertake spiritual practice.

3. He said regarding Dharmacharan that turmeric, when mixed in lime water, becomes kumkum. Turmeric is found underground; therefore, it has more of Earth Element. Human body is also made of Earth Element. By applying kumkum, protective shield gets created around that Earth Element present in us. Hindus need to protect own Dharma-shaastra, culture and religious traditions. Birthday is celebrated by writing name of that person on cake as per western culture. Writing name and then cutting it creates serious consequences as explained under Tantra-vidya.

Shri. Shankar Kharal of VHM, Nepal introduced Sadguru (Dr.) Pingale to participants in the beginning of the program. Parvati Paudel, the District-President of Kaski welcomed Sadguru (Dr.) Pingale. Shri. Pruthvi Paudel Central President of Brahman Samaj, Nepal also attended this guidance.

Basic Principle of Dharma needs to be understood !  Sadguru (Dr.) Charudatta Pingale

Kathamandu (Nepal) : Shri. Parashuram Kafale, a reporter of Naya Patrika daily newspaper expressed his wish to meet Sadguru (Dr.) Charudatta Pingale. Sadguru (Dr.) Pingale said during this meeting, We need to develop capacity to understand Sanatan Dharma. Giving example of a picture of Shiva published by Sanatan, he said, Serpent used to be shown on the right shoulder of Shiva, was later shown on his left shoulder in the second picture published but serpent was shown on Shivas head in the picture published third time. While explaining the science of changes made in the picture, he said, Spiritual practice helps first in purifying Surya-naadi (Right energy-channel in body); later as you progress, Chandra-naadi (left energy-channel) gets purified and on awakening of Kundalini from Mooladhar Chakra, it reaches Sahasrar Chakra when inner mind also gets purified and one gets experiences as per that level. Saints know the whole Chakra on becoming evolved, with knowledge of past, present and future.

While explaining speciality of Sanatan Dharma, Sadguru (Dr.) Pingale said, As one year of human being is one day of departed souls because the pace is reduced in higher planes. Now, even science is saying the same thing that as one goes to higher planes, pace gets reduced. Principles followed by Sects may not work at every place. We need to know the basic principle of Dharma. There is need to propagate such pure science amongst people. There is someone under Sanatan Dharma who gives such vision and that someone is God. An idol doesnt protect us but when we have faith in the Principle present in such idol, it protects us.

Hindu youth hold inferiority complex towards Dharma due to lack of Dharmacharan !- Sadguru (Dr.) Charudatta Pingale

Kathmandu (Nepal)  Science is caught in exterior matters. Hindu youth lack knowledge of science on various customs and traditions followed as per our Dharma and how that is beneficial to the world; therefore, Hindu youth have a kind of inferiority complex towards own Dharma, stated Sadguru (Dr.) Charudatta Pingale.

He addressed a meeting organized by Shri. Vishnu Bahadur Kshetri, along with Shri. Mohan Singh, the President of Mushto Kul-devata Pratishthan, Dr. Surendra Kesi, senior reporter, retired DSP Shri. Shyam Bahadur Khadka and other members of Pratishthan. Sadguru (Dr.) Pingale said, It has been proved through various experiments conducted with different equipment at Sanatans ashram in Goa, on positive effects of various customs and traditions followed under Dharma, on self and on society. If we want to protect Dharma, we have to first establish it in our mind. Dharma cannot be sustained without sacrifice. I have to sacrifice for my country and my Dharma should be the thought invoked in mind. Elected representatives try to create rift between people and administration under the guise of good governance. This rift becomes the cause of struggle; therefore, we should be united.

Meeting held with devout Hindu activists at Shri Koteshwar Mahadev Mandir

Shri. Krushnaprasad Khanal along with Shri. Benju Bhattarai, the President of Shri Koteshwar Mahadev Mandir and their associates had meeting with Sadguru (Dr.) Charudatta Pingale on 11th February 2020.

Sadguru (Dr.) Pingale said while answering to various queries asked by participants, If Hindu word has been given by Muslims, how was Hindukush Mountain range created before establishment of Islam 1400 years ago? There is mention of word Sindhu in Naadi-sukta in the third Mandal of Rhugveda. Hindu word has been coined from the word Sindhu. There is one form of God but different names given to Him as per His functions; similarly, Sanatan Dharma, Arya Dharma, Vedic Dharma are different names of Hindu Dharma. Shri. Gururaj Prabhu of HJS was also present on the occasion.

Hindu Dharma, culture and traditions should be protected at global level !  Sadguru (Dr) Charudatta Pingale

Onterviewed by Shri. Satchidananda Mishra of Hindi Himalini Patrika

Shri. Satchidananda Mishra of Hindi Himalini Patrika wanted to meet Sadguru (Dr.) Charudatta Pingale and meeting was arranged on 16th February when he interviewed Sadguru (Dr.) Pingale. While answering to his various questions, Sadguru (Dr) Pingale said, The third largest population in the world is reducing at global level. There is not a single nation for Hindus in the world. Hindu Dharma, culture and traditions should be protected at universal level.

Sadguru (Dr.) Pingale further said, False history is being written these days. The fight between good and bad will always go on. Spiritual energy is required to win over bad. Bharat is spread from Himalaya to Indian Ocean. Bharat will spread this energy all over the Universe. Guru-mantra is like burning coal. We have to always keep it burning; else it would get extinguished with time and become ash. Guru awakens Teja-tattva from Kundalini and it is our duty to keep it awakened through spiritual practice.

Importance of spiritual practice was realized due to articles written on Dharma and Adhyatma by HJS in Nepalese language !  Shri. Govind Adhikari of Hamra Kura, an on-line portal in Nepalese language

Kathmandu (Nepal) : Shri. Govind Adhikari of Hamra Kura, an on-line portal in Nepalese language was met on behalf of HJS on 13th February. He publishes HJS articles on Dharma and Adhyatma in Nepalese language. Shri. Adhikari said that good response was received to such articles and he too realized importance of spirituality due to these articles.

Sadguru (Dr.) Pingale meets Pashupat Yogamargi Mahatma Sushil ji

On 13th February, Sadguru (Dr.) Pingale met Mahatma Sushil ji who practises spirituality under Pashupat Yoga-marga. Mahatma Sushil ji said, Nepal is a land of worship. It is a nation of Sages. Considering its background of Dharma, culture and traditions, it is necessary to develop Nepal as Tapobhoomi instead of working for only her worldly progress. Mahatma Sushil ji extended good wishes for activities undertaken by HJS for Hindu Rashtra in India, when he was given information on the same.
Night curfew lifted in parts of Shillong, situation remains tense

India

pti-PTI

Shillong, Mar 01: The night curfew imposed in the Meghalaya capital after violent clashes was lifted at 8 am on Sunday, barring in areas under the jurisdiction of Lumdiengjri and Sadar police stations and Cantonment Beat House, where indefinite curfew continued to remain in effect, officials said.

The curfew was imposed since 9 pm Saturday, following the death of two persons in separate attacks in Ichamati area in East Khasi Hills district on Friday and at Shillong's Iewduh market on Saturday, they said.

The situation is tense following the two deaths, especially of a Khasi Students' Union (KSU) activist in a clash between members of the students' body and non-tribals during a rally in Ichamati area, which is close to the Indo-Bangladesh border.

Sec 144 imposed in Shaheen Bagh even as Hindu Sena calls off proposed protest

East Khasi Hills District authorities said the curfew was extended in areas under the jurisdiction of Lumdiengjri and Sadar police stations Cantonment Beat House over fears there might be a serious breakdown of law and order in those places.

NEWS AT NOON, MARCH 1st, 2020

"There is a likelihood of a serious breakdown of peace and tranquillity which may lead to loss of life and property... I do promulgate curfew in these areas from 8 am on March 1 until further orders," District Magistrate Matsiewdor W Nongbri said in an order.

Mobile internet and messaging services have been temporarily suspended in six districts of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills region to curtail rumours that could deteriorate law and order, officials said.

Clashes broke out between KSU members and non-tribals during a rally organised against the Citizenship Amendment Act and demanding implementation of the Inner Line Permit (ILP), at Ichamati on Friday, district Superintendent of Police Claudia Lyngwa said. Eight persons have been arrested in this case and a magisterial inquiry has been instituted to probe into the incident, she said.

One person was stabbed to death at the Iewduh market under Cantonment Beat House on Saturday when unidentified persons went on an attacking spree that left seven others seriously injured, the SP said, adding that no one has been arrested so far in this connection. After the clashes, curfew was imposed at noon in the two police station areas in Shillong while night curfew was imposed in the entire city.

Three companies of central forces have been deployed in the sensitive areas of the district, including in the affected areas of the city, officials said. Governor Tathagata Roy and Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma have appealed the citizens to maintain peace. Both had taken to social media to issue their appeals even as mobile internet services were suspended in the six districts.

Chief Minister Sangma reviewed the law and order situation in the state and appealed for peace. "I appeal to all our citizens and people of the state to ensure that peace returns and urge upon different organisations to refrain from any violent activity. A magisterial inquiry has been set up. We have ensured that enough manpower is put in place in the affected areas," he had said.

He announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh for the family of the man killed in Friday's clash.

Meanwhile, a police officer told PTI that the state police, which has set up helpline number 1800 345 3846 for stranded tourists, has successfully escorted at least 16 tourists out of the hill town to Guwahati after receiving frantic calls for help from them.
Former interior minister Muhyiddin Yassin celebrates after being appointed as the Malaysia's 8th Prime Minister in Kuala Lumpur on February 29, 2020. (Photo by Mohd Daud/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

[UPDATE: Adding a video of the phone call between the two prime ministers, posted on Facebook on Monday (2 March) by Lees wife Ho Ching.]

SINGAPORE  Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has, on Sunday (1 March) afternoon, congratulated newly sworn-in Malaysian Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

In a Facebook post, Lee said he spoke to his Malaysian counterpart on the phone.

I first met Tan Sri Muhyiddin in 1985. I accompanied Dr Tony Tan, then Minister for Trade and Industry, to KL for an ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting. Tan Sri Muhyiddin was then the Deputy Minister in the Malaysian Ministry of Trade and Industry, and received us at the airport, Lee recalled.

Since then, he added, we have had many opportunities to work with Tan Sri Muhyiddin, both at the Federal level in his various Cabinet appointments, and when he was Menteri Besar of Johor.

Looking forward, Lee said he is confident that Singapores long-standing relationship with Malaysia will grow under the new PMs leadership.

He also invited Tan Sri Muhyiddin to visit Singapore soon. We will have much to discuss, especially in this challenging global environment.

On Monday (2 March), Lees wife, and Temasek Holdings chief executive officer, Ho Ching, posted a video of the call  by Malaysian broadcaster RTM  on her Facebook page. Watch:

Other Singapore stories

COVID-19: Couple from China charged under Infectious Diseases Act

COVID-19: Dorscon level could be lowered if virus spreads worldwide

COVID-19: Two church-related clusters linked through Chinese New Year family gathering

COVID-19: New visitors with recent travel history to Daegu and Cheongdo not allowed to enter Singapore from late Wed
Attendees walk through the lobby during the 2016 IHS CERAWeek conference in Houston, Texas, U.S., on Thursday, Feb. 25, 2016.

The annual CERAWeek energy conference, which was scheduled to take place in Houston from March 9 to March 13, has been canceled due to the increased spread of coronavirus, according to IHSMarkit, the consultancy that has held the event every year since 1981.

"We do this with deep disappointment," the group said in a statement issued Sunday on its website.

"Over the last few days concern has mounted rapidly about the COVID-19 coronavirus. The World Health Organization raised the threat level on Friday, the U.S. government cancelled a summit meeting scheduled in Las Vegas, an increasing number of companies are instituting travel bans and restrictions, border health checks are becoming more restrictive and there is growing concern about large conferences with people coming from different parts of the world. Delegates from over 80 countries were expected to participate in CERAWeek 2020."

CERAWeek is the energy industry's biggest conference and annually draws senior executives from around the world. The group said it will plan ahead for CERAWeek 2021.

This is not the first event that has been canceled over the coronavirus outbreak.

Facebook this past week announced its decision to cancel its annual F8 software developer conference due to concerns surrounding the outbreak. Game Developers Conference, a major event for video game programmers and designers, has been postponed.

The Mobile World Congress, the world's largest technology trade show held in Barcelona, was called off after companies including Facebook pulled out. Concerts across Asia have been canceled. The annual Geneva International Motor Show was also canceled.

On Saturday, the first death in the U.S. from the coronavirus was confirmed in Washington state. There are 72 confirmed coronavirus cases nationwide. Globally, there are more than 87,000 confirmed cases and at least 2,990 deaths, most of them in China where the illness first emerged.

Read the full statement from IHSMarkit here.
Even if Anthony had a year to analyze and dissect each piece...(he couldn't tell if it would)... stand the harsh light of public exposure.

WUWT insider Willis Eschenbach tells you all you need to know about Anthony Watts and his blog, WattsUpWithThat (WUWT). As part of his scathing commentary , Wondering Willis accuses Anthony Watts of being clueless about the blog articles he posts. To paraphrase: Click here to read more.
Page Content

Ministry of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Development and Infrastructure (Ministry VROMI), announces that there will be a partial closure of the Causeway Bridge for motorised traffic on Monday, March 2nd, Tuesday March 3rd from 9.00pm to 2.00am.





On Monday March 02nd, the traffic lane coming from the direction of the Airport road toward Union Road (Cole bay) will be closed for motorised traffic during the aforementioned hours.





On Tuesday March 3rd the traffic lane coming from Union Road towards the Airport road (Simpson bay) will be closed during the aforementioned time.





The closure of the Causeway Bridge is in connection with maintenance work that will take place on the Bridge.





Motorists are advised to be vigilant and observant of the traffic diversion directional signs.





Ministry VROMI apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause.
Franklin Graham sues more venues over canceled tour stops

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

Evangelist Franklin Graham has taken legal action against two more venues for canceling his U.K. tour events planned for May due to his biblical views on homosexuality, according to a spokesperson of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

After launching legal proceedings against the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow, BGEA has now sued the FlyDSA Arena in Sheffield and ICC Wales in the city of Newport, South Wales, Christian Today reported.

The Scottish Event Campus, owners of the Glasgow Hydro, had been given time until Thursday to explain why it canceled Grahams event slated for May 30  the first night of his tour  but the spokesperson said the SEC leaders intend to resist the Billy Graham Evangelistic Associations request for judicial relief, and have been advised that they will have another seven days to file a substantive answer, The Herald (of Scotland) reported.

BGEA, which Graham heads, will continue trying to work toward a resolution that will allow the Graham Tour U.K. to be held at The SSE Hydro as planned, he added.

All eight venues booked by the BGEA for Grahams U.K. tour pulled out, allegedly due to pressure from LGBT activist groups.

Grahams spokesperson said the cancelations had alarming implications for free speech and religious freedom.

BGEAs position remains that in nearly 70 years of public evangelistic outreach ministry, there is no evidence whatsoever that any BGEA event involving Franklin Graham has ever caused a danger to public safety or incited public disorder, he said.

The actions taken by these venues and those responsible for them to publicly repudiate these contracts are clear efforts to distance the decision-makers from BGEA, Franklin Graham and other Christians who hold similar beliefs, he continued. There is no question that this was done under pressure from those with opposing views who have demonstrated a relatively predictable pattern of harassment and bullying of those doing business with BGEA.

The spokesperson added, This disregard for principles of good faith and fair dealing, based on the mere suggestion that a person's sincerely held religious views or statements are 'hateful' or would result in public disorder, should be very alarming to anyone who is genuinely concerned about diversity, inclusion and tolerance, let alone free speech and the free exercise of religious beliefs.

In a media interview earlier this month, Graham said he was surprised over the cancelations.

I have been surprised  I'm not coming to speak against anybody and I dont name any groups of people, Graham, the son of the late evangelist Billy Graham, told Christian Today, based in the U.K. Im coming to tell people how they can have a relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ.

He said hes most concerned about the stifling of free speech for churches.

... If we don't stand up for the right to free speech and freedom of religion, there are lots of churches in this country that meet in public who are at risk, he said. They could be kicked out, they could be forced to go somewhere else, just because of their faith."

We haven't broken any laws and I think it's important for the church that we resolve this matter so that it protects them," he said of possibly pursuing legal action.

This isnt the first time the evangelist has been met with opposition from LGBT groups. In 2018, bus ads for his evangelistic festival were pulled following an outcry from LGBT groups.

Graham believes that the need for preaching the Gospel in the U.K. is greater than ever.

He wants people to know that we are all sinners and our sins separate us from God.
Kriti Sanon Misses Kartik Aaryan As She Celebrates 1 Year Of Luka Chuppi On The Sets Of Mimi
Istanbul: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has asked President Vladimir Putin for Russia to stand aside in Syria and let Turkey fight Syrian government forces alone, after 34 Turkish soldiers were killed this week.

But the Syrian government forces, backed by Russian air power, kept up air strikes in the north-western province of Idlib, attacking the strategic city of Saraqeb which sits on an important road, the Syrian Observatory war monitor reported.

Migrants gather between Pazarkule border gate in Turkey and Kastanies border gate as they try to enter Greece. Credit:AP

The government forces' air strikes are part of a major assault to capture the province, part of the last remaining territory held by rebels backed by Turkey.

Turkey, which has poured forces into Idlib, also hit back, killing 26 pro-Damascus troops around Idlib and the Aleppo countryside, the Syrian Observatory said, and Turkey-backed rebels said they had re-taken six towns and villages in southern Idlib.
By Express News Service

KOLKATA: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday assured that all victims of religious persecution in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan will get citizenship rights in India even if they do not have documentary proof.

Addressing his first public rally in Kolkata after the 2019 general elections, Shah accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of scaring people over the Citizenship Amendment Act.

"Mamata didi is scaring people, forcing them to run from pillar to post. They are going to the sarpanch to procure document related to their citizenship. I assure all refugees who were tortured, forcibly converted to other religion and had to leave their own country because of religious persecution  they will be given citizenship, Shah said.

Reaching out to the minorities, he said: "I assure every person from the minority community that CAA only provides citizenship.

Shah urged Bengal voters to give the saffron camp a chance to bring back Bengals glory.

"You gave the Left Front decades and Mamata Banerjee nine years. In the 2021 Assembly elections, you give us a chance and elect our party in Bengal. We promise, we will make all your dreams come true, he said. Shahs visit triggered large-scale protest marches across the city.

While a group of BJP supporters near the rally venue shouted the goli maro slogan that had polarised Delhi, CPM, Congress, Left-leaning students and ultra-Left supporters staged demonstrations at several places with black flags and go back slogans against Shah.

While Trinamool supporters were silent, Mamata, without naming the BJP, fumed against divisive politics.

Launches new drive ahead of civic polls

Amit Shah launched Bengal BJPs new outreach called Aar Noy Onnay (No More Injustice) ahead of the civic polls to be held in April-May.

He announced a cell phone number and urged people to give a missed call to it to indicate their support to the drive
This handout from Malaysias Department of Information Malaysias incoming Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin receiving documents from King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah before taking the oath as the countrys new leader at the National Palace in Kuala Lumpur. AFP Photo

A former interior minister was sworn in as Malaysia's premier Sunday, marking the return of a scandal-mired regime to power after the last government's collapse but ex-leader Mahathir Mohamad slammed the move as illegal.

The Southeast Asian nation was plunged into turmoil a week ago as Mahathir's reformist Pact of Hope alliance, which stormed to a historic victory in 2018, collapsed after a bid to force out leader-in-waiting Anwar Ibrahim.

Mahathir -- who was the world's oldest leader at 94 -- then quit, triggering a race for the premiership which he ultimately lost to little-known Muhyiddin Yassin, who heads a coalition dominated by the country's ethnic Malay Muslim majority.

The decision Saturday by the monarch to pick Muhyiddin was greeted with shock as Mahathir's allies claimed he had enough support to return as leader, and sparked widespread anger that the democratically elected government was being abruptly ejected.

The king appoints the country's prime minister, who must show he has the support of most MPs.

Muhyiddin's coalition includes the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the party of disgraced ex-leader Najib Razak, as well as a hardline group that wants tougher Islamic laws.

UMNO is the corruption-riddled lynchpin of the coalition thrown out at the 2018 elections amid allegations Najib and his cronies looted billions of dollars from state fund 1MDB. Najib is now on trial for corruption.

Despite a last-minute bid by Mahathir and his allies to prove that the veteran politician had enough support to return as premier, Muhyiddin's inauguration went ahead Sunday morning.

No rule of law

Wearing traditional Malay dress, the 72-year-old took the oath of office at the national palace in Kuala Lumpur during an elaborate ceremony.

But in a press conference shortly beforehand, Mahathir insisted that Muhyiddin did not have the support of most of the country's 222 MPs.

This is a very strange thing... losers will form the government, the winners will be in the opposition, he said.

The rule of law no longer applies, he said, adding he would call for an urgent parliament sitting so that Muhyiddin can prove he has enough support.
Young Ishan Porel on Sunday credited out-of-favour Bengal pacer Ashok Dinda for his five-wicket haul against Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy semifinal here on Sunday.

Dinda, who is Bengal's second leading wicket taker behind Utpal Chatterjee, was suspended on disciplinary grounds on the eve of their match against Andhra and has remained out-of-favour since then.

The Porel-led young Bengal pace attack bundled out Karnataka for 122 despite the visitors boasting of a strong batting line up, including the likes of India opener K L Rahul, Manish Pandey and Karun Nair.

Porel, who returned with the figures for 5/39 in the first innings, said Dinda had advised him to focus on bowling in the right areas.

"I spoke to him last night and he asked us to bowl in a disciplined way. He told us, 'don't try too much, and just bowl in right areas and you will get wickets'," Porel said at end of day two.

"It definitely worked. I remembered what he said while bowling. He has so many wickets for Bengal on this wicket and has got a lot more experience," he added.

The 21-year-old, who is leading the Bengal pace department, said it's not an added pressure on him.

"We have been bowling well. If you see the Indian attack they back and applaud each other's performances. The same thing we are doing here. The hard work we have put in is paying off."



Porel troubled his Kings XI Punjab skipper Rahul a couple of times before the star player was dismissed by Mukesh Kumar.

"He (Rahul) is a lot more calm and composed. He has got all the time to play the ball. He faces 140kmph bowling all the time. It was easy for him here."



"He got out to a poor shot because we showed a lot of discipline in our bowling. We are happy that he could not go after us and consumed 67 deliveries for his 26," he said.

Bengal rode on Anustup Majumdar's unbeaten 149 to post 312. In reply Porel grabbed 5 for 39 as they extended their overall lead to 262 at the end of day two.

The India A pacer joined the side in the quarterfinal after returning from the tour of New Zealand and the youngster said the experience helped him.

"After returning from there, it helped me a lot here with the upright seam in SG ball. It's helping me altogether after returning from new Zealand," he said.

"I'm getting more experience after playing 20-odd matches. I'm more confident now to pitch the ball and get the movement.

"It is happening naturally to me and I'm not putting any extra effort. I'm also mentally more aggressive. The off-season training and India A tour has helped," he concluded.

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


Preity Zinta may not be seen on the big screen that often anymore but she is pretty active on social media where we get to catch glimpses from her life. The actress keeps netizens clued into her life by sharing regular updates on social media. Like recently, on the occasion of her 4th wedding aniversary, Preity took to social media and shared a picture with her husband, Gene Goodenough celebrating their big day with her fans.



Preity who has entertained us in various films like Kya Kehna, Mission Kashmir, Veer Zaara, Kal Ho Naa Ho and Salaam Namaste in the past, got married to Gene Goodenough in a private ceremony in Los Angeles on 29 February 2016.





Sharing an adorable selfie with her husband, Preity captioned the post, "Happy Anniversary my darling iA Its been 4 years & it still feels like yesterday. Love you to the moon & back A #Patiparmeshwar #leapyearanniversary #ting"

Now now, isn't that the cutest post you've seen today? We wish the couple a very happy anniversary!
LUKEVILLE, Ariz. - In Arizona, cactus rustling - stealing or killing the state's iconic saguaros - is a felony. It's illegal to shoot or deface the iconic cactuses or to remove them from parks, where the slow-growing succulents can reach more than 60 feet and live up to 200 years. Violators are pursued by state agricultural police, or "cactus cops."

That hasn't stopped federal contractors from plowing over saguaros to make room for President Donald Trump's border wall.

At least a half-dozen saguaros were uprooted this month by crews clearing a dirt road next to new border fencing at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, about 150 miles southwest of Tucson, near the Lakeville border crossing.

Remains of the saguaros, some of which stood taller than the 30-foot wall, were dumped, under some other debris, near a hill that crews started blasting with explosives this month to build the wall. The company, Southwest Valley Constructors, has a $789 million contract from U.S. Customs and Border Protection to build 38 miles of border fence in the area.

"They have quite clearly tried to hide the body of this cactus," said Laiken Jordahl, a former Organ Pipe park contractor who is now a campaigner for the Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity, which has sued to stop the wall.

ADVERTISEMENT

During a visit to the construction site last week, Jordahl took photos and video of what he called saguaro "carcasses." He has posted footage online, spurring outrage. The cactuses are typically described in anthropomorphic terms: the outstretched branches are "arms"; the bare spines, "ribs"; and the "skeletons" of saguaros that died, evidently of natural causes.

It's easy to see why Arizona's Tohono O'odham tribe believes saguaros have spirits.

"They really all do have their own personalities," Jordahl said. "Some of them have been here longer than the border itself. What right do we think we have to destroy something like that?"

The saguaro blossom is Arizona's state flower, and the saguaro has its own federal park in Tucson. Even on private land, you need a state permit to move them. On the Tohono O'odham reservation - the largest within Arizona - saguaros are considered sacred, the tribal calendar organized around the harvest of their sweet red fruit. Nurseries charge $100 a foot for saguaros; mature plants can go for thousands of dollars.

Border Patrol officials say that contractors have destroyed only a few saguaros, and only ones that were unhealthy and could not be salvaged. Some scientists disagree, pointing out that transplanting a large cactus is often tantamount to killing it.

More than 90% of the cactuses in the border wall construction area near Organ Pipe have been "carefully transplanted," Roy Villareal, the chief of Border Patrol's Tucson sector, which includes Organ Pipe, wrote on Twitter, saying he wished to dispel "misinformation."

As of this week, the agency and the National Park Service had moved 2,200 cacti from the area. Before wall construction began, "the agencies collaborated on a vegetation and plant relocation plan to minimize impacts to protected and sensitive plants," said Matthew Dyman, a Border Patrol spokesman.

He said workers had mapped "cacti and other protected plants" within the 60-foot federally owned border zone - known as the Roosevelt Reservation - where the wall and an adjacent access road are being built. Workers were trying to preserve agave, ocotillo and various cactuses including saguaro, fishhook, night-blooming cereus, senita, barrel, hedgehog and the park's namesake Organ Pipe, he said.

ADVERTISEMENT

Less than 10% of cactuses in the border wall construction zone at Organ Pipe have been removed so far, he said, and healthy plants have been transplanted elsewhere in the park.

On Tuesday, Villareal tweeted a video of the construction site and insisted that the Border Patrol has "environmental and cultural monitors" on site.

"If they find something, work stops," the video says.

Jordahl remains skeptical.

"Every time I visit I see hundreds of butchered cacti," he said.

During a visit on Feb. 18, it was not clear which saguaros at Organ Pipe had been marked for destruction. In the path of the access road widening stood two saguaros - each more than 30 feet tall with an arm, suggesting that they were at least 95 years old. They showed no signs of decay. Nonetheless, the next day, workers had widened the road, uprooted, chopped and discarded the two saguaros under other brush.

On Wednesday, Dyman, the Border Patrol spokesman, declined to comment about the two cactuses.

The cactuses could soon be threatened elsewhere. To the west in Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, crews from Tempe, Ariz.-based Fisher Sand & Gravel Co. could be seen skirting saguaros as they widened the main east-west dirt road, Devil's Highway. Fisher has a $268 million contract to build about 31 miles of border fence in the area.

ADVERTISEMENT

Road widening is scheduled to begin soon, including a "relocation plan" for saguaros and other cactuses, Andrew Kornacki, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is coordinating border wall building with the Border Patrol.

A licensed arborist will inspect the plants' health and likelihood of successful transplantation in the area, then an environmental monitor will verify the number and location of plants to be moved by hand with a shovel and protective wrapping or by a specially equipped cradle truck, he said. The cactuses' health is then monitored for a year.

There's not much that saguaro defenders can do to stop federal contractors from felling them. They're not endangered like other southern Arizona cactuses, such as the Acuna and hedgehog cactus, though federal courts have allowed the Trump administration to waive environmental laws protecting even those species in the wall's path. Lawsuits by environmental groups have so far failed to halt construction.

Rep. Raul M. Grijalva, an Arizona Democrat who represents the Organ Pipe area, and Ned Norris Jr., chairman of the Tohono O'Odham, which has about 35,000 members, of whom roughly half live in the reservation, visited the park together last month. They complained about the environmental damage border wall construction was causing and pleaded with the Border Patrol to stop and consult with local officials. Instead, in addition to destroying saguaros at Organ Pipe, construction crews used explosives this month to blast a path for the wall through Monument Hill, a Native American burial ground.

"Saying the Border Patrol cares about the environmental impacts of border wall construction is absurd to anyone who has seen the destruction at Organ Pipe," said Grijalva, who led a hearing in Washington on Wednesday about the effect of border wall construction on indigenous communities. "Waived laws along the borderlands have facilitated this destruction at an alarming pace. If construction continues, the damage to the iconic saguaros of Southern Arizona will be irreparable."

In a statement, Norris said the saguaro "has deep cultural significance" to his people as a traditional food source and that the harvest brings families together to mark the start of the O'odham new year.

"Attempts to gloss over the needless destruction of saguaros is another reminder of the harm being caused by the ridiculous border wall," Norris said. "All of this is being done as federal agencies still have not held any meaningful consultations with the nation, which are mandated by federal law and executive order."

Moving saguaros can be delicate business. Saguaros rely on a carrot-shaped tap root that runs several feet deep and a complex network of shallow roots that can extend nearly 20 feet and are difficult to reestablish, especially if they're moved to a different type of soil, and may rot if untreated, according to Bill Peachy, a Tucson-based independent scientist who has researched and rescued the cactuses for years. Problems are not always immediately apparent, he said: Just as saguaros grow slowly, it can take years for them to die.

"They've put them on a path where they won't survive," Peachy said of transplanted saguaros.

When hydrated, saguaros can weigh more than 2 tons, and those with arms require added support. The National Park Service recommends against transplanting saguaros when temperatures dip below 60 degrees, as they did in Lukeville this month.

"The bigger it is, the harder it is," said Bill Holcombe, who serves on the board of the Tucson Cactus and Succulent Society, which he said has rescued 100,000 cacti in the past 20 years.

Holcombe's group doesn't transplant cacti more than 5 feet tall, which he said require skilled contractors with special equipment.

"When they're digging it up along the border for the wall, hopefully they've got some responsible people doing it," he said. "People hate to see them destroyed."

---

(c)2020 Los Angeles Times

Visit the Los Angeles Times at www.latimes.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
CHICO, Calif. - Chico Police responded to a report of an armed robbery they believe to be drug-related.

Police say on Saturday, Feb 29, at 4:40 p.m., the Chico Police Dispatch Center received a call reporting a home invasion robbery that had just occurred in the 500 block of El Reno Drive, a residential street, in Chico.

Officers arrived and learned that four suspects arrived at the victims house, tied him and his roommate up and stole several items of property from the victims.

Action News Now reporter Kristian Lopez spoke with neighbors in the area on Sunday.

One man, who wished to remain anonymous, says one of the victims is his neighbor, he says he managed to escape and ran to him for help. He said,"He did still have a plastic zip tie around his ankle, he looked a little frantic, he said people had broken into on his house and that he escaped through the back door and climbed over the back fence, then came down the street, I guess he didnt know anyone else but me."

Police say the suspects were described as three black male adults and one Hispanic female adult. They were armed with handguns and were seen driving a black SUV similar to a Chevrolet Suburban.

During the course of this investigation, Officers say they learned the motivation for the theft was drug-related, specifically marijuana. Also stolen from the victims was a significant amount of cash as well as three firearms.

Chico Police says there were no injuries reported.

Anyone with information which may be helpful to the investigation of this incident is encouraged to call the Chico Police Department at (530) 897 4910 and reference case number 20-001405
Hi, my name is Scott C. Waring and I wrote a few books and am currently a ESL School Owner in Taiwan. I have had my own UFO sighting up close and personal, but that's how it works right? A non believer becomes a believer when they experience their first sighting. You witnessed it, your perceptual field changes, so now you need to share it.





I created this site to help the UFO community get a little bit organized. I noticed that there was a lot of chaos when searching for UFO sighting reports, so I hope this site helps. I wanted to support those eyewitnesses who have tried to tell others about what they have seen, yet were laughed at by even closest of friends.





More and more each day the governments of the world leak bits and pieces of UFO information to the public. They have a trickle down theory in hopes of slowly getting citizens use to the idea that we are not alone in universe and never have been. The truth is being leaked drop by drop until one day we look around and find ourselves neck high in it.





The discovery of alien species in existence is the most monumental scientific event in human history, suppression of that information is a crime against humanity.





About me:

I live in Taiwan. I OWN MY OWN ENGLISH SCHOOL, AND ONCE HAD 5 SCHOOLS.

Am Former USAF at SAC base (flight line).

Age: 42

Educ: BA in Elem ed. Masters in Counseling ed.





I had two UFO sightings, (30+bus size orbs) in military and in 2012 personally saw the UFO over Taipei 101 building on New Years Day (and recored it).
Ritika arun vaishali By

Express News Service

VIJAYAWADA: A year ago, a few farmers of Namburu, a small village in Guntur district, were fascinated to see a machine flying over the field of Kotireddy, one of their counterparts. On enquiring, they learnt that it was a drone, and the 39-year-old farmer said he was using it to spray pesticide on his crop.

The unavailability of farm labourers and the high wages they charged when available pushed Kotireddy, a computer science graduate, to experiment with the technology.

In January last year, I applied for a drone license at the Air Force office in Visakhapatnam. I got it within a month and bought the drone from Kankipadu, he said. Be it for saving time, money or your health, a drone is beneficial, the farmer explained.

It does the work in half the time, takes half the money, and prevents direct human contact with pesticides. So now, the other farmers get Kotireddys help to spray pesticides on their crop. While it takes Rs 12,000 to hire a labourer to spray a three-acre maize field each season, Kotireddy charges the other farmers just Rs 5,600 each, he said.

Labourers charge Rs 3,000 each time they spray pesticide, and this needs to be done at least four times each season. On the other hand, I charge Rs 200 per tank, and have to refill it six times - apart from the initial time - for a three-acre maize field, he explained.

As for why he doesnt charge more, the farmer said his only aim is to use his knowledge and technology to improve agriculture. If we use technology properly, farming would become a topic of interest to youngsters and would aid farmers as well, he opined.

Moreover, the drone takes just half the time and quantity of pesticides said B Srinivas Rao, 50, who gets Kotireddys help to keep his cornfields pest free.

When I hire a labourer, I need about one litre of pesticides for an acre of land. But now, half a litre is enough. Besides, a labourer takes three or four hours to do the job, which I now get done within an hour.

As for why a smaller quantity of pesticide is needed, Kotireddy said the amount of wastage is reduced, as a labourer would spill pesticide while mixing it.

When spraying is done manually, the labourer comes in direct contact with the pesticide and inhales it in large quantities. But when a drone is used, the only contact with pesticides is when one puts the liquid and water in the drone, which is minimal. Once its inside, you dont have to mix or spray it with bare hands. You mix it buy shaking the drone and spray it remotely, the farmer explained.

As for what he wishes, Kotireddy said, "Every village in India should soon get a person with similar or better technology to transforming agriculture. We have the technology and brains. The only problem is initiative.

10 litres Carrying capacity (pesticide + water)

25 Volts Batteries used, with 10-minute life

5 kg Weight

A6L Cost (including license fee)

30 Time taken to charge each battery
A farmer in Soc Trang Province in Vietnam's Mekong Delta waters his watermelon field from a trough he has installed with pieces of canvas, February 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Cuu Long.

China's dams are worsening drought conditions downstream the Mekong River, storing and controlling up to 50 percent of its waters, experts say.

China on average contributes around 14 percent of the Mekong Rivers flow, "but an annual average can be misleading," says Brian Eyler, director of the Southeast Asia Program at U.S.-based Stimson Center, which describes itself as a non-profit, nonpartisan think tank that aims to enhance international peace and security through a combination of analysis and outreach.

Eyler said that during the monsoon season, the wettest parts of the Mekong River, which flows through China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam before reaching the sea, are not in China but in Laos and Vietnams Central Highlands. Therefore, in the monsoon season, China's contribution of water is actually around just 7 percent.

"But during the dry season, Chinas contribution is much more because there is no rainfall happening in the lower parts of the basin, and much of the water comes from melting glaciers in its Himalaya range, so China could contribute up to 40 percent of the water to downstream reaches," he said.

Then, in times of extreme drought, China controls to 50 percent of the water that should flow to downstream countries, he said.

So when Chinas dams are in control of that much water, they are undeniably impacting drought conditions downstream, Eyler told VnExpress in an exclusive interview.

The Mekong River flows 4,880 km from its origins in Tibet, 2,130 km of it in China, where it is called Lancang. Of the 19 hydropower projects it plans on the Mekong, China has completed 11 that are already operational.

For several months now, drought has severely hurt farming and fishing communities in Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Vietnam, and many say Chinas dams are to blame, exacerbating climate change impacts.

Now, halfway into the dry season, which normally starts in late November and lasts until late April the next year in southern Vietnam, the Mekong Delta, the nations most fertile region, rice granary and aquaculture hub, has already suffered serious drought and salinity.

According to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, salinity has risen to up to four grams per liter 40-90 kilometers inland in all branches of the Mekong River in the delta.

Drought and salinity have affected 30,000 hectares of crops in the delta so far, or 7.3 percent of the 2016 figure, when 600,000 people did not have access to freshwater and 160,000 hectares of land were affected by saltwater, causing losses of VND5.5 trillion ($237 million).

In Chinas hands

Explaining further the figure of 50 percent, Eyler said China's 11 mega-dams store an enormous amount of water, as much as 47 billion cubic meters, and some of that water can be used to relieve drought.

To strengthen his point, he cited data from the non-profit, non-governmental, environmental and human rights organization, International Rivers (IR).

IR had said back in 2014, when China had just seven operational dams on the Mekongs upstream, the country contributed 45 percent of water to the Mekong basin in the dry season.

A map of dams along the Mekong River as provided by the Stimson Center ASEAN Infrastructure Database.

Elyer said that in previous years, China used to release water from its dams to relieve drought in downstream areas when countries like Vietnam or Thailand called for it.

"So far I have yet to see this happen, although China claims its dams began to release water on January 24, 2020."

He was commenting on China's move, announced by its Foreign Minister Wang Yi on February 20 at the fifth Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Vientiane, Laos.

Yi said China would help its downstream neighbors cope with a prolonged drought by releasing more water from its dams on the Mekong River, adding that it would also consider sharing hydrological information in future.

China too, has suffered from drought, but has overcome its difficulties and increased water release in the river to help downstream countries cope, Yi said.

While noting that the biggest culprit and the key player in this years drought is a lack of rainfall from the El Nino weather phenomenon, Eyler said that the severity of the drought is "exacerbated by the impact of upstream dams."

100 dams

"Each dam adds incremental degrees of impact to the drought. Currently 100 dams are making the drought worse off and the bigger they are and the closer they are to the sources of water, in this case in China, the bigger the impact they deliver to the drought," Eyler said.

The Stimson Center ASEAN Infrastructure Database, released in June last year, said 102 dams have been built on the Mekong River, including 11 in China and 64 in Laos, also invested in by China. Another 64 dams are under construction.

Those dams hold back water, sediments and fish that are supposed to move downstream during the annual flooding season.

The Mekong River Commission has estimated that the volume of sediments reaching the delta will drop from 143 million tons a year in 2007 to 47 million tons in 2020 and just five million tons in 2040, with all the dams going up.

"Now we are observing an increased reoccurrence of drought in the Mekong Delta on a very frequent basis, and the droughts are becoming more and more severe. Previously, 2016 was the worst drought in recent memory, and this current drought is even worse.

"Climate change is changing the weather patterns and volume of rainfall on an annual basis and dams make things much worse than they have to be. But it doesnt have to be this bad," Eyler said.

Abnormally low rainfall

Concurring with Eyler on the main cause for drought difficulties in the Mekong Delta, To Van Truong, former deputy head of the Southern Institute of Water Resources Research, said the amount of rainfall during the rainy season last year "was abnormally low," and that drought and salinity has arrived sooner and been more severe compared to previous years.

Last year, due to El Nino, Southeast Asia recorded less rainfall than normal and drought of historic levels hit most regional countries. In Vietnam, the most heavily affected areas were the southern and central regions.

Vietnams Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said last month that the rainy season arrived late last year and was shorter than usual, with rainfall 8 percent lower than normal at 1,240 mm.

Water levels in the Mekongs sections in the delta have decreased rapidly since the dry season began in late November and are currently 2.33 meters lower than in previous years, it said.

It is expected that the water level in the Kratie station in Cambodia will be 35 percent lower than in previous years in the first two months of 2020 and storage in Lake Tonle Sap, the largest freshwater body in Southeast Asia, is now at 5.1 billion cubic meters, 15.7 billion cubic meters less than normal.

Dao Trong Tu, former deputy head of the Vietnam National Mekong Committee, said Mekong downstream countries have not been able to accurately evaluate the impacts of Chinese dams on their drought condition as China does not provide them with the operating procedures of its dams.

"The major problem is that China does not want to cooperate, and has never shared its actual data on hydropower projects," he said.

Riparian cooperation

A drainage to provide water for a paddy field in Long Phu District of Soc Trang Province in the Mekong Delta runs dry on January 22, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Huy Phong.

Eyler predicted that "droughts will only recur more frequently in the future."

However, El Nino weather patterns can be forecast and it seems that Vietnam was more prepared this year than in previous years, he noted.

"El Nino impacts can be predicted about six months before they take hold, which makes plenty of time for preparation in a country with the capacity to do so," he said.

He highly appreciated Vietnams Resolution 120 issued in 2017, saying it "will be very effective if properly implemented" as it will restore nature-based processes related to the rivers natural flood cycle to the delta and help people there transition to more productive livelihoods.

The approach outlined in the resolution would help farmers in the delta adjust to rising sea levels and increased salinity intrusion.

The plan is now moving into its implementation phase and many development partners such as the Dutch, Israelis, and the Americans have signed up to support the process.

As the Mekong Delta is a major provider of food for 10 countries in Southeast Asia, it should be on top of the agenda of ASEAN, not just this year when Vietnam is the chair, but every year because the future of the Mekong River is at stake, Eyler said.

"The Mekongs ecology and resource base is really threatened now so its high time for Vietnam, as the chair of ASEAN, to take this issue to the top of the agenda. Vietnam should outline the Mekong as a regional security issue because a crisis in the Mekong could undo regional stability," he stressed.

As for the MRC, Eyler said it has conducted numerous studies that show how future dams built on the lower mainstream of the Mekong Delta and dams that already exist impact the Mekong basin at large.

The MRC Secretariat has never been able to have direct and timely access to Chinas upstream dam data, but new cooperation provides an opportunity that it should take to investigate the real impacts of Chinas dams and not allow China to steamroll the downstream countries with false data (on impacts of its mainstream dams), he said.

China has an outsized presence in the region and can easily dominate in its relationship with downstream countries and stakeholders through a variety of means, he added.

For his part, To Van Truong said that Vietnams first priority should be to save water.

Vietnam should store as much fresh water as it can, including groundwater, and upgrade the inland drainage system to make sure it could lead water to fields when needed.

In the long term, Vietnam needs to have a system to control the intrusion of saltwater at river gates, as well as a system to push water into fields during high tides, he said.

It also needs solutions to change the structure of crops and livestock in the direction of adapting to changing weather conditions and saving water.

He also suggested that Vietnam establishes close connection with other Mekong nations to build general plans that could benefit each nation in long term, with reference to MRC's assessments of 11 Chinese mega dams' impacts on the downstream area.

"I believe each nation has already known what they would gain and what they could lose in this situation," he said.

In order to deal with China, the MRC could use the 1995 Mekong Agreement, which was signed by the governments of its four member countries - Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam  with a focus on sustainable development and management of the Mekong River basins water and related resources.

Preparation of a long term Basin Development Plan and Strategy is a key part of the 1995 Agreement along with procedures for data sharing, water use monitoring, maintenance of flows and water quality, and the MRC could use that as a legal framework to demand for cooperation from China, Truong suggested.

Tu also proposed that Vietnam make use of the Lancang  Mekong Cooperation pact between the MRC and China to discuss issues of the Mekong River as water, economy and security are its three main planks.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-02 02:19:43|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

MUSCAT, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Sultan of Oman Haitham bin Tariq on Sunday issued ten royal decrees introducing changes in some institutions, according to an official statement aired by Oman's state TV.

The decrees tackled the internal security service law, some amendments to the civil defense law and the supreme committee for national day celebrations.

The decrees also appointed some officials, including a special envoy, the sultan's special advisor, new ministers and undersecretaries.

Haitham bin Tariq was chosen as Sultan of Oman to succeed the late Sultan Qaboos who passed away on January 10, 2020.
New Delhi, March 1 : Power PSUs' joint venture EESL is set to ramp up its capital expenditure to set up around 10,000 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in the next two to three years.

A joint venture of PSUs under the Ministry of Power, the Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) has undertaken this project to boost the e-mobility ecosystem in India.

Presently, the state-run firm has tied up with various private and public companies such as Apollo Hospitals, BSNL, Maha-Metro, BHEL and HPCL, among others, to set up public charging infrastructure.

It has also partnered with urban local bodies in Hyderabad, Noida, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Chennai, and is in discussion with others to erect such infra.

"We are working towards strengthening the charging infrastructure with an objective to set up 10,000 charging stations over the next two to three years across India," EESL Managing Director Saurabh Kumar told IANS.

"We are in the process of signing MoUs with various states and government departments to promote EV adoption in India, which will further boost interest among the public," Kumar added.

One of the main capital requirements to set up charging infrastructure is the availability of 'land', which as of now is provided free of cost by most municipal bodies or firms for public chargers to EESL.

The clean energy major then sets up the charging station in that area and operates it for 10 years.

In return, EESL pays a certain proportion as land rental to the entity for every kilowatt hour (kW/h) the company utilises.

Till now, EESL has installed 68 public charging points, which are currently operational across the country.

"By the end of FY20, we aim to install around 100 charging stations in Delhi-NCR, Chennai and Nagpur," Kumar told IANS.

"We are aiming to install around 1,500 EV public charging stations by the end of FY21 in Delhi-NCR, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Gujarat, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Chandigarh and Karnataka," he added.

Currently, many automobile companies and others, including standalone charging infrastructure developers, are also installing these facilities.

Besides, the company has registered an annual turnover of Rs 2,565 crore in FY19.

"In less than one year, we have earned a revenue of over Rs 9.3 lakh from our charging stations. EESL Capex is expected to be Rs 3,000 crore in 2019-20 and Rs 6,000 crore in 2020-21," he said.

As of now, apart from creating an e-mobility ecosystem in the country, EESL is scaling up smart meters and smart grids, storage and other clean energy technologies.

Furthermore, the company is in the process of aggregating the demand generation for EVs in the country via bulk purchases.

(Rohit Vaid can be contacted at rohit.v@ians.in)
Reuben E. Brigety II, dean of the Elliott School of International Affairs at The George Washington University and former U.S. ambassador to the African Union, has been elected the University of the Souths 17th vice-chancellor and president by the Board of Trustees. The Rt. Rev. Robert Skirving, chancellor of the University and chair of the Board of Trustees, announced his election on Feb. 28.

Dr.

Brigety described himself as both thrilled and deeply humbled by the opportunity to lead Sewanee. As dean at GWU, he has led a school of international affairs that is consistently ranked among the nations 10 best, and is one of the largest by enrollment. Under Brigetys leadership, the Elliott School has created research institutes for every region of the world, launched an incubator for applied ethics education and leadership training, and increased support for student research travel and internships. He will begin his duties as Sewanees vice-chancellor on Aug. 1.

It is my honor and privilege to serve as the next vice-chancellor and president of the University of the South, an institution that holds a truly distinctive place in American higher education, said Dr. Brigety. During the search process, I got a glimpse of what makes Sewanee so specialan intellectual rigor coupled with an unparalleled sense of community, and a strong sense of place that is inclusive of everybody who finds their way here. I was also encouraged to learn more about the Universitys deep ties and ongoing commitment to the Episcopal Church, which help frame everything that is at the core of the institution. I look forward to all the conversations to come about how, collectively, we can help move Sewanee forward as an elite, national liberal arts institution that is both rooted in a very special place and welcoming to everyone who shares the Universitys values. I am honored to join this exceptional community and look forward to the work ahead.

Prior to becoming dean in 2015, Dr. Brigety served as U.S. ambassador to the African Union for two years. In that role, he managed the strategic partnership between the United States and the African Union with an emphasis on democracy and governance, economic growth, and development. He also served as the permanent representative of the United States to the UN Economic Commission for Africa; and, earlier, as deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of African Affairs, with responsibility for Southern African and regional security affairs.

Reuben Brigety has spent his life in public service, as a naval officer, as a deputy assistant secretary of state, as an ambassador, and as an educator. Born as a child of the South, Reuben is now a man of the world, said Rt. Rev. Skirving. Reuben will bring to Sewanee a rich global perspective and a strong record as a servant leader. I look forward to welcoming Reuben, his wife, Dr. Leelie Selassie, and their two sons to the Sewanee community."

Prior to his work in the policy arena, Dr. Brigety was an assistant professor of government and politics at George Mason University and before that taught international relations at the School of International Service at American University. Before entering academia, he conducted research missions in Afghanistan and Iraq with the Arms Division of Human Rights Watch.

A native of Jacksonville, Florida, Dr. Brigety is a 1995 distinguished midshipman graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and holds a masters degree in philosophy and a Ph.D. in international relations from the University of Cambridge.

The selection follows a national search that began in September 2019. Dr. Brigety succeeds John M. McCardell Jr., who will step down July 31, 2020, after serving 10 years as vice-chancellor.
Scientists from Trinity have identified a rare, new cell in the immune system with Jekyll and Hyde properties. These cells play a key protective role in immunity to infection but  if unregulated  also mediate tissue damage in autoimmune disorders.

The findings should help us design more effective vaccines to prevent infections such as MRSA, and may also assist help us develop of new therapies for autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis or rheumatoid arthritis.

The research was funded by Science Foundation Ireland and led by Kingston Mills, Professor of Experimental Immunology, and Dr Sarah Edwards and Dr Caroline Sutton, Postdoctoral Fellows in the School of Biochemistry and Immunology in the Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute.

Their findings were published today in The Journal of Experimental Medicine.

The immune system functions to control infection, utilising various immune cells, such as T cells to respond to and control invading microbes. However, if these immune cells are not highly regulated, they can attack and damage body tissues, leading to the development of autoimmune diseases.

Molecules called T cell receptors (TCRs) allow T cells to recognise components of infectious agents with exquisite specificity. The TCRs enable T cells to respond to and eventually eliminate the infectious agent.

Professor Kingston Mills said:

Until now scientists thought that there were two discrete populations of T cells, expressing either ?? or ?? TCRs. The ??s are the most common T cells in the body. They play a key role in remembering prior infection or immunisation and thereby help protect us against re-infection and mediate vaccine-induced protective immunity. The ??s are more prevalent at mucosal surfaces, such as the lung or gut, and provide an immediate first line of defence against pathogens that invade through these routes.

We have discovered a new cell type that expresses both ?? and ?? TCRs. This rare population of chimeric or hybrid ??-?? T cells has properties of both ?? and ?? T cells.

Importantly, they are normally highly activated and poised to act as first responders to control bacterial infection. However, given this high level of activation, they are effectively Jekyll and Hyde cells because in certain contexts they can also precipitate autoimmune responses.

Using a model of Staphylococcus aureus infection, Professor Mills and his team found that these cells are rapidly mobilised during infection and play a key role in quickly eliminating the microbes from the body.

The induction of these hybrid ??-?? T cells may thus represent a novel approach in the design of more effective vaccines against Staph aureus and other infectious diseases, while advancing our ability to control their response may yield additional therapeutic options.

Professor Mills added:

In a model of autoimmune disease, we found that the hybrid T cells can also trigger the inflammatory cascade that mediates tissue damage in autoimmunity. Therefore, approaches for inhibiting these highly activated immune cells in susceptible individuals may open up new approaches for the treatment of autoimmune diseases such as psoriasis and multiple sclerosis.

Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin
They rang in their second anniversary last weekend.

And Emily Ratajkowski was glimpsed in New York this Saturday spending quality time with her husband Sebastian Bear-McClard and their dog Colombo.

The 28-year-old supermodel was bundled up against the cold in a large cherry red anorak and a pair of white sweats.

Scroll down for video

Side by side by side: Emily Ratajkowski was glimpsed in New York this Saturday spending quality time with her husband Sebastian Bear-McClard and their dog Colombo

Meanwhile, her hunky husband, who was a producer on Uncut Gems and goes by the nickname 'SeBo,' was in a blue and grey look.

Sebastian was in charge of holding onto Colombo, whom Emily introduced to her fans on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last May.

Emily recently starred in a Tik Tok bathroom mirror selfie video with her friend Josh Ostrovsky aka The Fat Jew, who is infamous for a 2015 joke-stealing scandal.

For part of the video Emily modeled a crop top advertising Bernie Sanders, her favored presidential candidate, and Josh wore a Justin Bieber tee.

Looking fab: The 28-year-old supermodel was bundled up against the cold in a large cherry red anorak and a pair of white sweats

Meanwhile: Her hunky husband, who was a producer on Uncut Gems and goes by the nickname 'SeBo,' was in a blue and grey look

The dynamic duo then swapped outfits - leaving Emily in a Justin Bieber t-shirt and a sparkling pair of American flag underwear.

SeBo and EmRata spent this past Valentine's Day on a Jamaican vacation with Josh and his new influencer second wife Caitlin King.

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.

There they are: Emily recently starred in a Tik Tok bathroom mirror selfie video with her friend Josh Ostrovsky aka The Fat Jew, who is infamous for a 2015 joke-stealing scandal

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 beefcake hubby after he was accused of wriggling out of paying rent on his apartment.

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.

Goofing around: For part of the video Emily modeled a crop top advertising Bernie Sanders, her favored presidential candidate, and Josh wore a Justin Bieber tee

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.'
Night Curfew in Maharashtra: Check guidelines, rules; what is allowed, what is not allowed

Param Bir Singh is new Mumbai Police Commissioner

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Mumbai, Mar 01: The Maharashtra government on Saturday appointed Param Bir Singh as the new Mumbai Police Commissioner.

Singh, a 1988-batch IPS officer, was posted as the Director General (DG) of Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) before his appointment as the Mumbai Police Commissioner.

Singh succeeds Sanjay Barve, who retired on Saturday.

S N Shrivastava takes over as Delhi Police commissioner with immediate effect

Meanwhile, outgoing Mumbai police commissioner Sanjay Barve was given a farewell by his colleagues at Naigaon police headquarters here on Saturday.

The 1987-batch IPS officer, who had taken charge as the commissioner on February 28 last year, had got two extensions, first in August and then in November.

Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh had on Friday clarified that Barve would not be given another extension and his successor would be appointed soon.

NEWS AT NOON, MARCH 1st, 2020

During the farewell parade, Barve and DCP Akhilesh Singh, went around the police grounds in an open jeep and he individually met every official.

"Today, the Mumbai police is well equipped, strong and capable of dealing with any challenge. In my tenure, I have witnessed elections, protests against CAA, NRC and other challenges, but officials of the Mumbai police have handled them well," Barve said.

Senior policemen, including joint, additional and deputy commissioners, apart from senior inspectors of all police stations were present on the occasion.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Sunday, March 1, 2020, 11:12 [IST]
In Cameroon's anglophone regions, humanitarian workers are increasingly caught up in the country's separatist conflict, facing threats and violence from both sides as they struggle to deliver aid.

Looting of convoys, attacks on food handouts, even kidnapping: all are part of the risks to aid workers in Cameroon's troubled Northwest and Southwest regions, where thousands have been displaced by fighting between separatist rebels and the military since 2017.

Three food distributions were halted in one week alone recently, according to witnesses who spoke to AFP by telephone.

A man aged 29 was shot by soldiers at Ekona village in Southwest Region as people gathered on February 19 to receive rice and other rations from the World Food Programme (WFP), the UN agency and villagers said.

Ten soldiers sorted 220 internally displaced people by gender and age, said a witness who "hid for my life" in grass nearby.

Cameroon. By (AFP)

"They beat up everybody and took with them seven of the young guys inside one class of the primary school where they were supposed to do the distribution. They started intimidating the guys, (claiming) that they are separatists," said the witness, who asked not to be named.

The soldiers pulled a young man out of the group and shot him in the groin, the witness said.

"He bled to death before the eyes of the military and everyone was there watching helplessly," he added.

His account was confirmed by another villager and a regional NGO.

The two regions are home to Cameroon's large anglophone minority, who account for nearly a fifth of the population of 24 million.

Years of grievances at perceived discrimination snowballed into a declaration of independence in October 2017, which was followed by a government crackdown.

The conflict has claimed more than 3,000 lives and forced almost 700,000 people to flee their homes. Health centres and schools have closed, while whole villages have been burned down.

Army denial

Rights monitors have said separatist rebels and the army are both guilty of atrocities or abuses. Sources say they have carried out attacks on, or disrupted, humanitarian aid.

Army spokesman Colonel Cyrille Atonfack Guemo dismissed reports of military brutality as "attempts at disinformation" aimed at "tarnishing the image of our forces".

"It is inconceivable that the army, whose mission is to work to improve living conditions... should at the same time oppose the work of humanitarian organisations," the colonel said.

Witnesses said the same soldiers who disrupted food distribution at Ekona had been there before, on December 24.

The troops arrested a humanitarian volunteer and took him to a police station.

"His body, with signs of torture, was found in early January in the bush about 30 kilometres (19 miles) away," said one witness, whose account was backed up by an aid worker who asked for anonymity.

Armed police on duty at a party political meeting in the troubled west of Cameroon. By MARCO LONGARI (AFP/File)

Humanitarian personnel can feel "caught between two forces, finding yourself on a very fine line," said Ayah Abine, president of the Ayah Foundation, a Cameroonian NGO.

Soldiers often move in just after humanitarian deliveries, if not during them, while the "ambas" -- secessionist fighters -- will threaten or kidnap NGO staff if they suspect them of working for the government.

On February 20, an armed group intervened during a food distribution by Caritas at Bafmeng in Northwest Region.

About 50 children and 20 adults had to scramble for safety in the lorry used by the NGO before it sped away from the scene, according to the Caritas director in Cameroon, Father Paul Njokikang.

The priest added that he had been taken hostage three times by separatist groups during humanitarian operations and detained for 24 hours by the army.

Harassment and worse does not spare medical aid. On February 19, soldiers pursued a car on the grounds of a hospital supported by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in the Northwest Region.

As both vehicles stopped in the ambulance parking zone, one soldier opened fire and killed the driver, MSF said.

"The soldier who fired the shots was immediately arrested" and an inquiry was ordered at once "and is underway", according to the defence ministry.

'Total fear'

Abine, of the Ayah Foundation, said he had been "almost shot by the military" but was "saved by grace", while armed groups had kidnapped members of his NGO three times.

On February 20, he was picked up by gendarmerie police in Cameroon's capital Yaounde on suspicion of delivering weapons to the separatists, before being released without charge.

Several officials working for international NGOs told AFP that the Ayah Foundation was a neutral party in the conflict. "This is intimidation," one official said.

For the army, Atonfack voiced "distrust regarding certain humanitarian organisations, whose acts sow doubts about their integrity... Ambulances belonging to MSF have been found transporting armed fighters as well as arms and ammunition."

A market day in Buea. By MARCO LONGARI (AFP/File)

"Doctors Without Borders categorically refutes these serious allegations that endanger our patients and teams," MSF said in a statement.

"Our ambulances are only used to transport unarmed patients in need of immediate medical care, regardless of their ethnicity, gender, religious or political beliefs."

"A large number of incidents concerning aid workers are reported, looted convoys, kidnappings ... yet the aid is already less than needed," said Jerome Fontana, head of operations for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Cameroon.

"We're living in total fear, inside the bushes with wild animals," an Ekona villager said from hiding. "Can you imagine, madam, little babies, women giving birth inside the bush?"

Only 32.17 percent of the UN humanitarian targets for the two regions were met in 2019. "The main obstacle isn't financial," Fontana said, "it's security."
Jakarta [Indonesia], March 1 (VNA/ANI): The offices of the Indonesian Embassy and the Indonesian Investment Promotion Centre (IIPC) in South Korea's capital city of Seoul have been temporarily closed after a COVID-19 case was reported in a nearby area.



The Indonesian Embassy complex and the IIPC office are located near Yeouido, Seoul's main investment and financial district, where an employee of state-run Export-Import Bank of Korea was found to have COVID-19 on February 27.

Indonesian Ambassador to the Republic of Korea Umar Hadi said the closure is only temporary.

With the office closure, public service counters for the handling of visas, passports and consular services in the embassy will be closed temporarily. Extra safety measures to disinfect the embassy complex and the IIPC office are ongoing, he noted. (VNA/ANI)


The Ogun State Government and Lafarge Africa have confirmed that contacts in respect of the recorded single case of Coronavirus (Covid-19) has hit 39 from the initial reported 28.

These include the driver who picked the infected Italian from a hotel in Ikeja and those who served him food and drink.

Contrary to the reports going round in the media that the production lines of Lafarge Africa PLC, Ewekoro have been closed following the visit of the Coronavirus-infected Italian to the companys guest house, the management of Lafarge and Ogun State Government have debunked the closure of the cement production lines.

The Ogun Government and Lafarge Africa confirmed this development at the Lafarge facility during an on-the-spot-assessment by the host state government, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), World Health Organisation (WHO) teams and the Industrial Director of Lafarge plc.

The Ogun Commissioner for Health, Tomi Coker, commended Lafarge Africa for the quick and proactive measures taken so far.

She noted that it was imperative for the state and federal governments to swing into action to contain the spread of the deadly disease.

The commissioner said that the state government had activated an Emergency Operation Committee (EOC) to manage any development that may arise from the reported cases of Coronavirus.

We are on top of the situation. There is no cause for alarm. Our health educators are busy with advocacy efforts on the field. We are sensitising our health officers too on preventive measures to adopt.

We have all the required interventions to contain the situation. Members of the public should remain calm, the commissioner said.

On its part, the company said that its production lines were not shut as the guest house where the Italian was lodged is 5km to the manufacturing plants in Ewekoro.

The Industrial Director, Lafarge Plc, Segun Soyoye, said the Italian came to Lafarge facilities at Ewekoro to inspect some installations of machines bought from a Swedish firm.

Mr Soyoye added that the Italian did not go behind Lafarge guest house at Ishofin estate before he was evacuated having developed abnormal temperatures that suggested he had been infected with Covid-19.

The Italian came for a business visit. He was in Lagos on Monday and slept at Airport Hotel, Ikeja. Our driver took him there, and when we observed abrnomal temperatures and symptoms, we quickly instituted an Emergency Response Team which is led by the Company CEO; we have to find a way of analysing and identifying not only the Italian but also the other contacts.

The contacts are now 39 and we have quarantined them, the house and clinic as well as the vehicles. We dont take chances that is why they are put there.

Today (Saturday) is Day 3; they will be there for 14 days. We will continue to observe them, we have their database, showing their biodata and other information.

The doctor is here and what he is doing is to check them on a regular basis. So far everybody is stable, they are not symptomatic, we are providing everything for them over there.

The other thing that I have not said is that the clinic that was used for the infected person is closed, disinfected and we moved everybody out.

All the guys on duty that day, they were also quarantined, so they will be there for 14 days as well, Mr Soyoye said.

Also, Ibrahim Mamadu, the Team Leader of World Health Organisation (WHO) Nigeria, also commended the internal processes undertaken so far by Lafarge Africa to contain the deadly disease.

He, however, advised the company and others to acquire digital thermometers to check body temperatures instead of infrared thermometers for accurate body temperature readings.

(NAN)
Banned Iranian Director Mohammad Rasoulof Wins Top Prize At Berlin Film Festival

03/01/20

Source: RFE/RL

Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof won the top prize at the Berlin Film Festival for his film titled There Is No Evil, which he made despite being forbidden to do so by the government in Tehran.



Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof

Rasoulof was not present at the February 29 ceremony to receive the Golden Bear award for the film, which tells four stories loosely connected to the use of the death penalty in Iran and dealing with personal freedom under tyranny.

The Golden Bear for Best Film of the 70th #Berlinale goes to "Sheytan vojud nadarad" (There Is No Evil), directed by #MohammadRasoulof and produced by Mohammad Rasoulof, Kaveh Farnam, and Farzad Pak. pic.twitter.com/JaRLwGBkGR  Berlinale (@berlinale) February 29, 2020

Rasoulof, who was sentenced to a year in prison in 2017 and is barred from leaving Iran, is a prominent critic of the Iranian government and has been banned by the authorities from making films for life.



Event organizers left an empty chair and name sign for the 48-year-old Rasoulof at the news conference for his film entry.

Germany's dpa news agency reported that Rasoulof's daughter, Baran, accepted the Golden Bear on his behalf.

The Golden Bear of the 70th #Berlinale goes to "Sheytan vojud nadarad" (There Is No Evil) by #MohammadRasoulof! pic.twitter.com/U8CnR15TTS  Berlinale (@berlinale) February 29, 2020

The Berlin festival jury chose There Is No Evil over 17 other films competing for the prize, including Sally Potter's The Road Not Taken -- a remake of the classic Berlin Alexanderplatz -- and Siberia.

The Golden Bear for Best Film goes to Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof for "There Is No Evil"



Read more on how he managed to direct it despite a film ban: https://t.co/pVbjLh5rMh  DW Culture (@dw_culture) February 29, 2020

Interview with Variety:

Iran's Mohammad Rasoulof on His 'There Is No Evil'

as 'Resistance,' Exclusive Trailer

Based on reporting by dpa, Reuters, AFP, and AP
One more person was killed in Meghalaya early on Sunday taking the total number of deaths in the ongoing violence against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and demand for the imposition of inner line permit (ILP) regime to three.

According to a bulletin issued by Meghalaya police on Sunday morning, Uphas Uddin, 37, died after he was attacked by three unidentified people at his house in Pyrken village in Shella of East Khasi Hills district.

He was brought to Khamati civil health centre but the doctor declared him brought dead, said the bulletin adding that the incident took place around 2:45am on Sunday.

Despite a curfew in Shillong and adjoining areas and deployment of additional security forces, stray incidents of violence continued for the third day.

Police said that some time around 3:15am on Sunday some non-tribal carpenters who were staying at Umtrew in Ri Bhoi district ran away from their homes into the forest after they saw some local boys approaching in two buses. They have returned to their homes.

In another incident in the early hours of Sunday, Rajua Karim, 31, who hails from Phulbari in West Garo Hills, was assaulted by some unknown people at Mawthabah in Mawsynram. He has been admitted to North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEGRIHMS).

An employee of Meghalaya Basin Development Agency, Karim had been living in Sawlad of Madanrting for the past six years, said the police.

Late on Saturday, a petrol bomb was hurled at the residential compound of Lakshmi Bareh at Pynthorbah in Shillong. No one was injured and no property damaged in the attack, said the police bulletin.

We request citizens to exercise restraint and not to believe unverified information, it added.

On Saturday, one person was killed and nine were injured when a group of unidentified persons went on a stabbing spree at Shillongs busy Bara Bazaar area.

The present spate of violence started after the death of a local taxi driver Lurshai Hynniewta, 35, on Friday in a clash between members of Khasi Students Union and non-tribals in the Ichamati area of East Khasi Hills district after a meeting to oppose CAA and seek implementation of ILP in the state.

Most of Meghalaya is exempted from CAAs purview as almost the entire state comes under provision of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. Local tribal groups have been demanding imposition of ILP, which regulates the entry of outsiders to the state.

Following Fridays incident, curfew was imposed in several areas in Shillong and mobile internet services banned in six districts as a precautionary measure.

On Saturday, chief minister Conrad Sangma appealed to all citizens including different social organisations to refrain from any kind of violence and ensure that peace and tranquillity are restored at the earliest.

He said eight people have been arrested in connection to the killing of the taxi driver at Ichamati and announced ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh to the victims family. Sangma stated that a magisterial inquiry into the incident has also been ordered.

In order to help stranded tourists reach safe destinations in the midst of the prevailing situation, Meghalaya police have launched a tollfree phone service and asked them to contact 1800-345-3846 for assistance.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Announcement came a day after two more people tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Pakistan

Islamabad: Pakistan will close its border with Afghanistan for seven days from Monday to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus, the Interior Ministry said on Sunday, as the authorities ramped up efforts to stop the new cases of infection.

The announcement came a day after two more people tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Pakistan, taking the total number of infections in the country to four.

The border at Chaman in Balochistan will remain closed for seven days from 2 March "in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus on both sides of the border in the best interest of the people of the brotherly countries", said a statement issued by the Ministry of Interior.

"During the period, necessary measures will be taken to safeguard the health of the people of both countries," it said.

The authorities have shut schools in the southern province of Sindh, including in Karachi where the first case was reported, and the southwestern province of Baluchistan, which borders Iran, The Express Tribune reported.

They have also begun to trace nearly 8,000 pilgrims who recently returned to the country from Iran.

The authorities have kept more than 200 of the pilgrims in quarantine at the Taftan border and have stepped up scanning measures at airports and other border crossings, including in western Afghanistan, said government health adviser Zafar Mirza.

On Wednesday, a young man from Karachi tested positive for the coronavirus, becoming the first confirmed case in Pakistan. Shortly after, another case was confirmed. Both of them had returned from Iran.

Pakistan on Thursday announced to suspend all flights to Iran, the new hotbed of coronavirus epidemic, as authorities scrambled to screen hundreds of people who had recently arrived from Tehran.

The land and rail links with Iran, where the coronavirus outbreak has claimed 43 lives and infected 593 people, the highest outside China, have already been snapped due to the scare of infection.

The novel virus reportedly first originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December last year and has killed 2,870 people and infected 79,824.
Open source

Over 76,000 migrants have left Turkish borders for Europe since February 28, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said. This is reported by Dailysabah.

In a statement on his official Twitter account, Soylu updated the figure to 76,358 as of March 1 from 47,000 from a day earlier.

Turkish authorities announced that they would no longer prevent the stem the flow of migrants who wanted to reach Europe.

The decision was made after 36 Turkish soldiers were killed by the Bashar Assad regime forces in Idlib, northwestern Syria. The Turkish soldiers were deployed to the region to protect local civilians under a 2018 deal with Russia under which acts of aggression are prohibited.

Since then, thousands of irregular migrants have flocked to the northwestern Turkish province of Edirne to make their way into Europe.

Turkey already hosts some 3.7 million migrants from Syria alone, more than any other country in the world.

The nation has repeatedly complained that Europe has failed to keep its promises to help migrants and stem further migrant waves.
Jenna Dewan is preparing to welcome her second child any day now.

And the Witches Of East End star is keeping busy with her family as the due date approaches.

Dewan showed off her baby bump in a chic skintight black dress as she stepped out with her brood in Los Angeles on Saturday.

Any day now: Jenna Dewan showed off her baby bump in a chic skintight black dress as she stepped out with her brood in Los Angeles on Saturday

The 39-year-old finished the look with a long beige cardigan, a grey fedora with a brown leather strap and black slip-on sandals.

She carried a black leather handbag over her shoulder as she stepped out with fiance Steve Kazee, 44, and daughter Everly, six.

The outing comes after a much-needed day of pampering for the soon-to-be mother-of-two.

Chic mom: The 39-year-old finished the look with a long beige cardigan, a grey fedora with a brown leather strap and black slip-on sandals

Family outing: She carried a black leather handbag over her shoulder as she stepped out with fiance Steve Kazee, 44, and daughter Everly, six

She posted a snap to Instagram of herself wearing a hydrating belly mask with sexy black lace lingerie.

That's nothing compared to the goddess vibes served at her baby shower earlier this month.

She previously shared photos from the spiritual gathering, which featured a blessing circle.

Pampered life: The outing comes after a much-needed day of pampering for the soon-to-be mother-of-two

Guests sat on the ground around a beautiful altar complete with crystals, flower petals and sage.

Kiki of Kiki Designs designed the altar with rose quartz at the middle to create a 'vortex of love.'

She told Us Weekly: 'It was a blessing for the baby, it was a blessing for the parents, and I feel like it just blessed everyone in the circle. Just such high vibrations all over.'

Goddess vibes: She previously shared photos from the spiritual gathering that was her baby shower, which featured a blessing circle
The Fox News host Tucker Carlson has made similar arguments, falsely claiming in an interview with The Atlantic that the Potomac River has gotten dirtier and that litter is left almost exclusively by immigrants. The month before, he asked why environmentalists want to let refugees into the United States: Isnt crowding your country the fastest way to despoil it, to pollute it?

It is not hard to see why such ideas are making a comeback. As the relentlessness of environmental calamity  epic fires and floods, escalating extinctions, warming oceans  becomes impossible to ignore, the right needs a way to talk about it. Nationalistic framings fit comfortably with a worldview many already hold. And for the so-called alt right, they offer the bonus of a cudgel for bashing establishment conservatives as beholden to globalist, corporate interests.

Some radicals are drawn to apocalyptic climate scenarios, seeing openings for authoritarianism or a complete societal breakdown. They want to accelerate it, said Blair Taylor, program director at the Institute for Social Ecology, a left-wing educational center, who has studied such groups. So after the downfall they can set up their fascist ethno-states, they can be the Ubermensch. Violent actors are grabbing hold of such ideas. The killers accused of targeting Muslims and Mexican immigrants last year in New Zealand and Texas posted online manifestoes weaving white supremacy with environmental statements.

The Australian man who allegedly murdered 51 people at two Christchurch mosques called himself an ethnonationalist eco-fascist and wrote that continued immigration into Europe is environmental warfare. The suspect in the El Paso shooting that killed 22  modern Americas deadliest attack targeting Latinos  ranted about plastic waste and overconsumption. If we can get rid of enough people, then our way of life can become more sustainable, he concluded.

If theres one thing Americans have learned in the Trump era, it is that toxic ideas can move between the fringes and the political realm with stunning speed. Marine Le Pen, leader of Frances far-right National Rally  now the countrys main opposition party  has incorporated worries about the natural world into the partys anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim ideology. She espouses an ideal of the French citizen as someone rooted, someone who wants to live on their land and to pass it on to their children. By contrast, she says, those who are nomadic  do not care about the environment. They have no homeland.

Borders are the environments greatest ally, said Jordan Bardella, the party spokesman and a member of the European Parliament. In Hungary, the far-right party Our Homeland accused Ukraine of poisoning Hungarians by dumping waste in the Tisa River. Extremist Polish groups hurl similar charges at Germany.

As climate change reshapes our world, we face a future filled with new pressures and constraints on resources, including arable land, food and water. Droughts, floods and storms are likely to push millions from their homes, some toward the relative safety and security of Europe, Australia and the United States.

The upsurge of anti-Asian discrimination that has followed in the wake of fears about the coronavirus offers a glimpse of the ugly sentiments such external pressures can unleash. Without giving it much thought, I used to accept the framing of environmental problems as shared concerns we would have to work together to solve. Now I can see there is another path too, one in which dark forces wield real dangers as weapons to tear us apart, and scarcity fuels conflict, brutality and racism. Our future in a hotter world of rising seas and more powerful storms already felt terrifying. Unless we come together  and fast  behind serious action to check the existential danger of climate change, it could be darker still.

Beth Gardiner is an environmental journalist and the author of Choked: Life and Breath in the Age of Air Pollution.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. Wed like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And heres our email: letters@nytimes.com.

Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.
The number of people infected with the coronavirus disease, officially named COVID-19, has reached 58 in Spain, Trend reports citing Sputnik.

The Spanish El Mundo newspaper reported that the highest number of virus cases had been recorded in the Valencian Community. Apart from that, 10 cases has been detected in the autonomous communities of Madrid and Andalusia, seven infected people have been registered in the Canary Islands. Among other regions, where the disease has been recorded, are Catalonia, Basque Country, Castile and Leon, as well as Hispania Balearica, the Principality of Asturias, Cantabria and Navarra.

According to the Spanish Health Ministry, the majority of these people were confirmed as having COVID-19 after they returned from Italy.

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry of Switzerland also confirmed that the number of coronavirus disease cases in the country had increased and stood at 18.

"There have been reports of diseases from the cantons: Ticino, Geneva, Grisons, Aargau, Zurich, Basel City, Vaud, Basle Country, Bern, and Valais. All persons are in good health condition. All those who are ill are isolated. The public health authorities are contacting people who have been in close contact with the person infected," the ministry said in a statement.

Europe has registered so far over 1,300 cases of the coronavirus disease with Italy recording the highest number of infected people. The death toll in the region stood at 31. On a global scale, to date, the coronavirus disease has infected over 85,000 people, of whom 2,900 have died and nearly 40,000 have recovered.
In Sevastopol, annexed Crimea, a woman, who escaped from a hospital was put on the wanted list. She was in quarantine and had to be screened for Chinese coronavirus. The Telegram channel Mash reports this.

"In Sevastopol, a woman with suspected coronavirus escaped from the hospital - she was put on the wanted list. Ekaterina R. was brought to an infectious diseases clinic suspected of Chinese infection. While the examination was being conducted, the lady said to her roommates that she was going to the Rostov Region. There, apparently, she skipped, without healing and without warning anyone. Now the unconscious patient has been put on the wanted list," the message says

As we reported before, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced a decision to declare the highest possible threat level for the coronavirus epidemic

In my briefing today, I informed media that based on latest #coronavirus developments we have now increased our assessment of the risk of spread and the risk of impact of #COVID19 to very high at a global level, he wrote.
Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan has requested the center to take steps to evacuate over 100 fishermen allegedly trapped in Iran due to restrictions imposed in the wake of coronovirus spread in the country. Vijayan, in his letter to external affairs minister S Jaishankar on Sunday, said around 60 of the trapped fishermen were from Kerala.

Vijayans letter states that the state official had managed to contact some of the men stranded at Azalur.

It has been stated by the person trapped in Azalur that more than a hundred persons are there out of which around 60 are reported to be from Kerala, the letter says.

Vijayans letter follows a similar request to the government by Rajya Sabha MP from Tamil Nadu and DMDK leader Vaiko.

According to agency reports, Vaiko, while seeking the governments intervention had claimed that about 900 fishermen were stranded in Iran.

Congress leader Saifuddin Soz has also requested the government for the evacuation of Kashmiri students from India and China

At least 54 people have perished to coronavirus in Iran, according to the gulf countrys health ministry.

The number of confirmed infected cases has also jumped by more than half to reach a figure of 978 people.

India had issued a travel advisory on February 26 to avoid non-essential travel to Iran due to the rising number of infections.

Kerala CM requests the foreign ministry to direct the Indian embassy in Iran to take necessary steps to arrange for the safe return of these men.

Indian envoy to Iran Gaddam Dharmendra had yesterday said that efforts were on to facilitate the return of willing Indians and discussions were underway with authorities in Tehran.

The Iranian government had yesterday asked India to take immediate steps to evacuate Indians from the Islamic country which has seen the highest number of casualties due to coronavirus outbreak outside China.
For more coverage, visit our complete coronavirus section here.

A UC Davis student who had been under quarantined after showing signs of COVID-19 has tested negative for the virus, according to a statement released Saturday by the university.

Two other students, who didn't show any symptoms of novel coronavirus but were quarantined in a campus apartment, were notified of the test results and released. All three students lived together in Kearney Hall on the UC Davis campus.

The news comes after a fourth case of coronavirus emerged in Santa Clara County on Saturday, and the first death in the United States related to COVID-19, in Washington state.

Seeking to reassure the American public, President Donald Trump said that there was "no reason to panic" over the first coronavirus fatality on U.S. soil.

Trump appeared at a hastily called news conference in the White House briefing room with Vice President Mike Pence and top public health officials to announce that the United States was banning travel to Iran, and urging Americans not to travel to regions of Italy and South Korea where the virus has been prevalent.

Trump said he was considering additional restrictions, including closing the U.S. border with Mexico in response to the virus' spread, but later added: This is not a border that seems to be much of a problem right now.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Matthew Tom is a Homepage Editor at SFGATE. Email: mtom@sfgate.com.

MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE:

Are the elderly at a greater risk for coronavirus complications?

The worst myths and misinformation about coronavirus

Bay Area company to expand coronavirus drug trials to other companies

CDC warns men with beards amid coronavirus scare

Israel says COVID-19 vaccine is only weeks away

Why San Francisco declared a coronavirus state of emergency: Your questions answered

Eerie photos show empty streets in Italy amid coronavirus fears

Maps: Cases of new coronavirus multiples across the globe
if you are a woman from jerusalem on Saturday night, the corona virus detected, please report to the national Institute for public Health and the Environment (RIVM). It's going to be the seventh of the infection in the Netherlands, and several media are reporting that in Rotterdam, a patient is tested positive, it is the corona virus. A second test shall be in accordance with the protocol yet to see if the man really is, the virus to bear.

To stay informed about the latest news about the corona virus? Follow our liveblog.

The GOVERNMENT does not see any direct link between the infected woman's place in Delft and the other coronapatienten in the Netherlands. The woman has recently returned from an assignment in the Italian region of Lombardy, says a spokesman for the GOVERNMENT. The Italian regions were already more than 650 people have been infected. The Netherlands is in the thuisisolatie.

The woman is tested positive for the COVID-19-the virus is through laboratory testing. The public health service of the Hague to do research, to whom the woman has had. The contacts of the patient in the AMBULANCE approached, and the two times a day for their temperature. As soon as they have symptoms, they are quarantined and placed, they are to be tested.

on Thursday, the first infection in the Netherlands is reported by the GOVERNMENT. It's going to be a man in Loon op Zand. He is to be found in the Elisabeth hospital in Tilburg, the netherlands. On Friday, it was announced that a woman from the netherlands, with the virus infected. It is in the thuisisolatie at her temporary house in Diemen, the netherlands. Both had been in the region of Lombardy. There is no correlation between the two vectors.

Earlier on Saturday, it was announced that the partner of the child, and the women of Amsterdam, and the wife and daughter of the man in Loon op Zand, the virus.

The COVID-19-the virus (corona virus) in the short and The virus spreads mainly through the coughs and niesdruppeltjes that are in the air. Those who have no symptoms is less than risk of infection. A person can have, on average, two-to-three-infect others (it is less than, for example, measles, mumps). And this number is declining, however, due to all the safety precautions. By far, most of the people have a light (- like) symptoms. Almost all the deaths involve elderly or already ill people.

Updated Date: 01 March 2020, 09:00
It's been a sad week for The New Zealand Refining Company Limited (NZSE:NZR), who've watched their investment drop 18% to NZ$1.22 in the week since the company reported its full-year result. Revenues of NZ$348m reported a marginal miss, falling short of forecasts by 3.0%, but earnings were better than expected - statutory profits came in at NZ$0.013 per share, a nice change from the loss analysts expected. Following the result, analysts have updated their earnings model, and it would be good to know whether they think there's been a strong change in the company's prospects, or if it's business as usual. We thought readers would find it interesting to see analysts' latest (statutory) post-earnings forecasts for next year.

View our latest analysis for New Zealand Refining

NZSE:NZR Past and Future Earnings, February 28th 2020

Taking into account the latest results, the current consensus, from the three analysts covering New Zealand Refining, is for revenues of NZ$312.7m in 2020, which would reflect an uncomfortable 10% reduction in New Zealand Refining's sales over the past 12 months. Earnings are expected to tip over into lossmaking territory, with analysts forecasting statutory losses of -NZ$0.12 per share in 2020. Yet prior to the latest earnings, analysts had been forecasting revenues of NZ$361.3m and earnings per share (EPS) of NZ$0.042 in 2020. There looks to have been a major change in sentiment regarding New Zealand Refining's prospects following the latest results, with a substantial drop in to revenues and analysts now forecasting a loss instead of a profit.

The consensus price target fell 20% to NZ$1.70, with analysts clearly concerned about the company following the weaker revenue and earnings outlook. That's not the only conclusion we can draw from this data however, as some investors also like to consider the spread in estimates when evaluating analyst price targets. There are some variant perceptions on New Zealand Refining, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at NZ$1.98 and the most bearish at NZ$1.40 per share. This shows there is still quite a bit of diversity in estimates, but analysts don't appear to be totally split on the stock as though it might be a success or failure situation.

Story continues

Another way to assess these estimates is by comparing them to past performance, and seeing whether analysts are more or less bullish relative to other companies in the market. These estimates imply that sales are expected to slow, with a forecast revenue decline of 10% a significant reduction from annual growth of 1.9% over the last five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in the same market are forecast to see their revenue grow 4.1% annually for the foreseeable future. It's pretty clear that New Zealand Refining's revenues are expected to perform substantially worse than the wider market.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to take away is that analysts are expecting New Zealand Refining to become unprofitable next year. On the negative side, they also downgraded their revenue estimates, and forecasts imply revenues will perform worse than the wider market. Analysts also downgraded their price target, suggesting that the latest news has led analysts to become more pessimistic about the intrinsic value of the business.

With that in mind, we wouldn't be too quick to come to a conclusion on New Zealand Refining. Long-term earnings power is much more important than next year's profits. We have forecasts for New Zealand Refining going out to 2023, and you can see them free on our platform here.

It might also be worth considering whether New Zealand Refining's debt load is appropriate, using our debt analysis tools on the Simply Wall St platform, here.

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.
Mr. Eric Amofa, NPP Parliamentary Aspirant for Asante Akyem South

01.03.2020 LISTEN

An Aspiring Parliamentary Candidate for Asante Akyem South, Mr Eric Amofa has predicted that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) will stay in opposition indefinitely if the ruling Government did not deviate from the current pace of national development.

According to him, the government of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo had been very truthful to Ghanaians in fulfilling its campaign promises, which he said is unusual of many Governments across Africa.

Mr Eric Amofa who was speaking in a live studio interview on Kingdom FM Kumasi praised the NPP Government for its excellent economic management and for sanitizing the banking sector.

This, according to the financial analyst, will result in most multinational companies doing business with the banking sector in Ghana.

He also enumerated some of the achievements of the government such as; the Planting for Food and Jobs, Free SHS, One District One Factory, One Constituency One Ambulance, One Village One Dam and the creation of the Development Authorities for the Northern, Middle Belt and Coastal zones among several others.

Mr Eric Amofa also threw more light on his political ambition which he indicated was born out of his long-nurtured desire, love and passion to serve the people of Asante Akyem South and the NPP party.

The UK-based NPP Executive said he holds the master key to unlock the development potentials of the constituency.

Mr Eric Amofa who was born, schooled and worked in the area for so many years, said he is more familiar with the development challenges confronting the people of Asante Akyem South.

"I lived in Asante for more than 30 years before going to UK for further studies. I have visited and interacted with chiefs, opinion leaders, religious leaders and the communities to identify their needs and I strongly believe I have what it takes to bring solutions to them".

Mr Eric Amofa mentioned education, agricultural mechanization, youth and women empowerment, job creation and attraction of investors as his topmost priorities.

He, therefore, appealed to the delegates to repose their confidence and trust in him for the accelerated development of the Asante Akyem South Constituency.

Mr Eric Amofa is contesting with the incumbent Member of Parliament, Mr Kwaku Asante Boateng and three others for the Asante Akyem South parliamentary slot on the ticket of NPP.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 23:13:30|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

VIENNA, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Four more people have tested positive for COVID-19 here, taking the total number of the novel coronavirus cases in Austria to 14, announced the Ministry of Interior at the daily press conference on Sunday.

The four new cases, all showing "mild symptoms", are a couple of German tourists and two Vienna locals, a woman and a man. The woman recently returned from a trip to Milan, Italy, according to a spokesman for the Vienna City Councilor Peter Hacker.

Before their trip to Vienna, the two German tourists had taken part in a carnival event in their home country and were probably infected there, said the spokesman. They had contact with a person there who had been infected for a long time.

They are now in a hotel room, which is isolated so as not to endanger other guests or employees, after they received treatment in the Kaiser-Franz-Josef Hospital, according to the spokesman.

The two infected locals are currently quarantined at home, said the spokesman.

There are now 14 confirmed cases in Austria, with eight in Vienna, two each in Tyrol and Lower Austria and one each in Salzburg and Styria.
The parties discussed issues related to the mutual release of detainees in the all-for-all format.

Andriy Yermak, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's chief of staff, has met with deputy head of Russian President Vladimir Putin's Administration Dmitry Kozak in Minsk, Belarus, to discuss a swap of prisoners in the all-for-all format.

Representatives of the Ukrainian and Russian delegations also took part in the negotiations, the Ukrainian president's press service said on Facebook.

Read alsoMFA Prystaiko: Ukraine in wait for next prisoner swap with Russia

"During the meeting, the parties discussed issues related to the mutual release of detainees in the all-for-all format, as was agreed by the Normandy Four leaders at the summit in Paris in December 2019," it said.

Yermak "mentioned the intention to conduct the next round of the exchange in March," it said.

The participants in meeting also stressed the need to continue the negotiations to fully implement the agreements reached during the Paris summit.

As UNIAN reported earlier, Zelensky said the Ukrainian authorities were making every effort to ensure that the next Normandy meeting could take place in April this year. However, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko said that the summit might not be held in April, as previously planned.

Russia's officials, in turn, said it depended on progress to be made in implementing the current agreements.
A person is attempting to scam people by claiming to be a Drug Enforcement Administration agent and asking for social security numbers over the phone, according to New York State Police.

The warning was issued by state police in Western New York.

Police say a people have received calls in which the caller claims to be a DEA agent and tells the recipient of the call that their social security number is being suspended. State police say you should not give callers claiming to be part of the DEA your social security number.

DEA, and other law enforcement agencies, have no affiliation with social security matters, police said.

Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact Chris Libonati via the Signal app for encrypted messaging at 585-290-0718, by phone at the same number, by email or on Twitter.

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.
Naftogaz Ukraine state company Delo.ua

In March 2020, Naftogaz-Ukraine National Joint-Stock Company reduced natural gas prices for industrial consumers and other business entities. The press service of Naftogaz reports.

Depending on the volume of purchases and payment terms, Naftogaz offers gas at a price of 175 dollars per one thousand cubic meters, excluding VAT and transportation costs for trunk and distribution pipelines.

Thus, if we compare March prices with February prices, then the cost decreased by 12% -15% depending on the delivery conditions.

As we reported before, in February 2020, the wholesale price of natural gas for the needs of the population, heat producers and other consumers will amount to 161,5 dollars per one thousand cubic meters. which is 15% less than in January 2019

It is also stated that the new price will be 37% lower than in February 2019, and, accordingly, this will be the lowest wholesale price for the population since April 2016.

Naftogaz noted that the new price was calculated in accordance with a governmental decree and reflected market trends in reducing energy costs, which had been demonstrated by key European energy exchanges.
Christchurch, March 1 : India's failure to get tailenders out has been a cause of worry for some time now. It was once again the case on the second day of the second and final Test against New Zealand here on Sunday.

India were up against it after Day 1 ended with New Zealand batting on 63/0 in reply to India's 242 in the first innings. But by lunch, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Umesh Yadav had helped the Virat Kohli-led side reduce the hosts to 142/5.

It was a glorious opportunity to bounce back in the contest as just after the break, B.J. Watling and Tim Southee were dismissed by Bumrah. The Kiwis were 153/7 and looked set to fold out for a below 200 total. But the last three wickets saw New Zealand, led by the impressive Kyle Jamieson (49), score 82 runs as India lost a chance to take a healthy lead and eventually settle for just a seven-run advantage going into the second dig.

Jamieson and de Grandhomme added 51 runs for the ninth wicket as Indian bowlers failed to break the stand which could potentially be a deciding factor in the five-day contest.

Ravichandran Ashwin, who is not playing this game, had said that lower order batters have got better with time and New Zealand have some good ones, but the truth remains that in the last couple of years India have suffered because of the tail and their inability to rein in after shaving off the top order.

At stumps, India were reeling at 90/6, with a slender lead of 97 runs, at the Hagley Oval.

India are 0-1 down in the two-match series after losing the first Test by 10 wickets.
Pope Francis has revealed he will skip an annual spiritual retreat, saying a cold has forced him to cancel.

The 83-year-old was coughing as he made the surprise announcement to thousands of followers in St Peters Square at the Vatican.

It came after he was forced to cancel all public engagements between Thursday and Saturday - the first time he has pulled out of so many events in his seven-year papacy.

Concerns were first raised over the Popes health on Wednesday, when he was seen coughing and sneezing, and just as Italy is battling the worlds second-worst outbreak of coronavirus.

The number of cases in the country was 1,128 on Sunday, with 29 deaths, according to official figures.

Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures Show all 55 1 /55 Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures Pope Francis celebrates the Holy Mass at the Phoenix Park, in Dublin AP Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures Pope Francis arrives at Phoenix Park for a Papal Mass of the World Meeting of Families in Dublin EPA Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures A vigil takes place at the site of the mass grave which contained the remains of 796 named babies from the Bon Secours Mother and Baby home in Tuam. The vigil coincides with the Phoenix park mass which is taking place in Dublin held by Pope Francis. Excavations at the site in 2017 revealed underground structures which held babies bodies with ages ranging from 35 weeks to three years old with most of the dead buried in the 1950s when the facility was run by the Bon Secours Sisters, a Catholic religious order of nuns who received unmarried pregnant women to give birth Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures An aerial view of the crowd at Phoenix Park Getty Images Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures Children queue for communion during Pope Francis' closing Mass PA Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures The Stand4Truth rally gathers outside a former Magdalene laundry in Dublin as part of the demonstrations against clerical sex abuse PA Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures Pope Francis leads the Holy Mass at Phoenix Park AFP/Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures Pope Francis arrives to celebrate the Holy Mass at the Phoenix Park AP Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures The names of the victims are read out as a vigil takes place at the site of the mass grave which contained the remains of 796 named babies from the Bon Secours Mother and Baby home Getty Images Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures Pope Francis leads the Holy Mass at Phoenix Park AFP/Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures A member of the clergy carries a bowl of incense PA Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures AP Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures A vigil takes place at the site of the mass grave which contained the remains of 796 named babies Getty Images Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures Members of the public pray as they watch Pope Francis deliver a Papal Mass of the World Meeting of Families at Phoenix Park EPA Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures Pope Francis attends the closing Mass at the World Meeting of Families at Phoenix Park in Dublin PA Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures Pope Francis passes by a banner of a protester as he leaves St Mary's Pro-Cathedral AP Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures Pope Francis speaks during his visit to the Capuchin Day Centre for Homeless in Dublin AP Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures Pope Francis waves to the waiting crowds on Christchurch PA Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures Pope Francis waves to the waiting crowds on College Green PA Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures Members of the public wave at Pope Francis as he travels through the city Getty Images Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures Pope Francis laughs as he leaves St Mary's Pro Cathedral during his visit to Dublin Reuters Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures Two boys wave flags after climbing a post as they wait for Pope Francis Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures Pairs of baby shoes are hung from black ribbons on Gardiner Street in Dublin in memory of the children who died at the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, Co Galway PA Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures Crowds on O'Connell Street PA Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures WMOF2018/Maxwell Photography/Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures Pope Francis memorabilia on sale on O'Connell Street PA Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures Pope Francis arrives at St Mary's Pro-Cathedral during his visit to Ireland to attend the 2018 World Meeting of Families AFP/Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures Pope Francis waves to the waiting crowds on O'Connell Street PA Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures Pope Francis addresses the congragation at St Mary's Pro-Cathedral AFP/Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures Stephen O'Brien selling bottles of holy water from the St Mary's Pro Cathedral PA Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures Pope Francis prays inside St Mary's Pro Cathedral Reuters Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures A man waves a rainbow flag behind a model of a pope which stands in the window above a bar Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures People hold a banner against Pope Francis on the way to St Mary's Pro-Cathedral AP Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures Nuns wait by the side of the road for Pope Francis Reuters Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures A model of a pope is placed in the window above a bar as crowds wait for Pope Francis to travel through the city Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures Crowds on O'Connell Street, Dublin waiting to see Pope Francis as he travels in the Popemobile PA Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures Pope Francis waves to wellwishers as he arrives at Dublin Airport Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures His visit, the first by a Pope since John Paul II's in 1979 is expected to attract hundreds of thousands of Catholics to a series of events in Dublin and Knock PA Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures Pope Francis talks to journalists aboard a plane flying from Fiumicino aiport to Dublin AFP/Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures LGBT protestors from Dublin Pride and We Are Church with flags and umbrellas on Ha'Penny Bridge, Dublin to remember the victims of clerical sex abuse ahead of the start of the visit to Ireland by Pope Francis PA Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures Pope Francis disembarks from the aircraft as he arrives at Dublin Airport Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures Woman wait for Pope Francis to drive past, in Dublin Reuters Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures Reuters Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures Taoiseach Leo Varadkar delivers a speech watched by Pope Francis in St. Patrick's Hall at Dublin Castle WMOF2018/Maxwell Photography/Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures Protesters hold banners during a demonstration against clerical sex abuse, in Dublin Reuters Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures Pope Francis plants a tree during a meeting with Irish President Michael D Higgins, at Aras an Uachtarain PA Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures Pope Francis walks with the President of Ireland Michael Higgins at Aras an Uachtarain WMOF2018/Maxwell Photography/Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures Reuters Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures Pope Francis, center, is flanked by Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, right, as they arrive to meet authorities, in Dublin AP Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures Protestors wearing baby shoes, to signify the children who died in mother and baby homes in Ireland, protest in Dublin ahead of the start of the visit to Ireland by Pope Franci PA Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures Pope Francis exchanges gifts with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar AFP/Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures Pope Francis speaks with President Michael D Higgins in his study during a visit to Aras an Uachtarain in Phoenix Park, Dublin PA Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures Navy band march prior to the arrival of Pope Francis at the Presidential residence in Dublin AP Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures Eddie McGuinness from Dublin LGBTQ Pride carries a rainbow flag across Ha'Penny Bridge, Dublin ahead of the start of the visit to Ireland by Pope Francis PA Pope Francis visits Ireland  in pictures A message left by Pope Francis in the visitors book at Aras an Uachtarain in Phoenix Park PA

Six cases have been reported to date in Lazio, the region around Rome.

The Popes spokesman, Matteo Bruni, has dismissed speculation Francis was anything more than slightly unwell.

There is no evidence that would lead to diagnosing anything but a mild indisposition, he said.

Pope Francis, who had been due to attend a week-long spiritual retreat in the countryside, told the crowd: Unfortunately a cold will force me not to take part this year. I will follow the meditations from here, he said, sounding as though he had a stuffy nose.

At mass on Ash Wednesday, he was seen coughing and blowing his nose.

Coronavirus  also called Covid-19  has infected more than 86,000 people globally, nearly 80,000 of which are in China, where it originated. Iran has reported 978 cases.

In northern Italy, the virus is forcing people to change their habits, many people staying at home to avoid all social contact.

The financial capital, Milan, is as empty as in the peak summer holiday period, with many companies giving professionals the option to work from home, and some restaurants and shops are closed because of a lack of business. Ones that remain open are unseasonably empty.

Additional reporting by agencies
Migrants arrive at the village of Skala Sikaminias, on the Greek island of Lesbos, after crossing on a dinghy the Aegean sea from Turkey, Sunday (AP Photo)

Kastanies, Greece: The United Nations on Sunday said that at least 13,000 people were massed on Turkeys land border with Greece after Turkey officially declared its western borders were open to migrants and refugees hoping to head into the European Union.

Turkeys decision to open the borders with Greece came amid a military escalation in Syrias northwest region that has led to growing direct clashes between Turkish and Syrian forces.

In Syria, the government said it was closing its airspace for any flights or drones across the countrys northwest region. It said any aircraft that penetrates Syrian airspace will be treated as hostile and shot down. It was not immediately clear whether the statement referred to friendly Russian jets in addition to Turkish aircraft.

Any jet that violates our airspace will be treated as a hostile target that must be shot down and prevented from achieving its goals, the Syrian military statement said.

The announcement came after two days of Turkish drone attacks in Idlib province that Syrian activists said caused heavy losses to Syrian government forces. These confrontations have added to soaring tensions between Turkey and Russia, which support opposing sides of the Syrian civil war.

Turkish Defense Minsiter Hulusi Akar, speaking from military headquarters near the Syrian border, said Turkey aimed to confront Syrian government forces rather than Russian troops.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker has requested that hospitals across the state implement additional testing to improve surveillance for the virus, officials said. Illinois was the first state to provide for testing, and the governor had announced Friday that two more labs in Springfield and Carbondale, in addition to the current state lab in Cook County, will be able to provide testing next week.
People wearing face masks on the London Underground. (PA)

Experts have warned that Covid-19 could return every year like the common cold and cause deaths over the winter months.

Professor John Oxford, a virologist from Queen Mary University of London, said Covid-19 bore similarities to other forms of coronavirus which are known to infect people in waves.

Speaking to The Sunday Telegraph, Professor Oxford warned it had enough characteristics similar to the viruses we've known about for the last 50 years for it to eventually settle down and become seasonal.

Its a question of crystal ball gazing but if you look at other members of the coronavirus family, that are respiratory viruses and we've known about them for the last 50 years or more, they're seasonal, Professor Oxford said.

A man wearing a mask takes a picture in Parliament Square over the weekend. (Getty)

They're just like the common cold, there's probably a few thousand people infected with them at the moment in England.

Whether Covid-19 will fit into that pattern or not, we will just have to wait and see but my guess is it will.

Professor Oxford said that the disease becoming seasonal may allow researchers to find a better cure for it.

My hope is that this virus will be seasonal and that the coming spring and summer may help us in our battle against the virus and it may have a very significant effect, he said.

As spring approaches it's not to do with the virus it's to do with us, we do something different in our habits and that makes the virus less transferable and transmittable.

There have been 23 confirmed coronavirus cases in the UK, with more than 10,000 people having been tested.

There have been 21 cases diagnosed in England, one in Northern Ireland and one in Wales. Only one British national has so far died from the disease.

The 20th case was the first transmission of coronavirus within the UK and the Department of Health and Social Care said the original source was unclear.

Eight of the confirmed UK cases have been discharged from hospital.
Bhopal/Jabalpur/Varanasi Three people, including a loco pilot and his assistant, were killed when two goods trains of electricity generator National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) collided in Singrauli district of Madhya Pradesh early on Sunday, said police.

The accident took place near Waidhan, the administrative headquarters of Singrauli district which is 780 kilometres northeast of the state capital of Bhopal.

The deceased were loco pilot Rasheed Ahmad, 65, from Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh, assistant loco pilot Mandeep Kumar,27, from UPs Robertsganj, and Ramlakshan, 29, a points-man from Singrauli.

Inspector at Waidhan police station Arun Kumar Pandey said, One of the goods trains, laden with coal, was on its way to NTPC in Rihand Nagar of Uttar Pradesh, while the other was returning after unloading coal at the power generating centre. There are double tracks but one of the tracks at the site was not being used for quite some time as it was damaged. Hence, only one train is allowed to pass at a time. About 14 wagons of the train with empty wagons had crossed the point when the goods train laden with coal rammed into it.

The police officer said, All the deceased were on the train laden with coal. The engine was damaged and all the three employees were trapped. It took the police and NTPC staff over six hours to retrieve the bodies.

He said post-mortem was conducted and the bodies were handed over to the respective families. A preliminary investigation is going on and an FIR will be lodged accordingly. Till now, there is no complaint from anyone.

East Central Railway (ECR) spokesperson Rajesh Kumar said in a statement that the accident did not involve the Indian Railways. He said it took place in the system completely owned and operated by NTPC in Rihand.

Indian Railways has nothing to do with the accident. The casualties are also of non-railway men, Kumar said.

However, as per the NTPCs request, Indian Railways is providing all support for early restoration of movement [of trains], he said.

NTPC Rihand public relations officer Aadesh Pandey said, Prima facie, it appears to be a case of human error. Since repair work is on at one of the tracks, both the trains were supposed to pass on a single track at the site. The driver with empty wagons had been told to maintain a specific speed so that there was no chance of collision but it appears that he couldnt maintain that specific speed.

He said, An inquiry has been instituted and based on the findings, NTPC will take further action.
But its plan to crowdsource a title for the booklet via social media doesnt seem to be working too well if one were to go by the suggestions it has received. One user suggested Teen saal bemisaal (three matchless years), another suggested Teen saal; UP behaal (a damaged UP in three years). One even went to the extent of suggesting the title ...

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
A Vietnamese couple having spent years building a peaceful life together on their small, personal island in southern Vietnam now hopes to share their tiny piece of paradise with tourists from around the world.

Nguyen Van Long, 61, and his wife Tran Thi Thanh Nga, 59, cannot even fathom the idea of trading in their idyllic life on Nam Bau, a tiny islet off Ma Da Commune, Vinh Cuu District, located in the southern province of Dong Nai, for anything else in the world.

Vinh Cuu District, approximately 90 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh City, is home to Cat Tien National Park  the core of the UNESCO-recognized wildlife reserve and biosphere forest in Dong Nai.

Long and Ngas off-grid island, accessible by a 15-minute boat ride, has been kept such a secret that even most locals have never heard of it.

Slowly though, that is changing as more and more local tourists make their way to Nam Bau to escape the hustle and bustle of city life in nearby Ho Chi Minh City.

Long, originally from Long An Province in the Mekong Delta, shared that the number of weekenders who make their way to the island from nearby cities has increased so much that he will soon need to hire full-time staff to help him and his wife provide for their guests.

While tourists are drawn in by Nam Baus utopian allure, clean air, and serenity, Long and Ngas reason for starting a life on the four-hectare islet 36 years ago is much different.

An island of their own

Long was discharged from the army in 1984 and, with nowhere else to go, ventured into Dong Nais forest with several of his friends to find some land to live off and attempt to build a new life.

The group lived together in temporary shelters and made money doing odd jobs around the province, including collecting timber, planting sugar cane, and farming rice.

Things seemed to be going well until a heavy flood swept through the forest and washed away his entire crops.

I was flat broke because I had invested all my money into growing the crops, Long said.

The year of the flood was the same year as the construction of the Tri An reservoir, a hydroelectric dam and lake on the Dong Nai River, one of the longest in Vietnam.

After the river was dammed, the river became dotted with dozens of tiny islets. Longs minute plot of land was one of these.

When Longs wife, Nga, was pregnant and refused to leave the island to give birth, locals named the island Nam Bau  a nickname she goes by  in honor of the womans connection to the islet.

As time went by, the islands inhabitants slowly dwindled, due to a lack of proper accommodation, farming area, and accessibility to the mainland. Eventually, just Long and Nga were left.

With no money to relocate elsewhere, Long and his wife stayed put and raised their family on Nam Bau, only sending their children to live in Long An with their grandparents once they were old enough to attend school.

With electricity a luxury, the reclusive couple used kerosene lamps for light. It was not until a few years ago when they had rooftop solar energy panels installed and thus were able to use a television.

For water, they still rely on the local reservoir.

The pastoral landscape on Nam Bau Island, snugly nestled off Ma Da, a commune in Vinh Cuu District, Dong Nai Province in southern Vietnam. Photo: Tuoi Tre

According to Long, the lack of material comforts is offset by the islands tranquility and the bonds they have developed with their neighbors on nearby islands and the mainland.

Occasionally, the couple takes a sampan to visit friends or go food-shopping in downtown Vinh Cuu.

The neighbors used to drop by every now and then. They would give us their phone numbers in case we needed their help in an emergency, Long shared.

Now, the couple lives off their homegrown mangoes, cashew nuts, and cajuput. They also farm livestock. Their three-hectare cashew plantation which yields three metric tons of nuts each year is currently their main source of income.

Long and Ngas daily routine includes tending to the orchards, catching fish and selling their catch at the market, and taking their six-year-old grandson, Hieu, to school by sampan.

Hieus parents entrusted the little boy to the elderly couple soon after his birth as they live in a small rented house near the island and have their plates full carrying tourists to the island on a daily basis.

Long and Ngas two elder daughters live with their own families in Long An.

Weve gotten way past the hardest part of living here and want to spend our last days here. We feel completely at ease, Long said with a smile.

Unexplored weekend retreat

A few years ago, the couple decided to begin offering tourism services on their secluded island.

I had never dreamed of catering to tourists like this, Long shared, adding that his tourism start-up began five years ago when a few weekenders asked if they could stay overnight.

When those guests returned for a second time, he built them a hut for shelter. Eventually, as word of Long and Ngas hospitality spread, more and more tourists began arriving on the island.

Tourists take delight in the landscape on their way to Nam Bau Island, off Vinh Cuu District in Dong Nai Province, Vietnam. Photo: Dieu Qui / Tuoi Tre

As the island grew into a tourist magnet, Long began building more huts to house guests.

Its the first time Ive taken my family and friends here to check out this spot after seeing it reviewed on the Internet. Its such a great retreat for a weekend break near Ho Chi Minh City," Nguyen Anh Kiet, 36, from District 9, Ho Chi Minh City, said.

"We can leave the hustle and bustle behind and become one with nature. The hosts are really friendly too, Kiet said, adding that his familys itinerary included building a campfire at night and fishing during the day.

The guests also take great delight in the dishes Nga serves with food sourced right from her own farm.

Long said he plans to put up more huts and hire more staff in the near future to help cater to the increasing number of tourists.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Dr. Frank Riedo, Medical Director of Infection Control at EvergreenHealth Hospital speaks about the first patient death from novel coronavirus in the United States during a news conference in Seattle, W.A., on Feb. 29, 2020. (Ryan Henriksen/Reuters)

Washington State Declares Emergency to Prepare for Possible Worldwide Pandemic

Washington state governor Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency to prepare for what could likely be a worldwide pandemic, hours after the nation announced the first victim of the deadly coronavirus.

This is a time to take common-sense, proactive measures to ensure the health and safety of those who live in Washington state, Inslee said in a Feb. 29 statement.

He said the declaration will allow the state to mobilize all necessary resources to assist affected communities, including utilizing the Washington National Guard.

Our priority now is to slow the spread of this virus, he said.

Earlier on Saturday, Washington state health officials announced the first U.S. coronavirus death, a man in his 50s who had underlying health conditions. He died in EvergreenHealth Medical Center in Kirkland, a suburb of Seattle.

Officials are also investigating a possible coronavirus outbreak in a nursing facility in Kirkland, King County. A health care worker in her 40s and a long term resident in her 70s at the LifeCare nursing facility have tested positive to the virus. The health worker is currently in a satisfactory condition, and the elderly woman is undergoing treatment at EvergreenHealth.

Another 27 residents and 25 staff members have also shown symptoms of respiratory illness and are being tested for the virus, officials said in a Saturday phone briefing. The nursing home has a total of 108 residents and 180 employees.

The exterior of EvergreenHealth Medical Center is seen in Kirkland, W.A., on Feb. 29, 2020. (David Ryder/Getty Images)

Change in Testing Criteria

Washington announced three new coronavirus cases on Friday based on the expanded testing criteria from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The previous CDC criteria had limited testing to individuals who had recently traveled to an affected country or those who had close contact with someone who had the virus. This, along with the limited capacity of testing kits, had caused a delay in detecting infections, Washington officials told reporters on Saturday.

Last week, CDC officials updated the guidelines to include anyone with lower respiratory illness, such as a cough or shortness of breath, after detecting patients with unknown origin, which suggests the virus may be spreading among the communities.

Such cases have grown in the past week in the West Coast communities, including California, Washington, and Oregon.

So far, at least 69 confirmed and presumptive positive cases have emerged in the United States, with six in Washington state.

A teen at Jackson High School in Mill Creek, Washington, who was classified as a presumptive positive, has no known travel history. The school will be closed on Monday for a three-day deep cleaning, the Washington Department of Health said in a press release on Feb. 28 night.

The deceased King County resident and at least one other patient, who is currently in isolation, also presented serious respiratory issues when brought to EvergreenHealth hospital, the facility told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement.

If more evidence of community spread emerges, the state may consider cancelling large public events and closing schools, health officials said in the Saturday briefing.

Tip of the Iceberg

Jeff Duchin, a public health official in Seattle and King County, said they believe they will discover more cases with further testing, since many patients have mild symptoms and are thus less likely to seek healthcare.

Our assumption is that when we see severe cases in a community, there are other less severe cases as well, he told reporters in a phone call on Saturday afternoon.

Jeff Duchin, Health Officer, Public Health for Seattle and King County speaks following the death of a a King County, Washington resident due to novel coronavirus (COVID-19) during a press conference in Seattle, W.A. on Feb. 29, 2020. (Jason Redmond/AFP via Getty Images)

He also stressed the importance of having a pandemic preparedness plan and keeping good hygiene habits, such as to wash hands frequently, keep a distance of six feet or more from others, and avoid touching the mouth and face, which can help reduce the risk of contracting the virus.

We expect this infection will increase over time, he said. Nobody can stop it. Its here and its going to be here with us in the U.S. for quite a while.

Frank Riedo, medical director of Infection Control at EvergreenHealth, said the detection of the most critically ill individuals indicates theres a significant percentage of individuals with less severe illness floating around.

What we are seeing is the tip of the iceberg, he said.

The hospital is planning to transform up to half of the facility into an airborne quarantine center, and by reverse-engineering the airflow, it can help isolate individuals suspected to have the virus.

The states military department has activated the State Emergency Operations Center to its highest level since January to coordinate outbreak response across Washington, according to the state governors press release.

President Donald Trump, in an earlier press conference, said the country has access to 43 million medical masks, although Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar said the government may need as many as 300 million N95 respirator masks nationwide, according to his testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee.
The tiny nation of Qatar expressed disappointment Sunday that nearly all of its Gulf neighbors snubbed invitations to attend the weekend peace signing ceremony between the U.S. and the Taliban. Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammad bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told The Associated Press in an interview that the presence of Saudi, Bahraini and Emirati officials at Saturday's event in Doha could have been an opportunity to signal unity amid a festering, nearly three-year-old crisis among the Gulf Cooperation Council members that have left Qatar isolated.

We were hopeful that our GCC brothers and neighbors would join us in yesterday's ceremony, al Thani said. We invited them for the ceremony, but unfortunately they didn't show up.

Instead, he said their absence showed a continuing absence of wisdom among Qatar's neighbors at a time when tensions in the Middle East, especially with Iran, are running high. Oman was the only GCC member to send its foreign minister. We were hoping to see them participating with us because we believe it is a cooperative approach between all the group of friends of Afghanistan," he said, adding later: We have, unfortunately, an absence of wisdom. In some countries in the region, we want them to be wiser.

READ| Afghan President refuses to release 5,000 Taliban prisoners after peace deal

Hosting and facilitating the crucial talks between the Taliban and the US. was a diplomatic coup for regionally isolated Qatar. It helps to strengthen the country's strategic importance, not just as a major gas exporter and host to a sprawling U.S. military base, but also as a U.S. and European ally that can engage with a range of players, like the Taliban.

Saudi Arabia, for its part, welcomed the signing of the peace agreement. In its statement, it made no mention of Qatars role, only saying that the agreement helps to restore stability in Afghanistan and benefits the regions security. American officials had hoped all the Gulf Arab states would participate in the ceremony at which the U.S. and the Taliban signed a peace deal aimed at ending 18 years of war. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who witnessed the signing of the deal, alluded to the Gulf crisis in a separate meeting with Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Doha on Saturday.

The two discussed the importance of a united GCC in standing against the Iranian regimes destabilizing activity," according to a US readout of the meeting. Oman was the lone GCC member to send its foreign minister to the ceremony and Pompeo, who visited Muscat just two weeks ago, made a point of greeting Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi Abdullah at the event.

READ| Donald Trump says troop withdrawal begins 'today' after US-Taliban peace deal

Despite US encouragement to the other members of the GCC, Al Thani said Qatar had received no response to its invitations, which were sent despite a January breakdown in talks aimed at resolving the crisis. The GCC has been split by a rift between Qatar on one side and Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates on the other since 2017. Al Thani said Qatar had still received no explanation for the suspension of the talks in January.

There is no clear reason for why it's been suspended, he said. "It was very surprising for us also given the timing with everything that is happening in the region. We believe that this is the time that should unite everyone toward one goal with all this turbulence that's happening with Iraq and Iran and the others. But unfortunately, it didn't happen."

Al Thani lamented that the crisis, which has seen Qatar blockaded by its neighbors and caused economic distress, was lingering at a time of extreme tensions. We think a united GCC is good for everyone, it's good for the United States, it's good for the stability of the region, he said. The GCC was, at a certain point of time, the center of stability in the Middle East region. And, unfortunately, this rift has changed this perception about the GCC and it's become like a source of turbulence in the region.

READ| Trump to 'personally meet' Taliban; expects 'regional nations' to fight war on terror

Taliban Peace Deal

In a historic move, US peace envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad and senior Taliban leaders Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar signed the deal in Qatar's Doha on Saturday. Mullah Baradar was released from a Pakistani prison in October 2018, after he was arrested in Karachi in 2010. Two unnamed Pakistani intelligence officials also confirmed that Mullah Baradar was freed "after high-level negotiations," AP reported.

The US military, as per the deal agreement, will leave Afghanistan within the next 14 months, if the Taliban upholds its commitments that the Afghan territory will not be used for terror activities to target the US and its allies. The deal lays the groundwork for negotiations between the democratic government in Kabul and the armed group Taliban. The US has even agreed to lift sanctions against Taliban leaders by August. Washington and Kabul further agreed with the Taliban to exchange prisoners of war by March 10.

(With AP inputs)

READ| US-Taliban truce: India reiterates support for 'Afghan-led, Afghan-controlled process'
Aligarh, March 1 : The Aligarh administration, on Saturday, managed to get anti-CAA protesters to vacate the Quarsi bypass Anoop Shahar Road in Jeevangarh area.

The protesters had blocked the road since the past one week, a day after violence broke out between them and the police, leaving eight persons injured.

Though the tents and barricades were removed from the road and the women protesters had also cleared the way, they reassembled at the site.

Later, all the protesters were convinced by their local community leaders to vacate the area and they themselves cleared the road.

District magistrate, Chandra Bhushan Singh said the protesters wanted to give a memorandum, with some local demands, including an assurance of no harassment if they end the protest and financial help to the person injured in the violence on Sunday night.

He said that the administration will look into their demands.

Aligarh SSP, Muniraj G, said police will not allow anyone to disturb the city's law and order.

Meanwhile, internet services have been restored in Aligarh after almost a week.
According to the state BJP, the initiative will highlight and protest against the injustice to the people by the Trinamul government.

Union home minister Amit Shah, who will arrive Kolkata on Sunday on a day-long tour, will kick-start the Aar Noi Annay campaign at the BJPs mega rally at Shaheed Minar Ground in heart of the city in support of the CAA.

Kolkata: After Save Bengal, it is Aar Noi Annay (no more injustice). Eyeing the Municipal elections in the run up to the Assembly elections in West Bengal, the BJP is going to launch a fresh and grand campaign with a target to reach out to five crore people in the next six months to strengthen its votebank and corner the ruling Trinamul Congress in in wake of the CAA.

Union home minister Amit Shah, who will arrive Kolkata on Sunday on a day-long tour, will kick-start the Aar Noi Annay campaign at the BJPs mega rally at Shaheed Minar Ground in heart of the city in support of the CAA. A massive rally on the CAA will be addressed by Mr Shah at Kolkatas Shaheed Maidan on Sunday.

Notwithstanding the wide-spread criticism of the CAA and its consequences in the recently concluded Delhi assembly polls, the amended Act will feature prominently in BJPs campaign in West Bengal, where assembly polls are lined up early next year.

Amid speculations that the BJPs West Bengal unit is divided over the CAA, the BJP leadership  party president J.P. Nadda and Mr Shah  will also be meeting party leaders, including state unit office bearers, asking them not to express divergent views and confuse the cadre.

He will also release a chargesheet  drafted by the BJP  against the state government, clearly listing out the injustices done by the government against the people of West Bengal.

This will be Mr Shahs first visit to the state after the CAA was implemented across the country. The BJPs proposed campaign however comes close on the heels of the Didi Ke Bolo campaign, a brainchild of Prashant Kishor, for the Trinamul following the ruling partys poor performance in the Lok Sabha election last year.

According to the state BJP, the initiative will highlight and protest against the injustice to the people by the Trinamul government.

Through this campaign we plan to directly connect with more than 5 crore voters in West Bengal over the next six months. This campaign will provide the people of West Bengal a platform to express their anger with the Mamata Banerjee led TMC government and hold it accountable for its misrule. During the campaign the BJP workers will conduct a massive door-to-door campaign across the state and organise meetings in every village and ward to discuss the chargesheet with the people directly, the party said.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 13:19:32|Editor: yhy

Video Player Close

SANTA FE, Argentina, Feb. 29 (Xinhua) -- Argentina's meat exporting sector expects China's beef imports to bounce back to pre-epidemic levels soon, a representatives of the sector has said.

"I think it's a matter of time. Today, China is at a juncture that it will soon overcome, with all the efforts it is making, using its power of sanitary intervention," Luis Maria Medina, operation manager of the meatpacking firm Black Bamboo Enterprises, told Xinhua.

The Chinese government "knew how to organize and carry out a quarantine" to successfully contain the spread of the virus, he added.

"China did what no other countries could have conceivably done. Its containment of the coronavirus has been highly successful," said Medina, noting "China achieved it through its technical capacity, and its abidance to orders and procedures."

The company's outlook regarding the recovery of the Chinese market "is good," given that in recent weeks it has received queries from China about volumes and prices of its products, said Medina.

In fact, the company expects not only to restore its export levels to the previous year in the medium term, but also to boost sales to a "commercially very strong" market with new products.

"Our next goal in China is to start looking for niches with higher purchasing power that want chilled, high-quality cuts," said Medina.
David Anderson did not mince words at a Senate Estimates hearing last October. There will be job losses, ABCs managing director warned. It's not something I can quantify at this point in time. There's still more work to be done.

Towards the end of March, Anderson will reveal a five-year plan for the national broadcaster. To the frustration of staff, its unlikely to specify which parts of the organisation will bear the brunt of these cuts or how many workers they might lose.

Several senior sources spoke about the situation at ABC on the condition of anonymity, given sensitive funding negotiations are yet to be finalised.

All these media reports claiming the redundancy numbers will be finalised in March are just wrong, says one ABC executive. What we need is some clarity [about long-term resourcing] from the government.
The US and the Taliban signed a deal on Saturday that could lead to the complete withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan over the next 14 months if the insurgents deliver on commitments not to allow the country to be used by terror groups and commence intra-Afghan negotiations.

The deal was signed in the Qatari capital Doha by US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and senior Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Biradar soon after the Afghan government and the US issued a joint declaration that laid out Kabuls readiness to participate in negotiations and conclude a ceasefire with the Taliban.

India reacted cautiously to the US-Taliban deal, reiterating its policy of supporting all moves that ensure peace and stability in Afghanistan, cut ties with international terrorism, and lead to a lasting political settlement through an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled process.

US secretary of state Mike Pompeo, who was present at the signing ceremony in Doha along with representatives of some 30 countries, including India, told a news conference that the US expects countries in the region, including Pakistan, to continue to promote a peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan so that the country and region can reap the benefits of lasting peace.

The US has depended significantly on Pakistan to assist in the negotiations with the Taliban, many of whose top leaders are still based in Pakistani cities such as Karachi and Quetta. Biradar, a co-founder of the Afghan Taliban, was captured by Pakistani security agencies in Karachi in 2010 and he was released in late 2018 at the request of the US to facilitate the negotiations.

The so-called comprehensive peace agreement between the US and the Taliban has four parts  guarantees that Afghan soil will not be used by terror groups, guarantees for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan, the Taliban starting intra-Afghan negotiations from March 10, and negotiations for a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire and a future political road map of Afghanistan. The four parts are interrelated and each will be implemented in accordance with its own agreed timeframe and agreed terms. Agreement on the first two parts paves the way for the last two parts, the agreement states.

The US will cut troop strength in Afghanistan to 8,600 and ensure a proportional reduction in the forces of its allies in 135 days and subsequently all foreign forces will be withdrawn in 14 months if the Taliban delivers on its commitments. The US will also release up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners by March 10, review American sanctions and rewards on Taliban leaders to remove them by August 27, and work with members of the UN to remove the world bodys sanctions by May 29. The Taliban will have to ensure that terror groups such as al Qaeda are not based on Afghan soil or use the country for recruiting, training and fund-raising.

The US-Afghanistan joint declaration, unveiled during a visit to Kabul by defence secretary Mark Esper, states the agreement with the Taliban paves the way for intra-Afghan negotiations on a political settlement and a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire and that Afghanistan reaffirms its readiness to participate in such negotiations and its readiness to conclude a ceasefire with the Taliban.

However, experts believe these negotiations between multiple Afghan factions will be complicated. Moreover, the deal doesnt set timeframes for completing the intra-Afghan negotiations or political road map and is silent on crucial matters such as womens rights put in place since the ouster of the Taliban in 2001 and which India has insisted must be protected. Espers visit, officials said, was aimed at reassuring the government of President Ashraf Ghani about Washingtons commitment to Afghanistan. The deal was inked after a week-long period of reduction in violence by both sides. If the Taliban uphold the agreement, the US will begin a conditions-based, and I repeat conditions-based, reduction in forces, Esper said. He added if the Taliban did live up to commitments, the US wouldnt hesitate to nullify the agreement. For US President Donald Trump, the deal represents a chance to deliver on his longstanding promise to bring US troops home as he begins the campaign for his re-election.

The biggest thing is that we hope the US remains committed to their promises during the negotiation and peace deal, said Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid.

For millions of Afghans, the deal represents some hope for an end to years of fighting. But security experts have called the agreement a foreign policy gamble that would give the Taliban international legitimacy. Senior members of the Afghan government and nations surrounding Afghanistan are concerned the US could abandon the country, much like it was perceived to have left the region after the Soviet Union exited Afghanistan decades ago. It is also not clear whether the Afghan government will agree to the release of 5,000 Taliban members, and whether fighters loyal to hardline splinter groups will adhere to the reduction in violence. People in the Taliban said earlier this month they were prepared to launch a spring offensive if the agreement collapses and had recruited more than 6,000 fighters and suicide bombers. The political situation in Afghanistan too continues to be fragile after the election commission recently announced Ghani won last years election plagued by allegations of rigging and other irregularities. Former chief executive Abdullah Abdullah rejected the results and vowed a parallel government.

For India, which has extended assistance worth $3 billion to Afghanistan in the face of Pakistans efforts to oppose its influence in the war-torn country, the stakes are extremely high. Indian officials believe the Taliban, which has targeted Indian interests in Afghanistan, continues to act at the behest of the Pakistani military establishment.

Reacting to both the deal with the Taliban and the joint declaration, external affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said: Indias consistent policy is to support all opportunities that can bring peace, security and stability in Afghanistan; end violence; cut ties with international terrorism; and lead to a lasting political settlement through an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled process.

He said the entire political spectrum in Afghanistan, including the government, the democratic polity and civil society, had welcomed the opportunity and hope for peace and stability generated by these agreements. He added, As a contiguous neighbour, India will continue to extend all support to the government and people of Afghanistan in realising their aspirations for a peaceful, democratic and prosperous future where the interests of all sections of Afghan society are protected. Michael Kugelman, deputy director of the Asia Program at the Wilson Center, said that Washington is essentially trying to show that its full strength is behind this deal and it wants to also indicate to Kabul that its fully behind Afghanistan as the peace and reconciliation process moves toward a formal beginning.

Former president George W Bush ordered the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in response to the 9/11 attacks in 2001. The US spent more than $750 billion and lost about 2,400 soldiers in the war.

There are more than 16,500 soldiers serving under the NATO banner, of which 8,000 are American. Germany has the next largest contingent, with 1,300 troops, followed by Britain with 1,100. The US has a separate contingent of 5,000 troops deployed for counterterror missions and to provide air and ground support to Afghan forces.
Bernie Sanders looked ahead to Super Tuesday at a Virginia rally Saturday night as he brushed off Joe Biden's overwhelming win in the South Carolina primary.

'You cannot win 'em all,' he told cheering supporters.

I am very proud that in our campaign so far, we have won the popular vote in Iowa,' the Vermont senator told a crowd of cheering supporters in Virginia Beach.

'We have won the New Hampshire primary. We have won the Nevada caucus,' he continued.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. congratulated Joe Biden on his South Carolina but declared, 'You cannot win 'em all'

But he reminded his followers: 'You cannot win em all.'

Sanders said he has a 'great chance' to win the Democratic nomination  with critical primaries in Virginia and other states three days away.

Sanders observed there are a lot of states out there.'

And tonight we did not win in South Carolina, he noted, about an hour after the polls closed.

There are a lot of states in this country. Nobody wins them all, he reiterated, on a day when Biden racked up large percentages among African American voters and got a significant boost to his struggling and underfunded campaign.

I want to congratulate Joe Biden on his victory tonight, he said, to only a smattering of applause. And now we enter super Tuesday in Virginia!

Sanders has financial advantages over his rivals and a national following, with only Michael Bloomberg with his virtually unlimited resources posing a threat on the money front.

Sanders addressed cheering supportesr in Virginia Beach, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

Democratic 2020 U.S. presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders greets supporters at his rally in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., February 29, 2020

Joe Biden proclaimed that his campaign was 'very much alive' after beating Bernie Sanders soundly in South Carolina

Biden is hoping to use his South Carolina win to generate free 'earned media,' and has scheduled a round of Sunday show interviews, hoping to get a burst of momentum in addition to delegates out of his victory. He'll also be appearing in Norfolk with some big name endorsers.

'We are very much alive!' Biden proclaimed Saturday night in Columbia, calling his voters who gave him a commanding victory over Bernie Sanders the 'heart of the Democratic Party.'

Sanders scheduled his Virginia swing when it was already becoming clear he would not be able to deliver a South Carolina knockout against Biden, ran up huge support among the states African American voters, and who cultivated the state over decades. Biden also scored the endorsement of powerbroker Rep. James C. Clyburn in South Carolina.

And on Sunday, he got the support for former Democratic governor Terry McAuliffe., a former top fundraiser for Bill and Hillary Clinton.

'I've always said that our best leader is one who can build a broad coalition, including African American voters who are the heart of the Democratic Party. After South Carolina, it is clear Joe Biden is that leader,' McAuliffe said in a statement, sent out by Biden's campaign.

Sen. Tim Kaine, a Democratic senator from Virginia, is also backing Biden.

There were 54 delegates at stake in South Carolina  more than any of the other first three states.

Sanders has a commanding lead in California and is polling well in other Super Tuesday states. In another show of muscle, Sanders scheduled trips to Massachusetts and Minnesota, the home states of rivals Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar.

'We cannot sit back and complain. We have got to get active and vote,' Sanders said.

'If we win here in Virginia, and with your help I think we can, we stand a great chance to win the Democratic nomination. And if we win the Democratic nomination we sure as heck are going to beat Donald Trump.'

It was not immediately clear whether Biden in the short window before Tuesday could translate his win into a boost in other states. Super Tuesday includes a handful of southern states besides Virginia: North Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, Alabama, Oklahoma and Arkansas.
Travelling with 24" monitors

Thu 20 February 2020 in in DIY

During 2019 I was living in Paris and really wondering what I was doing there as my job doesn't require me to be physically in Paris, I was working with teams in India and San Francisco. I don't really need to be close to my friends or be in a place that I know but I need my computer setup to be efficient, and my computer setup is a big issue, as I have three 24 inches monitors an external GPU and an ergonomic keyboard.

But I wanted to travel, how can I keep my efficiency while travelling ? Adapting to a single or two 13 inches monitors was not an option, I have never been able to work efficiency on a small screen. So I had to find a way to travel with monitors. How can I carry abroad 3 screens (55cmx30cm) which weighs more than 3kg each, which required a monitor arm and an external GPU which is 7kg ?

The whole setup is about 20kg, with the weight of the luggage we would already reach the 23kg or even sometimes 20kg of checked luggage in airplaines, the total volume would exceed the maximum volume also and how am I going to protect all that stuff so it doesn't get broke during the transportation ? First try : I can send everything via DHL on a box, That was about 200$, DHL picked the package, went to the custom, and brought it back, they needed invoices, Aaarg I don't want to deal with customs and all that and take the risk to lose everything. So this is not going to be an option

But how then ? I had no idea, I checked on the internet, didn't found anything, some people carried one monitor on the plane, but my setup was much more complex, I had to innovate.

I had to find something so that:

The total weight is less than 12kg

The dimension is be minimal enough to enter in a standard checked baggage

The Y position of each screen is still adjustable to adapt to different desks in different places

The setup is easy to mount and unmount

Everything is protected during transport

My current monitors were already heavier than the maximum weight, so I had to find other monitors, my first thought was, laptop monitors are so thin, I just need 3 of 24 inches size and everything is solved, yes ... but that doesn't exist, the biggest lcd display pannel that I could find were 17 inches, and you would also need to convert the video signal to hdmi, figure out how to power it, so not possible. Second thought let's go to store and find the slimmest monitors, well ... there is none, you find a lot of monitors with very slim lcd pannel but the power block still takes a lot of space.

I had only one last option, disassemble the monitor and remove anything that is useless.

There a four parts to my journey:

How to make the monitors lighter How do I keep the Y position of the monitor adjustable How do I plug everything on a lenovo X1 Carbon without an external GPU How can I have only one power cable instead of 3 How do I transport all that safely

1. How to make the monitors lighter

A monitor is composed of :

a plastic case

a metallic case that keep all the pieces of the lcd screen together

a lcd panel (this is basically a rigid sheet in my case)

a backlight (in my case this is a plexiglass sheet with a row of leds)

a power block

So I removed the plastic case, removed the back of the metallic case (probably the heaviest part), glued everything together that everything stay together and kept the power block separately from the monitor, you can see the results below :

Now each monitor was about 1.5kg !!!!

2. How do I keep the Y position of the monitor adjustable

Basically I need three monitors arms, but I didnt find anything transportable, so again I had to create something new that is transportable, light and easy to mount/unmount

When you want to do something solid and light you usually have 3 material that you can use, aluminium, wood and plastic. At that time I was in Estonia and didnt have machinery to build something in aluminium neither plastic, so I had to go with wood.

Here is what I build :

The middle part (in black) is not fixed and can move from the bottom to the top if the shaft,

The bottom is 4 small brackets attached together with some wire

And thats all.

I can adjust the vertical of the support by bending the brackets (which doesnt work well) and I can adjust the Y position by modifying the position of the middle part

I can unmount everything and just get a shaft and a handful of accessories while travelling

3. How do I plug everything on a lenovo X1 Carbon without an external GPU

The lenovo X1 carbon and most of laptop have an integrated GPU, mine support 3 independents screens, so whatever the adaptator you use and the combination of monitors without using some form of GPU you can't have more than 3 independent monitors.

So for setup I deactivated the internal screen of the Lenovo, and then plugged one monitor on the hdmi output and two others on a dual hdmi to usb c adaptor : This one on Amazon Works great so far !

4. How can I have only one power cable instead of 3

For the powering one thing to take into account is that cable are somewhat heavy and if you have 3 screen + your laptop you will need 4 electrical sockets. You could use the same socket for the screens by doing something like that.

5. How do I transport all that safely

Now it is time to put all that in a suitcase, The simplest thing I found, is you can take one yoga mat and wrap everything inside like that (everything is inside except the cables, the total weight is around 12 kg):

Conclusion

The whole thing take me 8min to fold it and 12min to unfold it. It is about 12kg, it works great so far

Two ways of improvement: find something better designed for the support, and buy some lighter screens
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Hagens Berman urges investors in Fluor Corporation (NYSE: FLR) with significant losses to submit their losses now. A securities fraud class action has been filed against the Company and certain investors may have valuable claims.

Class Period: Nov. 2, 2017-Feb. 14, 2020

Lead Plaintiff Deadline: Apr. 28, 2020

Sign Up: www.hbsslaw.com/investor-fraud/FLR

Contact An Attorney Now: [email protected]

844-916-0895

Fluor Corporation (FLR) Securities Class Action:

The complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Defendants inflated Fluor's revenue and earnings by improperly recognizing revenue on 16 separate projects ("2Q 2019 Projects").

The truth emerged through a series of disclosures beginning on May 2, 2019, when Fluor announced the immediate departure of its CEO, David T. Seaton, significantly reduced its earnings guidance, and disclosed that Fluor was taking charges of over $100 million on various projects due, in part, to Fluor's "revenue recognition" practices.

Then, on Aug. 1, 2019, Defendants revealed that Fluor would be taking a $714 million charge on the 2Q 2019 Projects, including incurring a $233 million charge on Fluor's project at the Radford Army Ammunition Plant (the "Radford Project").

Finally, on Feb. 18, 2020, Defendants revealed that the SEC was investigating Fluor's revenue recognition practices related to the 2Q 2019 Projects and had requested information related to those projects. In addition, Defendants announced that Fluor had also commenced an internal investigation into the 2Q 2019 Projects, "focusing initially on the Radford [Project]."

As a result of these disclosures, the price of Fluor common stock declined precipitously.

"We're focused on investors' losses and proving that Fluor inflated revenue and earnings through deceptive change orders on its 2Q 2019 Projects," said Reed Kathrein, the Hagens Berman partner leading the investigation.

If you purchased shares of Fluor and suffered significant losses, click here to discuss your legal rights with Hagens Berman.

Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding Fluor should consider their options to help in the investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. Under the new program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, call Reed Kathrein at 844-916-0895 or email [email protected].

About Hagens Berman

Hagens Berman is a national law firm with nine offices in eight cities around the country and eighty attorneys. The firm represents investors, whistleblowers, workers and consumers in complex litigation. More about the firm and its successes is located at hbsslaw.com. For the latest news visit our newsroom or follow us on Twitter at @classactionlaw .

Contact:

Reed Kathrein, 844-916-0895

SOURCE Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP

Related Links

https://www.hbsslaw.com


Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Sergey Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu have discussed the arrest of employees of Sputnik-Turkey news agency.

As reported the press service of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Russia underscored the need to solve the situation concerning journalists and Sputnik Turkeys employees quickly and ensure their safety.

The ministers said they support the creation of a favorable atmosphere that will help make the dialogue effective. They also discussed preparations for the two ministers upcoming meeting.

RIA Novosti reported that the three employees of Sputnik-Turkey, arrested in Ankara, were released after testifying.

As reported earlier, on the night of February 29, anonymous people had tried to barge into the homes of the employees of Sputnik-Turkey and had accused them of working for the Russians.
The Health Ministry of Malaysia has reportedly said on March 1 that the country has confirmed four new cases of Coronavirus taking the total number of infections in the country to 29. According to the reports, all of the new cases were Malaysians and two of them had a travel record to China and Italy. The report said that 22 patients have recovered and been discharged from the hospital of the total cases in Malaysia.

READ: NASA's Aerial Images Show Decline In China's Pollution Levels Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

Death toll stands at 2900

China has reportedly confirmed 573 new cases of the novel coronavirus cases on February 29, soaring the figures from 427 the previous day, confirmed Chinas health authority. The number of fatalities stood at 35, dipping from 47 reported the previous day.

The total death toll in mainland China is more than 2900, as per reports. At least 34 new fatalities were reported in Hubei province, where the COVID-19 first originated. The province detected 570 new cases within 24 hours, the National Health Commission of China said in media reports.

China had earlier described the situation regarding the pathogen outbreak as "still grim and complex" as the disease spread globally raising international concerns.

READ: Coronavirus Outbreak: Death Toll In China Climbs To 2,870 With 35 More Fatalities

CNHC urges to contain virus

Minister of China's National Health Commission (NHC) Ma Xiaowei told a news conference that despite some success in containing the strain of the new virus, there was a risk of the epidemic rebounding. He said that China managed to contain the spread of the virus and curb human-to-human transmission to a great extent after the government implemented "unprecedented" measures. He further added that the deepening health crisis due to the Coronavirus became an economic challenge for the country as well.

According to the reports, amid mounting cases of the deadly COVID-19, China resorted to stepping up its quarantine measures on the foreign nationals. It also offered assistance to the countries abroad like Iran and Japan which are severely impacted by the contagion. Iran is one of the most severely affected nations outside mainland China which has reportedly surpassed 500 confirmed coronavirus cases and reported 210 fatalities so far. An Iranian lawmaker, Mohammad Ali Ramazani Dastak, died succumbing to the worsening health conditions due to the Coronavirus.

READ: Coronavirus Outbreak: Kuwait Health Ministry Confirms 45 Cases Of Epidemic

READ: Coronavirus Time Bomb: America's Uninsured And Brutal Work Culture

(With Agency Inputs)
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday threatened to let thousands of refugees cross into Europe and warned that Damascus would "pay a price" after dozens of Turkish troops were killed inside Syria.

Around 13,000 migrants have gathered along the Turkish-Greek border, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said late Saturday.

Earlier in the day, Greek police clashed with several thousand migrants, as they hurled rocks at security forces firing tear gas across the frontier.

Turkey and Russia meanwhile, who back opposing forces in the Syria conflict, held talks to defuse tensions after an air strike killed the Turkish troops, sparking fears of a broader war and a new migration crisis for Europe.

But Erdogan said he would let refugees travel to Europe from NATO-member Turkey.

"What did we do yesterday? We opened the doors," Erdogan said in Istanbul.

"We will not close those doors.... Why? Because the European Union (EU) should keep its promises."



He was referring to a 2016 deal with the EU to stop refugee flows in exchange for billions of euros in aid.

Turkey already hosts 3.6 million Syrian refugees.

Erdogan's comments were his first since 34 Turkish troops were killed on Thursday in northern Syria's Idlib, where Moscow-backed Syrian regime forces are battling to retake the last rebel enclave.

Turkey's Interior Minister, Suleyman Soylu, said nearly 50,000 migrants had left Turkey for Europe via the western province of Edirne, bordering Greece, in comments published in the official Anadolu agency.

But the IOM said its staff had observed "at least 13,000 people gathered along the 212-kilometre (125-mile) long border".

"Thousands of migrants, including families with young children, are passing a cold night along the border between Turkey and Greece," it said.

There were skirmishes on the Turkish-Greek border at Pazarkule Saturday, as Greek police fired tear gas to push back thousands of migrants who hurled rocks at them, according to an AFP photographer at the scene.

"Look who's lecturing us on international law!" Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu tweeted. "They're shamelessly throwing tear gas bombs on thousands of innocents piled at their gates."



In 2015, Greece became the main EU entry point for one million migrants, most of them refugees fleeing the Syrian civil war.

EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen expressed concern on the unimpeded flow of migrants from Turkey to the bloc's external borders in Greece and Bulgaria.

"Our top priority at this stage is to ensure that Greece and Bulgaria have our full support," she tweeted.

In Athens, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis held an emergency meeting Saturday to discuss the crisis.

"We averted more than 4,000 attempts of illegal entrance to our land borders," government spokesman Stelios Petsas said after the meeting.

A Greek police source said migrants had started fires and opened holes in border fences. Police and soldiers patrolled the Evros river shores -- a common crossing point -- and issued loudspeaker warnings not to enter Greek territory.

The Greek coast guard said that from early Friday to early Saturday, 180 migrants reached the islands of Lesbos and Samos, crossing the eastern Aegean from the Turkish coast.

One rubber dinghy arrived early Saturday in Lesbos carrying 27 African migrants, many of them women, who wept and prayed on their knees, said an AFP reporter.

The UN says nearly a million people -- half of them children -- have been displaced by the fighting in northwest Syria since December, forced to flee in the bitter cold.

Turkey said its forces had destroyed a "chemical warfare facility", just south of Aleppo.

Syria's state media denied the attack and the existence of such a facility.

Turkish drone strikes killed 26 Syrian soldiers on Saturday, an independent war monitor said.

The Britain-based Observatory for Human Rights said the strikes "targeted positions of the regime forces in the Idlib and Aleppo countryside".

The killing of Turkish troops by President Bashar al-Assad's forces -- backed by Russian air power -- has sent tensions between Ankara and Moscow soaring.

On Friday, Erdogan spoke by phone with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. Erdogan may travel next week to Moscow for talks, according to the Kremlin. But the Turkish leader remained critical on Saturday.

"I asked Mr Putin: 'What's your business there?'," Erdogan said. "If you establish a base, do so but get out of our way and leave us face to face with the regime."



Erdogan spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron by telephone Saturday, the Turkish presidency said.

Seeking support from Europe after the Idlib casualties, Erdogan told Macron that Ankara wanted to see "clear and concrete support" from NATO "not only in words but in deeds".

He also warned that the humanitarian crisis would "deepen unless the regime's attacks are stopped in Syria".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 20:52:13|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar speaks at Turkey's southern province of Hatay, on March 1, 2020. Hulusi Akar said Sunday that Turkey has launched a fresh operation in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib in the wake of the recent attack of Syrian government on Turkish troops there. (Xinhua)

ANKARA, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Sunday that Turkey has launched a fresh operation in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib in the wake of the recent attack of Syrian government on Turkish troops there.

"Operation Spring Shield, which was launched following the heinous attack on Feb. 27, is successfully being carried out," Akar said at Turkey's southern province of Hatay bordering Syria, according to semi-official Anadolu Agency.

Akar said that "a drone, eight helicopters, 103 tanks, 19 armored personnel carriers, 72 cannons/howitzers/multiple rocket launchers, three air-defense systems, 15 anti-tanks/mortars, 56 armored vehicles, nine ammunition depots and 1,212 Syrian soldiers and elements have been neutralized" so far.

He stressed that talks between Ankara and Moscow are ongoing.

"Our expectation from Russia at this point is to fulfill its commitments as the guarantor country, and in this context, to use its influence on the regime (Syrian government) to make it halt its attacks and withdraw to the borders set with the Sochi Agreement," said the minister.

He added that Turkey does not seek confrontation with Russia, but will retaliate for any attacks on Turkish troops and observation posts in Idlib.

The operation was launched after at least 34 Turkish soldiers were killed and dozens of others injured late Thursday in an airstrike carried out by Syrian government forces in Idlib which borders southern Turkey.

Turkey has set up several observation points in Idlib under a deal signed with Russia in September 2018 in Sochi, which also recognized Idlib as a "de-escalation zone" and prohibited aggressive acts in the area. But conflicts have continued in the region despite the deal.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on



Sunday said the country has zero tolerance towards terrorism and has developed a "proactive" defence policy under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Shah also said that India has now joined the league of countries like the US and Israel in carrying out surgical strikes.

"Now, after Modiji became the PM, we have developed a proactive defence policy segregated from the foreign policy," he said in Rajarhat, while inaugurating a new building of the National Security Guards (NSG).

The home minister said the central government is working on a policy to improve the "housing satisfaction ratio" to enable jawans to stay with their families for at least 100 days in a year.

Hailing the NSG jawans for fighting terror, Shah said, "We have taken measures to make it the best force in the world".

The Union minister arrived here earlier in the day amid protests by opposition parties against the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

Demonstrations are also being held in various parts of the city, including areas in the vicinity of the Shaheed Minar Ground, where Shah is scheduled to address a rally.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Photo credit: NBC Universal

From Esquire

It's rare to see one character played by three different performers over a single season of Saturday Night Live. But in recent months, Woody Harrelson, Jason Sudeikis, and now John Mulaney have all taken turns in the role of former Vice President Joe Biden. And while celebrity impersonation isn't really Mulaney's strong suit, the former SNL writer and three-time guest host knocked it out of the park.

The night's cold open took the form of a coronavirus press conference from Vice President Mike Pence (Beck Bennett) that quickly turned into a debate-style presidential candidate impression showcase. But before the 2020 hopefuls appeared, we were treated to Kenan Thompson as Ben Carson, "you know, the brain surgeon they put in charge of housing development," who illustrated what the new virus looks like with help of a picture of Disney's Stitch.

It wasn't long before the likes of Elizabeth Warren (Kate McKinnon), Pete Buttigieg (Colin Jost), Bernie Sanders (returning guest Larry David) and Amy Klobuchar (SNL alum Rachel Dratch) began popping up. But, despite the fact that he looked and sounded nothing like the candidate, Mulaney's Biden completely stole the show. He may not do impressions, but Mulaney knows how to play an old dude, and the monologue he delivered was one of SNL's best political moments all season. "Now listen folks, if we want to fight China cough," he began, "we've got to be smart."

We've got to get new teeth daily. Now here's an honest-to-goodness true story based loosely on fake events. The year was nineteen Rikki Tikki Tavi, and me and Nelson Mandela were palling around South Africa, Green Book-style. We have one elephant between us, and who do we run into but the Ebola monkey. And, weird story longer, I wrestled that sucker to mercy. Beep, bop, bip, that's how I convinced Mandela that whitey was okay.

Check out the full cold open below.

Story continues

You Might Also Like
A FORMER Limerick Mayor has called for convicted drug dealers to be immediately evicted from estates and council homes.

Fianna Fail councillor Kevin Sheahan made the call at last weeks joint policing committee at City Hall, proposing the idea to Limericks highest ranking gardai, including Chief Supt Gerard Roche.

Cllr Sheahan said he was delighted with the new drugs unit in Newcastle West to cover the county. However, the long-serving councillor took issue with those who are dealing the white powder and are able to afford flashy cars.

The ordinary citizen on the street, they are asking the very simple question: How does your man get the money for that car and he doesnt work?

These are the questions by the law-abiding citizens who are struggling to get by, he said.

Cllr Sheahan told the Leader that there is a homeless crisis and there are a lot of people who are waiting to be housed.

They would ask the question: Here am I, waiting for a house, for God knows how long, and there is a guy who has a house for his family - a house provided by the taxpayer - and all of a sudden he is showing signs of excessive prosperity, ie the car is 30,000 worth, and its only the other day he had a bad bicycle. If hes unemployed, and if theres no evidence of him having won money or anything like that. How on Earth can he afford such a vehicle?

He said that there should be no tolerance whatsoever to be spending taxpayers money to be housing that person. He said this should not apply to the wider family, and does not want to see children suffer as a result. But the person themselves should be expelled from the property and expelled from the estate.
Pope Francis coughs during the Angelus noon prayer he recited from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peters Square, at the Vatican, on March 1, 2020. (Andrew Medichini/AP Photo)

Coughing Pope Cancels Participating in Lenten Retreat

VATICAN CITYA coughing Pope Francis told pilgrims gathered for the traditional Sunday blessing that he is canceling his participation at a week-long spiritual retreat in the Roman countryside because of a cold.

It is the first time in his seven-year papacy that he has missed the spiritual exercises that he initiated early in his pontificate to mark the start of each Lenten season. Such retreats are typical Jesuits, an order to which he belongs.

The 83-year-old pontiff, who lost part of a lung to a respiratory illness as a young man, has canceled several official engagements this week as he battled an apparent cold.

His weekly appearance Sunday to pilgrims from a window high above St. Peters Square was the first time he has been seen publicly since Ash Wednesday, when he was seen coughing and blowing his nose during Mass.

Pope Francis blows his nose as he leads the Ash Wednesday mass which opens Lent, the forty-day period of abstinence and deprivation for Christians before Holy Week and Easter at the Santa Sabina church in Rome on Feb. 26, 2020. (Alberto Pizzoli/AFP via Getty Images)

Francis paused twice to cough Sunday while addressing the faithful. At the end, he asked for prayers for the spiritual retreat, adding unfortunately a cold prevents me from participating this year. I will be following the meditation from here.

Earlier this week, the pope canceled two planned official audiencesformal affairs in the Apostolic Palace where Francis would have delivered a speech and greeted a great number of people at the end. Those were to include an audience with an international bioethics organization and with members of the scandal-marred Legion of Christ religious order.

Pope Francis coughs during the Angelus noon prayer he recited from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peters Square, at the Vatican, on March 1, 2020. (Andrew Medichini/AP Photo)

Francis has never previously canceled so many official audiences or events in his papacy. He was, however, continuing to work from his residence at the Vaticans Santa Marta hotel and was receiving people in private, the Vatican press office said. On Saturday, those private meetings were with the head of the Vaticans bishops office, Francis ambassadors to Lebanon and France and a Ukrainian archbishop.

He was to have left Sunday for the retreat outside of Rome.

The Vatican has described Francis condition as a slight illness, without giving other details. Francis illness, though, has come amid general alarm in Italy over the coronavirus outbreak, which has infected more than 1,100 people, mostly in northern Italy.

There have been just six cases reported in Lazio, where Rome is located, to date.
NEWTOWN >> The Council Rock School Board on Jan. 6 announced that it has granted Superintendent Dr. Robert Fraser a temporary leave from his duties as administrative head of the school district. In the interim, the board has appointed assistant superintendent for teaching and learning Dr. Susan Elliott as substitute Superintendent. The Board looks forward to Dr. Fraser's return to the district...
Kolkata/IBNS: Almost sounding the poll bugle for the 2021 assembly elections in the state, which is expected to witness a contest between the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said his party will turn West Bengal into "Sonar Bangla" in five years if voted to power.

Addressing a decent gathering at Shaheed Minar Maidan, which is situated in downtown Kolkata, Shah, who made his first Kolkata visit since the recent violence in Delhi, said, "The Sonar Bangla will not be formed under Mamata Di. Bring the BJP to power and in five years, we will make the dream come true."

"The government of Mamata Di is not allowing PM Modi to develop West Bengal. You gave chances to Communists for two decades, and to Mamata Di for 10 years. Did they develop the state? No. Give us five years, we will turn Bengal into Sonar Bangla," he said.

Though the state will head to corporation and municipality elections sometime in April-May this year, ahead of the assembly polls in 2021, Shah made it clear on Sunday that his party's sole agenda is to uproot the TMC government which is led by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Starting a campaign "Aar Noi Annay", which in English means "no more injustice", Shah said, "This campaign is the fight to defeat autocratic forces in Bengal. I want to tell every Bengali today that we won't accept any injustice anymore," claiming that the BJP will come to power in West Bengal with a 2/3rd majority.

Boasting on the unprecedented success of the BJP in West Bengal in the 2019 General Elections where the saffron party bagged 18 seats, the former BJP president said, "We weren't given permissions for political rallies and over 40 of our workers were killed. I want to ask CM Mamata Di - Have you been able to stop us by doing this? Do whatever you want. You stand exposed. The people of Bengal know your true face."

Shah hits out at Mamata over CAA

One thing which never misses Shah's rallies nowadays is the reference to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and Sunday was no exception.

Accusing Banerjee of denying citizenship to several marginalised castes, Shah in strong words said, "Mamata Di raised the issue of citizenship to refugees herself when she was in Opposition. When PM Modi brought the CAA, she is standing with the Congress and Communists in Opposition again."

"You want or not, we will implement CAA at any cost," the Home Minister added just few days after a deadly violence which took place over the CAA in Delhi.

Though the Home Minister came under the scanner for not being able to control the law and order in the national capital as 43 people were killed in the violence, Shah referred to the violence which had erupted in West Bengal following the enactment of the new contentious citizenship law, which aims to grant citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi but not Muslim refugees who came to India from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh due to religious persecution before 2015.

"PM Modi brought CAA that gave millions of refugees citizenship here in Bengal. Mamata Di opposed it. There were riots in Bengal. Trains and railway stations were burnt," Shah said in the rally where he was felicitated by the BJP for passing the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB) in Parliament.

West Bengal is one of the states which have already passed an anti-CAA resolution in their respective assemblies.

Shah attacks Mamata's nephew over dynasty politics, corruption

Without taking the name of Banerjee's nephew and TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, Shah hit out at the dynasty politics and corruption.

"There will be no Shahzada (crown prince) in power in West Bengal. A hardworking person coming from grassroots will be the next Chief Minister," Shah said in a tone with which Prime Minister Modi used to attack Congress leader Rahul Gandhi ahead of 2014 General Elections.

"If BJP comes to power, no corrupt person, be it Shahzada or a local leader, will be spared. We know how to teach a lesson to people who create disturbances in people's lives," the BJP leader said.

(Image Credit: Avishek Mitra/IBNS)
Damascus, March 1 : The Syrian army announced on Sunday that it was imposing a no-fly-zone over the country's Idlib province, saying any hostile aircraft will be targeted, a move that came a day after Turkish drones killed 26 Syrian soldiers.

The airspace over northwestern Syria, particularly Idlib, is closed to any flight or drones and any aircraft violating the airspace will be dealt with as a hostile target and will be shot down, Xinhua news agency quoted state media as saying.

On Saturday, the Turkish drones targeted the Syrian government forces and vehicles in Idlib, a day after 48 Syrian soldiers were killed by similar attacks in the province.

The escalation in the Turkish attacks on Syrian forces come after an attack that killed 34 Turkish soldiers on Thursday, which was blamed on the Syrian government forces.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Turkish drones also destroyed 18 Syrian vehicles.

The Observatory said the Turkish forces have brought in reinforcement into Syria.

Around 3,000 military vehicles and 8,000 Turkish soldiers have entered the Syrian territories since February 2.

Over the past two days, several Turkish military vehicles and soldiers entered Syria as the Turkish deadline given to the Syrian soldiers to withdraw from Turkish observation points is February 29.

The deadline was announced earlier by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who demanded the withdrawal of Syrian forces from Syrian areas where Turkish observation points are located.
In a major boost to the country's defence sector, India has reportedly overtaken Russia and Poland to win a $40 million defence deal to supply four indigenously-built weapon locating radars to Armenia in Europe. The deal is being seen as a major achievement for 'Make in India' programme in the defence sector.

"The deal is for supplying four SWATHI weapon locating radars developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and manufactured by the Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) to Armenia in Europe," news agency ANI quoted government sources as saying.

According to the sources, Armenians had conducted trials of systems offered by Russia and Poland that were also good but they gave a final nod to the Indian system, which was developed by DRDO. India has already started the supply of the equipment to Armenia, they said.

Also Read: HAL plans to manufacture Apache-like military helicopters in India

As per the agreement, India will supply four SWATHI weapon locating radars, which provide fast, automatic and accurate location of enemy weapons like mortars, shells and rockets in its 50-km range.

SWATHI, developed by DRDO's Electronics and Radar Development Establishment (LRDE), can simultaneously handle multiples projectiles fired from different weapons at different locations. The system is capable of adjusting the fire of our own artillery weapon also. The weapon includes 81mm or higher calibre mortars, 105mm or higher calibre shells and 120mm or higher calibre free flying rockets.

Officials said this deal will open a new market for the sale of India's indigenous systems, which are much cheaper than its European and other rivals, ANI reported. The government is also targeting South-East Asia, Latin America and Middle-East countries to secure defence orders.

With the growing trend of shipments in recent years, the government has set a defence export target of Rs 35,000 crore by 2024-25. The defence exports rose from Rs 1,500 crore in 2016-17 to Rs 4,500 crore 2017-18 to Rs 10,700 crore in 2018-19. For the current fiscal, the Centre has set a target of Rs 20,000 crore.

By Chitranjan Kumar
As many as 359 students were caught cheating in high school and intermediate exams in Uttar Pradesh while over 4 lakh students have left their Board examinations.

4,49,093 students have left high school and intermediate exams. 359 students were caught cheating in the exams, a statement from the Board of High School and Intermediate Education Uttar Pradesh said on Saturday.

Earlier FIRs were registered against 133 people and schools were being identified by the Department of Secondary Education where the sanctity of the examination is being affected, said Principal Secretary, Secondary Education, Aradhana Shukla. In this regard, the action is being taken against 29 schools to withdraw their recognition for not conducting examinations peacefully.
Parents have been warned they are hindering their children's learning by pulling them out of school for unworthy reasons.

The Education Department revealed attendance at Australian public schools has been steadily declining over the past decade, with parents being scolded for letting their children take days off.

President of the Primary Principals Association Australia Malcolm Elliott told The Daily Telegraph attending school was crucial to children's development.

'This is a bigger issue than people realise,' he said. 'Interruption to the program is something hard to put right.

Parents have been warned they are hindering their children's learning by pulling them out of school for unworthy reasons (stock image)

'Children may lose confidence because they dont know whats going on, they have to try to catch up.'

Many schools have become fed up with ridiculous excuses from parents for children missing school.

They include taking their children to get haircuts or to go shopping, as well as giving them the day off to celebrate a birthday.

Cronulla Public School posted a newsletter to parents to remind them of the importance of attending class.

Excuses including haircuts, going shopping, looking after other children and birthdays are unworthy for children to miss classes (stock image)

'Regular attendance at school for every student is essential if students are to achieve their potential, and increase their career and life options,' the newsletter read. 'Be firm, children must go to school. A birthday is not a holiday.'

Attendance rates have dropped in both primary and high school, with primary attendance falling to 93.3 per cent in 2018 and high school dipping to 88.2 per cent.

Some schools are encouraging students to attend class via rewards, with one giving pizza to a Year 7 cohort after they had 100 per cent attendance at their swimming carnival.

A spokesperson for the Education Department said parents are responsible for making sure their children go to school.

'Regular school attendance is critical to the education and wellbeing of children. It is a parent or carers responsibility that their child attend school,' they said.
WASHINGTON  Intelligence briefers regularly present President Trump with a classified map of Afghanistan, usually the only report on the war he examines, displaying the strikes carried out in recent days and, critically, the number of Taliban and other militants killed.

During his presidency, enemy body counts have been the lens through which Mr. Trump has viewed the Afghanistan war  an often meaningless metric in disrepute since the Vietnam War.

Now, Americas de facto war of attrition against the Taliban has, at least theoretically, come to an end. The signing of a deal on Saturday in Doha, Qatar, to start withdrawing United States troops from Afghanistan may not immediately stop the fighting, but it will at least usher in a new era in the 18-year war.

The deal will also begin the process of drawing down the American intelligence presence.

There are many questions about what the role of the remaining military forces and intelligence officers will be, but the rough outline of how the mission is likely to shift has become apparent.
Chengdu, China  Sitting at the entrance of Chengdus East Railway Station, Fu Guobin stared at a screen displaying infrared images of people passing through the stations gates. As each person entered, a number popped up next to their image indicating their body temperature.

This is making my life much easier, the station employee said as he sat in his booth. Before this, Id have to test everyones temperature with an ear thermometer. And sometimes that doesnt work  I think this new system is much better.

With more than 50,000 people passing daily through the railway station where Fu works, there is enormous pressure to swiftly and accurately identify those who may have a fever  one of the main symptoms of the new coronavirus infection that has killed 2,870 people in mainland China.

The thermal scanners  newly installed at train stations in major Chinese cities  are just one of the ways in which authorities are using artificial intelligence (AI) and big data to combat the deadly virus, which has now reached 56 other countries since it was first detected in central Chinas Hubei province in late December last year.

Fu said so far theres only been one instance where hes had to inform health officials about a passenger, a woman from Henan whose fever stood at 37.9 degrees Celcius.

After a few minutes, her temperature still hadnt dropped. We have an isolation room in our railway station, so we put her in the room and took down her travel information, and then alerted the health authorities, he said.

If she did carry the virus, the hospital would inform transport authorities, who would in turn alert every single passenger in her wagon, according to Fu. The authorities can do this because they keep track of every passenger via rules that require people to use their real names to use public transport.





Now, some companies in China are planning to upgrade the temperature detection system to include facial recognition technology. On February 7, AI company Megvii said it was working on a solution that integrates body detection, face detection and dual sensing via infrared cameras and visible light to help staff working at airports and train stations to swiftly identify people who have elevated body temperatures.

The company was responding to a call by Chinese authorities for new technologies to combat the outbreak.

Facial recognition and the real-name system will help us track down those who have potentially been exposed to the virus and effectively curb the spreading of the pathogen, Zeng Yixin, deputy director of Chinas National Health Commission, told reporters on January 26.

This high level of technology was not available during the SARS outbreak in 2003, he said, referring to another viral outbreak that killed hundreds of people in China. So we believe the technological development is on our side in battling this outbreak.

The Chinese government has arguably set up the most expansive and sophisticated surveillance system in the world. In addition to the real-name system  which requires people to use government-issued ID cards to buy mobile sims, obtain social media accounts, take a train, board a plane, or even buy groceries  authorities also track people using some 200 million security cameras installed nationwide.

Some of these cameras are equipped with facial recognition technology, allowing authorities to track criminal acts, including offences as minor as jaywalking. There are reports authorities are using this extensive surveillance system to keeb tabs on people amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Ren, a restaurant owner who works in Hubei, the province at the centre of the epidemic, said local police showed up at his home in western Sichuan province where he had returned for the Chinese New Year celebrations on January 23 and ordered him to quarantine himself for 14 days. That was the same day authorities placed Hubei under an unprecedented lockdown to prevent the spread of the virus.

The police took down his number and said they would call every day to check his temperature.





The following day, Ren, who asked to be identified only by his surname, went to a nearby farm to harvest cabbage and radishes for the New Years eve dinner. As he arrived, he received a phone call from the local authorities telling him to return home immediately.

Ren said he believes local officials had tracked his movements using surveillance cameras installed in his neighbourhood.

I expected theyd find out I had returned to Sichuan from Hubei because all the trains and buses I took require real-name registration, Ren told Al Jazeera in a phone call. What I was surprised by was the fact they have surveillance cameras installed in my small neighbourhood, and they might be constantly monitoring to make sure I dont leave my house during the 14-day quarantine.

Ren, who said he did not get sick and has now completed the mandatory quarantine, counted at least four CCTV cameras near his house.

Other ways in which China is using big data in this outbreak include tracking information on peoples movements through their mobile phones and rolling out mobile apps that allow users to find out if they have come in contact with a confirmed coronavirus carrier.

For instance, telecom company China Mobile sent numerous text messages to media outlets about people confirmed to have the virus. These text messages normally include information about a patients travel history and could be as detailed as the seat he or she sat on while taking a specific train or even which subway train compartment they boarded at a specific time. In the early days of the outbreak, media outlets would post this information on social media, allowing people to find out if they had come to close contact with confirmed patients and then quarantine themselves if necessary.





The government has now rolled out a mobile app called Close Contact Detector to allow people to do this. Upon entry of personal identification details, users can scan a QR code to check whether they have been in close contact with someone infected and whether they are at a heightened risk.

Meanwhile, some companies who have summoned their employees back are requiring them to submit a travel verification report produced by telecom providers. After sending a message to his or her provider, a user will automatically receive a message that details all the cities they visited in the past 14 days and the recommended quarantine time based on the location-tracking system.

We have long believed that big data can help the government effectively forecast the development of a given epidemic, and to do that, we need to integrate the collection of the data in surveillance, said Dr Cecile Viboud, a staff scientist at National Institutes of Healths Division of International Epidemiology and Population Studies in the US. China has a very comprehensive system of surveillance that has proven helpful in collecting the data needed.

This epidemic has given the Chinese government a perfect excuse to drag out its massive surveillance system but such expansive data-collection has also created concerns among people who fear their privacy was severely compromised by this effort.

Collecting personal data to control the outbreak should respect minimalism rule and avoid excessive collecting, said Qiu Baochang, a Beijing-based lawyer who focuses on privacy law. Its incredibly important to make sure no information is leaked and all collected data should be deleted after use.

Mu, a resident of Chengdu who preferred to give one name, said: I understand the rationale behind this decision [to track down possible virus carriers] because of this special situation were going through. But there has to be a limit  its becoming increasingly worrying how much information the government has on us.
A Colorado man whose seven-year-old son was repeatedly abused before being found encased in concrete in a Denver storage unit has been sentenced to 72 years in prison for the death.

Leland Pankey received the sentence on Friday, with one count of child abuse landing him 48 years in prison and 24 years for tampering with the body.

His son, Caden McWilliams, was killed in 2018.

The mans wife, Elisha Pankey, is awaiting sentencing in April after pleading guilty to similar charges, according to the Denver Post.

She faces a shorter sentence of between 16 and 32 years, due to a deal in which she agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.

Both of those adults tortured that child, said Joe Morales, the Denver chief deputy district attorney.

Leland Pankey had originally been charged with the murder of the child, but those charges were dropped after officials failed to determine a cause of death.

According to an arrest affidavit, the mother said that she was aware of the childs abuse, and that Caden had been kept in a dog kennel for a few days before his death.
A gateway between the North and the South, this transportation hub was coveted territory for commanders on both sides.

When the pavement beneath your feet begins to rumble and the whistle of another passing freight train pierces the silence of this sleepy town, its easy to understand how the antebellum city of Martinsburg, Va. (now West Virginia), prospered as a major transportation center due to its location along the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. Martinsburg was the Shenandoah Valleys second largest town, with a population of more than 3,360. Its fortune before the war, however, would be its downfall during it. Strategically located as a gateway between the north and south, the Union and Confederacy contested for it frequently and it changed hands nearly 40 times, though its residents remained stubbornly unionist even as the state seceded. In May 1861, General Joseph Johnston ordered then-Colonel Thomas J. Jackson to destroy the rolling stock in Martinsburg, a task he began begrudgingly in June, burning 300 cars and destroying 42 locomotives. It was sad work, he wrote his wife, Anna, but I had my orders and my duty was to obey. In October 1862, after the Battle of Antietam, Jackson returned to Martinsburg as he destroyed more than 20 miles of track between Harpers Ferry and North Mountain, 17 bridges, and more than 100 miles of telegraph wire. This time, without hesitation, he ordered the burning of the towns roundhouses and all its shops, as well as the rail yards. Several skirmishes and battles were fought in the area, including as part of the Gettysburg Campaign and one on July 25, 1864, as part of Confederate General Jubal A. Earlys summer campaign in the Shenandoah Valley. Martinsburg was also home to notorious Confederate spy Belle Boyd, whose house is now a museum. Visitors to the area can see the rebuilt roundhouse, peruse shops along the tracks, and follow battle actions via Civil War Trails signs posted around town.

The Roundhouse

136 East Race Street

In June 1861, the future Stonewall Jackson, under orders from General Joseph Johnston, stripped Martinsburgs Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Roundhouse and Shop Complex of all the stationary equipment, tools, and a 40-foot turntable. The roundhouse itself and shops suffered only minor damage. When Stonewall returned in October 1862, after Antietam, he dared not leave anything of use for the Federals and ordered all the buildings burned. The roundhouse complex standing today was rebuilt after the war, beginning in 1865, and includes two roundhouses, the Bridge and Machine Shop, and the Frog and Switch Shop. Saturday tours are offered April through October from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Belle Boyd House

126 East Race Street

One of Martinsburgs most memorable residents, Confederate spy Belle Boyd, lived at this address for part of her childhood. Boyd most famously supplied Stonewall Jackson with information about enemy activities. She was imprisoned twice for espionage before being banished to England. Benjamin R. Boyd, Belles father, built this Greek Revivalstyle house in 1853. When it was threatened with demolition in 1992, the Berkeley County Historical Society rescued it. The Society now operates the Belle Boyd House as a museum.

The Berkeley Hotel

117 East Race Street

When the Confederates burned Martinsburg in the aftermath of the Battle of Antietam, the antebellum Berkeley Hotel was one of the only buildings spared. The B&O Railroad bought the building in 1866, expanded it, and used it as the station, eating house, telegraph office, and hotel. In 1877 the trainmen and enginemen here struck to protest wage cuts, starting the Great Strike of 1877 nationwide. Railroad and military officials suppressed the strike here, using this building as headquarters. Today it serves as the towns Visitors Center.

St. Josephs Catholic Church

225 South Queen Street

Dedicated on May 30, 1860, the church here was used incessantly throughout the war, serving as a hospital and a stable. In the wars aftermath, the church filed a claim with the Southern Claims Commission for fees to be paid for rent, as well as for damage done to the churchs structure and graveyard during the war. The church applied for nearly $4,000, but was awarded only $2,880.

Green Hill Cemetery

486 East Burke Street

This 1854 cemetery was designed by Martinsburg resident, David Hunter Strother, who would go on to serve the Union during the Civil War in several capacities, including as a topographer. Among the graves are 30 unknown Confederate soldiers, as well as Captain E.G. Alburits, who commanded the Berkeley Company at Harpers Ferry during the John Brown raid. Strother and his family are also buried here.

Colonnade Bridge Site

The historic colonnade-style bridge once carried the railroad tracks over Burke Street and Tuscarora Creek. Built in the 1840s, the colonnade structure was blown up in June 1861 as Confederates destroyed sites around town that could be useful to the Federals. Portions of the structures stonework columns, or abutments, still remain. Union General and future President Rutherford B. Hayes reportedly lain ill for several days in July 1864 in a nearby building.

Battle of Falling Waters, July 2, 1861

The Shenandoah Valleys first engagement of the Civil War broke out here on July 2, 1861, on the farm of William Rush Porterfield. Under orders to delay Confederate troops amassing near Manassas, Union General Robert Patterson and about 3,500 troops crossed the Potomac and attempted to pin Confederates in Martinsburg. Then Colonel Thomas Jackson ordered the 5th Virginia Regiment, about 380 men, and one cannon along the Valley Turnpike to meet them. Outnumbered and outgunned, the Rebels retreated after 45 minutes of fighting, but Patterson, believing he had matched up against a larger Confederate force than was present, was more cautious thereafter, allowing Confederates to regroup and move out towards Manassas. The battle, named for the waterfalls located along the turnpike, was a Union victory, but strategically a victory for the Confederates who three weeks later would claim a victory at the First Battle of Manassas, in part because of reinforcements from the Martinsburg area.

McFarland House

409 South Queen Street

This 1878 home was beautifully restored and now serves as a restaurant and wedding or event venue. Locals and visitors especially enjoy the McFarland House Sunday Brunch featuring breakfast and lunch favorites including crepes, french toast, lobster bisque, and more. Reservations are suggested.

This story appeared in the May 2020 issue of Americas Civil War.
An 11-week old puppy has been reunited with her owners after she was stolen from a balcony.

NSW Police were called to investigate after Athena, the 11-week-old American Staffordshire Terrier, was stolen from a home on Parry Street in Cooks Hill, on the NSW Central Coast, on Wednesday about 2.30pm (local time).

Officers from the Newcastle City Police District started investigating and appealed to the public for help.

Athena, an 11-week-old puppy, was stolen from a home in Cooks Hill on Wednesday. Source: NSW Police

A few days later on Saturday, officers from the Lake Macquarie Police District stopped a 34-year-old man with the alleged stolen puppy in Toronto, 27km southwest of Cooks Hill.

The officers were acting on a tip from the community, NSW Police said in a statement.

The man who allegedly stole the dog was arrested and taken to Toronto Police Station.

The 34-year-old man was then charged with stealing a dog and possessing a stolen dog, he was granted conditional bail and will appear in Toronto Local Court on March 10.

In court, police will allege the man saw the dog while walking past the Cooks Hill home and stole her.

The 11-week-old puppy was reunited with her owners  but after officers got photos with her. Source: NSW Police

The dog was taken to Belmont Police Station, where she was given water and playtime, before being taken back to her very happy owners, NSW Police said.

Athena also posed with the police officers at the station, making for some cute Facebook photos, with many expressing they were very happy she was found.

Well done, officers! Glad pupper was found safe and returned to proper human, one person wrote.

Maybe the thief would consider adopting one from a shelter instead of stealing next time.

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.
BALDWIN TWP, MI  A 61-year-old man is dead after he fell through the ice while fishing on Tawas Bay.

Troopers from the Michigan State Police West Branch post were dispatched around 5:45 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 29 to Tawas Bay for a person thatd gone through the ice.

Family members became concerned when Walker Whitford, of Tawas City, failed to return from ice fishing from the Tawas Bay, police said.

A relative and another fisherman found Whitfords ice shanty, but no one was around.

The pair followed track from Whitfords all-terrain vehicle to deeper water where they spotted a hole in the ice, police said.

Whitford was found deceased and removed from the ice with assistance from the U.S. Coast Guard, Oscoda Township Dive Team, Michigan State police troopers.

An initial investigation by the Michigan State Police West Branch Post indicates Whitford inadvertently drove his ATV from thicker ice onto a recently re-frozen portion of ice.

The re-frozen portion of ice was only approximately 1 inch thick, police said. The ice on Tawas Bay has broken off and separated on at least two occasions this winter where new ice has formed.

Troopers caution ice fishermen to be extremely careful when venturing onto the ice. The use of flotation devices and ice picks are recommended.

U.S. Coast Guard, East Tawas Fire Department, Iosco County Sheriffs Office, Oscoda Township Dive Team, and Iosco County EMS assisted troopers at the scene.
UPDATE: MSP has corrected the victims age. This story has been updated.

IONIA COUNTY, MI -- While stuck in traffic on I-96, a 29-year-old man from Grand Rapids was killed Saturday, Feb. 29, after the vehicle he was a passenger in was rear-ended.

Traffic was slowed down and nearly came to a complete halt due to a rollover crash further up the freeway, according to a press release from Michigan State Police Lakeview Post.

Shortly after 7 p.m., MSP troopers were dispatched to the scene after a 34-year-old Detroit man failed to slow down, striking several vehicles from behind.

As a result, the 29-year-old rear seat passenger, identified as Kevin Nicholas Coulter, was killed in the collision.

Speed and inattention to driving is believed to be a factor in the crash. The MSP investigation into the crash is ongoing.

Ionia County Sheriffs Deputies responded 20 minutes earlier to the rollover crash on eastbound I-96. Two children were transported to Helen DeVos Childrens Hospital after they were ejected from the rolled over van.

Also on MLive:

Children ejected from van hospitalized after I-96 rollover

Kalamazoo police search for suspect involved in Portage Street shooting

Coronavirus Q&A, 15 things to know about COVID-19s spread
Three college students drowned in Upper Kolab reservoir in Odisha's Koraput district after slipping into deep waters while taking photographs, police said on Sunday.

Some second year students of computer science degree course of Koraput Government College had gone near the reservoir to celebrate the birthday of a friend on Saturday, a delayed report said.

Three of the students slipped and drowned in the deep waters while taking pictures. They were pulled out by others in the group, police said.

The three were rushed to the SLN Medical College and Hospital where they were declared brought dead, a police officer said.

"An investigation has been launched to ascertain the circumstances in which the accident took place," Sub- Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), Koraput, Balabhadra Deep said.

The district administration has sanctioned Rs 10,000 each to the bereaved families, sources said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Johnny Depp may be reprising his role as the beloved Captain Jack Sparrow for Disney's sixth installment of the Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise.

Due to recent 'revelations' made in the court case between Depp and ex wife Amber Heard, Disney executive have allegedly been 'lobbying' for the 56-year-old actor's return, We Got This Covered reported on Sunday.

Back in 2016, it was rumored that Disney purposely attempted to 'distance' themselves from Depp when abuse allegations made by Heard were made public.

Jack is back? A new report released by We Got You Covered on Sunday revealed that Johnny Depp may be reprising his role as Captain Jack Sparrow in Disney's sixth installment of the Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise; Depp photographed in Germany on February 21

Pictures of Heard's face adorned with bruises, which she claimed were caused by Depp throwing his phone at her, were later published.

Depp denied the claims, but Heard received a $5 million payout from the actor upon signing a non-disclosure agreement, as part of the couple's divorce settlement.

'The recent turn of events in Depps legal battle and the overwhelming support from the public in his favor has some of the Mouse House executives now lobbying for his return behind the scenes,' wrote We Got This Covered.

Depp first portrayed the iconic role back in 2001 in Disney's Pirates Of The Carribean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl.

Iconic: Depp first portrayed the role of Captain Jack Sparrow in Disney's 2001 film Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl

He would go on to reprise the role in four Pirates films that followed.

Back in October, Disney announced they would be creating a new Pirates Of The Caribbean chapter with the help of Chernobyl screenwriter Craig Mazin and Pirates alum Ted Elliot.

There are no present details regarding the script's plot, but Sunday's report claimed that Disney is currently looking to make the film female led.

Which means Depp's character will play 'more of a supporting role' in the highly anticipated film.

Still coming: Back in October, Disney announced they would be creating a new Pirates Of The Caribbean chapter with the help of Chernobyl screenwriter Craig Mazin and Pirates alum Ted Elliot; Depp pictured as Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black

Johnny is currently in the midst of a libel case against British tabloid The Sun over a story published in 2018 that alleged the actor abused Heard.

Depp denied the claims made by the publication and was spotted arriving to High Court with the entirety of his legal team on Wednesday in London.

The full hearing will take place on March 23, where Heard is set to testify.

The couple met in 2011 when they co-starred in the movie The Rum Diary and were married in 2015.
Mr Singhs appointment has come after discussion with the honourable chief minister Uddhav Thackeray.

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government on Saturday appointed senior IPS officer Parambir Singh as the new Mumbai Police Commissioner.

Incumbent Mumbai police commissioner Sanjay Barve retired from the service on Saturday. Mr Singh, who was heading Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), had given a clean chit to deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar in connection with alleged irrigation scam in December last year.

Appointment of Mr Singh was announced a day after the state home minister and NCP leader Anil Deshmukh ruled out granting third extension to Mr Barve. A senior officer of the home department said that a high-level meeting was held with the chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and home minister Anil Desh-mukh over the appointment of new commissioner of police for Mumbai on Friday late evening. The NCP had pushed Mr Singhs name for new city police chief.

My predecessor Sanjay Barve has done a good job. Our priority will be to tackle street crimes and ensuring safety of women. I have had an old association with Mumbai Police, Mr Singh said.

An official of the home department said that Hem-ant Nagrale, Bipin K. Sin-gh, D. Kanakaratnam, S.N. Pande, Sanjay Pande and Parambir Singh were in the list placed before the government for selecting the new city commissioner.

Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh said, As the commissioner of Mumbai Police is retiring today. Parambir Singh has been appointed on his place. Mr Singhs appointment has come after discussion with the honourable chief minister Uddhav Thackeray.

According to a statement issued by the state government, Bipin K Singh alias Bipin Bihari, the Additi-onal Director General (ADG) of the ACB, has been assigned the additional charge as the DG of the anti-graft agency.

In his career, Mr Singh had served as DCP in several important zones in the financial capital of the country. He also served as Superintendent of Police (SP) of Chandrapur and Bhandara districts and as the Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) in the state. During Mr Singhs tenure as Thane Police Commi-ssioner, police had arrested fugitive Underworld don Dawood Ibrahims younger brother Iqbal Kaskar from Mumbai in 2018.

About the womens protests underway at Morland road in Nagpada, the new commissioner said there was nothing wrong with the same. There is nothing wrong unless the protests become an obstruction for people or illegal. It would be good if these protests are continued in a constitutional manner, he said after taking charge.
An Israeli envoy on Sunday assailed leading US presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders as a "fool" as the conference of the pro-Israel lobby laid bare divisions over right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Sanders is staying away from the annual conference of AIPAC, saying it offers a platform for "leaders who express bigotry and oppose basic Palestinian rights," and has denounced Netanyahu as a "reactionary racist." Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon, a member of Netanyahu's Likud Party, wasted no time in denouncing Sanders as thousands of AIPAC activists opened their meeting at a Washington conference center. "We don't want Sanders at AIPAC. We don't want him in Israel," Danon said. "Anyone who calls our prime minister a 'racist' is either a liar, an ignorant fool, or both," Danon said. Sanders, who would be the first Jewish US president, lived on a kibbutz in Israel in the 1960s and calls himself a supporter of the country but has voiced alarm at its rightward turn under Netanyahu. Netanyahu has vowed to annex much of the occupied West Bank if he secures another term in elections Monday -- the third time Israelis are voting in less than a year amid a political deadlock. Ex-military chief Benny Gantz, Netanyahu's centrist rival, addressed AIPAC via satellite and, without mentioning Sanders, vowed to rebuild support for Israel in the United States. "I will instill hope and not hate. That is the Israel we know; that is the Israel we need," Gantz said to applause. "Israel will never, ever become a partisan issue," he said. "I will work effectively across both sides of the aisle." Gantz presented few differences with Netanyahu on security policy and praised a controversial Middle East plan recently proposed by President Donald Trump, which would allow a restricted Palestinian state. But Gantz said he would oppose far-right politicians seeking to enter parliament and, in an issue important to many American Jews, promised to ensure inclusion at the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site where women are restricted. Howard Kohr, the head of AIPAC, which stands for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, warned of dire risks for the lobby's agenda in November elections, without naming Sanders. "A growing and highly vocal and energized part of the electorate fundamentally rejects the value of the US-Israel alliance," Kohr said, saying the alliance's foundation "is in danger of being rocked as it has never been before." Democratic White House hopeful Bernie Sanders speaks during a campaign rally at the Virginia Wesleyan University
A breach of that tradition is unacceptable, and wont be tolerated by a member of this body, or any of our guests. I specifically condemn the language that was used that breached the order of this House of Representatives, he added, to a standing ovation.

Harshman's rebuke was lauded inside the Capitol.

His job as presiding officer of the House is to maintain decorum and respect for the institution and the people there, Marguerite Herman, a longtime activist in the Legislature, said Thursday night. Speaker Harshman did just that tonight, gaining the respect of everyone in the room. His comments were spot-on.

For some longtime observers in Cheyenne, Harshmans speech was seen as a statement that the casual chauvinism and crass tone of the old days in the Wyoming Legislature would no longer be tolerated -- a culture a number of lawmakers say theyve simply grown accustomed to over the years.

One legislator and I had a conversation this morning that [Burns] simply didnt understand he was making people feel uncomfortable, Rep. Sara Burlingame, D-Cheyenne, said in an interview Thursday night, referring to another lawmaker whom she did not specify. I believe that the fact it makes us uncomfortable is the point, and thats why he does it. Speaker Harshman can contribute to us saying those days are over, and the ability of men in power to make their jokes about disability pornography on the floor of the peoples house is over.

Love 2 Funny 6 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 2
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - Argentine President Alberto Fernandez announced Sunday that he will send Congress a proposal to legalize voluntary abortion  an initiative that was rejected two years ago.

Dozens of female lawmakers rose to their feet in applause at the announcement, which came during a speech opening the congressional session.

Argentine law permits abortions in cases of rape or where a mothers life is at risk. But even many women in those conditions find it difficult to obtain abortions.

The current legislation on abortion is not effective.... It has condemned many women of scarce resources to turn to clandestine abortion practices, putting at risk their health and many times their lives, Fernandez said.

A measure to legalize elective abortions passed the lower house of Congress in 2018, but failed in the Senate after meeting heavy resistance from the Roman Catholic Church and conservatives.

The Health Ministry estimated in 2016 that Argentina sees as many as half a million clandestine abortions a year.
When Kwane Stewart first decided to become a veterinarian, he had no idea his job would become less about the animals he treats and more about the humans who own them.

The 49-year-old animal lover spends his free time driving around California and spotting homeless people with animals. But his goal isn't to take away their pets  it's to treat them, for no cost at all.

Before taking on his role as "The Street Vet," Stewart grew up in New Mexico where he spent his childhood trying to rescue stray animals and dreaming about trading in deserts for beaches. This dream eventually led him to practice veterinary medicine in California, where he ran an animal hospital before becoming the county veterinarian for Stanislaus County in Modesto, California.

But when the Great Recession hit the US in 2007, Stewart realized he needed to do a lot more for the animals who had suddenly been tossed to the sidelines of a financial crisis.

"Modesto got hit especially hard, it was ground zero for California as far as job loss and home loss, and people were just dumping their pets in shelters," Stewart told CNN.

"That was the moment for me career-wise that was enlightening. Up until then, I'd been practicing high-end medicine for clients who could pay for everything. But suddenly I was thrown into this economic war and people couldn't even afford to help their pets."

When he isn't on the street walking around and looking for animals he can treat, Stewart works for Netflix as a movie set animal expert to ensure the safety of animals on movie and commercial sets.

A mission to keep animals with their owners

As the Great Recession drove California's homeless populations higher year after year, so too did it increase the number of animals on the street.

So one day in 2011, "on a whim," Stewart set up a table at a soup kitchen with his son and girlfriend. Anytime he spotted someone with an animal, he called them over and offered to give their pet a checkup.

"Before I knew it, I had a whole line," Stewart said. "There was something about it that I loved. I did it one more time before I decided to just take it to the street and walk to homeless people instead of waiting for them to walk up to me."

Some of the common illnesses the 20-year veterinarian treats include allergies, skin and ear infections, flea infestations, bad teeth, and even arthritis.

For animals who need vaccinations, medicine, or food, Stewart pays for the costs out of pocket. However, he often runs into animals with severe issues such as tooth decay or illnesses that need treatment at a veterinary hospital. For these cases, Stewart uses his GoFundMe to cover surgeries and invasive procedures which can cost pet owners thousands of dollars.

No matter where he is or where he's heading, Stewart always drives prepared with his medical bag  and animal treats  to make a stop whenever he spots a homeless person with an animal.

On weekends, he spends hours walking around areas such as Skid Row in Los Angeles and downtown San Diego in search of homeless pet owners who could use a helping hand.

So far, he has treated about 400 animals in the nine years he has worked as a street vet. Stewart documents many of his stories through his TV series, "Dr. Kwane: The Street Vet," which airs internationally in over 30 countries.

Eradicating the stigma against homeless pet owners

One of the most important lessons Stewart said he learned from working as a street vet is that almost everything he thought he knew about homelessness wasn't true.

"I had my own prejudgments, like a lot of people, about homeless people before I started doing this work," Stewart said. "You just make assumptions about their story without even knowing anything about them. You learn very quickly that you have no idea what put them there. It could be something like job loss which leads to bad credit, so they can't get an apartment, and these moments snowball quickly."

Homeless people face more than just judgment and stereotypes. Those with pets also face the misconception that they are incapable of caring for an animal, something which Stewart said he also considered at first.

"These homeless people take care of their pets even better than we do," he added. "When they own a pet, it engenders this generosity. They always make sure their pet is fed. Medically is where they need help."

During his time working with homeless people, he's seen them face physical abuse and harassment, ranging from police hassling them to move and drivers spitting and throwing food at them as they pass by. Their pets are often the sole form of emotional support.

Many of the people whose animals Stewart treats told him their pets "are better than any form of therapy." They serve as constant protectors, companions, and many times their only source of true love.

Along with beautiful stories and blossoming friendships, Stewart says the job also comes with a lot of happy tears, hugs, and constant life lessons.

"Above all else, I've learned that homelessness can be solved if we really want to solve it," Stewart said. "This is of our own creation. We've been putting Band-Aids on it for so long, with a free meal here and there, but there's not really a foundation to get them off the streets and keep them off the streets."

While solving the issue of homelessness will take many years, for now California has its street vet to make sure these humans and their pets will always have a home in each other.

The-CNN-Wire &  2020 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Even as the national capital recovers from the deadly riots that unfolded earlier this week, anti-CAA protests are intensifying in Meghalaya's capital Shillong.



In fresh violence reported from the state, a group of unidentified people went on a stabbing spree in Shillong's busiest market on February 28. The group attacked "non-indigenous" people, killing one and injuring nine.

Indian Express reported clashes from Shillongs Jaiaw and Langsning, and Sohra (Cherrapunji) towns Iew Sohra market, leaving at least two non-tribals injured.

"On Friday, a local taxi driver was killed in Ichamati area in East Khasi Hills district, close to the Bangladesh border, in clashes between members of the Khasi Students Union (KSU) and non-tribals," IE reported.

Two companies of Central Armed Police Forces have arrived while six more are on their way.

Assistant Inspector General of Police, Meghalaya, GK Iangrai, said that those attacked were rushed to the hospital. So far, eight arrests have been made in connection to the incident.

Shillong violence update. Parts of city still under indefinite curfew. pic.twitter.com/TE5wQfQRFA  Soumyadip Choudhury (@soumyadip) March 1, 2020

#ShillongViolence With the 10th and 12th Board exams from tomorrow, its crucial for the law enforcement agencies to ensure no more violence takes place. Maybe drone surveillance over Bara Bazar and installation of CCTV cameras in congested lanes could help. @MeghalayaPolice  Riccha Dwivedi (@RicchaDwivedi) March 1, 2020

Mobile services continue to be suspended in the state.

Meghalaya's Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma, appealed to people to refrain from violence and ensure peace.A release from the Chief Ministers Office said, The government has taken all measures to maintain law and order.
The speaker of Egypt's House of Representatives, Ali Abdel-Aal, and the speaker of the Austrian National Council, Wolfgang Sobotka, discussed bilateral relations and parliamentary cooperation at a meeting in Cairo on Sunday morning.

According to a press release, Abdel-Aal described the meeting as a reflection of the historic and deep-rooted relations between Egypt and Austria. "Speaker Abdel-Aal presented a review of the role and make-up of Egypt's House of Representatives, as well as the legislative agenda which MPs have passed in recent years in economic, social and political areas," read the release.

The cooperation between the government and parliament in the last few years has led to a dramatic improvement in Egypt's economic and investment climate, the speaker said.

"Egypt is now highly attractive in all areas of investment, and tops Africa and the Middle East in terms of direct investment inflows," said Abdel-Aal.

He also indicated that cooperation between parliament and the government led to eliminating the negative phenomenon of illegal migration.

"A law combating illegal migration was passed by parliament, and more than five million refugees now live in Egypt and enjoy all citizenship rights," said Abdel-Aal, arguing that "in this way, Egypt contributes to preserving the security of Europe, and that in this respect Egypt differs from other countries which like to use the card of refugees to extort Europe."

The speaker also reviewed the efforts of the parliament and the government in fighting terrorism. "Egypt exerted tremendous efforts to combat terrorism, and control borders in a region rife with bloody conflicts," said Abdel-Aal.

He also criticised Turkey, saying it is transferring terrorists from Syria to Libya in a way which threatens the security of the region and Europe.

Abdel-Aal said Egypt adopts a comprehensive view of human rights. "Egypt observes all aspects of human rights, particularly the rights of socially marginalised sectors, and is keen that these sectors receive high-level education, health insurance, and low-cost housing," said Abdel-Aal, adding that "on another front, the state is doing its best to contain extremism in favour of moderate, tolerant and enlightened religious discourse."

Sobotka said Europe views Egypt as a partner which enjoys stability and economic growth. "Egypt is the gateway for Africa, and so it is wonderful that we see it a secure and stable country, and that its economic growth is moving forward and unemployment rates are falling," said Abdel-Aal.

Sobotka will meet President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi on Monday morning.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Songwriters Countersue Lizzo for Credits and Royalties in Truth Hurts Copyright Case zo Zo is a staff writer at Okayplayer where he covers

Truth Hurts spent seven weeks at No. 1 in 2019.

The legal battle between Lizzo and a trio of songwriters over the credits and royalties for one of last years biggest songs is heating upagain.

According to court documents obtained by Pitchfork, songwriters Justin Raisen, Jeremiah Raisen and Justin Yves Rothman, filed a countersuit against Lizzo in Californias federal court on Friday. The suit contends the artist plagiarized components of her hit Truth Hurts from their demo for a song called Healthy. Should the case reach the court, they threaten to share early recordings of the track, as well as text messages between the plaintiffs and Truth Hurts producer, Ricky Reed, allegedly displaying his sympathy for the Raisens and Rothmans claims in the weeks following the songs debut at the top of the charts.

Last year, Lizzo filed her own complaint against the songwriters, attempting to bar them from collecting payments or credits for the track. In their countersuit, the songwriters are seeking ownership of their demo, co-ownership and royalties from Truth Hurts, as well as the dismissal of Lizzos suit.

In his statement, Lawrence Y. Iser, attorney for the Raisens and Rothman, explains Our clients deserve their fair share of the recognition and revenue that comes from collaborating on a hit song. From the standpoint of the industry as a whole, a contrary result would make it impossible for working musicians to be confident that they will be properly credited for their work if they get into a studio and create songs with powerful artists.
Maori women are beaten and killed by their partners at the highest rates in New Zealand and they say they are at risk no matter what they do.

Research shows up to 80 per cent of Maori women will experience family violence in their lifetime.

Maori women are three times more likely to be killed by a partner than non-Maori.

But as high profile cases of intimate partner death make the headlines in New Zealand and abroad, there is concern that women are being blamed for not ending the relationship.

It's hard to get out

East Coast woman Patricia Walsh says all three of her past relationships were violent, including her first long-term relationship which started at age 14.

"Every day I was beaten and I had black eyes every week for the whole of those three years."

Later, she would spend nine years with a man who was in and out of prison for abusing her.

But it would be a third relationship that was extremely violent that put her off relationships.

Patricia says she has not been brave enough to step back into a relationship since 1998.

"I was hospitalised, I never had a broken bone, but the stitches - I have had my injuries described as equivalent to somebody in a car crash.

"I have been too scared to go to the hospital because I thought that they were going to tell me that part of my skull was missing, because it felt so mushy."

In New Zealand, one in three women will experience violence in their lives, but research shows that figure is up to 80 per cent for Maori women.

But Patricia, now a registered social worker and family harm advocate, says it is not as simple as simply walking away.

Women in violent relationships felt scared and powerless and some believed they were worthless, she says.

They did not know where they would go, how they would afford the basics or how they would keep their children safe, she says.

"To step out of that space takes a huge amount of mana that we don't actually know we have.

"It is a very complex place to be in and until you experience it, it is actually unhelpful to be asked and to hear those statements - 'why don't you leave'."

Hannah Clarke with her to-be ex-husband, Rowan Baxter, and their children. Photo: Facebook.

High risk of homicide after leaving

The nation went into shock when Brisbane woman Hannah Clarke and her three children were killed in a car fire by her ex-husband last month.

The Family Violence Death Review Committee's Fifth Report Data showed that between 2009 - 2015, half of women killed by their partner were killed after they left them.

Auckland University of Technology Professor Denise Wilson of Tainui says leaving a violent relationship does not guarantee safety.

"Leading up to the time, and from the time of leaving, women are highly at risk of homicide."

"It doesn't go away in a few weeks or a few months - in some cases it could be up to a couple of years later that somebody is killed."

The report also shows Maori women were three times more likely to be killed by a partner than non-Maori.

Denise says Maori women had limited options and faced risks whatever way they chose to handle the situation.

Last month, South Auckland woman Karen Ruddelle was convicted of manslaughter after killing her abusive partner.

Denise says most women who killed their partners were the primary victims of violence, and they inflicted one - sometimes two - wounds.

But she says the courts were not sympathetic towards women, especially Maori.

"It was disappointing, I think she was cast as being irrational - it was said that she could have just left, but leaving would have meant leaving her 14-year-old son behind.

"Her partner was incredibly angry and violent, had been violent, and it is not that simple, and she acted in self defence."

Karen Ruddelle. Photo: RNZ / Matthew Theunissen

Fear of losing kids when reaching for help

Some social services are required to notify Oranga Tamariki if it comes to their attention that a child is living in a violent home.

The fear of having their children removed from them was a major barrier to Maori women in violent relationships asking for help, Denise says.

Part of her research found Maori women were judged and treated poorly when they did seek help from social services.

Nina Stirling runs a women's support group in Whanganui and says women were sometimes in impossible situations.

"The system is poor - it's very poor and it does not help at all the way the system is designed," she says.

"And as it is a western system I would not expect any less... It is of utmost importance to try a different approach, try something new."

Nina says there is a lot of intergenerational hurt and trauma that whanau are carrying, and they need help to identify their mamae.

She says her programme Legacy, which had ties to Destiny Church, offered a compassionate and non-judgemental space, with 24-7 support, for women who wanted to live their best lives.

Whanau needed to be more involved in each others lives and regularly check in on those at risk, she says.

Where to get help

Women's Refuge: (0800 733 843)

It's Not OK (0800 456 450)

Shine: 0508 744 633

Victim Support: 0800 650 654

HELP Call 24/7 (Auckland): 09 623 1700, (Wellington): be 04 801 6655  0

Leigh-Marama McLachlan/RNZ.
Victoria Secret model Georgia Fowler iss one of New Zealand's most successful modelling exports.

And the 27-year-old looked every inch the supermodel as she posed backstage at the Elie Saab fashion show during Paris Fashion Week on Saturday.

The statuesque stunner went braless in a dramatic, semi-sheer from which draped elegantly over her svelte figure.

Striking a pose! Victoria's Secret model Georgia Fowler, 27, (pictured) went braless in a sheer dress as she posed backstage at the Elie Saab show during Paris Fashion Week on Saturday

The black gown featured an embroidered floral design, ruffled sleeves and a high neckline.

The model paired the stunning gown with a black polka-dot veil, drop earrings and lack pointy-toed heels.

Georgia's chestnut brown tresses were swept into a sleek bun and parted to the side.

Sheer darling! The black gown featured an embroidered floral design, ruffled sleeves and a high neckline

Dazzling: The model paired the stunning gown with a black polka-dot veil, drop earrings and lack pointy-toed heels

Earlier, Georgia looked every inch the jet-setting fashion star as she arrived ahead of at the Elie Saab show.

Georgia struck a number of poses for waiting photographers, as she braved the winter chill of the Paris air.

The glamazon covered-up her famous physique in a long, navy blue coat which featured white fur trim.

Arrival: Georgia struck a number of poses for waiting photographers, as she braved the winter chill of the Paris air

Wrapped up: The glamazon covered-up her famous physique in a long, navy blue coat which featured white fur trim

Beneath the coat she wore a white skirt and a pair of fashion-forward leather trousers.

Georgia finished her outfit with a pair of black boots, along with a black Bottega Veneta handbag worn over one shoulder.

It comes after Georgia confirmed she is dating Sydney restaurateur, Nathan Dalah.

The handsome Sydneysider has been by her side at a number of events in Paris.

The pair were seen visiting the Musee Des Arts Decoratifs in the Palais du Louvre earlier this week, for the Harper's Bazaar exhibition.

Chic: Georgia finished her outfit with a black Bottega Veneta handbag worn over one shoulder
Executive Member of the Tema East Constituency branch of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Stephen Ashitey Adjei, has called on the public to desist from reacting to Speaker of Parliaments order to the Parliamentary Press Corps with insults.



He also appealed to the Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Mike Aaron Ocquaye, to apologise to the media, for cordial co-existence.



In a statement copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra, Mr. Ashitey Adjei, who is popularly called Moshake, said the statement of the Speaker had created mixed feelings among Ghanaians and therefore needed to be buried amicably.



He said for the deepening of democracy, it was important for both the Media and Parliament to peacefully settle their in-house issues and forge-ahead for the development of the country.



According to him, the pedigree of the Speaker and his track record assured him that he will do the right thing and put this unfortunate matter to rest.



Speaker Ocquaye incurred public anger on Wednesday after threatening to revoke the accreditation of members of the Parliamentary press corps for leaving the Chamber of the House, while sitting was in session to cover a News conference by a Minority MP after they had boycotted the debate on the 2020 State of the Nation Address.



According to the Speaker, by doing that, the media had abandoned the core reason they were accredited to cover in Parliament and that the behaviour made it justifiable for their accreditation to be revoked.



Immediately the threat was issued, the Speaker became the cynosure of public lambaste, with Civil Society Organisations openly urging the journalists to snub the Speakers threat.



Given the pedigree of the Speaker, I initially thought the order was just fake news until I monitored and confirmed from his own statements that he indeed had issued the threat.



Besides, it begs to be answered whether Minority MPs cease to be MPs, when they are away from the Chamber? The Constitution makes it clear that even when an MP is driving in town and he is on his way to the august House, he is deemed to in the line of duty as an MP.



Moshake said he had a lot of respect for the Speaker and was therefore confident that he will apologize.

Meanwhile, he has asked that criticism of the Speaker be tempered, saying it is unfortunate that some of the reactions are bordering on insults.



Whether we like it or not, our Speaker is one of the most important political fathers that we have; a founding member of the Fourth Republic we are all enjoying. In our culture, when your father flatulates in public, you take responsibility for it.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday said migration of people from one state to another should not be seen as a problem as he asserted that the "nation is one" and people are free to move from one place to another.

The Janata Dal (United) chief's reaction came after election strategist and former party national vice-president Prashant Kishor and CPI's Kanhaiya Kumar flagged the issue of migration of youths from Bihar to other states and unemployment recently.

Addressing a JD(U) 'karyakarta sammelan' here, Kumar challenged his political opponents to have a look at the various measures taken by his government which have resulted in creation of jobs.

Recounting a conversation that he had with Raghunandan Lal Bhatia, who served as the governor of Bihar in 2008-09, Kumar said, "He asked me why was it that Punjab had started getting so fewer migrant workers from Bihar. Similar was the observation of the then Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal."



He said, a fall in the number of migrant workers from Bihar was also the common refrain in Bhutan when he visited the Himalayan kingdom.

"Those who are interested in knowing the facts can come to us. We will provide them with exact figures of the number of vacancies filled by the state public service commission and other bodies entrusted with recruitment of manpower. They will be also given an exact idea of how much things have changed since the preceding regimes," Kumar said.

He, however, also said "ek gandi cheez shuru ho gayi hai migration ke naam se (a bad thing has started by way of this discourse over migration)."



"The nation is one and belongs to all. People from all parts of the country are and must be free to travel to any other part. Has Bihar not benefitted from the services of nurses from Kerala since long back? Are people from other parts of the country not contributing to the states growth by making use of their talents here?" the chief minister asked.

"Why should then it be seen as a problem if our people go to other parts of the country, make use of their skills and help the local economy flourish while earning a livelihood," he said.

Migration of Bihari youth to other states was recently flagged as a major political issue for the state by Prashant Kishor, who was earlier the JD(U)'s national vice-president but expelled in January following sustained attacks on his own party for supporting the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

Former JNU Students' Union president and CPI leader Kanhaiya Kumar, who recently completed a state-wide 'Jan Gan Man Yatra' with the motto "Bihar maange rozgar, nahin chahiye NPR" (Bihar needs jobs, not the National Population Register), made stirring speeches about his experiences as a young student who had to migrate to the national capital for higher studies, for want of good educational opportunities back home, despite coming from a family with limited means.

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav has named his state-wide tour 'berozgari yatra' and sought to make a "domicile policy" reserving up to 90 per cent of jobs and seats in educational institutions for people of the state a poll plank.

LJP chief Chirag Paswan, an NDA ally, has also been on a "Bihar First Bihari First Yatra" with the primary underlying theme being better educational and employment opportunities which could reduce the need for people to leave their home state in search of greener pastures.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Katherine Johnson, who died last Monday aged 101, was the human "computer" charged with calculating the paths of the flights that sent Americans into space and - eventually - put Neil Armstrong on the Moon.

At the Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, she was one of a team of young female mathematicians who performed the time-consuming calculations that determined a spacecraft's orbit trajectory.

The centre was run by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (Naca), the precursor to Nasa.

In the days before sophisticated computer programmes, these human "computers" relied on such basic tools as slide rules and graph paper to crunch their data.

Many, Katherine Johnson included, were black women, hired in the wake of Franklin Roosevelt's executive order prohibiting racial discrimination in the national defence industry.

In 1958, the same year that Naca became Nasa, Katherine Johnson secured a promotion to the administration's all-white, all-male Space Task Force, which was gearing up to launch the first American citizen, Alan Shepard, into orbit.

The calculations for this mission, Katherine Johnson recalled, were "Easy it was just a matter of shooting him up and having him come back down."

She went on to plot the trajectory for John Glenn's complete orbit around the Earth in 1962. Glenn had asked for her personally, as he doubted the ability of Nasa's enormous, newly purchased mechanical computer to do the job. As a further reassurance, Katherine Johnson also produced navigational charts for astronauts to use in the event of a systems failure.

By the time of the Apollo mission to the Moon, in 1969, Katherine Johnson's job was to calculate the trajectories that would put a craft into lunar orbit, drop a lander safely on to the Moon's surface, and return the mission to Earth.

On the day of the landing itself she was attending a meeting in Pennsylvania, and watched the event on television - along with half a billion people around the world. Nasa later presented her with a souvenir flag that had returned from the Moon with Neil Armstrong and his crew. Later still, aged 97, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honour, from Barack Obama.

The youngest of four children, she was born Katherine Coleman on August 26, 1918 in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. Her father Joshua held various jobs as a lumberjack and farm hand, while her mother Joylette had worked as a teacher.

Though Joshua had received no formal schooling past the age of 12, he could solve mathematical problems at great speed and was determined that all his children should benefit from a college education.

Early on, it was apparent that Katherine's gift with numbers surpassed even her father's. She was enrolled at high school aged 10; four years later she started at West Virginia State College, where she took every mathematics course available. She graduated in 1937 and worked for a time as a teacher in Marion, Virginia.

It was not until 1952 that she learnt of opportunities for black female mathematicians at Langley Research Center, where she was initially put to work analysing the data from the black boxes of crashed aircraft.

In 1953 she and a colleague were "loaned out" from the computing pool to assist with calculation in Naca's flight research division - the nucleus of the American space programme. The loan became a permanent position on the Space Task Force.

In all, Katherine Johnson co-wrote 26 scientific papers during the 1960s and 1970s, several which established key principles for successful manned flights.

She retired in 1986, after 33 years of service, with three Nasa special achievement awards to her name.

Despite these accolades, the extent of Katherine Johnson's role was scarcely acknowledged by the mainstream media during her professional career. Only one New York paper covered her story after Alan Shepard's return to Earth (under the heading "Negro Math Expert Helped Launch US Spaceman").

It was not until her ninth decade, when footage of her various talks on the role of women in science began to garner notice online, that her celebrity came to extend beyond Nasa. Annie Leibovitz photographed her for Vanity Fair, while the BBC included her in its 2016 list of the 100 most inspiring women worldwide. In 2017 Hidden Figures, a film celebrating the achievements of Katherine Johnson and her fellow Naca mathematicians Dorothy Vaughn and Mary Jackson, was released to considerable attention.

Katherine Johnson's first husband was James Francis Goble, whom she married in 1939. They had three children. He died of a brain tumour in 1956 and she married, secondly, Lt-Col James Johnson, a Korean War veteran.

 Telegraph

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021]
Dell Technologies has given a profit forecast that falls short of Wall Street estimates, in a sign weaker corporate demand for personal computers will take a toll on the hardware giant.

Profit, excluding some items, will be $5.90 (5.40) to $6.60 a share in fiscal 2021, chief financial officer Tom Sweet said.

Analysts, on average, projected $6.72, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Dell expects $92bn to $95bn in fiscal 2021 revenue. The sales midpoint topped the average analyst estimate of $93.1bn.

A surge of corporate upgrades to PCs that has fuelled robust demand will probably end in the second half of the fiscal year, Sweet said. Chief executive Michael Dell has sought to leverage the different parts of his empire to sell clients higher-value packages of hardware and software. But global economic issues, including trade conflicts, have slowed sales of equipment for data centres, particularly in China.

Sweet said server demand would bounce back during the year, which will help overall revenue.

Dell employs 2,500 people across campuses in Limerick, Cork, and Cherrywood, Dublin.

Unlike competitors such as Microsoft and HP, Dell did not account for any economic effect from the coronavirus in its forecast.

Bloomberg
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Ali Kucukgocmen (Reuters) Istanbul, Turkey  Sun, March 1, 2020 10:40 680 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20677fa27 2 World #Turkey,#Russia,Syria,conflict,air-strikes Free

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday he had asked President Vladimir Putin for Russia to stand aside in Syria and let Turkey fight Syrian government forces alone, after 34 Turkish soldiers were killed this week.

But the Syrian government forces, backed by Russian air power, kept up air strikes in the northwestern province of Idlib, attacking the strategic city of Saraqeb which sits on an important road, the Syrian Observatory war monitor reported.

The government forces' air strikes are part of a major assault to capture the province, part of the last remaining territory held by rebels backed byTurkey.

Turkey, which has poured forces into Idlib, also hit back, killing 26 pro-Damascus troops around Idlib and the Aleppo countryside, the Syrian Observatory said, and Turkey-backed rebels said they had re-taken six towns and villages in southern Idlib.

With diplomacy sponsored by Ankara and Moscow to ease tensions in tatters, Turkey has come closer than ever to confrontation with Russia on the battlefield in Syria.

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan speaks during funeral ceremony of Turkish soldier Emre Baysal who was killed in Syria's Idlib region, in Istanbul, Turkey, February 29, 2020. (REUTERS/ Handout /Presidential Press Office)

Speaking in Istanbul, Erdogan said he had told Putin in a phone call to stand aside and let Turkey "do what is necessary" with the Syrian government. He said Turkey did not intend to leave Syria right now.

"We went there because we were invited by the people of Syria. We don't intend to leave before the people of Syria say, 'Okay, this is done,'" Erdogan added.

Three rounds of talks between Russia and Turkey failed to yield a ceasefire, but the Kremlin said on Saturday that Putin and Erdogan would discuss all aspects of the Syrian conflict in planned talks in Moscow.

It set no date but officials on both sides say the talks will be on March 5 or 6.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters in Doha the Idlib issue can be settled only when Erdogan and Putin meet.

Following a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Cavusoglu also said Turkey wanted the United States to send Patriot missile systems as support in Idlib. Ankara has previously voiced the request, saying it faced air missile threats in the region.

A U.S. State Department official told reporters on Friday that Washington was looking urgently to support Ankara in Idlib with information-sharing and equipment, but that any assistance would not involve military moves by American units.

A Syrian boy removes a dead chicken from the debris of a building hit by an air strike in Idlib, Syria February 28, 2020. (REUTERS/Umit Bektas)

MIGRANTS

After 33 of its soldiers were killed on Thursday, Turkey said it would allow migrants it hosts to freely pass to Europe. One more Turkish soldier was killed on Friday, raising this month's toll to 55.

Turkey hosts some 3.7 million Syrian refugees, in addition to Afghans, Iranians, and Moroccans among others. It has said it cannot take another refugee wave from Idlib.

Violence in Idlib has displaced 1 million civilians since December inside the country near the Turkish border in desperate winter conditions.

Smoke rises after an air strike in Saraqeb in Idlib province, Syria February 28, 2020. (REUTERS/Umit Bektas)

Erdogan said 18,000 migrants has crossed the border to Europe from Turkey since the gates were opened, without providing evidence, and that the number could rise to 25,000-30,000 on Saturday.

Greece and Bulgaria, both European Union member states neighbouring Turkey, said they would not admit the migrants. Greek police fired teargas towards migrants gathered on its border with Turkey and demanding entry on Saturday.

"The European Union needs to keep its promises. We don't have to take care of this many refugees, to feed them," Erdogan said. The EU said in a statement it was actively supporting Greece and Bulgaria in protecting the bloc's borders, but also expressed condolences with Turkey over the soldiers' deaths and said it was ready to step up humanitarian support.

The head of the bloc's executive European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said the EU was ready to involve its border agency Frontex to help control the land border.

Turkey's borders to Europe were closed to migrants under an accord between Turkey and the EU that halted the 2015-16 migration crisis when more than 1 million people crossed into Europe by foot.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said he was planning to host a high-level meeting to seek long-lasting solutions for Syria and migrants, and that he would meet Erdogan on Monday.

He said there was currently no migration pressure on the Balkan country's border with Turkey.
Pune (Lohegaon) Airport is already handling nine million passengers a year and now the airport administration wants to take it up to 16 million. They want more flights and we are working on it. Today we are already the third-largest domestic civil aviation market, we will be looking at one billion passengers per year in a very short time. We are also looking at adding 100 new airports in the country, said Hardeep Singh Puri, Union minister of state for civil aviation (independent charge), housing and urban affairs and commerce and Industry.

He was speaking at the valedictory session on the third day of the Asia Economic Dialogue on the theme, Asia and the Emerging International Trading System, at the J W Marriott in Pune on Sunday.

The three-day event has been organised by the Pune International Center (PIC) in association with Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

Addressing a false narrative going on in the country about an economic slowdown, Puri said, We are a growing Indian economy, already fifth-largest in the world, which seeks to transit from a $2.8 trillion economy today, to a $5 trillion economy by 2024, and to $10 trillion by 2030. You need foreign direct investment (FDI) today for growth of our economy, as we have massive economic challenges in front of us.

In his session, Dr Rajiv Kumar, vice-chairman of Niti Aayog, said, Asias share of the global economy before the 18th century was tremendous and it contributed to world trade. Unfortunately, over the years, as trading was affected the contribution of Asian countries declined. Now time has come that Asia will share in the global economy and go to what it was in the 18th century. We can be no longer taken for granted, as the time has come to become thought leaders of the world. The way forward is that Asian economy has to be an emerging power of the world.

Aaditya Thackeray, minister for tourism, environment and protocol, government of Maharashtra, in his keynote address said, We, as youth of this country and as Maharashtra government, are looking to grow and we are looking to move ahead from 2020. It is the time for us to be a super power, it means in different perspectives, different professions and almost in all walks of life. Traditionally, Asia has been a thought leader for the world, be it in trade or innovation, in all fields it has dominated the world. Today as the world is growing, the world is also coming closer together and we are looking at a trend where there is a reverse movement of thought, of innovation of growth, in Asia. We are the state which is open to ideas, trade and growth to stability. We are the state where everything is there you want, in terms of skills, thoughts and education.

No cancer from mobile towers, says R S Sharma, Trai chairman

Today in our country we dont want mobile towers, but people want good connectivity. There is a huge misunderstanding amongst the public that due to mobile towers we are getting affected with cancer. It is completely wrong and not true at all. Second thing, in large complexes, where there are large number of houses, you cannot provide connectivity through towers. You need to have internal optical fibre wires inside those buildings and we are working on it. That will hopefully solve the multi-storeyed buildings connectivity problem, said R S Sharma, chairman of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

He was talking at the opening session of Day 3 at the Asia Economic Dialogue on Sunday at the JW Marriott in Pune. The event has been organised by the Pune International Centre (PIC) in association with Ministry of External Affairs.

Sharma further said, People dont allow companies to lay fibre wires. Today, an optical fibre costs Rs 50 per metre, which means 1km fibre wire is Rs 50,000. So we are working with government agencies, local governing bodies, with the general public and creating awareness that towers are not harmful to us.
KYOTERA  Emmanuel Cardinal Wamala, Archbishop Emeritus of Kampala has had distinguished service to the church and to the country, President Yoweri Museveni said on Saturday.

.

The president had on Saturday, February 29 presided over the opening and launch of the Cardinal Wamala Museum at the Cardinals home in Kamaggwa village, Kalisizo, in Kyotera District.

He has been supportive of our efforts to transform Uganda, said Museveni.

Like the cardinal has done in Kamaggwa village, we should all endeavour to enlighten and develop our communities. Enlightenment produces development and transformation, added the president.

Regarding the continuous need to develop villages and constituencies, President Museveni called upon Ugandan men and women who are educated to always go back to their home villages and develop them just as Cardinal Wamala has done to his Kamaggwa village.

If every learned person can go back to his home village and enlighten his family and village with development aspects, it would be helpful. Enlightenment produces development and transformation. We must put in more effort to develop places we come from, he said.

Cardinal Wamala, who is 91 years old, thanked God the Almighty for his long life. He commended President Museveni for sparing time from his busy schedule to grace the function. He also observed that the Presidents visit to his home village in Kyotera District and the museum launching would always be remembered and taken at heart.

The Bishop of Masaka Diocese, the Rt. Rev. Serverus Jjumba, encouraged people to always have faith in God and seek for His involvement in everything they do. He advised them to emulate Cardinal Wamalas good heart and take good care of their homes.

When we got the light on how we should liberate our country, elders whom I am proud to call parents, like Cardinal Wamala, did not despise our efforts but instead they paved the way for us to continue with our movement. I am reminded of the parable of the Good Samaritan where most people saw a beaten man and bypassed him until a Good Samaritan saw him and helped him. When people like Cardinal Wamala saw that we could help our nation that had been badly beaten, they urged us to go on, he said.

The Museum, which is part of Cardinal Wamalas dream, exhibits a collection of Cardinals family life journey, a memoir of the religious works they were involved in and the various recognitions they received. The facility is also aimed at supporting and furthering the education ministry that the family had been involved in as Cardinal Wamala trained as a teacher and taught at Bukalasa Seminary in Masaka District, served as a Diocesan Education Secretary and as the first East African Chaplain at Makerere University.

The Museum will, in the future, house a library that will showcase highly precious and prized education materials that are expected to benefit more the under-privileged without one owning them personally. The facility will also avail some rare artifacts about Ugandas culture, beliefs, opinion and economic activities, which with time, could attract visitors from beyond the Uganda border.

Related

Continue Reading
While the United States promised the Taliban to release 5,000 prisoners of the militant group, the Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani has rejected the demand on March 1 as the condition for intra-Afghan talks. Ghani's statement reportedly came against the backdrop of the struggles faced by the American negotiators in steering Kabul administration and Taliban towards peace talks. After countless meetings when US and Taliban finally signed the accord, Ghani has said that the partial truce will continue with goal of reaching a full ceasefire but declined to release the Taliban prisoners and cited the right and self-will of Afghan citizens.

Ghani said, There is no commitment to releasing 5,000 prisoners. This is the right and the self-will of the people of Afghanistan. It could be included in the agenda of the intra-Afghan talks, but cannot be a prerequisite for talks.

According to international reports, the agreement says that the US and the Taliban were committed to working towards the release of combat and political prisoners as a confidence-building measure with the coordination of all relevant sides. The agreement had also said that in exchange of freeing 5,000 jailed Taliban personnel, it would release 1,000 Afghan government captives on March 10. However, Afghan President has now claimed that it is not in the authority of the United States to decide and also called Washington only a facilitator.

Read - Ashraf Ghani Assures Afghanistan's 'goal' Of Reaching Full Ceasefire After US-Taliban Deal

The US signed a landmark deal with the Taliban on February 29 which laid out the timetable for America's full troop withdrawal from Afghanistan within the period of 14 months marking US' exit from its longest war. According to international reports, the accord is expected to lead the way for a dialogue between the Taliban and the Afghanistan government, and if it turns out successful, it would end an 18-year-long conflict.

The deal was signed in a conference room of luxury Doha hotel, with Taliban fighter-turned-dealmaker, Mullah Baradar alongside Washington's chief negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad and the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo. Reportedly, as Baradar and Khalilzad finally inked the accord, the people in the room shouted, Allahu Akbar. Before that Pompeo had also urged the insurgents to keep your promises to cut ties with Al-Qaeda.

Read - 'We Will Calibrate Pace Of Withdrawal From Afghanistan With Taliban's Actions': Pompeo

Embrace a new future: Trump

According to international reports, US President Donald Trump urged the citizens of Afghanistan to embrace the chance for a new future. He further added that if both the Taliban and Kabul's government manage to live up to these commitments, they will have a powerful path" forward in order to end the war in the country and bring American troops home. However, Afghanistan which has been excluded from the direct US-Taliban talks remained in an unclear position while also being gripped by a fresh political crisis and contested election results.

But, the US Secretary of Defence, Mark T Esper also met with Afghanistan's re-elected President Ashraf Ghani and according to the joint statement issued, they both discussed the progress in the peace process after the successful implementation of the reduction in violence. Furthermore, Washington has reaffirmed its commitment with partners at Afghanistan as the conditions-based US-Taliban agreement is implemented. According to the official website, Esper and Ghani agreed that the US-Taliban peace deal marks the start of achieving a lasting peace for Afghan people, and security and stability in Afghanistan.

Read - NATO Chief Visits Afghanistan As US, Taliban To Sign Deal

Read - Afghanistan's Future In The Balance As US, Taliban Sign Deal

(With agency inputs)
According to Labour Behind the Label, a nonprofit advocating workers rights, 80 percent of garment workers in Bangladesh say they have experienced or witnessed sexual violence and harassment on the job.

Last year, garment workers staged widespread protests over a minimum wage that is currently 8,000 taka, or $94 per month, for the lowest of seven skill grades. Union membership remains small, in part because of intimidation and fear of reprisals.

Cheap clothes are not cheap said Kalpona Akter, executive director of the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity. Someone always has to pay for them. And that someone is a worker. 

The country also has thousands of factories that are subcontractors, or do not supply Western brands at all, and so are not held to account by any of the safety agreements; they largely produce for local fast fashion brands, or for retailers from India and China.

A crumbling old bazaar in the center of Dhaka  far from some of the newer factories on the city outskirts  has been turned into a cottage factory for companies in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.

On a recent visit, wires dangled from the ceilings, and dark, filthy passageways were loaded with rubbish and stacks of merchandise. The windowless rooms were stiflingly hot, and children as young as 9 sat snipping threads off pairs of pants on the floor. How many people these types of workshops employ, and under what conditions, is hard to quantify.

Bangladesh workers outside factories tracked by safety groups dont have a voice at all, said Peter McAllister, the executive director of the Ethical Trading Initiative, based in London.
Israel is only weeks away from developing a vaccine against the novel coronavirus, according to its science and technology minister.

The Jerusalem Post reported Thursday that Minister Ofir Akunis said in a press release that the vaccine could be available to patients within 90 days. Akunis credited MIGAL (the Galilee Research Institute) for the breakthrough.

"I am confident there will be further rapid progress, enabling us to provide a needed response to the grave global COVID-19 threat," he said.

Israel got a jump on the coronavirus crisis because researchers had already created a vaccine against avian coronavirus Infectious Bronchitis Virus (IBV), which affects poultry, according to the Jewish Press. The IBV vaccine has already passed clinical trials at Israel's Veterinary Institute.

By "pure luck," the MIGAL team selected a poultry coronavirus to test their new vaccine technology, which doesn't target any specific virus, according to Dr. Chen Katz, biotechnology group leader at MIGAL. Katz told the Press and Post that after the current COVID-19 virus broke out in China, the researchers studied the new virus and realized it was genetically similar to IBV and that the infection mechanism was the same. They now are confident they can adjust the system to combat COVID-19.

"In a few weeks, if it all works, we would have a vaccine to prevent coronavirus," Katz said.

The new vaccine, which would be orally administered, faces pre-clinical trials and clinical trials before mass production begins. But MIGAL thinks development could be fast-tracked to receive safety approval in 90 days. Akunis reportedly has ordered his ministrys director-general to accelerate the process.

ALSO: UC Davis student shows signs of coronavirus, 2 others isolated

The World Health Organization reported 11 days ago that the earliest that a COVID-19 vaccine could be expected was in 18 months. If the Israeli researchers are successful in developing their vaccine, they would shave more than a year off that estimate.

For more coverage, visit our complete coronavirus section here.

---

Mike Moffitt is an SFGATE Digital Reporter. Email: moffitt@sfgate.com. Twitter: @Mike_at_SFGate
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, March 1, 2020 15:06 680 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20678eeb9 1 Art & Culture Taman-Ismail-Marzuki,anies-baswedan,Jakarta-Arts-Council,arts-and-culture,arts-and-culture-in-Indonesia,culture-preservation Free

The confusion over the future of the Taman Ismail Marzuki arts and cultural center may subside somewhat after the Jakarta administration cleared up rumors about turning it into a commercial space, but some problems remain.

In a public hearing at the House of Representatives on Thursday, Governor Anies Baswedan explained that the said five-star hotel to be built in the art center was actually a dormitory for visiting artists.

It is in our intention to turn the art and cultural center into a world art hub, to be an icon of Indonesia, he said at the hearing of House Commission X overseeing education, culture and sports.

The revitalization of the art center, which is expected to cost a total of Rp 1.8 trillion (US$129 million), started in the third quarter of last year and is expected to finish by the end of next year.

The administration appointed Jakarta Propertindo (Jakpro) to handle the project and the maintenance of the facility after its completion.

The management of the art center will be in the hands of the administrations Cultural Agency together with the existing Jakarta Arts Council, Anies said to brush away fears about the arts center becoming commercialized.

The food stalls inside the compound were the first to go, followed by the movie theater managed by XXI and the dog-eared book store Bengkel Deklamasi established by poets Jose Rizal Manua and the late WS Rendra.

The latest was the demolition of Graha Bhakti Budaya theater, while the glass building that holds two theaters will remain intact as well as the planetarium and observatory, which have been in the art center since 1964.

The mosque inside the compound, named after poet Amir Hamzah, is under renovation and is expected to finish next month to host the administrations Idul Fitri prayer in May.

According to the master plan for the new face of Taman Ismail Marzuki that was presented during the public hearing, the added facilities will include a parking deck integrated with the existing fire station, a film center, an amphitheater, a multistory building for a library, an art gallery, a documentation center for the works of essayist HB Jassin and the Wisma Seni dormitory.

The design, which was made by Andra Matin and won the contest in 2007, will enlarge the green space in the compound to over 27 percent from the existing 11 percent.

Also attending the hearing, City Council chairman Prasetio Edi Marsudi questioned the absence of the art council to represent the art centers stakeholders in the revitalization plan.

Is it possible not to commercialize the facility if it was meant to be a world-class art hub? he said, urging for a temporary halt to the project pending an agreement with the artists over the management of the art center in the future.

A moratorium is needed to straighten up the plan. Even if it would take only two days, as long as there is a satisfying solution to all parties involved.

Members of the Jakarta Arts Council, in their first meeting with the governor last week since the revitalization plan rollout in 2018, asked for a proper facility to keep the archives and artwork collections belonging to both the art center and the council.

We have to struggle to keep them from the rain and humidity, and we moved them to temporary storage which is far from ideal, said the councils acting deputy chairman Hikmat Darmawan.

He added that in the meeting with the governor, the council was promised a role in the art center management but the job was still unclear.

Whatever is in the store, our concern is to have quality art facilities in Taman Ismail Marzuki that cater to the need of the artists and the contemporary art sphere in current time and in the future. With this urgency, is a moratorium necessary?

Acting chairman Danton Sihombing said that there had been a number of events, including international-class music programs, that had been delayed or canceled due to the revitalization work.

The most frequently asked questions we receive from our partners and artists are, When the renovation will complete? and How much will the new rental fee be? he said.

But we cant give them the answer since we have never been involved in the revitalization from the start.
Train.tielu.org scored 49 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 2.5/5.0 Stars by Social Team

This CoolSocial report was updated on 18 Mar 2013, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.

train.tielu.org is very popular in Delicious and Stumble Upon. It is liked by 7 people on Facebook and it has 5 twitter shares.

The total number of people who shared the train.tielu homepage on Google Plus by a google +1 button. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared the train.tielu homepage on Twitter + the total number of train.tielu followers (if train.tielu has a Twitter account). The total number of people who shared the train.tielu homepage on Delicious. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared, liked or recommended the train.tielu homepage on Facebook + the total number of page likes (if train.tielu has a Facebook fan page). The total number of people who shared the train.tielu homepage on StumbleUpon.

Basic Information

PAGE TITLE __________ by  DESCRIPTION , KEYWORDS , , , , , , , , , ,  OTHER KEYWORDS tielu, gz sh , gz sh bj, sh bj , sh bj , bj , gz sh



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 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.

Domain and Server

DOCTYPE CHARSET AND LANGUAGE Chinese (Simplified, China) GB2312Chinese (Simplified, China) DETECTED LANGUAGE SERVER Microsoft-IIS/7.5 (ASP.NET) OPERATIVE SYSTEM Windows Server 2008 R2 Windows Server 2008 R2

The language of train.tielu.org as detected by CoolSocial algorithms. Operative System running on the server. Type of server and offered services. Represents HTML declared type (e.g.: XHTML 1.1, HTML 4.0, the new HTML 5.0) Character set and language of the site.

Site Traffic trend during the last year. Only available for sites ranked <= 100000 in the world.

Referring domains for train.tielu.org 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 total number of people who tagged or talked about website Facebook page in the last 7-10 days. 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 URL of the found Facebook page. The description of the Facebook page describes website and its services to the social media users.

Twitter account link

TWITTER PAGE LINK NOT FOUND
Ebene, Mauritius (PANA) - The Media Trust, an umbrella organization of the Mauritian government, honoured the best journalists of the year 2019 at a ceremony held Saturday evening in Ebene, 20 km north of the capital, PANA noted
Things went loco in Nevada. Nothing that happened in the recent Democratic caucuses in the Silver State makes sense.

Starting with this: Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders beat the house and got 46.8% of caucus delegates, far outdistancing former Vice President Joe Biden, who came in second with just 20.2%.

The closer you follow politics -- and the more inclined you are to hold elected officials accountable for their records -- the more likely it is that your head is spinning right about now.

Oh, I get that Nevada is a maverick state whose residents stubbornly do their own thing and couldn't care less what talking heads in the Beltway say or think. When analyzing anything that goes on in the state, that's baked in.

That being the case, the fact that the liberal media and the Democratic Party are panicked about the possibility that Sanders could become the nominee was never likely to factor into the calculus of most Nevada voters.

Still, even by the state's wacky standards, things got weird.
She quit the role in January this year in a bid to spend more time in the UK.

And Michelle Keegan has teased the upcoming fourth series of Our Girl, which will see her final scenes as Georgie Lane.

The actress, 32, has portrayed the army medic for three series, with her third and final outing being aired later this year.

Sneak peak: Michelle Keegan has teased the upcoming fourth series of Our Girl, which will see her final scenes as Georgie Lane

The sneak peak sees Michelle, dressed in her army gear, introduce the clip which centres around her character and her family getting ready for a wedding.

Georgie's grandmother yells out in pain as she burns herself on straighteners, forcing the servicewoman to come to her rescue.

Georgie's sister meanwhile quizzes her on which eye make-up look is best, while their mother frets over a ladder in their grandmother's tights.

As she bends over to remove them, Georgie's dad suddenly enters the room, and berates them for not being on time and enjoying champagne before the ceremony.

In character: The actress, 32, has portrayed the army medic for three series, with her third and final outing being aired later this year

He's then swiftly bundled out of the room while the girls continue to get ready.

It comes as Michelle announced in January that she was quitting her role as the corporal after four years filming on the show.

The demanding filming schedule of the show has seen the Stockport born star travel to South Africa, Nepal and Malaysia for several months of filming a year.

Michelle's husband Mark Wright, 33, recently moved back to the UK from Los Angeles where he was working on US TV.

Final outing: The sneak peak sees Michelle, dressed in her army gear, introduce the clip which centres around her character and her family getting ready for a wedding

Help: Georgie's grandmother yells out in pain as she burns herself on straighteners, forcing the servicewoman to come to her rescue

When speaking with The Sun about her decision the ex-Coronation street star said: 'Ive had the most incredible four years on the show and I want to thank the BBC for giving me such an amazing opportunity.

'Playing Georgie has been a life changing role for me. Ive loved every second of the adventure so it was a very hard decision to make not to return.

'I feel it is the right time to explore other exciting opportunities but Im so happy to be part of the new series coming soon so its not the end just yet.'

Chaotic: Georgie's sister meanwhile quizzes her on which eye make-up look is best, while their mother frets over a ladder in their grandmother's tights

Drama: As she bends over to remove them, Georgie's dad suddenly enters the room, and berates them for not being on time and enjoying champagne before the ceremony

The show producers are currently looking for another female to play the lead in the hit series, which starred former EastEnders actress Lacey Turner, 31, for its first run in 2014.

Meanwhile, Michelle's husband star Mark left his dream presenting role in 'lonely' LA to be back with his gorgeous wife in February last year.

The stunning couple met on a New Year's break in Dubai back in December 2012, with the pair tying the knot in an idyllic ceremony in May 2015.

However they have endured long distance for most of their relationship in order to focus on their respective careers.

Moving on: It comes as Michelle announced in January that she was quitting her role as the corporal after four years filming on the show

Family first: The actress plans to leave in order to spend more time in the UK. Her husband Mark Wright recently moved back to the UK from Los Angeles where he was working on US TV

In a recent frank discussion on his Heart radio show, the hunk revealed he felt 'sad and lonely' while in Hollywood 'chasing the money' as a presenter on Extra TV.

He said: 'Now I was fortunate enough to get an amazing job in Los Angeles, somewhere where Ive always wanted to work, in Hollywood.

'I was living in the hills, Beverly Hills and the Hollywood Hills  life was great, so I thought.

'Four, five months in, I sat back and I was a bit lonely, I wasnt that happy, and obviously I went there to get a better job and to get more money as we say.

'I was without my wife, who wasnt living there because she couldnt and my family wasnt there, my mum, my dad, my brothers and sisters, my friends.'

Thankful: The demanding filming schedule of the show has seen the Stockport born star travel to South Africa, Nepal and Malaysia for several months of filming a year
As the Duchess of Sussex is set to arrive in Britain this week for the last round of royal engagements, reports have stated that Meghan Markle will not bring her son, Archie. According to international reports, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip are very sad by the news of not being able to see Archie in the UK where Prince Harry has been since last week to complete his official duties. While the royal couple will be touring Britain before formally stepping down as senior members of the Royal family on March 31, Archie will be in Vancouver with his nanny and Meghan's close friend, Jessica Mulroney.

Read - Helen Mirren Lauds Harry & Meghan Markle's Decision To Quit Royal Titles

Canada to 'cease assisting' the couple

Meanwhile, the federal government has also confirmed on February 27 that Canada will soon stop providing security for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. According to international media reports, it was the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) that has been providing assistance to the couple since their arrival in Canada intermittently since November 2019. After March 31, the couple will no longer carry out duties on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II. However, these arrangements will be reportedly reviewed after 12 months.

Read - Meghalaya Clashes: Two People Killed In Violence, Eight Arrested

Canada's federal Public Safety Minister, Bill Blair has said in a statement that since the RCMP has been engaged with the British officials from the very beginning regarding the security considerations, but the assistance to Duke and Duchess of Sussex will cease in coming weeks, in keeping with their change in status. He had also said that the couple's announcement presented the Canadian government with a "unique and unprecedented set of circumstances".

On January 8, Meghan and Harry announced that they were stepping back as senior Royals and will move to North America with their son Archie to live a financially independent life. The royals are currently living in Canada as they prepare to drop their titles and quit monarchy. The couple arrived in Canada in late January where they have reportedly settled into a seaside home in Victoria in British Columbia.

Soon after arriving in North America, the couple issued a legal warning to the media after a picture of Meghan walking her dog was published in a local tabloid. Earlier, in October last year, the royal couple had revealed their struggles with the media spotlight. Reportedly, Prince Harry and Meghan have been banned from using the names, "Sussex Royals" after their formal exit.

Read - Meghalaya Clashes: Curfew Reimposed, Mobile Internet Services Suspended

Read - As Situation Remains Tense In Meghalaya, Governor Tathagata Roy Appeals For Peace
The health ministry of Kuwait has reportedly announced on March 1 that the nation has 45 confirmed cases of deadly coronavirus outbreak. Kuwait confirmed two more cases of the new coronavirus Friday, taking the toll to 45. According to the international media reports, the patients are all in good health and receiving good medical care. The ministry reportedly said that the two cases were in close contact with the infected people who arrived from Iran before the outbreak was announced. Kuwait reported its first case on February 24 and called off national day celebrations in order to combat the deadly epidemic. It has also evacuated nearly 800 citizens from Iran which has been badly affected by COVID-19.

READ: Coronavirus Time Bomb: America's Uninsured And Brutal Work Culture

Kuwait identified most of its cases with a travel history to Iran, where the coronavirus figures have drastically soared past this week, state reports. Ministry further added that the patients infected with the strain of virus were stable and the approved protocols of isolation were being administered. It said that the necessary medical care was provided to them in one of the hospitals that were constructed and equipped by the health officials to treat patients that contracted the deadly disease.

According to the reports, Kuwaits civil aviation authority imposed travel restrictions suspending all flights with Singapore and Japan over coronavirus fears.

READ: Coronavirus Outbreak: American Airlines To Suspend Flights To Milan

Kuwait suspends flights with S Korea

The measure was enacted in accordance with Kuwaits health ministry instructions. Kuwait had later announced that it suspended all operational flights with South Korea, where the largest number of coronavirus cases have been reported outside mainland China. Kuwait also revoked scheduled flights to and from Thailand, Italy, and Iraq in subsequent announcements. Kuwaits Interior Ministry urged citizens to cooperate with the government's decisions amid the malignant virus epidemic. Authorities also warned the people against spreading misinformation regarding the coronavirus and threatened to take legal steps in case anyone was found guilty. Kuwaits foreign ministry urged all its nationals to contact the Kuwait's embassy for assistance in case they were stranded in countries where the coronavirus outbreak is soaring alarmingly, confirmed reports.

READ: US Police Raise False Alarm, Link Coronavirus To Meth To Trick Users Into Turning In Drugs

READ: Coronavirus Outbreak: Australian Man Evacuated From Japan's Cruise Ship Dies
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is gearing up for tricky negotiations to arrive at a seat-sharing formula with its ally the Janata Dal (United) and to map its election campaign in the poll-bound Bihar, said senior party leaders aware of the developments. Though the BJP has already announced that it will go to the Bihar election  to be held in November  under the leadership of JD(U) leader and chief minister, Nitish Kumar, there are concerns within the party that it may have to settle for a diminished role in the alliance in light of its electoral reverses in recent assembly polls.

The leaders, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the party, which faced a drubbing in the recent Delhi election, is working to identify the pivot of its poll campaign in the state, where caste equations often hold sway over other issues.

So far, we have seen how populist announcements trumped the narrative of nationalism that we raised [in Delhi], said a BJP leader from Bihar.

The JD(U), the BJP and the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) combine have sent out indications of an amiable alliance that will seek a fresh mandate. However, a section of BJP leaders have shown scepticism about Kumars intent. They cite last weeks decisions  passing a resolution in Bihar assembly to reject the proposed National Register of Citizens and to adopt the 2010 format for data collection in the National Population Register  without consulting the BJP as a snub.

There is a section of leaders who feel that Kumar by announcing support for caste-based census and speaking against the NRC has opted for self preservation; but if the parties are to contest as allies, then there has to be agreement on broader issues, said a BJP leader.

He said the move is also being seen as a red flag and the partys equation with one more ally could be on the decline. The BJP snapped ties with the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra over power-sharing disagreement.

A third BJP party leader, who dismissed speculation of friction between the alliance partners, however, asserted that the decision to do so holds Kumar and, by extension, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in good stead, as his anti-NRC stand prevented the opposition from making it an election issue. The demand to have a caste-based census was also raised by Mayawati [Bahujan Samaj Party] and Mulayam Singh [Yadav of the Samajwadi Party]. So, by passing the resolution he has reached out to the other backward classes, whose support he is banking on in the absence of the Muslim-Yadav vote, the third leader said.

Guru Prakash, an assistant professor at Patna University, said the resolutions have helped Kumar to shift the narrative from governance and also reinforcing his role as the dominant player in the alliance.

With the anti-NRC resolution, he has sent a message to all those who have stakes in Bihar politics. He has shown the Muslims of his home state that he shares their concerns. He has also taken on the likes of Prashant Kishore and Kanhaiya Kumar who have been building their brand of politics around the NRC and the NPR. But the most important message has been for the ally BJP that he would like to play the big brother in the alliance as he has options available as was evident in his camaraderie with Tejashwi Yadav.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Smriti Kak Ramachandran Smriti covers an intersection of politics and governance. Having spent over a decade in journalism, she combines old fashioned leg work with modern story telling tools. ...view detail
NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday accused the BJP government of instigating violence in Delhi by promoting communalism.

He alleged that BJP is promoting communalism because of its defeat in the Delhi Assembly polls.

"The capital has been burning since the last few days. The ruling party at the Centre could not win the Delhi Assembly polls and tried to divide the society by promoting communalism," said NCP Chief at a public event in Mumbai.

Till Saturday, at least 42 people had lost their lives and more than 200 people have sustained serious injuries in the communal violence that rocked north-east Delhi for four days.

Two Special Investigation Teams (SIT) have been constituted under the Delhi Police's Crime Branch to investigate the violence.

Properties worth crores of rupees have been damaged after clashes took place between two opposing factions over the newly-amended Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
RTHK: Germany's coronavirus cases almost double to 117

The number of people infected with the novel coronavirus in Germany jumped sharply to 117 on Sunday, official data showed, as the interior minister said he expected a vaccine by the end of the year.

The latest tally given by the Robert Koch Institute, Germany's centre for disease control and prevention, showed that the number of cases had almost doubled from 66 on Saturday morning.

More than half are in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most populous state where an infected couple attended carnival celebrations.

The deadly virus has now reached nine of Germany's 16 states, with Frankfurt, Hamburg and Bremen among the cities reporting their first Covid-19 cases.

Speaking to the mass-daily Bild am Sonntag, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said he did not see a swift end to the virus's spread but was optimistic a cure could be found.

"I estimate that a vaccine will be available by the end of year," he said, adding that he himself had stopped shaking people's hands.

Asked whether Germany would go so far as to close off access to cities or regions, he said: "such a scenario would be a last resort".

The state of Bavaria announced four new cases on Sunday, including an employee at machine tool manufacturer DMG Mori.

The company has asked its 1,600 employees not to come to work on Monday.

Several hundred people meanwhile were released from quarantine in the district of Heinsberg in North Rhine-Westphalia, allowing them to leave their homes again.

The cluster there has been linked to a carnival gathering on February 15.

Four kindergarten children in Heinsberg also tested positive for the new coronavirus at the weekend, apparently contracted through a member of staff.

Germany has cancelled several major events in a bid to curb the spread of the virus, including this week's ITB travel trade fair in Berlin.

The Michelin Guide restaurant star rating awards slated to take place in Hamburg on Tuesday have also been called off.

As the coronavirus continues to disrupt air travel and supply chains around the world, Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said the government stood ready to stimulate Germany's export-driven economy if the impact worsened.

"If the situation calls for it, we have the means to launch a fiscal stimulus package," he told Die Welt newspaper. (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2020-03-01. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Top Trump administration officials soberly reassured the public Sunday morning that most people had little to fear from the spread of coronavirus  but warned that more cases are coming. By evening the headlines were dominated by several new confirmed cases on both coasts and reports of a second U.S. death.

Vice President Mike Pence and HHS Secretary Alex Azar said during a series of morning show appearances that the pace of testing was ramping up after problems with the initial testing kits.

Hours later, HHS acknowledged that it had opened an investigation into why the diagnostic tests first released by the CDC were flawed, a problem that public health experts say impeded detection of the virus.

The growing number of cases and calls for accountability follow a week in which the markets tanked, President Donald Trump and his top aides worried what effects a global outbreak would have on the economy and the presidents re-election prospects, and the administration tries to demonstrate it has capability to deal with an escalating crisis.

Pence, on NBCs Meet The Press said public health experts had assured him that the vast majority of Americans infected by the virus will recover.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar arrives to speak about the coronavirus in the briefing room of the White House, Friday, Jan. 31, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

"The reality ... is that for most people that contract the coronavirus, they will recover," Pence said on CNNs State of the Union." "But for people that have other conditions, that would militate toward a worse outcome, that we could have more sad news."

On Sunday evening, health officials from King County in Washington reported that a man in his 70s with underlying health conditions had died, the second reported death in the U.S. It was one of four new cases the county reported. All were residents of LifeCare, the skilled nursing facility where resident and an employee have already tested positive.

The news out of Washington, where Gov. Jay Inslee has already declared a state of emergency, came on the heels of New Yorks first reported case, five new cases in California, two new cases in Florida, a second case in Oregon and new cases reported earlier in the day in Illinois and Rhode Island.

Story continues

Pence, whom President Donald Trump tapped to lead the response to the outbreak, acknowledged the United States has lagged other countries in terms of distributing testing kits, telling CNNs Jake Tapper that its a very fair question" and that the administration is "addressing it. It is unclear which senior health officials, at which agencies, knew about the CDC test problems and when they learned of them. HHS is convening a team of scientists from outside the CDC to investigate the test development and its flaws, according to an HHS spokesperson.

CDC also had to apologize for mistakenly telling the president that the first patient who died was a woman when in fact it was a man in his late 50s. Pence blamed the mistake on miscommunication.

In Illinois, officials reported a third positive test for the virus. The previous two patients made a full recovery, according to a statement from the state health department. On Sunday morning, Rhode Island officials announced the states first positive test, a person in their mid-40s who had traveled to Italy in mid-February. That person did not return to work, state health officials said, and the persons family is self-quarantining.

In New York, a woman in her late 30s contracted the virus while traveling abroad in Iran, and is currently quarantined at home.

The CDC has officially confirmed 22 cases in the U.S. so far, including at least four in which people were infected without traveling to an affected country or coming into contact with anyone known to have the disease, though that number is expected to climb once state results are confirmed.

Pence said four patients remain in serious condition.

If someone comes to a local hospital and complains of a respiratory illness, we're not just testing them for the flu, we're also testing them, in more cases now, for coronavirus, Pence said on NBCs Meet The Press. And that's how several of the cases that came to light at the end of this week came to our attention.

Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Sunday said he wants the spending package currently being debated in Congress to include enough funding for Medicare to cover the coronavirus vaccine, which is at least months away from being widely available.

Several vaccines are in development in the U.S. and abroad, but they are still in early stages.

My plan to have Medicare fully cover the cost of the vaccine will mean no senior will be forced to make the choice between shelling out and going without, Schumer said during a press conference in New York.
Kolkata, March 1 : A Polish student pursuing his masters degree at Jadavpur University (JU) here has been asked to leave India by the Union Home Ministry, purportedly over his presence in a rally opposing the Citizenship Amendment Act, a teacher said on Sunday.

Kamil Siedcynski, now in the final semester of the comparative literature course, was slapped a notice by the local Foreigner Regional Registration Office (FRRO) - an arm of the Home Ministry - about a week ago, Partha Pratim Roy, General Secretary of the Jadavpur University Teachers Association, told IANS.

The FRRO ordered him to leave India within 15 days of receiving the notice for his involvement in "anti-government activities", saying it amounted to a "visa violation".

The notice did not, however, give any details of the "anti-government activities" he has participated in, but warned that he would be prosecuted under the Foreigners Act, 1946, if the deadline was not adhered to.

Roy said Siedcynski had been present during a rally organised in the Ramlila Maidan in the city by intellectuals, artists and students against CAA on December 19.

"Kamil appealed to the FRRO to reconsider its decision, saying he had gone to the rally out of curiousity and also to click images. But the officials here said they were helpless and the decision has been taken in Delhi," Roy told IANS.

Siedcynski is likely to move the court on Monday against the order.

He earlier studied Bengali literature at Visva Bharati, a Central university, and can write and speak in the language fluently. He has also translated a Polish fairy tale into Bengali.

"He comes from a poor financial background. So the university has waived his fees. He is a very serious student and not associated with any student organisation," said Roy.

Siedcynski was not available for comments.

The FRRO earlier issued a similar order against Afsara Anika Meem, a first year Bangladeshi undergraduate student at the Visva Bharati University's Fine Arts department. Meem had posted on social media photos of an anti-CAA agitation.

Last December, two other foreign nationals - Jakob Lindenthal, a post graduate student at the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras and Norwegian woman Janne Mette-Johannson received similar orders for taking part in protests against the law.

The CAA, passed by parliament in December, seeks to provide Indian nationality to Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Parsis, Jains and Buddhists who fled religious persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh till December 31, 2014.
Like other ethnic groups, the Dao in Vietnams northwestern region worship their ancestors devotedly.

Worship paintings on the altar of the Dao

When the Dao finish building a new house, they immediately set up an ancestral altar. The dedication ritual is held at midnight. The altar is placed in a corner of the central room, in front of the sleeping-room.

The altar platform has 4 firm legs, which follows an old story about the four pillars that hold up the sky.

The home owner prepares an incense burner, ashes, some silver coins, and offerings. A shaman is invited to conduct the ritual. Each month on the 1st and the 15th day, the home owner burns on the altar incense sticks and two pieces of charcoal that symbolize ancestral eyes. He also burns incense at the foot of the altar and at the front door.

When the Dao Khau build a new house, we invite a shaman to set up an altar. He calls the souls of our ancestors to enter the incense burner so the children can worship them. The ancestors bless their children with good health and prosperity. In the incense burner, we put ashes of a special tree and some silver coins, said Cheo My Lai of the Dao Khau in Sin Ho township.

All wooden parts of the altars are connected by hinges and tenons and tied with rattan ropes. Its prohibited to use iron nails.

The altar is placed in a corner of the central room. During the Lunar New Year, we always put a pork serving on the altar. We place a bowl of fresh water everyday and burn incense sticks and candles throughout the holiday. Red cloths are hung around the altar to invite blessings. We make round sticky rice cakes for the Lunar New Year celebration and put on the altar 4 pieces of cake to represent the 4 seasons. On the first day of the new year, we put apricot and peach blossoms on the cakes as a wish for many daughters and sons, said Ly Troi Nhan, a Red Dao man who lives in Phin Ho, Hoang Su Phi district, Ha Giang province.

The altar has two floors and a roof. The ancestral incense burner is placed on the upper floor. The lower floor holds incense sticks and worship items such as yin-yang coins, wood blocks, and written prayers.

The Dao Tien decorate their altars with paper animals to wish for reproduction and for the sun to brighten the whole family.

Ban Van Liem, a Dao Tien man who lives in Van Ho district, Son La province, said, On the upper floor we put the incense burner, a bowl of water, and 4 cups of wine. We put other worship items on the lower floor. During the New Year celebration, the worship offerings include pork, chicken, fish, rice cakes, and a coin to wish for a prosperous New Year.

Worshiping is a sacred activity which is done only by the home owner. Only men are allowed to come close to the altar and to clean it. They worship during the Lunar New Year festival, the Grave Visiting festival in the 12th lunar month, and other events throughout the year to show their gratitude to their ancestors and pray for blessings. VOV5

Hoa Binh preserves unique costume of Dao quan chet group The northern mountainous province of Hoa Binh is home to two Dao ethnic minority groups, namely Dao quan chet and Dao tien.
New Delhi: Authorities in Delhi on Sunday (March 1) imposed Section 144 in New Delhi's Shaheen Bagh along with a heavy deployment of police personnel.

Joint Commissioner DC Srivastava told news agency ANI, "As a precautionary measure, there is heavy police deployment here. Our aim is to maintain law and order and prevent any untoward incident from occurring."

At least 1,000 jawans and 12 companies of paramilitary forces have been deployed in the area after the imposition of the prohibitory orders by the authorities. 100 men each from four police district along with local policemen have also been deployed in the area.

Appealing the citizens to not assemble in the area and end their protest, the Delhi Police stated that legal action will be taken against those who violate the orders.

"People are informed that Section 144 of CRCP has been imposed here and it is requested that permission for any gathering is not allowed. Violation of this may invite legal proceedings," the Delhi Police directive stated.

The police deployment has come after a fringe right-wing group, Hindu Sena, gave a call to clear the Shaheen Bagh road on March 1. However on Saturday, with the intervention of police, they called off their proposed protest against the anti-CAA agitation in Shaheen Bagh.

"The proposed protest call was cancelled with timely intervention. But as a precautionary measure, we have made heavy police deployment here," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast) RP Meena said.

The Hindu Sena said in a statement police pressured them to call off their protest on Sunday against the Shaheen Bagh agitation.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, March 1, 2020

The Jakarta Police have uncovered a ring of alleged illegal mask manufacturers seeking to tap into the recent skyrocketing price of masks following fears of a global spread of the novel coronavirus.

The Jakarta Police raided a warehouse in Cilincing, North Jakarta, on Thursday where investigators seized 60 boxes containing 3,000 masks.

Local residents tipped off police about a building allegedly being used as a storehouse to hoard masks. The activity was the main cause of the increasing price of masks in the capital over the past two months, Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Yusri Yunus said.

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
What is the rapture? And what does the Bible say about it? Many are familiar with the term. But all too often their understanding of the rapture is based more on popular writings like the Left Behind series than Scripture itself. The intent of this article is to look at what the Bible has to say about the rapture.

What Is the Rapture?

Rapture is not a word that is found in Scripture. But it is used to describe a very biblical doctrine; the return of Christ and the gathering up of his elect. This doctrine is central to the hope that we have as believers.

There are many scenarios of the end times that have been drawn from Jesus Revelation to John. But I do not find that there are any unambiguous references to the rapture contained in Revelation. Much of how one interprets Revelation is based upon their eschatological perspective. So, for that reason, I have chosen not to include anything from Revelation in this discussion. But there are three passages in the New Testament that do provide us with explicit information about this event.

Matthew 24:30-31 is a portion of Jesus teaching about his return. In this passage he says that all the peoples of the earth will see him coming in the clouds. And that with a trumpet call, he will send his angels to gather his elect from throughout the earth.

In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul defends the future resurrection of believers. And in verses 50-55 he describes what that will be like. It will happen in a moment, at the last trumpet. When the trumpet sounds, the dead will be raised, and the living believers will be changed.

The third passage is also from Paul and is in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. In this passage Paul is seeking to encourage the believers in Thessalonica concerning some of their members who had died. He assures them that the Lord will return from heaven, along with a trumpet call. And when that happens, the dead in Christ will be raised, and those still alive will be caught up together with them.

These three passages do not share all the same details. But they do have enough in common to point to a common event. They affirm that Christ will return visibly for all to see and the last trumpet points to this event being at the end. It will involve the resurrection of believers who have died and the transformation of those who are still living at his return.

When Is the Rapture?

When will this second coming of Christ and our being gathered to him occur? The best answer we can give with any certainty is that it will be at the end of this age. In Matthew 24:3 Jesus disciples ask about Jesus coming and the end of the age. Jesus response to their question culminates with the passage mentioned above with Jesus return and our being gathered to him.

But exactly when the end of the age will be is a big unknown. In Matthew 24:36, Jesus tells his disciples that no one, other than the Father, knows when that end will occur. Not even the angels in heaven, or even the Son. And, in Acts 1:7, in response to his disciples question about the establishment of the kingdom, Jesus says that it is not for them to know the when. The end will come in the Fathers time, and he has not chosen to share that with us.

Another passage that deals with the when of the rapture is 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4. In this passage Paul cautions the Thessalonian believers not to become concerned that the Lords return and our being gathered had already occurred. He assured them that it will not come before a great apostasy first takes place and the antichrist is revealed.

But, while we may not know when the rapture will occur, it should not take us by surprise. In Matthew 24:42-51 Jesus tells us to keep prepared for his coming. While we do not know the when of the event, we should expect it at any time.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:1-8, Paul expresses that the Lords return will be like a thief in the night. But we are not in darkness, so that day should not be a surprise to us. So always be ready, living in the light, and wearing the hope of salvation as a helmet.





What Will Happen at the Rapture?

When the rapture does occur, what will happen? In Matthew 24, Jesus simply tells us that we will be gathered by his angels. But Pauls writing gives us a little more detail. Both 1 Corinthians 15:52 and Thessalonians 4:16-17 tell us that the rapture is not just of those who are living at the time, but that those believers who have already died will be resurrected and together we will meet our Lord.

In 1 Corinthians 15:45-54, Paul gives us some additional information about this rapture. When the Lord returns for us, we will be changed. The bodies we have now are not suitable for an eternal existence in the presence of God. This perishable and mortal body will be changed into one that is imperishable and immortal. Just what it will look like though is unknown. Earlier in this fifteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians, Paul expressed that what is sown often bears little resemblance to what is raised. So it will likely be with our bodies. At the resurrection/rapture our bodies will go through a radical transformation and may or may not resemble what they do now.

There are some who would propose that at the resurrection we will be purely spiritual beings, like God. But Scripture tells us that we will have a body  a body that will be like Christs. In 1 Corinthians 15:42-49 Paul contrasts the body we have now with the one that we will have. That coming body will be imperishable, immortal, glorious, powerful, and spiritual. Identifying it as a spiritual body lends support to a resurrection that is spiritual in nature. But note that it is a spiritual body, not a spirit. And we will bear the image of the heavenly man, Christ. What our bodies will be like is unknown. But we can be certain that we will have bodies.

A Difference in Timing

No discussion of the rapture would be complete without pointing out that there is a relatively recent school of thought that separates the rapture and the visible return of Christ by a seven-year tribulational period. As an amillennialist, this is not something I agree with. But apart from that there is agreement among the different eschatological views concerning the rapture; the gathering of believers at the end of the age.

So, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:54, Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. Because of the hope we have, we should let nothing move us from serving our Lord. Know that our service will not be in vain.

Further Reading

What Is the Rapture and When Will it Happen?

4 Things Every Christian Should Know about the Rapture

What Is the Difference between the Rapture and the Second Coming?

Photo credit: Getty Images/YoriHirokawa
I think the thing that surprised me the most was the fact that Churchill was a lot of fun, Larson said, even though his staff was really overworked, even though they knew Churchill was inconsiderate. But he worked just as hard or harder than anyone. They loved working with him; he was able to do that.

He also had some intriguing habits  his drinking and his long soaks in the bathtub, smoking cigars and having his secretary take dictation, getting out, naked and wet to answer the phone and then getting back into the tub.

Churchill was also fearless and without vanity, according to Larson.

It drove the Nazis crazy.

Joseph Goebbels, the Reich minister of propaganda, cursed him, writing in his diary, When will that creature Churchill finally surrender? England cannot hold out forever!

Churchill's speeches were so effective with the British that Goebbels was alarmed when he learned that Germans were listening to them as well, and ordered them to stop, saying it was treachery.

Churchill would visit a city that had been bombed, and people would flock to him, Larson said. I have no question that these visits were absolutely important to helping Britain get through this period. He was often filmed doing so for newsreels, and it was reported by newspapers and radio. This was leadership by demonstration, by showing the world that he cared, and he was fearless.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
(Newser)  Face masks aren't going to save us from contracting the coronavirus while commuting or grocery shopping, health officials say. But they do help health professionals working with infected patients in a closed environment. And uninfected people around the world are hoarding them. So the US surgeon general tackled the shortage Saturday with a bluntly worded message to Americans: "Seriously people  STOP BUYING MASKS!" Jerome Adams tweeted. "They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus, but if health care providers can't get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk!" The online rush on masks has led to price gouging and a proliferation of counterfeits, the New York Times reports.

story continues below

The masks are best at keeping the wearer from spreading the virus, a World Health Organization official says. "There are limits to how a mask can protect you from being infected." The N95 masks, which are thicker and block smaller particles than others, are most in demand. The CDC says they're what health workers should wear, but even those masks aren't effective at protecting uninfected people, per CNN. "The viral particles are too small" to be filtered out, an expert said. In addition, surgical masks are needed because they "protect you as a patient in the operating room from bacterial contamination," an expert said before adding a similar plea: "Stop buying and hoarding them!" (Read more coronavirus stories.)
Apparently referring to the coming



together of Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress to form an unlikely alliance in Maharashtra last year, MNS chief Raj Thackeray said on Sunday that whatever happened after the assembly poll results was "unfortunate".

He also alleged that various fronts and alliances have messed up the state.

He was responding to a question asked to him as part of his special interview at a function here.

"On the day of Assembly polls results, I was happy that the turncoats had been defeated. But this did not last long with the events that unfolded after that," he said.

The BJP and the Shiv Sena, which had fought the assembly polls in alliance, had secured a comfortable majority by winning 105 and 56 seats respectively. However, the Sena broke its three-decade-long ties with the BJP after the latter declined to share the chief minister's post.

After a long-drawn process, the Sena finally joined hands with the NCP and Congress to form the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government with Sena president Uddhav Thackeray as the chief minister.

During the interview, Thackeray also said that he entered by accident.

" and power should give better life to citizens. should not be confined to elections alone, it should be beyond that," he said.

He also said that other states were proud of their local language which is not seen in Maharashtra, except in cities like Mumbai, Thane and Pune.

"This love for language is not seen in rural parts of the state," he said.

When asked whose caricatures he liked to draw as a cartoonist, he named Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, late PM Rajiv Gandhi, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and NCP chief Sharad Pawar.

"The face of Rahul (Gandhi) is not suitable for a caricature," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Washington and Ankara are discussing Turkeys request for the temporary deployment of American Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems on its border with Syria, US President Donald Trump said on Saturday, Trend reports citing Reuters.

Trumps remarks came in response to a reporter's question about whether the former had spoken with his Turkish counterpart Erdogan about Ankaras request, as well as about the death of 36 Turkish soldiers in Syrias Idlib provance earlier this month.

"We are speaking to President Erdogan a lot. We are talking to him about [the request]," Trump told reporters at White House.

Earlier in the day, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Ankara needs the Patriot missile systems, urging the US to send the missile system to the southern border of Turkey.

Cavusoglu also demanded earlier this week that Turkeys NATA allies assist on air defence and intelligence in connection with the ongoing military actions in Idlib.

On 27 February, 36 Turkish troops were killed in a Syrian airstrike in the Idlib Governorate.

The latest spike in fatal skirmishes in Idilb follows several weeks of tensions triggered by attacks from Turkish-backed militants against the Syrian army.
Coronavirus Spreads to More Countries; WHO Raises Risk Alert to 'Very High'

By VOA News February 29, 2020

The coronavirus spread to seven more countries Friday, left stock markets reeling and caused the World Health Organization to raise its impact risk alert to "very high."

Mexico, Nigeria, New Zealand, Lithuania, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Iceland reported their first cases of the virus as the number of countries hit by the outbreak neared 60.

The United States reported its fourth case of the virus in a person who had no known history of travel to a country experiencing an outbreak of the disease, known as COVID-19, or no known close contact with an infected person. U.S. health authorities said Friday they are waiting for confirmation of the testing results. The newest case is in Washington State. Authorities in Oregon also reported a "presumptive positive" patient Friday.

Test results for the coronavirus are considered "presumptive" until they have been confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Earlier Friday, officials in California confirmed a second coronavirus case of unknown origin. The patient, who is a 65-year-old Northern California resident, also had no known connection to the country's first case of community transmission, a woman also in Northern California.

The World Health Organization raised its global risk assessment of the coronavirus to its highest level.

"We have now increased our assessment of the risk of spread and the risk of impact of COVID-19 to very high at global level," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters.

The growing spread of coronavirus led many world stock markets to fall Friday to their lowest levels since the 2008 financial crisis.

In Mexico, health officials said a man in Mexico City who had recently visited Italy tested positive for the virus, and another patient was confirmed in the northern state of Sinaloa. Brazil is the only other country that has coronavirus in Latin America.

The case in Nigeria, detected in the economic capital, Lagos, was the first case in sub-Saharan Africa and the third to be confirmed in Africa. Nigerian officials said the case involved an Italian citizen who entered the country this week.

In Azerbaijan, a Russian citizen who had arrived from Iran was confirmed with the virus, and in Belarus an Iranian student who arrived from Azerbaijan tested positive.

Lithuania also announced that a woman who returned this week from a visit to Italy tested positive.

New Zealand confirmed its first coronavirus case, saying a recent arrival from Iran had tested positive.

In the Netherlands, the first case was confirmed late Thursday and another Friday, both of whom had recently traveled in northern Italy.

The outbreak appeared to be easing in China where the virus originated. China's National Health Commission reported 427 new cases and 47 deaths early Saturday. China has a total of 79,251 cases.

But the number in South Korea, the hardest-hit country outside China, reached 3,150, with 813 new cases and a total of 17 deaths. Most of the cases are in Daegu, the South's fourth-largest city.

Iranian officials say there are 593 confirmed cases there. Forty-three people in Iran have died from the virus, the highest death toll outside China.

The death toll in Italy rose to 21, with nearly 900 people infected.

The worldwide outbreaks have led governments and companies around the globe to implement closures and restrictions.

Switzerland canceled next week's Geneva international car show, an important event for the auto industry. Amazon.com, the world's largest online retailer, told its employees to defer all nonessential travel.

In Japan, Tokyo Disneyland and Universal Studios Japan announced closures. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has ordered schools to close at least through March.

The United States and South Korea called off joint military drills.

In Germany, about 1,000 people were being quarantined in the country's most populous state. The number of confirmed cases in Europe's biggest economy exceeded 50.

In the United States, California health officials said they were monitoring 8,400 people for symptoms after their arrival on domestic flights.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said the United States would invoke special powers to boost the production of masks, gloves and other items to protect against the virus.

Vice President Mike Pence said Friday that the federal government was prepared to assist states if a widespread outbreak occurred.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday confirmed two more cases of the coronavirus among Americans evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, bringing the tally among evacuees to 44.

The CDC's head of respiratory diseases, Nancy Messonnier, said the agency's goal was to have every state testing with the CDC's coronavirus test kits by the end of next week.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






The surgeon general is pleading with the public to stop buying surgical masks as Americans use any means they can to prevent getting infected with the fast-spreading coronavirus.

'Seriously people - STOP Buying MASKS!' Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams tweeted on Saturday.

'They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus, but if healthcare providers can't get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk!'

Adams also tweeted: 'The best way to protect yourself and your community is with everyday preventive actions, like staying home when you are sick and washing hands with soap and water, to help slow the spread of respiratory illness.

US Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams is urging the public to avoid buying surgical face masks

Travelers wear protective mask as they walk through in Terminal 5 at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago on Sunday

'Seriously people - STOP Buying MASKS!' Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams tweeted on Saturday

Adams also tweeted: 'The best way to protect yourself and your community is with everyday preventive actions, like staying home when you are sick and washing hands with soap and water, to help slow the spread of respiratory illness'

'Get your #FluShot - fewer flu patients = more resources for #COVID19.'

Adams on Sunday also posted further clarifications about coronavirus on his Twitter feed so as to 'stop the spread of rumors.'

'Diseases can make anyone sick regardless of their race or ethnicity,' he tweeted.

'People of Asian descent, including Chinese Americans, are not more likely to get COVID19 than any other American.'

Adams sought to reassure nervous Americans, saying that while coronavirus is a 'serious disease,' the 'immediate health risk is considered low' for the general public.

The surgeon general added that anyone 'who has completed quarantine or has been released from isolation does not pose a risk of spreading' coronavirus.

Adams urged the public to look out for symptoms of coronavirus, including fever, cough, and shortness of breath.

He added: 'There are simple steps YOU can take to keep yourself and those around you healthy.

'Wash your hands often with soap & water for at least 20 seconds.

'Avoid touching your [face] w/ unwashed hands, and wipe down surfaces with cleaning solution or wipes.'

He also urged those who are sick to stay home from work and to cover your cough and sneeze.

Two new cases of coronavirus have been reported in Chicago and Rhode Island on Sunday, bringing the total number of Americans known to be infected with the pathogen to 73.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar confirmed the latest infection in Chicago during an appearance on Fox News Sunday, saying that authorities are now working to trace the source of the latest instance.

Adams on Sunday also posted further clarifications about coronavirus on his Twitter feed so as to 'stop the spread of rumors.'

'Diseases can make anyone sick regardless of their race or ethnicity,' he tweeted.

Adams sought to reassure nervous Americans, saying that while coronavirus is a 'serious disease,' the 'immediate health risk is considered low' for the general public

The surgeon general added that anyone 'who has completed quarantine or has been released from isolation does not pose a risk of spreading' coronavirus

Adams urged the public to look out for symptoms of coronavirus, including fever, cough, and shortness of breath

He added: 'There are simple steps YOU can take to keep yourself and those around you healthy. Wash your hands often with soap & water for at least 20 seconds'

He also urged those who are sick to stay home from work and to cover your cough and sneeze

So far, there are at least five reported cases nationwide - one in Chicago, one in Washington State, one in Oregon, and two in California - where authorities do not know how the virus was contracted, according to the federal government.

Also on Sunday, the Rhode Island Department of Health announced the first presumptive positive case of coronavirus.

The patient, a man in his 40s, had traveled to Italy in mid-February, the state agency said.

The coronavirus may have been circulating for weeks undetected in Washington state, a preliminary finding that could mean hundreds of undiagnosed cases in the state that's also home to the nations first confirmed infection and now the first death, researchers said Sunday after analyzing genetic samples of the pathogens.

State and local authorities stepped up testing for the illness Sunday as the number of new cases grew nationwide, with new infections announced in Illinois, Rhode Island and Washington state.

Authorities in the Seattle area said two more people had been diagnosed with the coronavirus, both men in their 60s who were in critical condition.

Those cases brought the numbers in the Seattle area to six.

Fifty more people in a nursing facility in Kirkland, Washington, are sick and being tested for the virus.

Worried Americans swarmed stores to stock up on basic goods such as bottled water, canned foods and toilet paper.

As the fallout continued, Vice President Mike Pence and Azar sought to reassure the American public that the federal government is working to make sure state and local authorities are able to test for coronavirus.

Both said during a round of TV talk show appearances Sunday that thousands more kits to test for coronavirus had been distributed to state and local officials, with thousands more to come.

The coronavirus may have been circulating for weeks undetected in Washington state, a preliminary finding that could mean hundreds of undiagnosed cases in the state that's also home to the nations first confirmed infection and now the first death. Seattle is seen above

A 'medically high-risk' male in his 50s died of coronavirus overnight Friday in Kirkland hospital EvergreenHealth

'They should know we have the best public health system in the world looking out for them,' Azar said, adding that additional cases will be reported and the overall risk to Americans is low.

As Americans prepared, researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington on Sunday said they had evidence that the coronavirus may have been circulating in the state for up to six weeks undetected - a finding that, if true, could mean hundreds of undiagnosed cases in the area.

The research was not published in a scientific journal or reviewed by other scientists.

Trevor Bedford, an associate professor at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington, said on Twitter late Saturday that genetic similarities between the state's first case on January 20 and a case announced Friday indicated the newer case may have descended from the earlier one.

The January 20 case was the first known case in the United States.

'I believe we're facing an already substantial outbreak in Washington State that was not detected until now due to narrow case definition requiring direct travel to China,' he said on Twitter.

Bedford did not immediately reply to an e-mail requesting an interview Sunday.

Scientists not affiliated with the research said the results did not necessarily surprise them and pointed out that for many people - especially younger, healthier ones - the symptoms are not much worse than a flu or bad cold.

Vice President Mike Pence admitted that there could be more US coronavirus deaths, departing from the president's insistence in downplaying the threat. The comments came after a 'medically high-risk' man in his 50s had become the first person in the US to die from coronavirus

Pence, named by the president to be the point-person overseeing the government's response, said more than 15,000 virus testing kits had been released over the weekend. CNN's Jake Tapper is seen left

Four other cases were confirmed late Saturday night and into Sunday morning, making the total number of Americans diagnosed with the virus 73 and counting

'We think that this has a pretty high rate of mild symptoms and can be asymptomatic. The symptoms are pretty non-specific and testing criteria has been pretty strict, so those combinations of factors means that it easily could have been circulating for a bit without us knowing,' said Justin Lessler, an associated professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

'And that was what a lot of us was thinking was likely.'

Pence, named by the president to be the point-person overseeing the government's response, said more than 15,000 virus testing kits had been released over the weekend.

And, the administration is working with a commercial provider to distribute 50,000 more, he said.

The vice president said testing was among the first issues raised by governors he's spoken with so far.

'We're leaning into it,' Pence said.

Azar said more than 3,600 people already have been tested for coronavirus and the capability exists to test 75,000 people.

He forecast a 'radical expansion of that' in the coming weeks.

Pence and Azar spoke a day after President Trump approved new restrictions on international travel to prevent the spread within the U.S. of the new virus, which originated in China.

Alex Azar, the secretary of health and human services, said on Sunday that a new case of coronavirus was confirmed overnight in Chicago

There are now more than 80,000 cases worldwide and nearly 3,000 deaths.

The new US travel restrictions apply to Iran, although travel there by Americans already is severely limited, as well as heavily affected regions of Italy and South Korea.

Trump tweeted Sunday that any travelers from those countries will be screened when they arrive in the US.

The number of known coronavirus cases in the US had reached 73 as of Sunday.

Trump said Saturday at a White House news conference that he was thinking about closing the southern border with Mexico as a precaution.

Azar said Sunday that Mexico has few coronavirus cases and that it would take a dramatic change in the circumstances there to prompt serious consideration of a border shutdown.

The president, Azar said, 'was trying to say everything's on the table.'

'We will take whatever measures are appropriate and necessary to protect the American people, but we dont forecast doing that any time soon,' he said of closing the border.

Pence noted that an infectious disease expert is joining an existing White House coronavirus task force on Monday.

Last week, Pence announced the addition of Debbie Birx, a State Department ambassador-at-large and medical doctor who is the administration's global HIV/AIDS response coordinator, to the virus panel.

The Rhode Island Department of Health announced on Sunday the first presumptive case of coronavirus in the state. The patient is described as a person in their 40s who just returned from a trip to Italy, the site of the largest outbreak of coronavirus in Europe. The image above shows an unidentified tourist in the Piazza del Duomo in Milan on Saturday

Panic is setting in for residents on the West Coast as California becomes a coronavirus hotspot, Washington state reports the first death from the virus and Oregon officials announce that an elementary school employee has tested positive for the disease. A Los Angeles resident leaves a Burbank Costco with a cart full of toilet paper, bottled water and cleaning products

Anxious shoppers descended on California supermarkets (San Francisco shoppers pictured), stocking up on supplies like bottled water, canned food and Clorox wipes. The state has become a coronavirus hotspot, with more than half a dozen residents diagnosed with the disease in recent days

In Seattle, some shelves were emptied completely as residents rushed to stock up on supplies on Saturday

Shoppers visit a Costco Wholesale in Tigard, Oregon, on Saturday after reports of Oregon's first case of coronavirus was announced in the nearby Oregon city of Lake Oswego on Friday

Shoppers stockpiled on food, water and other supplies at a Costco Wholesale in Tigard, Oregon, on Saturday

Despite calls by Trump and Pence for political unity in the face of the viral threat, the issue has become mired in the partisan rancor in Washington, with both Republicans and Democrats accusing each other of mining the issue for political gain.

Trump, at a political rally last week, accused Democrats of 'politicizing' the issue and said their criticism of his handling of the public health challenge was their new 'hoax.'

At the White House on Saturday, Trump said he was not trying to minimize the threat from the virus.

'Again, the hoax was used in respect to Democrats and what they were saying,' he said Saturday.

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, who emerged victorious Saturday night from South Carolina's primary, criticized the administration over the availability of testing kits.

Biden also panned the administration's decision to have political appointees Pence and Azar, neither of whom are scientists by training, appear on the Sunday shows, instead of an expert like Dr. Anthony Fauci, the National Institute's of Health infectious disease chief.

Biden claimed the administration doesn't have testing kits. Pence and Azar said thousands of kits had been distributed.

Azar said he didn't know what Biden was talking about when the former vice president said testing kits didn't exist.

Azar said the Center for Disease Control and Prevention had developed a lab test for coronavirus with 'historic speed.'

Pence was interviewed on CNN's State of the Union and Azar commented on Fox News Sunday, CBS' Face the Nation and ABC's This Week.

Biden commented on CNN.
OROVILLE, Calif. - The Butte-Glenn Medical Society and California Health and Wellness launched a new program Friday with aims to bring ample opportunity for medical education to the area and grow healthcare.

"The community continues to grow the needs continue to grow," David Alonso, President of the Medical Society said. "Following the Camp Fire we lost about 10 to 15 percent of our physician community that numbers about 40 physicians."

Alonso says physicians are known to stay and practice in the community where they trained.

"There is a high percentage of that and we don't have any training programs for physicians in our community, so in a way to help bring more physicians to our community we'd like to see more training programs," he said. "A physician needs to go through a training program called residency too before they actually go through caring for patients on their own."

Those programs require resources and funding.

Alonso says local hospitals and medicals centers like the Feather River Tribal Health Center have expressed interest in collaborating with the partnership once the program establishes funds.

$25-million in funding that Assemblyman Gallagher and Senator Nielsen are pushing for.

"As a health plan we strive to collaborate with the communities we serve," said Ramiro Zuniga, Vice President and Medical Director of California Health and Wellness said.

Zuniga says there is a shortage of health care providers throughout the state.

"And that is more critical in rural areas we as a health plan want to ensure that our members have the specialists to take care of their health care needs it is only through developing innovative ways like educating physicians locally that we can reach that goal," Zuniga said.

Funding is still in the process but Assemblyman Gallagher says he doesn't expect opposition from the legislation.

This is a long-term goal the partnership is hoping to achieve over the next two to four years.
Meghan Markle is not expected to bring Archie with her when she joins Prince Harry in Britain this week for their last round of royal engagements.

The Queen, 93, and Prince Philip, 98, are said to be 'very sad' by the news, having seen so little of Archie since his birth, according to the Sunday Times.

It is believed that Archie, who has yet to set foot on UK soil this year, will remain with the Sussexes' nanny, and with Meghan's friend Jessica Mulroney.

Archie's last official sighting was in a photograph with his father the Duke of Sussex, posted to the Sussex Royal Instagram account last New Year's Eve.

Harry and Meghan's decision to leave Archie behind is also thought to add another 50,000 to the royal couple's security bill, The Sun reports.

Meghan Markle is not expected to bring son Archie with her when she joins Prince Harry in Britain this week for their last round of royal engagements (pictured, July 2019)

A royal insider told the paper: 'Meghan's London jaunt is proving a real headache.'

They added: 'It's an expensive time just when the costs of looking after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are under scrutiny.'

Prince Harry, 35, left Meghan, 38, and their nine-month-old son in Canada as he embarked on a final round of official duties last week.

Launching an eco-friendly travel company in Edinburgh, the senior royal made headlines as he asked delegates 'just to call him Harry'.

He also performed a duet with Jon Bon Jovi at Abbey Road Studios for a new charity single before recreating the Beatles' iconic zebra crossing photo outside.

Harry and Meghan's decision to leave Archie behind is also thought to add another 50,000 to the royal couple's security bill (pictured, Harry visiting Abbey Road Studios)

It is believed that Archie, who has yet to set foot on UK soil this year, will remain with the Sussexes' nanny, and with Meghan's friend Jessica Mulroney (pictured, September 2019)

Harry flew to Britain on a commercial flight and arrived in Edinburgh on an eco-friendly LNER train, with taxpayer-funded Scotland Yard bodyguards.

The Queen's grandson has been stung by criticism over the past six months of his frequent use of private jets while campaigning on environmental issues.

Harry's flight to Britain this week was believed to have been the seventh flight the Queen's grandson has taken so far this year, following return trips from Vancouver Island to London, Miami in Florida, and Palo Alto in California.

The Duke will be joined by Meghan this week for five further official appearances.
But heres the thing: Gilbert says that the reality is that many of the women who appear to have it made are anything but relaxed. "I have met some of the richest, thinnest, most safe, most prominent, most status-filled women in the world. I have been in their homes, and they're dying of anxiety," Gilbert says. And its not just rich, white women who are not relaxed. Women from all walks of live feel anxious and worried. One in three women in Australia will suffer from anxiety in their lifetime. Of course, there are very real reasons why women are anxious. As the "Be a Lady, They Said!" video narrated by Cynthia Nixon shows, there is no right way to be a woman. "Dont be too fat, dont be too thin. Eat up, slim down. Stop eating so much. Order a salad, dont eat carbs. God, you look like a skeleton!" says Nixon in the video that has gone viral.

Loading So many women feel constantly under pressure, trying to juggle all the balls of our work, home, community and caring responsibilities. We worry that if we relax, even for a moment, we will drop them and let down all the people who rely on us. But Gilbert argues that even when we have good reasons to be stressed, we need to make the radical decision to try to relax. To which my first response was, "Oh great. Now on top of everything else, weve got to be more relaxed?" But Gilbert has a point. The bad stuff  the divorce, the illness, the troubled children, the underemployment, the failing business  is not caused, or made worse, by being relaxed. In fact, approaching our problems in a more relaxed manner might make them easier to cope with.

When we are relaxed, we think more clearly, we are better able to assess possibilities, read other peoples motivations, and solve problems. And we are more able to see when its time to stop fighting and walk away. There is power in calm, says Gilbert. "Every martial artist knows that the most relaxed person in the room is the one who holds all the power," she says. "It isn't the richest one, it isn't the strongest one, it isn't the whitest one, it isn't the male-ist one, it's the one who is embodying themselves in perfect peace who is the one who has real power." Gilbert says there are three steps to finding greater relaxation. The first is to take a good hard look at our priorities.

Loading "Step away from the problem and decide what you care about, and make it a priority," Gilbert says. "Who you care about, and what you care about can't be more than about five things or you really are not going to be able to do well." And make sure you add yourself onto that list of priorities. The second is to put boundaries around priorities. Setting priorities is pointless if you dont enforce them. Women, in particular, often struggle with setting boundaries. We feel we are being mean or selfish if we dont acquiesce to others demands and expectations of us. But rather than seeing boundaries as selfish, Gilbert says that we should regard them as sacred.

Of course, that might cause some friction with those around you. Some people may resent your new boundaries. But Gilbert says thats how you find those who really accept and care about you. "Thats your tribe, you only need a couple of them, and the rest of them can go." The third step in Gilberts strategy to relax is to acknowledge that we cannot control everything in our lives. There are greater forces at work in the world and these forces are largely benevolent. "The great mystics of the world, the great seers, the great visionaries, the great oracles, in every single culture, from every background, from every language, from every continent are all given the same message: It's all going to be all right." Giving ourselves the permission to relax, says Gilbert, is the start of revolution that women desperately need. A revolution in relaxation? Now thats a revolution I can get on board with.
TORONTO - Lisa Bigioni was awoken last September in the middle of the night by a call from an alarm company that's been seared in her memory ever since.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 1/3/2020 (680 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO - Lisa Bigioni was awoken last September in the middle of the night by a call from an alarm company that's been seared in her memory ever since.

The 1:30 a.m. alert was linked to her Niagara Falls, Ont. cannabis store, where two men had been caught on camera getting out of their car, smashing the shop window and then driving away. It was enough to send Bigioni, who had been fast asleep, scrambling to meet police at the store.

Luckily, no staff had been on site, but it was "terrifying" for Bigioni, who started wondering if this would become a routine part of the business.

"It was like uh-oh, is this what is going to happen now?" she recalled. "Is this what this kind of store brings?"

The window-smashing happened just four months after her store opened in June, but is part of an array of challenges cannabis retailers across the country have faced since first welcoming customers.

Between inventory levels, security and staffing, the stress of trying to figure out a new industry has been demanding for business owners.

Bigioni expected there would be challenges. Legalization, after all, thrust cannabis store ownership into the hands of hundreds of people across the country, many with limited business or pot store experience under their belts.

She had been working as a director at the University of Toronto when she won a licence to open one of Ontario's first 25 cannabis stores through a lottery held in Jan. 2019.

That prompted a move to Niagara Falls and a resignation from her job.

"I couldn't sustain doing both because it was that super stressful time," she said.

Getting the store ready, which she runs in partnership with B.C. cannabis firm Choom Cannabis Co., within a short window was the most tense time for Bigioni, but the months since haven't been without their struggles.

On top of the break-in and a few quibbles with their point-of-sale system, Bigioni said the store has been grappling with cannabis supply issues.

"Supply by and large is available, but not necessarily in the specific strains that people are looking for or have bought or want to buy consistently," she said. "There are strains that came out, were really popular, got really great reviews, and then they've been difficult to get since."

She finds that anything with a low price and a high quantity of tetrahydrocannabinol  the main psychoactive component in cannabis  is always in demand and sells out quickly.

But fluctuating THC content in different batches creates problems.

"One week something could be a high THC product at a low price and the next batch could come in at a 5 per cent lower THC, which doesn't necessarily meet what the customer's looking for," she said.

Over at the Nova Cannabis store in Toronto, supply is also a challenge  particularly when it comes to edibles.

"We thought we were going to have more selection than what we had," said Heather Conlon, the owner of a lock-and-safe business, who partnered with Edmonton-based licensed producer Alcanna Inc. for her store.

Consumers have been scooping up edibles so quickly that it has been hard to keep any on shelves and licensed producers are still in the process of increasing their output.

The OCS said they are shipping products out as quickly as possible and anticipate the supply of edibles will be become "much more steady" in the coming months as producers capacity expands.

Conlon's first edibles shipment from the Ontario Cannabis Store, the province's pot distributor, was mostly vapes, chocolates and cookies. The latter two were sold out within hours.

Nova's deliveries have recently begun to include teas, gummies, soft chews and mints, but even with more selection, products still sell out within a few days.

It's always a week until more arrives and when it does, there is not always enough to satiate consumers since licensed producers are still ramping up edibles production.

Shoppers aren't just clamouring for the treats available either. They're also constantly asking about other items cannabis brands have announced but have yet to ship.

"We're just mainly waiting now for beverages and topicals. Those are the main two things that people are still looking for," said Conlon.

She still counts herself lucky because her store hasn't faced vandalism like Bigioni's.

Aleafia Health Inc. had a shipment of "packaged, finished" cannabis products stolen in late December from a truck the cannabis company had hired to deliver the items to provincial wholesale facilities.

YSS Corp., the Calgary-based business behind 17 cannabis stores in Alberta and Saskatchewan, was also targeted that month, said chief executive Theo Zunich.

"Two suspects entered the store and robbed the store at gunpoint," he said. "It was pretty quick and they did make out with cannabis and cash."

An employee at the Edmonton-Northwest Landing store was assaulted in the process.

The incident made the company think about safety more than it already did.

"We do daily huddles with all of the staff and reinforce certain aspects of various policies, so we definitely prioritize the staff-related ones in times when those rashes happen," he said.

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.

The incidents have challenged YSS and made them think about how to abide by regulations.

In Alberta, cannabis and related accessories must be kept out of sight of minors.

Many have resorted to covering their windows completely to abide with regulations, but Zunich said stores can use other visual barriers or position products in other areas of their shop.

"It's incredibly difficult to do that though. Our frustration is you've made the packaging child-safe so is the window covering really necessary? I would argue let's remove the window coverings to make the store safer," he said.

"We are not there yet, but we are hopeful."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Mar. 1, 2020.
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) will use AI to take on insider trading and other transgressions by listed companies, according to a report from the Business Times.

Speaking at the release of the JSEs 2019 results, CEO Leila Fourie said the exchange was investing heavily in artificial intelligence as part of its Smart Regulation initiative.

As AI systems can mimic certain human behaviour, they could be employed to detect irregularities around business dealings outside of the financial indicators themselves.

Fourie told the Business Times that AI would enable the JSE to do social listening.

That gives us early warning indicators on where there is dissent, concerns, or comments that are made which trigger a need to do early investigation in potential corporate issues, Fourie said.

Cloud-based consolidation

The JSE is also planning to consolidate numerous information sources into a cloud-based solution.

Fourie explained that a quick-access tool was being developed that will allow the respective divisions to search all aggregated data in real-time, in a way thats similar to how the Google search engine works.

The development will later allow for the aggregation of external sources of information as well, such as social media, news feeds, and legal proceedings which involve listed companies, Fourie said.

Additionally, the JSE will create business intelligence rules and combine them with machine-learning algorithms to be able to determine the health status of a listed company at any given time.

South Africas use of AI

The employment of AI in South Africas financial sector only shows part of its potential, however.

At the start of 2020, corporate president and chief operating officer at Lenovo Gianfranco Lanci said that the primary use of AI in South Africa  for automation and prediction  would broaden to other use-cases.

He cautioned that those who employ AI will have to be careful when it comes to the consumers right to privacy, though.

Companies, however, will need to become more cognisant of individuals right to privacy, and decide how to handle all that data they collect, as they increase their efforts to incorporate AI and ML into their business and products to streamline operations, Lanci said.

Its an exciting space and AI will prove to be a game changer on the African continent, as AI and ML have the ability to answer to challenges in agriculture, mining, manufacturing, healthcare, and education, he added.
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
By Alex Wigglesworth and Anita Chabria, Los Angeles Times

SACRAMENTO, Calif.  Public health officials in California have announced a positive coronavirus test for a woman described as a household contact of a Santa Clara County woman who was the second in the U.S. diagnosed to have the disease without any known connection to international travel.

That announcement, which came less than two days after the initial Santa Clara diagnosis, could foretell the near-term spread in Oregon from a Lake Oswego school employee also diagnosed with coronavirus without a recent history or traveling abroad or spending time with a person who did.

The first person diagnosed with so called community-spread COVID-19 was a California woman in that circumstance, also in the Bay Area, in Solano County. The three California patients are all women who did not recently travel outside the U.S. or come in contact with someone who did.

That raised concerns that the virus is spreading in communities and prompted health officials to find and quarantine anyone who came in contact with them. Oregon health officials have not announced if they have quarantined anyone in connection with the confirmation the Lake Oswego worker, who lives in Washington County.

Oregon officials say they will announce new test results Sunday afternoon or evening.

The new Santa Clara patient, who officials said is not ill and is isolated at home, is a household contact of a woman with chronic health conditions whose physicians requested coronavirus testing after she was hospitalized for a respiratory illness.

Health officials in several locations of Northern California are now trying to find people who might have come in contact with any of the three diagnosed women.

The efforts in Northern California had already led to the voluntary quarantining of dozens of people, including students at University of California/Davis and other college campuses and workers at the two hospitals where the countrys first patient without any known links to foreign travel was treated.

UC Davis said Saturday night that one of those students tested negative for the virus.

The Solano County woman was hospitalized for three days at NorthBay VacaValley Hospital in Vacaville before being moved to UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento. She was not tested for several days because she did not fit screening criteria set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at the time.

This time gap concerns officials because it could have allowed her to infect others she came in contact with.

The agency has since modified those critieria to reflect the need to test more individuals who show symptoms and live in communities where the disease has shown up.

There are at least 30 coronavirus patients in California, many of them from repatriation flights, with the number changing often. Oregon has one known coronavirus diagnosis and Washington has eight, six of them in Seattle.

The Oregonian/OregonLive contributed to this report.

-- The Los Angeles Times via Tribune News Service
- 3 beautiful models have paid a courtesy call on Her Excellency Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo, Ghana's First Lady under the auspices of the Afi Antonio Foundation

- The heartwarming engagement took place at the office of the First Lady and saw the young models and their parents in attendance

- The stunning models Nana Yaa, Yacoba and Maame B along with the group were captured in amazing photos

Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in

Three beautiful Ghanaian models Nana Yaa, Yacoba and Maame B, all living with autism, who were trained by the founder of Afi Antonio Foundation paid a courtesy call on Ghana's First Lady Her Excellency Rebecca Akufo-Addo at her office on February 27, 2020.

Information gathered by YEN.com.gh indicates that the group, including the parents of the models, led by founder Afi Antonio was warmly welcomed by Mrs. Akufo-Addo as she spent quality time with them.

Afi used the opportunity to explain the exploits of the Foundation and invited the first lady to the Pan African Congress on Autism (PACA) as well as the 2nd edition of Autism Talent Show which would both be held in April 2020.

READ ALSO: Meet 2 Ghanaian sisters who built own cocoa processing company & employ many

Source: YEN.com.gh

Source: UGC

The parents of the girls also explained the state of their daughters and how it is like to go through the days with people who have the medical condition.

In support of autism awareness, Ghana's First Lady expressed interest in deploying national service personnel to serve at autism centres around the country, and thereby alleviate part of the cost of running them.

This was after the idea was pitched to the First Lady by the leader of Foundation. The Afi Antonio Foundation is a non-profit organization focused on education and health of children.

READ ALSO: Beyonce's mom endorses new suit of Ghanaian brand Christie Brown

Source: YEN.com.gh

Source: UGC

The organization raises funds to provide Solar lamps for final year Junior High Students in villages without electricity (Solar4Girls), pays medical bills (surgeries) for the less privileged in the society, trains children living with autism to become photo models and more.

See amazing photos from the meeting below:

The whole group in one beautiful shot

Source: YEN.com.gh

Source: UGC

Afi Antonio, the leader of the group explaining a point to the group

Source: YEN.com.gh

Source: UGC

In other news, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and founder of Vokacom, Nana Osei Kwasi Afrifa, has narrated how he started his multi-million-dollar business when he was a student at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.

Businessworldghana.com reports that Vokacom has become a company with grounded experience in offering Information Technology, Digital Addressing, Content Aggregation, Financial Advisory, Agribusiness and Real Estate services in Africa.

Nana Osei indicates that he does not feel his enterprise has arrived at all, although they make huge profits every year.

Enjoy reading our stories? Download YEN's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Ghana news!

Ghana News Today: Accra Beautification Project causes Ako-Adjei Interchange to sparkle | #Yencomgh

Get interactive via our Facebook page.

Source: YEN.com.gh
Radio 1 DJ Greg James was paid 100,000 by oil giant Shell to front an online campaign which plugged the companys green credentials.

The Breakfast Show presenter, who is paid 229,999 a year by the BBC, is the latest star to be accused of cashing in on their public profiles by moonlighting for corporate firms.

The 34-year-old, who broadcasts to around 5.6 million listeners each Monday to Thursday, fronted a five-part series for Shell called The Great Travel Hack.

The Breakfast Show presenter, who is paid 229,999 a year by the BBC, is the latest star to be accused of cashing in on their public profiles by moonlighting for corporate firms

The Top Gear-style programme followed two teams of competitors racing from London to Istanbul while using environmentally friendly vehicles.

Sources close to the PR campaign last night claimed that James was paid 100,000 to feature in the videos, which have been watched an astonishing 81 million times since Shell uploaded them to its YouTube channel last October.

The BBC star was last night condemned for selling his soul by plugging Shell, which has come under sustained criticism for its continued investment in fossil fuels.

James kept quiet about the Shell project on his social media accounts. But a Twitter post by Shell has attracted criticism.

Radio 1 DJ Greg James was paid 100,000 by oil giant Shell to front an online campaign which plugged the companys green credentials. The Shell Centre in London is pictured above

Adam McGibbon, senior climate campaigner at environmental group Global Witness, wrote: How does it feel to take blood money from climate criminals? You are acting as a reputation launderer for an organisation destroying my future. Are you a useful idiot or a greedy cynic?

James recently sold his Mercedes for an electric car. But his Shell payday is unlikely to endear him to his father-in-law, former editor of The Guardian Alan Rusbridger, who has been an outspoken critic against aggressive fossil fuel companies.

The BBC has recently faced questions over why it allows its highly paid stars to pocket tens of thousands of pounds for speaking engagements.

The corporation has faced a furore over presenter salaries, but it is still allowing them to pick up five-figure sums on their days off.

His Shell payday is unlikely to endear him to his father-in-law, former editor of The Guardian Alan Rusbridger, pictured above, who has been an outspoken critic against aggressive fossil fuel companies

The row began after The Mail on Sunday disclosed that Kamal Ahmed, the BBCs editorial director, was paid 12,000 to give a speech to hedge fund managers just days after telling 450 of his colleagues they faced the sack.

Following our report  and a backlash from staff  he waived his fee.

Last weekend, a senior BBC source said the corporation would review its rules on moonlighting staff after it emerged that Radio 4 Today presenter Mishal Husain was paid to appear at events organised by the Norwegian oil and gas industry.

Last night, Shell refused to say how much James was paid.

A BBC spokesman said: Our editorial guidelines allow presenters to take on external commitments provided they abide by the relevant terms.

Representatives for James did not respond to requests for comment.
Panic abounds, and nonsense. And it isn't confined to politicians - have you had a look at the horror-fest that is social media over the past few days?

We've got two major problems - the medical one, and the political one.

On one hand, the coronavirus: Covid-19. On the other, a minimalist public health system, the creation of politicians who will never spend more on public services than the minimum they can get away with.

On top of that - frightened people on social media, telling us the first thing that comes into their heads, usually nonsense.

Meanwhile, official spokespersons assure us in calm tones that the Government is on top of the problem. And few believe them.

It's too late to do anything about the political shambles, the squandered credibility. We can only cheer on the front-line medics and the unseen researchers. They'll do their best, following their advice makes sense.

Already, researchers at the University of Texas have achieved what is hoped is a step forward. There's something called a "spike protein" and we're told that mapping it is a step on the way to a vaccine. If you want to read a paper titled 'Cryo-EM structure of the 2019-nCoV spike in the prefusion conformation', please feel free to google. I'll just take it on trust.

Covid-19 might be defeated after it has killed a few thousand - or perhaps it will kill tens of thousands.

Level-headed experts have calmly noted that at any time a virus might emerge that kills tens of millions. It has happened in the past, it can happen again.

Personally, being in a vulnerable demographic, I'm quite cheerful about our chances with the Covid-19 virus. Each person with the virus is estimated to pass it on to two or three others, but it isn't as aggressive as it might be. You can sit beside someone with Covid-19 and not get it. If you get it, it usually comes as a bad cold or as pneumonia. You may go through a hellish time, but the odds are you'll recover.

And there's a real chance it could kill you.

There have been worse viruses, there will be worse again. At time of writing, it has infected 85,409 people globally - and killed 2,933 of them.

Last September, a group of experts who assessed the global ability to handle a pandemic complained of a "cycle of panic and neglect" by politicians. When a threat emerges, the flustered politicians panic and throw unlimited amounts of money at it.

And as soon as the immediate danger is past they'll make do with an under-resourced and inadequate public health system.

"It is well past time to act," the expert report said.

And governments across the world nodded their appreciation of the danger, and filed the report under One of These Days.

Three months later Covid-19 emerged.

One consequence of the coronavirus is public panic.

In America, the makers of Corona beer were shocked to see the value of their shares plunge - they hadn't realised just how thick investors can be.

Here, after one person passed through Dublin with the virus, social media warned us that "thousands of the elderly and sick will die as a result of this".

Wait and see what social media is saying today, after last night's announcement.

At times like these we need calm. We need to be told the truth, in credible detail.

And that's where we have a problem.

Two problems.

The prevailing political authorities have a record of misleading us as a matter of course. They actually employ specialists to spin reality to their advantage.

As a result, we've come to believe that politicians and their mouthpieces say whatever they believe will best serve their short-term interests. And when a real problem crops up we're sceptical of anything they tell us.

I was listening to one such person a couple of days ago, taking his assurances at face value. Then, I realised he was speaking with precisely the same calm and confident sense of authority these people used in 2007, when they assured us the Irish banks were fully funded, there was nothing to worry about.

As a consequence of the structured deceit of modern politics, we accept nothing on trust.

Even over these past three weeks, as Fine Gael told us how it was "preparing for opposition", we could see they were playing footsie with Fianna Fail, in preparation for another deal. While the medical crisis builds, our juvenile Taoiseach has been self-isolating. A parade of Fine Gael TDs came forward to sell us the cover story, obedient little Stalinists, sacrificing their own credibility in the interests of the party.

Meanwhile, the leader of Fianna Fail tells us he must keep his solemn promise not to talk to one party; while he simultaneously talks to the other party he solemnly promised not to deal with.

All of this is today seen as normal. Business as usual. But the casual way the authorities put a spin on reality influences how we receive the spokespeople they send out to reassure us in a medical crisis.

Credibility is priceless in these matters, and it's in short supply.

It's believable that the authorities contacted everyone sitting on the plane near the person who arrived at Dublin Airport with the virus. But we've also been told the authorities contacted everyone the person potentially came in contact with. Everyone.

Perhaps they have. But, perfectly reasonable voices have raised questions about how you would contact people who travelled on a bus or a train which doesn't have a passenger manifest.

The second problem we have is that the culture of deceit that politicians have fostered has, in turn, fostered a culture of extreme disbelief.

To some among us, everything is a conspiracy. Nothing happens for its own sake. It's always a "distraction" from something else that the politicians are up to, and there's always some overarching "agenda" that this latest crisis is but a symptom of. The tangled web the politicians have woven gets in the way of the need for credible sources in times of crisis.

Beyond all that, we have one problem that dominates all others - the state of the health system. We have a system of permanent shortages, stressed medics, massive waiting lists and people spending days on trolleys. How credible is it that this system can handle a major crisis?

Experts are clear that creating a universal, free, well-resourced health system does two things: in the short term it efficiently handles our routine medical problems. And it provides a ready-made basis for an effective response to a major crisis such as a pandemic.

The people who have governed us for decades don't believe in this. They see the private health sector as theirs - and the public system can be reduced to what they call a "safety net", for those who can't afford the private system.

And, as a former health minister explained, the Government "required the public system to be inferior. Why else, if it was first rate, would people pay for a private system?"

Masks are pointless, they tell us, just wash your hands thoroughly. And this is true. Simple and effective.

But my favourite coronavirus story illustrates the scepticism with which such establishment advice is taken.

It came in a tweet from someone who was in a public toilet when a chap came in, did his business quickly and left without washing his hands.

He was, of course, wearing a protective face-mask.

And good luck to you, too.
A video clip of a man, who prefers not to shake his hand but leg with his friends as he greets them, went viral on the internet. Image Source: IANS News

A video clip of a man, who prefers not to shake his hand but leg with his friends as he greets them, went viral on the internet. Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi, March 1 : A video clip of a man, who prefers not to shake his hand but leg with his friends as he greets them, went viral on the internet.

The man could be seen wearing a mask, coming out of his vehicle to save himself from the deadly coronavirus (COVID-19 ). One of his friends, walking from the other side was just about to shake hands when the duo taking a pause, realised it wasn't a good idea.

Later, the two shook their legs to greet each other.

As the man walks ahead, he greeted all the other friends in the same manner.

A user, posting the video, wrote "Have heard of Handshake but what LegShake greetings Grinning faceGrinning face!!! #CoronaVirus Outbreak..." The video amused netizens and the idea of leg shake to avoid the transmission of the Coronavirus infection.

A user taking to twitter commented "An outstanding move." Another user wrote, "Can we actually just adopt this now and keep it even after #coronavirus is long gone? It's pretty cool." A user said "kick it out."
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(0x7f0481886128)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f0482073918)', '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(0x7f0481886128)') 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(0x7f0482073918)') 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(0x7f0481b740b0)') 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(0x7f0482073918)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f0482073918)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f04818846a8)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f048207b698)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f048207b698)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0
Greece has blocked nearly 10,000 migrants trying to enter from the Turkey border over the past 24 hours, a Greek government source said Sunday.

A massive influx of people swelled along the border over the weekend after Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to open its frontier to Europe.



He is seeking to pressure EU governments over the Syrian conflict after an airstrike in Syria's Idlib province on Thursday killed dozens of Turkish soldiers.

In response, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Sunday that Greece was determined to protect is borders and warned migrants not to attempt to enter the country illegaly as they would be returned back.

In a tweet, Mitsotakis also said that he would be visiting the countrys Evros land border with Turkey along with EU President Charles Michel on Tuesday.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell announced Sunday that foreign ministers would hold an emergency meeting next week to discuss the fall-out from the worsening Syria conflict that is driving refugees to the bloc's borders with Turkey.

The EU "needs to redouble efforts to address this terrible human crisis with all the means at its disposal," said EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Sunday.

Borrell said the meeting was being organised particularly at the request of Greece.

Earlier on Sunday, a Greek government source announced that its army and police had stopped thousands from entering its territory.



"From 0600 [0400 GMT] Saturday morning to 0600 Sunday morning, 9,972 illegal entries have been averted in the Evros area," the government source said, referring to the northeastern region along the Turkey border.

Lesbos residents block boat



Huge crowds tried to cross into Greece via the Kastanies Forest in the early hours of Sunday, the source said.



Greek authorities said at least 139 migrants have been arrested since Friday.

Residents on the Greek island of Lesbos set fire Sunday to a disused migrant centre after blocking dozens of people from landing on a nearby beach, an AFP photographer reported.

Story continues

Around 150 people gathered at the centre which was run by the UN refugee agency before some of them set it alight, after local people stopped around 50 migrants from landing their boat.



Alert changed to 'high'



The EUs border protection agency Frontex said on Sunday that it is preparing back-up along the Greek border.



"We... have raised the alert level for all borders with Turkey to high," the Frontex spokeswoman said in a statement to AFP, adding: "We have received a request from Greece for additional support. We have already taken steps to redeploy to Greece technical equipment and additional officers."



Some 13,000 migrants have gathered along the Turkish-Greek border, including families with young children, the International Organization for Migration said Saturday.



Greek security forces are patrolling the Evros river shores -- a common crossing point -- and have issued loudspeaker warnings not to enter Greek territory.



On Saturday, clashes erupted along the border where Greek police fired tear gas at migrants who in turn lobbed rocks at officers.





Syria closes airspace



The Syrian government said that it was closing its airspace over northwest Idlib.



The state media SANA reported a military source as saying: "Any aircraft that violates our airspace will be treated as a hostile flight that must be shot down and prevented from achieving its objectives."

Erdogan threatened to open Turkey's gates for some of the 3.6 million refugees it is harbouring as a way to pressure EU countries over the conflict in Syria.

Turkey and Russia, who back opposing forces in the conflict, have held talks to defuse tensions after the air strike left 34 Turkish troops dead, sparking fears of a broader war and a new migration crisis for Europe.



Half a million children displaced from their homes



The UN says nearly a million people -- half of them children -- have been displaced by the fighting in northwest Syria since December, forced to flee in the bitter cold.



In 2015, Greece became the main EU entry point for one million migrants, most of them refugees fleeing the Syrian civil war.



EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen expressed "concern" over the unimpeded flow of migrants from Turkey to the bloc's external borders in Greece and Bulgaria.



"Our top priority at this stage is to ensure that Greece and Bulgaria have our full support," she tweeted Saturday.



(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP)
A long-awaited historic US-Taliban Peace Deal stands signed by US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban deputy leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar on February 29, 2020. All stake holders have expressed hopes of peace returning to Afghanistan, but the apprehensions on longevity of the deal as well as peace prospects could not been hidden in the utterances by various dignitaries.

While a peaceful terror free Afghanistan is everyone's desirability in the region, the existing environment in Afghanistan, in which the deal has been signed leaves few questions in the mind of all strategists to ask: Is it a deal or compromise? Let me analyze it from the perspective of each of the stake holder.

Compulsions of US and Allies US-led invasion ousted the Taliban post September 11, 2001 attacks. After losing 2,400 US soldiers, tens of thousands of Afghan troops, Taliban fighters and Afghan civilians and spending more than $1 trillion, it was appearing to be unsustainable with peace appearing to be only a mirage. I am sure that in 2001, the US planners never dreamt of such a state, where they would be signing a deal with the same Taliban, promising nothing more than reduction in violence/no violence in concrete terms, in exchange of phased ouster of all foreign forces.

Taliban's assurance of not to allow use of the Afghan soil for terrorism seems too good to be true. The apprehensions about Taliban adherence to deal was quite evident in Mike Pompeo's speech reminding them to keep their promises of not siding with Al Qaeda and to defeat Islamic State, and US Defense Chief indicating that it will not hesitate to nullify the deal, if Taliban failed to hold its promises as per the deal.

The fact that President Trump had campaigned for ending the US Afghan War, made it an important foreign policy objective for US. Militarily speaking US was not expecting a military victory of the order of Taliban laying down its arms, as it was cost prohibitive in terms of casualties and human destruction. The promise of US and its allies for an initial reduction of troops to 8,600 within 135 days and withdrawal of all their forces from Afghanistan within 14 months, if the Taliban abide by the agreement, appears to be a reasonable compromise, given the fact that culminating point of US war was reached long back without destroying Center of Gravity of Taliban and their further stay was not making sense, in overall cost benefit analysis.

Complete withdrawal of US forces will also amount to ceding the crucial strategic space to its competitors, but it appears that the US has thought through it; hence made adequate promise to help the Afghan Government in combating Al Qaeda to ensure that it does not become strong enough to strike mainland of US again. It indirectly means that the US is looking at some support to Afghan forces in some form, which will get decoded as the deal progresses, because the US withdrawal is conditional to Taliban's compliance.

One more compulsion of US for such compromising gesture could well be the likelihood of Iran slipping into the hands of hardliners, hence it is advisable to reduce some engagements of troops as some more flash points may emerge, in vibrant international scenarios.

What did Taliban Achieve? Under the circumstances Taliban got the better of the deal by temporarily halting its terror activities in exchange of US promise of phased withdrawal of all foreign forces. The fact that the Taliban representative made it a point to remind everyone of their Islamic values during the joint statement, clearly indicates the deep rooted love for Sharia law of its cadres, who want to see their leaders remembering it, despite promising to be reasonable to all segments of the society. Taliban would also be happy about getting back 5,000 of its cadres in Afghan Government custody in exchange of 1,000 prisoners, if all goes as planned. Their promise of renouncing support to al-Qaeda and fighting ISIS is unrealistic, because if Taliban doesn't harbour the terror organizations and Pakistan also promises so, then expecting that they will vanish from the region is wishful thinking in light of past credentials of both.

Afghanistan Government goes along despite Isolation The Afghan government has never been comfortable with its exclusion from talks with Taliban. Despite that President Ashraf Ghani in his address before signing ceremony indicated hopes of peace based on mutual respect. Apparently, the compromise has been due to lack of any leverage, as Taliban refuses to talk to them and the election results have not been convincing enough to put him in the driver's seat. Going along with the deal, calling for Ulema and intra-Afghan dialogue for durable peace was the only workable option for him. He chose to look for US help for lifting UN sanctions on Afghanistan. The promises of US help in facilitating Afghan-Taliban talks would have comforted him, although Taliban did not make any concrete promise for that. It is a fact that any foreign prescription for peace will not work in Afghanistan and intra-Afghan dialogue is the only way forward for sustainable peace. It is also a fact that Afghan National Security Forces still need more capacity building and will be under intense pressure in case of significant withdrawal of U.S. forces from the country.

Other Stake Holders The fact that US as well as Taliban singled out Pakistan in thanking it for the deal, gave every reason for Pakistan to smile about. It however needs to be noted that Taliban and Pakistan have been hosting and supporting Al Qaeda, Haqqani Network and other affiliates for so many years, it may be unrealistic to expect that both will not allow them not to use their territory and force them to vanish from the region.

Apparently, it is for this apprehension Pompeo found it necessary to mention that he hopes that Pakistan will continue to do its part, after the signing of the deal. The prospects of peace in Afghanistan is good for all regional players including Russia, China and India provided it becomes a reality. Presently, all factions of Afghanistan being on the same page looks to be as difficult as change of behaviour of Taliban, notwithstanding the rosy promises. India, although not involved in the process, having made significant investments there, will always hope for an Afghan led, Afghan owned peace and reconciliation process and a popular democratic government in Afghanistan. It is certain that some troops will withdraw but it remains to be seen whether this Peace Deal will work, or the world will see a new Afghanistan having different areas being governed by different entities, struggling to increase its influence with Taliban in lead.

(Maj Gen S.B. Asthana is a veteran Infantry General and strategic analyst. He is currently Chief Instructor of United Service Institute of India. The views expressed are personal views of the author, who retains the copy right)
I love those moments on radio when a presenter tells a bizarre tale from their past, believing it unique, only to have people ring up and say: Oh, sure, that happened to everyone, it was just standard at the time.

In my case, it was our school excursion to the Kenmore Psychiatric Hospital at Goulburn. It was a day trip from my school in Canberra. We were in year 9, as I remember it, which makes it 1973. We walked in, holding our packed school lunches, and were confronted by the horrors of an early-'70s asylum for the mentally ill.

It was like a scene from a badly-made horror film, with people in straitjackets, thrashing around and screaming in some mixture of delirium and agony as we were led through, dressed in our private school uniforms. It was the most disturbing thing, I imagine, any of us had ever experienced.

Visits to prisons were a warning to the young. Credit:Fairfax

I dont quite know what the point was, other than to understand how lucky we were, and how grateful we should be for the life we had. Forget the privacy of the patients. Or the way wed all have nightmares for years.
Kolkata: A Polish student of Jadavpur University has been asked by the Foreigner Regional Registration Office (FRRO) to leave the country after he participated in an anti-CAA rally in the West Bengal capital, varsity sources said on Sunday.

The incident comes close on the heels of a Bangladeshi student of Visva Bharati University being issued a similar directive by the FRRO after she posted photographs of an anti-CAA demonstration, held on the campus, on social media.

A JU source told that Kamil Siedcynski, a Polish student of Comparative Literature, was asked by the FRRO to visit its Kolkata office, which he did on February 22.

Siedcynski was served a notice by the FRRO asking him to leave the country within a fortnight on receipt of the notice for alleged conduct deemed inappropriate for a foreign national staying in India on a student visa, the source said.

The JU source said several teachers and Left-leaning students of the varsity were of the view that Siedcynski was paying the price for attending an anti-CAA rally at Moulali area in the city in December last year where he was interviewed by a Bengali daily and a brief report on him was published the next day.

Some people probably forwarded a copy of the report to the FRRO. Siedcynski has no political leanings but his enthusiasm to attend the protest rally and click photographs landed him in trouble, the source said.

Siedcynski, who was supposed to write his third-semester examinations this year, could not be contacted.

JU vice-chancellor Suranjan Das and Registrar Snehamanju Basu also did not take calls.

The Polish student had earlier studied Bengali at the Visva Bharati University.

Recently Afsara Anika Meem, a first-year Bangladeshi undergraduate student in the Fine Arts department of the Visva Bharati University was served an FRRO notice for reportedly engaging in anti-government activities.

Both the foreign nationals have requested the FRRO to reconsider its decision and promised not to get involved in any such protests in the future, sources said.

The FRRO, in turn, has said that a final decision will be taken in Delhi, the source said quoting the two students.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 20:28:11|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

Millions of China's grid-based community workers in China have built the first line of defense against the novel coronavirus, working like thousands of threads woven into a net that safeguards 650,000 urban and rural communities across the country. Since the outbreak, they have done their utmost to keep the virus out of their "territories."



by Xinhua writers Pan Qiang, Yao Yulin and Zhao Manjun

NANNING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- After putting on a red uniform and a face mask at 8 a.m., Huang Juan gets ready to conduct a daily quarantine check on 400 households and shops in her community in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

For the past few weeks, she has done this each and every day. The necessary routine designed to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was so arduous that Huang remained atop the cellphone pedometer app she used.

Grid-based community workers Huang Juan (L) and Peng Ying discuss prevention and control work of the novel coronavirus in Nanning, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Jan. 31, 2020. (Xinhua/Chen Yifan)

Among her everyday items are a "resident roster" on which she has logged the health condition of every household. Now, she has memorized most of the information.

ALL OUT ON A HERCULEAN TASK

Guangxi has more than 80,000 grid-based community workers like Huang. Millions more safeguard a total of 650,000 urban and rural communities across China. Since the outbreak, they have done their utmost to keep the virus out of their "territories."

Grid-based management of populated communities and neighborhoods "is like dividing a big cabinet into small grids and placing objects in order, so you are no longer clueless. Whenever you need to check or sort out anything, it's easy to do," said Chen Wenjun, a senior official of Liuzhaizi Village in Liaoning, a province some 3,000 km northeast of Guangxi.

As to Anhui, an inland province, all the villages and residential communities of 16 cities in the province have adopted closed-off management since Feb. 7 under a series of thorough and strict measures, where grid-based community workers had to multitask between "gatekeepers," "publicists" and "stewards," said Meng Kai, a 32-year-old grid-based worker in the city of Bengbu.

Grid-based community worker Huang Lifang (2nd L) and volunteers Liu Ying (2nd R) and Zhang Qi (1st R) deliver food to a senior citizen living alone in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Feb. 7, 2020. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)

Meng said that he could not recall how many times he had climbed up and down to bring in food, take out the garbage and offer psychological advice, noting that on the busiest day, he climbed more than 100 flights of stairs.

Wuhan, the epicenter of the epidemic, has some 13,000 grids and 8,700 grid-based community workers. Each worker takes care of 300 to 500 households, according to Luo Ping, deputy secretary of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the Communist Party of China Municipal Committee of Wuhan.

Grid-based management in Wuhan has been running at full speed since Feb. 11, when the city's headquarters for epidemic prevention and control required all residential areas to implement closed-off management.

"Grid staff are versatile," said Hua Qing, head of a local community affairs committee on Hanxing Street of Jianghan District, Wuhan, who also served as an ordinary grid-based community worker. "We are not only community workers, but also purchasing agents, delivery workers, barefoot doctors and psychologists."

Grid workers in Hua's community would queue at the hospital around midnight to buy drugs for their residents who were in urgent need.

"Since the community was closed off, we have completed 164 orders for those who suffer from diseases like cancer, diabetes, hypertension and heart attacks," Hua said.

Feng Feng, a grid-based community worker, carries packs of medicine for residents in Jiang'an District of Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, Feb. 24, 2020. (Xinhua)

Many foreigners have volunteered to join the grid-based campaign.

"The hard work Chinese grassroots workers have paid are unforgettable. Their assistance reach into seemingly trivial matters, and they never complained," said Thomas Deshors, a French national who has helped deliver batches of face masks to several communities in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province.

A multilingual service team has also been formed in the city of Wuxi, east China's Jiangsu Province, consisting of eight police officers and grid-based workers who provided consulting services for English, German and French speakers.

The internet has also played an important role in the prevention and control of the epidemic as China's internet infrastructure construction speeds up.

Wang Jiaqi, deputy Party secretary of Zhangzhen Township in Shaoxing, east China's Zhejiang Province, said grassroots authorities could get information about residents with travel history in Wuhan or history of contact with Wuhan residents through big data from public security departments and mobile operators.

OVERCOME EVERYDAY DIFFICULTIES

"Grid-based workers have built the first line of defense against the virus," said Luo Ping, the Party official from the city of Wuhan.

There have been no newly confirmed coronavirus cases reported in Hua Qing's community on Hanxing Street of Jianghan District, Wuhan, for a week.

"It was hard, but we made it, and I'm grateful," Hua said, adding that more and more patients have been discharged from hospital after recovery.

Zhang Chao is a grid-based worker of the post-90s generation working from Zhengzhou, capital of central China's Henan province, who found dealing with non-cooperative residents quite challenging. In this case, he would patiently communicate with them and strive for mutual understanding.

"We had contacts with many people every day, sometimes we worry about infection. But only when we do our job well can the efforts of epidemic control be advanced," Zhang said.

Meng Tianyuan, an urban management worker in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu Province, recently had a busy day working together with grid-based workers, whom he would prefer to consider as "net weavers."

Grid-based community workers Tang Fei (C) and Jiang Qinlan (L) register residents' information in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, Feb. 5, 2020. (Xinhua/Ji Chunpeng)

Their work is like thousands of threads woven into a net, firmly protecting the residents in communities, Meng said. "They may not be as professional as medical staff at the frontline, but they are great and respectable."

"No winter lasts forever, and no spring skips its turn. I believe that with the joint efforts of the whole nation, the epidemic will eventually pass," Meng said.

(Xinhua reporters Ma Yunfei, Chen Yifan, Yue Wenwan, Lu Youyi, Shang Yiying, Fang Wenyu, Cui Li, Zhu Xiao, Xu Yang, Yu Yetong, Zhai Zhuo, Chen Shangying and He Leijing also contributed to the story.)

(Video reporters: Nong Guanbin, Mai Linghan; video editor: Zhao Xiaoqing)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a meeting with journalists in Kyiv, Ukraine on Oct. 10, 2019. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Russia and Ukraine Plan Next Prisoner Swap in March: Kyiv

KYIVUkraine said on Sunday it had held talks with the Kremlin on swapping all remaining prisoners from the conflict in east Ukraine, and the next exchange might take place later this month.

Russias President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky agreed in December 2019 to send prisoners home, and scores were handed over just before the end of the year.

But many others are still being held, casting a shadow over efforts to roll out a peace deal and, eventually, settle the status of the disputed region where the fighting raged between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists.

Servicemen of the self-proclaimed Donetsk Peoples Republic speak during the exchange of prisoners of war (POWs) with Ukraine near the Mayorsk crossing point in Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Dec. 29, 2019. (Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters, File)

The head of the Ukraine presidents office, Andriy Yermak, met senior Kremlin official Dmitry Kozak in Minsk, Belarus, the presidency said.

The parties discussed the issues of the mutual release of the detainees, and the plan was to hold the next exchange in March, it added, without giving details on the size of that swap.

The conflict that broke out in 2014 killed more than 13,000 people, left a large swathe of Ukraine de facto controlled by the separatists, and aggravated the deepest east-west rift since the Cold War.

The full release of prisoners could help thaw relations that have been frozen since Russian forces annexed Ukraines Crimea region in 2014.

By Natalia Zinets
Advertisement

Viewers saw the most touching edition of Dancing On Ice's to date on Sunday evening, as the four remaining contestants battled for positions in next week's grand finale.

During the semi-final, Perri Kiely broke down in tears as he gained the first 40 of the series after dedicating his second routine of the night to his dance troupe, Diversity, while Joe Swash was overwhelmed with emotion as he cried over performing to his late father's favourite song, Simply Red's 1991 track, Stars.

Ben Hanlin narrowly missed out on a place in the upcoming show as he was sent home following a skate-off against Libby Clegg MBE.

Emotional: Perri Kiely broke down as he gained the first 40 of the series with Vanessa Bauer on Sunday's Dancing On Ice semi-finals

Street dancer Perri, 24, rose to fame as a member of award-winning group Diversity - alongside judge Ashley Banjo - which was formed in 2007 and won the third series of Britain's Got Talent in 2009.

Paying homage to his long-term pals, the former Celebs Go Dating star and his professional partner Vanessa Bauer showcased their fancy footwork to Demi Lovato's Stone Cold.

The judges were blown away by his passionate set as he received a standing ovation and 10s across the board, with his co-member Ashley, 31, fighting back tears.

Sharing his reason behind dancing to the song, Perri told hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield: 'It represents so much to some many people. I'm just grateful for everything. Ashley breaks down too.'

Touching: Elsewhere, Joe Swash was also overwhelmed with emotion as he cried over performing to his late father's favourite song, Simply Red's 1991 track, Stars

He's out! Ben Hanlin narrowly missed out on a place in the upcoming show as he was sent home following a skate-off against Libby Clegg MBE (pictured with hosts Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, and partner Carlotta Edwards)

'I'm grateful for everything': The street dancer, 24, dedicated his second routine of the night to his dance troupe, Diversity

Magical: The former Celebs Go Dating star and his professional partner Vanessa, 23, showcased their fancy footwork to Demi Lovato's Stone Cold

Early beginnings: Perri (front right in 2009) rose to fame as a member of award-winning group Diversity, alongside judge Ashley Banjo

'I'm so proud of you', choreographer Ashley struggled to tell his close friend.

Media personality Joe also took to the ice rink with a performance close to his heart, gaining him 9.5s from Ashley, John Barrowman, Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean.

Detailing the special meaning behind dancing to the hit track, an emotional Joe said: 'It was my mum and dad's song. My dad passed away when I was 12, and this was played at his funeral. I want to make a new memory to this song. It's hard.

'I miss my dad everyday, so much I'd love to show him. There's certain things I've done that I wanted to experience with him.'

Incredible: The judges were blown away by his set as he received a standing ovation and 10s across the board (pictured: Ashley, John Barrowman, Jayne Torvill, Christopher Dean)

'I'm so proud of you': Perri's co-member Ashley, 31, fought back tears and was comforted by co-panelist John

The TV star was supported by his son Harry, 12, who enthused: 'Granddad is looking down on him, he's not just smiling, he's going to be crying happy tears. I don't think he's anywhere near as proud of him as I am.'

Libby also grew emotional as she recalled experiencing mental health issues after winning two gold medals at the 2016 Summer Paralympics, held in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro.

Dancing to The Proclaimers - I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles), the Paralympic sprinter, 29, shared: 'I had really bad mental issues after Rio, which my partner helped me through.

Heartfelt: Media personality Joe, 38, also took to the ice rink with a performance close to his heart, gaining him 9.5s from Ashley, John, Jayne and Christopher

Tragic: Detailing the special meaning behind dancing to the hit track, an emotional Joe said: 'It was my mum and dad's song. I want to make a new memory to this song. It's hard'

'I miss my dad everyday, so much I'd love to show him': The thespian revealed his father passed away when he was 12 (pictured as a baby with his father)

'Granddad is looking down on him, he's not just smiling, he's going to be crying happy tears': The TV star was supported by his son Harry, 12

'I achieved everything that I wanted to achieve. The feeling of happiness only lasted for three weeks. I just felt empty and numb, I didn't have a purpose.

'I felt guilty that I felt that way. Having my little boy put a whole new perspective to my life. It'll be the most meaningful dance I've ever done', the sportswoman said, before gaining 38.5 points out of 40.

Magician Ben, 33, devoted his personal dance to his wife Briony as he skated to Jake Bugg's Lightning Bolt alongside Carlotta Edwards.

Reflecting on their relationship, the illusionist enthused: 'We walked out the church and it was the best day of our lives. Me and Bryony met when we were teenagers, I think I loved her instantly. Sometimes my job is tough as I can't be home a lot. She's a solo parent sometimes, so it's a thank you to her for being amazing.'

Hard times: Libby also grew emotional as she recalled experiencing mental health issues after winning two gold medals at the 2016 Summer Paralympics, held in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro

In good company: The Paralympic sprinter, 29, danced to The Proclaimers - I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) alongside pro skater Mark Hanretty

Challenges: 'I achieved everything that I wanted to achieve. The feeling of happiness only lasted for three weeks. I just felt empty and numb, I didn't have a purpose', she recalled (pictured in 2016)

Supportive: She was cheered on by her fiance Dan Powell and their 11-month-old son Edward

Earlier in the show, Joe delivered a skilled 70s-inspired solo routine, which secured him 38 out of 40 points before ripping open his shirt to celebrate his best score yet.

Beaming with delight, he opened his shirt to reveal his abs as he celebrated his result alongside his professional partner Alex Murphy, who joined him mid-way through the set.

Entertaining the crowd, ex-soap star Joe - who sported a mullet during the set - performed a series of groovy moves, with his routine even featuring the famous worm dance.



After judges Ashley, John, Jayne and Chris all awarded the comedian 9.5s, he gushed: 'I nearly hit the stage so guys thank you so much for that!'

'It's a thank you for being amazing': Magician Ben, 33, devoted his personal dance to his wife Briony as he skated to Jake Bugg's Lightning Bolt alongside Carlotta, earning him 37 points

Meaningful: Reflecting on their relationship, the illusionist enthused: 'We walked out the church and it was the best day of our lives. Me and Bryony met when we were teenagers, I think I loved her instantly' (pictured with Carlotta)

Choreographer Chris poked fun at his kooky hairstyle as he joked: 'If I squint a little bit, you look like Rod [Stewart!]'

Ben was the first hopeful to take to the rink with his professional partner Carlotta, after revealing she sliced his arm with her skating boots during an intense rehearsal.

Despite his minor injury, the TV presenter was on cloud nine as he managed to gain his highest score of the series - 37.5 points out of 40.

The dancers were in great spirits after scoring 37 points on last week's edition, but experienced a setback with the incident.

Impressive: Earlier in the show, Joe delivered a skilled 70s-inspired solo routine, which secured him 38 out of 40 points before ripping open his shirt to celebrate his best score yet

Entertaining the crowd: The ex-soap star performed a series of groovy moves, with his routine even featuring the famous worm dance

Cheeky! The former EastEnders actor stepped back in time as he sported a mullet while delivering a skilled 70s-inspired solo routine

Visibly concerned, the illusionist asked producers: 'Can I still skate?', before producers gave him the go-ahead.

After performing a solo 45-second set before the Canadian dancer stepped in for a Jazz-inspired routine, judge Ashley awarded Ben with a 9, before John, Jayne, and Christopher, all scored him 9.5s.

'I've been stressed all week so I'm relieved', he cheered.

After surviving the skate-off for a second week in a row, Libby raised the roof with an impressive number which earned her 39 points out of 40.

Receiving two 10s from Olympic winners Jayne, 62, and Chris, 61, the runner admitted she was worried about dancing alone as she told hosts Holly and Phil: 'I was so terrified, I'm not going to lie.'

Last week, Perri and Vanessa gained the first perfect 10 of the series from all the judges except Chris. Hoping to win the skater over, the Great Stand Up to Cancer Bake Off star and his professional partner, 23, transformed into commander Perri and magnificent Vanessa for a superhero-inspired dance.

He attempted to top his personal best, but scored a 9 from his Diversity co-member Ashley, 31, a 9.5 from actor John, 52, and 10s from dancing duo Jayne and Chris.

Despite scoring lower than last week's dance, the hunk enthused: 'I wanted a 10 from Christopher! We've been so focused on two routines, so I always think, is my posture right?'

Kicking off: Ben was the first hopeful to take to the rink after revealing professional partner Carlotta sliced his arm with her skating boots during an intense rehearsal

Oh dear: The dancers were in great spirits after after scoring 37 points on last week's edition, but experienced a setback with the incident (pictured)

Watch them go! Despite his minor injury, the host was on cloud nine as he managed to gain his highest score of the series - 37.5 points out of 40

Ashley was met with boos from the audience for his score, but stood by his evaluation as he shared: 'There's no doubt about it, your skating is unreal, but from a choreography standpoint, that was one of your weakest skates.'

After the four contestants each performed their two dances, presenters Holly and Phil announced Ben and Libby landed in the skate-off.

With only judge John deciding to save Ben, the Tricked star was sent home. Reflecting on his time on the show, he said: 'It's been amazing, Carlotta's been amazing. I am going to miss skating with you.

Echoing his comments, Carlotta gushed: 'I've been a pro skater for 13 years, and my time with Ben has been the highlight of the career!'

Ahead of next week's show, it has been claimed that former contestant Caprice Bourett has been banned from the series final after she publicly slammed ITV in the wake of her fall out with Hamish Gaman.

Incredible: After surviving the skate-off for a second week in a row, Libby raised the roof with a skilled number which earned her 39 points out of 40

Fierce competition: The sportsman received two 10s from Olympic winners Jayne and Chris

The model, 48, is said to be not be 'welcome' at the grand finale which traditionally sees all celebrity contestants from the series gather for one last time.

The news comes after Caprice, who quit the show earlier this month, hit out at show bosses for not having a 'duty of care' after she accused Hamish, 36, of 'bullying' her.

A source told the Daily Star: 'Producers want the final to be a celebration. There is so much planned for the big night.

'So the last thing they want is for the focus to be on Caprice. They don't want her there. Her exit is not something they want to dwell on. So everyone will be back apart from her.'

Power up! The Great Stand Up to Cancer Bake Off star and his professional partner, 23, transformed into commander Perri and magnificent Vanessa for a superhero-inspired dance

Skilled: He attempted to top his personal best, but scored a 9 from his Diversity co-member Ashley, 31, a 9.5 from actor John, 52, and 10s from dancing duo Jayne and Chris

Bottom two: After the four contestants each performed their two dances, presenters Holly and Phil announced Ben and Libby landed in the skate-off, with the former being booted off the show

Meanwhile, a show insider told MailOnline: 'Caprice's representatives clearly stated at the time of her departure that she was "no longer participating in Dancing On Ice".

'There have been no discussions of bans or warnings from series producers because her taking part in the show simply ended at that point. Suggestions that any such conversations took place are complete nonsense.'

A separate source told MailOnline: 'Caprice was never planning on going to the finals after she had quit. She does not want any affiliation with Dancing on Ice after what has happened.

'Caprice is up for a prestigious business award tonight for her continued work in entrepreneurship and encouraging women in business.'

MailOnline has contacted a Dancing On Ice spokesperson for comment at the time of publication.

Dancing On Ice's finale will air next Sunday at 6pm on ITV.
The windows are sealed shut in the psychiatric ward at South Koreas Daenam hospital to prevent possible suicide attempts. The patients sleep together on futons in communal rooms.

And when the coronavirus made its way inside earlier this month, the hospital administrators and South Korean health officials faced a choice.

They decided to put the psychiatric ward  and its more than 100 patients  on lockdown in an attempt to contain the virus at the hospital in Cheongdo County, the centre of South Koreas outbreak.

Of South Koreas more than 3,150 confirmed cases, 101 were from patients in the psychiatric ward. Seven patients from the ward have died  among a total of 17 around the country.

All but two in the psychiatric ward contracted the disease.

The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea Show all 11 1 /11 The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea Visitors with suspected symptoms of the new coronavirus, inside of a car, bottom right, get virus test by members of medical team as others queue in their cars at a "drive-through" test facility at Yeungnam University Medical Center in Daegu on 27 February 2020 AP The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea Workers move equipment into containers set up as a makeshift medical facility to accommodate COVID-19 patients at a hospital's grounds in Daegu, South Korea on Friday 28 February 2020 AP The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea People wait in line to buy face masks in front of a store at Dongseongro shopping district in Daegu on 27 February 2020 AFP via Getty Images The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea Medical workers wearing protective gears comfort each other outside a hospital in Daegu, South Korea, on 28 February 2020 REUTERS The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea Medical staff in protective gears arrive for a duty shift at Dongsan Hospital in Daegu South Korea on Friday 28 February 2020 AP The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea A South Korean health worker sprays disinfectant as part of preventive measures against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, at a residential area near the Daegu branch of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Daegu on 27 February 2020 AFP via Getty Images The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea A man wears a mask and goggles as he waits in line to buy face masks from a post office near the Daegu branch of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Daegu on 27 February 2020 AFP via Getty The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea South Korean medical workers wearing protective gear visit a residence of people with suspected symptoms of the COVID-19 coronavirus to take samples, near the Daegu branch of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Daegu on 27 February 2020 AFP via Getty Images The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea A South Korean health worker sprays disinfectant as part of preventive measures against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, at a residential area near the Daegu branch of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Daegu on 27 February 2020 AFP via Getty Images The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea A South Korean army vehicle sprays disinfectant on a road to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 in Daegu, South Korea on Thursday 27 February 2020. AP The response to Coronavirus in Daegu South Korea Troops set up makeshift partitions and beds at the Armed Forces Hospital in Daegu South Korea 28 February 2020 EPA

For South Koreas public, the actions by the hospital overseers touch on difficult issues of ethics and efficacy as the country struggles to cope with the growing health crisis.

South Korean officials have vowed not to follow China and impose sweeping citywide lockdowns.

But the hospital cases have underscored the challenges facing healthcare institutions, nursing homes and other live-in settings if coronavirus flares.

South Korean health authorities announced on Thursday that remaining patients will be transferred from the ward at Daenam hospital.

The decision entailed a lot of agony, said Jung Eun-kyeong, the director of South Koreas Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

But Ms Jung said it was inevitable since it was hard to find a place where their viral infection and mental health conditions could be treated together at the same time.

Still, the lockdown has faced questions.

The hospitals inpatient psychiatric unit was a perfect breeding ground for the virus, according to the panel of doctors from South Koreas National Medical Center (NMC).

The panels report released on Wednesday said the closed windows deprived the ward of much-needed ventilation.

Hand sanitisers could not be left in the open because of the risk that patients could drink them. For the sake of constant patient observation, even bathrooms were not compartmented.

Once a virus enters the locked ward, it easily gets very transmissive, Lee So-hee, lead psychiatrist at the NMC, told reporters. Given how the inpatients already had their immune system weakened, the infection could take a serious toll on them.

Baik Jae-joong, lead pulmonologist at Green Hospital in Seoul, said the health authorities should never have locked the virus patients into the ward.

They were basically left to die inside, the pulmonologist said. The patients were quarantined into the same environment that got them infected. It was a medical disaster and an ethical no-no.

Kim Sung-yeon, director of Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination, said one of the patients at Daenam could escape the ward only through death after 20 years of hospitalisation there and weighed 93 pounds at the time of his death.

Kwon Jun-wook, vice director of KCDC, said on Saturday that Daenam hospitals coronavirus patients who died had poor health conditions because of long hospitalisation.

According to the KCDC, the total number of coronavirus cases traced to Daenam hospital is now at 119, including medical workers.

Daenam hospital said in a statement that it was still investigating how the virus entered the locked psychiatric ward.

Local media reports said members of a fringe religious group who had contracted the virus attended a funeral at the hospital complex last month.

Nearly half of South Koreas coronavirus cases are traced to the group, known as Shincheonji Church of Jesus.

Daenam Hospital said the church leaders brother died at the hospital last month and held his funeral at the basement of the hospital on 2 February.

The patients at the psychiatric ward started displaying symptoms related to the virus in mid-February, the statement said.

The Washington Post
She's never been afraid to show off her famous curves.

And Kim Kardashian's latest ensemble seemed to delight her husband Kanye West as he placed a loving hand on her derriere while they attended his Sunday Service in Paris on Sunday.

The couple looked smitten as they left the Theatre des Bouffes du Nord in France alongside their eldest daughter, North.

Cosy: Kim Kardashian's latest ensemble seemed to delight her husband Kanye West as he placed a loving hand on her derriere at his Sunday Service religious service in Paris on Sunday

Not one to stick to a conservative look, Kim, 39, wore a 'fresh off the runway' Balmain latex suit to the church service.

Although not the typical material for a holy gathering, Kim kept covered up in a high necked polo and skin tight pants under the latex blazer, complete with latex gloves and barely there heels.

Continuing her streamlined look, the reality star wore a slicked down low pony tail with a side parting and a matching latex hair tie along with a glossy lip.

Kanye, 42, opted for a similar theme with his ensemble, as he teamed a pair of black leather joggers with an acid grey T-shirt and chunky white trainers.

Stunning: Not one to stick to a conservative look, Kim, 39, wore a 'fresh off the runway' Balmain latex suit to the church service

Glamorous: Kim ensured all eyes were on her as she displayed her jaw-dropping curves in the skintight outfit

Holy look: Kim donned a high necked polo and skin tight pants under the latex blazer, complete with latex gloves and barely there heels as she was joined by daughter North, six

Back view: Kim showed off her famous curves in the latex suit and wore an incredibly long low pony tail complete with a latex tie

The couple's six-year-old daughter North was seen taking hold of her mother's rubbery hand, whilst looking stylish in an all black leather outfit.

She teamed the suit with a silvery glittered shirt and silver studded cowboy boots.

North also sported a playful space bun hairdo with jewels stuck on to her hair line and parting.

Church fashion: The mother-of-four wore a 'fresh off the runway' Balmain latex suit to the church service

Cute couple: Kim and Kanye looked smitten as they left the Theatre des Bouffes du Nord

Dapper: Kanye, 42, opted for a similar theme with his ensemble, as he teamed a pair of black leather joggers with an acid grey T-shirt and chunky white trainers

Couple: Kanye completed his look with a pair of sunglasses and a silver chain as he accompanied his wife

Also attending the service in a latex get-up was Kourtney Kardashian who wore an even tighter burgundy latex pant and top.

Kourtney rounded off her look with a simple look with a pair of knee high black boots, dark rimmed sunglasses and a small black clutch.

While daughter Penelope Disick, seven, opted for a black pyjama style suit, embroidered with metallic green tigers.

She completed the look with the same silver studded boots as her cousin North and adorable pig tails.

Family: Kim cut a stylish figure as she arrived to the venue with her daughter North

Stylish: North also wore a monochrome look in an all black leather outfit complete with a silvery glittered undershirt and silver studded cowboy boots

Kim, who was not wearing any jewelry, was seen talking to security, taking necessary precautions ahead of entering the venue.

In 2016 Kim was robbed at gun point while in Paris for the Fashion Week.

Masked men put a gun to her temple, left her tied up in the bathroom of her luxury residence and stole millions of dollars' worth of jewellery in the early hours of September 26.

Beauty: Continuing her streamlined look the reality star wore a slicked down low pony tail with a side parting and a matching latex hair tie along with a glossy lip

Dazzling: Kim was a sight to behold as she departed the venue with Kanye, adding height to her frame with a pair of open-toed heels

Proud: Kim is a regular attendee at Kanye's Sunday Service religious gathering

Out and about: Following the Sunday Service, Kim enjoyed a meal at L'Avenue restaurant

Luxury: Kim was aided by two security men who held up umbreallas to ensure she wouldn't get wet

Regular: Kim has often dined at swanky resataurant L'Avenue when in the French capital

Kim reportedly 'begged for her life' and told the gunmen she had children at home when two of them entered her room and held the gun to her head.

The men stole a jewellery box worth 6 million ($6.7 million/ 5.24 million) and a ring worth 4 million ($4.5 million/ 3.5 million), prompting fears that the valuables were personal ones, and not just jewellery Kim was borrowing for fashion week.

She bravely returned to Paris Fashion week in 2018 to overcome the trauma caused by the event.

Family worship: Also attending the service in a latex get-up was Kourtney Kardashian who wore an even tighter burgundy latex pant and top

Coordinating kids: Kourtney's daughter Penelope Disick, seven, opted for a black pyjama style suit, embroidered with metallic green tigers

Security: Kim, who was not wearing any jewellery, was seen talking to security, taking necessary precautions ahead of entering the venue

Paris Fashion Week: Kim bravely returned to Paris Fashion week in 2018 to overcome the trauma caused by the robbery while visiting in 2016

Playful: The six-year-old sported a space bun look with jewels stuck on to her hair line and parting. Kanye's daughter often gets involved by singing and dancing at the Sunday services

Group gathering: The sisters chatted before heading past the cameras into the venue

Last minute: The star's stylist was seen sorting out her latex suit before she entered the venue

The Paris Sunday Service comes as Kanye said earlier this year he planned to take the musical worship sessions global.

Kanye's religious choir and prayer group has held services across the United States but is not yet registered under the United States code as a church.

Kim has previously described it as a musical ministry where attendees talk about Jesus and God.

A look inside: Joan Smalls was one of the famous attendees at the Sunday Service and gave her followers a look at the action inside, sharing clips of the choir performing

From Paris to Berlin: The Paris Sunday Service comes as Kanye said earlier this year he planned to take the musical worship sessions global
Bangkok, March 1 : The Thai Ministry of Public Health on Sunday announced the country's first COVID-19 death of a retail worker who initially was diagnosed with dengue fever.

A 35-year-old Thai man, who worked as a salesman, passed away on Saturday at 6.25 pm, said Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoenchai, director-general of the Department of Disease Control under the Ministry of Public Health on Sunday.

According to the department, the patient had admitted himself in a private hospital and was diagnosed with dengue fever on January 27, Xinhua reported.

He later tested positive for COVID-19 and was transferred to Bamrasnaradura Infectious Disease Institute on February 5, and stayed on Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO).

The health ministry again on Sunday reiterated that any persons suspected of infecting the virus are required to contact public health officials within three hours.

As of Sunday, Thailand has reported 42 cases of infection, with 30 of those discharged.
Former Vice President Joe Biden notched his first victory of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary on Saturday with a win in South Carolina, which his campaign hopes will halt the momentum of Sen. Bernie Sanders and reset the race heading into Super Tuesday.

The Associated Press declared Biden the winner shortly after polls closed in the state at 7 p.m. ET. Sanders, the AP projected, would finish in second place in South Carolina.

Weve just won, and weve won big because of you. And we are very much alive, Biden told his elated supporters at a victory party in Columbia.

Biden made his case that he was the best for his party in the general election, up and down the ballot.

If Democrats nominate me, I believe we can beat Donald Trump, keep Nancy Pelosi in the House of Representatives as Speaker and take back the Senate, Biden said.

Taking aim at Sanders, Biden said: If the Democrats want a nominee who is a Democrat, a lifelong Democrat, a proud Democrat, an Obama-Biden Democrat, join us!

Biden drew robust support from African-Americans in South Carolina, who make up nearly 60 percent of the states Democratic electorate. Sanders has worked hard to build alliances with African-Americans after being trounced by Hillary Clinton in South Carolina in 2016. However, the best-known black politician in the state, Rep. James Clyburn, endorsed Biden.

I know Joe Biden.



I know his character, his heart, and his record.



Joe Biden has stood for the hard-working people of South Carolina.



We know Joe. But more importantly, he knows us.



In South Carolina, we choose presidents.



Im calling on you to stand with @JoeBiden.  Jim Clyburn SC-06 (@ClyburnSC06) February 26, 2020

On Saturday, Clyburn introduced Biden at his victory party.

This campaign, this year, is about the goodness of America, and we have as our candidate a real good man, Clyburn said.

Story continues

After a strong second-place showing in Nevadas caucuses, Biden promised during a Tuesday debate in Charleston that he would prevail in South Carolina.

I will win South Carolina, Biden said.

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

The state awards 54 pledged delegates on a proportional basis, and Biden will take the majority based on the final percentage of the vote he receives. Before Saturdays vote, Sanders was leading the field with 45 delegates. Pete Buttigieg had earned 26, while Biden had 15.

Biden will need to continue to build on his momentum on Super Tuesday, especially in Southern states like Texas, North Carolina, Tennessee and Alabama. These have a more conservative electorate than places like California, Colorado and Massachusetts, which would seem to favor Sanders.

Another state where Biden could do well next Tuesday is Virginia, and shortly after Biden was declared the winner in South Carolina, the states former governor, Terry McAuliffe, endorsed him and called on Democratic candidates Tom Steyer, Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg to drop out of the race. McAuliffe said Michael Bloomberg should also take a look at dropping out.

That sentiment was echoed by Bidens press secretary, TJ Ducklo.

If you are a candidate and you have not shown that you can get traction with the core of the Democratic Party, with African American voters, then you have to take a hard look at your path and what your goals are, Ducklo said Saturday.

Speaking to supporters at a rally in Houston, Warren made clear that she would remain in the race.

We want to gain as many delegates to the convention as we can from California to right here in Texas, Warren said.

At a rally in Virginia Beach, Va., Sanders reflected on Bidens South Carolina victory, saying, "We have won the popular vote in Iowa. We have won the New Hampshire primary. We have won the Nevada caucus. But you cannot win 'em all. A lot of states out there, and tonight we did not win in South Carolina."

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:
A man in Troy, Michigan, got a phone call from someone who called himself Alex Wade.

Wade, who said he worked at Amazon, claimed that a drastic mistake took place in which too much money had been refunded from a purchase and deposited into the man's bank account.

The man needed to pay back the money or he'd be in big trouble. Wade suggested that the man buy eBay gift cards at a variety of stores, including Walmart, CVS Pharmacy and 7-Eleven.

Was there really a big problem? The caller convinced the man that he needed to rush out to fix things right away.

"The victim never called his bank account to confirm this," said Sgt. Meghan Lehman, a police department public information officer in Troy.

The 69-year-old man put $1,300 on the eBay gift cards. He spent more money after facing more pressure tactics. The man lost $6,000 before realizing he had been scammed.

The first thing on the to-do list of a scammer is to pretend to be someone else. Maybe the caller pretends to be from the Internal Revenue Service. Maybe it's someone pretending to be from the Social Security Administration. Maybe it's someone pretending to be from the 2020 census.

Taxes 2020: What you dont know about your tax bracket could hurt you

Coronavirus: How scammers could use outbreak to steal your money

Gift cards are almost as good as cash for scammers. Anyone who demands payment by gift card is always a scammer, according to the FTC.

Or maybe it's someone claiming to be from Apple Support.

The impostor scam was the most common type of scam reported in 2019 to the Federal Trade Commission. Consumers reported losing nearly $667 million to impostor scams.

Nearly half of U.S. adults have been targets of an impostor scam, according to a new survey by AARP Research. Nearly one in five experienced health problems or emotional distress from being victimized or targeted.

Three in five adults are concerned that they  or a family member  could fall victim to a scam, according to the AARP survey.

Amazon warns that specifics of scams vary but scammers generally follow a pattern of connecting with a victim by phone, email, through social media or online. The swindler will create a sense of urgency, ask for payment using gift cards and even tell you where to buy the cards.

Story continues

"The scammer then demands or instructs the victim to provide the claim code on the gift card by phone, text message or email  and then disappears," according to Amazon's warnings.

Signs of financial manipulation are everywhere, even though many people are too embarrassed to file a police report or admit that con artists scared them enough to hand over cash and gift cards.

Another victim in Troy lost $1,360 in early February after someone claiming to be from the FBI told her she would be arrested after some mishap with a vehicle in Texas. The woman bought the gift cards, according to the police report, provided serial numbers from the gift cards to the caller and was out a sizable chunk of savings.

Another woman in Troy lost $1,200 in a gift card scam in late January, according to police reports, when an impostor claimed to be from the Social Security Administration and scared her into thinking that there was a warrant out for her arrest and the matter would be resolved with her being issued a new Social Security number.

Police departments say they see more of these scams every day. All sorts of people can become victims.

"We've had young people, old people, people who are new to the country, people who were born here," Lehman said. "These scammers are getting more skilled."

Consumer watchdogs warn that the 2020 presidential election, as well as the census, could bring new variations of old scams.

Fraudsters use phony political fundraising robocalls to trick Americans into donating to a favorite candidate, according to warnings from the Better Business Bureau.

"If you offer to give, youll be transferred to a live person and asked for your credit card information. But your money wont go to support the political cause. Instead, the phony caller will make off with your money and/or personal information that can be used for identity theft," according to the BBB warning.

The calls can sound pretty convincing. Con artists work overtime at being believable. But remember, only the crooks demand you buy them gift cards.

Contact Susan Tompor: 313-222-8876 or stompor@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @tompor. Read more on business and sign up for our business newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Get a call claiming you were refunded too much money? It may be a scam
Shillong, March 1 : With the fresh incidents of violence and killing of a 37-year-old youth on Sunday, the toll in ethnic violence in Meghalaya rose to three, officials said.

The authorities re-imposed curfew in capital city Shillong and its outskirts, officials added.

Police said that a 37-year-old man died after being attacked by some "unknown miscreants" in Meghalaya's East Khasi Hills district at the wee hours on Sunday while fresh violence of incidents were reported in parts of Shillong and elsewhere.

Internet services were suspended in six of the eleven districts of Meghalaya. These include East Jaintia Hills, West Jaintia Hills, East Khasi Hills, Ri-Bhoi, West Khasi Hills and South West Khasi Hills.

According to police, one Uphas Uddin was seriously injured in attack by three "unknown miscreants" at his home at Pyrken village under Shella police station. He was brought to Khamati primary health centre but the doctor declared him brought dead.

Following sporadic incidents of violence in parts of Shillong, East Khasi Hills District administration has re-imposed curfew from 8 a.m. on Sunday morning in the areas under Lumdengjiri police station, Sardar police station and entire areas of the Cantonment Beat House of Shillong city.

Some people attacked Rajua Karim, 31, an employee of Meghalaya Basin Development Agency at Mawthabah, (Mawsyram) and seriously injured him. He was admitted to hospital early on Sunday.

In another incident, miscreants hurled a petrol bomb at the residential complex of Lakshmi Bareh at Pynthorbah Block-4, Shillong. However, none was injured or property damaged in the incident.

Arsons and stone pelting have been reported from different parts of the state since Friday night.

Central Para-Military Forces have been deployed along with the state forces in the trouble-torn areas.

A migrant worker Rupsang Dewan, 29, was stabbed to death at a market in Shillong on Saturday. The victim is a resident of Barpeta in western Assam.

According to police, in separate incidents of violence on Saturday, seven people were also injured when a group of masked men went on a stabbing spree in the capital city. Some shops and vehicles were also vandalised by the miscreants.

"The prohibitory orders would continue until further orders," East Khasi Hills district Deputy Commissioner M. War Nongbri said.

A police official in Shillong said that in a clash on Friday between KSU activists and non-tribals in Ichamati area (under East Khasi Hills District), a KSU activist Lurshai Hynniewta sustained critical injuries. Subsequently, he succumbed to his injuries at a health centre in Sohra (Cherrapunjee).

At least seven others were also injured in Friday's clashes.

According to the police, the clashes between the KSU members and non-tribals broke out during an anti-CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) and pro-ILP (Inner Line Permit) meeting held in Ichamati area of the district on Friday.

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma ordered an inquiry into the incident. Para-military forces have been deployed in the tension ridden areas to maintain law and order.

Eight people have so far been arrested after the Friday's incident. "A magisterial inquiry has been ordered. The district and police administrations have ensured that enough security personnel were put in place in the affected areas," the chief minister told the media on Saturday night after a high level review meeting with senior police and civil administration officials.

Sangma announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh for the family of those killed in clash.

The Meghalaya government has arranged buses for the stranded tourists in Cherrapunjee (Sohra), Shillong or any other nearby places. The state government has announced to provide free transportation to ferry the tourists out of the state.

The Meghalaya Assembly unanimously on December 19 last year had adopted a resolution requesting the Centre to promulgate the Inner Line Permit (ILP) in the mountainous state to keep it out of the purview of the CAA, but the union Home Ministry is yet to issue the statutory notification in this regard.

The mountainous state had witnessed violent agitations in December last year also.

The Confederation of Meghalaya Social Organisations (COMSO), a conglomerate of agitating bodies, said the demand for the regulatory permit would continue until the union home ministry gives its approval.

In the second week of December, Meghalaya Chief Minister Sangma had led a delegation of the ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) and met Home Minister Amit Shah to demand introduction of the ILP in Meghalaya.
President Muhammadu Buhari has directed immediate appropriate disciplinary actions against security operatives posted to the nations land borders for releasing 295 tankers of smuggled petroleum products without authorization.

The President said he was disheartened by the action of the security operatives.

Nigerias land borders have been closed since August 2019 to checkmate smuggling of arms and food items. After the closure, the Federal Government directed that petroleum products should not be supplied to fuel stations within 20 kilometers of the borders.

But in a statement on Saturday, presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, said while the operation has been relatively successful, some security officials have been sabotaging the governments efforts.

The border drill has been hugely successful and has led to the interception and seizure of large quantities of foods, materials, minerals and petroleum resources illegally trafficked across our borders. The President commends the security agencies for a job well done.

He, however, finds it disheartening to learn that 295 smuggled petroleum tankers were released without due authorization on 17th December, 2019 by some security officials charged with the responsibility of protecting our borders.

Sequel to this act, the National Security Adviser (NSA) was directed to set up a Board of Inquiry to investigate the crime, and it was recommended to the President that all officials (civilian or security operatives) found to have connived to undermine governments efforts should be withdrawn from the border drill and severely sanctioned by their respective organizations.

The President has accepted the recommendations and directed the immediate withdrawal and replacement of all those found culpable. He has also directed that their respective organizations should mete immediate appropriate disciplinary actions to them, Adesina said.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 20:59:14|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

NAIROBI, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan police on Saturday rescued a Chinese national who was abducted in the country's capital on Thursday by four kidnappers.

The victim has returned home safe and sound on Saturday, authorities said.

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) of Kenya said the 38-year-old Chinese national was abducted from his shop in the Dagoretti residential estate by a four-man gang whose members pretended to be from the DCI.

The Chinese Embassy in Kenya immediately urged the police to handle the case after obtaining a report.

"Police officers from the DCI specialized units trailed the kidnappers and managed to locate their hideout ... They found four suspects and challenged them to submit for search but instead they began shooting at the officers prompting the special unit team to respond," the DCI said in a report.

The DCI said the four kidnappers, one of whom was a Kenyan police officer, were all shot dead.

The DCI said the case is under investigation.
The BJP on Sunday asserted that the agitation against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act had started in Assam with opposition parties "emotionally influencing" people claiming that Bangladeshis would enter the state in droves and harm their culture following the passage of the CAA.

However, people have now realized that nothing of that sort is going to happen and the agitation has weakened, Assam BJP president Ranjeet Kumar Dass told reporters here. "An attempt was made to influence people emotionally and they got affected. A large number of people has asked me why we were trying to bring in Bangladeshis. Our people are very emotional," he said.

Dass said he along with other top leaders of the party toured 12 constituencies of Upper Assam and met over 2,400 booth committee presidents and elected representatives. "We asked them about their sentiment on the situation since December 10. We all know that a misinformation campaign was going on claiming that over one crore Bangladeshis would come and attack the culture, language and identity of the Assamese people," the BJP leader said.

Dass said he asked the booth presidents how many Bangladeshis have come and they replied that none has reached there. "They confessed that people were made emotional, but now they have understood the situation. There is no impact of anti-CAA campaign and the agitaion has been weakened," he added. Opposition parties and various organisations started agitation against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill from Decenber 10, a day after it was passed in the Lok Sabha.

The Bill seeks to grant Indian citizenship to minority community people of Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who fled religious persecution and entered India before December 31, 2014.




Haiti - News : Zapping...





2 doctors kidnapped in Delmas

Late Thursday night, 2 doctors (an obstetrician and a pediatrician) working at Saint-Nicolas de Saint-Marc hospital (Artibonite) were kidnapped in the commune of Delmas by unidentified armed individuals.



Theft of solar panels from Gonaives hospital

18 solar panels from Gonaives hospital were stolen. At least 8 people are in police custody including the brother and the driver of Dr. Jude Renelique Administrator of the hospital.



500 young people trained in COVID-19

Edwin Charles, the Minister of Youth has announced that 500 young school crossing guards will receive training as trainers on the measures to be taken in response to the Covid-19. Their mission will be to train young people from disadvantaged neighborhoods on how to prevent the spread in the event of the presence of Coronavirus. Note that there are currently no cases of COVID-19 in Haiti.



Aid to Haitians incarcerated in the USA

The Consulate General of Haiti in Atlanta had this Thursday, February 27, 2020, a fruitful meeting with the prison authorities of Abertville and Guntersville (Georgia). The Consulate took advantage of this meeting to obtain information on the situation of Haitians in prison in these jurisdictions. The Consulate intends to provide assistance to fellow incarcerated people and to the entire Haitian community in these areas.



Informal Inter-Haitian Dialogue

Suspended on February 14, the inter-Haitian dialogue for a resolution of the crisis has still not officially resumed. However, it is said in generally well-informed circles that informal discussions would continue around the formation of a new government.



COVID-19 epidemic : World assessment March 1, 2020

Sunday March 1, 2020, the number of people infected worldwide with the Coronavirus COVID-19 (laboratory confirmed cases, official source) amounted to 86,986, an increase of 1,580 cases (-6.3%) compared to the previous day (1,686 ), https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30150-haiti-news-zapping.html ; 2,979 deaths (+1.9%) or 55 more than the day before (2,924). Average mortality rate 3.4%. 42,372 people healed, 2,782 more than the day before.



To date, outside of China, there have been 7,160 cases of confirmed infected persons (+16.3%), ie 1,005 more cases than the previous day, in a total of 63 countries (+3 countries compared to the previous day). Note that South Korea alone has 3,526 cases (49.2% of all cases outside China)



100 deaths outside China have been reported to date since the start of the epidemic (December 2019), 17 more than the previous day: 43 in Iran, 17 in Korea from the South, 1 in Taiwan, 1 in the Philippines, 2 in Hong Kong, 5 in Japan, 2 in France and 29 in Italy. 1 Australia. 1 Thailand, 1 USA.



There are no cases of COVID-19 in Haiti or the Dominican Republic.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















In a bid to address weaknesses in cooperative banking sector, the Parliament is likely to clear a Bill to amend Banking Regulation Act to bring multi-state under effective regulation of RBI during the Budget session.

The proposed legislation will help prevent a repeat of Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank-like crisis, sources said.

There are 1,540 with a depositor base of 8.60 crore having total savings of about Rs 5 trillion.

The Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month gave approval to amend Banking Regulation Act.

The Bill in this regard is likely to be passed during the second leg of Budget session starting Monday. The session ends on April 3.

Having undertaken a slew of measures, including clean up of public sector banks (PSBs), private sector banks, financial institution like IL&FS, non-bank financial corporations (NBFCs), housing finance corporations (HFCs), auditors, rating agencies, this is the last step in making the entire financial ecosystem almost impossible to be gamed, with security of depositors' money being paramount.

To further bolster the confidence of customers, the government has increased deposit insurance cover by five-fold to Rs 5 lakh to ensure security of public money in banks.

In the last couple of years, the Department of Financial Services has taken several steps to promote responsive and responsible banking.

As part of clean banking initiative, project cash flows were ring-fenced, enforcement of terms of loan agreements and prior validation of backward and forward linkages were made integral to lending processes.

Besides, the number of banks in loan consortium was capped, reducing borrowers' ability to play one lender off against another.

This was accompanied by data driven risk scoring and scrutiny, comprehensive diligence across data sources and strengthened credit assessment.

To ensure financial health of public sector banks (PSBs), recapitalization of Rs 4 trillion was undertaken in the last five years. Provision coverage ratio reached a record high of 77 per cent. NPA and slippages are declining with improved asset quality.

As a result of various initiatives taken by the government under Rajiv Kumar, who demitted office as Financial Services Secretary on February 28, the number of PSBs under Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) is down from 11 in 2017 to four.

As many as 12 out of 18 banks are in profit this year as against 19 out of 21 in loss just two years ago with the help of record recovery and reduction in bad loans.

Before joining the Finance Ministry, Kumar was Establishment Officer in Department of Personnel and Training.

He was instrumental in many initiatives including streamlining of promotion and appointment process done by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC).
Azar Explains Coronavirus Death Misidentification, Unsure How Victim Contracted Disease

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar on Sunday revealed why federal officials announced that the first American death from the COVID-19 coronavirus was a woman before officials later clarified that it was a male who died while adding that health officials are still not sure how the person contracted the mysterious new virus.

Azar, during an interview on CBS News Face the Nation on Sunday, was questioned about the misidentification, to which he responded that the outbreak is a very fast-moving situation.

Our Centers for Disease Control (CDC) were up late at night, very early in the morning, working with the Washington state public health office and inaccurately reported that the individual was a female, thats what the president was briefed on, theyve apologized for incorrectly briefing on that but its a very fast-moving situation, Azar told the broadcaster, saying we obviously regret the error.

The first death was reported in Washington state, identifying the victim as a male in his 50s who had underlying health problems. He died at the EvergreenHealth Medical Center in Kirkland, a suburb of Seattle, according to federal officials on Saturday.

A state of emergency was declared in Washington state following the lone death by Gov. Jay Inslee, who said state officials need to prepare for what could likely be a worldwide pandemic. Officials, meanwhile, are investigating whether there may have been an outbreak at a nursing facility in Kirkland after a resident and health care worker both tested positive for COVID-19, a disease caused by the novel coronavirus believed to have originated in central China in late 2019.

Tourists, some wearing a mask, queue to enter the Louvre museum in Paris, France, on Feb. 28, 2020. (Rafael Yaghobzadeh/AP Photo)

Azar added that it is still unclear how the first American to die of COVID-19 actually contracted the virus, as there was no evidence he had any connection to a person who traveled to an outbreak area such as South Korea, Iran, Italy, or China.

We do not know how he contracted the virus yet. And so thats why we and the state of Washington are deployed out there to try to trace who he had contact with and how he might have gotten the virus. Thats why we call it right now a potential community case, meaning we dont have a discernible connection to any travel to Korea or China or any other impacted area, Azar remarked.

Following the weekend escalation, Azar told CBS that the risk to average Americans remains low, were working to keep it low, but he stressed that there will be more transmission of cases in the United States. In elaborating on why, the top U.S. health official said that it is simply a matter of math.

People wear surgical masks in fear of the coronavirus in Flushing, a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens on Feb. 3, 2020. (Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images)

His comments were made as President Donald Trump on Sunday announced that passengers traveling from certain high-risk countries will be screened before boarding as well as when they arrive in the United States. And on Saturday, the Trump administration expanded travel restrictions on Iran and is now urging Americans to avoid travel in parts of South Korea and Italy as those respective countries grapple with how to contain the spread of the virus.

In addition to screening travelers prior to boarding from certain designated high-risk countries, or areas within those countries, they will also be screened when they arrive in America, Trump wrote on Twitter.
Experts say Nigeria is prepared to contain new virus following a successful response to Ebola more than five years ago.

Abuja, Nigeria  Health authorities in Nigeria are ramping up efforts to detect and contain the new coronavirus after Africas most populous country confirmed its first case, calling on citizens to avoid panicking or spreading unverified information about the disease.

An Italian citizen working in Nigeria tested positive for the virus on Thursday after falling ill following his arrival in the commercial hub of Lagos from Milan in northern Italy, an area that has emerged as Europes coronavirus hotspot.

The man, who has since been isolated at a hospital in Yaba, is clinically stable and has not developed serious symptoms, according to health officials.

We have already started working to identify all the contacts of the patient since he entered Nigeria, Osagie Ehanire, Nigerias health minister, told reporters in the capital, Abuja. We have continued to beef our own security. The level of preparedness continues to improve of Nigeria every day.

Public health professionals who spoke to Al Jazeera expressed confidence in the West African countrys ability to contain the spread of the virus. They pointed to key lessons from its successful response to an Ebola outbreak more than five years ago, as well as a series of measures already put in place before the arrival of the coronavirus.





Along with heightening screening at points of entry, particularly at airports, authorities have established testing capacity in four laboratories and expanded surveillance to follow up with travellers from countries affected by the infectious disease  officially known as COVID-19  within 14 days of arriving in Nigeria.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has also supported the activation of emergency operation centres to serve as coordination platforms, while its Coronavirus Preparedness Group meets daily to review the situation and manage the response efforts.

The agency has meanwhile issued a public health advisory to inform Nigerians about symptoms and preventive measures, and has provided a toll-free number for guidance.

May Ubeku, a public health practitioner and epidemiologist, said Nigerian health authorities were fully prepared to contain the spread of the coronavirus, citing the series of measures introduced since January.

First sub-Saharan African case

Nigeria is sub-Saharan Africas first country to register a case of the virus, which has killed some 2,900 people and infected more than 86,000 worldwide, the vast majority in China where it originated late last year.

Medical experts had long expected the arrival of the deadly virus in sub-Saharan Africa, pointing to the deep trade and travel ties between China and a number of countries on the continent.

In mid-February, health ministers of the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) converged in Malis capital, Bamako, to develop a regional preparedness plan and boost cross-border collaboration to promote rapid diagnosis and containment.

Happening now !!!

All the 15 ECOWAS countries have now the full laboratory capacity to detect COVID19. They receive diagnostic kits with all reagents, probes, primers, enzymes etc for at least 100 tests.@OoasWaho @Ecowas_cdc @sokolo12 @AfricaCDC pic.twitter.com/LbMMh1FKWf  Abdourahmane Sow, (@asow1211) February 27, 2020

Parts of West Africa already share a painful experience of trying to tackle the major Ebola outbreak that ravaged the region between 2013 and 2016 and killed more than 11,000 people.

In Nigeria, the first case of Ebola was detected in July 2014 following the arrival of an infected Liberian man at the Lagos international airport. The man, who died in hospital, set off a chain of transmission that killed seven people out of a total of 19 infections. But months later, the country was declared Ebola-free, with the World Health Organization (WHO) hailing a spectacular success story and commending authorities for their effective coordination of the response.

Nigeria will deal with it

Ifeanyi Nsofor, who graduated from Atlantic Fellows for Health Equity programme at George Washington University in 2019, cited Nigerias experience in stamping out Ebola, as well as polio, as promising signs in the fight to contain the spread of the new coronavirus.

In August last year, Nigeria went three years without a case of wild poliovirus and is due to receive a wild polio-free status in June 2020  a gigantic shift from 2012 when it accounted for more than half of all polio cases worldwide.





The country adopted various measures to achieve this milestone, notably establishing emergency operations centres to respond to polio outbreaks and enhancing collaboration among health agencies and international partners. It also conducted a large-scale polio vaccination campaign that involved volunteers, community groups and religious and traditional institutions amid efforts to raise awareness.

The structures are still in place, Nsofor said, adding that Nigeria can count on the massive network of health workers who were deployed to tackle polio and Ebola.

Nigeria will deal with this [coronavirus].

Still, Nsofor, CEO of EpiAFRIC, an Abuja-based public health consultancy, expressed concern that much of the coronavirus containment effort seems to be concentrated on airports in big cities.

Our weakest link is our land borders, [which] are porous, he explained, urging health authorities to intensify surveillance.

Social media warning

The confirmation of the first case of COVID-19 comes at a time when Nigeria is still battling an outbreak of Lassa fever, which has caused 118 deaths since the beginning of the year.





Lassa fever is endemic in Nigeria and some parts of West Africa and is predominantly transmitted via food or household items contaminated by rodent urine or faeces.

Ukam Edadi, programme coordinator of Lagos-based Citizens Health Initiative Nigeria, a group campaigning for citizens right to accessible and quality healthcare, called for continuous training of the health workforce involved in tackling epidemics alongside an aggressive and intensive health education on respiratory hygiene in the media, schools, hospitals, churches and mosques to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Meanwhile, the arrival of coronavirus in Lagos, an overcrowded megacity of some 20 million people, has sparked fears among residents amid reports of people scrambling to buy hygiene products. On Saturday, two locals told Al Jazeera that they visited pharmacies and stores but did not find any protective masks and hand sanitisers to buy.

People are scared, people are panicking but the most important thing that people will do is to get appropriate and credible information from credible organisations and authorities such as the NCDC, the health ministry and the WHO, explained Nsofor.

Health officials and public health professionals have also expressed concerns that online platforms could trigger the rise of myths and misinformation about the disease.

Citizens must not abuse social media and indulge in spreading misinformation that causes fear and panic, Nigerias health ministry said in a statement earlier this week.
Police are speaking to a woman after a teenage girl was struck and killed by a car in north Queensland.

The 15-year-old girl was struck by a car on Nicklin Drive at Beaconsfield about 3.20am Sunday.

She died at the scene, while the car that struck her left the area.

After police issued a call for information, a 29-year-old Mackay woman went to the Mackay Northern Beaches Police Station with a vehicle police believe was involved in the incident.

Officers have seized the vehicle for inspection and were talking to the woman on Sunday evening.
A medical member wearing protective gear guides drivers with suspected symptoms of the COVID-19 coronavirus, at a "drive-through" virus test facility in Goyang, north of Seoul, on Feb. 29, 2020. (Jung Yeonje-JE/AFP via Getty Images)

Second US Death Confirmed in Washington State: Coronavirus Updates From March 1

The new coronavirus and the disease it causes, COVID-19, has spread to dozens of countries around the world.

Below are news updates from March 1. Click here for March 2 updates.

Second US Death Confirmed in Washington State

Health officials in Washington state said on Sunday a second person infected with the coronavirus had died the Seattle area. The man in his 70s had underlying health conditions.

The Washington death was in EvergreenHealth Medical Center in Kirkland and was reported on the website of the Seattle and King County public health department. On Saturday, the same officials reported the first death from coronavirus in the United States.

New York State Confirms First Coronavirus Case: Governor Cuomo

New York state confirmed its first positive coronavirus test, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Sunday night.

Cuomo said in a statement that a woman in her 30s contracted coronavirus during a recent trip to Iran and was in quarantine in her home. He did not say where the woman lived.

Read more here.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in a file photograph. (Scott Heins/Getty Images)

France Closes the Louvre

France had closed the world-famous Louvre Museum on Sunday as the deadly outbreak that began in China sent fear rising across Western Europe, threatening its tourism industry.

Dominican Republic Confirms First Case

Health officials in the Dominican Republic and France on Sunday reported the first confirmed cases of the new coronavirus in the tourist-rich Caribbean, while British cruise ship passengers who had been trapped at sea due to virus fears were finally set to come home.

Dominican Public Health Minister Rafael Sanchez Cardenas said a 62-year-old Italian man had arrived in the country on Feb. 22 without showing symptoms. He was being treated in isolation at a military hospital and has not shown serious complications.

France, meanwhile, reported a case on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, the first in one of Frances overseas territories.

The announcements came shortly before the Braemar cruise ship, which had been denied entry to the Dominican Republic due to the virus fears, at last found a place to dockthe Dutch terrritory of St. Maarten.

UK Cases Rise to 35, Czech Republic Sees First 3

British health authorities on Sunday confirmed 12 more cases of the new coronavirus, bringing the countrys overall tally to 35, while the Czech Republic announced its first three infections.

Authorities said the total number of people infected in Italy had risen to 1,694, a 50 percent jump from just 24 hours earlier. Five more people infected with the virus have died, bringing the deaths in Italy to 34, while 83 people have fully recovered.

Elsewhere in Europe, France raised its number of reported cases to 130 on Sunday, including one in the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, the first in Frances overseas territories.

The spreading virus epidemic shut down Frances Louvre Museum on Sunday, with workers who guard its famous trove of artworks fearful of being contaminated by the museums flow of tourists from around the world. Almost three-quarters of the Louvres 9.6 million visitors last year came from abroad.

Czech Health Minister Adam Vojtech said Sunday that two COVID-19 patients were hospitalized in Prague and another in northern city of Usti nad Labem. All three had travel ties to northern Italy.

Spain said it now has 71 virus cases, many of them linked to Italy.

The Dutch health minister announced three new virus cases, bringing the countrys overall tally to 10, while new cases elsewhere brought national totals to Norway 19, Sweden 14 and Finland six.

Rhode Island Confirms First Case

The Rhode Island Department of Health has announced the first positive case of the COVID-19 coronavirus in the state, saying that a person who had traveled to Italy in mid-February contracted the illness.

The patient, who is in their 40s, had limited travel in Rhode Island and hasnt returned back to work since arriving in the United States, according to state health officials on Sunday.

Read more here.

US to Screen Travelers From High-Risk Countries

President Donald Trump on Sunday wrote that passengers traveling from certain high-risk countries will be screened before boarding as well as when they arrive in the United States.

In addition to screening travelers prior to boarding from certain designated high-risk countries, or areas within those countries, they will also be screened when they arrive in America, Trump wrote on Twitter on Sunday.

Coronavirus: In addition to screening travelers prior to boarding from certain designated high risk countries, or areas within those countries, they will also be screened when they arrive in America. Thank you! @VP @SecAzar @CDCgov @CDCDirector  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 1, 2020

The administration on Saturday expanded travel restrictions on Iran, where dozens of deaths have been reported in recent days, and raised an advisory that Americans should refrain from going to parts of Italy and South Korea, where the COVID-19 coronavirus has triggered quarantines.

Fed Signals Possible Rate Cut

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has signaled the central banks readiness to slash interest rates to cushion the economy against the effects of a widening global slowdown and potential health emergency due to the spreading coronavirus.

In a statement Friday, Powell said the Fed will act as appropriate in the face of risks posed by the epidemic, though he said the economy remains in good shape overall.

The fundamentals of the U.S. economy remain strong, Powell said. However, the coronavirus poses evolving risks to economic activity. The Federal Reserve is closely monitoring developments and their implications for the economic outlook. We will use our tools and act as appropriate to support the economy.

Read more here.

Pence: US Schools Can Shut Down Over Virus

Vice President Mike Pence said the Trump administration will defer to local governments on their decisions regarding the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, including school closures.

I think the president would respect any decisions that are made at the state and local level, he said Sunday on NBCs Meet the Press.

Pence, the former governor of Indiana, was placed in charge of the Trump administrations coronavirus response efforts after the president made the announcement on Wednesday evening.

During the Sunday interview, Pence made it clear that the federal government is attempting to walk a fine line, allowing for local government and businesses to implement restrictions when necessary. But at the same time, Pence called on Americans not to panic and overreact.

Read more here.

Illinois Announces 3rd case

A third person in Illinois has tested positive for COVID-19, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) announced on Feb. 29.

Officials said that tests from the unidentified individual resulted in presumptive positives, and the sample is now being tested for confirmation by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lab.

The patient is currently hospitalized in isolation and health officials are also working to identify and actively monitor anyone who may have come into contact with them in an effort to reduce the risk of additional transmission.

Read more here.

South Korea Reports 3 Additional Deaths, Over 500 New Cases

South Korea reported 586 new cases of the novel coronavirus and three additional deaths on March 1, bringing its nationally tally to 3,736 known cases and 20 fatalities.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported 376 new cases of the virus on Sunday morning, before reporting 210 more cases in the afternoon.

One death involved an 83-year-old man in the city of Daegu, who had a stroke and suffered from hypertension before being infected with the virus, according to local outlet Yonhap News Agency. Daegu is about 186 miles southeast of the capital Seoul.

An 86-year-old woman who had the disease died of dyspnea early Sunday. She also had diabetes and hyperlipidemia. The third death involved an 80-year-old man who had long been suffering from hypertension.

Read more here.

Iran Raises Death Toll to 54

Irans health ministry raised on Sunday the nationwide death toll from the new coronavirus to 54 as the number of confirmed infected cases jumped overnight by more than half to 978 people.

The ministrys spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said new cases were confirmed in a number of cities, including Mashhad, which is home to Irans most important Shiite shrine that attracts pilgrims from across the region. Calls by Irans civilian government to clerics to close such shrines to to the public have not been uniformly followed. The shrine in Mashhad is among those that have remained open.

Washington State Declares Emergency

Washington state governor Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency to prepare for what could likely be a worldwide pandemic, hours after the nation announced the first victim of the deadly coronavirus.

This is a time to take common-sense, proactive measures to ensure the health and safety of those who live in Washington state, Inslee said in a Feb. 29 statement.

He said the declaration will allow the state to mobilize all necessary resources to assist affected communities, including utilizing the Washington National Guard.

Our priority now is to slow the spread of this virus, he said.

Read more here.

South Africa to repatriate citizens stranded in Wuhan

South Africa is set to evacuate 151 citizens from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the new coronavirus that continues to spread across the globe, authorities said Sunday.

The South Africans will be evacuated in a military operation that will see them quarantined for 21 days after they arrive in the country, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said.

All of the South Africans returning are healthy and have tested negative for the virus, but as a safety precaution they will be under quarantine upon their arrival in South Africa, Mkhize said. The airlift would take place in about 10 days, he said.

South Africa is the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to evacuate its citizens from China and affected areas.

In-Hospital Infection Suspected in Another Death in Japan

A man in his 70s died on Japans northernmost island of Hokkaido on Saturday night after testing positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2, local authorities said on Sunday.

The municipal government of Hokkaido said the patient was hospitalized on Jan. 17 for another disease, but started to show flu-like symptoms a few weeks later and tested positive for the coronavirus on Feb. 25.

Public broadcaster NHK and other local media said authorities suspect the man may have caught the virus at the hospital.

The mans death marks the sixth fatality from COVID-19 in Japan, excluding six deaths among those aboard the cruise ship Diamond Princess.

Thailand Records First Coronavirus Death

Thailand has recorded its first coronavirus death, a 35-year-old man who also had dengue fever, died from the virus, Suwanchai Wattanayingcharoen, director-general of the Department of Disease Control, said in the news conference on Sunday.

Thailand has recorded 42 coronavirus cases since January. Of those, 30 have recovered and gone home and 11 are still being treated in hospitals, according to the department.

Lab technicians test patient samples for the novel coronavirus at the Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases of Thailand at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok on Feb. 5, 2020. (LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA/AFP via Getty Images)

South Korea Reports 376 New Coronavirus Cases

South Korea reported 376 new confirmed coronavirus cases on Sunday, raising the countrys total number of infections to 3,526, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said.

Sundays new cases follow the 813 infections recorded on Saturday, the biggest daily jump in South Korea, which is grappling with the largest outbreak of the virus outside China. KCDC said it will update numbers later in the day.

The death toll stood at 17, unchanged from the day earlier, KCDC said.

Of the new cases, 333 were from the southeastern city of Daegu, the location of a church at the center of the outbreak, and 26 from the nearby province of North Gyeongsang, KCDC said.

Health authorities have urged South Koreans to refrain from attending religious services and political events and stay indoors this weekend, saying it was a critical moment in the countrys battle against the virus.

Armenia Reports First Coronavirus Infection

Armenia reported its first coronavirus infection on Sunday, in a citizen returning from neighboring Iran, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in a post on Facebook.

The 29-year-old, who arrived in the former Soviet nation on Friday, went to a doctor because he was not feeling well, the prime minister added.

He is now in good condition, Pashinyan said, adding that authorities planned to isolate those had been in contact with him.

Armenia closed its border with Iran for two weeks and suspended air traffic a week ago. Iran is the epicenter of the outbreak in the Middle East, with several regional nations reporting cases stemming from Iran.

Neighboring Georgia and Azerbaijan reported infections this week, with three in each country.

First Coronavirus Death in Australia

Australia reported its first death of a coronavirus patient in a hospital in the western city of Perth early on Sunday, health official Andrew Robertson said.

The 78-year-old had been in quarantine after being evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan, among more than 150 Australians taken off the vessel.

Our condolences are with his family and unfortunately hes the first death weve had from coronavirus in Australia, Robertson, the chief health officer of Western Australia, told journalists.

The mans wife also caught the virus, but is in stable condition, authorities said.

Australias tally of virus infections stands at 25, the latest government figures show.

On Saturday, Australia said it would deny entry to all foreigners traveling from Iran because of the spreading virus in the Islamic republic.

Read more here.

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)

For updates from Feb. 29, click here.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Dr. Warren Farrell is known for his 2018 groundbreaking book, The Boy Crisis. In it, he gives the evidence for the crisis as a global crisis, and identifies the single biggest cause as a lack of father involvement (the boy crisis resides where fathers do not reside). Hes been trying to bring national attention to this, and has finally gotten the attention of the White House. He initially wanted the administration to start a White House Council on Boys and Men, but was told President Trump isnt really into creating councils.

Farrell spoke with several high-level officials from the Health and Human Services agency, who have heard his talks. Next, he spoke with high level officials from the White House and DOJ, presenting the problem and proposing solutions. He explained how there are both economic and psychological costs of not attending to father involvement and family. He recommends creating an overarching program called Make the American Family Great Again. Underneath that would be a Father Warrior Training program to implement it. The program would teach boys how to be great future fathers; how to love and be loved in the family. They would learn in elementary school how to care and be responsible.

Trump could issue an executive order that asks each department of government to look at their already-existing programs and see how they could be channeled to address the problems in the boy crisis. Farrell documents how promoting father involvement and addressing the problems boys face would actually reduce the size of government, since dad involvement, male teachers, male mentors and dozens of other changes would lead to fewer boys and men committing crimes and being sent to prison. And fewer ISIS recruits, the great majority of whom are dad deprived. Similarly, all five of the U.S. school shooters in the 21st century who killed 10 or more people, whose backgrounds we know about, were dad deprived. And dad-deprived boys mothers are also more likely to turn to the government-as-substitute husband. Farrell estimates that neglecting the boy crisis costs taxpayers about a trillion dollars per year.

Farrell has also reached out to the Democratic presidential candidates. He interviewed seven of them in depth about this issue, and all were very receptive. However, when he talked to their campaign managers afterwards, they expressed their doubts, saying a focus on father involvement would alienate three parts of their Democratic base: unwed mothers, divorced mothers and lesbian couples.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of societys attention gets focused on women and girls. But its not women filling up the prisons and who become separated from their children. Women now attend college in higher numbers than men, and there are more women in the workplace than men. Boys are 44% more likely than girls to drop out of high school, and 20% of these dropouts are unemployed in their 20s. That is more than five times the national unemployment rate.

Critics complain about toxic masculinity, but they dont understand the causes. Its not because of male privilege, its because of male sacrifice. Boys are trained to be heroes, serve in the military where theyre disposable and taught to keep their feelings to themselves. These do create toxicities, but ones that emanate from sacrifice. Farrell suggests that a better future will include training our sons for a balance between health intelligence and heroic intelligence.

Farrell has also recommended to the White House a Male Teacher Corps  giving scholarships to men to become elementary school teachers in exchange for serving at least two years as one. He found that children most in jeopardy go from mom-only homes to female teachers in elementary school or nursery school. An astounding 95% of elementary school teachers are women. Boys who dont have male role models that are constructive are vulnerable to male role models who are destructive  like gang leaders and drug dealers. In his research for The Boy Crisis, Farrell uncovered nine differences between male and female styles of parenting. The children who do the best have what he calls checks-and-balance parenting.

The boy crisis has already started getting national attention. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said the two big crises facing the U.S. are cyberwarfare and boys not doing as well as they could, especially in artificial intelligence and tech. He recommends a massive increase in vocational education, especially in AI and tech. In Japan, 30% of students are in vocational ed., and 99.6% of those who graduate get jobs after graduation.

Farrell is dynamic and charismatic, the right person to lead this effort. Hes my favorite person to interview, and his book was one of the best books Ive ever read. Farrell recommends that people interested in helping contact their representatives and tell them there is a boy crisis and something needs to be done. Its time to swing the pendulum back from solely focusing on womens problems and stop ignoring whats going on with our boys.
Some 13,000 migrants have gathered along the Turkish-Greek border after Turkey's president threatened to allow some of the 3.6 million refugees in the country cross into Europe, the United Nations said Saturday.

"Thousands of migrants, including families with young children, are passing a cold night along the border between Turkey and Greece," the International Organization for Migration said in a statement.

The U.N. agency said its staff had been tracking the movement of people from Istanbul and were providing humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable.

"By Saturday evening, staff working along the 212-kilometre-long border between Turkey and Greece and in the capital had observed at least 13,000 people gathered at the formal border crossing points at Pazarkule and Ipsala and multiple informal border crossings," it said.

The agency said it had spotted "groups of between several dozen and more than 3,000.

"The number of migrants moving through Edirne towards the border grew through the day as cars, taxis and buses arrived from Istanbul," the head of IOM's Turkey mission, Lado Gvilava, said in the statement.

"Most of those on the move are men but we are also seeing many family groups traveling with young children," he added.

'Vulnerable people'

Gvilava said the IOM was distributing food and other basic supplies, but with temperatures dropping close to freezing, "we're concerned about these vulnerable people who are exposed to the elements."

IOM staff reported that buses continued into the evening to be "loaded to overcapacity" in Istanbul with people bound for the border area.

The mass movement of people began after Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to open the gates and allow refugees to travel to Europe as a way to pressure EU governments over the Syrian conflict.

Turkey and Russia, who back opposing forces in the Syria conflict, have held talks to try to defuse tensions after an airstrike killed the Turkish troops, sparking fears of a broader war and a new migration crisis for Europe.

At the border Saturday, Greek police clashed with several thousand migrants already gathered at the entrance to EU territory, where they hurled rocks at security forces firing tear gas across the frontier.

In 2015, Greece became the main EU entry point for 1 million migrants, most of them refugees fleeing the Syrian civil war.
Paris, March 1 : Reality TV star Kourtney Kardashian has been spotted wearing a coronavirus mask while visiting Paris for Fashion Week with her sister Kim Kardashian and rapper Kanye West.

With US president Donald Trump playing down the threat of coronavirus after the death in Washington state was announced, Kourtney was not taking any chances as she headed into Europe, where the virus is now widespread.

Kourtney was seen arriving at the Le Bourget airport in France, where there have been 100 confirmed cases so far, that has led to two deaths, reports mirror.co.uk.

The big fashion event has already seen some shows cancelled as organisers and designers developed cold feet about the spread of coronavirus.

It is expected that face masks will be the norm across the fashion week and Kourtney wasted no time in getting into the swing of it.
Announcement came as the first death from coronavirus was reported in the US from the Washington state

Washington: US president Donald Trump on Saturday announced restrictions on travel from Iran and advised fellow citizens not to travel to certain areas of South Korea and Italy.

The announcement came as the first death from coronavirus was reported in the US from the Washington state.

"Unfortunately, one person passed away overnight. She was a wonderful woman, a medically high-risk patient in her late 50s," Trump told reporters at the White House.

"Additional cases in the United States are likely, but healthy individuals should be able to fully recover. If you are healthy, you will probably go through a process and you will be fine," he said and urged people not to panic.

As many as 15 people have recovered from the virus so far in the US.

"There is no reason to panic at all. Our country is prepared for any circumstance," the president said at his second press conference in the White House briefing room on his return from India on Wednesday.

Joining the press conference, vice president Mike Pence said Trump had authorised a ban on entry of foreign nationals who travelled to Iran in the last 14 days.

The United States also advised its citizens not to travel to parts of South Korea and Italy, from where reports of coronavirus have appeared. The vice president has been tasked by Trump to lead the administration's efforts in the fight against the coronavirus.

According to Center for Disease Control Director Robert Redfield, 22 cases of coronavirus have been reported in the US so far. Trump said various wings of the US government were working on the coronavirus round the clock.

"It is a tough one, but a lot of progress has been made," the president said, adding that his administration had taken the most aggressive action in modern history to confront the disease.

In a statement, Washington State Governor Jay Inslee announced the death of an individual from the coronavirus.

"It is a sad day in our state as we learn that a Washingtonian has died from COVID-19. Our hearts go out to their family and friends. We will continue to work toward a day where no one dies from this virus," he said.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said there was an outbreak of a respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus that was first detected in the Wuhan city of China's Hubei province and has now been detected in 50 locations internationally, including cases in the United States.

It said the potential public health threat posed by the coronavirus was high, both globally and to the US, adding that to effectively respond to the coronavirus outbreak, rapid detection of cases and contacts, appropriate clinical management and infection control, and implementation of community mitigation efforts were critical.

This could best be achieved with wide availability of testing capabilities in healthcare settings, reference and commercial laboratories, and at the point of care, the FDA said.

It added that it would allow some 300 to 400 academic-hospital laboratories to begin testing for the virus, allowing for checks of thousands of people rather than the few hundred already tested.

"We believe this policy strikes the right balance during this public health emergency. We will continue to help to ensure sound science prior to clinical testing and follow-up with the critical independent review from the FDA, while quickly expanding testing capabilities in the US. We are not changing our standards for issuing Emergency Use Authorisations. This action today reflects our commitment to addressing critical public health needs and rapidly responding and adapting to this dynamic and evolving situation," FDA Commissioner Stephen M Hahn said.

The FDA guidance provides recommendations for test developers, including information regarding test validation, FDA notifications and interim confirmatory clinical testing.

Responding to a question, Trump said he was considering closing the southern border to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

"We are looking also at (the) southern border. We have received a lot of power on the southern border over the last couple years from the courts, but we are looking at that very strongly," he said.

In a letter on Friday, several senators, including Ted Cruz, Martha McSally and John Cornyn, called for closing the coronavirus.

"As southern border Senators, we are concerned about the possible spread of the coronavirus across our borders," they said in the letter to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Acting Commissioner Mark Morgan.

"We are similarly concerned about recent reports that the virus is spreading in Europe. Border shortcomings by the European Union have resulted in the spread of the virus across a number of nations, and it is essential that the United States not repeat these mistakes. We write to ask how your agency is prepared to address the threat presented by the coronavirus at US borders," the senators said.
PARIS, Feb 29 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron urged his Russian and Turkish counterparts on Saturday to halt hostilities in Syria and agree to a lasting ceasefire, his office said.

Macron told the Russian and Turkish leaders in separate phone calls that he was "deeply concerned about the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe" caused by the Syrian offensive and its allies in the province of Idlib.

"The President of the Republic stressed that an immediate cease to hostilities was needed and called on Russia and Turkey to establish a durable and verifiable ceasefire as they committed to France and Germany at the four-way summit in Istanbul in the autumn 2018," his office said in a statement.

Macron also expressed solidarity with Turkey over the recent deaths of its soldiers in Syria, and urged Turkey to cooperate with the European Union on migrant flows. (Reporting by Leigh Thomas, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)
It's official. Lady Gaga released her new single, "Stupid Love," and let her fans know that she quit smoking. During an appearance on Apple Music's New Music Daily with Zane Lowe, Gaga explained that in the past, she'd smoke about 40 cigarettes a day. But, she noted that she quit cold turkey and assured fans that it wasn't easy.

Gaga assured everyone that it wasn't an easy process, but that she's glad she made it through. She told Lowe that she'll never smoke again, even going as far as to say (jokingly, we hope) that she was hallucinating.

"Im not smoking anymore, but Id smoke 40 cigarettes all day long. I swear on my life Im not smoking cigarettes. I completely quit  I quit cold turkey," she said. "But it was so hard. If you don't smoke, don't smoke! Because quitting is worse. It is so brutal. And I will never smoke again because I think I saw Jesus for an entire week. It was so awful."

Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images

RELATED: Lady Gaga Marks Her Return to Pop Music with the Release of "Stupid Love"

It's not the first time that she's tried to quit. Back in 2016, she was a guest on BBC Radio1's Breakfast Show and said, "I will quit when we start doing TV and stuff, but I try to look at things in perspective. It's terrible. I have been yelled at by Elton [John], by Stevie Wonder, by Tony Bennett, the list could go on of amazing, great people who are like, 'You need to stop smoking.'" At the time, she said that she wasn't smoking actual cigarettes: "I don't smoke cigarettes, though. I smoke clove cigars."

She told Lowe in a previous interview that she'd quit, but it looks like she relapsed between then and now. Now that she's confirmed that she's done for good, she can focus on promoting her new material. With a video like this, the expectations are high.
Family complains after church denies 8-y-o boy communion because hes autistic and prompts change

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

A day after a New Jersey couple revealed that their 8-year-old son was denied First Communion by the Saint Aloysius Parish in Jackson due to his autism, the church reversed its decision after public outcry.

Jimmy LaCugna complained in a now viral Facebook post that he and his wife, Nicole, were told by the Rev. John Bambrick that their son, Anthony, won't be able to participate in the religious ceremony because of his disability.

As most of you know, Anthony is an autistic non-verbal child who is in his sacrament year. Father Bambrick at Saint Aloysis Church in Jackson and the Archdiocese of Trenton came to this position since Anthony is unable to determine right from wrong due to his disability they feel he is not up to the benchmark required to make his communion, Jimmy LaCugna wrote.

This is very hard and upsetting to comprehend when we all are created by God and now our son is being shunned from the Catholic faith due to his inability to communicate. This is something that I hope goes viral and these parties involved get their names called out for this disgraceful and disheartening act against a child who has a disability and wouldnt even be able to create a sin because he is one of the sweetest and innocent little boy someone would ever meet, he wrote in a post that has since been shared more than 10,000 times on Facebook.

Nicole LaCugna told News 12 New Jersey that she thinks the decision by the church is unbiblical because: "Nowhere in the Bible does it ever show discrimination against anybody."

She also told the Asbury Park Press that even though Anthony is diagnosed with a serious form of autism, is 100% nonverbal with severe apraxiaas, he is happy and active as any boy, and attends an inclusion class at a regular public school.

He does well for his abilities, his process is a slow process and he does what he is able to do, she said.

She told the publication that when Anthony reached first grade in the fall of 2018, she wanted to start him on the religious education track toward First Holy Communion but did not believe he could attend regular classes. The parish then gave her permission to homeschool him for religious studies.

She also received permission in September to continue with his homeschooling plan and expected he would receive his First Holy Communion along with other second graders in April.

I was always transparent about him, they knew what was here, she said. I knew what he wouldnt be able to do.

I stressed that there is no way he could sit through a mass, so they were going to let us come to a different mass, with a different group, and he would be the only one who would receive communion, she said.

When she got a call from the church on Monday informing her that Anthony wouldnt receive communion, she said, I cried two times with them on the phone.

I said it is unfair, my son is a child of God. He is welcomed into the Catholic faith. My son is being discriminated against, she added.

The Christian Post reached out to the Rev. Bambrick for comment Friday but he was not immediately available.

The church released a statement Wednesday on Facebook, however, stating that after reviewing the Code of Canon Law, which states that Catholics cannot be denied the sacraments as long as they are properly prepared and are ready to receive them, they have found evidence to allow children with disabilities into the fold.

Our parish has dozens of children with special needs, disabilities, autism spectrum, cognitive delay, allergies, developmental disabilities, physical disabilities, limited cognition and other physical, emotional and cognitive classifications. We strive to serve these populations to the best of our abilities and to adapt our Religious Education and Sacramental Preparations for them within the guidelines of the Catholic Church, the statement said.

Since Monday we have been researching how we could best assist the most profoundly disabled in a better way. New information has come to light which allows us to by-pass previous Diocesan Guidelines to better serve this subset population. The original guidelines we followed state that a child must have a basic rudimentary simple understanding of Right and Wrong to receive First Reconciliation. For First Communion, again at a simple, basic, rudimentary level, the child has to be able to distinguish ordinary bread from the Body of Christ, the church continued.

New information has shed light on ways to further adapt our preparations and reception for children with severe cognitive and developmental issues. This is thanks to the work of Canon Lawyers, Theologians and Pope Francis which will allow the reception of these sacraments. The basic concept is the child should be presumed to have an inner spiritual relationship with God and this would be sufficient in these particular cases, thus this is a development of our guidelines based on the latest understanding. Bishop David O'Connell of the Diocese of Trenton has approved of these further adaptations, they added.

The family, the church said, has been informed of the review.
A brave woman in Newry in her 70s faced down burglars armed with a hammer as they tried to steal car keys from her, police have revealed.

Detectives are appealing for information following a report of the burglary at residential premises in the Turmore Road area yesterday morning.

Detective Sergeant Joanne Jackson said: At around 5.40am, it was reported that two men had gained entry into a house in the area.

They demanded keys to a car parked outside the property from the female occupant.

The woman, aged in her 70s, refused to give the keys and the males left the scene, with one of the men armed with a hammer.

Enquiries are continuing and police are investigating a possible link between this incident and an attempted burglary at the Sheeptown Road area of Newry shortly before 3:05am this morning and a theft from a vehicle also at the Turmore Road area sometime through the night.

A short time later, two men aged 30 and 27 years old were arrested on suspicious of attempted burglary and aggravated burglary.

Both men are assisting police with their enquiries.

We would continuing to appeal to anyone who witnessed anything suspicious in either the Turmore Road or Sheeptown Road area of Newry this morning, to contact detectives on 101 quoting reference number 418 1/3/20, Ms Jackson said.

Alternatively, information can also be provided to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 which is 100% anonymous and gives people the power to speak up and stop crime.
Photograph: Andrew Harnik/AP

The US health department sent workers to assist Americans evacuated from China because of the coronavirus outbreak without proper training or appropriate protective gear, according to a whistleblower complaint filed by a senior department official who said she faced retaliation.

Related: Inequalities of US health system put coronavirus fight at risk, experts say

The workers were improperly deployed to two military bases in California where Americans who had been in the center of the outbreak, Wuhan in China, were being processed, according to a complaint first reported by the Washington Post.

The whistleblowers attorney, Ari Wilkenfeld, confirmed the Washington Post accurately described allegations made in a complaint filed to the US Office of Special Counsel (OSC) and said his law firm was hopeful the case would be investigated in a timely and comprehensive manner.

This matter concerns HHSs response to the coronavirus, and its failure to protect its employees and potentially the public, Wilkenfeld said in an email to the Guardian. The retaliatory efforts to intimidate and silence our client must be opposed.

The staff in question were from the health departments Administration for Children and Families, or ACF, and were not medical workers. They were not properly trained or equipped to operate in a public health emergency situation according to the complaint, which said they had face-to-face contact with evacuees on multiple occasions.

After potentially being exposed to the coronavirus, the workers moved freely off the air force bases and at least one left California on a commercial flight. About 14 personnel were sent to March air force base in Riverside county, California, and about 13 personnel were sent to Travis air force base in Solano county in late January and early February.

Solano county is the first location in the US to see coronavirus confirmed in a person who had not traveled to an area where the illness was spreading and who had no known contact with someone diagnosed with the illness.

Story continues

The whistleblower, who reportedly received two awards from the health secretary last year, said she was unfairly reassigned after raising concern about the workers.

Related: Tell us: are you a US healthcare worker concerned about coronavirus?

We take all whistleblower complaints very seriously and are providing the complainant all appropriate protections under the Whistleblower Protection Act, an HHS spokeswoman, Caitlin Oakley, told reporters. We are evaluating the complaint and have nothing further to add at this time.

A Democratic representative from California, Jimmy Gomez, received a copy of the whistleblower complaint. At a House ways and means committee hearing on Thursday, Gomez asked the US health secretary, Alex Azar, whether workers from ACF were exposed to evacuees from China.

They should never have been, Azar responded, unless they had the proper suits needed to protect against infection. To maintain quarantine, that should be the case.

Gomez, and the House ways and means committee chairman, Richard Neal, formally requested a briefing from Azar within a week in a letter. We are deeply troubled that HHS seems to have ignored valid public health concerns, and also about reports that HHS immediately retaliated against a whistleblower instead of taking action to protect its staff and the public from being exposed to a potentially fatal virus, they wrote.

A top medical official at the state department denied protocols had been broken at a hearing after the whistleblowers allegations were made public.

Every precaution has been taken, said William Walters, the head of operational medicine at the departments bureau of medical services, on Thursday. I can say unequivocally that everyone involved with those evacuations were properly equipped and trained.

Senator Ed Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, called on Azar to resign after the content of the complaint was made public.

Allowing HHS workers to be exposed to Wuhan evacuees without adequate protection is gross mismanagement that jeopardizes American lives, Markey tweeted. We need someone in charge who will rise to the level of responding to this threat.

Responding to the report, Massachusetts other senator, Elizabeth Warren, tweeted: The Trump administrations careless incompetence has put lives at risk.
Geneva, Switzerland (PANA) - The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that criminals are taking advantage of the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, to steal money or sensitive information
By Express News Service

Premium water heater and water purifier manufacturer, AO Smith has reported 50 per cent sales decline in 2019 compared to previous few years due to slowdown in the real estate sector, Parag Kulkarni, MD, AO Smith, told Bismah Malik in an interview.

The US-based company, however, grew at 13 per cent from January to December 2019. The sales had touched a record high of 40 per cent in the previous year due to rising inventories in the sector. Its water heaters and purifiers are generally bought by construction companies.

The company had made an investment of over Rs 500 crore in various manufacturing facilities in India.

Tell us about the journey so far for AO Smith.

We are now about a decade-old company in the country. Our first plant came in 2010. We made investments in Bengaluru and Karnataka manufacturing plants. We have invested in Harohalli. We are one of the first possible investors in the area. Our net investments till date may be close to about more than Rs 500 crore. In that manufactory, we have 20 acres of industrial plot in the first phase.

The second phase started in 2014. We have built up a facility of about 276 thousand square feet, which includes manufacturing of both water heaters and water purifiers. The facility has an air-conditioned area. We manufacture in a completely safe and controlled area. There is no chance for infection to spread.

Is the company looking for expansion? Tells us about your plans.

No. We have enough scope to expand in Bengaluru. We manufacture everything internally, however, there could be some import dependency. We have a large manufacturing base in China and we get some components from our China factory.

So there is a focus on localisation. We are the fastest-growing geography in the AO Smith corporation and growing at double digits...Over the last three years, it staggered at 30 per cent. We grew at 13% in India, a high double-digit growth.

The kind of water heaters we manufacture can last for about 7 to 10 years, so we sell over 60 per cent to those who buy new houses. Amid the slowdown in the real estate sector, 13 per cent growth is good for us.

What is your business outlook for coming fiscal?

The consumer has become wiser these days while spending money and running for value for money.

When a customer applies his or her mind while spending money that is good for brands as they have to deliver more value to them for what they are spending. In that sense, I feel there is a general optimism in the market.

Has AO Smith been able to expand in tier 2, 3 cities apart from metros?

AO Smith was largely seen as tier 1 brand in the last 3 to 4 years but over the last 2 to 3 years our focus has been aspirational. There is India outside that 7 to 8 metros. About 53 cities in the country have a population of more than one million, AO Smith has virtually represented itself in all these places including cities like Coimbatore, Madurai, Kochi, Chandigarh, Surat, Baroda, Nagpur, Indore etc. We have been growing at about 4 to 5 per cent faster in tier 1 cities...I think the gap between tier 1, tier 2 and tier 3 cities is fast diminishing.

Are you developing your own omni-comm channel?

We obviously are present on the platform where they go to and if we have to give you some statistics maybe 2 years back we had 4 per cent of businesses coming from e-commerce.
Joe Biden is the winner of the Democratic primary in South Carolina, thanks to the support of the African American voters in the state.

With 17% of the precincts reported, Biden has about 52% of the vote, while Sanders has about 17%. Once all the votes are in, the win could give Biden as many as 54 delegates and it quells the recent winning streak of progressive rival Bernie Sanders, who currently has 51.

The victory is much needed for Biden, as voters in 14 states  Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Virginia  gear up to head to the polls on Super Tuesday, March 3, where 1,357 delegates are at stake. Of the 3,979 delegates available in 2020, a minimum of 1,991 are needed to win the Democratic nomination on the first ballot.

Also Read: Obama Demands South Carolina Stations Stop Running Misleading Ad Where He Appears to Attack Biden

Biden has said that South Carolina would be an important primary to win. The states primary has served as the candidates first real test among black voters.

Four days before the South Carolina primary and exactly a week before Super Tuesday, seven candidates  Michael Bloomberg, Pete Buttigieg, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, Amy Klobuchar and Tom Steyer  appeared on stage in South Carolina for the 10th Democratic presidential debate.

Candidates sustained attacks on Bloomberg, with Sanders also the focus of much criticism, something hes largely avoided until now. But none of the candidates, including Bloomberg and Sanders, landed any real punches during the debate. It largely amounted to a recitation of prior criticisms and reiteration of stump speeches  though booing audience members made things lively more than once.

Also Read: Public Enemy's Flavor Flav Sends Cease and Desist Letter to Bernie Sanders

There was criticism around the way the pre-primary events were conducted. CBS ran ads for candidate Michael Bloomberg during that debate, prompting questions from media insiders and political observers. CBS News was one of the media partners for the debate and CBS News anchors served as moderators.

Read original story Joe Biden Wins South Carolina Democratic Primary; Sanders Is Distant Second At TheWrap
Cassie, 30, and Mac, 34 Last year, we were talking about getting married and I mentioned that I didnt want a big wedding. Mac said we could have a small wedding, and I said Id rather elope. We were going to Morocco on a holiday anyway, so I suggested we just have a ceremony there. He said no for a while, but I kept bugging him about it, and then he agreed. He hadnt even proposed at this stage! He did that two months later. Cassie and Mac. Ive never been the kind of girl who dreamed of a big, white wedding. So instead, we just organised a hotel in town about six hours south of Marrakesh, in an oasis with palm trees and cacti. It was just us, our friend Natalia who is a photographer, and some locals. We did a civil ceremony when we got home and had a party, which we count as our reception. We have big families, so it was a big party. Weve got seven parents between us and millions of siblings. We had some speeches and we shared some of our vows, so the people we love felt included. We told our families before we left for Morocco. Macs dad said he was concerned about how the mothers would take it, but the mothers were cool with it. We told a few close friends beforehand, too, so it wasnt a complete secret. Otherwise, people just found out when we put the pictures up on Instagram.

I ordered a dress online from America. Its long-sleeved, with sequins, in a sort of beige colour. We made a video of the ceremony in Morocco. We danced, we had dinner in a tent, and it was all over by 8 or 9pm. We got the idea from this couple we know who did it in the Maldives and then had a party in Byron Bay. It was just the best decision. Lots of friends have since said to us that they wish theyd done it this way, because their weddings were so stressful. Asia, 42, and Toby, 47 We were considering a traditional wedding but I am originally from Poland and my family is huge  my dad has eight siblings!  so we were both dreading having a big wedding in front of people that I dont even know or remember and Toby definitely hasnt met. We wanted to have a nice relaxing day, where the main focus would be on us and our love, not pleasing someone else. Asia and Toby. There was also the question of religion. My family is very Catholic and Toby was baptised in the Church of England. We are not very religious people so we decided to have a Buddhist ceremony! Their wedding traditions are really beautiful.

I dont remember who first suggested it. After stressing about the thought of organising a big fat Polish wedding, we said that we might go away on holiday somewhere warm, but then we thought why dont we get married while we are there? It was 11 years ago. We went to the south of Sri Lanka and stayed in the most beautiful hotel by the Pacific Ocean. All our friends and family thought that we were just going away on holiday. Loading Two of our friends were emigrating to Australia at that time and they really wanted to meet up with us in Sri Lanka. So we told them that we were getting married and they agreed to be our witnesses. So they were there with us on the day, plus another couple that got married at the same hotel a week earlier that we had become friendly with during our stay. I was wearing a cheap and cheerful dress I bought a week before a trip. Toby wore a white shirt and trousers and flip flops. On the day of the wedding, before the ceremony, I went for a nice spa treatment and Toby was drinking beers on the beach. It was all very relaxing. In the evening we had a nice dinner that was set up in the middle of the pool. After the wedding we went on our honeymoon, travelling around Sri Lanka for two weeks. The whole thing was just magical. Danielle, 43, and Nicholas, 45

It was his idea, initially. Wed been together five-and-a-half years and Id been hoping (and hinting) for a proposal but I didnt think he was ready. After dinner out one night, three weeks before a planned family holiday to New York, he suggested we just run away and get married in Central Park. Naturally, I did not let him off that easily and insisted upon a proper proposal. I didnt need a ring and a bent knee, but I needed the official question to be popped properly. Our love story actually spans 16 years, with a few things  kids and another marriage  happening in between. Danielle and Nicholas. Loading Our friends and family were thrilled. They all agreed it was totally an us thing to do. The mums were delighted and a little tearful, and his mother was a little sad that she missed the festivities, but we are total gluttons for fun so were having another wedding celebration this week with friends and family. The secret nearly killed me. We announced the engagement immediately, and everyone was saying how surprised they were that I was at being so blase and not making any big plans straight away. I told one very dear friend because I needed help choosing a dress. Some decisions cannot be made without a trusted opinion. Not telling all my closest girlfriends was torture but their reaction was worth it.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Of all the opportunities in Cleveland to spot new artistic talent, the Student Independent Exhibition at the Cleveland Institute of Art is one of the best.

This years show, on view through Sunday, March 15, lives up to that tradition. It portrays the four-year, independent art college as a vibrant creative community full of emerging voices jostling for attention.

Organized by students, and juried by non-local jurors, the show features works by 76 students from freshmen to seniors.

This years jurors were former American Greetings Illustrator Cannaday Chapman, who now lives in Berlin, Germany; New York multimedia artist Ellen Donnelly; and designer-artist Christopher Gentner, a 1989 Cleveland Institute of Art graduate now based in Chicago.

Inevitably, in a show the size of the Student Independent, not everything is great. But this years exhibition contains some especially striking work.

Most notable is a large painting, nearly 12 feet wide by 6 feet high, by senior Brandon Secrest, which is filled from edge to edge with nothing but rippling, scarlet-colored drapery.

A 38-year-old native of Anaheim, CA., and former Navy SEAL, Secrest became an artist after 10 years of active duty including deployments in the Arabian Gulf, the east coast of Africa, Afghanistan, Iraq and the greater Middle East.

None of that experience shows up literally in Secrests painting, but the work displays a relentless, highly focused energy that may have something to do with the artists military experience.

More than anything, though, its a thought experiment inspired by European Old Master paintings of the Renaissance and Baroque eras, in which billows of fabric hang from classical architecture or swirl around the bodies of saints.

In Secrests painting, drapery is the main dish, not just a condiment. There are no narrative details, and not the slightest suggestion of bodies or anything else under the cloth. The painting simply depicts a swirling sea of rippling folds and hollows, dramatically lighted and skillfully rendered.

The result is a visual conundrum. The painting is a highly realistic, but it has the overall, forward-pressing intensity of an abstraction.

It also has a kind of airless, almost claustrophobic intensity. The eye is not allowed to escape to a distant patch of blue, or to focus on any one particular area of fabric.

Secrest is saying, with his brush, that the entire surface of the painting is equally important. Its all one, big, insistent, unmodulated climax.

The painting demonstrates a phenomenal work ethic, along with a certain restlessness. It doesnt suggest that Secrest, who is double majoring in painting and sculpture + expanded media, will continue painting in this vein as much as it suggests that hell continue experimenting with a real sense of vigor.

Indeed, the show includes another object by Secrest, a jaunty-looking chair fashioned out of pink rods of bent metal that looks more like a quasi-abstract, three-dimensional drawing of a chair than something actually meant for sitting.

Taken together, the chair and the painting suggest that Secrest has many options in his future, and that his next step will be to sort them out.

Other noteworthy items in the show include:

 Two works by senior Erykah Townsend, the Garfield Heights native and Cleveland School of the Arts graduate to qualify for the first four-year, full-tuition scholarship at the art institute. Townsend is represented in the show by a portrait of Fred Rogers, of Mr. Rogers fame, thats made of tiny colored pompoms arranged like pixels in a blown-up digital photo. Also on view is a large, cartoonish image depicting a comically malevolent creature in a work described as a painting, but which resembles a large cookie hung on the wall. The works display creative versatility and an ability to exploit materials.

 A photograph by senior Matt Nunes, a son of Cleveland Institute of Art President Grafton Nunes, depicting a desolate-looking abandoned Walgreens amid a cracked parking lot under a brooding sky. Nunes turns a commonplace scene into a meditation on a suburban wasteland.

 A short, animated video by junior Margot Gordon portraying the unlikely romance between a female deputy sheriff in the wild west and a masked female bank robber. Gordons tenderhearted narrative upends gender stereotypes and frontier cliches with a quirky sense of humor.

 Four luridly beautiful photographic self-portraits by junior Violet Maimbourg. The artist, who is transitioning from male to female, portrays herself in colorful, campy scenes that at times resemble stills from horror movies.

Maimbourg, 25, appears as a clown with pink suspenders over her breasts, as a kind of human ashtray with smoldering cigarettes pressing into her face, and as a grand guignol figure who has carved her heart out of her chest with a knife.

The photographs can be grisly, but theyre also full of polish, craft and courage. Maimbourg is unafraid to explore aspects of her imagination and to portray herself in artistically compelling ways that feel intense, exposed and vulnerable. Her ability to do that is deeply admirable. Its also a sign that the Cleveland Institute of Art offers a supportive environment for creative explorations of all kinds.

REVIEW

Whats up: 74th Annual Student Independent Exhibition

Venue: Cleveland Institute of Art

Where: 11610 Euclid Ave., Cleveland

When: Through Sunday, March 15

Admission: Free. Call 216-421-7407
Washington state health officials reported the death of a coronavirus patient in the United States on Saturday, marking the first death in the country from COVID-19.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the death was not associated with a long-term care center in Washington where they are responding to "the first possible outbreak" of the illness.

It's also been reported that over 25 staff members and 27 patients from the facility are reportedly exhibiting symptoms associated with the respiratory illness. The facility houses two confirmed carriers of coronavirus.

The long-term care facility said they are turning away new patients and visitors, and the patients and staff found "with symptoms or were potentially exposed are quarantined."

The person who died from the global threat coronavirus was a man in his 50s with underlying health conditions. Health officials said there was no evidence he contracted the virus through travel. Health officials suspect domestic "community spread" of the disease, a new phase that began this week on the West Coast.

Officials described the man to be chronically ill when he entered as a was a patient at the long-term care center. They also said he was among three new presumptive cases in Washington where they tested positive locally. They are still awaiting confirmation with the CDC.

US diplomatic officials also confirmed the death of a US citizen diagnosed with COVID-19 at Jinyintian Hospital in Wuhan, China on February 6.

According to an NBC News tally, there are 69 Americans who have so far contracted the virus.

President Donald Trump held a White House news conference shortly after the announcement of the first U.S. death. He announced the issuance of more travel restrictions and warnings to help prevent the spread of the virus.

Trump also said he is closely monitoring work towards a coronavirus vaccine with pharmaceutical executives.

Jay Inslee, Washington's governor, declared a state of emergency in response to new cases of the virus. He directed state agencies to prepare and respond to the outbreak using all resources necessary.

"This will allow us to get the resources we need," Inslee said. "This is a time to take commonsense, proactive measures to ensure the health and safety of those who live in Washington state."

Vice President Mike Pence said the United States is "all hands on deck" in trying to contain and stop the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

CDC said the outbreak of coronavirus is not a national spread, but limited to only some communities.

Illinois county confirms a new patient to be carrying coronavirus, the third case in the county. Officials in Cook country, Illinois said the patient is in isolation.

In January, Illinois confirmed two cases of COVID-19 on a couple who traveled to Wuhan, China. Both patients made a full recovery.

Health officials also confirmed its fourth coronavirus case in Santa Clara County, California on Saturday. The patient, who is an adult woman, is "not ill" and has not been hospitalized.

The third case, which was described last week by health officials, involved an older woman with chronic health issues. Officials say she had not traveled out of the country, nor came into close contact with a known carrier.

There are more than 1,000 new confirmed cases reported outside of China in the last 24 hours. Over 1,500 new cases were reported in the rest of the world, including South Korea, Italy, and Iran.

There have been 61 deaths and nearly 3,000 recoveries reported.

Coronavirus has taken the 2,973 lives. A total of 41,000 people have made total recoveries after being infected with the virus.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 09:47:13|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- China's machinery industry is expected to see a mild growth in revenues and profits this year if the novel coronavirus outbreak could end at an early date, according to a report from the China Machinery Industry Federation.

Shortages of workers and anti-epidemic products, as well as transport and supply chain disruptions, will constrain the growth of the machinery industry in the short term, possibly leading to a substantial decline in the industry's major economic indicators for the first quarter.

However, thanks to a slew of supportive measures, market confidence will rebound in the medium term. If the epidemic is contained effectively during the first quarter, over 90 percent of machinery companies will return to full operation in the second quarter.

From a long-term point of view, China's economic fundamentals remain stable, and the country will ramp up construction and investment following the end of the epidemic, thus creating new opportunities for machinery companies, said the report.

As the performance of the machinery sector will pick up, it is still able to achieve a 5-percent growth in industrial output for the whole year, it said.
We still don't know a lot about the coronavirus, and those unknowns make even the best contingency planning a lot harder.

The big picture: We don't know how widely the virus is spreading undetected, which makes it more important for leaders to map out worst-case scenarios. But experts say we're also not at a place where closing schools, requiring telecommuting or canceling public events are imminent or practical.

"There's a lot of panic and concern, but there's no indication that these more dramatic measures are necessary," said Allison Bartlett, an infectious disease physician at the University of Chicago.

The latest: President Trump has increased travel restrictions to Iran and authorized "do not travel" warnings for areas in Italy and South Korea  and said he's looking "very strongly" at closing the southern border with Mexico.

But Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Robert Redfield announced the Washington state patient who died had no known link to travel or contact with anyone with the disease.

And now health officials are concerned about a long-term care facility in Kirkland, Washington, where more than 50 people have respiratory symptoms and are being tested for the virus.

What's happening: The dire scenarios took over the national conversation after the CDC's Nancy Messonnier told the public last week to ask school districts about remote learning, consider alternative child care, work from home and monitor scheduled gatherings. "These are things that people need to start thinking about now," she said.

There's no clear or defined threshold to trigger those kinds of responses.

But "the people who are making those decisions are going to be mindful of the fact that this [virus] can spread very quickly," said Jeff Shaman, an infectious disease expert at Columbia University.

School closings have already happened in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Ohio, Texas and elsewhere  but they happened because of this year's virulent flu season, not the coronavirus.

The flu is infecting and killing more people, but the coronavirus has a higher preliminary mortality rate. (That mortality rate could be incorrect, though, because we don't know how many people are infected with the coronavirus but are not showing symptoms.)

Regardless, the last thing we want is two deadly viruses swamping the public at the same time, experts say.

On Saturday, Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health told reporters that, like the flu, most of the deaths will be among elderly or people with underlying medical conditions  but that "every once in a while, you're going to see a one-off" like a young adult dying from the virus.

Yes, but: In China, people "have accepted and adhered to the starkest of containment measures  whether the suspension of public gatherings, the month-long 'stay-at-home' advisories or prohibitions on travel," experts wrote in a new World Health Organization report.

Those restrictions helped slow the spread, but they are tough to enforce in the U.S. for many reasons, including the lack of guaranteed paid sick leave.

That makes staying home  from work, school or events  not financially or technologically feasible for millions.

The bottom line: Society isn't about to shut down. But the flu and coronavirus should motivate people to be diligent stewards of health by covering coughs, washing hands thoroughly and disinfecting common objects  which is about all they can do right now.

Go deeper: Brace yourself for a coronavirus outbreak
Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan were expected to sign a final deal on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) during the two-day talks that concluded on Friday, but Ethiopia skipped the meetings citing incomplete domestic discussions.

In a joint statement released on Sunday, Egypt's foreign and irrigation ministries expressed deep "displeasure and rejection" of a statement issued by Ethiopia following the talks, in which it vowed to commence filling the dam despite the lack of a final agreement with Egypt and Sudan.

The ministries said Ethiopia was "deliberately absent to impede the course of the negotiations".

Egypt said it was "surprising" that Ethiopia cited the need for more time to deliberate the matter "after more than five years of full engagement in intensive negotiations that addressed all dimensions and details of this issue."

It dismissed the Ethiopian remarks as "fallacies and distortion of facts", adding that they signal "clear disavowal of Ethiopia's obligations" under international law and a 2015 deal on the equitable use of the Nile waters.

The Egyptian statement said that the fair and balanced agreement the US crafted has been developed with the full participation of Ethiopia after four months of negotiations.

Egypt signed the deal and called on Ethiopia and Sudan to do the same.

Ethiopia hopes the dam will make it a regional energy hub, but Cairo fears the project will significantly diminish its water supplies from the Nile.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


The Kenner City Council not only wants Washington Elementary School, an 80-year-old, historically African-American school, to remain open. It's also asking the Jefferson Parish School Board to renovate the campus in south Kenner.

Washington is one of four Jefferson Parish schools earmarked for closure under a controversial consolidation plan proposed by Superintendent Cade Brumley that the School Board will consider Wednesday night.

2020 Jefferson Parish Public Schools Infrastructure and Efficiency Plan 2020 Jefferson Parish Public Schools Infrastructure and Efficiency Plan as presented Feb. 5 by Superintendent Cade Brumley.

Under that plan, Washington Elementary would be closed and its 272 students sent to Bunche Elementary in Metairie, also a historically African-American school.

Many people in south Kenner, however, oppose the plan. They say that shuttering Washington would remove an institution that for decades has served as the cornerstone of the city's African-American community.

In two resolutions adopted Feb. 21, the Kenner City Council recognized the historical importance of the school and called on the School Board to find the money to renovate and improve the campus.

+4 Opponents of Jefferson Parish school consolidation say plan would hurt education A sweeping reorganization plan that would close four schools in Jefferson Parish is drawing opposition in Westwego and Kenner, where some pare

The proposed school closures and consolidations are part of a sweeping facilities revamp that parish school system leaders have said is necessary to make better use of their aging facilities, many of which are more than 50 years old.

Schools in Westwego and Gretna are in line for similar consolidations under the plan, which could close four schools and convert some pre-K through fifth grade schools to pre-K through eighth grade.

The Kenner resolutions both passed with no opposition, though Councilman Glenn Hayes did abstain from the second, which called upon the School Board to use its tax resources to pay for renovations. Hayes said he didn't think it was the council's place to tell another elected body what to do with its tax money.

Jury still out on sweeping Jefferson Parish school consolidation plan, but critics are few Cade Brumley has been at the helm of Jefferson Parish's public schools for less than two years, but he has already overseen a host of changes:

The Washington school buildings were built in 1939, making them a prime target for closure. The school was singled out in a 2018 consultant's report as needing to be torn down and rebuilt.

But Simeon Dickerson, the School Board member whose district includes south Kenner, said the school holds a special place in the minds and hearts of many African-Americans because it existed before desegregation.

"It's rich in history and tradition," he said. "Anything that has been around that long should be revered and protected."

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

Dickerson said he would like to see the school district follow the recommendations of that 2018 consultant's report, which advised building a new school at the site.

His comments were echoed by City Council members.

Councilman Gregory Carroll said Washington Elementary was intertwined with south Kenner's mostly African-American community. It operated as a neighborhood school before desegregation and was a point of pride for decades, he said.

"There's enough in the historical value of it for everyone to take ownership of it," he said.

"The history of the school is phenomenal," Councilman Tom Willmott said. "Generations of our residents attended this school."

Willmott's comments drew applause from several residents.

Standardized testing problems widespread in these New Orleans-area schools, report finds Public schools in Orleans and Jefferson parishes saw widespread irregularities with standardized testing last year, and many schools were forc

The Kenner City Council is not the first to hear such opinions. A few weeks ago, some Westwego residents voiced many of the same concerns over the proposed closure of Thibodeaux Elementary during a Westwego City Council meeting.

Brumley's plan would send Thibodeaux Elementary's students to Vic Pitre Elementary, which is also in Westwego.

More than 2,000 students around the parish would be affected by the proposed facilities plan. It also would add social workers, expand mental health offerings and give incoming ninth graders the opportunity to choose their high school.

2,000 students in Jefferson Parish would shift schools under newly proposed plan More than 2,000 Jefferson Parish students could find themselves in new schools in August in the second year of sweeping changes to the state's

The infrastructure plan was produced in response to a request from School Board member Clay Moise, who instructed Brumley to explore ways to reduce costs across the system, which decades ago served more than 70,000 students but now has around 50,000.

The 2018 consultant's report urged about $700 million in renovations and rebuilds, including new schools for Washington and Bunche students. But such a plan would require the passage of a new property tax for facilities improvements, and school leaders scrapped a plan to ask for such a tax last year as they focused on passing a millage to support teacher raises.

Brumley has said the consolidation plan would allow the board to declare the closed schools surplus and repurpose or sell the sites.
Deal With Taliban Paves Way for Start of US Pullout From Afghanistan

By Ayesha Tanzeem February 29, 2020

In a historic deal signed with the Taliban on Saturday in Doha, the United States promised to bring its troops home from Afghanistan in 14 months, with the first reduction, down to 8,600 from 13,000, to take place in the first 135 days.

Full withdrawal will depend on the Taliban sticking to their end of the bargain  making sure they prevent anyone in areas under their control, including al-Qaida, from posing a threat to the U.S. or its allies, and successfully negotiating with other Afghans on the future road map of the country.

"We will closely watch the Taliban's compliance with their commitments and calibrate the pace of our withdrawal to their actions," U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in his statement at the deal-signing ceremony.

The agreement also details some of the steps required to start the intra-Afghan negotiations.

"The United States is committed to start immediately to work with all relevant sides on a plan to expeditiously release combat and political prisoners as a confidence-building measure with the coordination and approval of all relevant sides," the text of the deal reads.

Up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners and up to 1,000 Afghan security forces members will be released by March 10, the first scheduled day of intra-Afghan negotiations.

Afghans' fate in Afghans' hands

While the U.S. would facilitate negotiations between the two sides, Pompeo emphasized that his country would let Afghans decide their own fate.

"When it comes down to it, the future of Afghanistan is for the Afghans to determine. The U.S.-Taliban deal creates the conditions for Afghans to do just that," he said.

The head of the Taliban delegation, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who signed the agreement on behalf of the insurgent group, said negotiations should be based on Islamic values.

"I call on all Afghan sides to come to the table of negotiations with honesty to form an independent and strong Islamic system, thus we may all gather around Islamic values and national interest," he said in his statement.

Once the intra-Afghan negotiations start, the U.S. would also review sanctions against members of the Taliban "with the goal of removing these sanctions by August 27, 2020."

The Saturday ceremony was attended by representatives of 19 countries and four international organizations.

Campaign promise

A statement issued by the White House said the deal fulfilled one of President Donald Trump's campaign promises.

"President Trump promised to bring our troops home from overseas and is following through on that promise," it said.

Trump later spoke to reporters to thank U.S. allies for approving his Afghan peace plan, saying he believed the Taliban would deliver on their commitments. He warned that U.S. troops would go back if "bad things happen," though Trump appeared confident it would not be necessary.

"I will be meeting personally with the Taliban leaders in the not too distant future and we will be very much hoping that they will be doing what they say they are going to be doing; they will be killing terrorists, they will keep that fighting going," the U.S. president said.

A message from Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada categorized the agreement as a victory.

"This victory is a collective victory of the entire Muslim and Mujahid nation," he said in a written statement, adding that "the accord about the complete withdrawal of all foreign forces from Afghanistan and never intervening in its affairs in the future is undoubtedly a great achievement."

Taliban spokesman Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai said that after the United States withdraws its forces, the Taliban would like it to return and participate in Afghanistan's rehabilitation.

The signing was preceded by a week of reduction in violence in which all sides  the Taliban, the U.S., NATO forces in Afghanistan and the Afghan government  agreed not to initiate an attack.

The war, which has lasted 19 years, has cost more than 100,000 lives and more than $1 trillion.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-02 06:54:04|Editor: mingmei

Video Player Close

A man takes selfies in front of the main pylon of the Karnak Temple Complex in Luxor, Egypt, on March 1, 2020. Egypt lit up on Sunday evening three famous historical sites in the country, including Saladin Citadel in Cairo, in red and golden stars to resemble the national flag of China as a sign of solidarity in combating the novel coronavirus. The other two sites are the main pylon of the Karnak Temple Complex in Luxor and the entrance of the Philae Temple Complex in Aswan. (Photo by Radwan/Xinhua)

by Mahmoud Fouly

CAIRO, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Egypt lit up on Sunday evening three famous historical sites in the country, including Saladin Citadel in Cairo, in red and golden stars to resemble the national flag of China as a sign of solidarity in combating the novel coronavirus.

The other two sites are the main pylon of the Karnak Temple Complex in Luxor and the entrance of the Philae Temple Complex in Aswan.

The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has chosen the three most famous Egyptian monuments to express the appreciation of the distinguished ties between China and Egypt, said Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities.

"I have full confidence in China that it will overcome this epidemic very soon. All countries including Egypt back China wholeheartedly against the novel coronavirus," the Egyptian official told Xinhua on Sunday.

The three monuments have been illuminated in the evening at the same time, indicating a friendly attitude from Egyptians towards the Chinese people and a feeling of warmth and reassurance to the Chinese community living in Egypt.

Built more than 800 years ago, Saladin Citadel in Cairo, with its attractive domes and tall minarets, was all lit up in red and five golden stars, catching the eyes of car drivers and pedestrians in the surrounding areas.

A number of Chinese-speaking Egyptian tour guides gathered near the shining citadel and chanted remarks expressing support for the Chinese people against the virus and highlighting the friendly and historical relations between the two countries.

"I am confident that the Chinese people are able to overcome the current crisis," said Israa al-Sokkary, a Chinese-speaking Egyptian tour guide.

She said "I am looking forward to welcoming you to Egypt after the crisis is over. Don't give up China! Don't give up Wuhan!"

Meanwhile in Upper Egypt's Luxor, the main giant pylon of the Karnak Temple Complex was lit up, located behind an avenue of illuminating 40 sphinxes, 20 on each side, which looked like guards of the pylon.

"This simultaneous activity in three Egyptian provinces coincides with the Egyptian health minister's trip to Beijing to convey Egypt's solidarity with China and its people," said Mostafa al-Saghir, director-general of Karnak temples in Luxor.

"It also coincides with the presence of the members of the first Chinese archeological mission working in Egypt, who are now here and about to conclude their second season of working on the remains of Montu Temple," Saghir told Xinhua.

Luxor officials and residents, particularly those working in the tourism field, said that tourism in the monument-rich province was affected by the decline of Chinese tourists.

Luxor Governor Mostafa Alham said that his province lost about 70 percent of its tourists since COVID-19 was announced, noting that Chinese tourists used to visit Egypt throughout the whole year not only in the winter season.

"I hope that China will contain this crisis very soon and I am confident that it can do that," the Egyptian governor told Xinhua.

At the same time, the entrance of the Philae Temple Complex, the number one tourist destination in the southern province of Aswan, was also covered with the red and yellow lights shaping the flag of China with its stars.

Abdel-Moneim Saeed, director general of Aswan and Nubia antiquities, considered lighting up the temple complex with the colors of the Chinese flag as "a very good sign of support and solidarity with China."

"I believe it will also be appreciated by the Chinese tourists in the future after the coronavirus issue is over," Saeed said, noting that the site has been chosen for this activity due to its uniqueness, fame and popularity.

As for Saadallah Sayyid Ahmed, an owner of a cafeteria at the entrance of the Philae Temple Complex, he said illuminating the temple complex with the flag of China shows that Egypt supports China wholeheartedly in combating the virus."
From 1998 to 2009, Mount Rushmore was the site of a popular fireworks display that drew thousands to the Black Hills as well as a large television audience.

The only year it didn't happen was 2002 when the weather was significantly drier than normal and the fire danger was elevated. In 2009, concerns over the environmental impact of the display and the extreme fire danger from the mountain pine beetle invasion caused the annual event to be canceled.

At a signing ceremony for the China trade deal in January, President Trump told Gov. Kristi Noem he had reinstated the fireworks display at Mount Rushmore.

"I called up our people and within about 15 minutes we got it approved and you're going to have your first big fireworks display at Mount Rushmore," Trump said at that event.

Since then, Trump has been invited by Gov. Noem and officially invited to the event by the passage of HR7002, a resolution sponsored by state Reps. Julie Frye-Mueller, Tim Goodwin, Tina Mulally, Chris Johnson and Tony Randolph and Sens. Phil Jensen and Lance Russell.

The resolution  which passed 60-7 in the House  states in part, "Mount Rushmore symbolizes the remarkable leadership of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt, some of the most esteemed leaders this country has ever seen. It would be an honor for the state to host the President at such a historic and meaningful location."

There is only one problem with the invitation  the renewal of the display wasn't approved in 15 minutes. In fact, the National Park Service released its 66-page environmental assessment on Friday.

According to the NPS, "This environmental assessment (EA) evaluates the potential impacts of the State's proposed Independence Day event with fireworks at the Memorial."

The Environmental Assessment states, "On May 6, 2019, the Secretary of the Interior signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, which states that 'the State of South Dakota and the Department of the Interior have committed to an agreement to exercise their full authorities under State and Federal law to work to return fireworks to the Memorial in a safe and responsible manner on July 3, July 4, or July 5, beginning in the year 2020.' (Appendix B). In accordance with National Park Service (NPS) regulations, such an event is evaluated under the Special Use Permit process."

Both sides are working to return the fireworks display, but there is no agreement in stone.

The NPS is still accepting comments from the public here (https://parkplanning.nps.gov/c) until March 30.

There are also three informational meetings planned. The first is March 9 in Rapid City at the South Dakota Game Fish & Parks Outdoor Campus West. The second is March 10 in Custer in the Pine Room in the Courthouse Annex. The final public meeting is in Keystone on March 11 at the Community Center Meeting Room.

After the meetings are held and the public comments close, the National Parks Service will make a final decision about whether or not to allow the renewal of the annual fireworks display at the monument site.

The obvious issue with the return of the display is that many classes of fireworks burn at temperatures high enough to ignite green vegetation. Summer drought conditions would increase that risk.

Other concerns include adding contaminants to groundwater in the area. The current plan won't make a determination on the risk to groundwater. If a display is approved, testing will be done in the area in the spring of 2020 and will be repeated after the show to determine if any potassium perchlorate or other metals or chemicals are detected at harmful levels.

Lesser known concerns include permanent damage previous displays have caused at Mount Rushmore.

"Previous displays resulted in permanent effects on the sculpture (burn marks on the tops of the sculpture), unexploded ordnance and debris remaining in the forests within and surrounding the Memorial, and various operational challenges for Memorial staff," the report states.

The report also noted there hasn't been a significant wildfire in the area in more than a century, although previous displays caused 21 minor fires that were quickly contained.

The show would not return on July 4. Local emergency managers working with the NPS determined that July 3 was a preferred date with no rain date scheduled. The final concern includes the potential loss of visitors to the park on July 3. The past three years have seen an average of 28,500 people visit Mount Rushmore on that date.

The return of the fireworks display would necessitate closing the park during the day and eliminating the other events that have become staples since the fireworks shows ended in 2009. It is unknown how many people could visit the site for a fireworks display. That would depend on how parking and shuttles and other concerns were handled once the event was scheduled.

You must be logged in to react.

Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 4
An outpouring of black voter support propelled Joe Biden to a convincing victory in South Carolinas Democratic primary on Saturday, resurrecting his faltering White House bid and giving the former vice president a chance to claim he is the moderate alternative to front-runner Bernie Sanders.

The decisive win gives Biden a burst of momentum in the Democratic race to challenge Republican President Donald Trump, which broadens quickly with Super Tuesday primaries in 14 states in three days that will award one-third of the available national delegates.

It was the first presidential primary win ever for Biden, who is making his third run at the White House.

He immediately took aim at Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont and self-described democratic socialist whose surging campaign and calls for a political revolution have rattled a Democratic establishment worried he is too far left to beat Trump in November.

"Democrats want a nominee who is a Democrat," Biden told cheering supporters in Columbia, South Carolina, in a jab at Sanders. "Win big or lose, that`s the choice. Most Americans don`t want the promise of a revolution. They want more than promises they want results."

Biden beat Sanders among a wide range of demographic and ideological groups, including those who said they were "very liberal," according to Edison Research exit polls. The polls showed Biden, vice president under former President Barack Obama, with 61% of African-American support to Sanders` 17%.

In the wake of his decisive victory, Biden was endorsed by Terry McAuliffe, a former governor of Virginia and ex-chair of the Democratic National Committee, and US.

Representative Bobby Scott, an influential African-American lawmaker from Virginia  a possible sign the Democratic establishment was starting to coalesce around his candidacy.

Biden must now hope a flurry of media attention and his name recognition will help him in Super Tuesday states, where Sanders` prolific fundraising has helped him build bigger organizations and broadcast far more advertisements. Sanders leads opinion polls in delegate-rich California, where 3 million early votes have already been cast.

Biden and all of the other Democratic contenders also will face competition for the first time on Super Tuesday from billionaire former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has blanketed the country with half a billion dollars in advertising. Bloomberg skipped the first four state primaries.

But at least five states - Alabama, North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Virginia - have big blocs of African-American voters that could help Biden make a comeback.

Biden`s dominance in South Carolina raised questions about the continued viability of most of the other contenders. Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar all were well behind in the state and have dwindling chances to mount a comeback.

With 99% of the precincts reporting, Biden had 49% of the vote and Sanders was a distant second with 20%, according to official state results. Billionaire activist Tom Steyer had 11% and all of the other contenders were well behind with single digits.

Edison Research estimated 530,000 votes were cast in the Democratic primary, well ahead of the 371,000 cast in 2016 and about the same number as 2008.

STEYER DROPS OUT

As the vote count rolled in on Saturday night, Steyer, who had spent heavily in South Carolina to court African-American voters, ended his presidential bid as it emerged he was coming in a distant third.

Biden desperately needed a win after poor showings in the first two nominating contests in Iowa and New Hampshire and a second-place finish in Nevada. He had viewed South Carolina, where his popularity among the state`s big bloc of black voters proved decisive, as his firewall against disaster.

The resounding margin could slow the momentum of Sanders, who had grown stronger with each contest, finishing in a virtual tie for first in Iowa with Buttigieg, before notching wins in New Hampshire and Nevada.

"You cannot win them all," Sanders told supporters in Virginia Beach, Virginia. "This will not be the only defeat. There are a lot of states in this country and nobody wins them all."

Biden, a mainstream Democrat with decades of experience on the US political stage, was powered in South Carolina by support from a broad range of voters, including men and women, black and white, middle-aged and old, those with and without college degrees, independent, liberal and conservative, exit polls showed.

The data showed Biden beating Sanders, who has touted his ability to bring out new voters, among those who were voting in a Democratic primary for the first time.

Exit polls found about six of 10 of South Carolina voters said influential black congressman James Clyburn`s endorsement of Biden on Wednesday was a factor in their decision. Clyburn introduced Biden at his victory rally.

"My buddy Jim Clyburn, you brought me back!" Biden told the No. 3 House Democrat before addressing supporters.

Biden was projected to win at least 32 of the 54 pledged delegates in South Carolina and Sanders 11, with more to be allocated. No other candidate was projected to have won any delegates in the state. Heading into the primary, Sanders had 54 delegates, Buttigieg 26 and Biden 15.

A candidate needs at least 1,991 delegates to win the nomination outright at the party`s convention in July.

Exit polls showed about half of voters wanted a candidate who would return to Obama`s policies, a key argument of Biden. Nearly eight of 10 voters in South Carolina said they had a favorable view of Biden, compared with five of 10 who saw rival Sanders favorably.

The polls also showed Buttigieg and Klobuchar, who had done relatively well in predominantly white Iowa and New Hampshire, had low single-digit support among black voters, raising questions about their path forward as the race moves into more diverse states in March.

Warren, who finished fifth with 7%, congratulated Biden on his victory at a rally in Houston but made clear that she would go on fighting for delegates.

"Ill be the first to say that the first four contests havent gone exactly as Id hoped," she said, before urging supporters to donate to her campaign. "My campaign is built for the long haul and we are looking forward to these big contests."
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 18:57:03|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

ISLAMABAD, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan has decided to close its border with Afghanistan at Chaman for a week to prevent the spread of COVID-19 on both sides of the border, the Interior Ministry said here on Sunday.

The border will be closed in Chaman area of southwest Balochistan province on March 2 for "an initial period of seven days," the notification reads, adding that the decision taken by the Pakistani government is within the best interest of the people of both countries.

"During the period, necessary measures will be taken to safeguard the health of the people of both countries."

Pakistan has four confirmed cases of COVID-19, while in Afghanistan only one case has been reported so far.

Pakistani health officials confirmed that not a single case of COVID-19 came to Pakistan via Afghanistan, and screening by health teams was going on at the border for the last few days. After the closure of the border, the screening teams will stay at the border till further notification of opening by the interior ministry.

In a notification, the country's customs department said that pedestrian access between the two countries will also remain blocked and no trade activity along the border will happen for a week.

The Federal Investigation Authority said that the people who have passport of Pakistan would also not be allowed to enter the country during closure of the border, and all visa related activities will remain suspended.
Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Sunday said that the central government is making all efforts to ensure that indigenous art and craftwork get proper exposure in the international market.

The Union minority affairs minister said this after inaugurating the 'Hunar Haat' at Harmu ground here.

"The process to register these artisans and their indigenous products on the Government e-Marketplace is on," he said.

Consultations with various export promotion councils are also on and many of them have shown interest in marketing the products worldwide, Naqvi said at the 'haat'.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji's visit to Hunar Haat at India Gate Lawns in New Delhi, earlier this year, has given tremendous boost and encouragement to artisans, craftspeople, especially women artisans from across the country," Naqvi said.

The 'Hunar Haat' in Ranchi is being organised by Union Minority Affairs Ministry and it will continue till March 8 and it is being organised in Jharkhand for the first time.

The prime minister mentioned 'Hunar Haat' in his radio programme 'Mann Ki Baat' on February 23 and there he reiterated the Centre's commitment to promote and encourage the magnificent legacy of the indigenous art and craftwork, the Union minister said.

"The number of visitors increased by more than 60 per cent after Modi Ji's visit at India Gate Lawns in New Delhi. More than 17 lakh visitors, both domestic and international, visited the 'Hunar Haat'," Naqvi said.

The visitors encouraged the artisans and also enjoyed traditional delicacies of various states at the 'Bawarchikhana' section there, he said.

The Union minister also said that a total of 125 stalls have been set up at in Ranchi where more than 250 artisans from across the country are participating.

In last three years, more than three lakh artisans, craftspeople and culinary experts, including a large number of women artisans, have been provided employment and employment opportunities through such 'haats', the minister said.

The next Hunar Haat will be organised in Chandigarh from March 13 to March 22, this year and it will be organised in several other cities in the coming days.

"This is an effective mission which has been ensuring that the common people become a part of mainstream economic development," Union Minister for Tribal Affairs, Arjun Munda, said, adding, such 'haats' have been providing market and opportunity to India's indigenous legacy of handmade art and craftwork.

"The 'Hunar Haat' has proved to be a magnificent platform to understand India's rich cultural heritage under one roof," Munda said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A young woman who was crowned Miss Staten Island will not be allowed to march in the boroughs St. Patricks Day parade after she came out as bisexual.

Madison LInsalata, 23, and her fellow beauty queens have been told by parade organizers that safety concerns preclude them from taking part in the event scheduled for Sunday.

LInsalata told the New York Post on Saturday that she planned to march in Sunday's parade while wearing rainbow colors to support the LGBTQ community.

Theres no rule against me wearing a rainbow, said LInsalata.

I want people to see the colors and ask questions.

LInsalatas plan to wear the colors was a form of protest over the decision by parade organizers to ban the Pride Center of Staten Island, an LGBTQ advocacy group.

The Staten Island parade is the only St. Patrick's Day event in the five boroughs that continues to bar LGBTQ organizations.

Madison LInsalata, 23, who was recently crowned Miss Staten Island, has been barred from marching in the borough's St. Patrick's Day parade, which is taking place on Sunday

L'Insalata on Saturday revealed in a newspaper interview that she is bisexual

She had planned to march in the parade while wearing rainbow colors to support the LGBTQ community

The parade in Staten Island is being boycotted by New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and other borough leaders due to the longstanding policy of banning groups like the Pride Center of Staten Island (whose members are seen in the above undated file photo)

For years, the organization has not been allowed to take part in the parade under its own banner.

Parade organizers have kept the group out because they said it does not adhere to the teachings of the Catholic Church.

After LInsalata revealed her sexual orientation, Larry Cummings, the parade organizer, called the head of the Staten Island beauty pageant which crowned LInsalata and informed him that she would not be allowed to march.

Miss Richmond Countys Outstanding Teen, Victoria Montouri, 17, has also been barred from the event, according to the Post.

Two other beauty queens - Miss Staten Island Outstanding Teen, Angelica Mroczek and Miss Richmond County Gabrielle Ryan - already announced their decision to boycott the parade because of the gay ban.

Parade organizers claimed that L'Insalata was being banned due to concerns for her safety

The issue has become so fraught politically that high-profile figures like New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, and Staten Island Borough President James Oddo, a Republican, have also skipped the parade in protest of the gay ban.

House Rep. Max Rose, New York State Senator Diane Savino, and City Councilwoman Debi Rose, all Democrats, have also vowed to stay away in protest of the policy.

The Pride Center has asked the Archdiocese of New York to intervene and allow the group to participate in the parade, but so far it has declined to do so.

In 2014, the organizers of New York Citys St. Patricks Day parade dropped a decades-long ban on LGBTQ groups.

DailyMail.com has reached out to the Archdiocese of New York for comment.

None of them can march, said Jim Smith, the executive director of the Miss Staten Island Scholarship pageants.

Smith was the one who received the phone call from Cummings on Saturday night.

He was not to be bargained with  you cant talk to him.

Smith said Cummings claimed that LInsalata was being kept away from the parade for safety reasons.

He was not convinced.

What can happen to her? Smith said.

I dont think anyone can harm her. Im very disappointed, though Im not surprised.

I know theyre very strong in their beliefs.

Earlier this month, Cummings, who is the parade president of the Ancient Order of the Hibernians, defended his decision to maintain the ban against the Pride Center.

He told the Staten Island Advance: Heres the deal, its a non-sexual identification parade and thats that, no, they are not marching.

When asked if the Ancient Order of Hibernians would ever allow the Pride Center to march in future parades, he responded: Dont try to keep asking a million friggin questions, OK?

I was really looking forward to being there and having a discussion and now there wont be,' L'Insalata told the New York Post when asked about the decision to ban her from the parade

The fact of the matter is thats what it is, OK? And thats that.

The Ancient Order of Hibernians is the Irish Catholic fraternal order that is organizing the parade in Staten Island.

DailyMail.com has reached out to the Ancient Order of the Hiberians for comment.

LInsalata told the Post that she was shocked by the ban.

This is definitely a curveball, she said.

I was really looking forward to being there and having a discussion and now there wont be.

Its sad this had to happen. I thought I was doing something good.

You want to be part of the change.

When asked if she was concerned for her safety if she was allowed to march, LInsalata said that at times there can be rowdy people at the event.

People can be heated, she said.

Its frustrating, she said.

I wanted to be in the parade and its unfortunate we cant have a disagreement and still be in the same place.

Theyre removing all discussion by not allowing me to be there.

Instead of taking part in the parade, LInsalata will be at the Rainbow Run - an alternative event held simultaneously to honor the Pride Center.

When asked if she regrets her decision to reveal her bisexuality, she said: I said what I have to say.

I still think that my message got across and thats most important.
New Delhi [India], Mar 1 (ANI): A man and a woman belonging to different religions shared a common space to run their respective shops at North-East Delhi's Gokulpuri near Buddha Vihar, which was looted and set ablaze by rioters during the recent Delhi violence.

Mohammad Rashid, 42, belonging to the Muslim community and owner of the Cloth Emporium, shared his ground floor space with Krishna, 35, who belongs to the Hindu community, and had been running Vaishnodevi boutique for the last five years.

"I was in my house when I heard the people vandalising our shops. I stayed back. There were around 300 people. It was not possible to stop them because they had already entered our alley. A day later I came to know that our shop was not only looted but also burnt," said Krishna.

She continued saying: "We are like brother and sister. We are like one family. We are Indians. There was absolutely no need for this foolishness."

Rashid said the entire shop was reduced to ashes.

"I had kept my PAN, Aadhaar cards here in the shop which were burnt along with other documents," added Rashid.

Krishna incurred a loss of a minimum Rs 3 lakh, while Rashid's loss is estimated to be of around Rs 13 lakh.

No fresh violence has been reported in the area since recently. Measures are being taken by the Centre to restore peace and normalcy.

Till Saturday, at least 42 people lost their lives and more than 200 people sustained serious injuries in the communal violence that rocked north-east Delhi for four days.

Two Special Investigation Teams (SIT) have been constituted under the Delhi Police's Crime Branch to investigate the violence.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
More than 87,000 people infected as outbreak spreads around the world with hotspots in Europe and the Middle East.

Iran announced 11 more deaths from coronavirus bringing its death toll to 54 while the Czech Republic, Scotland and the Dominican Republic confirmed its first cases, as the spread of the disease continued around the world.

Globally, more than 2,900 people have died from the fast-moving virus that appears to have originated in China in December.

Several European countries announced new cases with more than 87,000 people infected worldwide.

This is Mersiha Gadzo in Doha taking over from Hamza Mohamed.

Here are the latest updates:

Sunday, March 1

19:58 GMT  Angola to bar entry of citizens from virus-hit countries

Angola will prohibit the entry of citizens from China, South Korea, Italy, Iran, Nigeria, Egypt and Algeria, if they travel directly from those countries as a precaution, official news agency ANGOP reported.

The restriction would not apply to citizens that had travelled via a third country, the report said.

19:57 GMT  Scotland reports first case

The Scottish government reported its first case of coronavirus.

The patient, who is a resident of the Tayside area, had recently travelled from northern Italy, the government said.

19:36 GMT  Motorcycling MotoGP cancels season-opening in Qatar

The opening race of the MotoGP season in Qatar on March 8 was cancelled because of travel restrictions imposed on passengers from Italy, MotoGP said.

Italy clearly plays a vital role in the championship and in the MotoGP class  both on track and off  and therefore the decision has been taken to cancel premier class competition, a statement said.

The Moto2 and Moto3 categories will still race due to those teams and riders already being in Qatar for testing there last week.

18:47 GMT  Finland reports sixth case

Finland confirmed its sixth case of the coronavirus after three new cases were diagnosed.

Two cases  a child and a pensioner  had been in close contact with a woman who was diagnosed with the virus on Friday after a visit to northern Italy, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare said.

The trio were all in home isolation. About 130 people in the Helsinki area who had been in contact with the child including classmates, teachers and members of the childs football team have protectively been placed in home quarantine.

18:31 GMT  Coronavirus cases in France rise to 130: public health chief

France has 130 confirmed cases of coronavirus, the head of the public health service, Jerome Salomon, said, raising the toll from 100 a day earlier.





17:50 GMT  Some British embassy staff in Iran evacuated to coronavirus

Dependants and some staff are being evacuated from the British embassy in Tehran as of March 1 due to coronavirus but essential staff will remain, Britains Foreign Office said as part of a travel advisory for Iran posted online.

As of 1 March, dependants and some staff from the British Embassy are being withdrawn from Iran due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Essential staff needed to continue critical work will remain, the advisory said.

In the event that the situation deteriorates further, the ability of the British Embassy to provide assistance to British nationals from within Iran may be limited.

17:20 GMT  Nigeria ramps up efforts to detect, contain coronavirus

Experts say Nigeria is prepared to contain new virus following a successful response to Ebola more than five years ago.

Read more here.

17:10 GMT  China using AI and big data to combat outbreak

Thermal scanners  newly installed at train stations in major Chinese cities  are just one of the ways in which authorities are using artificial intelligence (AI) and big data to fight the deadly epidemic.

Read more here.

17:30 GMT  Virus cases in Italy rise by 50 percent

The number of people infected in Italy with the new coronavirus rose by 50 percent to 1,694 in just 24 hours, the head of the Civil Protection Agency said.

Five more people died, bringing the total number of deaths to 34, according to Italian authorities.

Tourists are seen wearing protective masks at Piazza della Scala in Milan, Italy [Marco Di Lauro/Getty Images]

17:20 GMT  Qatar bans entry for travellers from Egypt

Qatar imposed a temporary entrance restriction for all travellers coming from Egypt through intermediate points, according to a statement by Qatars government communications office.

The measure is temporary due to the spread of COVID-19, it said.

17:07 GMT  Dominican Republic confirms its first case

Health authorities in the Dominican Republic have confirmed its first case of coronavirus.

A tourist visiting from Italy was transferred to an isolation room in a hospital near the capital and is in stable condition, Health Minister Rafael Sanchez said at a news conference.

14:12 GMT  Iraq reports six new cases

Iraq reported six new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of cases to 19, the health ministry said.

Two of the infected are in Baghdad, and the other four are in Sulaimaniya. All of them had recently returned from Iran, it added.





15:47 GMT  Bahrain confirms six new coronavirus cases

Bahrains ministry of health confirmed six new coronavirus cases, raising the total number to 47 cases, the state news agency reported according to a ministry statement.

The six cases are five Bahraini citizens and a Saudi national who arrived in Bahrain on indirect flights from Iran.

15:20 GMT  Czech Republic reports first cases

The Czech Republic has confirmed its first three cases of coronavirus, Health Minister Adam Vojtech said.

Health officials said at a news conference the three patients showed mild symptoms and had travelled from northern Italy.

14:56 GMT  US aims to increase diagnostic kits, expand surveillance testing

The US currently has 75,000 diagnostic kits for testing coronavirus available and will increase that number radically in the following weeks, US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told ABCs This Week.

Azar told ABC that surveillance testing of flu-like symptoms was underway in key cities, including San Francisco, but he hoped to expand the testing across the country.

He said the virus is likely to spread in the US, but it is uncertain how large the outbreak could become.

14:30 GMT  Nigeria identifies 100 people who may have been exposed

Nigerian authorities have been in contacted with around 100 people who may have been exposed to an Italian man who is the countrys first coronavirus patient, the Lagos state health commissioner said.

It is around 100 people but that number is increasing every minute, Akin Abayomi said in a telephone interview with Reuters.

He said some of the people travelled to other states in Nigeria or went to Europe.

A member of the Nigerian army performs a temperature check on a visitor at the entrance of Nigerian Army Hospital in the Yaba area of Lagos [George Osodi/Bloomberg]

14:30 GMT  Lebanon confirms three new cases, total now 10

Lebanons health ministry said three more people tested positive for coronavirus after arriving from Iran, bringing the total in the country to 10.

The three patients, who had been in isolation at home, were quarantined at a Beirut hospital after showing symptoms, the ministry said in a statement.

Lebanon closed schools this week and halted flights for non-residents from countries with outbreaks, namely China, Iran, Italy and South Korea.

13:49 GMT  UK reports 12 new cases, total now 35

There have been 12 new cases of coronavirus in the UK, bringing the total to 35, according to British health authorities.

Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said in a statement on Twitter that three of those who tested positive were close contacts of a known case.

Six others had recently travelled from Italy, and two from Iran. One patient had no relevant travel, and authorities were investigating how they had caught the virus.

13:35 GMT  Qatar confirms two more cases: health ministry

Qatar has confirmed two more cases of the coronavirus, according to the health ministrys Twitter account, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to three.

The two Qatari individuals were evacuated from Iran on February 27 and have been placed in full quarantine, it said.

13:30 GMT  Paris Louvre Museum closes

The Louvre Museum in Paris closed its doors due to fears over the coronavirus, a union representative told AFP.

Around 300 staff of the worlds most popular museum met in the morning and voted almost unanimously not to open in the morning, Christian Galani of the CGT labour union told AFP.

There have been 100 coronavirus cases and two deaths in France since the end of January.

People line up at the Louvre Museum in Paris as the staff closed the museum due to the coronavirus outbreak [Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters]

11:20 GMT  Iran coronavirus death toll jumps to 54

Iran has reported 11 new coronavirus deaths. The outbreak has claimed the lives of 54 people, the health ministry said.

There were 385 new cases of infected people in the last 24 hours, increasing the total number to 978. The death toll is 54, Kianush Jahanpur, spokesman for the health ministry said.

He called on Iranians to avoid any unnecessary trips and stay at home.

10:05 GMT  Coronavirus fears hits Gulf stock markets

Fears overs the impact of the coronavirus outbreak has hit the stock markets in the oil-rich Gulf countries.

All of the seven exchanges in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which were closed Friday and Saturday for the Muslim weekend, were hit as oil prices dropped below $50 a barrel.

So far, Gulf states have reported at least 115 cases.

09:50 GMT  China pollution declines as virus shuts down factories

Pollution levels over China have declined significantly, US space agency NASA says, partly due to the economic slowdown following the coronavirus outbreak.

[Photo credit: NASA]

Satellite images shared by NASA show falling levels of nitrogen dioxide. The gas is emitted by motor vehicles, power plants and industrial facilities.

08:30 GMT  South Korea reports 210 new cases

In South Korea, authorities have reported 210 new cases on Sunday afternoon.

Earlier on Sunday, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported 376 cases and one death linked to the virus.

The countrys total number of infections stands at 3,736.

Meanwhile, a 45-day-old baby has become the youngest person to be infected with the virus, The Korea Times reported on Sunday.

The baby boy tested positive for coronavirus after his parents had contracted the virus, the report added.

Baby and mother, both in self-quarantine, are in good condition according to officials.

07:15 GMT  Pakistan to shut its border with Afghanistan

Pakistan said it will close its border with Afghanistan from tomorrow to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The Chaman border crossing will remain shut for seven days, Islamabad said in a statement.

During the period, necessary measures will be taken to safeguard the health of the people of both countries, the statement said.

Afghanistan has reported one case of the virus, while Pakistan has confirmed four, according to the WHO.

06:30 GMT  Hong Kong dog tests positive for coronavirus

A dog has been quarantined in Hong Kong after it tested weak positive for coronavirus, officials said.

Authorities said the dog belongs to a coronavirus patient. To the relief of animal lovers, authorities said there was no evidence yet that the virus could be transmitted to mans best friend.

04:50 GMT  South Korea closes churches to limit virus spread

Churches were closed in South Korea on Sunday, many holding services online instead, according to Reuters.

In the capital, Seoul, about a dozen worshippers were turned away from the Yoido Full Gospel Church, which put a sermon for its 560,000 followers on YouTube, filmed with a small choir instead of the usual 200 members and 60-strong orchestra.

I had heard there would be no service, but just came to check as I live nearby, but yes, it is so empty, said one of them, Song Young-koo, as he left South Koreas biggest church.

Its a wise decision to do it online, since the virus would easily spread at mass gatherings and churches can be no exception.

For the first time in its 236-year history, South Koreas Catholic church decided to halt mass at more than 1,700 locations nationwide. Buddhist temples have also called off events.

Churches were closed and services held online on Sunday as South Korea stepped up efforts to contain the spreading coronavirus by limiting public gatherings [Ahn Young-joon/AP Photo]

04:36 GMT  Thailand records first coronavirus death

Thailand has recorded its first fatality in the coronavirus outbreak, Reuters reported, citing Suwanchai Wattanayingcharoen, director-general of the Department of Disease Control.

The 35-year-old man also had dengue fever, Suwanchai told a news conference on Sunday.

04:20 GMT  Armenia patient had returned from Iran

More details are emerging about Armenias coronavirus patient.

The 29-year-old citizen returned to Armenia from Iran on Friday and went to a doctor because he was feeling unwell, Reuters said, citing Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyans Facebook page.

He is now in good condition, Pashinyan said, adding that authorities planned to isolate those who had been in contact with him.

Armenia closed its borders with neighbouring Iran a week ago. It has also suspended flights to the country.

04:15 GMT  Australia reports new case

Australia said on Sunday that it had confirmed an additional case of the coronavirus, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 26.

A scanning electron microscope image of SARS-CoV-2 (the round gold objects) emerging from the surface of cells cultured in a lab from a patient in the United States. SARS-CoV-2, also known as 2019-nCoV, is the virus that causes COVID-19. [National Institutes of Health via EPA]

03:50 GMT  Armenia reports first coronavirus case

Armenias prime minister said the central Asian nation had recorded its first case of the coronavirus, Reuters reported.

02:32 GMT  American Airlines says suspending Milan flights

American Airlines said it would suspend flights from New York and Miami to Milan because of a reduction in demand.

Flights are scheduled to resume on April 25, the airline said in a statement on its website.

02:16 GMT  Australia records first coronavirus death

Australia has recorded its first death from the coronavirus after a 78-year-old man who had been evacuated from the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship died in a Perth hospital.

Our condolences are with his family and unfortunately hes the first death weve had from coronavirus in Australia, Andrew Robertson, the chief health officer of the state of Western Australia, told journalists, according to Reuters.

The mans wife also caught the virus, but is in stable condition, authorities said.

Australia has reported 25 cases of coronavirus.

The first Australian to die of COVID-19 had been evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which was quarantined in Yokohama, Japan [Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo]

01:00 GMT  South Korea reports 376 more coronavirus cases

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said 376 more cases of coronavirus had been reported in the country, most of them in the hardest-hit city of Daegu and the province of Gyeongbuk.

No new deaths were reported.

The country now has a total of 3,526 cases.

The KCDC will release a further update at 07:00 GMT on Sunday.

00:01 GMT  China reports 573 new coronavirus cases, 35 deaths

Mainland China reported 573 new confirmed coronavirus cases on February 29, up from 427 the previous day, the countrys health authority said on Sunday.

The number of deaths stood at 35, down from 47 the previous day, bringing the total death toll in mainland China to 2,870.

Of the deaths, 34 were in Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak. The province also saw 570 of the new cases.

Click here to read updates from Saturday, February 29.
CHARLESTON, S.C.  Joe Biden scored a resounding victory in South Carolina.

After getting roughed up in the north, he came south to see some old friends. They bucked him up.

People here know him. They know that Joe Biden is good people. You can see it in some of the images below.

Early last week, at a swanky state Democratic Party dinner, the candidates gave the requisite nods to Jim Clyburn, the congressman who presides like a grandfather over the partys renaissance here. All sought his benediction, but when Mr. Biden took the stage and began by saying hello to my old friend, it didnt sound perfunctory. It sounded real. They go way back.
Vast Bank is extremely proud to announce the promotion of Rex Berg from Portfolio Manager to Commercial Banking Officer.

In his new role, Rex will be responsible for generating new Commercial and Industrial business for Vast Bank in both the Tulsa and Northwest Arkansas markets.

Rex is a Colorado native who moved to Tulsa to attend Oral Roberts University. He has a bachelors degree in Finance and started his banking career as a commercial credit analyst prior to starting at Vast in 2016. He will office in the new Vast Corporate Headquarters located in downtown Tulsa.

Subscribe to Daily Headlines Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
One way of thinking about the difference between Scott Morrisons vastly different responses to the two crises of his prime ministership is the simple passing of time. He stuffed up his response to the fires. When the coronavirus arrived, he had both learnt from his mistake and knew he couldnt stuff up again.

But an equally illuminating way of thinking about it is to consider what the barriers to action were in each case. What did a tough response to the coronavirus look like? Border control  in other words, something that emphasised Morrisons political strengths. Who was complaining the most about the travel ban? The universities, a group the Coalition has always been more than happy to pick a fight with. The government didnt act for these reasons  it acted because it was the right thing to do. But doing the right thing was easy.

The coronavirus crisis allows the Prime Minister Scott Morrison to play to his strengths. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

On bushfires, the opposite applied. Taking the meetings Morrison should have had, making adequate preparations, speaking truthfully about what the country was facing and why would have meant conceding the heightened danger posed by climate change, annoying his colleagues and encouraging his opponents.

Every politician thinks about politics. Thats fine. But so far nobody has managed to pin down what else drives this prime minister. And that is worth keeping in mind, because it remains the best guide we have to how he is likely to act in any given situation.
Bernie Sanders got blown out in South Carolina  but hes poised to rebound on Super Tuesday, according to new polls released over the weekend.

Sanders holds a big lead in delegate-rich California, and hes also the favorite in Texas, these surveys show.

But in what could be a state-by-state  and district-by-district  race for delegates at the Democratic National Convention, the precise margins of Sanders victories on Super Tuesday could produce wildly varying outcomes.

And one thing the polls will almost certainly struggle to measure: any bounce Joe Biden will get out of his runaway victory in South Carolina on Saturday.

Here are five takeaways from the weekends Super Tuesday polls:



Sanders leads in California, but others could hit the delegate threshold.

A CBS News Battleground Tracker/YouGov poll out Sunday morning shows Sanders with a significant advantage in the largest delegate prize on Super Tuesday. The Vermont independent senator is at 31 percent in the survey  ahead of Joe Biden at 19 percent, Elizabeth Warren at 18 percent and Mike Bloomberg at 12 percent.

Thats not quite as large a lead as a CNN/SSRS poll on Friday that showed Sanders at 34 percent, with Warren in second place at 14 percent.

The distinctions here are important: Only candidates who break 15 percent will win a proportional share of statewide delegates. If Sanders were the only candidate over 15 percent, he would win all the statewide delegates, even if he captured only about a third of the vote.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., gestures during a campaign rally Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020, in Virginia Beach, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

But with two or three other candidates potentially joining Sanders above the 15 percent threshold, it would split the delegate haul. CBS News estimates that under the scenario portrayed by its poll  with Biden and Warren also meeting the threshold  Sanders would win a little less than half the delegates available.



Is Bernie going to win Texas, too?

According to four polls released over the past 48 hours, Sanders enters as the favorite in Texas, the second-largest state voting on Tuesday. But the race appears closer than in California, and Sanders lead is far from assured.

Story continues

Sanders has a wide lead in an NBC News/Marist poll: 15 points over Biden, 34 percent to 19 percent. Bloomberg is third, at an all-important 15 percent.

But a CBS News Battleground Tracker/YouGov poll shows a much closer contest: Sanders leads Biden by just 4 points, 30 percent to 26 percent. Bloomberg is within striking distance of the statewide delegate threshold, at 13 percent.

And a Dallas Morning News/University of Texas-Tyler poll shows Bloomberg in a stronger position: Sanders leads Bloomberg by 8 points, 29 percent to 21 percent, with Biden close behind at 19 percent.



Southern states look like the Super Tuesday battlegrounds.

Which states are truly up for grabs on Tuesday? The ones that look  at least a little  like South Carolina.

Alabama has a large share of African-American voters, and Biden, who won roughly 60 percent of the black vote in South Carolina on Saturday, will be the favorite there.

But in other Southern states that have significant  but smaller  black populations, the race looks like a jump ball. An NBC News/Marist poll in North Carolina shows Sanders (26 percent) and Biden (24 percent) essentially tied there, with Bloomberg in third at 15 percent.

Then theres Virginia, where a Christopher Newport University poll released on Friday shows Biden (22 percent) slightly ahead of Sanders (17 percent) and Bloomberg (13 percent).

There isnt as much recent polling in states like Arkansas, Oklahoma and Tennessee  but the demographic profiles of those states suggest that similarly close contests are likely.



Can Warren hold off Sanders in Massachusetts?

A Boston Globe/WBZ-TV/Suffolk University poll released Saturday shows the two liberals running neck-and-neck in Warrens home state. Sanders (24 percent) and Warren (22 percent) are well ahead of the second-tier candidates in Massachusetts: Bloomberg (13 percent), Pete Buttigieg (12 percent) and Biden (11 percent).

The situation is similar for Amy Klobuchar, who is trying to win her home state of Minnesota but isnt registering in polls elsewhere. The most recent poll in Minnesota, from the Minneapolis Star Tribune and Mason-Dixon, is a week old, but it showed Klobuchar holding off Sanders, 29 percent to 23 percent.



Dont look for signs of a Biden bounce in the polls.

Well probably need to wait until Tuesday night to see whether Bidens strong performance in South Carolina gives him momentum. All of the polls cited in this article were conducted before Saturdays first-in-the-South primary.

Biden is trying to capitalize on South Carolina, and his campaign has a plan to propel his underfunded campaign in places where they are outflanked by Sanders and Bloomberg, in particular.

There are limits to what a Biden surge can look like in some of these states, however  especially those with robust early voting before the South Carolina primary. In California, the majority of voters mail in their ballots ahead of Election Day. In Texas, 1 million people had already voted early in person through Saturday. In North Carolina, 792,000 voters have already cast their ballots.

Still, there are some signs Democrats have been holding back their ballots to see how the race would play out. In California, political consultant Paul Mitchell told POLITICO hed seen a significant drop-off in ballots returned among regular primary voters, suggesting they are waiting until the last minute. And in Texas, the early turnout in the GOP primary (1.1 million) is thus far outpacing the Democratic contest, despite no competitive race at the top of the Republican ticket.
VIENNA, Feb 29 (Reuters) - Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz hinted on Saturday that borders could be closed across the Balkans in response to a rush of migrants towards Greece from Turkey, echoing action taken during Europe's 2015-16 migration crisis.

Greek police fired teargas to push back hundreds of migrants gathered on the border with Turkey on Saturday, as a crisis over Syria shifted onto the European Union's doorstep.

Ankara says it will no longer contain hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers after an air strike on Idlib in northwestern Syria killed 33 Turkish soldiers.

"We are in constant contact with our partners in the EU and along the western Balkan route. Should the protection of the EU's external borders not succeed, then Austria will protect its borders," Kurz, a critic of Turkey's government and a hawk on illegal immigration, said in a statement.

His comments hinted at a response similar to that of 2016 when he was foreign minister and Austria coordinated a series of border closures in Balkan countries between it and Greece to block a new wave of arrivals.

Kurz won power in 2017 after taking a hard line on immigration, pledging to prevent a repeat of 2015's influx, in which Austria took in the equivalent of about 1% of its population in asylum seekers. He formed a government at the time with the far right, which had a similar stance on the issue.

That conservative-far right coalition collapsed amid scandal in May and he now shares power with the left-wing Greens, though his government has maintained much of the previous coalition's stance on immigration.

"A situation like 2015 must absolutely not be repeated. Our aim must be to protect the EU's external borders properly, to stop illegal migrants there and not to wave them through," Kurz said.

Austria was ready to send extra police to countries on the border, he said, apparently referring to Greece and Bulgaria. (Reporting by Francois Murphy, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
Uzbek Prime Minister Abdullo Aripov has threatened to close down all the privately owned employment agencies in the country -- and for now that might be a good idea.



Shavkat Mirziyoev, the president of Uzbekistan since September 2016, has vowed to pull his countrys economy out of the stagnation it had fallen into under his predecessor, Islam Karimov, the country's first president who died in 2016.



And in Mirziyoev's efforts to kick-start the economy there were bound to be some rough patches.



The case of privately owned employment agencies helping people get jobs in Europe and East Asia is one example.



On February 19, Aripov met with clients of the private employment agency Human.



RFE/RLs Uzbek Service, known locally as Ozodlik, has been reporting about swindling employment agencies for many months. Human happens to be the most notorious of them.



In late September 2019, charges of fraud were filed against the agency by 52 clients who between November 2018 and September 2019 had given money to Human to find them jobs in countries such as Germany, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Turkey, and Japan.



Each paid a fee between 18 million to 35 million Uzbek soms (some $1,800 to $3,700). The agency pocketed the money but not one of the clients received a job abroad.



There are officially some 2 million people from Uzbekistan working as migrant laborers abroad, most in Russia. Some believe the actual figure could be twice that number. It has been that way for more than a decade.

Harsh Conditions

Migrant laborers send several billion dollars in remittances to Uzbekistan every year, but the truth is that for many of these laborers the conditions are tough and wages are usually far from generous.



A chance to work in a country in Central Europe -- or in Japan or South Korea -- sounds like a better deal and worth paying agencies such as Human the equivalent of an average yearly salary as a finders fee.



Another private employment agency called World Work promised to send clients to work in Bulgaria where they would earn 800 euros (about $880) a month with free room and board. The agency did send some clients to Bulgaria, but there was no job or anything else waiting for them there.

In December 2018, Ozodlik spoke to Orif Rustamov, a 42-year-old resident of Uzbekistans southern Kashkadarya Province. He and some family members found a Tashkent-based agency called International Experience on the Internet and in April 2019 they went to Tashkent and signed a deal.



For $4,000 each, the agency pledged to find them employment in the Czech Republic within three months. After eight months had passed there was no word from the agency and no sign of their money.



In November, Ozodlik reported on a private employment agency in the city of Navoi that had cheated 211 clients out of more than $66,000 in total. Those clients were promised work in South Korea with monthly salaries of around $2,000.



The press service of the Employment and Labor Ministry released a warning to people on August 14 (it even included an exclamation point) about employment agencies that collected 100 percent of their service fees in advance and vowed to close down any such agencies. It also listed eight agencies that were having their licenses pulled.

The agency in Navoi and World Work were on the list; Human was not. The same list shows that seven of those agencies received their licenses between December 17, 2018, and April 12, 2019 (the issue date for the license of the eighth agency -- Unistaff xususiy bandlik agentligi -- was not given).



It is also worth noting that in November 2018, just before those licenses began being issued, the director, deputy director, and several other officials in the Employment and Labor Ministry's agency for foreign migrant laborers were detained and charged with a series of crimes, among them, taking bribes to send migrant workers to South Korea.

In late October 2019, the lower house of parliament said an investigation had determined that of 65 licenses given to private employment agencies promising jobs abroad, 30 had not sent even one client to work outside Uzbekistan.



That brings us back to Prime Minister Aripov meeting with the people who had been fleeced by Human. Aripov said a presidential order would provide some compensation to 1,086 people who lost money to unscrupulous private employment agencies.



It was unclear how many other victims other such agencies claimed.



Human's license was revoked in September 2019 and on January 27, 2020, a Tashkent court sentenced the agencys director, Shohnur Fayzullaev, to 10 years in prison.



Mirziyoev has been promising big reforms -- including economic -- as he attempts to repair the damage Karimov did while serving as Uzbek president from the country's independence in 1991 until 2016.



Perhaps some of the greatest damage Karimov did in his later years in power was to increasingly isolate Uzbekistan and keep everything under state control.



Despite being independent for nearly 30 years, Uzbekistan finds itself facing problems it faced in the first few years after independence when the country experimented with privatization.



Other former Soviet republics have gone through the process of privatizing businesses and they, too, encountered difficulties that required new legislation and rules.



In every country there are dishonest people who are quick to see the possible personal gain of preying on their unwary countrymen when opportunities present themselves.



Allowing private employment companies to open was among the many moves Mirziyoevs government has tried, but clearly more regulation is needed.



The law that allowed the creation of privately owned employment agencies came into effect on September 27, 2018, and in roughly one year licenses were issued to some 60 agencies, many of which focused solely on ripping off people.



Mirziyoevs government can be credited with recognizing the problem, working to correct it, and even offering compensation to some of those who were tricked.



It is an important lesson and one that hopefully will be learned and taken into consideration as Uzbekistan moves ahead with reforms.

RFE/RLs Uzbek Service contributed to this report. The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect those of RFE/RL
Communications Minister Paul Fletcher has signalled local quotas for streaming services are needed, while industry has pushed for level playing fields.

But it isnt clear if he is also advocating to drop Childrens TV obligations for commercial broadcasters.

It comes after Seven CEO James Warburton indicated Seven would stop producing Childrens TV unless the government acted. Nine and 10 are also pushing to drop local quotas for Childrens TV.

Traditional broadcast television is facing sharp declines in viewer numbers and revenues  yet existing regulations require industry participants to spend millions on shows which fewer and fewer people are watching, Minister Fletcher told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Rather than the same tired old conversation about defending existing patches where audiences are shrinking, we should be talking about how we can go for growth  so that there are more Australian stories seen not just on Australian screens but around the world, he said.

Screen Australia and the Australian Communications and Media Authority are jointly preparing an options paper for the government.

But Shadow Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland and Shadow Minister for the Arts Tony Burke claims the govt has fidgeted while the industry awaits.

The Government announced the review almost three years ago, yet the rules have still not been modernised, they said in a joint statement.

The Minister for Communications and the Arts was appointed nine months ago, and the final report of the ACCC Digital Platforms Inquiry was released seven months ago, yet still theres no sign of an options paper to look at how to best support Australian screen stories in a modern, multi-platform environment.

Unfortunately this Governments ongoing delay is causing growing confusion about the state of media policy in the portfolio.
Manila, March 1 : A former soldier went on a shooting spree in the Philippines's Cavite province on Sunday, killing a woman and injuring five others before he committed suicide, police said.

Police said the 47-year-old suspect, armed with a .38 caliber handgun, went to a market in General Trias City around 8 a.m. to look for certain people who he claimed were spreading rumours to malign his reputation as a contractor, reports Xinhua news agency.

The suspect shot dead the 59-year-old woman and wounded a 57-year-old man at the market.

He then shot a tricycle driver before shooting another woman victim at her house nearby.

Police said two officers were also injured when the suspect shot at a responding police car.

The suspect then shot himself in the head, police added.

Police recovered the handgun used by the suspect. An investigation is underway.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani pushed back Sunday against a key component of the US-Taliban deal signed a day earlier, saying he had not committed to releasing any insurgent prisoners.

"There is no commitment to releasing 5,000 prisoners," Ghani told a press conference.

"This is the right and the self-will of the people of Afghanistan. It could be included in the agenda of the intra-Afghan talks, but cannot be a prerequisite for talks.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The MP for Kumbungu Hon Ras Mubarak has demanded information on whether President Akufo- Addo upon his return from a European tour, will be quarantined following cases of the spread of the Coronavirus disease in some European countries.



Hon Ras Mubarak asked the question in Parliament after the Majority Leader Hon Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu had presented to Members Business statement of Parliament for next week.



According to the Kumbungu MP, the President of Mongolia has been quarantined for 14 days after a trip outside the country.



Hon Mubarak also wanted to know arrangements being made to protect members of Parliament and the Speaker Rt Hon Prof Michael Aaron Oquaye from the disease as they also travel outside the country to perform national assignments.



Responding to the question by Hon Ras Mubarak, the Majority Leader Hon Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu said Hon Ras Mubarak might have asked the question on a lighter note, however, the Majority Leader jokingly said Ras Mubarak rather needs to be quarantined as he has been coughing often these days.



He added that any arrangements to protect people against the virus must be for all Ghanaians and not only Members of Parliament and the Speaker.



Sudan, Angola, Tanzania, Ghana, and Kenya were identified as having a moderate importation risk, but with varying levels of health system preparedness to handle an outbreak.



Many of these countries are among the 13 African nations with a high volume of travel to and from China, which the World Health Organisation (WHO) has prioritized to receive support for added measures like improved airport screening.



The World Health Organisation has identified Ghana and 12 other African countries as high-risk countries for the novel coronavirus.



Ghana, Algeria, Angola, Ivory Coast, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Kenya, Mauritius, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia were identified by WHO as African nations with direct links or a high volume of travel to China.



The statement said: WHO has identified 13 top priority countries (Algeria, Angola, Cote dIvoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia) which either have direct links or a high volume of travel to China.

Source: Emmanuel Akorli/Parliamentary Correspondent/Peace Fm









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
"Every weekend we see what we find at the markets and give it a try," he said. "We have sous-vide steaks right now, ribeye and New York Strip, which is a trend. We have a friendly environment, a great product and a nice ambiance where people are treated like family and welcome to stay. We have some still very faithful customers who keep coming back."

Gomez said he was encouraged by all the trendy businesses in downtown Griffith, such as coffee shops, craft breweries, vinyl record shops and the Charcuterie deli and specialty shop.

"Downtown Griffith is one of the most fast-changing towns in Northwest Indiana," he said. "I believe things happen for a reason. I like it here in Griffith and am planning to stay for awhile."

Tapas Cafe is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

For more information, call 219-513-6153 or find the business on Facebook.

In limbo

Don't hold your breath that the old Big Kmart at Griffith Park Plaza at Ridge Road and Cline Avenue will be occupied and redeveloped anytime soon.
Ben Hanlin was voted off Sunday's instalment of Dancing On Ice  after revealing he'd suffered an injury a gruesome injury during rehearsals.

The 33-year-old magician narrowly missed out on a place in the final of the ITV ice dancing competition, as he and his partner Carlotta Edwards were dumped from the competition.

Ben and Carlotta faced the dreaded skate-off against Paralympian Libby Clegg and her partner Mark Hamretti, and the judging panel  Ashley Banjo, John Barrowman, Jayne Torvill, and Christopher Dean - ultimately voted to save Libby.

Skating away: Ben Hanlin and his skating partner Carlotta Edwards were voted off Sunday's instalment of Dancing On Ice

Ahead of the skate-off, Libby confessed she wasnt disappointed to be performing her special routine  which marked her third week in the bottom two  because she had a 'surprise' planned, which turned out to be the risky headbanger move.

The move involves the male skater spinning the female skater by her feet, whilst raising and lowering her so her head moves dangerously close to the ice.

Ben was the lowest scorer of the evening before the public vote, earning 37.5 for his first routine  which saw him complete the judges challenge of a 45-second solo skate  and 37.0 for his second, personal skate, which was danced to Lightning Bolt by Jake Bugg in honour of his wife.

Scores: Ben was the lowest scorer of the evening before the public vote, earning 37.5 for his first routine  which saw him complete the judges challenge of a 45-second solo skate

Adding up: The magician earned a score of 37.0 for his second, personal skate, which was danced to Lightning Bolt by Jake Bugg in honour of his wife

Libby, meanwhile, topped the leaderboard after the first routine, after judges were left amazed at her ability to skate solo despite suffering from Stargardt's Macular Dystrophy  a disease which gives her only slight peripheral vision in her left eye  and being registered blind.

The result of the skate-off means Libby and Mark will join Perri Kiely and Vanessa Bauer, and Joe Swash and Alex Murphy in the live final, which will take place next Sunday.

Ben was booted of the show after revealing his partner Carlotta accidentally sliced his arm with her skating boots during an intense rehearsal.

The dancers were in great spirits after after scoring 37 points on last week's edition, but experienced a setback with the incident.

Visibly concerned, the illusionist asked producers: 'Can I still skate?', before he was given the go-ahead.

Sliced: Ben was booted of the show after revealing his partner Carlotta accidentally sliced his arm with her skating boots during an intense rehearsal

Setback: The dancers were in great spirits after after scoring 37 points on last week's edition, but experienced a setback with the incident

Stressed: Ben revealed that he had been 'stressed all week' because of the injury he'd suffered

After performing a solo 45-second set before the Canadian dancer stepped in for a Jazz-inspired routine, judge Ashley awarded Ben with a 9, before John, Jayne, and Christopher, all scored him 9.5s.

'I've been stressed all week so I'm relieved', he cheered.

Ben's ousting from Dancing On Ice comes after he revealed that his seven-month-old daughter, Delilah, secretly battled sepsis last month.

The magician and presenter revealed that the tot, who he shares with wife Briony Hanlin, was in hospital for six days after her temperature soared to 103 degrees and she was struggling to breathe with mottled skin.

Ben admitted that he kept quiet about the worrying incident, in which he spent the night on a hospital ward floor, and only performed on Dancing On Ice after Delilah was discharged from hospital.

Saved: Ben and Carlotta were sent home after skating off against Paralympian Libby Clegg and her partner Mark Hamretti. Pictured with hosts Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby

Big moves: The illusionist and TV personality wowed the audience and judges with his moves

Hug it out: Libby and her partner hugged as they learned they had been saved by the judges

The magician, who also has son Elvis, two, said the incident was 'terrifying' but Delilah 'responded really well to the treatment' which included glucose and antibiotics from doctors.

He added that he wants to raise awareness of sepsis, as he 'didn't know anything about it before', and wants to help other parents spot the signs early.

He told The Sun: 'The doctors said if we had called the ambulance just half an hour later, it could have been a completely different story. Delilah only responded so well because we called 999 so quickly.'

He added to the publication about his performance on Sunday's Dancing On Ice: 'I was grateful to focus on something else for a few hours. I'm enjoying being on the show but with Delilah in hospital it really put things into perspective for me.

Anguish: Ben's ousting from Dancing On Ice comes after he revealed that his seven-month-old daughter, Delilah, secretly battled sepsis last month

Scary: The magician and presenter, 33, revealed that the tot, who he shares with wife Briony Hanlin, was in hospital for six days after her temperature soared to 103 degrees

'I didn't care about my scores because at the end of the day it's just TV. All that matters is that my kids are healthy.'

Sepsis occurs when the body reacts to an infection by attacking its own organs and tissues.

Some 44,000 people die from sepsis every year in the UK. Worldwide, someone dies from the condition every 3.5 seconds.

Sepsis has similar symptoms to flu, gastroenteritis and a chest infection.

If caught early enough, it's easily treated with intravenous antibiotics and fluids, but these must be given as soon as sepsis is suspected - it strikes with frightening speed and, for every hour of delay, a patient's chance of dying increases 8 per cent.

The show must go on: Despite worries home, Ben pressed on with his performances on DOI
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 23:00:28|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

SHANGHAI, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) delivered more than 12 tonnes of medical supplies in its latest donation in Shanghai on Sunday to support China's fight against the COVID-19 outbreak.

The consignment includes masks, protective clothing, goggles, medical gloves, thermometers, sample collection kits, and hand sanitizers, which will be dispatched to central China's Hubei Province, where the outbreak is most severe, according to the organization.

The latest shipment brought the total worth of UNICEF-donated supplies to nearly 1 million U.S. dollars, with a combined weight of more than 30 tonnes, the UNICEF said in a press release.

The first batch of supplies arrived in Wuhan on Jan. 30, followed by another batch to Beijing.
South Carolina was a blowout for Joe Biden. This reverses the trend in Iowa, Nevada, and New Hampshire, all of which gave the cold shoulder to Biden and went all in for Bernie. Looking at South Carolina, a state with a sizeable black population one has to wonder if the conventional wisdom is correct  that blacks are supporting Biden because of Obama nostalgia -- or if theres something deeper going on here.

Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada all have significant white majorities, especially compared to their black populations. In Iowa, 90% of the citizens are white and only 3.5% of them are black. In New Hampshire, 93% of the population is and only 1.53% is black. And in Nevada, whites constitute 66% of the population, with blacks comprising just shy of 9%. Significantly, Hispanics in Nevada make up more than 26% of the population, 53% of whom supported Bernie.

South Carolina has very different demographics. Only 67% of its citizens are white and 27% are black. While blacks are nowhere close to a majority, they constitute a significant portion of the population compared to their representation in the two states that went for Bernie.

Those black voters made the difference in Bidens South Carolina victory. According to the AP:

Biden won about 60% of the votes cast by non-white voters, dominating a crowded Democratic field among a group that made up more than half of the electorate.

The AP posits that blacks supported Biden because they associate him with Obama:

Forty-five percent of voters in South Carolina wanted to return to the politics of the past, compared to about a third in Iowa and New Hampshire. That includes the roughly 50% of African American voters who said they want a Democratic presidential nominee who would emulate Obama's presidency. Overall, Biden won 63% of voters who preferred a return to politics before Trump.

The way the AP phrases the issue, it sounds as if black voters see Biden basking in the penumbra of Obamas blackness. Thats a very simplistic view and implies that black voters dont see Biden on his own terms. Heres a slightly different theory:

Bernie Sanders is a Marxist. In other words, his politics are grounded in class warfare. Hes willing to play the identity politics game if he thinks it will give him an advantage, but his heart isnt in it. His totalitarian goals are about a true socialist revolution that sees private property abolished and the state in charge of all things, all of which he believes will result in perfect economic equality. (The fact that it doesnt actually work this way doesnt disturb Bernie.)

Obama, though, came from the newer, progressive branch of leftism. This approach is grounded in gaining political power through identity politics. We saw this in the frantic pandering to black voters that the Democrat candidates displayed in the South Carolina debate this past Tuesday. They dont have a grand vision of a socialist state. Instead, they have a vision of an endless parade of identity groups, all of whom can be persuaded that the Democrats will protect them best. These Democrats are statists, but theyre not classic Marxists.

In 2020, black voters within the Democrat Party are in a surprisingly precarious position and they know it. The Democrat party needs their votes to win, but theyre falling out of favor of as the Democrats preferred identity politics group.

The black population has grown slowly relative to the total U.S. population (perhaps in part because Democrat policies encourage them to abort their children at an exceptionally high rate). The real growth is with Hispanics, as demonstrated by the Democrats passionate devotion to open borders. For blacks, though, open borders mean increased job competition and depressed wages.

Bernie represents another threat to blacks within the Democrat Party. As noted, Bernie isnt about identity politics and victimhood. In his own way, hes as colorblind as Donald Trump. Its just that, while Trump wants to raise up all Americans through economic opportunity and prosperity, Bernie wants to equalize everyone into the flat despair of a stagnant Marxist economy.

Blacks, therefore, are presented with three choices: Trump, whom theyve been taught to fear; Bernie, who doesnt believe theyre anything special; and the other Democrats, who are still practicing race-based politics.

Regarding the generic Democrats, blacks that the younger generation of race-based Democrats is focusing on Hispanic voters. From their perspective, Biden represents the last gasp of politicians who didnt just use blacks to get votes but actually promoted politics that, at least superficially, benefitted blacks. (Again, the reality is that they didnt benefit blacks because they created geographic and economic ghettoes that trapped black families for generations, but the sales pitches always sounded so good.)

Thus, its entirely possible that blacks arent running to Biden; theyre running from Bernie and Biden seems like the safest haven.
New Delhi, March 1 : The trading community in the country is now starting to feel disillusioned with the Narendra Modi-led NDA government as they face problems on several fronts, including on taxation, e-commerce and security for their businesses.

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) on Sunday said that its National Governing Council will meet on March 5-6 to discuss the current business scenario in the country and the organisation's future course of action.

"Despite the fact that the trading community of the country is still an admirer of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is very impressed with his positive attitude and thinking towards the traders and small industries, yet in view of the current economic downturn and the indifferent attitude of the ministers and bureaucrats towards domestic trade, the traders across country have started getting disillusioned with the government," said the CAIT statement.

It said that after the BJP government came to power, the traders had great hope that the attitude of the government towards traders would change and the traders in the country would get better focus and ample opportunities to grow business in an easy and cohesive business atmosphere, but nothing has changed in their lives and traders remain neglected as ever before.

"In view of this situation, the CAIT has convened a meeting of its National Governing Council in Patna on 5-6 March which will be participated by prominent trade leaders across Country and will consider the current business scenario in the country and burning issues of the traders and will decide future strategy." The traders' body expressed its displeasure with on the issued faced with the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime and said that problems including blockage of refunds have led to "mental torture" for traders.

"Both Bhartia and Khandelwal said that despite the efforts of government to simplify GST system, it has become very complicated to the extent that even after paying tax in time, traders are forced to pay same tax again in event of fault of a corresponding trader. Inefficiencies of the GST portal is leading to mental torture. Blockage of refunds with the department and several other contentious issues are haunting the traders but no one cares," the statement said.

B.C. Bhartia is the National President of CAIT and Praveen Khandelwal is the National Secretary General of the organisation.

CAIT also said that it has been neglected by the government despite its continuous support for government initiatives and policy decisions, including demonetisation, GST and adoption of digital payments.

"Despite apprehensions, the trading community did not leg behind in extending full support for the implementation of GST in the country. Though traders faced several problems caused by demonetisation, yet it outrightly support the government to meet the mandate of Prime Minister to clean the system from black money and created a positive atmosphere in the country but despite all such efforts, the traders remain neglected," said the statement.

It further said that though the government implemented the MUDRA scheme on suggestions from traders, but the people supposed to benefit from the scheme and needed support were not receving the benefits.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi while accepting the request of the traders, had implemented the Mudra scheme for the people who have never been funded. It is also true that lakhs of crores of rupees have been disbursed under the Mudra Yojana, but it is also a fact that the beneficiaries for whom Mudra Yojana was conceived, didn't got the loan and that is the reason why NPA is increasing in Mudra Scheme," it said.

CAIT again touched upon the point of alleged unfair practices by e-commerce majors, which it has been raising time and again.

"E-commerce giants are destroying and devastating domestic trade to a great extent and despite several strict warnings by Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, these e-giants are continuing their unethical business practices in full swing and no action is being taken," it said, adding that the FDI policy is being violated right under the nose of the government and no action has been taken so far.

Regarding losses suffered by traders and businesses in incidents of street violence, like that being witnessed in the capital, the traders' body said that there is "no foolproof security for traders and commercial markets and regular incidents occurred each day with traders in different parts of the country but traders are helpless".

It also said that in these conditions, conducting business has become the "most difficult task".

Both Bhartia and Khandelwal expressed their apprehension that the Prime Minister is probably not being given the right feedback about trade and business issues, "otherwise there is no reason that contrary to the Prime Minister's vision, the traders are being neglected".
Actor Preity Zinta and husband Gene Goodenough celebrated their wedding anniversary on leap year and shared an update with followers on Instagram. With a photo of two of them, Preity wrote, Happy Anniversary my darling Its been 4 years & it still feels like yesterday. Love you to the moon & back #Patiparmeshwar #leapyearanniversary #ting.

Preity and Gene got married on February 29 in a secret ceremony. The ceremony happened in the presence of only a few friends and family members in the US. The news was confirmed only when Sussanne Khan and Surily Goel posted a picture on Instagram. While Preity decided to keep quiet, congratulations started pouring in from her friends like Kabir Bedi, Sushmita Sen and Farah Khan Ali.

The actor later revealed, I met Gene in Santa Monica in Los Angeles. Then we dated for five years and we finally got married, adding, I am not going to tell you the details.

She also told a magazine later, The attention I get in India is very awkward for Gene. Hes very chilled-out and hes not used to such huge crowds. And when his pictures come up with me on Instagram, there are comments like, Why doesnt he smile?! (Laughs) Poor guy! Hes not the monkey in the circus na, its not his deal. But the last time he came, we went for two days to Salmans (Khan) farm (in Panvel) and it was the best time for us. Gene and Salman get along very well and it was just us Salman, his mum (Salma) and the two of us. Gene told me later that it was his best trip ever! He likes the fact that people in India are close. When his parents were here for our wedding, Shah Rukh (Khan) and Salman went and spoke to them and he loved that!

The actor has largely stayed away from films for the last few years. Bhaiaji Superhit, co-starring Sunny Deol, Arshad Warsi, Ameesha Patel and Shreyas Talpade, was her last release. The 2018 film marked a comeback of Preity after a 7-year hiatus from films. The actor was also seen in Fresh Off the Boat spin-off, Magic Motor Inn.
An Italian army soldier blocks off a road leading to the village of Vo'Euganeo, in Italy's northern Veneto region, on Friday, Feb. 28, 2020. Vo'Euganeo is the epicenter of the Veneto cluster of the new virus. (Claudio Fulan/LaPresse via AP)

The number of people infected in Italy with the new coronavirus rose 40% to 1,576 in just 24 hours, Italian authorities announced Sunday, adding that five more infected people had died. The news came as a new U.S. government advisory urged Americans not to travel to the two Italian regions hardest hit by the virus.

That brings the number of deaths in Italy to 34 since cases of the virus exploded in the country on Feb. 21.

Italian health authorities say the increase is expected, since it takes as long as two weeks for containment measures to take effect, and because Italy has a large number of elderly people.

The U.S. travel advisory cited quarantines set up in 10 towns in Lombardy and one in Veneto, with a combined population of 50,000 people, as well as the ''the level of community transmission of the virus.'' It followed an earlier warning late Friday for Americans to avoid non-essential travel to all of Italy.

Tourism officials call the U.S. warning covering all of Italy potentially calamitous to the industry, which represents 13% of gross domestic product in a country famed for its world-class museums, archaeological sites, art cities and natural beauty.

More than 5.6 million Americans visit Italy every year, representing 9% of foreign tourists and the second-largest national group behind Germans, according to the most recent statistics.

A man reads a note announcing the closing of the St. Louis of the French church in Rome, Sunday, March 1, 2020. The French community church in Rome, St. Louis of the French, closed its doors to the public on Sunday, reportedly after a priest was infected with a new virus. The church in the historic center of Rome is famous for three paintings by the Baroque master Caravaggio, and is a tourist draw. A sign on the door Sunday noted in French that the church had been closed as a precaution by the French Embassy for both Masses and touristic visits until further notice. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Lombardy, which includes Italy's financial capital of Milan, accounts for just over half of the cases while Veneto and Emilia-Romagna have 18% and 20%, respectively. All three regions have closed schools for the time being. In Veneto and Lombardy, closures also have hit museums, theaters, cinemas and most public offices, emptying cities like Milan, where many companies have permitted office workers to telecommute.

Earlier Sunday, the French community church in Rome, St. Louis of the French, closed its doors to the public after a priest was infected with the new virus.

The church in the historic center of Rome is famous for three paintings by the Baroque master Caravaggio, making it a destination for tourists and the faithful alike. A sign on the door Sunday noted in French that the church had been closed as a precaution by the French Embassy for both Masses and tourist visits until further notice.

A Carabinieri (Italian paramilitary police) officers stands in front of the St. Louis of the French church in Rome, Sunday, March 1, 2020. The French community church in Rome, St. Louis of the French, closed its doors to the public on Sunday, reportedly after a priest was infected with a new virus. The church in the historic center of Rome is famous for three paintings by the Baroque master Caravaggio, and is a tourist draw. A sign on the door Sunday noted in French that the church had been closed as a precaution by the French Embassy for both Masses and touristic visits until further notice. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

People walk past the St. Louis of the French church in Rome, Sunday, March 1, 2020. The French community church in Rome, St. Louis of the French, closed its doors to the public on Sunday, reportedly after a priest was infected with a new virus. The church in the historic center of Rome is famous for three paintings by the Baroque master Caravaggio, and is a tourist draw. A sign on the door Sunday noted in French that the church had been closed as a precaution by the French Embassy for both Masses and touristic visits until further notice. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Tourists wearing protective masks walk past the St. Louis of the French church in Rome, Sunday, March 1, 2020. The French community church in Rome, St. Louis of the French, closed its doors to the public on Sunday, reportedly after a priest was infected with a new virus. The church in the historic center of Rome is famous for three paintings by the Baroque master Caravaggio, and is a tourist draw. A sign on the door Sunday noted in French that the church had been closed as a precaution by the French Embassy for both Masses and touristic visits until further notice. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

The Religious Information Service news agency reported that the church was closed after a 43-year-old priest who had returned to Paris was hospitalized after being infected by the coronavirus. The service carried a statement by the archbishop of Paris, Michel Aupetit, who said the priest, who had been living in Rome, returned to Paris by car in mid-February, and tested positive for the virus on Friday. He was in good condition, Aupetit said.

It was the first church in Rome closed by the virus. Churches in much of Veneto and Lombardy have closed their doors under widespread measures aimed at containing the spread of the virus. Televised Masses have been available for the faithful.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
China has reportedly confirmed 573 new cases of the novel coronavirus cases on February 29, soaring the figures from 427 the previous day, confirmed Chinas health authority. The number of fatalities stood at 35, dipping from 47 reported the previous day. The total death toll in mainland China currently stands at 2,870, as per reports.

At least 34 fatalities were reported in Hubei province, where the COVID-19 first originated. The province detected 570 new cases within 24 hours, the National Health Commission of China said in media reports. China had earlier described the situation regarding the pathogen outbreak as "still grim and complex" as the disease spread globally raising international concerns.

Minister of China's National Health Commission (NHC), Ma Xiaowei, told a news conference that despite some success in containing the strain of the new virus, there was a risk of the epidemic rebounding. He said that China managed to contain the spread of the virus and curb human-to-human transmission to a great extent after the government implemented "unprecedented" measures. He further added that the deepening health crisis due to the coronavirus became an economic challenge for the country as well.

Read: Ireland Confirms First Coronavirus Case

Read: Coronavirus Time Bomb: America's Uninsured And Brutal Work Culture

Quarantine measures on foreigners

According to the reports, amid mounting cases of the deadly COVID-19 China resorted to stepping up its quarantine measures on the foreign nationals. It also offered assistance to the countries abroad like Iran and Japan which are severely impacted by the contagion. Iran is one of the most severely affected nations outside mainland China which has reportedly surpassed 500 confirmed coronavirus cases and reported 210 fatalities so far. An Iranian lawmaker, Mohammad Ali Ramazani Dastak, died succumbing to the worsening health conditions due to the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, countries like Australia have issued a strict warning to its citizens against travelling to high-risk countries like Iran amid surging cases of the coronavirus in its territory, confirmed reports. The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) announced on February 29, that foreign nationals travelling from Iran need to quarantine in another country before entering Australia.

Read: 78-year-old Is Australia's First Coronavirus Fatality

Read: Coronavirus Outbreak: American Airlines To Suspend Flights To Milan
Action-packed films are director Rohit Shetty's forte and the filmmaker says he is proud that his name is synonymous with high-octane stunt-laden movies.

Rohit, son of legendary stuntman-actor M B Shetty, said he always knew action was his calling.

"My father was doing it. My mother and I knew, I will also do it. I started at the age of 16, I am 45 today. Stunts and action have become my identity now. I never thought it would go up to this level.

"I am happy and proud about it. The only thing is even if others are doing action today, people say, it is 'Rohit Shetty' style. That makes me happy and proud," Rohit told PTI in an interview.

The director, best known for actioners such as "Singham" series, "Simmba", and action-comedies like "Golmaal" films, "All The Best: Fun Begins" and "Chennai Express", currently hosts action-adventure show "Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi".

Rohit said the Colors TV reality series, shot in Bulgaria, suits his personality.

"When I do a show like this it looks real as people relate it with me. It works for me as well. I enjoy it and look forward to it. Every year has been great. The action is great. I had explored Bulgaria in 'Dilwale' so I know the team and it became a bit easier to design the stunts this time," he added.

For the director, safety is the top priority while doing stunts.

"There is a lot of calculation that goes into designing a stunt. You need to be calm and calculative, and that comes with experience. It is very important to be prepared both mentally and physically. We train ourselves physically but mental strength is more important," he said.

On the direction front, Rohit's next directorial venture is the much-awaited "Sooryavanshi", featuring Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif.

This is the third film in the filmmaker's cop universe, which will also see Ajay Devgn as Singham and Ranveer Singh as Simmba in special appearances.

"Sooryavanshi" is slated to be released on March 24.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Several actresses walked out of the Cesar awards in Paris last night after Roman Polanski, who was convicted of the statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl in 1977, was awarded best director.



According to The Guardian , the announcement was followed by shouting and booing from the audience, and more than 100 protestors gathered outside the awards  Frances equivalent of the Oscars  to demonstrate against the controversial director receiving such an honor.

Polanski, who received 12 nominations this year, fled the U.S. after his rape conviction, but before sentencing in the 1970s. He has since faced other sexual assault accusations.

"Portrait of a Lady On Fire" star Adele Haenel, who has previously revealed she was sexually abused as a child by another director, was one of the women who left the ceremony after Polanskis win was announced. The actor shouted "Shame!" as she left, and was followed by director Celine Sciamma, BBC reports.

Actor and comedian Florence Foresti, who was hosting the event, also demonstrated her disapproval. She opened the awards evening with, "Predators, producers, gentlemen with an electronic bracelet," and did not return to the stage after Polanskis award. Later, she took to Instagram to voice how disgusted she was at Polanskis win.

Hours before the ceremony, Frances culture minister Franck Riester expressed his opposition to Polanski winning the award, warning that it would send the wrong message. Riester said it would be "symbolically bad" for Polanski to win best director "given the stance we must take against sexual and sexist violence."

Frances equality minister Marlene Schiappa previously condemned the decision to nominate Polanski at all, saying she found it "impossible that a hall gets up and applauds the film of a man accused of rape several times."

Prior to the awards, Haenal, who was also nominated for a Cesar this year, told the New York Times she would boycott the ceremony if Polanski attended.

"Distinguishing Polanski is spitting in the face of all victims," she said. "There is a #MeToo paradox in France: it is one of the countries where the movement was the most closely followed on social media, but from a political perspective and in cultural spheres, France has completely missed the boat."

The Cesars defended the nominations on the grounds that the body "should not take moral positions." However, the controversy has reignited the debate over Polanskis place in French cinema, and whether his work can or should be regarded separately from him.
No matter if youre sitting in a drift boat, driving a car, out for a jog or simply walking the dog, when Haliaeetus leucocephalus flies by, one cannot help but say, Look! A bald eagle!

The bald eagle, not bald at all, is better described by its scientific name Haliaeetus, Greek for sea eagle and leucocephalus, Greek for white-headed.

There is something about watching this magnificent bird in flight that evokes a sense of wild in all of us. Perhaps we reflect back to the days when this bird was in steep decline and seeing one in the lower 48 states was a real treat. Today, bald eagles are a conservation success story and while common in the Bitterroot, it was not that long ago that their numbers were few due to pesticide use and its effects on eagle reproduction.

Named as our national symbol by Congress in 1782, bald eagles faced numerous threats in the early 1900s. There was even a bounty paid in Alaska up until the late 1940s where a shot or trapped eagle brought $2.

As populations declined, the bald eagle received protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 1978. Since its listing, many of the threats to bald eagles have disappeared, which led to delisting from ESA in 2007. Today the bird flourishes throughout most of the U.S and Canada.

One remaining threat to eagles that is slowly being addressed is the ingestion of lead bullets by eagles from a harvested big game kill site. Unfortunately, both bald and golden eagles will ingest lead fragments from harvested big game kill sites leading to lead poisoning. Many hunters are switching over to non-lead bullets for big game hunting which will hopefully become the norm, safe-guarding eagles from ingesting lead.

Recognized as a symbol of strength, Benjamin Franklin opposed the naming of bald eagles as our national symbol due to several of its behaviors.

The bird routinely steals prey from other birds and mammals, it can be chased away by small birds in a cowardly retreat, and it often eats carrion. Even with those characteristics, most people would argue that this majestic bird serves as a symbol of strength and beauty.

Bald eagles mate for life and typically nest in large trees, where both male and female assist with nest building and repairs as they generally return to the same nest site year after year. Bald eagle nests can be very large, in fact, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, one nest measured over 2.5 meters in diameter and weighed over two tons.

The usual clutch size is one to three eggs with the young eagle fledging about 60 days after hatching. As can be expected the young eaglets have a healthy appetite which keeps both parents busy capturing and stealing prey.

I once observed a bald eagle on Teller swoop down towards an osprey who had just snagged a 12-inch trout. The osprey dropped the fish and the eagle quickly took possession of the prize. I have heard similar stories from waterfowl hunters who shot a duck that fell on an ice-covered pond, only to be picked up by a passing bald eagle.

One behavior to keep a keen eye out for is the bald eagle courtship flights that occur each winter before nesting. Typically, in late January, early February, if you see a bald eagle high in the sky, watch closely as its mate will not be far off.

Grab your binoculars and watch these aerial acrobats swerve and dive at one another occasionally grasping each others talons and appearing to be falling out of control when all at once, they unleash their grasp and fly off.

Next time you see one of these magnificent birds, reflect on this true American symbol. That symbol could have been a turkey if Benjamin Franklin had his way!

Sam Lawry, Teller Wildlife Refuge Executive Director has 35 plus years in the wildlife conservation profession. His contributions to the Ravalli Republic are intended to share some of that knowledge of wildlife in the Bitterroot with the community. If you would like more information about Teller Wildlife Refuge please visit our website at www.tellerwildlife.org.

Love 4 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Security personnel have been holding regular talks with locals to maintain communal harmony

Delhi Police Special Commissioner SN Srivastava takes charge as the new Police Commissioner of Delhi at New Police Headquarters, in New Delhi. PTI photo

The situation in northeast Delhi on Sunday morning remained peaceful with heavy police deployment in the areas which witnessed communal riots.

Security personnel have been holding regular talks with locals to maintain communal harmony.

The situation is under control now. There is adequate force deployed in all the areas of the northeast district. We are holding talks with locals and are trying to rebuild confidence in them, a senior police official said.

No untoward incident has been reported from the district over the past two days, he said. Police are also urging residents to not pay attention to rumours on social media and report them to authorities.

Soon after taking charge on Saturday, acting Delhi Police chief SN Shrivastava said his priority is to restore peace and ensure communal harmony in the national capital, which earlier this week witnessed its worst riots in three decades. Shrivastava was given the additional charge of Delhi Police commissioner with effect from Sunday, following Amulya Patnaik's retirement.

Police have also started a massive outreach programme and senior officers have been meeting and speaking with people from every community in order to build confidence among them.

The violence in Jaffrabad, Maujpur, Babarpur, Chand Bagh, Shiv Vihar, Bhajan Pura, Yamuna Vihar areas of northeast Delhi has claimed at least 42 lives and left over 200 injured.

A large number of properties have been damaged. Frenzied mobs torched houses, shops, vehicles, a petrol pump and pelted stones at locals and police personnel.
I imagine when Perth Festival director Iain Grandage told his team about his twinkle in the eye idea to shut down a major arterial route and roll a series of bands performing on stages on the back of some trucks to remember WAs biggest rock and roll musical export, their eyes must have rolled so far back into their heads they came full circle.

Grandage must be a real smooth talker, because 10 months later Perth experienced probably the geographically longest most bizarre concert ever: Perth Festivals Highway to Hell.

Osaka band Shonen Knife performing AC/DC hits. Credit:Kelly Pilgrim-Byrne

On Sunday Canning Highway was closed to all vehicles except eight trucks that hosted eight different bands all singing their own version of AC/DC songs to commemorate the death of AC/DC frontman and Perth lad Bon Scotts funeral 40 years ago.

I was sceptical an event like this, cleverly described by one of WAtodays Instagram followers as the heavy metal Mardi Gras, would find success in Perth.
Polls closed in Tajikistan Sunday in a parliamentary election that President Emomali Rakhmon's ruling party is expected to sweep, with only one genuinely critical party taking part and the former main opposition banned. The elections are the first in the country's post-Soviet history without the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan, a moderate faith-based party which was once the main opposition but was outlawed in 2015 and has been the target of a harsh crackdown ever since. The country's Central Election Commission said just over 75 percent of the electorate had cast votes as of 1000 GMT, comfortably beyond the 50 percent threshold required for the commission to validate an election. Rakhmon voted for "a worthy candidate" at a polling station in the capital Dushanbe on Sunday morning, the state agency Khovar reported. Many voters interviewed by AFP stressed their desire to see improvements in the republic's anaemic economy. "We need stronger local industries. New work places. We produce our own cotton but import textiles from China," said 58-year-old Izatullah. "As an ordinary citizen I want to see mechanisms stop the cost of goods outpacing salaries." - Proxies - While Rakhmon's People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan is set for a big win, other parties from the outgoing legislature -- including the Agrarian Party, the Party of Economic Reform and the Socialist Party -- are all widely seen as proxies that endorse his nearly three-decade rule. Only one identifiable opposition party is competing in Sunday's ballot -- the Social Democratic Party of Tajikistan, which has never entered parliament. The People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan currently dominates the chamber, holding 51 seats out of 63. Preliminary results are expected on Monday. The last elections in 2015 marked a turning point for Tajikistan, a landlocked Muslim-majority country reliant on former overlord Russia for security and neighbouring China for loans and investment. That year, the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan failed to make parliament for the first time since the end of a five-year civil war that pitted Islamists, democrats and regional forces against troops loyal to Rakhmon, costing tens of thousands of lives. Within months of falling short of the parliamentary threshold, the party was deemed extremist and banned. Eleven members of its political council were jailed. - 'Falsifications' - Since the party was outlawed, the 67-year-old Rakhmon has strengthened his control over the country. In 2016 he oversaw a referendum that allowed him to rule indefinitely. Some analysts tip his son, Rustam Emomali, currently serving as Mayor of Dushanbe, to succeed him in the near future. Shokir Hakimov, the Social Democratic Party of Tajikistan's deputy chairman, told AFP that his party's lack of seats is "not because we lack a base" but because of a "lack of political will, poor electoral legislation and falsifications." The other small parties on the ballot, he said, are "artificially created political structures, which play by the rules of the nomenklatura and keep criticism to within pre-agreed limits." The buildup to Sunday's vote saw well-known journalist and government critic Daler Sharipov jailed as part of a wave of over a hundred arrests that began at the end of last year. Authorities have said the sweep is targeting the Muslim Brotherhood movement, another banned group. Long regarded as the poorest country in the ex-Soviet Union, Tajikistan has seen its poverty rate decline over the last two decades to around 29 percent in 2017. Hundreds of thousands of the 4.7 million electorate live and work in Russia, where polling stations will be set up at the country's embassy in Moscow and consulate in Saint Petersburg. Election officials say just over 75 percent of the electorate had cast votes as of 1000 GMT President Emomali Rakhmon's People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan is expected to sweep the polls Only one identifiable opposition party is competing in Sunday's ballot -- the Social Democratic Party of Tajikistan, which has never entered parliament
Night curfew timings revised in Bengaluru; Major roads to be closed from 6 pm today till 5 am tomorrow

'Bulli Bai' app case: 21-year-old engineering student detained in Bengaluru; identity yet to be revealed

Karnataka imposes weekend curfew to contain the surge in Covid-19 cases; details here

Crime rate in Bengaluru: Murders and burglary cases dropped in 2021 in Karnataka's capital

Sex racket busted in Bengaluru's HSR; 6 women rescued

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Bengaluru, Mar 01: The Central Crime Branch of the Bengaluru city police on Sunday conducted a raid on a spa in HSR layout and rescued six women.

Central Crime Branch's Women Protection Wing conducted a raid on a spa in HSR layout last night and rescued 6 women.

Police have arrested 2 men while the owner of the spa is absconding. A case has been registered and further investigation is underway.

Bengaluru: Police rescue six women from prostitution racket

However, this is not the first time an illegal spa and massage centre has been busted in the city of Bengaluru. CCB police had earlier raided a few places in Koramangala, where prostitution was being run.

On Feb 21, the Bengaluru City Police on Thursday raided a spa on suspicion of its involvement in the prostitution racket at Hoodi village in Mahadevapura area of Bengaluru and rescued six women. Central Crime Branch sleuths conducted a raid and arrested three people while another is absconding.

NEWS AT NOON, MARCH 1st, 2020

On Feb 19, officers attached to the CCB had raided a spa centre in Koramangala area and rescued six women. The owner of the Jack Salon And Wellness Spa in Koramangala has been absconding while the Manager was arrested.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Sunday, March 1, 2020, 10:22 [IST]
The religious discrimination bill has had plenty of attention in the past few months. It was first released for public comment in August 2019, and a redrafted version was released in December. This second draft strengthens the protection for religions and thus strengthens the concerns expressed by human rights groups about the bills impact on rights generally. It has not, for example, addressed the problem of the treatment of same sex attracted students or teachers in religious schools, who can be discriminated against under current laws.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison, right, and Attorney-General Christian Porter announce the updated draft to the religious discrimination bill. Credit:Rhett Wyman

So what is so controversial? In principle, a prohibition on discrimination based on religion is not controversial. No one should experience discrimination at work (or in education or supply of other goods, services or accommodation) because of their religion. The Victorian Equal Opportunity Act has prohibited discrimination based on religion since 1984, and all other states and territories except NSW (which protects only ethno-religion) and SA (which protects only religious dress or appearance) have had such a law for many years. The proposed Commonwealth law would protect people in NSW and SA from discrimination based on their religion. This would protect Muslims, Buddhists and Scientologists as well as Christians.

But central internal functions of religions, such as selecting, training and employing priests and officials, and conducting religious services, use religion as a fundamental qualification, so they need an exception from the prohibition of religious discrimination. There has always been controversy over how widely such exceptions should extend. All Australian discrimination laws except the Commonwealth Racial and Disability Discrimination Acts contain exceptions that permit discrimination by religious bodies where it conforms to the doctrines, tenets or beliefs of that religion, or is necessary to avoid injury to the religious sensitivities of adherents of that religion. The detail and wording of these exceptions vary between different states and territories.

Outside these core internal areas, what exceptions should be given to religions is much more controversial, because there is the possibility that their actions may conflict with the rights of other people not to be discriminated against. It is here that there is a serious problem with the scope of the exceptions proposed for the new religious discrimination bill.
A Lib Dem peer has called on Bank of England boss Mark Carney to put pressure on BP to sell its Russian energy stake.

Lord Teverson last week wrote to Carney to express his great concern about BP's $12.6billion (9.8billion) stake in oil and gas giant Rosneft.

He said sanctions imposed by the US over Rosneft's trading arm's alleged support for Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro were posing a risk to 'financial stability'.

Lord Teverson wants BP to sell its 19.75% stake and invest the proceeds in renewable energy

Lord Teverson, chairman of the House of Lords EU sub-committee for Energy and Environment, wrote that escalating tensions between Rosneft and the US could damage BP's ability to pay dividends which are relied upon by major pension funds.

He wants BP to sell its 19.75 per cent stake and invest the proceeds in renewable energy.

BP finance chief Brian Gilvary recently said his company still sees the stake as 'a very important relationship'.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 11:21:21|Editor: yhy

Video Player Close

BRATISLAVA, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Slovak Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini conceded defeat early Sunday to the opposition party Ordinary People (OLaNO) in the country's parliamentary election.

The latest vote count showed that the center-right, anti-graft OLaNO party took 24.8 percent of the vote, ahead of the ruling Smer party with 18.9 percent.

"Congratulations to the election winner, good health, good luck," Pellegrini told OLaNO leader Igor Matovic, adding "he has good marketing, but we will be interested in how he will handle his office."
Theres been public disquiet as regarding the deadly coronavirus in recent times. But more is that health experts across the globe are y...

Theres been public disquiet as regarding the deadly coronavirus in recent times. But more is that health experts across the globe are yet to discover a vaccine for the disease.





A stir was recently caused on social media after clinical evidence suggested that Chloroquine Phosphate, a widely-used antimalarial drug, may be effective in combating the zoonotic ailment.





In 2014, during the Ebola outbreak in Nigeria, claims about ingesting salt or having a saltwater bath had swirled across the country, threatening many lives and landing a number of Nigerians in hospitals in a wave of panic.





Six years later  in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak  there are now claims that drinking alcohol can, perhaps, forestall the possibility of one contracting the coronavirus (COVID-19).

A Hindi newspaper clipping reportedly claimed that drinking alcohol will keep the coronavirus at bay, having translated, Why cry now? Corona will be packed with one peg of alcohol.





While it wasnt clear as to whether or not the article is satirical, social media sources have further fueled such claims, suggesting that spraying alcohol all over ones body would rid one of COVID-19.





Does alcohol really forestall coronavirus?





In the list of myths published on the website of the World Health Organisation (WHO), it was stated that alcohol does have a role in tackling the disease, albeit not through ingestion.









1clean your  regularly with an alcohol-based hand rub, or wash them with  & .



Touching your face after touching contaminated surfaces or sick people is one of the ways the pic.twitter.com/Ty8J0zoGKS "There are 10 basic things that you should know.1clean your  regularly with an alcohol-based hand rub, or wash them with  & .Touching your face after touching contaminated surfaces or sick people is one of the ways the #coronavirus can be transmitted"- @DrTedros February 28, 2020

The substance, according to the WHO, works only when it is found in handwashes and hand rubs unlike claims suggesting that drinking booze while smoking alongside are more likely to prevent the deadly virus.





Although alcohol has proven to be effective in tackling the virus on surfaces, spraying or bathing in alcohol as misinformation have suggested will not kill viruses that have entered the body.





Alcohol (75 percent solution) and bleach or chlorine-based disinfectants are only appropriate for cleaning surfaces and can cause harm if not used appropriately.





Since the outbreak of the new coronavirus, there has been a sharp increase in demand for alcohol disinfectants in many parts of the world.





The status quo, precautionary measures





83,774 people have been infected; 2,867 have so far died from the coronavirus, with Nigeria having reported its first case of the ailment after an Italian citizen tested positive in Lagos.





Akin Abayomi, the state commissioner for health, had urged citizens not to abuse social media and indulge in causing fear and panic by spreading misinformation.





I wish to assure all Nigerians that have we have been beefing up our preparedness capabilities since the first confirmation of cases in China, and we will use all the resources made available by the government to respond to this case, he said.





Following the development, Nigeria became the 52nd country to confirm a positive case of the virus.





The dreaded virus has been confirmed in Singapore, UK, Spain, Vietnam, Germany, UAE, France, Japan, Thailand, Canada, Australia, Italy, Russia, the United States, among other countries.





According to the WHO, frequent handwashing; social distancing; avoiding touching the eyes, nose or mouth; and seeking early treatment or diagnosis are important in the fight against COVID-19.
A newly released investigation from a submarine mishap in 2015 that caused some $1 million worth of damage shows that an inexperienced crew was given the go-ahead to complete a tricky return-to-port mission in the dark, despite warnings from the commanding officer that they weren't ready.

The Ohio-class submarine Georgia ran aground in the predawn hours of Nov. 25, 2015, the day before Thanksgiving, as it prepared to return to port at Kings Bay, Georgia, to replace a failed towed array sonar. While conducting a scheduled pick-up of a new pilot at Fort Clinch, Florida, near the entrance to St. Marys River, which approaches the base, the sub inadvertently exited the channel, then collided with a buoy amid the crew's efforts to re-orient. The grounding occurred as the crew worked to get clear of the buoy, the investigation shows.

Ultimately, the sub was able to return to port to assess damages, which were mostly cosmetic, save for the ship's screw propeller, an acoustic tracking device and an electromagnetic log meter that measured the sub's speed. The Georgia was taken into dry dock in December 2015 for assessment and the costly repairs.

The investigation, which was completed in March 2016 but just released to Military.com this month through a public records request, found that the "excessive speed" of the sub as it approached the pilot pick-up made it more difficult for the crew to control the ship, and that the tugboat carrying the pilot was positioned poorly, making the maneuver more complex.

Ultimately, though, blame for running aground is laid at the feet of the commanding officer. In the wake of the incident, the commander of Georgia's blue crew, Capt. David Adams, was relieved of his post due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command. Like all submarines in its class, Georgia has two identical crews -- a blue and a gold -- that alternate manning and patrols.

"His inability to effectively manage the complexity of the situation and failure to respond to the circumstances in a manner sufficient to protect the safety of the ship and crew is beneath my expectations for any CO," an investigation endorsement by Rear Adm. Randy Crites, then-commander of Submarine Group 10, reads.

In his detailed and thorough endorsement of findings, Crites also dismisses the notion that maneuvering in the dark and with a green crew was what led to the sub's disastrous mishap.

"Ultimately, had this crew (and the Pilot) executed the same plan in the same manner during broad daylight, there is nothing in the ship's planning effort, demonstrated seamanship, or response to tripwires that indicates the outcome would be any different," he said.

While coming in for the brunt of the blame, Adams was not alone in being designated for punishment. Crites indicated his intent to take administrative action against the sub's executive officer; chief of boat; navigation/operations officer; weapons officer, who was the officer of the deck; and assistant navigator. He also said he'd issue non-punitive letters of caution to the commander of Submarine Squadron 16 and his own chief of staff and director of operations -- all Navy captains -- for failure to take appropriate action toward resolution regarding Adams' concerns around the sub's transit into port.

The Ohio-class guided-missile submarine USS Georgia (SSGN 729) exits the dry dock at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Georgia, following an extended refit period. Georgia is one of two guided-missile submarines stationed at the base and is capable of carrying up to 154 Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles. (Bryan Tomforde/U.S. Navy)

The 475-page investigation, which includes witness statements, logs and other supporting documentation, offers insight into what those concerns were. In a Nov. 24 email to the commodore of Squadron 16 marked "confidential," Adams, the Georgia blue crew commander, lays out his qualms about the plan he has been ordered to execute, particularly the predawn return to port for a brief one-day stop with a crew that had spent just three weeks underway together on a new ship.

"CO/XO/NAV have not piloted into Kings Bay in the last 20 years. All of the untoward [incidents] I know of occurred between [St. Marys] and Fort Clinch," he wrote. "My assessment is that this is not a prudent plan for [return to port] ... Having just been at sea for a few weeks, I have not built enough depth. I am concerned about the fatigue level of my command element.

"Given an all day evolution and subsequent [underway], we will have spent the majority of 36 hours awake and are set to pilot out and submerge on the mid-watch at 0330."

The two-page memo, it appears, was never received and read by Submarine Squadron 16's commodore, Capt. John Spencer. But Adams testified he had relayed the same concerns face-to-face with Spencer days before, on Nov. 22. He also discussed the same issues, he said, in a follow-up phone call.

This much is clear: the plan wasn't called off, and the mission was cleared to proceed. But murky communication dogged the lead-up to the operation, and later the mission itself.

Spencer and others testified that Adams had been given leeway to "slow things down a little" if he felt uncomfortable. Adams said he believed any delay would have been viewed as insubordination.

On the day of the mishap, communication was also flawed, in ways that underscore the crew's unfamiliarity with each other, and possibly the sleep deprivation that had left some members running on just two to three hours of rest.

According to the investigation, as the Georgia approached the point at which it was to meet with the tug and pick up the pilot -- the navigation expert who would drive the ship into port -- it became clear that the tug was well west of its expected position. The sub, meanwhile, was approaching too fast and slowing too gradually. The investigation found it was still making 15 knots, or about 17 miles per hour, when it passed the set "all stop" point. That speed and positioning would make every maneuver that followed more risky and difficult.

Initial attempts to communicate with the tug and the pilot aboard via radio were unsuccessful, and the planned transfer happened late. Adams did not want to scrap the transfer and proceed into port without the pilot, the investigation found, because of the challenges of pulling into port without one.

When the sub exited the channel at the west end of the Fort Clinch basin, the crew's communication skills faced a major test. The assistant navigator recommended to the navigator that the sub go to "all back emergency," a call the navigator then passed to the bridge. The officer of the deck seemed to agree, but said nothing, the investigation found. Adams, however, overrode the order, believing it would not work, and ordered "all ahead full" instead. He started directing the officer of the deck, but did not fully take control of the sub or give direct orders to the helm, the report states.

Despite a series of maneuvers -- right hard rudder, left hard rudder, all ahead full, right hard rudder -- the sub collided with Buoy 23 in the channel. But the worst was still to come.

"When [Adams] asked [the lookout] if the ship hit buoy 23, [the lookout] informed the CO that he did not care about the buoy, but thought the ship was going to run aground on the beach forward of the ship," the investigation states.

As grounding looked imminent, the Georgia asked the driver of the C-tractor tugboat if the tug could cross in front of the sub on the starboard, or right, side, and push the bow around. The tug master refused, according to the investigation, worried that the water was too shallow.

The sub ended up, as the lookout put it, "hitting Fort Clinch."

FILE -- In this file photo from July 12, 2018, Gen. John E. Hyten, commander, U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), views the dry dock at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Georgia. The base is home to six of the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines that make up the most survivable leg of the nuclear triad and support strategic deterrence. (Eli Buguey/U.S. Navy)

The mishap, and the misgivings that preceded it, came against the backdrop of a Navy grappling with a culture in which overworked and unready crews were regularly put underway in service of operational needs. After two separate deadly destroyer collisions in 2017, service leaders found, among other things, that a "'can-do' culture" had undermined safety and led to unduly high operational tempo and fatigue.

"The can-do culture becomes a barrier to success only when directed from the top down or when feedback is limited or missed," the Navy's comprehensive review of the destroyer mishaps, released in October 2017, found.

Whether these factors came into play with the Georgia is more difficult to say.

In a statement for the investigation, Adams emphasized that he took full responsibility for what had transpired.

"Despite my significant reservation - expressed face-to-face, on the phone, and In emails with staff and leadership ... concerning the risks of proceeding Into Kings Bay In the dark with an inexperienced team, when my requests to delay [return to port] one hour later were denied, I failed in my command responsibilities by driving to achieve mission success at the expense of appropriately acting to mitigate risks to increase our margin of safety," he said.

"In retrospect, I should have loitered at [St. Marys] until I was satisfied that the risks were commensurate with the mission gain."

Reached for comment by Military.com, Adams, who retired in 2016, referred to a public statement he had released at the time of his relief, in which he called the actions that caused the grounding "mine alone."

"I ask that my lapses not be used to denigrate the terrific service of the Sailors and families of GEORGIA BLUE," he said at the time "After thirty years of serving in the world's finest Navy, my only regret is that I will miss sailing with them again to stand against our nation's enemies."

But the fact that some above Adams were also warned offers insight into how the higher command viewed the incident.

Crites faulted Spencer, the Squadron 16 commodore, with "failure to provide his ship a plan with adequate margin to safety, specifically in not providing sufficient guidance and training to his staff that developed the plan in his absence and not aggressively pursuing complete resolution of the ship's requested arriva through personal intervention with the Type Commander staff."

The chief of staff and director of operations for Submarine Group 10, Crites said in the report, had failed to "pursue acceptable resolution to the concerns they had with the plan for the ship's arrival."

Holly Carey, deputy public affairs officer for Submarine Force Atlantic, declined to say whether all administrative actions recommended by the investigation were carried out.

"What I can tell you is that the Navy is confident that leadership took appropriate corrective actions against several personnel assigned to the squadron and submarine based on the findings of the investigation," she said.

"Following the investigation, which concluded in 2016, leadership took appropriate accountability measures and has taken all necessary steps to prevent a recurrence in the future. USS Georgia, and her current crew, serve proudly today among the U.S. Submarine Force and has leadership's full confidence to protect the interest of the United State and allies."

-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A woman shot and killed a 34-year-old man in a car outside of one of KCPD's patrol divisions Friday, police say. Kansas City police said officers at the Central Patrol Division, near Linwood Boulevard and Forest Avenue, heard gunshots around 4 p.m.
Once again, President Trump has ordered the redirection of military funds  $3.8 billion, in the latest installment  to continue building a wall on the Mexican border. And once again, the American Civil Liberties Union, on behalf of environmental and border-community advocates, has asked a Bay Area federal judge to stop him.

Congress has considered and rejected the presidents requests for billions of dollars in wall funding, ACLU lawyers said in a lawsuit Friday. Multiple courts, they noted, have ruled that Congress has the last word on such spending decisions, but rather than abide by these decisions, President Trump is now diverting even more congressionally appropriated military funds to border wall construction.

The problem the ACLU faces, though, is that the multiple courts do not include the U.S. Supreme Court. After federal juges in Oakland and elsewhere had blocked wall funding, the high court issued a 5-4 decision in July allowing Trump to take $2.5 billion from the military budget and use it to build 100 miles of border barriers in California, Arizona and New Mexico.

The courts conservative majority provided little explanation, saying only that the Trump administration has made a sufficient showing at this stage that the plaintiffs have no cause of action. That seemed to suggest that the Sierra Club and other environmental advocates had not shown they would be seriously harmed by wall construction, regardless of whether Trump had acted within his authority.

The ACLU offered a counter-argument in Fridays suit by the Sierra Club and the Southern Border Communities Coalition, which represents 60 local organizations in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. Trumps latest order is for 177 miles of wall-building in those states.

The construction will have devastating effects on the environment, the suit said, citing construction that has already bulldozed and dynamited parts of the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Arizona and the expected draining of underground aquifers to mix cement for the wall. The administration has failed to analyze or consider the environmental impacts, as the law requires, the ACLU said.

The suit also challenged the administrations stated reasons for redirecting funds Congress had appropriated to the armed forces. In a Feb. 13 notice to Congress, officials said the funding, which had been mostly designated for military equipment and aircraft, was needed for construction to choke off drug smuggling corridors along the southern border.

When Congress approved the military spending, the ACLU said, it specified that the funds could be redirected only for newly required military construction projects or emergencies requiring armed forces.

There is no emergency requiring the use of the armed forces along the U.S.-Mexico border, the suit said, and construction of a border wall is not a military construction project.

Trump recently renewed the state of emergency he first declared in February 2019 after shutting down many federal government operations for a record 35 days when Congress approved only $1.375 billion for wall construction, instead of the $5.7 billion he sought. For wall construction Trump has ordered so far, officials have estimated the cost at $11 billion.

The president is doubling down on his unlawful scheme to raid taxpayer funds for a xenophobic campaign promise that is destroying national treasures, harming the environment, and desecrating tribal lands, said ACLU attorney Dror Ladin.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko
McCardell noted that Rosenthals photo won the Pulitzer Prize the year it was taken, became a U.S postage stamp in 1945 and 1995, and was used as a model for the Marine Corps War Memorial in Washington, D.C. There can be no doubt that the image testifies to the universal power of photography and its ability to capture a moment that would otherwise be lost in the blur of time.
An interactive convening of experts, diplomats, activists and compassionate citizens, to discuss wildlife conservation in Africa in celebration of World Wildlife Day 2020 in line with Sustainable Development Goal 15.

African Symposiums Inaugural Forum on Wildlife Conservation in Africa is launching on March 3, 2020 on the United Nations designated World Wildlife Day and in line with Sustainable Development Goal 15. H.E. Lazarus O. Amayo, Ambassador of the Permanent Mission of Kenya, H.E. Valentine Rugwabiza, Ambassador of Rwanda to the UN and H.E. Jean-Claude do Rego, Ambassador of Benin to the UN will be making opening remarks along with Dr. Djibril Diallo, CEO of The African Renaissance and Diaspora Network as the moderator.

This forum will take place at the Rubin Museum of Art and will focus on opportunities for the African Diaspora community and friends to play a more active, engaged and visible role. The speakers include Angela Grimes of Born Free USA, Lexi Bowes-Lyon of Space for Giants, Edwin Tambara of African Wildlife Foundation, Alexandra Mor, Jewelry Designer, Esther Agbarakwe, Nigerian Climate Change Activist, Fleurie LeClercq, Childrens Book Author, NDE Media Group, Zigi Ben- Haim, showcasing THE MAGNIFICENT DOZEN: Endangered Animals paintings, Dr. David OConnor, Permanent Observer of IUCN to the UN, Dr. Dale Jamieson, Director, NYU Center for Environmental & Animal Protection, and The Same Sky Foundation.

Of the estimated 415,000 Wild elephants on the continent, approximately 55 African Elephants are poached every day. Due to rampant poaching for Rhino horn, there are only two Northern White Rhinos left in the world, both of which are female, and with approximately 23,000 lions left in the wild, African lions face extinction by 2050. The United Nations General Assembly has designated March 3 as World Wildlife Day to celebrate and raise awareness of the worlds wild fauna and flora, and to recognize the intrinsic value of wildlife and its various contributions to sustainable development and human well-being.

Partager et informez vous aussi......

0 shares Share

Tweet

LinkedIn

Articles similaires
In a recent study, researchers have found that if we can overcome the loss of a process in the brain called 'RNA editing,' we may be able to slow the progress of Alzheimer's disease and other synaptic disorders.

RNA editing is a genetic mechanism that modifies proteins essential in the connection between nerve cells in the brain called synapses. RNA editing is deregulated in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease, but whether this can cause disease is unknown.

The study was published in the journal of Molecular Brain.

In the study, the scientific team at the University of Technology's, Sydney, Centre for Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine (CNRM) replicated this deregulated process in the brains of mice and discovered it led to the loss of synapses, as occurs in Alzheimer's.

The findings could have implications for a new way forward for ultimately treating Alzheimer's disease, says Prof Bryce Vissel, senior author of the study.

"Understanding mechanisms leading to synapses loss is essential to understand how patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease start losing their memory capacities and how to prevent this from happening," adds Prof Vissel.

"Many scientists consider that Alzheimer's results from the build-up of a substance called amyloid in the brain. Consequently, they've focused their studies on removing amyloid. However, the most important event is actually the loss of connections between nerve cells called synapses which are known to be essential for memory formation," he says.

"Our study is extremely important because we now have shown a mechanism that can lead to loss of synapses as occurs in Alzheimer's disease."

Dr Gary Morris, a scientist who contributed to the study, says that because "synapses are important for learning, the loss of these synapses leads to memory loss."

"Our study suggests that if we can overcome the loss of RNA editing in the brain, we may potentially be able to slow the disease."

Prof Vissel says the team's next step is to see if they can rescue synapses and memory deficits in Alzheimer's disease by overcoming the loss of RNA editing in the Alzheimer's brain.

"We have good reason to think that this could ultimately be a highly beneficial approach for solving Alzheimer's and potentially other neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
SHANGHAI, CHINA / ACCESSWIRE / February 28, 2020 / Slush China, the organizer of the biggest and most international startup and tech event in Asia, announced on February 28 its 2020 plan. According to the team, Slush China will convene its flagship 15,000-people Slush Shanghai 2020 event as scheduled on October 15th. and 16th. Apart from Slush Shanghai, there will also be smaller Slush tech and startup events taking place in more cities in China. The student-driven, not-for-profit organization Slush, originated from Helsinki in 2008, has also scheduled its once-a-year global startup event Slush 2020 on Nov. 19-20 in Helsinki, gathering of 25,000 change-makers, including 4,000 startups and 2,000 investors.

Over 1,000 volunteers from around the world supported Slush Shanghai 2019

The theme for Slush China 2020 is Reboot the Future. "The year 2020 is off to a rough start with the unprecedented outbreak of the Coronavirus, posing great challenges to businesses globally, especially SMEs. This untimely outbreak comes at a time when the global economy is on a downward slope and China's economy is also slowing down. It will take radical innovators and disruptors to hit the restart button to find answers to the problem faced by them and the world." said Chen Wang, CEO of Slush China when talking about the meaning behind this year's theme.

Since the first Slush Shanghai event in 2016, it has become the biggest and most influential celebration of entrepreneurship and innovation in China. Slush Shanghai 2020 is expected to gather at Shanghai World Expo Convention & Exhibition Center 15,000 attendees globally, including 1,500 startups and 1,000 investors, all supported by 1,000 volunteers. Slush China is also expanding to more cities to help drive local innovation and entrepreneurship. "We are seeing more cities in China rising as innovation centers. They have robust innovation ecosystems and great entrepreneurs." said Chen Wang, "By bringing Slush events to these smaller cities, we hope to connect the local innovators with the world and generate tangible results."

Story continues

Slush's mission is to help the next generation of world-changing founders. Driven by this mission, Slush China has always been trying to offer more value to entrepreneurs by facilitating their connection with corporates, investors, media outlets and potential clients. The Slush China events will come with an online match-making system as part of the standard practice globally. This helps attendees maximize the results by pre-schedule meetings before the event. Slush pitch competitions are also open for participants across the world to help entrepreneurs get exposure to media and investors.

Now the application for partners, exhibition booths, startup pitching competition and volunteer is open. More information can be found on https://www.slush.org/events/china/ .

SLUSH CHINA

Slush entered China in 2015 with its debut event in Beijing. Since 2016, Slush China brought this world-class tech event to Shanghai, Nanjing and Shenzhen, and welcomed more than 35,000 tech-heads, 3,000 volunteers, 4,000 startups, 500 speakers from across the world. As one of Slush's global tech events, Slush China serves as a platform for global startups to meet top investors, corporate and media. Slush is listed by Forbes as a top international startup & technology event in China,

CONTACT INFORMATION

Liz Lee

Head of Marketing and Media

Slush China

Mob. +86 13642153516

Email: liz.li@slush.org

SOURCE: Slush China





View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/578337/Slush-China-Announces-2020-Plan-to-Facilitate-Innovation-and-Entrepreneurship




- The officials said the locusts' invasion in Laisamis began in December 2019

- They said there were two types of locusts that invaded Laisamis from Somalia and Ethiopia

- They are the tree locusts that feed on trees and vegetation and desert locusts that feed on the vegetation and grass

- According to them, although the locusts are being sprayed on, the female locusts lay eggs six inches deep in the ground

- The locusts are said to travel about 130 km or more in a day

Laisamis sub-county in Marsabit county is on the brink of losing its vegetation to the locusts that have invaded the area.

The sub-county livestock production officer Edward Lentoror said the locusts' invasion in Laisamis began in December 2019 and the situation is getting worse.

READ ALSO: Gire Ali: Senator Mutula Kilonzo Jr wants suspended KQ employee promoted for brave act

Following the invasion of locust, Laisamis sub-county in Marsabit County is on the brink of losing its vegetation. Photo: Monica Wambugha.

Source: Original

READ ALSO: Blessed with brains: Meet family of 5 sisters who are all doctors

Speaking to TUKO.co.ke, he said there are two types of locusts that invaded Laisamis, the tree locusts that feed on trees and vegetation and desert locusts that feed on the vegetation and grass.

According to him, when the locusts are hatching from the eggs they are black in colour.

Lentoror said that even though the locusts are being sprayed on, the female locusts drill six inches deep on the ground and lay their eggs.

They eventually hatch and emerge then spread on the ground.

READ ALSO: If China will just turn to Jesus, coronavirus crisis will end - US pastor

The desert locusts lay over 100 eggs in an egg pod. It is difficult to control them because they fly with the wind at a speed of 16-19km/hour," he said.

According to research, the locusts can travel about 130 km or more in a day.

Lentoror says at first the locusts migrated from Somalia and Ethiopia. Therefore if nothing is done to control the locusts in those areas then it would remain catastrophic in the region.

Adan Abdirahman, an agricultural officer in Laisamis said North Horr has also been affected but the terrain makes it difficult to reach the region.

READ ALSO: Jesus carried their burden: Church clears KSh 4.6 billion medical bills for over 45k families

They controlled the locusts by digging trenches and pouring chemicals so that by the time they start moving they would eventually die. Photo: Monica Wambugha

Source: Original

The remoteness and difficult access to such areas due to bad roads and communication makes it difficult to control the locusts.There are also limited resources for locust monitoring and control in the affected areas. he said.

Elders from the region said the locusts' invasion in Laisamis started around 70 years ago.

READ ALSO: Nairobi MCAs accuse Senator Sakaja of sabotaging Mike Sonko's impeachment motion

They controlled the locusts by digging trenches and pouring chemicals so that by the time they start moving they would eventually die.

At that time the locusts caused a lot of damage and fed on all the grasses and the vegetation to the extent of causing famine, said one of the elders.

Some of them said that during their time the locusts were viewed as a sign of good things to come giving an example of a good rainy season.

A substantial amount of rainfall can control the locusts' invasion. And during our time, the locusts were seen as a good fortune of rains to come in due season, said the elders.

READ ALSO: Nairobi lawyer invites Kenyans to pray for end of Uhuru's leadership at Uhuru Park

When asked if they would ever consider locusts as an alternative protein in their daily meals, the residents blatantly said it would be impossible. Photo: Monica Wambugha.

Source: Original

In Laisamis where the majority of the residents are herders, the locusts' invasion is threatening their only source of livelihood.

What we are worried about is losing fodder to the locusts as many of the residents here own a lot of live stocks from cattle, goats, camels, and sheep, said one of the residents, Loree Yatan.

In places like Bungoma County, the residents have welcomed the locusts' invasion because they see them as a delicacy and rich in proteins.

When asked if they would ever consider locusts as an alternative protein in their daily meals just as the Bungoma residents, the residents blatantly said it would be impossible.

READ ALSO: Near stampede in Kakamega as thousands flock supermarket to scramble for 15 job vacancies

All our lives we value eating meat because we are herders and value our livestock. How can we begin valuing insects that deprive our livestock of food? " said Thande Lorio.

One of the herders, Boru Abshiro, argued that it will be a tall order convincing the residents to consider eating locusts as a source of protein.

H said to them it is ridiculous even if they were being consumed elsewhere, they want the locusts destroyed as soon as possible before their livestock die of hunger.

National Disaster Management Coordinator, World Vision Kenya Felix Musonye said the locusts menace has depleted the gain on vegetation cover especially bourse and pasture.

READ ALSO: BBI Meru: Seneta Murkomen amlima Raila na kuondoka mkutanoni ghafla

Elders from the region said the locusts' invasion in Laisamis started around 70 years ago. Photo: Monica Wambugha.

Source: Original

According to him, they had improved following the reported good rain season in the Arid and Semi-Arid (ASAL) areas in Kenya.

The invasion has come as a big challenge in areas where the government and humanitarian agency had not planned in advance for. This calls for thorough multi-hazard planning in future, said Musonye.

Monica Wambugha, TUKO.co.ke Correspondent

Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly

Source: TUKO.co.ke
Viral video of a boy suffering from dwarfism recently went viral and made people realise exactly how much of a problem bullying can be. Students in India are not strangers to bullying, and in an attempt to tackle that, a nine-year-old Meghalaya girl created an anti-bullying app.

Twitter

Meaidaibahun Majaw, a student of Class IV in Shillong, has been selected by an online portal, White Hat Junior, as one of the 12 winners to go to Silicon valley.

The portal, helps children learn the basics of coding, and they tweeted, Kudos Mae Mae, who is one of our winners of the 12 chosen ones! Mae Mae will soon be flying to #SiliconValley to meet #Google Scientists, Waymo Engineers, VCs from Nexus Ventures and Entrepreneurs from Owl Ventures.

Kudos Mae Mae, who is one of our winners of the 12 chosen ones! Mae Mae will soon be flying to #SiliconValley to meet #Google Scientists, Waymo Engineers, VC's from Nexus Ventures and Entrepreneurs from Owl Ventures. #whitehatjr

Book a FREE trial today: https://t.co/f74ZNG6xSE pic.twitter.com/QttbseepoH  WhiteHat Jr (@whitehatjunior) February 25, 2020

According to a TNIE report, Meaidaibahun's app would help children and students to alert their teachers, parents and others anonymously against bullies. She developed the app within three months since enrolling with White Hat Junior in September last year. If everything goes well, it will feature in Google's Play Store.

Meaidaibahun, who will meet many famous people in California in May, might just be Northeast's youngest entrepreneur. She will present her application before an audience in the valley.

Twitter

Meghalaya Chief Minister, Conrad Sangma, too was impressed by the girls achievement and tweeted, Ecstatic to learn that Meaidaibahun Majaw #Meghalayas 9yr old genius who created an anti-bullying app to help victims report cases of #bullying anonymously to parents and teachers is among the 12 chosen ones to go to #SiliconValley. A dream come true for Meai. So proud of her.

Met and congratulated Meaidaibahun Majaw, a Class 4 student, in Shillong today. She has developed an #antibullying app. The app allows victims to report their bullies to the authorities without revealing their identity.#innovation #education #EducationForAll @HRDMinistry pic.twitter.com/QPqAnRj2y9  Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank (@DrRPNishank) February 14, 2020

The 9-year-old prodigy has also been awarded a special appreciation certificate and memento by Union Human Resources Development Minister, RP Nishank, previously. Here is wishing her success ahead.
Gerald Herbert/AP

COLUMBIA, South Carolina  Joe Biden bet the balance of his five-decade political career on winning South Carolina  and hit the jackpot.

After months of drooping poll numbers, tortured debate performances, and awkward exchanges on the stump, the states voters came to his rescue in Saturdays Democratic primary in a big way, handing him a victory that creates some much-needed forward motion to the former frontrunners 2020 chances  and sets up a showdown with the current frontrunner, Bernie Sanders.

The former Vice President was expected to win South Carolina, but experts said he likely needed a convincing victory in the state he had staked his candidacy on following disappointing finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire. His win was called as soon as polls closed at 7 p.m. on Saturday and as the night progressed it appeared that he was on track to win just shy of 50 percent of the vote in the state  nearly 30 points higher than Sanders.

Biden, in a fit of optimism, even mused on primary eve about what a significant victory in the state could do for his campaign.

Theres an Unexpected Feeling at a Biden Rally: Hope

He was well on his way there when House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-SC), an elder statesman whose endorsement of Biden carried tremendous weight in the state, at the Carolina Volleyball Center, brought a smiling Biden, his wife, Jill, and his daughter, Ashley, onto the stage.

Those of you who have been knocked down, counted out, left behind, this is your campaign, Biden said.

His campaign, of course, had experienced every one of those in recent weeks, all the while assuring supporters, donors, and reporters  basically anyone else who would listen  that South Carolina was their firewall.

And it held. It held bigtime, not a joke.

This campaign is taking off, Biden said. This is the moment to choose the path forward for our party. This is a moment and it's arrived. Maybe sooner than anyone guessed it would, but it's here. And the decisions Democrats make all across America next few days will determine what this party stands for, what we believe, and what will get done.

Story continues

If Democrats nominate me,  he continued. I believe we can beat Donald Trump.

The celebratory mood may be short lived, however. Biden now must face Super Tuesdays gauntlet of Mike Bloombergs hundreds of millions and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) movementum in the most important day of the Democratic primary so far.

Sanders, who was blown out by 47 points here in the 2016 primary, was trounced again, trailing Biden by nearly 30 points with 86 percent of the vote reported. But, the Vermont Independent was undeterred and in a speech to supporters in Virginia Beach, he reminded them of their recent victories  and told them not to be discouraged by the defeat.

There are a lot of states [in] this country nobody wins them all, he said. I want to congratulate Joe Biden on his victory tonight. And now we're on to the Super Tuesday at Virginia.

But shortly after acknowledging Bidens win, he took a dig at his now-closest rival for the nomination.

In order to defeat Trump, we are going to need the largest voter turnout in the history of this country, he said. And in my view, old fashion politics, the same old same old type of politics, that doesn't excite anybody that doesn't energize anybody not is not going to be the campaign that beats Trump.

Sanders supporters were less charitable.

I mean, yeah that sucks, Mathew Newbill, a young Sanders supporter from Chesapeake, Virginia. I really think Bidens a garbage candidate.

But like Sanders, he was sure that his candidate would rebound.

So, really all it can do is hurt Bernie a little bit, he said. But it probably wont do much for Bidens campaign at all.

In South Carolina, Voters Blame Media for Amplifying Bidens Missteps

Biden fended off a determined effort from billionaire Tom Steyer who came into South Carolina with little to show for the millions in advertising hed poured into other early voting states. But Steyers focus was clearly on South Carolina, where he hoped his support for reparations and approach to race issues would resonate more than in the overwhelmingly white states of Iowa and New Hampshire.

It did not and Steyer, who spent upwards of $13 million in the Palmetto State, according to fivethirtyeight.com, dropped out shortly after it became clear he would not make the 15 percent threshold needed to earn delegates.

It wasnt lost on some in the crowd what they had done today, resurrecting a campaign that had bet its future on the states diverse Democratic base.

What happened in the other states didnt really matter to voters here said Clint Scoville, a Biden supporter in his 50s. Biden may not have had a whole lot of ads, he said, but people already felt comfortable with him.

Im thinking if he probably had not won South Carolina I think that he wouldnt be able to get any financial support, Scoville said. I think the financial support would have dried up on him.

His campaign is already trying to build off Saturdays win ahead of the Democratic delegate gold mine awaiting Tuesday. A source familiar with his high-dollar fundraising efforts said the reaction was badass on Saturday night, with new potential donors coming forward to offer help to the campaign. And before the results were announced, a Biden-supporting super PAC revealed that it was putting another $1.2 million in advertising in southern states, including North Carolina, Virginia, Arkansas, Alabama and Texas.

Black Voters Speak, and Times Up for the Moderate Democrats They Rejected

Other efforts, aimed more at weakening Sanders than boosting any specific candidate, may also end up benefiting Biden. Big Tent Project, a dark money group formed by moderate Democrats, plans to drop $4 million in digital ads in several Super Tuesday that, among other things, paint Sanders as a socialist who will ultimately lose to President Donald Trump.

Biden himself campaigned in Raleigh, North Carolina at Saint Augustine University, an HBCU, before heading back for his party in Columbia Saturday night. As Biden sat on a stool on stage and waited to speak, a woman could be heard saying we believe in you Joe!

"The full comeback starts in South Carolina and then goes here on Tuesday," Biden said.

He later added: I promise you this. If North Carolina stands with us on Tuesday, there will be no stopping us from there (to the nomination) and we will win the presidency.

Sundays schedule takes him to a church service in Selma, Alabama and then to Norfolk, Virginia for a rally alongside Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) who endorsed him Friday. A pair of events await in delegate rich Texas on Monday followed by Biden appearing in California on the biggest day of the election season yet.

Saturdays victory also marks a historic night for Bidens long simmering presidential ambitions. Despite running for president three times, the Delaware Democrat had never stayed in the race long enough to win a presidential primary or caucus as a candidate.

Biden had long claimed his support with black voters shows he is the most electable general election candidate. And though his overall electability argument still appears to have taken a hit from his lack of success in the first two voting states, South Carolinas more diverse Democratic electorate didnt flee his side even as his chances at becoming president appeared to be dwindling.

Celebrity Endorsements 2020: All the A-Listers Backing Sanders, Warren, Buttigieg and More

The former Vice Presidents sometimes awkward style of campaigning, the type of style where hed give wandering answers that went in often unpredictable directions, caused some voters to come away disappointed in states like Iowa and New Hampshire. Then came Saturday, and South Carolina.

Anne Weaver, a 60-year-old Democratic voter, proudly pointed to her Obama/Biden pin as she left the Biden victory party, but was just as joyful about the Biden pin just above it.

A night like this "was always going to happen here," she said, as she mused that Steyer and Bloomberg should drop out because "they're wasting their money."

"It's going to be him and Sanders, obviously," she said. "Everyone else is just muddying the water."

Elizabeth Adams, a 50-year-old Biden supporter stood lingering on the edge of the crowd, considering if the win tonight will give Biden the push he needs for Super Tuesday.

Im hoping it will, Adams said.

with additional reporting from Sam Stein, Jackie Kucinich, Hanna Trudo

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.
Enemy troops shelled Ukrainian positions near the Maryinka checkpoint, using a portable anti-tank missile launcher.

Russia-led forces in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, mounted 19 attacks on Ukrainian positions on February 29, as a result of which two members of Ukraine's Joint Forces (JFO) were wounded in action, and another one sustained combat-related injuries.

They used proscribed weapons, namely 120mm and 82mm mortars, as well as a portable anti-tank missile launcher, grenade launchers of various systems, the press center of the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) said in a morning update on March 1.

Read alsoRussia-led forces attack JFO positions near Maryinka checkpoint in Donbas

A pair of enemy snipers were reportedly working there too.

Ukrainian positions near the Maryinka checkpoint were shelled with the use of a portable anti-tank missile launcher, the JFO HQ said.

Since Sunday midnight, Russia-led forces have already fired two 82mm mortar shells. They also used grenade launchers and heavy machine guns to attack Ukrainian soldiers defending the village of Pisky.

No Ukrainian army casualties have been reported since then.
Polls suggest that Sanders is poised to win a substantial California victory. Biden has hopes now that his South Carolina success may allow him to get over the threshold, which he desperately needs to do. But holding off a Sanders runaway in the biggest state may require at least one more candidate to hit the threshold, too. Its not clear if any of them can, although the surveys suggest that Warren may be in the best position to do so.
In 2005, the federal government sought to assess how a respiratory-related pandemic might play out in the United States. Its report estimated that a severe influenza pandemic would require mechanical ventilators for 740,000 critically ill people.

Today, as the country faces the possibility of a widespread outbreak of a new respiratory infection caused by the coronavirus, there are nowhere near that many ventilators, and most are already in use. Only about 62,000 full-featured ventilators were in hospitals across the country, a 2010 study found. More than 10,000 others are stored in the Strategic National Stockpile, a federal cache of supplies and medicines held in case of emergencies, according to Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, a former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Tens of thousands of other respiratory devices could be repurposed in an emergency, experts say, but the shortfall would be stark, potentially forcing doctors to make excruciating life-or-death decisions about who would get such help should hospitals become flooded with the desperately sick.

Much about the coronavirus remains unclear, and it is far from certain that the outbreak will reach severe proportions in the United States or affect many regions at once. With its top-notch scientists, modern hospitals and sprawling public health infrastructure, most experts agree, the United States is among the countries best prepared to prevent or manage such an epidemic.

But the coronavirus, which appeared in China in December and has stricken more than 86,000 people around the world, killing nearly 3,000, has already exposed significant vulnerabilities in the ability of the United States to respond to serious health emergencies.

Across the country, educators, businesses and local officials are beginning to confront the logistics of enduring a possible pandemic: school closings that could force millions of children to remain at home, emergency plans that would require employees to work remotely, communities scrambling to build up supplies.

In plausible worst-case-scenarios given the pattern of the outbreak thus far, the country could experience acute shortages not just in ventilators but also health workers to operate them and care for patients; hospital beds; and masks and other protective equipment.

Even during mild flu pandemics, most of our ICUs are filled to the brim with severely ill patients on mechanical ventilation, said Dr. Eric Toner, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and an expert on health care preparedness. I hope and pray COVID-19 turns out to be a moderate pandemic, but if not, were in serious trouble, he said, referring to the name given the disease caused by the virus.

Resources are concentrated in the most populous and wealthiest cities, leaving rural areas and other neglected communities exposed to greater risk. And public health experts worry that efforts to contain an outbreak could be hamstrung by budget cuts that have weakened state health departments.

Seventy cases have been identified in the United States as of Saturday night, most of them patients infected while abroad. But officials at the CDC warned on Tuesday that number will almost certainly rise and urged Americans to prepare for significant disruptions to their lives. On Saturday afternoon officials announced the first death, a patient in Washington state.

Health officials are working to confine outbreaks to small geographic clusters, which would limit the impact on the nations health care system and buy time for the development of a vaccine, an effort that could take a year or longer. But flawed test kits distributed to states by the CDC and strict criteria initially used for identifying potential cases may have slowed detection of the virus spreading within communities across the country.

On Friday, three new patients  in California, Oregon and Washington state  were detected who had not traveled outside of the United States and had no known contact with infected individuals, suggesting such community transmission has already begun.

Critics say a contradictory message about the threat posed by the virus from President Donald Trump  who called Democrats criticism of his handling of the situation a hoax at a rally on Friday night  amplified on conservative media, has caused confusion, arguably slowing efforts to prepare.

The Chinese bought us a month of time to prepare ourselves by imposing these astonishing and draconian measures, said J. Stephen Morrison, senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, which last year issued a report that identified flaws in the nations health security. Unfortunately, we didnt make good use of that time and now were heading into a very dangerous situation.

Chinas decision to quarantine tens of millions of its citizens raises questions about what kind of measures U.S. authorities might adopt. Although public health experts in the United States say walling off entire cities and shutting down transport systems would most likely be counterproductive and do more harm than good, federal and state laws give governments the authority to limit civil liberties to protect the public health.

To help avert a severe epidemic, health officials are legally empowered to isolate the infected and those who had contact with them, restrain the sick if they resist treatment and close down whole institutions, from hospitals to churches.

These powers come with limits. Officials are supposed to use the least restrictive measures possible to protect public health, and people whose liberties are being infringed have the right to appeal in the courts.

Quarantines also require an enormous dedication of personnel to manage, and those workers must also be kept safe. Gregg Gonsalves, an assistant professor at the Yale School of Public Health, said the experience in China suggested that quarantines could create their own set of problems for people who are confined. You may not have the basic necessities you need, including food, water, and basic sanitation supplies, he said.

Screening at airports and borders

For now, U.S. authorities are trying to limit the spread of the virus by identifying and monitoring anyone who has come into contact with an infected patient  a methodical process known as contact tracing  and by policing the nations borders.

As of Friday, about 47,000 travelers had been subjected to enhanced screening at airports, according to the CDC. All passengers arriving from China have their temperatures checked, and those who are feverish or present other symptoms of the coronavirus undergo further evaluation to determine whether they require hospitalization.

Aaron Bowker, an officer in the Buffalo field office of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said employees faced the complex challenge of trying to assess people for signs of illness. Thats probably the hardest part, he said. A cough does not always trigger further scrutiny of someone with no recent travel history to China, and some infected people have no fever or symptoms at all.

There have also been significant gaps in the guidelines that may have allowed more infected people to enter the country. On Saturday, the administration announced new measures intended to plug some of those holes, including preboarding screening of people traveling to the U.S. from Italy and South Korea and restrictions on noncitizens who had been in Iran.

To date, arriving travelers who have visited mainland China in the prior two weeks are supposed to be stopped and questioned, but those protocols have not been applied to travelers from other countries where the virus has spread significantly. On Friday, health officials in Washington state announced that a woman there who had traveled to South Korea, which has reported more than 3,000 cases, had tested positive for the virus.

Anjali Goel, 18, a New York University student studying in Italy, returned home this past week after the university shut down its campus in Florence. She said she was surprised when a customs officer at Washington Dulles International Airport simply waved her through without asking any questions.

I expected him to ask me something because I was coming from an infected area, she said.

For now, Goel has opted to self-quarantine, just in case. Im staying indoors, limiting my interaction with people and checking my temperature, she said, even if I am feeling perfectly normal.

Rationing care

If the coronavirus does spread in the United States, health care facilities like Danbury Hospital in Connecticut will be on the front lines. This past week, the hospitals critical care doctors gathered to discuss the potential for a surge in patients who might require breathing assistance, a complication that affects the small portion of patients most seriously ill with the coronavirus.

Weve assessed how many ventilators we have, what our capacity is, whos going to take what role, said Dr. Paul Nee, an infectious disease specialist and co-chairman of infection control at the hospital, which has about 370 licensed beds. He said that the hospital had about 50 ventilators, but that some older ventilators that were still functioning could be pulled into service if needed, and that other forms of ventilation that do not require a breathing tube could be used to support patients with pneumonia.

In an extreme situation, some hospitals plans include provisions for rationing, even removing some patients from ventilators without requiring their consent to make way for others presumed to have a better chance of survival. Some plans would also limit the access of certain categories of patients from critical care or even hospitalization during a peak pandemic based on criteria such as their age or an underlying chronic disease.

The concept of imposing such measures makes physicians dedicated to saving every life uncomfortable, and there is evidence that many people who could be removed from life support or refused care under such protocols would otherwise survive.

Dr. Mark Jarrett, chief quality officer for Northwell Health, which has 23 hospitals, mostly in New York state, said creative thinking and new technologies could ease the need for some drastic measures.

For example, he said, officials at Northwell were contemplating the use of telemedicine to augment care in an epidemic. Roughly two-thirds of the systems hospitals, for example, are equipped with electronic intensive care unit systems that allow off-site providers to monitor patients and communicate with them through video screens. Computer algorithms alert nurses when patients vital signs are worrisome.

We are hoping we never need to do this, but wed rather have the plans in place, he said.

Gary Cox, the Oklahoma health commissioner, said reopening rural hospitals that had closed in recent years was an option under consideration, and the state was also exploring the idea of using recreational vehicles to house people who have tested positive for the virus but do not need hospital care.

China has dealt with the problem by dispatching tens of thousands of health workers from other areas of the country to the hot zone and constructing additional hospitals and isolation centers.

The U.S. government, too, has the ability to assign preestablished teams of health workers to augment overwhelmed facilities during crises, and the cadres have already provided health monitoring and basic medical care for evacuees from China and the Diamond Princess Cruise ship. But there is one big limitation: Many members of these teams, part of the National Disaster Medical System, hold regular jobs in the health care sector.

During an epidemic, that system could deploy personnel from less affected areas, but Department of Health and Human Services officials said in a statement, if all parts of the country were overwhelmed simultaneously, providers who serve as NDMS personnel would be desperately needed in their own communities and their primary responsibility is at their home facility.

Another looming concern is protecting health care workers and preventing the spread of outbreaks within hospitals. Keeping health workers safe requires protective equipment, much of it made in China and already in short supply. Panicked buying of masks by regular consumers is exacerbating the problem. On Saturday the U.S. Surgeon General tweeted, Seriously people  STOP BUYING MASKS!:

Scott Sproat, director of emergency preparedness and response at the Oklahoma State Department of Health, said medical facilities in his state were facing delays in receiving respirator masks that have a higher ability to filter viruses than regular surgical masks.

The secretary of health and human services, Alex Azar, told reporters on Friday that 300 million of such masks, known as N95s, are needed for the emergency medical stockpile for health care workers and that the government was considering invoking a Korean War-era law to accelerate production domestically. Domestic mask manufacturers, which account for a tiny proportion of the U.S. market, have warned for years about potential disruptions in the supply of foreign produced masks during a global infectious outbreak.

Some hospital workers have already reported difficulty obtaining masks. A nurse in charge of emergency preparedness in a rural part of Oklahoma, who was not authorized to speak on behalf of her hospital, said she had tried to order N95 masks this past week but none were available.

Other workers reported significant price hikes. And some hospitals in the New York City area have been drawing down on the state stockpile, said Jenna Mandel-Ricci, vice president for emergency preparedness for the Greater New York Hospital Association.

Many hospitals are trying to conserve supplies. Some have removed the masks from most locations in the hospital and instead are requiring staff members to request them and explain their need.

We do have stockpiles that were just beginning to dig into, said Dr. Paul Holtom, an epidemiologist at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center. If this goes on for many months, all of us will be more challenged.

Skilled nursing homes represent one of the greatest vulnerabilities in the health care system. They serve older adults and the infirm  the demographic most at risk from the coronavirus  and such facilities face particular challenges in stopping the spread of infection. Multiple studies have shown that germs spread easily in such places, partly because employees are overworked or poorly trained, and because the patients are so susceptible to infection.

On Saturday, the CDC reported the first cases in the U.S. from a skilled nursing facility: both a patient and a worker at Life Care in Kirkland, Washington. Officials said that other residents and employees had symptoms.

We are very concerned about an outbreak in a setting where there are many older people, said Dr. Jeffrey Duchin, the health officer for public health in Seattle and King County.

Dr. Kevin Kavanagh, who has studied infection control practices in health care settings, said such facilities might eventually have to limit visitors, or even keep residents under quarantine as a preventive measure.

Nursing homes will be extremely vulnerable to this epidemic, and it will be difficult to implement hygiene practices to prevent the spread, he said.

Schools, businesses and everyday life

On Friday, an employee of an elementary school near Portland, Oregon, tested positive for the coronavirus and the school, Forest Hills Elementary School in Lake Oswego, was shut down. In Washington state, where a high school student received a diagnosis of coronavirus the same day, officials suggested that people needed to prepare for the possibility of schools closing and businesses keeping workers home. In Santa Clara County, California, where another new case was announced, Dr. Sara Cody, the county health officer, said, Schools should plan for absenteeism, and explore options for learning at home and enhanced cleaning of surfaces.

The spread of the coronavirus has rattled companies across Asia and Europe, forcing them to stop production, cut hours and instruct employees to work from home. Dan Levin, who runs a plant outside Chicago that makes furniture and wall paneling, is starting to make similar plans. Theres no playbook for this, he said. Im kind of navigating this alone.

Levin employs roughly 100 people at his plant in Rochelle, Illinois. About half of them are engineers or estimators, while the rest work on the factory floor. In the event of a coronavirus outbreak, the estimators would be able to do most of their work at home, he said.

But engineering tasks are much harder to complete from a kitchen or living room. Levin said he would need to outsource that work to companies in other parts of the country.

Still, he said, no amount of planning would do much to mitigate an outbreak that prevents the majority of his manufacturing staff from coming to work. A group of 15 employees cannot suddenly do the work of 50.

Most major companies in the United States have said little about how they would respond to an outbreak, except to note their concern for the health and well-being of employees.

A spokeswoman for Amazon said the company was watching this situation closely but declined to comment on specific protocols. Representatives for several major banks, retailers and technology companies said they would look to the CDC for guidance.

Other large companies have already put new precautions in place. Facebook is asking employees who host guests at its corporate offices to make sure the visitors have not recently traveled to mainland China. And at an all-hands meeting on Thursday, executives at the commercial real estate firm SquareFoot in New York told employees to take their laptops home on Friday in case they have to work remotely this next week.

Its unclear whether workers, especially in retail and manufacturing jobs, would continue to be paid if the coronavirus crisis forced stores and factories to close for an extended period.

For some small-business owners, the coronavirus still feels like a distant threat.

Were not trying to overreact, said Michael Stanek, who runs a company near Cleveland that manufactures toner for printers. We could probably continue to operate with up to maybe 50% of employees sick.

Still, Stanek said he was considering ramping up production in the coming days so that the company has enough inventory to keep supplying its customers even if its plant shuts down.

And when he gave out paychecks on Thursday, he reminded employees to wash their hands.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide (OYC) on Sunday raised the alarm of an alleged plot to overthrow South East Governors. T...





Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide (OYC) on Sunday raised the alarm of an alleged plot to overthrow South East Governors.





This was contained in a statement signed by Okechukwu Isiguzoro, President General and Okwu Nnabuike, Secretary-General.





The group accused the leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo of working against the South East Governors in the interest of an opposition Presidential Candidate in the 2019 election.





OYC said the plan to remove South East Governors would come through violent protests at the states and Government Houses ahead of Supreme Court judgement on the Imo Governorship election.





Noting that this was to create tension in the zone and possible emergency rule declaration, OYC urged the Governors to fortify their states with enough security agents to quell any form of rebellion.





We will no longer tolerate further distraction from any Igbo leader against the South East Governors Forum, who are working cordially with President Muhammadu Buharis administration to attract huge projects for the zone.





No form of blackmail from any quarter will derail the South East Governors. We, therefore, placed sanctions on the Igbo leaders who sponsoring verbal assault on the Governors, the statement added.








Afraid to return home, Myanmars Rohingya refugees are stuck in camps in Bangladesh, three years on from a military crackdown.

Rohingya who fled a campaign of violence against them in Myanmar remain fearful of returning home, despite the government saying it is now ready to receive them.

More than 700,000 Rohingya fled to neighbouring Bangladesh in 2017.

A recent United Nations court ruling ordered Myanmar to protect them.

Al Jazeeras Tanvir Chowdhury reports from Kutupalong refugee camp in Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh.
Photo: The Canadian Press Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Carolyn Bennett and B.C. Indigenous Relations Minister Scott Fraser walk away after addressing the media in Smithers, B.C., Saturday, February 29, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Senior government ministers and a Wet'suwet'en hereditary chief say they remain optimistic talks will break an impasse over a pipeline dispute that has sparked widespread solidarity protests and transport disruptions.

Federal Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett and British Columbia Indigenous Relations Minister Scott Fraser said the discussions are complex but are progressing respectfully.

In a news conference Saturday, Bennett said the fact that the conversations are continuing is "a very good sign."

"We remain optimistic that we will be able to find a conclusion that's really good for the Wet'suwet'en Nation," she said.

Chief Na'moks, who also goes by John Ridsdale, said he hasn't been happy with the early drafts, but noted Saturday was a new day.

"I am always optimistic, our nation is always optimistic," he said. "I think there is a way forward, but they have their own culture and politics that has to change."

The talks began Thursday afternoon in northern B.C. and continued into late into Friday night, and another update was expected later Saturday.

Some Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs are opposed to a natural gas pipeline in their traditional territory, an issue that has spurred solidarity protests and blockades across the country.

The demonstrations have disrupted passenger and freight train service over the last three weeks and police have recently moved to dismantle some of the blockades.

Via Rail said Friday that most service will be gradually restored as of Tuesday, including between Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa.

Solidarity protests and blockades have broken out across the country since the RCMP moved into Wet'suwet'en territory in northern British Columbia on Feb. 6 to enforce an injunction to stop a blockade erected by those opposed to the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said the blockades have created deep anxieties across the country, and he views the meetings as a positive step forward.

"A lot of this could have been avoided if the federal government Prime Minister Trudeau had taken better steps earlier on, but I'm encouraged by what I'm seeing now," he told reporters on Saturday, after speaking to delegates to the Nova Scotia provincial NDP convention.

"What we're seeing now is finally after over a month of asking to meet with the federal government, now there seems to be a meeting ... and I still continue to call on the prime minister to meet with the hereditary chiefs to de-escalate and work towards peaceful resolution."

The Wet'suwet'en are governed by both a traditional hereditary chief system and elected band councils. A majority of its councils have approved the pipeline, but some of the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs oppose it running through their traditional territory.

The dispute also encompasses other unsettled land rights and title issues, including who has the right to negotiate with governments and corporations, the fact that the land is not covered by a treaty and remains unceded, and a 1997 court case that recognized the hereditary chiefs' authority and the exclusive right of the Wet'suwet'en peoples to the land but did not specify the boundaries.

The issues raised in the talks are challenging and difficult, Bennett and Fraser said Saturday.

"It's not only about the rights and title...it's 150 years of broken promises and of cynicism that is completely understandable about will the government do what they said they are going to do," said Bennett.

"And how do we make sure that we can allay those fears and say, for both of our governments, that we are really serious about this and we want to be able to change the way and the kind of partnership that we require nation to nation."

Na'moks said he believes the relationship between Indigenous people and the provincial and federal governments can be changed.

"If we stay on the track that we were on in the past, we weren't being heard," he said.

Na'moks said the blockades are unfortunate and noted that it didn't have to get to that point.

"But unless they have a proper discussion with us, and how the future can change for this country and be open and honest about it, then we are just going backwards," he said. "We don't need to go backwards."
Now, the government is denying that the southern provinces are facing an unprecedented locust attack.

These locust storms are causing a great deal of damage to Iranians in the area, but the authorities are staying silent, refusing to provide any information, likely because they still want to portray that strong and stable image to the world. The authorities know that the more information the Iranian public has about the governments mismanagement and corruption, the fewer people will come out during events related to the state.

The mullahs were eventually forced to acknowledge the locust attacks in the provinces of Bushehr, Hormozgan, Sistan and Baluchistan and Fars, following a report in The Daily Star, but state media reports still say that this crisis is similar to the locust storms from last year. This is an attempt to hide the governments incompetence and failures.

These locust storms have increased in comparison to previous years, with 500 million locusts estimated in every square kilometer and 700 to 800 hectares of agricultural areas near Parsian attacked. One official said this is an increase from millions of locusts to billions.

In Khuzestan, locusts are attacking the sugarcane fields and the locust storms could soon spread to other agricultural areas, according to an official there. This is serious because sugarcane fields are already in a critical condition, especially near the cities of Ahvaz, Shushtar, Shadegan, and Khorramshahr, and a lack of appropriate measures by the Iranian authorities could well lead to other parts of the province being attacked and other food sources being destroyed.

The Iranian officials have failed to take even the least amount of action, which would be sending pesticide spraying planes to the affected areas to kill locusts before they have a chance to destroy all of the food there and starve the Iranian people.

One provincial agricultural official from Bushehr Province told the state-run Salamat News that the locust population is far more than last year and in engulfing nearly all the provinces cities, including Bushehr, Dashtestan, Jam, Deer, Tangestan, Ganaveh, Asaluyeh, and Kangan.

The official said that the locusts are spreading from farms to orchards and that the government should take three times the measures it took last year.

Read More:

Iran Hits by Flooding; Regime Does Nothing
Bernie Sanders holds a commanding double-digit lead on the cusp of California's Democratic primary, a new Suffolk University/USA TODAY statewide poll finds, giving the Vermont senator the prospect of capturing the lion's share of the largest trove of convention delegations in the country on Super Tuesday.

Sanders was at 35% among likely Democratic primary voters, well ahead of former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg at 16%, former vice president Joe Biden at 14% and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren at 12%.

The survey, taken Wednesday through Saturday by landline and cellphone, doesn't reflect whatever bounce Biden may get from his solid victory in the South Carolina primary Saturday night.

Even so, the poll showed the depth of Sanders' standing in the state. "Sanders will win California because he is winning 45% of Hispanic voters and 59% of young voters," said David Paleologos, director of Suffolk's Political Research Center. "No Democratic opponent can offset both of these statistical advantages to close his advantage."

'Not over yet': Biden-Sanders on Super Tuesday collision course as biggest trove of delegates awaits

The poll of 500 likely Democratic primary voters has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.

On Sunday, Biden argued that his strong showing had made him the clear moderate alternative to Sanders, portraying it as effectively a two-person race.

But Biden's hopes for a comeback face a double challenge in California: finishing ahead of Bloomberg, who also portrays himself as the strongest moderate contender, and reaching the 15% threshold needed to claim a share of convention delegates allocated by the results statewide and in its 53 congressional districts.

California has 415 pledged delegates, 271 of them allocated by district and another 144 awarded statewide. The state's delegation comprises more than one-fifth of the 1,991 votes needed to claim the presidential nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee in July.

Story continues

If his rivals fail to reach the 15% threshold statewide and in some congressional districts, Sanders' sweep would make it much more difficult for other candidates to catch up in the rest of the primaries.

Voting problems? California has huge role in Democratic primary, but new vote centers could mean confusion

But the California survey also shows what could happen if voters consolidated behind a single moderate alternative to Sanders, who describes himself as a Democratic socialist. For instance, the combined support of Bloomberg, Biden, Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar would total 42%, seven points higher than Sanders' current standing.

Among the lower-ranking candidates, Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, was at 7%; Minnesota Sen. Klobuchar at 5%; and liberal activist Tom Steyer and Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard at 3% each. Steyer dropped out of the Democratic contest Saturday after a disappointing finish in South Carolina.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., right, with his wife Jane, speaks during a campaign event in San Antonio, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2020. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

California looms a test as well for Bloomberg, who will be on the ballot for the first time Tuesday. The billionaire has spent an unprecedented amount of his own fortune on TV ads nationwide, including more than $63 million in California alone, according to Advertising Analytics, which tracks candidate spending.

In the Suffolk/USA TODAY poll, one in four likely Democratic primary voters reported that they had already cast their ballots, which means their vote can't be affected by Biden's bounce or Bloomberg's final TV ad push. Thirteen percent in that group voted for Biden, well behind Sanders (27%), Warren (22%) and Bloomberg (17%).

That said, fewer California voters have returned their early ballots than at this point in previous contests, according to an analysis by Political Data Inc., reported by Politico. That could reflect a desire by some to see how the race was sorting out before deciding.

California traditionally has held its primary in June, often after the presidential nomination was settled. This year, the nation's most populous state moved up to Super Tuesday on March 3, when a total of 14 states and a territory will vote. The number of delegates at stake swamps those allocated by the first four contests, in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.

Super Tuesday: California has huge role in Democratic primary, but new vote centers could mean confusion

In the California poll, Sanders' support was disproportionately young, male and liberal. A 51% majority of liberals backed the Vermont senator, compared with 17% of moderates and 12% of conservatives. Biden did best among moderates, Bloomberg among conservatives. Sanders was supported by a stunning 59% of those 35 and younger  no other candidate broke into double digits  and by 45% of Hispanics.

Sanders' recent comments praising the Castro regime in Cuba for its literacy and health programs carried some cost to him: 25% said they made them less likely to support him; 8% said they made them more likely to support him. There was a generational divide on Sanders' remarks: Among those 56 to 65 years old, 36% said the comments made them less likely to support Sanders. Among those 35 and younger, less than half that number, 17%, felt that way.

Attitudes also were divided on whether the Democratic candidate who arrives at the convention with the support of the most delegates should be nominated, even if he or she hasn't reached a majority. Under party rules, if no candidate wins the nomination on the first ballot, unpledged "superdelegates" would be able to vote on the second ballot. Many of those party regulars are considered more likely to back Biden than Sanders.

An overwhelming 79% of Sanders' supporters said the candidate with the most delegates should be nominated, even if he and or she hasn't reached the majority. Just 44% of Biden backers agreed.

Suffolk University and USA TODAY took a separate survey of 300 likely Democratic primary voters in Contra Costa County, a bellwether county in California that since 2004 has recorded voting returns that closely track the statewide results.

In Contra Costa, Sanders was at 34%, Bloomberg at 18%, and Biden and Warren at 11%. The poll, taken by landline and cellphone Wednesday through Saturday, has a margin of error of plus or minus 5.7 points.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Super Tuesday: Bernie Sanders dominates California in USA TODAY poll
President Donald Trump looks on as Vice President Mike Pence speaks during a news conference on the COVID-19 outbreak at the White House on Feb. 26, 2020. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

Pence Says US Schools Can Shut Down Over Coronavirus

Vice President Mike Pence said the Trump administration will defer to local governments about their decisions regarding the COVID-19 outbreak, including school closures.

I think the president would respect any decisions that are made at the state and local level, he said in an interview that aired March 1 on NBCs Meet the Press.

Pence was placed in charge of the Trump administrations coronavirus response efforts by President Donald Trump on Feb. 26.

During the interview, Pence made it clear that the federal government is attempting to walk a fine line, allowing for local government and businesses to implement restrictions when necessary. But at the same time, Pence called on Americans not to panic or overreact.

Those are decisions that governors, in consultation with local health officials, will make as they deem that necessary, Pence said, when questioned about how local schools should react. But other than in areas where there are individuals that have been infected with the coronavirus, people need to understand that for the average American, the risk does remain low.

A man wearing a protective mask walks past the Ponte di Rialto (Rialto Bridge) in Venice, Italy, on Feb. 28, 2020. (Claudio Furlan/Lapresse via AP)

Meanwhile, Pence also said that the priority is the safety of Americans and downplayed concerns about the stock market last week, which saw several days of 1,000-point drops amid concerns about the spread of the virus.

What the president has told us to do on the task force, what he did when he initiated the suspension of all travel from China, the quarantining effort, is were leaning into this effort, Pence told NBC. Its all hands on deck. Because our effort here is to do everything possible to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in the United States.

The vice presidents comments come after federal health officials confirmed the first U.S. death in Washington state, saying a male died of the virus in a care facility in Seattle. Pence told Meet the Press that the administration was told that the man was in his 50s and had other high-risk factors.

Of the now 22 Americans, including the man who sadly lost his life, the majority of them are recovering well, Pence said in the interview. Officials in Washington state are now investigating a long-term health care facility in Kirkland following the death and a positive COVID-19 diagnosis of a health care worker there.

Trump has announced more travel restrictions in an attempt to prevent the spread of the virus. The administration extended restrictions on Iran, where dozens of deaths have been reported in recent days, and raised the level of its travel warning for parts of Italy and South Korea.

In addition to screening travelers prior to boarding from certain designated high-risk countries, or areas within those countries, they will also be screened when they arrive in America, Trump wrote on Twitter on March 1.

In the United States, as of March 1, a total of 68 cases have been reportedwith the bulk of them being passengers who were evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which was quarantined off the Japanese coast last month.
BJP Karnataka, making another claim, said that "paid protester" Amulya Leona had confessed to the Police that the organisers bore the cost of her expenses. Furthermore, questioned the 'spontaneity' of the protests that have been staged against the BJP-led government across the country for over two months now.

Calling it a "long civilisation war", the BJP Karnataka through its twitter handle said, "Remember Amulya Leona, who shouted "Pakistan Zindabad" at protests against CAA? The paid protestor confesses to the Police that her expenses and speeches are taken care by organisers. Do you still think these protests are spontaneous? Realise. You are in a long civilisation war!" The BJP Karnataka's Twitter handle has previously come under the scanner for their contentious tweets against the anti-CAA protestors.

READ| Unhappy with Pro-Pak slogan, Amulya's dad nonetheless refutes CM BSY's 'Maoist link' claim

On February 21, the residence of the student activist was vandalised after she raised Pakistan Zindabad slogans. Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa had claimed that the activist - Amulya Leona had links with Maoist groups. Moreover, he claimed that it was important to investigate the organisation who supported Amulya.

Amulya Leona case

A Bengaluru court extended the judicial custody of Amulya Leona, who raised 'Pakistan Zindabad' slogan at an anti-CAA rally in Bengaluru's Freedom Park on Feb 20, till March 5. The 19-year old student was sent to 14-day judicial custody for her actions in the presence of AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi.

"We condemn anyone who comes here and raises a slogan for our enemy state. For us, it always is Bharat Zindabad. We have nothing to do with Pakistan. Those who are raising pro-Pakistan slogans have no relation with us. I want to clarify this. The organisers here have called people who are saying wrong things. The statement is wrong," Asaduddin Owaisi said over the issue.

A sedition case has been registered against Amulya. According to the police, a suo moto case under Section 124A (sedition), 153A and B (promoting enmity between different groups and imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) have been registered against the girl.

READ| Ram Sena man announces Rs 10 L bounty for killing Amulya

READ| Asaduddin Owaisi condemns activist's 'Pakistan Zindabad' chant at his event, demands probe
Paris Fury wants her husband, Tyson, to make a mega-fight victory over Anthony Joshua his final bout, retiring as the undisputed heavyweight champion.

Tyson Fury deconstructed Deontay Wilder in seven rounds on February 22 to take the WBC heavyweight belt, setting up the 'Battle of Britain' showdown with Joshua.

The Gypsy King's five-fight contract with ESPN will be up after two more ring-walks, and Fury is set to retire at its expiry. He could be set for a fairytale finish to his career.

Paris Fury wants her husband to stop fighting after he beats fellow Brit Anthony Joshua

The Gypsy King was crowned WBC heavyweight champion after beating Deontay Wilder

Joshua holds the other three heavyweight belts, so the 'Battle of Britain' would be era defining

'I'd like him to beat Anthony Joshua and then stop,' Paris told the Mirror.

'He's in the ring with supreme boxers and it is a dangerous sport. We both know the risks.

'I know one shot can change everything. I'd like him to take that one fight and retire undefeated.'

Paris was present as Tyson sang to the crowd after winning back a version of the world title

She played a major role in Fury's comeback from 28-stone to world heavyweight champion

Mrs Fury joined Tyson in the ring as he belted out a version of 'American Pie' to the Las Vegas crowd in celebration of his win.

Fury dominated Wilder in the rematch, after the first fight in December 2018 featured one of the most memorable rounds in the division's history in the 12th.

To be considered alongside the greats, Fury must unify the division by fighting Joshua. With Fury the last of the 'big three' left undefeated - after Joshua was beaten by Andy Ruiz in 2019 - he is the favourite to come out on top.

'If they put all the belts on the line it would be such an amazing fight,' Paris added.

Fury dominated Wilder, making him the narrow favourite to beat Joshua in a huge bout

'He can't go on forever, he can't go undefeated forever. I wouldn't like to see him continue for too long and get hurt.

'I wouldn't like to see him lose his record chasing money or fame. He doesn't need that. He's already cemented his name in the history books.'

The Gypsy King has a career in WWE waiting for him when he retires, after making his debut with a victory over Braun Strowman last year.
Chinas ambassador in Washington probably wishes he could just go home.

Cui Tiankai has been Beijings top diplomat in America longer than any of his predecessors, a tenure that began in 2013 under U.S. President Barack Obama. Donald Trumps surprising ascent to the presidency saw China decide to keep Cui in D.C., leaving him to navigate a suddenly more bitter U.S.-Chinese relationship.

Now, the spread of the coronavirus is stretching Cuis diplomatic skills in new ways. Not only must he tackle a complex government-to-government relationship, but hes also been forced to engage in far more than normal outreach to the U.S. public  including by swatting away conspiracy theories spread by American lawmakers who simply dont trust Beijing.

It would be a tricky position for any diplomat. But Cui, a 67-year-old veteran of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, has added burdens. He is by nature a cautious man, and Americans who know him say hes a skilled and reliable interlocutor. But he serves an opaque communist system that keeps diplomats on a tight leash and where speaking truth to power is simply not done, especially not under leader Xi Jinping. Cuis host country, meanwhile, is led by an often-unpredictable president determined to maintain U.S. supremacy over China, making it harder for Cuis words and actions to have any impact.

Regardless, Cui has been trying to shape the debate. In recent weeks, the U.S.-educated ambassador has used forums from Twitter to the Sunday morning shows to present Chinas version of events. A fluent English-speaker, Cui has defended Chinas response to the outbreak, warned commentators not to create panic and praised a now-dead doctor whom Chinese authorities tried to silence as he raised alarms about the virus.

Coronavirus is an unprecedented challenge, Cui tweeted Feb. 14. So we are taking unprecedented responses to contain and control the virus, provide treatment to the people and reduce its impact on economic and social activities.

Story continues

Cui carries more weight than the average Chinese diplomat, not least because of his lengthy tenure in Washington. But the diplomatic challenge posed by the coronavirus comes amid a backdrop of other factors that have made Cuis job even more delicate than years past.

Above all, theres the growing hostility toward China among Democrats and Republicans alike.

U.S. officials, lawmakers and outside voices increasingly see the Chinese Communist Party as a negative global force bent on spreading its influence on every front, including militarily, without democratizing and through oppression of its citizens. The Trump administration has whacked China on issues ranging from its control of telecom firms to its debt-powered diplomacy in Africa to its theft of intellectual property to its imprisonment of more than a million Uighur Muslims.

Then theres the unraveling trade ties, driven in part by Trumps willingness to impose tariffs on Chinese goods. The trade war, recently ameliorated by a first-step trade deal, has support from some Democrats who feel China has been cheating the U.S. on the economic front.

Cui faces the added challenge of increasingly tense diplomatic maneuvering by both countries as they test how much the other will tolerate.

Last fall, the U.S. announced it will require Chinese diplomats to notify the State Department before they meet with local or state officials or with educational and research institutions.

The State Department cast the restrictions as an act of reciprocity, noting that U.S. diplomats in China face far more severe curbs. For instance, U.S. diplomats often have to obtain permission from Chinese authorities to meet someone, not simply offer a notification.

China retaliated later in 2019, requiring what are presumably extra notifications for meetings by U.S. diplomats on top of restrictions they already face.

Just days ago, the U.S. designated five Chinese media outlets as foreign missions, effectively declaring them extensions of Chinas government. The designations mean those outlets -- Xinhua, China Global Television Network, China Radio International, China Daily and People's Daily  must obtain the U.S. federal government's permission for various actions, such as leasing office space.

They are, in fact, part and parcel of the [Peoples Republic of China] propaganda apparatus, a senior State Department official said of the outlets.

Shortly afterward, China expelled three Wall Street Journal reporters. China linked the expulsions to its anger over a headline in the Journals opinion pages that referred to China as the sick man of Asia. It wasnt clear if there were other reasons, or if the U.S. designations of the Chinese media outlets had affected the decision; however, one of the three journalists had co-authored a story about corruption allegations against a relative of Chinese leader Xi.

The Trump administration is weighing how and whether to respond.

The tit for tat moves by the U.S. and China  some of it related directly to the virus, some of it not  have made both sides increasingly distrustful of each other when ideally theyd cooperate to stop the spread of the illness, said Laurie Garrett, an award-winning science journalist.

As a result, the narrative in China becomes were suffering because of those evil Americans, Garrett said.

Chinas diplomats and some of its Foreign Ministry officials have in recent months become much more aggressive on social media, often with an anti-American tone. In concurrence, the Chinese embassy in Washington has beefed up its online presence, including creating a Twitter account for Cui, who nonetheless is more cautious than some of his colleagues.

(The diplomats use of Twitter is something of a sore point with human rights activists who note that Chinese citizens are for the most part barred from accessing the social media network.)

Like several other foreign envoys in Washington, Cui realized early on that getting close to Jared Kushner, Trumps son-in-law and senior adviser, was key to gaining some currency with the Republican administration. The pair established a backchannel, and Kushner helped arrange a meeting between Xi and Trump at the U.S. presidents Mar-a-Lago club in April 2017.

Despite reports that Cui and Kushner still talk, people who know the gray-haired ambassador say he appears frustrated at an overall lack of access to U.S. officials, including at the State Department. Its a frustration likely to rise if the U.S. keeps imposing more restrictions on Chinese diplomats in Washington.

Cui also seems tired of his current position. He just keeps getting extended. They wont let him go home, a Washington think tanker who knows him said.

Within U.S. official circles, including in Congress, theres also a sense that Chinese diplomats are not empowered the way American diplomats may be  even one with as key a position as Cui.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry is viewed as having diminished influence under Xi. Foreign policy decisions, especially those regarding the U.S., are more likely to be made by a tight circle of Communist leaders around Xi.

Among U.S. officials, there are serious questions about how honest Cui can be to his superiors back in Beijing, especially given what appears to be a much more repressive environment in China under Xi.

Other observers say Cui has, at the very least, more sway in Beijing than most of his colleagues.

I think he has great access in China, said Stephen Orlins, president of the non-profit, pro-engagement National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, stressing that Beijing clearly thinks enough of Cuis abilities to leave him in Washington.

Still others say the reality of the Chinese system is that even diplomats with a perch like Cuis have difficulty speaking truth to power. Can he call up Xi Jinping and say, Well, youre really blowing it,? No, the Washington think tanker said.

One former senior Obama administration official argued that Trumps actions on the world stage make Cuis job easier.

Because the U.S. president has often made unpredictable moves, downplayed U.S. alliances and pursued policies  such as separating migrant children from their parents  that arguably violate human rights, China can deflect concerns about its actions by pointing to America.

The coming together of Chinas more assertive public defense of their own system coincides with a moment where the U.S. and by extension the West seems like its having some trouble, the former official said. But that doesnt mean Chinas actually solved its problems.

Another aspect of the U.S.-China relationship that makes it hard to navigate for diplomats on both sides is that Trump has staked a great deal on his personal relationship with Xi.

The two stay in touch, and Trump often peddles a softer line on topics such as human rights than some of his aides, presumably to stay in Xis good graces. Trump has, for instance, been reluctant to condemn Beijing for its response to pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

The Chinese system values experience and knowledge when doling out prized foreign posts  a contrast to the U.S. system in which ambassadorships are often handed out to political donors with little diplomatic experience.

Cui, for instance, previously was a vice minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. While there, he was involved in defusing another major U.S.-Chinese dispute: what to do with Chen Guangcheng, the blind Chinese dissident who sought refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing in 2012.

Cui also served as Chinas ambassador to Japan, another sensitive post. He earned a graduate degree at Johns Hopkins Universitys School of Advanced International Studies in the 1980s, giving him a taste of the U.S. early on. But he remains curious about America and its traditions. In 2014, Cui and his wife attended the Super Bowl, watching the Seattle Seahawks destroy the Denver Broncos.

Cui has long been willing to speak at D.C. think tanks and to organizations such as the U.S.-China Business Council. But he rarely strays from standard Chinese diplomatic talking points urging amity and cooperation.

In a speech to the business council in December, Cui took aim at a theory that suggests the U.S. and China are headed for war because of the dynamics of great power rivalry.

There is no Thucydides trap in the world, and the real trap will only come from misunderstanding, misjudgment and obstinate prejudice, Cui said.

The Chinese embassy did not make Cui available for an interview for this story. But hes appeared on various radio and television networks in recent weeks to discuss Chinas handling of the coronavirus.

In an interview with PBS, Cui faced repeated questions on whether China was being honest with the world about the numbers involved in the virus spread.

Our goal is to encourage people to tell the truth and to confront the challenge. And people will only be punished if they fail to do that, he said.

Questions about what happened to Dr. Li Wenliang have stretched Cuis messaging ability to the limit. Chinese officials tried to silence Li as he raised concerns about the virus. Li eventually died of the illness, and his treatment has deeply upset many Chinese citizens.

Cui has vacillated from insisting that Li was never technically detained to praising him as a devoted practitioner whose loss was tragic. Hes implied that Li was acting irresponsibly in raising alarms.

You see, we believe in openness, but openness does not mean that you could say anything under any circumstances. The government has to respond in a responsible way, Cui told NPR.

FILE - In this Nov. 27, 2018. file photo, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., speaks to reporters as he arrives for a meeting with fellow Republicans, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Legislation to ease federal sentencing laws is pitting conservatives against each other as President Donald Trump looks to score a major legislative win before the end of the year. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

In one of his more pointed messaging efforts, Cui has pushed back on suggestions by Sen. Tom Cotton, a Republican from Arkansas, that the Chinese may have created the coronavirus in a special lab, possibly as a bioweapon.

In an interview with CBS, Cui blasted Cottons comments.

It's very harmful, its very dangerous to stir up suspicion, rumors and spread them among the people, Cui said. For one thing, this will create panic. Another thing is that it will fan up racial discrimination, xenophobia, all these things that will really harm our joint efforts to combat the virus.

Cotton has defended himself by alleging that China lied about the origins of the virus and that the Chinese government in general cannot be trusted.

Asked for comment on Cui, a spokeswoman for Cotton said the senator doesnt know the ambassador and has little interest in meeting with someone whos simply a mouthpiece for the Chinese Communist Party.

Cuis most recent public messages have had a soft touch. Hes been tweeting out videos and artwork from American schoolchildren sending greetings to China.

At the critical moment of fighting #COVID19, I was deeply moved to hear wonderful singing of I love you, China! from students of Alice Deal Middle School again. Thank you & I love you all! he wrote Wednesday.
Indian Americans organise protests after violence in the Indian capital that was worst since 1984.

Hundreds of Indian Americans of different faiths rallied outside Indian consulates in major American cities on Friday evening to protest against the recent violence in Delhi that has killed at least 42 people, and injured hundreds.

Violence erupted in the Indian capital on Monday, leading to a three-day-long rampage, with Hindu mobs attacking Muslim homes, shops and mosques. The attacks were carried out on protesters, who have been rallying against a new citizenship law, after the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kapil Mishra threatened peaceful sit-ins would be removed from the streets.

Indias Hindu nationalist government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi says the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is meant to help persecuted minorities from neighbouring countries, but critics say the law, which makes faith a basis for granting citizenship, is against the countrys secular ethos.

The CAA passed last December has been compared to US President Donald Trumps Muslim ban as it blocks naturalisation for Muslims, who form nearly 15 percent of Indias 1.3 billion population.

More than 30 people have been killed in a harsh police crackdown on nationwide peaceful sit-ins against the anti-Muslim law.

Outside the Indian consulate in New York on Friday evening, protesters gathered chanting Shame! at officials as they tried to exit or enter the building.

We are exhausted, Sana Qutubuddin, an activist with Alliance for Justice and Accountability  a coalition of South Asian groups that organised Fridays rally alongside the Indian American Muslim Council, South Asia Solidarity Initiative, and Equality Labs  said during her speech at the rally.

Devastated

Other civil society organisations such as the Alliance for South Asians Taking Action, Chicago Against Hindu Fascism and Bay Area Against Hindu Fascism also protested against the worst violence in Delhi since 1984, when more than 3,000 Sikh minority were killed following the assassination of then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Protesters gathered outside Indian consulates in a number of US cities [Samira Sadeque/Al Jazeera]

I was there to have an opportunity to grieve with a community that understands how egregious the genocidal violence that occurred in Delhi was, Qutubuddin told Al Jazeera, and to be in a space that recognises what this moment means in modern Indian history.

Organisers estimated nearly 300 people turned up at the New York rally where they chanted slogans to repeal the CAA, and highlight the current BJP governments fascist ideologies that target lower-caste Hindus and other religious minorities.

The BJPs ideological parent is Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)  a Hindu paramilitary supremacist organisation inspired by European fascists and Nazis  which has called for India, an officially secular nation, to be declared a Hindu Rashtra or nation of Hindus.

At the New York rally, protesters played music, and rallied around the block to let the neighbours of the consulate know that their silence makes them a party to genocide, said one of the organisers.

For many Indian Americans, showing up at the protest was all they felt they could do.

I grew up in an idyllic idea of a secular India and Im completely devastated to see everything that I thought would happen in India is happening under the Modi government, Ishita Srivastava, who has been living in New York for 12 years, told Al Jazeera.





Being here is all that I can do, she added. I think its a very systematically fuelled bigotry and state-sponsored and supported violence and theres clearly an appetite for rabid divisiveness and bigotry and its exacerbated by the fact that we have a deeply unequal society.

The protests  from San Francisco to Chicago and Atlanta  were brought together by organisers who identify as multi-faith and/or inter-faith and inter-caste collectives.

State-sanctioned violence

Earlier in the week, an estimated 50 people gathered at Harvard University in Boston, immediately after the Delhi violence began.

In Chicago, organisers said teachers, IT professionals, senior citizens were among the hundred protesters who came out on Friday.

Attendees were reminded that this state-sanctioned violence is consistent with Indian history  citing the murders of Muslims in Gujarat [in 2002] and the Sikh genocide in 1984, as well the constant violence enacted on Dalits [the former untouchables] within caste oppression, Jihan, one of the organisers in San Francisco, told Al Jazeera. They estimated about 100 people showed up for the protest.

At least 42 people were killed in the Delhi violence [Samira Sadeque/Al Jazeera]

Police in Delhi have been accused of looking the other way as Hindu mobs attacked Muslim homes while in many cases they were found to be complicit in the assaults.

An estimated 80 people showed up at Fridays protest in Atlanta, organisers said. A protester with Atlanta Rejects CAA, who did not wish to be named, told Al Jazeera that members from the consulate took photos of protesters and tried to intimidate them by taking their names.

One of the organisers criticised Trump, who has been accused of endorsing white supremacists in the US, for backing Modis fascist agenda.

At a news conference in New Delhi on February 25, Trump defended Modi on religious freedom and refused to comment on the CAA while parts of the Indian capital burned.

The meeting of Trump and Modi during a pogrom and for Trump to basically gaslight all of the concerns that millions of Indians are protesting, thats a sign of how theyre cooperating and reinforcing their vision of a fascist world order, Thenmozhi Soundararajan, executive director of Equality Labs in New York, said.

Mohammed Jawad, national general secretary of Indian American Muslim Council, also criticised President Trump commending Modi on religious freedom in India.

Many expressed their concern that the violence has been normalised into the fabric of Indian society, especially under Modi.

Qutubuddin from Alliance for Justice and Accountability said that many of the attackers in the recent violence were everyday Hindu extremists.

The Indian consulate in New York did not respond to repeated requests from Al Jazeera for comments.
Int'l travellers who test COVID positive at the airport will not be allowed to go to their destinations

Who is Firhad Hakim? Know Kolkata's New Mayor Age, Education, Family and Other Details

BJP workers raise 'goli maro...' slogan en route to Shah rally

India

pti-PTI

Kolkata, Mar 01: A section of BJP workers on Sunday raised the incendiary "goli maro..." (shoot the traitors) slogan on their way to a rally addressed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The group, carrying party flags, were heard shouting the slogan en route to the Shahid Minar ground.

When contacted, a senior officer of the Kolkata Police declined to comment anything on the incident, but said "strict action will be taken against anybody trying to disrupt the law and order situation in the city".

Congress to strongly raise Delhi riots in Parliament, demand Amit Shah''s resignation

The home minister is on a day-long visit to Kolkata. There has been a controversy over raising of such slogans during BJP rallies during Delhi Assembly polls and protests in favour of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) due to allegations that they provoke violence.
March 01 : Just as the colourful Holi 2020 vibes are buzzing in all our lives, this time you can double your joy with a little technological love. Take note of our latest tech launches below and see which one would match your needs perfectly. Our list includes the most awaited Realme 6, Reno3 Pro, Xiaomis Mi Mix Alpha and much more.

Realme 6 phone series

Image Source: IANS Realme smartphone.

The upcoming Realme 6 smartphone series will be launched in both online and offline segments for the first time and Realme 6 will be a Pro device while Realme 6 Pro will even be a premium all-rounder in the mid-range segment. Read more

Oppo Reno 3 Pro

Image Source: IANS OPPO Reno

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Oppo is all set to launch its new smartphone 'Reno3 Pro' in India on March 2 and now ahead of the official announcement, the device is available for pre-booking on Flipkart, Amazon as well as retail stores. Read more

OPPO A31

Image Source: IANS Oppo smartphone.

Expanding its budget portfolio in the country, Chinese handset maker OPPO on Thursday launched its OPPO A31 for Rs 11,490 for the 4GB+64GB variant and Rs 13,990 for the 6GB+128GB variant. Read more

Xiaomi Mi Mix Alpha

Image Source: IANS News Xiaomi Mi Max (Representational image)

After China, now the Mi Mix Alpha might step into India as well, as per the landing page that came up on Xiaomi's official Indian page. Read more

iQOO 3 5G

Image Source: IANS News iQOO 3 5G

Chinese tech giant BBK Group's smartphone brand iQOO is the second smartphone in the country - after Realme - that has launched a 5G-capable handset. The price of its newly-launched flagship smartphone iQOO 3 with 5G capabilities begins at Rs 36,990.Read more
Mogo Zoo has reopened its doors to the public just two months after a raging bushfire threatened to burn it to the ground.

An 'apocalyptic' blaze crossed the Princes Highway on the New South Wales south coast and surrounded the wildlife park on New Year's Eve, putting 200 animals in danger.

Park director Chad Staples and 15 staff put their own lives on the line as they battled for hours to defend the zoo by dousing the grounds with hundreds of thousands of litres of water as the inferno approached.

Mogo Zoo director Chad Staples (holding Phoenix the lion cub) celebrates the park's reopening with local MP Andrew Constance (second left) NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian (seocnd right) and NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons (far right)

The zoo and its 200 animals were in grave danger from bushfires on New Year's Eve

Thanks to the desperate efforts of zoo staff, all animals escaped the blaze unscathed.

The youngest survivor was a seven-day-old lion cub who has since been named Phoenix to symbolise the extraordinary recovery the zoo has made since.

An official reopening ceremony for dignitaries was held on Saturday before locals and tourists flocked to the Sunday's free reopening to the public.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons were among those in attendance on Saturday, where Phoenix the lion cub lapped up all the attention.

A special plaque was unveiled on Saturday to coincide with the park's reopening

Mogo Wildlife Park two days after the bushfire. All 200 animals escaped the fire unscathed

'To see the zoo now not only save its most precious animals, being the largest private zoo in the nation, it also preserved and represented the wonderful spirit of this community,' Ms Berejiklian said.

'Today we are able to recount a story of absolute resilience, survive and hope for the future ... we're so deeply grateful.'

Mr Staples took over the management of Mogo two months prior and had no hesitation in his decision to put his life on the line to defend the zoo and save the animals.

'People have said ever since New Year's Eve, 'What made you make the decision to stay?' There was never a decision - it had to be this,' he told the ABC.

He thanked the community for their overwhelming support in recent weeks.

'It's not the size of the gift, it's the spirit it's given from, and this community is amazing. There's no one here that held back, everyone gave everything they possibly could to make sure we'd be able to get back to this day,' Mr Staples said.

Chad Staples (pictured with Channel Nine's Lauren Phillips) urges locals and tourists to support Mogo Wildlife Park and other businesses affected by the recent bushfires

Zoo staff risked their own lives to save the animals from the raging bushfires that hit Mogo

Tourists are urged visit the zoo and other bushfire-impacted businesses on the NSW south coast.

'We want people right across NSW, right across Australia, right across the world to come and visit NSW, visit all those fire-affected areas of NSW including the south coast, they want you to visit,' Commissioner Fitzsimmons said.

'What I can guarantee you is there will be plenty of smiles and there'll be a warm handshake to welcome you to their town and serve you and support you on your visit to these areas.'
The 112 evacuees who were evacuated from the central Chinese city of Wuhan on February 27 have all tested negative for the coronavirus. The evacuees were quarantined at the ITBP's Chhawla Facility. The evacuees that include Seventy-six Indians and 36 foreigners, were taken to the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) force quarantine centre in the Chhawla area of the national capital after being brought back.

Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Quarantine Centre, Chhawla: Doctors at the centre monitoring 112 evacuees, including a Chinese family brought from China via C-17 Globemaster aircraft of Indian Air Force. No fresh symptoms of Coronavirus have surfaced till now. pic.twitter.com/2jD09q79Uf  ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2020

The first samples of the fresh batch of evacuees who arrived from Wuhan were collected at the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Chhawla Quarantine Facility in Delhi on Friday and were then sent to AIIMS for testing.

READ | Free Gorakhpur 'chicken mela' to dispel coronavirus fears proves big hit; blocks roads

The latest batch of evacuees include 36 foreign nationals

The latest batch of evacuees which was brought back from the epicentre of the corona epidemic, Wuhan, includes 80 males, 32 females, and five children.

Out of all the foreign nationals that were brought in to the ITBP Centre, 23 people were from Bangladesh, six from China, two from Myanmar and Maldives, one from Madagascar, one from South Africa and, one from the United States of America. The quarantined people are being provided with basic facilities at the ITBP centre. The medical team of the ITBP is also carrying out daily monitoring and checkups.

Officials also informed that no one from the ITBP's Chhawla centre has shown any symptoms of the virus. The basic quarantine period is 14 days. The ITBP medicos will carry out the second sampling on the 14th day of the quarantine period. If the second test result comes negative again, then all 112 persons will be dispatched from the centre.

READ | Coronavirus outbreak: Death toll in China climbs to 2,870 with 35 more fatalities

Coronavirus outbreak

As per Chinese health officials, 47 more people have now died of the deadly coronavirus, raising the death toll in the country to 2,835 while the number of confirmed cases rose to 79,251 as of Saturday, February 29.

Coronavirus has now affected over 82,000 people worldwide and caused more than 2,800 deaths. While about 30,000 of the affected have been cured, fear of infections is still rampant and growing.

READ | 195 Indians, 41 foreign nationals evacuated from Wuhan, quarantined cruise ship: MEA

READ | 76 Indians, 36 foreigners evacuated from coronavirus-hit Wuhan taken to ITBP quarantine facility

(With ANI inputs)
Kuwait has evacuated a number of nationals from Iran and Thailand following coronavirus (COVID-19) fears.

Five special flights arrived at Kuwait International Airport from Tehran, and one from Bangkok, on Saturday with Kuwaitis on board, said a report.

Upon their arrival at Shaikh Saad Al-Abdullah Terminal, the evacuees underwent preliminary medical tests to make sure they are free of COVID-19 infection, said Assistant Undersecretary of the Health Ministry Dr Buthaina Al-Mudhaf to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).

"The arrivals from Tehran have to remain in quarantine while those from Thailand will be under observation at home," she told KUNA.

"The persons who suffer from chronic illnesses, such as the heart disease, were admitted into a specific hospital to verify their health condition," she pointed out.

Affirming her earlier statement that no new COVID-19 cases were detected today, Dr Al-Mudhaf said the previously confirmed 45 patients are in stable condition.
The Government Railway Police (GRP) arrested a 25-year-old man on Saturday after he sparked a major scare with a tweet that there were five bombs on the New Delhi-Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express train.

Police said the man had tweeted in anger after his brother who had to board that train failed to do so because the Kerala Express on which he was travelling, arrived late.

GRP Superintendent of Police Jogendra Kumar said that the accused Sanjeev Singh Gurjar had reached the railway station here on Friday to see off his brother Rahul, an armyman, who was scheduled to reach Delhi by the Kerala Express and then board the Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express to head for a departmental exam. But the Kerala Express was late by four hours and so his brother missed the Rajdhani Express.

He informed Sanjeev about missing the train and the latter lost his cool and tweeted tagging Union railway minister Piyush Goyal: I want to inform that there are 5 bombs in a train Rajdhani (12424) going from New Delhi to Kanpur Central. Please take some action on this quickly.

The tweet created panic and at Aligarh junction the GRP was asked to get the train checked. However, nothing suspicious was found and the train was allowed to move on after three hours, Jogendra Kumar said.

Sanjeev Gurjar did not reply to tweets made by Railways and did not call on the mobile number given by the Railway police. Meanwhile, PRO, Agra GRP Sachin Kaushik began to check the Twitter timeline of the accused and found a link shared by him in February 2018 through which his mobile number was traced, he said.

Sanjeev Singh Gurjar (25) was found to be a resident of Gwalior and had posted another tweet at 7.16 pm on Friday, apologising for his earlier tweet which he claimed was made in mental tension because the train by which his brother was to travel was running four hours late.

Sachin Kaushik said the tweet about the bombs delayed the train by three hours.

However, his act created panic among passengers, delayed the train by three hours and harassed the official machinery. So a case was registered under Sections 505 of Indian Penal Code and 174 of Indian Railways Act against him at Aligarh junction and he was arrested from Agra on Saturday, informed Kaushik said.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
KIEV (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund said on Saturday it had made good progress in talks with the Ukrainian authorities and that the discussions would continue in the coming days.

The IMF has given conditional approval for a new loan programme to Ukraine worth $5.5 billion but its disbursement depends on Kiev's performance on reforms. The IMF also wants parliament to pass a special law on banking.

"The IMF staff team that visited Kyiv made very good progress in discussions on legislation to support growth and ensure stability, and discussions will continue in the coming days," the statement said.

(Reporting by Matthias Williams; Editing by Ed Davies)
Editorials represent the institutional view of the newspaper. They are written and edited by the editorial staff, which operates separately from the news department. Editorial writers are not involved in newsroom operations.
This morning was nice

Sveta was able to walk with me to Globus and we ate breakfast together and then I took her to the train station. It was nice to have her along. She loves to walk with me and since she was not in a hurry this morning to get to work fast.we could walk together

Kinda a reverse walk pattern for me

Sveta has two years left till she retires and then she will be able to walk all the time with me, for our health. I know she is looking forward to getting those two years done

She works for the Gazprom bank system and is their boss of the server systems they have at two of their biggest branches

and

OAO Gazprom has become the third largest company in the world by market capitalization. Gazprom stock gained 5.34 percent on the MICEX on May 8, raising the monopolys market value to $348 billion and knocking the Chinese cellular communications operator China Mobile, worth $341 billion, out of third place in the world ranking. According to Reuters, the American company ExxonMobil occupies first place on that list at $476 billion, and Petrochina is in second place with $447 billion.

Source: Russia: Gazprom Is Huge! | Windows to Russia

For some old posts on WtR

I am not sure that they will be very happy when she has to retire. They can try to extend and try to keep her on for several years more (If she agrees!), but I know she is ready to get on with life. She has been working for Gazprom for a very longtime

With her and my retirement, we can live very comfortable in Russia and or many places around the world. It is something we are talking about. A place like Ajman in the middle east is a serious nice place to live and enjoy good weather and good people

I need to walk to the local Magnet grocery store and finish getting stock for a rainy day

Gotta go and finish my job 

WtR
The Vatican has turned down a second plea of Sister Lucy Kalapura to revoke her expulsion from the Franciscan Clarist Congregation (FCC), an aide of the nun said Sunday.

Kalapura (52) was expelled from the congregation in August last year for serious indiscipline but the nun claims she was victimised for supporting the agitation for the arrest of the deposed bishop of Jalandhar, Franco Mullakkal who is facing a rape case.

She got a communication in this regard late Saturday. The letter was in Latin and it clearly stated that her request was rejected outright. Details will be available once it is translated fully, said an aide of the nun. But he said the Sister Kalapura will continue her fight against the corrupt system prevailing in the Catholic church.

The Vatican had rejected her first plea to revoke her expulsion last November. A local court in Wayanad in December had stayed the FCC action against her. In January she again wrote to Pope Francis. When contacted, a spokesperson of the FCC refused to comment on the issue.

The Save Our Sisters forum, an outfit fighting for the reforms in the church, said it will support the nun who is currently staying in a convent in Manthawady in Wayanad. Two weeks ago she had alleged that the convent authorities were depriving her of food to force her out.

It is pity the church has disowned her again. People who take a stand are often neglected. Lord Jesus was most radical of his times and taught his followers to raise their voice against exploitation and inequality. It is sad church authorities have forgotten these principles, said Dr Valson Thampu, author and former principal of the prestigious St Stephens College in Delhi.

Earlier the nun claimed that her harassment increased after her controversial autobiography was released in December last year. Her autobiography Karthavinte Namathil (In the name of Christ), had ruffled many feathers in the Church. The nun has alleged in her autobiography that sexual abuse and assaults take place in convents and seminaries and called for institutional reforms.

She has also alleged in the book that she faced attempts of sexual assault at least four times during her convent life and that many nuns easily succumb to such intimidations. She claimed that some young nuns were subjected to cruel sexual perversions at a priests official residence. The nun also alleged that Father Robin Vadakumcherry, who is undergoing double-life term for impregnating a minor girl in Kottiyoor in Kannur, had illicit relation with many nuns.

Sister Kalapura was among the many nuns who staged a sit-in protest in Kochi to demand the arrest of Mullakkal who was accused of rape by one of their colleagues. In June 2018, a 43-year-old nun filed a police complaint alleging that Mullakkal had sexually assaulted her after summoning her on the pretext of discussing an important issue in 2014 and that the assaults continued for two more years.

A special investigation team (SIT) of the Kerala Police arrested Mullakal in September last year after several rounds of questioning. Trial in the case began in a court in Kottayam last month.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Sophie Monk has confirmed she's still dating her marketing executive boyfriend Joshua Gross.

The pair sparked rumours of a split last week when it was discovered they were no longer friends on social media after just 18 months of dating.

But on Saturday, after flying into Sydney domestic airport with her beau, she broke her silence and denied the separation whispers.

'I unfollowed him to be dramatic': Sophie Monk (right) has broken her silence on the rumours she had SPLIT from boyfriend Joshua Gross (left). Pictured at Sydney airport on Saturday

The couple were spotted waiting for their vehicle together at the T2 terminal's valet parking area.

When approached and asked to clarify their relationship status, Sophie adamantly stated the rumours of a split weren't true.

Sophie, 40, and Josh, 41, had raised eyebrows last week after fans noticed they had unfollowed each other on Instagram.

Hours after the rumour had circulated, the pair's social media handles reappeared in their 'follower' sections, as their individual 'follower count' increased by a single digit to reflect the recent re-add.

'I unfollowed him to be dramatic and then I forgot': Sophie claimed she had 'unfollowed' Josh, but was alerted to the fact she had done so by articles emerging about their rumoured split

Sticking together: When approached and asked to clarify their relationship status, Sophie adamantly stated the rumours of a split weren't true

Kiss and make up! The pair were happy to prove their affection for the cameras, as they shared a tender kiss and cuddled up close

That doesn't look good! The once inseparable couple appeared to have 'unfollowed' each other on Instagram (Pictured taken on Thursday at 4pm)

That's strange: Hours after this article's publication, the pair's social media handles reappeared in their 'follower' sections, as their individual 'follower count' increased by a single digit to reflect the recent add (Pictured taken on Thursday at 10pm)

Sophie explained the reasoning behind the confusing situation.

'I think I unfollowed him to be dramatic and then I forgot I unfollowed him,' she said.

When asked if she 'unfollowed' him during a lovers' tiff or fight, Sophie played coy: 'Oh, I don't know. It was me. I unfollowed then I forgot I unfollowed.'

Trouble in paradise? The fact Sophie, 40, and Josh, 41, appeared to have unfollowed each other from Instagram raised eyebrows last week

VIP travellers: The couple were spotted waiting for their vehicle together at the T2 terminal's valet parking area

'So yeah, it wasn't that dramatic. I've made it dramatic,' she said with a slight chuckle.

However, as Josh was also 'unfollowing' Sophie, it may have been mutual decision to 'unfollow' each other or Sophie may have actually 'blocked' her beau, as that would automatically remove her from his 'following' list.

Either way, the pair were happy to prove their affection for the cameras, as they shared a tender kiss and cuddled up close.

Helping hand: Josh appeared to place all their luggage in the car's boot as Sophie sipped on a takeaway coffee and draped her handbag over her arm

The couple, who first met in business class on a flight from Europe to Australia in August 2018, have been notably absent from social media in the past few weeks.

Upon leaving Sydney airport in their car, Sophie and Josh were spotted on a dinner date on New South Wales' Central Coast.

A source told Daily Mail Australia they saw the pair looking 'cold and distant' at a venue in Forresters Beach.

Date night: A source told Daily Mail Australia they saw the pair looking 'cold and distant' over dinner at a venue in Forresters Beach on Saturday night

Is everything OK? The insider claimed the pair weren't very chatty during their meal, and said: 'Sophie looked really sad. She also looked pretty thin'

The insider claimed the pair weren't very chatty during their meal, and said: 'Sophie looked really sad. She also looked pretty thin.'

Sophie and Josh's nontraditional love story began in 2018 when they shared a kiss after enjoying 'three Champagnes' in business class on an international flight.

The former Bachelorette then began a long-distance relationship with Josh - who was based in Los Angeles at the time.

Love was in the air: Sophie and Josh's nontraditional love story began when they shared a kiss after 'three Champagnes' in business class on an international flight in August 2018

They grew closer when Joshua helped Sophie recover after endometriosis surgery in November 2018. Around this time, she also began the process of freezing her eggs.

Sophie later confirmed her long-distance boyfriend was leaving the U.S. to live with her on the Gold Coast in May 2019.

During an interview with Daily Mail Australia in September 2019, she was very vocal about her desire to marry and have children with Josh.

Things moved fast! Sophie later confirmed her long-distance boyfriend Joshua was leaving his base in Los Angeles to live with her on the Gold Coast in May 2019

Her demands for an engagement and admission to putting the pressure on her boyfriend to propose had gone viral at the time, as he joked: 'I think he's getting the message now!'

Sophie also admitted to putting the pressure on her boyfriend to propose in an interview with The Daily Telegraph: 'I am pushing every day.'

She went on to say that she expected her beau to propose while filming the second season of Love Island in Fiji in late 2019. He did not.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Sophie Monk and Joshua Gross for comment
Arrest of Jimmy Lai signals HK govt's enhanced enforcement after months-long riots

Global Times

By GT staff reporters Source:Global Times Published: 2020/2/28 11:01:35 Last Updated: 2020/2/29 0:57:34

The Hong Kong Police Force detained several Hong Kong riot leaders including Apple Daily founder Jimy Lai Chee-ying and pan-democratic figures Lee Cheuk-yan and Yeung Sum on Friday for taking part in an illegal assembly and criminal intimidation.

Observers and analysts considered the arrests as a symbolic move showing illegal political activities would eventually face legal proceedings, and the arrests also put a major test on the city's judiciary system.

Lai, who owns the anti-government tabloid Apple Daily, was arrested on Friday morning at roughly 7:30 am after several officers from the crime unit came to his residence in Ho Man Tin local media reports said. Ex-legislators Lee and Yeung were also detained by police at their homes, and police said that the arrests were made due to unlawful assembly on August 31, 2019, and a related criminal intimidation case.

The three were released on bail at noon, the police confirmed with the Global TImes. And local media reports said they will appear in court on May 5.

When Lai attended a rally at Victoria Park in June 2017, he suddenly approached a Hong Kong Oriental Daily reporter who was interviewed at the scene and used insults and intimidation. After the incident, Lai recorded a statement at the Hong Kong Island Regional Crime Squad in August 2018 at the request of the police but the Justice Department did not file the case.

"These arrests show that their political activities are illegal and will eventually face legal trials. There is no justification for violating the law," Lawrence Tang Fei, a member of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies, told the Global Times on Friday.

The police took action half a year ago after the illegal assembly, also suggesting the police obtained sufficient evidence and the chance of conviction is very high, Tang noted. "However, uncertainties remain, as in the past lenient sentences were given for unlawful assembly," he said.

During the months of protests that turned into riots, which heavily weighed on Hong Kong's social stability, anti-government figures were seen as typical examples of modern traitors, as these so-called "democratic" leaders have had unprecedented levels of contact with the US government and Western parliaments, forming increasingly brazen collusion tactics that have fueled the expansion of street politics in Hong Kong, observers said.

Apple Daily is known for its active stance in supporting violent Hong Kong protesters and it is seen as an accomplice to the rioters. The newspaper covered the months-long anti-government protests in a biased manner by focusing on law enforcement by police and depicting it as "police brutality" while ignoring the fact that protesters constantly provoked police first.

"Justice may be delayed but never absent," a local Hong Kong resident said in a group chat after reports about their arrests were released.

Li Xiaobing, an expert on Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan studies at Nankai University in Tianjin, told the Global Times on Friday that the arrest of Lai is just the starting point.

"Given the social influence of Lai and his deep-rooted influence in Hong Kong, in addition to his collusion with foreign governments, any charges against him may exert a huge social impact. A legal battle and a war of opinion may ensue," said Li.

It is an open secret in Hong Kong that the forces protesting the extradition bill have been sponsored by the US. The activist Lai was exposed by WikiLeaks to be closely related to US intelligence personnel, according to media reports. During protests against the now-withdrawn extradition bill, Lai had high-level meetings with senior US officials including US Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Adviser John Bolton. The media mogul also attended major illegal assemblies and fueled street violence, speaking to foreign media in order to smear Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's government and the central government.

To convict those arrested, the prosecutor must present sufficient evidence and the string of evidence must be clear so that the judge can make a fair judgment and hold those accountable, Li noted.

Li also warned that some external forces may make noise over Lai's arrest, such as imposing pressure on the HKSAR government and the central government, and questioning the autonomy of the special administrative region.

In late August, the police also detained a number of anti-government lawmakers and activists, including notorious Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow who led the illegal Occupy Central movement in 2014. The pair were charged with unlawful assembly but were later released on bail, triggering doubts over legal judgments in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong laws stipulate that criminal intimidation can be dealt with through summary or indictment procedures, and the department of justice will allocate cases to different courts based on the severity of the crime, Kennedy Wong Ying-ho, solicitor at the Supreme Court of Hong Kong, told the Global Times on Friday.

If the case goes through summary procedures, the suspect will face penalties or imprisonment for less than two years. If the case goes through the indictment process, district courts or the high court can give sentences up to five years' imprisonment.

The highest sentence of criminal charges regarding unlawful assembly by district courts is three years' imprisonment, and if handed down by the high court the sentence would be five years' imprisonment, according to the veteran lawyer. "Taking part in an unlawful assemblies may lead to conviction, but the judge may not put Lai behind bars. Criminal intimidation is difficult to convict, but suspects will face imprisonment once convicted," he said.

Tian Feilong, an associate professor at Beihang University in Beijing and a member of the Beijing-based Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies, told the Global Times on Friday that the arrest and prosecution of Lai will help the SAR government exercise its autonomous right to end the chaos and resume the rule of law and order so that society can engage in rational dialogue and return to stability.

Tian believes that the prosecution of Lai is a test to Hong Kong's judiciary system. "Hong Kong's jurisdiction should adjust its partial judgment that favored anti-government protesters and give consideration to public order in the wake of a crisis regarding Hong Kong's rule of law," he added.

The legal action against Lai is a strong signal that the SAR government will not allow individuals like him to jeopardize Hong Kong's rule of law and democratic order, Tian noted, adding that the government is responsible for maintaining the rule of law given the upcoming key elections.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






A married man who claims conversion therapy stopped him 'longing' for a homosexual relationship says he should be 'celebrated' in the same way as Philip Schofield.

Last month, Philip, 57, who shares two children with his wife of 27 years, emotionally revealed his sexuality in a lengthy social media post this month, before speaking about his sexuality to co-host and friend Holly Willoughby, 39, on This Morning.

Mike Davidson, from County Down, Northern Ireland, runs gay conversion charity Core Trust Issues and claims that while he 'once longed' for emotional, sexual and romantic relationship with a man, he 'no longer' has such feelings.

The father-of-two told NewsLetter how he is grateful to those who 'helped him' remain married to his wife for 41-years and believes there is an 'appalling determination' to promote LGBT' ideology' at the 'expense of others'.

Mike Davidson (pictured), from County Down, Northern Ireland, runs Christian gay conversion charity Core Trust Issues and campaigns for conversion therapy

Last month, Philip (pictured right) spoke about his sexuality to co-host and friend Holly Willoughby (pictured left) , 39, on This Morning after coming out on social media

The presenter shares two children with his wife of 27 years Stephanie Lowe. They are pictured at the Pride of Britain Awards in 2017

He said: 'My change has meant I have been able to fulfill my desire to remain with my wife and family and to enjoy a full and complete relationship with my wife and our children. '

He added: 'There is an appalling determination to promote LGBT ideology at the expense of people's lives.

'If Philip Schofield is allowed to celebrate his choice, people who leave unwanted same-sex attractions should also be celebrated.'

Core Trust Issues are a non-profit Christian ministry supporting men and women with 'homosexual issues' who voluntarily seek change in sexual preference and expression.

Davidson believes that homosexuality is not 'hard wired' and challenges the view that those who experience them in later life have simply repressed them

Davidson believes that homosexuality is not 'hard wired' and challenges the view that those who experience them in later life have simply repressed them.

Their mission statement says that while they 'respect' the rights of the gay community, they do not support gay marriage and think human sexuality is fluid for some, and 'therefore changeable in some cases'.

He claims that his organisations are aimed at those who view homosexuality as a 'threat' to those who wish to remain a 'faithful spouse' or feel their home is the 'best' place raise their children.

Alleging that homosexual feelings are based on other unmet emotional needs, he insisted that clients 'work to free themselves' from changes in their 'sexual patterning'.

Last month, Philip, emotionally revealed his sexuality in a lengthy social media post this month, before speaking about his sexuality to co-host and friend Holly Willoughby, 39, on This Morning

Davidson himself feels his own homosexual feelings were in part, because of a poor relationship with his father as a child.

Phillip previously told The Sun On Sunday that he does believe he's known he was gay throughout his marriage to Stephanie, saying: 'Whatever was ''there'' I thought, ''OK, whatever this is, you stay back because I am happy.''

The veteran TV star added that he was 'naive' to think he could suppress his sexuality when he married Stephanie 27 years ago, but he didn't consider his sexuality as it was such a 'joyous time' for him.

'If you ask anyone who is gay, they know  there is no confusion.'

Phillip admitted he battled depression as he struggled with his sexuality, and even sought therapy to come to terms with it, before deciding he found it more helpful speaking to friends in private.

Phil previously admitted that he does believe he's known he was gay throughout his marriage to Stephanie. They are pictured in 2003

When asked about the future of his marriage to Stephanie, Phillip was unsure about whether they will divorce in the future. They are pictured in 2014

He admitted: 'I went to seek professional help, I sat down and poured out my heart.'

Phillip added that the strain of keeping his sexuality a secret even took a toll on his physical health and his weight plummeted as he threw himself into work.

When asked about the future of his marriage to Stephanie, Phillip was unsure about whether they will divorce in the future, and declined to comment on whether he is in a relationship with a man or has been in the past.

Phillip also admitted that for a time he thought he was bisexual, and it took time for him to be honest with himself and accept that he was gay.

He added that the mental struggles have left him in tears on numerous occasions.

Phillip also highly praised his wife Stephanie for being such a supportive figure following his decision to come out, and explained that he finally spoke out to her after she and his two daughters noticed he had been 'low' in the previous months.

Amid the fallout around his decision to come out, Phillip insisted that he is still the same person that viewers see on their television every day, and wants to focus on the most important people in his life.
The latter, called American Traffic, is the more successful of the two. It opens on a line of four woman in brightly colored leggings topped by tailored business-like blazers (by costumer Kristine Fatchet). It could almost be called an Irish version of Swan Lakes cygnets. With hands locked behind them and clasped to each other, the quartet rocks on heels and toes, exchanging their feet, without moving positions, in a cappella rhythmical magic. This scene opens up to the full company walking briskly, evoking images of an early morning commute. Regimented, straight-backed walking gives way to an easier, arm-swinging stroll  before work vs. after work, maybe, or Monday vs. Fridaywhich weaves curious patterns until the dancers find themselves in a straight line downstage. An extraordinary insert of hand clapping here, plus a cameo by Rutledge, hinting a role as a busker, leads to a series of sequences alternating between Irish and American tap dance. Time steps and paradiddles come as easily as skips and point hop backs for these seasoned professionals, who do a pretty good job dropping their shoulders and inserting some swagger into the tap portions of this piece.
Chicago police officers shot a man inside a busy subway station during Friday rush hour and it was all caught on video by a bystander. The shocking video that quickly became viral on social media shows police appearing to shoot the man as he was trying to flee. The mans apparent crime? Moving between two train cars, which is a violation of a city ordinance.

The officers went after the man from the train onto the platform, where there was a struggle as they tried to place him in custody. The video shows how the officers each fired a Taser to try to subdue the man. They also used pepper spray on the man but that didnt seem to do much. That is when one of the officers drew her firearm and appears to fire a shot at the man, who then ran up the escalator. One more shot is heard on the video but the officers and the man could not be seen.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

This is the two minutes leading up to the previous video. (Twitter won't let me upload it all at once.) pic.twitter.com/rkWrIfSkpE  The Unaffiliated Critic (@FreeRangeCritic) February 28, 2020

Chicago police said the man was shot twice and was taken to hospital, where he underwent surgery and is in critical but stable condition. We are conducting concurrent criminal and administrative investigations into this incident, police Deputy Superintendent Barbara West told reporters. The officers were taken off patrol and given paid administrative duties while the investigation continues.

Advertisement

Advertisement

I have viewed the widely shared footage, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a tweet. With the strong caveat that one perspective does not depict the entirety of the incident, the video is extremely disturbing and the actions by these officers are deeply concerning. The mayor also expressed support for prosecutors to go directly to the scene of the shooting. To ensure full transparency and accountability, I support Superintendent [Charlie] Becks decision to contact the States Attorney due to the potential criminal nature of this incident, Lightfoot tweeted.

The FBI is now working with the Cook County states attorneys office in the investigation as possible criminal charges are being considered. The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois criticized the lack of meaningful de-escalation by Chicago police officers and called for a full investigation into this event, with appropriate transparency and accountability.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Two high school bands were allegedly banned from performing in the St. Patricks Parade due to LGBTQ+ symbols on their uniforms and instruments.

Gabrielle Ryan, Miss Richmond County and Port Richmond High School senior, told the Advance that she spoke to students who are a part of the Port Richmond band after she participated in the Rainbow Run, an event organized yearly by the Pride Center of Staten Island and Move Forward Staten Island.

Ryan, who has two moms, didnt participate in the parade to show support for the LGBTQ+ community.

When I was walking back from the Rainbow Run during the start of the parade, I saw one of my friends, Ryan explained. The parade organizers told the band that they had to take off rainbow heart stickers they were wearing or they couldnt march.

Vinnie Medugno, coordinator of Student Activities at Port Richmond High School, said that the stickers had been given to students by the Gender Sexuality Alliance, a club at the school.

Medungo said that he was informed that when the students were told to take the stickers off, they respectfully declined.

Students in the marching band wore them to support the school community and Miss Richmond County, Medungo told the Advance. Im glad the students and staff took the high road with respect for the community.

SIMILAR SITUATION

Tottenville High School was in a similar situation, according to a student. The student anonymously told the Advance that their band was not allowed to march due to rainbow stickers on their uniforms.

Allegedly, parade marshals told Tottenville band students that they must remove any LGBTQ+ symbols to march, the student said. The Tottenville student said that students then made the decision to leave the parade.

Another Tottenville student reached out to the Advance and said, I felt extremely disrespected when our band was told that we couldnt march in the parade with rainbow stickers on our uniforms. Its horribly homophobic and so disrespectful toward the LGBTQ+ community.

Both students wished to remain anonymous because school administration instructed them not to speak to the press.

Susan E. Wagner High School and Curtis High School bands also didnt march in the parade. It is unknown at this time if this is due to LGBTQ+ representation or not.

The Advance didnt receive a response from Larry Cummings, head of the Staten Island St. Patricks Parade Committee, about the situation.

Councilwoman Debi Rose praised the students who decided not to be involved in the parade, tweeting: To those schools and students who opted not to march in todays St. Patricks Day Parade, I commend you. Your courageous decision sends a clear message of love and acceptance to those who need it most.

To those schools and students who opted not to march in todays St. Patricks Day Parade, I commend you. Your courageous decision sends a clear message of love and acceptance to those who need it most.



         pic.twitter.com/0UOvne2jBO  Debi Rose (@CMDebiRose) March 1, 2020

Earlier this week, Rose advocated for the Department of Education to suspend participation in the parade due to it not ensuring a safe environment for our students.

The information came to the Advance after a similar account from Councilman Joseph Borelli (R-South Shore). Borelli said: They [the parade marshals] physically blocked me, when he tried to march wearing a small rainbow lapel pin on his jacket.

The feud between The Pride Center of Staten Island and parade organizers has been going on since at least 2014. The Pride Center routinely applies to march in the parade under their banner and has never been accepted.
Jay Midwood, owner of Pasta Mani at the Worcester Public Market, had a good thing going in Seattle teaching cooking classes and working for renowned Chef Ethan Stowell. Then his house burned down.

Unfortunately, a drug addict broke into our outside shed that was connected to our townhouse and because Im a chef, I had wood chips and all kinds of fun things out there, said Midwood.

They went in there to take a nap and smoke some meth and used one of my tiki torches to light a pipe and next thing I know; the tiki torch falls over into a bag of the wood chips and there goes my place.

For the next three months, Jay and his wife Emily were forced to live out of a hotel. With no family in the area, the two decided to move back home to Massachusetts, where Jay grew up in Palmer.

It was between Springfield and Worcester, he said.

Jays friend Rob Fecteau, owner of BirchTree Bread Co., reached out and convinced him the move to Worcester was the right choice. The couple ended up settling on Worcester and purchased a house in Webster Square. Once arrived in the city, Jay worked with Rob at BirchTree Bread Co. while scouting possible restaurant locations for a place of his own.

About a year ago in February, Jay was introduced to Allen Fletcher, visionary and owner of the Worcester Public Market. And the rest is history.

We chatted for a while and he made me an offer and I gave him a concept that he really liked.

A year later Jay would be opening up his own six-seat fresh pasta eatery inside the Worcester Public Market.

Its everything I want, said Midwood. The kitchen is built and designed by me. I cant really complain about not knowing where things are or anything like that. The menu is written by me so I cant really complain about not enjoying the food that I cook.

And while Jay has cooked all over the country including Boston and Seattle, he finds the most enjoyment working in his kitchen that sits just below Green St., even with all of the responsibility falling on him.

Even though Ive been a restaurant consultant for the last 10 or 12 years of my career before doing this, I find exponentially less stress doing my own thing than I do for other people, he said. Even though all the bills and this whole thing rests on what I do, I come to work every day not feeling any pressure.

Every chef works for this, he says.

According to Jay, Pasta Mani is the only spot in Worcester that he knows of that serves fresh pasta only. Everything is either handmade or made using an industrial pasta extruder he purchased in Italy. Jay rotates a variety of 20 different pasta styles. You never know what will be on the board when you walk in, but can trust that it was made with the freshest ingredients made available to him.

As far as Pasta Manis future, Jay says hed like to have three locations total.

The plan is to start off with this little guy, give him a little while, see what happens, wait for the ballpark to open  I just want to be one of those building blocks in the Worcester restaurant scene. I just want to give Worcester quality food.

Related Content:
Thirty-four Turkish troops have been killed in Syria since Thursday.

Turkey said Sunday it is "successfully" continuing its military operation against the Russian-backed Syrian regime in Syria's northwestern Idlib region but insisted it did not wish to clash with Moscow.

"Following the heinous attack on February 27 in Idlib, operation 'Spring Shield' successfully continues," Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar was quoted as saying by state news agency Anadolu.

"We don't have the desire or intention to clash with Russia," the minister added. Thirty-four Turkish troops have been killed in Syria since Thursday.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


2020 is off to a great start when it comes to smartphone launches. There's a healthy competition going on among the brands to put their best step forward and decimate the competition. Besides some of the familiar names like Realme, Xiaomi, and Samsung, there's a new brand in town called iQOO.

iQOO, for those of you who don't know, is a Vivo's sub-brand that's looking to step into the battle with the idea of offering an affordable flagship phone. The iQOO 3 5G is the first phone to come out of iQOO's doors, which I've been using as my primary phone for quite some time now.

There's a lot to discuss about the phone, so let's not waste any more time and jump right into the review where I tell you if this phone is worth dropping your money on.

Design & Build Quality

 Karthik Iyer/ MensXP

When it comes to the design, I'd say the iQOO 3 doesn't bring anything new to the table. But that's not saying that it looks bad. It has an all-glass construction that comes in three color variants, all of which look equally good and premium. I, personally, have a leaning towards the Orange variant of the phone, but that's sadly not what we have here for review.

Despite being a gaming-centric phone, I like the fact that iQOO doesn't have a flashy and jarring look for most gaming devices. It's a simple design that screams "Vivo" from any angle you look at it. Yes, iQOO has definitely taken some cues from Vivo when it comes to the design.

The colored power button on the left and the "Monster Touch Button" are the highlights for me here. The air trigger buttons combined with the phone's great haptics, you're in for a solid gaming experience. It is, however, worth pointing out that iQOO 3 is one heavy phone. It's probably not that bad, but I thought it's worth mentioning because it's been a while since I've such a heavy device.

 Karthik Iyer/ MensXP

The rest of the stuff about the phone is pretty standard. You get a USB Type C port at the bottom along with the speaker grille, a 3.5mm headphone jack on the top and a dedicated AI button on the right side. There's a punch-hole cutout on the display for the selfie camera as well.

Overall, I'd say the iQOO 3 is a decent looking phone. On one hand, I am glad that iQOO decided to stay away from an obnoxious "gaming" design, but on the other hand, I think the phone leaves you craving for more when it comes to the design. Don't get me wrong, the fit and finish of the phone is pretty solid. It's just that the design is probably not what I'll talk about if I am asked about iQOO 3.

Display

 Karthik Iyer/ MensXP

It's 2020 and most smartphone makers are hellbent at throwing in a high-refresh-rate panel on their phones. But it's interesting and rather disappointing to see just a 60Hz panel here on the iQOO 3. I mean, a 60Hz panel is absolutely usable and this one also has a 180Hz touch response rate. But it's definitely something to consider when you have other phones on the market with high-refresh-rate panels.

That being said, the 6.44-inch Super AMOLED display on the iQOO 3 is really good. It's a high-resolution display with punchy colors and deep blacks. It also gets bright enough to be used outdoors. It has a punch-hole cutout for the camera as mentioned earlier, but it's nothing to complain about. It's on the top-right side of the phone and it's not really going to bother you all that much.

Performance

iQOO is one of the first brands to bring a phone that's powered by Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 865 SoC to India. And let me tell you that this chipset is a beast. Also, it's paired with up to 12GB LPDDR5 RAM and up to 256GB UFS 3.1 storage. To top it all off, the Snapdragon X55 modem makes it a 5G capable phone too.

 Karthik Iyer/ MensXP

With all that hardware in toe, the iQOO 3 performs exceptionally well. The performance is top-notch and I encountered no stutters or hiccups either while simply using the phone for my day-to-day activities or while gaming. It won't give up even when you're using the phone to do some resource-intensive stuff.

As for the gaming performance, I did a separate story on that in which I explain everything about the phone's gaming experience and why I think it's one of the best gaming phones. You can read that story right here if you want a deep dive into the phone's gaming performance. You'll also be able to check out all the benchmark performance of the phone in there.

 Karthik Iyer/ MensXP

As for the software, the iQOO 3 runs no its own iQOO UI. I'd say it's a little bit cleaner than what you get to see on Vivo's phones, but it's still far from something that I'd use on a day-to-day basis.

The reason why most manufacturers have all those features and in-built apps in their phones is because they say most people like it that way for convenience. It apparently makes it easier for an average user to open the box, boot the phone and start using it with everything that's already there.

I personally don't like having a ton of bloat on my phone, so it's a big no for me. But I'll say this that there are some really useful features in there to boost your phone's performance as well. I definitely see a lot of people use those features. That being said, I really think the software needs to be more optimized because there are times when you just feel like even Snapdragon 865 isn't enough to keep it going.

Camera

 Karthik Iyer/ MensXP

As is the case with most phones these days, the iQOO 3 also comes with a quad-camera setup on the rear. It includes a 48MP primary shooter, two 13MP sensors and a depth sensor for portraits. The images taken from the iQOO 3 turned out very good.

The images taken on the daylight turned out pretty good with a good dynamic range and a ton of detail. I'd say they were also pretty color accurate from what I was seeing with my naked eyes. The ultra-wide images were also pretty good. As for the images taken during the night, well, that's where this camera felt a little lacking. Here, take a look at the images to see what I am talking about.

To sum up the camera experience, I'd say the iQOO 3 has a versatile and a reliable set of cameras. If you're not someone who's going to take a ton of pictures at night, then I doubt you'll have any issues using this phone for photography.

Battery Life

One of the marquee features of the iQOO 3 is its battery and charging tech. The phone packs a 4,440 mAh battery is which just about what we've come to expect from any other phone these days. As per my usage, although I thought I won't be able to kill it within a day, I actually managed to do it very easily.

 Karthik Iyer/ MensXP

So, at best, I'd say this is a phone which you'll be charging every night to make sure you have enough juice for the next day. Honestly, that's not really a surprise because this is a gaming phone, after all, so you will probably find yourself playing a lot of games on it as I did.

But don't worry, because the 55W charger that's included in the box will charge it up pretty quickly. The charging is so fast that it'll hardly take more than 45 minutes to charge it from a dead state to a full charge. And on top of that, the phone also comes with a capsule-shaped connector which will let you play games even while charging and not come in your way. That's pretty cool.

The Final Say

So is the iQOO 3 worth buying? Well, the phone starts at Rs 36,990 for the base variant which comes with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage. If you want to the top-of-the-line variant with 12GB RAM and 5G support, then you're looking at a price tag of Rs 44,990.

Honestly, even at price, the iQOO 3, in my opinion, brings a lot to the table. Yes, the phone's design is not going to turn any heads or you're not getting any exceptional features that make people go bonkers over it. However, I think the phone is definitely worth the asking price.

 Karthik Iyer/ MensXP

You're essentially looking at one of the best performing phones on the market right, both on paper and otherwise, and a very reliable set of cameras. The battery life isn't something to complain about either, so I don't see a reason not to recommend this to anyone who's looking to buy a powerful phone.

Yes, there's no 5G network here in India yet, but I don't think this phone will die on you by the time 5G finds its way here. Unless you're hellbent about having a high refresh rate panel on your phone, then I think the iQOO 3 would be a solid pickup.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-02 00:50:38|Editor: zh

Video Player Close

WUHAN, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Central China's Hubei Province, where the novel coronavirus outbreak was most severe, has received over 13 billion yuan (around 1.86 billion U.S. dollars) of donations by Saturday, local authorities said Sunday.

The donation includes 6.76 billion yuan directed to the provincial level and 4.63 billion yuan to the capital city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, according to the provincial epidemic prevention and control headquarters.

The province has also received over 92 million items of supplies, including medical protective suits, face masks, goggles and protective masks, according to the headquarters.
Some of us saw a dark cloud or two gathering on the horizon just about the time of the announcement of the heavily-loaded Indian cabinet in Britain. We werent expecting them to advance quite as soon as they just have above the Home Office. The top official in the Home Office, Sir Philip Rutnam, unleashed a string of seriously strong allegations against Home Secretary Priti Patel while resigning from his position on Saturday.

Rutnam said Patel had run a vicious and orchestrated briefing campaign against him. She had, he noted, denied this to the cabinet office but I regret I do not believe her.

Rutnam said: My experience has been extreme but I consider there is evidence that it is part of a wider pattern of behaviour. He said staff had alleged that Patels conduct had included shouting and swearing, belittling people, making unreasonable and repeated demands.

Rutnam added that as the top civil servant in the home department, it was his job to protect the health, safety and well-being of their staff of 35,000. It was a heavy battery of charges. No civil servant in Britain has gone public against their minister quite this way.

Could Patel, as minister, have been threatening the health and safety of a staff of 35,000 through what Rutnam has described of her behaviour? That conduct would have to be extreme well beyond what the outgoing civil servant currently describes. And he has threatened to drag that into the light. He is due now to take Patel to court alleging constructive dismissal. A litany of nasty details is due to surface through the course of evidence presented and through witness statements that would be called in court. Rutnam said the cabinet office had offered him a financial settlement  in effect to take money and leave quietly. He opted instead for what will be a bloody, and dirty, fight in the court.

Patel without doubt brings quite a fireball of energy to the job. She is in a hurry  as mandated by Prime Minister Boris Johnson  to do things differently. That inevitably will lead to friction with the established bureaucracy set on doing things its old way. Whether this was the source of the conflict or any conduct of the kind Rutnam describes we will now see in court, but this conflict is set to extend well beyond the Home Office. Johnson has said the Foreign Office must now approach its task in radically different ways. The mandarins there are certain to resist a push to significantly if not unrecognisably different ways.

And then there is the elephant in the home office corridors no one is calling out by its name: is there a resistance to accepting an Indian-origin woman as the top boss? Many seem to see it, but no ones prepared to say it. Away from all that, a decision of a court now will rest only on the evidence presented. We can be sure the English media will report every scrap of evidence presented against Patel.

Leading by example

Johnson predicted a baby boom in Britain come Brexit. The boom would come, he said, on the basis of a new optimism over Britain unshackled by the European Union. He is leading by example - he and fiancee Carrie Symonds are due to have a baby this summer that promises to be the most Brexit-y of all Brexit babies to be born.

Johnson and Carrie Symonds, who were privately engaged late last year, are expected to marry this year. This would be the third marriage for Johnson and the first by a British Prime Minister while in office for nearly 200 years. A baby in office isnt that unusual any more. Recently both former prime ministers Tony Blair and David Cameron had babies while in office.

The announcement of this prime ministerial baby was perhaps not coincidental to that of the resignation of the topmost official in the Home Office after a string of accusations against Secretary Priti Patel; the good news around Johnson and Symonds did draw attention away from a serious crisis within the Home Office. There hasnt been a day in a while were Britain needed to think more of happier matters at home than unhappy ones at the Home Office.
The Lavender Scare blew wide open in the nations newspapers in late March of 1950 when arch-conservative columnist George Sokolsky, an early admirer of Sen. Joseph McCarthy (R-WI) and Roy Cohn, (pictured above) took to his column to blast the U.S. State Department, once again, for harboring known Communists and worse. HOMOSEXUALS!

Wrote Sokolsky:

When Maximillian Harden, the German journalist, called attention to a similar camarilla in the Kaisers court, involving Prince Eulenburg, it shocked and astonished the world. Yet, in this generation, in the United States, a charge that 91 employees of the state department were dismissed for being homosexuals passes with little excitement.

And so the Lavender Scare began.

The Lavender Scare is a rarely talked about but an important part of our history and the persecution we have endured. In the 1950s during the anti-communist campaign known as McCarthyism. Gay men and lesbians were often considered fellow travelers of the communists, with McCarthy also charging not only that the government had been infiltrated by homosexuals, and that they posed a threat equally as grave to national security because gay men and lesbians could be blackmailed into revealing state secrets. The lavender scare began may be seen as the time when homosexuals became the chief scapegoats of the Cold War because of fear, bigotry and hatred.

In 1950, the same year that Senator Joseph McCarthy claimed 205 communists were working in the State Department.

On April 19, 1950, the Republican National Chairman Guy George Gabrielson said that sexual perverts who have infiltrated our Government in recent years were perhaps as dangerous as the actual Communists.

The State Department at first denied that it employed any suspected communists. But under intense questioning from McCarthys Republican allies, they did admit that they had fired 91 homosexuals as security risks. This seemed to substantiate McCarthys otherwise wild charges and increase his popular support. Soon outraged citizens, newspaper editors, and members of Congress were calling for an investigation. In the summer of 1950, a committee of the US Senate investigated the employment of homosexuals and other sex perverts in the government. Although they could not uncover a single example of a homosexual American citizen who had betrayed secrets as a result of blackmail, they wrote a highly circulated and influential report that asserted that gay men and lesbians exhibited weak moral character and had a corrosive influence on their fellow employees. One homosexual can pollute a government office, the Senate report concluded. Based on little evidence, the attacks represented a way for Republicans, the minority party at the time, to attack the Democrats and the New Deal agencies they had created as centers of immorality.

McCarthy then hired Roy Cohn later exposed as being a homosexual himself and who died of AIDS in 1986, as chief counsel of his Congressional subcommittee. Together, McCarthy and Cohn were responsible for the firing of scores of gay men and women from government employment and strong-armed many opponents into silence using rumors of their homosexuality. In 1953, during the final months of the Truman administration, the State Department reported that it had fired 425 employees for allegations of homosexuality.

McCarthy often used accusations of homosexuality as a smear tactic in his anti-communist crusade, often combining the Second Red Scare with the Lavender Scare. On one occasion, he went so far as to announce to reporters, If you want to be against McCarthy, boys, youve got to be either a Communist or a cocksucker. Some historians have argued that, in linking communism and homosexuality and psychological imbalance, McCarthy was employing guilt-by-association if evidence for communist activity was lacking.

On April 27th, 1953, President Dwight D. Eisenhower that year declared homosexuals a threat to national security and ordered the immediate firing of every gay man and lesbian working for the U.S. government using an Executive Order which would stay in effect until President Clinton on May 28, 1998 finally signed Executive Order 13087 banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in federal hiring practices and in the granting of security clearances.

In January 2017, the State Department formally apologized.

The Lavender Scare ended many gay men and womens promising careers, ruined lives, and pushed many to suicide. It is a darker side of our history that is rarely talked about and one that we should never forget to ensure that it doesnt happen again.
PARIS - The spreading coronavirus epidemic shut down France's Louvre Museum on Sunday, with workers who guard its famous trove of artworks fearful of being contaminated by the museum's flow of tourists from around the world.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 1/3/2020 (680 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Tourists, some wearing a mask, queue to enter the Louvre museum Friday, Feb. 28, 2020 in Paris. . The world is scrambling to get on top of the new coronavirus outbreak that has spread from its epicenter in China to most corners of the planet. Governments and doctors are presenting an array of approaches as the virus disrupts daily routines, business plans and international travel around the world (AP Photo/Rafael Yaghobzadeh)

PARIS - The spreading coronavirus epidemic shut down France's Louvre Museum on Sunday, with workers who guard its famous trove of artworks fearful of being contaminated by the museum's flow of tourists from around the world.

Almost three-quarters of the Louvre's 9.6 million visitors last year came from abroad. The world's most popular museum welcomes tens of thousands of fans daily in Paris.

We are very worried because we have visitors from everywhere, said Andre Sacristin, a Louvre employee and union representative.

A tourist wearing a mask makes a selfie outside the Louvre museum Friday, Feb. 28, 2020 in Paris. . The world is scrambling to get on top of the new coronavirus outbreak that has spread from its epicenter in China to most corners of the planet. Governments and doctors are presenting an array of approaches as the virus disrupts daily routines, business plans and international travel around the world. (AP Photo/Rafael Yaghobzadeh)

The risk is very, very, very great," he said in a phone interview. While there are no known virus infections among the museum's 2,300 workers, its only a question of time, he said.

A short statement from the Louvre said a staff meeting about virus prevention efforts stopped the museum from opening as scheduled Sunday morning.

Amid intermittent rain, would-be visitors waited to get inside, but the Louvre later announced it would not open at all on Sunday.

Among the frustrated visitors was Charles Lim from Singapore. He and his wife, Jeanette, chose Paris to celebrate their first wedding anniversary and bought tickets in advance for the Louvre, home to the Mona Lisa and other famous artworks. He posted a video on Twitter of the long lines of people waiting to get in.

Tourists wearing a mask walks outside the Louvre museum Friday, Feb. 28, 2020 in Paris. . The world is scrambling to get on top of the new coronavirus outbreak that has spread from its epicenter in China to most corners of the planet. Governments and doctors are presenting an array of approaches as the virus disrupts daily routines, business plans and international travel around the world. (AP Photo/Rafael Yaghobzadeh)

We waited for about 3 hours before giving up, he told The Associated Press. It was incredibly disappointing.

The shutdown followed a French government decision Saturday to ban indoor public gatherings of more than 5,000 people.

Sacristin said the new measure banning large indoor gatherings exacerbated the fears of Louvre workers that they might be in danger of contamination. Louvre staffers were also concerned about museum workers from northern Italy who had come to the museum to collect works by Leonardo da Vinci that were loaned for a major exhibition, he said.

Italy, with over 1,600 coronavirus cases and 34 deaths, has been the epicenter of the outbreak in Europe.

Tourists stand outside the Louvre museum, in Paris, France, Sunday, March 1, 2020. The spreading coronavirus epidemic shut down France's Louvre Museum on Sunday, with workers who guard its trove of artworks fearful of being contaminated by the museum's flow of visitors from around the world. (AP Photo/Rafael Yaghobzadeh)

France raised its number of reported cases to 130 on Sunday, 30 more than the day before. More than half of France's regions now have at least one case, and the new patients include one in the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, the first in France's overseas territories. Two people with the virus have died in France, and 12 have recovered, the director of the national health agency Jerome Salomon said Sunday.

Most case can be traced to growing clusters around the country or to people who travelled to virus-hit areas, but authorities are investigating 23 cases whose origin is not yet clear.

Another meeting about virus prevention at the Louvre is scheduled for Monday between union representatives and the museum management.

Sacristin, who will be taking part, said museum visitors should be subjected to health checks to protect staffers and if any cases of coronavirus contamination are confirmed "then the museum should be closed."

Workers have asked for masks to be distributed but so far have been given only an alcohol-based solution to disinfect their hands, he said.

That didn't please us at all, he said.

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.

Union representative Christian Galani questioned why the Louvre isnt covered by the new ban on large indoor gatherings, telling The AP, You will easily admit that the Louvre Museum is a confined space and that it receives more than 5,000 people a day.

Culture Minister Frank Reister argued on France-Info radio that Louvre visitors move from room to room, which doesn't present the same risk as a closed concert hall, for example.

___

Chris den Hond and Angela Charlton in Paris contributed.

___

Follow APs coverage of the new coronavirus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak
Concerns grow over US handling of outbreak as government seeks to silence whistle-blower

People's Daily Online

By Xian Jiangnan (People's Daily Online) 17:29, February 28, 2020

A whistle-blower is seeking federal protection after alleging that US federal workers lack adequate protective gear when treating coronavirus evacuees, prompting growing concern over whether the US government is taking adequate precautions against the COVID-19 outbreak.

The whistle-blower, a senior official at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), alleged last Wednesday that more than a dozen federal health employees were "improperly deployed" to Travis and March Air Force bases in California to assist the quarantined Americans evacuated from Wuhan, China, and were "not properly trained or equipped to operate in a public health emergency situation", according to a Washington Post report and portions of the complaint filing obtained by other media.

In her complaint, the whistle-blower stated that "appropriate steps were not taken to quarantine, monitor, or test [the workers] during their deployment and upon their return home", with some exposed staff members moving freely around and off the bases. In addition, at least one person stayed in a nearby hotel and later left California on a commercial flight. The team was there from mid-January until earlier this month.

After the complaint was filed, the whistle-blower was reassigned, and will be fired if she does not accept her new position in 15 days.

According to the whistle-blower's lawyer, Ari Wilkenfeld, the matter concerns HHS' response to the coronavirus, and its failure to protect its employees and potentially the public. "The retaliatory efforts to intimidate and silence our client must be opposed," Wilkenfild stated.

The whistle-blower's account raised doubts about whether the Trump administration is adequately prepared for the handling of the coronavirus. Some said that this could become Trump's "Katrina", a disaster that reveals the government's incompetence and lack of preparedness.

"The Trump administration's attempt to cover up its own incompetence and silence whistle-blowers will only hamper the response to the coronavirus, and will aid in its spread," one comment from The New York Times website read.

The complaint, first reported by the Washington Post, was revealed the day after the first U.S. patient from Solano County, California, where the Travis Air Force Base is located, was confirmed to be infected with coronavirus without having been exposed to anyone known to be infected or to have had recent travels to virus-hit countries, causing public anxiety over the possibility of the two episodes being linked.

A user named LAD commented that it seemed logical that the first "unexplained" case was tied to Travis Air Force Base personnel or people going to and from there. The user then questioned if the personnel had taken adequate precautions. "I guess the answer is no".

At a hearing on Thursday, when asked what the department would do if untrained employees were exposed to the virus, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar responded, "I'd want to know the full facts and would take appropriate remedial measures."

Representative Jimmy Gomez, Democrat of California, is now assisting the handling of the complaint, and has repeatedly pressed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for more details.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






On any typical day, hundreds of people will visit the Shrine of Fatima Masumeh at Qom, one of Irans holiest monuments. Some will stay for hours or days praying at the mosque, gathering in the three large prayer halls or in the courtyards around the burial chamber. Like the millions of pilgrims before them, they will kiss the doors, the windows and the walls of the shrine, many of them desperately sick hoping for a miracle that will cure them.

Now that the holy city of Qom has emerged as the likely epicentre of the coronavirus in Iran, how many of the pilgrims that visited last week, you have to wonder, have been infected, and how many more will die because of the authorities refusal to close the city and its much-visited religious shrines, like Masumeh.

Iran has quickly become one of the main virus centres outside of China. Credit:AP

Although Iran only reported its first two cases of COVID-19 on February 19, any chance that might have kept the epidemic from spiralling out of control has already been lost. As of February 29, Irans state-run IRNA news agency reported 593 confirmed cases and 43 deaths, but this is the tip of the iceberg.

With the mortality rate of the coronavirus in China currently at around 2 per cent, and with each person with the coronavirus, on average, infecting two to three other people, this suggests hundreds of thousands are already infected. Qom should have been shut weeks ago, yet only on February 28 did the authorities finally agree to restrict visitors to the shrines, and cancelled prayers in Irans major cities.
Twenty-one farmers, including five women, buried themselves neck-deep in the ground in Rajasthan's Nindar village on Sunday to protest against the alleged land acquisition by the Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) for a housing project.

The farmers have been demanding that their lands be acquired as per the amended Land Acquisition Act and compensation awarded accordingly.

They had first held the 'Zameen Samadhi Satyagrah' in January but called off the protest after four days as the state government assured them that it would address their concerns within 50 days.

"Twenty-one farmers, including five women, have taken Zameen Samadhi on Sunday. The protest will escalate on Monday with 51 farmers taking the Samadhi. We will continue to protest till farmers get their rights," Nagendra Singh Shekhawata, a leader of theNindarBachao Yuva Kisan Sangarsh Samiti, said.

The farmers had also held a protest in October 2017 against the acquisition of more than 1,300 bighas of land by the JDA, with some of them even going on a hunger strike.

The JDA has taken possession of 600 bighas of land so far and deposited Rs 60 crore in a local court as compensation. The villagers have refused to accept the amount, claiming that it is not commensurate with the prevailing market rates.

Around 10,000 houses will be built under the housing scheme which was announced in January 2011.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
STOCKTON, Calif.  After losing a steady job two years ago, Zohna Everett struggled to make ends meet. She drove for ride-hailing services, clipped grocery coupons, turned in recyclables for gas money and traded manicures for press-on nails from Walmart.

Then a phone call changed her financial outlook. Everett learned she had been selected to become one of 125 Stockton residents receiving $500 a month for 18 months, a first-in-the-nation pilot test of a universal basic income, or UBI.

Everything in me was like, yes! says Everett, 48. I needed this right on time.

Eight years ago, this central California agricultural town known for producing almonds and grapes became the nation's largest municipality to enter bankruptcy. Now, Stockton is in the news for a project that seeks to lift up low-income residents with a UBI, an oft-resurrected economic idea thrust into the national limelight by the recently shuttered presidential campaign of Andrew Yang.

It didn't sink in like I was struggling," says Zohna Everett, one of 125 residents picked to receive $500 a month for 18 months. "You don't realize you're struggling until you have the help.

The idea of free money grabs headlines and stirs debate. While extra cash each month no doubt is a boon to the dozens of Stocktonians in the program, economists, researchers, politicians and labor leaders are mixed about whether this small and privately-funded experiment will provide major proof points in support of a truly national UBI, which by some estimates would cost taxpayers upwards of $3 trillion.

Supporters are resolute that a financial assist to those living at the poverty line allows recipients to gain control of their financial lives, improves their mental and physical health, and gets them focused on investing in their own futures.

Overall, the results of a UBI are quite encouraging, says Ioana Marinescu, assistant professor of public policy at the University of Pennsylvanias School of Social Policy and Practice and the author of 2017s No Strings Attached: The Behavioral Effects of U.S. Unconditional Cash Transfer Programs.

Marinescu has researched similar programs where taxpayers get money from the government unrelated to employment, such as the Alaska Permanent Fund, which since 1976 has socked away some $64 billion in oil production revenue that is used each year for dividend payments to residents. In 2019, 631,000 Alaskans each received $1,606.

Story continues

We found that UBI increases health and education outcomes among the poor, says Marinescu. It does not increase spending on drugs and alcohol, and one study showed a decrease in drug use and crime.

Critics of a universal basic income, however, worry that free money would erode the value of work as well as jeopardize existing social safety net programs on which many living at or below the poverty line rely. Others stress it's difficult to predict whether a national UBI program would work for a nation as large and politically divided as the United States.

I expect Stocktons UBI experiment to be positive, says Jesse Rothstein, co-director of the Opportunity Lab at the University of California, Berkeley, which examines the causes and impact of poverty. But you cant answer the really big questions until you implement it on a large scale for a long time.

Mayor: Everyone can use 'a little help'

The Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration, or SEED, began in February 2019 and will conclude in July. It has a $3 million budget for both the financial payments and resulting research, with $2 million coming from donations from foundations and individuals, and $1 million from the San Francisco-based Economic Security Project, which supports economic efforts to battle poverty.

Natalie Foster, co-founder of the Economic Security Project along with early Facebook employee Chris Hughes, says "whether its seeing people leave behind a side job or not driving another five hours that day for Lyft or being with their families more, that sense of well-being $500 can give them is very profound."

Stockton's 29-year-old mayor, Michael Tubbs, grew up here in poverty watching as his mother worked long days and rarely had time off.

Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs speaks during a press conference announcing the new Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration (SEED) program, which provides an income floor of $500 a month toward improving economic security and the well-being of city residents.

A lot of people are struggling in our national economy, not just single mothers, says Tubbs, the city's first African American mayor. There are teachers, cops, firefighters, social workers, people with a lot of credit card debit or student loan debt or rising housing costs. And everyone could use a little bit of help.

Most of the randomly selected participants are women (70%), and the overall group breaks down as 47% white, 28% African American, 11% Asian, 2% American Indian, 2% Pacific Islander and 10% other. Roughly 43% have full- or part-time jobs, 20% are disabled or not working, 11% are caretakers and 11% are looking for work.

When asked by researchers what they have been using the $500 on each month, recipients report that 40% of the money was spent on food, 25% on merchandise and 12% on utilities, according to a report SEED officials released last fall.

People are covering their basic needs and using the money in a way that makes sense for their families, says Stacia Martin-West, who helps lead Stockton's SEED research team.

She says she isn't surprised grocery runs make up half of the spending. "Food is the one thing you can control, it expands or shrinks based on the amount of resources.

Stockton has known hard times

The city of Stockton sits in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley in central California. A massive river delta flows from the San Francisco Bay about 70 miles inland to Stockton, giving rise to the Port of Stockton.

A racially diverse city  just 19% of its 300,000-plus residents identify as white, with the rest reporting largely as Hispanic and black, according to the Census  Stockton has Gold Rush roots but in recent years has fallen on hard times.

Crime, poverty and illiteracy have been persistent issues; in 2009 and 2011, Forbes magazine named Stockton one of the country's most miserable cities. In 2012, poor city leadership, unsound financial decisions, soaring unemployment rates and a crippling housing crisis created by the 2008 Great Recession resulted in the city declaring bankruptcy. At the time, it was the largest city in the U.S. to do so.

Since exiting bankruptcy in 2015, the city has improved its lot and was even cited in 2018 as a model of fiscal responsibility by the California Policy Center. But its citizens still need help. Today, 66,000 of Stockton's 300,000 residents live below the poverty line, that 22% representing about twice the national average. The poverty line is $12,000 for an individual and $24,000 for a family of four.

Stockton may be starting something. Local leaders in Newark, New Jersey, Milwaukee and Chicago currently are mulling over their own UBI pilot programs, and Tubbs says hes heard from state senators in Washington and Massachusetts, as well as city supervisors in San Francisco who are interested in copying the program.

With the income inequality gap in the U.S. growing, the need among the poor is dire. According to a report on economic well-being put out last year by the Federal Reserve, 27% of Americans would need to sell something or borrow money if they suddenly had to raise $400.

For the city of Stockton, which has had its ups and downs, for us to now be at the center of a global conversation about what capitalism and the economy look like in the 21st century, its very special, says Tubbs.

It's unclear what sort of long-term benefits the program will provide for participants or for the city. Stockton researchers are monitoring the effects on not just a family's financial standing but also its emotional well-being.

SEED researcher Martin-West does anticipate one hypothesis will be proven correct when the UBI experiment concludes: that the $500 will reduce the amount of stress and anxiety in the brain and body from the fluctuation of an unstable financial situation  The money provides a floor for people to rest their feet on."

Can free money empower families?

For Stockton resident Tomas Vargas, 36, getting $500 extra each month has changed his attitude on life. Its all a far cry from 2012, when 13 of his friends were killed in a period when Stockton was plagued by homicides.

Vargas is married with two children under his roof, an 8-year-old girl and a 6-year-old boy; another child died, while still another lives with his parents. One of the things he managed to do with the UBI grant was spring for tutors for them. His daughter wants to be an astronaut and his son is good at math.

It freed me up and gave me just another gust of wind, says Vargas, who recently landed a new job at the local airport.

He remembers what it was like growing up poor. Often, he wouldn't even have dinner. School lunches, and sometimes breakfasts, were his only meals. As an adult, he still can't go down the Hamburger Helper aisle of the grocery store without getting queasy because he ate the boxed meal so much as a kid when his family was low on money.

These days, Vargas feels more free, psychologically if nothing else. He stops in on his mother more often and sometimes lingers to tease her cat. And his new job pays around $40,000, a sum that promises to provide him with enough to help his young kids achieve their potential.

Some people need encouragement and it's rare to see somebody just give somebody something, he says.

As an economic concept, UBI has deep if controversial roots in American politics. Figures as politically disparate as Richard Nixon and Martin Luther King, Jr., talked about different versions of a UBI program. Conservative thinkers often argue that a UBI should replace costly social safety net programs, while liberals insist such a payment must supplement those critical services.

More recently, UBI has been touted in talks by the likes of Tesla founder Elon Musk and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who see it as a hedge against tech-fueled job displacement.

Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang addresses supporters in Des Moines after the Iowa caucuses in February. Yang's campaign was anchored to his passion for universal basic income, or UBI, where each American would get $1,000 a month for life. Critics contend the program would cost too much and jeopardize existing welfare programs.

Democratic hopeful Yang took particular aim at tech companies while on the campaign trail, saying they benefit the most from todays economy and, with a coming age of artificial-intelligence robots taking over jobs, deserved to pay into a UBI.

Sukhi Samra, SEED's director, says she is buoyed by some signs that leading politicians are trying to address the nations growing income inequality gap, even if it isnt by talking specifically about a national UBI.

For example, she points to California Gov. Gavin Newsoms expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit, which refunds money to low-income earners, a reform that many economists say is the simplest way to put more money into the pockets of those struggling on the margins.

Samra also cites national efforts to put more money in low-income people's pockets, such as Sen. Kamala Harris LIFT the Middle Class Act and Rep. Rashida Tlaibs BOOST Act, each of which would provide $6,000 a year to middle and working-class families through a tax credit.

Suki Samra with the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration (SEED) speaks during a roundtable discussion with community leaders focusing on economic justice, criminal justice reform, education and environmental justice, at City Hall in downtown Stockton, California.

Its all about trusting and empowering folks, says Samra. Success for us looks like moving the policy conversation to one where were recognizing that everyone deserves an income floor and that the economy just isnt working in its current form for a lot of people.

Critics say Americans should earn their money

Not everyone agrees. Many politicians have argued that welfare programs hinder people from bettering themselves. President Donald Trump has repeatedly slashed benefits programs since taking office, including an announcement in December that some 700,000 unemployed people would be losing access to food assistance this year. Administration officials have argued that people should only be eligible if they have found some kind of employment.

Even some labor officials have concerns about UBI's implications. Steve Smith, spokesman for the California Labor Federation, says jobs are indeed in danger because of massive leaps in automation. But he says giving people, say, $1,000 a month to compensate for this impending shift is a trojan horse trotted out by the tech community. Instead, Americans need better jobs and pay, he says.

This is their plan to essentially keep pitchforks from coming out when they start to automate jobs on a massive scale, says Smith, whose organization represents 2 million members across 1,200 unions. Under this scheme, inequality would be exacerbated.

Smith says unions such as his want a federal jobs guarantee, such as the one put forth by Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders. Under the Vermont senator's plan, citizens would be guaranteed a stable job that pays a living wage, with some 20 million jobs to be created in a proposed Green New Deal, and still more in healthcare and early childhood education.

For many Americans, the notion of free money in a country known for pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps capitalism is far from an easy sell. A 2019 Gallup poll found that only 43% of Americans supported a UBI as a means to hedge against automation-related job losses.

Many critics of UBI tend to raise the same issues. Beyond the big one  where would the money for a multi-trillion-dollar national program come from  theres the issue of putting the value of work in jeopardy. While some UBI researchers repeatedly stress that UBI-type programs and pilots suggest a regular small check does not discourage recipients from getting jobs, others remain skeptical.

We have something in place that cuts your taxes so as to help bring you up to a level where youre doing OK, and it makes sense to use tools that encourage work rather than just hand out money, because thats welfare and that didnt work, says Peter Cove, author of Poor No More and founder of America Works, which helps those living on the margins find employment.

In Stockton, four-time city councilman and Tubbs critic Ralph White has reservations about his hometown's UBI experiment in part because he feels the money, which was randomly distributed, isn't going to the truly needy.

SEED recipients all met the criteria of living in neighborhoods where the median income is $46,000 a year, but White says some residents make as little as $1,000 or less a month, and those people are the ones who need $500.

White also is bothered about the lack of details released to date about the 125 beneficiaries and wants to know things such as whether they live alone or with an extended family, precisely how much they make each year, what their bills amount to each month, and how many children they have.

Im against what I dont fully understand, says White.

Universal Basic Income gives some new hope

For Everett, Stockton's UBI program felt literally heaven-sent. The $500 has allowed her to fill the tank not only of her own car regularly but also that of her husband's. The money also goes to everyday expenses such as her mobile phone plan, home Internet bill and doctor co-payments.

When her husband, who has worked as a contract-based based truck driver, isn't employed, gets sick or just needs a break, the couple now has extra cash to fill the gap.

"I know it's God, there's no way around it, all these people in this city," she says.

Stockton is an inland city in California, but the San Joaquin River extends all the way to its downtown and has given rise to the Port of Stockton.

Everett still collects recyclables for extra income and looks to save money however she can. As they do for other participants, those UBI funds each month offer her a safety valve from life's sudden financial pinch points.

"It's those little pieces being put together, it's less arguments in the marriage," she says. "It's, you know, all of that."

Things are looking up for Everett. She recently heard that her temporary job at Tesla's automotive plant will become permanent, perfect timing as the SEED program heads into its final stages.

When she's not building upscale electric cars, Everett says she plans to take online courses to earn a bachelor's degree in accounting by 2024. She wants to become a certified public accountant. She jokes that maybe Tesla founder Musk might need her one day.

If there's one misperception about a universal basic income that Everett would like to correct, it's the notion that the money is a license to relax. If anything, she says, it is merely a lifeline out of poverty that empowers her to stay positive.

"People say it's extra money, but it's not extra money," she says. "It's money that you need now."

Marco della Cava (@marcodellacava) is a national correspondent for USA TODAY based in San Francisco; Cassie Dickman (@ByCassieDickman) is the Community Diversity Reporter for the Stockton Record, which is part of the USA TODAY Network.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Free money for some residents in California city sparks national debate
Just hours after the momentous signing of the peace deal between the United States and the Taliban on February 29, the militant group's political chief has reportedly met with senior diplomats from countries including Russia, Indonesia, and Norway. According to international reports, the US President Donald Trump will also meet the hardline Islamist group after the peace accord was signed between US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban's political chief Abdul Ghani Baradar with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as the witness of the ceremony in Qatar's capital, Doha.

According to media reports, Taliban's spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid has also said that the diplomats who met Baradar expressed their commitments towards the reconstruction and development of Afghanistan. He also added that the Taliban's political chief received congratulatory messages after the peace accord was signed aimed at ending the 18-year-long conflict in the country but also thanked the dignitaries in return.

Read - Afghan President Refuses To Release 5,000 Taliban Prisoners After Peace Deal

Ghani refuses to release 5,000 Taliban prisoners

While the US has promised the Taliban to release 5,000 prisoners of the militant group, the Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani has rejected the demand on March 1 as the condition for intra-Afghan talks. Ghani's statement reportedly came against the backdrop of the struggles faced by the American negotiators in steering Kabul administration and Taliban towards peace talks. After countless meetings when US and Taliban finally signed the accord, Ghani has said that the partial truce will continue with goal of reaching a full ceasefire but declined to release the Taliban prisoners and cited the right and self-will of Afghan citizens.

Ghani said, There is no commitment to releasing 5,000 prisoners. This is the right and the self-will of the people of Afghanistan. It could be included in the agenda of the intra-Afghan talks, but cannot be a prerequisite for talks.

Read - Pentagon Chief Says 'road Ahead Will Not Be Easy' After US-Taliban Deal

According to international reports, the agreement says that the US and the Taliban were committed to working towards the release of combat and political prisoners as a confidence-building measure with the coordination of all relevant sides. The agreement had also said that in exchange of freeing 5,000 jailed Taliban personnel, it would release 1,000 Afghan government captives on March 10. However, Afghan President has now claimed that it is not in the authority of the United States to decide and also called Washington only a facilitator.

The deal was signed in a conference room of luxury Doha hotel, with Taliban fighter-turned-dealmaker, Mullah Baradar alongside Washington's chief negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad and the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo. Reportedly, as Baradar and Khalilzad finally inked the accord, the people in the room shouted, Allahu Akbar. Before that Pompeo had also urged the insurgents to keep your promises to cut ties with Al-Qaeda.

Read - Ashraf Ghani Assures Afghanistan's 'goal' Of Reaching Full Ceasefire After US-Taliban Deal

Read - Donald Trump Says Troop Withdrawal Begins 'today' After US-Taliban Peace Deal

(With agency inputs)
Four people including 3 children were killed and 21 others injured when a speeding private bus overturned in Rajasthan's Rajsamand district on Sunday, police said.

The bus was heading to Jaipur from Ahmedabad when it overturned near Mada ki Bassi area, they said.

The injured were rushed to a primary health care centre in Devgarh for treatment, police added.

The deceased were identified as Priyanka (27), her daughter Dakshita (3), Aalia (7) and Dev Pratap (13).

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot expressed his condolences for those killed in the accident.

"My thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved families. May God give them strength to bear the loss. Wishing speedy recovery to injured," he said in a tweet.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dial moving from 4G to 5G

5G is the new frontier in wireless technology, offering faster data speeds and lower-latency communications than existing 4G networks. The transformation thats set to take place will be dramatic. And companies that get in on the ground floor stand to reap the benefits. Over the next year, Canadian telecommunication companies will be rolling out their 5G networks, and all of the Big Three have plans in the works. However, as youre about to see, some are better prepared for the coming changes than others.

Telus is one telecommunication firm that could face challenges, as it rolls out its 5G network over the coming year. The company is partnered with Huawei, which is under increasing scrutiny from Ottawa, with reports that the military wants the company banned in Canada. The U.S. has already taken legal action against Huawei pertaining to a number of its corporate practices, and similar action could be taken in Canada. In light of this, one telecommunication company may be better positioned to thrive in the 5G era than Telus.

Rogers Communications

Rogers Communications (TSX:RCI.B)(NYSE:RCI) is a Canadian telecommunications company thats well positioned to thrive in the 5G era. With much of its network infrastructure already activated in large cities, its well ahead of many of its competitors. Just recently, it was reported that Rogerss first 5G-enabled device would be available in March. Earlier, the company reported that it was rolling out its 5G networks in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, and Ottawa. These are all positive signs that the company is moving full speed ahead with its 5G rollout.

One of the big reasons Rogers has been able to move swiftly with 5G is its choice of infrastructure partner. Having partnered with Ericsson, the company has incurred higher infrastructure costs than some of its competitors but has a much lower chance of running into regulatory headaches. This is in stark contrast to Telus, whose ongoing partnership with Huawei could spell trouble down the line.

Story continues

Earnings results

Even without looking at 5G, Rogers is a solid business with an excellent track record of profitability and earnings growth.

Between 2016 and 2019, the company increased its earnings from $835 million to $2 billion. Thats a solid long-term result. The companys most recent quarter was disappointing, with diluted EPS down 5%. However, the company still grew its revenue and increased its free cash flow to $497 million. Also in the quarter, the company added 131,000 wireless subscribers and 27,000 cable subscribers, showing that its still generating new business and winning new customers.

Foolish takeaway

For years, Rogers Communications has been Canadas leading telecommunication company, thanks to its large customer base and nation-wide service area. Now, with its 5G rollout underway, the company could expand its lead even further. Even without 5G on the horizon, its stock is a solid dividend play with respectable earnings growth. Now, the company could add to its growth by winning subscribers from competitors like Telus that are less well prepared.

More reading

Fool contributor Andrew Button has no position in any of the stocks mentioned.

The Motley Fools purpose is to help the world invest, better. Click here now for your free subscription to Take Stock, The Motley Fool Canadas free investing newsletter. Packed with stock ideas and investing advice, it is essential reading for anyone looking to build and grow their wealth in the years ahead. Motley Fool Canada 2020
Sesa Sen By

Express News Service

Health is wealth, so goes the age-old adage and the focus of fast-moving consumer goods companies to tap the healthy segment only confirms this truism. Nearly two years ago, a host of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) firms including Nestle, Hindustan Unilever Ltd and Britannia Industries have pledged to reduce salt, sugar and trans fat in their offerings by half to encourage healthy eating habits. Cut to 2020, the 16 largest companies in India, which accounts for nearly a third of the food and beverage market with a combined total retail sales of just over `1.8 lakh crore, seems to have progressed, albeit marginally, in providing healthy choices.

According to a study by Access to Nutrition Foundation, a Netherland-based not-for-profit organisation, HUL and Nestle were jointly ranked first with the highest score (6.9 out of 10) on the India Access to Nutrition Spotlight Index 2020, while PepsiCo India and Britannia were ranked third and fourth, respectively, on the index. Other companies ranked among the top 10 included Coca Cola, Mondelez, Mother Dairy, Marico, ITC and KMF Nandini.

Interestingly, Britannia and Coca Cola have shown substantial progress across five of the seven elements of the Index since 2016 which include governance, products, accessibility, lifestyles, labelling, marketing and engagement.

It is also encouraging to note that we have achieved the largest increase when compared to the other companies in the survey. This testifies our efforts and commitments towards making nutrition accessible to billions in the country. As the largest player in biscuits, we will continually set tough but right goals with regard to our product delivery on health and nutrition, said Varun Berry, managing director, Britannia Industries.

But, is the current industry efforts sufficient to match the scale of the nutrition challenges  malnutrition and obesity  that India currently faces? The study points out of the 1,456 products of these companies assessed, only a tad 16 per cent were considered healthy.

Healthy products contributed less than a third (27 per cent) of the estimated 2018 sales of food and beverage products in India of 16 key companies, including HUL and Nestle. Along with the overall healthiness of food and beverage manufacturers product portfolios in India, their public disclosure of nutrition-focused initiatives also remain low. While Hindustan Unilever, Nestle India and PepsiCo India stand out as having the most comprehensive reformulation targets..., it noted.
Amid the ongoing protests in Maharashtra and other parts of the country against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Population Register (NPR), Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Sunday (March 1) said that there is no need to pass a resolution against the CAA and NPR in state Assembly.

Pawar asserted that the CAA and NPR will not take away citizenship and it is unnecessary to pass a resolution against CAA and NPR just like it was done in Bihar Assembly. The NCP leader said that some people are spreading false information about CAA and NPR and it is necessary that everyone should raise awareness in the society about these things.

On February 21, Maharashtra minister and Congress leader Ashok Chavan had said that the stand of Shiv Sena is still unclear on the CAA and NPR, adding that the issue will be taken by Maharashtra coordination committee.

"There is a three-party alliance government in Maharashtra. Congress party has cleared its stand on CAA, NPR, and NRC. This is not for the benefit of the country. It seems that Shiv Sena`s stand is still not clear on CAA, NPR, and NRC," Chavan told ANI.

It is to be noted that Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP are running a coalition government in Maharashtra. Some reports had claimed that Maharashtra CM and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray is planning to bring a resolution in state Assembly against CAA and NPR in the next session of Assembly.

Live TV

On February 25, a resolution was passed in Bihar Assembly to not implement the NRC in the state. The assembly also passed a resolution to implement the NPR in its 2010 form, with an amendment.

The resolution was tabled in the Assembly by Speaker Vijay Kumar Chaudhary and was passed unanimously. The resolution mentioned that there is no need of NRC in Bihar and the Centre should implement the NPR in 2010 format.
Unless Biden or Bloomberg can quickly consolidate the support of moderate Democrats, Sanders will continue racking up pluralities in the primaries to come, allowing him to move further and further ahead in the competition for convention delegates. That prospect has touched off a panic among the party establishment, which fears that having a self-identified democratic socialist at the top of the ticket would not only cost Democrats the White House but potentially their majority in the House.
Enjoy the wonders of Rome without the crowds.

Did you ever wonder what it would be like to visit Rome's greatest landmarks minus the crowds?

Ever dream of taking a uncrowded subway across the capital to join a minimal or non-existent queue into the Colosseum or the Vatican Museums, or to have breathing space to enjoy the Pantheon or the Trevi Fountain?

Now is your chance. An outbreak of Coronavirus in northern Italy has triggered the widespread cancellation of hotel and tour bookings in the capital where there are - to date - no active cases.

True, there is the story of the woman in Fiumicino - a coastal town south-west of Rome with a separate administration to the capital - who tested positive for the Coronavirus, along with her husband and one of her two children, after returning from northern Italy. However follow-up tests on 51 people in the family's closest circles have all proved negative.

There is also the new case of the diocese of Rome closing the central church of S. Luigi dei Francesi after a French priest (and former resident) tested postive for the virus in Paris, after driving home across Italy and France in mid-February.

However - for now - these are isolated cases and do not directly affect the capital, a vast city with a population of over four million, which attracts around 15 million tourists a year.

Tourism is the capital's 'bread and butter' and the sector has been left reeling after being hit out of left field by the Coronavirus. The industry has registered up to 90 per cent cancelled reservations, with a sharp decline in new bookings for the coming months.

The tables have now turned on a city which in recent years has experienced the negative effects of mass tourism and has even been accused by a minority of being complacent towards tourists.

Many policy-makers and holidaymakers abroad say the decision to cancel trips to Rome, and Italy in general, is about being prudent. Others throw out that old trope "abundance of caution." Other people are just plain scared. Many are misinformed.

However many Romans and foreign residents in Rome see this colossal drop-off in visitors as unfair and unjustified; some even see it as pure folly. The reality in Rome right now is that life goes on. The city is not in lockdown, everything works (or in some cases doesn't work) as normal.

While Romans are keen to get the message out that it is "business as usual" here, for many in Rome's tourism and hospitality sector it is anything but. Hotel rooms are increasingly empty. Tours are being cancelled. Jobs are on the line.

Italia.it, the national tourism website, states on its Facebook page: "Italy is a safe country, it is safe to live in Italy and it is safe to travel to Italy."

The agency credits Italy's national health system - "among the most efficient in the world" - for implementing emergency procedures to safeguard citizens and tourists, making it possible to monitor and contain the spread of the Coronavirus. It states that all services and "quality of life, for which Italy is famous world-wide", remain high.

Aeroporti di Roma

In the face of travel restrictions affecting the north of Italy, Rome's airport authority Aeroporti di Roma has issued a video campaign titled Non smettare di volare (Don't stop flying), featuring happy tourists visiting Italy, including the capital.

There have been political interventions too. Italy's foreign minister Luigi Di Maio has railed against the "misinformation" hitting the country's image abroad, while yesterday Giorgia Meloni, the leader of Fratelli d'Italia, posted a video message outside the Colosseum, urging tourists to visit Italy.

So for those planning on coming to Rome this spring - and indeed those living in and around the capital - now is the time to experience the city at its best: crowd-free and full of wonder.
The market is driven by the increasing production of passenger and commercial vehicles, rising demand for lightweight vehicles for longer driving range, government support for alternate fuel vehicles, stringent emission norms that require minimum greenhouse gas emissions, and government initiatives pertaining to hydrogen infrastructure.

New York, Feb. 28, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Automotive Fuel Tank Market by Capacity, Material, SCR Technology, CNG Tank Type, Propulsion Type and Region - Global Forecast to 2027" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p03990250/?utm_source=GNW

Several governments have increased investments to promote the use of lightweight vehicles. Also, governments are increasingly investing in the development of fuel-efficient vehicles and alternate fuel vehicles. On the other hand, the growing demand for electric vehicles that do not require fuel tanks and high cost of lightweight composite fuel tanks can restrain the growth of the market. Also, the rising stringency of evaporative emission standards that require fuel tank manufacturers to reduce the permeability of fuel tanks can hamper the growth of the automotive fuel tank market.



The Type 4 CNG tank is projected to be the fastest growing segment of the automotive fuel tank market, by CNG Tank Type, during the forecast period

CNG vehicles are similar to gasoline or diesel vehicles in terms of power, acceleration, and cruising speed.CNG is stored onboard a vehicle in a compressed gaseous state within cylinders at a pressure of 3,0003,600 pounds per square inch.



The tanks are basically of four types including Type 1, Type 2, Type 3, and Type 4 and come in different sizes depending on the specific requirements of the vehicle.Recently, Hermes UK added 48 new CNG trucks to its fleet and now runs one of the largest natural gas vehicle fleet in the UK.



According to NGV Journal, almost 85 countries across the globe use CNG-powered vehicles with more than 22.4 million vehicles and 25,000 fueling stations spread across 2,900 cities worldwide. CNG-powered vehicles are primarily used for public transport applications. Type 1 Tanks are more economical than other tank types and thus have the largest market. Type 4 tanks are lightweight and have the fastest growing market. These tanks are used in HDVs. Owing to the lightweight of the fuel tank, vehicles equipped with Type 4 tanks have a better fuel efficiency.



Asia Oceania to be the largest market for Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) Tank segment of the automotive fuel tank market

Due to the increasing production of LCVs in countries such as India, Japan, and Thailand to meet the growing requirement of freight and goods transport, Asia Oceania is estimated to be the largest market for automotive SCR tank. Stringent regulations have compelled OEMs to provide factory-fitted SCR systems in light and heavy commercial vehicles.

The SCR system controls the production of NOx from diesel engines, while enabling engine manufacturers to minimize PM emissions and optimize fuel consumption.Adhering to the Euro VI regulations that dictate the limits for PM and NOx emissions from passenger cars and commercial vehicles is a pressing challenge for engine and vehicle manufacturers.



According to the Diesel Technology Forum, SCR is one of the most cost-effective and fuel-efficient technologies available for emission reduction. It can reduce NOx emissions by up to 90%, hydrocarbon and CO emissions by 5090%, and PM emissions by 3050%.



Asia Oceania is projected to have the highest share in the global automotive fuel tank market

Asia Oceania is the largest automobile producer, given the increasing demand for passenger vehicles in countries such as China, India, Japan, and South Korea.China is the largest manufacturer of vehicles in the world.



Indias commercial vehicle market has been growing rapidly and contributes a significant share of the national GDP.As of 2020, the adoption of plastic fuel tanks in the Indian and Chinese automotive markets is estimated to be low.



However, it is projected to increase rapidly in the future.In recent years, the automotive industry in Asia Oceania has witnessed a significant increase in vehicle production and sales.



The total number of commercial vehicles produced increased by 6.3%. Increased vehicle production is expected to boost the automotive fuel tank market in the Asia Oceania region during the forecast period.

The study contains insights provided by various industry experts, ranging from equipment suppliers to Tier I companies and OEMs. The break-up of the primaries is as follows:

 By Company Type: Tier-145%, Tier-223%, and OEM32%

 By Designation: C-level Executives 32%, Directors38%, Others30%

 By Region: North America30%, Europe25%, Asia Oceania35%, RoW-10%



The report provides detailed profiles of the following companies

 The Plastic Omnium (France)

 Textron - Kautex (Germany)

 YAPP (China)

 TI Fluid Systems (UK)

 Yachiyo (Japan)

 Unipres (Japan)

 Magna International (Canada)

 Fuel Total Systems (Japan)

 SMA Serbatoi S.P.A. (Italy)

 Sakamoto Research & Development Holdings Ltd. (Japan)



Research Coverage

The automotive fuel tank market has been segmented by material (Aluminum, Plastic, and Steel), capacity (<45L, 45L70L, and >70L), Selective Catalytic Reduction Tank Type (Asia Oceania, Europe, North America, and Rest of the World), CNG Tank Type (Type 1, Type 2, Type 3, and Type 4), propulsion type (hybrid, hydrogen, Internal Combustion Engine vehicles, and Natural Gas Vehicles), and region (Asia Oceania, Europe, North America, and Rest of the World). The market has been projected, in terms of volume (units), while the market by component type is projected, in terms of value (USD million).



Reasons to Buy the Report:



The report provides insights into the following points:

 Market Penetration: The report provides comprehensive information on the automotive fuel tank market and the top players in the industry.

 Regulatory Framework: The report offers detailed insights into norms leading to the application of automotive fuel tank and the effect of the regulations on the market.

 Market Development: The report provides comprehensive information on various technologies of automotive fuel tank. The report analyzes the markets for various automotive fuel tank technologies across different countries.

 Market Diversification: The report provides exhaustive information on emerging technologies, recent developments, and investments in the global automotive fuel tank market.

 Competitive Assessment: The report offers an in-depth assessment of strategies, services, and manufacturing capabilities of leading players in the global automotive fuel tank market.

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p03990250/?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.



__________________________

Clare: clare@reportlinker.com

US: (339)-368-6001

Intl: +1 339-368-6001
The New Haven Schools Board of Education is seeking community input for qualities residents would like to see in the school districts next superintendent.

District leaders will welcome all residents as well as staff and administration to participate in the process. A meeting will be held Monday, March 2 at 6 p.m. in the New Haven Administration Building Community Room, 30375 Clark Street. Parking is available behind the building.

The board is looking for suggestions on the qualities, experiences, and skills needed in the new superintendent. The board is being assisted by the Michigan Association of School Boards (MASB). Scott Morrell is facilitating the search on behalf of the MASB.

Input may also be shared via an online survey, which is available at surveymonkey.com/r/newhavensearch. The survey is being administered by the MASB Executive Search team on behalf of the district and takes about 10 minutes to complete. Anonymous individual responses will be combined with those from the face to face meetings with stakeholders to provide input to the school board.

The district hopes to have a new superintendent in place by July 1, 2020 to replace current Superintendent Barbara VanSweden.
A Rutherford County man and his two sons found themselves in a distressed situation on Percy Priest Lake around 7 p.m. Friday evening. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and Metro Fire Department were called to the scene of a boating accident near 7 Points Marina around 8:30 p m.

Brian Larry Pike planned on using a boat to arrive at a church group outing in Long Hunter State Park. He and his sons, ages 16 and 9, left 7 Points Marina at 7:15 p.m. A short time later, wind and waves became too strong for their boat and it capsized leaving the Pikes in the water several hundred yards from shore. All three were wearing personal floatation devices (PFDs).

Pikes older son swam toward a light on the shore where a bank fisherman assisted in making the 9-1-1 call for help, while Mr. Pike and his 9-year-old made it to the opposite shore.

The stranded boaters were in the frigid water for over an hour. Pike and his 16-year-old were transported to Summit Medical Center and the 9-year-old went to Vanderbilt Pediatric Hospital.

We are fortunate that this situation turned out the way it did, said TWRA Capt. Dale Grandstaff. Wintertime boating carries greater risks than boating in warmer weather, especially if you enter the water. There is the threat of hypothermia and cold water can affect your ability to function normally. Thankfully these boaters were knowledgeable about wearing PFDs and had them on at the time of the accident, which probably saved their lives.
Vietnam will never hide any information about the situation of the Covid-19 epidemic in the country, a health official stressed.

Doctors join in a training at the Cu Chi makeshift hospital for Covid-19 patients in Ho Chi Minh City

In a meeting with the media held in Ho Chi Minh City on February 25, Vu Manh Cuong, deputy head of the Ministry of Health's Department of Communications, Emulation and Rewards confirmed that Vietnam had succeeded in the first stages of the fighting and prevention against the coronavirus and all information provided is clear and transparent.

"We're living in an information era with the boom of social media," Cuong said. "So we need to take advantage of that and make public everything about the epidemic and get co-operation from the public in the fight against it. That has partly contributed to our success."

The official noted that some Vietnamese health facilities that are dealing with the Covid-19 are co-operated by the Ministry of Health and the US' Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and all progress was updated globally.

"Experts from the WHO in Vietnam are closely working with local doctors in fighting Covid-19," he added. "They attended all our meetings and conferences. So we cant hide anything."

The official stressed that Vietnam had always carried out preventive measures ahead of WHO warnings and all those measures had proved effective.

"When the virus outbreak started in China, we immediately took action before the WHO advised us to, because we have a long border with China and we already saw a big threat," he explained.

And with strict quarantine policies and treatment efforts made so far had seen initial success in curbing the epidemic, he official added. Dtinews

Van Son

Ministry asks for effective treatment of Vietnamese with COVID-19 in RoK The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has liaised with relevant agencies of the Republic of Korea (RoK) and asked for effective treatment of a Vietnamese citizen contracting COVID-19 in Daegu city.
MPs and friends of Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds have congratulated the couple on their pregnancy news  while others have questioned the timing of its announcement.

Ms Symonds posted a photo of the couple on her Instagram page, revealing in the caption that they were expecting their first baby together and had recently got engaged.

Sajid Javid, who quit as chancellor earlier this month after a dispute with Mr Johnson, was among the first to congratulate the prime minister and his fiancee on their wonderful news.

Former leader of the Scottish Conservatives Ruth Davidson also offered her congratulations, while pregnant Tory MP Siobhan Baillie welcomed Ms Symonds to the magical bump gang.

Tory MP Andrea Jenkyns sent her congratulations especially to Carrie, adding that being a mummy is the best job in the world, while Nadine Dorries, parliamentary under-secretary of state for health and social care, said she was thrilled for the couple.

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

The Daily Mirrors political editor Pippa Crear said having a baby is a very precious thing and sent her best wishes to Ms Symonds, and Dan Wootton, executive editor of The Sun and host of TalkRADIOs Drivetime show, said it was some much needed happy news for the country.

However there was also some political cynicism over the announcement, which came just hours after Sir Philip Rutnam, the top civil servant at the Home Office, resigned from his post after clashes with the home secretary Priti Patel.

Labour MP Florence Eshalomi questioned the timing. In an apparent reference to Sir Philip, she tweeted: Very convenient for this news to be announced today.

The HuffPosts Paul Waugh said the news had been known in Westminster and that the question had always been about when it would be announced.

He tweeted: The PM wouldnt be so cynical to try and bury bad news (Patel/Rutnam) with, er, good news? Surely not.

Benjamin Butterworth, of the i newspaper, described the news as a distraction that does not affect the country.

He added in a tweet: The country is facing a potential pandemic for which the prime minister has been criticised for inaction and a top civil servant has quit accusing the home secretary of bullying. So they announce this.

Ms Symonds said she felt incredibly blessed in her Instagram post, adding: Many of you already know, but for my friends that still dont, we got engaged at the end of last year ... and weve got a baby hatching early summer.

Mr Johnson, 55, and Ms Symonds, 31, made history as the first unmarried couple to officially live together in Downing Street when they moved in last year.

Ms Symonds, a conservationist and former Conservative Party communications chief, first made headlines when she was romantically linked to Mr Johnson in February 2018.

Boris Johnson with his second wife Marina Wheeler in 2015 (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

But her association with the former London mayor dates back to when she worked on his successful re-election bid at City Hall in 2012.

An early summer birth would suggest the new arrival was conceived during the autumn, around the time the 31 October Brexit deadline was extended.

The new arrival will be the third baby born to a serving prime minister in recent history.

David Cameron and his wife Samantha welcomed their daughter Florence into the world in 2010  three months after Mr Cameron formed a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats.

A decade earlier, Tony Blairs wife Cherie gave birth to son Leo, three years after her husbands first election victory.

The last babies born to prime ministers before Leo and Florence arrived more than 170 years ago.

Mr Johnsons union with Ms Symonds will be his third marriage.

Earlier this month, a court heard the prime minister and his estranged second wife Marina Wheeler were preparing to end their marriage after reaching an agreement over money.

Additional reporting by Press Association
Briefing With Senior Administration Official On Next Steps Toward an Agreement on Bringing Peace to Afghanistan

Special Briefing

Office of the Spokesperson

Washington, D.C.

February 29, 2020



MODERATOR: Do you have anything that you want to start off with before they go back on questions?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: No, I'm here to  we're here to follow up.

MODERATOR: Okay, all right. Go ahead. Let's start with whoever didn't get one yesterday, and then we'll go around.

QUESTION: Thank you. Thank you for doing this again, by the way. I'm just wondering, after the conversations yesterday, how the role of the U.S. plays out after Saturday. Does the U.S. stay in direct contact talks with the Taliban? What precisely is the U.S. role in the intra-Afghan dialogue? And how do we have any leverage other than using U.S. troops as sort of a carrot and stick going forth?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Sure. Well, first of all, we absolutely will remain involved. I hope I mentioned yesterday that we are  we have already established a communications channel, which is currently based in Doha given the location of the various parties, where we will continue our role of mediating between the Taliban and the Afghan Government. And that communications channel is responsible for supporting the implementation of the agreement. It has been functioning during this RIV implementation period where we've exchanged information and sort of, "I heard this," "You heard that," sort of thing, and we're hoping to build on that. There are multiple components of the agreement. There is what the Taliban will do on CT, there is the issue of troop disposition, there is a continuing issue of deconflicting military operations and reducing the violence. There will be the prisoners aspect that I referred to.

So those are the types of topics that will happen formally in the communications channel. Obviously, we would be present in intra-Afghan negotiations, and I'm going to pedantic about that term. Remember dialogue is just sort of like track two sort of stuff, not unimportant, but the negotiations among the Afghans on their political roadmap, that has more  that will have more weight in terms of an outcome, an ultimate outcome. So they're still finalizing Oslo as the location. There is some back and forth on that issue because a lot of governments want to support this process, and that's great news, so that's why there's a little bit of loosey-goosey aspect to that venue for the intra-Afghan negotiations.

MODERATOR: Humeyra.

QUESTION: Please correct me if I'm wrong, but the U.S.-Taliban agreement and Taliban CT obligations cover only Afghanistan territory?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yes, yes.

QUESTION: So are you not worried about the sanctuaries in Pakistan? And do you have anything in place to ensure, like, those sanctuaries, they interact with Taliban and al-Qaida, and that that doesn't spoil the whole process?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yes. We have, as I mentioned yesterday, a very good dialogue with Pakistan. We're also facilitating a dialogue between Pakistan and Afghanistan, and we expect Pakistan to play a constructive role in helping us implement the agreement.

MODERATOR: Okay. Conor.

QUESTION: On the CT commitments, does it include  does the agreement that will be signed on Saturday include an explicit repudiation of al-Qaida by the Taliban? And if not, what makes you  what gives you confidence that they will cut ties with the group beyond just a generic cutting ties with terrorists?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: The agreement explicitly mentions al-Qaida and the actions the Taliban will take against al-Qaida. And yes, people are concerned about the historic relationship between the Taliban and al-Qaida. We think this is a decisive and historic first step in terms of their public acknowledgment that they are breaking ties with al-Qaida. That's going to be a work in progress. So 

QUESTION: Can you be more specific on what those  like what the first step 

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: You'll see  when you read the agreement, you'll see the steps. It'll all be laid out.

MODERATOR: Said, go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you. Forgive me, but I'm still unclear on the intra-Afghan talks. Who's going to participate?

MODERATOR: Negotiations.

QUESTION: We know that  we know that government  the government and the Taliban and civil society. But there are also other groups, and there are also tribes that have wielded a certain amount of autonomy.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Absolutely. We fully agree with you, and we've been in constant dialogue in Kabul with the government in terms of working with them to organize a national team that includes all those parties you've talked about in Afghanistan. And it will probably be a multi-tiered  my expectation is that there'll be a multi-tiered delegation, right? There might be a leadership role; there might be an advisory body. Because there are so many factions of the  voices that need to be heard. So that's still being worked out in Kabul and it's not  I don't have specific details on that.

QUESTION: And even if they had a roadblock or they collapsed 

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yeah.

QUESTION:  what kind of impact will it have on the U.S.-Taliban agreement?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Sure. Well, let me just say something personal if I might for a minute. I've done a lot of work in Iraq. I've done a lot of work in South Sudan  in broken systems like this. It's not good copy to  I don't have a perfect answer for you. It's not like the Taliban are endlessly evil or that this will bring flowers and roses and doves overnight, right? This  we've been  we and the Afghans have been in this conflict for decades. There are patterns of behavior, psychological views. People are going to have to begin making a big shift.

So if you approach this as a "gotcha" thing, it's not going to be successful. What we've reached a point where there's a critical mass on all sides for people want a change, want a better future, want a better option, and our job is to continue to create the incentives, continue to create the momentum for people to move forward and change the negative trajectory. So it's not going to be easy, it's not going to be perfect. You know this.

MODERATOR: Behind you, sorry.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yeah, go ahead.

MODERATOR: (Inaudible), right? Yeah.

QUESTION: Wait, me? Or 

MODERATOR: Yeah  no, no, go ahead.

QUESTION: You said just a second ago, just to clarify, that there's still some talk about the venue. So that Oslo thing is not yet 

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I think it's more than likely going to be the venue. I'm  but I view this as a positive thing, right? There are a lot of countries that want to support the process and have been reaching out to the Taliban or reaching out to the Afghan Government. So we're doing sort of one more sort of sweep and consultation with everybody about how to approach that.

QUESTION: Okay, so that  we may have to hedge a bit on saying Oslo.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yeah, exactly.

QUESTION: And then the other thing  [Senior Administration Official] said something  this might have been a slip, but he said we're prepared to work with President Ghani. Does that mean you now have recognized him as the new president and that 

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yeah, we recognized the outcome of the election.

MODERATOR: Tuesday.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: And I think [Moderator] did a statement on that.

QUESTION: I saw the statement.

QUESTION: It said it noted the outcome.

QUESTION: I was still unclear that  so you are working with Ghani. Abdullah would have a place in this 

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Again, remember, we have an interest in the state. We've invested for 18, 19 years in building state institutions, so we have an interest in democracy, we have an interest in the values of the Islamic republic. So we're 

QUESTION: Someone like Abdullah would be part of this multi-tiered 

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yes. Yeah, and I think you'll see  my expectation is that in Kabul, where the  when  with the event with Secretary Esper, you will see Ghani and Abdullah and other figures. And I  my expectation is the multi-tiered whatever it's going to be will include everybody, because that's the only way it'll work, right.

QUESTION: Can I follow up on that? Who is choosing these players? Who gets to choose these players? And do they still have about 10 days to pick their teams, for lack of a better phrase, or is that a little bit fuzzy?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: The Afghans are choosing.

QUESTION: Is there a limit to how many?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, they  the design is up to them, so there are practical considerations that are going to have to be balanced with political considerations, right, because everybody wants to be a part of it. And of course we and our other likeminded partners are encouraging them to have a representative, inclusive team that factors in all the different perspectives.

QUESTION: Is it still 10 days?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: The goal is 10 days.

QUESTION: Okay.

MODERATOR: Kim.

QUESTION: Following on the question about President Ghani, the Taliban had said on the record that they wouldn't go to intra-Afghan talks if he took his five-year term, if he took office. So by the U.S. convincing him not to have his inauguration, basically have we gone back to a government of national unity? Is that what you're asking them to sort of stay in?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: No, we didn't convince him not to have an inauguration. We just asked him to delay it while they worked out both having an inclusive government arrangement, right, and  as well as worked on developing the team. So the expectation is, is that in an intra-Afghan negotiations, all of the Afghans when they sit down together are going to work out a governing arrangement, a new governing arrangement, right. We're trying to bring the Taliban off the battlefield into a political process. So if that's successful, then there'll be a new arrangement prior to five years. But you can't  you don't know what will happen, right, so you can't not have a government. So that's why it's tricky.

QUESTION: What if President Ghani digs in his heels and says whatever we're talking about in Oslo or wherever is what stays until the end of my term  doesn't happen until 

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I think there's a lot of interest on the part of all Afghan stakeholders and in the part of the international community for  to encourage the Afghans to reach a mutually agreed outcome.

MODERATOR: Carol.

QUESTION: Thanks for doing this, [Senior Administration Official].

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Hi. Nice to see you, Carol.

QUESTION: It's good to see you too. Say, I have a  just sort of a practical how these talks work, because last time the Afghan Government was talking about like having a delegation of 150 people. Sounds with this multi-tiered aspect it could be as big or even larger, so sort of how does that work, and will they be talking face to face or will the Norwegians be shuttling back and forth?

And also just a quick follow-up on the Pakistan issue. It sounds like  do you see this as sort of a fundamental change in the Pakistani attitude, and what do you attribute it to?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Sure. The  on the first question, the details are still being worked out, and it won't be just the Norwegians. There'll be other governments who will be supporting and facilitating the talks, so it would be, for example, us, the United States; Indonesia is likely to play a role, Germany is likely to play a role, Uzbekistan is interested in playing a role. So different types of partners that can help the parties. Did I mention the UN? We expect the UN would also be playing a role. So they're working out the design of how to do that most effectively, so I think that I would come back to you on how that develops.

And on the second on Pakistan, I believe it was President Trump's decision to cut off military assistance to Pakistan and to say that if they wanted a better relationship with the United States, they needed to work with us on helping solve the problem in Afghanistan.

MODERATOR: That's a good point.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I think that's the fundamental change.

MODERATOR: Francesco.

QUESTION: Thank you. So U.S. recommitting to all its commitments towards Afghan Security Forces financially, operationally, training, and so on?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: That will be in the joint declaration.

QUESTION: Okay, and  thank you. And one other: You mentioned the prisoners. What  can you tell us what you were able to agree on the prisoners in the agreement, if there are numbers, a timeline for 

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: There are aspirational numbers and timelines in the agreement. This is a very difficult issue. Both parties have strongly held views and we are going to try and help broker a positive outcome.

QUESTION: Can tell us the numbers, or 

MODERATOR: Aspirational. That's the key operative word.

QUESTION: The aspirational numbers, can you give us any idea, a sense 

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: So again, I think  to me it's really important and it would be helpful if you would pull up the declaration that they issued during the dialogue in July in Doha last year that Germany and Qatar helped organize where all the Afghans listed sort of their priorities and that issue was listed as a priority for everybody, all the parties. And we're using that as a basis to try and continue to facilitate meeting that goal, and that's referenced in both the joint declaration and in the agreement.

QUESTION: And what 

QUESTION: Sorry, just.

MODERATOR: All right. That's enough. Go ahead. (Laughter.)

QUESTION: Thanks. Two things. One, who will actually oversee or mediate the talks in Oslo or wherever they take place? Is it Zal or 

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: All the parties that I just talked about. I mean, fundamentally, it's up to the Afghans.

QUESTION: But don't you need one person who's kind of driving it?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I  actually, that's not what the parties have said. They're interested in the support of the  of everybody who's been working to help achieve that. My expectation is that we will play a prominent role, but I also believe that countries and organizations I've identified will also play an important role.

QUESTION: And then in the talks, did the Taliban say to you and your colleagues, we recognize we cannot win militarily?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yes.

MODERATOR: Go ahead, Jennifer.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: But that  to be clear, they would continue fighting if they felt they didn't have an alternative process to address their interests. I mean, they are  they would be prepared to continue fighting if they didn't feel that there was a political alternative. But yes, that was the basis for us being able to move forward over the past year, because that all sides recognize that there's no military solution to the conflict.

QUESTION: One of our colleagues was told by an Afghan politician that the U.S. assured them if the Taliban broke the deal, the U.S., quote, "would have enough lethal power to destroy them." Is  are those the assurances being made to the Afghan Government about if the deal falls through, and is that the immediate recourse, or are there steps if there are violations in the deal?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I don't speak like that, and I don't think General Miller speaks like that.

MODERATOR: Lara.

QUESTION: Just a technical question to kind of follow up on Kylie's. The American involvement in the intra-Afghan, will that be handled by you and by Zal and your office going forward, or is that something that the embassy is going to be taking over at this point? And has the embassy played any role in all of this? I mean, what will it be doing from here on out?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yeah, the embassy definitely has played a role, and our team is interagency. So we don't  and particularly me, I don't like to think of people as siloed. This is an all-hands-on-deck effort.

MODERATOR: That's a great point. I mean, just like as a total anecdotal, every call that I've been on with the Secretary, [Senior Administration Official] is included, General Miller, and embassy. I mean, a very whole-of-government approach, to use a catch phrase that we love.

QUESTION: But it'll be your office in Oslo, right, helping, as opposed to 

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Right. But I anticipate there would be participation from Embassy Kabul. But we've  I  before John Bass left them and  we are in constant contact with the embassy. They're playing a very important role. So I  Zal tends to take up all the oxygen in the room, but there's a lot of other people who are working on this.

MODERATOR: Nick.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: [Senior Administration Official], thanks for doing this.

QUESTION: Can you say that on the record? (Laughter.)

QUESTION: Exactly.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I think he knows. (Laughter.)

QUESTION: And thanks for coming back. Can I go back to the prisoners and to Kim's point and ask a little bluntly here  are you guys going back to Kabul on Sunday or Monday? And is that a reflection of concern that the Afghan Government is not ready and willing to commit to the prisoner release that the Taliban want and that the Afghan Government isn't ready and willing to commit to a list that you guys are happy with and that they know that the Taliban will accept?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: A list of prisoners?

QUESTION: No, a  sorry, a list of people to go to Oslo or to go to anywhere 

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Okay. So let me start with that one. It's hard work for them. That's one of the reasons it's not done, right. Everybody wants to be part of this, so figuring it out is not easy. And so my anticipation is that Ambassador Khalilzad will go back and help facilitate those discussions and support those discussions. But a lot of folks are involved. As Zal says, this is not  we don't have a monopoly on diplomacy. So, for example, the EU Zal equivalent is in Kabul now. So everybody's playing a role to try and help make that happen. And it shouldn't be a surprise that it's tough for them.

So, yeah. So on the prisoners, think about it this way. Mechanically, it's actually not that hard. Like, there's a number of people. We know who they are, right. There are some people that we're not concerned about; there are some people we may be more concerned about. There needs to be a process. It will logistically take some time for people to be released. For both parties  it's an admirable thing that the Taliban care about their people. I've been in other countries where their leaders don't care about their people, and it's important to them to move forward. They think it will build confidence among the movement and this process. That's positive.

From the Afghan Government side  and I should also say the agreement makes explicit that those who are released need to make commitments that they won't go back to the battlefield and that will support the agreement. For the Afghan Government side, they obviously have concerns, and they are also looking to have influence on the Taliban in terms of the Taliban's continued restraint and violence. So I consider the issue really to be about how many and how quickly.

QUESTION: So the Afghan Government thinks that it has a card there politically.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: They do. They do.

QUESTION: And so they do. Politically, it's not that easy for them to do this.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Right.

QUESTION: So are you concerned that this could be a real stumbling block over the next couple weeks?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yeah, I don't think it's easy, but I think it's doable. Nothing in this is easy.

QUESTION: Can I follow up on that? Does the  are the  so are the prisoner releases related to the ceasefire and CT commitments, or are they related to the talks?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Not explicitly. Not  I mean, that's not true, not explicitly. There  I don't think of  I'm tired, so I haven't thought of it that way. They are  it's not uncommon, right, when you're ending a conflict that both sides hold the other side's guys and that you have to develop a way to release them. So it will be part of the negotiations. And then so it will impact on all the discussion. But it's not really a CT thing specifically, although generically there's concern about their conduct, right, once they leave.

QUESTION: Or is it related to the talks, like by  like you have the talks starting March 10th, is there that kind of date, like, you have 

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yeah, right. So in a conflict like this  so there'll be  there's other language, too. For example, there's language on sanctions, right. So we have U.S. domestic sanctions against the Taliban. We have supported sanctions in the Security Council against the Taliban. So all the kinds of architecture that's available to the United States to put pressure on a party, which we've done over the years, right. We've built up this edifice, right, to put pressure on them. So part of the process of making peace is to begin to take down the edifice.

But the language is carefully constructed to be conditional, right, depending on Taliban performance. If the Taliban don't do what we hope they'll do, our requirements to take down that edifice are vitiated. Does that make sense? Yeah.

QUESTION: So but as I understand, the prisoners have to come first 

MODERATOR: Courtney. Can we do Courtney?

QUESTION:  don't they? Don't they have to come early? I mean, the Taliban expects prisoners to come 

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yeah, action on prisoners needs to come early. But like everything else, it's all contingent upon Taliban performance. That will effectively be the answer.

MODERATOR: Courtney.

QUESTION: Would this include  real quickly, will this include Western hostages as well, anything in their 

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: There's  no, because we already dealt with the Western hostages in the fall. There is  there are reports of others that we're working on separately. But that wasn't part of  that wasn't factually available when we were doing the agreement.

QUESTION: Can I ask a question about just sharing of this information? So you guys have already gotten criticism from Congress on what's going to be signed on Saturday.

MODERATOR: Well, that's from a few members.

QUESTION: Yeah. But I mean 22 Republicans. That's a large number. So do you think, number one, that you have shared enough with Congress throughout this process? And then with the Pentagon, it was mentioned yesterday that there are parts of the agreement that aren't going to be made public. I think [Senior Administration Official] said that it was more kind of implementation of 

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yeah, they're just implementing arrangements. Yeah.

QUESTION: Right. But have you shared all of that information with the Pentagon?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Of course. Of course we've shared with the Pentagon, yeah. And the Secretary determines the pace of engagement with Congress.

MODERATOR: Yeah.

QUESTION: Just to clarify on the prisoners again. It's really a separate issue, it's not attached, directly linked to this agreement about withdrawal of U.S. troops in the draft?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: It's in the agreement, right.

QUESTION: But it's aspirational.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: No, it's not. I mean 

MODERATOR: [Senior Administration Official] meant  [Senior Administration Official] said the numbers were aspirational.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: The  no, we have absolutely committed to helping mediate and resolve this tough issue. It's a tough issue, right. That's  it's clear. That's why everybody's focused on it. I think what you're seeing also are maximalist positions by either side, because they're using it for their own reasons. That's why we're  that's why we've agreed to mediate it.

QUESTION: Can I ask you a really stupid way? If you were to put it in one of the baskets, would you put it in the CT basket or the Oslo basket or would it get its own little basket that's all a part of the big deal? I know that's really pedantic, but I'm just trying to figure out where it goes.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yeah, no. And I'm sorry, and I know it's hard when you don't have it in front of you and I'm probably not very articulate. But I would consider 

QUESTION: No, you are. You are. It's a lot.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I would consider it its own basket, right. But there's a lot of baskets, right. There's a lot that needs to be handled. And they're all on the truck. Yeah.

MODERATOR: Okay. Courtney. Last one, then we got to go. We all have to go.

QUESTION: You talked about the multi-tier delegation going back to the intra-Afghan negotiations. Do you anticipate some of those having a, sort of a purely advisory role and not having a voting say?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: You know, I'm not  I've not been in Kabul doing those discussions. I'm not really the best person to talk about those. And what I'm giving you is my best speculation about the status of those talks. So I would heavily caveat that in what I've given you. So that  they're still working out those mechanisms and arrangements. So I think the  everybody understands  and from President Ghani on down, everybody understands they need an inclusive, strong team and they're working on putting that team together. And how it will exactly be structured, I can't stay here, so I just  or can't say here. So I just want to be clear about that.

MODERATOR: Yeah. We'll have a lot of follow-up next week, obviously. So this is  won't be the last discussion, right, on this.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yeah. It's a work in progress, which is why I can't be specific about 

MODERATOR: Yeah. Is Zal coming back here at all, to D.C.?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I don't know.

QUESTION: Are you going to Doha?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yeah.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






The health department has ordered



a probe into the deaths of two new-born babies at the state- run Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital after the surgical suture used to stitch their body tissues during surgeries did not function properly, official sources said.

The authorities have also set up a probe committee, the sources said.

Though no official of the NRS Medical College and Hospital was ready to talk on the deaths, sources said while a 10-day-old babdy died on February 28, the other one - an 18- day-old infant - died the next day.

Following the deaths of the babies, the hospital authorities on Sunday shut down the sick newborn care unit section of the paediatric surgery department at the institute.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Given the makeup of the Louisiana Legislature  how politically conservative it is, and how overwhelmingly male  those who advocate for domestic violence victims have scored some impressive wins there in recent years, including a few that required neutralizing knee-jerk skepticism from the gun lobby. Credit that, in large part, to effective grassroots action and to skilled legislating from a coalition that was male and female, Democratic and Republican, and serving in the House and the Senate.

After last years elections, though, some of the most effective and committed warriors for the cause are gone  not just former state Rep. Helena Moreno, D-New Orleans, who departed in 2018 for the New Orleans City Council, but also former state Sens. JP Morrell, D-New Orleans, and Danny Martiny, R-Metairie, and former state Reps. Pat Smith, D-Baton Rouge, who all left due to term limits (Smith lost a bid for Senate).

Yet the challenge of combating domestic violence remains. Louisianas rate of women killed by men rose for the sixth year in a row in 2017, the most recent year the Washington, D.C.-based Violence Policy Center examined in its 2019 report. Louisiana once again ranked second in the nation on this horrific metric, with a rate at more than double the national average.

The law clearly addresses violent crime itself, but a long list of considerations go into making the system work for people seeking to protect themselves against abusers. Past legislation has centered on things such as allowing immediate divorce in the case of physical abuse, sexual abuse or the existence of a protective order; designating domestic abuse aggravated assault as a crime of violence and requiring offenders to participate in intervention programs; prohibiting offenders from possessing or carrying a firearm in state as well as federal law; and creating a mechanism for sheriffs to transfer guns from people already barred from possessing them due to a domestic violence protective order or conviction.

But it seems as if, for every loophole closed and incremental advance made, there are always more legal barriers in need of toppling.

The Advocates Blake Paterson delved into one such challenge in a chilling recent story about women who were charged expensive fees, and had their restraining orders dismissed, because they couldnt make their court dates. Advocates say there can be any number of reasons why that would happen, from transportation or child care challenges and trouble taking off work to threats or intimidation by abusers. With the financial difficulties already faced by many seeking to extricate themselves from dangerous domestic situations, the prospect of hundreds of dollars in court costs can cause them to give up.

The particular legal mechanism here is a 2006 law that allows judges to order petitioners to pay court costs for claims they deem frivolous. One basis for such a ruling in some judges minds, apparently, is failure to show up for a court date.

At its session that opens next week, the Legislature will have a chance to say that this shouldnt be the case. State Sen. Regina Barrow, D-Baton Rouge, has filed a bill that would clarify the intent of the 2006 law.

A frivolous claim shall mean a claim that lacks merit under existing law and that cannot be supported by a good faith argument for the extension, modification, or reversal of existing law, her proposal says, Failure to appear at a hearing on the petition shall not, of itself, constitute grounds for assessing court costs and fees against the petitioner.

Passing this bill should be an easy call, not just for the longtime advocates like Barrow who remain, but also for all those new legislators wholl have the chance to signal that fighting domestic violence is still a priority despite the high turnover.

Sure, it would be just one more step toward combating a daunting problem, but every improvement in victim protection surely helps. Besides, if its demoralizing for the rest of us to keep hearing about all the different ways the system is stacked against victims, then just imagine what its like to live it.
The Democratic presidential campaign has produced as many questions as answers in the first four contests of the year. On Tuesday, things will begin to change, as the candidates enter what could be the decisive, if not conclusive, month in the battle for their party's nomination.

What has been a state-by-state battle over the past month will suddenly explode into a nationalized contest on Tuesday, with establishment Democrats worried about the strength of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., but not settled on the strongest alternative.

Former vice president Joe Biden, with his blowout victory Saturday in South Carolina, made a strong case that he should be that person, but Super Tuesday voters will barely have time to digest those results before they, and the candidates, are plunged into the biggest and most important day of the Democratic nominating campaign.

By the time the votes from Tuesday's contests are counted, and all the delegates allocated, at least two things should become clearer. One is whether Sanders has emerged with an insurmountable lead in the delegate race. The other, if Sanders' delegate lead is not so big, is whether Biden or someone else might be positioned to overtake him.

Sanders heads toward Super Tuesday's contests in an enviable position. But given growing resistance to his candidacy among establishment Democrats, he needs a strong performance Tuesday to put a lock on becoming the delegate leader heading to the national convention in Milwaukee in July.

"Bernie is the clear front-runner, but he's got to get a lead, and a substantial lead, to consolidate his position," said Tad Devine, who worked for Sanders's campaign in 2016 and who advised Andrew Yang this year.

No day on this year's primary-caucus calendar sets up any better for Sanders than this year's Super Tuesday. One reason is his perceived strength in California, where 415 delegates will be distributed. Other factors include the higher percentage of Latino voters in some of the Super Tuesday states, particularly Texas with its 228 delegates. Beyond that, primaries in the future are mostly closed, denying Sanders the votes of independents, one of his best constituencies.

Campaign strategists can't say just how well Sanders will be positioned after Super Tuesday. There are simply too many variables - too many candidates, too much fluidity and too many combinations about possible outcomes. Campaigns have been modeling the states and constantly tweaking internal projections. As one strategist put it: "It's an insane Rubik's cube."

Campaign advisers to both Biden and former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg say they will be best positioned to become the principal alternative to Sanders after Super Tuesday. But the campaign of former South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg believes he could be competitive and has been strategic about where he has put resources.

Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., appear to have even higher hurdles than the others to score well Tuesday. Warren has turned to a super PAC for advertising help after decrying the use of such groups throughout her campaign. Warren's super PAC spending, roughly $15 million, is of concern to the Sanders campaign because of her potential to attract voters who otherwise might support him.

Bloomberg is counting on the massive amount of advertising he has done to help boost his chances. According to Advertising Analytics, as of the beginning of last week, he had spent about $160 million on television ads in the Super Tuesday states and was at that point scheduled to spend about $35 million more in the final week. But he has been slowed by a poor debate performance in Nevada and attacks on his record since then.

Contrast that with Biden, who at the beginning of last week had spent nothing on television ads in the Super Tuesday states and, according to his campaign, will invest about $2 million in radio and TV ahead of Tuesday's voting. Instead, Biden is counting heavily on a boost from South Carolina and support from African American votes there and elsewhere.

Sanders, according to the Advertising Analytics figures, will come in around $14 million to $15 million in TV, and his campaign has targeted the money to have the maximum impact on competitive districts. But he has organizations that appear to eclipse those of any of the other candidates, and his team has sought to use rallies in states with early voting to encourage supporters to go directly to the polls to bank votes ahead of Tuesday.

Super Tuesday has been a fixture of Democratic nominating contests since 1988, the brainchild of Southern Democrats seeking greater influence with the hope that it would boost moderate candidates. That didn't work out as they had hoped, but the concept of a big day of primaries in early March stuck.

In 2008, Super Tuesday had grown to more than 20 states, including California, Illinois, New York and New Jersey. It became known as "Super Duper Tuesday" or "Tsunami Tuesday." That year saw Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton battle for an advantage, and one victory of the Obama campaign was to shift the media's focus from who was winning big states to the trench warfare of delegate accumulation.

This year, almost the entire focus of Super Tuesday will be on delegates. The landscape this year is smaller than in 2008, but still sprawls across 14 states with votes also in American Samoa and among Democrats abroad. The 14 states include 164 congressional or state Senate districts that will award the majority of delegates. In all, 1,357 pledged delegates - 34 percent of the total for the year - will be awarded.

Two factors make this year's event different from those in the past. One is that Super Tuesday falls just three days after the South Carolina primary, rather than 10 days as it was in 2008. That gives candidates little time for serious campaigning in most of the states and raises the question of how much impact Biden's victory in South Carolina will have on voters elsewhere. The other difference is that the field of candidates competing Tuesday is larger than on previous Super Tuesdays.

Estimates of delegate totals and of Sanders' possible margins vary significantly. At the high end, say strategists inside the campaigns as well as outside analysts, Sanders could emerge from Tuesday's contests leading his closest competitor by 300 to as high as 400 delegates. That would put him firmly in command of the race though still might leave him short of a majority going into the convention.

At the lower end of estimates, the consensus is that Sanders's delegate margin could be in the range of 200 or 250. That would still give Sanders the advantage but could be a more manageable margin to overcome for one of the other candidates, but only if the field quickly shrinks after Tuesday.

One non-campaign analysis calculates that Sanders could win between 600 and 700 delegates on Tuesday with the next-highest candidate in the range of 300 to 500. Sanders could emerge with a 2-to-1 lead over his closest challenger, but still well below 50 percent overall. But these are merely possible scenarios, not predictions, and were all based on information before South Carolina voted.

Faiz Shakir, Sanders's campaign manager, sought to play down suggestions that Sanders will come out of Super Tuesday with a lead of more than 300, saying of the lower-end projections: "If you gave it to me, I'd take it." He said Super Tuesday could provide additional momentum that would put Sanders in a stronger position for contests later in March and in April.

Sanders has long criticized the Democratic National Committee for what he saw as the establishment helping Clinton and hindering him in the 2016 campaign. Today, ironically, he stands to benefit, potentially significantly, from the rules that determine the distribution of delegates.

Nevada's Feb. 22 caucuses offer an example of how Sanders is benefiting. Sanders got about one-third of the raw vote in Nevada. After realignment, the process by which people whose candidate has not hit the 15 percent threshold move to support another candidate, his county convention delegate number hit about 47 percent. Ultimately, he was awarded 24 of the 36 delegates to the national convention, which means from one-third of the initial raw vote, he was able to pick up two-thirds of the national convention delegates.

The caucuses provide an extreme case of this kind of allocation, but the overall rules could work similarly in Sanders's favor by giving him a share of the delegates disproportionate to his raw vote percentages. So far, the highest percentage of the vote he has received in any contest was in Nevada. In Iowa and New Hampshire, he got about a quarter of the popular vote. But he is benefiting from the fact that no other candidate has consistently broken through the 15 percent threshold statewide and in congressional districts.

"There is a lot of difference between 34 percent of the delegates versus 47 percent of the delegates," said Daron Shaw, a professor of government at the University of Texas at Austin. "If he's in the low 30s, I think it's a different story."

Heading into Tuesday, the fractured opposition gives Sanders a potentially significant advantage. The senator from Vermont is the only candidate who is broadly viable across all the states and districts, meaning he is likely to break the threshold in almost every congressional or state Senate district.

The other candidates are in a more tenuous position, hovering in polls somewhere just below or just above the 15 percent threshold that determines viability for delegates. No one can predict with any certainty how any of the others will do in the district-by-district competition, but their individual and collective results will shape both their and Sanders's delegate hauls.

The rules stipulate that any candidate who gets 15 percent or more in a district, or statewide, receives a delegate. If Sanders and only one other candidate hit 15 percent or more and the others fall below that, they would split the delegates, although not necessarily evenly. But if four candidates hit the threshold in a district with four delegates, everyone gets one delegate, meaning even if Sanders is the leader, his total would be held down.

"If Bernie ends up in a situation where he can run up a large enough margin where there is only one other candidate hitting that threshold, that's a big victory for him," said Ace Smith, a California-based strategist who was a senior adviser in the presidential campaign of Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif. "If he has two or three people, that's not so good because it will profoundly affect the delegates."

At this point, campaigns are focused on districts more than states, hoping to maximize their delegate counts by putting higher priority on districts whose demographics appear more favorable - for Biden, that means districts with higher concentrations of African Americans - or that have substantially more delegates to award than average. All the campaigns are focused as well on districts with an odd rather than even number of delegates to award.

One big advantage for Sanders is the role California will play on Tuesday. He lost the state to Clinton in 2016, but he currently is the leader in the polls there and, according to Democrats not associated with campaigns, has a deeper organization than any other candidate.

California offers early voting and vote-by-mail to everyone and, as of Thursday, nearly 3 million people had returned their ballots. More early ballots are being returned, according to Paul Mitchell, a California strategist who tracks the numbers. But percentages tell the other part of the story, which is that Republicans are returning their ballots more rapidly than are Democrats.

Two Democrats said that on the basis of their analysis and reporting, more people than ever are waiting possibly until Election Day to return those ballots and hoping they have a better sense of the shape of the race by then.

Republicans are behaving as they have in past elections, turning in ballots at the same rate, but Democrats are lagging. "Anybody who's waiting is not for Bernie Sanders, and they're trying desperately to make their vote count," said Gale Kaufman, a Sacramento-based strategist.

The other reality about Super Tuesday is that the results will not be known immediately. Counting in California will continue into the following week, and with so many candidates on the edge of viability, the final numbers could look different than they appear on the day after voting.
The Delhi Police on Saturday said they had not received any more PCR calls reporting violence from areas in northeast Delhi. The Delhi Police has registered 167 FIRs and arrested or detained 885 people in connection with the violence that rocked parts of the national capital.

A total of 167 FIRs have been registered, of which 36 cases have been registered under the Arms Act. 885 people have been detained or arrested, the Delhi Police said in a tweet.

According to the police, 13 cases have been registered against social media accounts operating from different platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. for posting provocative content.

Several social media accounts as well as web links involved in the circulation of unlawful, offensive content have been suspended, the police said.

Advisories on social and print media have been issued to sensitise people about responsible usage of content on online platforms. People have also been advised to maintain restraint while using social media platforms, the police said.

The death toll in the communal violence in northeast Delhi has gone up to 42. More than 250 people have been injured in the clashes.

Special Commissioner of Police (Crime), Satish Golcha on Saturday held a flag march in Maujpur, Jaffrabad and Babarpur and said that that the situation is peaceful and no untoward incidents have been reported from these areas in the last couple of days.

The situation is peaceful and under control now. No untoward incident has been reported from these areas in the last three days. So, curfew timings have been relaxed, Golcha told news agency ANI.

The Special Commissioner of Police added that police officials are visiting several riot-affected areas in order to assure people and inform them about the relaxation in curfew timings.
When Amy Klobuchar gave birth a quarter century ago, her baby, who couldnt swallow, was rushed to intensive care.

Though her daughter was being tested and fitted with a feeding tube, Klobuchar, now a U.S. senator from Michigan, was sent home. Klobuchars insurance required new mothers to be discharged within 24 hours of birth. Despite her daughters precarious health, Klobuchars time was up. The future Democratic presidential candidate checked into a nearby motel and wore a rut  still in her hospital gown  between her room and the hospital so she could pump breast milk for her newborn.

Her experience eventually moved Klobuchar into politics. During this brutal election season, voters have a chance to vote for candidates whose political activism is fueled partly by their lived experiences as women, and how we support (or dont) pregnancy and childbirth in this country could sorely use their attention.

Another Democratic presidential candidate, Elizabeth Warren, a U.S. senator from Massachusetts, says she has a plan to decrease maternal mortality among African Americans, which, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is three times higher than the rate for white women. According to the same report, 700 million women die from pregnancy-related complications each year. The United States is the only developed nation in the world where maternal deaths are steadily rising.

This is not to say a male candidate is incapable of addressing these issues. Still, if weve reached a point where our maternal mortality rate is more than double that of Canada, Sweden and Germany, theres already been ample missed opportunity to step up. In December 2018, the Trump administration approved $60 million over five years meant to help states prevent maternal deaths. A big part of that funding is going to data collection, which is far from uniform from state to state. We dont yet have the data with which to write good policy.

And while candidates are on the topic, it would be great if someone would look at the out-of-pocket costs of childbirth. The average cost of having a baby runs between $5,000 and $11,000, depending on where you live, whether the birth includes complications or surgery is necessary. A study from last year said the average cost for childbirth is $10,808.

Here again, American women are outliers. They can expect to pay more to have a baby than women spend anywhere else in the world, according to a University of Michigan study released last month. Obamacare (the Affordable Care Act) requires maternity coverage, but plans can charge copays and deductibles  and they do. According to the Michigan study, the average out-of-pocket cost for all births  vaginal or C-section  was $4,569 in 2015, the last year for which the figures are available. The percentage of women who had out-of-pocket expenses for childbirth climbed from 93.7 percent in 2008 to 98.2 percent in 2015.

The study found that out-of-pocket spending was higher for lower-income working women from 2008 to 2013, but that difference disappeared as higher-income working women started paying extra as more Americans started being covered by high-deductible insurance plans.

Policies that led to experiences such as Klobuchars drive-through delivery started in the 1980s, in part because mothers requested them. (For what its worth, when I had my son 35 years ago, I was home by the afternoon after his early morning delivery.)

By the time Klobuchar gave birth, insurance companies were calling the shots, and deliveries  regardless of the health of the child  meant a trip home before 24 hours had passed.

Today, Klobuchars daughter, Abigail Bessler, is a healthy young woman who works for the New York City Council. You could say alls well that ends well, and while that may be true for this family, childbirth is the main reason women go to the hospital, and costs for those common, everyday visits are increasing, especially for women with employer-provided insurance policies.

We face an abysmal rate of maternal mortality, and were charging too much for childbirth. My queendom for a candidate who takes this seriously, before the election and beyond.

Susan Campbell teaches at the University of New Haven. She is the author of several books, including, most recently, Frog Hollow: Stories From an American Neighborhood. She can be reached at slcampbell417@gmail.com. This column was reported under a partnership with the Connecticut Health I-Team (c-hit.org), a nonprofit news organization dedicated to health reporting.
The John Lewis price promise has held strong for 95 years and is almost as well known as the venerable department store itself.

But, as Britons desert high streets in favour of shopping online, the chain's awkwardly worded 'Never Knowingly Undersold' slogan could be about to go the way of many town centre stores.

New chairman Dame Sharon White is expected to map out a review of the firm on Thursday and ask department store bosses to reassess the pledge.

The promise guarantees that shoppers will be offered the same price as any high street competitor, either in store or online, and sold with the same service conditions.

As Britons desert high streets in favour of shopping online, John Lewis's awkwardly worded 'Never Knowingly Undersold' slogan could be about to go the way of many town centre stores

It does not apply to online-only retailers or, crucially, fire sale promotions held by rivals going bust.

Its sister chain Waitrose is also exempt.

But the internet shopping revolution has made the promise superfluous, experts suggest, particularly as John Lewis seeks to distance itself from beleaguered rivals with more exclusive brands and more own-label products.

Retail expert Bryan Roberts said: 'It's an important part of the John Lewis heritage and is a very reassuring message for their loyal customers. That said, this was formulated a long time before the internet and modern day retailing has made this promise and customers understanding of what it means far more problematic.'

He added: 'I'm sure there will be gnashing of teeth if this gets pulled. But what's not clear is just how many people hold them to the promise anymore. People go to John Lewis for lots of reasons. Price is one of them but perhaps not the main one.' The slogan was famously launched in the company's Peter Jones store in London's Sloane Square in 1925 and by the 1980s it was regarded as part of the chain's lifeblood.

Online shopping pummelled many rivals into relentless price cuts. Although John Lewis has proved more resilient than most, profits have plummeted despite a more stable performance at grocery arm Waitrose.
(Newser)  Guests at a birthday party Friday for an Instagram influencer said the sauna was too hot and wanted to jump into the swimming pool to cool off. So dry ice was dumped into the Moscow pool to make the water colder. Immediately after jumping in, the people in the water began to choke, the BBC reports. Several of them became unconscious. Three people died, including Valentin Didenko. The party was in honor of his wife's 29th birthday; Ekaterina Didenko, who posts advice on saving money on pharmaceutical products, has more than a million Instagram followers. Four other people at the party suffered chemical burns, per the Moscow Times. The victims' cause of death was suffocation, officials said in a preliminary finding.

story continues below

The dry ice, which is the solid form of carbon dioxide, was to be used to create a cloud of fog over the swimming pool. In an area without adequate ventilation, people can inhale dangerous amounts of it. Placing dry ice in water also can cause an explosion. Russian authorities ordered a criminal investigation of the deaths. (Read more dry ice stories.)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 1

By Nargiz Ismayilova  Trend:

Azerbaijan generated 1.9 billion kilowatt hours of electricity from renewable energy sources in 2019, Director of the Energy Efficiency and Ecology Department of Azerbaijans Energy Ministry Alasgar Hasanov told Trend.

Hasanov added that the total amount of electricity generated in 2019 amounted to 26.1 billion kilowatt hours in the country.

"Azerbaijan has a high renewable energy potential. Thus, the potential of renewable energy sources that are economically viable and technically available in our country is estimated at 26,940 megawatts, including 3,000 megawatts of wind energy, 23,040 megawatts of solar energy, 380 megawatts of bioenergy, and 520 megawatts of mountain river hydropower," the departments director said.

Hasanov noted that currently, the total production capacity of Azerbaijan is 7,556 megawatts, adding that the capacity of renewable energy power plants, including 1,276 megawatts of large hydroelectric power plants, is equal to 17 percent of the total production capacity.

"During 2019, 105.4 million kilowatt-hours of electricity were generated at wind farms, 44.2 million kilowatt-hours at solar power plants, and 195.9 million kilowatt-hours at a solid waste incinerator. Electricity generated from renewable sources amounted to 7.3 percent of total production. Small hydropower plants, with the total capacity of 25.3 megawatts, generated 53.6 million kilowatt hours" the director said.

One and a half percent in the amount of 399.1 million kilowatt-hours of total electricity production accounted for electricity generated from renewable energy sources, the director of ecology department added.

Hasanov added that the indicators show that, despite the solid wind and solar potential of Azerbaijans renewable energy, adding that the practical results in this area leave much to be desired.

At the same time, most of the completed work was carried out through public investments, Hasanov said

"Today, the main goal is to create a favorable investment environment for attracting business entities along with state investments in the development of this sphere. To this end, to improve the legislative framework steps are being taken as a start. The developed draft law of Azerbaijan on the use of renewable energy in the production of electricity is currently at an implementation stage," the director added.

Presently, Azerbaijan is taking steps to develop alternative energy. For this purpose, the negotiations are underway with foreign companies and investors, including the companies from China, the UAE, the US and the EU.

An alternative energy source is a renewable resource, it replaces traditional energy sources operating on oil, natural gas and coal, which, when burned, emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and this contributes to an increase in the greenhouse effect and global warming.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @IsmailovaNargis
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip  Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are preparing to hold regular demonstrations on the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip to protest US President Donald Trumps Mideast plan.

In a Feb. 19 conference organized by the Islamic Jihad in Gaza City, senior Hamas official in Gaza Khalil al-Haya announced that the Palestinian march of return on the borders with Israel with resume March 30 in rejection of the peace plan.

Facing this deal requires real national work, local Raya network reported Haya as saying.

The Higher National Commission for the Great Marches of Return, which includes representatives of all Palestinian factions but Fatah, suspended the marches for three months in December.

Since March 2018, Palestinians had been protesting weekly at five points along the border against the Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military fired at the protesters on several occasions, killing 317 Palestinians and injuring 19,400 others since the beginning of the protests up until December.

Commission member Talal Abu Zarifa told Al-Monitor, The marches will resume March 30, on Land Day, a national occasion in which Palestintans celebrate their attachment to their land.

Talal Abu Zarifa added that the marches will pick up again. This time, he explained, there will be regular protests each month and on national holidays and include peaceful protests as well as cultural events.

He noted, The marches will send a message to the world that Palestinians reject the 'deal of the century' and will never give up their land.

Abu Zarifa went on, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not abide by the truce. He is using it to achieve political goals to embellish his image before Israeli society. We do not accept this.

Political analyst and writer for Palestinian al-Ayyam newspaper Talal Okal told Al-Monitor that the marches were suspended last year to give Israel a chance to fulfill its commitments under the truce, such as establishing industrial zones on the Gaza border and expanding the list of material and products allowed to enter Gaza.

Okal added, Israel did not implement any of the articles in the past three months while the protests on the borders were suspended. It only offered concessions  on Feb. 18, it expanded the fishing zone to 15 nautical miles and offered traders in the Gaza Strip 2,000 new permits to enter Israel.

He argued that the concessions are not enough for Hamas, which seeks radical measures to revive the economy in the Gaza Strip and allow the entry of dual-use materials such as heavy equipment.

Political analyst and journalist for the Hamas-affiliated Felesteen newspaper in Gaza Iyad al-Qarra told Al-Monitor that the change is designed to avoid losses of life among the protesters to Israeli fire.

Qarra noted, Organizing these protests weekly has become burdensome for the participants and organizers. Therefore, it was agreed to organize the marches monthly instead.

He added, The protests were not a failure at all. They achieved important goals, such as improving the travel conditions of Palestinians through the Rafah crossing and pushing Israel to facilitate fishing in the Gaza sea and allow the entry of more merchandise to the Gaza Strip.

Qarra said, The protests along the border areas will continue as part of the marches of return and will maintain their peaceful aspect. Hamas still sees incendiary balloons as an option. This option will remain available each time Israel reneges on its commitments in the Gaza Strip.

The US peace plan that was unveiled Jan. 28 to wide Palestinian rejection contributed hugely to pushing Hamas and other factions to resume the marches of return. The Higher National Commission for the Great Marches of Return and Breaking the Siege decided Feb. 17 to amend its name to the National Commission for the Great Marches of Return and Confronting the Deal.

Abu Zarifa said that changing the name of the commission indicates that the marches now prioritize facing the deal, which outweighs the importance of economic or living conditions.

As a result of the name change, three Palestinian factions announced their withdrawal from the commission Feb. 20. They include the Palestinian National Initiative, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command and Al-Saiqa forces. The factions stated that the name change did not happen based on national partnership and consensus. Our suggestions that included strategies to unite efforts and improve performance based on experience were not taken into consideration.

Abu Zarifa said, Opinions regarding the strategies of the marches differ, and we are now holding talks with all Palestinian factions to agree on a work formula that suits everyone and fights Trumps conspiracy against our people.

Qarra believes the three factions were pressured by Fatah  which is not part of the marches of return, wants to break up any Palestinian commission led by Hamas and does not want Hamas to make any national achievements in facing the deal.
New Delhi, March 1 : Former Delhi Police Commissioner Ajay Raj Sharma flayed the Delhi Police for failing to curb communal violence that took over 40 lives in northeast Delhi.

"The communal violence which erupted in Jafrabad, Seelampur, old Mustafabad, Bhajanpura, Chandbagh areas in northeast Delhi on February 24-25 had its genesis in Shaheen Bagh protest in southeast Delhi. Had I been the Delhi Police Commissioner, I would have thrown out the Shaheen Bagh protesters as nobody has a right to block roads." "Allowing Shaheen Bagh protest to continue was the first big mistake of Delhi Police. Things got worse from thereon. Had it been nipped in the bud, riots would not have taken place," said Sharma in an exclusive interview with IANS.

A 1966-batch IPS officer, Sharma was the police commissioner of Delhi from July 1999 to June 2002 and was subsequently shifted to the Director General of Border Security Force (BSF). He is also known as encounter specialist and is credited with giving Special Task Force (STF) to the police.

"The word police has become a joke in Delhi. What is police doing? Hundreds of people have blocked the road at Shaheen Bagh causing inconvenience to the general public. If the police had acted on the very first day the Shaheen Bagh gathering started, a lot that followed could have been prevented," Sharma said.

"The truth is the police allowed the situation to escalate. If they had acted earlier, this could have been prevented. The police remained mute spectators - either they were under pressure from the government or under some illusion." Author of 'Biting the Bullet', Sharma said, the police did clamp curfew but quite late and that too without reinforcements which proved costly.

Recalling his tenure as DCP, Sharma said, "I always acted in accordance with the law. Had I been the Delhi Polcie Commissioner, I would not have let the northeast Delhi burn, come what may." He became emotional at the end of the conversation saying, "I once led Delhi Police. I am pained by the recent riots and the failure on the part of the police to tackle them." (Sanjeev Kumar Singh Chauhan can be contacted at sanjeev.c@ians.in)
The Duchess of Sussex plans to leave her baby son Archie in Canada when she returns to the UK this week, causing an expensive headache for her police protection commanders.

Metropolitan Police officers guarding them and Prince Harry have arranged major security operations in both nations  at huge cost to the British taxpayer.

Meghan, 38, is due to join Harry, 35, for three engagements in Britain before they step down from royal duties on March 31.

Archie is seventh in line to the throne, but has not spent any meaningful time with his grandparents or cousins, according to one royal insider. Harry and Meghan will fly back to Canada after the Commonwealth Day Service on March 9, and their Buckingham Palace office will close on April 1

Canada, which has contributed towards the cost of protecting them since they moved to Vancouver Island last November, is withdrawing cover because of the couples change in status.

This means the bill for providing round-the-clock protection for the family will fall entirely on British taxpayers.

Experts say the Sussexes decision to live abroad, as well as their insistence on retaining their official police protection, will see the bill for guarding them rocket  and prove a huge strain on manpower.

The extra security cost of keeping nine-month-old Archie in Canada without his parents this week could be 50,000, the Sun on Sunday reported yesterday.

It is also likely to prove a huge disappointment to the Queen and senior royals, who havent seen him for months.

Archie is seventh in line to the throne, but has not spent any meaningful time with his grandparents or cousins, according to one royal insider.

Harry and Meghan will fly back to Canada after the Commonwealth Day Service on March 9, and their Buckingham Palace office will close on April 1.
According to Armenian News-NEWS.am, recently, head of the military police unit of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia in Ijevan, Colonel Mesrop Hovhannisyan was involved in an incident. According to rumors in Ijevan, the colonel, who wasnt sober, got into a dispute with a group of residents of Ijevan, made improper statements, after which he was beaten. However, the colonel didnt go to the hospital in order to avoid a scandal. According to our information, the Ministry of Defense is currently considering Hovhannisyans dismissal.

As reported the Police to Armenian News-NEWS.am, the Police didnt receive an alarm about this incident, and the Ministry of Defense refused to comment on the information regarding Hovhannisyans possible dismissal. As a matter of fact, Mesrop Hovhannisyan has close ties with acting Chief of the Military Police Aleksandr Aghajanyan, and this is probably the reason why the Police didnt receive an alarm.

On February 19, by the decree of President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian, Artur Baghdasaryan was dismissed from the post of military police chief. This came after the Prime Ministers consultation regarding the deaths in the armed forces, after which Nikol Pashinyan wrote that there had been several major decisions, including decisions regarding personnel changes.
Expressing "deep sorrow" over the loss of lives in the communal riots in North East Delhi earlier this week, Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari on Saturday claimed the police "failed" to assess the ground situation in time. Tiwari also slammed the opposition for playing a "negative" role in light of protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, that "snowballed into violence" in Delhi.

Forty-two lives have been lost so far and over 250 injured in the violence that started with stone-pelting at Maujpur Chowk in Jafarabad area between pro- and anti- Citizenship (Amendment) Act protesters on Sunday and later escalated to communal clashes in several parts of the northeast Delhi constituency represented in Lok Sabha by Tiwari.

"I don't know what to say. Loss of so many lives is a matter of deep sorrow. It appears that the police also failed to assess the ground situation in time. It could have prevented loss of so many lives," the Lok Sabha MP told reporters.

He, however, asserted that the Delhi Police brought the situation under "control" as soon as 73 companies of additional forces were deployed in the riot-hit areas on February 24.

"Still, it's a failure. Nobody had any idea of the scale of the violence. Police too had no idea of it," Tiwari told reporters.

Tiwari also blamed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress for not helping in defusing the tense situation.

"First, AAP councillor Tahir Hussain was found allegedly involved in the violence and now Congress' ex-councilor Ishrat Jahan's name has come up for the same, thus pointing out that the AAP and Congress together have worked to mislead people," he said in a statement.

Expressing his concern over the violence, Tiwari said that he was constantly in touch with the people and made every effort to help them and ensure presence of police in riot-hit areas. "For the last three days, I was on the phone replying to the calls for help and assuring presence of police in violence-affected areas," the Delhi BJP chief said.

"Let us not jump in to decide who is guilty. Rather wait for the investigation to complete," he said when asked about complaints that police did not respond to calls of help from people in riot-hit areas.

He said that people were "still scared" but the situation was moving towards normalcy. "My only wish is that the injured recover soon and strict action is taken against the perpetrators of the violence."

He also appealed to the people to not pay attention to "rumours" concerning the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and National Register of Citizens (NRC).
From Irish banks exposed to bad loans and the slow process to redirect resources, Kyran Fitzgerald writes on the climate challenges identified by a fascinating conference

Banks and investment funds have been gradually waking up to the implications of climate change.

Economists too across Europe are sitting up and taking note and not before time, the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, or Ifac, the countrys budgetary watchdog  devoted its latest annual conference to the burning topic of Budgeting for Climate Change.

As a member of the council, Sebastian Barnes, observes that addressing climate change will be a huge challenge for Ireland.

In a sign of the times, the first speaker, an Italian academic and scientist, Elena Verdolini, delivered her address on screen from her home in Italy.

What she had to say was startling: For example, we are currently emitting twice the amount of carbon dioxide that the earth is in a position to absorb.

Once global temperatures rise more than 1.5 degrees celsius above pre-industrial levels, the associated risk and damage grows exponentially.

Warm-water corals are already on their way to extinction and mango forests are threatened but more resilient.

The impacts extend beyond melting glaciers, rising sea levels and flood events to include impacts on crop yields and human mortality.

She says that avoiding even a one-tenth of a degree rise in additional temperature matters a lot.

Eddie Casey of the Fiscal Council notes how economists have ducked a confrontation with the huge topic.

The Quarterly Journal of Economics, for example, had until very recently never published an article on climate change.

But with floods and storms on the increase across these islands a collision with reality cannot be postponed.

The impacts are already being felt on the factors of production, land, labour, and capital.

Land is ceasing to be productive as a result of repeated flooding. Labour too is suffering in productivity as a result of the health effects of flood events.

Buildings and infrastructure have been damaged repeatedly.

Efforts at innovation have been diverted towards adaptation, although arguably, one consequence of recent events could be an acceleration in the transition in Irish farming away from intensive stock rearing - at least in flood-prone areas.

Mr Casey suggests that the emergence of the green economy will entail higher rates of investment in areas such as the retrofitting of houses.

The Office of Public Works has carried out a detailed flood risk analysis and has produced flood risk tables for our major cities.

A rise in sea levels would leave much of the inner city in Dublin and Cork City is even more exposed. The State might have to step in to ensure payouts to businesses and householders hit by weather events.

The taxpayer faces huge costs in funding infrastructure when the national debt is already elevated.

The transition from carbon-intensive activities will create its owns problems as the exchequer earns a lot of its revenues from duties on motor fuel and taxes.

While carbon taxes will bring in increased revenues in the short to medium terms, the whole point about such taxes is that they are intended to change behaviour.

The banking sector could be exposed to large write-downs should the valuations of properties serving as security for mortgages be hit badly by rolling climate events. This may have to be reflected in the imposition of higher reserve requirements on banks.

We face a wide range of challenges. We need to be clear about our targets and policies, says Mr Casey.

Professor John FitzGerald, chair of the Climate Change Advisory Council, suggests that the Department of Finance will have to move to quantify the costs from the climate crisis.

Central Banks are now paying increased attention to the issue of global warming. The Irish Central Bank has assigned responsibility for this area to Vasileios Madouros. He warns that climate change is the most complex of all the problems we are faced with. It is a substantial threat to financial stability.

The Central Bank

Investors in the private sector will have a key role to play.

Ensuring that the financial sector will be resilient to climate change will not be easy, Mr Madouros suggests.

The effects of climate risks are broad-based, running across all sectors, however, the time horizons for planning are much longer than is usually the case with projects backed by banks, he says.

The risks fall into two categories -- the straightforward physical risks posed by extreme weather events and the risks faced while the transition away from a fossil fuel-based economy is underway.

The Central Bank official points out that a too abrupt transition towards an economy based on renewable energy could be as damaging in its own as foot-dragging.

A sudden transition would result in energy companies being left with stranded assets, and could leave lenders sharply exposed.

Equally, the value of properties with low energy ratings could suddenly fall leading to further exposures.

A climate-resilient financial system will be required if the transition is to occur.

In managing climate change, there is a paradox. Act too slowly, and you increase the physical risks. But act abruptly and you have a rapid adjustment in the financial system, he says.

The Central Bank last year set up a network for the greening of the financial system and is active in a number of supervisory roles but it cannot develop its expertise overnight, Mr Madouros said.
Four specialized units of the Ontario Provincial Police have been using a divisive facial recognition tool since December, the force confirmed Sunday.

The OPP  one of the largest police services in North America  previously said it used facial recognition technology, but refused to confirm whether it used Clearview AI.

The U.S. startup relies on artificial intelligence to match peoples images against what it claims is a database of billions of photos scraped from the internet, including social media. Canadian privacy regulators have launched three separate investigations into the software, which critics have called reckless and dystopian.

The Star asked the OPP twice in February for comment on whether it used Clearview AI; both times a spokesperson declined to specify details. After the Stars inquiries, the OPP launched an internal review to determine if officers had used the tool, according to a statement released Sunday.

The force says members of its child sexual exploitation, cyber-crime, anti-human trafficking and digital forensics units had been using free trial versions of the software. According to the statement, in one instance the tool helped identify victims, and that further investigation led to a suspect being identified and charged with child pornography-related offences.

According to the statement, OPP officers obtained access to a free trial of Clearview after attending a conference, and not through the normal evaluation process relied upon by the OPP for the introduction of new software.

After discovering that officers were using the tool, the OPP ordered immediate cessation of testing and use of Clearview AI. The force says it has reached out to the office of Ontarios privacy commissioner and will be reporting its use of Clearview AI and any other facial recognition technologies.

In the past week, more than a dozen Canadian police services confirmed to the Star that their officers had used trial versions of Clearview AI without the knowledge or authorization of police leadership. All had previously told the Star their forces hadnt tested the tool, and have since ordered their officers to halt all use.

All five police services in the Greater Toronto Area  Toronto and Durham, York, Halton and Peel regions  have confirmed their officers used trial versions of the tool. All have ordered that the testing cease, pending a review by Ontarios privacy commissioner.

The Ottawa Police Service announced Friday it was launching a service-wide poll to determine exactly how many officers had signed up for a trial of the tool, after discovering that officers from the forces Internet Child Exploitation Unit had created accounts. Edmonton police have also launched an internal review after determining that three investigators had used the technology after learning about it at a conference.

Revelations showing cross-Canada testing of Clearview AI were prompted by data obtained by BuzzFeed News and shared exclusively with the Toronto Star. Canada is Clearviews largest market outside of the U.S., according to the data.

Clearview AI has not responded to repeated requests from the Star. Earlier this week, a Clearview AI lawyer told other media that someone got unauthorized access to the companys client list through a data breach.

Unfortunately, data breaches are part of life in the 21st century. Our servers were never accessed. We patched the flaw and continue to work to strengthen our security, Tor Ekeland told other media this week.

Ekeland told BuzzFeed News that there are numerous inaccuracies in this illegally obtained information. As there is an ongoing Federal investigation, we have no further comment.

Federal and provincial privacy regulators launched a joint investigation in Clearview AI and whether its collection and disclosure of personal information violates privacy laws earlier in February.

Last week, Canadas privacy commissioner announced an investigation into the RCMP use of the tool, and Albertas privacy commissioner lambasted Edmontons police as she launched a similar inquiry.

Only after a data breach affected Clearview AIs client list did we find out that, in fact, certain Edmonton Police Service employees had used Clearview AIs product, Commissioner Jill Clayton said in a statement Friday.

This situation serves as a wake-up call to law enforcement in Alberta that building trust is critical to advancing the use of new technologies for data-driven policing.

The Star has also confirmed that an employee of Rexall used the software to conduct shoplifting-related searches; the pharmacy chain has since stopped using the app.

On Friday, a spokesperson for the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command confirmed it used a free trial version of Clearview AI but does not have a contract with Clearview AI.
OTTAWAWhen Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stepped in front of cameras last week to declare that barricades on rail lines and other major transportation routes had to come down, the move had been decided almost two days before.

He intended to send a signal to the police that attempts to negotiate an end to the national crisis were not working and the situation was now in their hands, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter.

Trudeau had been urging patience in the hopes of seeing the rising crisis end through negotiation, but a final 36-hour clock had run out.

The Canadian Press spoke with three government officials, including in the prime ministers office and that of B.C. Premier John Horgan, to get a picture of what has been happening behind the scenes as the blockades rose to national attention and how the governments have seen the growing crisis.

The officials all spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss sensitive matters in public.

The blockades were sparked when the RCMP began enforcing a court order against Wetsuweten protesters and their supporters blocking construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline in northern British Columbia. Some hereditary chiefs of the Wetsuweten nation oppose the pipeline on their territorial land and have been trying to block the project for almost a decade.

Before the nationwide protests erupted, the opposition to the pipeline was seen as a matter for the B.C. government, which oversaw the projects planning and approvals.

The Wetsuweten had established a presence in the area of the pipeline construction, including on the only access road to a Coastal GasLink work site.

After the pipeline company was granted an injunction in early January ordering protesters to clear the road, Hereditary Chief NaMoks, who also goes by John Ridsdale, called for a meeting with Trudeau and Horgan and some of their cabinet ministers via letter.

The sides could not agree on how any talks might happen, or even who should take part. But in the end, former NDP MP Nathan Cullen, hired by the B.C. government as a liaison between the hereditary chiefs and the province, negotiated an meeting called a Wiggus table, named for a Wetsuweten term that translates roughly as respect. British Columbias delegation was led by Indigenous Relations Minister Scott Fraser.

It was supposed to mean seven days of discussions. Those ended after just two, on Feb. 4.

Talks have broken down between the province and the Wetsuweten, Hereditary Chief Smogelgem (who also goes by Warner Naziel) tweeted at the time. Efforts to de-escalate the situation on the territories were severed when the province refused to pull the permits they issued to CGL (Coastal GasLink). CGL felt that further talks with the province was not enough.

The RCMP began arresting people along the access road. As images of Indigenous land-defenders in handcuffs emerged, solidarity blockades began popping up along roads and railways across the country.

Trudeau was in Africa when the blockades began, on an eight-day effort to build support for a bid for the UN Security Council. His absence fed the perception that Ottawa was not on top of the situation, though Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland chaired a meeting of the cabinets incident response group. Trudeau dialled in, according to the two federal officials.

By the time the prime minister returned to Canada in the early hours of Feb. 15, it was clear to the Prime Ministers Office that a second international trip, to a summit in the Caribbean, would have to be cancelled, the senior member of Trudeaus staff said.

That day, Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller, a Montreal MP who has learned some Mohawk, was dispatched to Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory in Ontario to talk to protesters barricading a major rail line between Toronto and Montreal. He went to polish the chain, he said then, a reference to a pre-Confederation treaty named for a silver chain because silver sometimes needs work to keep it shiny.

Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett went to British Columbia in hopes of talking to the Wetsuweten hereditary chiefs at the heart of the protests, though that came to nothing.

Ontarios Ipperwash crisis and the resulting inquirys findings have been in the minds of many involved in the current situation, one of the federal sources said.

In 1995, members of the Stony Point First Nation occupied Ipperwash Provincial Park over a claim for land expropriated by the federal government for a military training camp in the Second World War and never returned.

Two days later, Ontario Provincial Police officers in riot gear descended on a small group of protesters who had left the main encampment. In the melee, Indigenous man Dudley George was shot and killed by an OPP officer.

The inquiry report criticized the OPP for a lack of training for officers on Indigenous rights and for racism in the force. It also rapped police and the government for not trying to negotiate with the protesters or even communicate.

Ipperwash is a cautionary tale about the difficulties of police/government relations in practice, says the report.

Ipperwash demonstrates the need for a clearer understanding of the respective roles and responsibilities of the many parts of government that may have a legitimate role in resolving Aboriginal occupations or protests.

Some of Trudeaus top aides had been in the Ontario government when the Ipperwash report was released in 2007. They wanted to be careful.

Public Safety Minister Bill Blair, a former Toronto police chief, advised on how to prevent escalating tensions, the government source said.

But the number of protests grew. At one point, there were close to four dozen blockades of rail and highway traffic across the country. Workers were being laid off and trains had been halted in key corridors for two weeks. Rail companies had secured injunctions the police were not acting on.

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer laid into Trudeau for showing the weakest response to a national crisis in Canadian history on Feb. 18.

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney on Feb. 11 had denounced the protests as a form of ecocolonialism that isnt in Indigenous peoples interests and called for the police to enforce the law. He repeated the call Feb. 19, objecting to the mockery being made of Canadas laws.

Trudeau did not engage Kenney. (In contrast, the official in Horgans office said the federal and B.C. governments have been in near-constant contact.) But Trudeau did pointedly exclude Scheer from a meeting of federal party leaders on the crisis, saying Scheers fiercer rhetoric had disqualified him from participating.

Afraid of the impacts of shortages, Trudeau pushed his staff and cabinet officials to find a way to get chlorine, propane and other crucial supplies into Quebec and provinces in the east, the senior PMO source said.

Transport Minister Marc Garneau negotiated a deal that saw goods normally shipped by Canadian National Railway sent instead on its competitor Canadian Pacifics lines. This was kept quiet: the railways feared protesters would set up new blockades to halt alternate routes, according to both federal sources.

Finally, it was clear that negotiations wouldnt bring the blockades down soon because there were none.

The RCMP in B.C. said they would leave an outpost on the disputed access road. The hereditary chiefs added requirements that the RCMP leave traditional Wetsuweten territory entirely and that Coastal GasLink cease work to their preconditions for a meeting.

Hereditary Chief Smogelgem tweeted Feb. 20 that even the promise to close the outpost was meaningless.

(The RCMPs) harassment of our people and supporters continues, he wrote. Now theyll simply base their Mounties out of the local town of Houston. They are trying to instruct us to continue letting CGL do their work and ignore the eviction that we served them with. OUR EVICTION STANDS! 

Trudeaus camp had already reached the conclusion that attempts at dialogue were at an impasse but had decided to wait 36 hours more to see whether anything would change. It didnt.

On Friday, Feb. 21, Trudeau donned a navy suit and stood at a lectern in the national press theatre, his face set, his tone stern.

The situation as it currently stands is unacceptable and untenable, he said.

Everyone involved is worried. Canadians have been patient, our government has been patient. But it has been two weeks and the barricades need to come down now.

Trudeau and his ministers, including Blair, had insisted they could not order the RCMP or other police to do anything. But sending a signal to police is not the same as directing them, one of the federal sources argues. Trudeaus public statement told the police that the work behind the scenes wasnt getting anywhere.

Police in Quebec immediately became more confrontational toward protesters on a commuter-rail line in suburban Montreal; the protesters dismantled their blockade that night. Ontario Provincial Police took down the Tyendinaga blockade three days later, arresting several protesters but with minimal force.

Since then, the situation has quieted. B.C.s Bennett and Fraser spent Friday and Saturday meeting with the hereditary Wetsuweten chiefs in British Columbia. There remains one rail blockade at Kahnawake, a Mohawk territory in Quebec.

Renewed calls have been made by the hereditary chiefs for Trudeau to meet with them himself. He said in the House of Commons this week that such a meeting would inappropriately favour one group among the Wetsueweten, who need to determine amongst themselves who will speak for them.

But he still might, one of the federal sources said, depending on the progress of the current talks.

Trudeau will not become directly involved unless a significant progress is made towards a resolution, the source said, adding that Trudeau is the negotiator of last resort and should only be brought in if there is a good prospect of success.

Read more about:
Union minister Anurag Thakur, who has been under opposition fire over his alleged hate speech during Delhi assembly polls, on Sunday said strict action should be taken against those involved in the communal riots in the national capital which claimed over 40 lives.

The minister of state for finance and corporate affairs was addressing a press conference in Chandigarh after meeting with stakeholders from various trades and industries during an interactive session organised by the Income Tax department.

At the press conference, he was asked to comment on the alleged hate speeches made by him and other Bharatiya Janata Party leaders in the run-up to the Delhi elections and how such vitriolic speeches led to the riots in the city.

"Strict action should be taken against those involved in (Delhi) the riots. The strength of our country is that people of various faiths coexist and live unitedly contributing towards nation building," Thakur said.

Further commenting on the communal riots, he said, "Police is doing its job...."

Asked again about his alleged hate speech, Thakur said, "I think sometimes there is lack of information in the media too regarding the way some things are projected."

Evading further response on the issue, the Union minister chose to talk about the country's economy.

"India should move forward. We have taken big steps on the economy and will do so in future too, he said.

Thakur added, "From Monday, parliament session will begin, questions are raised there also from economy to various other issues and on that platform (in parliament), answers will be given on various matters."

"If you have questions on the economy, you should ask those..," he said when media persons kept fielding questions about his alleged hate speech.

When journalists mentioned the wordings of the alleged hate speech, the BJP leader shot back, "You are lying. This is not what I said..."

WATCH: Anurag Thakur evades questions on 'goli maro' slogan

Declining any further comment on the matter, the BJP leader said, "The matter is sub-judice. You (media) should have full facts (about his alleged hate speech). Half-baked information can be dangerous...

The Delhi high court had recently expressed "anguish" over the Delhi Police's failure to register FIRs against three BJP leaders over their alleged hate speeches in connection with the Citizenship Amendment Act-related violence and asked the police commissioner to take a "conscious decision" on it.

The Congress has said it will strongly raise the issue of the communal riots in Delhi during the second part of the budget session of parliament starting on Monday and demand Union home minister Amit Shah's resignation over alleged police lapses in curbing the violence.
Congress MP Manish Tewari has written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla suggesting the constitution of a permanent Parliamentary Standing Committee on comprehensive administrative reforms.

The senior Congress leader said that time has come for Parliament to set up a permanent Standing Committee on the issue of comprehensive Administrative Reforms, which should be headed by the Speaker or jointly with the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.

"It should consist of 30 members just like any other Standing Committee of Parliament with the mandate to examine reports of both the previous administrative reform commissions, take evidence, hold broad-based consultations with the experts and come up with detailed recommendations as to how India's archaic administrative system can be holistically overhauled," he stated in the letter

"Despite two Administrative Reforms Commissions set up earlier, there has been no attempt or effort in the past seven decades to reform the 'colonial administrative paradigm bequeathed to us by our erstwhile Imperial Masters'," he said.

Tewari said that governments irrespective of their political colour have been "completely inept" at taking any initiative in this regard.

"The government may strongly resist any such proposal to set up a permanent Standing Committee. There is also a huge vested interest, ably led by the bureaucracy, that will go to any length to stymie any such effort," Tewari said.

The second half of the Budget Session of Parliament will begin on Monday.

The Government is expected to push its legislative agenda that includes Bills relating to surrogacy and resolution of disputed tax.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Trump adds 3 countries to coronavirus travel ban as US reports first death

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

President Donald Trump on Saturday announced travel restrictions affecting Iran, Italy and South Korea in response to the coronavirus outbreak as the first death from the virus was reported in the United States.

After Trump acknowledged the first death from the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, in the U.S., Vice President Mike Pence explained to reporters in a joint news conference at the White House what the travel ban entails.

Iran is already under a travel ban, but we are expanding existing travel restrictions to include any foreign national who has visited Iran within the last 14 days, Pence said. In addition to Iran, we are going to increase to the highest level of advisory  which is level four  advising Americans do not travel to specific regions in Italy and South Korea.

He added that the president had also directed the State Department to work with our allies in Italy and in South Korea to coordinate a screening  a medical screening in their countries of any individuals that are coming into the United States of America.

Trump said 22 people in the U.S. had the virus and that more cases were likely. However, some 62 people are believed to be infected with the virus.

Unfortunately, one person passed away overnight, Trump added. Additional cases in the United States are likely but healthy individuals should be able to fully recover. If youre healthy, you will probably go through a process and youll be fine.

A man in his 50s from Washington state with underlying health conditions died late Friday.

Trump stressed that there was no reason to panic at all.

Responding to a reporters question, Trump also said the U.S. was considering restrictions at the Mexican border as well. However, he later added that this is not a border that seems to be much of a problem right now.

Italy has at least 1,128 confirmed cases and 29 deaths, and France with 100 cases has reported two deaths, according to The New York Times. In Australia, there are 25 confirmed cases, and the first death from the virus was reported Sunday.

At least 19 confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported in the U.K., whose Foreign Office has advised against all but essential travel to 11 locked-down towns at the center of the Italian outbreak.

Around the world, there are about 87,000 cases, the majority of them in China, where the virus originated last year. At least 2,976 people have died from the disease  2,870 in mainland China, and 106 in other parts of the world.

Willow Creek Germany had to end its three-day leadership summit in Karlsruhe, southwest Germany, a day early last week after a speaker tested positive for coronavirus. Willow Creek said in a statement in German on Twitter that the speaker, who has not been named, was not at any time present during the summit and that there was no risk to delegates.

As more than 50 countries have reported cases of coronavirus, the World Health Organization has upgraded the global risk of the outbreak to very high. However, WHO clarified that there was still a chance of containing the virus if its chain of transmission were broken.

The international evangelical humanitarian agency World Vision is spending millions to provide assistance to nearly 400,000 people in China. Sponsoring over 55,000 children and employing 300 staffers in China, World Vision is one of the largest humanitarian aid organizations operating in the country.
The OPEC + oil cartel and its international partners, including Russia, will likely agree to production cuts this week. But will they be big enough? Is the coronavirus going to end up cutting demand for oil to the point that crude oil falls to $30 a barrel?

Any doubt that the coronavirus health emergency isnt going to turn into a pandemic is gone. The Trump administration has been leaning on the World Health Organization (WHO), Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the National Institute of Health (NIH) the past two weeks to keep them from declaring the coronavirus (COVID-19) a pandemic.

The politics underlying the response to the international health crisis would already be declared a pandemic if it were measured in economic terms. Supply chains between the United States and Asia are collapsing, as is the demand for oil and natural gas.

Saudi Arabias OPEC officials have been begging Russia in the lead up to this weeks OPEC meeting to share a cut of 3 million barrels of oil a day and were only able to get an agreement on a shared cut of 600,000 barrels a week.

This week when ministers from the oil-producing countries of OPEC and their allies, including Russia, meet to decide on a new round of output cuts, that if not cut by 3 million barrels of oil will almost guarantee a nose-dive to US$30-$35 a barrel. Russia has been unwilling to participate because its economy would sink into a deep recession. That would mean Putin would be forced to choose between his military buildup and keeping Russian citizens employed and fed.

Saudi Arabia hopes to convince its biggest non-OPEC ally Russia of the need to make deeper cuts in production, but their success in doing so is NOT a foregone conclusion.

The looming pandemic has already crushed the price of oil worldwide. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude is now firmly below $50 a barrel and global benchmark Brent briefly followed fell below $50 a barrel on Friday. That is uncomfortable territory for producers everywhere and, without a clear indication of deeper output cuts from this weeks meetings, prices will fall further.

The coronavirus is spreading quickly and has suddenly locked down Italys industrial heartland and prompted Switzerland to ban large gatherings.

Despite the undeniable spread of the virus, oil producers like Russia appear to be clinging to overly optimistic demand assessments that existed pre-coronavirus. OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo, gave a speech at a conference in Saudi Arabia last week, foolishly observed that despite the new coronavirus, the worlds thirst for energy will continue to grow. By sticking to that corrupted line of thinking, he made getting the 3 million barrel a day cut in oil supply to the world market much harder to get Russias cooperation.

The reality may be oil consumption at pre-coronavirus will return in 6, 12 or even 24 months, anyone at this point with any understanding of oil demand and the coronavirus understands a quick rebound in oil demand isnt going to happen.

This crisis is so out of the norm that it seems Russia and other oil-producing members of OPEC are still banking on any drop in oil production to be very temporary because annual average global oil demand has fallen in only three of the past 36 years.

Before the coronavirus outbreak, assessments from the three main forecasting agencies showed 2020 oil demand growth, running close to a million barrels a day. But, all three agencies made their predictions of oil growth before WHO raised its warning over the danger of the deadly virus to the second-highest level.

Meanwhile, by contrast, veteran energy consultants FGE cut their forecast for growth this year to almost zero. Some experts think we will see negative growth in oil demand in 2020.

FGE and other bearish oil analysts base their pessimism on the ripple effects of the virus beyond China, where traffic volumes in affected cities have already slumped, according to data from the TomTom Traffic Index. The fact is panic is setting in many cities around the world. Traffic, as measured by live data, show that traffic volumes in Beijing are well below normal levels, even as the city is reportedly returning to work. Panic in Vancouver, Washington State, Los Angeles, is set in with consumers running to their local supermarkets and stocking up on essentials capable of allowing them to self-quarantine for 14-30 days.

In Wuhan, the center of the epidemic in China, there is evidence of things returning to normal; economic activity remains severely curtailed. There is no sign of traffic picking up yet on Wuhans roads. A NASA satellite that took an infer-red snapshot of China shows the dramatic reduction of air pollution, showing most of Chinas manufacturing air and traffic pollution has vanished.

JBC Energy, one of several respected energy consultants, has cut global demand growth for the fuel to just 50,000 barrels a day this year, little more than a third of what they saw a month ago.

However, the economic showdown visible to the NASA satellite is also starting to take hold in other parts of the world. The four-week average jet fuel demand in the U.S. has dropped by a whopping 18% in the past ten weeks. Now with travel bans between Italy and other areas of the world being imposed by the Trump Administration, we could see demand for Jet fuel fall by 30% over the next four weeks.

Airlines on an ongoing basis are cutting scheduled flights in response to the danger of the coronavirus, and the numbers of passengers plummet.

A friend of mine who flew to Italy told me that the flight he took to Rome and back on a 4-day business trip was 1/3 full and on the way back was so empty he was allowed by the aircrew to move from tourist to first class without using a coupon for the upgrade.

People are thinking twice about making international and even domestic trips because theres no guarantee those flying with them arent infected. Flight schedules are and will no doubt will be cut further. This will clobber fuel demand.

TomTom figures show the impact of the virus on traffic in Milan after its discovery in northern Italy show that rush-hour traffic in the famous populous city has already fallen by 25%, as fewer cars and trucks take to the roads. Given the quarantines being put in place around northern Italy, theres concern that another 25% in traffic will follow this week. People are freaking out.

A similar pattern is emerging in OPEC nation Kuwait, where the virus has spread from neighboring Iran.

Kuwait and Iran Stops Driving

COVID-19 sends a driver fleeing from Kuwaits and Iranian roads as the virus spreads. Russia and OPEC+ may not like the prognoses, but the truth is any hopes that demand will rebound last this year in a robust enough way to offset the first-half slump are built on shaky foundations. The flights that have been canceled are canceled and not postponed.

The oil ministers of the 23 nations in OPEC+ later this week can choose to ignore the data and reality that we are in the early stages of a pandemic that will cripple oil production. By ignoring the reality of the coronavirus spread, they will fail in coming up with a credible plan that will take the 3 million barrels off the market to keep the price of oil above $50. Especially is Russia continues to resist making the needed cuts.

With Russian cuts comes a familiar problem even if they agree with cutting 3 million barrels of production a day as part of OPEC+. Russian compliance at best has been poor, but Saudi Arabia seems willing to accept Russias cheating in return for the perception and publicity of Russias presence and agreement if only as a public relations tool. The insanity of this position will not help the price of oil hold its current level. We could see $40 crude by the end of this week, regardless of what OPEC+ agrees to cut. Past meetings lead OPEC+ watchers to the belief that at best OPEC+ will cut an additional 1 million in oil in daily oil exports at most.

One other factor to consider is this weeks OPEC+ meeting will is scheduled in Vienna but could be suddenly transformed into a virtual meeting online gathering instead of being canceled. Analysts Emily Ashford and Paul Horsnell from Standard Chartered said in a report.

The cost of failing to cut daily oil production will leave the market vulnerable to a short-term swing below $30 a barrel,

How these analysts have determined this is a short term event is at best wishful thinking and not based on facts. The fact is oil traders will remain hard to convince that producers are doing enough or reacting quickly enough. Traders are not positioning themselves for a short-term correction; the action in the oil market implies a much longer time horizon.

Oil Traders are not ignoring Saudi Arabias oil supplies to China are set to fall by a third in March while demand is withering. Even Saudi Arabia is pressing OPEC+ producers to agree to a collective production cut of only an additional 1 million barrels a day. As the author of several books and an oil analyst for over 20 years, anything less than a 3 million a day cut in production is not likely to prevent the approaching nose-dive in the price of oil.
Rahul Gandhi owes it to Congress to resume leadership: Ashwani Kumar

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Mar 01: Rahul Gandhi owes it to the Congress to resume presidentship and dispel uncertainty about the future leadership issue as the party does not have the luxury of time, former law minister Ashwani Kumar said on Sunday.

Kumar noted that as long as the Gandhis choose to remain active in the Congress, the centrality of their role "is a given" and only if Rahul Gandhi decides not to relent, can another leader be chosen "through consensus and not elections".

In an interview to PTI, Kumar said, "Given the ground realities of politics in the country today, I think Rahul Gandhi owes it to the party to resume leadership, inspire party persons and win the trust of the nation in the better tradition of the public."

The Congress veteran noted that the almost unanimous opinion is for Rahul Gandhi to succeed interim Congress president Sonia Gandhi and he should be "directed to do so, if required".

"We do not have the luxury of time. In these days of shifting political loyalties people will not wait endlessly for us to get our house in order," he said.

"The uncertainty on future leadership needs to be dispelled. It is already late as if today is yesterday. If necessary, a direction can be given to Rahul Gandhi to assume leadership," Kumar said, adding that Sonia Gandhi had accepted only to remain as the interim president.

He said the opposition unity in the country, which is a prime need today, can be facilitated only by the Congress as a catalyst. "The urgency of settling the leadership question within the Congress is therefore apparent and evident," Kumar said.

Asked if Rahul Gandhi, having suffered electoral setbacks in the recent past, can rejuvenate the party, Kumar said he certainly deserves to lead the party once more.

"We know that at this point of time the almost unanimous opinion is for Rahul Gandhi to succeed Sonia Gandhi. It is true that he did not do well in 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections and that is why he tendered his resignation.

"But his political priorities are anchored in idealism and I am sure if and when he returns as Congress president, he will address the organisational shortcomings," Kumar said.

He rejected suggestions of some his colleagues who are seeking organisational elections to settle the leadership issue and said consensus is the best way forward.

"I doubt very much whether, through an election by itself, we can strengthen the party's organisation given the present constitution of the electoral college. Elections are no guarantee of the party's rejuvenation. They tend to be divisive and are known to leave bitterness behind," Kumar said, noting that the top organisational structure of the Congress has always been built on consensus.

On the question that Rahul Gandhi himself batted for a non-Gandhi to succeed him, Kumar said the unanimous view is that Rahul Gandhi should take over the Congress.

"We know that when Rahul Gandhi resigned and a process was initiated to identify other leaders, not a single name emerged as an alternative. Under these circumstances, there is ample justification for insisting that Rahul Gandhi accepts the responsibility to lead the Congress. If he chooses not to relent only then should a leader be found through consensus," Kumar said.

The former Rajya Sabha MP rejected BJP's charge of dynastic politics in the Congress, saying the Gandhis have been baptized by fire.

"The charge of dynastic politics is totally wrong, considering that the leadership of the Gandhis has been tested in the public arena in tough electoral battles. The Gandhis have been baptized by fire so to say," he said.

Kumar added that the future president of the Congress will have to win the trust of the people and the nation.

The Gandhis had an emotional connect with the party and as long as they are active, the centrality of their role "is a given", he said.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Sunday, March 1, 2020, 19:01 [IST]
Sana Shakil By

Shifas last memory of her father Mudassir Khan is a video call. But at least, the 15-year-old has a memory. Mudassirs youngest daughter Inaaya is all of 15 days  too young to know her father, who was killed in the orgy of mindless communal violence that erupted in the northeastern part of Delhi last Sunday.

Thirty-five-year-old Mudassir, a small-time scrap dealer in old Mustafabad, has left behind his old parents, a loving wife, eight daughters, and dreams of seeing his two teenaged daughters become a doctor and a teacher. His wife Imrana is determined to preserve the memory of their marriage but is unsure how she would help realise the dreams of her husband.

He would never fight with anyone. Our marriage of 16 years was perfect. I have studied only till Class 8. How will I take care of them? Nobody has offered me any support, Imrana says at her home in Old Mustafabad.

On February 24, Imrana and her mother-in-law Kaisar Jahan repeatedly urged Mudassir not to leave home for work. But being the sole breadwinner in the family, he perhaps did not have the luxury of sitting at home and losing out on business. He left home, stayed at a relatives place for the night at Kabir Nagar. He was shot dead while coming back home next day.

Family of deceased Mudassir Khan that includes his 8 daughters the youngest being just 15-days-old- is struggling to process the loss at Old Mustafabad in New Delhi. (Photo | Shekhar Yadav, EPS)

Papa called mummy and daadi on the 24thHis last call was a video call with mummy and me on the 25th. His hand was injured... He said the situation was worsening, said Shifa, the eldest among eight siblings.

Everybody is trying to console us. Everyone is trying to make sense of it, added her sister Fiza, 13, struggling to hold back tears. Papa used to hug me every day, said Shifa. Fiza recalls how Papa would tease her about her weight.

In another locality, Maujpur, another 15-year-old, Khushi is too disconsolate to even talk. Her father Vir Bhan, was shot dead by rioters on February 24 when he was going to get medicines for his wife.

Khushi, who a relative says was her fathers favourite child, is still battling to come to terms with the loss. Bhan is survived by an ill wife, a 25-year-old daughter who got married recently, and a 20-year-old son, apart from Khushi.

Imrana with her 15-day-old daughter Inaaya. (Photo | Sana Shakil)

ALSO READ | Fringe right-wing group calls off proposed protest against Shaheen Bagh stir

The stories of Shifa, Fiza and Khushi echo across many households on both sides of the divide. In at least four other cases, the children are aged between nine months to 15 years old.

While families have been left distraught, the children who lost their fathers are staring at a bleak future.

Some distance away at New Kardam Puri, five-year-old Wania and barely two-year-old Moosa refuse to eat without their abbu. Wania is in fact certain that her abbu, Furqan, a small scale handicraft artisian, who was hit by a bullet when he went out to get groceries, will return on her birthday. Moosa, who was hiding behind the curtains, walks towards the uncle who returned after offering prayers for his brother at the graveyard. Climbing on to his lap and hugging uncle Imran, Moosa stutters, Papa ke paath le talo (Take me to father). Imran breaks down upon hearing Moosas demand and tears start rolling out from Moosas eyes too. Moosa steps down and again goes back to hiding behind the curtains.

Two-year-old Moosa with his uncle Irfan (Photo | Sana Shakil)

The kids are shocked. We do not know how to break the news to them. But we think they might have begun to make sense of the tragedy. Their mother is in shock and kids see her crying. Wania has gone very quiet and has high fever. said the victims sister Shabana.

Lane after lane in north east Delhi, where some of Delhis poorest people live, the same sort of apprehensions about the future haunts these affected households. Five-year-old Zainab looked clueless of what was happening around her at home in Kabir Nagar. Wearing a blue salwar kameez, she roamed around with her cousins. Moments after her father Ishteyaques body was taken away for burial. Nafisa, mother of the 26-year-old Ishteyaque, says Zainab repeatedly asks her to make phone calls to Ishteyaque, who like many other victims of the recent communal violence was the sole breadwinner of the family. Ishteyaque, a small-time electrician, was the third among four siblings--two elder sisters and a younger brother, who got married 15 days ago.



As women from the locality keep streaming to console the grieving family, children take turns to hold less than 2-year-old Zaid, Zainabs younger brother, who is blankly looking at her mother Zeba, who has maintained a stoic silence since the news of her husbands death.

Ishteyaque wanted to give his children a good life. He was very happy after enrolling Zainab in school but now that he is gone, what will happen to them? We dont know if we will be able to give them three meals a day forget sending them to good schools, Nafisa says.

A one-room rented house of 27-year-old Babbu in Khajuri Khass Sri Ram Colony is reeling under a similarly painful story. Auto driver Babbu was fatally assaulted on February 25 by unidentified men and the macabre video of that assault has gone viral. Babbu is survived by his sick parents, disabled wife Shehnaz and three children7-year-old Shifa, 4-year-old Shadaab and 9-months-old Sameer.

Family members of Auto Driver Babbu who was killed in the communal riots. He is survived by his parents, wife Shehnaz and three minor children. (Photo | Shekhar Yadav, EPS)

Shadaab and Shifa have also seen the horrific video of in which their father has a blood-soaked face and is being repeatedly hit by rods and canes. He went out thinking he will be able to earn some money. He used to come home for lunch every day and this is what he was doing that day too when he was caught by the mob. I called him and asked him to return home. He agreed and said the situation was becoming more tense, Babbus mother Tehsina says, while recalling the last conversation with her son.



The 26-year-old Shehnaz, who is partially deaf-dumb and has a disability from the waist, keeps on caressing Shadabs hair, who is charmingly sitting between her mother and grandmother who is putting his younger brother Sameer to sleep. Shadaab playfully repeats what Tehsina saysnames of all family members and then tells her he wants to go out. When relatives keep pouring to inquire and make discreet inquires of when the body would arrive from GTB hospital, he jumps down from the bed, ready to follow elder sister Shifa who went out with a few other kids but before leaving, he says, Uncle ne papa ko dande maara haikhoon nikla.



Tehsina and Shehnaz start weeping upon hearing this. We have not told the children what happened but other relatives may have seen the video in front of Shadab. What future will they have? Babbu wanted his children to study in a private school and wanted to buy a house. I and my husband are old and sick. We will die soon. What will happen to them? Shehnaz is disabled, Tehsina says.

Just as Zainab and Shadaab, many others-- including the children of Alok Tiwari, Deepak Kumar, Dinesh Thakur, Furqan, Mohammad Irfan, Mubarak Ali, Musharraf, Rattan Lal and Sanjeet Thakur--are struggling to process the loss.

While time may heal their wounds on the surface, the shock of seeing their loved ones being brutally murdered, their houses being gutted and their universe being turned upside down can see many of these children left traumatised through their lives.

It takes a lifetime to heal

With the latest communal violence being compared with the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, this newspaper spoke to some of the victims who were children at that time and are still scarred by the memories of the horror that was unleashed in the capital over 35 years ago.

Mohinder Singh, now a businessman, was an 11-year-old when the genocide of the Sikhs riots took place.

Singh saw his father Ameer Singh being assaulted to death by a frenzied mob in Paharganj on November 5, 1984, when the family was trying to flee to Punjab to save their lives.

He still gets nightmares about the day but says he has not given up on humanity.

I still remember the horrific incident and even the slogans that my fathers killers were chanting. My mother was a housewife till the time he was alive, but to feed me and my five siblings, she started working. How else could we have survived? We were removed from private schools and put in government schools. I could not complete my education as being the eldest, I wanted to help the mother in running the house. It has been very difficult but we learnt to survive. We hold no enmity against any community, says the 47-year-old.

Ishteyaque, a small-time electrician, was the third among four siblings--two elder sisters and a younger brother, who got married 15 days ago. (Photo | Sana Shakil)

Nirpreet Kaur, who was then a 16-year-old, has been providing assistance to the victims of 1984 riots. She says politicians and police are to be blamed for the riots then and now. Nirpreet, who witnessed her father being butchered and her house being reduced to ashes, says it takes a lot to move on.

The riots changed my life and the lives of thousands of people. We had all the amenities and suddenly we became beggars, but the biggest loss was of my fathers life. It takes decades and sometimes a lifetime to move on. Our wounds are yet to heal and the politicians have now done this to hundreds of families in North East Delhi. I would appeal everyone to come and help the families, especially the children, of the recent violence.

The TNIE also spoke to some survivors of the 2002 Gujrat riots who were minors at the time and are now adults. Whether the traumatic experience of a riot festers communal feelings in young minds or not, it can definitely leave some of them struggling throughout their lives to reconcile with their loss.

Shareef Khan, whose mother Khairun Nisa, elder brother Salim Khan and uncle Safdar Khan were killed in Ahmedabads Gulberg Society is now 31 years old and says he is still struggling to come to terms with the tragedy.

Shareef, who was then a 13-year-old boy and has lived in a relief camp for about two years says, I have never visited the area where they were killed and I get nervous around strangers. I was very close to both my mother and my brother. I just hope and pray that what I faced, no one else faces that kind of trauma.

Ibrahim, now working as an executive with a multi-national company was a 12-year-old when mobs attacked his family and burnt down his house in Gujrats Behrampura during the 2002 riots. Ibrahim says painful memories of the riots still haunts him, he avoids discussing the topic with Hindu friends and is struggling get over the past. My parents and many relatives suffered serious injuries. I saw men being shot dead. Nobody was spared. We left that neighbourhood and never returned but the scars seem permanent.

Psychological support must

Experts agree that the kind of frenzy seen in the latest riots can leave the children scarred for their life. While those in the position of authority have already faltered on controlling the situation in time so as to prevent casualties, the least they can do now is provide succour to the children to come out of the psychological trauma.

According to psychologists, the impact of violence on children increases with direct exposure and society  government, relatives, mediatogether needs to ensure that children are not reminded of the violence. Several videos have emerged showing how the violence has wrecked the lives of hundreds of people.

Experts have called for banning of telecast and circulation of videos showing violence.

We need to have a government set-up in violence-hit areas where people should be provided psychological support and government should be stringent in banning all forms of videos showing violence. People do not know the kind of damage they are causing by circulating these videos which young children have easy access to, said Dr Kushal Jain, Director, Centre for Behavioural Sciences.

He added that discussing traumatic incidents before children should be avoided.

It is difficult, but we need to protect the children. Relieving those incidents, again and again, will create painful memories that will be difficult to forget and move on in life. Some children may get over it and realise that it could happen to anyone but some will latch on to these for life and constantly blame the other community for destroying their lives. This is something that can be a new source of fanaticism in the country, if not dealt with properly, Jain said.
Authorities in Ohio searched the woods near a casino Friday and Saturday after receiving a tip regarding Dulce Maria Alavez, the missing 5-year-old girl from Bridgeton.

The search occurred near the Hollywood Gaming casino and horse race track in Austintown, Ohio, police Sgt. Richard John told NJ Advance Media on Sunday. Austintown is approximately 70 miles south-east of Cleveland.

Police searched the area with K-9s but did not find anything, John said. He said he did not know if they would resume the search on Monday.

The search, John said, occurred after the public library and the Hollywood casino received letters that Dulce could possibly be in that area. The sergeant did not have any additional information about the contents of the letters. He said an investigation was ongoing to determine if the letters were mailed or dropped off.

Bridgeton Police Chief Michael Gaimari confirmed on Sunday that he received information about the search in Ohio.

Theres no reliability to the tip at this point," he said. Theres no information in the investigation that would lead us to Ohio.

Dulce has been missing since she disappeared during a family outing to Bridgeton City Park on Sept. 16. She vanished while playing on the playground with her 3-year-old brother, as her mother, Noema Alavez Perez, sat in her car.

Authorities have searched the park and surrounding areas numerous times since her disappearance. There have also been a number of community-organized searches.

In October, police released an image of a man they wanted to speak with who was spotted in the park that day with two kids under the age of 5 around the time Dulce was reported missing.

Gaimari, speaking at a council meeting in January, said police have investigated 5,000 leads and have analyzed cellphone data and video gathered from the area of the park.

We are still optimistic that the child is alive and will remain that way, but I would say that we have made significant progress in the past four to five weeks on the matter, Gaimari told the council.

A sign requesting information hangs at the tribute to Dulce Maria Alavez in Bridgeton City Park, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020.Al Amrhein | For NJ Advance Media

Meanwhile, an online petition urging officials to install surveillance cameras in the Bridgeton City Park has nearly 800 signatures. Jackie Rodriguez, a family spokeswoman, said an additional petition has more than 1,000 signatures.

Authorities say Dulces family continues to cooperate in the investigation.

Dulces disappearance has made headlines around the country and in December, her mother shared her story on the Dr. Phil TV program. The shows star, Phil McGraw, announced he was contributing to the reward for information in the case, bringing the total up to $75,000.

Authorities have asked anyone with information about Dulce asked to call the New Jersey State Police Missing Persons Unit at 609-882-2000, ext. 2554, or the Bridgeton police at 856-451-0033. Tips may also be phoned in to 1-800-CALL-FBI and select option 4, then select option 8.

Anonymous tips may be sent by text to TIP411 with Bridgeton in the message line.

Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattGraySJT. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
Nick Sandmann from Covington Catholic High School stands in front of Native American activist Nathan Phillips while the latter bangs a drum in his face in Washington on Jan. 18, 2019. (Kaya Taitano via Reuters)

Nick Sandmanns Lawyers Say Theyll Sue 5 Additional Media Companies

Covington Catholic student Nick Sandmann will file lawsuits against five more media outlets regarding a viral incident that took place at the March for Life event in 2019.

His attorneys filed a status report with the U.S. District Court in Covington, stating that they are looking to file complaints against ABC, CBS, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and newspaper operator Gannett before March 9, according to local media reports.

All of the future defendants listed above have published or republished statements made by Nathan Phillips and others that Nicholas blocked or otherwise restricted Phillips free movement and would not allow Phillips to retreat at the National Mall on January 18, 2019. Nicholas reserves his right to file complaints in this is Court or any other court against any other potential defendant not listed above, subject to the applicable statute of limitations, their report said, WLWT and Fox19 reported.

Sandmann filed suits against the Washington Post, CNN, and NBC, seeking $800 million. In January, CNN agreed to a settlement for an undisclosed sum, according to Sandmann and his lawyers. A federal judge in Kentucky dismissed the Post lawsuit, but a portion of the suit was reinstated months later.

A video showed Sandmann and Nathan Phillips, a Native American activist, face-to-face following the event. Sandmann, who was wearing a Make America Great Again hat, was the subject of social media scorn after out-of-context snippets of the encounter were shared en masse online.

Nick Sandmann, wearing a Make America Great Again hat, looks at Nathan Phillips, a Native American anti-President Donald Trump activist, in Washington on Jan. 18, 2019. (Survival Media Agency via AP)

The initial video showed the self-identified Sandmann and Phillips, an indigenous man who was participating in a separate march.

The incident unfolded after a March for Life anti-abortion event in Washington as Sandmann and other students from the religious private school in Kentucky were waiting for their bus near the Lincoln Memorial. They were approached by several Native American activists who were taking part in the Indigenous Peoples March at the Lincoln Memorial on the same day.

The encounter was extensively covered by media, many of which initially used short video clips that made it appear as though the students were chanting and cheering in mockery of one of the activists.

Other video footage showed Phillips approaching the high school students before banging his drum within inches of Sandmanns face, who responded by smiling. Videos and photos of Sandmann face went viral, often with little added context.

CBS, ABC, Gannett, the Rolling Stone, and The New York Times have not responded to a request for comment.

Petr Svab contributed to this report.
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: The Empowered Committee headed by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has given clearance to 36 projects worth Rs 15,000 crore in the last two meetings alone, said Industries Minister MC Sampath adding that this would provide job opportunities to about 23,000 people in the State.

In the last 10 months alone, the State has attracted 63 new projects through the Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) that were signed at the Global Investors Meet- 2019, the minister said in his inaugural address at the CII Tamil Nadu State Annual Meeting 2019-20 and Conference on Building Endurance in a Challenging Business Environment organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here on Saturday.

He also said that out of 304 MoUs signed at the GIM 2019, as many as 59 projects have already started production and 209 MoUs are in various stages of implementation. He lauded the CII for partnering with the state government in organising awareness sessions and programmes on Ease of Doing Business across the State.

All the approvals for new projects and expansions have now been made online and investors need not submit any documents manually, the minister said and added, A special cell for investment promotion has been set up at the chief ministers office for speeding up all projects.The minister said the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) is formulating a Fin-Tec City near Chennai which will improve the services of banking and financial sectors.

In his keynote address, K Shanmugam, Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary, said the State has shown tremendous growth in terms of industrial development recording 8.17 per cent, while the nation recorded only 6.8 per cent growth. In his special address, N Muruganandam, Principal Secretary-Industries Department, Tamil Nadu government, said the State has a diversified manufacturing base for all types of industries and is leading the pack of other States in terms of the competitive nature of business and economic growth. He said the State has land banks for all types of non-polluting industries and the chief minister is reviewing the working of the high-power committee with regard to land acquisition and paying quick and adequate compensation to the landowners who are parting with their lands.

CM announces Rs 1 lakh solatium to 18 families

Chennai: Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has announced Rs 1 lakh solatium each to 18 families, who lost members in various mishaps, from the Chief Ministers relief fund, a press release on Saturday said.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Sam Reeves and M. Jegathesan (Agence France-Presse) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  Sun, March 1, 2020 06:34 680 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206775376 2 SE Asia #Malaysia,#politics,Mahathir-Mohamad,Muhyiddin-Yassin Free

Malaysia's political crisis deepened Saturday after 94-year-old Mahathir Mohamad rejected a decision by the king to pick his rival as the next prime minister, insisting he had enough backing to return to the role.

Ex-interior minister Muhyiddin Yassin was earlier named for the job by the monarch, who appoints the country's premiers after deciding who has backing from MPs, signalling a defeat for Mahathir and the return of a scandal-plagued party to power.

It capped a week of turmoil that began when Mahathir's "Pact of Hope" alliance collapsed and he resigned as prime minister following a bid by his rivals to form a new government and push out leader-in-waiting Anwar Ibrahim.

Their alliance stormed to a historic victory in 2018 that broke the six-decade stranglehold on power of a corruption-riddled coalition, but it was riven by infighting over who should succeed the world's oldest leader.

The victory of Muhyiddin and his coalition, which is dominated by the country's ethnic Malay Muslim majority, was a shock as Mahathir had appeared to be in the lead, and it sparked widespread public anger.

Not only does the win remove a democratically elected government but it also signals the return to power of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the scandal-plagued party of disgraced ex-leader Najib Razak.

UMNO was the lynchpin of a long-ruling coalition toppled from power at historic elections two years ago amid allegations Najib and his cronies looted state fund 1MDB. Najib is now on trial for corruption.

The coalition also includes a hardline Muslim party pushing for tougher Islamic laws in Malaysia.

Addressing supporters outside his Kuala Lumpur house, Muhyiddin said: "I urge all Malaysians to take the decision that has been made by the palace today well."

The palace earlier said the king believed Muhyiddin had enough support and he would be sworn in Sunday.

- Not My PM -

But after meeting his political allies, Mahathir said he had received the backing of 114 MPs to be prime minister -- above the required number of 112 -- and released a statement listing their names.

Mahathir said he would send a letter to the king explaining this, and added the number of MPs that Muhyiddin claimed to have supporting him was "not accurate".

Anger was growing at the surprise decision to name Muhyiddin premier and allow UMNO back into power. The hashtag NotMyPM was trending on Twitter, and a small group of protesters gathered in downtown Kuala Lumpur.

"These are not the people we voted for," one protester, who only gave her surname Soon, told AFP, as chants of "long live the people, rise up" rang out.

"These are not the people who were given the democratic mandate two years ago."

The political crisis began when a group of ruling coalition lawmakers joined forces with opposition parties in a bid to form a new government without Anwar and stop him becoming premier.

After the government fell, Mahathir was appointed interim premier and he and Anwar initially launched separate bids for power, reviving their old rivalry.

But as Muhyiddin's bid quickly gained support and it became clear that he could get into power with UMNO, Mahathir and Anwar did a volte-face and joined forces again on Saturday.

A growing number of their allies threw their support behind Mahathir to become premier -- but it was too little, too late.

The "Pact of Hope", a ragtag band of opposition groups, was uneasy from the start. It saw its popularity fall rapidly as it faced criticism it was not doing enough to protect Muslims' rights, and it lost a string of local elections.

Muhyiddin, 72, was a member of UMNO for many decades and held a string of senior posts. He was deputy prime minister in Najib's government, but Najib sacked him after he voiced criticism of the 1MDB scandal.

He is seen as a Malay nationalist and once sparked anger by saying he was "Malay first" and Malaysian second -- a controversial remark in the country of 32 million which is also home to substantial ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities.
West Bengals ruling party Trinamool Congress (TMC) hit back at union home minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Amit Shah after he stung the Mamata Banerjee government on a range of issues and called for its toppling in the 2021 Assembly elections.

Rather than coming and preaching #Bengal @AmitShah you should have explained and apologised for failing to save more than 50 innocent lives in #DelhiViolence right under your nose. Mr. Shah, Bengal is better off without bigotry and hatred that BJP is trying to spread, Abhishek Banerjee, the chief ministers nephew and the TMC youth wing chief, wrote on Twitter.

Incidentally, Shah, during his speech at Kolkata Shahid Minar ground on Sunday afternoon had taken a dig at Abhishek Banerjee without naming him. In an obvious reference to him, Shah accused Mamata Banerjee of indulging in dynasty politics and called for an end to the nephews corruption.

Corruption has spread across the party - from the nephew to the sarpanch (chief of panchayat), Shah had said.

Shah had also said that no Shahzada and Rajkumar - both meaning crown prince - would become Bengals next chief minister.

The political temperature in Bengal is rising ahead of the April-May civic polls, considered a bellwether for the 2021 assembly polls in the state.

Shah on Sunday claimed that BJP, which has emerged as Bengals second-most-powerful party by bagging 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats, against 22 won by TMC, will form the next government in the state with a two-thirds majority.
The Pennsylvania Legislature, one of the nations largest, has no problem spending taxpayer money.

Explaining where that money goes? Thats another matter.

Lawmakers are quick to invoke secrecy protections on spending connected to meetings with constituents, lobbyists, other legislators  even, sometimes, when theyre picking up a pizza to take to a meeting at an elementary school. Or a meeting with Eagle Scouts.

Those are some of the findings of an investigation by The Caucus and Spotlight PA. The two news organizations teamed up to request financial records, seeking a closer read on one facet of the peoples business: With whom are legislators meeting, and why?

A pizza party seems like a trivial thing to have to report, but dont lose sight of the big picture  seeing how legislators conduct themselves and with whom they consult is not. Its a window into how laws are made, whos pressing for a committee vote, how business is done.

Thats especially important in a Legislature that has long been dominated by one party, whose leaders exert iron-fisted control over what gets out of committee and into law.

The Caucus and Spotlight PA asked to see records on legislative expenses, except for salaries and benefits, from 2017 through 2019. Many of the supporting documents came back with vague descriptions of expenses. Others were redacted to the point that the purpose of a meeting was unknowable.

The flimsy rationale for this secrecy is a clause in the state constitution known as legislative privilege  essentially, a wide latitude for lawmakers to speak and debate without fear of retribution.

An attorney for the House said releasing the redacted information on meetings and related spending would interfere with the legislatures independence and unbalance the constitutional equilibrium among the three branches of government.

The freedom to speak ones mind without worry of legal blowback is an important, necessary privilege for elected officials. Shielding the details of expenditures  the Legislatures annual spending budget is $360 million  is flat-out wrong, no matter how anyone tries to dress it up or defend it.

There is good reason to redact information such as bank account numbers and home addresses. But hiding the nature of lawmakers meetings for which money is spent? Please. Read the constitution.

Heres the relevant clause cited by lawmakers and their lawyers:

The members of the General Assembly shall in all cases, except treason, felony, violation of their oath of office, and breach or surety of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the sessions of their respective Houses and in going to and returning from the same; and for any speech or debate in either House they shall not be questioned in any other place.

Nothing about fudging the explanation of public expenditures.

David Cuillier, president of the National Freedom of Information Coalition, said using constitutional speech protections this way is a huge stretch.

They need to buck up, have some backbone, and be accountable, he said.

Remember, this is a legislature that largely exempted itself from the states public records law.

In a similar investigation last year, The Caucus and Spotlight PA found many details of campaign spending were not reported publicly, making it difficult for voters and donors to see how campaign money was spent.

Thanks to these two organizations for doing the critical legwork, in an era when few newspapers have the resources to tackle investigative initiatives on their own.

Will voters recognize the secrecy that passes for open state government and demand change? Thats a tough nut to crack.

One way to begin to change the culture of complacency in Harrisburg is to get fairer competition in elections  by ending gerrymandering. That issue is in play now. People should find out where their senators and representatives stand, and hold them accountable.
Panaji, March 1 : A Russian national was arrested by the Goa police on Sunday, for growing cannabis on the terrace of his rented house in the beach village of Morjim in North Goa.

A Goa Police spokesperson said nearly 33 kg of cannabis plants worth Rs 1.65 crore were seized from the accused Vassily Rakhmanov's house in a raid.

"He was cultivating cannabis on the terrace of his house in Morjim village. He had arrived in Goa in November this year and is on a tourist visa," the spokesperson said.

Rakhmanov has been booked under section 20(a) of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances act.
Putin holds phone calls with Rouhani, Macron

The recent developments in Syria were the main topic of the phone conversation between Putin and Macron, according to the statement by the Kremlin.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday discussed the situation in Syria in separate phone talks with his Iranian counterpart Hasan Rouhani and Frances Emmanuel Macron.

Putin and Rouhani discussed in detail the rising tensions in Syrias northwestern province of Idlib, the Kremlin said in a statement.

SYRIA ISSUE WAS ON THE TABLE

"Detailed consideration was given to the developments in Syria in the context of increasing tensions in the Idlib de-escalation zone. The two leaders expressed their shared opinion that the full implementation of the Astana format agreements is needed, it said.

Furthermore, Putin extended his condolences to Rouhani over the loss of lives in Iran due to the coronavirus and expressed readiness to render help in curbing the spread of the infection.

The two leaders also discussed the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal.

"Vladimir Putin told the President of France about steps taken to fight terrorists in Syrias northwest. In addition, the humanitarian situation in that area was discussed. The President of Russia said that all current aspects of a Syrian settlement are to be substantively discussed in Moscow at the Russia-Turkey summit [] in the coming days," the statement said.
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.
According to organizers, the event brought 4,800 participants to the lakefront and into the chilly waters. Observers lined the shore of North Avenue Beach by 10 a.m., with many onlookers dressed for the sudden sunshine in beanies, sunglasses and thin jackets. Temperatures on the shoreline reached 56 degrees, said Jake Petr, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. The mild temperature was a result of southwestern winds bringing moisture into the area, Petr said.
By Sunday evening, more than 500 people arrived on Greeces eastern Aegean islands of Samos, Chios and Lesbos.

Lesbos, Greece  Refugees arriving on the island of Lesbos on Sunday told stories suggesting the Turkish government co-opted people smugglers in its policy of ushering asylum seekers west in Europe.

A group of 28 Syrians and people of several African nationalities sat on the beach near the Mytilene airport under the watchful eye of police, waiting to be taken for registration.

I was in church with my wife and the smugglers came to church and told us that if we wanted to go to Greece we could get on a boat for free. And we went with him to the beach and got on the boat, a Congolese man told Al Jazeera without stating his name.

A man from Sierra Leone happened to be walking past the beach at the time. I asked if I could go and they said, You can go. I didnt have to pay anything, he said.

The rubber dinghy that the men arrived in was bobbing in the shallows. Police removed its outboard engine.

These experiences suggest that Turkish smugglers have been co-opted to pursue a government policy of pushing people west, but it is unclear who is paying the smugglers.

Greek government spokesman Stelios Petsas said in a statement, Instead of curtailing networks of people smugglers, Turkey has itself become a smuggler.

By Sunday evening, more than 500 people had arrived on Greeces eastern Aegean islands of Samos, Chios and Lesbos in 13 separate boats, and rescue operations were continuing.

200226120551774

It was a significant rise on the 151 who arrived by boat on Saturday, and the first day of significant arrivals since Turkey opened its borders towards Europe on Thursday.

Greece closes the door

In its most dramatic reaction during the crisis to date, Greeces prime minister announced he was freezing asylum applications following a meeting of the National Security Council.

As of now, we will not be accepting any new asylum applications for one month, Kyriakos Mitsotakis tweeted on Sunday evening. Greece is already processing 125,000 applications and appeals.

Greece is also invoking Article 78 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which allows the EU to provide Greece with assistance in an emergency situation characterised by a sudden inflow of nationals of third countries.

Petsas described the influx of refugees since Thursday as a sudden, massive, organised and concerted pressure of population movement from the east.

This [population] movement is being encouraged and directed by Turkey, against its obligations under the EU-Turkey Statement, Petsas said.

The Statement, signed in March 2016, committed the EU and Turkey to protect their common borders and accept returns of third-country nationals who do not qualify for protection.

The government has also announced that due to its concerted and deliberate nature, the latest influx of refugees has nothing to do with international asylum law, which only concerns individual cases.

Greece will, therefore, start deporting new arrivals to their home countries whenever possible, without identifying them and recording their arrival, as is the usual procedure.

Uncontrolled flows

Sundays ramped up arrivals on Lesbos were not enough to create a logistical problem for the authorities, but enough to make some of the people of the island anxious that they may once again face the type of uncontrolled refugee flows experienced in 2015.

Much has changed since then. Germany is no longer opening its doors to undocumented asylum seekers, and there is a barbed-wire fence stretching across Greeces northern border.

The EUs relocation programme, under which other bloc states took on some of Greeces asylum-processing burden, is gone.

This time refugees will have nowhere to go but Greece, which is already processing 125,000 applications and appeals.

Islanders at Thermi on Lesbos prevent refugees from disembarking after the coastguard towed their stricken dinghy [John Psaropoulos/Al Jazeera]

Some local residents blocked police vehicles from Moria camp, where new arrivals are normally registered. Others massed at the small fishing harbour of Thermi to prevent refugees from disembarking from a dinghy the coastguard towed there.

Residents of Lesbos are not just angry that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has attempted to weaponise refugees by directing them towards Europe.

They are angry at the Greek government for not having a more effective policy, after coming to power last July promising to put migration under control.

Part of the New Democracy governments harder refugee policy has been to allow their numbers to build up on the islands as a way of discouraging further arrivals.

200214215806963

Their numbers on the islands of Lesbos, Chios, Leros, Kos and Samos, which have reception centres, have more than doubled since the election eight months ago to 42,000.

The government talked about evacuating people, and instead theyve allowed people to pile up. Our quality of life has not improved, municipal councillor Tasis Balis told Al Jazeera.

We cant use the hospital as we did before. We dont have the personnel and equipment to pick up the extra rubbish. When refugees queue up at the ATM, we cant get to it.

Just waiting

The government is trying to cycle people off the islands by speeding up their asylum processing. It has drawn a line under all the applications filed last year, and has asked the asylum service to process all new ones in under two months, in an effort to send rejected applicants back to Turkey as quickly as they arrive.

This has created unhappiness among older applicants and caused them to riot earlier this year.

We had an interview this month, 26 February, but they dont take interview. They say we only take interview from people from this year and we have an interview in 10 months, Abdul Habib, an Afghan man, told Al Jazeera. He and his wife and two underage sons are living in a tent pitched in an olive grove at Moria camp.

It is also now anyones guess whether Turkey will honour its word to receive returnees, given the new political climate. Turkey and the EU signed a mutual exchange of illicit migrants in March 2016.

Even those who receive asylum have to wait to leave Lesbos. Safir and his family qualified for asylum because he worked as a security guard for US forces in Afghanistan.

Weve all received asylum. Were just waiting for the tickets to leave. Weve been waiting two months, he said.
Click here to read the full article.

Some were bemused earlier this month when Joaquin Phoenix used his entirely expected Oscar win as a less predictable occasion for an impassioned animal-rights plea: It was certainly the first time bovine artificial insemination had been discussed amid the glitter and glistening tears of Hollywoods biggest night. What we didnt know, however, was how neatly the actors speech would dovetail into his next screen credit: as an executive producer on Victor Kossakovskys simple but entirely astonishing documentary Gunda. Its not hard to imagine his words as the unspoken subtext to this wholly dialogue-free animal character study, in which an enormous sow on a Norwegian farmyard embarks on an emotive arc of motherhood without any need for human voiceover or twee anthropomorphism: just the still, searching power of an attentive camera.

The clear breakout title of this years inaugural Encounters competition at the Berlinale, Gunda was astutely snapped up for North American distribution by Neon, which has form in handling crowdpleasing eco-docs, following last years hit The Biggest Little Farm and the Oscar-nominated Honeyland: Given the right festival-circuit buildup, this unique arthouse item could follow the trajectory of either, or both. It should easily be the highest-profile release yet for Kossakovsky, the dynamic Russian nonfiction formalist who has become something of a pan-European auteur in the last decade, and whose recent, Sony Classics-steered Aquarela  a mighty, globe-trotting study of water in multiple, shifting forms  set the precedent for his latest exercise in wordless earthly observation.

More from Variety

Story continues

Shot by the director and Egil Haskjold Larsen in sharply textured, high-contrast black and white on farms in Norway, Britain and Spain  though all its fields and pens feel of a piece thanks to the rich monochrome treatment  Gunda might seem, on the face of it, no match for the soaring, Planet Earth-style wonderment of Aquarela. Yet its unusually intimate point of view proves spectacular in its own right. A piglet may be cuter than a waterfall, though were pulled up short on our awwwws as the realities of farm life come to the fore. Without visible human interaction, Kossakovsky treats common farm animals as subjects, not objects, of intense fascination and empathy: a crucial distinction in a film that sets out to challenge our societys perception of livestock as, well, less live than stock.

Though the films gaze will eventually take in magnificent cattle and a doughty one-legged chicken with equal awe, its focal point  or star, if you will  remains the eponymous Gunda, a majestic mother pig introduced in languid chiaroscuro close-up as her many newborn piglets struggle out of her, clamber over her, and suckle voraciously at her teats. Its a few minutes before we directly see her face: To her children, shes a resource rather than a being, just as pigs are to the humans who exploit them rather differently for nourishment. The absence of any narration (or, indeed, any emotionally leading music score) allows the viewer to ponder such ironies and cruelties at their own pace. Kossakovsky isnt out to lecture or confront his audience with moral rhetoric or shock imagery, but to encourage understanding of farm animal life as its being lived  not just valuable at the point of death.

This has previously been achieved, of course, in such fictional porcine adventures as Babe and E.B. Whites Charlottes Web. Shorn of any humanized fantasy, Gunda arouses protective sentiment merely by showing the pigs drab everyday routines, which turn oddly riveting at close quarters, as the piglets grow, play, guzzle and instinctively separate into ranks  with one forlorn runt left lagging. Gunda, for her part, appears to weather the demands of child-rearing with as much exhausted, exasperated good humor as any new mother, though she stays broadly on top in any power struggle between her and her restless brood.

Kossakovsky and his team achieve this fluent, tactile naturalism through some ingeniously disguised artifice, often shooting the pigs in a more camera-equipped reproduction of their pen; Alexandr Dudarevs extraordinary sound design intricately blends diegetic and repurposed sources to create the sense of a farm buzzing and chattering with life, even with its human residents permanently out of view. Segments on the aforementioned underdog chicken and the cows  given a marvelous cinematic entrance in charging slow-motion as theyre set free from barn to pasture  contribute to this tapestry, though arent given the crisp, clean narrative clarity of Gundas story, which we know cant end happily. Kossakovsky frames the inevitable with both tactful restraint  rest assured this is G-rated material throughout  and stark, quietly wrenching impact, as the first (but still faceless) human imposition is made on this pastoral idyll.

To describe Gunda as any kind of pro-vegan screed, however, would be to misrepresent the ruminative, poetic delicacy of its approach. Its radiantly beautiful imagery and gently immersive storytelling arent in service of a single browbeating message, but a broader, holistic view of where we and the animals we rear, use and consume fit into a single circle of life. Charlotte, the calligraphically talented spider of the classic childrens novel, saved piglet Wilburs bacon by weaving the words some pig into her web, though the phrase was ambiguous and double-edged: Did they mean he was one hell of a pig, or just any old porker? Gunda similarly labels its heroine, though it doesnt much matter whether shes some pig or some pig: Perhaps a little more consideration is due either way.

Best of Variety

Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Ayodhya, March 1 : Clearing of the Ram Janmabhoomi site in Ayodhya has begun with heavy earth-moving machines moving into the 67.7 acre premises, marking the beginning of the process of Ram temple construction.

Chief priest of the makeshift temple, Acharya Satyendra Das, told IANS on Sunday morning, "It is a memorable moment for Hindus as we are now looking forward to temple construction at last. Machines have begun levelling land and clearing bushes and heavy thickets." Ram Lalla idols will be shifted 150 metres from the sanctum sanctorum of the makeshift temple to Manas Bhawan and placed in a bullet proof fibre structure till the temple is constructed.

The Ram Janmabhoomi site also houses more than 12 ancient temples, including Ram Janmasthan and Sita Rasoi, which are in ruins.

No rituals are performed here since 1993, when land was acquired by the Centre.

Dr Anil Mishra, a trustee, said, "The Trust will decide the fate of these shrines and on restarting worship in the temples." Sources said that a decision is to be taken whether these 12 temples would be a part of the grand Ram temple or relocated elsewhere.

Meanwhile, in a related development, Triloki Nath Pandey, 76, designated as the 'next friend' of Ram Lalla Virajman and decree holder of Ram Janmabhoomi as mandated by Supreme Court, has suffered a massive heart attack at his Karsewakpuram residence in Ayodhya.

He has been shifted to AIIMS, Delhi, where his condition is stated to be critical.

Ram Lalla Virajman is the infant Lord Rama who moved the Allahabad High Court in 1989 through his then 'next friend' and former Allahabad High Court judge Justice Devaki Nandan Agarwal.

After Agarwal's death in April 2002, a petition was filed in the High Court urging T.P. Verma, retired BHU professor, to be appointed as 'next friend' of Ram Lalla Virajman.

In 2008, Verma applied for retirement from the status of 'next friend', citing old age and ill health. Thereafter, Pandey was appointed as 'next friend' or 'sakha' of Ram Lalla Virajman in 2010. Pandey is also organisational secretary of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.
THE DALAI LAMA: An Extraordinary Life Author: Alexander Norman Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Price: $30 Pages: 410 Dalai Lama is a foreign title. Tibetans refer to him with names like Precious Protector, Wish-Fulfilling Jewel and the Presence. The divide between the Tibetan Buddhist world  which often has included China and Mongolia  and the world beyond has rarely been of particular consequence to the Dalai Lamas, until this one, the 14th, who is the first to spend most of his ...
Reading, PA (19601)

Today

Brisk and cold with a mix of clouds and sun. There might be a stray flurry or snow shower later in the day, mainly north of the area..

Tonight

Partly cloudy, breezy, and bitterly cold. Wind chills close to 0 degrees. There might be a flurry or snow shower, especially north.
It's not every day you see a Hollywood superstar wandering through an airport proudly holding on to his girlfriend... and a beluga whale.

But heres Nicolas Cage, 56, doing just that at JFK Airport in New York on Friday.

He clearly couldnt resist bringing the cuddly souvenir home  along with new partner Riko Shibata  after a trip to Atlanta and a visit to the citys aquarium.

Nicholas Cage, dressed in a grey suit, holds hands with his new girlfriend Riko Shibata while carrying a beluga whale toy from the Atlanta Aquarium

The pair were arriving at JFK Airport in New York City. The actor wore fedora and shades

The Face Off star tried to go incognito in fedora and shades but who could ignore that big beluga?

Anneka Rice nearly killed off her career before it began  by running over a pedestrian in her car in Hong Kong, at the age of 19. She was working on a TV news show and had to take over from an ill newsreader.

I was so nervous I ran someone over on the way to the studio. Suddenly in slow motion a mans face appeared across my window.

Luckily for her, the man was uninjured and she was taken by police car to make her first broadcast  rather than ending up in jail.

Villains galore at France's Oscars

Actress Eva Green  striking star of hits including Dumbo  looked every bit the Disney villain as she attended Frances equivalent of the Oscars in Paris in this sultry, Gothic outfit.

Eva Green, 39, poses at Le Fouquet's, France's equivalent of the Oscars, on Friday in Paris. She looked every bit the Disney villain in her gothic feathered black gown

But biggest villain of the night was director Roman Polanski  even though he won best director gong for his film An Officer And A Spy. Several actresses walked out of the ceremony in protest because Polanski was convicted in 1977 of raping a 13-year-old.

Polanski, now 86, fled the US after the conviction and did not attend the Paris event, fearing a public lynching. Protesters lit flares and clashed with police outside the concert hall where the ceremony took place.

Eva, 39, was not seen walking out, although she may have been struggling to get out of her seat in such a tight, ornate gown...

My lips are sealed, but...

Which hugely famous  and multi-talented  TV star and comic is considering doing a Phillip Schofield and coming out publicly? They reckon it could be a savvy move after the positive response Phil received.
 Flash

China is committed to strengthening cooperation against the novel coronavirus and other health challenges facing the globe, including those in Africa, a Chinese diplomat has said, while also praising international and regional solidarity with China since the outbreak.

China has made remarkable progress in the battle against the coronavirus, and leaders of over 170 countries and more than 40 international organizations such as the United Nations have expressed solidarity with, sympathy and support for the country, Chinese Ambassador to Ethiopia Tan Jian told a press conference in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa on Friday.

The ambassador suggested that international and regional cooperation be expanded, and that good communication with the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as information and experience sharing with relevant countries be continued.

Considering the declining trend of new cases and the rising numbers of recovered patients in China as positive signs, Tan expressed optimism over China's prospects for economic growth.

Although there will be a moderation in economic growth for the first quarter, he said "we are confident that the economy will also bounce back. China will meet its economic and social development goals this year. It is our firm belief that China will prevail over this epidemic and emerge stronger."

"China has made significant sacrifices. Our containment and mitigation efforts are paying off. The situation is witnessing positive changes across the country," he said, noting that the WHO said the epidemic in China, which peaked and plateaued between Jan. 23 and Feb. 2, has been declining steadily since then.

"The Chinese government attaches great importance to international cooperation. The Chinese side has always followed the principles of openness, transparency, and acted with a responsible attitude with regard to international cooperation on COVID-19. In doing so, China has earned respect and support globally," Tan said.

Noting China-Africa cooperation in public health has been going on for many years, Tan recalled that the Chinese government and people gave the continent a hand in its fight against the Ebola outbreak in 2014, braving difficulties and dangers and offering help by sending medical personnel, equipment and medicine.

As China is combating the new virus, African countries and people have also provided it with various forms of support, which vividly illustrates the brotherly friendship between both sides.

"Noting that African countries are also facing many challenges in epidemic prevention and control, China is willing to provide them with more medical supplies that are urgently needed, including test kits," the ambassador added.

Speaking of the international students in central China's Hubei Province, the epicenter of the epidemic, the ambassador said that there are more than 5,400 international students in the province.

"The Chinese government attaches great importance to the safety, health and well-being of foreign nationals in China. The Foreign Ministry and other competent authorities have directed relevant local departments to do their level best to address difficulties encountered by foreign nationals," he said.
ANUS H A RAV I By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: A day after the Union government notified the Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunals final order in the gazette, the Karnataka government has started making preparations for its implementation. Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, who thanked the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Union government for the notification, said that substantial allocation will be made in his 2020-21 Budget for works related to the Mahadayi drinking water project.

About 3.5 tmcft of water from Mahadayi will help solve drinking water issues in Hubballi- Dharwad and neighbouring districts. This will help in irrigation too. After years of protest, movements, demonstrations and sacrifices, the notification has been issued, thanks to Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shahs efforts in talking to the Union Jalashakti Minister.

We will set aside a huge sum of money for the Mahadayi-related projects in this budget and ensure that the works are completed at the earliest. I would like to give this assurance to the farmers of that region, Yediyurappa said. Water Resources Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi said that given the sensitivity around the issue, people, politicians and the media should refrain from sensationalising it.

Expect CM to allot huge funds: Jarkiholi

We wholeheartedly thank PM Modi and the Union Government. We will begin works to implement the tribunal order without further ado. We will file a revised detailed project report for the Mahadayi hydroelectric project at the earliest and get their approval. A total of 13.42 tmcft of water has been awarded to Karnataka, 33.39 tmcft for Goa and 1.3 tmcft for Maharashtra, he pointed out. Of Karnatakas share, 1.72 tmcft of water is to be diverted to Kalasa and 2.18 tmcft to Bhandura dam for drinking water purposes. Another 1.5 tmcft of water is set aside for in-basin usage.

The biggest allocation of 8.02 tmcft has been made for the Mahadayi hydroelectric project, but that water can be used only after a revised Detailed Project Report is approved and all necessary clearances are obtained. Jarkiholi, accompanied by cabinet colleague Jagadish Shettar and a host of leaders from North Karnataka, met the CM on Friday to seek sizeable allocation for the Mahadayi-related projects. He also expressed confidence that works can be taken up immediately.

We had sought for funds of at least Rs 200 crore for Mahadayi-related works even before the Supreme Court order, directing gazette notification, was passed. The CM readily agreed to it. We are sure he will allot much more than that, Jarkiholi said. Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi too met BSY on Friday morning to congratulate him over the Mahadayi notification. I have requested that an allocation of at least Rs 400 crore be made for Mahadayi in the upcoming budget, the Union minister said after the meeting.
There was a significant spike in the total of confirmed coronavirus cases in the UK on Sunday - less than 10 days before the scheduled start of the Cheltenham Festival.

Chief Medical Officer, Professor Chris Whitty, reported that the number of positive tests for the virus has risen to 35 after 12 new patients were identified in England.

Whitty said three patients were close contacts of a known Covid-19 case that was transmitted within the UK - believed to be a Surrey resident - while another new patient, from Essex, has no relevant international travel to an affected area.

Of the eight remaining cases, six had recently travelled from Italy - while two had been in Iran. These patients are from London, West Yorkshire, Greater Manchester, Hertfordshire and Gloucestershire - where the Cheltenham Festival is due to begin on March 10.

As of 9am on Sunday, more than 11,000 people have been tested for coronavirus in the UK.

The British Horseracing Authority confirmed the latest position of an industry steering group, set up for racing during the outbreak, in a statement on Friday - stressing there remained "no need to develop a policy" in relation to the abandonment of any specific fixtures.

Read More

The statement read: "The industry group continues to liaise closely with government and plan for a range of contingencies.

"We would encourage everyone in racing to focus on the government's advice on personal health and their advice to employers and businesses. These are the actions that in the view of public health experts are the most important at this stage.

"Speculation about potential actions from government or racing, whilst wholly understandable in the circumstances, may simply distract from the advice on which the population is being asked to focus.

"At present racing continues as usual and the sport remains in agreement that there is no need to develop a policy regarding abandonment of any specific fixtures due to coronavirus at this time.

"We will continue to speak to government and should a situation arise where this is required then the sport has established mechanisms in place for handling such scenarios."

Three meetings in France this week are to take place behind closed doors in a response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Some major sporting events have already been affected - with Ireland's Six Nations match against Italy called off and the Chinese Grand Prix, which was scheduled to take place in April, also cancelled.
Greek police fired tear gas to repel hundreds of stone-throwing migrants who sought to force their way across the border from Turkey on Sunday, witnesses said, with thousands more behind them after Ankara relaxed curbs on their movement.

It was the second straight day of clashes at the border crossing by the northeastern Greek town of Kastanies in which police drove back approaching migrants with volleys of tear gas.

Greece had placed its borders on maximum-security footing earlier on Sunday after hundreds of other migrants used porous crossing points to enter the country.

At least 500 people had arrived by sea on the Greek islands of Lesbos, Chios and Samos close to the Turkish coast within a few hours on Sunday morning, police said.

Along the northeastern mainland border, some migrants waded across a shallow section of the Evro River to the Greek side. Witnesses said there were groups of up to 30, including an Afghan mother with a five-day-old infant, by the side of a road after having forded the river.

The clashes occurred later in the day at the Kastanies crossing after riot police reinforced security there. No further details were immediately available as police were escorting reporters away from the scene, citing safety considerations.

Expand Close A group of locals prevent migrants on a dinghy with a damaged engine from docking at the port of Thermi, after crossing part of the Aegean Sea from Turkey to the island of Lesbos, Greece, March 1, 2020. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp A group of locals prevent migrants on a dinghy with a damaged engine from docking at the port of Thermi, after crossing part of the Aegean Sea from Turkey to the island of Lesbos, Greece, March 1, 2020. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

A Greek government source said some migrants blocked from crossing had also thrown metal bars and hand-held tear gas canisters at police on the Greek side.

Turkey said on Thursday it would no longer restrain hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers in its territory from reaching Europe, their preferred destination, despite a commitment to do so under a deal reached with the European Union in 2016.

Turkey's turnabout came after an air strike killed 33 Turkish soldiers in neighbouring northwest Syria where Ankara has deployed forces to help secure its border against a new influx of refugees from the Syrian civil war.

Turkey has said funds promised by the EU to help it deal with 3.7 million Syrian refugees already in the country has been slow to arrive; Ankara had threatened several times in the past to open the floodgates if it did not receive more support.

Its announcement that it had stopped containing migrants within the country triggered an almost instant rush to the border it shares with EU member state Greece.

The crisis poses the toughest test for Greece since 2015 when it came precariously close to bailing out of the euro zone, and, more ominously, brings into sharper focus long-standing tensions with Turkey.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was to chair a meeting of the national security council later on Sunday. An automated text message sent to mobile phones in the northern border areas of Greece said the country had increased its security to a maximum, urging people not to attempt to enter.

Greece's Skai TV said Greeks had taken to using loudspeakers in the Kastanies border area to tell migrants, in English and Arabic that they were not welcome: "The Borders are Shut!"

Greece was the main gateway for hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers into Europe in 2015-16. More than 40,000 migrants are stuck on the Aegean islands, living in severely overcrowded camps and filthy conditions, angering local residents.

Greece has vowed to prevent another mass influx of migrants. "This country is not a free-for-all," Migration Minister Notis Mittarachi told Greece's Ant1 TV.

A Greek government source put the number of people gathered on the Turkish side of the border on Sunday at 3,000, while the International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimated the number at 13,000.

"Yesterday there were 9,600 attempts to violate our borders, and all were dealt with successfully," deputy defence minister Alkiviadis Stefanis told Greece's Skai TV.

"Not only are they not stopping them, but they are helping them," he added. Greece has spoken of an orchestrated attempt to breach its borders and accused Turkey of actively guiding migrants.

The EU said it was supporting Greece and its neighbour Bulgaria, which also has a border with Turkey - in protecting the 27-nation bloc's outer frontiers.

It also gave condolences to Turkey over the deadly air strike and said it was ready to step up humanitarian support.

In unscripted remarks at his Sunday blessing on the refugee situation, Pope Francis, who visited Lesbos in 2016, said: "I am a bit saddened by the news about so many displaced people, so many men, women and children thrown out because of war. In these days the situation has become much more serious."

No migrants had so far tried to cross into Bulgaria from Turkey, but tensions were escalating at Turkish-Greek crossing points "very close" to Bulgarian territory, therefore Sofia had bolstered its own frontier patrols against any illegal entry, Defence Minister Krasimir Karakachanov told national radio.
Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/Getty

Republicans gathered at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday to cheer on their conservative heroes. But they also had an opportunity to shame GOP politicians they deemed not pro-Trump enough, casting ballots for the phoniest conservative lawmaker.

Next to a stuffed donkey with a fake elephants snout, attendees voted for the likes of former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who led the ballot count as of Thursday afternoon. One prominent GOP Trump critic wasnt an option, thoughbecause everybody already knew hed win in a landslide.

Of course you cant have Romney out here, said the CPAC organizer running the vote, who declined to give his name on the grounds hed be fired. Hed get all the votes.

CPAC chief Matt Schlapp banned Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) from the annual conservative confab in January after Romney cast the sole Republican vote in the Senate for impeachment, claiming that he couldnt guarantee Romneys physical safety. And while there was no evidence that Romney would actually have been at risk on Thursday, CPAC-goers still raged about their partys former presidential nominee, with Romney often seeming as much a target at CPAC as the Democratic presidential candidates.

Speakers repeatedly slammed Romney from the stage. Trump ally Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) asked the crowd whether theyd prefer Romney or Trump at the conferenceto cheers in favor of the president. Schlapp declared that snubbing Romney had worked out just fine.

On Thursday morning, young conservative star and Turning Point USA chief Charlie Kirk encouraged a crowd to boo Romneys name every time they hear it.

Every time his name is mentioned you should react this way, Kirk said. Because he lied to every single person in this room.

Kirk portrayed Romney as a dinosaur of the pre-Trump GOP, to whoops from the crowd.

Trump Spends 45 Minutes With Deep State Play Actors Amid Coronavirus Mayhem

Story continues

The party of Mitt Romney was a party that did not fight, Kirk said. It was a party that wanted to preserve the ruling class.

CPAC attendees claimed to be just as sick of their partys one-time standard bearer.

I never liked him, and Im glad hes not here, said Diane Ventura, who was at CPAC to sell Trump Towels, a commemorative towel modeled on the Pittsburgh Steelers Terrible Towel.

That is the most jealous man on the planet, agreed Dion Cini, a fellow Trump Towel vendor.

Romney was also a target for the conservative pundits roaming the floor at CPAC. Newsmax host John Cardillo claimed Romney voted in favor of impeachment just to position himself as a Never Trump foil to the president.

He wanted that dubious distinction, Cardillo said.

Sinclair host Eric Bolling summed up Romneys status as CPACs enemy No. 1.

He should switch parties, Bolling said.

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.
File image

Days after communal riots hit north-east areas of the national capital, Delhi Police imposed Section 144 in Shaheen Bagh on March 1, reports suggest.

News agency ANI quoted Joint Commissioner DC Srivastava, who was at Shaheen Bagh, as saying that it was a precautionary measure.

As a precautionary measure, there is heavy police deployment here. Our aim is to maintain law and order and prevent any untoward incident from occurring, Srivastava said.

Imposition of Section 144 came amid possibility of a fringe right-wing group, Hindu Sena, protesting against the ongoing stir at Shaheen Bagh.

This, even as Hindu Sena said on February 29 that it had called off their proposed protest against.

In a statement, the Hindu Sena said that police pressured them to call off their peaceful protest on March 1. It also claimed that their national president Vishnu Gupta was "illegally detained".

However, police said that no one was detained and the organisation called off their protest after a conversation with senior officials.

"The proposed protest call was cancelled with timely intervention. But as a precautionary measure, we have made heavy police deployment here," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast) RP Meena said.

Twelve companies, including two of female forces, have been deployed in Shaheen Bagh, 100 men each from four police districts have also been deployed along with the local police, the official said.

Protesters at Shaheen Bagh, mostly women and children, have been staging a sit-in for over two months against the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed pan-India National Register of Citizen (NRC).

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 will not be treated as illegal immigrants and will be eligible for Indian citizenship. The law excludes Muslims.

Those opposing the amended law say it discriminates on the basis of religion and violates the Constitution. They also allege that the CAA, along with NRC, is intended to target Indias Muslim community.

However, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government has dismissed the allegations, maintaining that the law is intended to give citizenship to the persecuted people from the three neighbouring countries and not take away citizenship from anyone.

The sit-in itself has become contentious with many claiming that protesters are blocking an arterial road. The matter is currently before the Supreme Court of India (SC).

(With inputs from PTI)
The Trump administration's peace deal with the Taliban opens the door for an initial American troop withdrawal that Defense Secretary Mark Esper sees as a step toward the broader goal of preparing for potential future war with China.

Esper has his eye on great power competition, which means staying a step ahead of China and Russia on battlefields of the future, including in space and in next-generation strategic weapons like hypersonic missiles and advanced nuclear weapons. He sees China in particular as a rising threat to



American predominance on the world stage.

To do more to prepare for the China challenge, Esper wants to do less in Afghanistan, Iraq and other places. It's less about moving troops directly to Asia from elsewhere in the world, and more about reducing commitments in lower-priority regions so that more military units can train together at home on skills related to conventional warfare.

Predecessors in the Pentagon have had similar hopes, only to be drawn back to crises in the greater Middle East. In the past year alone, the U.S. has sent an extra 20,000 troops to the Middle East, mainly due to worries about Iran.

With President Donald Trump's emphasis on ending America's wars against extremists and insurgents, including in Afghanistan, Esper wants to bring home as many troops as he thinks he prudently can so they can prepare for high end warfare.

Stephen Biddle, a policy analyst and a Columbia University professor of international and public affairs, is sceptical that the Pentagon will be able to fully shift away from Afghanistan and other regional hot spots like Iraq, recalling that the Obama administration tried the same thing also with China's rise in mind in the 2011-2014 period.

The trouble was the Islamic State burst onto the scene, in Iraq and Syria, Biddle said in an interview, and lo and behold it was right back to a focus on the Middle East and small wars."



In remarks Saturday in Kabul, Esper kept the focus on prospects for a complete U.S. withdrawal, while cautioning that the United States will not hesitate to strike what he called terrorist threats in Afghanistan if the Taliban falters in its promise to prevent extremist groups to use Afghan soil to launch attacks on the homelands of the U.S. or its allies.

We still have a long way to go, Esper said. Reducing U.S. troops levels in Afghanistan to zero is our ultimate objective, he said, but added that it will take many months."



Late last year, Esper said he would be willing to reduce troop levels even if no deal could be made with the Taliban.

I would like to do that because what I want to do is reallocate forces to the Asia-Pacific region, he said at the Ronald Reagan National Defense Forum in December. He said he wants to do the same thing in the Mideast, Africa and Europe.

All of these places where I can free up troops where I could either bring them home to allow them to rest and refit and retrain or/and then reallocate them (to the Asia-Pacific region) to compete with the Chinese, to reassure our allies, to conduct exercises and training, he said.

The Pentagon has not publicly spelled out a precise timetable for troop reductions in Afghanistan, but Esper has said the peace deal signed Saturday in Doha, Qatar by American officials and Taliban representatives triggers the start of a drawdown from the current total of nearly 13,000 to about 8,600, similar to the number Trump inherited when he entered the White House three years ago.

The reduction won't happen immediately; it will be carried out over a period of several months and could be slowed, stopped or even reversed if peace prospects turn sour.

The whole thing is dependent upon conditions and dependent upon Taliban behavior, Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a former commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, told a House committee on Wednesday.

A U.S. withdrawal, while conditioned on Taliban compliance, raises questions not just about the country's stability but also the prospects for continuing to combat non-Taliban extremists such as al-Qaida and the Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan.

Some in Congress, including Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, are pressing Pentagon officials for assurances that they will not cooperate or coordinate with the Taliban as a counter-terror partner.

It would be lunacy, Cheney said Wednesday, to trust the Taliban, which was running Afghanistan and harbouring al-Qaida when U.S. forces invaded in October 2001.

As part of the negotiated deal with Washington, the Taliban promised not to let al-Qaida use the country as a staging ground for attacking the United States or its allies.

If the peace process succeeds and the US ends up withdrawing entirely, it might opt for an over-the-horizon counterterrorism force. In that case, US special operations troops would be stationed in one or more nearby countries such as Uzbekistan and slip in and out of Afghanistan when necessary to monitor or to attack al-Qaida or IS fighters.

It was the Taliban's close association with al-Qaida, after the terrorist group led by Osama bin Laden carried out the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, that prompted President George W Bush to invade Afghanistan a month later.

US force levels in Afghanistan ebbed and flowed over the years.

Early on, the Americans hoped that a small force could keep a lid on al-Qaida and train an Afghan army. But from about 2,500 troops at the end of 2001, the force jumped to about 22,000 five years later.

President Barack Obama ballooned the number from about 34,000 at the start of his first term to 100,000. By the time he left the White House the number had dropped to 8,400.

Trump entered office in January 2017 with no appetite for continuing the Afghan stalemate. He was persuaded, nonetheless, in August 2017 to add several thousand troops as part of what he called a new strategy for the region.

That included designating Zalmay Khalilzad, a former U.S. ambassador to Kabul, to lead negotiations with the Taliban that eventually produced Saturday's deal and a chance for the United States to move beyond Afghanistan.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez decided to match wits with Ted Cruz, which is about like me challenging Tyson Fury to duke it out. Along the way, Ocasio-Cortez claimed that she hold[s] awards from MIT Lincoln Lab and others for accomplishments in microbiology. Wow, sounds impressive, right?

Sen. Cruz, while I understand you judge peoples intelligence by the lowest income theyve had, I hold awards from MIT Lincoln Lab &others for accomplishments in microbiology. Secondly, Im surprised youre asking about chromosomes given that you dont even believe in evolution. https://t.co/vOIwJhpl7q  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 28, 2020



It turns out that her accomplishment in microbiology consists of a second-place finish in a high school science fair:

That microbiology award from MIT that AOC is bragging about was second place at a high school science fair  pic.twitter.com/hhivMZqee1  Cabot Phillips (@cabot_phillips) February 28, 2020



I look forward to the time when there is a single Democratic Party politician who is not an utter fraud. But that day is not this day.
: DMK President M K Stalin turned 67 on Sunday with several leaders, including Rahul Gandhi of the Congress, wishing him.

Pro-poor welfare activities and camps for aspiring job-seekers by the party marked the day following Stalin's request not to celebrate the occasion as veteran DMK leader K Anbazhagan was not keeping good health.

"My best wishes to @mkstalin on his birthday. May he be blessed with good health and happiness always," Gandhi tweeted.

Besides the former Congress President, among those who greeted the DMK chief were Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanaswamy and VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan.

Stalin, also Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly, had requested cadres not to celebrate his birthday in view of the hospitalisation of 97-year old Anbazhagan. He had also asked partymen not to call on him on Sunday.

Senior party leaders including former State Minister K N Nehru, T K S Elangovan, MP R S Bharathi issued video message extending their birthday greetings to Stalin.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Anger against the Aam Aadmi Party is increasing throughout the state. This anger against the party is being seen with the proposal of sending slaughtered foreign-born cows to Abattoirs. Workers of BJP and Hindu organizations are demonstrating in many places in the state. AAP MLA Aman Arora tried to present this proposal in the Assembly three days ago. It was also strongly opposed by Congress, Akali Dal and the BJP in the Assembly. Now many Hindu organizations including BJP have come on the streets.

This agreement with Afghanistan was achieved only when the Taliban tried for peace: Pompeo

In Patiala, Sangrur, and Gurdaspur, there was a protest against the Aam Aadmi Party on Saturday. During this, the effigy of AAP MLA Arora was also burnt. Earlier on Friday, there was a strong protest in Moga, Ferozepur, and Hoshiarpur. People gathered and demonstrated at Bhagwan Parshuram Chowk on Rajpura Road under the leadership of BJP District President Harinder Kohli in Patiala. The protesters said that Aman Arora has hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus by making such a statement. There should be strict legal action against them. Kohli said, "The cow has been given the status of the mother in Hinduism and he suspects that Arora is a Hindu, who gave a statement to send Gomata to the abattoir. Their DNA test should be done."

Indians will have to pay extra amount to live in America

In his statement further, District BJP President Suresh Mahajan in Amritsar said that Aman Arora is inciting the religious sentiments of all Indians in the country. The result will be very serious. The faith of Indian society is associated with the Go dynasty, whether it is of indigenous race or foreign. This proposal of AAP MLA has threatened goodwill in the state. Legal action should be taken against such MLA by registering a case for inciting religious sentiments. State Animal Welfare Officer-1 of the Indian Animal Animal Welfare Board (Government of India) and Dr. Sandeep Kumar Jain, Head of People for Animals Ludhiana has strongly condemned this proposal. He said that politicians should not distinguish between indigenous and mixed breed go dynasty.

Melania says this on great reception in India
DealNet Capital Announces Debenture Offering

TORONTO, ONTARIO  (Marketwire)  11/14/12  DealNet Capital Corp. (the Company) (CNSX: DLS)(PINKSHEETS: GAIMF) is pleased to announce a proposed non-brokered offering of convertible unsecured debentures (Debentures) for aggregate gross proceeds of up to $1,500,000. The Debentures will mature on the date that is three (3) years from the date of issuance (if not otherwise converted) and bear interest at a rate of 12% per annum, which shall be paid quarterly in arrears. The Debentures shall be convertible into common shares of the Company (Common Shares) at a conversion rate of $0.20 per share at any time prior to the earlier of the maturity date or the redemption date. The Company will have the right to redeem the Debentures, in whole or in part, from time to time, on not more than 60 days and not less than 15 days prior written notice at a redemption price equal to 100% of their principal amount plus any accrued and unpaid interest.

The proceeds of the Offering will be used to implement management-s business plan, which includes business development, corporate marketing initiatives, project specific infrastructure and general working capital purposes. It is anticipated that the Debentures and Common Shares issuable upon conversion of the Debentures will be subject to a four-month hold period from the date of closing. The Company will pay a finder-s fee equal to 5% in cash of the gross amount invested by accredited investors introduced to the Company by registered dealers.

DealNet Capital Corp. is a public company that trades under the symbol DLS on the Canadian National Stock Exchange and under the symbol GAIMF on the Pink Sheets of the Over the Counter Bulletin Board. In general, the Company is a merchant banking company that has a flexible investment mandate with a strategic focus on recurring revenue businesses. The company has recently focused its investments towards the thriving North American Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Market as well as the Consumer Financing Market by leveraging its recently acquired BPO division. The Company continues to look for acquisition opportunities in these key markets in order to continue to drive competitive advantages and growth.

ON BEHALF OF DEALNET CAPITAL CORP.

For additional information please visit .

Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements with respect to the Corporation. These forward-looking statements, by their nature, involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated. We consider the assumptions on which these forward-looking statements are based to be reasonable, but caution the reader that these assumptions regarding future events, many of which are beyond our control, may ultimately prove to be incorrect. These statements involve risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, DealNet-s ability to successfully develop and market its products, consumer acceptance of such products, competitive pressures relating to price reductions, new product introductions by third parties, technological innovations, and overall market conditions. Consequently, actual events and results in future periods may differ materially from those currently expected.

The Canadian National Stock Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contacts:

DealNet Capital Corp.

Mr. Graham Simmonds

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Direct: +1-416-843-2881
Iran Coronavirus Cases Rise Again; Trump Says U.S. Ready To Aid Iran If Asked

03/01/20

Source: RFE/RL

Iranian officials have announced another jump in confirmed cases and deaths from the coronavirus that is causing global havoc since its outbreak began in central China late last year. Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur told a televised news conference that 385 newly confirmed cases of the COVID-19 illness in Iran brought the total to 978. Eleven new deaths brings the official death toll in Iran from coronavirus to 54, he said.



Official Iran's statistics on coronavirus as of March 1st

Infections: 978

Deaths: 54

Recovered: 175

Those numbers are well below the level that many experts fear the Iranian contagion has reached since officials downplayed the risk of a local outbreak before -- in the case of one deputy health minister and several other prominent officials -- coming down themselves with the illness.



But even the lower figures suggest that the virus, which brings on pneumonia-like symptoms and whose deadliness is well above seasonal flu, is spreading more rapidly in Iran.



The biggest rise in newly reported Iranian cases was said to be in the province around the capital, Tehran, where 170 people tested positive for the virus.





U.S. President Donald Trump said on February 29 that he was ready to help Iran deal with its increasingly deadly outbreak of coronavirus if the country he has bitterly criticized and sanctioned asks for assistance.



"If we can help the Iranians with this problem, we are certainly willing to do so.... All they have to do is ask," Trump told the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) near Washington on February 29.



"We will have great professionals over there," he added, referring to Iran, which has become the hot spot for the disease in the Middle East.



The United States, which has had no diplomatic relations with Iran since 1980, said it had formally told Tehran of its willingness to assist in the crisis. The was message sent via Switzerland, which represents U.S. interests in Iran.

Many critics and outside experts have expressed concerns that Tehran is severely underreporting the magnitude of the crisis in the country, allegations the government has vehemently denied.



The virus has hit at least 63 countries, with China -- where the outbreak began -- the hardest hit but with numbers rising elsewhere.



The virus had killed at least 2,761 people and infected 79,826 others in mainland China by March 1.



Worldwide it has infected at least 86,986 people and killed more than 100. The strongest clusters of the disease outside of China are in Iran, Italy, Japan, and South Korea.

Several top Iranian officials have contracted the virus, including Masoumeh Ebtekar, the vice president for women and family affairs, a deputy health minister, and five lawmakers.



Iran has been linked to most of the over 200 confirmed cases of the virus now spread across the region, and many countries in and outside the Caucasus, Middle East, and Central Asia have imposed restrictions on travel to and from Iran in an effort to curtail the disease's spread.



On March 1, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian in neighboring Armenia reported the small country's first coronavirus case, that of a 29-year-old man who recently returned with his wife from Iran.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Radio Farda, AFP, and AP
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 01:06:36|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

A reassuring message has been sent from the space: the Chinese economy, which has been disrupted by the COVID-19 epidemic, is regaining steam.

BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- After more than a month's tough battle against the coronavirus, industrial production has gradually restarted and everyday life is slowly returning to normal across the country.

This trend has been made evident by the rapid increase in the "calorific value" observation data from remote sensing satellites.



The area marked with red dots, as shown in images below, indicates that the ground temperature of this area is above the average temperature of the whole region, which usually stem from fire, industrial or energy production, or high-density production and living activities.



More and more red dots started to show on the captured images and the "heated" areas continue to expand, just like a temporarily resting runner, gradually stretching his bones and muscles and gaining strength.



Let's first go to Shanghai.

SHANGHAI



The following two images of Jinshan District, located in the southwest of Shanghai and to the north of Hangzhou Bay, were captured by satellites on Jan. 21 and Feb. 22 respectively.

Satellite image of Jinshan District, Shanghai, on Jan. 21, 2020.

Satellite image of Jinshan District, Shanghai, on Feb. 22, 2020.

On Jan. 21, when enterprises and plants stopping operation, workers returning to their hometown for the Spring Festival holiday, the ground temperature in the whole area was relatively evenly distributed.

On Feb. 22, more red dots started to show on the image because of the heat from the resumption of production and increase in population density.

The Shanghai Chemical Industry Park (SCIP) based in Jinshan District is a state-level economic and technological development zone, and also one of the largest petrochemical bases in Asia. As of now, nearly all of the enterprisers in the zone have resumed production.

Moreover, by Feb. 24, 347 of 414 production-oriented enterprises in Jinshan Industry Park had returned to work.

Similar trend can also be observed in the new Lingang area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ).

Satellite image of the new Lingang area, China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ), on Jan. 21, 2020.

Satellite image of the Tesla Shanghai Gigafactory, Lingang Industrial Park and the Lingang Production Base of SAIC Motor in Shanghai,on Feb. 22, 2020.

As of Feb. 24, a total of 971 enterprises located in the new Lingang area had resumed production, with over 40 thousands of employees returning to work, among which the Tesla Shanghai Gigafactory resumed operation on Feb. 10, driving surrounding enterprises to resume production.

NINGBO, ZHEJIANG PROVINCE

The Ningbo Petrochemical Economic and Technical Development Zone (NPETDZ), which is located on the southern bank of Hangzhou Bay, is one of the leading petrochemical zones in China.

In 2018 the output value of its major enterprises totaled 190 billion yuan (about 27 billion U.S. dollars). As of Feb. 13, 90 percent of the zone's production capacity had recovered, with over 13,000 employees at work.

Currently, the petroleum and petrochemical sector, which is an important upstream industry of the national economy, has seen 95 percent of all enterprises having resumed production.

Satellite image of the Ningbo Petrochemical Economic and Technical Development Zone in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, on Jan. 21, 2020.

Satellite image of the Ningbo Petrochemical Economic and Technical Development Zone in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, on Feb. 22, 2020.

MA'ANSHAN, ANHUI PROVINCE

Ma Steel, the state-owned iron and steel giant, is located in the city of Ma'anshan, east China's Anhui Province. As the largest industrial enterprise in Anhui, Ma Steel has kept on its operation despite the Spring Festival holiday. As of Feb. 25, 92 percent of major industrial enterprises in Anhui Province had resumed production, with more than 1.5 million employees returning to work.

Satellite image of the iron and steel giant Ma Steel in the city of Ma'anshan, east China's Anhui Province, Jan. 19, 2020.

Satellite image of the iron and steel giant Ma Steel in the city of Ma'anshan, east China's Anhui Province, Feb. 20, 2020.

YANGTZE RIVER DELTA

The red areas shown on the images captured by remote-sensing satellites represent the thermal infrared anomaly. The deeper the red color, the larger the number of thermal infrared anomalous points.

In the Yangtze River Delta which is densely populated, this kind of thermal infrared anomaly usually indicate the existence of "industrial heat sources."

Satellite image shows the density of thermal infrared anomalous points in Yangtze River Delta during the period from Jan. 23 to 30, 2020.

Satellite image shows the density of thermal infrared anomalous points in Yangtze River Delta during the period from Feb. 19 to 26, 2020.



Compared to the period from Jan. 23 to 30 within the Spring Festival holiday, the week staring on Feb. 19 saw the density of thermal infrared anomaly in Yangtze River Delta increased dozens of times.

CENTRAL AND EASTERN CHINA

The data obtained from remote-sensing satellites has demonstrated that central and eastern China is also "heating up" rapidly.

Satellite image shows the density of thermal infrared anomalous points in central and eastern China during the period from Jan. 23 to 30, 2020.

Satellite image shows the density of thermal infrared anomalous points in central and eastern China during the period from Feb. 19 to 26, 2020.

ACROSS THE COUNTRY

The graphics show the province-level and city-level "work resumption rate" of the Chinese mainland, which reflects the percentage of major industrial enterprises that have returned to work.

Thanks to the adoption of region-specific and differentiated approach, many regions of the country are advancing toward full resumption of work and production. As data shows, industrial production in central and eastern China have basically restored since Feb. 10.



The epidemic outbreak came as an unexpected "test" for the world's second largest economy.

As winter is drawing to a close, spring is just around the corner. China's economy is "heating up" and back on track, and China will eventually win the battle against the epidemic. 
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 19:17:04|Editor: Xiang Bo

Video Player Close

Islamic State (IS) militants take part in a surrender ceremony in Kunar province, Afghanistan, March 1, 2020. Forty-two IS militants gave up fighting and laid down their arms in Afghanistan's eastern province of Kunar, the provincial governor said Sunday. (Xinhua/Emran Waak)

ASADABAD, Afghanistan, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Forty-two Islamic State (IS) militants gave up fighting and laid down their arms in Afghanistan's eastern province of Kunar, the provincial governor said Sunday.

"The surrendered militants were active in Wata Pur, Chawkay, Chapa Dara, Nurgal, and Manogay. The former militants joined the national peace and reconciliation process. The concerned departments would register their names and would provide them necessary help," governor Abdul Satar Mirzakwal told reporters here.

They handed over 40 rounds of guns and machine guns to provincial police authorities, the governor added.

With the former insurgents' surrender, peace and stability would be further strengthened in several parts of the province, 180 km east of the country's capital, Kabul.

The surrendered called on fellow IS members to join the process.

More than 800 Taliban militants and Islamic State (IS) members have surrendered to the government since the beginning of January.
Propping up the bar at the Brewery Tap pub in the Hertfordshire village of Furneux Pelham, I see that a quiet revolution is taking place.

After handing over my debit card, I am presented with a foaming pint of the local Mad Squirrel Sapling ale  along with four crisp 20 notes.

I am raising a glass to a brave new 'cashback' initiative where pubs and shops could soon be able to hand out money in communities abandoned by banks.

This initiative is expected to be unveiled by the new Chancellor Rishi Sunak in his first Budget on March 11. It will include rules that force banks to foot the bill for offering such a cashback facility rather than the local businesses themselves. A cashback service costs 40p for every 10 handed over.

We'll drink to that: Toby Walne enjoys a pint at the Brewery Tap where landlady Lucy Bonner says the cashback scheme will 'be embraced with open arms'

It will mean that where there are no longer any banks or cash machines, you will be able to go into a local pub or shop and ask for cash in exchange for payment with a bank debit card or cheque.

Previously such transactions could only be done at the discretion  and cost of  a landlord or shopkeeper. The initiative would also mark a major victory for The Mail on Sunday Keep Our Cash campaign  free cashback was one of our key demands.

The reason banks will be ordered to pay for this cashback service is because they have a social obligation to provide access to money  one they currently fail to fulfil.

In the past couple of years alone, 9,000 cash machines have disappeared from the high street while more than 6,000 banks have shut over the past decade, culling the branch network by more than a third.

Businesses will be responsible for ensuring they have enough money for cashback in their till but a further boost to customers is that cashback will be offered without any need to buy anything.

Pub landlady Lucy Bonner embraces the idea to fight back against the greedy banks that have been withdrawing their services to save money. She says: 'The banks have done enough harm to communities trying to squeeze every penny out of us  it is now time for us to take back control and provide some of the bank services that people actually deserve.

'If the Government supports the cashback change, we will welcome it with open arms. It should be good for everyone because it will be easier to get money out and it will also bring in more people to enjoy a drink.'

In the past couple of years alone, 9,000 cash machines have disappeared from the high street while more than 6,000 banks have shut over the past decade

The 23-year-old says about a fifth of all her transactions still involve cash  and that she gets about half a dozen requests each week for cashback. Currently she has to refuse because it costs the pub money. But with this change, she says it will be easy to offer the service. The pub will simply keep back more cash takings as float in case someone wants to use the cashback service.

Since the last bank, Barclays, pulled out of the closest town of Buntingford, five miles away, the next nearest access to cash machines and banks for this 600-strong community is Bishop's Stortford  a 14-mile round trip. There is an irregular bus service so most people use a car.

Enjoying a lunchtime drink and chat with friends at the pub, 42-year-old Melissa Rippon believes the cashback service would be a godsend. She says: 'We must ensure that cash is kept alive for future generations. Without access to money people will struggle to understand the concept of budgeting and lose the option to handle banknotes and coins. Cashback gives us freedom of choice.'

Natalie Ceeney, author of the Access to Cash Review, is in favour of legislation to allow shops and pubs to give cashback

Pushing for this change has been Natalie Ceeney, author of last year's independent Access to Cash Review and a former boss of the Financial Ombudsman Service.

She says: 'The legislation to allow consumers to get cashback is long overdue. The change would allow all shops and pubs to provide cash access  supporting their business at the same time. The Government has recognised it must step in when a market fails.

'A clear case for this is to give banks an obligation to provide cash access to their customers and cashback provides a solution where others fail.'

Although banks are due to foot the bill for these cashback charges, it is estimated this will only cost the industry 20million a year. This is a relative bargain compared to the 700million a year it spends on keeping open loss-making branches and ATMs in the most vulnerable communities.

With 193billion of cash a year taken out of ATMs, there is still strong demand among people for money. According to the Access To Cash Review, eight million people say they would struggle without cash.

John Howells, chief executive of cash machine network Link, says: 'Offering cashback is going to be a cheaper alternative to banks than running branches and cash machines that lose money  and supports people that otherwise might have to travel miles to access cash. It is a win-win situation.'

Link has pledged to open 200 ATMs this year. But this is scant compensation considering the 500 cash machines a month being removed. According to consumer body Which?, a quarter of the dwindling 60,000-strong network of surviving ATMs now charge up to 2 to access money.

According to the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA), the number of pubs serving ale has fallen by more than 20 per cent since the turn of the millennium

A key reason cash machines are being taken away is that each time a consumer uses their debit card at a free-to-use ATM that does not belong to the bank that issued their card, an 'interchange fee' is paid by the bank to the cash machine operator.

This used to be 25p per withdrawal but is being reduced to 20p in 2021, so ATMs are less profitable. Although a bank might have to pay 4 per cent of any transaction amount for the cashback service at a pub or shop, this is still a lot less than running an ATM machine that costs at least 30,000 to install.

According to the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA), the number of pubs serving ale has fallen by more than 20 per cent since the turn of the millennium  tumbling by 13,200 to 47,600. So the move to encourage cashback at the bar is greeted as a great way of attracting more customers.

Nick Lawrie, a spokesman for the BBPA, says: 'Pubs are surviving on fine margins and need all the help that they can get  and this is a welcome idea.'

The Association of Convenience Stores represents 45,000 local shops across Britain. It also says it would welcome the proposed cashback initiative.

But the change does not halt our slow sleepwalk towards becoming a cashless society. Bank industry body UK Finance believes only 9 per cent of all payments will be cash based by 2028. In 15 years, banknotes and coins might be obsolete.

A Which? spokesperson fears offering cashback in pubs and shops will let banks off the hook  enabling them to provide their minimum service obligation to provide access to cash for customers with a cut-price way out. They say: 'Although it might provide a solution, it does not halt the closure of banks and cash machines.'

There are also concerns a Government pledge to ensure the surviving network of 11,500 post offices  where there is free access to cash  allows banks to avoid responsibility of their duties.

A spokesman for UK Finance says: 'We believe a cashback service offered by retailers has an increasingly significant role to play and helps support the provision of cash in local communities. We will monitor and support any cashback initiatives within local communities.'
Philosopher Susan Neimans new book, Learning from the Germans: Race and the Memory of Evil, is premised on a sharp contrast.

Contemporary Germany may be unique in the history of nations in the extent to which the country has faced up to the evil in its past: namely, the Nazi era and the Holocaust. There is a massive Holocaust memorial in the heart of Berlin. The history of the Holocaust is covered extensively in all German public schools. It is against the law to claim the Shoah never happened. And, in the post-war period, West Germany paid reparations to Israel.

In dramatic contrast, in the American South, as the current controversy over the removal of Confederate statues demonstrates, there is strong resistance to acknowledging that the South were the bad guys in the Civil War, because their side was fighting to preserve the institution of slavery. Neiman believes the South can learn from Germany how a region can admit the transgressions of its ancestors.

An American Jew, Neiman was born and raised in segregated Georgia in the 1950s. But for the last two decades she has lived in Berlin. Thus, Neiman has one foot in each of the areas she describes.

Unfortunately, Learning from the Germans has serious flaws. The most egregious is Neimans unqualified enthusiasm for the communist regime in East Germany. She insists that East Germany did a better job than West Germany in confronting its Nazi past. There may be some truth to her claim, since there were more ex-Nazis in West than East Germany, because the democratic government was less zealous than the communist one in prosecuting them. However, as Judith Miller argues in One by One by One: Facing the Holocaust, the East German government claimed that the primary victims of the Nazis were not Jews but communists.

Moreover, East Germany was a totalitarian regime where the secret police, known as the Stasi, spied on almost every East German citizen, abetted by its scores of informants. And hundreds of East Germans were killed by East German border guards when they tried to scale the Berlin Wall and escape to freedom in the West.

Neiman quotes approvingly the comment of historian Tony Judt that I wouldnt sit down with an ex-Nazi. But I would sit down with an ex-Stalinist. In other words, Judt implies that Stalinism wasnt as bad as Nazism, that the two political systems cant be equated. But historians estimate that Stalin murdered approximately 20 million people. Surely it doesnt trivialize the Holocaust to compare it to genocide on this scale.

Neimans argument for the removal of Confederate statues in the American South is more persuasive. She points out that most of these statues were erected not immediately after the Civil War, but rather from the 1910s to the 1950s. The boosters of these monuments had a clear agenda. By celebrating as heroes the leaders of the Confederacy, such as Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis, they wished to announce that the antebellum South was back, that the South hadnt really lost the Civil War, that, while slavery had been technically abolished, by relegating blacks to second class status through the imposition of segregation, white supremacy had been preserved. Thus, by removing these statues, the South is, in effect, dismantling this racist legacy. I agree with Neiman that African-Americans deserve no less.

I was less persuaded by Neimans brief in favor of reparations for African-Americans. She argues that the case for American reparations for slavery can be made on [the] grounds [of] the historical obligation arising from the evil of slavery, as well as the economic condition of its descendants.

But I agree with Bernie Sanders that it makes more sense to support government programs which benefit the poor in general rather than African-Americans specifically. Is it reasonable, say, to provide a government hand-out to an upper-class black family but not to an impoverished white family in Appalachia? But, since African-Americans are disproportionally poor, they will especially benefit from such anti-poverty programs.

Its flaws aside, Learning from the Germans is an eloquent plea for the American South to follow the model of contemporary Germany by honestly confronting the evil in its past.

Henry Gonshak is an English professor at Montana Tech. His column, Reading Life, usually appears on the first Sunday of every month. He has published Hollywood and the Holocaust (Rowman & Littlefield). He can be reached at: Hgonshak@mtech.edu.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
This story was produced for syracuse.com by a student enrolled in The Goldring Arts Journalism program at Syracuse University.

Walk in the side door to the lobby of the Hotel Skyler on South Crouse Avenue. Its a cozy space with a large curved wooden bar and furniture upholstered in soft green fabric and brown leather. Take the elevator up to the guest rooms: just a comfortable, convenient hotel. But some things in the hotel are a little different.

The ceiling is a little higher than normal. The hallway splits in multiple directions. Theres a half-level ramp between some of the rooms. Those are just a handful of subtle hints that the Hotel Skyler wasnt always a hotel.

It was once the Temple Adath Yeshurun. Built in 1921, the building has had multiple uses in its 99-year history. First, a religious space, the temple was purchased by Syracuse in 1968 as a part of an urban renewal plan that was never realized. The building was temporarily leased to the Salt City Center for the Performing Arts in the 1970s. It then sat vacant until 2011 when it reopened as a hotel. Other than a few two-story columns and a Hebrew inscription across the cornice, little about the Hotel Skyler shows its history as a place of worship or its transition into a commercial property.

In Syracuse, the landscape is littered with properties like the Skyler  former churches, temples and mosques that have found a second life after their original congregations left.

Since 2010, 23 religious institutions have closed, sold or been redeveloped in Syracuse. Five of those are now home to different congregations. Six house non-profit organizations. Four have been seized by the city, and one is awaiting demolition. Nine of the 23 sit vacant.

Earlier this year, Landmark Properties Student Housing Developers purchased the Temple Concord on Madison Avenue. It will be the sixth religious building converted to apartments in the last decade, a process that compromises the quintessential part of a religious building, the sanctuary.

These buildings renovations reflect developers penchant for repurposing historic architecture. They also serve as a visible reminder of the decline of religion in Americans daily lives.

According to Pew Research , religion in America is rapidly declining as people disaffiliate with established denominations. As the number of people who identify as atheist, agnostic, or non-religious continues to rise, places of worship decrease in demand.

Whether these closed buildings become homes to different congregations, non-profit organizations or housing agencies, they move into the new decade with a different future.

Susan Henderson, architectural historian and professor at Syracuse Universitys School of Architecture, recognized the benefits of the redevelopment of religious buildings, even when it compromises the original form. Monumental buildings lose their function over time, Henderson said. Buildings that were open to the community to come in, sit quietly and look at the space are now locked.

But we can still see the presence that the church had in the urban fabric as a landmark, Henderson said.

Henderson attributes the decline of religion in part to a shift in urban living patterns and demographics. Whether people are finding community in other ways or are moving toward a more secular society, the decline in congregation membership has caused many religious institutions to reconsider their financial options, like First English Lutheran Church on James Street.

First English Lutheran Church was sold to St. Joseph's Hospital in 2017 and is now used as a groundskeeping office. Kate Mazade | special to syracuse.comKate Mazade | special to syracuse.com

In 2014, First English Lutheran Church elected to enter a renewal program. They brought in Rev. A.J. Striffler to renew the churchs current status and develop a more fiscally responsible day-to-day operation. Despite the efforts to sustain the church, the buildings continued operation wasnt feasible. The congregation decided to close in 2017, finding homes for the other ministries and communities organizations that used First English Lutheran Church.

In a service of holy closure, the church returned the remaining funds to the ministries and sold the mission-style building to St. Josephs Hospital, Striffler said.

While the closing of a church harbors a sense of nostalgia, religious closure doesnt always mean the end of the ministry or the usefulness of the building.

I have grown to see the church function far more successfully outside a building, Striffler said. When we can save buildings, thats the primary thing we want to do. But if the building goes on to serve another purpose, I think thats wonderful, especially if its still used as a space where the community can feel welcomed and nourished and cared for.

First English Lutheran Church is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, along with five other religious buildings in Syracuse. Buildings on the register can qualify for tax related incentives that can help alleviate what is an expensive endeavor, but it doesnt necessarily make the project more feasible.

Vice President of the Preservation Association of Central New York, John Auwaerter, acknowledged the challenges of adapting religious buildings. He explained that large interior spaces are often sacrificed to create multiple smaller rooms and facade are disrupted with added egress.

It can be hard to rebuild these buildings in a way that preserves their important qualities like the large interior sanctuary, Auwaerter said. Buildings can be adapted. They dont have to stay static, they can be changed in sensitive ways.

Repurposing a religious building into a public amenity, such as a performance space or community center, maintains the sanctuary and preserves public access to the building.

First Baptist Church, the Mizpah Tower, was purchased in 2013 to be renovated as a mixed-use property. The property has been listed on PACNY's Eight that Cant' Wait endangered properties list for two years. Kate Mazade | special to syracuse.comKate Mazade | special to syracuse.com

While dormant now, the former First Baptist Church on East Jefferson Street, more commonly known as the Mizpah Tower, is still set to be renovated. Building owner Tom Cerio plans to convert the Gothic Revival style building into a mixed-use building with residential and commercial space after the roof is stabilized and repaired. The renovation aims to increase pedestrian traffic around Columbus Circle and provide spaces for people to socialize and the community to thrive, Cerio said.

Hopefully, those doors can be open to the public to walk in, to be able to connect more than we do right now, Cerio said. To be face to face and one on one and hear people talk.
The fall of Hazm paves the way for the Houthi fighters to move closer to the central province of Marib.

Yemens Houthi rebels have wrested control of a strategic city in the countrys north, officials said, in a major blow to the internationally recognised government and the Saudi-led coalition that backs it.

The officials said on Sunday the Shia fighters took control of Hazm, the capital of the province of Jawf, following weeks of fighting between the Iran-aligned group and government forces backed by Saudi-led allies.

The fall of Hazm would pave the way for the rebels to come closer to the central province of Marib, the only safe spot in Yemen for those opposing the Houthis.

Yemen, the Arab worlds poorest country, has been convulsed by civil war since 2014. The Saudi-led coalition intervened against the Houthis the following year.

The rebels earlier this year seized a key supply line linking Marib with Jawf, located along the border with Saudi Arabia.

A Houthi official said they pushed the government forces out of the city, and are now chasing them on its outskirts. Two government officials confirmed the fall of Hazm.

200225071207332

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to brief the media.

The oil-rich province of Jawf is where the Houthis recently used air defences to shoot down a coalition warplane last month, raising alarm among the Saudi-led camp that the rebels are acquiring advanced weaponry.

The United Nations special envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, had on Friday condemned the recent military escalation in Jawf.

Those who seek to gain from this escalation in Jawf are seriously undermining the prospects of peace that the people of Yemen so urgently deserve, Griffiths said.

He warned the warring parties had no alternative to a negotiated political settlement in the drawn-out conflict.

The war in Yemen has killed thousands of people and created the worlds worst humanitarian crisis, leaving millions suffering from food and medical care shortages and pushing the country to the brink of famine last year.
A Polish student of Jadavpur University has been asked by the Foreigner Regional Registration Office (FRRO) to leave the country after he participated in an anti-CAA rally in the West Bengal capital, varsity sources said on Sunday.

The incident comes close on the heels of a Bangladeshi student of Visva Bharati University being issued a similar directive by the FRRO after she posted photographs of an anti-CAA demonstration, held on the campus, on social media.

A JU source told PTI that Kamil Siedcynski, a Polish student of Comparative Literature, was asked by the FRRO to visit its Kolkata office, which he did on February 22.

"Siedcynski was served a notice by the FRRO asking him to leave the country within a fortnight on receipt of the notice for alleged conduct deemed inappropriate for a foreign national staying in India on a student visa," the source said.

The JU source said several teachers and Left-leaning students of the varsity were of the view that Siedcynski was paying the price for attending an anti-CAA rally at Moulali area in the city in December last year where he was interviewed by a Bengali daily and a brief report on him was published the next day.

"Some people probably forwarded a copy of the report to the FRRO. Siedcynski has no political leanings but his enthusiasm to attend the protest rally and click photographs landed him in trouble," the source said.

Siedcynski, who was supposed to write his third-semester examinations this year, could not be contacted.

JU vice-chancellor Suranjan Das and Registrar Snehamanju Basu also did not take calls.

The Polish student had earlier studied Bengali at the Visva Bharati University.

Recently Afsara Anika Meem, a first-year Bangladeshi undergraduate student in the Fine Arts department of the Visva-Bharati University was served an FRRO notice for reportedly engaging in "anti-government" activities.

Both the foreign nationals have requested the FRRO to reconsider its decision and promised not to get involved in any such protests in the future, sources said.

The FRRO, in turn, has said that a final decision will be taken in Delhi, the source said quoting the two students.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Much awaited SBI Cards and Payment Services IPO  the largest of 2020  will open for subscription on March 2 with a price band of Rs 750-755 per share.

The subsidiary of India's largest lender, the State Bank of India (SBI), is aiming to raise Rs 10,355 crore through this initial public offering (IPO)  the biggest in size since October 2017. The IPO will close on March 5.

This consists of a fresh issue of Rs 500 crore and the rest is an offer for sale by parent company SBI and investor CA Rover Holdings, an affiliate of private equity corporation Carlyle Group.

The main objective of this IPO is unlocking of the value for existing investors, SBI and Carlyle Group.

Moneycontrol checked all brokerage recommendation reports on the IPO of the second largest credit card company and found that every research house, which rated, has advised subscribing to the issue.

But, why are brokerages looking so confident about the company when the market has been struggling to find the bottom amid fears of the coronavirus which has ruined global sentiment and sent all global markets bleeding. This included India, which lost over 7 percent last week and ultimately had Rs 11.6 lakh crore of investors' wealth wiped out.

The first major reason they see is the strong support it has from its parent, State Bank of India. SBI has largest customer base of 44.5 crore as of December 2019, and provides access to its extensive branch network (of nearly 22,000) across India. This also opens up a room to become a significant source of new customers in future.

Also read | SBI Cards IPO: 10 things to know about the keenly-eyed issue

The State Bank of India currently holds 74 percent stake in the company and the rest is held by CA Rover Holdings, which will be reduced to 69.51 percent and 22.40 percent, respectively, after the issue.

For 9MFY20, SBI Cards has sourced around 52 percent of new accounts through open market distribution channel (retail/co-brand partnerships), 48 percent from bank distribution channel i.e. SBI.

As on 9MFY20, SBI Cards has a large sales workforce consisting of 32,677 outsourced sales personnel and 3,190 open market points of sale across 145 cities covering most of Indias territory.

"Compared to industry which sources 70 percent from banca & 30 percent from open market, SBI Cards has much lower banca proportion. However, since past couple of years, SBI Cards has been working with SBI to increase the proportion of branch sourcing which has increased from 35.2 percent in FY17 to 51.6 percent for 9MFY20. There is still huge untapped potential to increase business from SBI branches which has a wide network," ABM Equity said.

"Out of around 22,000 SBI branches, SBIC has physical presence by its outsourced sales workforce in 15,686 branches as of 9MFY20. Banca channel has its advantage wherein the captive customer base of the bank is tapped for new credit cards account, thereby reducing the cost of acquisition and the risk of delinquency," it added.

The second largest credit card issuer in India (after HDFC Bank with 27 percent), with deep industry expertise and strong business model is another reason for brokerages to advise the issue.

SBI Cards is the second largest credit card issuer in the country in terms of number of credit cards outstanding and total credit card spends in the Indian credit card market. The company has 93.2 lakh outstanding credit cards and around Rs 98,486 crore in terms total credit card spends as on December 2019 entailing into a market share of 18.1 percent and 17.9 percent, respectively.

"We believe that SBI cards is a formidable play on rising discretionary spends and non cash economy given a) broad reach and parentage of SBI b) under-utilized captive banca potential c) leadership in co-branded cards and d) 40 percent contribution of premium cards," Prabhudas Lilladher said, while initiating coverage on SBI Cards and Payment Services, with a buy recommendation and target price of Rs 1,191  a potential upside of nearly 54 percent over higher end of price band.

The above target price is slightly higher than the grey market premium, which according to experts is around around Rs 350-380 per share.

Over the years, SBI Cards has been constantly gaining market share, being the highest in terms of incremental cards with 45 percent market share in July 2019 and 24 percent during the three-months (May-July 2019).

The revenue from credit card products consists primarily of interest on credit card receivables and non-interest income primarily comprising of fee-based income such as interchange fees, late fees, annual credit card membership fees and other fees.

SBI Cards has a well-diversified revenue pool with NII constituting 40 percent, fees and commission earned (58 percent) and other income (2 percent). Interest is earned when cardholders roll over their dues while fees and commission includes interchange fees, late fees, annual fees, etc.

"Higher Fees & Commission proportion provides more stability to income currently while also leaving more potential for SBI Cards to tap and increase its loan book to earn higher interest & profitability. NIM earned has been largely stable at strong levels of around 15 percent while Net Credit margin i.e. adjusting for credit cost is around 11 percent which indicates risk-adjusted return is favorable," ABM Equity said.

The third reason brokerages have highlighted is the strong financials that the company has reported in the last several years with superior return ratios and faster business growth than industry.

Having diversified portfolio of credit card offerings and diversified revenue model, SBI Cards has total asset size of Rs 26,000 crore as of December 2019. Its return on equity (ROE) stood at 28.4 percent in FY19 and 36.5 percent in April-December FY20, while return on assets (ROA) stood at 4.8 percent in FY19 (increased from 4 percent in FY17) and 6.7 percent in 9MFY20.

Profitability of the company is growing by leaps and bounds, reported PAT has grown by 52 percent CAGR during FY17-19 and revenue from operations 44.6 percent CAGR.

"Going forward, trend is likely to continue - PAT is estimated to grow by 57 percent CAGR during FY20-22, with ROE/ROA over 33/7 percent in FY21, given favourable demographics, rise in digital payments, boom in e-commerce industry, SBI parentage and aggressive approach of the management," LKP Securities, which has advised subscribing to the issue has said. It sees fair value of Rs 1,220, discounting its FY22e ABV by 9.5x, giving upside potential of 57.4 percent from the IPO price.

The fourth reason being highlighted is the underpentration in Indian credit card industry compared to developed countries, with strong co-branded partnerships, technology upgradation and rising trends of digital payments as younger people prefer to use them for consumption needs.

During FY17 to FY19, SBI Cards' total credit card spends grew at a rate of 54.2 percent and the number of credit cards outstanding at a 34.5 percent CAGR as compared to a 35.6 percent and 25.6 percent CAGR for the overall credit card industry respectively, according to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

According to Crisil Research, credit card spends have registered robust growth, growing at a CAGR of 32 percent during FY15-FY19 to reach Rs 6 lakh crore in FY19. It is expected to grow at a healthy rate to reach Rs 15 lakh crore in FY24.

"We expect SBI Cards to continue to register healthy CAGR over FY2020-24 owing to (a) Significantly underpenetrated Indian credit card market; number of credit cards per 100 people is 3, whereas in developed/developing countries it is more than 30. (b) As on Q3FY2020, credit card to debit card ratio was 3.7 percent for SBI Cards (versus peers viz. HDFC Bank  45 percent, Axis Bank  28 percent and ICICI Bank  18 percent), which clearly indicates huge scope for mining SBI Bank customers. (c) Total credit card outstanding loan as a percentage of banking sector loan is just 1.22 percent, and retail loan is 27 percent, indicating enough space to increase credit card loan book. (d) Credit card spend as percentage of GDP for India is 3 percent, while that for other countries is more than 10 percent. All the above factors clearly show that there is a huge room for credit card industry to grow," Angel Broking, which has recommended the issue said. It believes, with strong parentage and healthy capital adequacy, SBI Cards should be able to growth at healthy CAGR and gain market share.

While recommending investors to subscribe the issue for listing gains and also from long term perspective, ABM Equity also said, "New Credit card accounts and number of credit card transactions have been growing at 25-30 percent range. Considering the low base, expect this trend to continue in medium to long term. With younger generation, expect credit risk culture to steadily increase over the years which shall enable the credit card business to grow at healthy pace. Focus on digitalization, developments in e-commerce and the demographic changes to keep structural growth in credit card intact."

SBI Cards has 18 co-branded partnerships in its bucket, which again is the highest in the industry compared to other players, followed by ICICI Bank at 12 and RBL Bank at eight. Credit card spends from these co-branded credit cards increased to 24.7 percent from 19.3 percent of total credit card spends in 9MFY19 as compared to FY2019, respectively.

Highest number of co-brand tie-ups augurs well in customer acquisition as well enhance customer experience.

Accordingly, SBI Cards has witnessed robust growth in volume of transaction at 34 percent CAGR in FY14-19 to around 28 crore and 44 percent CAGR in overall spends to around Rs 1.03 lakh crore.

"Focus on increasing customer base with roll out of products in tier II and III cities, emphasize on corporate card business, tapping vast customer pool of parent (SBI) is to lead to higher customer base. Technology upgradation and improved partner tie-up and reward offers to induce and increase transaction volume, thereby supporting growth in business and profitability," ICICI Securities said.

Prabhudas Lilladher said continuous evolution of technological/data analytics capabilities will increase credit card numbers and transaction volumes which would drive operating leverage and reduce cost income ratio by 446bps over FY20-22.

SBI Cards is the first company from the Indian credit card industry with niche business to list on bourses. This is the fifth reason being given by brokerages.

"Generally, the company which has niche business and first listing in the particular industry always attracts a lot of interest from investors. Hence SBI Cards is the first one to list in the card industry business and on top of that, it is a consumer-oriented business company growing higher than industry. Given healthy financials, niche business and first time listing from cards industry, there is a lot of interest for SBI Cards," Siddhartha Khemka, Senior Vice President, Head-Retail Research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services said.

The sixth reason is the manageable asset quality of the company, though it is a risk given the weakening economic and employment trends.

"SBI Cards' asset quality is fairly manageable considering the unsecured nature of credit card business & superior NIM it is able to earn. As on 9MFY20, its gross non-performing assets (NPA) ratio was 2.5 percent and net NPA ratio was 0.8 percent. The NPA ratios are slightly higher than industry which has GNPA ratio of around 2.0 percent. We believe there is a scope that NPA ratios could relatively improve going ahead as contribution from banca distribution increases. SBICs credit cost has been stable at around 3.5 percent which is under control," ABM Equity said.

The attractive valuations, though at premium levels, is the seventh reason for subscribing to the issue.

"At the upper price band, the company is trading at 7.9x FY21e and 5.6x FY22e ABV. Given key strengths of the company like - its unique business model which is a pure credit card play, high growth phase alongwith strong profitability matrix, favourable demographic dividend, it is likely to trade at higher multiples," LKP Research said.

Prabhudas Lilladher, which also noted that SBI Cards is being offered at significant premium to global peers which are trading at 9x-13x FY22 EPS, expects premium valuations to sustain given unique business model of standalone cards business, 35 percent EPS CAGR and attractive return ratios.

SBI Cards offers investment opportunity in unique business model with strong profitability, said ICICI Securities, adding sustainability of higher business growth and strong return ratios justifies premium valuation for the business.

: The views and investment tips expressed by investment expert on moneycontrol.com are his own and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
The first fatality from the coronavirus has been confirmed on United States soil, in Washington state. President Donald Trump on Saturday called for calm and urged Americans not to panic.

Health officials said the man was one of a handful with no known links to global hot zones to have contracted the virus -- indicating that the pathogen was now likely spreading in communities.

The death occurred in King County, the most populous in the Pacific Northwest state and home to Seattle, a city of more than 700,000 people, officials told AFP.

The victim was in his 50s and had "underlying health conditions," said Jeff Duchin, public health officer for Seattle and King County.

"It is a sad day in our state as we learn that a Washingtonian has died from COVID-19," Washington state Governor Jay Inslee said in a statement, sending condolences to the victim's loved ones.

Inslee declared a state of emergency over coronavirus, freeing up funding for state agencies and allowing the use of the Washington National Guard, if necessary.

Speaking at a White House news conference President Trump said that "additional cases in the United States are likely," but added that "healthy individuals should be able to fully recover."

"Our country is prepared for any circumstance," Trump insisted, calling on "the media and politicians and everybody else involved not to do anything to incite panic."

Trump initially identified the victim as "a wonderful woman," but the CDC later said it had misinformed the president in an earlier briefing.

Washington state also reported on Saturday the country's first case of coronavirus in a health care worker and the first possible outbreak in a nursing home.

This comes after the states of Oregon and California confirmed late last week the first instances of infected US patients who had not traveled overseas or come in contact with anyone known to be ill.

"While there is still much to learn about the unfolding situations in California, Oregon and Washington, preliminary information raises the level of concern about the immediate threat for COVID-19 for certain communities in the United States," the CDC said.

(AFP)

Read more:
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 16:10:49|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Genome sequencing has shown that red panda, the endangered furry mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China, are two different species, providing a theoretical basis for more targeted conservation efforts.

Scientists previously divided red pandas into two subspecies with the Nujiang River in southwest China's Yunnan Province as the geological boundary. Those to the east of the river were classified as the Chinese red panda, and those to the west were the Himalayan red panda. But the classification has long been debated.

In the latest study, researchers from the Institute of Zoology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences did whole-genome sequencing on 69 red pandas. They also analyzed 49 red panda's mitochondrial DNA, which is inherited only from the mother, and the Y chromosome sequencing from 49 male red pandas.

The researchers reported in the online version of Science Advances that red pandas, based on the analysis results, fall into two genetic clusters, and the two clusters are distinct enough to be classified as two distinct species.

They said the division line between the two species should be the Yarlung Zangbo River, and the divergence of the Himalayan red panda and the Chinese red panda occurred about 220,000 years ago.

Genetic analysis also showed that the Chinese red panda experienced two population bottlenecks, and the Himalayan had three. A population bottleneck refers to a sharp reduction in the size of a population due to environmental causes.

The researchers said their study is of great significance for conservation.

The Himalayan red pandas were found to carry more potentially harmful genetic mutations, and their genetic diversity is low, which means the species suffers a higher risk of population decline in the face of diseases or harsh climate change.

They noted that conservation measures should be more targeted in the future. Interbreeding between the two species in captivity is possibly detrimental and should be avoided.

The red panda is listed as Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List with less than 10,000 estimated to remain in the wild.
People walking through Chinatown, near West Cermak and South Wentworth, brave snowfall and temperatures that plummeted to the teens, on Feb. 13, 2020 in Chicago. (Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

Health Officials Announce Third Case of Coronavirus in Illinois

A third person in Illinois has tested positive for COVID-19, the Illinois Department of Public Health announced on Feb. 29.

Officials said that tests from the individual resulted in presumptive positives, and the sample is now being tested for confirmation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The patient is currently hospitalized in isolation and health officials are also working to identify and actively monitor anyone who may have come into contact with the person in an effort to reduce the risk of additional transmission.

The state plans to request that the CDC deploy a team to Illinois to support these efforts and Governor JB Pritzker has requested that hospitals across the state implement additional testing to improve surveillance for the disease, the department said in a statement.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle confirmed that the case was identified in suburban Cook County.

A presumptive case of novel coronavirus (2019-CoV) has been identified in suburban Cook County. Final confirmation results from the CDC are pending, Preckwinkle wrote on Twitter.

I want to assure residents that the Cook County Department of Public Health is working closely with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as the state public health department as we monitor the situation closely. I will continue to provide you with the most up-to-date information as it becomes available.

Illinois has had two previously confirmed cases of COVID-19, when a husband and wife were diagnosed with the disease in January. The woman had returned to Illinois on Jan. 13 after traveling to Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the outbreak, to care for a relative.

About a week later, her husband also tested positive for the virus in the first instance of person-to-person transmission of the virus in the United States, according to Illinois health officials. However, the couple, both in their 60s, were later discharged from hospital and have since made a full recovery, officials said.

Public health officials in Illinois are advising the general public to continue with their daily routines but remain vigilant about preventing germs from spreading by covering coughs and sneezes, washing hands with warm water and soap, and staying home when sick.

The news release added that the virus has not been found to be spreading widely in the United States and the risk to the general public remains low.

It comes after Washington state health officials confirmed that one person, who had no history of travel to other affected countries and no known contacts with infected individuals, had died from the coronavirus, making the person the first to die from the COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, in the United States.

The individual was a man in his 50s with underlying health conditions, making him a medically high-risk patient, officials said.

It is a sad day in our state as we learn that a Washingtonian has died from COVID-19. Our hearts go out to his family and friends. We will continue to work toward a day where no one dies from this virus, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said in a statement.
PAUL BALOCHE'S NEW ALBUM, BEHOLD HIM, OUT NOW

This Is Baloche's 22nd Album In His 25-Year Career

February 28, 2020

Paul Baloche 's latest musical offering, Behold Him, is available now with Integrity Music ( 28 February 2020 -'s latest musical offering,, is available now with Integrity Music ( click here ). Creating music for more than 25 years, Baloche's Behold Him is his 22nd career album and features numerous guest collaborations from industry friends such as Kim Walker-Smith (Jesus Culture), Kari Jobe, Matt Redman, Elevation Worship's Chris Brown and Steve Furtick, Leslie Jordan (All Sons & Daughters), Amanda Cook, and more. Full of reverence, thankfulness, and trust in God's provision and presence, Behold Him delivers an impactful message important for all believers. "Ive been leading Behold Him for the past few months now, everywhere from small worship gatherings to The Glasgow Royal Concert Hall in Scotland with a 500-voice choir and orchestra, shares Baloche. Every time I worship with it, everyone starts to sing it immediately like theyve known the song for years. Be sure to view Baloche's live performance at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall below. Based on Psalm 41, "Behold Him" - the album's first single - was co-written with Mitch Wong (Lincoln Brewster, Chris McClarney), and has quickly broken into the global church and ranks highly among the industry's top worship resource providers such as CCLI, Planning Center, PraiseCharts, and WeAreWorship. As Baloche's response to the chaotic noise of todays culture and the constant and frenetic energy of endless to-do lists and expectations, "Behold Him" is a repetitive message that bears repeating: Be still and behold Him. Life moves lightning-fast these days, he explains. Everyone is moving, has an agenda, has something on their mind, trying to get to the next thing. The message of this song, and the entire album, is not just to be still, but also to know Him, that He is God. Its taking Him in with your mind, your soul, your body, your spirit and beholding the wonder of the Lord." Be sure to read more about Baloche and Behold Him in the current issue of Worship Musician Baloche, who is one of the modern churchs most acclaimed worship artists, songwriters, and conference worship leaders nationally and internationally, has penned numerous contemporary praise and worship standards such as Open the Eyes of My Heart, "Your Name," and many more. Additionally, his songs have been recorded by numerous acclaimed artists including Michael W. Smith, Casting Crowns, Matt Redman, and Philips, Craig & Dean. "Open The Eyes of My Heart released two decades ago and Baloche feels the same now as he did then, sharing recently, "It feels like the same heart cry - a desire to really see the Lord - to behold Him. I dont want to lose sight of what God is doing in my life and in this generation. I want to see Him, hear Him, and follow Him." Behold Him Track Listing : What A Good God Nothing Like Your Love Behold Him (Feat. Kim Walker-Smith) I Am Thankful (Feat. Leslie Jordan) I Love You (Always) For The King Heaven Is Where You Are (Feat. Chris Brown) Marvelous Things (Feat. Kari Jobe) How Faithful A Million Years







Paul Baloche performs Behold Him at The Glasgow Royal Concert Hall in Scotland joined by a 500-Voice Choir & Orchestra



MORE ABOUT PAUL BALOCHE : Having served as the Worship Pastor at Community Christian Fellowship in Lindale, Texas for more than 25 years, Paul Baloche is an ordained minister with an MDiv from the Methodist Episcopal Church. Known as one of the modern churchs most acclaimed worship artists, songwriters, and conference worship leaders nationally and internationally, Baloche has penned contemporary praise and worship standards such as Open the Eyes of My Heart, Above All, "Your Name," and Hosanna, and his songs have been recorded by numerous acclaimed artists including Michael W. Smith, Casting Crowns, Matt Redman, Philips, Craig & Dean, and more. In addition to writing, recording, a nd touring, he founded LeadWorship.com to serve, equip, and train local church worship teams across the globe. He teaches modern worship Master Classes nationally and has created a variety of online instructional videos and free resources designed specifically to help worship leaders and musicians. Baloche is a contributing writer for both Worship Leader and Worship Musician magazines, a featured blogger on ChurchLeaders.com , and has written the books The Same Love: A Devotion (David C. Cook) and God Songs  How to Write and Select Songs for Worship. He has three grown children and currently resides in New York City with his wife of thirty-three years, Rita. For more information on Paul Baloche, please visit his website

###

For more info on Paul Baloche, visit the JFH Artists Database.


Thailand records first coronavirus death

BANGKOK: Thailand has recorded its first coronavirus death. The 35-year-old male retail worker had dengue fever and the new disease known as Covid-19, Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoenchai, director-general of the Department of Disease Control, said in a briefing Sunday (Mar 1).

tourismdeathhealthChineseCoronavirusCOVID-19

By Bangkok Post

Sunday 1 March 2020, 05:21PM

This handout photo taken and released by Bangkok Metropolitan Administrations health department on Thursday shows a government health personnel wearing protective clothing disinfecting a house after family members were infected with Covid-19 coronavirus in Bangkok. Photo: AFP / Bangkok Metropolitan Administration

This was a case of local transmission, and he was at risk because he had exposure to Chinese tourists, he said.

The patient had been hospitalised since Feb 16 at a private hospital and transferred to Bamrasnardura Infectious Diseases Institute and died on Saturday after multiple organ failure.

The Public Health Ministry is still looking into the role played by the coronavirus in the fatality, Dr Suwannachai said.

Tests for the coronavirus came back negative since Feb 16 but the damage was already done to his body from the earlier bout of infection by the new disease, said Tawee Chotpitayasunondh, the department adviser.

Thiravat Hemachudha, chief of the emerging disease centre of Chulalongkorn Hospital, on Sunday morning posted on his Facebook page that the man died at 6.25pm on Saturday, Feb 29.

The Department of Disease Control said another patient was in serious condition at Bamrasnaradura and doctors at the institute are closely monitoring the patient.

The department repeated a warning on Sunday that any persons suspected of infecting the virus are required to contact public health officials within three hours, according to the dangerous communicable disease announcement that took effect on Sunday.

The announcement, signed by Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and published in the Royal Gazette on Saturday, also gave authorities more power to combat the spread of the virus.

Almost 3,000 people have died from the infection, mostly in its epicentre China. Thailand has reported 42 cases of infection, with 30 of those discharged.

Read original story here.
Photo

Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has condoled the sudden demise of senior journalist Rajesh Bhambi, who was suffering from a kidney ailment for some time and breathed his last this morning at Deep Hospital, Ludhiana.

The Chief Ministers Media Advisor Raveen Thukral also joined him in extending his deepest sympathies to the bereaved family of Bhambi, who is survived by his wife, two daughters and a son. Bhambi, who was in his early 60s, will be cremated once his son arrives from Canada.

Advertisement

Captain Amarinder mourned the death of Bhambi, who was at present Bureau Chief at India News (iTV) group, terming it a loss not just for the family but also the media fraternity. The journalistic community will miss Bhambi, who had made a mark with his professional acumen as a photo journalist, with many milestone achievements as a reporter from Punjab for various organisations. For the family, it was an irreparable loss for the family and a void hard to fill, said the Chief Minister.

Describing Bhambis death as a personal loss, Thukral remembered him as a warm and wonderful human being, and a great professional. In Bhambis demise, he had lost a personal friend, whom he had known for many years, said Thukral, extending his deepest condolences to the family.

Bhambi had started his career as a stringer for Punjab with Reuters after studying at News Network. He had worked as a photo journalist from Punjab for India Today, a photo journalist at Ludhiana for The Tribune and a stringer covering Punjab at Hindustan Times. His career also spanned Bureau Chief at India-news and journalist at Punjab Kesari.
The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has adjusted the academic year schedule, delaying the high school finals to late July.

Under MOETs decision, the 2019-2020 academic year will finish prior to June 30 instead of May 31, while high school students will attend final exams on July 23-26 instead of early July as initially planned.

The exams have been delayed because students have one month off school because of the Covid-19 epidemic.





Hanois students plan to return to school on March 2.



Tran Thai Anh, a student of Phan Dinh Phung High School in Hanoi, is happy as the exam has been delayed for one month, saying that one month is enough to make up for the days off.



My classmates and I now can sigh with relief because we will have enough time to prepare for the high school finals, he said.

Under MOETs decision, the 2019-2020 academic year will finish prior to June 30 instead of May 31, while high school students will attend final exams on July 23-26 instead of early July as initially planned.

Vo Thi Hoai T, a teacher of a high school in Ha Tinh province, also applauds the decision by MOET.



This is a reasonable decision. If the academic year finish time was delayed by one or two weeks only, we would not have enough time to prepare for the exams and students will feel pressure, she said.



On education forums, students and teachers said 'congratulations to each other, because their concern that the long absence would affect exam quality has been lifted.



A high school teacher in Hanoi said that teachers and students contact each other every day via mails.



We give home exercises to students and mark school papers regularly. We believe that students still can prepare for the exams, he said.



So, you cannot say students bear pressure, especially when they have one more month to study and review for the exams, he added.



Director of the Nghe An provincial Education and Training Department Thai Van Thanh said with one more month, localities will be able to arrange the teaching schedule.



Nghe Ans students have three weeks off. With the one month delay and two week provisioning, we will have more than enough time to review for the important exams, Thanh said.



He went on to say that the schools in the province are ready to receive students at school, slated for March 2. Classrooms, teaching/learning aids and childrens toys have been disinfected with chemicals.



The Hai Duong provincial Education and Training Department also plans to call students to schools on March 2. Director of the department Luong Van Viet said as the academic year has been prolongef by one month, students will not have to go to school on Saturday and Sunday.

Mai Lan

HCM City postpones Ao Dai Festival due to COVID-19 fears The seventh version of the Ho Chi Minh City Ao Dai Festival has been delayed as a result of the ongoing situation relating to cases of acute respiratory disease caused by coronavirus (COVID-19).
Adheringto a policy of "zero



tolerance" for clergy who sexually exploit minors, Pope Francis has expelled a Kerala priestconvicted of rape from all priestly duties and rights, according to church officials.

Syro-Malabar Church priest Robin Vadakkumchery is currently serving a jail term for impregnating a 16-year-old girl in Mananthavady diocese.

"Vadakkumchery has been dispensed from the exercise of priestly duties and rights. That means he has been reduced to the state of a layman", a Church official told PTI.

He was suspended from priestly duties soon after the about his crime was reported in early 2017.

A POCSO court in Thalassery last year had sentenced Vadakkumchery to 20 years of Rigorous Imprisonment and slapped a fine of Rs three lakh on him.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
MOSCOW, Feb 29 (Reuters) - Russia and Turkey have agreed to reduce tensions on the ground in Syria's Idlib province while continuing military action there, the Russian foreign ministry said on Saturday following several days of talks in Ankara.

"Concrete steps to achieve lasting stability in the Idlib de-escalation zone were considered," the ministry said. "Both sides confirmed their goal to reduce tensions 'on the ground' while continuing the fight against terrorists." (Reporting by Polina Ivanova; Editing by Stephen Coates)
President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday, commissioned OPERATION SWIFT RESPONSE as a border drill exercise to checkmate the illegal ac...





President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday, commissioned OPERATION SWIFT RESPONSE as a border drill exercise to checkmate the illegal activities of smugglers across our borders.





His spokesman, Femi Adesina, in a statement, explained that this is part of the Federal Governments effort to ensure food security and improve local production of goods at competitive prices,





The presidency said the border drill has been hugely successful and has led to the interception and seizure of large quantities of foods, materials, minerals and petroleum resources illegally trafficked across our borders.





The President commends the security agencies for a job well done. He, however, finds it disheartening to learn that 295 smuggled petroleum tankers were released without due authorization on 17th December, 2019 by some security officials charged with the responsibility of protecting our borders.





Sequel to this act, the National Security Adviser (NSA) was directed to set up a Board of Inquiry to investigate the crime, and it was recommended to the President that all officials (civilian or security operatives) found to have connived to undermine governments efforts should be withdrawn from the border drill and severely sanctioned by their respective organizations.





The President has accepted the recommendations and directed the immediate withdrawal and replacement of all those found culpable. He has also directed that their respective organizations should mete immediate appropriate disciplinary actions to them, the statement added.
The Rhode Island Department of Health is monitoring 40 people who had direct contact with the second person in New England to test positive for coronavirus.

The unidentified man is in his 40s had traveled to Italy in mid-February and returned to Rhode Island on Feb. 22, according to health officials.

The Rhode Island Department of Health has been preparing for weeks to ensure that we have a structure in place to, to the best of our ability, limit or prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Rhode Island. We fully anticipated having a first case of COVID-19, said Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott, director of the RIDOH, in a statement on Sunday afternoon. We are not seeing widespread community transmission in Rhode Island, and the general level of risk for Rhode Islanders is still low. However, everyone in Rhode Island has a role to play in helping us prevent the spread of viruses, just like the flu. It is very important that people wash their hands regularly, cover their coughs and sneezes, and stay home if they are sick.

According to Saint Raphael Academy in Pawtucket, the man was a member of its community, who had traveled to Europe. However, he has not been at the Catholic school since his return and none of his immediate family members are symptomatic at this time.

At the directive of the Rhode Island Department of Health and the Center for Disease Control, the students and chaperones who were on the recent trip to Europe will be out of school until March 9, school officials said in a statement.

At an afternoon press conference, Gov. Gina Raimondo told reporters that the risk here in Rhode Island, at this point, is low and we have been preparing for this for weeks.

We have an excellent plan in place. So the message is, Be careful and be vigilant, but dont panic, Raimondo said.

There have been more than 60 U.S. cases of COVID-19 confirmed.

So far, there has only been one documented case of coronavirus in Massachusetts  a University of Massachusetts in Boston student.

A possible outbreak of coronavirus at a long-term nursing facility in Washington state is under investigation after two people there tested positive for the disease. Officials from the Washington state and Seattle and King County health departments said more than 50 residents and staff at the Life Care Center in Kirkland are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19.

There have been more than 88,000 reported cases of coronavirus worldwide, resulting in 3,001 deaths.
As US troops prepare to leave Afghanistan, opening the door for a potential Taliban comeback, women across the war-torn country are nervous about losing their hard-won freedoms in the pursuit of peace. The militants were in power for around five years until the US invasion of 2001. They ruled Afghanistan with an iron fist that turned women into virtual prisoners under a strict interpretation of sharia law. The Taliban's fall transformed women's lives, much more so in urban areas like Kabul than in conservative rural Afghanistan. But across the country, women remain wary of the insurgents, desperate to see an end to the violence, but fearful of paying a heavy price. Here are some of their stories: - 'How will I support my family?' - Under the Taliban, women were barred from seeking education or work -- rights that Afghan female professionals are fiercely protective of today. In the western city of Herat, saleswoman Setara Akrimi, 32, told AFP: "I will be very happy if peace comes and the Taliban stop killing our people." "But if the Taliban come back to power... with their old mentality, it is a matter of concern for me," the divorced mother of three added. "If they tell me to sit at home, I will not be able to support my family," she said. "There are thousands of women like me in Afghanistan, we are all worried." - 'No change in Taliban mentality' - Akrimi's anxieties are echoed by Kabul-based veterinarian Tahera Rezai, who believes "the arrival of the Taliban will affect women's right to work, freedom and independence". "There has been no change in their mentality," the 30-year-old told AFP. Passionate about her career, Rezai said she was pessimistic about her prospects if the insurgents return to government, even in a truncated capacity. "Looking at their history, I feel less hopeful... I believe the situation will get harder for working women like me," she said. In the run-up to the US deal, the militants made a vague commitment to respect women's rights in line with "Islamic values", prompting warnings from activists that the pledge was mere lip service and open to broad interpretation. The Taliban control large swathes of Afghanistan and while they now allow girls to attend primary school in some areas, occasional reports of floggings and even the public stoning of women persist, fuelling fears they will turn back the clock if they return to power. - 'Every family is grieving' - Many ordinary Afghans are struggling to balance their desire for peace with their dread of the insurgents. "Every family here is grieving because they have lost their children, sons, husbands, brothers in the war," government official Torpekay Shinwari told AFP in eastern Nangarhar province, which witnessed fierce battles between the Taliban and the Islamic State group's Afghanistan affiliate. The 46-year-old said she was praying for peace, but was increasingly concerned that "women would be looked upon as the second sex and suppressed" if the militants gain ground. - 'The young generation has changed' - But in Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban, schoolgirl Parwana Hussaini struck a rare optimistic note. "I am not worried. Who are the Taliban? They are our brothers," the 17-year-old told AFP. "We are all Afghans and want peace." Furthermore, she added: "The young generation has changed, and will not allow the Taliban to enforce their old ideology upon us." - 'I don't want this so-called peace' - For those who bore the brunt of the insurgents' merciless rule, however, there is little doubt that a Taliban comeback will bring anything other than a repeat of "dark and painful memories". Factory worker Uzra, from the mainly Shiite Hazara ethnic minority, sobbed as she recounted life as a young mother, alone at home with her children when the Sunni-fundamentalist Taliban arrived in her village. "I still vividly remember the day... They massacred all the men, and then came to my house," the 40-year-old said, too frightened to give her full name. The militants threatened to behead her then three-year-old daughter, she told AFP from her home in central Bamiyan province. The family survived and fled to Pakistan, but her husband was disabled and traumatised by the brutal beatings he suffered. "To this day, when the word 'Taliban' comes up, he starts crying," she said. "Everybody wants peace, but not if the Taliban returns. I don't want this so-called peace." strs-us-nn-amu/st/wat/mtp/it Across Afghanistan, women remain wary of the Taliban, desperate to see an end to the violence, but fearful of paying a heavy price Head Veterinarian Tahera Rezai is pessimistic about her prospects if the insurgentsreturn to government, even in a truncated capacity Torpekay Shinwari is increasingly concerned women would be "suppressed" if the militants gain ground Schoolgirl Parwana Hussaini struck a rare optimistic note about the Taliban, saying: "We are all Afghans and want peace"
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump hailed the agreement signed between the United States and the Taliban on Saturday as a move to end American's longest war and bring U.S.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump hailed the agreement signed between the United States and the Taliban on Saturday as a move to end American's longest war and bring U.S. troops home from Afghanistan.

"We are working to finally end Americas longest war and bring our troops back home," a White House statement quoted Trump as saying of the deal signed earlier in Doha.

(Reporting by David Brunnstrom; Editing by Nick Zieminski)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
City of Bixby in Oklahoma considering shutting down popular church for being too loud

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

Transformation Church, a popular congregation which recently relocated to facilities in the city of Bixby in Tulsa, Oklahoma, could soon be shut down if they cant keep the joyful noise they have been making to the Lord from bothering their neighbors.

The church has been given 32 noise violation citations since it moved to its new location in Bixby in recent months, according to ABC News affiliate KTUL, but city officials think they might have to take more drastic measures to get the church to quiet down.

Phil Frazier, the city's attorney, said they are looking at three different ways to fix the problem, including the drastic step of shutting down the church, led by pastor Michael Todd, or make a deal that would appease the community.

"You read the books of Matthew and Romans, it talks about loving your neighbor and your neighbor right and that's what we're asking them to do," Frazier said in an earlier report.

The Christian Post reached out to Transformation Church for comment Thursday and a representative said the church would not be issuing any public comment at this time.

Last August, pastor Todd announced that Transformation Church had purchased the building in Bixby which formerly housed Spirit Bank. Todd said the move was driven by a vision he got from God a few years ago and that with favor and faith, the promise finally came to pass.

According to KTUL, even when the building was named the Spirit Bank Event Center in the late 2000s, there were many complaints about noise from it as well.

"When that noise comes on and you have a cup of coffee sitting on a counter in a neighbor's house, the water starts doing like this, it's that much vibration," said Frazier.

He told KTUL that the building is a big part of the problem, and noted that it was "unfortunate that the church had bought such a terrible building."

The Rev. Jamaal Dyer, lead pastor at Friendship Church in Tulsa, suggested in a post on Facebook that there might be an element of racial animus to the complaints against Transformation Church in Bixby, which is 84.2% white and just 1.6% black.

Sooooooo... They're complaining about the noise at Transformation Church in Bixby.......we know what it's really about!!! Dyer wrote.

Y'all don't want to see The black man prosper at ANYTHING... not even church! This church has brought revenue and soooooo many people to BIXBY that they never would've seen and yall wanna complain about some noise... We know why yall are really mad but guess what.... it's NOT gonna stop God from blessing them, he continued.

The city attorney had the nerve to say, the scripture says, love thy neighbor... well that goes both ways... The neighbors need to love the church and leave them alone. This is why I'm sticking to Pastoring in a community with people who understand our style of worship!!! Keep making a JOYFUL NOISE Pastor Mike and Transformation Church. And I'm mad they're doing this during BLACK HISTORY MONTH!!! he added.

The Bixby City Council will be meeting for their regular scheduled meeting on March 9, where they will be discussing any further actions that they may have to take if the noise from the church remains an issue.

A church in North Carolina faced a similar complaint two years ago.

In 2018, residents living near the Ballantyne campus of Elevation Church in Charlotte turned to police and a television news outlet to complain about the amount of noise coming from the Southern Baptist megachurch on a regular basis that they said was disturbing their peaceful lives.

At the time, neighbors shared cell phone recordings that showed how the worship music and other sounds coming from the church reverberated through their homes.

In a statement to CP at the time, Elevation Ballantyne Campus pastor Jonathan Josephs said, "On the few occasions when we have received complaints, the police have assured us that we were not violating any noise ordinances. Our intent is to be good members of the communities we serve, and we will continue to cooperate with law enforcement should any issues arise."
CAIRO, Feb 29 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia welcomed a peace agreement between the U.S. and the Taliban on Saturday, in a foreign ministry statement which said it hoped the deal would lead to a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire and nationwide peace in Afghanistan.

The United States signed a deal with Taliban insurgents on Saturday that could pave the way toward a full withdrawal of foreign soldiers from Afghanistan over the next 14 months and represent a step towards ending the 18-year-war in the nation. (Reporting by Hesham Abdul Khalek; Editing by Alexander Smith)
Zimbabweans across the political divide have condemned violent demonstrations staged by suspected MDC-Alliance members in Chitungwiza on Saturday and described them as retrogressive.





The demonstrations rocked St Marys and left vendors stalls, wares and a ZUPCO bus, among other properties damaged.





Business came to a standstill at Chigovanyika Shopping Centre as demonstrators, who were burning tyres, clashed with the police.





Police had to fire teargas to disperse demonstrators who had blocked roads. At least 11 MDC-Alliance youths have since been arrested in connection with the violence.





National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said the youths involved were mobilised by some senior opposition party officials.





He warned members of the public against acts of violence, intimidation or harassment of innocent individuals, groups and businesspersons.





Political analyst and prominent lawyer, Mr Obert Gutu, condemned the violence, urging Zimbabweans to shun lawlessness.





As Zimbabweans, we must love each other regardless of political affiliation, he said.





Take America, for example, if it faces any kind of challenge, the citizens put aside their political differences and unite for a common purpose. Why cant we do the same?





I am always saying every Zimbabwean has a constitutional right to demonstrate peacefully. However, people should know that the emphasis is on the peacefulness of the demonstration and also that those rights are not absolute.





The moment those youths started damaging property, including the ZUPCO bus, which I saw on social media, the demonstration ceased to be peaceful.





Secretary-general of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) Cde Victor Matemadanda strongly condemned the violent demonstrations and called on all citizens to love each other.





There is no normal person who can support any form of violence. It destroys, hinders and disrupts production, which is key to development.





I am surprised that these people allegedly from opposition parties are saying they want peoples lives to be better, yet they are disrupting business. Some people are busy doing their businesses, but someone is busy destroying that.





Government is working towards improving the transport situation across the country, but some people are destroying the same buses, which should ease transport challenges.





Business at Chigovanyika Shopping Centre has since returned to normal.





Vendors have also condemned the acts of violence, saying such tendencies, if not stopped, would cripple the economy.





This should not be allowed to continue, we are going nowhere as a nation and Government should not tolerate this anymore, said a vendor who preferred anonymity.





We abandoned our stalls and tables to save our lives simply because there are other people who hate peace. I am not into politics, but to be honest, I voted for an opposition party thinking it was the best.




Indian envoy to Iran Gaddam Dharmendra had on Saturday said the authorities are working to facilitate the return of Indians who wish to go back home and discussions were underway with authorities.

The government has received reports of Indians including fishermen stuck in Iran due to the Coronavirus outbreak and the embassy in Tehran is in touch with local authorities on the issue, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said on Sunday.

Several political leaders in Jammu and Kashmir have appealed to the Centre to evacuate the people of the Union Territory, including students, who were stranded in Iran.

"Received reports on Indians including fishermen from Kerala stuck in Iran due to #COVID19. Our Embassy in Tehran is making an assessment of the situation and is in touch with local authorities," Muraleedharan said in a tweet.

Iran's health ministry on Sunday reported 11 new deaths from the novel coronavirus and 385 infections, bringing the overall number of lives lost to 54 and cases to 978.

"In view of COVID19, working to facilitate the return of those Indians wishing to go back home. Discussions underway with concerned authorities to work out arrangements. Will keep you updated (sic)," Dharmendra had said on Twitter.

Earlier, the Indian embassy in Tehran had issued an advisory for Indians residing there and assured them that they were closely monitoring the situation.

India had also issued a travel advisory on February 26 to avoid non-essential travel to Iran due to incidence of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) infections.

In addition, people coming from Iran or having such travel history since 10 February may be quarantined for 14 days on arrival to India, the advisory said.

The National Conference's Member of Parliament from Anantnag Hasnain Masoodi said he spoke to Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar about the safe return of the stranded Kashmiri students in Iran following the outbreak of the deadly virus there.

Former Union minister and senior Congress leader Saif-ud-din Soz and former finance minister Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari had also appealed to the Centre to evacuate the people of Jammu and Kashmir, particularly the students and businessmen, stranded in Iran.

"I am in touch with the MEA and have submitted details of over 240 J-K students who are stuck in Shiraz, Tehran and other cities of Iran," Bukhari had said in a statement.

Prominent Shia leader and former minister Imran Reza Ansari had said he was in touch with relevant authorities and has been assured of evacuation of J-K students from Iran.
Most young, married girls in Ethiopia don't have the family planning information they need. - Source: GettyImages

29.02.2020 LISTEN

Despite progress in reducing the rate of adolescent pregnancy, more than 16 million adolescent girls globally become parents each year. According to the World Health Organisation, 90% of these young mothers live in the global South.

Girls in countries with the highest adolescent fertility rates, many of which are in sub-Saharan Africa , are also the most likely to be malnourished without access to quality maternity care or safe abortions. This leads to complications and consequences that can last a lifetime.

Maternity is a leading cause of disability for girls aged 15-19, according to the World Health Organisation.

The maternal mortality rate for girls under 16 years is around four times that of women in their early 20s . In low and middle-income countries, the overwhelming majority of adolescent pregnancies occur in marriage.

In developing countries, an estimated babies born each day to girls under the age of 18 are born to those who are already married.

A report on Ethiopia released last year corroborates this. In Ethiopia 60% of girls are married by the age of 18. This is a significant factor in the high rate of pregnancy among 15 to 19 year olds.

However, many adolescent girls don't get the care they need. Free contraceptives are available in most communities in Ethiopia, but many girls lack social access because of conservative cultural and religious norms . A dominant norm is that girls need to give birth as quickly as possible after marriage to prove their fertility .

Adolescent girls and community health workers also report that service providers  contrary to their official mandate  are also unwilling to provide advice on contraceptives because of these powerful norms.

What this means is that young, married girls too often don't get the family planning information they need. They also don't get support in negotiating with their husbands and families to take control of their own fertility.

What we found

Our research in Ethiopia found that access to contraceptive information and supplies varies by region, but that cultural and gender norms are still a barrier to use of contraception even where it is made available.

As one 14-year-old married girl explained :

I am not using (family planning) now  before I have one child. If you stay without a child for a longer time, they will tell you, you are barren.

Our evidence highlights that these realities need to inform efforts to reduce adolescent pregnancies and improve maternal and child health.

What can be done

Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence research , a longitudinal research initiative in low and middle-income countries, focuses on the consequences of early motherhood and reviewed some of the strategies already in place in some regions of Ethiopia.

We found promising practices in Amhara, a rural area in northern Ethiopia which has historically had the lowest average age of marriage. These included the expansion of a health extension programme, in which the government funds training for female secondary school graduates and employs them to deliver health care in rural regions.

Another good example is the Women's Development Army , a government-supported initiative involving women volunteers. It spreads messages about family planning and maternal care at the grassroots level.

Another effective model was developed in Amhara to improve relationships between young women, their husbands and in-laws, to increase their uptake of contraceptives. Care International , a non-profit organisation working to end poverty by empowering women and girls, did this by engaging with community gatekeepers such as religious leaders, health workers and village elders to critically reflect on gender norms and find ways to support girls' groups.

These strategies have helped improve outcomes for girls in Amhara. Our report found that adolescents there were more likely to identify a form of family planning than in other study localities.

There's an urgent need to scale these efforts to tackle both adolescent pregnancy and early marriage.

But there are still obstacles to severing the link between marriage and early motherhood. In Oromia in central Ethiopia, girls reported fears about contraceptive use. Some cited concerns that it could make them ill, cause their hair to fall out and make them permanently infertile.

These fears, combined with a lack of access to reliable sexual and reproductive health information, low education rates and the pervasive social norms linking adolescent marriage and early childbirth, are all driving high adolescent fertility rates.

Another major barrier to breaking the link between marriage and early motherhood is in situations where large families are considered economically important. This is the case in pastoralist communities such as in Afar, a north east region of the country.

All these dynamics underline the need to continue to address the wider set of social norms that underpin early adolescent fertility while promoting access to education and female role models who have made different life choices. This must happen alongside the expansion of adolescent-friendly sexual and reproductive health services.

Kate Pincock works for the Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence programme. She has previously received funding from UKRI.

Nicola Jones, is a principal research fellow at the Overseas Development Institute and the director of the Gender and Adolescent: Global Evidence (GAGE) programme, which receives funding from the UK Department for International Development's Research and Evaluation Division.

By Kate Pincock, Research associate, University of Oxford And

Nicola Jones, Research Fellow, Overseas Development Institute
Mumbai, March 1 : Tata Motors on Sunday reported a 34 per cent year-on-year (YoY) decline in its February domestic sales at 38,002 units.

The company had sold 57,221 units in February last year.

Commercial vehicle sales in India plunged 35 per cent to 25,572 units during the month under review, from 39,111 units sold during the corresponding period last year, Tata Motors said in a regulatory filing.

It exported 2,514 commercial vehicles last month, 9 per cent lower on a year-on-year basis. The company's total commercial vehicle sales in February 2020 were recorded at 28,086 units, a fall of 33 per cent from 41,882 sold a year ago.

Girish Wagh, President, Commercial Vehicles Business Unit, Tata Motors said: "Commercial vehicle domestic sales in February 2020 was 35 per cent lower than last year. Retail in February was ahead of wholesale by 37 per cent, helping bring down stocks even further to an all-time low. Retail in M&HCV (medium and heavy commercial vehicle) grew by 23 per cent over last month with fleet buyers stepping up purchases." "We are on track for the BS-VI migration, with BS-IV stocks being consumed as per plan and BS-VI production initiated," he said.

Wagh further noted that the supply disruptions from the novel coronavirus outbreak in China could have some impact on the BS-VI transition and efforts are underway to mitigate the impact.

The company's total passenger vehicle sales in February was recorded at 12,430 units, 31 per cent lower than 18,110 units sold in the same month last year.

Mayank Pareek, President, Passenger Vehicles Business Unit, Tata Motors said: "The outbreak of COVID-19 in China and a recent fire incident at one of our strategic vendors affected the vehicle production and wholesale volume. Multiple actions are being taken to reduce the impact, staying close to our customers by providing transparency of the delivery situation." He said that the company's BS-IV vehicle stock is well below the targeted level, and it is well-placed for the 'BS-IV to BS-VI' transition.
Ranchi, March 1 : Sworn in as Jharkhand Chief Minister, Hemant Soren has been using social media platform Twitter in the past two months to connect to the general public, goad the state's official machinery into action and then report back over the action taken.

Soren, sworn in as the Chief Minister on December 29, 2019, has been regularly tweeting on governance issues to keep his officials alert. People now tag his Twitter handle to escalate their complaints regularly.

If sources are to be believed, the Chief Minister keeps a close watch on the goings-on on his Twitter handle.

What followed a complaint on Twitter regarding the non-issuance of ration cards to certain people in Ramgarh district is an example of the prompt action taken by officials concerned after Soren's tweet. Over 1,000 people benefitted in Sirka panchayat as a result.

A social worker had tweeted: "Hapless people of Jharkhand are incapable of complaining on Twitter. People who have applied online in 2017, have still not been issued the ration cards. Earlier, I reported the matter to the then government and the Ramgarh Deputy Commissioner, but no steps were taken." Soren re-tweeted it on February 26 and wrote: "Please look into this matter in all seriousness and resolve it as soon as possible. Our top priority is to ensure that no one is left behind. There are many discrepancies in the public distribution system and ration cards; take appropriate measures to address them." Ramgarh DC Sandeep Kumar Singh responded: "In all, 1,530 new cards were approved and 1,850 new members added as eligible beneficiaries of ration cards in Ramgarh district. A total of 131 applications were filed in Sirka panchayat block. All eligible beneficiaries will be issued cards in two days." Singh said that the Block Supply Officer had been instructed to make ration cards available to those not yet issued the same.

Similarly, the case of an elderly widow Ratni Devi of Barisam village in Ramgarh district was brought to the Chief Minister's notice by a co-villager and thereafter assurance of prompt action by officials concerned.

On behalf of Ratni, villager Vinod Soren tweeted to draw the Chief Minister's attention to her application and wrote: "Regarding not getting widow pension and house. Even after so many years, Ratni Devi has been deprived of all government facilities. Nor has any official visited our village to know her condition. The Chief Minister is requested to take cognisance of the matter." Directing the Ramgarh DC, Soren replied back on Twitter: "Please take appropriate action, help Ratni Devi ji and report." Prompt was the DC's response: "Ratni Devi's application was investigated. Her pension will be approved tomorrow. In the last 45 days, 536 new pensions have been sanctioned in Ramgarh district by running a verification campaign. This month, action will be taken to sanction 2,000 applications received earlier." (Manoj Pathak can be contacted at manoj.p@ians.in)
Sanjay Raut on chopper tragedy: We claim to have modernised armed forces, how could this happen?

Campaign curbs should apply to all, PM Modi must lead by example: Sena's Raut

Rashmi Thackeray is Sena mouthpiece Saamanas new editor

India

oi-Deepika S

Mumbai, March, 01: Rashmi Thackeray has taken over as the editor of Shiv Sena's mouthpiece, Saamana, three months after Uddhav Thackeray stepped down as Editor of Saamana after assuming the post of Chief Minister in Maharashtra. Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut will continue to remain as executive editor.

She is the third editor of the publication, which was launched by Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray on January 23, 1988 as a medium to convey his views to people of Maharashtra. Since the newspaper's inception, Bal Thackeray was its founding editor.

But after his death in 2012, his son Uddhav Thackeray took over the editor's post. On November 28, 2019, Uddhav Thackeray resigned from the post before taking oath as the chief minister. The Sena mouthpiece also has a Hindi edition.

Since Balasaheb's time, Sanjay Raut has been penning many of the editorials. The editorials, in recent past, played a significant role in Shiv Sena walking out of the NDA and forging an unlikely tie with the Congress and the NCP.

Soon after the results of the Maharashtra Assembly Election 2019, the editorials hinted that the Shiv Sena would not dither to walk out of its alliance with the BJP if it does not get the CM post.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced a decision to declare the highest possible threat level for the coronavirus epidemic. He wrote about this on Twitter.

In my briefing today, I informed media that based on latest #coronavirus developments we have now increased our assessment of the risk of spread and the risk of impact of #COVID19 to very high at a global level, he wrote.

The WHO reports that over the past 24 hours, China reported 329 cases of COVID19, the lowest rate for the month.

China reported a total of 78,959 infections, including 2791 death.

Outside of China, 4,351 people are currently infected in 49 countries and 67 deaths have been recorded.

As we reported before, people with coronavirus in Ukraine will be treated free of charge in municipal and state medical institutions. Minister of Health of Ukraine Zoryana Skaletska assured.

"All people, who are in our medical institutions of communal and state ownership, receive treatment free of charge. Medicines are not specific, they are not difficult to deliver. Now there are medicines in healthcare institutions," Skaletska said.
Glanbia issued several profit warnings in 2019, with the share price tumbling more than 40pc since this time last year. Chief executive Siobhan Talbot blamed everything from international supply chain issues to tariffs and "geopolitical tension".

But last week, the company homed in on Glanbia Performance Nutrition (GPN) as the central problem facing the group.

There are some fundamental issues with Glanbia's one-time wonder division GPN, namely that whey protein is not now viewed as the super-supplement for fitness and health that it was once believed to be.

In addition to that, aspirations to extend its popularity from bulked-up body-builders to everyday fitness fans have not delivered.

International take-up of protein supplements has also failed to live up to expectations.

Last week, full-year numbers from Glanbia on GPN were actually quite stark.

The margin from GPN was 10.7pc in 2019, down from 14.7pc a year earlier. This represents a sharp and worrying decline in margins.

Margins for the business peaked in 2016 at 16.1pc but have been slowly declining ever since - until last year, that is, when the fall accelerated significantly.

Several reasons for falling margins have been given by the company. A small fall in 2017 was blamed on the "net impact of higher year-on-year input costs and increased brand investment".

A year later, another fall was due to "tariff costs, foreign exchange headwinds and brand investment".

According to the company's update last week, margins improved in the second half of last year, but clearly there are some deep-seated issues at GPN.

Among them is the fact that while Glanbia was a specialist player in the heavy duty world of body-builder supplements, there is a lower barrier to entry for competitors in the wider consumer market.

It is also worth noting that another Glanbia division, Nutritional Solutions, an ingredients business, has now surpassed GPN in margin terms (although its margins were also down in the year).

Talbot has now split GPN into four divisions: North America Performance Nutrition, North America Lifestyle, International, and Direct to Consumer.

Lifestyle has been streamlined, with more than 1,200 products (such as flavoured variations) being axed.

This new organisational structure would make the business nicely packaged for sale, particularly for US consumer food players.

It would have been better to sell four years ago when margins were significantly higher, and the opportunities beyond the US and UK seemed immense.

But given the challenges it faces, Glanbia must surely be open to offers for some or all of GPN's new divisions.

CRH under scrutiny despite further strong results

Building materials giant CRH revealed strong results on Friday, with improved profitability and a welcome 15pc increase in its dividend. Yet it still has some heavy lifting to do with its underlying margins.

The company has committed to boosting its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) margins by 300bps by 2021.

Some in the market are very sceptical about the group's ability to deliver on this improvement.

Indeed, it was a topic of discussion at an analysts 'sell-side' dinner with management in December.

According to a note from equity researchers Jefferies, chief executive Albert Manifold reiterated at the dinner that he was confident the upside could be delivered over this year and next.

CRH's full-year results showed that overall margins were up 230bps but that underlying margins were up just 50bps.

So the company has just two years to make up the other 250bps. It believes that cost-cutting and other best-practice initiatives will deliver this.

Consensus in the market is factoring in an improvement of just 100bps, a point which the Jefferies note said Manifold alluded to at the dinner.

Clearly, many analysts and investors doubt CRH's ability to deliver on the 300bps target.

Despite the strength of CRH's share price, focus on the lack of progress on its margin promise is likely to intensify.

European firm Kepler Cheuvreux, for one, believes the question of the margin target will become "increasingly controversial" over the next year or so.
KABUL  Afghanistans president said Sunday that he will not free thousands of Taliban prisoners ahead of all-Afghan power-sharing talks set for next week, publicly disagreeing with a timetable for a speedy prisoner release laid out just a day earlier in a U.S.-Taliban peace agreement.

President Ashraf Ghanis comments pointed to the first hitch in implementing the fragile deal, which is aimed at ending Americas longest war after more than 18 years and getting rival Afghan factions to agree on their countrys future.

Still, the U.S. has said a planned U.S. troop withdrawal over the next 14 months is linked to the Talibans counter-terrorism performance, not to progress in intra-Afghan talks.

The U.S.-Taliban deal signed Saturday in Qatar envisions the release of up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners by the Afghan government ahead of talks between Afghan factions meant to begin March 10 in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The Taliban would release up to 1,000 prisoners.

Ghani told a news conference in the capital of Kabul on Sunday that this wasnt a promise the United States could make. He said the release of any prisoners was a decision for his government to take and that he wasnt ready to release prisoners before the start of negotiations.

The request has been made by the United States for the release of prisoners and it can be part of the negotiations but it cannot be a precondition, Ghani said.

The U.S.-Taliban deal is seen as a historic opportunity to extricate the United States from Afghanistan, a nation convulsed by conflict since the Soviet invasion in 1979. Yet it could also unravel quickly, particularly if the Taliban fail to deliver on a promise that no terror attacks would be launched from Afghan soil. The intra-Afghan talks between squabbling political factions and rival Taliban in Afghanistan are even more intricate.

In an interview, Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammad bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said he considered a prisoner exchange an important confidence-building measure.

Everything is interconnected, he said Sunday about the agreements 14-month timeframe.

Kathy Gannon is an Associated Press writer.
Bloomington-Normal

Galleries, museums

University Galleries of Illinois State University; 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Thu., 9:30 a.m.-8 p.m. Fri., noon-4 p.m. Sat.-Sun.; Uptown Station, 11 Uptown Circle, Normal; rotating exhibits in three galleries; free; 309-438-5487.

Transpace Student Gallery; noon-4 p.m. Tue.; 8 a.m.-noon, 1-3 p.m. Wed.; 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Thu.; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Fri.; Center for Visual Arts, Room 115, Illinois State University, Normal; rotating student exhibits; free;

IWU Merwin and Wakeley Galleries; school hours, noon-4 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 1-4 p.m. Sat.-Sun., 7-9 p.m. Tue.; 302 E. Graham St., Bloomington; rotating exhibits; free; 309-556-3391.

Jan Brandt Gallery; 1305 Morrissey Drive, Bloomington; Studio and gallery showcasing Brandt's work, also visiting artist exhibitions; 309-287-4700; and Jeff Bess Art Gallery space.

Eaton Studio Gallery; 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sat., 5-8 p.m. First Friday; 411 N. Center St., Bloomington; studio and gallery showcasing Eaton's work and guest artist invitationals; 309-828-1575 for showings.

McLean County Arts Center; 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Tue., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wed.-Fri., noon-4 p.m. Sat.; 601 N. East St., Bloomington; rotating exhibits, sales, rentals, art classes and lectures; free; 309-829-0011.

McLean County Museum of History; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat. (until 9 p.m. Tue.), 200 N. Main St., Bloomington; permanent and rotating exhibits; adults $5, seniors $4, students, children under 12 and members free; 309-827-0428.

Prairie Aviation Museum; 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Thu.-Sat., noon-4 p.m. Sun., 2929 E. Empire St., Bloomington; permanent and rotating exhibits and displays with aerial history themes; adults $5, ages 6-11 $3, 5 and under free; 309-663-7632.

Exhibits

Fade Away; through April 5; Ivonne Bess, Jan Brandt Gallery, Bloomington; colored pencil portraits of rock n roll icons.

"Existential Byproduct" and "Ranch Style House"; through March 5, Merwin and Wakeley Galleries, Ames School of Art, Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington; artists Nathan Gorgen and Molly Jo Burke, and Kirsten Valentine.

Civil Rights Prints; through March 7, first floor McLean County Museum of History; artist: Billy Morrow Jackson.

Performing Color: Participatory and Community-Based Research in a Modern U.S. Circus; through end of summer; Womens and Gender Studies offices, Rachel Cooper Hall, Illinois State University, Normal; photographs by Radiance Campbell.

Exhibition: 2020 Faculty Biennial; through March 22, University Galleries, Uptown Station; Image of Research Juried Competition, 4-6 p.m March 19.

Infinity Alumni Show; March 1-31, Ramp Arts Studio, 300 E. Grove St., Bloomington; District 87 alumni and current Advanced Art Studio students; reception, 5-8 p.m. March 6, features glass blowing by Michael Amis.

Bronze  Young & Old; March 4-25, Eaton Gallery; sculptors, Liz Johnson, Sydney Ryan, Kendall Welch; reception, 5-8 p.m. March 6, First Friday.

"Verdancies"; Central Illinois Regional Airport gallery; ISU student artists Hannah Songer, Emily Minton, Neva Taylor, Guste Saukynaite.

Pedal Power!; through spring 2020, McLean County Museum of History; exhibit of vintage pedal cars from the collection of Bruce Callis.

Muro; through March 6, Joe McCauley Gallery, Heartland Community College; Normal; an installation by David Dow and Jim Neeley.

ImagineAir; Children's Discovery Museum, uptown Normal; permanent exhibit shows power of wind, wind energy, aerodynamics, fluid dynamics; $8 for age 2 and older, $3 for Museums for All passholders; free, CDM members.

Challenges, Choices & Change: A Community in Conflict; McLean County Museum of History; examines times of conflict in McLean County history from native peoples to equal rights for women and minorities.

Challenges, Choices & Change: Working for a Living; McLean County Museum of History; highlights more than 80 local workers and their daily on-the-job experiences.

Challenges, Choices & Change: Making a Home; McLean County Museum of History; permanent exhibit exploring experiences of people from around the world who made McLean County their home.

Abraham Lincoln in McLean County; McLean County Museum of History; permanent exhibit on Lincoln's life in Bloomington.

Challenges, Choices and Change: Farming in the Great Corn Belt; McLean County Museum of History; permanent exhibit on McLean County's agricultural history.

Central Illinois

Galleries, museums

Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sun., 212 N. Sixth St., Springfield; Lincoln-themed exhibits, historical displays, special events, more; adults $12, seniors and students $9, ages 5-15 $5, under 5 free; 217-558-8844.

Amity Township Museum; 1-3 p.m. first Sunday of month or by appointment, 510 Main St., Cornell; displays and artifacts relating to history of Cornell and Amity Township; free; 815-358-2973.

Contemporary Art Center of Peoria; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Sat., Riverfront Arts Center, 305 S.W. Water St., Peoria; rotating exhibits in two galleries; free; 309-674-6822.

Dickson Mounds Museum; 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. daily, 10956 N. Dickson Mounds Road, Lewistown; displays, special exhibits; free; 309-547-3721.

Eureka College Burgess Hall Art Gallery; 9 a.m.-9 p.m. weekdays and by appointment on weekends, third floor of Burgess Hall, Eureka College, Eureka; rotating exhibits; free; 309-467-6866.

Lincoln Heritage Museum; 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 1-4 p.m. Sat., Lincoln Center at Lincoln College, 300 Keokuk St., Lincoln; Lincoln-era items, audiovisual displays, tours, exhibits, more; adults $7, children/tours $4; 217-735-7399.

Museum of the Gilding Arts; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sun., April-Oct., and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Mon.-Sun., Nov.-March, 217 N. Mill St., Pontiac; displays, history and hands-on exhibits dedicated to the art of gilding and gold leafing; free (donations welcome); 815-842-1848.

Peoria Art Guild; 203 Harrison St., Peoria; rotating exhibits open each first Friday; classes, www.peoriaartguild.org, 309-637-2787.

Peoria Riverfront Museum; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Wed. and Sat., 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Thu.-Fri., noon-5 p.m. Sun., downtown riverfront Peoria; permanent and rotating exhibits, planetarium shows, Giant Screen Theater and events; $9-$11 (free parking in museum garage); 309-686-7000.

Pontiac Community Art Center; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sat., noon-4 p.m. Sun., 209 W. Madison St., Pontiac; rotating exhibits; 815-419-2472.

Simpkins Military History Museum; 1-5 p.m. Tue., Thu., Sat., or by appointment, March 3-Nov. 15; 605 E. Cole St., Heyworth; permanent and rotating military history exhibits; free (donations accepted); open house, March 21; 309-319-3413.

Time Gallery; Fondulac Bank, 201 Clock Tower Drive, East Peoria; 309-467-2331.

U of I Krannert Art Museum; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sat., closed Sun., 500 E. Peabody Drive, Champaign; paintings, porcelain, historical artifacts, traveling art exhibits; $3 donation suggested; 217-333-1861.

Exhibits

Nine Days in April: The Lincoln Assassination and the Press; Pontiac Museum Complex, 110 W. Howard St., Pontiac, second floor; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily.

Da Vinci the Genius; Peoria Riverfront Museum; Da Vinci runs through March 22.

"What's Your Hobby? The fun of collecting"; special exhibit, March-Nov. 15, 2020. Simpkins Military History Museum, Heyworth, celebrating 61 years collecting of military items and 41 years of established museum (31 years at present location).

I Can Do That; through March 31, Joe Baily Gallery, Pontiac Community Art Center; artist: Krystal Lyon; opening reception, 5-7 p.m. March 7.
Statistics New Zealand released demographic data from the 2018 census late last year showing the population of the Rodney District was 66,400, up from 49,400 in 2006.

Figures also showed that after a dip in 2013, the number of young families, comprising parents in their 30s and 40s along with under-15s, had grown.

In 2018, 25 per cent of the population was aged between 30 and 49 and children under the age of 15 accounted for 20 per cent.

This represents a growth of 10 per cent and 17 per cent respectively.

Those in the 15-29 age bracket grew by 49 per cent from 2006 to 2018, suggesting an increased willingness of young people to live in Rodney.

However, the fastest growth in numbers was among those aged 65 and over. This demographic saw numbers increase by 90 per cent between 2006 and 2018.

This is in part because the demographic had a low starting point. Numbers increased from 5800 people to 11,100.
Click here to read the full article.

Stacey Abrams slips out of a chauffeured black Escalade and through the hotel caterers entrance. She snakes down the hallway to the step-and-repeat, where she snaps a few quick photos with Democratic Party officials, sweeps past the cash bar, slowing to shake hands with Congressman Hank Johnson, then ducks through the ballrooms side door to take her place at Table One.

This is her third year headlining the Gwinnett County Democrats annual gala. Fifteen years ago, Gwinnett was a mostly rural, majority-white Republican stronghold. Today, its Atlantas largest suburb, the states most racially diverse county, and the epicenter of Georgias transformation into a battleground state.

More from Rolling Stone

Abrams, in a midnight-blue tuxedo jacket and sparkling teardrop earrings, is the center of gravity inside the neon-blue-lit ballroom. Party leaders, donors, and newly declared candidates revolve past the table to say hello, introduce their children, take selfies. She greets each warmly, bouncing babies on her knee, nodding appreciatively every few minutes when someone mentions her name from the stage. Youd never know that she hates this part of the job.

 Hatred is a strong word, Abrams says. I deeply dislike it, and would prefer not to do it.

Shes very good at it though, Abrams right-hand woman, Chelsey Hall, mutters under her breath.

That morning, inside a different hotel ballroom, in a different Atlanta suburb  a room you needed to sign a non-disclosure agreement to get into  Abrams was doing the part of her job she actually enjoys: putting together a plan to combat the arsenal of new voting restrictions and suppression tactics she expects will be deployed in polling places around the country this November.

It was day two of a summit hosted by Fair Fight, one of the organizations Abrams formed after her narrow defeat in the 2018 Georgia governors race  an election plagued by voter-roll purges, poll-site closings, and a thousand other problems ranging from the grossly incompetent (voting machines missing their power cords) to the truly sinister (tens of thousands of mostly black voter registrations placed on hold).

Story continues

In 2018, largely thanks to Abrams, Georgias Democratic Party had a full-time voter protection director; there was a hotline to report problems, volunteers to chase down provisional ballots, lawyers ready to go to court to keep polls open. It wasnt enough, it turned out, against Abrams opponent, Georgias then-secretary of state, Brian Kemp, who was in charge of overseeing his own election  but it nearly was.

Now, with $21 million raised in 2019 alone, Fair Fight is training similar teams in 18 states. I dont have the capacity to sit still and wait for the next term, the next opportunity for me to stand for an office that lets me do the work, Abrams says.

Dozens of Democratic heavies descended on the summit that morning, including Michael Bloomberg, who has donated $5 million to Fair Fight. Voter suppression efforts are happening across the country, Bloomberg tells Rolling Stone, and there is no one better to lead the counterattack than Stacey.

The billionaire former mayor of New York is the latest in a string of high-profile presidential candidates to seek a sit-down with Abrams in the past year. Those meetings went unremarked upon until I met with the [former] vice president, Abrams sighs. And then there was a rumor started.

Shes being diplomatic: Before Joe Biden got in the race, advisers to his campaign publicly floated the idea that he and Abrams might announce a joint ticket even before primary voting began. Abrams swatted down that report. (At the time, she was still considering her own run for president.) Biden isnt the only one who has seemed interested: Bernie Sanders praised her abilities; Elizabeth Warren  who campaigned for Abrams in 2018  said shes open to naming a female VP; Pete Buttigieg met with Abrams privately and phone-banked for Fair Fight Action, stoking speculation he might tap her as a potential running mate.

And why not? Abrams is a young, charismatic Democrat from a potentially flippable state, a prodigious fundraiser, a captivating speaker. She is also black, like a large portion of the Democratic base (and unlike any of the leading candidates), with a record of motivating voters of all races. Latino and Asian-Pacific Islander turnout tripled when she ran for governor, and she got the highest level of support from white voters of any Democrat in Georgia since Bill Clinton.

She has an overachievers resume  a graduate of Yale Law, a college professor, co-founder of a financial-services firm, bestselling author  but the personality of someone youd actually want to hang out with. Shell rap with you about her favorite Star Trek episodes, or country music (Dolly Parton and Earl Thomas Conley are favorites), or provide a detailed explanation of why the platypus is her favorite animal (It is such an odd creature, makes no sense  its both mammalian and reptilian).

Her team of aides address her as Leader  a holdover from her days as minority leader in the Statehouse but one that sounds quasi-cultish because of staffers obvious affection for her. She inspires a similar reaction in strangers: After the 2018 election, Abrams took her first vacation in years, to Turks and Caicos. I had to stay inside because there were a lot of people that kept trying to hug me, she says.

She even won over Republicans she worked with during her time in the Statehouse. In 2011, one GOP appointee predicted Abrams would be president someday: Once she puts her mind to something, there is really nothing she cant do. Abrams herself has come around to that idea, answering, when she was asked recently if she saw herself in the White House within the next 20 years: I do.

So, of course potential Democratic nominees want her. The question is, What does Stacey Abrams want? If she was interested in a fancy title and stuffy office in Washington, D.C., she could have succumbed to the immense pressure to run for one of her states two open Senate seats. But she didnt. Thats because Abrams has a very specific idea of what she is after, and here in Georgia, shes already building it.

Twenty-eight years ago, Abrams was 18, heartbroken, and sitting in the Spelman College computer lab. Shed just been dumped by her boyfriend, and if her life felt like a bit of a mess, at least she could find relief in the neat rows of a Lotus 1-2-3 workbook. In one column of a spreadsheet she entered a list of goals (publish a bestselling novel, become a millionaire running her own business, be elected mayor of Atlanta). In another, the age by which she intended to have accomplished said goal (24, 30, 35, respectively).

None of it happened on schedule. Shes the author of eight romance novels written under the pen name Selena Montgomery  inspired by Elizabeth Montgomery, the actress who played Samantha and her evil twin, Serena, on Bewitched  but the first wasnt published until she was 28. She took a pen name not because she worried that being a romance novelist would hurt a future political career, but because she worried her novels wouldnt sell if readers knew she was a nerd. If you Googled my name, the first thing that came up was that Id written an article at the age of 17 on Mesopotamian astronomy. Both I and my publisher were concerned that people would not want to buy a [romance] book written by, well, not Neil deGrasse Tyson, but basically by Stephen Hawking.

With only a few minor adjustments, Abrams has had a pretty firm sense of what shes wanted since that night in the computer lab. I dont like just the idea of doing stuff, Abrams says. I think you need to create a structure for it. She still updates the spreadsheet (now an Excel file), adding new goals or revising old ones. She swapped out mayor for governor after a stint as deputy city attorney. The mayor can do extraordinary things, but she will always be thwarted by a state government that, especially in the South, strips you of your power, Abrams explains.

She was elected in 2006, but it took years of toiling before she was in a position to pursue the governorship. In the meantime, she was laying the groundwork, starting an organization  the New Georgia Project  that would register the tens of thousands of voters she knew she would need to have a chance at winning.

It still wasnt enough. Kemp had purged more than 1.4 million voters from the rolls in Georgia between 2012 and 2018. Hed ordered the arrest of black organizers for registering voters ahead of a school-board election, and put the registrations of some 53,000 new voters  70 percent of them black  on hold.

On the night of the election, the incoming fire hose of problems  it was worse than I would have imagined, says Lauren Groh-Wargo, Abrams former campaign manager and a co-founder of Fair Fight. I had all these scenarios sketched out, and we were in Scenario Z, basically the clusterfuck scenario: that we dont have enough information to know whats even happening because there were such big voting problems.

Abrams lost by 54,723 votes. She has resigned herself to the fact that she will probably never have full understanding of all the factors that conspired to arrive at that particular figure. One of the ways suppression is so effective is that you never see all of it, she says quietly.

Ten days after the election, she delivered a speech ending her bid; her youngest sister, Jeanine Abrams McLean, stood behind her, ashen. I wish I didnt look so pissed in the photo, Abrams McLean says. I thought my face looked neutral, but every time I see it, Im like, You motherf. Jeanine still gets choked up thinking of how much, in that moment, Stacey reminded her of their mother.

As teens, both Abrams parents were active in the civil-rights movement in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. When he was a teenager, Abrams dad, Robert, was arrested for helping register black voters. My mom, across town, was doing the same work  she was just smart enough not to get caught, Abrams jokes.

Her parents, who both became pastors, brought their six children with them to vote in every election and raised them to value public service: Abrams sisters are a federal judge, a college professor, and a Ph.D. working in public health; one of her brothers is a social worker, the other worked on hurricane recovery efforts in Mississippi.

My mom and my father shared the same belief systems, she says. And both, like Abrams, are storytellers: When my dad does a sermon, theres usually a really compelling story, an anecdote to get you drawn in. But youre also confused half the time, like, Where is he going with this? And it all makes sense in the end. My mom builds layers of understanding. Shes very deft with anecdotes, but her structure is much more about I want you to leave here not just remembering the part that made you think, I want you to have to think about the part you didnt get. 

When Abrams was little, visiting her grandmother, with her some 16 first cousins running around, she was the one in the corner, holed up with a book. She loved Helen Kellers The Story of My Life, The Count of Monte Cristo, Silas Marner, Little Women, Jane Eyre, Enders Game, Toni Morrisons Beloved, Atlas Shrugged (But not for the Paul Ryan reasons. . . . There was something about how [Ayn Rand] highlighted the capacity of a person to be more than.) She loved mythology. Greek, Norse, Roman, Cherokee. If I could reach it, I would read it, Abrams says.

Her mother, Carolyn, had dropped out of the fourth grade in part because her family couldnt afford bus fare. The way Abrams tells the story, she found her way back thanks to the kindness of others  a neighbor who offered odd jobs to help her save a little money, a teacher who tucked a note in her file vouching for her  but its really a story about poverty and the structural barriers of escaping it.

I came from a family that struggled financially. We had lots of education, but we are congenitally disposed toward poverty because my parents got masters degrees and then went back to Mississippi to become poor ministers, she joked onstage at the Gwinnett gala. My sister became a judge after leaving one of the wealthiest law firms in America because we just dont know how to do this right.

She plays it for laughs, but Abrams larger point is about how difficult its been for her and her family  people who have done almost everything right  to stay on firm financial footing. And if there was one line of attack that seemed to stick to Abrams during the 2018 election, it was around the fact that she was $227,000 in debt. (Republican ads called her fiscally irresponsible.) Abrams started accruing the debt  a mix of credit cards, student loans, and deferred taxes  in college, and continued to rack it up supporting her brother, who struggled with a drug addiction, and helping her parents, who are raising her brothers daughter.

But the narrative that she is bad with money runs contrary to the rest of Abrams biography, being a successful tax attorney, co-founding a thriving financial-services firm, and as city attorney going toe-to-toe with then-NBA commissioner David Stern during negotiations over the WNBAs Dream moving to Atlanta. (He screamed at me. Its my claim to fame. Made me really popular with my brothers.)

Coincidentally, Abrams role with the Dream meant she was, briefly, the lawyer for Georgias newest U.S. senator, Kelly Loeffler, a bitcoin market executive who Gov. Kemp appointed in December. Abrams negotiated the teams deal with the NBA when Loeffler and her partner purchased it in 2011. But that doesnt make them allies. I deeply disagree with the policy positions she has espoused and the approach she is taking, and I do not support her, Abrams says. Im going to be very actively involved in ensuring that a Democrat wins that seat.

Abrams ended up settling her outstanding debt this past May with the money she made from her bestselling 2018 memoir, Lead From the Outside. Shes now in the final stages of writing her next book, Our Time Is Now, on voter suppression, scheduled to hit bookstores in June. When we sat down to talk in January, shed just received word shed sold yet another book, the details of which she wasnt ready to publicly disclose. One of her earlier romance novels is being developed into a television show at CBS, and shes working with the Emmy- and Oscar-nominated director Liz Garbus on a documentary about the history of voter suppression.

Im a good loser, Abrams concedes, reflecting on the 14 months since her loss to Kemp. But even with everything she has going on, theres always space for new ideas, bigger ambitions, and more cells on the spreadsheet.

Abrams voice carries across the hotel ballroom in a way, one imagines, she must have learned from her parents. She is retelling a story her grandmother told her, about a time shortly after the Voting Rights Act passed, when Abrams grandfather was struggling to coax her grandmother to the polls: I remember the last time we tried, she told him. The billy clubs and the dogs, and they spray you with those hoses.

It was the shame she felt over her own fear that forced Abrams grandmother to the voting booth that day. She never missed another election. Across Gwinnett, across Georgia, there are folks who are afraid of their power, who are afraid of what they remember, and theyre afraid to try this time, Abrams is saying. In 2020, our responsibility is to erase their fear, to take their hands and walk with them. . . . Yes, they have been silenced . . . but this time they are not going alone.

It brings the house down.

This crowd has good reason to take Abrams at her word. They are already direct beneficiaries of the work shes done here. When she was elected minority leader back in 2010, the Georgia Democratic Party was in a beleaguered state. It had lost every statewide office  Republicans held a supermajority in the state Senate and were only a few seats short of one in the house.

There were two employees. They were barely keeping the lights on. It was a wreck, Rebecca DeHart, who Abrams tapped to help rebuild the party, recalls. Stacey  always thinking long-term  knew she wanted a strong party structure in Georgia. By the time Abrams ran for governor in 2018, the party had 150 employees and $25 million in the bank. We built it to where we wanted it to be, DeHart says. That year, they flipped 16 seats.

Now, Abrams is creating a new kind of political machine, poised to reshape the Georgia electorate from the ground up. It began in the days after the 2018 election, when she was sick and depressed sitting on the couch in her Kirkwood townhouse, bingeing episodes of Doctor Who.

I had a notepad, and Im sitting in the corner of my couch, and Jeanine would come by every day to make sure Im not committing ritual suicide, Abrams jokes. I had drawn this chart, and it had three circles. It said, Voting, Census, Policy.

These are the things that I just dont trust [Kemp] to do, she told her sister. If I believe in what Ive been saying, my job is to make sure it gets done anyway, even if Im not able to use the platform of a governorship to do it.

The circles are now four stand-alone organizations, each run by a different trusted female deputy: Fair Fight, the political arm; Fair Fight Action; Fair Count; and the Southern Economic Advancement Project, a think tank intended to, in Abrams words, translate good policy into Southern.

Of the organizations, Fair Fight Action  which is spearheading a lawsuit accusing Kemp of systematically disenfranchising lower-income and minority voters  is the best known. But the organization that has the potential to make the biggest immediate impact on Georgia is Fair Count, the nonprofit Abrams conceived to combat the undercount of minority communities in the 2020 census, which will decide how more than $1.5 trillion in federal resources are allocated and how congressional districts are drawn. The predicted undercount of black men alone in Georgia is expected to cost the state $154 million annually  enough to pay for Medicaid expansion in the state.

The undercount in Georgia [in 2010] had a visceral effect on the work I was able to do as a legislator, Abrams says. I knew communities were simply erased from the narrative.

Abrams asked her sister Jeanine  who was working with epidemiologists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, studying the spread of gonorrhea  how she would go about trying to ensure every person in Georgia was counted. Her job was to literally find people who did not want to be found, Abrams recalls. I said, How would you do that? 

Jeanine quit her job and joined Fair Count. From a small clapboard house in Atlantas Grant Park neighborhood, she, DeHart, and a team of 23 employees are figuring out how to reach every person in Georgia. Because 2020 is the first time the census will accept responses online, theyre giving away iPads and Chromebooks and installing internet routers in places like churches, barbershops, soup kitchens, day cares, and community centers.

Theres really no other organization like Fair Count in the nation, DeHart says. Its not surprising  it was born out of Staceys brain.

Abrams hops up into the Escalade and exhales. Its late, she is exhausted, and she still has a long drive home from Gwinnett. She got a call from her mom earlier that day. Carolyn said she heard the Fair Fight summit had gone well  a friend of a friend told her the strategy session set her on fire. Abrams smiles at that thought. To believe in possibility in Mississippi when it comes to voter protection? If we can pull that off, then it was really effective.

Abrams may not have enjoyed all the glad-handing she had to do at the fundraiser, but at least she can feel satisfied knowing shed done her part. She jokes that her father used to get in trouble for telling his congregants that they were going to hell because they werent doing enough good work. You get the sense that this idea  that shes not doing enough  haunts Abrams.

Most people who go into politics, they want to be in politics. They enjoy the rigor of the campaign as much as they do the policy, she says. For me, policy is the reason we do this. Its how do you make peoples lives better?

Thats what Stacey Abrams wants. And if there is a political office from which she can do it, thats great. And if there isnt, shell find another way. The goal I can plan for is, most likely, governor. There are other opportunities, Abrams says obliquely. But I have no control over how that happens.

She doesnt shrink from questions about the vice presidency, though. I think its not only disingenuous, but it is inappropriate as a woman of color, when presented with that as an option, to dismiss it out of hand, Abrams tells me. Because the idiom You cant be what you cannot see is true. How do you get things if people dont know you want them? For me, its not that I want that for itself, but if people ask me if thats a job I would take? Absolutely.

The most obvious clue that shes keen on the prospect surfaces when I ask her what she wishes more people knew about her. Her answer: that she has a lot of foreign-policy experience. (An aide later emails, unprompted, a 13-point list of Abrams foreign-policy experience, including seven international fellowships.)

I believe that there is value to serving as the chief lieutenant to someone who has to remake the world thats been broken by our current administration, Abrams says.

Her interest, as always, is contingent on the work she would be able to do there. If you look at H.R.1 and H.R.4  legislation to expand voting rights and limit gerrymandering thats languishing while Republicans have control of the Senate  there are blueprints that have already gone through Congress. One of the jobs I would love to have is making sure that those laws actually become real, she says.

But what she wants more than anything  more than the governorship or the vice presidency or for the organizations shes created to thrive, is for those organizations to cease to exist.

I would love for the work we do to be rendered obsolete by the permanence of protection for those who need it, she says. The permanence of policies that serve to benefit the communities that are most vulnerable. I mean, thats the goal. The goal is obsolescence. If we have good leadership, if people actually get to vote, if those who are marginalized actually wield their power effectively and elect leaders who see them, then you dont need organizations to remind them and to teach them how that power can be used.

Best of Rolling Stone

See where your favorite artists and songs rank on the Rolling Stone Charts.



Sign up for Rolling Stones Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Mike Huckabee went on the attack, asserting that Trump could personally suck the virus out of every one of the 60,000 people in the world, suck it out of their lungs, swim to the bottom of the ocean and spit it out, and he would be accused of pollution for messing up the ocean.

On Fox, Don Jr. said the Democrats seemingly hope the virus kills millions to stop Trumps winning streak. Rush Limbaugh chimed in that the media would love for the coronavirus to be this deadly strain that wipes everybody out so they could blame Trump for it.

There are 2,800 dead worldwide and disturbing stories showing how federal criteria delayed the diagnosis of a California woman and how federal health employees interacted with Americans who had possibly been exposed to the virus in China without proper training or gear.

Yet Trump seems more consumed with how the Democrats might blame him for a coronavirus recession than with the virus itself.

Trump had tweet-shrieked at President Barack Obama about how he should handle Ebola. (Obama should apologize to the American people & resign!)

Yet he was so relaxed about the coronavirus threat that he spent 45 minutes Thursday chatting in the Oval with the authors of a little play called FBI Lovebirds: Undercovers, inspired by the texts of Peter Strzok and Lisa Page. The plays leads, Dean Cain of Superman fame and the Buffy the Vampire Slayer actress Kristy Swanson, were also in the meeting. Trump joked that hed be willing to be Cains understudy, the actor said. The president got together the same day with a group that included his social media boosters Diamond and Silk.

At the White House press conference, Trump preened: Because of all weve done, the risk to the American people remains very low. He later said that one day, like a miracle, the virus will disappear.
Late Saturday evening, three Sputnik employees in Ankara were attacked at their homes, with organized groups attempting to break down the front door, threatening and calling the agency staffers traitors and Russian spies, Sputnik reports.

Sputnik Turkey hasn't been able to reach three employees for nine hours; contact was lost after they went to the police to report a raid on their homes which happened on Saturday, Sputnik and RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan wrote on Telegram.

The Turkish State news agency Anadolu has characterised the Saturday attacks on Sputnik staff members as a protest.

In its report, the news organisation suggested that unidentified people staged a protest outside the homes of three journalists working for the Ankara-based edition of the Russian News Agency Sputnik.

The agency claimed that police had launched an investigation into the incidents.

The attack on Sputnik staffers in Ankara occurred at about 10:30 p.m. local time on Saturday, with groups of at least 10 attempting to break down apartment doors and storm the homes of the journalists.

The assailants reportedly shouted nationalist chants including Turkey for the Turks, Homeland is indivisible, while threatening and insulting the Sputnik employees, calling them traitors and Russian spies.

Following the incident, Sputnik editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan asked how the attackers obtained the agency staffs home addresses.
Our economy relies on exports - and our future export potential relies on the company founders with vision to grow and scale, not just in Ireland but globally (stock photo)

It's a time-worn maxim heard by anyone who has attended a business conference - the Chinese word for 'crisis' is the same for 'opportunity'. It isn't, but that hasn't stopped the fallacy from spreading.

In actual fact, weiji, the Mandarin for crisis, contains a character which has no direct translation in English but has a significant meaning that will be familiar to businesses - the moment or crucial point when something begins or changes.

We might call it by another name: disruption. That moment in a sector when innovation renders the existing business model obsolete.

And the champions of disruption are rarely the established order. They are the quick-moving startups, the dynamic early-stage companies with founders who have a bright idea, and then run with it.

It is why Enterprise Ireland last week hosted the annual Startup Showcase at Croke Park in Dublin, celebrating the achievements of the startup class of 2019.

Our economy relies on exports - and our future export potential relies on the company founders with vision to grow and scale, not just in Ireland but globally.

Last year, Enterprise Ireland, the second largest seed fund in the world, invested 24m in Irish startups - businesses we believe will disrupt the markets they enter and act as drivers for export growth.

Not all startups will go on to become disruptive exporters capable of hitting 1m in exports within their first three years - our benchmark for a high-potential startup (HPSU). But this does not mean they will not be successes in their sectors.

Last year, in backing the 127 startups we believe have that potential, we were planting a significant flag in the ground to capital investors that Irish innovation delivers disruptive growth. And that we believe it is sustainable.

Some 600 delegates attended last week's Startup Showcase 2020 event, many of whom were investors there to meet our class of 2019.

This class included 91 HPSU firms, as well as 36 companies taking their first steps through our Competitive Start Funding programme.

To put this in context, the 127 client companies representing this year's class were selected from 1,400 applicants.

This offers an indication of the competitive landscape, as well as the appetite from founders to engage with Enterprise Ireland during the early stages of their business journey.

Innovation is a key driver in our selection process and some 13 of our HPSU companies were successfully commercialised in partnership with third-level research institutions - showing the value of the knowledge-transfer ecosystem that has evolved in the past 15 years.

It is worth noting the power of regional clusters and the strength in depth beyond Dublin.

Some 42pc of companies supported are located outside the capital.

The sectors our HPSUs are competing in are diverse, including ICT, medtech, fintech, food and manufacturing.

But so, too, are the founders - and this year we approved investment for some 38 women-led startups.

For us, innovation is the key differentiator that earmarks a startup as high-potential - a disruptor of the future.

From quantum computing, game-changing medical imaging and chocolate that is good for you, through to new banking platforms and drone delivery, the class of 2019 demonstrates this appetite for innovation in abundance.

But innovation cuts both ways. And this is why at Enterprise Ireland, we are not standing still.

As a facilitator to the startup ecosystem, we are developing new funding instruments and new funding models, as well as new ways to capitalise on disruptive and rapid scaling projects.

The formula for success centres on matching a founder's vision and ambition with Enterprise Ireland's investment, expertise and network to help them succeed.

After all, in the midst of difficulty lies opportunity. For all of us.
Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, his wife and three daughters paid tribute to the victims of the events that took place on March 1, 2008 in Yerevan and laid flowers near the statue of Myasnikyan.

Several members of government and high-ranking officials also paid their respects.

Exactly 12 years ago, tragic events took place in central Yerevan, taking the lives of 10 citizens.

In the wake of the presidential elections that took place on February 18, 2008, the supporters of first President of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrosyan gathered at Liberty Square with the demand for a recount of the votes and held round-the-clock rallies at Liberty Square for ten consecutive days.

On the morning of March 1, police dispersed the crowd by force, after which people started gathering near the statue of Myasnikyan. On the evening of the same day, President Robert Kocharyan declared martial law. The clashes took the lives of 10 citizens, including two police officers, and another 200 received injuries of various degrees.

The ten victims were Gor Kloyan, Davit Petrosyan, Tigran Abgaryan, Tigran Khachatryan, Armen Farmanyan, Hovhannes Hovhannisyan, Hamlet Tadevosyan, Grigor Gevorgyan, Samvel Harutyunyan and Zakar Hovhannisyan.

Several people were detained and arrested after being charged with participation in the mass disturbances.

Within the scope of the case regarding the events of March 1, 2008, second President of Armenia Robert Kochayran, ex-defense minister Mikayel Harutyunyan, Yuri Khachaturov and ex-Deputy Prime Minister Armen Gevorgyan are charged with overthrow of constitutional order. Former Presidents of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrosyan and Serzh Sargsyan have been interviewed as witnesses.

The Prime Minister talked to the relatives of the deceased after laying flowers.
Union minister Anurag Thakur on Sunday accused reporters of lying when he was asked whether he shouted an inflammatory slogan during the election campaign for the assembly polls in Delhi.

To a reporters question the Union minister of state for finance asked what had he said.

As the reporter told him about the slogan, Anurag Thakur replied by saying, You are lying.

The media should first improve their knowledge. I am not saying much as the matter is subjudice. That is why I say you should improve your knowledge. Half-baked knowledge is dangerous for anyone, he said.

WATCH | You are lying: Union minister Anurag Thakur on question over goli slogan

Also read: After goli maaro remark, Anurag Thakur gives ballot vs bullet call

The minister was addressing a press conference after a meeting with stakeholders from various trades and industries during an interactive session organised by the income tax department.

Anurag Thakur had allegedly shouted the slogan during an election meeting by Union home minister Amit Shah in Rithala as he lead people on a chant that said traitors would be shot-- desh ke gaddaron ko; goli maaro saalon ko.

But he himself didnt utter the second part of the slogan.

The Election Commission of India later handed a 72-hour ban on Anurag Thakur as it held that he had made undesirable and objectionable statements, which had the potential to aggravate existing differences and create mutual hatred between different religious communities.

Also read: Minister Anurag Thakur gets EC notice over goli maaro slogan at Delhi rally

Delhi High Court had recently expressed anguish over Delhi Polices failure to register first information reports (FIRS) against the three BJP leaders, including Thakur, over their alleged hate speeches in connection with the citizenship act-related violence and asked the police commissioner to take a conscious decision on it.
The provincial government in Pakistan's Sindh has extended the closure of all schools till March 13 to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus.

The Sindh government had ordered the closure of private and government schools on February 27 and 28 after Pakistan confirmed its first two cases of the virus. One of the cases was detected in Karachi, capital of Sindh.

On Sunday, two more cases were confirmed in Pakistan, including one in Karachi.

Already, the border with Afghanistan at Chaman in Balochistan will remain closed for seven days from March 2, the Ministry of Interior said in a statement.

In addition to the border closure, strict precautionary measures have also been put in place in border areas, including the setting up of an isolation ward at DHQ Hospital Parachinar.

Screening is also underway at the Babe-e-Dosti border crossing in Chaman.

Medical checkpoints have also been set up at Torkham border for those coming into the country from Afgahnistan's Nangarhar province.

Kabul confirmed its first case of the coronavirus on Monday with several others being tested for the diseases.

Afghanistan Minister of Public Health Ferozuddin Feroz told a press conference that one of the three suspected cases had been confirmed in its western Herat province.

Pakistan has already snapped land and rail links with Iran - where the coronavirus outbreak has claimed 43 lives and infected 593 people, the highest outside China.

The novel virus reportedly first originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December last year and has killed 2,870 people and infected 79,824.

The World Health Organisation on Friday raised global virus risk to maximum level after the outbreak spread to sub-Saharan Africa and stock markets around the world plummeted.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Kansas City Lost & Found

The backstory behind the Facebook page finding stolen KC items KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -- Over the years, many victims of theft in the metro have worked with law enforcement along with the Facebook page Stolen KC to retrieve your items back. The group has grown a lot, but KCTV5 News wanted to take look at what went behind the creation of the group.

Independence & Protection

Advocates look for new solutions in protecting domestic abuse survivors INDEPENDENCE, MO (KCTV) - The case of an Independence man charged with murdering his girlfriend while he was out on bond after already shooting her six times is raising questions about how to balance the safety of a victim in clear danger and a suspects' rights.

Kansas City Shed Hunting Season Arrives

It's peak season to look for shed deer antlers in Missouri and Kansas, experts say PARKVILLE, Mo. -- Hunting may be in a bit of a slow period as many sportsmen look toward spring turkey season. But there's one form of hunting that's perfect right now - shed hunting. A set of trophy deer antlers might be waiting in the woods for you.

Vet Still Fights For Troops

Local veteran testifies before House Oversight Committee- says military base was toxic LENEXA, KS (KCTV) - Veterans say the evidence is now clear and overwhelming that a military base used by American soldiers was actually a toxic waste dump, and a Lenexa man is taking the fight to Capitol Hill.

Fact Checking Mr. Market

WHO chief on coronavirus: Global markets 'should calm down and try to see the reality' Market panic over the fast-spreading new coronavirus is uncalled for, the World Health Organization's director-general said Sunday as governments around the world rush to contain its spread. "Global markets ... should calm down and try to see the reality," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told CNBC's Hadley Gamble during a panel discussion at the King Salman Humanitarian Aid Center's International Humanitarian Forum in Riyadh.

Billionaire Bounces

Tom Steyer drops out of 2020 race after disappointing South Carolina result Billionaire environmental activist Tom Steyer has dropped out of the Democratic presidential race following a disappointing result in South Carolina, the early voting state on which his campaign staked its hopes.

Regret After Panties Dropped

L Brands: Victoria's Secret Sale Was A Flop Last week L Brands ( LB) confirmed the sale of its Victoria's Secret brand to Sycamore Partners: L Brands confirms its deal with Sycamore Partners to privatize the Victoria's Secret business and position Bath & Body Works as a highly profitable, standalone public company.

Oprah Rises Again

Oprah Winfrey Takes a Tumble During Her Motivational Tour Oprah Winfrey took a tumble during her most recent Oprah's 2020 Vision: Your Life on Focus Tour. On Saturday, t he media mogul held her second-to-last event at The Forum in Los Angeles. While talking about wellness and balance, and what it means to her, Winfrey fell on stage -- and thankfully appeared to be fine.

Prez Trump Vs. Activist

Trump bemoans 'losing' to Greta Thunberg as Time magazine's 'Person of the Year' President Trump Donald John Trump Trump endorses former White House physician Ronny Jackson for Congress Newly released emails reveal officials' panic over loss of credibility after Trump's Dorian claims Lindsey Graham thanks Trump, bemoans 'never-ending bull----' at South Carolina rally MORE derided 17-year-old Greta Thunberg while speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), mentioning his disappointment that Thunberg, a Swedish climate activist, was named Time magazine's "Person of the Year" in 2019.

JoCo Lawman Legacy

Olathe police honor their first black police officer In honor of Black History Month, Olathe police are honoring one of their own.Officer Al Bell was the first black police officer on the force."He had no intentions of being an officer," said Al Bell's son, Marcus.But sometimes life has a bigger calling then you think it might."I think that's what he kind of had in mind, that he could help out and he could help the community by being an officer," Marcus Bell said.The year was 1960.

Fried Food Agenda

Lent 2020 fish fry list: All the fish fries to try in Kansas City KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -- Below is a list of Kansas City-area organizations that will be holding Lenten fish frys this year. To get a fish fry added to the list, email the information to kcnewswebteam@meredith.com. Avondale United Methodist Church, 3101 NE Winn Road, Kansas City, Missouri (4-7:30 p.m.

Spring Into Sunday

Keeping the warmer temps on Sunday with more clouds KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Share in our weather experience on the weather blog. Click on the blog at the top of the page for more information. For a full list of weather alerts, click here.

Last year hottiebecame one of the newest Angels and right now she inspires our Sunday list of pop culture, community news and info from across the nation and around the world.is the Sunday song of the day and this is thefor right now . . .
It is now more than two weeks since the General Election and we are no closer to forming a government. Many have claimed victory. The truth is nobody won.

It was a photo-finish among three parties for first, second and third place. And so, we now have three medium-sized parties in the Dail: Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein, all within a handful of seats of each other.

For the first time since the foundation of the State, no party commands the support of even a quarter of the electorate.

For the first time, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael combined have less than half of the vote. And, despite claims to the contrary, the left did not win a majority either.

Together, they constitute less than half the Dail and the idea that the 'left' is a block is dubious in any case. Indeed, some on the centre-left have more in common with Fianna Fail or Fine Gael than they do with Sinn Fein, not to mention the radical or far left. So we are deadlocked.

One of the main difficulties in forming a government stems from the unwillingness of either Fianna Fail or Fine Gael to coalesce with Sinn Fein. A position clearly and unequivocally stated by the leaders of both parties before, during and after the election campaign. Given that my party has formed successful coalitions in the past with left-wing republican parties with a paramilitary past, like Clann na Poblachta in 1948 and Democratic Left in 1994, it might cause some people to ask the obvious question. Namely, why won't Fine Gael do it on this occasion? Why won't Nixon go to China once more?

Is it because there are huge policy differences between Sinn Fein and Fine Gael? Yes, the policy differences between us are huge, ranging from our support for the Special Criminal Court, and our wholehearted commitment to European integration, to our opposition to higher taxes on business, income and employment. They could be overcome, albeit by Sinn Fein changing or at least setting aside its policies in these and other areas for the duration of a government.

Our difficulty with Sinn Fein runs much deeper. It stems from five fundamental differences that make us incompatible.

First is the fact that Sinn Fein still does not fully embrace our constitutional democracy, that the State established by the people by referendum, enrolled in Bunreacht na hEireann in 1937, is the only legitimate sovereign State on this island. It is the successor State to the Irish Free State and the Irish Republic declared on the steps of the GPO in 1916.

As the Constitution says, the name of our State is Ireland, or in the Irish Language, Eire. It may be described as the Republic of Ireland on foot of the Republic of Ireland Act of 1948. Referring to our State, our republic as the 'southern State' or 'south of Ireland' or 'free State' is anathema to us. We can never accept it. It's like burning the tricolour before our eyes. We cannot form a coalition to govern our State with a party that still does not fully recognise its legitimacy.

This, of course, is not merely a matter of language or semantics. It is this self-same theology that allowed Sinn Fein to justify and defend the killing of gardai, members of our defence forces, children and civilians in Ireland and in Britain during the Troubles. It's also a theology still employed by dissident republicans to justify violence today including the murder of Lyra McKee. These actions were never justified and they are crimes.

In 2020, Sinn Fein's leadership should be able to say so before entering government, before being privy to crucial decisions made about our national defence, police service, our judiciary and our courts.

Similarly, the ongoing existence of the Army Council directing Sinn Fein strategy cannot be accepted by a party serving in government in a modern democratic European state. Sinn Fein says they have 'left the stage'. The Garda Commissioner, PSNI, military intelligence and several former Ministers for Justice say otherwise. I know who I believe.

The Army Council might well be off the stage - as Sinn Fein claims - because they are in fact backstage, waiting in the wings, directing overall strategy, albeit a political rather than military one.

We could not countenance ministers in a coalition seeking approval for decisions from such an entity. At the very least, the Sinn Fein leadership should call for any residual structures of the IRA to be dissolved.

Another huge difficulty for us is the widespread tolerance of hate speech by Sinn Fein. Every day we see an online assault against anyone who dares to question or criticise them. Sometimes this is even aimed at people from other political parties, who have the temerity to post a positive message about their work. The messenger is attacked within minutes and scared off, so that their own legitimate message is drowned out and not repeated.

Most recently it manifested as racism, homophobia and anti-semitism - the latter not even considered worthy of sanction or disciplinary action. There is a world of a difference between support for Palestinians and opposition to Israeli government policy on the one hand, and naked or veiled anti-semitism replete with wild theories about Jewish banking conspiracies and Jewish people being compared to monkeys on the other. Yet, Sinn Fein does not seem to know the difference. It is in denial, like Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party.

No party is without its bad eggs. It's how you deal with them that matters. Sinn Fein has yet to demonstrate its willingness to distance itself from this form of politics. I think on-going controversies of this nature would make any government involving them impossible to sustain.

Finally, there is the money.

Since the tribunals and corruption scandals of the 1980s and 1990s, Ireland is governed by strict laws limiting spending by political parties and limiting donations that can be made to parties and politicians.

Sinn Fein seems to operate differently. There are lavish fundraisers in the United States. Money is routed through Northern Ireland. Office space is bought by front companies.

Sinn Fein public representatives claim to earn only the average industrial wage, yet their salaries are not returned to taxpayers or donated to the party. Many appear to live way beyond their means.

More than 4.5m has been collected by Sinn Fein MPs who do not take their seats in Westminster.

These irregularities cause us real concern and deserve further scrutiny and a proper investigation. Sinn Fein owes it to all of us to clear up these matters once and for all.
Israels PM Benjamin Netanyahu on March 1 reportedly promised that if he is re-elected for another term, he will annex the West Bank within weeks. Israel is all set to head to the polls for the third time in a year on March 2.

Annexation within two months

While talking to Israeli state media about re-election, Netanyahu said that annexation of Jordan valley and other parts of the West Bank was his top priority among his four major immediate missions. He further said that it would happen a within weeks, if not then within the next two months adding that the joint US-Israeli mapping committee has started the work a week ago.

Read: Israel Advises Against Foreign Travel Over Virus Concerns

The Israeli elections

Israel heads into its unprecedented third election in less than a year Monday after a tumultuous campaign that saw the prime minister indicted on corruption charges, President Donald Trump release his much-anticipated Mideast plan and various mergers and machinations that reshuffled Israels fragmented political world.

Yet, despite the flurry of activity, public opinion polls are predicting a similar result to the previous two inconclusive elections. This would again leave a divided Israel deadlocked as neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor his chief challenger Benny Gantz have been able to build a coalition government with their traditional partners.

Read: Take 3: The Main Actors In Israel's Re-do Contested Election

Netanyahus ruling hard-line Likud party and Gantzs centrist Blue and White faction are running neck and neck in the polls seeking to become the largest party in hopes of being tapped to form the next coalition. But both appear to have limited options to cobble together the support of a majority of parliaments 120 members.

Netanyahus corruption trial is set to begin two weeks after the vote, complicating his future. But Gantz, a former military chief, doesnt have an easy path to the premiership either. After the vote, Israels largely ceremonial president will choose a candidate for the Prime Minister who he believes has the best chance of putting together a stable coalition. It usually goes to the head of the largest party, but this is not always necessarily.

Read: Israel Prepares For Third Consecutive Election

Read: Weary And Divided, Israel Goes Back To The Polls
The Russian Navy in battle during the Russo-Japanese War circa 1905.



By Robert Neff



On the morning of May 28, 1905, Paolo dall Aquila was in the East Sea aboard the Norwegian whaling boat Halcyon. As part of his duties as vice-commissioner of Fusan (Busan), he often had to travel to the other ports and verify customs were being paid.



He hated being away from his Japanese mistress, Fujisan, but relished in the adventure of being at sea  especially on a whaling ship. Captain Olsen was a seasoned veteran of the hunt and assured Paola that they would be successful in their hunt. True to his word, a whale was spotted in the late afternoon and the Halcyon moved in for the kill.



As the whale surfaced, Olsen fired his harpoon and it embedded itself into the whale's back:



"The low roar of the shell exploding in the animal's body was heard and the beast disappeared underwater, pulling the heavy boat along at a great rate. Olsen's aim had been excellent, and he was busy directing operations for her capture. It was not until the whale's pace had begun to slack that they started to haul her nearer with the windlass; with a mighty effort she suddenly threw herself forward, towing the whaler behind her. But she was losing strength rapidly, and at last was dragged alongside and given the coup de grace with a spear. When she was secured and lashed by the tail to the boat, the victory was greeted with loud hurrahs and the helm was set once more for Ulsan."





The Russian cruiser Svetlana. Wikipedia Image



As they sailed back to the port  their speed greatly reduced due to the whale  explosions could be heard. Using his telescope, Olsen saw a warship in the distance  it was the Svetlana, a Russian cruiser. The Halcyon went to investigate.



"They were still about a mile away when in the twilight they saw a horrible sight. They saw the prow rise up out of the water like a shying horse and then sink slowly beneath the waves. A great flow of water, a gurgle, a wake of foam that soon dispersed  then nothing; the sea had become her tomb."





Looking towards Busan from the view point on Tsushima Island, February 2020.



As the Halcyon made its way through the oily water, the whaling crew desperately searched for survivors. After half-an-hour's search they discovered a crude raft with "ghostly figures on it" signally weakly for help.



Three men, all heavily bandaged, were gently taken aboard. It was only then did Aquila realize that one of the survivors  nearly naked (aside from the bandages) with gashes to his stomach, leg and head  was his friend, Tseredine who he had not seen since the Russo-Japanese War had begun the previous year.



Tseredine recognized his old friend and deliriously called out his name before he slipped into a semi-unconscious state and was placed on a bunk below deck.





The monument at Tonosaki Park on Tsushima Island  the place where Russian sailors were brought after their ship was sunk. February 2020



The Halcyon continued to search but, as darkness fell, it soon became clear there were no more survivors. "[The] sea was as empty as on the first day of creation; no trace whatever remained either of the Svetlana or her crew." Aquila sadly noted, "The sea makes a fine grave."



The Halcyon sailed to Fusan and permission was given to place the three Russian sailors in the Western hospital. It was clear Tseredine would not survive for long. As he lay dying, he told Aquila that he had joined his country's war efforts and had even sent a Korean to try to recruit Aquila as a spy, but he had failed.



He had also fallen in love with a young girl named Christina Martins of Seoul and they were to get married. He asked Aquila to please contact his love as soon as possible. He then fell into a deep sleep, the opium relieving his pain.





The mural of the Russian sailors at Tonosaki Park. February 2020



When Aquila returned to his home he was surprised to find a letter from Christina's mother. In the letter she informed him that Christina was critically ill with typhoid. According to Aquila, typhoid was a "fatal disease that so often attacks Europeans in the East, particularly those (like Christina) who drink no alcohol." There was also a note from Christina addressed to Tseredine.



The following day, he took the letter to Tseredine. He read it and smiled and asked Aquila to ensure that when he died the letter would be burned with him. That evening, just as the sun set, the Russian died with his fiancee's letter in his hand.



In great sorrow, Aquila returned home and was greeted with a telegram from Seoul  Christina had died earlier that day.



But Aquila's adventures did not end here as we shall see in the next and final part of this story.





The names of Russian sailors at the monument at Tonosaki Park. February 2020
One man was 78 years old, and second besides coronavirus had other diseases

March 1, Australia and Thailand officially confirmed the first deaths from the coronavirus CoVID-2019, as Reuters reported.

In Australia, the former passenger of the Diamond Princess cruise ship, who was transported from Japan and quarantined, died. He died in a hospital in Perth this early morning. The man was 78 years old.

His widow is also infected with the virus. Her condition is stable. According to the latest government data, the number of viral infections in Australia has grown to 26.

"We monitor and respond to the information that we receive every day. We are not insured, but we are prepared as much as possible for any country, and we can handle it," Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison wrote.

In Thailand, a 35-year-old man who also had dengue fever died of coronavirus. This was announced by Suwanchai Wattanayingcharoen, Director-General of the Department of Disease Control.

The deceased man worked in retail and often contacted tourists. Doctors and authorities suggest that he was infected with the virus.

In total, according to official data, in Thailand, 42 cases of coronavirus were recorded. At the same time, 30 people are recovering, while 11 people are still in hospitals.

As we reported before, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced a decision to declare the highest possible threat level for the coronavirus epidemic.
Hundreds of Indonesian Former IS Members, Families Could Become Stateless

By Rikar Hussein, Ghita Intan February 29, 2020

A recent decision by the government in Jakarta not to repatriate hundreds of its citizens suspected of membership in the Islamic State (IS) terror group has set off a debate over the fate of the Indonesians, with some experts warning it could become an international dilemma if their citizenship is revoked.

Indonesian officials in the past reported that there were 689 former IS Indonesians detained mainly in northeast Syria, Turkey and Afghanistan. However, the country's Ministry of Law and Human Rights earlier this week said the number was as high as 1,276.

President Joko Widodo on Feb.12 said his government was no longer responsible for them "because it was their decision" to abandon their country to join IS. A day later, the presidential chief of staff, Moeldoko, told media the former IS members were considered stateless  people who have lost their nationality "automatically" without having to go through the country's legal procedures.

Rising threat of statelessness

Citizenship and international law experts said Jakarta's decision not to take home its citizens adds more complication to a rising threat of statelessness that is facing thousands of IS fighters and their families.

"There are serious global implications of states adopting citizenship deprivation laws, or temporary or permanent exclusion orders or practices, to deal with foreign fighters," said Michelle Foster, the director of Peter McMullin Center on Statelessness at Melbourne Law School in Victoria, Australia.

By refusing to take home their citizens, countries like Indonesia are essentially transferring the problem to other countries, Foster said.

"Indonesia has ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which protects the right of everyone to return to his or her own country," she said. "Hence, if Indonesia prevents foreign fighters from returning, whether or not they retain Indonesian citizenship, it may be in breach of its obligations under this treaty."

Stateless defined

The United Nations considers a person who lacks nationality of any country as stateless. About 10 million people around the world are believed to be stateless, most of them minorities residing in different countries.

The U.N.'s 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness is the main instrument setting rules for citizenship withdrawal and the rights of stateless people. Other than in limited circumstances, the treaty prohibits deprivation of nationality that could result in statelessness. Indonesia has not ratified that treaty, however.

Indonesia is not the first country to deny the return of its citizens accused of IS membership.

In northeastern Syria, the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces have held nearly 2,000 foreign IS jihadists, as well as thousands of their wives and children from about 40 countries. Kurdish authorities have complained their facilities are overwhelmed and criticized those countries for refusing to repatriate their nationals.

Citizenship revocation of former IS members has been particularly controversial among the European countries, which, according to U.S. officials, have an estimated 800 of their nationals held in Syria. The British government last year stripped the citizenship of a Briton, Shamima Begum, who left the U.K. to join IS in Syria when she was 15 years old. Germany and Denmark later in 2019 enacted laws that allowed revoking the citizenship of their dual nationals who have fought with IS.

In the U.S., where American officials have repeatedly asked European Union allies to take responsibility for their IS citizens, a federal judge last November ruled that Hoda Muthana, a New Jersey-born woman who joined IS in Syria in 2014, was no longer an American citizen.

Fair trial

Watchdog organizations say the detained foreign fighters and their family members live in dire conditions, with children reportedly dying from preventable diseases. Additionally, those organizations warn that the detention facilities are at risk of IS prison break attempts. They say efforts by local authorities to try the foreigners are likely to fail as they lack legal infrastructure to ensure fair trails.

"All persons most responsible for the most serious crimes, including war crimes and crimes against humanity, should be prosecuted in a fair trial," Clive Baldwin, a senior legal adviser at Human Rights Watch, told VOA. He added that all countries should ensure their nationals can return home.

Indonesia's stance

Indonesian officials said their decision to strip the citizenship of the former IS members is based on the country's citizenship law enacted in 2006. The law said a person can voluntarily relinquish his or her citizenship or could lose it in cases such as voluntarily pledging allegiance to a foreign country.

Law experts said joining IS is not considered voluntary allegiance to a foreign entity because the group is an illegal terrorist organization. However, the experts are divided on whether the former IS members chose to end their Indonesian nationality by traveling to Syria.

Hikmahanto Juwana, an international law expert at the University of Indonesia in Depok, told VOA Indonesian that authorities were likely to invoke the country's Government Regulation No. 2 of 2007, regarding citizenship to deal with ex-IS members. If the government uses that law, "in my opinion, they (former IS members) automatically lose their citizenship," Juwana said.

However, this interpretation has been challenged by other Indonesian legal experts, particularly those concerned about the fate of IS children.

Susanto, the head of Indonesian Child Protection Commission, told VOA that Jakarta was required by Law No. 25 of 2014 to give special protection to children victimized by terrorist networks.

She said the government was to ensure the children maintained their citizenship, while at the same time providing them with education and deradicalization programs.

Indonesian officials have not disclosed the number of children among the former IS Indonesians at risk of losing their citizenship. However, they have announced that the decision to abandon IS members excluded children younger than 10.

Some international law experts said it is difficult for countries to justify depriving the families of the IS foreign fighters, particularly children who are protected by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Indonesia is a party. The convention defines children as "every human being below the age of 18 years unless, under the law applicable, majority is attained earlier."

"Wives and children should not lose their nationality on account of the actions of their husbands or fathers," said Brad Blitz, a professor of international politics and policy at the UCL Institute of Education at University College London.

"Given that protracted displacement is a fact for millions of refugees, and that in many refugee hosting states there is no opportunity for integration, it is highly likely that the women and children affected will spend many years in camplike settings," Blitz said.

Threat remains

Khairul Ghazali, an Indonesian former extremist, said the government decision to keep the former IS fighters and their families abroad was unlikely to eliminate the direct threat they pose to Indonesia. Regardless of the decision, the fighters could still reach back home and inspire militant activities.

Ghazali was arrested in 2010 in relation to a bank robbery and recruitment for an al-Qaida-linked organization. He has since denounced jihadist groups and dedicated his work to deradicalization among young people.

"The government has instruments including the TNI [Indonesian military], Polri [the national police], Densus 88 [special anti-terror force], and the National Agency and Counter Terrorism (BNPT) which is the front line in eradicating terrorism. When there is an act of terror, there are laws on terrorism," he told VOA, adding that Jakarta will be safer by taking the former fighters home.

Anugrah Andriansyah contributed to this story from Medan, North Sumatera.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Greece's Health Ministry announced on Saturday that three more COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in the country, bringing the total to seven, Trend reports citing Xinhua.

Two of the new patients had been in contact with the first two cases, while the third one is a man who had traveled to Italy recently, according to an e-mailed press statement by the ministry.

All confirmed cases in the country so far are people who had visited Italy lately, as well as their familiy members and friends.

The first confirmed case in Greece was reported on Wednesday and authorities have been taking measures to avert the further spread of the epidemic.
You believe its time to negotiate a change in your relationship with your spouse or business partner. They duck, avoid and delay month after month until you finally corner them with an ultimatum. The hostility each of you then brings to the table is understandably very high.

Even worse is to be played by your negotiating partner, endless rounds of circular debate and clear dishonesty about wanting to find agreement. This is a game too many Canadian governments default to: procrastinate as long as possible and then descend into a process black hole. All the while publicly claiming they are working hard at getting to yes. When the gap in the power relationship between each side is already wide, the anger multiplies.

Imagine struggling for 23 years (!) to get a government partner to sit and negotiate seriously with you  a partner who all the while claims to be committed to fixing the relationship, to be acting in good faith, etc. When those talks finally begin seriously, the government negotiators will be greeted with a very high wall of accumulated anger as they enter the room.

This is the background behind the bitterness of todays pipeline protests. This battle did not start last month or last year. Its roots go back decades to a stunning decision by the Supreme Court in 1997, the Delgamuukw decision. The court declared governments can retain control over resource and transportation projects, but they must also enter into negotiations to settle issues of land management and governance with Indigenous peoples:

[T]he Crown is under a moral, if not a legal, duty to enter into and conduct those negotiations in good faith. Ultimately, [these issues will be resolved] through negotiated settlements, with good faith and give and take on all sides, reinforced by the judgments of this Court.

Governments led by Jean Chretien, Paul Martin, Stephen Harper and, initially, Justin Trudeau defied the court. Why? Because they knew that successful negotiations could only end in one place  reduced power for the governments involved to maximize the revenues from resource extraction on those lands. Now all Canadians are paying a heavy price for their cupidity.

There is always a cost to kicking the can down the road. All those politicians, protected for years behind their shield of lawyers, paid literally hundreds of millions of taxpayers dollars in dozens of similar battles, are now squabbling over whose fault it is. Imagine if some of that money had instead been used in settlement agreements?

The only good news about todays destruction of goodwill is this: the political cost being paid by todays politicians may be so high that they will not dare risk a reprise, and the process hustle will end.

To give credit where it is due, Ottawas minister responsible for this file, Carolyn Bennett, has worked hard to get serious negotiations underway behind the scenes, as has B.C. Premier John Horgan and two former B.C. NDP MPs, Murray Rankin and Nathan Cullen. Until this winters explosion of anger, they appeared to be making progress.

Now its time for the prime minister to put the full force of his government behind an urgent acceleration of talks to finally arrive at the settlement the Supreme Court told them was their duty decades ago. The last excuse, the last prevarication is now history  or we will face an even more bitter confrontation next time.

Canadians may not be world leaders as stewards of global businesses, but we claim that negotiation is something no one can match us at. We know how to accommodate, how to compromise, how to ensure each side leaves the table having won something.

We spend millions sharing our expertise at it, with those facing the fragile peace of a post-conflict moment. We have demonstrated we can even negotiate better than most post-colonial nations with Indigenous peoples, with the Cree, the Nishga, in Nunavut, in the Yukon, in dozens of agreements small and momentous in recent years. But sometimes we just talk to avoid decision.

The wounds of the Wetsuweten denial of respectful negotiation were ripped open this month. The political toxins released mean that urgent new confidence-building measures will be more important than ever. The costs of a successful agreement will not be small. Concessions on each side will provoke angry denunciation from all the usual suspects.

The costs of failing are now impossible for Canada and the Indigenous peoples to bear.
Five persons, including two brothers, were arrested as part of a crackdown on land grabbers following registration of a case related to tampering of revenue records here, police said on Sunday.

Police also seized official records from the 'Niabat' (revenue record room) at Nagrota during the operation, a police official said.

He said the case related to tampering of revenue records, where state land worth crores of rupees was transferred illegally in names of locals by revenue authorities after hatching a criminal conspiracy with the land mafia in Jagti area of Nagrota along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway.

The crackdown led to the arrest of five persons -- Vishwa Nath, his brother Subash Chander, Samant Singh, Anchal Singh and Brijdev Singh -- and seizure of three private vehicles, the official said adding more arrests and seizures are expected as many names have surfaced during the investigation.

The arrests were made from different parts of Jammu, the official said, adding they were wanted in connection with an FIR lodged by police recently at police station Nagrota after the deputy commissioner, Jammu, cancelled the illegal mutation.

The case was registered after it came to light that state land at Jagti was transferred illegally by revenue authorities after tampering records in names of some people who were part of the land mafia.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Citizens of the UAE can now travel to the Commonwealth of Dominica without a visa, following the signing of a visa waiver agreement between the two countries.



Holders of UAE Diplomatic, Official, Special and Ordinary passports may now visit Dominica without a visa. Conversely, Dominicans with a Diplomatic and Official passport can gain UAE entry with a visa upon arrival, while those with and Ordinary Dominica passport can obtain an eVisa. Those who have become economic citizens of Dominica via its Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Programme can subsequently apply for an Ordinary passport, which allows them to enter the UAE based on an eVisa.



"The visa waiver agreement is yet another important step in the development of strong bilateral relations between the Commonwealth of Dominica and this dynamic country," Hubert Charles, the Dominican Ambassador to the UAE, said in an official press release issued on Tuesday.



"It not only facilitates official travel, but introduces predictability and certainty on the part of citizens of both countries interested in travel for tourism, investment, trade and cultural purposes," Charles added. - TradeArabia News Service
Last week, the Indian stock markets remained under pressure, tracking a collapse in global equities amid growing concerns about novel coronavirus' impact on global economy.

Nifty50 registered its worst weekly fall in since 2009, while making it one of the worst monthly fall since September 2018.

While the S&P BSE Sensex plunged 5.96 percent, Nifty50 was down 6.21 percent in the month of February.

"In the forthcoming week, all eyes would be glued on the most awaited SBI Cards IPO and RITES OFS by the Government of India. No matter the outcome, markets would broadly be driven by the virus and global sentiment," Jimeet Modi, Founder & CEO, SAMCO Securities & StockNote said.

While the Sensex lost 2,872.83 points (7 percent) to end at 38,297.29 in the past week, the Nifty shed 879.05 points (7.3 percent) to end at 11,201.8.

The BSE large-cap index shed 7.4 percent, BSE small-cap index and mid-cap index fell 7 percent last week.

Here are 10 key factors that will keep traders busy this week:

February auto sales numbers:

This week, auto companies are going to report their monthly sales numbers for the month of February 2020.

According to experts, the wholesale numbers are expected to be under pressure in CVs, 2Ws and PVs due to inventory correction by dealers before the BS6 transition.

However, marginal growth is likely to be seen in tractors due to the low base from last year and improved customer sentiment.

While M&M is expected to see 5 percent YoY growth, Escorts should register flat growth. The low base from last year and better customer sentiment are supporting demand, Emkay said.

In the domestic market the volume declines are expected for TVS Motor (-22 percent YoY), Hero MotoCorp (-16 percent) and Bajaj Auto (-14 percent).

According to Motilal Oswal, in February 2020, the wholesale volumes are estimated to decline 20 percent/11 percent/35 percent YoY for 2Ws/PVs/CVs due to stopping of BS4 production. Tractors are expected to grow by 5.5 percent YoY.

SBI Card IPO:

The initial public offering of SBI Cards and Payment Services, the credit card arm of State Bank of India (SBI), will open for subscription on March 2 and will close on March 5.

The company plans to issue new shares worth Rs 500 crore and an offer for sale of up to 13,05,26,798 equity shares.

As a part of the offer for sale, parent company SBI will sell up to 3,72,93,371 shares and CA Rover Holdings, an affiliate of the Carlyle Group, will sell up to 9,32,33,427 shares.

SBI Cards proposed to raise Rs 10,289 crore at the lower end of the price band (Rs 750 per share) and Rs 10,355 crore at the upper end (Rs 755 per share).

Also read | SBI Card IPO subscription to begin on March 2: Should you subscribe?

Antony Waste Handling Cell IPO:

Antony Waste Handling Cell is expected to launch its nearly-Rs 300 crore initial public offering for subscription on March 4.

It comprises a fresh issue of up to Rs 43.5 crore and an offer for sale of up to Rs 250 crore.

The offer for sale comprises a 94,42,164 equity shares by Leeds (Mauritius) (13,90,322 shares), Tonbridge (Mauritius) (20,85,502 shares), Cambridge (Mauritius) (20,65,300 shares) and Guildford (Mauritius) (39,01,040 shares).

The issue will close on March 6. The company has proposed to utilise the net fresh issue proceeds towards the reduction of the aggregate outstanding borrowings.

Equirus Capital Private Limited is the sole book-running lead manager (BRLM) to the offer. The company does not have any listed industry peers in India.

FII and DII:

Foreign Institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers last week as they sold equities worth Rs 11,368.67 crore.

FII remained sellers for the second consecutive month as they had sold equities worth of Rs 12,684.30 in February, while they sold equities worth of Rs 5,359.51 crore in January.

On the other hand, Domestic Institutional investors (DIIs) remained net buyers in February, as they bought equities worth Rs 16,933.03 crore. In the last week they bought Rs 15,985.82 crore worth of equities.

Coronavirus:

The rapid spread of the novel coronavirus, now named CORVID-19, remained the major fears for the world economy after six other countries reporting their first cases.

Around 2,870 people had died in China as of March 1 due to the novel coronavirus. The total number of confirmed cases in mainland China stood at 79,824.

Global sentiments remained weak as more cases of coronavirus are being reported outside of China, especially in South Korea.

Crude prices:

A meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies including Russia, a grouping known as OPEC+, is scheduled to be held in Vienna, Austria over March 5-6.

Oil prices slipped for the sixth consecutive day to its lowest in over a year on the fears that a slowing global economy would hit energy demand.

The Brent Crude price slipped by $20 in nearly two months to $50 per barrel, which is the lowest level since December 2018.

Last week, Brent Crude shed almost 14 percent, registered a biggest weekly percentage decline since January 2016.

Macro Data:

India Manufacturing PMI and Service PMI numbers to be release on March 2 and March 4, respectively. The country's manufacturing sector activity climbed to a near eight-year high in January, driven by a sharp rise in new business orders.

Manufacturing activity has continued to rise for the last three months, while it remained above 50-point mark in the 30th consecutive month.

The manufacturing sector activity climbed to a near eight-year high in January 2020 at 55.7 against 52.7 in the previous month.

The manufacturing PMI rose to 55.3 in January from 52.7 in December 2019. However, the IHS Markit India Services Business Activity Index rose from 53.3 in December 2019 to 55.5 in January.

Technical outlook:

Last week, Nifty remained under pressure as bears had an upper hand over the bulls. The index made the 'lower high and lower low' formation on the daily chart.

The support of the rising trend line of wedge pattern is coming around 11,000, so there is still room for 200 points in Nifty on the downside, experts suggest.

"The overall trend for Nifty continues to remain negative until it reclaims 11600 mark on the higher side. The momentum indicator MACD has already provided sell crossover in the previous week which is hinting of further weakness in the Nifty," Nilesh Ramesh Jain, Derivative analyst- Equity Research at AnandRathi said.

"Although after falling for the seventh straight session, dead cat bounce cannot be ruled out and expect a tepid start on Monday with a negative bias," he added.

F&O cues:

Nifty continued to make lower highs - lower lows and formed a Big Bearish Candle on weekly scale as sustained selling pressure was seen for most part of the week.

The Nifty started the March series with a higher open interest (OI) base whereas rollovers were at 77 percent, which is much higher than its three months average rollover.

During the week, the Nifty turned into a discount of 40 points, which is clearly pointing towards aggressive short formation.

The 11,000 strike Put holds the highest OI for coming week whereas positions are also seen in 10,800 and 10,700 strikes indicating a move below 11,000 would open more downsides.

Corporate action

Here are the key corporate actions taking place in week ahead:

Global Cues

Here are the key global data points to watch out for in week ahead:
MIDDLETOWN  A World Mission Society Church of God spokeswoman said recent allegations involving its Bible study groups activities are the result of spurious rumors shared on social media.

Authorities recently announced that accusations involving female parishioners being linked to a human/female sex trafficking ring are untrue, according to Cromwell Police Chief Denise Lamontagne. Officers conducted an investigation following a complaint that churchgoers were speaking to customers outside Shop Rite and Stop & Shop, encouraging them to take part in discussions.

Recent social media posts discussed concerns that this is a scheme, and may have a direct involvement with a human/female sex trafficking ring, Lamontagne said in a press release about the probe that showed the claims to be false.

The World Mission Society Church of God is located at 24 Old Church St. in Middletown.

Nothing could be further from the truth, public relations liaison Carly Adames said about the claims, which have generated a snowball effect.

We are a Christian church that practices Gods love, and denounces such activities wherever they may be carried out, she said.

The rumor originated a few years ago in other regions of the nation and has been investigated and disproved by various local and state police, she said, adding the issue recently gained more attention in Connecticut.

People tend to believe that claims posted and shared on social media platforms are valid, she said.

Due to the age of technology were living in, rumors spread fast on social media, and unfortunately many people automatically believe what they read, and are quick to repost without checking facts. This, in turn, is a great danger, because people not only continue to spread this false message, but others have posted members personal information online, Adames said.

Some parishioners have received death threats, while others experience harassment at all hours of the night, she said.

Not only is this unfair, but has endangered innocent people who are simply trying to worship and follow God as their heart moves them, she said.

Preaching the gospel or inviting people to take part in Bible study is protected by freedom of religion as well as the First Amendment.

It is not a crime, Adames said. Our church and its members in no way, shape or form have perpetrated these horrendous activities.

The World Mission Society Church of God is a Christian nondenominational church established in 1964. The church, which has locations in Middletown and Meriden, has more than 7,000 locations in 175 countries, according to its website.

Members actively raise awareness to prevent these types of atrocious sex trafficking crimes from happening, Adames said, pointing to a Feb. 27 human trafficking prevention forum held in partnership with Florida International University as part of the parishs campaign to reduce crime.

The Middletown congregation has participated in a variety of community service initiatives, such as environmental cleanups on Newfield Street and at Veterans Memorial Park, a consolatory visit to the One MacDonough Place Assisted Living home, a cultural etiquette and education event for elementary students, leaf cleanup and snow removal assistance for seniors, as well as other activities.

When people hear of teachings or concepts different from their own, or that they never heard before, many tend to react negatively. That is the root cause of discrimination, racism, bigotry and various forms of prejudice. But, different doesnt mean wrong, she said.

For information, visit connecticutwmscog.com.
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2020 > ...Mukt Bharat

by Sardar Amjad Ali

In the present political scenario of the country, the battle the Congress under the leadership of its young President, Rahul Gandhi, with the guidance and inspiration of Smt. Sonia Gandhi, is fighting, is certainly a very difficult one. It is a battle, in my estimation, not only against a divisive force in the guise of a political party called the Bharatiya Janata Party but also with its co-horts as well, having a common agenda of Congress-Mukt Bharat.

Looking at the political composition in different parts of the Republic, one cannot loose sight of the emerging regional political formations emphasising upon their regional demands and making the federal government a common target for redressal of their regional ailments with the ultimate objective of capturing it.

In a republican form of government guided by the provisions of a written Constitution, the sphere of duties and responsibilities of the federal and regional governments have been clearly defined. Yet then on many occasions the regional parties, conveniently or deliberately, cross the constitutional fence, obviously for making more advances for expanding their horizon beyond the State territory to seize the ultimate power scale. Conversely, the Union Government also, very often than not, take undue privilege not only to encroach upon the constitutional privileges of selected State governments but also, if necessary, to throw them out of power by hook or crook. Such unwelcome actions are certainly not naive but well-thought-out on the part of both the players. The Central Government, if composed of one or a number of political parties in the form of coalition entity, cannot be expected to act divorced from its own political agenda. As a result, in an era of coalition politics, as the status of India at present is, contradictions, sometimes confrontations are bound to occur in Centre-State relations. One cannot ignore that such a situation is now prevailing in our country.

Diverse political interests, in a federal structure as of ours, more often than not, run counter to overall national interest. But it is almost an unavoidable phenomenon when regional interests tend to overreach the national agenda.

The country had been passing through a coalition governance for quite a long time since 1977. Regional parties have shown their own strength within their geophysical limit with their regional agenda as a predominant consideration in government formation. The Indian National Congress, the party having to its credit the single largest ruling party of the country has, for various reasons, disintegrated, thereby leaving a reasonable void and thus helping the regional outfits to grow.

In the past, though in electoral arithmetic, the Congress could not achieve the magic number on its own; yet then it could impress upon others the skill and expertise it had to run a federal government for long long years. It convinced other smaller parties to join hands with it to form a coalition government with a consensus on a common minimum programme.

Coalition governance is not of course a brand of public governance that only India has to entreat. In fact political history of all the five continents leave before us umpteen number of examples of such a brand in different countries. Mature parliamentary democracies like the United Kingdom or France or Germany had borne testimony to such a system.

Questions may come up for an indepth political debate as to whether people or the political parties are responsible for such a system. There may be variable responses of the political scientists in favour or against. But the fact remains that a single party, when failing to form a government of its own, ropes in the support of other smaller parties to rule, an era of coalition governance dawns.



In such a political scenario, the most pertinent questions that emerge, in my opinion, are:

1. Which party, amongst others, will be the most viable one to carry forward a coalition government?

2. Who, amongst the numerous political leaders of coalition partners, will be the best choice to lead the coalition considering political background, acceptability to the partners as well as the people and his/her flexibility in moving with the others?

If we gloss over the political parlance of contemporary Indian politics, we notice a new political order that churns the national as well as regional politics since 2014. After a successful bidding, the BJP, though lately emerging as a major national on its own strength, did not, as a political strategy, ignore smaller regional parties, with whom it fought the elections of 2014, in coalition governance at the national and even at the State level too. The strategy, as I earlier said, is to decimate the strength of the other national party, namely, the Indian National Congress and present the country a Congress-Mukt Bharat under the leadership of the BJP.

A Congress-Mukt Bharat is a lullaby not only of the BJP alone but also of the other regional players in the National Democratic Alliance headed by the BJP as its Big Brother. The catchy slogan has its consumers across the length and breadth of India; this is a reality that cannot be ignored. It is also equally true that all the regional satraps are not addicts of this symphony. Either overtly or covertly, even non- NDA parties, albeit not all, contribute to the concept of Congress-Mukt Bharat, by their action of omission and commission. Of the non-NDA parties, the Left conglomerates, the Trinamul Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party, Janata Dal (United) and Telugu Desam Party have their past history of being BJP associates either to fight an election battle against the Congress or in coalition governance, although in the 2014 general elections they kept themselves away from the BJP chessboard.

The NDA, under the leadership of the BJP, having proved itself as a national alternative to the UPA, led by the INC, has been on the turf for the last four years. The basic tenets of coalition governance with the BJP as a national party under the charismatic and articulate leadership of Narendra Modi appears to have left an impression not only upon the political outfits but also upon a considerable percentage of the Indian population that the NDA formation is the best suited one for India, presently moving through a coalition era. So far it was moving in its anticipated direction until such time the BJP, the major partner, with its all powerful leader, the Prime Minister, took it for granted the spineless surrender of the Ministers not only from his own party but also from others as guaranteed, and laid his unchecked control through his office (PMO) over all the depart-ments, virtually making the entire administrative mechanism of the coalition government the handiwork of a singular person. And there started a submerged despondency. Together with such dissatisfaction, the economic and social policy the Modi regime was bent upon vigorously persuading for adaptation by the nation, had gradually shaken the enigmatic Modi Magic. The failures of Modis electoral pledges, unscientific, unrealistic and grossly unproductive policy of demonetisation and GST schemes, religious intolerance and unbridled hate campaign, increasing unemployment, farmers suicides, writing off public debts of crony capitalists, plundering of bank reserves by favoured customers and their safe transit with the booty, saffronisation of education policy, induction of RSS nominees in cultural, educational and administrative institutions, failures in improving international relations started raising diabolic signals to cause popular dischantment about Modi, the BJP and its associates. Modis charred charisma left burnt scars in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh so deep that it could not be covered up by a run over at the Tripura or Meghalaya Jumboori or Nagalands unwhole-some wedlock.



When politics in Lutyens Delhi was getting clouded, the regional players started laying off their masks and run afloat in the polluted air of public discomfiture either to settle scores with Modi or to get installed into and sanitise his sullied seat.

To win a war of Modi-Mukt Bharat by any of the regional chieftains, be it of the east or the west, by their own charisma and strength is nothing but a capricious attempt of building a cloud castle.

Hence, the slogan of a Third Front or a Federal Front.

The harbingers of the Third or Federal Front are, of course, well known seasoned politicians of long standing. By no stretch of imagination, however, can one say that they represent their political outfits beyond their own territories or cater to outstanding political visions or missions of all-India ramifications. Experiences, of course, of some of those enthusiasts in public administration, may merit worth mentioning. But, even on that score their individual score-card, to tell it with deep respect to each one of them, is not that elegant as it should or ought to be, for governance of a nation of 135 million people of diverse cultural, religious, linguistic and racial genres, besides cognisable identity of transborder recognition.

Notwithstanding such limitations, the Third or Federal Front-walas showed a jingoistic zeal to give a Modi-Mukt Bharat in 2019 but in their war cry they were not as openbreasted as Lalu Prasads RJD or Karunanidhis DMK that in a battle against the BJP, if a Congress-Mukt congregation of political parties will be an ideal political formation.

The role of the regional political heavyweights may be of relevant consideration in grooming up a coalition. Let us scan it.

To arrest erosion of his political party the most honest and non-intriguing Navin of Orissa, maintains as yet a seemingly non-committal stand, although in some of the parleys his BJD had shown up its face. He seems to have no ambition of being an ardent architect of a Third or Federal Front like a few.

Fareoq Abdullah of the National Conference, though once had smeared himself with the BJPs ministerial nectar, is now compelled to chant anti-BJP slogan by courtesy Sayeedna Mehbooba Mufti, Chief Minister of Jammu-Kashmirs coalition government of the BJP and J&K Peoples Democratic Party.

The Maratha strongman Shri Sharad Power had not maintained a uniform stand in the coalition climate. As a seniormost politician he deserves, as is understood, a primacy in a process of political permutation and combination. His Proful Patel moves to Bengals Nabanna as Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had an earlier visit to Sharads hometurf.

Of the South Indian parties, leave aside the DMK pledging its support to the Congress, the AIDMK in Tamil Nadu, the CPI-M and its allies in Kerala, AAP and MGP in Goa, TDP of Andhra and TRS of Telengana appear to be in no mood to participate in a Third or Federal Front with the Congress presence in the ring.

With vigour and exuberance for forging the unity of non-BJP State parties to form a Federal Front, Ms. Mamata Banerjee has been trying to take centre-stage since long.

Let us not be forgetful of the fact that there is already an anti-BJP Front known as UPA under the leadership of the Congress. In the UPA, besides the Congress there are a number of State parties.

There are also State as well as national level political parties unattached with either of the formations, namely, the UPA or NDA, led by the BJP.

We all know that Ms Banerjees party, though carries the signature of the All India Trinamul Congress, is truly speaking a State party.

Is such a political contour one has to analyse as to how far Ms. Banerjees strike will be lethal for the BJP.

Ms Banerjee, in her exuberance of forging the unity of the non-BJP State parties, has apparently taken a serious move. Whether her endeavour is a bonafide move to bring Modis regime to an end, as she aspires, is too early to predict.

Her 1:1 formula and a party with a strong base in a State to lead the anti-BJP electoral battle and the weaker to follow, sounds though a good strategy but in a politics of ideological diversity, intra-party power equation, regional niceties and leadership criteria are likely to cause unexpected casualties.

Ms Banerjee has to convince the weaker political parties to play the role of a subservient entity to their Big Brothers and be contented with the dole given to them to contest the elections.

It would certainly be a gala time for the pioneers of the Federal Front if Ms. Banerjees strategy gets ratified by those who want a BJP-Mukt Bharat.

Ms Banerjee has to steer clear of the two Chandras, of TRS and TDP, as also from Sharad Pawer, Laloo Prasad, Akhilesh Yadav whether they want a Front with or without the leadership of the Indian National Congress. She also has to get unqualified support, without any rider from Akhilesh that his bua Mayawati will lead the election battle of 2019 in UP with his SP as an appendage, in Karnataka, Hardanhalli Devgowda, former PM with his JD (S) will agree to act as a pageboy to the pious, Yaddurappa. Similar equations elsewhere have also likely to be addressed by Ms Banerjee.



Added to such baffling questions, Ms Banerjee owes political as well as ethical responsibility to respond to some more pertinent questions. Those are:

If she wants Congress in her Modi-Badh Yagna would her fellow travellers, the TDP, TRS, AAP, JD, JD(S), AIADMK agree to offer their oblations conjointly with the Congress?

Should she decisively dictate and the Congress would indolently accept to participate in her yagna minus Rahul Gandhi, the Congress President, as she publicly demonstrated?

Does she expect the BJD, AIADMK, AAP, TRS, TDP, SAD, LJP to join with the Congress in her Jumboori of Federal Front an 1:1 basis?

Should the Maharastra Congress be as generous to accept the NCP as the major political opponent to the BJP as suggested by Ms Banerjee?

What does she expect of the role of the Left alliance in Kerala and in her own State?

Even if, for the sake of argument, though contested, her theory of State vitalities of the parties are accepted, the Congress, with 52 seats in the 2018 Lok Sabha, have to be confined in those pockets only in the 2019 electoral battle for 542 seats. Does Ms Banerjee expect the Congress to swallow such a sugar-quoted cyanide?

Ms Banerjees anti-Modi role is marked by her opposition to the economic policy, though not entirely, as pursued by his government. demonetisation, GST, inadequate Central financial assistance to the States, discrimination in financial grants with the BJP vis-a-vis the non-BJP ruled States in developmental schemes and at the time of natural disasters, unemployment are the most talked about issues she addressed. Those are, no doubt, pertinent issues. But the specific issues, the Congress President Rahul Gandhi has been agitating, about Modis naked encouragement to his choosen few crony capitalists, such as, Mukesh Ambani, Goutam Adani, the TATAs, the Dhoots, the G.V.K. Reddy, the Jindals did not figure in her tirade against Modi. Rather, she is prone to make some of Modi-favourites her saviours for giving succour to her industrial desert in West Bengal.

She is conspicuous by her silence about the unfathomed corruption of Vyapam of Chouhan, grant of public largesse without tender by Pankaja Munde, the Gir forest land deal of Anandi Behns daughter, the enormous increase wealth of Amit Shahs son and Jayanta Sinha, the son of former BJP Minister Yaswant Sinha. Is there any subjective consideration to keep these issues under the carpet for a hidden bargain?

Ms Banerjees target is to rope in her dreamy Federal Front the NCP, or DMK without seeking to convince the BJP supporter State parties to leave the NDA, clearly shows that her strategy is to weaken the UPA, help deplete anti-BJP votes which would ultimately help the BJP.

Interesting enough is to note that Ms Banerjee feels comfortable with the Shiv Sena and Ahom Gana Parishad, both famous for having narrow parochial programmes.

Surprisingly, Ms Banerjee finds in the BJP good people like Vajpayeeji, Rajnathji, Gadkariji, Sushmaji compared to Manmohan Singhji or for matter Rahul Gandhiji.

Good enough, that Ms Banerjee deprecates Modis decisions to sell Air India, a national asset in her own words, but shockingly ridiculous was to see her in the company of the duoYashwanta Sinha, the former BJP Financr Minister, and his former Cabinet colleague, the Company Law Minister, Arun Shourie, famous for selling the public sector hotels and some blue chip companies in their jubilant execution of a policy called Disinvestment.

Ms Banerjee must have her responses to such apparent contradictions. But, while taking centre-stage to get anti-BJP political entities under one umbrella, the abrasions in her strategic move, it appears, is likely to give more advantage to the enemy she wants to crush.

A question to lead the Third Front remains an enigma. It may be recalled that Modi, before taking over Gujarat as its Chief Minister, was one of the powerful General Secretaries of an All-India party.

Having served in an all-India conspectrum for a good many years he went to Gujarat as the Chief Minister. By his articulate, strong leadership for a period of five years in Gujarat, he was chosen as the leader of an all-India political party with the support of a number of other regional as well as national parties to lead a front. Ms Banerjee, though had served as a Minister in a BJP formation and thereafter make the Congress her ally to ultimately leave that association; this too raises the eyebrows of many. Her fighting spirit is certainly to be recognised, but her political inconsistency is no less a factor to be considered, if one is called upon to decide regarding her acceptability as the leader of an all India political movement to build a Modi-Mukt Bharat. 

The author is a former Congress Member of Parliament, both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
Two Ben Botica penalties helped French Top 14 leaders Bordeaux-Begles to a 26-24 victory over Castres, for whom Rory Kockott missed a late conversion that would have tied an entertaining match. New Zealander Botica stepped up in the 61st and 67th minutes to nail the vital kicks in a game that saw Castres outscore Bordeaux-Begles by four tries to two and depart with a losing bonus point. Blair Connor and Mahamadou Diaby crossed for the home team in the first-half to cancel out Castres tries from Julien Caminati and former Uruguay lock Rodrigo Capo Ortega. Fiji's Filipo Nakosi and Anthony Jelonch added further tries for Castres in the second period, but the hosts remained in pole thanks to the boots of Maxime Lucu and Botica. The victory meant that Bordeaux-Begles will now have to act on their promise to hand out vouchers for free McDonald's burgers for the 17,172 spectators at the Stade Chaban-Delmas. Christophe Urios' men move eight points clear of Lyon at the top of the table as the competition's begins a three-week break due to the Six Nations. - Ex-Parisian Parisse - Later, ex-Italy captain Sergio Parisse played the whole game as his Toulon side beat his former club Stade Francais, where he played more than 200 games in 14 seasons, 19-18 at Stade Mayol. The hosts led 9-6 after an hour as Anthony Belleau kicked three penalties and Arthur Coville and Nicolas Sanchez slotted one each for the outfit at the bottom of the table. Lock Swann Rebbadj scored the first try of his senior career to stretch the home side's lead to 16-6 after 62 minutes. The visitors' attempted comeback began within the final 10 minutes as France Six Nations squad member and winger Lester Etien went in under the posts and Sanchez's conversion made it 16-13. Five minutes later Kylan Hamdaoui, who has also been part of les Bleus squad for the tournament, dived over in the corner to give his side a two-point lead but Sanchez missed the conversion. The side from the capital city were denied a first victory in five years at Mayol as France's third-choice fly-half Louis Carbonel kicked a 40 metre penalty more than two minutes into added time. In Saturday's matches, Finn Russell gave another example of what Scotland are missing as he helped guide Racing 92 to a 49-0 thrashing of La Rochelle. The Atlantic coast club's director of rugby Jono Gibbes dubbed the result a "disgrace". Defending champions Toulouse slumped to a 20-10 defeat at Bayonne while title hopefuls Lyon were also beaten, 30-6 at Brive.
The spring sitting of the Saskatchewan Legislature begins Monday afternoon, the last session before an expected Oct. 26 provincial election.

While the budget always highlights the 10-week spring sitting, voting day casts a large shadow this year.

"The two big stories are the budget, which the Sask. Party has promised will be balanced, and will of course set them up for the election," said Jim Farney, the head of the University of Regina's politics and international studies department.

"It will be a very political session, more than a policy one."

The budget will be released on March 18, and less than a week later the Supreme Court of Canada will hear Saskatchewan's argument against the federal government's carbon tax.

The session will have the Saskatchewan Party government and NDP Opposition "jockeying" for the fall election, Farney said, and people should expect a "more partisan" session given that an election is looming.

"It's also a contentious time in Saskatchewan politics. We've got Indigenous protests and blockades across the country, we've got the [lockout] at the [Co-op] refinery and we've got the [Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation] negotiations, which are pretty fraught," Farney said.

"That's going to bleed over into the session as well."

He said he does not expect policies to make a big splash, based on the existing bills awaiting passage.

"We haven't had a real politics of issues in Saskatchewan for the last few years. It's been kind of about personalities and about more minor things here and there. If that's the type of session that we have, that's the type of election we'll have as well."

Early election call?

Speaking to reporters last Monday, Premier Scott Moe was non-committal about sticking to the Oct. 26 election date and said that being premier gives him the last word on whether an election will be called before then.

Story continues

"I'll consult with the premier," Moe said jokingly.

On Friday, Moe cited "economic unrest" caused by blockades in support of Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs and COVID-19, otherwise known as the Coronavirus, as reasons why he may call an election early.

In Saskatchewan, the electoral period is a minimum of 27 days to a maximum of 34 days.

"Four years [since the last election] for us would be up sometime here this spring," Moe said on Monday. "But as I say, that Oct. 26 is the date that we're preparing for."

Matthew Garand/CBC

On Friday, NDP Leader Ryan Meili said he will "be ready to go" if Moe decides to call an early election.

"It's never too early for us to get rid of Sask. Party. They've shown us all of the ways they are unfit for the job. Scott Moe has shown us he's unfit for this job. It's time for us to make that change."

Meili said the NDP has heard "clear information" the Saskatchewan Party is prepping for an early election.

NDP 'need to grow': Farney

The two main parties have a 46-13 disparity in seat count (with two seats in the 61-seat legislature vacant), and also have a disparity in nominated candidates for the 2020 election.

The Saskatchewan Party has 55 of 61 candidates nominated, while the NDP has 28 of 61 candidates selected.

Farney said the NDP will "need to grow" to achieve success this fall.

"They don't have much of a chance in rural Saskatchewan, but they've got lots of opportunities for growth in the cities and to hold on to the seats they have in the north. So that's the electoral goal for them."

Trevor Bothorel/CBC

Farney said the NDP has issues they can raise including education, mental health, development in Regina's Wascana Park and the Global Transportation Hub.

"The NDP needs to take all of that and convert it into a narrative of 'you need to vote for us because we're better and we have a plan to move forward,'" Farney said.
Two current points about the business of court reporting intertwine fruitfully: The work pays well, and there is a significant, ongoing need for those who excel at it, both in Virginia and across the country.

Anybody who is a trained steno reporter could have a job tomorrow, said Cynthia Bragg, a stenographer in both Virginia and Tennessee. Not only is this a job with 100% placement, its also very portable.

I know many court reporters that are making over $100,000 a year. Some are making $50,000, which is still a good living, Bragg said.

Indeed, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median pay is $57,150 a year, about $27.50 an hour, and the field should see a growth rate of 7% by 2028, a rapid increase for any occupation.

If you are a stenographer of any age, youre set, Jim Cudahy, former CEO of the National Court Reporters Association, said recently. Youre going to be in market demand for as long as you want a job.

While that degree of security and compensation might be a comfort, the work is also demanding, multifaceted labor thats often misunderstood.

Added to which, advances in technologies  and different approaches to using them  have sparked division within the ranks of Virginia court reporters, despite their shared goal which is, above all, to preserve the legal record.

Youve got to get the record

Unless youre a lawyer or a judge, or a recent plaintiff or defendant, its likely the last time you saw a court reporter was in a movie or on TV.

In fiction, they toil in the shadow of the bench, hunched over what looks like an old adding machine, usually just waiting for a prosecutor to grab a spool of their text or to bark at them: Read back what the accused just said!

Chalk that up to dramatic license.

Its really archaic, said Mary Butenschoen of her professions typical depiction and perception. Shes transcribed legal proceedings since 1989 and currently documents federal cases in Roanoke.

Its seldom that youll even see a machine that looks like what we use, Butenschoen said.

What they do is create painstaking word-for-word transcriptions of depositions, mediation meetings and trials, using digital stenotype machines, recording devices or a combination of technologies.

The Virginia Court Reporters Association estimates that between 800 and 1,000 court reporters work in the state and, in general, they do not recite testimony for the court, incriminating or otherwise. In fact, the vast majority of cases they cover in Southwest Virginia are civil, not criminal, and the days of typing onto paper rolls are long gone.

Most of them are women, many act as independent contractors, and as they travel through courthouses and offices, they frequently have the look of a one-man band, rolling cases that carry collapsible chairs and desks, laptops, hard drives, even portable wireless routers.

The stenotype itself has just 22 character keys, representing the most-used consonants and vowels. They can be pressed in groups, like piano chords, to form other letters or words phonetically. The devices is also predictive and can draw from a database of hundreds of thousands of words.

On a stenotype, Have you ever had your deposition taken? can be written in as few as 10 keystrokes, but a busy court reporter can make as many as 90,000 strokes during a day at trial. By comparison, the average novel usually consists of about 70,000 to 120,000 words.

While standard typing speed on a Qwerty keyboard is roughly 200 characters a minute, a trained stenographer can produce in excess of 200 words per minute.

Productivity at that level requires discipline, especially in serious, real-time settings in which theres no volume control, no rewind or pause button.

Its not just one person speaking slowly, said Roanoke stenographer Katherine Ford. Its often several people talking quickly at the same time.

The reporter has to capture testimony often spoken quietly, or blurted out in anger, or sometimes through tears, all with as little interaction as possible. Can you repeat that? is a last resort.

Its got to be a really big deal to stop, Ford said. But youve got to get the record.

Another potential speed bump is far more mundane but no less hazardous: the common cold.

Most courtrooms and offices have tissues ... but you have to have a free hand to blow your nose, Ford explained.

Ford and others estimate that every hour they spend in transcribing requires an additional two to three hours to polish their copy into a clear, cohesive final draft, which means a full work day in court can become an entire calendar day of labor. This is among the reasons transcripts of hearings can cost thousands of dollars.

People say court reporters make a lot of money, Roanoke court reporter Roxanne Ray said. But they work really hard for it.

When I went through school, if I remember right, the success rate was 7%. I had a class of about 25. And as far as I know, Im the only reporter out of that class still working.

The quality of the work

Most trade workers in the state, from plumbers to hairdressers, have to be licensed. Not court reporters.

In January, one Senate bill and two House of Delegates bills related to court reporting were voted down before reaching the full General Assembly. The legislation had aimed to form a regulatory board tasked with certifying that anyone who practiced court reporting in the state was trained and licensed, and to create a framework to accomplish that.

If I were an attorney, I would want a well-trained, professional court reporter doing the work, said Butenschoen.

Bragg, who is also on the board of the Virginia Court Reporters Association, helped write the proposals and feels they were vital.

To be a state court reporter in Virginia, she said, the only current requirement is that you have to be a notary public. Those who work in federal courts must be a Registered Professional Reporter, she said, which requires a typing speed of at least 200 words per minute. Otherwise, the field is unregulated.

I was in a deposition not long ago and the attorney told me about trying to file an appeal of a week-long case, she said. He got the transcript and ... it was so bad, that the court of appeals could not use it.

If an appeal cannot be filed because of a lack of a transcript, they have to come up with some other means. Does that mean they retry the case? Bragg asked.

Because of the expense of transcriptions, criminal cases in the Roanoke and New River valleys are typically recorded by digital audio and transcribed later if the need arises. Court reporters in Virginia primarily cover civil cases, with their costs usually split between the parties.

Roanoke lawyer Aaron Houchens called the text that reporters produce invaluable because he said thats the form by which appellate courts prefer to receive evidence. In his experience, accuracy hasnt been a problem.

In Southwest Virginia, we have some of the best court reporters in the state. To the extent that they support regulation, well trust their judgment, he said, but added: I dont see the lack of regulation impacting the quality of the work in this area.

Tribal mentality

One voice that opposes regulation belongs to Cudahy, the former National Court Reporters Association head who is now executive director of the Reston-based Speech to Text Institute. The STTI is a nonprofit that advocates for multiple technologies in court reporting, including using digital recordings to transcribe after the fact.

His organization predicts that dwindling ranks of Virginia stenographers will lead to 200 vacancies in the field by 2023, nearly 375 shortages in 2028, and, come 2033, almost 500.

Cudahy says the shortage of stenographers is getting worse, and he argues that newer methods of producing transcripts can make the labor less difficult, which he says might draw workers.

I think right now as the market is going through significant turbulence and change, to introduce a regulatory requirement ... would only confuse things, he said.

What stenographers do is absolutely amazing and its understandable why theyre uniquely proud of it, Cudahy offered, but said that fosters a tribal mentality.

In writing the legislation, he said, They didnt involve anyone from the digital recording side. ... They didnt include anyone using other methods, voice reporting or digital reporting, on the board they were proposing.

Our North Star is to make sure the integrity of the legal record is maintained, regardless of the technology used to create that record, he said.

Bragg argued that although stenographers launched the effort for a regulatory board, ultimately [A]ll forms would be on the board. Its not fair for us to make all the decisions.

They said we never consulted with them, which is not true at all, she said.

She also cited digital recording firms, large metropolitan groups with extensive staffing, whom she claimed were opposed to the bills in part due to potential expense. In Tennessee, for example, where court reporting is state regulated, it costs $250 to submit an initial application and $200 to renew a license.

If it [the legislation] had passed, they would be on the hook for the licensing fees, said Bragg.

And while Bragg doubts that common ground can be found between the camps, her bottom line echoes Cudahys: Our thing is, we dont care what method youre reporting, but you have to be qualified.

Theyre also in agreement that for now, stenography remains the most precise way to capture testimony.

There remains no technology that can equal the human brain for processing sounds, Cudahy acknowledged, but added: To suggest theyll be able to turn it around and bring back enough stenographers for the market place, its false. Its wishful thinking.

Stenographers arent Luddites, though. Butenschoen said they use digital recorders, too, but as a backup.

Ever since I started, Ive heard, Isnt your job going to be taken by tape recorders? Technology enhances and helps us, she said.

Everybodys had cases where they think they have good audio, and then they dont. Its good to have, but you cant rely on it, Ford said.

Attorney Houchens noted: An audiotape cant distinguish if theres conferring going on, if a witness nods his head. ... Having someone there, with the human capacity to observe, that is important for preserving the record.

For now, licensing for state court reporters is a dead issue. Bragg said the association has no plans to attempt the bills again next year.

If there is going to be licensure in Virginia, the consumer of our services, which are the attorneys ... theyre going to have to start taking action and getting involved, she said.

If they want to get legislation passed, weve got a bill thats ready to go.

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.
Actor Tiger Shroff on Sunday said the dialogue of "wiping off Syria" in his upcoming movie "Baaghi 3" should be taken in the context of the story.

The trailer of the film features Tiger travelling to Syria to save his brother, played by Riteish Deshmukh, who is captured by terrorists.

Billed as "one man against the whole country", the trailer has Tiger saying, "If you harm my brother, I swear on my father, I will wipe out your country from the map."



The dialogue didn't go down well with many social media users, who called it offensive and insensitive.

"At the end of the day, it's just a film. The intent was just to show, if anything happens to my brother... The characters are so much in love with each other, there is so much bromance, that this boy will do anything for his brother, go to any extent if something happens to him. So I think it was just in an outburst to express his emotions," Tiger said in a group interview.

Riteish added, "I feel if you love your brother or any family member or if you think there's a certain country responsible for it, you'll say the same thing. This feeling is not there in everyone's destiny. My character is fortunate to have someone who doesn't question, if his brother has been beaten, he will hit back."



The third installment of action-drama, directed by Ahmed Khan, also features Sharddha Kapoor and has a cameo by Jackie Shroff, who plays the on-screen father of Tiger and Riteish's characters.

Backed by Sajid Nadiadwala, "Baaghi 3" is scheduled to be released on March 6.

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

ISLAMABAD: Two more people tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Pakistan on Saturday, taking the total number of the COVID-19 infections in the country to four.

Earlier, two people tested positive for the deadly disease in the country on February 26.

Special Assistant to Prime Minister Imran Khan on Health Zafar Mirza confirmed the two new cases on Saturday.

"One of the patients is from Karachi while the other is from the federal territory (Islamabad)," he said.

The Sindh provincial government said that the patient from Karachi had recently travelled to Iran where he contracted the virus.

"All his recent contacts have been quarantined and are being monitored," the government said.

Special Assistant to the prime minister on Information Firdous Ashiq Awan said it was important to focus on the prevention of the spread of the virus and the government was working on it.

"Facilities to diagnose the disease have been provided in Quetta, Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore and it was the resolve of Prime Minister Imran Khan that we should not be afraid of the coronavirus rather fight it," she tweeted.

On Wednesday, a young man tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Karachi - the first confirmed case in Pakistan.

Shortly after, another case was confirmed and both have returned from Iran.

The Iran health ministry on Friday confirmed 34 deaths due to the deadly disease and 388 confirmed cases of the virus in the country.

According to media reports, the country has the highest number of death toll outside China, the epicentre of the virus.
Minister of state for home G. Kishan Reddy at the ISB on Sunday. (Photo: DC)

Hyderabad: Union minister of state for home G. Kishan Reddy blamed the recent riots in Delhi on rumour-mongering and misinformation on social media.

Mr Reddy, while delivering the inaugural address of the Policy Conclave at the Indian School of Business (ISB), while referring to the Opposition to the Citizenship Amendment Act, claimed a section of the people was unwilling to participate in dialogue and instead was spreading rumours.

The Secunderabad MP said it was unfortunate that many innocent people had lost their lives and property in Delhi, including a constable.

An Intelligence Bureau official also fell victim to evil designs and rumours unleashed by a section of political parties and media. A section of social media added fuel to this fire, he said.

Mr Reddy said the Narendra Modi government was determined to uncover the truth and the conspiracy that triggered the riots.

Mr Reddy spoke at length on the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act. Citizenship Amendment Act does not seek to revoke the citizenship of any Indian citizen but grants it to minorities in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who have been facing persecution based on religious grounds, he said.

Mr Reddy said the nation was partitioned on the basis of religion, against the wishes of the people.

It was assumed that the rights of minorities would be protected. In 1950, the prime ministers of both countries signed an agreement requiring steps to be taken for this. However, while India respected its commitment, Pakistan violated it. Now where will these minorities go, he asked.

The minister claimed that Citizenship Amendment Act was in line with the views and ideas of Mahatma Gandhi, Vallabhbhai Patel, the late Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and even the then Congress. On what basis are they opposing it now, Mr Reddy asked.
Farm bankruptcy is the highest seen in almost 15 years, UNL Panhandle Research and Extension Center Economist Jessica Groskopf said.

There is a need to be cognizant of what this means for our farmers and communities, she said. Margins are very tight for ag producers.

The 37 Chapter 12 farm filings in Nebraska in 2019 was a sharp increase over precious years, Farmers Union of Nebraska President John Hansen said.

These are high numbers, he said.

While this increase in Chapter 12 farm bankruptcies sounds like a lot, overall it is not an alarm to sound, Senior Vice President Platte Valley Bank, Scottsbluff, Galen Larson told the Star-Herald.

Larson believes such figures, while representing factual data, are meant to catch headlines, because in reality farming is not going down the tubes.

The total number of Nebraska farms compared to the total number of bankruptcies does not justify panic, he said.

Each farmer who files bankruptcy is impacted, and agriculture as a whole, but bankruptcy itself does not mean the farmer is necessarily finished, Larson said.
Might dashcams soon become restricted in Ireland? Are angry cyclists who post videos online of errant car behaviour flagrantly disregarding others' rights? On one reading of the current law, the answer to both questions is yes.

Dashcams and bike cameras now record in 4K super-high definition. Passers-by in the published videos are not just vaguely recognisable but can be (and sometimes are) turned into memes and gifs if their clothing, appearance or expression tickles our fancy.

Moreover, the European Court of Justice has signalled (in the Rynes case) that you can't just record a public street - let alone post it online - if you don't let everyone know you're doing so and give them a chance to either review the footage or exercise other controls over their personal images.

"To the extent that video surveillance covers, even partially, a public space and is accordingly directed outwards from the private setting of the person processing the data in that manner, it cannot be regarded as an activity which is a purely 'personal or household' activity," said the European Court in the Rynes ruling.

That case was about CCTV. But in a recent commentary on the topic, the Irish Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) said that the same principles likely apply to dashcams and GoPros.

"Although this case related to a fixed CCTV system, it is still helpful in deciding whether the exemption applies in cases where individuals are using other types of video recording equipment, such as dashcams or 'action cams'," her office said.

In other words, it is at least possible, and even likely, that thousands of Irish motorists are using dashcams illegally.

No one really wants to take this question on. I asked Helen Dixon (the Irish DPC) about it a week ago in an interview.

I'm guessing that she's a little tired of me bringing stuff like this up. I'm forever haranguing her office about photography and videography issues.

I was the one banging on about bishops telling congregations that no one was allowed to take a phone snap at a communion "because of GDPR".

(And I was grateful to the DPC's office for then issuing a statement confirming that it isn't against GDPR.)

So I accept that I'm half a yard away from being a nerdish crank on the issue. But here's the thing: cameraphones and high-definition cameras are changing society's rules. They're profoundly changing the way we interact with each other and how we think of ourselves.

It's not just the 4K (and now 8K) video cameras on our new phones. It's the Amazon Ring doorbells and Nest security cameras we're now starting to put in our homes. And the high-definition dashcams we use when travelling. Some people are even starting to use personal, discrete bodycams "for security".

It never really mattered with previous generations of dashcams or GoPros whether they caught a few random faces as they recorded their footage. The resolution was simply too basic.

It's a very big difference today. The newest smartphone I'm reviewing (Samsung's Galaxy S20 Ultra) records video in 8K. For non-nerds, that means it has 16 times the resolution of 'full HD' (otherwise known as 4K). What that really means is that anything it captured can be sliced up into tiny parts, where those parts are still very usable as separate video bits in themselves.

Now take a step back. What happens when video of people becomes usable? It gets used. As a meme, as a gif, as a TikTok short, as whatever. Not all the time and not everyone. But way more than previously shot video that's blurry, pixellated or low-resolution.

What rights do the people who are now captured in ultra-high resolution and later used in online videos have?

Ask a data protection regulator or consultant and they will reel off all of the statutory protections and GDPR articles that apply. Except how many of these protections really apply if the person being recorded doesn't know they're being recorded or doesn't see the published video, either before they're recognised by others or ever?

In this situation, they don't actually have rights that are properly backed up in any meaningful, systematic way.

The DPC is taking action on some parts of this issue. For example, she has been active on the matter of garda bodycams and about that recording activity staying proportionate.

But we're now getting to a tipping point where the use of small, powerful cameras is becoming a mass-market feature for convenience and security.

Tens of thousands of Irish motorists use dashcams for the security of their vehicles. Thousands of cyclists use high-definition video cameras on their helmets or bikes. Their reasons for doing so are understandable and justifiable. But it's starting to look like they're on the wrong side of the law.

Dixon says that the DPC can't be the catch-all arbiter for use of new tech. She also says that this may be a case where it takes a specific complaint or a court case to flesh out a clearer precedent.

But she agrees that those that record indiscriminately in public areas, where others are clearly identifiable within the footage, make their users 'data controllers' with extra responsibilities - such as indicating that they're recording and being amenable to show anyone recorded the footage (and granting them a request to delete it).

Once again, for those who say 'it was ever thus as long as Facebook and YouTube and Twitter and cameraphones have been with us', no it wasn't.

Smartphones 10 years ago didn't have cameras good enough to reproduce video in any reasonable video resolution form in the hands of a novice user. And certainly not from a car or a bicycle.

Now we're talking about something altogether different. If we're serious about defending people's right to enforcing their own privacy, this is going to come to a head soon.
Vice President Mike Pence on Sunday defended the US administration's handling of the coronavirus epidemic after the first confirmed death on American soil and rising criticism of the state of US preparedness.

Pence and Health Secretary Alex Azar made the rounds of Sunday talk shows with the message that risks from the disease remain low for most Americans, while promising to make up for testing shortfalls.

"We could have more sad news, but the American people should know the risk to the average American remains low," Pence said on CNN's "State of the Union."



The assurances came a day after officials confirmed that a man in his 50s, with no known contact with persons infected abroad, had died in the northwestern state of Washington after becoming infected with the virus.

Azar told "Fox Sunday" the man was in a hospital to which a nursing home, hit by a coronavirus outbreak, had sent patients.

"So right now there's a large investigation going on in the nursing home, the hospital, contact tracing to try to determine where that disease was introduced and how it might have spread," he said.

The United States has had 69 confirmed coronavirus cases in all, including 46 patients who were repatriated from virus hotspots in Asia and quarantined for 14 days on their return.

Twenty-three other people have been infected in the United States, a man in Chicago being the latest confirmed US case, according to Azar.

The spread of the virus through communities would be an ominous development that would almost certainly intensify the epidemic in the United States.

US health authorities have been slow to distribute coronavirus testing kits, however, making the dimensions of the problem uncertain.

"It's a very fair question, and it's one of the first issues that governors I spoke to raised with me," Pence said when asked on CNN why the US was so far behind other countries in producing testing kits.

He said more than 15,000 testing kits were released over the weekend, the federal Food and Drug Administration has approved a testing regime, and the government was working with a commercial provider to produce an additional 50,000 kits.

President Donald Trump put Pence in charge of the US response last week, amid rising complaints that the administration had been slow to prepare for the virus's spread.

Trump himself had been criticized for seeming to low-ball the risk, even as experts from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned of a looming health emergency.

Pence defended the administration's response, crediting Trump with acting quickly to establish quarantines for Americans brought back from China and Japan.

"The coronavirus remains low -- and that is largely owing to the decision the president made, the energetic efforts of CDC and local health officials, and we'll continue to lean in that in a hopeful way," the vice president said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Spring Fire Departments firefighter challenge has come back for the second year in a row, this year with five more departments competing to test their skills.

Teams of firefighters from departments in the north Houston area met Saturday, Feb. 29 in Spring to compete in the North Harris Firefighter Challenge.

Related: Spring, Klein fire chiefs talk department growth

SFD Firefighter Ryan Rebarcak said this years challenge included fire departments from Humble, Aldine, Atascocita, Eastex and Ponderosa competing. The inaugural event last year was just different Spring FD crews competing against each other.

Last year, we kind of had the idea to have different fire companies basically within Spring, different stations and different apparatus compete against each other in a physical challenge at Station 78, Rebarcak said. We were basically trying to figure out who is the fittest crew in Spring.

Related: Spring Fire Department releases 2020 calendar

After that, he said they got interest from other local departments about competing next year, leading this years challenge to become a qualifying round, and then an 8-team tournament.

Theres no cash prize here, just bragging rights and a trophycalled the North Harris Firefighter Challenge Cup. Similar to the Stanley Cup, Rebarcak said it would be a traveling trophy, with the names of the winners inscribed every year and they can keep it in their fire station until the next years challenge.

Itll be like a shrine at the fire station, Rebarcak said.

The first years challenge was more fitness-based, he said, while this year was more skills-based. The challenge is a three-man relay event, with several obstacles each person has to go through. The relay starts with the first competitor forcing open a door, then dragging a hose 75 feet and spraying water at a target. A spanner wrench, acting as a relay baton, will then be passed to the second person, who has to go through several other obstacles and raise a hose roll to the top of a tower. The third man then gets the wrench, and has to go through more obstacles, including dragging a 165-pound dummy 75 feet to the finish line.

SFD Captain Josh Posey was the one who designed the course and handled the logistics of the tournament. He said there had been other area competitions put on with a similar course. The course for this years challenge was based off a few different courses from other area fire departments.

We just created it uniquely to what we wanted to do, Posey said. All six of these challenges are based on things a firefighter would actually do on scene.

Much of the competition was derived from pumper races held 20 to 30 years ago, Posey said.

What were trying to do is replicate that where area fire departments other than the Spring Fire Department are competing against each other, Posey said. Its a little bit of comradery, but also mimicking what they were doing 20 to 30 years ago to bring area fire departments closer with a little bit of competition.

paul.wedding@hcnonline.com
More than 3.91 lakh students from Mumbai division, which includes Thane, Raigad and Palghar, will appear for the state secondary board (Class 10) exams that begin on Tuesday. The exams will be held at 1,024 centres in the division.

Sandeep Sangave, secretary, Mumbai divisional board, said that several flying squads and sitting squads will be deployed for strict vigilance.

We have asked our squads to be cautious, especially in sensitive centres where cases of malpractices have been reported in the past. The board is completely prepared to ensure a smooth conduct of examinations, added Sangave.

The board has deployed six flying squads and several sitting squads this year. In a first, it has also decided to not entertain requests from private candidates who asked for a last minute centre change citing various reasons. Only genuine medical requests have been catered to.

This year, 2,795 students with special needs have registered for the exam. The board has granted special permissions such as allotting extra time, nod for a writer to most of these students.

Students would once again have to write only 80-mark exams in languages and social sciences as 20 marks are reserved for oral exams.

In 2019, the board had scrapped oral exams which brought down the scores of students significantly. We are hoping that a reversal in the policy would bring down stress that students undergo before these papers. Last year, many students had called citing stress about writing a 100- mark paper, said a counsellor manning the board helpline.

Those who wish to address their exam related queries can call on the boards official helpline numbers while students who feel stressed about writing their exams can call any of the counsellors listed by the board for guidance.
New Delhi [India], Feb 29 (ANI): A five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court is likely to hear on Monday the curative petition filed by Pawan Gupta, one of the four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case.



The five-judge Constitution bench headed by Justice NV Ramana will also consist of Justice Arun Mishra, Justice RF Nariman, Justice R Banumathi and Justice Ashok Bhushan.

Gupta had on Friday filed a curative petition before the apex court seeking commutation of his death sentence to life imprisonment. He is the fourth convict in the case to file a curative petition. The Supreme Court has already rejected the curative petitions of the rest three.

This comes as a fresh death warrant has been issued for the four convicts -- Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta and Mukesh Singh, which orders their hanging at 6 am on March 3 at Delhi's Tihar Jail.

Meanwhile, the apex court has also slated for March 5 hearing on a petition filed by Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), seeking directions to separately execute the convicts.

The case pertains to the brutal gang rape and killing 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. (ANI)
Guinea's constitutional referendum is to be delayed beyond Sunday's scheduled date, President Alpha Conde has announced, amid mounting international concern. Critics fear the motive behind the proposed changes is to reset presidential term limits, allowing Conde to run for a third term.

The government in Conakry argues that the draft constitution would, among other things, codify gender equality and ban female circumcision and underage marriage in the West African state.

Speaking on national television, Conde said on Friday it was "due to our national and regional responsibilities that we have accepted a slight postponement of the date of the elections".

"This is not a capitulation or a step backwards," he said, adding that "the people of Guinea will express their choice freely at the referendum".

While Conde did not publicly announce a date for the new vote, a letter from the leader to the West African bloc ECOWAS, seen by AFP, said the new poll should take place within two weeks.

The poll had been scheduled for Sunday alongside parliamentary elections -- also delayed in the poor but mineral-rich country of some 13 million people, which has a legacy of autocratic rule.

The long-running demonstrations over the constitution issue have sometimes turned violent, with at least 30 protesters and one gendarme killed to date.

Conde's announcement followed criticism of the electoral process from the African Union, European Union and The International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF), which gathers French-speaking states.

The OIF said this week it had problems with around 2.5 million of the 7.7 million names on the electoral roll, pointing to duplicate registrations and people who had died.

The African Union also cancelled an electoral observation mission to Guinea on Friday, citing a "major controversy" with the roll.

Meanwhile the EU said in a statement that a "lack of inclusiveness and transparency casts doubt on the credibility of the upcoming elections".

Conakry quiet

Sekou Conde, a cadre in the president's Rally of the Guinean People (RPG) party, said the vote had been postponed purely for technical reasons.

"It has nothing to do with the electoral roll," he said, adding that people had ransacked voting stations.

A Western diplomat, who declined to be named, said he thought the delay would make no difference anyway.

"This changes nothing," he said, adding that there would be no credible change to the problems with the electoral roll within two weeks.

The streets of the capital Conakry were quiet on Friday evening after the announcement, despite months of protests.

Ibrahima Diallo, the operations manager for the National Front for the Defence of the Constitution -- an alliance of opposition groups behind the protests -- said that demonstrations would continue until Conde shelved the referendum.

Although both the current constitution and the proposed new text limit presidential terms to two, critics fear that passing a new constitution would reset presidential term limits to zero.

This would potentially allow Conde, 81, to run again when his second term runs out at the end of the year.

Conde was a longtime opposition figure who became the nation's first democratically elected president in 2010 on promises to fight corruption. He was re-elected in 2015.

(AFP)
Lome, Togo (PANA)  The results from the Togo presidential election, which gave victory to Faure Gnassingbe for a fourth, five-year term in office, and doubts by the United-States on its transparency dominate front pages this week in Togo
Socrates would stop Athenians in the marketplace and ask them questions such as, "what is virtue?". When they declared their view, he would question them on it until their certainty crumbled.

"You wind up in a puzzle," said philosopher Daniel Hutto, the head of the School of Liberal Arts at the University of Wollongong, of the so-called Socratic method. "You learn that you didn't know as much about the topic as you thought you did in the beginning."

As director of the school's Western civilisation program, Professor Hutto will on Monday play Socrates to almost 40 students, the first to begin the university's controversial Ramsay Centre-funded course.

University of Wollongong philosophers, from left, Bernado Ainbinder, Talia Morag, Anthony Hooper, Professor Daniel Hutto and Elena Walsh. Credit:Wolter Peeters

He will host the inaugural lecture, in which students will discuss Robert Hutchins' 1952 essay The Great Conversation, in which he argues that writers and thinkers are participating in a conversation about ideas across centuries.
People in a small Colombian town are reporting increased sightings of hippopotamuses in the area.

The hippopotamus is native to Africa, not South America. But a local population of the animals developed from a private collection brought to Colombia by infamous drug trafficker Pablo Escobar. Escobar was the leader of Colombias Medellin drug cartel.

At least 80 hippopotamuses are estimated to live around the rural town of Doradal, about 140 kilometers east of Medellin. The town is near Escobars former private estate, covering about 2,225 hectares.

In the 1980s, during the height of his power, Escobar kept the hippos on the property in a private zoo, along with other animals such as elephants and giraffes.

Following Escobars death in 1993, most of the animals from the zoo were taken to new homes or died. But because the hippos were difficult and costly to transport, they were left in the area.

Conditions in the area are favorable for the hippos. They live in nearby lakes and waterways, enjoy endless feeding on grass and have no natural predators.

One of the first hippo sightings in Doradal came in 2018. Since then, the animals have continued coming. Officials are worried that they could one day attack members of the local population.

Large hippos can weigh several tons and can be aggressive. The animals kill more people a year in Africa than any other kind of wildlife. Scientists say the presence of hippos in Colombia also threatens the other animals and plant life.

Students who attend a small school behind Escobars former property arrive for class each day passing a sign that reads danger - hippopotamus present.

It worries us, said Wilber Quinones, a teacher at the school. We have to lock ourselves inside with the children to try and avoid an accident.

So far, the hippos around Doradal have not attacked any humans. But as their numbers grow and they expand into more populated areas, experts fear an attack is more likely.

However, many people enjoy looking at the hippos. The animals have even brought new visitors into the area. Stores throughout the town sell tourist items related to the animals.

A new study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego, UCSD, found that the hippos are changing the quality of the water in which they spend much of their time. The hippos feed at night and then spend the day cooling off in the water, where they release bodily waste.

Scientists have warned that such waste can cause harmful growth and bacteria to develop in lakes in the area. The concerns have led local officials to seek new solutions to the hippopotamus problem.

The local environmental agency responsible for the area, Cornare, is working to find a solution that is acceptable to people in the area, but that will also treat the animals in a humane way.

Gina Serna is a specialist with Cornare. She is helping lead the project. She told the AP she thinks the hippopotamus situation has become an urgent issue.

We already have a report of a family of hippopotamuses in the Magdalena river, Serna said. The Magdalena connects almost all of Colombia, so they could move into any part of the country.

One plan is to sterilize the hippos. Last year, Serna and a group from Cornare carried out a successful in-the-wild surgical sterilization of a female hippo, the first ever in Colombia.

Later this year, the group plans to attempt several more sterilizations, as well as a chemical sterilization method that has proven successful in pigs.

Im Bryan Lynn.

The Associated Press reported on this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for VOA Learning English. Ashley Thompson 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

infamous  adj. famous for being bad

cartel  n. a group that agrees to fix prices and control trade in a product or industry

estate  n. a large area of land in the countryside that is owned by a person or organization

predator  n. an animal that hunts and kills other animals for food

tourist  n. a person who travels to a place for pleasure

humane  n. kind, especially towards people or animals that are suffering

sterilize  v. to perform an operation making it impossible for someone to have children

surgical  n. relating to a medical operation
Incoming Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin (left) receives documents from King Al-Sultan Abdullah Riayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah before taking the oath of office at the National Palace in Kuala Lumpur, March 1, 2020.

Updated at 1:15 p.m. ET on 2020-03-01

A former home minister and one-time ally of Malaysias longtime leader Mahathir Mohamad was sworn in by the king as the new prime minister on Sunday, as Mahathir questioned the moves legitimacy, claiming that he had majority support in parliament and his candidacy had been ignored.

In a brief ceremony broadcast live, Muhyiddin Yassin, 72, took the oath of office before King Al-Sultan Abdullah Riayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah, who chose him as premier after receiving representatives from all leaders representing their respective parties, as well as independent lawmakers.

Muhyiddin heads an alliance dominated by the multi-ethnic countrys Muslim majority, including the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) party of corruption-tainted ex-premier Najib Razak, as well as the Islamist PAS party, which has been campaigning for stricter Islamic laws.

The new prime minister did not issue any statement about his vision for the country after taking the oath but his close ally and aide said the new government would strive for national unity, press freedom, judicial independence and political and other reforms, and that the graft trials of past leaders would continue without any political interference.

We are committed to the national agenda to drive economic resilience, guarantee mutual prosperity, safeguard national security and sovereignty, strengthen peoples unity and enable institutional reform, said Azmin Ali, a senior minister in the previous government who was instrumental in ousting Mahathirs Pakatan Harapan (Alliance of Hope) coalition from power by joining ranks with Muhyiddin.

Najibs trial will go on ... and for Rosmah and Zahid as well, Khalid Jaafar, a strategist for Azmin, told BenarNews, referring to Rosmah Mansor, the wife of the former prime minister, and Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, the home affairs minister in Najibs government.

He said there had been no conditions, no deals with UMNO, the anchor party of the ruling coalition that Mahathir defeated in 2018.

The country was relatively calm despite a past week of political turmoil.

Defying police warnings, about 100 people turned up in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday evening for a second day of protest against what some called a backdoor government and chanting as the death of democracy, according to reports.

Police said in a statement that a man had been held and three others were being investigated for social media posts that insulted the king and threatened public order.

The palace did not provide the number of elected representatives backing Muhyiddin, but Mahathir claimed he had statutory declarations of support from 114 members of Malaysias 222-seat lower house of parliament and demanded that a legislative meeting be held as soon as possible.

We have the majority. We have 114 Members of Parliament who back us. But apparently that is being ignored, Mahathir told a press conference before the swearing-in ceremony, which his Pakatan Harapan coalition boycotted.

Muhyiddin had pulled his Bersatu party, which he and Mahathir founded in 2016, out of the ruling coalition on Monday, triggering its collapse. Several MPs from Bersatu were being erroneously counted as supporters of the new prime minister, Mahathir charged.

The king had declined a requested meeting, Mahathir said, so I dont have the chance to tell the king that he [Muhyiddin] does not have the majority.

Mahathirs Pakatan Harapan coalition said in a statement that it had the backing of 112 members in parliament  two less than what Mahathir had claimed  and called for the next legislative session to open as previously scheduled on March 9.

This is an excellent opportunity to determine support for the Prime Minister and thus end the political crisis gripping the country, the statement said.

Mahathir suggested that if parliament was not convened quickly, the number of elected representatives supporting his coalition could shrink, because his supporters could be wooed to back Muhyiddins government through offering of minister posts and other incentives.

The rule of law no longer applies, he charged.

The political crisis erupted after Mahathirs resignation on Monday, which automatically dissolved the government. Mahathir was promptly re-appointed interim prime minister by the king.

Under the constitution, the king has the discretion to appoint an MP who commands the majority support of elected members of the 222-seat lower house of parliament.

Amid questions over whether Muhyiddin enjoys the support of the majority of MPs, Ambiga Sreenevasan, once president of the Malaysian Bar and now a social activist, suggested that he call for an emergency parliamentary sitting this week to resolve the issue amicably.

It would not only be in his interests to do so, but it would also be in the overriding interests of the nation, she said, according to online portal malaysiakini.

Parliamentary speaker Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof said he would discuss with Muhyiddin, who would clock in to work on Monday, whether a session would be held on March 9 as scheduled previously.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) said in a statement that it wanted the new government to give the priority to improve the economy, narrowing the gap between the rich and the poor, improve the level of education and equal and fair development in [Peninsular Malaysia] as well as [east Malaysian states] Sabah and Sarawak and at the same time safeguarding the Federalism principle with the states.

PAS urges all Malaysians to maintain the peace and harmony among the multiracial society and propose that the government be fair and takes care of the well being of its people regardless of their race, beliefs and their political inclination.
Russia's capital Moscow, which for the past months has largely been deprived of its traditional seasonal covering of snow, has seen its warmest winter since records began, the state weather service said on Saturday.

The head of Russia's forecasting centre Roman Vilfand told the TASS news agency that the average temperature in Russia from December to February has been some 2.5 degrees Celsius (4.5 Fahrenheit) warmer than the previous record of minus 2.8 degrees seen in the winter of 1960-1961.

He said such differences between records were extremely rare. Records began 140 years ago in Russia.

"I am sure that we are not going to see such a warm winter again for a long time," he said. He added that the winter record for Russia as a whole would also likely be beaten but said the data was still being compiled.

2019 was also the hottest year ever registered in Russia. Muscovites of the elder generation fondly remember crisper and colder winters from decades back when the parks of the city were covered in plentiful snow.

The Kremlin acknowledges global warming, with President Vladimir Putin saying in December that the rate of warming for Russia was 2.5 percent higher than elsewhere on the planet.

But he cast doubt over whether global warming is of manmade origin and stated it could be blamed on cosmological processes. "Nobody knows the origins of global climate change," Putin said.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Soon after taking charge, acting Delhi Police chief SN Shrivastava on Saturday said his priority is to restore peace and ensure communal harmony in the national capital, which witnessed its worst-ever riots in the last three decades early this week.

Shrivastava, a 1985-batch IPS officer, was appointed as the special commissioner (Law and Order) of Delhi Police this week, as the force struggled to contain the communal violence in northeast Delhi.

He was given the additional charge of the Delhi Police commissioner with effect from Sunday, following Amulya Patnaik's retirement.

It has been the tradition of the city that people of every section and religion live together in harmony and help each other in good as well as bad times, Shrivastava told reporters.

Talking about the measures taken to restore communal harmony in the city, he said the Delhi Police has started a massive outreach programme and senior officers have been meeting and speaking with people from every community to build confidence among them.

"To avoid such incidents in future, cases will be registered in crimes that were committed and we will try to arrest the accused involved so that legal proceedings can be initiated at the earliest," he added.

Shrivastava, who was repatriated from the Central Reserve Police Force on Monday, also appealed to everyone to support him in restoring peace in the city.

Besides ensuring that the morale of the 89,000-strong force remains high, Shrivastava faces the task of helping the Delhi Police overcome the credibility crisis after it was unable to check the communal riots that broke out in the national capital on Sunday night over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

The Delhi Police was rebuked by the Supreme Court for failing to act "professionally" during the riots that claimed at least 42 lives and leftover 200 injured.

Meanwhile, outgoing Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik paid tributes to Head Constable Ratan Lal, who died during the recent violence, at his farewell parade held at New Police Lines, Kingsway Camp.

During his farewell speech, Patnaik said he was deeply pained by Lal's death and that police personnel never hesitate to sacrifice their lives in the line of duty.

He also wished for the speedy recovery of all the injured policemen.

Patnaik was also accorded a guard of honour at the parade.

Later, he handed over the charge to Shrivastava at the new police headquarters on Jai Singh Marg in Lutyens' Delhi.
A secondary school on the northside of Dublin has been closed for 14 days on foot of the first confirmed case of coronavirus in the Republic of Ireland.

Scoil Chaitriona, a school of around 400 pupils in the suburb of Glasnevin, will be shut for the duration of the viruss incubation period, the Department of Health said.

A statement from the Department said the principal, staff and parents of pupils of the school have been notified.

While the Departments chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan declined to name any specifics regarding the school at a briefing this evening, a letter from the HSE to all affected parents of children attending the school emerged in the immediate aftermath of that briefing.

We are conscious of our responsibility to protect the patients and individuals who report themselves to health authorities. We call on the media to respect patient confidentiality and understand our efforts to protect the privacy of the people we serve. #COVID19  Dr Tony Holohan (@CMOIreland) March 1, 2020

Marcella Nic Niallaigh, principal of Scoil Mobhi, the feeder primary school to Scoil Chaitriona, told parents by text: Scoil Chaitriona has confirmed it is closing for two weeks as a precautionary measure.

I want to reassure you all that Im seeking direction from the HSE and the Department of Education, and I will revert back to you all as soon as possible.

The school will remain closed until March 16, with all students and staff being treated as possible contacts of the confirmed patient.

The first confirmed case of Covid-19, the technical name for the Coronavirus which has thus far killed nearly 3,000 people worldwide, was reported on Saturday evening, involving a male in the east of the country who had recently returned to Ireland from one of four areas in northern Italy which have been deemed to be high risk.

Mr Holohan confirmed that the contact-tracing which had begun in the aftermath of the confirmed case had returned a connection with a secondary school in the east of the country.

The Department of Education said it is available to assist the school in any way necessary.

The closing of this school was a decision made on public health grounds after risk assessment deemed it appropriate. All other schools will remain open, a spokesperson for the Department said.

It could not be confirmed whether or not the initial contact with the virus, which resulted from a trip to one of the four affected areas in northern Italy, had eventuated from a school trip.

Dr Holohan said that all pupils and teachers at the school had been asked to restrict their movements until the end of the incubation period.

That is, that they limit their social interactions in so far as is possible, that they should avoid social gatherings and crowded settings, Dr John Cuddihy, director of the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, said.

They shouldnt go to school or work or sporting events, and they should try to avoid contact with vulnerable groups as well.

The decision to lockdown the school does not affect any other institutions, Dr Holohan said.

He confirmed that the school is large in size, but that the current situation is not of sufficient significance to move Ireland from the containment stage regarding Covid-19 into the mitigation stage.

That decision will depend on a significant number of cases arising in the community and community transmission occurring, Dr Holohan said.

Former Dublin North-West TD Noel Rock said on social media: "Conncerning news locally as Scoil Chaitriona on St Mobhi Road is closed due to an outbreak of Covid-19."

He urged the public to heed HSE advice.

Over the course of the coming two weeks, each individual affected will receive a text each day from the HSE asking them whether they still feel well, or if they have begun to develop symptoms of the virus.

Dr Ronan Glynn, deputy chief medical officer with the Department, stressed that Coronavirus is not particularly infectious, with each affected person expected to infect between 2 and 2.5 people, compared with the between 14 and 18 people expected to be infected by a person carrying measles.

Dr Holohan meanwhile confirmed that contact tracing for the other confirmed case of coronavirus on the island as a whole, a woman in her 40s based in Belfast, had been completed, and that no further quarantine steps had been taken as a result.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Damascus, Syria  Sun, March 1, 2020 18:23 680 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206798bc3 2 World #Syria,#Turkey,military,air-strikes,Idlib Free

The Syrian military Sunday threatened to down any aircraft over northwest Syria after Turkish drone strikes killed dozens of pro-regime forces in the embattled region.

"Syrian military high command announces the closure of the airspace for planes and any drone above northwestern Syria and especially above the Idlib region," state news agency SANA reported a military source as saying.

"Any aircraft breaching our airspace will be treated as enemy aircraft that needs to be downed and prevented from carrying out its goals," the source said.

Turkey, meanwhile, said it was pursuing a military operation dubbed "Spring Shield" in northwest Syria after regime air strikes on Thursday killed 34 Turkish soldiers.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Turkish drone strikes killed 26 soldiers in northwest Syria on Saturday.

That brought the number of soldiers killed in Turkish drone strikes and bombardment since Friday to 74, said the Britain-based monitor, which relies on sources inside Syria.

Ten Hezbollah fighters and four allied militiamen also died, the Observatory said.

Since December, Russia-backed regime forces have led a military offensive against the last major rebel stronghold of Idlib in northwest Syria, where Turkey supports some rebel groups.

The onslaught has caused almost a million people -- mostly women and children -- to flee their homes and shelters, the United Nations says.

Neighbouring Turkey already hosts around 3.6 million Syrian refugees, and is reluctant to let more in.

Tensions have spiked in recent weeks between Ankara and Moscow, whose relationship has been tested by violations of a 2018 deal to prevent a regime offensive on Idlib.

Turkey deployed troops to observation posts in northwest Syria under that deal.

Syria's war has killed more than 380,000 people and displaced millions since it started in 2011 with the repression of anti-government protests.
Two Massachusetts State Police troopers were injured, and an Everett police officer was assaulted during incidents at Encore Boston Harbor Saturday morning, according to authorities.

Just after 2 a.m. Saturday, Encore Boston Harbor security requested assistance from the state police Gaming Enforcement Unit while there was an unruly person in the poker room, state police said.

Two troopers in the area headed to the poker room. The patron, identified as 25-year-old Brandon Wangnoon, of Brockton, became irate and aggressive toward security, according to state police.

As troopers tried to take Wangnoon into custody, he began to struggle. One of the troopers used his department-issued stun gun to subdue Wangnoon.

Troopers and an Everett officer were eventually able to secure Wangnoon in handcuffs, state police said. While being escorted through the main lobby Wangnoon once again became assaultive and threatening and was again subdued and taken outside.

Authorities said he became combative outside the casino and was brought to the ground by law enforcement and held there until an Everett police prisoner van arrived.

Wangnoon was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. State police plan to file an assault and battery on a police officer charge against Wangnoon.

While subduing the hostile suspect, one of the troopers struck his head and, after evaluation by EMS, was transported to MGH, where he was diagnosed with a concussion, state police said. The second trooper sustained injuries to his back but chose to remain on duty. Both troopers are day-to-day.

A couple of hours later, around 4:20 a.m., troopers and Everett police officers were called by Encore security to help as two men were fighting. One of the men continued to resist and struggle with officers, state police said.

The man, identified as 24-year-old Brian Navarro, of Dorchester, was taken into custody and charged with assault and battery on a police officer and disorderly conduct. He is accused of hitting an Everett police officer.
China is suffering a coronavirus epidemic. (Maybe you've heard about it?)

At last report, 78,832 patients have been infected in China, and sad to say, COVID-19 hasn't been contained within China. In fact, 54 countries now report infections (up four from yesterday). South Korea has the most cases outside of China... and is where today's story begins.

In a report just out from Mizuho Securities in Japan (coronavirus infections: 214), managing director Vijay Rakesh explains how COVID-19 concerns are spreading outside the China epicenter to South Korea, Taiwan, Italy, Iran, and Japan, and impacting normal functioning of the global supply chains in PCs, server/data center, handsets, and memory.

Not all the news is bad. China's swift imposition of quarantines on upwards of 60 million of its citizens have slowed the disease's expansion in that country and, from Rakesh's perspective at least, "China is slowly returning to normal."

But is it a new normal?

Between official quarantines and citizens fearful of going out in public, Rakesh notes that China is seeing "strong" growth in "e-commerce" and also "online gaming." Apparently, people are using the former to get access to supplies without leaving their apartments, and using the latter to while away the time while the epidemic burns itself out. In the analyst's opinion, this is going to translate to strength in sales of graphics processing units (GPUs) manufactured by companies such as NVIDIA (NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), of PCs software sales by Microsoft (MSFT), as well as better revenues for online gaming companies such as Tencent (TCEHY).

And all that makes sense. We just wouldn't extrapolate the short-term activities Chinese citizens are taking whilst "cocooning" and hiding from coronavirus into long-term trends -- or even necessarily a quarterly spike in sales for any of these companies. While the temptation may be strong to seek out a silver lining around the dark storm clouds looming over the market this week, make no mistake: The situation looks grim. And it's going to take a whole more than a few online take-out orders to justify the 60 P/E ratio at NVIDIA -- much less the 196 P/E ratio at AMD.

Story continues

The analyst's suggestion that Microsoft and Tencent might be worth a look, on the other hand, seems a little more sane at valuations of 33x and 32x earnings, respectively -- but even those two are not exactly "cheap."

Meanwhile, next door in South Korea, Rakesh seems to think that things will get worse before they get better. He notes, for example, that Samsung recently temporarily closed its Gumi Galaxy Z handset factory, which could delay rolling out 5G-capable handsets to the masses. And Samsung won't be the only company affected.

"It is more difficult to control public movement [in a democracy like Korea] versus the central controlled quarantines in China," after all. For this reason, Rakesh is predicting "major disruptions" in supply chains tied to Korea in March.

The situation could improve in the year's second quarter, and in the second half, "as OEMs play catchup to demand." In that longer-term timeframe, Rakesh is suggesting investors check out "cyclical auto and industrial names" such as NXP Semiconductors (NXPI) and ON Semiconductor (ON) to outperform.

To find good ideas for semiconductor stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks Best Stocks to Buy, a newly launched tool that unites all of TipRanks equity insights.
An Independent councillor said there has been a huge increase in cocaine use in County Limerick.

Mike Guerin, a counsellor in Bruree House, said teenagers are now budgeting for cocaine along with a dress or suit for their debs, said Cllr PJ Carey, at a Joint Policing Sub-Committee meeting of the Cappamore-Kilmallock district.

He added that he has heard anecdotally about cocaine being snorted openly in some pubs.

Superintendent Aileen Magner said she has heard those anecdotes as well but gardai need evidence.

The chief superintendent and superintendents are very concerned about drugs said Supt Magner.

There were 126 drug searches last year in the Bruff garda district. We are trying to make inroads. It is more than enforcement, it is about education and health.

Everybody knows who is dealing drugs but our work is evidence-based. Anyone with information please come forward, said Supt Magner.

Come to us in full confidence, she urged, as they want to target the drug dealers.

Supt Magner said: If people think it is only the lower economic group who are taking cocaine people are only fooling themselves.

It is professionals, ordinary decent people who are lining pockets of drug dealers.

She said she and Bruff Superintendent John Ryan have held information evenings in schools about drugs and the dangers of experimenting, and plan to hold more.

Meanwhile, burglaries are up 47% in the Bruff Garda District said Supt Magner, who herself has been the victim of a break-in. Newcastle Wests Superintendent Magner stood in for Bruff Superintendent John Ryan who was at a meeting in Dublin.

There has been an increase in burglaries in Bruff which is on a par with Newcastle West and the division as a whole.

There has been quite a lot of burglaries in the county in recent weeks. They are up 47%. It is quite worrying. I was a victim of a burglary myself. It is an awful experience to have been burgled, said Supt Magner.

The finger of blame was pointed at travelling criminal gangs who hit an area and disappear, as well as our own homegrown burglars.

She said a lot of good work, led by Detective Sergeant Ted Riordan in Bruff and Detective Sergeant Mike Reidy in Newcastle West, has been done.

They work very closely together. A lot of criminal gangs are before the courts but we put one away and then another one sprouts from another area, said Supt Magner, who added that a lot of burglaries are committed in the day time.

We are very good to lock up at night time but we need to take the same measures during the day.

If you are in a text alert scheme please make sure the account it topped up, said Supt Magner. Coincidentally, while she was speaking on Thursday afternoon there was a burglary at a home in Monastery Road, Doon. Any information or reports of suspicious activity please call Bruff gardai on 061382940

Thefts from cars are also up and she asked the public not to make it easier for opportunistic criminals by leaving items visible.

Supt Magner told the meeting there were 57 domestic violence incidents in the Bruff district last year.

Thats only what is being reported. If you think a person is in distress come talk to us. There are a lot of supports, said Supt Magner.

Moving to road traffic, she said there were two fatalities in the Bruff district in 2019 and one so far this year. In the Newcastle West district, Supt Magner said she has stood at the side of the road where seven lost their lives.

Seven souls lost on our roads. When you are standing there with ambulance and fire brigade crews and then knocking on someones door you realise the importance of road safety, said Supt Magner.

She knows people are frustrated with garda checkpoints but makes no apologies. There were 559 in Bruff last year.

They allow for mandatory alcohol and drug testing; the opportunity to gather intelligence and disrupt travelling gangs. A driver might have warrants out for them.

The ordinary decent person passes straight through. There were 976 individual pieces of intelligence in 2019, 138 this year. This helps us in curbing crime, said Supt Magner.

Cllr Mike Donegan pointed to drug driving incidents being on a par with drink driving and Supt Magner agreed.

There has been a huge increase in drug driving. It stays in your system longer. They think it has passed but it hasnt, said Supt Magner.

Cllr John Egan said a very good crime prevention tool is for a patrol car to go into a village, drive around with the blue flashing lights on.

It makes people aware that there is garda activity and thats good. It has a big effect on the prevention of crime, said Cllr Egan.

Cllr Ger Mitchell asked about the new Go Safe speed van locations and the fact that there wont be a sign to inform people they are at that location.

People should be adhering to the speed limits and not the signs. They just slow down and speed up. I know at ORourkee Cross it is easier to cross when the van is there. When its not you take a deep breath and go, said Supt Magner.
Several congregants in a historically black church in Selma, Alabama, made their feelings about Michael Bloomberg very clear on Sunday when they stood up and turned their backs on him while he was speaking. The former New York mayor attended the service at Brown Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Selma on the 55th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, when police attacked civil rights marchers. Bloomberg spoke about the fight for civil rights and voter suppression, but around 10 minutes into his speech, churchgoers began standing up and silently turned their backs on the former mayor. Around 10 people remained standing until Bloomberg stopped speaking.

Advertisement

Rough intro for Bloomberg at historic Brown AME Chapel



The man introing says he invited him, but Bloomberg responded he didnt have time bc hes too busy trying to beat Trump



As Bloomberg is abt to speak, he cuts back in to say its important hes here bc it shows he can change pic.twitter.com/b5EwsXa3u2  Daniel Newhauser (@dnewhauser) March 1, 2020

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Things were awkward for Bloomberg even before he began speaking. When the Rev. Leodis Strong introduced Bloomberg, he recalled that the former mayor first declined an invitation to speak at the church, claiming he had a busy campaign schedule. I think that its important for Mr. Bloomberg, Mayor Bloomberg, to hear from you, listen to you, to learn from you, Strong said. And then just as Bloomberg was about to speak, Strong chimed in once again. Let me just say this. I think its important that he came, Strong said. And it shows a willingness on his part to change. And I like that, and I think that that is important.

Advertisement

Advertisement

As Michael Bloomberg laid out some of his plans to help black Americans at Brown AME church in Selma, some audience members stood and turned their backs on him pic.twitter.com/FB3muz5Hou  Joseph Ax (@josephax) March 1, 2020

Bloomberg has been repeatedly criticized on the campaign trail for implementing the stop-and-frisk policy during his time as mayor that disproportionately targeted black people and other minorities. Bloomberg apologized for the policy when he was entering the presidential contest.

Advertisement

I was hurt, I was disappointed, Strong said as Bloomberg looked. I think its important that he came, and it shows a willingness on his part to change.
Lopakhin is the son of a serf. This is central to the pace and evolution of Chekhov's last play, The Cherry Orchard. Lopakhin is a rich man now, as the old order is crumbling, but serfs were slaves: they were born into the ownership of their masters, had no rights, and their masters had the power of life or death over them.

By the time Lopakhin is in a position to save the Gayev family from bankruptcy and ruin by buying their famed cherry orchard, he may be received in the drawing room, but in the family's heads he will never be their equal.

Indeed, it is a measure of their humiliation and desperation that the matriarch Ranyevskaya (returned from her less than salubrious lifestyle in France) contemplates the possibility of marrying off her meek adopted daughter Varya to him - she would never countenance such a fate for her biological daughter Anya.

And of course, the upstart will never receive gratitude: his betrayal, as they see it, has torn away the last shred of their sense of privilege.

Russian country estates prior to the Revolution were mini-statelets, with the households maintaining a strict pecking order, companions looking down on governesses, who in turn looked down on estate managers, while all indoor servants looked down on outdoor workers, who in the days of serfdom (abolished only in the 1860s) prostrated themselves each morning at their master's feet.

You can't have convincing Chekhov without incorporating this stifling order. And Irish productions (and versions) frequently ignore it, apparently on the basis of refusing to acknowledge class as a factor in human interaction (which is a joke in itself). Brian Friel was guilty of it, but Tom Murphy far less so in his monumental version of The Cherry Orchard, given a new production by Garry Hynes for Druid.

But Murphy does level things out a bit, which slightly skews the essential intensity, as does Hynes's decision to play it in more or less Thirties dress (the height of the Stalinist era, and long after 'gentry' privilege had disappeared into the maw of the Soviet Union).

Yet overall, the production still manages to remain magnificently Russian. And for this, Hynes's decision to spare no nuance, and drop every inflection slowly into a surrounding emotional well of silence, is responsible. You sit quivering, contemplating the implications of every glance and touch, even every hysterical outburst, knowing that lives, or at least emotional lives, may depend on them.

You need terrific performances to achieve this, and they're right there, with Derbhle Crotty in perfect control of almost symphonic highs and lows as Ranyevskaya, and Marty Rea backing her orchestral variations with a brooding sub-set of counterpoint as Pyotr, the ex-tutor and eternal student whose mental thesis is humanity in the inevitably changing world.

And there's a quietly brash Lopakhin from Aaron Monaghan: there is never any doubt that this parvenu relishes his power over the family and has his contempt for them barely under control: he's the pragmatic antidote to the tormentedly aware Pyotr.

Video of the Day

There is sterling work too, from Druid regulars, with Rory Nolan as Ranyevskaya's hapless brother and Garrett Lombard the interloping neighbour, living in the lonely shadows of their family life. Helen Norton makes a terrific fist of the almost unplayable caricature of Charlotta, and John Olohan is deeply touching as old Firs the butler, longing for the certainties of the old days.

Choreographer David Bolger adds to the whole, with Francis O'Connor's bleak set a sombre perfection of unloved desolation. It's beautifully enhanced by James F Ingalls's lighting.

The Cherry Orchard will transfer to Bord Gais Energy Theatre in Dublin.
The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency has suspended search and recovery operations for Saturday. The search will resume Sunday morning.

Thirty boats and 70 volunteers searched 70 miles of the Tennessee River on Saturday. Units assigned to the river conducted surface and sonar scans in attempts to locate the missing boaters. Jackson Police Department Aviation conducted air searches along the river banks. Tyson Chicken provided chicken and their cooking team to provide lunch for Saturdays search and rescue teams. Over the last five days, TWRA, Hardin County Fire Department, Sumner County EMA, Decatur County Rescue, Hardin County Sheriffs Department, Henry County Rescue, Henderson County Rescue, and EMA, Lake County Sheriff, Humphreys County Sheriff, Carroll County Rescue, Chester County Rescue, Samburg Fire Department, Finger Fire Department, Obion County Rescue, Fayette County Sheriffs, TEMA, TVA Police, and Pickwick State Park staff, Jackson Police Department Aviation Unit, and the Tennessee Highway Patrol Helicopter have assisted with searching for the missing boaters on the Tennessee River near Pickwick Dam.

Officials said, "While we are not asking for additional volunteers, we understand that there may be friends and family joining the search this weekend. We ask that all new searchers check-in at 8 a.m. at Wayne Jerrold's river park, 300 South Riverside Drive in Savannah, Tn."

The preliminary investigation indicates that a Stratos boat containing 43-year old Kenneth Driver and two 15-year-old boys was last seen in a picture taken above the dam on Saturday, Feb. 22, between 8 and 8:30 a.m. The three occupants and the 20-foot bass boat went through the floodgates at Pickwick Dam. Search efforts are concentrated on a 14-mile stretch the Tennessee River for the missing boaters. The three people were reported missing after the fishermen failed to return from an Obion County club bass tournament.
MENLO PARK (BCN)

Flooding from a sheared off fire hydrant halted construction work on a Stanford University housing project and forced the evacuation Saturday of the Stanford Park Hotel at 100 El Camino Real, the Menlo Park Fire Protection District said.

The flooding from the gushing hydrant, which put out an estimated 4,500 gallons a minute for up to an hour, threatened a retaining wall in a three-story-deep below-surface parking garage for the Stanford Properties construction site at 500 El Camino Real, which was filling "like a bathtub" fire officials said in a news release.

The hotel had already been evacuated when firefighters arrived at the scene shortly before 10 a.m. Saturday and the source of the flood was determined to be the construction site next door, where a forklift had broken off a hydrant near the railroad tracks

Firefighters and utility workers from California Water Service (Cal-Water) were hampered in trying to locate the hydrant valve "due to the new construction, and changes needed for this large project," the fire district said.

Workers even went into the forceful cone of water coming from the hydrant in an unsuccessful effort to stop the flow.

At least two separate units from Cal-Water responded quickly to the emergency and "shut off a number of valves until finally locating this one near the Big-5 store on El Camino Real. Because this is such a new project, the water distribution main had not been listed in their records yet," Fire Chief Harold Schapelhouman said.

""We estimate that the water was flowing at up to about 4,500 gallons per minute for up to an hour," Schapelhouman said. "That's a significant amount of water and the stabilization of the area, now that it's been saturated and in some areas washed out, especially around the retaining wall, is of concern."

Construction has been suspended "until the area is pumped out, the damaged area is inspected, then backfilled, re-compacted and then deemed safe," the district said.

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.
Matt Hancock refused today to rule out a Wuhan-style quarantine for an entire UK city if it was struck by a mass coronavirus outbreak.

The Health Secretary had the admission as he said that the Government would publish a 'battleplan' for dealing with am epidemic of the virus this week.

Ministers are reportedly to consider whether to recommend millions of people work from home and order businesses to halt all 'unnecessary travel' to cut down social interaction.

Mr Hancock warned that a vaccine was 'many months off' but effective treatments would be available sooner and urged the public to wash their hands but overwise 'go about their ordinary business' at this stage.

Asked if the Government would consider isolating an entire town or city as the Chinese did with Wuhan, the urban centre of 11million people at the heart of the outbreak which has been in lockdown for weeks, he said: 'There's clearly a huge economic and social downside to that but we don't take anything off the table at this stage...

''We are looking at all options, but we will only look at things that epidemiologically and scientifically make sense.'

Mr Hancock defended the Prime Minister, saying Mr Johnson had been 'all over this' issue, in daily contact with ministers.

It came as health chiefs have urged people aged over 60 to avoid crowds amid wide-spread coronavirus panic as an infant school worker was revealed as one of three new UK patients.

The Health Secretary had the admission as he said that the Government would publish a 'battleplan' for dealing with an epidemic of the virus this week

Wuhan, the urban centre of 11million people at the heart of the outbreak, has been in lockdown for weeks

Three more patients in England tested positive for coronavirus on Saturday, while Ireland reported its first patient.

The World Health Organisation issued the drastic warning which also urged people in this age group to skip routine appointments at doctors' surgeries and hospitals.

But Mr Hancock said clamping down on travel and banning public gatherings at this stage was unlikely to be effective.

Mr Hancock said the Government had not 'ruled out' bringing in more stringent measures to deal with the spread of the virus, should matters deteriorate.

But he noted that stopping all flights from China, as pushed by some, had not proved successful for Italy, which is the worst affected country in Europe.

'If we get to a position where this is much more widespread, then of course we will change the advice to deal with that,' he told Sky News.

'But at this stage people should go about their ordinary business.

'There's a danger to doing things too early because they wouldn't be effective.

'At the moment the number of cases in this country is 23. And that means that so long as people are washing their hands and taking the precautions that are set out, that is the right thing to do.'

It comes as a worker at an infant school in Berkshire was one of three further patients from England who tested positive for coronavirus yesterday bringing the total number of UK cases to 23.

Parents were sent an email advising them that Willow Bank Infant School will be 'shut for some days to allow for a deep clean' as it is revealed more than 10,000 Britons have now been tested for the deadly virus.

The other two cases - one in the Cotswolds, specifically Gloucestershire and another in Hertfordshire - are being investigated and any individuals who had contact with the patients are now being traced.

The Cotswolds resident became infected in Italy, where more than 1,000 cases of coronavirus have been diagnosed.

Public Health England would not clarify, however, which of the Berkshire and the Hertfordshire cases had returned from Italy and which had returned from Asia.

A worker at an infant school in Berkshire tested positive for the virus, as parents were sent an email advising them of the news

The letter to parents of pupils at the Berkshire infant school (pictured) read: 'We regret to inform you that we were told today that one of our members of staff has tested positive for the coronavirus, COVID- 19'

Mr Hancock said the NHS was ready to deal with coronavirus if the situation worsened, with more than 5,000 emergency critical care beds available.

He told Sky News: 'Of course this would be a very big pressure on the NHS, depending on the scale of the impact.

'At the moment we have already expanded the number of high acute critical care beds that we need and we have the option to expand that further.

'We have expanded it to 50 in the first instance, when there are relatively few cases.

'But we can go up. We have plans to take that up to 500, and up to 5,000 if that's necessarily. We have those plans in place.'
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-01 15:21:43|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

SEOUL, March 1 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's export posted the first rebound in 15 months in February due mainly to the higher number of business days, a government report showed Sunday.

Export, which accounts for about half of the South Korean economy, reached 41.26 billion U.S. dollars in February, up 4.5 percent from the same month of last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

It was the first turnaround since November 2018 owing to the higher number of business days, caused by the Lunar New Year holiday that moved to January this year from February last year.

The daily export averaged 1.83 billion U.S. dollars in February, down 11.7 percent from a year earlier. The daily shipment expanded 4.6 percent in January.

Import added 1.4 percent over the year to 37.15 billion U.S. dollars in February, sending the trade surplus to 4.11 billion U.S. dollars. The trade balance stayed in the black for 97 straight months.

Semiconductor export increased 9.4 percent in February from a year earlier, marking the first rebound in 15 months thanks to higher price for DRAM chips and strong demand for chips used for datacenter servers.

General machinery shipment advanced 10.6 percent on solid U.S. demand, and ship export gained for two straight months on robust demand for liquified natural gas (LNG) carriers and very large crude carrier (VLCC).

Computer export soared 89.2 percent, keeping an upward momentum for the fifth consecutive month, and shipment for telecommunication devices grew 8.0 percent thanks to higher demand for mobile phone components.

Auto parts shipment rebounded in two months, and textiles export marked the first turnaround in 16 months due to higher demand from the Middle East.

Consumer electronics shipment turned around in two months, but automobile export tumbled 16.6 percent due to the supply disruption of auto parts from China.

Petrochemicals export declined amid lower product price and weaker demand, and display panel shipment retreated 21.8 percent on the global supply glut.

Steel shipment diminished 9.9 percent on weaker demand from China, and oil product export fell last month amid the lower global demand.

Export to the United States recorded the first rebound in nine months on demand for locally-made chips, computers, automobiles and general machinery.

Shipment to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) kept growing for the second consecutive month, and export to Latin American countries rebounded in five months.

Export to India posted a double-digit gain in February, but shipment to China, South Korea's biggest trading partner, contracted 6.6 percent on weaker demand for petrochemicals, oil products, general machinery and display panels.

Exports to the European Union, the Middle East and Japan fell 2.0 percent, 0.1 percent and 0.3 percent respectively.
Carrying a toddler in her arms, Sunita on Sunday waited outside the mortuary of GTB hospital where postmortem of her husband Prem Singh, who was killed in the communal violence in northeast Delhi, was being conducted.

The 27-year-old rickshawpuller, who lived in Brijpuri, was killed in the riots on last Tuesday, as he stepped out of his home to buy milk for his kids.

"I have no idea what happened to him. I was told by neighbours that he was killed in the riots. He had gone to buy milk for the children around 7.30 pm on Tuesday," Sunita said, choking back the tears.

Her husband's body was found near the Welcome police station, Nisha, a neighbour who was accompanying Sunita, said.

Singh's body was identified by his sister Savita.

With moist eyes, family members of Aqil also waited outside the mortuary.

He was a resident of Chand Bagh, one of the worst-hit areas in northeast Delhi.

"Aqil used to clean vehicles. He left home around 10 am on Wednesday. His body was later found in a drain between Shiv Vihar and Johri Pur," Aqil's brother-in-law Chand Babu said.

He is survived by his wife Zayra and four children.

The communal violence in Jaffrabad, Maujpur, Babarpur, Chand Bagh, Shiv Vihar, Bhajan Pura, Yamuna Vihar and Mustafabad areas of northeast Delhi claimed at least 42 lives and left over 200 injured.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Rotimi Akeredolu, governor of Ondo state, says Babajide, his son, worked hard during his campaign and there is nothing anyone can do i...





Rotimi Akeredolu, governor of Ondo state, says Babajide, his son, worked hard during his campaign and there is nothing anyone can do if he decides to appoint him as his chief of staff.





Speaking at government house, Akure, during a dinner organised in commemoration of his third anniversary as governor, Akeredolu said his son worked harder than most members of the campaign.





The All Progressives Congress (APC) governor, who is seeking another term, charged the people to put in their best so he could secure another term.





When somebody says Baba (Babajide) is this, I just laugh at them. If I wanted to make Baba my chief of staff, he can be; did you do more than him in the campaign? Ask yourself, how many of you did more than Baba in the campaign? How many? he asked.





The young boy was going everywhere and all of us saw him but we decided not to because he wouldnt want it. My son is satisfied, thats why. If he is not, I will put him somewhere, there is nothing anybody can do. I will put him there, there is nothing you can do. Is he not my son? Is he not from Ondo state? Has he not worked?





Akeredolu and wife with Babajide, their sonThe governor also thanked Betty, his wife, saying he is not sure if the state could have a better first lady.





Akeredolu also said he is ready to confront members of Unity Forum, a faction of the party allegedly frustrating his attempt to get a second term ticket.





He said he is no longer interested in any peace meeting but battle ready for members of the group.





Among members of The Unity Forum headed by Alli Olanusi, a former deputy governor, are Olusegun Abraham, who lost the partys governorship ticket to Akeredolu in 2016, and Ajayi Boroffice, a serving senator.





Others are Olusola Oke, who contested against the governor in 2016 and Ifeoluwa Oyedele, an electrical engineer and political associate of President Muhammadu Buhari, whom sources disclosed has support of key APC members for the 2020 governorship ticket.




A college in Kutch too was painting the town red. Not with satin hearts and red velvet cupcakes, but with blood.

How was it for you? This last month of love? I sat on my soapbox in Sherwood Forest and asked the squirrels gathering around me. The one that appeared to be sweeping the forest floors in search of nuts, with a dark ring of fur round his neck that could have been a muffler, and whiskers like a little black tache, nodded vigorously. It had been a good month  hed felt the love.

Four thousand, five hundred and fifty miles away in Delhi, so had chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. His incumbent party had swept the Delhi state elections, winning 62 seats to the ruling partys paltry eight. Analysts explained that it was a vote for status quo, for efficiency, or a slap in the face ofthe rampaging BJP. But Id like to think it was a vote for solidarity. For love. Delhi = Love?? Pull the other one! Thats not an emotion we associate with our cut-throat capital, accounting for 40 per cent of rapes and 33 per cent of all crimes against women in India. As a 21-year-old working in television there, Id been molested, swindled, stalked, and nearly killed (with a karai  honest).

Twenty years later, in 2016, I returned to Delhi to further disasters when the hotel fried my electronic devices to a crisp, barring me from both my money and contacts. When they failed to compensate or help, I turned to the peeps whod invited me over, to find them as perverse. Youre calling me at seven in the morning? Jaante hain main kaun hoon?one huffed. Panic-stricken, I began to call one barely known Facebook friend after another to see who might assist. Before long I had a host of offers from unexpected quarters of their company, cars and phones!

If the kindness of strangers saved my bacon, it was also this generosity that led Delhiites in their thousands to turn out in support of the protesting women of tenacious Shaheen Bagh, and JNU and Jamia students, under attack from right-wing goons. With love so unexpectedly given precedence, it was no wonder that Delhi went on to democratically sweep out hate.

A college in Kutch too was painting the town red. Not with satin hearts and red velvet cupcakes, but with blood. The principal of this Hindu sectarian institution, which prohibited menstruating women from participating in regular activities, suspected a large percentage of her students of lying to her so they could study unhindered (the gall! the depravity!). She ordered 68 of them to strip to prove their period-free status. The students complained and the enforcers were arrested. Briefly.

That might make educational institutions think twice before humiliating harmlessly ovulating students again, but will it make even a dent on the taboo around menstruation? Not while godmen like Swami Krushnaswarup get away with decreeing that menstruating women who cook will be reborn as dogs, and the men who eat their cooking, as bullocks. The word you want is the British pillock, Dasji; many muck heaps worse than a harmless bovine, and the perfect name for brain-dead bigots like you.

Talking of British pillocks, BoJo lulled Brit-Indians into thinking they were feeling the lurrvvve when he scooped Narayana Murthys son-in-law Rishi Sunak into the blubbery bearhug of his Cabinet. Especially chuffed that hed replaced Pakistani-origin Sajid Javid as Chancellor of the Exchequer, it only dawned on desis later that Rishi is as much of a privileged-and-not-parting-with-it toff as farcically malevolent Jacob Rees-Mogg. With his pots of money and perfect coiffure, I cannot see Rishi generously doling out love. Nor government largesse to the 15 million living in poverty in the UK. But he might win Hair of The Year yet and make us proud.

Nor will I hear a word against Pakistanis. Especially the kind that glower at you from behind the steering wheel till you bring up biryani. Subcontinental taxi drivers, with whom I have a heart-to-heart on every trip out of the Sherwoods, are my Best Ever Friends (not counting squirrels). What on earth is going on in your country? they cry. Hah! What about yours? I reply. And we both guffaw.

Of course, if British Indians were celebrating the appointment of an apparently normal desi to the Cabinet, they were right, as the other two are Priti Patel and Cruella, sorry, Suella Braverman. Priti hates the marginalised, the sick and the poor, and in pole position to help them all in shiny new Brexit Britain, she delights in making their lives a misery instead. From one brown gal to another, Priti, Im not gonna beseech you to look into your heart, because you dont have one. Yet, look into your past and see if you cant find people who were ostracised when they first arrived, but through industry and the occasional opportunity sparked by the kindness of strangers, worked their way to where YOU are now. Remember, pretty please, and consider paying it forward.

So, if in these weeks of love, you didnt feel it in the air, if your town was painted the wrong sorta red, have I got the month for you! For this is the month of warlike Mars, for the Ides of March, when the self-serving get their comeuppance. Cook up revenge all this month with a, er, vengeance, and dont wait to serve it cold. Fan the flames of your rage at the fundamentalists, the brutish politicians and their circles of greed. Then burrrrn em with your democratic rights. Speak up. March. Vote.

Do as Delhi did. You may never hear me say that again!

P.S. As it turns out, you really wont hear that from me again. Two days after I submitted my paean to Delhis love and kindness, it has descended into a hell of rioting and murder, and its worst self. Its true self? Prove us wrong, Delhi. Rise again.
"I completely and totally disagree with the Speakers comment," says the Member of Parliament for Yapei/Kasawugu in the Northern Region, John Jinapor.



The Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon Mike Aaron Oquaye, has come under a barrage of attack., especially from media practitioners after he made some comments deemed as an attempt to gag the media.



Contributing to a panel discussion on Peace FM's morning show programme, 'Kokrokoo', Hon Jinapor said "lets be frank; for the Speaker to issue those gag orders threatening them (media), was wrong. If I were him, I will withdraw this; the press must be given the freedom to do their work. I completely and totally disagree with the speakers comment".



Background



Rt. Hon Prof Mike Oquaye, reportedly issued a stern warning to members of the Parliamentary Press Corps at Wednesday's sitting.



This follows a complaint from the Majority Leader Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu to the effect that journalists abandoned proceedings of the House to give audience to the MP for Ellembelle Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah who had concerns about the Energy sector aspect of the President's 2020 State of the Nation Address.



Speaking on the floor of the House, the Speaker indicated that he will not hesitate to declare journalists as strangers to parliament by revoking their accreditation if due coverage is not given to proceedings in the House.



"It is forbidden if they have any doubt to abandon the permission given them to cover proceeding in this honorable House and go outside the chamber itself and do some other work....... and I want to let the media know if that which was reported to have happened should happen anymore I will......on the fact that you are here as a guest......any, such act will make you unwelcomed guest...," he warned.



The Speaker is later said to have summoned the Dean of Parliamentary Press Corps and the Director of Public Affairs of Parliament over the conduct of journalists.

Source: Rebecca Addo Tetteh/Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Saturday (February 29) announced that board examinations for Class X and XII will be held as per scheduled from March 2 onwards in violence-hit North East Delhi too.

An affidavit was filed by CBSE in Delhi High Court and the court has directed Delhi Police and Delhi government to ensure the safety of students and render all help to conduct exams in violence-hit areas.

Rama Sharma, Public Relations Officer (PRO), CBSE, on Saturday said: "Class X and XII examinations will be held as scheduled from March 2 onwards in North-East Delhi as well."

"The CBSE has filed an affidavit in the Delhi High Court and the court has directed Delhi Police and Delhi government to ensure the safety of students and render all help to conduct exams in these areas," she added.

On Friday (February 28), the Delhi High Court had that it is not a viable option to shift board examination centres at this time and directed the Delhi police to ensure proper security at the centres in the violence-hit areas of the national capital.

Delhi government was also made a party to the proceedings by a single-judge bench of Justice Rajiv Shakdhar. The court will next hear the matter on March 4.

Meanwhile, the CBSE had informed the court during the hearing that a list of examination centres has been shared with the Delhi Police and the Delhi government.
Seoul, March 1 : Samsung Electronics said that a worker at its semiconductor plant south of Seoul has been infected with coronavirus but emphasised that its chip production is not affected.

Samsung said the employee of a subcontractor at its foundry factory in Yongin, just south of Seoul, tested positive for COVID-19.

The employee worked at a facility near an in-house cafeteria, according to Samsung, but apparently had little contact with other workers at the factory.

Samsung said it will close the cafeteria at least until Sunday, adding that its chip production lines are running as normal, reports Yonhap news agency.

Earlier in the day, Samsung said it temporarily shut down part of its smartphone plant in the southeastern city of Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, after a family member of its employee was confirmed to be infected.

"We have yet to decide how long the plant should be closed," a company official said. "But we will take every necessary step to protect our workers." Samsung closed the Gumi smartphone plant for three days earlier this week after it reported the first case of coronavirus infection of an employee last Saturday.

Meanwhile, a worker at Samsung's network equipment factory in Gumi is waiting for the final result after testing positive for the virus in the first round of testing on Friday.

The employee, who has been in self-isolation, had contact with an infected patient and made a business trip to a factory in Suwon, south of Seoul, last week.

South Korea has so far confirmed 3,150 COVID-19 cases, with most of them identified in the southeastern city of Daegu and surrounding North Gyeongsang Province.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah asserted on Sunday that the Centre would not stop until all refugees in the country are granted citizenship under the amended Citizenship Act and accused the opposition, including the Trinamool Congress, of misguiding refugees and minorities over the new law.

Not a single person will lose citizenship because of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), he said.

Addressing his first public rally in Kolkata after the 2019 general elections, Shah said, "The opposition is terrorising the minorities. I assure every person from the minority community that the CAA only provides citizenship, does not take it away. It won't affect your citizenship."



"The opposition parties are spreading canards that refugees will have to show papers but this is absolutely false. You don't have to show any paper. We will not stop until all refugees are granted citizenship," Shah told the public.

The Union minister accused West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee of "fuelling riots" during anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests last year when trains and railway stations were burnt, and challenged her to stop the implementation of the CAA.

His comments came against the backdrop of the communal violence in northeast Delhi which was sparked by protests over the amended citizenship law and has left 42 dead and over 200 injured.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought CAA to give citizenship to the refugees, but Mamata Banerjee's TMC and other opposition parties were opposing it.

With the crucial 2021 state elections in mind, Shah also accused Banerjee of opposing citizenship to Dalits, while referring to the backward Matua community, which with a population of around 30 lakh is a deciding factor in around 40 Assembly seats.

The Matua sect is a backward community of refugees who migrated to West Bengal during 1950s from erstwhile East Pakistan due to religious persecution.

"I want to ask her (Mamata Banerjee), what harm did Dalits do to you? Why are you protesting when we want to give them citizenship? While protesting and opposing the CAA, you're also opposing the social reforms of (Matua sect founders) Harichand Thakur and Guruchand Thakur," Shah said.

Listing out the priorities of the Narendra Modi government, Shah said that in its second term, the dispensation is focusing on of national security along with welfare policies.

"Our government has removed Article 370 from Kashmir and fulfilled the dream of Syama Prasad Mookerjee... Within a few months, a grand Ram temple will come up in Ayodhya, for which we have been waiting for 500 years," he said.

Targeting the Trinamool Congress government in the state, Shah expressed anguish over the "worsening" law-and-order situation in the state and exuded confidence that the BJP will come to power in West Bengal in 2021 with a two-third majority.

One the BJP is voted to power, a son of the soil would become the chief minister and end dynastic politics, he said.

At the rally, Shah virtually set in motion the BJP's campaign for the upcoming civic body elections and also launched the party's 'Aar Noi Annay' (no more injustice) campaign for the next year's assembly elections.

"With this 'Aar Noi Annay' slogan, we will change the government in the state and usher in Sonar Bangla (golden Bengal). If you give five years to Narendra Modi, we will turn Bengal into Sonar Bangla," he said.

He accused the TMC government of not allowing "central welfare policies to be implemented in the state" and misusing central funds. Shah also alleged that West Bengal's debt has nearly doubled despite a substantial increase in central funds under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"There is a debt of Rs 3.75 lakh crore on Bengal. The communist government left at Rs 1.92 lakh crore, and Mamata Didi made it even bigger. The central funds has become fodder to corruption in the Mamata Banerjee government," Shah said.

Hitting out at the state government over the "worsening" law-and-order situation, he said once the BJP is voted to power neither criminals and nor those who have looted public money will be spared.

The TMC leadership was quick to return the fire, asking Shah to apologise for "failing" to save innocent lives during the Delhi violence.

"Rather than coming and preaching in Bengal, Amit Shah you should have explained and apologised for failing to save more than 50 innocent lives in Delhi Violence right under your nose," TMC leader and the chief minister's nephew Abhishek Banerjee said in a tweet.

"Mr Shah, Bengal is better off without bigotry and hatred that the BJP is trying to spread," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Around 17 fishermen from fishing villages of Thiruvananthapuram are stranded in Iran as the country facing coronavirus (covid-19) scare has closed its airports.

The fishermen from Vizhinjam, Pozhiyoor, Mariyanadu and Anchuthengu along with 350 others from Tamil Nadu and Gujarat have gone on fishing visa. They work in various port towns in Iran such as Chiruyeh and Port Kish.

They are confined in crammed rooms without proper food and water since last week. Their plight came to the light after some of them contacted relatives over phone and shared videos of their living condition.

ALSO READ: Patient with suspected coronavirus dies at Ernakulam hospital

Fisheries Minister J Mercykutty Amma said that efforts would be made for their safe return. "The details of stranded fishermen will be handed over to embassy through Norka," said the Minister.

The governments of Tamil Nadu and Gujarat had requested the Union Government to intervene in the issue.

Several countries have taken precautionary measures as Covid-19 cases were reported in over 50 countries. Saudi Arabia cancelled tourist and Umrah visa last week affecting a number of people in Kerala.
Advertisement

Turkey has shot down two Syrian war planes and destroyed 100 tanks as it launches a military offensive against the Moscow-backed Syrian regime after an airstrike that killed 34 of its soldiers.

Turkish defence minister Hulusi Akar announced the operation - dubbed 'Spring Shield' - today and vowed that any attack on Turkish forces or observation posts in Idlib would be met with retaliation under the country's right to self defence.

Tensions between Ankara and Damascus were heightened on Thursday after the Assad regime targeted Turkish soldiers in Northern Syria. Turkey's relationship with Moscow was also strained today as three Russian journalists were detained in Istanbul.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the country had 'opened its doors', causing an estimated 76,000 migrants to head for its borders with the EU, on Friday after criticisms of Syria from its EU allies were not forthcoming. The US expressed concern and a NATO meeting was also called.

Greek police have fired tear gas in an attempt to disperse the crowds and deny them entry to the 27-member bloc as Bulgaria deployed its army to patrol the country's 118-mile frontier with Turkey.

The EU said this afternoon it will hold an emergency meeting in the coming days to discuss how to 'redouble efforts' to address the grave humanitarian crisis in Idlib.

A Turkish army convoy moves through the Syrian village of Ram Hamdan, north Idlib, on February 25. Turkey has vowed to retaliate to any attack on its troops inside Syria

Turkish national defence minister Hulusi Akar speaking about the operation in Idlib from a centre in Hatay province today

Drone footage showing a Syrian regime tank being targeted and then destroyed by a Turkish drone

A Turkish self-propelled artillery gun pictured firing at Syrian regime targets in Idlib on Friday this week

Migrants pictured gathered on the buffer zone on the Greece-Turkey border this morning. Erdogan said he had 'opened the doors' following the killing of 33 Turkish troops in Northern Syria by the Russian-backed regime

A group of migrants from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine arrive in a dinghy at Mytilene in Lesbos after crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey

The NATO-backed country shot two Syrian government war planes out of the skies above Idlib this morning and has rendered Nayrab airport, outside Aleppo, unusable, Anadolu agency reports.

Turkish-backed opposition commanders also said Kuweires airport, east of Nayrab, had been bombed since midnight.

A hundred and three tanks, eight helicopters, a drone, 72 howitzers, rocket launchers and six air defence systems have been destroyed since the operation - the country's fourth in Syria - was launched on Thursday.

A further 2,212 members of the Syrian regime forces have also been 'neutralised', a term used to designate those killed, wounded or captured, Turkey's defence minister claimed. The Syrian Observatory, a UK-based monitor, said 74 Syrian Syrian government troops and pro-Damascus fighters had been killed since February 27.

In response to the attacks today the Assad regime said it had shot down three Turkish drones used to target its bases and threatened to destroy any aircraft breaching its north-west airspace.

'Any aircraft that violates our airspace will be dealt with as an enemy aircraft that must be brought down,' state news SANA reported citing a military source.

The Assad regime has also agreed this afternoon to host a diplomatic mission from parallel Libyan authorities led by strongman Khalifa Haftar, opposed to the UN-recognised government in Tripoli, to confront Turkish 'interference'.

It is feared the escalation in tensions may lead to a confrontation between Turkey and Russia, the Assad regime's key supporters.

Turkey's defence minister said the country had 'neither the intention nor the notion to face Russia'. 'Our only intention there is for the (Syrian) regime to end the massacre and thereby stop radicalisation and migration,' he continued.

'Turkey expects Russia to use its influence to bring an end to the Syrian regime's attacks, and its withdrawal to the Sochi-deal borders.'

Turkey shot down two Syrian regime planes today. Both pilots escaped in parachutes and survived, SANA news said

Migrants pictured in a makeshift tent as the wait in the buffer zone between Greek Kastanies and Turkish Pazarkule today

Rows of migrants pictured trudging through fields as they walk to reach Pazarakule at the Turkish border with Greece

Migrants detained by Greek police in Neo Cheimonio, four miles past the Greek border, this morning

Migrants brandish their fists as they come up against barbed wire at the Turkey-Greece border today

Mevlut Cavusoglu, the Turkish foreign minister, said on Saturday that while there had been progress in talks between Turkish and Russian delegations, the Idlib issue would only be resolved between the countries presidents, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin.

One senior Turkish official and one security official said the meeting would be held on Thursday in Moscow, reports Reuters. The officials said the pair would discuss steps to take in Idlib and that they were expected to reach a mutual agreement. As many as 55 Turkish soldiers were killed in Idlib during February.

Migrants have been crossing the Greece's border with Turkey today. A group including an Afghan mother with a five-day-old baby, waded through the river at Kastanies to reach the EU country, while at least 500 people have risked their lives on boats to Lesbos, Samos and Chios in the Greek islands.

Six migrants have been pictured four miles inside the Greek border today after they were arrested.

In response to the escalating crisis the EU said this afternoon it would hold an emergency meeting to discuss the worsening Syria crisis that is driving refugees to its borders.

Foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said this afternoon that the fighting in Idlib represents a 'serious threat to international peace and security'.

'(The EU) needs to redouble efforts to address this terrible human crisis with all the means at its disposal,' he said. 'I am therefore calling for an extraordinary meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council next week to discuss the unfolding situation.'

The EU border force, Frontex, has said it is on 'high alert' and is assisting both Greece and Bulgaria to keep their borders secure. Sofia, which deployed its army to patrol the more than 100-mile frontier, has said there have been no crossings.

Migrants shout and appear to be preparing to throw objects at Turkey's northwest border post with Greece today

Greece has closed its border and blocked off access with barricades and piles of barbed wire (pictured today)

Migrants run back towards the Turkish border as Greek police shoot tear gas in an attempt to disperse the crowds today

Migrants pictured on the border between Turkey and Greece today after Erdogan said he had opened Turkey's doors

Erdogan's decision to re-open the border comes as 33 Turkish troops in Northern Syria were killed by the Russian-backed Assad regime on Thursday. There was no immediate criticism of the attack from European allies, but the US said it was concerned. NATO called a meeting at the request of Turkey.

It is thought the Turkish president has opened the borders, causing scenes reminiscent of the 2015 migrant crisis, to try to pressure the EU and its NATO members to lend him support for Turkey's military operation in Syria.

A Tweet posted by Suleyman Soylu reads: 'As of 09.55 hours, the number of immigrants leaving our country via Edirne is 76,358.'

Up to 30 people were seen in Greece by Reuters reporters this morning after they forded the river at Kastanies. A small group of people were also seen making their way through fields in Orestiada, a frontier region.

Migrants crossing from Pazarkule, on the border with Greece, have clashed with riot police. Tear gas was fired into crowds including Syrians, Iranians, Iraqis, Pakistanis and Moroccans last night as asylum seekers threw stones and attempted to cut barbed wire. An estimated 2,000 further migrants also crowded into Pazarkule today.

Frontex said it had placed 400 personnel in the Greek islands, 60 officers in Bulgaria and a further contingent in the Evros region on the Greek border.

'We have received a request from Greece for additional support. We have already taken steps to redeploy to Greece technical equipment and additional officers,' they said.

Migrants pictured carrying their children as they walk on railways toward Meritsa river, near Edirne, to take a boat to attempt to enter Greece this morning

Migrants pictured walking towards the Pazarkule border with Greece this morning

Migrants, including women and children, pictured carrying their possessions as they walk to the Pazarkule border today

Migrants stumble through a frozen field this morning as they head towards the Pazarkule Turkish border post with Greece

A migrant carries bags as he walks towards the Meritsa river, Turkey, in an attempt to enter into Greece

A woman holds her toddler after making the dangerous crossing to the Greek island of Lesbos early this morning

Women and children pictured on the beach near Skala Sykamineas, Lesbos, after crossing the Aegean last night

Greece said today it had successfully blocked 9,600 attempts to 'illegally' cross its 120-mile frontier with Turkey. Of those arrested inside the country, an army officer told Reuters that they had all been Afghans, not Syrians.

The country has also accused its neighbour of actively guiding migrants. The Greek deputy defence minister, Alkiviadis Stefanis, said: 'Not only are they stopping them, but they are helping them.'

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will chair a meeting of the national security council later today. A text message sent to mobile phones in Greece's northern border area says the country has increased security to maximum, and ordered people not to attempt to enter.

The Balkan nation is facing its most serious crisis since a 2015 financial crash that saw it come precariously close to edging out of the Eurozone.

Bulgarian defence minister Krasimir Karakachanov said there had been no crossings into its territory although tensions had flared along the border.

The EU's Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the organisation was watching 'with concern' as the commissioner for migration, Margaritis Schinas, tweeted he had requested a meeting of interior ministers.

'Our top priority at this stage is to ensure that Greece and Bulgaria have our full support. We stand ready to provide additioal support including through Frontex on the land border,' said Ms von der Leyen

A migrant pictured swimming back to Turkey after attempting to cross the Maritsa river this morning

Migrants helping each other out of the river after failing to reach the Greek border

An estimated 30,000 migrants gathered at checkpoints after Turkey's president claimed to have 'opened the doors' to allow as many as 4 million asylum seekers to leave the country

Migrants throw objects during clashes with Greek police, at the Turkey's Pazarkule border crossing with Greece's Kastanies, in Edirne, Turkey

Refugees and migrants gather at Pazarkule border as they attempt to enter Greece

The sea of migrants crossing Turkey's western border comes as Ankara ramps up tensions with Damascus, following the killing of 33 Turkish troops in Northern Syria.

The country said it had destroyed Syrian regime air defence systems, more than 100 tanks, and downed two planes after launching an operation on Thursday.

It has also heightened tensions with Syria's key backer, Moscow, by detaining three Russian journalists in Istanbul.

Last night a group of young men who tried to cut through the border fence were turned back by armed soldiers, while police used smoke grenades to disperse crowds.

Angry clashes started just 24 hours after an announcement by Turkish authorities that it would no longer restrict the movement of refugees, tearing up a 5 billion agreement with the EU to contain the flow of asylum seekers signed after the 2015 migrant crisis.

Turkey's decision comes amid frustration that the EU and Nato countries, including Britain, have failed to provide enough support in the country's opposition to President Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian civil war. On Thursday, 33 Turkish soldiers were killed by Syrian forces, dramatically raising tensions in a war in which Turkey and Russia are backing opposing sides.

Turkey has continued retaliatory strikes against the Syrian government, killing a further 26 Syrian troops with drone strikes on Saturday, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan insisted he would not back down, adding that his country could not handle another wave of refugees from northern Syria. 'We opened the doors,' he said. 'We will not close those doors. Why? Because the EU should keep its promises.'

Turkey has been hosting an estimated 3.7million migrants since a deal was struck with the EU. Bureaucrats in Brussels said yesterday that Turkey had not 'formally' notified them of any change to its migration policy.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) members distribute food to migrants and refugees that gathered at the Turkish-Greek border, near Edirne, Turkey

A drone photo shows migrants moving towards, and congregating around, the Turkish side of the Turkey-Greece border at Pazarkule, Edirne, Turkey yesterday

A migrants stands during clashes with Greek police, at the Turkey's Pazarkule border crossing with Greece's Kastanies, in Edirne, Turkey yesterday

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (rear C) makes a speech as he holds a meeting with his ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party's Istanbul deputies at the Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul, Turkey yesterday

Greek police officers are pictured from Turkey's Pazarkule border crossing with Greece's Kastanies during clashes with migrants, in Edirne, Turkey yesterday

A locator map shows the crossing governate Edirne, which houses most of the borders into Greece and Bulgaria, and Lesbos, where many migrants from sub-Saharan Africa land on dinghys

Tear gas floats in the air during clashes between migrants and Greek police, at the Turkey's Pazarkule border crossing with Greece's Kastanies, in Edirne, Turkey yesterday

A map shows the border points from Turkey into Greece and Bulgaria, and from Syria into Turkey

Migrants can be seen on their way towards the Turkish-Greek border in Edime, Turkey yesterday

Syrian migrants can be seen being rescued after being stranded on an islet after they tried reaching the Greek side of the Evros River in Edirne, Turkey yesterday

A woman reacts as a dinghy transporting 27 refugees and migrants originating from Gambia and the Republic of Congo lands in Lesbos island after they were rescued by a war ship during their sea crossing between Turkey and Greece yesterday

Migrants wait as Greek anti riot police officers patrol on the buffer zone Turkey-Greece border, at Pazarkule, in Edirne district yesterday

Migrants can be seen after they were rescued when stranded on an islet while trying to paddle to the Greek side of the Evros river, in Turkey yesterday

A man takes coover behind an umbrella as he throws a mattress in a fire during clashes with Greek police in the buffer zone at Turkey-Greece border, at Pazarkule, in Edirne district yesterday

Migrants, who are trying to cross into Europe through Turkey, are pictured reaching for food aid near the Pazarkule Border in Karaagac neighbourhood of Edirne, Turkey yesterday

A Greek policeman collects tear gas canisters reportedly thrown from the Turkish side of the border during riots beween migrants and Greek police at the closed Kastanies border crossing, on the borderline between Greece and Turkey, near the Evros River yesterday

Refugees wait for attempting to pass the closed-off Turkish-Greek border and try to enter Europe, Edirne, Turkey yesterday

Refugees wait for attempting to pass the closed-off Turkish-Greek border and try to enter Europe, Edirne, Turkey yesterday while Greek border officials look on from the Greek side

Greek Police guard Kastanies border gate, Evros region, as a migrant stands in front of a fence between Greece and Pazarkule border gate, Edirne, Turkey yesterday

Greek riot policemen guard behind fences as refugees wait for attempting to pass the closed-off Turkish-Greek border and try to enter Europe, Edirne yesterday

Irregular migrants, who want to proceed to Europe, wait at the Turkish side and the buffer zone between the Greek Kastanies and Turkish Pazarkule border gates today in Turkey
Stay home from work if you get sick. See a doctor. Use a separate bathroom from the people you live with. Prepare for schools to close, and to work from home. These are measures the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended to slow a coronavirus outbreak in the United States.

Yet these are much easier to do for certain people  in particular, high-earning professionals. Service industry workers, like those in restaurants, retail, child care and the gig economy, are much less likely to have paid sick days, the ability to work remotely or employer-provided health insurance.

The disparity could make the new coronavirus, which causes a respiratory illness known as Covid-19, harder to contain in the United States than in other rich countries that have universal benefits like health care and sick leave, experts say. A large segment of workers are not able to stay home, and many of them work in jobs that include high contact with other people. It could also mean that low-income workers are hit harder by the virus.

Very quickly, its going to circulate a lot faster in the poorer communities than the wealthiest ones, said Dr. James Hadler, Connecticuts former state epidemiologist and now a consultant to the state. His work has found that influenza infections tend to strike low-income neighborhoods more aggressively than affluent ones, and that poor families are more likely to live in close quarters with others, and to share bathrooms.
The issue is set to be discussed early next week as the commerce department meets with industry bodies to discuss the widening supply gap for key imports.

The commerce department is considering imposing duties on over a 100 products that India imports heavily from China in light of the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak.

The issue is set to be discussed early next week as the department meets with industry bodies to discuss the widening supply gap for key imports.

The government is currently walking a tightrope, balancing its demand priorities with the ambition to knock out Chinese goods and push domestic products in local markets. It aims to quickly leverage domestic manufacturing when Chinese factories remain closed by raising import duties on semi-finished or manufactured products.

However, Indias production capabilities remain limited for many of these items.

Its tricky to increase imports at such a time. If the situation does not change quickly and prices of industrial components begin to rise, an increased import duty will have the opposite effect on both consumers and growth, a senior official said.

The Confederation of All India Traders has warned that stuck shipments for basic commodities have started to quickly deplete available inventories at wholesalers and retailers, and that prices might rise if the situation doesnt improve by mid-March.

On the other hand, industry bodies have also warned that importers havent been able to put in new orders since mid-January.

China is Indias largest source of imports with $70 billion worth of products reaching Indian markets from Chinese shores.

Despite this, a significant share of Indian importers across a broad range of sectors have continued to rely on regular trips to manufacturing hubs in China to place orders for products.

With these visits now called off, importers fear they would lose out once the situation normalises and importers from other nations scramble to call in their own orders.

No shipping ban

Domestic industry has also been rattled by rumours of China shutting down one or major seaports from March 1.

The Covid-19 outbreak has led to a decline in the number of ships calling on major Chinese ports, including Shanghai and Yangshan, in January when port calls declined by 17 per cent, compared to the previous year, according to local statistics accessed by media.

However, while other nations have decided to limit shipping from China, the Chinese government has not announced any diktat to close ports yet, senior government officials and diplomatic sources confirmed.

China is the largest container cargo handler in the world, processing 30 per cent of global traffic or around 715,000 containers a day in 2019, according to global financial market and infrastructure data provider, Refinitiv.

The International Chamber of Shipping recently stated that by implementing certain preventive measures for Covid-19, ports in China can continue to operate. It recommenced exit screening at all ports in the affected areas to isolate passengers displaying symptoms of the disease.

As of now, the government has ordered that Customs clearance facility remain open 24x7 at all sea ports and airports till May, official sources said.

Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) Chairman Ajit Kumar has written to all Chief Commissioners (Customs and Central Tax) asking them to work out the arrangement and deploy sufficient number of officers at all 'seaports, cargo stations, inland container depot, container freight station,' under central government jurisdiction.

Sources added that late fees arising out of delayed receipt of documents will also be waived, under certain circumstances. A help desk on the ICEGATE website, CBIC's e-commerce portal, has also gone live.
As novel coronavirus cases continue to emerge in the US, the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is telling Americans that most people who arent sick do not need to wear face masks, a piece of advice regarded by many Americans as risking human life, prompting growing doubts on the credibility of the organization and the capability in its handling of the spreading virus.

In contrary to Chinas all-out efforts and its attitude to put peoples life security and health first, many are shocked to see that U.S. politicians are playing down the risks and even politicizing the virus.

(Screenshot from CDCs Twitter page)

On Feb. 28, the CDC released a video on its official Twitter account entitled COVID-19: Should I wear a mask?, in which the CDC doesnt currently recommend the use of face masks among the general public to protect against COVID-19. Some people who have an increased risk of exposure may need additional precautions, such as healthcare professionals caring for COVID-19 patients and other close contacts, CDC states.

On the CDCs official website, the organization does not recommend that people who are well wear a face mask to protect themselves from respiratory diseases, including COVID-19, noting that face masks should only be used by people who show symptoms of COVID-19, health workers and people who are taking care of someone in close settings.

(Screenshot from CDCs official website)

The CDCs recommendations were immediately questioned or slammed by the American public on social media, with many claiming that the irresponsible remarks are risking peoples life by not encouraging basic protection, which would increase potential risks of person-to-person transmission.

A Facebook user named Hung Vanness refuted the CDCs advice by pointing out that COVID-19 has a maximum of 14 days of latency, and during this period patients may be completely asymptomatic, and furthermore that the virus has been confirmed by various health authorities to be contagious during the latent period, which makes it different from the general flu. How can a person find out if they are carrying the virus and wear a mask before they have symptoms? The user asked.

Echoing Vanness, another netizen, warned of the risks of asymptotic people spreading the virus. These people wont stay home, as you suggested because they dont even know they are sick! ...Wake up CDC and keep your information up to date!

Meanwhile, some netizens raised doubts over the credibility of the CDC, pointing out that the organization is no longer worth their trust for its failure to protect people from getting infected. Everybody I know that works in healthcare is taking some home for their families and stashing some away. I trust the healthcare workers and their instincts over the agency who refused an infected citizen a test, a netizen named Amber commented.

Isnt it what you say with flu shots? Surgical masks can filter out up to 80%, N95 up to 95% or even more of viruses. Flu shots are 50% effective this year, but you still push for it, a Twitter user argued. Isn't it contradictory, everyone?

Some took Chinas measures as an example to prove that face masks are necessary. A Twitter user with the screen name of Conservative said, Just look at how China behaves. Does it make sense to quarantine millions when they declare only 2 to 3 thousand dead? Something worse is going on...

However, the recommendation was regarded by many as a deliberate cover-up of the countrys shortage of face masks. You just dont want to admit you havent got enough N95 masks for everyone, read one Twitter comment.

At present, N95 respirators show a gap of 270 million in the US. Secretary of Health & Public Services Alex Azar said at a Senate subcommittee hearing on Tuesday that the US currently has 30 million N95 respirators in its strategic national stockpile, but a total of 300 million are needed for health workers.

Despite the CDCs advice, American citizens have been scrambling to purchase face masks amid growing fears over the novel coronavirus. The US face mask industry is thriving, with prices of disposable face masks spiking and supplies running short.

Some Amazon sellers have jacked up the face masks prices by four or five times what they cost only a few weeks before, according to Keepa, an Amazon price tracker.

Prestige Ameritech, the largest surgical mask manufacturer in the U.S., told CBS News this week that it's struggling to keep up with the skyrocketing demand for its products.

Although there is emerging news about the spread of the virus across the US, the Trump administration has been playing down the threat the disease poses. Donald Trumps chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, even told an audience at the Conservative Political Action Conference that the coronavirus was the hoax of the day on Friday, which Secretary of State Mike Pompeo then refused to deny.

Its a gotcha moment. Its not useful, Pompeo said when Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu asked him whether he believed the coronavirus is a hoax during a hearing on Friday.

Echoing Mulvaney, at a campaign rally on Feb.28 in South Carolina, President Trump described the virus as Democrats new hoax after the Russian investigation and impeachment and criticized media for over-hyping the danger of the virus.

On the same day, two new and unexplained cases of the coronavirus emerged in Northern California and in Oregon, followed by the first case of unknown origin discovered in Solano County, California, bringing the total confirmed cases in the US to 64, indicating that the virus is spreading in the US.

The World Health Organization on Friday increased its global risk assessment regarding the coronavirus from high to very high amid rising cases around the world. Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of WHOs health emergencies program, alerted every country to be vigilant in the handling of the virus.

This virus may be on its way and you need to be ready. You have a duty to your citizens, you have a duty to the world to be ready, he said. Wake up. Get ready.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday pledged to annex key parts of the occupied West Bank within "weeks" if re-elected, as he sought to sway voters a day before the country's third election in a year.

Final polls pointed to another tight race between Netanyahu's right-wing Likud and the centrist Blue and White party led by ex-military chief Benny Gantz.

All parties have raised concern about voter apathy amid the grinding political stalemate, putting extra emphasis on turnout.

Netanyahu, Israel's longest serving premier, has been accused before previous elections of making last-minute plays to energise his right-wing base.

In an interview with Israeli public radio, he said annexation of the strategically crucial Jordan Valley and other parts of the West Bank was his top priority among "four major immediate missions".

"That will happen within weeks, two months at the most, I hope," he said in the interview aired 24 hours before polls were scheduled to open.

US President Donald Trump's widely-criticised Middle East peace plan, unveiled in late January, gave the Jewish state a green light to annex the Jordan Valley and proposed a committee to set out the exact borders of the territory in question.

"The joint US-Israeli mapping committee started work a week ago," Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu listed his other priorities as signing an "historic" defence treaty with the United States, Israel's key ally, and "eradicating the Iranian threat", without elaborating.

He has repeatedly pledged to stop the Islamic republic from developing a nuclear weapon and has not ruled out the use of force.

Netanyahu said that his fourth "immediate" goal if re-elected -- despite facing trial on multiple corruption charges -- would be major economic reform to bring down Israel's high cost of living.

In November, the 70-year-old, who has spent 14 years as prime minister, became the only head of government in Israel's history to be indicted in office.

He is charged with corruption, embezzlement and breach of trust. His trial opens on March 17.

Gantz has sought to put the indictment at the centre of the campaign but polling suggests Netanyahu's support has held steady.

Netanyahu denies wrongdoing and, some 12 hours before polls were due to open, proclaimed that Likud was "close to victory".

After inconclusive elections in April and September, final opinion polls forecast Likud and Blue and White will both struggle to form a stable 61-seat coalition.

Those results would be identical to previous rounds, after which both leaders tried, and failed, to form a government.

Analysts say that after trudging to the ballot boxes twice in under 12 months, few Israeli voters remain undecided.

That has forced candidates to put added energy into bolstering turnout.

"I am encouraging citizens to get out and vote," Gantz told public radio Sunday.

"You can't just sit at home clicking your tongue, saying, 'What's happening here?' Voting is critical," he said.

In a public appearance on Sunday, Gantz also made a series of personal attacks on the prime minister, accusing him of peddling in "extremism".

Gantz has spoken supportively of West Bank annexations and the Trump plan but said he would aim to move forward "in tandem" with regional Arab partners, a stand that could effectively bury the initiative.

"I will build a coalition of hope," Gantz said, vowing "national reconciliation" if elected premier.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Maurice OConnell of Wayward Irish Spirits says the Liberator brand pays tribute to his relative. Photo: Frank McGrath

A descendant of Daniel O'Connell, the Irishman who fought to allow Catholics the right to sit in Westminster in the early 19th century, has released his own whiskey brand in Ireland.

Maurice O'Connell and his wife Francesca yesterday launched The Liberator Irish Whiskey range through their Co Kerry company, Wayward Irish Spirits. The product is a blend of 13-year-old Cooley Distillery whiskey and a four-year-old whiskey from the Great Northern Distillery.

The Liberator Irish Whiskey, which will retail at 65, was matured initially in first fill American ex-bourbon casks and then finished for nine months in tawny port casks.

The inaugural release will include 700 bottles which will be available in stores including L Mulligan and James Fox in Dublin, Fine Wines in Limerick and Carryout in Killarney, Co Kerry, as well as online through IrishMalts.com. Drinks distributor Barry & Fitzwilliam has taken on The Liberator Irish Whiskey for a wider release.

O'Connell said he was delighted to have finally launched his own whiskey brand, which celebrates the legacy of his forebear Daniel O'Connell.

"I wanted to develop something that could support the family estate through my love of Irish whiskey," he said. "Whiskey up until now had been all about the huge industrial stuff; it hadn't been possible to make an artisan product.

"The market for whiskey is getting younger and this product may appeal to a wider audience. We have great ambitions for our whiskey; we want to take it from Kerry, Ireland, and then to the world."

He plans on opening his own distillery on his Co Kerry estate around 2024.

O'Connell said there will be more variations of the range, including a luxury blend and a peaty malt, released in the near future.

He also plans on releasing a gin. He has registered the name Deora De (Gaelic for 'Tears of God') for the gin, which will be made using botanicals from Co Kerry.

O'Connell said he plans to utilise his ancestor's rebellious spirit when it comes to developing future drinks. "The company is named after what Robert Peel, a former British prime minister, called Daniel O'Connell - that 'wayward Irishman'. We've taken that on with pride."

"That gives us licence to play with things going forward," he added. "We hope to do some weird and interesting things."
COLUMBIA, South CarolinaThe people filling Joe Bidens election night party werent grimacing as polls were about to close this time. With MSNBC playing in University of South Carolina volleyball arena, the Biden fans counted down the final seconds until 7 oclock, when polls closed. There was no lag between the end of their countdown and NBC News official projection: Joe Biden had taken South Carolina, his first win in a presidential primary or caucus in 33 years of running for president.

Advertisement

The atmosphere in the room when Biden came into the room to deliver his victory speech 90 minutes later also felt different. It was a moment of rapturous excitement and purpose for a candidate who, for much of the last year, had been searching for both.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

To all of those of you whove been knocked down, counted out, left behind, this is your campaign, Biden said. Just days ago, the press and the pundits had declared this candidacy dead. Now, thanks you all of you, the heart of the Democratic Party, we wonand we won big.

He did. It was a dominant performance, exceeding that of Bernie Sanders in winning the Nevada caucuses the Saturday before. According to early exit polls, black voters made up nearly 60 percent of the Democratic primary electorate in the stateand Biden won, in turn, about 60 percent of black voters, with runners-up Sanders and Tom Steyer each trailing him in that demographic by about 40 percentage points. Steyer, who had staked his campaign on a strong showing in South Carolina, announced he was dropping out of the race following a distant third-place finish.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Biden was by far the best-liked candidate among South Carolinians, as three-quarters of voters said they viewed him favorably, compared to roughly half viewing Sanders that way.* Biden won about half of those identifying as either moderate or conservative, and this was a more moderate electorate than those of other early stateshalf of South Carolina voters described themselves as moderate or conservative, while that number was 33 percent in Nevada entrance polls and 39 percent in New Hampshire exit polls.

Advertisement

South Carolina was always a good fit for Biden with its older, more moderate, and majority-black electorate. But what happened in the last week, after he was only holding onto his polling lead in the state by the skin of his teeth? There was one startling note in the exit polling data: About half of voters said that the Biden endorsement from Rep. Jim Clyburn, the House majority whip and the most widely respected figure in South Carolina Democratic politics, was an important factor in their decision. No other endorsement has had as powerful an impact this cycle, and maybe in any cycle within memory. In his speech, Biden credited Clyburn, who lifted me and this campaign on his shoulders.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

In a state that Republicans have taken in every presidential election from 1980 on, where Donald Trump won by 14 points in 2016, the primary was South Carolina Democrats only real chance to have leverage over the presidential race. They apparently used it to bend the campaign back, at least for the weekend, to where it stood when Biden entered the race in April as the instant front-runnerbefore anyone was paying attention to Pete Buttigieg, and before the billionaire entrants tried to float themselves into contention on a flood of campaign spending. Michael Bloomberg wasnt on the ballot in South Carolina, but Biden unambiguously won back the voters who had been gravitating in the polling to the free-spending Steyer.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Sanders Nevada win, rather than boosting him to a victory in South Carolina that might have effectively sealed his control of the race, may have woken up moderates to the fact that he was on his way to the nomination, sparking a flight to safety and familiarity. Sanders hasnt seen much of a Nevada bounce at all, and he received more scrutiny in Tuesdays debate than he had in any debate previous.

Mike Kelly, a Biden voter I spoke with at Bidens rally Saturday night, said he made up his mind this morning after having considered Biden, Sanders, and Pete Buttigieg. What was the selling point?

Im just hoping that somebody can beat Trump, he said. Its that simple. Kelly described himself as a centrist who likes some of Trumps policies, including those on immigration. Hes just an asshole.

Advertisement

Mohamad Kaba, a Biden canvasser from Maryland, told me he was devoted to Joe Biden for life, he said. He had traveled to both New Hampshire and South Carolina to support the campaign. He couldnt believe the difference he got in reception between the two states.

Advertisement

Here? People love him, Kaba said. One major thing hed hear knocking doors, he said, was the fact that he worked with Obama, and people want him to improve Obamas health care, to make it better. People love him. Bidens association with Barack Obama wasnt evidence of the softness of his support, as if his core supporters would all flock away once they learned more about Bidens record on its own terms or they considered other candidates. It was evidence of the strength of it.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Biden wasnt subtle in setting himself up as prime alternative to Sanders in his speech, and called on the party to unite behind himquickly. Addressing Democrats across America, especially those who will be voting on Super Tuesday, Biden said that the decisions that Democrats make all across America in the next few days will determine what this party stands for, what we believe, and what we get done.

If Democrats, he said, want as a nominee someone who will build upon Obamacare and not scrap it; take on the NRA and gun manufacturers, not protect them  and if the Democrats want a nominee whos a Democrat, a lifelong Democrat, a proud Democrat, an Obama-Biden Democrat, then join us.

Advertisement

For one night, at least, Biden was gaining on Bernie Sanders in the delegate countand in one fell swoop, surpassing him in the national popular vote. The question is whether South Carolinas results can convince the rest of the country to reconsider the value of the races best-known figure before Super Tuesday arrivesand how wide the delegate gap will be between Biden and Sanders by the end of the night. The good news is theres barely time to speculate about it. You can just wait 72 hours and find out.
Harvey Weinsteins Going to Jail

Harvey Weinstein was found guilty of two felony sex crimes on Monday after a trial in Manhattan that has gripped the country for weeks. Mr. Weinstein was acquitted of the most serious charges against him  being a sex predator  but womens rights groups celebrated the conviction, hailing it as a major victory for the #MeToo movement. Still, for all the progress of the last few years, Hollywood remains a mans world, dominated by male filmmakers, producers and writers.

Image Credit... Giacomo Bagnara

Whats Next? (March 1-March 7)

Strong Job Numbers Expected

Investors are concerned that the coronavirus could seriously rattle the U.S. economy in the coming weeks. But last month, its impact was relatively insignificant, with the worst of the outbreak confined to China and the surrounding countries. On Friday, the Labor Department is scheduled to announce how many jobs were added to the economy in February. Economists are expecting another solid month of hiring to continue the labor markets record-setting run, which has seen the unemployment rate hover below 4 percent for a year. But they will also be watching for any signs that the supply chain disruptions caused by the virus last month have started to slow job growth.

Big Tax Prep

If (like me) you plan to do your taxes this week, you may be interested to learn that the maker of TurboTax, the software company Intuit, is spending $7.1 billion to purchase Credit Karma, a consumer finance firm that also offers tax-prep services. (Is this the birth of Big Tax Prep?) The deal is aimed at creating a Silicon Valley financial technology company that can provide a wide range of financial services, from getting credit scores to filing taxes. But the acquisition could also attract the attention of regulators, who have become increasingly concerned about companies that control large amounts of consumer data.

New York vs. Grubhub

Ordering dinner on Grubhub or Uber Eats is almost irresistibly convenient. But it may also drain profits from neighborhood eateries. For months, New York restaurant owners have butted heads with the online delivery services, complaining that the apps charge exorbitant commissions. (Theyre also expensive for consumers: The markups on food delivery can go as high as 91 percent.) Now, the New York City Council is proposing regulations that would cap the commissions  which usually range from 15 to 30 percent  that the apps charge restaurants and require them to apply for licenses to do business in New York.
In 2005, the federal government sought to assess how a respiratory-related pandemic might play out in the United States. Its report estimated that a severe influenza pandemic would require mechanical ventilators for 740,000 critically ill people.

Today, as the country faces the possibility of a widespread outbreak of a new respiratory infection caused by the coronavirus, there are nowhere near that many ventilators, and most are already in use. Only about 62,000 full-featured ventilators were in hospitals across the country, a 2010 study found. More than 10,000 others are stored in the Strategic National Stockpile, a federal cache of supplies and medicines held in case of emergencies, according to Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, a former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Tens of thousands of other respiratory devices could be repurposed in an emergency, experts say, but the shortfall would be stark, potentially forcing doctors to make excruciating life-or-death decisions about who would get such help should hospitals become flooded with the desperately sick.

Much about the coronavirus remains unclear, and it is far from certain that the outbreak will reach severe proportions in the United States or affect many regions at once. With its top-notch scientists, modern hospitals and sprawling public health infrastructure, most experts agree, the U.S. is among the countries best prepared to prevent or manage such an epidemic.

But the coronavirus, which appeared in China in December and has stricken more than 83,000 people around the world, killing nearly 3,000, has already exposed significant vulnerabilities in the ability of the U.S. to respond to serious health emergencies.

Across the country, educators, businesses and local officials are beginning to confront the logistics of enduring a possible pandemic: school closings that could force millions of children to remain at home, emergency plans that would require employees to work remotely, communities scrambling to build up supplies.

In plausible worst-case-scenarios, the country could experience acute shortages not just in ventilators but also health workers to operate them and care for patients; hospital beds; and masks and other protective equipment.

"Even during mild flu pandemics, most of our ICUs are filled to the brim with severely ill patients on mechanical ventilation," said Dr. Eric Toner, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and an expert on health care preparedness. "I hope and pray COVID-19 turns out to be a moderate pandemic, but if not, we're in serious trouble," he said.

Resources are concentrated in the most populous and wealthiest cities, leaving rural areas and other neglected communities exposed to greater risk. And public health experts worry that efforts to contain an outbreak could be hamstrung by budget cuts that have weakened state health departments.

Sixty-five cases have been identified in the United States as of Saturday morning, most of them patients infected while abroad. But officials at the CDC warned on Tuesday that number will almost certainly rise and urged Americans to prepare for significant disruptions to their lives.

Health officials are working to confine outbreaks to small geographic clusters, which would limit the impact on the nation's health care system and buy time for the development of a vaccine, an effort that could take a year or longer. But flawed test kits distributed to states by the CDC and strict criteria initially used for identifying potential cases may have slowed detection of the virus.

"The Chinese bought us a month of time to prepare ourselves by imposing these astonishing and draconian measures," said J. Stephen Morrison, senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, which last year issued a report that identified flaws in the nation's health security. "Unfortunately, we didn't make good use of that time and now we're heading into a very dangerous situation."
A veteran Nollywood actor, Olukayode Odumosu, popularly known as Pa Kasumu, has died.

His son, Tunde Odumosu, broke the news in a telephone call to our correspondent on Sunday evening.

Tunde, who lives in Lagos, said his father gave up the ghost at about 12.30 p.m. on Sunday.

He said, I was called that his condition had deteriorated on Friday but when I called him he didnt sound so frail. I recall him asking me when I was going to come to Abeokuta and I told him I was coming on Sunday. I was told he was taken to the general hospital in Abeokuta but they had so many emergencies and he couldnt be attended to.

So they took him to a private hospital. I was headed to hospital to see him when I was called that he had just passed on. I was already in Abeokuta at the time. His death is so painful but I take solace in the fact that he lived a great life and is currently resting at the bosom of the lord.

A popular Yoruba actress, Foluke Daramola, also shared the news on her Instagram page.

The actor was diagnosed with heart ailment in 2013. A former Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, donated N2 million towards his medical treatment in the same year.

Ms Daramola launched a lifeline for ailing and other aging Nollywood veterans in December 2019.

The initiative was tagged Nolly veteran SOS Project 2019.

Pa Kasumu was one of the beneficiaries of the initiative.

The sight of a visibly sick Pa Kasumu at the gathering had the likes of Yinka Quadri and other actors in tears.

Background

Pa Kasumu was a household name in the Yoruba movie industry until he came down with Biventricular Heart Failure in 2013.

The 66-year-old actor, who featured in several movies in his heydays, has been off the public radar in the last 10 years.

In an interview with The Punch in December 2019, Pa Kasumu said that his sickness was of a spiritual nature and not medical as many presumed.

The popular Yoruba actor said all he needed are fervent prayers and not financial aid from well-wishers and well-meaning Nigerians.

He said, The doctors are just saying their own. They said I had a partial stroke. It affected my left side and to some extent, my sight.

In 2017, it had been reported that Pa Kasumus health worsened after he got back from a medical trip to India.

Although he was required to return to India two months after the initial trip, the sudden loss of his passport had prevented him from doing so.

In 2016, the actors condition became so serious that members of his family moved him from his home in Abeokuta to his elder sisters residence at Aseese, an Ogun community situated off the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

Odumosu admitted that his health worsened shortly after returning from India, where he had gone to receive treatment for a heart-related ailment that also affected his eyesight and memory, in 2015.

Born on March 16, 1953 in Agbeni area of Ibadan, Oyo State, Pa. Kasumu who hailed from Ogun State started his career at age 15; taking up challenging roles on stage under the tutelage of Elder Ayinla Olumegbon .

He met the latter through his uncle popularly called Brother Simbat. He got baptized through a stage play entitled Iyawo Orun (1968).

Some of his memorable works include Babie A (2003), Jesu Mushin (2002) and Sango: The Legendary African King (1998).

Advertisements


Each week, Benjamin Law asks public figures to discuss the subjects we're told to keep private by getting them to roll a die. The numbers they land on are the topics they're given. This week he talks to Jordon Steele-John. The West Australian Greens senator, 25, is Australias youngest federal politician. He was born with cerebral palsy; for his 2017 entrance into the Senate, the chamber

was made wheelchair-accessible for the first time.

Jordon Steele-John: "Social justice had been a big part of life." Credit:Kristoffer Paulsen

POLITICS

Obvious question: why politics  and why so young? I was randomly catapulted into the Senate by the constitutional crisis that gripped the parliament. [Steele-John replaced former West Australian Greens senator Scott Ludlam, who resigned amid revelations he was a dual citizen.] Social justice had been a big part of life; my mother was a social worker in the UK. I also knew young people, disabled people, were very much affected by decisions made in the far-off land of Canberra. But politicians didnt really look like me. I thought that was inherently a problem.

You were born in England and your parents were avowed UK Labour Party voters. Christ yeah, my whole family! Youd curse Margaret Thatchers name and vote Labour every time.
Aesop (and also Mom) said, A man is known by the company he keeps. So were scratching our heads at Rep. John Katkos decision to bring in California Rep. Devin Nunes for a $1,000-a-plate breakfast fundraiser.

Nunes certainly is a bold-faced name in President Donald Trumps Republican Party. He should be a big draw and raise a lot of money for Katkos re-election bid. But the two Republicans are an odd couple.

Katko claims to represent the GOPs moderate middle, and has only recently endorsed Trump. Nunes is a fierce partisan and an attack dog for the president. The two lawmakers were on opposite sides on key votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act and end the government shutdown over border wall funding. Both voted no on impeaching Trump.

Nunes, the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, was Trumps chief defender during hearings in November delving into Trumps not-so-perfect phone call with the president of Ukraine. The inquiry provided the basis for impeachment charges brought against Trump by the House. The Senate acquitted the president Feb. 5.

Nunes salted the Intelligence Committee hearings with debunked conspiracy theories, attempts to out the whistleblower who brought the phone call to light, and use of the term drug deal to describe the inquiry.

As it turns out, Nunes protested too much. A Nunes staffer later was shown to have been involved in the efforts to dig up Ukrainian dirt on Joe Biden. After at first denying it, Nunes acknowledged taking a call from Lev Parnas, a key figure in the probe. The Sacramento Bee called out Nunes for lying about the phone calls and dismissing Ukraine allegations that he knew to be true.

Nunes doesnt take kindly to criticism or critical reporting. He is suing multiple media companies and the owners of satirical Twitter accounts that make fun of him. Last week, a watchdog group filed a complaint questioning how he is paying for the lawsuits without running afoul of House ethics rules.

Heres another contrast. During his time as chairman of the Intelligence Committee, Nunes heaped abuse on the FBI and the Justice Department over its investigation into Russian election interference, at one point calling them dirty cops. Thats the same Justice Department that provided Katko, a career federal prosecutor, with so much opportunity.

Nunes is a polarizing figure. He has clearly benefited from tying his political fortunes to Trumps. After withholding his endorsement in 2016, Katko is all-in for Trump in 2020. Well see in November how that sits with swing voters in the purple 24th Congressional District.

Loading

About Syracuse.com editorials

Editorials represent the collective opinion of the Advance Media New York editorial board. Our opinions are independent of news coverage. Read our mission statement. Members of the editorial board are Tim Kennedy, Trish LaMonte, Jason Murray and Marie Morelli.

To respond to this editorial: Send us a comment through the Google form above, or submit a letter or commentary to letters@syracuse.com. Read our submission guidelines.

If you have questions about the Opinions & Editorials section, contact Marie Morelli, editorial/opinion leader, at mmorelli@syracuse.com
Dog lovers celebrated all things sausage at a special Dachshund Cafe event.

The one-day pop-up saw sausage dog owners and admirers gather at Revolucion de Cuba in Reading.

Kimiko Dearing and her dog Fraser were among the guests at the Dachshund Cafe pop-up (Jonathan Brady/PA)

The occasion, organised by events company Pug Cafe, featured a special menu of treats for the dogs who attended, including a special canine drink  a pupuccino.

Other items available included pupcakes, dognuts and pawty rings, while human guests ate from Revolucion de Cubas regular menu.

The event was held at Revolucion de Cuba in Reading (Jonathan Brady/PA)

Pug Cafe has previously organised similar events for French bulldogs and Pomeranians, as well as pugs.
Civil rights warrior John Lewis was spotted at the Bloody Sunday march in Selma, Alabama, shortly after congregants at an historically black church turned their backs on Mike Bloomberg while he spoke about his racial equality policies.

Lewis, who was only 25 years old on March 7, 1965, when he led marchers across the steel-arched Edmund Pettus Bridge.

At the time, black demonstrators were beaten by white police for marching for the right to vote during the civil rights movement.

Lewis was among those injured and suffered a broken skull.

The 80-year-old, who was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer in December, was seen on Sunday in the back seat of a vehicle ahead of the march.

Lewis gave an impassioned plea to voters during Sunday's march, telling them: 'Fifty-five years ago, a few of our children attempted to march ... across this bridge.

'We were beaten, we were tear-gassed. I thought I was going to die on this bridge. But somehow and some way, God almighty helped me here. We must go out and vote like we never, ever voted before,' he said.

'I'm not going to give up. I'm not going to give in. We're going to continue to fight. We need your prayers now more than ever before. We must use the vote as a nonviolent instrument or tool to redeem the soul of America,' he added.

Scroll down for video

The former New York mayor then went into a speech focused on injustices faced by the black community and his policies to address racial inequality. But near the end of his speech about 10 people stood up and turned their backs on him

Civil rights warrior John Lewis was spotted at the Bloody Sunday march in Selma, Alabama

Lewis was spotted just hours congregants of the Brown Chapel AME Church stood up and turned their backs on Bloomberg (pictured during the march Sunday afternoon) while he was speaking about the racial injustices faced by black people in America

Earlier on Sunday, Bloomberg received a chilly reception at the Brown Chapel AME Church after pastor Reverend Leodis Strong said in his introduction that the billionaire businessman had initially turned down the invitation to speak

Lewis was spotted just hours congregants of the Brown Chapel AME Church stood up and turned their backs on Bloomberg while he was speaking about the racial injustices faced by black people in America.

Bloomberg, who has been desperately trying to appeal to black voters after his own stop-and-frisk policing tactics, spoke at the Sunday morning service of the historically black church in Selma.

The former New York mayor received a chilly reception at the church after pastor Reverend Leodis Strong said in his introduction that the businessman had initially turned down the invitation to speak.

'I was hurt, I was disappointed,' Strong said as Bloomberg looked on stonily. 'I think it's important that he came, and it shows a willingness on his part to change.'

The billionaire took the stage and said that, after campaigning in dozens of cities, 'I have tried to listen and I have tried to learn'.

'I didn't agree with everything I heard, but I certainly gave people the opportunity to change my mind,' he added.

Bloomberg has faced sharp criticism from his opponents and some activists over his use of stop-and-frisk policing tactics while mayor, as well as his racially charged comments justifying the practice

He launched his campaign with an apology of his use of stop-and-frisk, and has released a handful of policies aimed at eliminating the racial wealth gap and reforming the criminal justice system

Bloomberg is seen sitting in a pew while waiting to be introduced at the service on Sunday

Bloomberg then went into a speech focused on his policies to address racial inequality. But near the end of his speech about 10 people stood up and turned their backs on him.

Bloomberg has faced sharp criticism from his opponents and some activists over his use of stop-and-frisk policing tactics while mayor, as well as his racially charged comments justifying the practice.

He launched his campaign with an apology of his use of stop-and-frisk, and has released a handful of policies aimed at eliminating the racial wealth gap and reforming the criminal justice system.

Bloomberg has not competed in any of the early primary states and has yet to prove his appeal among black voters. He will be on the ballot for the first time on Tuesday.

The quiet protest suggests the businessman has an uphill climb with some African-American voters, who have supported Joe Biden in large numbers and carried him to a resounding victory in South Carolina.

Bloomberg and other Democratic candidates vying for the black vote gathered at the church to commemorate the 55th anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Selma where Alabama state troopers beat and tear-gassed hundreds of voting-rights protesters trying to march from Selma to Montgomery, the capital, on March 7, 1965.

The quiet protest suggests the businessman has an uphill climb with some African-American voters, who have supported Joe Biden (pictured on Sunday) in large numbers and carried him to a resounding victory in South Carolina

Biden was welcomed at the Brown Chapel AME Church with open arms on Sunday. He's seen hugging Rep Terri Sewell

Biden and his daughter Ashley are seeing laying a wreath during a remembrance service at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma on Sunday

Biden and his daughter Ashley place their hands over their hearts after laying a wreath during a remembrance service at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma on Sunday

The confrontation both set the stage for the massive Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights march led by Rev Martin Luther King Jr weeks later and helped inspire passage of the Voting Rights Act later that year.

Located about 50 miles west of Montgomery, Selma has deep ties to both civil rights and the Civil War.

Aside from being the site of Bloody Sunday, the Edmund Pettus Bridge is named for a Confederate general and US senator who advocated for white supremacy.

Sen Elizabeth Warren, Sen Amy Klobuchar and former Mayor Pete Buttigieg joined the marchers for a re-enactment of the walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

Tom Steyer also attended despite suspending his campaign after a poor showing in South Carolina.

The years since have been tough on Selma, where shuttered businesses and vacant, dilapidated homes stand just blocks from magnificent antebellum mansions.

The city and surrounding Dallas County typically have some of the highest jobless rates in the state.

Sen Elizabeth Warren (pictured) was seen preparing to walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge with hundreds of marchcers

Stacy Abrams (second from left) walks on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma on Sunday

Members of the Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club gather near the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma on Sunday

Marchers prepare to walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma on Sunday

Alabama state troopers beat and tear-gassed hundreds of voting-rights protesters trying to march from Selma to Montgomery on March 7, 1965. Lewis, who was only 25 at the time led the marchers across the Edmund Pettus Bridge (pictured) and was among the injured

The town's population is steadily declining, and Census statistics show 41 per cent of the estimated 17,800 people who remain live in poverty.

About 82 per cent of the town's residents are black, and both schools and neighborhoods are mostly segregated by race with blacks attending public schools and whites attending private academies.

Bloody Sunday: The march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965 Despite the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, the legislation had done little in some parts of Alabama to ensure African Americans had the basic right to vote. At that time, black people accounted for just 2 per cent of registered voters despite them making up more the half of the population in Dallas County. Efforts to register black voters by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) had been consistently thwarted. Peaceful protests resulted in the arrests of thousands of black people. Those arrests led to more deadly encounters with police, including the death of Jimmie Lee Jackson, 26, who was killed on February 18, 1965, by white troopers. Jackson, who was protesting at the time, was trying to protect his mother from being struck by police when he was shot and killed. His death prompted civil rights leaders to take their cause directly to Alabama Gov George Wallace along a 54-mile stretch from Selma to Montgomery, the state's capital. On March 7, 1965, Rep John Lewis led marchers across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma. Approximately 600 voting rights advocates had set out from the Brown Chapel AME Church. But Wallace had ordered state troopers to do whatever necessary to prevent the march. Marchers were brutally attacked by the troopers who knocked them to the ground, struck them with sticks and sprayed tear gas on them. Although forced back, the demonstration did not fight back. Advertisement

Crime, much of it linked to gangs, is a constant problem, authorities say.

Selma Mayor Darrio Melton endorsed Biden as someone who could help.

'Joe understands the issues families in Selma and communities across the country face,' he said.

Black voters lifted Biden to his first primary victory in South Carolina.

The former vice president also spoke during the morning worship at Brown Chapel AME Church on Sunday.

Bloomberg and Biden split the endorsements of leading black political groups in Alabama, one of 14 states voting on Super Tuesday.

Biden added to a growing number of endorsements from establishment Democrats, including US Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a former Democratic National Committee chairwoman.

Rep Terri Sewell, the lone black member of Alabama's congressional delegation, urged hundreds of people attending a community breakfast to vote for Biden and enable 'a return to civility'.

'Joe Biden not only knows me, he knows you,' she said.

Bernie Sanders leads in the overall national delegate count with 56 and Biden is second with 51, with another seven South Carolina delegates yet to be allocated.

A candidate needs at least 1,991 delegates to win the nomination outright at the party's convention in July.

The Sanders campaign announced overnight it had raised $46.5million from more than 2.2 million donations in February, a huge sum dwarfing what any other Democratic candidate had raised last year in any three-month period.

Biden's campaign reported his February haul was $18million. Sen Elizabeth Warren's campaign said she raised more than $29million in February.

Bloomberg, meanwhile, continues to spend. He purchased three minutes of commercial air time on broadcast networks CBS and NBC on Sunday evening to address the coronavirus outbreak.
Sedition case: Amulya Leona judicial custody extended till March 5

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Bengaluru, Mar 01: A Bengaluru Court has extended the judicial custody of Amulya Leona, who raised 'Pakistan Zindabad' slogan at an anti-CAA rally in in Bengaluru's Freedom park on Feb 20, till March 5.

She was earlier sent to 14-day judicial custody till February 23.

Amulya Leona, a B.A. student, had asked people to shout with her 'Pakistan Zindabad' after the organisers of the event under the banner of 'Save Constitution' invited her to address the gathering soon after Owaisi came on the stage.

NEWS AT NOON, MARCH 1st, 2020

Soon Owaisi rushed to snatch the mike from her hands and was joined by others who tried to remove her from the state. But the woman was adamant and raised the slogan again repeatedly.

Later, the police stepped in and removed her from the dais. Owaisi then addressed the gathering, saying he did not agree with the woman.

"Neither me nor my party has any link with her. We denounce her. The organisers should not have invited her here. If I knew this, I would not have come here. We are for India and we no way support our enemy nation Pakistan. Our entire drive is to save India," the AIMIM MP said.

The girl's father had said that he will not apply for her bail and will not hire a lawyer to fight her case.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Sunday, March 1, 2020, 8:59 [IST]
He said he had 'outgrown' Saturday Night Live and was ready to leave the 'cutthroat' show because the cast 'make fun of him.'

Yet Pete Davidson was once again back this week in two sketches alongside the host, former SNL writer John Mulaney.

Pete, 26, left his future with the long-running late night sketch comedy series in limbo after he spoke about being the butt of jokes on SNL during a Monday interview with Charlamagne Tha God.

Reversal: Pete Davidson, 26, was in two SNL sketches this week, but on Monday he called the show 'cutthroat' and said he had 'outgrown it' in an interview with Charlamagne tha God

The King Of Staten Island star appeared early in the show in a hilarious meme-focused skit with Mulaney.

John played the father of a daughter who was celebrating that she just got accepted into Stanford.

He lost his temper on his nephew (played by Pete Davidson) after he created a meme from his Facebook profile photo.

He put on a slideshow of the memes full of gratuitous self owns in front of his own family.

Awkward: The comedian appeared early in the show in a hilarious meme-focused skit with Mulaney. John lost his temper on his nephew (played by Pete) after he created a meme from his Facebook profile photo

Taste of his own medicine: He put on a slideshow of the memes full of gratuitous self owns in front of his own family, though Pete was humiliated by the end

Later, Pete played a customer at a LaGuardia airport convenience store.

'I'd like a bottle that will roll to the back of the plane as soon as we take off,' he said,

But after he added sushi, 'the spicy tuna roll that's sitting in the display case next to the ham and cheese panini,' a crew of LaGuardia phantoms launched into musical numbers about the airport's disrepair.

Unlike previous shows, none of the sketches featured autobiographical elements, and there weren't any jokes about his personal life.

Spooky: Later, Pete played a customer at LaGuardia airport who bought sushi at a convenience store, prompting airport phantoms to launch into musical numbers about the airport

Sick of it: The comic actor told Charlamagne tha God, left, he has 'outgrown' Saturday Night Live and is ready to leave 'cutthroat' show because the cast 'make fun of him' in an interview Monday

Davidson, who has been on the hit NBC show since 2014 and was one of its youngest ever cast members, spoke with Charlamagne tha God in a newly-released interview posted Monday.

He had been questioned on whether he asks fellow star Adam Sandler for advice about when to leave SNL, to which he replied: 'I personally think I should be done with that show because they make fun of me on it.'

Calling the environment 'cutthroat', Pete added: 'Everyone is trying to be the next big thing. Like youre not going to get coddled over there. You know, they dont give a f*** at the end of the day.

'They think Im f***ing dumb. Im literally painted out to be this big dumb idiot.'

Making history: Davidson has been on the hit show since 2014 and was one of its youngest cast members ever, said his colleagues 'dont give a f*** [about him] at the end of the day'

Asked if had outgrown the show, Pete, who said he had wanted 2019 to be his last year as a cast member, replied: 'Yeah, I think everybody outgrows it.'

It comes as sources tell The New York Post that the rest of the cast believe he is getting preferential treatment from creator Lorne Michaels. A source said: 'Pete has a pretty cushy gig, to say the least. The cast isnt into him.

'Hes just there, he doesnt add much.'

But the SNL veteran said he is happy to stay as long as Michaels wants him there before also touching on topics including Louis C.K.'s downfall, his love life and depression in the frank chat.

He had already told the audience at a late night show in New York earlier this month that he worked on jokes while seeking treatment at at Sierra Tucson in Arizona.

Davidson shared he'd checked into the facility under the pseudonym 'Howard' and had spent a lot of time in the 'butt hut' where patients were allowed to smoke cigarettes.

The SNL veteran, pictured on the show, said he is happy to stay as long as creator Lorne Michaels wants him there before also touching on topics including Louis C.K.'s downfall, his love life and depression in the frank chat

Davidson, pictured left with the SNL team, had been questioned on whether he asks Adam Sandler for advice about when to leave SNL when he made the stark admission he was ready to leave

Davidson also admitted in the wide-ranging interview that he is relishing Louis C.K.'s downfall.

The comedian's career plummet after he admitted to repeatedly asking women to watch him masturbate, after five women accused him of sexual misconduct in a piece in the fall of 2017.

'Oh my God, it was amazing, it was amazing,' said the Staten Island, New York native. 'It felt great. I loved it, that guy hasn't been nice to many people, he's not a nice guy.'

Davidson recalled how Louis C.K. went to SNL boss Lorne Michaels at one point, urging the NBC exec to fire him over his admitted marijuana use.

'He just ratted me out to my boss - it was so weird - I never really got over that,' said Davidson. 'That dude's just a piece of s***. He's not nice to young comics.'

In an hour-long sit-down with rapper Charlamagne Tha God, Davidson explained that he suffers from bipolar and borderline personality disorder as well as PTSD and takes medication that needs to be adjusted periodically.

The comedian revealed he cuts his chest when he's manic or upset. 'It's awesome... it's not awesome but the feeling of it after - you feel really stupid after but while youre doing it, it feels really great,' he explained.

He also said that going forward, he is done with dating 'for a while' after hooking up with a number of high profile women.

'Im going to try and stay away from that. Its just a lot,' he said.

But he did admit to considering adoption.

Davidson spoke about his image as a 'ladies man' having dated, in fairly rapid succession, Ariana Grande, Kate Beckinsale, Margaret Qualley and Kaia Gerber.

Davidson and Grande got engaged in June 2018 (pictured) after a whirlwind two-month romance and broke up in October 2018, weeks after Miller's drug overdose death

Davidson broke up with his latest flame Kaia Gerber, 18, a few weeks ago and headed to residential rehab. He said in Monday's interview that he is done with dating 'for a while'

Addressing his high profile and short-lived engagement to pop star Ariana Grande, he explained he knew their romance was over when her former boyfriend Mac Miller died.

The two got engaged in June 2018 following a two-month whirlwind romance.

Rapper Miller passed away on September 7, 2018, from an accidental drug overdose. He was 26.

In mid-October, Davidson and Grande ended their engagement.

'I pretty much knew it was around over after that,' Davidson said, referring to Miller's death. 'That was really horrible, and I cant imagine what that s*** is like. All I do know is that she really loved the s*** out of him and she wasnt putting on a show or anything.'

'I was like, Listen, I get it, do whatever youve got to do, Ill be here. I think I said, Ill be here until you dont want me to be here,'' he explained.

He acknowledges that he does use his love life as a source of jokes for his stand-up routines but he also seeks to be 'cool' with his exes and draws the line at anything he would consider 'hurtful.'
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Raziye Akkoc and Will Vassilopoulos (Agence France-Presse) Ankara, Turkey  Sun, March 1, 2020 22:26 680 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20679cbc1 2 World #Turkey,#Syria,military-operation,regime-change Free

Turkey on Sunday announced the launch of an offensive against the Moscow-backed Syrian regime, as Ankara put pressure on Europe by opening its border for migrants to seek passage to the continent via Greece.

Tensions have soared between Russia and Turkey -- who back opposing forces in the Syria's civil war -- after an airstrike blamed on Damascus killed dozens of Turkish soldiers in Idlib last week.

Turkish and Syrian military exchanged fire over the weekend with Syrian forces targetting a Turkish drone and artillery and Ankara claiming to have shot down two Syrian fighter jets.

The situation in rebel-held Idlib was already volatile as the regime supported by Russian air power pressed an assault on the region, killing hundreds of civilians, in a bid to retake the last opposition enclave in an eight-year civil war.

The confrontation between the Russia-backed Syrian military and NATO-member Turkey, which supports Syrian rebels, has prompted worries over a wider conflict and a migrant crisis in Europe similar to 2015.

Migrant numbers have already surged along the rugged frontier after Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, seeking to pressure the EU over Syria, said the country had "opened the doors" to Europe.

Greece said Sunday it has blocked nearly 10,000 migrants at its border with Turkey.

As migrant boats continued to land on Greek islands, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar announced the first confirmation of a full and continuing operation against Damascus.

"Following the heinous attack on February 27 in Idlib, operation 'Spring Shield' successfully continues," Akar said in a video shared by the defence ministry.

Turkish forces hit Syrian regime positions after Erdogan warned Damascus would "pay a price" for the air strike that killed 34 Turkish troops inside Idlib on Thursday.

Under a 2018 deal with Russia meant to bring calm to Idlib, Turkey has 12 observation posts in Syria -- but several have come under fire from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces.

Turkey on Friday said it retaliated by hitting more than 200 Syria regime targets in drone and artillery bombardments.

Turkey wants the international community to establish a no-fly zone over Idlib, where Islamist fighters backed by Ankara pose the biggest obstacle to Damascus seizing back control over all of Syria.

Planes shot down

Syrian state media reported that Turkey targeted two regime planes over Idlib.

SANA also reported the regime shot down a Turkish drone near the town of Saraqeb, publishing footage of an aircraft tumbling from the sky in flames. That could not be immediately confirmed.

The Turkish defence ministry confirmed one of its drones was shot down and two other anti-aircraft systems had been destroyed.

It added two SU-24 regime planes that were attacking Turkish aircraft were downed.

The latest violence has raised tensions between Moscow and Ankara, but Ankara insists Turkey did not wish to clash with Russia.

Turkish media reported on Sunday that Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin would meet in Moscow on March 5.

Earlier on Sunday, Istanbul police detained the editor-in-chief of the Turkish version of Russia's Sputnik website as its offices were being searched in Istanbul.

Three of its journalists were also taken to a courthouse in Ankara for questioning, likely related to a Sputnik article in English claiming Turkey's Hatay province was "stolen" from Syria. Colonial power France ceded the southern region to Turkey in 1938.

The news website later said they had been released.

The Russian and Turkish foreign ministers spoke by telephone on Sunday, Moscow's ministry said, to discuss preparations for the meeting between Putin and Erdogan, and the safety of the Sputnik journalists.

Protecting borders

Some 13,000 migrants have amassed at the Turkey-Greece border, including families with young children who spent the night in the cold, the International Organization for Migration said.

An estimated additional 2,000 migrants arrived at the Pazarkule border gate Sunday, including Afghans, Syrians and Iraqis, according to an AFP reporter.

But as the crowds rushed to enter Europe, Greek police and soldiers blocked 9,972 "illegal entrances" from entering the northeastern Evros region in the past 24 hours, a Greek government source said.

The UN refugee agency spokesman Babar Baloch called for "calm and easing of tensions on the border," as he urged countries to "refrain from the use of excessive and disproportionate force".

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday said the EU was watching "with concern" and stood ready to deploy its Frontex border guard agency.

The developments recalled events in 2015 when over a million migrants fled to Europe, mainly via Greece in what became the continent's worst refugee crisis since the Second World War.

The EU's commissioner for migration, Margaritis Schinas, tweeted Sunday he had requested an extraordinary meeting of EU interior ministers to discuss the situation.

Erdogan said Turkey, home to some 3.6 million refugees, did not plan to close the borders because "the (EU) should keep its promises".

He was referring to the 2016 deal with Brussels to stop the flow of refugees in exchange for billions of euros.
Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled

When Zuzana Caputova won the first round of the presidential election in 2019, the world media called it a rare victory for liberal forces in Europe. One year later, after Slovaks went to polling stations again to elect their next parliament, election results show it was not so much about liberal forces as about anti-corruption sentiment.

Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement

The election results, dominated by the populist Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OLaNO) movement of Igor Matovic, show that the next ruling coalition will find common ground in its anti-Smer rhetoric. It is also going to be able to rely on a constitutional majority in parliament if four parties: OLaNO, Boris Kollars Sme Rodina, Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) led by Richard Sulik and Za Ludi led by former president Andrej Kiska, team up.

We are definitely becoming an island in the fight against corrupt elites, political scientist Pavol Babos from Comenius Universitys school of political science told The Slovak Spectator when asked whether Slovakia will stand out as an island of liberalism in Central Europe.

Anti-corruption rhetoric is what Matovic, the most likely next prime minister of Slovakia, and President Zuzana Caputova have in common.

But it is thin ice, because this is what Andrej Babis won elections on in the Czech Republic, despite a scandal that would disqualify him from any political career in a standard western democracy, Babos noted.

Observers ascribe Matovics victory to the anti-Smer and anti-corruption rhetoric that he has embodied on Slovakias political scene for the last decade.

Many people voted for Matovic not because he is conservative, but because in the current particular situation they saw him as the more reliable sledgehammer against Smer, political analyst Grigorij Meseznikov of the non-governmental Institute for Public Affairs told The Slovak Spectator.

Conservative voice will be stronger
Senior Congress leader PL Punia on Sunday said Home Minister Amit Shah is carrying out rallies in West Bengal to disturb the functioning of the West Bengal Government.

"Home Minister Amit Shah is carrying out a rally in West Bengal in support of CAA. If they think there is nothing wrong with the Act, then why are they doing the drama of taking out rallies. BJP is taking all steps to disturb the West Bengal government. Many BJP leaders from West Bengal and North-East India are against CAA. The Act is dividing the country and not uniting it," Punia told ANI.

"Every state in this country has witnessed protests against CAA. A few states have also passed resolutions against the Act and have also denounced NPR," he pointed out.

His remark comes after Shah's visit to West Bengal, where he is scheduled to address a rally.

Punia also alleged that the instigating speeches of BJP leaders led to Delhi violence.

"Delhi violence is very unfortunate. The instigating speeches by BJP leaders led to this violence. Even FIRs were not registered against them. The government and the Delhi police should register cases against them," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Ukraine's Foreign Minister says he is not happy with his work or his colleagues in government

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Vadym Prystaiko announced his immediate readiness to resign. He made such a statement in an interview with Ukraine 24 TV channel, UNIAN reports.

"Indeed, am I ready for the resignation? I am ready from the very beginning, while still assuming this position. I was an ambassador to NATO when the president proposed to me to become Foreign Minister. It's an honor, but I obviously understand for more than 25 years of my careers how quickly ministers change over time. And there is always readiness," the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.

The diplomat does not exclude that they can already select candidates for his post - typically, this is done by the head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak. But the final decision is made by Volodymyr Zelensky, Prystaiko emphasized.

He says that he is not satisfied with his work or his colleagues in the government.

As we reported before, Foreign Minister of Ukraine Vadym Prystayko does not rule out that Belarus will have to fight against Russia.

"Several years ago, I spoke with some Belarusian journalists, and when I formally made a statement to them that if they wanted to remain independent, they would have to face the same war, the same hardships, and the same suffering as we had, they did not believe me. Maybe, now they have less doubt about it," Prystayko said.
Many Jewish Israelis of Zionist left expected to vote for Arab Joint List, to stand against racist nationalism.

For over 20 years, Ori Goldberg has voted for the left-wing Zionist Meretz party in Israeli elections.

But during the last elections in September 2019, he decided to permanently switch and voted for the Arab Joint List  for the first time since he turned 18.

He reasoned there was no reason to remain loyal to Meretz as there was no longer any difference between the left and right in Israeli political discourse.

Both sides are stuck in the basic, segregationist, racist trap, Goldberg, a lecturer at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism in Herzliya, told Al Jazeera from the Tel Aviv suburb.

In Jewish parties, for various reasons, I saw that their ideological differences was irrelevant because theyre completely mired in their desire to protect the status quo, Goldberg said, adding the Joint List is the only party that imagines a future Israel based on a civilian rather than a militaristic ethic.

Some Israeli analysts have predicted a record number of Jewish Israelis, who have traditionally voted for left-wing Zionist Israeli parties such as Labor and Meretz, will switch and choose the Joint List on Monday.

200229175701128

According to Israeli polls, the Joint List  the third-largest party in the Knesset  is expected to win a record 14 -15 seats, improving its result in Septembers election when it won 13 seats.

Dahlia Scheindlin, a political analyst who has consulted for the Joint List specifically looking at the Jewish vote, told Al Jazeera there is a rise in intention among Jewish Israelis to vote for the Joint List, which could result in a gain of an additional Knesset seat and possibly more.

The most common reason for the switch, Scheindlin said, is they want to make a statement against the widespread sense of racism and nationalism in the right-wing leadership in the last 10 years, especially after a year of election campaigning that was so intensely about nationalistic rhetoric.

Palestinians excluded

Each round of Israeli elections has involved anti-Palestinian racism from candidates vying for right-wing votes.

In September last year, six days before the second round of elections, messages were sent out through an automated popup to anyone accessing the official Facebook page of the current prime minister and head of the Likud party Benjamin Netanyahu, warning against the formation of a left-wing, secular, weak government that relies on Arabs who want to annihilate us all  women, children and men.

The message added this was the reason why voters needed to vote for Likud to have a right-wing policy of a Jewish state, security and a strong Israel.

The message was referring to a partnership at the time between the Blue and White party led by former Israeli military chief Benny Gantz and the Joint List with the aim of removing Netanyahu.

However, in the upcoming round of elections, Gantz has taken the opposite approach, saying he will build a coalition only with a Jewish majority and not with the Joint List, as many Jewish Israelis do not accept any partnership with Palestinian citizens of Israel.

James North, an editor of news website Mondoweiss, noted in an article on Thursday there is so much anti-Arab racism in the country that none of the major Jewish political parties will dare to form even a tacit alliance with the Joint List.

Banners placed in Jerusalem by Netanyahus Likud party show Benny Gantz of the Blue and White party and Ahmed Tibi of the Arab Joint List. It reads: Without Tibi, Gantz has no government

For Mondays election, Meretz joined a coalition with Labor and Gesher in order to reach the 3.25 percent vote threshold required to enter the Knesset, but for the first time, there is not a single Palestinian legislator placed high enough on the list to guarantee him or her a seat in the Knesset.

Issawi Fereig, a Palestinian Israeli who was part of the last two Knessets and fought for Meretzs survival in the last two elections by campaigning in Palestinian areas according to North, was moved down to the eleventh spot to make room for Jewish legislators.

The second legislator on its list is Orly Levi Abekasis who originally entered Knesset as a member of the right-wing Yisrael Beitenu.

She had abstained on voting for the controversial nation-state law in 2018, which declared Israel the nation state of the Jewish People, further marginalising the 1.8 million Palestinian citizens of Israel.

Kahanism, the new normal

On January 28, US President Donald Trump presented his proposed Middle East plan, which, among other things, envisioned Israeli annexation of large swaths of the occupied West Bank.

It also proposed the so-called Triangle Communities  comprising 10 Palestinian towns in Israel  to possibly be transferred to a future state of Palestine.

According to Natasha Roth-Rowland, a PhD student in the US researching the far right in Israel, since Kahanism  an extreme ideology calling for a Jewish theocratic state  entered Israeli politics in the 1980s, it has dramatically shifted the countrys political discourse to the far right.





It is based on the teachings of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane who sought Jewish supremacy through the use of violence.

Talk of mass expulsion of Palestinians, annexation, and moves such as the nation-state law, which are ideas based on Kahanism and once completely outside of political discourse, have now been normalised in Israel, according to Roth-Rowland.

According to a study released by Israels Pew Research Center in 2016, nearly half of Jewish Israelis wanted to expel Palestinians while 79 percent believed Jews in Israel should get preferential treatment over Palestinians.

Journalist David Sheen, who has researched the Kahane movement, told Al Jazeera that Kahane had tapped into a latent phenomenon that maybe, up until then, people didnt speak about openly, they didnt boast about it.

But when Kahane came into the Knesset, he destroyed that taboo. He made it OK to say so, Sheen said.

I find it very hard to believe that there is any other Western country that extensively claims to be a democracy that, when asked if the largest minority group should be ethnically cleansed, that half of them would agree to that.

To me, thats off the charts. It shows how deeply rooted these ideas are. Its been this way for decades, Sheen said.

Building solidarity

The Joint List has launched campaigns in different languages in the ultra-Orthodox, Ethiopian and Russian communities as an attempt to build solidarity with other marginalised Israelis.

In ultra-Orthodox areas, signs in Yiddish were put up reading Your vote against the enlistment decree, drawing on the opposition to military service shared among Palestinians and the ultra-Orthodox.

Messages in Hebrew and Amharic reading Your vote against police brutality were put up in cities where many Ethiopian Israelis live, referring to the discriminatory treatment by the police that Ethiopian Israelis and Palestinians are regularly subjected to.





Scheindlin said the momentum of many Jews considering voting for the Joint List shows that this is a different kind of Israeli society that moves away from the path of racist nationalism.

Meanwhile, Goldberg said he was impressed that Ayman Odeh and Ahmed Tibi, leaders of the Joint List, had made their message inclusive.

They were much more inviting towards people like me, Israeli Jews, who before then had considered them less easily palatable because they did not represent us. It was easier to join the team because they changed their message  it was about the entire country.

While it still may be a niche phenomenon, Goldberg said he knows of quite a lot of Jewish Israelis from the Zionist left who will be voting for the Joint List this time.

As Israel grows more afraid, more xenophobic, more segregationist, I find myself less and less able to identify with the voice of the strong. I find it to some extent offensive as a Jew that the Israeli version of Judaism is all about power, Goldberg said.
By Express News Service

BENGALURU: Under attack from BJP leaders questioning his role in the freedom struggle, 102-year-old freedom fighter HS Doreswamy on Saturday sought Chief Minister BS Yediyurappas intervention.

I hope the CM will take note of what his party MLA has stated, Doreswamy said, even as BJP leaders backed party MLA Basana Gowda Patil Yatnal on Saturday.

Doreswamy told TNIE, I will not talk on this issue... there is no need for me to talk. People who know me and my well-wishers know who I am. Yatnal is like that and he doesnt spare anyone. Earlier too he has spoken like this and this time its me.

As the controversy threatened to disrupt the assembly session starting from Monday, BJP leaders backed the Vijayapura MLA, who has alleged that Doreswamy is a fake freedom fighter and behaves like a Pakistani agent.

Slamming Yatnal, Opposition leader in the assembly Siddaramaiah stated in his recent tweet, Doreswamy has sacrificed his entire life fighting for causes in the interest of the country. He leads movements even at this old age. Yatnal does not have any qualification to speak ill about such a great person. His statement is backed by the BJP Karnataka, otherwise, he would not have made such statements in public. People like him, who disturb peace in society, should not be in public life.

JDS senior leader Kumaraswamy too condemned Yatnals statement, saying it is unfortunate that Yatnal made an attempt to sully the image of Doreswamy. Former home minister Ramalinga Reddy said, We will raise this issue in the House. We have the CLP meeting on March 2, where our leaders will decide. Doreswamy had criticised our government too when garbage was sent to the Mandur landfill. Then, JDS leaders had taken up the issue in both Houses then.

Education Minister Suresh Kumar, who was speaking at Napoklu in Madikeri, said on Saturday that Doreswamy spoke ill about Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

If you speak unpleasant, you will get to listen unpleasant. Doreswamy is a senior person. On the other side, Yatnal too should not have spoken like that. We respect Doreswamy and have seen him participating in many agitations. This should not have happened.

Ballari MLA Somashekar Reddy defending Yatnal, said, If Doreswamy is a freedom fighter, he should be patriotic. He should respect the unity and integrity of the nation. I support Yatnal and there is nothing wrong in what he said.
A Samsung Electronics' Digital Plaza store in Seocho-gu, southern Seoul, has a temporarily closed sign in the window, Feb. 22, following confirmation that a coronavirus-infected person had visited it. / Yonhap



By Baek Byung-yeul



The semiconductor and electronics industries here are bearing the brunt of the impact from the rapidly-spreading COVID-19, as the virus outbreak, which experts say is on track to become a pandemic, is dealing a major blow to their operations, according to experts, Sunday.



The semiconductor industry, which suffered hard times last year with sales drastically dropping due to the U.S.-China trade war and price declines, had been expected to recover from a shortfall in demand, but the market is likely to suffer from the virus outbreak, which has slowed down or suspended production, they said.



Smartphone and other electronic devices businesses are also likely to suffer from the spread of the virus because companies are sourcing components from China where factories are struggling to reopen as the authorities there attempt to control the disease.



What makes the situation more alarming is that the virus outbreak may compel them to shut down their factories.



Experts in the semiconductor industry say the odds are very low that manufacturing plants will be significantly affected by the virus because every production process is conducted in dust-free cleanrooms and employees wear cleanroom garments. However, concerns are still lingering given even a few minutes of downtime can result in huge losses.



Samsung Electronics said Saturday that an employee of its subcontractor at its chip manufacturing factory in Yongin, on the outskirts of Seoul, tested positive for coronavirus. The company said the employee worked at a facility near a cafeteria but had little contact with other people in the factory. Samsung added it would shut down the cafeteria until Sunday, but there are no impacts to its production lines.



Samsung also said it temporarily stopped operations of its smartphone plant in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, the same day, after a family member of one of its employees tested positive to the virus. The company added it has not decided how long the plant should be closed.



On Feb. 22, Samsung shut down the Gumi plant for three days after an employee tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.



LG Display also said Saturday it would shut down its module plant for three days after an employee at a bank in its Gumi plant was confirmed to be infected.



An official in the electronics industry said many companies are implementing various measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus including asking their employees to work remotely, but expressed concerns of inefficiency.



"Companies are conducting some prevention measures such as asking employees to work from home, implementing flexible working hours so that they can avoid rush hour commutes and screening temperatures at entrances. But these measures are inefficient compared with working in the same office because communicating with each other helps organizations further develop their business plans," said the official who asked not to be named.



"As we don't know exactly how long the situation will last, it feels like we are going through a long and dark tunnel," he added.



The coronavirus is also expected to have a negative effect on the electronics business.



Due to the spread of the virus, shipments of smartphones in 2020 will decrease by 2.3 percent year-on-year to around 1.3 billion, according to market researcher IDC. The organization also estimated global shipments in the first half of this year will be reduced by 10.6 percent year-on-year.



According to data from market researcher TrendForce, the global shipment of notebooks in the first quarter of 2020 will be 27.5 million, which was previously estimated to be 35 million. The figure is a 35 percent decrease quarter-on-quarter.



"Assuming that the spread of COVID-19 can be contained, notebook production volume is expected to gradually recover in March, but this may not be enough to offset significant losses in February," the researcher said adding the number of shipments will decrease "more than current projections" if the virus outbreak continues.


1. Mar 2020 at 8:05 I Modified at 21. Dec 2020 at 8:50

Practical information from Investment Advisory Guide

Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled

This article was published in Investment Advisory Guide - Your key to understanding the Slovak business environment.

It's all about who you know when it comes to successful business. Start forging valuable connections with relevant associations, banks, ministries and more in Slovakia with our detailed and manageable contact list below.

Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement

Contact details:

Information about existing businesses

Business Register of the Slovak Republic

Obchodny register Slovenskej republiky (OR SR)

- a database of all businesses active in Slovakia administered by the Justice Ministry

www.orsr.sk

Trade Register of the Slovak Republic

Zivnostensky register Slovenskej republiky (ZR SR)

- a database of all individuals working under trade licences in Slovakia

www.zrsr.sk

Slovak Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Slovenska obchodna a priemyselna komora (SOPK)

- gathering industrial and commercial businesses, assisting in finding a local business partner

Tel: +421 (0)2 5443-3291; web.sopk.sk

Statistics Office / Statisticky urad

- statistical information about Slovakia, a database of all businesses and institutions registered in Slovakia

Tel: +421 (0)2 5023-6222; www.statistics.sk

Support for investors

Slovak Investment and Trade Development Agency

Slovenska agentura pre rozvoj investicii a obchodu (SARIO)

- supporting the investment projects of domestic and foreign investors, providing consultancy and aid to investors, and assisting SMEs in their search for export and trade opportunities abroad

Tel: +421 (0)2 5826-0100; www.sario.sk

Business and Innovation Centre

Podnikatelske a inovacne centrum (BIC)

- business and innovation consulting, transnational technology transfer, financial consulting, regional development, support in the EU Framework Programmes for research, technology development and innovation, project management and investment consulting

Tel: +421 (0)2 3233-2711; www.bic.sk

Investment Support Association

Zdruzenie pre rozvoj investicii (ISA)

- support for the presentation of investments and their benefits for the development of Slovakia

Tel: +421 (0)907 910-646; www.isa-association.sk

Slovak Business Agency (SBA)

- assisting small and medium businesses in Slovakia, securing the building of infrastructure for business development (incubators)

Tel: +421 (0)2 2036-3100; www.sbagency.sk

Slovak Agency for International Development Cooperation

Slovenska agentura pre medzinarodnu rozvojovu spolupracu (SAMRS)

- administering the Slovak Aid programme, implementation of development aid programmes

Tel: +421 (0)2 5978-2601; www.slovakaid.sk

Slovak Innovation and Energy Agency

Slovenska inovacna a energeticka agentura (SIEA)

- free-of-charge energy consulting for households and businesses, monitoring innovation activities in Slovakia, information about opportunities to draw EU funds for innovation in businesses

Tel: +421 (0)2 5824-8111; www.siea.sk

Ministries

Economy Ministry

Ministerstvo hospodarstva

- the departments of entrepreneurship and of export and foreign trade are part of the ministry

Tel: +421 (0)2 4854-1111; www.mhsr.sk

Justice Ministry / Ministerstvo spravodlivosti

- the ministrys website provides information on courts that secure the legal process of establishing a business in Slovakia

Tel: +421 (0)2 8889-1111; www.justice.gov.sk

Foreign and European Affairs Ministry

Ministerstvo zahranicnych veci a europskych zalezitosti

- information on embassies, consular services, and business departments of Slovak embassies abroad

Tel: +421 (0)2 5978-1111; www.mzv.sk

Taxes and customs

Tax section of the Financial Administration of the Slovak Republic

- administering taxes

Tel: +421 (0)48 431-7222; www.financnasprava.sk

Custom sections of the Financial Administration of the Slovak Republic

- customs policy, customs tariffs, origin of goods, administering indirect taxes

Tel: +421 (0)48 431-7222; www.financnasprava.sk

Control and audit bodies

National Labour Inspectorate

Narodny inspektorat prace

- state watchdog, enforcement of labour-related legislation, work conditions and occupational safety

Tel: +421 (0)55 797-9902; www.ip.gov.sk

Slovak Environment Agency

Slovenska agentura zivotneho prostredia (SAZP)

- environmental impact assessment

Tel: +421 (0)48 437-4111; www.sazp.sk

Slovak Trade Inspection

Slovenska obchodna inspekcia (SOI)

- authority for internal market surveillance

Tel: +421 (0)2 5827-2162; www.soi.sk

Land registry

Katastralny urad / Land registry

- information about land ownership

www.katasterportal.sk/kapor

Banks

Export-Import Bank of the Slovak Republic / EXIM Banka

- supporting exports by financing and insuring export credits

Tel: +421 (0)2 5939-8111; www.eximbanka.sk

National Bank of Slovakia

Narodna Banka Slovenska (NBS)

- central bank, providing statistical information about balance of payments and currency rates

Tel: +421 (0)2 5787-1111; www.nbs.sk

Slovak Guarantee and Development Bank

Slovenska zarucna a rozvojova banka (SZRB)

- providing guarantees for loans

Tel: +421 (0)2 5729-2111; www.szrb.sk

Employees, visa and registration

Bureau of Border and Foreign Police

Urad hranicnej a cudzineckej policie

- registering foreigners living in Slovakia, issuing residence permits and work permits

Tel: +421 (0)961 050-701; www.minv.sk/?uhcp

Social Insurance Agency

Socialna poistovna

- state-run social security provider, registration of employees for social insurance funds

Tel: +421 (0)906 171-020; www.socpoist.sk

Associations

Confederation of Trade Unions

Konfederacia odborovych zvazov (KOZ)

- association of labour unions, protecting the rights of workers

Tel: +421 (0)2 5023-9103; www.kozsr.sk

National Union of Employers

Republikova unia zamestnavatelov (RUZ)

- organisation of employers in Slovakia, which is comprised of two-thirds of employers producing 70 percent of GDP and 80 percent of the Slovak export

Tel: +421 (0)2 3301-4280; www.ruzsr.sk

Federation of Employers Associations

Asociacia zamestnavatelskych zvazov a zdruzeni (AZZZ)

- organisation of employers in Slovakia, which promotes and protects common business, commercial and employers interests of members

Tel: +421 (0)2 4425-8295; www.azzz.sk

Business Alliance of Slovakia

Podnikatelska aliancia Slovenska (PAS)

- professional association representing selected entrepreneurs and employers

Tel: +421 (0)948 233-508; alianciapas.sk

Slovak Agricultural and Food Chamber

Slovenska polnohospodarska a potravinarska komora (SPPK)

- association representing companies operating in agriculture, food industry, biological, technical and related trade services, as well as NGOs and others in agriculture

Tel: +421 (0)2 5021-7101; www.sppk.sk
Hi Neighbor,

Funny thing about cliches. Theyre true. Everything old really is new again.

Todays topic: Presidential elections.

A few of you were around during the early 1970s. Disney World had just opened in Florida. We were in the midst of a Cold War. A few guys got caught breaking-and-entering at a place called the Watergate. Alabama Gov. George Wallace was shot. Vietnam was raging, but the president had a plan to end it all. Shhhh! Its a secret, he told us.

And when it comes to the 2020 election, its 1972 all over again

Before the younger folks scoff  Americas a lot different 50 years later, theyll snicker . . . And who remembers 1972 anyway?  lets take a stroll down Memory Lane. Ill be your tour guide. I was a young, high-school-English-teacher-turned-fresh-new-reporter back then, and a fan of a guy named George McGovern.

Call him 1972s Bernie Sanders.

Philosopher George Santayana had it right. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

Lets take that stroll.

In 1972, Richard Nixon sat in the Oval Office -- a Republican president hated by the media while both loved and hated by the American people.

In 2020, Donald Trump sits in the Oval Office -- a Republican president hated by the media while both loved and hated by the American people.

In 1972, a maverick U.S. senator from South Dakota  George McGovern, as liberal as they come  was running for president.

In 2020, a maverick from Vermont  Bernie Sanders, a Democratic socialist who appears to have a thing for Cuba and Fidel Castro  is running for president.

In 1972, McGoverns main opponent for the Democratic nomination was a U.S. senator from Maine named Ed Muskie.

In 2020, Sanders main opponent for the Democratic nomination is a former VP from Delaware named Joe Biden.

In 1972, apparently fearing Muskies candidacy, Nixons Dirty Tricksters planted a phony letter to the editor in a New England newspaper accusing Muskie of prejudice. Muskie held a press conference to deny it. And then he cried.

In 2020, apparently fearing Biden candidacy, Donald Trump telephoned the president of Ukraine and the aftermath unleashed accusations that Biden was dirty, his son was making tons of money from Ukraines energy industry, and that Trump was trying to sink his opponent using a foreign government.

In 1972, Muskies campaign -- after The Crying Speech  collapsed. McGovern won the nomination.

In 2020, Biden is in freefall. Prevailing wisdom has it that if Mike Bloomberg cannot stop him, Sanders will be the nominee.

In 1972, liberal McGovern campaigned on issues like Medicaid for all.

In 2020, Democratic socialist Sanders campaigns on issues like Medicaid for all.

In 1972, George McGovern was crushed in the general election by Dick Nixon. McGovern won Massachusetts and the District of Columbia. Seventeen electoral votes. Nixon won 49 states and 520 electoral votes.

In 2020: Still to be determined. But remember, neighbors, history does repeat itself.

Staten Islanders, in particular, should shake off Mike Bloombergs third-term indignation and his disdain of the Big Gulp  it even came up in the South Carolina debate  and look at the guys leadership ability and his vision.

Anyone weary of the presidents style who does not want to read headlines that scream Trump In Landslide, should take a closer look at Mike and the things they dont like about him  the other side of stop and frisk, for example. The side where God-knows-how-many illegal guns were taken from the streets of New York . . . how many lives were saved. God-know-how-many from the very communities said to have been victim of the policy.

They should look at how Mike Bloomberg treats women in his organization and when he was in City Hall. Not so much the crude, no doubt stupid, comments he made. One thing the two debates have revealed: The guy cannot deliver a joke.

Patti Harris was first deputy mayor from 2006 to 2013. Kate Levin was Cultural Affairs commissioner. Iris Weinshall was Department of Transportation commissioner. Amanda Burden was City Planning commissioner. None in name only. They were real decision-makers. I know. I had to tangle with every one of them.

Bloomberg ran for a third term because he feared New York would tank in the aftermath of the 2007 financial collapse. He could have easily walked away after that. But then he took on gun violence and the climate as a private citizen.

A racist? One of the wealthiest people in America admitted in front of the nation in South Carolina the other night that if he were black, he could never have been as successful.

Does this sound like a guy who doesnt care? Who doesnt get it?

But for the moment lets say history does not repeat itself and the headlines read, Bernie Wins In Upset! The guy who thinks a Cuban Communist did a pretty good job in some areas.

Let Mike Bloomberg wrap it up:

Fidel Castro left a dark legacy of forced labor camps, religious repression, widespread poverty, firing squads, and the murder of thousands of his own people, Bloomberg tweeted. But sure, Bernie, lets talk about his literacy program.

This, neighbors, is not history repeating itself. Its being careful of what you wish.

Brian
A project titled Queering The Law, by the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, looks at the ways in which queer people can have better legal representation, in order to be able to better access the law and other civic institutions. It identifies laws that patently discriminate against the LGBTQ+ community, as well as ones that operate on the male-female binary, thereby invisibilising anyone whose identity does not fall within this binary

The last few years have been a series of ups and downs when it comes to rights for the Indian queer community. The Suresh Kumar Koushal vs NAZ Foundation judgment in 2013, which overturned a previous Delhi High Court judgment and reinstated Section 377 of the Constitution, was a setback; it made same sex relationships illegal. It was stated that judicial intervention was not necessary, and that the percentage of the population which constituted the queer community was minuscule.

Thereon, things have looked brighter: The NALSA judgment of 2014 delivered by the Supreme Court recognised the fundamental rights of the transgender community, and most recently, in the Navtej Singh Johar judgment, the SC read down parts of Section 377, making relationships between consenting adults of the same gender no longer criminal. Queer love was now legal, and the scope of LGBTQ+ rights was widened.

But not all legislation has been progressive in totality ever since: the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, passed in 2019, was roundly criticised for a variety of factors, from its definition of who is trans to the potential anguish and prejudice it could subject community members to, due to the need to obtain certification from a District Magistrate. Issues lie with older legislation too, some of which patently discriminates against the queer community, such as the anti-begging law in the case of trans people. Tellingly, many laws operate on the male-female binary, thereby invisibilising gender identities that do not fall into this binary. The law often also often conflates sex, gender and gender orientation.

Queering The Law, a project by the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, looks at the ways in which queer people can have better legal representation, in order to be able to better access the law and other civic institutions. By focusing on four areas, namely identity, violence, family, and employment, it looks at the need to reform in the context of LGBTQ+ inclusion by identifying discriminatory and exclusionary laws. It also meditates on the ongoing debates about these issues. It focuses on 21 cases between 2014 and 2019 involving trans and non-hetero people "in order to determine areas of contestation where the courts have been asked to implement their rights as recognised in NALSA and Navtej Johar". These cases spanned many issues, such as trans people trying to establish their identity, being terminated from jobs, succession, and violence and the resulting persecution by law enforcement agencies.

The authors, Akshat Agarwal, Diksha Sanyal and Namrata Mukherjee, intend Queering The Law to be a resource to inform conversations on LGBTQ+ inclusion in Indian laws going forward; they don't however, suggest amendments to laws, because they feel these changes must come from the community itself. About the process of research they undertook and the methodology they adopted, Akshat Agarwal says that apart from going through existing literature and debates on queer inclusion in India and other jurisdictions, they also consulted with members from the community to seek feedback on their research.

The project describes the relationship between laws and the politics of gender as being tense. This, they say, is because while identities are fluid and change over life, the law tends to solidify them in order to make sense of them. For instance, the legal framework under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act required infants to be categorised as either male or female. This often happens for the purpose of identity-based welfare entitlements as well. This creates implications for people who identify differently from the identity they were assigned at birth or those who do not identify with any gender identity at all. There is thus need to re-think the significance of gender identities for the law, co-author Akshat Agarwal explains.

At the Godrej India Culture Lab, where the authors presented the project, they made a poignant point about how sometimes changing the wording of the law doesnt suffice, that a re-imagining of the law is necessary, for it to be inclusive. Agarwal elaborates on this notion using the example of provisions relating to sexual assault, such as rape. Making such provisions inclusive cannot merely happen by using neutral pronouns in the place of gendered pronouns, but would also involve re-thinking what kinds of acts these provisions criminalise. For instance, penetration remains central to the existing definition of rape. However, sexual-assault in the LGBT+ context may not just be limited to penetration, he says.

The case against introducing neutrality in this provision is steeped in a social context and captures a well-defined power dynamic (between cis-hetero men and women); it argues that merely making the provision neutral may not reflect social realities, Agarwal explains. However, there has been greater consensus on victim neutrality with even the Justice Verma Committee making recommendations along those lines. While these arguments are significant it is also important to acknowledge and address the violence that LGBTQ+ persons face. The way forward would perhaps then be to undertake greater research to understand the nature of violence outside the male-female binary to making a strong case for criminal law reforms. This could be either through making existing provisions neutral or through introducing specific new provisions, Agarwal added.

Larger conversations about laws that discriminate against queer people are needed, to begin with, says Agarwal. Often the government and other policy-makers are unaware of the impact of such laws. These conversations can feed into advocacy initiatives to bring about changes at the policy level. The other strategy is to challenge the constitutionality of such discriminatory laws in courts. Challenges to anti-begging laws have proven successful in both the Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir High Courts. Similar challenges have also recently been filed in the Chhattisgarh High Court, he adds.

"Decriminalisation is an entry point into a host of other civil rights which are ordinarily enjoyed by heterosexual persons and cisgender persons," the authors write. This includes rights that remain out of reach for the queer community, such as marriage, adoption, etc. However, they also note that such a strategy assumes that "mimicking heterosexual lives is the only legitimate means to ensure LGBT+ equality. Such assimilation has been viewed as problematic not only because heterosexual norms of family continue to be deeply patriarchal, but also come at the cost of delegitimising all other forms of intimacy besides the monogamous romantic couple."

The authors also speak about how creative interpretation on the part of lawyers can potentially contribute to the queering process, and to ensuring that queer people have a better chance at winning in court. Drawing from their research, they say that there are a number of instances where queer people have filed cases in High Courts on matters of recruitment, succession and even sexual violence, among others. In all these cases the courts have interpreted the law in a manner which is consistent with fundamental rights of LGBT+ persons. Legal strategies that focus on creatively interpreting legal provisions to ensure that the rights of LGBT+ people are not violated can thus be extremely useful in the short term. For instance, certain courts have held that provisions in laws which refer to women would also include transgender persons who identify as women, Agarwal adds.

Do they see queering as an ongoing process, in that until the very framing of laws becomes truly inclusive, legislation will need to be re-examined and changed? Yes, Agarwal says, making some succinct points: Laws are informed by deep-seated heterosexual assumptions that do not account for non-normative relationships. Law making also often ends up being an insular process that does not account for the realities of the people it affects. Often those who enforce laws are also not adequately sensitised and therefore often create barriers to realising rights.
To be honest with you, I thought Jennifer Lopezs Oscars snub hurt me more than it hurt the Hustlers star, but it turns out that the 50-year-old icon felt the pain too.

I was sad, Lopez reportedly said on February 29 during Oprah Winfreys 2020 Vision: Your Life in Focus tour, breaking her silence on the subject. I was a little sad because there was a lot of buildup to it. I got so many good noticesmore than ever in my careerand there was a lot of, like, Shes going to get nominated for an Oscar. Its going to happen. If she doesnt, youre crazy. And Im reading all the articles, and Im like, Oh my God. Could this happen? And then it didnt, and I was like, Ouch. It was a little bit of a letdown.

Agreed. Twitter practically rioted when Lopez was left out of the best supporting actress category for her performance as Ramona, the scheming mentor to all the strippers in the film based on Jessica Presslers December 2015 New York magazine article The Hustlers at Scores.

Even Lopezs former costar and ex-fiance Ben Affleck weighed in. She should have been nominated. Shes the real thing, he told the New York Times in the same interview in which he called his divorce from Jennifer Garner the biggest regret of his life.

Unfortunately, at first Lopez saw the snub as a reflection on her, rather than a mistake by the Academy. Most of my team has been with me for years20, 25 yearsand I think they had a lot of hopes on that. They wanted it too, she told Winfrey. I felt like I let everybody down a little bit.

But you didnt! Winfrey reportedly jumped in.

Story continues

I know, but I felt like that, Lopez responded. I felt like that for a bit.

Oprah's 2020 Vision: Your Life In Focus Tour With Special Guest Jennifer Lopez Emma McIntyre

Ultimately Lopez was able to pull herself out of her funk. I think what happened, with the Super Bowl, with this whole yeara sold-out tour, getting nominated for all these awards, and then not getting the Oscar thing, I had to reexamine, Why do you do this? What are you so sad about right now? she said. And you realize that you want peoples validation. You want people to say you did a good job. I dont need that. Im actually here, and Im okay, and I am enough. I dont need this award right here to tell me Im enough.

No, you absolutely dont, J.Lo!

Originally Appeared on Glamour
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.
This week, several media reported that agents of the Russian intelligence reportedly went to Ireland to inspect the undersea cables.

The Sunday Times reported that Russian intelligence agents have been sent to Ireland to gather detailed information on the undersea cables that connect Europe to North America. The news is alarming, intelligence agencies fear that Russia plans to carry out new cyber-espionage operations by tapping the undersea cables or even sabotage them.

Russia has sent intelligence agents to Ireland to map the precise location of the fibre -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. reported The Sunday Times.

Ireland is a strategic place for intercontinental communications because it represents the place where undersea cables which carry internet traffic connect to Europe.

Source https://www.submarinecablemap.com/

Garda and military intelligence agencies believe the Russian agents were sent by the military intelligence branch of the Russian armed forces, the GRU. The same branch that is suspected to have killed in former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal.

The Russian spies were also seen monitoring Dublin Port, a circumstance that prompted local authorities in intensifying the control at critical infrastructures and landing sites along the Irish coast.

Experts believe that Ireland is a privileged target for Russian intelligence because it lacks a counter-intelligence capability.

Attacks against undersea cables are not a novelty, in 2014 The Register published information on a secret British spy base located at Seeb on the northern coast of Oman, a strategic position that allows the British Government to tap to various undersea cables passing through the Strait of Hormuz into the Persian/Arabian Gulf. The documents also revealed the existence of other spy bases located in secret places identified with codes TIMPANI, GUITAR and CLARINET.

The Register reports that the secret structures of GCHQ are part of the surveillance programme codenamed CIRCUIT and also refers to an Overseas Processing Centre 1 (OPC-1), while another centre, OPC-2, has been planned, according to documents leaked by Snowden.

The base is located at Seeb, on the northern coast of Oman, it is used by the GCHQ to tap in to various undersea cables, Seeb is one of a three site GCHQ network in Oman, location codenamed TIMPANI is near the Strait of Hormuz and is used to monitor Iraqi communications, GUITAR and CLARINET bases in the south of Oman to spy on communication in Yemen.

In June 2014, a new collection of Snowdens secret files, published by journalists at The Intercept and Denmarks Dagbladet Information, revealed that the US has made top-secret deals with more than 30 third-party countries to tap into fiber optic cables all over the world. The documents mention a clandestine program, coded as RAMPART-A, which was conducted with secret arrangements of other intelligence agencies.

Months later, at the end of 2014, new reports based on documents leaked by the whistleblower Edward Snowden, revealed that the undersea cables have become an integral part of the global mass surveillance system operated by the GCHQ thanks the support provided by a company Cable & Wireless, which was acquired by Vodafone in July 2012 for about $1.5 billion.

The details about the support provided to the massive surveillance operations were revealed by the British Channel 4 News, the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung , and the German broadcaster WDR, who collaborated with the Intercept. The founding editor Laura Poitras, in fact, obtained a preview of the documents in advance of their publication.

Data provided in the reports are disconcerting, British telecommunications firms supported GCHQ in collecting a large volume of internet data from undersea cables, the overall amount of information from 2007 to 2012 registered a 7,000-fold increase, meanwhile, the spying system monitored nearly 46 billion private communications events every day.

The data collected by the undersea cable would include content from online messages, browsing sessions, VOIP calls, and emails.

British telecommunications company Cable & Wireless played a crucial role in the tapping of the undersea cables, in February 2009 a GCHQ employee was assigned to work within the company in a full-time project management role to follow the operation from the inside.

The GCHQ paid Cable & Wireless more than 5 million ($9 million) as part of an annual lease for GCHQ to access the undersea cables. In the documents, the company is referred to as a partner codenamed Gerontic. Despite the Cable & Wireless bought by Vodafone in July 2012, the Nigella surveillance access point remained active as of April 2013.

Pierluigi Paganini
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have joined other members of the royal family in wishing their Welsh followers a happy St David's Day - despite quitting royal duties.

Prince Harry, 35, and Meghan Markle, 38, posted to their Instagram account SussexRoyal to mark the nation's holiday, which celebrates the patron saint of Wales.

Sharing a picture of themselves visiting Cardiff in January 2018, the caption read: 'Dydd Gwyl Dewi Hapus! Wishing all of our Welsh followers a Happy St Davids Day.'

The pair joined Prince William, 37, and Kate, 38, who had posted a celebratory message on their Instagram account, KensingtonRoyal, this morning, along with a photo of their recent visit to South Wales last month.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (seen visiting Cardiff in January 2018) have joined other members of the royal family in wishing their Welsh followers a happy St David's Day - despite quitting royal duties

Sharing a picture of themselves, the caption(above) read: 'Dydd Gwyl Dewi Hapus! Wishing all of our Welsh followers a Happy St Davids Day.'

The pair joined Prince William, 37, and Kate, 38, who had posted a celebratory message on their Instagram account, KensingtonRoyal, this morning, along with a photo of their recent visit to South Wales last month (pictured)

They captioned the adorable image, which showed the beaming couple holding minute Welsh dragons: 'Dydd Gwyl Dewi Sant hapus  Wishing a very happy St Davids Day to all our Welsh followers!'

They captioned the adorable image, which showed the beaming couple holding minute Welsh dragons: 'Dydd Gwyl Dewi Sant hapus  Wishing a very happy St Davids Day to all our Welsh followers!'

Prince William and Kate visited Port Talbot on February 4 and received the red cuddly toys for their three children - Prince George, 6, Princess Charlotte, 4, and one-year-old Prince Louis - during a tour of Tata Steel.

The posts come ahead of Prince Harry and Meghan's departure from the royal family - with the couple officially stepping down as senior royals on March 31.

The Queen's social media account also shared a message (above) for their Welsh followers, writing: 'Dydd Gwyl Dewi Hapus! Wishing all of our Welsh followers a Happy St Davids Day.'

It was posted alongside a photo of the Queen (pictured), 93, being greeted by crowds during a 2010 visit to Caernarfon Castle in North Wales

They will undertake three joint engagements in the UK in early March, before they officially start their 'financially independent' life.

Their final official engagement is expected to be March 9, when they will join the Queen at Westminster Abbey to mark Commonwealth Day.

The Queen's social media account also shared a message for their Welsh followers, writing: 'Dydd Gwyl Dewi Hapus! Wishing all of our Welsh followers a Happy St Davids Day.'

Prince Charles (pictured), 71, who is the Prince of Wales, and his wife Camilla, 72, also shared a message of support to mark the occasion

To all our followers celebrating in Wales and around the world  wishing you a very happy #StDavidsDay!,' they said, alongside four images of the royal couple in Wales

It was posted alongside a photo of the Queen, 93, being greeted by crowds during a 2010 visit to Caernarfon Castle in North Wales.

Prince Charles, 71, who is the Prince of Wales, and his wife Camilla, 72, also shared a message of support to mark the occasion.

'To all our followers celebrating in Wales and around the world  wishing you a very happy #StDavidsDay!,' they said, alongside four images of the royal couple in Wales.

The Duchess of Cornwall poses with a Welsh fan as he takes a snap during a visit to the country

The Duke of Cornwall greets enthusiastic crowds as he tours Wales. The school children all wave Welsh flags, which they've created
Open source

Churches were closed in South Korea on March 1, with many holding online services instead, as authorities fought to rein in public gatherings as 586 new coronavirus infections took the tally to 3,736 cases. This is reported by Reuters.

That came a day after the biggest daily jump of 813 cases in South Koreas battle with the largest virus outbreak outside China, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said. The death toll rose to 20, up from 17 the day before.

In Seoul, the capital, about a dozen worshippers were turned away from the Yoido Full Gospel Church, which put a sermon for its 560,000 followers on YouTube, filmed with a small choir instead of all 200 members and 60-strong orchestra.

Authorities have warned of a critical moment in the battle against the virus, urging people to refrain from attending religious services and political events and stay home this weekend.

For the first time in its 236-year history, South Koreas Catholic church decided to halt masses at more than 1,700 locations nationwide. Buddhist temples also called off events, while major Christian churches held online services.

March 1, Australia and Thailand officially confirmed the first deaths from the coronavirus CoVID-2019, as Reuters reported.

In Australia, the former passenger of the Diamond Princess cruise ship, who was transported from Japan and quarantined, died. He died in a hospital in Perth. The man was 78 years old.

His widow is also infected with the virus. Her condition is stable. According to the latest government data, the number of viral infections in Australia has grown to 26.

"We monitor and respond to the information that we receive every day. We are not insured, but we are prepared as much as possible for any country, and we can handle it," Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison wrote.

In Thailand, a 35-year-old man who also had dengue fever died of coronavirus. This was announced by Suwanchai Wattanayingcharoen, Director-General of the Department of Disease Control.

The deceased man worked in retail and often contacted tourists. Doctors and authorities suggest that he was infected with the virus.




A recent study suggests that higher education in the United States helps white people more financially than it does other groups.

The finding makes some education experts question the effectiveness of U.S. efforts to fight racial injustice. At the same time, other experts note that systemic inequality and racial discrimination are not limited to the United States.

Last October, the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce published a study on U.S. college graduates. Researchers looked at the earnings of white, black and Latino Americans who had earned a bachelors degree between 1991 and 2016.

Over that period, blacks and Latinos with a bachelors degree increased their likelihood of getting and keeping a good-paying job. The Georgetown researchers defined such a position as one paying at least $35,000 a year. But in 2016, white college graduates held 77 percent of the good-paying jobs. These men and women represented 69 percent of available job holders nationwide.

The study also showed that whites holding a bachelors degree and working in a good job earned about $10,000 more a year than blacks and Latinos with the same education.

Anthony Carnavale is the director of the Georgetown center. He describes the findings as just another example of Americas long history of treating minorities unequally.



The first blacks to arrive in North America came as slaves. Even after the United States banned slavery, many southern states created Jim Crow laws. These rules barred African Americans from many schools and fields of employment. Carnavale told VOA that conditions for black Americans improved somewhat over the years. But following World War II, many Whites moved out of major U.S. cities thanks, in part, to the financial aid they received for their military service.

This made it possible for majority white communities to build large tax bases, which helped finance strong public school systems, he said. This then made it possible for more whites to attend colleges and universities.

Carnavale added that Latinos did not become a major part of the U.S. economy until the late 1980s. He said they faced much the same discrimination as blacks. In more recent times, there have been efforts to reduce barriers to higher education, especially for minorities. For the most part, however, this has meant sending black, Latino and poor students to two and four-year public colleges and universities.

State governments give far less financial support to these schools than they used to, noted Carnavale. This means many of the schools struggle to support students as best they can.

So weve created more access to higher education in America, but we have not created much more success, he said. The success, the graduation rates are highest, by far, for affluent white kids.

Victor Goode argues that the inequality issue goes beyond education and extends into many other areas of American life. Goode is the education director for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or NAACP, a U.S.-based civil rights group.

To date, the U.S. government continues to face problems in dealing with inequality in many areas, says Goode. In 2019, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights reported a lack of resources for anti-discrimination efforts at 13 federal agencies. It found that these agencies lacked the money to investigate claims of discrimination in employment, housing, and voting.

Goode adds that a little over 65 years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled states could not prevent Black students from attending the same schools as whites. But this year, a New Jersey judge agreed to consider a court case against the states public school system. The NAACP and other groups have accused the state of segregation based on race and earnings.

The NAACP is has also taken legal action to demand greater financial support for public schools from state governments in Maryland, Delaware and Minnesota.

Statesneed to see how they can do a better job of providing an adequate, equitable education to all students, noted Goode.

While every country is different, this kind of inequality exists in many majority-white nations, says Kyriaki Topidi. She is a researcher with the European Centre for Minority Issues.

Topidi notes that, in Germany, many recent African and Middle Eastern immigrants lack access to high schools with advanced study programs. And studies showed that employers in Britain were 60 percent more likely to consider White candidates for employment than Blacks or South Asians.

Topidi suggests one way to deal with this is by working with local governments to create anti-discrimination policies. Also, she said, leaders should try to get members of different races and economic levels to understand each other better through community-building events and training.

This process should be based on the acceptance that people do not simply represent ethnicities or races, but rather are complex beings that also differ according to social status, interests, profession, beliefs, she said.

Yet Anthony Carnavale is not hopeful that conditions for blacks and Latinos will improve in the United States any time soon. He says that unless wealthy White Americans are willing to spend much more in taxes to support public education, things will likely remain the same for the next 30 years.

Im Dorothy Gundy.

And Im Pete Musto.

Pete Musto reported this story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.

Quiz - Does Higher Education Help Some Groups More than Others? Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz

_______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

graduate(s)  n. a person who has earned a degree or diploma from a school, college, or university

bachelors degree  n. a degree that is given to a student by a college or university usually after four years of study

access  n. a way of being able to use or get something

affluent  adj. having a large amount of money and owning many expensive things

segregation  n. the practice or policy of keeping people of different races or religions separate from each other

adequate  adj. of a quality that is good or acceptable

equitable  adj. dealing fairly and equally with everyone

advanced  adj. beyond the basic level

according to  prep. as stated, reported, or recorded by someone or something

status  n. the position or rank of someone or something when compared to others in a society, organization or group
Bhopal, March 1 : A local court has handed life sentence to a 62-year-old former peon in the Bhopal district collectors office, Babulal Sunahre for trying to sell government land worth over Rs 200 crore through fake lease deeds.

Special judge Sanjeev Pande on Saturday also imposed a fine of Rs 4 lakh on Babulal while sentencing Babulal's nine accomplices to different terms.

The other key accused in the case, Sanjeev Bisaria and Maya Bisaria, Preeti Bisaria, Alpana Bisaria, Amita Bisaria and Shailendra Kumar Jain were sentenced to 10 years jail and fined Rs 3 lakh each.

Two other women Roopshree Jain and Savitribai were sentenced to seven years in jail and fined Rs 2 lakh each while the tenth accused Anwar Khan was sentenced to five years and fined Rs one lakh. All accused have been sent to judicial custody.

The state Economic Offences Wing (EOW) had undertaken investigations at the instance of the High Court where the case was referred by the local court in December 2007.

The issue first came up in the court of then Bhopal district judge Renu Sharma about some papers about a land dispute presented before the court were replaced by forged ones by the accused. The matter as referred to the high court which directed the EoW to investigate the issue.

Investigations revealed the other accused Sanjeev Bisaria, Maya, Preeti, Kalpana and Amita Bisaria, Savitribai, Roopashri Jain both clerks in the revenue department and Mohammad Anwar Khan had forged the lease deeds with the help of Babulal for 2.6 acre government land just 2 km from Vallabh Bhawan, the seat of the state government.

The investigators lodged a complaint with the Maharana Pratap Nagar police station. Babulal was accused of having forged the order sheets from the revenue department prepared most fake papers before he was promoted while holding the post of peon in the Collector's office.
Content Marketing Institute Releases New Research on State of Agency Content Marketing

NEW YORK, Feb. 26, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A whopping 76% of agency professionals surveyed reported using paid channels to distribute content to market their firm in the previous 12 months. The previous year, only 59% reported using paid content distribution to market their business. Thats a key finding in Content Marketing Institutes just-released research for agencies, Agency Content Marketing 2020: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends. This is the second year for the research that looks at how agencies use content marketing to promote their own businesses.



To see our analysis and to download the infographic visit: http://cmi.media/agency2020

Its interesting to see a 17-point increase in those reporting their agency uses paid channels to distribute content about their own firms, shares Cathy McPhillips, VP of Marketing, Content Marketing Institute. As CMI founder Joe Pulizzi has always cautioned, its important for agencies and brands to invest in their own channels and not rely on renting space on someone elses land. We applaud those that continue to build their own audiences.

Who gets those paid content distribution dollars?

Paid social media advertising is the top paid distribution method agencies used by far (83%).

Of this group, the top two paid channels are Facebook (82%) and LinkedIn (58%). Over one-third (38%) of those reporting use of more than one paid social channel say LinkedIn generates the best results, followed by Facebook.

Which owned channels do they use?

Almost every agency respondent (91%) in the survey said their firm uses social media for organic content distribution.

And agencies arent ignoring their owned channels: 86% say their agency uses its company website/blog and 78% use email.

And 61% say their agency staff takes the opportunity to speak at or attend events to market their business.

To view all CMI research and to subscribe to our emails visit: contentmarketinginstitute.com/research

Coming in June, look for our survey on how agencies use content marketing for their clients.

Story continues

About Content Marketing Institute

Content Marketing Institute is the leading global content marketing education and training organization, teaching enterprise brands how to attract and retain customers through compelling, multichannel storytelling. CMIs Content Marketing World event, the largest content marketing-focused event, is held every fall in Cleveland, Ohio, and ContentTECH Summit event is held every spring in San Diego, California. CMI publishes Chief Content Officer for executives and provides strategic consulting and content marketing research for some of the best-known brands in the world. Watch this video to learn more about CMI. Content Marketing Institute is organized by Informa Connect.

About Informa Connect

Informa Connect is a specialist in content-driven events and digital communities that allow professionals to meet, connect, learn and share knowledge. We operate major branded events in Marketing, Global Finance, Life Sciences and Pharma, Construction & Real Estate, and in a number of other specialist markets and connect communities online year-round.

Press Contact:

Amanda Subler

Amanda.Subler@informa.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/60e9abc5-e259-432b-93ee-e7d3e551b83c
By Lefteris Papadimas

KASTANIES, Greece, Feb 29 (Reuters) - Greek police fired teargas toward migrants who were gathered on its border with Turkey and demanding entry on Saturday, as a crisis over Syria abruptly moved onto the European Union's doorstep.

The Greek government reiterated its promise to keep migrants out.

"The government will do whatever it takes to protect its borders," government spokesman Stelios Petsas told reporters, adding that in the past 24 hours Greek authorities had averted attempts by 4,000 people to cross.

Live images from Greece's Skai TV on the Turkish side of the northern land border at Kastanies showed Greek riot police firing teargas rounds at groups of migrants who were hurling stones and shouting obscenities.

Media were not permitted to approach the Greek side of the border in the early morning, but the area smelled heavily of teargas, a Reuters witness said.

A Turkish government official said late Thursday that Turkey will no longer contain the hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers after an air strike on war-ravaged Idlib in Syria killed 33 Turkish soldiers earlier that day.

Almost immediately, convoys of people appeared heading to the Greek land and sea borders on Friday.

An estimated 3,000 people had gathered on the Turkish side of the border at Kastanies, according to a Greek government official. Kastanies lies just over 900 km (550 miles)north-east of Athens.

Greece, which was a primary gateway for hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers in 2015 and 2016, has promised it will keep the migrants out.

However, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that some 18,000 migrants had crossed borders from Turkey into Europe. Speaking in Istanbul, he did not immediately provide evidence for the number, but said it would rise.

Greek police were keeping media about a kilometre away from the Kastanies border crossing, but the broader area, where the two countries are divided by a river, was more permeable.

Story continues

A group of Afghans with young children waded across fast-moving waters of the Evros river and took refuge in a small chapel. They crossed into Greece on Friday morning.

"Today is good" said Shir Agha, 30 in broken English. "Before, Erdogan people, police problem," he said. Their shoes were caked in mud. It had rained heavily the night before, and by early morning, temperatures were close to freezing.

Greece had already said on Thursday it would tighten border controls to prevent coronavirus reaching its Aegean islands, where thousands of migrants are living in poor conditions.

Nearly a million refugees and migrants crossed from Turkey to Greece's islands in 2015, setting off a crisis over immigration in Europe, but that route all but closed after the European Union and Ankara agreed to stop the flow in March 2016. (Additional reporting by Ali Kucukgocmen in Istanbul Writing by Michele Kambas Editing by Frances Kerry Editing by Frances Kerry)